Facebook Twitter Pinterest About 25% of disabled people in Sierra Leone are amputees who were wounded in the civil war. The mental health toll that Ebola exacted ? depression, anxiety and post-traumatic stress disorder ? was massive. For those working in the mental health sector, this is not the way things were supposed to be. In Freetown, Sevalie hopes the enthusiasm around mental health services will continue. Photograph: Tanya Bindra/AP?Many of these programmes were excellent,? says Dr Florence Baingana, who works for the World Health Organisation?s Sierra Leone office.

In 2006, the Congressional General Accountability Office concluded that the global gag rule, coupled with abstinence promotion, was impeding the global fight against HIV. And in 2011, researchers from Stanford University published striking evidence that the global gag rule had, perversely, increased abortion rates. All the failures, bureaucratic nightmares and -- yes -- increases in abortion rates will now follow the gag rule reinstatement. Laurie Garrett is a senior fellow for global health at the Council on Foreign Relations and a Pulitzer Prize-winning writer. We have been here twice before -- under Presidents Ronald Reagan and George W. Bush -- and we know that this order often backfires, leading to increased abortion rates.

China has reported over 225 human cases since September, an unusually high number. PhotoAfter a spate of deaths from bird flu among patients in China, the World Health Organization has warned all countries to watch for outbreaks in poultry flocks and to promptly report any human cases. Several strains of avian flu are spreading in Europe and Asia this winter, but the most worrisome at present is an H7N9 strain that has circulated in China every winter since 2013. ?All countries must detect and report human cases promptly,? she said. The nation?s Lunar New Year vacation starts soon, and as it does, live poultry shipments increase, and holiday travelers often spread the flu.

Media caption Could US overseas abortion funding ban lead to more deaths in Africa? Donald Trump`s pro-abortion funding ban has infuriated many global health organisations as they say it will unintentionally lead to more abortions and more deaths in Africa. The policy blocks US funding to overseas organisations that "support or participate in the management of a programme of coercive abortion or involuntary sterilisation". Abortion on demand can only be offered in four out of 54 African countries, according to the UN`s World Abortion Policies report. Known as the "Mexico City Policy", or global gag rule by critics, it was no surprise that he reinstated it.

The New South Wales health minister, Jillian Skinner, has announced her retirement from politics. The week after Mike Baird?s surprise resignation as premier Skinner said she was leaving the parliament as well, forcing a byelection in the North Shore electorate. She also faced pressure over mistakes in the cremation of babies? bodies at Royal North Shore hospital. She was minister for health for almost six years after spending 14 years in total in the shadow role. Gladys Berejiklian: six pressing matters facing the new NSW premier Read more?Most importantly, I have always believed in putting the patient first in everything we do,? she said.