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Malawi Launches Africa’s First Children’s Malaria Vaccine

Malawi and the World Health Organization are rolling out a new malaria vaccine for young children that backers say will reduce deaths from the mosquito-borne disease.

The RTSS vaccine was pilot tested on more than one million children in Ghana, Kenya and Malawi and recommended a year ago by the WHO. Despite a low effectiveness rate of 30%, the vaccine has raised hopes that some of the more than 400,000 people who die annually from malaria can be saved.

Malaria remains a huge public health problem in Malawi, with about one third of its 20 million people getting infected each year.

According to the ministry of health, the disease kills five Malawians every day, most of them children under the age of five or pregnant women who were not presented early enough for care.

The health ministry says the first phase of the vaccination campaign will target 330,000 children, who were not reached during vaccine trials.

The vaccine, sold by GlaxoSmithKline as Mosquirix, is meant for children under the age of five and requires four doses.

“Malaria is major problem in children. They are the ones at highest risk of dying,” said Dr. Charles Mwansambo, Malawi’s secretary for health. “That’s why even when we were doing the earlier studies, we found that once we get maximum benefit, we should target this age group. The main reason is that they are the ones that are most likely to die from malaria.”

Last year, the government launched a nationwide anti-malaria initiative known as Zero Malaria Starts with Me, aimed at eliminating the disease by 2030.

Mwansambo said the vaccine is a key part of that initiative.

“It actually prevents about 33 percent of deaths. Meaning that if you add the 33 to those that we can prevent using insecticide treated nets, if will also add on those [we can] prevent by indoor residual spraying, it [can] add up to something significant that will end up eliminating malaria,” he said.

However, the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, backers of the vaccine, have raised concerns about whether the vaccine is worth the cost.

In July, the Associated Press quoted Philip Welkhoff, director of malaria programs for the Gates Foundation, as saying the foundation will no longer offer direct financial support for the vaccine, although it will fund an alliance backing the vaccine.

He said Mosquirix has much lower efficacy than the foundation would like and that the vaccine is relatively expensive and logistically challenging to deliver.

Dr. Neema Kimambo, a WHO representative in Malawi, said the malaria vaccine itself is not a silver bullet but part of a combination of all interventions to fight the disease.

“Where it [vaccination] was done, we have seen how it has reduced under-five deaths and we believe that as we expand now, we are definitely to save more lives of children under five,” she said.

Maziko Matemba, a health activist and community health ambassador in Malawi, said he hopes the malaria vaccine efficacy will improve as time goes by.

“I have an example with COVID-19. When we had AstraZeneca, the efficacy when it started — as you know it was also a new vaccine — it was less that certain percentage and people said no it was less than this. But over time, we found that the efficacy has gone up,” Matemba said. “So we are monitoring the launch of this new vaccine with keen interest.

“I know that other partners are saying the worthiness of investment is not worth it, but looking at the way we are coming from, Malawi in particular, this could be one of the tools to prevent malaria.”

Besides WHO, other partners supporting Malawi in the fight against malaria include USAID, UNICEF, the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria and a global health nonprofit organization, PATH.

 

 

Source: Voice of America

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Report: Authoritarianism on the Rise as Democracy Weakens

Democracy is being degraded around the world because people are losing faith in the legitimacy of elections and see freedom of expression being stymied, among a range of other problems, according to a global body founded to promote democracy worldwide.

The 34 member-country International Institute for Democracy and Electoral Assistance, or International IDEA, said in a report that the decline in democratic rule is being fueled by efforts to undermine credible election results, widespread disillusionment among youth over political parties and their out-of-touch leaders as well as the rise of right-wing extremism that has polarized politics.

The Stockholm-based organization said in its annual Global Report on the State of the Democracy that the number of countries moving toward authoritarianism is more than double those moving toward democracy and that authoritarian regimes worldwide have deepened their repression, with 2021 being the worst year on record.

