Health

Thousands Denied Healthcare In Cameroon As Suspension On Medical Charity Persists

Tens of thousands of people are missing out on free essential healthcare services in the restive English-speaking North West Region of Cameroon as the government maintains a suspension on the activities of medical aid group Médecins Sans Frontières/Doctors Without Border (MSF) in the region.

Authorities had in December 2020 forcefully halted the work of MSF on claims that the charity was colluding with armed separatist fighters seeking to secede from Cameroon and create their own state named ‘Ambazonia’. MSF has repeatedly denied the accusation and says it stands by its charter which requires the provision of healthcare without discrimination or heed to political or religious affiliations.

Despite MSF’s denial of wrongdoing and the necessity of healthcare provision, the government has yet to lift the ban six months after. People continue to live in limbo in a region where the government itself recently acknowledged that 30 percent of health facilities were no longer functional due to the drawn-out conflict.

MSF has now called on the government of Cameroon to allow it to resume operations and provide much-need medical and humanitarian relief to people in distress. Authorities have officially not responded to the request.

According to Emmanuel Lampaert, MSF Operations Coordinator for Central Africa, it is unacceptable that people who have fled violence into blushes are denied vital medical services for six months and counting. “This decision represents a substantial blow to medical and humanitarian access.”

Since 2018 when Doctors Without Borders started its intervention in the conflict-plagued English-speaking regions of Cameroon, it has treated patients for rape, physical and psychological torture, burns and gunshots. MSF teams have also largely handled patients in need of medical assistance for childbirth, malaria or diarrhea. Last year alone, the charity attended to 150,000 people in troubled regions.

“As we speak, our community health workers see people die and suffer because of the lack of treatment available in villages and displaced communities, and our ambulance call center continues to receive emergency requests, which they are forced to decline. What rationale can justify these unnecessary deaths?” Lampaert bemoaned.

Recent recurrent battles between government troops and increasingly bold armed separatists have exacerbated insecurity. This, coupled with Monday ghost towns, curfews, occasional lockdowns and the targeting of health facilities, have gravely disrupted access to healthcare. Economic hardship brought about by the drawn-out conflict has made it difficult for people to be able to transport themselves to health facilities or even pay for treatment. Many hospitals have suffered arson attacks or have been repurposed into military bases.

Yenfui Delphine, a young mother based in Bamenda, told Ubuntu Times she is one of those who feel the pinch of the absence of MSF. While making allusion to her son who felt seriously sick two months ago, Yenfui said MSF teams used to be there for people who had emergencies but lacked a means of transportation and money. “Without them, it is very risky getting a sick one by motorcycle [the only option available] to the nearby health facility on a ghost town day,” she said.

In 2020, MSF teams in the North West Region treated 180 survivors of sexual violence; 1,725 mental health consultations were provided; 3,272 surgeries were performed; 4,407 patients were referred by ambulance, of which more than 1,000 were women in labor; 42,578 consultations were provided by community health volunteers, mostly for malaria, diarrhea and respiratory tract infections.

Lampaert said MSF staff, volunteers and patients have regularly faced threats and violence from both state and non-state armed groups, with very little respect shown for the humanitarian principles of impartiality and neutrality. “Our ambulances have been fired on and stolen, community health workers have faced sexual assault and murder, armed men have opened fire inside medical facilities, and our colleagues have faced death threats. Despite these extremely difficult situations, our staff kept on providing care to people in need, day after day.”

Since 2017, Cameroon’s two English-speaking regions have been ravaged by a bloody socio-political conflict. Low-level protests erupted in 2016 against decades of marginalization of the minority Anglophones by the Francophone-dominated government of long-serving President Paul Biya. The government responded with force and pushed many to the extreme, triggering an unending war.

To date, it is estimated that over 5,000 civilians, soldiers and separatist fighters have been killed, while no fewer than three million others are affected by the conflict. The war has internally displaced 712,800, according to OCHA and the UN refugee agency – United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) has registered 66,718 people who have crossed over the border to Nigeria as refugees.

Cameroon Audit Exposes Extensive Misuse Of COVID-19 Funds

Several government officials, including ministers, charged with the country’s Coronavirus response have been found wanting in their spending of COVID-19 funds, according to a recently leaked preliminary report by the Audit Bench of the Supreme Court of Cameroon. The mismanagement and misappropriation are connected to an FCFA 180 billion (USD 338 million) Coronavirus Response Special National Solidarity Fund instituted in 2020.

In the summary report, government auditors disclosed that besides lapses in procurement procedures, there was widespread overbilling in the purchase of personal protective equipment (PPEs). This cost the state to lose close to FCFA 1.3 billion (circa USD 2.4 million). Also, some 100,000 face masks and 1,000 PPEs, donated by Chinese business mogul Jack Ma, could not be traced in the store’s accounting records of the ministry of public health.

Auditors also fault officials of the ministry of public health for circa FCFA 14.5 billion lost in overbilling through a contract for the supply of rapid tests kits awarded to Mediline Medical Cameroon SA. The firm, which is said to have been registered in 2017 but has had no experience in medical supplies and an inactive empty bank account, was granted a quasi-monopoly – supplying 89.97 percent of the country’s COVID-19 test kits.

Mediline Medical Cameroon SA bagged home FCFA 24.5 billion for 1.4 million test kits, giving a unit price of FCFA 17,500 per kit. But auditors reveal that, by the time the contract was being awarded to Mediline Medical Cameroon SA, the same STANDARD Q COVID-19 AG TEST could have been purchased directly from pharmaceutical firm SD BIOSENSOR at FCFA 7,084 per kit as proposed by the producer. Despite the whopping FCFA 10,415 disparity, the ministry of public health, in the fourth quarter of 2020, continued to buy the COVID-19 test kits through Mediline at FCFA 17,500 per kit whereas it could get the same through The Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria at FCFA 2,932 per kit.

