Category: Medical

In Malawi, a survey by the Ministry of Health to help ascertain the efficacy of AstraZeneca vaccine has shown its effectiveness in fighting the coronavirus. The survey was based on current hospital admissions of COVID-19 patients across the country.

The preliminary results of the findings released Saturday were based on COVID-19 admissions between June 26 and July 8 of this year.

These results show that over 80% of 227 COVID-19 patients admitted during the period were those not vaccinated.

And those who have only had one AstraZeneca jab were 12% while those fully vaccinated only accounted for 4%.

The secretary of the Ministry of Health, Dr. Charles Mwansambo, says it’s still too early to measure the effectiveness of the AstraZeneca vaccine based on these findings.

“We are still vaccinating more and presently our vaccination status is still low. But what we have found out so far is that the majority of those that are coming in those that are not vaccinated,” he said.

However, he says the findings would help end fears and doubts some Malawians had over the vaccine, which prevented them from getting vaccinated.

Malawi has currently vaccinated about 400,000 people of the 11 million needed to reach herd immunity.

“So we encourage more people to come for vaccination because obviously this is strongly putting a case for vaccination. So I encourage citizens to make sure that they come for vaccination,” said Mwansambo.

In May, Malawi destroyed about 20,000 doses of AstraZeneca vaccine which had expired.

The incineration was largely because many Malawians were reluctant to be vaccinated over concerns on the vaccine’s safety and efficacy.

Lydia Kamwana, a baker in Blantyre, said the survey is a wake-up call to her.

“I haven’t been vaccinated,” she said. “I really wanted to go for the jab but then I was so scared. And when I saw those findings, the results are making sense and I am convinced I will get the jab once the vaccine is in stock.”

Maziko Matemba is the national community ambassador for health in Malawi. He welcomes the survey findings but he says the government is now responsible to ensure it has enough vaccine for its people.

“As you know, this is one or less than one percent of the population which has been vaccinated. So the bigger population is not well vaccinated,” he said.

However, Mwansambo said Malawi is expected to receive a donation of 192,000 doses of AstraZeneca vaccines Thursday to restock its vaccination centers, which ran out of vaccine mid-June.

Source: Voice of America

BLANTRYE, MALAWI – The World Health Organization and the U.S. Centers for Disease Control have designated Malawi a COVID-19 high risk country, and they are warning people against traveling to the southern African nation. The warning follows a surge in COVID-19 cases in a third wave of the pandemic.

Malawi is facing an unprecedented rise in COVID-19 cases in its third wave of the coronavirus pandemic, with an infection rate of 22%. That’s up from about 2 percent in May.

Statistics from the Ministry of Health released Friday show that for the previous 24 hours, Malawi confirmed 451 new COVID-19 cases and seven deaths.

In Its travel notice this week, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention advised people to avoid traveling to Malawi.

It says if travel is necessary, individuals must make sure they are fully vaccinated before making the trip.

The CDC also says in the current situation in Malawi, even fully vaccinated travelers may be at risk of getting and spreading COVID-19 variants.

The World Health Organization has added Malawi to a list of African countries that expose people to a high risk of COVID-19 infection.

Malawi Facing COVID Vaccine Shortage after Burning Expired Doses

The shortage comes just weeks after Malawi destroyed about 20,000 doses that expired, partly due to vaccine hesitancy

George Jobe is the executive director of the Health Equity Network. He says although the CDC’s travel notice was not expected, it hasn’t come as a surprise, considering the recent surge in COVID-19 cases.

“Therefore, declaration should be an eye-opener for Malawians to be very strict, observing the regulations that we have, and also for Malawi to enforce compliance of the regulations,” said Jobe. “That is what we need, especially that only 1 percent of Malawians have been vaccinated. Therefore, we are still prone to serious infections”

Malawi Health Minister Khumbize Kandodo Chiponda told a local radio station the announcement is not surprising and said it would affect the country’s tourism sector.

Economists say although the travel notice is logical, they nonetheless worry it will have a negative impact on the country, which depends greatly on international trade.

Betchani Tchereni is a professor of economics at the Malawi University of Business and Applied Sciences.

“If travel restrictions are being placed against us, we are going to face problems with having people to be attracted to come to Malawi for tourism purposes,” said Tchereni. “The second thing is, we want to attract the best investors from elsewhere, but if people cannot come here because they feel there is high risk of COVID-19, or indeed because they have been advised so, then you have problem. Remember, we are busy creating jobs in this country.”