Authoritarianism is gaining in countries like Afghanistan, Belarus, Cambodia, the Indian Ocean island nation of Comoros and Nicaragua.

The 64-page report that measures democratic performance in 173 nations, concluded that progress within democratically-run countries has stalled over the last five years.

International IDEA Secretary-General Kevin Casas-Zamora said its essential for democracies to now push back against a “toxic mix” of crises ranging from the skyrocketing cost of living to fears over nuclear war climate change that are confronting them.

“Never has there been such an urgency for democracies to respond, to show their citizens that they can forge new, innovative social contracts that bind people together rather than divide them.” he added.

In Europe, democratic rule in 17 countries has eroded over the last five years, affecting 46% of the high-performing democracies, the organization said.

In Asia and the Pacific, democracy is receding while authoritarianism solidifies. Although over half of the region’s population lives in democracies, almost 85% of that number lives in countries were democracy is weak or backsliding. Even democracies such as Australia, Japan and Taiwan are suffering democratic erosion.

The report also noted that three out of seven backsliding democracies are in the Americas, pointing to weakening institutions even in longstanding democracies. A third of democracies in that region have experienced declines including Bolivia, Brazil, El Salvador and Guatemala.

In the United States, threats to democracy persist following the presidency of Donald Trump, illustrated by Congress’s political paralysis and the rolling back of long-established rights.

“The world is at a critical crossroads,” International DEA said, adding that efforts are underway to revive democratic rule through “appropriate and corresponding mechanisms.” Those include reforming existing democratic institutions and rethinking the ‘social contract’ between citizens and government in a way that responds to new and evolving public needs and demands.

 

Source: Voice of America

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WHO recommends new name ‘MPOX’ for monkeypox disease

GENEVA— Following a series of consultations with global experts, WHO will begin using a new preferred term “mpox” as a synonym for monkeypox. Both names will be used simultaneously for one year while “monkeypox” is phased out.

 

When the outbreak of monkeypox expanded earlier this year, racist and stigmatizing language online, in other settings and in some communities was observed and reported to WHO. In several meetings, public and private, a number of individuals and countries raised concerns and asked WHO to propose a way forward to change the name.

 

Assigning names to new and, very exceptionally, to existing diseases is the responsibility of WHO under the International Classification of Diseases (ICD) and the WHO Family of International Health Related Classifications through a consultative process which includes WHO Member States.

 

WHO, in accordance with the ICD update process, held consultations to gather views from a range of experts, as well as countries and the general public, who were invited to submit suggestions for new names. Based on these consultations, and further discussions with WHO’s Director-General Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, WHO recommends the following:

 

Adoption of the new synonym mpox in English for the disease.

Mpox will become a preferred term, replacing monkeypox, after a transition period of one year.

This serves to mitigate the concerns raised by experts about confusion caused by a name change in the midst of a global outbreak. It also gives time to complete the ICD update process and to update WHO publications.

The synonym mpox will be included in the ICD-10 online in the coming days. It will be a part of the official 2023 release of ICD-11, which is the current global standard for health data, clinical documentation and statistical aggregation.

The term “monkeypox” will remain a searchable term in ICD, to match historic information.

Considerations for the recommendations included rationale, scientific appropriateness, extent of current usage, pronounceability, usability in different languages, absence of geographical or zoological references, and the ease of retrieval of historical scientific information.

 

Usually, the ICD updating process can take up to several years. In this case, the process was accelerated, though following the standard steps.

 

Various advisory bodies were heard during the consultation process, including experts from the medical and scientific and classification and statistics advisory committees which constituted of representatives from government authorities of 45 different countries.

 

The issue of the use of the new name in different languages was extensively discussed.  The preferred term mpox can be used in other languages. If additional naming issues arise, these will be addressed via the same mechanism. Translations are usually discussed in formal collaboration with relevant government authorities and the related scientific societies.

 

WHO will adopt the term mpox in its communications, and encourages others to follow these recommendations, to minimize any ongoing negative impact of the current name and from adoption of the new name.

