Ex-NBA player Jason Collins — the league’s first openly gay player — just opened up on his serious health battle … revealing he was diagnosed with Stage 4 glioblastoma, “one of the deadliest forms” of brain cancer. Collins, who announced he had…
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LILONGWE-(MaraviPost)-Malawi is still grappling with the goal Six of Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) that promotes clean water and sanitation.
Goal six is ensuring the availability and sustainable management of water and sanitation for all by 2030. But the case is different in Malawi.
The observation comes amid recent report that 24% of healthcare facilities lack access to a basic water supply in Malawi that Water, Sanitation, and Hygiene (WASH) services remain in dare state.
This has prompted WaterAid Malawi to raise an alarm on existing gaps continue to expose mothers and newborn babies to preventable infections and avoidable deaths.
Addressing the Annual General Meeting for the WASH Media Forum in Dowa, WaterAid’s Head of Advocacy and Communication, Chandiwira Chisi observes that persistent lack of clean, safe water in health facilities undermines national efforts to improve maternal and newborn health.
Chisi therefore emphasised the need for sustainable and collective efforts in improving access to safe water in hard to reach communities.
“While we are looking at the general outlook of WASH, it’s high time the nation prioritized in promoting neonatal and maternal health”, appeals Chisi.
In his presentation, Kasungu District Director for Health and Social Services Dr. Emmanuel Golombe attributed challenges affecting WASH to inadequate funding in the district hospitals.
Echoing the same, the Deputy Director for the Reproductive Health Directorate, Juliana Kanyengambeta Mubanga, revealed that 24% of maternal deaths in Malawi are caused by infections—many of which result from poor hygiene, contaminated water, and unsafe delivery environments.
Mubanga reaffirmed the government’s commitment to collaborating with partners like WaterAid to strengthen WASH systems and safeguard mothers and babies.
Therefore WASH Media Forum Chairperson Meclina Chirwa urged journalists to amplify citizens’ concerns, ensuring authorities address long-standing problems affecting health service delivery.
With full financial support from WaterAid, the three day WASH Media Forum AGM has attracted journalists across the country.
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Jana Kramer is standing firm in her beliefs about vaccinating her children.
“I listened to a podcast episode about giving the baby a vax — what did you end up doing?” a fan asked Kramer, 42, in an Instagram Stories Q&A on Thursday, December 4.
Kramer responded, “The update I will give is we changed doctors’ offices to where it’s our choice and can ask as many questions and have the choice to do or not to do and not the … ‘if you don’t, then you’re not allowed to be in this office’ approach.”
Back in February, Kramer claimed on her “Whine Down” podcast that during a visit to her former doctor’s office, she “essentially got blamed” for her son having an ear infection because she had been “behind” on his vaccinations.
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“I didn’t like how that felt. I got turned off by that comment, and so it didn’t make me want to go back to that office, because I’m like, ‘You just blamed me for my child having an ear infection.’ So like, I didn’t like that. I don’t even know why I’m crying, but like, it just made me feel like a bad mom or something,” she admitted.
Kramer shares daughter Jolie, 9, and son Jace, 7, with ex-husband Mike Caussin, as well as son Roman, 2, with husband Allan Russell.
The One Tree Hill alum added that she felt “overwhelmed” knowing that Roman “needs so many vaccinations,” but she also wasn’t sure if she trusted vaccinations yet.
Kramer previously discussed vaccinations during a 2020 episode of her podcast, featuring special guests Robert F. Kennedy Jr., an anti-vaccine activist and the United States Secretary of Health and Human Services as of 2025, and Dr. Abe Malkin, M.D., who is board-certified in family medicine and addiction medicine.
Kramer also spoke to Dr. Mehmet Oz, who has taken both a pro- and anti-vaccine stance, during another podcast episode in 2020. The pair discussed the widely disputed theory that vaccinations cause autism.
“To vaccinate or not to vaccinate. It’s been something that has quite frankly kept me up at night,” Kramer wrote via Instagram at the time. “If I’m being super honest, I’ve done the most amount of research since I’ve had Jace, since I’ve always heard about autism and boys with the [measles, mumps and rubella vaccine]. The more research I’ve done, I’ve questioned myself and thought, ‘Omg, am I the reason Jolie had a speech delay because of her vaccines?’”
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The “Whiskey” singer continued, “As you can see, I don’t know the answers, and I have just prayed that I am doin the right thing but I sure wish there was a definite answer one way or another because for every article I see it gets debunked by the other. Quite frankly it’s exhausting.”
Kramer added that “another issue is the fact that people can be so mean” no matter which side of the debate one chooses to be on.
