Top stories from DAWNS Digest
M23 Rebels Defeated at Last Stronghold in East DRC
They are literally heading for the hills, though peace talks are still ongoing in Uganda. “Civilians celebrated in the streets on Wednesday as Congolese troops entered the eastern border town of Bunagana after a major new success in their offensive to crush a 20-month rebellion. The town was the first seized last year by M23 rebels in the Democratic Republic of Congo and the last they held after being forced back recently by Congo’s U.N.-backed army. A Reuters reporter in Bunagana said residents flocked onto the streets to cheer the arrival of Congolese government troops, calling them liberators.” (Reuters http://reut.rs/1cmAIB4)
Mixed Results from New High Tech Rapid TB Testing System
The GeneXpert system looks for TB’s DNA markers and can give a result within two hours, with a high degree of accuracy.But it still has some kinks that need to be worked out in terms of changing health outcomes. “A new, sophisticated diagnostic test for tuberculosis now being rolled out promises to be faster and more accurate than the old methods and much easier to use. But the first trials of the GeneXpert MTB/RIF Assay test in real-life situations have proved that while all this is true, it did not make any significant difference to treatment outcomes.” (IRIN http://bit.ly/1aHWtw1)