Though the unit price of the SD BIOSENSOR-produced STANDARD Q COVID-19 AG TEST proposed by Mediline Medical Cameroon SA was far much higher than applicable market prices, the ministry of trade is said to have biasedly okayed the price.

The auditors also noted in their report that some 610,000 COVID-19 test kits could not be accounted for. But the invoice for their supply was sent by Moda Holdings Hong Kong to Mediline Medical Cameroon SA on behalf of the ministry of public health.

In addition, Mediline Medical Cameroon SA and Yao Pharm Sarl were both awarded two contracts worth FCFA 880 million in August 2020 to furnish 16 medicalized ambulances within 90 days. But as at December 31, 2020, none had been delivered.

Again, the Audit Bench of the Supreme Court indicates that FCFA 657 million was allocated to the Institute for Medical Research and Studies of Medicinal Plants (IMPM) to locally produce 5 million tablets of hydroxychloroquine and 5 million tablets of azithromycin. Instead, IMPM imported from India, 5 million tablets of hydroxychloroquine, 5 million tablets of azithromycin and 300kg of raw material for the production of azithromycin. The institute proceeded to repackage the drugs with the inscriptions: “Produced by Zaneka, Packaged by IMPM,” though the packages with which the drugs reached Cameroon met good packaging standards and quality. According to Cameroonian regulations, the competence to import drugs lies with the National Supply Centre for Essential Drugs and Consumables (CENAME).

IMPM had also used FCFA 70 million of its budget to rehabilitate its production facilities although the department of pharmacy, drugs and laboratory in the ministry of public health had advised that the institute was unable to carry out local production.

The auditors also observed opacity in the management of funds destined to take care of COVID-19 patients as well as irregularities and disparities in the allowances given to healthcare personnel. In addition to products and services which were paid for but not rendered, auditors noted wasteful expenditure without any appropriate budgets. Other cases which smack of embezzlement were also highlighted in the report.

Ndi Nancy Saiboh, Executive Director of Actions for Development and Empowerment (ADE); a civil society organization that has been pushing for government transparency and accountability, welcomed the move. According to Saiboh, it had become expedient for the government to block financial leakages and ensure that funds do not end up in personal pockets.

“Our experience with the tracking of COVID-19 funds has revealed a deeply rooted systemic profiteering culture, especially in an environment that lacks accountability and civic engagement, ” Saiboh said.

Leader of the opposition Social Democratic Front party in the Littoral Region, Hon. Jean Michel Nintcheu has called for the immediate resignation of Ministers Manaouda Malachie, Madeleine Tchuente and Paul Atanga Nji, who were the key officials fronting government’s response efforts.

The audit which was ordered by the president follows recommendations of the IMF. Countries receiving IMF financing during the crisis are expected to publish pandemic-related procurement contracts and the beneficial ownership of companies awarded these contracts, as well as COVID-19 spending reports and audit results. By October 2020, IMF had granted a total of USD 382 million to Cameroon under the Rapid Credit Facility.

Sarah Saadoun, senior business and human rights researcher at Human Rights Watch said: “The IMF should take seriously the opportunity a new multi-year loan program presents to press for deep-seated governance reforms that will improve Cameroon’s transparency and accountability during this pandemic and beyond.”

Can Zumbani, Zimbabwe’s Local Tea Leaves Treat COVID-19?

Nickson Mpofu (38) a resident of Cranborne, a medium-density suburb in Harare the capital of Zimbabwe, recalls how they used tea leaves to treat colds growing up in his rural home, Zvishavane. 

As a young boy, he did not know the plant would one day treat the symptoms of a novel virus: COVID-19.  

Last year, after many decades he realized the power of the plant in saving lives when he was diagnosed with COVID-19.

“I first developed a severe headache. I suspected it was just flu,” he tells Ubuntu Times.

“As the day went on the headache and fever became worse.”

Mpofu went to a COVID-19 testing center in Harare where he tested positive for Coronavirus. 

He was asked to quarantine at home.

At that time little was known about COVID-19, thus, Mpofu turned to Zumbani tea leaves. 

“I took Zumbani tea leaves. I also steamed using Zumbani, lemon, gum tree and guava tree leaves,” he said.

Since March 2020 when Zimbabwe recorded its first COVID-19 death, people have been using local remedies such as Zumbani to treat illnesses related to the virus. 

Zumbani, a woody erect shrub that grows naturally in Zimbabwe and other African countries, is known scientifically as Lippia javanica. 

Up until now, the world is battling to find a cure to the pandemic.

But as research efforts go on citizens of poor countries, who can hardly afford medical treatment have had to rely on local remedies to treat the symptoms of COVID-19. 

Several countries have developed vaccines that are currently being rolled out including United States’ Johnson and Johnson, Russia’s Sputnik V, China’s Sinopharm vaccine.

After receiving a donation of 200,000 Sinopharm vaccines from China, Zimbabwe rolled out its COVID-19 vaccination program on the 18th of January 2021. 

The initial phase of the vaccination program targets health workers, members of the security sector, and journalists.

The government aims to inoculate 60 percent of its population of over 14 million people with vaccines from China, Russia, and the Far East.  

In April 2020, the government allowed traditional herbalists to treat COVID-19 using herbs since very little information was available on how to treat the symptoms of COVID-19. 