To curb the pandemic, the Malawi government has reintroduced strict COVID-19 preventive measures. Restrictions include a ban on political rallies, no fans at stadiums for football games, no gatherings of more than 50 people, and a curfew from 10 p.m. to 6 a.m.

But Tchereni said Malawi has never been serious about enforcing the measures.

“Look, we have never been as very serious in Malawi. We have always said people should not gather, but have you been to markets? People are gathering in markets. People are gathering in schools, are everywhere people are doing so many things,” said Tchereni. “Yes, it is because of the nature of our economy, but you see what, we are going to lose lives and that is not good for the economy.”

The government says it has engaged the police and the military to help enforce the measures.

For example, police officers say that on Friday alone, they arrested about 40 people in a crackdown on those ignoring COVID-19 preventive measures.

Source: Voice of America

President of the Supreme Council for Health (SCH), Lieutenant-General Dr. Shaikh Mohammed bin Abdulla Al Khalifa, today received the Chief Executive Officer of Government Hospitals, Dr. Ahmed Mohammed Al-Ansari, and Chief Executive Officer of Primary Health Care Centres, Dr. Jalila Al-Sayed Jawad, and renewed congratulations to them on the trust bestowed upon them by His Majesty King Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa, and His Royal Highness Prince Salman bin Hamad Al Khalifa, the Crown Prince and Prime Minister, wishing them further success.

He expressed hope that their appointment to their posts would contribute to bringing about more gains to the health sector, and continuing the implementation of modern plans and strategies aimed at delivering integrated health services in the kingdom.

The SCH President reviewed with the two CEOs the national health strategy, as well as the latest development projects and initiatives aimed at improving the quality of health services and consolidating their sustainability.

He also commended the efforts being exerted by all the affiliates of the health sector to serve the kingdom.

He also discussed with them the progress of the National Health Insurance Scheme (Sehati) aiming to build a distinguished health system based on quality, choice and sustainability in delivering health services.

Dr. Ahmed Mohammed Al-Ansari, and Dr. Jalila Al-Sayed Jawad extended deepest thanks and gratitude to HM the King and HRH Crown Prince and Prime Minister for their precious trust bestowed upon them.

They also paid tribute to the SCH for his constant support and sound directives, affirming their keenness to double their efforts in order to further develop the health services system in the kingdom.

Source: Bahrain News Agency

Anti-poverty organization Oxfam said Thursday that 11 people die of hunger each minute and that the number facing faminelike conditions around the globe has increased six times over the last year.

In a report titled The Hunger Virus Multiplies, Oxfam said that the death toll from famine outpaces that of COVID-19, which kills around seven people per minute.

“The statistics are staggering, but we must remember that these figures are made up of individual people facing unimaginable suffering. Even one person is too many,” said Oxfam America’s president and CEO, Abby Maxman.

The humanitarian group also said that 155 million people around the world are now living in crisis levels of food insecurity or worse — some 20 million more than last year. Around two-thirds of them face hunger because their country is in military conflict.

“Today, unrelenting conflict on top of the COVID-19 economic fallout, and a worsening climate crisis, has pushed more than 520,000 people to the brink of starvation,” Maxman said. “Instead of battling the pandemic, warring parties fought each other, too often landing the last blow to millions already battered by weather disasters and economic shocks.”

Despite the pandemic, Oxfam said that global military spending increased by $51 billion during the pandemic — an amount that exceeds by at least six times what the U.N. needs to stop hunger.

The report listed a number of countries as “the worst hunger hotspots,” including Afghanistan, Ethiopia, South Sudan, Syria and Yemen — all embroiled in conflict.

“Starvation continues to be used as a weapon of war, depriving civilians of food and water and impeding humanitarian relief. People can’t live safely or find food when their markets are being bombed and crops and livestock are destroyed,” Maxman said.

The organization urged governments to stop conflicts from continuing to spawn “catastrophic hunger” and to ensure that relief agencies could operate in conflict zones and reach those in need. It also called on donor countries to “immediately and fully” fund the U.N.’s efforts to alleviate hunger.

“We work together with more than 694 partners across 68 countries. Oxfam aims to reach millions of people over the coming months and is urgently seeking funding to support its programs across the world,” the report’s press release said.

