Rwanda
Children HIV/AIDS Center Opens

Rwanda’s Ministry of Health on Thursday opened the Integrated Paediatric Centre in Kibagabaga Hospital, the New Times/allAfrica.com reports. “Rwanda has taken significant strides in addressing HIV/Aids issues, but not much had been done to meet the needs of affected children. Specialized palliative care will improve the quality of their lives and once successful, the model will be introduced in all the other hospitals as well,” Ministry of Health representative Ida Kankindi said (Nambi, 8/21).

Aid Workers Identify 12 New Cases Of Cholera In Zimbabwe

“Zimbabwe has recorded a dozen new cases of cholera in an outlying rural district,” just days after the U.N. warned about a possible new outbreak of the disease, ZimOnline reports. An alert from aid officials circulated among NGOs working in Zimbabwe, “said 12 cases of cholera were detected in Chibuwe district near Chipinge farming town, more than 300km south-east of Harare,” the publication writes (Smith, 8/24).

Pakistan ‘s Maternal Mortality Rate Decreases, Additional Efforts Required

Improved health facilities have decreased the maternal mortality rate in Pakistan but additional efforts are required to further reduce the number of women who die during childbirth, participants at a workshop to address maternal mortality said, the Daily Times reports. “Ten years ago the number of deaths out of every [100,000] deliveries was 500, but now the ratio has come down to 275,” Khawar Mumtaz, the CEO of the group Shirkat Gah, said, adding that it was still higher than other countries in the region like Sri Lanka, where the ratio was less than 30 (8/22).