Zimbabweans are using Zumabani tea leaves to treat COVID-19 related illnesses
Zumabani, known scientifically as Lippia javanica, grows naturally in Zimbabwe and other African countries and has been used to treat ailments such as colds and flu. Credit: Farai Shawn Matiashe / Ubuntu Times

The southern African nation is experiencing its worst economic crisis in decades which has hit the health sector characterized by shortages of medicines and personal protective equipment (PPEs).

Poor countries like Zimbabwe are struggling to purchase vaccines for their citizens.

They are relying on vaccine donations from developed nations. 

Towards the end of 2021 COVID-19 cases surged as Zimbabwean residents returned from neighboring South Africa for the festive season.

As of the 16th of March 2021, COVID-19 had claimed the lives of over 1,500 people while infecting more than 36,500 people in the southern African nation, according to the Health Ministry.

At this time, the majority of people in Zimbabwe—constituting almost 80 percent of the population resorted to using home remedies to treat common illnesses before seeking modern medical care services, according to Itai Rusike, the executive director of the Community Working Group on Health, a network of community-based organizations.

Another Zimbabwean, Constance Makoni says her parents tested positive for COVID-19 in July 2020 and they took Zumbani and other home remedies. 

“When they tested positive we asked them to steam. My father was in terrible shape. He was not breathing well.”

“My parents could steam 15 times a day. They also drank Zumbani tea leaves. My father was later put on oxygen. They all recovered,” she said.

Zimbabwe is not the only country that at the height of the pandemic resorted to home remedies. 

Other African nations such as Madagascar and Tanzania authorized and promoted the use of home remedies to cure COVID-19. 

In April 2020, Madagascan President Andry Rajoelina launched a herbal tea that was marketed in bottles. 

The herbal remedy made from artemisia-a plant with proven efficacy against malaria, according to the Malagasy Institute of Applied Research.

This herbal remedy was reportedly exported to other countries. 

In Tanzania, President John Magufuli, who did not put the east African nation on lockdown while declaring it COVID-19 free, also ordered a shipment of the Madagascan herbal to treat the respiratory disease in May 2020.

Magufuli died from heart-related complications aged 61 on the 17th of March 2020.

In Zimbabwe, there has been a rise in the number of traders packaging Zumbani tea leaves, for sale in major cities. 

The World Health Organisation has been urging nations to use scientifically proven traditional medicine to treat COVID-19 related illnesses. 

Zimbabwe’s Health Minister Constantino Chiwenga has encouraged medical facilities to undertake a scientific study to ascertain the efficacy of traditional medicine and herbs to combat COVID-19.

There is no scientific research that Zumbani can treat COVID-19
In Zimbabwe, entrepreneurs are packaging Zumbani tea leaves for sale in major cities. Credit: Farai Shawn Matiashe / Ubuntu Times

Africa University, located in the eastern part of Zimbabwe, is in the process of developing cough drops made from the Zumbani plant.  

The cough drops are not going to be sold as a pharmaceutical drug for now but as a herbal remedy and will be available commercially in one month’s time, according to Africa University. 

Despite its popularity among poor Zimbabweans medical practitioners are not convinced that it can treat COVID-19. 

“Zumbani is a herbal remedy which is probably good for general health and wellbeing. It has been found to have antioxidants like rooibos. It has no known specific effect against any particular bacteria or virus,” Shingai Nyaguse, president of the Zimbabwe Senior Hospital Doctors Association tells Ubuntu Times.

Medical experts say prolonged use of the triterpenoids in Lippia javanica causes liver damage, with jaundice being the most notable result.

Tanzania’s Health Officials In Trouble Over Dubious Drugs Procurement Deals

Dar es Salaam, Tanzania — Tanzania anti-corruption officials are investigating loss of Tanzanian shillings 27 million(US$11.5 million) allegedly swindled by unscrupulous health officials accused of flouting procurement rules when purchasing and distributing essential medicine and medical equipment in various public hospitals, officials said two weeks ago.

According to officials from the Ministry of Health Community Development, Women, Elderly and Children, the revelations were made by a probe committee formed by the government on February 1 to assess possible misappropriation of the said public funds.

Litany Of Complaints

The investigations were prompted by a litany of complaints from ordinary citizens who questioned the shortage of medicine and medical equipment.

The suspects are reportedly being investigated by the country’s anti-graft watchdog– the Prevention and Combating of Corruption Bureau (PCCB) their possible involvement in the scam that has tarnished the image of the health ministry.

The east African country, which has long been dogged by corruption, had won rare praise from international donors in 2016 when President John Magufuli overhauled procurement processes and sealed off loopholes for theft of public monies in the health system.

Yawning Deficits

Observers say, the donor funds, whose disbursement hinges on the government’s resolve to fight graft, are badly needed to bridge yawning deficits.

The probe committee was formed after a litany of complaints from members of the public about persistent shortage of essential supplies and medical equipment despite a nine-fold increase of the country’ annual health budget, which rose from Tanzanian shillings 31 billion in 2015 to a whopping 270 billion in the first quarter of 2021.

Dorothy Gwajima, Tanzania’s Minister for Health said in 28 referral hospitals that had been investigated, officials had flagrantly flouted procurement rules and in some cases were involved in outright theft of the money earmarked for purchasing drug supplies.

“Stern measures will be taken against all those involved, no stone will be unturned,” she told reporters.

According to her disciplinary actions will be taken and criminal charges will be instituted against those who will be found to have flouted standard procurement procedures.

Supplier To Face Music

The minister said private suppliers who allegedly sold drugs and medical equipment without adhering to procurement rules will also be investigated.