Meanwhile, global warming and the economic repercussions of the pandemic have caused a 40% increase in global food prices, the highest in over a decade. This surge has contributed significantly to pushing tens of millions more people into hunger, said the report.

Source: Voice of America

The attack in Burkina Faso last month that killed 160 civilians was in retaliation for activity by pro-government civilian militias in the area, according to Human Rights Watch.

In the daytime, Daouda Diallo is a scientist. By night, he is one of Burkina Faso’s most prominent human rights campaigners.

He runs the Collective Against Impunity and Stigmatization of Communities, a campaigning group set up in the wake of the Yirgou massacre, an attack that saw around 200 people killed, mostly from the Fulani ethnic group, in early 2019.

In Burkina Faso’s conflict with the Islamic State group and al-Qaida, the number of civilians killed by security forces has often come close to the numbers killed by the terror groups.

Diallo has been deeply affected by this.

“I’m a very sensitive person — I like to help the widow and the orphan, the vulnerable. … I’ve devoted my time to this, but it’s not an easy job, and I go unpaid. I do it for humanitarian reasons,” Diallo told VOA.

Diallo also points out that one of the government’s most controversial policies is a law that allows preexisting civilian militias, known as koglweogos, to be armed and trained by the government.

The new force is called the Volunteers for the Defense of the Homeland, or VDPs.

When the law was created in 2020, Human Rights Watch said arming poorly trained civilians could lead to abuses.

So far, at least 95 people have been killed in 38 incidents of violence against civilians by VDPs, according to data from the Armed Conflict Location and Event Data Project.

A man, whose full name has been withheld to protect his safety, says he watched as VDPs killed two of his neighbors after accusing them of being terrorists.

“…Issa was sick and decided to go to the market. The VDPs shot at him there. Issa ran to his house, where they killed him. Bad things happen. That’s why I had to run away. The militias are chasing you; the terrorists are chasing you.”

Burkina Faso’s Ministry of Defense did not respond to VOA’s interview request about the incident.

One VDP leader, who asked to not be named, said most VDPs simply want to defend their homeland, many having had terrifying encounters with terrorists themselves.

“The terrorists came and burned my house. They were looking for me, but fortunately I was not around. They also killed some of my neighbors and burned their houses as well. It’s because of that I really felt I had to join the VDPs,” he said.

A leader of the ruling MPP party admits it’s possible VDPs commit abuses — but says they are necessary.

“Within the framework of the fight against terrorism, we are obliged to face the fact that the VDPs make a very big contribution,” said Lassane Sawadogo, MPP Party Executive Secretary.

As widespread protests against insecurity in Burkina Faso have swept the country in recent weeks, President Roch Marc Christian Kabore said he will reform the VDPs as one way of improving security.

Diallo says the government should take corrective action quickly. However, the government has yet to say what its actions will be.

Source: Voice of America

Gunmen kidnapped up to eight people, including the one-year-old child of a nurse, from a hospital’s staff residential quarters in northwest Nigeria, while assailants simultaneously attacked a nearby police station, police and hospital officials said.

Kaduna state has been hit by a wave of kidnappings for ransom by armed men. Zaria, where the National Tuberculosis and Leprosy Centre hospital is located, has been particularly hard hit, and the attack was the third on the hospital.

The attack in the early morning hours of Sunday lasted for roughly an hour, hospital spokesperson Maryam Abdulrazaq told Reuters.

She said six people had been abducted: two nurses, one with her one-year-old child, a laboratory technician, a security guard and one other staff member. Police gave the number of hostages as eight.

“So far, [there was] no ransom demand,” Abdulrazaq said. “We have not heard from the bandits since they took them away.”

In a separate statement, Kaduna police spokesman Muhammed Jalige said that a “large number” of armed men from the same group attacked the divisional police headquarters at roughly the same time “in an attempt to overrun the officers on duty.”

Jalige said police repelled the attack after a heavy exchange of gunfire, injuring some of the attackers. Police recovered dozens of shell casings from rifles and machine guns.

He said officers from tactical, anti-kidnapping and other units were working to rescue those kidnapped from the hospital.

Kidnappings for ransom have become endemic in northern Nigeria. More than 800 students have been abducted since December, at least 150 of whom remain missing.

Source: Voice of America