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All You Need To Know About Anaemia

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  What is Anaemia?  Anaemia refers to the situation when there is a decrease in the level of haemoglobin (Hb) in the blood below the reference range for the age and sex of the individual affected. In other words, it’s a condition in which one lacks enough healthy red blood cells to carry adequate oxygen to your body tissues. Haemoglobin is the substance (a protein) in your red blood cell that carries oxygen from your lungs to your organs and tissues and transports carbon dioxide from your organs and tissues back to your lungs for exhalation into the atmosphere. Thus, when your haemoglobin level is low, its ability to carry adequate oxygen for supply to your tissues becomes compromised. HOW COMMON IS ANEMIA? Globally, anaemia is estimated to affect more than 2 billion people (approximately 30% of the world’s human population). WHO further estimates that 42% of children less than 5 years of age, and 40% of pregnant women worldwide are anaemic. It is known to be more common in resource-po

LIVING IN THE SHADOW OF DEPRESSION

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1. What is depression? Depression refers to a disorder of mood that causes a persistent feeling of sadness and loss of interest. It is a common and serious mental health disorder that adversely affects how one feels, thinks and behaves, and leads to various emotional and physical problems, that can limit one’s ability to function at home and at work. According to WHO (“State of the world’s health” study, 2008) , depression is the leading cause of years lost due to disability, the burden being 50% higher for females than males. It is estimated to affect 264 million people of all ages worldwide. 2. How does depression manifest in a person? Depression affects 264 million people of all ages worldwide It is common knowledge that everyone at some stage in their life might experience feelings of sadness or grief, especially in response to traumatic experiences such as the death of a loved one, loss of a job or a bad relationship. However, it is when such symptoms become qualitatively differe

TUBERCULOSIS IS STILL A MAJOR KILLER DISEASE IN THE WORLD

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  Needless to say Covid-19 has highlighted the importance of respiratory diseases in human health, and tuberculosis is one of the deadliest infectious disease killers known to man to date. WHO estimates that each day, nearly 4000 people lose their lives to TB and close to 28,000 people fall ill with this preventable and curable disease. This equates to 1.5 million deaths and 10 million people falling ill to TB each year. Countries in the Africa region (including Ghana) accounted for over half a million TB deaths and 25% of those who developed TB in 2019. Even though in recent years, a lot of progress has been made against TB, yet 3 million people with TB disease are still undiagnosed in different parts of the world. Furthermore, 1 in 3 people with TB do not access quality care for the following reasons: gaps in research and development; insufficient or underfunded health services; long and difficult treatments regimens; and stigma, among others. In addition, a quarter of the world’s po