Category: Medical

Rights groups in Zimbabwe are expressing concern about vulnerable groups after authorities imposed a new, strict lockdown to curb a spike in coronavirus infections. The restrictions come as Zimbabwe’s number of confirmed infections has more than doubled in the past week.

Monica Mutsvangwa, Zimbabwe’s information minister, told reporters late Tuesday that a recent spike in COVID-19 cases has forced authorities to impose tighter restrictions.

Officials had already imposed a nighttime curfew last week.

“Exemption mechanisms which were used during the first lockdown in 2020 will be reactivated with immediate effect. This will reinforce the current efforts of containing the spread of COVID-19. Stiffer penalties will be imposed for violations of COVID-19 restrictions, including the withdrawal of business operating licences. As you might be aware, the entire country is now under Level 4 lockdown,” said Mutsvangwa.

Samuel Wadzai is head of the Zimbabwe Vendors Initiative for Social and Economic Transformation. He says his group opposes the reintroduction of exemption letters that only allow essential workers, such as police and government employees, to reach their jobs.

“We just hope that it is going to be instituted in a transparent manner. In the past we have seen these exemption letters being used to block the operations of informal traders. It is our hope that there will be clear communication of where the informal economy will get the letters, and there will be enough measures that one gets these letters in a manner that does not promote corruption,” he said.

Mutsvangwa said the government is also intensifying its vaccination program as part of an effort to contain the pandemic.

About 810,000 Zimbabweans out of a population of 14 million have received their first shot, and about 575,000 have received their second inoculation since the program started in February.

Dewa Mavhinga is the head of Human Rights Watch in southern Africa. He said the government should concentrate on vaccinating the adult population and essential workers instead of tightening lockdown regulations.

“This is to get to the wrong end of the stick because this will not in a big way address the real challenges. The government is focused on a heavy-handed response that is not suited for the Zimbabwean context. Particularly when you look the vast majority of Zimbabweans who live in poverty, who depend on the informal sector for their livelihoods, who have nowhere to get the exemption letters to travel. We also know that the government of Zimbabwe is also not supporting these people in terms of intervention packages,” said Mavhinga.

Last year the government said it was giving about $10 to each family affected by lockdown regulations.

On Wednesday, most vendors did not take heed of the government’s call to stay at home unless they have exemption letters.

One of them is Lucia Mtetwa, who sells second hand clothes.

“I only see corruption increasing because of these letters because everyone wants to go somewhere – with an exemption letter or not. This only gives police an advantage. They will start demanding bribes as they were doing during the last time during the lockdown,” said Mtetwa.

Zimbabwe has 56,014 confirmed coronavirus infections and 1,939 deaths, according to Johns Hopkins University, which tracks the global outbreak. The numbers have more than doubled in the last few weeks.

Source: Voice of America

The Ministry of Health reported that the polio vaccination program conducted across the country from 23 to 27 June to control the prevalence of the virus that has been detected in neighboring countries has been successful.

According to Mr. Tedros Yihdego, head of the National Vaccination Program, the vaccination program against polio that was given through injection has been successful by 93% and alongside it the provision of vitamin “A” by 97%.

Mr. Tedros also expressed appreciation for the strong participation the parents and stakeholders demonstrated for the successful implementation of the program.

Mr. Tedros said that 656 vaccination units, as well as about 2 thousand health professionals, have been mobilized to successfully conduct the program.

Mr. Tedros further indicated that preparation has been finalized to conduct vaccination against womb cancer to female children aged from 9 to 14 in 2022 and called on the Ministry of Education and stakeholders to reinforce participation for the success of the program.

Source: Ministry of Information Eritrea

As South Sudan celebrates 10 years of independence, health care workers and officials say the health care situation in the world’s newest nation remains woefully inadequate. Facilities are few and often inaccessible, they say, and violence continues to affect health care workers and communities.

Funding

Health officials say these shortfalls are largely due to insufficient government funding that has persisted since the nation’s 2005 Comprehensive Peace Agreement. Dr. Bol Deng, secretary-general of the South Sudan Doctors’ Union, said the situation was made worse by continued budget cuts, amplified by the drop in the nation’s health care allocation in fiscal year 2019-20 to 525 million South Sudanese pounds from 1.7 billion pounds the year before.

