Category: Medical

At least two people were killed and five wounded Thursday after a suicide bomber detonated a device inside a cafe in the Somali capital, Mogadishu, police and witnesses said.

The suicide bomber targeted a tea shop near a crowded junction in northern Mogadishu, which was reportedly frequented by members of the Somali security forces as well as civilians.

The al-Qaida-linked group Al-Shabab claimed the attack through their Shahada News Agency, according to the U.S. monitoring group SITE.

The early-evening attack, which sent debris flying outside, killed two members of the security forces and injured five people, said Mohamed Ali, a traffic policeman who was at the scene.

“Pieces of metal and destroyed plastic seats were strewn around the whole area,” said Abdukadir Sagaalle, who witnessed the aftermath.

Al-Shabab, which is fighting to overthrow Somalia’s internationally backed government, regularly attacks government and civilian targets in Mogadishu.

Last month, the jihadists claimed responsibility for a suicide bombing on a crowded tea shop in Mogadishu that killed at least 10 people and wounded dozens.

The group controlled Somalia’s capital until 2011, when it was pushed out by African Union troops, but still holds territory in the countryside.

Source: Voice of America

Six of the 136 students kidnapped from an Islamic school in the north-central Nigerian state of Niger have died of illness, the school principal told Reuters on Monday.

The abductors have demanded a ransom to release the students, kidnapped in May after an armed gang on motorcycles attacked the school in the town of Tegina.

Criminal gangs carrying out kidnappings for ransom are blamed for a series of raids on boarding schools in northern Nigeria in which more than 1,000 students have been abducted since December.

The principal, Abubakar Garba Alhasan, said the kidnappers had called to say the children died from sickness and to urge that the ransom demand be met.

Abubakar Adam, whose seven children are held by the gang, said the abductors called the principal to demand a ransom.

Kidnappers on Sunday released 15 more students taken last month from a Baptist school in northwest Nigeria, after parents paid an undisclosed ransom to free them.

President Muhammadu Buhari in February called on state governments to stop paying kidnappers, and Kaduna Governor Nasir Ahmad el-Rufai publicly refuses to pay. Desperate parents and communities often raise and pay ransoms themselves.

Source: Voice of America

Malawi’s Supreme Court of Appeal says the death penalty remains constitutional in the southern African country. The decision reverses a ruling from just four months ago, when the same court abolished the death penalty. Rights campaigners say the development is disappointing.

The ruling in April stemmed from the petition of a convicted murderer, who wanted the Supreme Court to re-hear his case.

In his judgment, Justice Dunstan Mwaungulu, now retired, said Malawi’s constitution respects the right to life – and said the death penalty negates that right.

He emphasized the sanctity of life, saying without the right to life, other rights do not exist.

Justice Mwaungulu also ordered the re-sentencing of all cases where the death penalty was handed down.

However, in a document released this week, the other Supreme Court justices say Mwaungulu’s ruling only expressed his personal opinion.

Justice Anaclet Chipeta said he dissociates himself from the judgment because it did not reflect the views of the majority of the appeal court justices.

Another justice, Rezine Mzikamanda, said the issue of the constitutionality of the death penalty was not part of the case they were handling.

Peter Dimba is chairperson of the legal committee of Malawi’s parliament.

“The views of the majority of the judges on the panel would have carried the day because that’s what it means. So as it stands, it means death penalty still stands,” Dimba said.

Michael Kaiyatsa is executive director for the Centre for Human Rights and Rehabilitation in Malawi.

He says although the justices have valid reasons for not backing Mwaungulu’s opinion, the Malawi government needs to move quickly to formally abolish the death penalty.

“We think Malawi has an obligation under international human rights law to ensure that it complies with that resolution,” Kayiyatsa said. “But also we know that Malawi has not executed anybody since the 1990s. So the country needs to continue on that path. But we need a lasting solution. That’s why we think that a way should be found to repeal this death penalty”

The death penalty has long been mandatory in Malawi for those convicted of murder or treason, and optional for rape.

Court records show that 27 people are under a death sentence in Malawi.

However, according to Amnesty International, Malawi last carried out an execution in 1992 when 12 people were hanged.

Lawmaker Dimba noted that many countries are abolishing death penalty.

He said his parliamentary committee would opt for abolishing the death penalty if the proposal came to parliament in the form of a bill.

“This is an issue that was supposed to be done by the government,” Dimba said. “If they see to it, they actually bring an amendment bill to parliament and I don’t think parliament would have problems in abolishing the death penalty.”

However, some critics say abolishing the death penalty may lead to an increase in acts of mob justice.

In December 2020, a mob killed a 47-year-old man in Malawi’s capital, Lilongwe, who had allegedly killed another man suspected to have raped his daughter.

