May 23, 2013

USAID Administrator Raj Shah unveiled the agencies first ever water and development strategy.

Civil society groups are expressing excitement over the scope and strength of the new strategy, dubbing it a “major advance.”

But many are also calling on lawmakers to ensure that, during the coming implementation phase, US aid is targeted primarily at the poorest communities in developing and middle-income countries.

“Achieving water security for regions, nations, and individuals is one of the greatest development challenges confronting the world today,” the new Water and Development Strategy, released on Tuesday by USAID, the country’s main foreign aid arm, states.

“By its nature, as a basic and essential resource, water considerations cut across nearly every aspect of USAID programming.”

Yet because of this cross-cutting nature, the new document covers both the human and agricultural uses of water, the new strategy was a very long time coming, requiring input and agreement from a vast number of government agencies and stakeholders.

“It is kind of astounding that this is the US government’s first such strategy, though it is something that many groups have long been advocating for,” Alanna Imbach, media officer with WaterAid America, a global advocacy and implementing group, told IPS.

“For many years in development work, water, sanitation and hygiene have been a bit forgotten. Instead, significant focus has been placed on education, maternal health and nutrition, overlooking the fact that water and sanitation are foundational building blocks for all of those other elements. So it’s now urgent that we get this right first and then the others will fall into place.”

Indeed, the ongoing impact of these issues remains incredibly wide. In developing countries, some 5,000 children are estimated to die every day from water-borne diseases, overwhelmingly from diarrhea due to bad drinking water, poor sanitation and inadequate hygiene.

Every year, around 2.5 billion such cases are recorded among young children alone, and the knock-on effects are vast.

“We know that every dollar we invest in clean water and basic sanitation yields eight dollars in benefits,” Dick Durbin, a US senator who has championed related legislation, said on Tuesday at the public unveiling of the new strategy. “People are healthier, kids stay in school, food is safer, AIDS drugs and other critical health treatments are able to work.”

In fact, international recognition of this centrality has led to some initial global success: the Millennium Development Goal to halve the proportion of those without access to clean drinking water was met in 2010, five years early.

Yet another MDG to similarly cut the number of those without access to basic sanitation remains outstanding, and the United Nations says the world will not likely achieve this goal by 2015.

According to USAID, some 40 percent of the world continues to use unsafe toilets, when they have toilets at all.

Advocates say it is critical that the new USAID strategy will attempt simultaneously to tackle both water and sanitation-related issues.

Setting out a plan for the next five years, the aim is to provide at least 10 million people with “sustainable access” to an improved water supply and six million people with access to improved sanitation during that period.

Notably, the plan puts into action new USAID guidance to emphasize local ownership and sustainability of US-funded aid projects, while offering greatly expanded flexibility on how that funding is to be used.

“What’s great about this strategy is that it opens up space for creative programming in water development,” Ned Breslin, chief of Water For People, a humanitarian group, told IPS.”It’s a huge step forward.”

May 22, 2013

A new UN report finds that AIDS-related deaths are declining in Africa and the number of people receiving AIDS treatment is going up. From VOA:

The report from the Joint United Nations Program on HIV/AIDS says the number of people in Africa who receive anti-retroviral drugs increased from less than 1 million in 2005 to more than 7 million last year.

It says AIDS-related deaths fell by nearly a third during that same period, and that new HIV infections are also falling.

Many African countries have taken steps over the past decade to ensure that at least some of their HIV patients have access to treatment.

The report, released Tuesday, notes that Africa continues to be affected by HIV more than any other region in the world. It says the continent accounts for nearly 70 percent of people living with the virus worldwide.

It also notes that in 2011, there were still 1.8 million new HIV infections in Africa, and 1.2 million people died of AIDS-related illnesses.

May 21, 2013

A new study from the Guttmacher Institute finds that modern contraceptives are lagging in developing countries. From VOA:

Guttmacher says between 2003 and 2012 the number of women wanting to avoid pregnancy – and in need of modern contraception – rose from 716 million to 867 million. The sharpest increase was seen, it says, in the 69 poorest countries “where modern method use was already very low.”

Senior fellow Jacqueline Darroch co-authored the study with Susheela Singh and published their findings in a special edition of The Lancet medical journal. Darroch said that the figures are based on household surveys.

“The Guttmacher Institute for a long time has focused on issues of reproductive health and especially the high rates of unplanned child bearing and unplanned pregnancies across the world – the United States, as well as other countries. And part of the answer to both why we have such high rates of unintended pregnancy – and part of the solution – has to do with contraceptive use.”