According to the 2020 Public Expenditure Review, which provides framework trends and patterns of the country’s health expenditure in the public sector, Tanzania has not been able to translate its rapid economic growth and development into increased access of quality health services.

The total per capita health spending increased modestly from US$23.6 to US$28.5 million between 2010 and 2017.

While Tanzania has made good progress in health service delivery, rural populations still don’t have access to better health services.

Systemic Corruption

Recent studies show that systemic corruption coupled with dwindling donor funding has affected health service delivery in Tanzania’s public hospitals.

While foreign donors have always used aid as a tool to effect change and guide the country’s health policy, a huge chunk of their money has not been put to good use due to systemic corruption.

Deus Kitapondya, a public health professional working with Muhimbili National Hospital said corruption in Africa is deeply embedded in the system of life, which manifests in different forms such as abrupt policy shifts to attract funding.

“The situation is critical, workers morale in public hospitals has fallen down in a way you cannot explain it,” he said.

Tanzania, Burundi Shun COVID-19 Vaccines

Dar es Salaam, Tanzania — As nations worldwide are banking on COVID-19 vaccines to quash the deadly Coronavirus, Tanzania and Burundi have rejected the badly needed jabs, a move likely to derail efforts to fight the disease.

The World Health Organisation (WHO), which has started shipment of about 90 million COVID-19 vaccines to African countries including 320,000 jabs to Rwanda, Cape Verde, South Africa, and Tunisia, said this week it had excluded the two east African countries from its rollout plans.

No Plan For Vaccines

Earlier this week Tanzania insisted it had no plans to import COVID-19 after President Magufuli, who declared the country as COVID-free said the vaccine could be potentially dangerous.

Africa, which has seen a deadly resurgence of COVID-19 cases, recorded 3.6 million as of Monday, with 93,647 deaths.

While scientific modeling has shown an overall lower infection rate in Africa compared to Europe and the United States, experts warned that health systems could potentially become overwhelmed due to the on-going resurgence.

Herd Immunity

Health experts say to achieve herd immunity, about 60 percent of the continent’s population has to be immunized.

In Burundi, where more than 1,600 cases of Coronavirus had been recorded, officials said this week the country is counting on prevention measures since the majority of the COVID-19 patients are recovering.

COVID-19 personal hygiene
People wash their hands as a preventive measure against COVID-19 in Gatumba, Burundi. Credit: Onesphore Nibigira

“Since more than 95% of patients are recovering, we estimate that the vaccines are not yet necessary,” said Thaddee Ndikumana, Burundi’s Health Minister.

Testing Controversy

Tanzania recorded 509 cases of Coronavirus infections and 21 deaths, in May 2020 when authorities halted testing policy. The move came after President Magufuli cast doubt on the efficacy of the Chinese-made testing kits, which he claimed returned positive results on unlikely samples taken on a goat and pawpaw fruit.

President Magufuli’s decision to stop COVID-19 testing provoked widespread criticism among public health experts who have debunked wild conspiracy theories against COVID-19 vaccines with no scientific basis.

President Magufuli, who has largely abhorred social distancing measures including mask-wearing is strongly criticized for peddling wild conspiracy theories that contradict the global scientific consensus on the deadly disease.

Dorothy Gwajima, Tanzania’s minister of health said the east African country is not intending to import COVID-19 vaccines, including free doses it could get from the global Covax initiative which targets poor and middle-income nations.

“We are not satisfied that those vaccines have been clinically proven safe,” said Dr. Gwajima.

Tanzania government has shunned conventional medicines, it is instead promoting traditional remedies, such as steam inhalation to fight respiratory infections

“It’s better we continue to use traditional remedies that have been with us for generations,” she said.

Gwajima emphasized Magufuli’s stance against foreign vaccines while demonstrating how to make a drink using ginger, onion, pepper, and lemons which she claimed can help to obliterate the Coronavirus.

Despite facing strong opposition, WHO has urged the Tanzanian government to prepare for a vaccination campaign, encourage mask-wearing, and share information about Coronavirus infections.

“Vaccines work and I encourage the [Tanzanian] government to prepare for a COVID vaccination campaign,” said Dr. Matshidiso Moeti, the WHO’s Africa director.

Tanzanians Raise Eyebrow Over $100 COVID Screening Fee

Dar es Salaam, Tanzania — Amidst rumours of the rising number of people with respiratory diseases in private hospitals, Tanzania authorities have issued new policy directives requiring national and foreign travellers to be screened for Coronavirus.

Dorothy Gwajima, Minister for Health, Community Development, Gender, Elderly and Children said in a statement that COVID-19 screening is mandatory at the fee of Tanzanian shillings 230,000 US$100 for all national and international travelers.

“All travelers are required to go to respective health facilities designated for COVID-19 testing, those whose results turn out negative will be issued with COVID-19 clearance certificates and their names will be transferred electronically to relevant officials,” she said.

All travelers, foreigners and returning citizens, whose countries or airlines require them to get tested for COVID-19 with a negative test result as a condition for travel are required to present a certificate upon arrival, the government said.

Questionable Data

The east African country which halted COVID-19 testing and subsequently stopped publishing relevant data in April 2020, on the grounds that the Chinese-made testing kits were defective, recorded a total of 509 confirmed cases and 21 deaths.

The new guideline sets out procedures for applications, testing, how to take the results, border checks and testing costs for travelers.

According to Minister Gwajima, technological changes have necessitated the cost of testing for COVID-19 to rise from Tanzanian shillings 40,000 (US$ 17) to $100.

At present getting COVID-19 test results, which involve a nasal and throat swab, takes up to 48 hours.