“So please, in the comments, don’t hate on me for vaccinating, don’t hate on others who have different opinions. Please offer your knowledge, but don’t be mean if someone doesn’t agree. Can we just agree to disagree kindly and have healthy conversations?” she concluded.
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“If you will listen carefully to the voice of the LORD your God and do what is right in His eyes, if you pay attention to His commands and keep all His statutes, I will not bring on you any of the diseases I brought on the Egyptians, for I am the LORD who heals you.” –
Exodus 15:26
“But He was pierced for our transgressions, He was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was on Him, and by His stripes we are healed.” — Isaiah 53:5
And evening having come, they brought to Him many being possessed with demons, and He cast out the spirits with a word and He healed all those being sick, — Matthew 8:16
As I prepared to write this week’s article, I was led to write on home health remedies that still work even with all the advances that have been made in modern medicine. On her part, my best friend Gloria sent me a 7-part advisory on home care medical actions to better health. Talk about spirits speaking to spirits! I am aiming for 30 home health care actions that can save lives before the medics come. Our grandparents used many of them, and they lived great lives
The 7-part advisor is as follows:
1.When your heart races at night and you can’t calm down at night, take four slow breaths in and six out. You’ll see how your chest opens up.
2. When you walk into a room and forget why you are there, inhale peppermint or rosemary oil in the morning. This wakes up your sleeping brain.
3. If your knees hurt and you find it difficult to get up off of your chair, rub warm turmeric or ginger oil into your knees. Pain melts like it was never there. These herbs have healed inflammation over the years.
4.When you have a bloated stomach and food doesn’t digest as it should, start your morning with two cups of grapes. The grapes sweep years of buildup in your colon and also sharpen your foggy mind and take years off your face.
5. When your stomach is swollen that you cannot eat, and pain keeps you up at night, and you know you are constipated, eat a pawpaw (papaya), pumpkins, or boiled cabbage.
6. When your hair starts thinning and your edges start disappearing, eat three dates every day. Your hair is not dying from age, it is dying from starvation. Dates are rich in iron, and they pump iron straight into the bloodstream and wake your roots back up.
7. When you are tired, even after much sleep, sip warm lemon and ginger when you wake up. This mixture clears out all the mucus clogging your system, opens your breath and wakes you up from the inside.
8. When strength seems to disappear from your body, start keeping water melon seed. These have magnesium, zinc, and proteins. These are nutrients that your body is crying for as you gorge on processed food. (from https://vm.tiktok.com/ZMAobnFGT/, captured on 12.04.2025)
9. When you have a cough, take honey. The thick texture of honey may help reduce the urge to cough by coating and soothing the throat. Honey’s anti-inflammatory properties may also play a role.
10. When your throat is sore and the pain causes a burning sensation, boil some water, pour one teaspoon of salt and gargle three times a day.
11. When you get burned (splattering oil or open fire), rub Aloe Vera. If Aloe Vera is not available, dub the affected area with toothpaste (Colgate is the best).
12. Bloated stomach or inflammation of joints? Drink one teaspoon of turmeric with water. But also eating sliced pineapples helps reduce joint pain and inflammation.
13. When you cannot sleep, drink Chamomile tea.
14. Blood pressure – A 202 review of studies, Trusted Source, concluded that garlic supplements reduce blood pressure in people with high blood pressure. The researchers linked this to a 16% to 40% lower risk of experiencing cardiovascular events.
15. Cold treatment from eucalyptus leaves a plus, as congested sinuses are steamed into health. Add a few drops of eucalyptus oil to a pot of water, boil, and remove the pot from the stove. Drape a towel over your head and shoulder… the vapor carries droplets of oil into your sinuses and loosens congestion.
16. Peppermint oil seems to reduce spasms in the digestive tract. And when applied to the skin, it can cause surface warmth, which relieves pain beneath the skin. It may also help to “cool” the skin, and relieve itching. Some people use peppermint for irritable bowel syndrome (IBS), indigestion. and bedsores. It is also used for anxiety, insomnia, and migraine headaches.
17. Grandma was right: Chicken soup can be good for a cold. Studies show it can ease symptoms and help you get rid of the cold sooner. It also curbs swelling and clears out nasal fluids.
18. Hot Baths are good for all kinds of things that affect your muscles, bones, and tendons (the tissues that connect your muscles to your bones), like arthritis, back pain, and joint pain.
19. Ice Pack Use a bag of frozen peas or simply a plastic bag or wet towel with ice in the first 48 hours after an injury to help with pain and swelling. No ice? Cold water will work as well.
20. Vitamin C for allergies. Although Vitamin C is one of the most popular home remedies for the common cold, it is also a remedy for allergies.