She said between 2003 and 2012, overall modern contraceptive use in the developing world increased from 71 to 74 percent among women wanting to avoid pregnancy.

“Methods ranging from condoms to pills, implants, injections, IUD’s, sterilization,” Darroch said.

However, rates can vary across sub-regions. For example, Eastern Africa rose from 31 to 46 percent; Southern Africa from 75 to 83 percent; Southeast Asia increased from 64 to 72 percent; and South America from 73 to 79 percent.

However, there was virtually no increase reported in mid and western African countries. Darroch said that has consequences.

“Couples are having children more than they want to. They are having what we call unintended births – births, that they tells us in surveys, that they either wanted later or they didn’t want to have at all. So there’s difficulty controlling fertility.”

Some couples, she said, are turning to induced abortions in unsafe conditions that can lead to maiming or death.

“The timing and the number of children and how you control that affects women’s health by preventing pregnancies when they’re most risky – when women are very young or older – by preventing the deaths and disability from pregnancy itself, as well as for newborns. In today’s societies, smaller families tend to do better off economically in terms of the resources that families are able to use for their children.”

May 20, 2013

More than 20 boys in South Africa have died during coming-of-age rituals in the past week. Police say botched circumcisions are the probable cause. From Reuters:

More than 20 South African boys have died over the past week during coming of age rituals, police said on Thursday, and they blamed botched circumcisions as the likely cause of death.

Northern Mpumalanga province’s police department has opened 22 murder cases but no arrests have been made so far, spokesman Colonel Leonard Hlathi said.

Every year in South Africa, boys aged 10 to 15 years from several of the country’s tribal groups are circumcised in traditional “initiation rituals”. The ceremonies usually take place over a number of weeks in remote rural areas.

Deaths are often caused by blood loss or infection when circumcisions are poorly performed by traditional practitioners.

Minister in the Presidency Collins Chabane this week called the recent deaths “regrettable”.

“This has happened to young people who were still at their prime, looking forward to a brighter future where they could still reach their potential,” he said in a statement.

May 17, 2013

An estimated 14,000 villagers from 20 communities in Niger participated in a public vow to end Female Genital Mutilation and forced underage marriage. From Reuters:

Though Niger outlawed the practice in 2003, FGM and other violent treatment of young women remain prevalent among some ethnic groups in the impoverished Sahel nation, which ranks bottom of the United Nations’ world development index.

At a ceremony in Makalondi, about 85 km (53 miles) west of the capital Niamey, villagers threw scissors, knives and blades into a pit in the village square which was then filled in.

Participants in the ceremony, sponsored by Niger’s government and non-governmental groups including U.N. child agency UNICEF, also vowed to end forced early marriages and the removal of young girls from schools.

About 38 percent of girls in Niger are married off before the age of 15, according to official statistics.

Niger’s minister for population, women and child protection, said the government was determined to end such practices.

“The government is aware of its responsibilities,” Maikibi Kadidiatou Dan Dobi said during the ceremony on Wednesday.

FGM is the partial or total removal of external female genitalia and leads to physical and psychological problems including painful sex and childbirth, infections, infertility and incontinence.

It is done for religious and cultural reasons and is prevalent in 28 African nations and parts of the Middle East and Asia, notably Yemen, Iraqi Kurdistan and Indonesia.

The United Nations General Assembly adopted a resolution in December urging countries to ban the practice, calling it an “irreparable, irreversible abuse” that threatens about three million girls annually.

The World Health Organization estimates 140 million girls and women have undergone FGM.

In Niger, the practice is still common among certain ethnic groups such as the Gourmantche where about 65 percent of girls have undergone FGM. The rate is around 13 percent among the Peuls and about 3 percent among Nigerien Arab girls.

May 16, 2013

Phase III trials of the Rotavac Rotavirus Vaccine show that it has the potential to save thousands of lives, say scientists. From the BBC:

Rotavirus causes dehydration and severe diarrhoea and spreads through contaminated hands and surfaces and is rampant in Asia and Africa.

India says clinical trials show the new vaccine, Rotavac, can save the lives of thousands of children annually.

An Indian manufacturer said the vaccine would cost 54 rupees ($1; £0.65).

International pharmaceutical companies GlaxoSmithKline and Merck produce similar vaccines but each dose costs around 1,000 rupees.