Source: Voice of America

World Health Organization officials warn that decisions by rich countries to provide COVID-19 booster shots to their vaccinated populations will set back efforts to contain the spread of this deadly disease in Africa.

The United States, France, and Germany are among a growing number of wealthy countries planning to offer COVID-19 booster shots to their populations. This, at a time when the world’s poorer nations are struggling to get even one jab of these life-saving vaccines into their peoples’ arms.

WHO regional director for Africa, Matshidiso Moeti, warns that moves by some countries to introduce booster shots threaten Africa’s ability to extricate itself from this crushing disease. She says richer countries that are hoarding vaccines are making a mockery of vaccine equity.

“High-income countries have already, on average, administered more than 103 doses per 100 people, whereas in Africa that number stands at six,” said Moeti. “Failure to vaccinate the most at-risk groups in all countries will result in needless deaths. … It will also contribute to conditions where the virus will very likely mutate further and could ultimately delay the global recovery from this pandemic.”

The World Health Organization reports there are more than 7.3 million cases of coronavirus infections on the African continent, including 184,000 deaths. It is calling for a two-month moratorium on booster shots, so countries can beef up their vaccine supplies.

Moeti says some progress is being made in this regard. She notes the COVAX Facility has delivered nearly 10 million vaccine doses to Africa so far this month. That, she says, is nine times what was delivered in the same period in July.

“Vaccine coverage, unfortunately, remains low, with only two percent of Africans being fully vaccinated against COVID-19,” said Moeti. “… We are hopeful that COVAX shipments will keep ramping up to reach 20 percent of Africa’s population by the end of this year. And coupled with deliveries from the African Union and bilateral deals, WHO’s hoped-for target of vaccinating 30 percent of people by the end of the year is still within our reach.”

West Africa has recorded the highest number of COVID-19 deaths since the pandemic began. WHO reports a 193 percent increase in fatalities over the past four weeks. This is happening at a time when several West African countries are grappling with outbreaks of other diseases, including cholera, Ebola, and Marburg virus Disease.

Moeti says fighting multiple outbreaks is a complex challenge. She notes that West Africa health systems are more fragile than those in other sub-regions. She says they are under great strain due to the surge of COVID-19 cases. She is appealing for major investments by governments and donors to ensure outbreaks are continuously prevented, detected and quickly contained.

Source: Voice of America

Rights group Amnesty International says Somalia’s struggling health care system has been crippled by the coronavirus pandemic. The group released a report Wednesday titled ‘We Just Watched COVID-19 Patients Die.’ It calls for urgent investment in Somalia’s healthcare sector after years of neglect. 

Amnesty International’s 27-page report on Somalia’s health care says the global pandemic has hit the struggling sector hard.

The Amnesty report quoted a senior Somali doctor saying in one ward on the same day four elderly men died within ten minutes because of lack of oxygen.

The rights group’s Somali researcher Abdullahi Hassan says health resources are so poor that medical workers too often could only stand by and watch their patients die.

“When COVID-19 pandemic came it laid bare how bad the situation was in Somalia. For example, the response by the government was wholly inadequate. There was only one hospital in Mogadishu that managed COVID-related cases and that one hospital lacked essential equipment. Health workers who worked in that hospital… they really struggled with patients. They did not have enough equipment; they did not have oxygen supply,” said Hassan.

Amnesty says the Somali government allocates only 2% of its budget to healthcare while security services got the largest share, with 31%.

Officially, Somalia has had more than 16,000 infections and almost 900 deaths from COVID.

But, the country’s chief medical officer, Dr. Mohamed Mohamud Ali, told Amnesty the death toll was certainly far higher.

Dr. Ali said only those who managed to get to health facilities and get tested were included in official data.

“The figure is just a tip of the iceberg,” Amnesty quoted him saying, “many more were infected and died at home,” he said.

Amnesty notes that only 15% of Somalia’s rural population have access to medical care and the country has only one surgeon for every one million people.  

Abdiqadir Abdirahman Adan is the founder of the Amin ambulance service, the only such service for Mogadishu residents.

Adan says they have only two ambulances to serve people, the ambulance workers get exhausted, and it is challenging to get oxygen. Since they provide a free service to people, and the companies producing oxygen want money, he says, they have problems with oxygen supply. Adan says their ambulance workers are also not very well trained to handle some health issues.

The Amnesty report, based on interviews with 33 medical and aid workers, as well as officials and experts, calls on Somalia to use debt relief to invest more in healthcare.

In March 2020, the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank reduced Somalia’s debt from $5.2 billion to $557 million over three years.

The debt relief aims to bring the Horn of African nation back into the global economy after 30 years of conflict and unstable governments.

Amnesty’s Hassan says the debt relief also offers an opportunity to improve Somali hospitals. 