According to officials, COVID-19 positive patients have the option to stay under observation and treatment at the designated health facilities or isolate themselves at home under strict supervision.

Alternative Remedies

While the rest of the world has embraced conventional approach to fight the deadly pandemic, Tanzania switched to prayers, ginger, lemonade concoctions and steam inhalation to fight the virus.

Unlike other African nations, Tanzania shunned lockdowns opted instead to rely on the power of prayer and alternative remedies.

President John Magufuli—nicknamed “The Bulldozer” for his solid track record of getting things done declared in June last year that the nation had eliminated the virus after three days of prayers.

His remarks, however, casted serious doubts among public health professionals, with officials from the World Health Organisation (WHO) and African Centre for Disease Control, strongly criticising the government’s move to halt COVID-19 testing in May.

Infections Rumours

Speaking on conditions of anonymity for fear of reprisals, health workers at major private hospitals in Tanzania’s largest commercial city claim the number of people with respiratory-related complications and high fever has been rising although most of them recover quickly.

“There has been an increase in admission into health facilities, I would like to advise you to maintain precaution,” said a doctor at Safe Hospital in Dar es Salaam.

The government denied the claims.

Veneer Of Truth

Aidan Eyakuze, the Executive Director of Twaweza—a local governance think tank, criticized the official narrative on Coronavirus in Tanzania terming it “veneer of truth”

“We hear whispered insights from medical professionals, and circumstantial evidence of friends and colleagues losing loved ones after sudden respiratory distress which proved fatal,” wrote Eyakuze in The Citizen, Tanzania’s leading independent newspaper.

While neighbouring Kenya and Uganda are increasingly worried by the pandemic, Tanzania seems blissfully relaxed about it, Eyakuze said.

“Lack of open data contributes to this sense of security,” he said.

Zimbabwe Hit By Sixty COVID-19 Deaths In 24 Hours

Harare — Zimbabwe was on Monday hit by 60 COVID-19 deaths in 24 hours, this at a time the country has lost a total of 773 people since the first case was confirmed almost a year ago.

A late night Covid-19 update by Zimbabwe’s Ministry of Health on Monday also said 689 new positive cases of Coronavirus were recorded on the same day the 60 people succumbed to the dreaded pandemic.

“60 COVID-19 deaths were reported today (Monday). 37 of the deaths occurred at institutional level with 23 at community level,” a statement from the country’s Ministry of Health reads.

The Ministry of Health here also added that ‘National Case fatality Rate now stands at 2.8% as at 18/1/21.’

Meanwhile, Zimbabwe’s Coronavirus mortality rate is relatively far lower than other countries that have so far experienced skyrocketing deaths due to the rampaging pandemic.

Yet the country’s democracy activists like Elvis Mugari of the opposition Movement for Democratic Change Alliance worry the deaths could be a sign of worse things to come.

“Our country’s dysfunctional health care facilities could mean much more Covid-19 deaths are in the offing,” Mugari told Ubuntu Times.

On Wednesday, COVID-19 killed the country’s foreign Affairs Minister Sibusiso Moyo, the former army general who went on state television and announced a coup that toppled former President Robert Mugabe in 2017.

Zimbabwe is currently in a 30-day national lockdown period ordered by the government in order to throttle the further spread of Coronavirus.

Gold Mining Boom In Uganda Fuels Mercury Pollution, Spells Doom For The Environment

It’s before sunrise but artisanal gold miner Rose Namukasa is already scouring muddy water for small nuggets of gold in this mining area in Mubende, central Uganda, one of the largest gold mining headlands in the country, where mercury is a staple.

Armed with a basin, the 30-year old mixes muddy water with mercury with her bare hands without protective gloves, ignoring the risk of mercury poisoning, an early link to wide-ranging mercury pollution that has affected most gold mining areas of Uganda.

Artisanal gold mining in Uganda fuels mercury pollution
Women mine for gold using mercury to recover minute pieces of gold that are mixed in soil and sediments. The use of mercury poses health risks for the miners. Diana Taremwa Karakire / Ubuntu Times

“If I don’t work what will my 4 children eat? they will starve, I don’t have money for gloves either,” says the single mother.

A gold rush in Uganda has spiked demand for mercury as artisan miners seek to cash in on the highly demanded precious metal amid climbing international prices.

Namukasa is among the over 300,000 artisan and small-scale gold miners in Uganda who produce most of the country’s gold while they risk their lives every day, working in dangerous conditions.

“Mercury use is totally unacceptable and the government will revoke licenses of miners that are found using this dangerous chemical,” said Sarah Opendi Achieng the Minister of State for Energy and Mineral Development, at a recent national citizens’ conference on mining.

Uganda’s mining sector is dominated by artisan and small scale miners whose activities are largely unmonitored and unregulated. In gold mines, mercury is used to recover pieces of gold mixed in soil and sediments. Mercury and gold are combined together to form a gold-mercury amalgam. Gold is then extracted by vaporizing the mercury. The remnants of this amalgam then percolate into the soil or flow to the nearby environment, eventually finding their way into water streams. This poses a great danger to local communities and the environment in gold mining areas.

Although mercury is a naturally occurring element, it is highly toxic to humans, animals, and the environment when not handled properly. Prolonged and high exposure to mercury by inhalation damages the nervous, digestive, and immune systems.

Artisanal gold mining in Uganda fuels mercury pollution
Artisan gold miners engage in the use of hazardous chemicals to mine gold as mining activities go on unregulated and unmonitored by the government. Diana Taremwa Karakire / Ubuntu Times

A recent research report by Water Governance Institute a local environmental organization titled Mining Industry’s Compliance to Social and Environmental Safeguards in Uganda found that mercury levels around gold mining areas of Kitumbi and Kasana sub-counties in Mubende were four times higher than the safe limit established by the World Health Organization WHO. The researchers analyzed 20 samples of water and soil collected from different gold mining sites where mercury is used including gardens and water bodies around these mining sites.