“This is an important scientific breakthrough against rotavirus infections, the most severe and lethal cause of childhood diarrhoea, responsible for approximately 100,000 deaths of small children in India each year,” India’s Department of Biotechnology official K Vijay Raghavan said.

“The clinical results indicate that the vaccine, if licensed, could save the lives of thousands of children each year in India,” he added.

Rotavac will be made by Hyderabad-based Bharat Biotech. The company said it could mass-produce tens of millions of doses after clearance is given, expected in eight or nine months.

May 15, 2013

The cyclone already hit Sri Lanka where at least seven people died. It is predicted to hit Myanmar and Bangladesh soon. From Reuters:

Cyclone Mahasen, which brought heavy rains and landslides to Sri Lanka, was expected to hit Bangladesh and Myanmar later this week.

“Seven people have died and 10 people have got injured. There are 7,399 people from 1,947 families affected,” Lal Sarath Kumara, the spokesman at Sri Lanka’s Disaster Management Center, told Reuters.

The Center said 3,881 people had been displaced due to the cyclone. Three people were missing due to heavy rains and landslides.

Officials at Sri Lanka’s Department of Meteorology have said the center of Cyclone Mahasen is located 900 km off the island nation’s eastern coastal town of Pottuvil.

On Tuesday, a boat carrying about 100 Rohingya Muslims capsized off western Myanmar and many were feared drowned at the beginning of a mass evacuation from low-lying regions ahead of a powerful storm.

The tropical depression threatens areas of Myanmar where about 140,000 victims of ethnic and religious unrest are living in camps. The United Nations warned last week there could be a humanitarian catastrophe if people were not evacuated.

May 14, 2013

The Taliban issued a statement on Monday in support of polio vaccine efforts. From the Telegraph:

Afghanistan, Pakistan and Nigeria are the three remaining countries in the world where polio remains a serious threat, but efforts to eradicate the disease have been sabotaged by the Taliban and other Islamic militants who have assassinated immunisation volunteers in all three countries.

(snip)

But in a sudden U-turn the Taliban leadership issued a statement offering its support for polio eradication campaigns as long as foreigners were not involved and that all volunteers respected local Islamic culture.

“According to the latest international medicine science, the polio disease can only be cured by preventive measures ie the anti-polio drops and the vaccination of children against this disease.

“The Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan supports and lends a hand to all those programs which works for the health care of the helpless people of our country,” said a stament issued by the ‘Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan’.

But it warned the World Health Organisation and Unicef to employ only “unbiased people” in a campaign “harmonised with the regional conditions, Islamic values and local cultural traditions.”

It also ordered its fighters to give polio workers “all necessary support”.

Mohammad Younas Fakor, an independent political analyst, said the move was aimed at boosting its popularity among Afghans as the withdrawal of foreign troops draws closer.

“I think the Taliban looks towards 2014, and they know that they will not have any other option rather than coming to the political process,” he said.

Meanwhile, 13 civilians were killed in a bomb attack on mourners on their way to the funeral of two other victims of terrorism in Kandahar, southern Afghanistan today.

May 13, 2013

A second person in France is confirmed to have the novel coronavirus and the WHO says it believes it is passed from close person to person contact. From the BBC:

Two more people in Saudi Arabia are also reported to have died from the virus, according to health officials.

NCoV is known to cause pneumonia and sometimes kidney failure.

World Health Organization (WHO) officials have expressed concern over the clusters of cases of the new coronavirus strain and the potential for it to spread.

Since 2012, there have been 33 confirmed cases across Europe and the Middle East, with 18 deaths, according to a recent WHO update.

Cases have been detected in Saudi Arabia and Jordan and have spread to Germany, the UK and France.

“Of most concern… is the fact that the different clusters seen in multiple countries increasingly support the hypothesis that when there is close contact this novel coronavirus can transmit from person to person,” the World Health Organization said on Sunday.

“This pattern of person-to-person transmission has remained limited to some small clusters and so far, there is no evidence to suggest the virus has the capacity to sustain generalised transmission in communities,” the statement adds.

France’s second confirmed case was a 50-year-old man who had shared a hospital room in Valenciennes, northern France, with a 65-year-old who fell ill with the virus after returning from Dubai.

“Positive results [for the virus] have been confirmed for both patients,” the French health ministry said, adding that both men were being treated in isolation wards.

Meanwhile, the Saudi deputy minister of health said on Sunday that two more people had died from the coronavirus, bringing the number of fatalities to nine in the most recent outbreak in al-Ahsa governorate in the east of Saudi Arabia, Reuters news agency reports.