“All this money that is going to be received through debt relief should be managed in a manner that is transparent, that is accountable, and it should be used to improve the health sector in the country,” he said,

Ambulance service operator Adan says the health sector desperately needs more medical experts to revive it.

He said this sector requires knowledge. “The people leading the health sector and working on policies must be people who have a background in health and medicine. If you are going to have people in the health sector who are not familiar with the health system, then it’s difficult to improve the health system,” he said.

Amnesty notes only 0.6% of Somalis have been fully vaccinated against the coronavirus.

While a shortage of vaccines is partly to blame, Amnesty says that 19 of the 33 healthcare workers it interviewed in the report refused to take the vaccine, despite having it offered.

It blamed widespread vaccine hesitancy, in part, on lack of public information.

Source: Voice of America

Forces belonging to the Africa Union Mission in Somalia have shot and killed seven civilians following an ambush by al-Shabab militants last week, a Somali governor told VOA Somali.

The governor of the Lower Shabelle region, Abdulkadir Mohamed Nur, said he confirmed through meetings with local residents that five farmers were among the civilians killed. Two other civilians whose vehicle broke down on the side of the road were also killed by the peacekeepers, he said. Nur said he personally knew one of the farmers.

The shootings took place near the village of Golweyn, about 100 kilometers south of Mogadishu, on August 10.

Somali and AU officials confirmed al-Shabab militants had ambushed the peacekeepers during a routine patrol near Golweyn. The soldiers engaged the militants in a heavy firefight lasting several hours. The attack took place in a farmland area about 2½ kilometers from Golweyn, Nur said in a telephone interview.

One AU soldier was killed; two others were injured, according to Nur.

It is not yet clear if the killing of the civilians occurred during or after the ambush. AU officials said they are investigating the incident.

In a tweet on the day of the attack, the African Union said that Ugandan troops on routine patrol “engaged and dislodged” an al-Shabab ambush.

“During the counterattack, 7 terrorists were killed while others sustained injuries and an assortment of weapons was recovered,” AMISOM said in a tweet. In the tweet, AMISOM said one of its soldiers sustained injuries. The tweet has since been deleted.

The following day, AMISOM issued a statement promising a thorough investigation.

“On August 10, 2021, soldiers of the African Union Mission in Somalia (AMISOM) while on a routine patrol to secure the Main Supply Route along the Beldamin-Golweyn Forward Operating Base in the Lower Shabelle region, were ambushed and attacked by Al-Shabab militants,” the AU said in a statement on August 11.

AMISOM said troops seized firearms, rounds of ammunition and mobile phones during the gunfight against al-Shabab.

“AMISOM has since received reports that civilian lives were lost,” the statement further read. “To this end, AMISOM has launched a thorough investigation into the reported incident. The investigation team will present its findings and this will be followed by a Board of Inquiry.”

AMISOM officials did not respond to VOA requests for comment.

Source: Voice of America

Ivory Coast has confirmed its first case of the Ebola hemorrhagic virus in 25 years, the health minister and the World Health Organization (WHO) said separately on Saturday.

Health Minister Pierre Dimba said on national television that it was an isolated case of an 18-year-old woman who traveled from neighboring Guinea.

The World Health Organization said in a statement that Ivory Coast confirmed the country’s first case of Ebola since 1994.

“This came after the Institut Pasteur in Ivory Coast confirmed the Ebola virus disease in samples collected from a patient, who was hospitalized in the commercial capital of Abidjan, after arriving from Guinea,” the WHO said in the statement.

The WHO said initial investigations found the patient had traveled to Ivory Coast by road and arrived in Abidjan on Aug. 12.

“The patient was admitted to a hospital after experiencing a fever and is currently receiving treatment,” it said.

Guinea — site of the 2014-16 Ebola outbreak, the deadliest on record — experienced a four-month Ebola outbreak earlier this year that was declared over on June 19.

Guinea early this week confirmed a first case of Marburg virus in West Africa. Marburg virus disease is a highly infectious hemorrhagic fever similar to Ebola.

Transmission of both deadly diseases occurs through contact with infected bodily fluids and tissue. Symptoms include headache, vomiting blood, muscle pains and bleeding.

The WHO said there was no indication the current case in Ivory Coast is linked to the outbreak in Guinea earlier this year. It said further investigation and genomic sequencing will identify the strain and determine if there is a connection.

“It is of immense concern that this outbreak has been declared in Abidjan, a metropolis of more than 4 million people,” Matshidiso Moeti, WHO regional director for Africa, said in the statement.

“However, much of the world’s expertise in tackling Ebola is here on the continent, and Ivory Coast can tap into this experience and bring the response to full speed,” she said.

Source: Voice of America