Category: Health

Somalia this year was hit by a double punch: a second wave of coronavirus and political turmoil over elections that threatened to spark armed conflict. But while political tensions cooled, the impact on the economy is ongoing, as Mohamed Sheikh Nor reports from Mogadishu.

Source: Voice of America

YUMBE, NORTHERN UGANDA – Uganda, which hosts nearly 1.5 million refugees and asylum-seekers, began coronavirus vaccinations this week in the camps and settlements. But vaccine hesitancy among refugees poses a challenge.

Ugandan authorities have received 964,000 doses of coronavirus vaccine and inoculated 453,000 people as of May 16.

Now, the government is extending COVID-19 vaccinations to refugees, most of whom are from South Sudan.

In Bidibidi settlement, the vaccination team is first targeting older people, age 50 or higher.

To get them to the clinic, the health team is going to door to door. Moses Lomoro, a village health team member, says face to face interactions helped erase a lot of fears among the elderly.

“After getting a vaccine, some people have a reaction,” he said. “Someone can have a fever and vomiting. So, these rumors have scared some of the community members. And also, other people, they have access to social media and give false information.”

Before the vaccination, health workers carry out a counselling session in which each recipient reads and signs a consent form.

The consent form reads, in part: “As with any vaccine, there is no certainty that I will become immune or that I will not experience any adverse events from the vaccine. I voluntarily assume full responsibility for any events that may result due to vaccination.”

Mary Nyoka, 65, has concerns over the form.

She says, I have pressure, ulcers and malaria. We are already old enough, are they giving us a vaccine to kill us? She says, so, I’m scared, they are making us sign a consent form.

Dr. Charles Onek, a medical officer with the International Rescue Committee says the community has had many fears that have affected the vaccination process.

“People have been wondering, if I get a severe form of reaction and maybe, I succumb to it, or I die. Will I be compensated? So, that answer has never been very clear,” he said. “People are talking that if you receive a COVID vaccine, especially for men, you become impotent. No, this has been a myth and we have always been talking about it.”

In the settlements, the different health centers use what they call, “boda boda talk talk” to pass on messages about coronavirus, which causes the COVID-19 disease.

Balizina Emmy, a clinical officer at Swinga Health Centre III, says they are making progress through these messages.

“It is kind of challenging, because, it has not been happening with other vaccines. This is somehow special. This is a new thing in the vaccination system. We try to talk to them and explain to them the reason as to why they should consent. More so, because of these side effects,” he said.

Ugandan doctors say they will have to reset their messages to show and convince not just refugees, but even locals that any risks associated with the vaccine are minimal compared to getting COVID-19, which carries the risk of death.

Source: Voice of America

Ethiopia’s conflict-hit Tigray region is facing a horrifying situation with people dying of hunger, health services destroyed and rape “rampant,” the WHO chief, himself from the region, said Monday.

“The situation in Tigray, Ethiopia, is, if I use one word, horrific. Very horrific,” World Health Organization director-general Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus told a press conference.

Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed sent troops into Tigray in November after accusing the once-dominant regional ruling party of orchestrating attacks on federal army camps.

Nobel Peace Prize winner Abiy declared victory later that month when the army entered the regional capital Mekele.

But fighting continues and the six-month conflict has sparked allegations of massacres and rape by Ethiopian forces and troops from neighboring Eritrea.

Tedros pointed out that some five million people in the region are now in need of humanitarian aid, and especially food aid.

“Many people have started dying actually because of hunger, and severe and acute malnutrition is becoming rampant,” he said.

In addition, hundreds of thousands of people have been displaced from their homes with over 60,000 fleeing into Sudan.

At the same time, health services have been looted and destroyed, he said, adding that “the majority of them are not functioning.”

Aid access key

The WHO chief also condemned indiscriminate killings and the widespread use of sexual violence in the conflict.

“Rape is rampant. I don’t think there was that scale anywhere else in the world actually,” he said.

Asked about the COVID-19 situation in his home region, Tedros said there were no services to rein in the disease, but said it is not a priority given the other crises.

“For the most part, we’re not even in a position to discuss about COVID, to be honest, because there are more pressing issues.”

One of the most urgent problems to address is getting full access for humanitarian workers and for aid.

World leaders and aid agencies have repeatedly called for full humanitarian access to the crisis-wracked areas as fears grow of impending disaster.

On Friday, the European Union condemned the ongoing blocking of aid to the region, denouncing “the use of humanitarian aid as a weapon of war.”

WHO emergencies director Michael Ryan warned Monday that “access to victims in Tigray remains highly unpredictable.”

This, he said, was creating “a huge barrier to access to the populations that need our help.”

With most health facilities destroyed, the U.N. health agency was concerned about rising risks of cholera, measles and other outbreaks, he said.

“We have also issues of continuing to get (cholera) vaccines in,” he pointed out, stressing the need to “get those doses in there” and to plan immunization campaigns “to avert a cholera disaster.”

Source: Voice of America

Nigerian officials say the coronavirus pandemic’s impact on the economy and social distancing have tripled the number of mental health cases. In response, Nigeria has launched the first toll-free, 24-hour helpline staffed by trained psychologists and counselors. Timothy Obiezu reports from Abuja.

Source: Voice of America