“This is too small even to cover the components of quality health services that we need,” Deng told South Sudan in Focus. “What you see now is the part of this health financing covered by NGOs (nongovernmental organizations).” NGOs cover a significant portion of health care in South Sudan.

Deng says this continued underfunding has demoralized health workers and caused deteriorating working conditions at hospitals and clinics across the country.

“The majority of health workers are leaving work in public hospitals or public health facilities to work with NGOs as humanitarians, or to work in private companies or private hospitals, so this is affecting our public health facilities serving the majority of the people,” Deng told VOA.

He added that the government was also not listening to calls by the Doctors’ Union for better pay and working conditions.

The government funding shortfalls have put much of the financial burden on local and international NGOs, which also have thin budgets.

Violence

In addition, health workers say they are hindered by violence between the government and rebel forces, conflict between ethnic communities, and the lawlessness caused by cattle rustling.

This instability affects Anita Peter, a health worker in Central Equatoria State’s Yei County. “You want to deliver the services, but you think of your life — what should I do with my life?” she said. “Now I am sacrificing my life. If you are just on the road, you will just give your life to God.”

International Committee of the Red Cross spokesperson Lucien Christen told VOA that attacks against medical workers and facilities had caused a “dramatic situation” in South Sudan. Such attacks have been on the rise in the past couple of months, as at least two aid workers were killed in May alone. They are threatened, beaten and tortured frequently.

As hundreds of people are killed and injured each year throughout the country, authorities and communities need to work together to build key infrastructure to ensure essential services are available, Christen said. “Only 40% of health care centers in South Sudan remain functional, according to the U.N.,” he added.

People who have been wounded and others affected by violence “will continue to need extensive physical and psychosocial support as they adjust to the life-changing impact of living with a disability,” Christen told VOA.

“Humanitarian organizations like the International Committee of the Red Cross, together with authorities, have a critical role to play in building the resilience and capability of communities to face these shocks,” he added.

Access to care

Accessing health care is also a hurdle. Many people walk several hours or even days to reach a medical practitioner, according to Christen.

“Across South Sudan, vulnerable persons continue to die from curable diseases or wounds, as access to health care remains very limited. Nine percent of children die before the age of 5,” Christen told South Sudan in Focus.

World Bank data from 2019 for children under 5 shows South Sudan registered 96 deaths per every 1,000 live births, putting the nation in the top seven countries with the highest infant mortality rates in the world.

Joseph Gama, of Health Link South Sudan, a humanitarian organization, sees how the lack of proper infrastructure in the countryside makes it difficult to reach and transport patients.

“This is happening, (because of) the poor road conditions and lack of ambulance services in some remote areas. Especially mothers die due to such delays. They cannot reach facilities within the required time,” he said.

Gama says the referral system needs to be improved so patients can quickly see the specialists needed to treat them. “Everywhere in the country, there is difficulty in referrals.”

Meanwhile, many in South Sudan must access and obtain medical care themselves.

Costs

David Ladu, 38, of Yambio had fractured his hand three months ago, and after initial treatment in Yambio Hospital, he was transferred to a facility in the capital, Juba. Ladu said he had to pay 30,000 South Sudanese pounds from his own pocket to get himself and a caretaker to the Juba hospital, 355 kilometers away. That amount of money would be about six months’ salary for a teacher or a nurse.

He also laments the massive personal costs for drugs and treatment.

“The bill for all of these drugs is more than 200,000 pounds,” he said, in addition to the 120,000 pounds he paid for his operation.

“My family gets contributions from relatives, friends and charitable people who come to visit me here. If alone, I could not manage the medical bills.”

Health Ministry Undersecretary Dr. Mayen Machut Achiek did not respond to repeated calls and text messages requesting the government’s view of the challenges facing health care workers as well as the government’s plans to improve service delivery in the health sector.