The report co-author Henry Bazira says that gold mining communities need to be monitored and educated about the dangers of using mercury in gold mining.

“Mercury pollution is a serious issue not just for communities in Mubende but the entire population is at risk of exposure because of the cumulative effect of mercury releases in the environment,” he said.

The report also states that several gold miners interviewed complained of unusual symptoms such as convulsions, loss of muscle coordination, miscarriages, paralysis, anemia, and tremors all of which are symptoms of mercury poisoning.

“No bio-monitoring of mercury effects on humans has been undertaken in Uganda and we lack capacity at medical level to fully diagnose mercury-related ailments,” says Bazira.

He adds that the government should work towards making alternatives such as borax affordable and accessible. “Borax is a better option because it breaks down in water due to its high affinity for oxygen but remains expensive for these communities”

Artisanal gold mining in Uganda fuels mercury pollution
Mercury laced water is disposed off anyhow in the open finding its way into the surrounding environment. Diana Taremwa Karakire / Ubuntu Times

Mercury use in gold mining also flouts the Minamata Convention on mercury which Uganda became a signatory to in 2013. The objective of the convention is to protect human health and the environment from the anthropogenic emissions and releases of mercury and mercury compounds. Article 3 of the convention, seeks to reduce global mercury pollution through complementary measures to minimize mercury supply and demand.

Mercury pollution is also one of the causes of climate change that is already a reality in Uganda. Mercury’s interaction with air forms mercury oxide which contributes to the depletion of the ozone layer. Smuggling of mercury across the country’s porous borders is also common.

Uganda is endowed with a vast array of metallic and industrial minerals that have the potential to be developed commercially however most of these remain essentially under-developed.

The increase in international commodity prices triggered a number of processes in the country including putting in place laws to guide and govern the emerging minerals sector and conducting aerial-magnetic geological studies to determine the mineral deposits in the country.

A World Bank-funded survey divided Uganda into six blocks and found that western Uganda, which borders the mineral-rich but restive Eastern Congo the most endowed. The country’s central region also holds huge potential.

Three years ago, a Belgium-based refinery set up a $20 million gold plant in the country. Statistics from the ministry of trade indicate that gold exports fetch $1 billion every year and have overtaken coffee as Uganda’s leading export commodity.

According to Vincent Kedi the Principal Engineer on mining at the Ministry of Energy and Mineral Development of Uganda, the new legal framework to govern mining activities in the country -the mining and minerals bill 2019 will soon be tabled in Parliament.

The old law which is the mining act of 2003 was lax on enforcing compliance to social and environmental safeguards in mining activities, penalties for noncompliance as well as mitigation and rehabilitation strategies.

“We are trying to expedite the process to put in place a new mining law. The new law has taken great care to address most of the challenges in the sector including mercury use in gold mining and stringent penalties for environmental degradation ”. He added that monitoring mining activities had been affected by the outbreak of COVID-19 and the national lockdown.

Healthcare Staff Nationwide Strike Exacerbates Kenya’s Health Crisis

Kenya’s public hospitals are likely to ground to a halt as nurses and clinicians vow to stay off work even as millions are facing three weeks in a row without healthcare amid the global COVID-19 pandemic.

With the rising cases of Coronavirus and the deadly toll the pandemic is taking on Kenyan, nurses, and clinicians at public hospitals made good their threat to boycott work over poor working conditions on December 6.

Through its union, the Kenya National Union of Nurses (KNUN), the nurses’ number 23,000 said they will only resume work after their demands are met.

Seth Panyako, the union’s Secretary-General, among other demands, told the State to compensate families of 26 nurses who have died of COVID-19 in line of duty.

The striking healthcare staff lament that many of their colleagues are dying from COVID-19 due to a lack of both protective gear and health insurance.

Joseph Ondiek, whose wife was to undergo delivery through Cesarian Section had to seek medical services at the Kenyatta National Hospital, a facility already struggling with the surge of cases.

“My wife requires to undergo a Caesarian Section. On reaching Kenyatta National Hospital, I could not be attended to the emergency requirements because of the long queues. All I am praying is that the government come to our rescue by listening to the nurses’ demands,” said Ondiek, who resides in Mathare, one of the informal settlements in Nairobi.

Worsening this already dire situation was when Kenyan doctors in pubic hospitals, said to number 7,200 members joined nurses and clinical officers in the nationwide strike.

The doctors’ concerns revolve around the lack of protective equipment and health insurance for frontline workers fighting against the spread of Coronavirus.

However, the doctors called off the strike three days later after the government acquiesced to their most immediate demands. Nurses and clinical officers’ demands were never attended to and hence continue to picket.

Healthcare staff strikes are a significant threat to universal access to healthcare globally and especially in Sub Saharan Africa. Kenya’s healthcare sector has seen an increase in such industrial action.

Since 2013, Kenya’s public health sector has been affected by frequent short strikes, culminating in nationwide strikes lasting a total of 250 days by doctors and nurses in a span of 11 months in the years 2016 and 2017.

Whilst health professionals have the right to picket, experts say their strike cripples health services with almost no public hospital inpatient services being administered, thus violating people’s right to healthcare.

In most of the healthcare workers’ strike, the Kenyan government has been employing reactive solutions such as sacking striking workers, jailing trade union officials which neither addresses the underlying problems nor build the resilience of the health system.