21. Nivea is the all-magic cure forblisters or boils on the skin and other parts of your body.
22. Thyme tea for coughs – Thyme is a natural expectorant that relaxes the respiratory tract and loosens mucus.
23. Blackberry tea for diarrhea — Blackberries are rich in tannins, substances that can tighten mucous membranes in the intestinal tract. They have long been used as a treatment for diarrhea. If blackberry tea is not available, ordinary tea (without milk or sugar) works fine.
24. Cucumber for eye strains — Lie on your back and place one cucumber slice (about one-eighth inch thick) over each closed eye. Cucumbers contain antioxidants that studies have shown help decrease swelling and relieve pain.
25. Too thin blood or low blood count, then eat avocados, spinach or other green leafy vegetables. In abundance.
26. If you are on blood thinners, avoid eating any of the foods mentioned in Number 25!
27. Lavender oil for foot odour – Lavender essential oil not only smells good but also has antibacterial properties that help kill germs. Before bed, rub a few drops of oil onto your feet and massage it in. Lavender is also a good room deodorizer.
28. Yes, stop eating red meats if you have gout, but also try cherries for gout. People who ate about 20 cherries every day were less likely to experience flare-ups of gout, according to a study of 633 patients with the condition.
29. Sugar for hiccups — A spoonful of sugar doesn’t just help the medicine go down; when it comes to hiccups (contractions of the diaphragm), it is the medicine. “Eating the grainy sugar crystals forces you to swallow harder than normal, and this resets your diaphragm” to stop the spasms, says Claire Martin, a California-based nutritionist.
30. Pressure for neck pain — With your thumb or your fingertips, apply steady pressure on the painful spot on your neck for three minutes. Research shows that this simple acupressure technique helps loosen tight muscles to lessen pain. 10 percent effective!
31. Cranberry juice for urinary tract infections — A study of 373 women with a history of urinary tract infections (UTIs) showed that those who drank a glass of cranberry juice daily had a 40 percent reduction in the number of UTIs compared with those who drank a placebo.
Happy home health treatment!
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BLANTYRE-(MaraviPost)-The man who was electrocuted on Wednesday morning at Chichiri in Blantyre while attempting to vandalise high-voltage electrical equipment has died, officials from the Electricity Supply Corporation of Malawi (ESCOM) have confirmed.
According to ESCOM Chief Public Relations and Communication Officer Piliran Phiri,the incident occurred in the early hours of yesterday when the suspect was caught in the act of tampering with critical infrastructure that powers part of the city.
He was severely shocked by the live wires and sustained life-threatening burns.
The deceased has been identified as Madalitso Samson, originally from Sojali Village under Traditional Authority Ganya in Ntcheu.
Witnesses who arrived moments after the incident reported that Samson was found unconscious beside the vandalised equipment.
He was rushed to Queen Elizabeth Central Hospital, where medical personnel battled to stabilise him. Despite the efforts of health workers, Samson succumbed to his injuries earlier today due to extensive internal and external burns.
ESCOM says the tragedy is a stark reminder of the deadly consequences associated with tampering with electrical installations. The corporation has repeatedly warned the public about the extreme danger posed by high-voltage equipment.
ESCOM stressed that vandalising power infrastructure is not only a criminal act but also a direct threat to life. The company described electricity theft and vandalism as “a death sentence” for those who engage in it.
Officials further noted that the equipment involved carries enough voltage to kill instantly, and no amount of skill or experience can guarantee safety when dealing with live electrical components.
The corporation has also raised concern over the rising cases of vandalism targeting transformers, cables and other installations across the country. These acts cause prolonged blackouts, expensive repairs, and disruptions to essential services.
ESCOM is now urging communities to take an active role in safeguarding national power assets by reporting anyone seen loitering around or tampering with restricted areas. The public is advised to always observe warning signs and maintain a safe distance.
The utility company pleaded with Malawians not to risk their lives out of desperation or greed, emphasising that no financial gain is worth the loss of life. They reminded people that electricity is unforgiving and lethal when mishandled.
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A U.S. official contradicts the White House account of who ordered the deadly boat strike in the Caribbean, while President Trump considers his next moves with Venezuela.
U.S. envoy Steve Witkoff heads to Moscow for high-stakes talks after revising the peace agreement with Ukrainian negotiators.
And new details about the Afghan man accused of shooting two National Guard soldiers point to a long-running mental health crisis rather than radicalization.
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p class=”readrate”>Today’s episode of Up First was edited by Rebecca Metzler, Miguel Macias, Alina Hartounian, Mohamad ElBardicy and Alice Woelfle.
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p class=”readrate”>It was produced by Ziad Buchh, Nia Dumas and Christopher Thomas.
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p class=”readrate”>We get engineering support from Damian Herring. And our technical director is Carleigh Strange.
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p class=”readrate”>Our Senior Supervising Producer is Vince Pearson.
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