Source: Voice of America

LIMA— The Ministry of Transport and Communications (MTC) of Peru extended the suspension of flights from India, Brazil and South Africa to limit the chances of spreading in its nation territory the new variants of COVID-19 originating in these countries.

The Ministerial Resolution 636-2021-MTC/01, published on Thursday, establishes the new extension that runs until July 15 and that at the end may be renewed in the case that the conditions in these countries continue to deterioriate.

The governmental decision takes place in the context of the spread of some variants in the national territory, such as Gamma (Brazil), Alpha (United Kingdom), Lambda (Andean), and the Delta variant, the latter coming from India and of which four cases have already been found in the country.

Despite the precautions taken by the Peruvian government to prevent the arrival of new variants of the coronavirus, the country is currently facing the presence of four of them, with C.37, also known as the Andean variant, being the dominant variant, present in 80 percent of COVID-19 infections in the national territory.

With this measure, the South American country is approaching four uninterrupted months without commercial flights from Brazil and South Africa, together with two months without connections to India.

However, with these suspended destinations, the interruption of flights to Brazil affects the population in a much deeper way, since it is a very important commercial partner for multiple nations of the region.

At the moment, the South American country is experiencing a decline in terms of infections and deaths compared to what happened during the last months, which represented the worst peak of the whole pandemic, a second wave that lasted five months.

To date, the official balance indicates that the total number of infected people has reached 2,057,554, figures that place the country as one of the world epicenters of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Source: NAM NEWS NETWORK

Ugandans may find themselves in jail for two months if they are found breaking public health controls in a new COVID-19 law. Through July, acts such as praying in open spaces, not wearing masks, hawking, street vending and selling nonfood items will get one arrested. These are now deemed acts that enable the spread of COVID-19. Uganda has registered 1,057 new cases, 1081 active cases and 1061 deaths.

Samples collected in early June indicate that the predominant COVID strain currently in Uganda is the delta variant first seen in India.

Jane Ruth Aceng is the minister for health.

“From our observations, we have noted increased transmissibility resulting in a fast-moving outbreak, more severe clinical presentations of new cases and unfortunately resulting in poor clinical outcomes,” said Aceng.

Aceng says Uganda will most likely reach the peak of daily case numbers in late July or early August, before registering a slight drop in cases.

That is why, through July, anyone found praying in an open space or outside a church or a mosque, not wearing masks, hawking, street vending and selling nonfood items will be sentenced to two months in jail.

Anyone found operating a bar or a movie theater, attending a seminar, cultural event or indoor sports event could face jail time if convicted.

State minister for health Anifa Kawooya says the law is necessary.

“These penalties are not punishments. In one way, it is to instill attitude change,” said Kawooya. “That the moment that you know that if I don’t observe these SOPs [standard operating procedures], this will happen.”

The new law also prohibits entry of visitors from India, other than Ugandan citizens or residents. Anyone who aids in the escape of someone confined in a place designated for isolation or quarantine of COVID-19 can also be imprisoned for two months.

More vaccine coming

The Health Ministry hopes that once the government can acquire more vaccines, fewer people will be severely affected and in need of critical care in hospitals. So far 861,645 people have been inoculated with their first dose of AstraZeneca and 129,257 have had their second dose.

Between July and August Uganda expects to receive 974,400 doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine from the Covax facility and another 300,000 Sinovac doses from China.

To encourage Ugandans to get vaccinated, the country is currently undertaking a study to monitor vaccine efficacy by counting COVID infections that may occur in vaccinated people.

“Preliminary Investigations show that no hospitalized persons were fully vaccinated at the time of illness,” said Aceng. “Therefore, there’s no current evidence to support the allegations that fully vaccinated persons have acquired severe infections and died in Uganda.”

Uganda has also applied for 2 million doses of the Johnson and Johnson vaccine through the African Export-Import Bank and the African Union. and another 9 million doses through the Covax cost-sharing facility.

Source: Voice of America

The World Health Organization (WHO) warned Thursday that the African continent is facing a surging third wave of COVID-19 cases, driven by new and faster variants of the coronavirus that causes it.