Last week, Mutahi Kagwe, the Cabinet Secretary for Health directed county governments to sack all striking healthcare staff.

“County governments should start advertising vacancies to replace those on strike if the striking health staff continue to be adamant,” Kagwe gave the directive when he addressed the media.

Kagwe urged the over 8,000 nurses currently jobless to apply for the positions once advertised.

However, officials of the Kenya Medical Practitioners and Dentists Union (KMDU) were quick to rubbish the directive.

“We are shocked by the government’s level of insensitivity and arrogance in dealing with the grievances raised by our members on their welfare and safety in COVID-19 times. The minister’s ‘appreciation’ to healthcare workers is illaudable,” KMPDU Acting Secretary-General Chibnzi Mwachonda told a press conference.

Samson Cherargei, a senator in Nandi, one of the counties in Kenya’s Rift Valley called on CS Kagwe to instead use his energy in unraveling those behind a multi-million COVID-19 heist scandal under his health ministry.

Bowing to pressure, the CS later said the government will not replace the healthcare workers on strike, a move he said was aimed at ensuring services continue to be provided in all public health facilities.

With the virus spreading, and on the frontline between a nervous public, the healthcare workers on whom all depend have in many instances been forgotten.

The World Health Organization estimates that health workers during the Ebola outbreak and six years ago were between 21 and 32 times more likely to be infected than the general adult population. More than 350 healthcare workers died while battling Ebola in West Africa.

Kenya, currently with some 48 million people has 9,068 licensed medical doctors, 537 Intensive Care Units, and only 256 ventilators.

The Voices Of The Forgotten Population In Rural Kenya During COVID-19

Every morning, a harmonious voice crosses the airwaves and finally lands in the countryside of Kajiongo village in Tharaka Nithi county. Here it meets people shut from modernization, and wake them up to the rhythm of the day.

The voice is Mwenda Antu radio. A community-based radio airing vernacular educational programs, updates and entertainment in this geographic location.

Just a few months ago, the little community could be accessed only through a one-way path that came to a dead end. However, the radio facilitated the opening of the village by forwarding their grievances to elected officials who responded by initiating the construction of abandoned roads.

This was briefly after the first case of Coronavirus was reported in the country. At that time, the radio had found itself with a challenge of reaching out to people.

Kajiongo village
A new road under construction in the rugged terrain of Kajiongo village has enabled Village HopeCore to provide maternal healthcare to many women. Kelvin Mutugi / Ubuntu Times

Today, a network of roads converges at this community. Some constructed and others are underway.

”The road here was demarcated before independence. It had begun to disappear until Mwenda Antu radio came, and we expressed our challenges to our elected representatives,” says Muriuki, 65, as he points to the trail of road under construction.

Tractors in Kajiongo village
Tractors winding up the construction of the road linking Kajiongo community to the Nairobi-Meru highway. Kelvin Mutugi / Ubuntu Times

Besides acting as the intermediary between the people and their representatives, the radio seeks to fill the literacy gap by offering educational programs. Occasionally, agricultural and health experts are invited to extend their knowledge to the residents.

Evidently, improved agricultural practices have increased their produce giving them enough food during challenging times of the drought and pandemic.

In the complex world of cutting-edge technology, a radio would not seem useful. This is not the case for Kajiongo community.

Constructed roads which now link this remote village has enabled Village HopeCore, a non-profit organization, to provide home-based maternal healthcare to girls and women, having reached more than 500 homes so far.

HopeCore distribution
HopeCore loading up the vehicles to distribute hand washing tanks to the community. Credit: Village HopeCore

Village HopeCore is committed to eradicating poverty in the villages through mobile health care, education, and empowerment.

“We provide hold educational meet up with girls and women while providing mobile healthcare,” says Mutwiri, a field health practitioner for Village HopeCore.

Through the agency of over 200 trained community health volunteers, Hopecore mobile healthcare programs have managed to help many vulnerable girls in these communities.

Teenage girls receive sanitary towels
Teenage girls receive sanitary towels at Mwimbi and Muthambi sub-county. Credit: Village HopeCore

For instance, Acosta, who is a community health volunteer, was notified about an incident where a 17-year-old girl from Ikumbo community had decided to get rid of her pregnancy by drinking a bottle of bleach.

She had no one to support her, so he visited and referred her to Magutuni sub-county hospital. Even then, she was determined to commit suicide. Through relentless effort, he advised and counseled her until she eventually accepted her situation and agreed to attend ANC clinics. Currently, she is relaxed and awaiting delivery.

Community health volunteers in rural Kenya
Community health volunteers gather with social distancing measures to receive training on how to educate and promote prevention measures on COVID-19 in their communities. Credit: Village HopeCore

For many women, the thoughts of pregnancy bring on a feeling of excitement. However, for teenage girls, forced into adulthood with hard decisions to make, it’s associated with uncertainty, fear and anxiety.

Equally important, Village Hopecore reaches out to school girls and give them free sanitary pads (enough to last for 6 months). Frequently, lack of sanitary towels lead them to engage in ‘sex for pads.’ Thereafter, they educate them on menstrual hygiene management and sexual reproductive health and rights.

HopeCore educate Girls on sex health rights
HopeCore educate Girls on sex health rights. Credit: Village HopeCore

According to the Grace Cup report, 65% of girls and women in Kenya cannot afford sanitary pads due to poverty. 1 in every 10 Kenyan adolescent girl ends up missing school during her menstruation period which affects her performance.

“We know that young girls who get pregnant do not access healthcare services like adult females because of the judgment,” said Ademola Olajide, the United Nations Population Fund representative in Kenya.