 

Source: NAM NEWS NETWORK

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Russia Donates 260,000 Tons of Fertilizer to Africa

Russia has donated 260,000 metric tons of fertilizer it produced that was sitting in European ports and warehouses for use by farmers in Africa, the United Nations said Tuesday.

“This will serve to alleviate humanitarian needs and prevent catastrophic crop loss in Africa, where it is currently planting season,” U.N. spokesman Stephane Dujarric told reporters, welcoming the announcement.

He said a ship chartered by the World Food Program left the Netherlands on Tuesday carrying 20,000 tons of the fertilizer destined for the southeastern African nation of Malawi. Dujarric said it would take about a month to reach Beira, in Mozambique, and then would be transported overland to Malawi, which is a landlocked country.

“It will be the first of a series of shipments of fertilizer destined for a number of other countries on the African continent in the coming months,” Dujarric added.

Fertilizer crunch

Since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine on February 24, world fertilizer prices, which were already inflated due to the COVID-19 pandemic, surged further, in part due to quotas Moscow imposed on its fertilizer exports, saying it wanted enough for its own farmers.

The U.N. said fertilizer prices have risen a staggering 250% since before the pandemic in 2019.

Russia is a top global fertilizer exporter. The disruptions, shortages and price increases that its quotas have contributed to have made fertilizer unaffordable for some smaller farmers. This could dramatically decrease their harvests, which could potentially lead to food shortages next year.

The World Food Program’s chief economist told VOA that developed and developing countries are dependent on fertilizer for half of their food production.

“Right now, with all that is happening, we are looking at essentially a shortfall of about 66 million tons of staple foods because of shortage of or unaffordability of fertilizer,” Arif Husain said. “I am talking about crops like wheat, corn, rice. Now, that 66 million tons of food, that is enough to feed 3.6 billion people for one month.”

Russia has complained that Western sanctions are to blame for its decrease in fertilizer exports. But Western nations repeatedly stress that they do not sanction food or fertilizer products from Russia.

But some shippers, banks, insurers and other companies involved in the transport or purchase of Russian grain and fertilizer have been reluctant to do business with Moscow, fearing they could run afoul of the sanctions.

Diplomacy continues

A package deal signed in Istanbul on July 22 has made it possible for more than 12 million metric tons of Ukrainian grain to get to market from three of its Black Sea ports, while working to build confidence with the private sector in order to return to pre-invasion export levels of Russian fertilizers and grain.

“The U.N. is continuing intense diplomatic efforts with all parties to ensure the unimpeded exports of critical food and fertilizers from both the Russian Federation and Ukraine, that are exempt from sanction regimes, to the world markets,” Dujarric told reporters.

The deal, known as the Black Sea Grain Initiative, was renewed on November 17 for an additional four months.

 

 

 

Source: Voice of America

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Fire ravages 34.2 sqkm of Mount Kilimanjaro ecosystem

DAR ES SALAAM— A TOTAL of 34.2 square kilometres of Africa’s rooftop has been destroyed by the raging fire that erupted on the mountain for the last year.

 

This is equivalent to 1.9 per cent of the total area of Mount Kilimanjaro National Park ecosystem which spans 1,712 square kilometers.

 

Tanzania National Parks Conservation Commissioner, William Mwakilema, told reporters here that the fire’s outbreak on the Mountain had left behind a trail of destruction, with the wealth of vegetation on Africa’s Highest bearing the most brunt.

 

“The most affected plants in the fires include Erica sp., Protea sp., Kniphonia thomsonii, Herichrysum sp, grasses, Bracken ferns, Myrica salicifolia, Lobelia deckenii, mountain gladiolus and Senecio kilimanjarica,” disclosed the Conservation Commissioner while giving a summary update on the wildfire that swept through the Mountain.

 

Apart from the vegetation, the fire didn’t spare slow moving mammals such as herpatofauna, snakes, dick dicks, lizards and rodents.

