Day: August 2, 2021

Nigeria has been hit by a surge in cholera cases in recent weeks, focused on the country’s north and adding to a public health crisis accompanied by a rise in COVID-19 cases.

“In the last two weeks we had new and resurgence cases,” Dr. Bashir Lawan Muhammad, the state epidemiologist and deputy director of public health for northern economic hub Kano State, told Reuters.

He said the rainy season was making it worse, while insecurity in the north, where the authorities have been battling Islamist militants and armed criminals, was also hindering the authorities’ ability to respond.

Twenty-two of Nigeria’s 36 states, as well as the federal capital territory Abuja, have suspected cases of cholera, according to the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control, (NCDC). The illness, which is caused by contaminated water, can kill within hours if not treated.

The surge has been focused in the north of the country, where health systems are least prepared.

At least 186 people had died in Kano of cholera since March, Muhammad said. The state accounts for the biggest share of the 653 cholera deaths recorded in the country as a whole by the NCDC. Nearby northern states Bauchi and Jigawa are also among the hardest hit, according to the NCDC.

Lagos-based consultancy SBM Intelligence said the states with the most fatalities showed a strong correlation with those that performed poorly in its health preparedness index published in May.

The cholera surge comes as daily COVID-19 cases hit their highest since March, raising fear of a third wave of the pandemic in Africa’s most populous nation.

 

 

 

Source: Voice of America

The Biden administration is in the process of delivering 25 million vaccine doses to African countries in a massive effort to help African nations beat the COVID-19 pandemic. VOA’s Hayde Adams, the host of “Straight Talk Africa,” spoke with Akunna Cook, the U.S. deputy assistant Secretary of State for African Affairs, about how the effort is going. The interview was edited for brevity and clarity.

VOA: These are difficult times all over the world In Africa, only about 1% of the continent’s population is fully vaccinated. Please tell us more about what the United States is doing to get much needed vaccines to African countries and where those doses are going first.

COOK: It’s a pleasure to be with you, particularly talking about this topic of ending the COVID-19 pandemic, which is a top priority of the Biden-Harris administration. The president has been very clear that we have to approach, vaccine, vaccine contributions around the world with the same urgency that we have here in the United States, and so we are working tirelessly to get out this first tranche of 25 million doses to Africa. We have already, in the past two weeks or so, donated the first five million doses into 16 African countries. Burkina Faso and Djibouti were among the first.

But there’s many more coming… We will be delivering the largest sum of doses to any country, to South Africa at, 5.6 million doses, and then to Nigeria at just over four million doses coming up.

And so this is just the beginning. This are the initial tranche. We remain the largest contributor to (global vaccine distribution scheme) COVAX and are committed to getting vaccines out as quickly as possible because we know that we cannot end this pandemic anywhere until we’ve ended it everywhere.

VOA: The World Health Organization says Africa needs about 200 million doses to vaccinate 10% of its population by September this year. Is the United States prepared to do more? Is this a once off donation?

COOK: So our vaccine contributions are, what, multitiered and multilayered, right? So these initial this initial tranche of 25 million, it’s the first step. But we are also doing other things including supporting vaccine manufacturing on the continent. And so we have invested in vaccine manufacturing in South Africa and in Senegal to ensure that Africa can then produce its own vaccines moving forward. We are also providing economic assistance to countries that have been impacted by COVID-19 with over $541 million in assistance to respond to the economic aftereffects of the pandemic. And so this is just the beginning. This is an initial tranche of our assistance. And I’m sure that we will see more rolling out over, over the next couple of months.

 

VOA: Something we are seeing in the United States and something that is very prevalent across the African continent is misinformation around vaccines. There is a lack of trust as people feel that in the past, Africans, have been used as guinea pigs for scientific experiments, and of course there was an element of that here in the United States as well. What is your message to people in Africa about taking a vaccine coming from the West? How can they feel safe to trust the vaccines?

COOK: Well, you know what I will say is we absolutely acknowledge that there have been past reasons for there to be distrust here in the United States and around the world. But it is absolutely the case that these vaccines are safe and they are effective. And we are working to disseminate best practices, including working with trusted messengers to get the word out that these vaccines are safe and they are effective, and that is absolutely critical that populations around the world including here in the United States, avail themselves of these vaccines so that we can end this pandemic once and for all.

 

 

 

Source: Voice of America

Authorities in Unity state say at least seven people are reported dead after floods submerged several homes in Mayendit County in recent days. The floods have also displaced about 400 families, officials say.

Mayendit County Commissioner Gatluak Nyang told VOA’s South Sudan in Focus that heavy rains had intensified over the past few weeks.

Seven people died of drowning, and 17 people have been bitten by snakes, Nyang said.

The floods destroyed infrastructure, houses and the livelihoods of hundreds of people. Nearly 90% of the land in Mayendit is submerged, Nyang said.

Nearly 400 families fled to higher ground for safety, and more than 500 head of cattle and 300 goats died in the flooding, he said.

“People are facing very, very bad situation in health,” Nyang said. “There are many diseases … because the hygiene is very poor. They have lack of shelter, and there is lack of mosquito nets, and people have malaria.”

Nyang urged aid agencies and the national government to provide food, shelter and medicine to prevent waterborne diseases from spreading.

John Juan Bum, executive director of the Relief and Rehabilitation Commission in Unity state, has issued a plea for help.

“We have submitted the comprehensive emergency and disaster report this morning to UNCHR as well as the NGO (nongovernmental organization) forum so that they share it with all the partners on (the) ground, such as to respond or at least initiate a rapid response,” Bum told South Sudan in Focus.

Kai Yer, a United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) coordinator in Unity state, said he had yet to receive full reports on the extent of the damage.

“We have not got the details,” Yer said.

Torrential rains across South Sudan have repeatedly devastated several parts of the country, including Jonglei and Lakes states and parts of Central and Western Equatoria states.

Between July and September 2020, about 800,000 people were affected by flooding in areas along the White Nile River, forcing entire communities to flee to higher ground, according to the South Sudan government and aid agencies.

 

Source: Voice of America