During a virtual briefing, WHO Regional Director for Africa Dr. Matshidiso Moeti said new cases have increased by an average of 25 percent in Africa for six straight weeks, to almost 202,000 in the week ending on June 27. She said deaths rose by 15 percent across 38 African countries to nearly 3,000 in the same period.

Moeti said this wave is being driven by more contagious COVID-19 variants, “raising the threat to Africa to a whole new level.” She said among the 14 African countries now in resurgence, 12 have detected variants of concern, including nine with the Delta variant, originally identified in India.

Meanwhile, she said the Alpha and Beta variants have been reported in 32 and 27 countries respectively.

Moeti said hygiene, social distancing and mask wearing can certainly help slow the spread, but globally, it has been shown that vaccines offer the best path toward ending devastating surges.

Just over 1% of Africans are now fully vaccinated, compared to 11% of people globally, and over 46% of people in the United States and Britain.

Earlier Thursday, in interviews with the Associated Press, African Union Vaccine Envoy Strive Masiyiwa blasted Europe and international suppliers for failing to deliver promised vaccine.

Masiyiwa said that while Europe has promised to sell vaccines to Africa, so far, it has not followed through. He said, “The fact of the matter is the EU has vaccine factories. It has vaccine production centers across Europe. Not a single dose, not one vial has left a European factory for Africa.”

African CDC Director John Nkengasong said the WHO-managed international vaccine cooperative COVAX had promised to deliver 700 million vaccine doses to Africa by December. But to date, Africa has received just 65 million doses overall and fewer than 50 million doses have arrived through COVAX.

However, both leaders did announce that the first shipments of the single-shot Johnson & Johnson and the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccines, with U.S. support, will begin arriving next week.

Source: Voice of America

Zimbabwe’s new COVID-19 lockdown includes a curfew, a ban on intercity travel, and a vaccination blitz aimed at border towns and vendors. But vendors and rights activists say the government should make more vaccine available instead of tightening regulations.

President Emmerson Mnangagwa announced the new measures, including a 6:30 p.m.-to-6 a.m. curfew, on national television Tuesday. He said the restrictions were the result of a recent spike in COVID-19 cases.

“Commerce and industry are to open from 0800 hours to 1530 hours. Travelers from countries with alpha and delta COVID-19 variants will be quarantined and tested on the 1st, 3rd, 5th and 10th day, at their own expense. Those deported back to Zimbabwe will be subject to self-quarantine or will be quarantined in identified places. Travelers with fake COVID-19 documents will attract custodial sentences,” said the president.

The new measures to contain COVID-19 include what the government is calling a “vaccination blitz” targeting borders and vendors.

The head of the Zimbabwe Vendors Initiative for Social and Economic Transformation, Samuel Wadzai, has welcomed the new regulations allowing vendors to operate for limited hours.

But Wadzai said the vaccination program should be voluntary, not compulsory.

“What we can urge the government is for the vaccine to be accessed without queueing for long hours. Let’s decentralize. This is the only way we can do away with these lockdowns. In their nature lockdowns are restrictive and they don’t give us space to operate as informal traders. So, we urge the government to quickly ensure that the vaccines are available,” he said.

About 771,000 Zimbabweans out of a population of 14 million have received their first shots, and 545,000 have received their second inoculations since the program started in February. The country had a monthlong shortage of vaccine until it received 500,000 Sinopharm doses from China on Saturday.

Zimbabwe has about 48,533 confirmed coronavirus infections and 1,761 deaths, according to Johns Hopkins University in the United States, which tracks the global outbreak.

Dewa Mavhinga, head of Human Rights Watch in southern Africa, told VOA the infection figures do not justify a dusk-to-dawn curfew.

“It seems excessive. The government is focusing more on restrictions than on other efforts that are needed to contain the coronavirus — efforts such as ramping up vaccinations, ensuring that all essential workers are vaccinated and ensuring that the adult population in Zimbabwe is vaccinated. There is no movement in that regard,” said Mavhinga.

Zimbabwe’s seven-day average infection rate has increased five times in the last two weeks, according to official figures released this week.

The government says it is importing more vaccine in July and in August to achieve herd immunity for about 10 million people by the end of the year.

Source: Voice of America