 

Much as the fire has been contained, Mwakilema was quick to point out the lack of expertise and experience of battling mountain fires as one of the key reasons, delaying putting out the fire and result to the inferno spreading to other areas as well.

 

“Most of the firefighters weren’t experienced enough, especially in high altitude areas,” he said.

 

According to the TANAPA boss, some areas hugely affected by the wildfire weren’t easy for the firefighters to reach on time, forcing authorities to call off the exercise.

 

Mwakilema noted that the area was synonymous with windstorms, which can be a major cause of the fire to even spread further.

 

“The gaping ravines in Karanga, Baranco, Umbwe, Lyamungo and Mweka dealt us a huge blow in containing the blaze,” he recalled.

 

The TANAPA Conservation Commissioner suggested that the fire was as a result of human activities on top of the mountain, adding that the conservation agency was teaming up with security organs in bringing to book those behind the wildfire.

 

Mt Kilimanjaro is the highest mountain in Africa and the highest free-standing mountain in the world, about 4,900 metres from its base, and 5,895 metres above sea level, making it one of the seven summits.

 

Rising majestically above the African plains, the 19,341-feet mountain has beckoned to climbers since the first recorded summit in 1889. It is one of the continent’s magnificent sights and has three main volcanic peaks, Kibo, Mawenzi, and Shira.

 

Source: NAM NEWS NETWORK

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East African Nations Say DRC Needs Political Reform to Deal With Armed Groups

Kenya is hosting a third round of talks aimed at bringing peace to the volatile eastern provinces of the Democratic Republic of Congo.

The East African Community regional bloc has convened a meeting in Nairobi to discuss how to solve the political, security and social problems that have plagued the eastern DRC for decades.

This week’s talks are essentially an inter-Congolese dialogue, involving local community leaders, civil society organizations, and some of the armed groups active in eastern Congo.

The EAC says Congo needs to implement political and institutional reforms that will make it conducive to defeat and disarm the armed groups.

Former Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta, who is also the bloc’s peace envoy to the DRC, said the Congolese people need to own the peace process and address the real insecurity problems in Ituri, North and South Kivu and two other provinces.

“To also deepen the consultation of communities and armed groups from the concerned areas for the greater inclusivity and greater ownership of the process, including for the first time with the representatives from Maniema and Tanganyika, and identification of root causes of the conflict in the five provinces and finally to evaluate the concrete modalities for the restoration of state authority in each province,” Kenyatta said.

The eastern DRC is engulfed in violence in part because of armed groups competing over the area’s rich mines. Neighboring countries’ troops have crossed into Congo, chasing rebel groups that they accuse of trying to destabilize their countries.

Most recently, the Congolese army has been fighting with the rebel group M23, which it accuses of receiving military support from Rwanda, an accusation denied by Kigali.

The M23 agreed to a cease-fire last week during talks in Angola but said they will not withdraw from territories captured from the Congolese army.

The rebel group has blamed the army and some rebel groups for attacking their families and uprooting them from their homes.

Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni, who joined the conference online, said Congo’s problems can be solved but all communities must be involved in the peace process.

“The internal groups of Congo come from the weakening of the state authority in that area for a prolonged period but even this problem can be solved by combining the political method, i.e. dialogue, with military method,” he said. “The peaceful solution should be the outcome of that dialogue but the victim communities and the refugees should also be consulted.”

Kenyan President William Ruto said the region must work towards peace and respect international laws.

“We are here to emphasize the urgent need for dialogue, de-escalation and to encourage and facilitate every actor to intensify their pursuit through the effective engagement of regional and international dispute resolution mechanisms,” he said. “We also encourage regional states to maintain their commitment to existing regional bilateral as well as multilateral understanding.”

The DRC said it will hold presidential and parliamentary votes by December 2023 and the electoral commission said it will stick to the deadlines despite the threat of armed groups.

 

 

 

 

Source: Voice of America

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