That makes them more vulnerable to health complications and unsafe abortions, he added.

Globally, pregnancy and childbirth are the leading causes of death for girls aged between 15 and 19, according to the World Health Organization.

Mwenda Antu radio and Village HopeCore are among many other organizations giving hope to vulnerable populations.

Whereas the pandemic has impacted many aspects of our society, reproductive healthcare is among the worst hit.

Two months ago a video surfaced on social media appearing to show a woman on labor delivering outside the gate of a reputable hospital while Health workers neglected her. It was devastating to many.

Furthermore, in recent past cases of babies disappearing from maternal units of renowned health centers in the country have raised concern about the effectiveness of reproductive healthcare particularly during COVID-19.

On the other hand, teenage pregnancies have been an obstacle, keeping thousands of adolescent girls out of school for years. Now as the students stay at home in a bid to curb the spread of the virus, more incidences have been reported.

While the social aspect of the inequality — which entails the difference in people’s physical well-being and access to livelihood opportunities such as wealth and education — affects many women overall, their plight has increased in rural areas due to lack of resources and poor infrastructure.

According to Kenya’s 2010 constitution (intended to improve the welfare of Kenya’s marginalized groups), women must have at least a third of seats in parliament and a third of appointed positions. However, the law has been difficult to apply.

The fact that the cases of girls’ and women’s rights violations keep rising, is an indication that even though they have representatives to speak for them, in most cases they are never heard.

What Are The Main Concerns Of Ghanaian Voters Ahead Of Elections In December?

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In every election year, concerns are raised as to whether Ghanaians vote along ethnic lines for the two main political parties (the National Democratic Congress and the New Patriotic Party) or if they are influenced by development and policy concerns.

Historically, general data points towards the former. The ethnic strongholds of the left-leaning NDC remain the Volta Region and Northern parts of Ghana, which it wins easily during polls. The much denser Ashanti and Eastern regions of Ghana always turn out for the NPP.

Regions like the Greater Accra Region, where I reside, are less homogeneous and are certain to play the role of kingmakers. No president has won power without winning the Greater Accra Region, which has the highest voter population with 3,529,181 out of the total of 17,029,971.

With funding support from USAID/Ghana, the Centre for Democratic Development (CDD-Ghana) conducted a pre-election survey to gauge the most pressing concerns of citizens. I looked to document the reflection of these findings in the Greater Accra Region of Ghana with photographs over the past year.

From the sample size, 51 percent of the electorate noted concerns with infrastructure development. This is normally a facsimile for roads, which are known to be below standard in most residential parts of Accra.

Eroded roads in an Accra suburb
A driver traverses a stretch of road that is heavily eroded. Credit: Delali Adogla-Bessa / Ubuntu Times
Eroded roads in an Accra suburb
Some inner roads in Accra have suffered from a lack of maintenance over the past two decades. Credit: Delali Adogla-Bessa / Ubuntu Times
Eroded roads in an Accra suburb
The state of roads like this has been known to spawn “no road, no vote” protests in the past. Credit: Delali Adogla-Bessa / Ubuntu Times

The government all but socially engineered citizen expectations by declaring 2020 the “year of roads” in a bid to boost infrastructure in that sector. It has been pointing to high profile projects as evidence of infrastructure successes.

The marquee project in the region is the $94 million Pokuase interchange which the government expects to be the biggest in West Africa. A major win for the government has also been the progress on the 7.5 km LEKMA road which has made commutes easier for many road users.

Work on the Pokuase interchange project
The Pokuase interchange is expected to be the biggest in West Africa when completed. Credit: Delali Adogla-Bessa / Ubuntu Times
Work on the Pokuase interchange project
The Pokuase interchange will have four tiers connecting to over 20 km of local roads. Credit: Delali Adogla-Bessa / Ubuntu Times
Work progressing on LEKMA road
After almost three decades, the LEKMA is close to completion. Credit: Delali Adogla-Bessa / Ubuntu Times
Work progressing on LEKMA road
The government wasted no time patting itself on the back following progress on the LEKMA road. Credit: Delali Adogla-Bessa / Ubuntu Times
Flooding in an Accra suburb
Many residents fear the rainy season because of the attendant flooding. Credit: Delali Adogla-Bessa / Ubuntu Times
Flooding in an Accra suburb
Poor drainage leads to runoff water overcoming homes and streets of residents. Credit: Delali Adogla-Bessa / Ubuntu Times
Flooding in an Accra suburb
Poor drainage ultimately comes back to haunt road infrastructure. Credit: Delali Adogla-Bessa / Ubuntu Times
Flooding in an Accra suburb
Uncovered drains end up getting choked with plastic waste which is certain to lead to flooding. Credit: Delali Adogla-Bessa / Ubuntu Times

But what has remained an infrastructure concern for decades remains the poor drainage network in Accra that has led to perennial flooding in urban areas, sometimes at the cost of lives.

But the drainage system is generally in the shadow of calls for better roads.

Workers on a road project
Infrastructure projects mean jobs are being created for residents in their vicinity. Credit: Delali Adogla-Bessa / Ubuntu Times
A trader in Accra
Ghana’s informal economy is the largest source of jobs and they are largely untaxed. Credit: Delali Adogla-Bessa / Ubuntu Times
A trader in Accra
Concerns are raised about how sustainable the jobs most Ghanaians have are. Credit: Delali Adogla-Bessa / Ubuntu Times
Men without work
Groups of able-bodied men without work are a common sight in Accra. Credit: Delali Adogla-Bessa / Ubuntu Times
Men without work
Ghana’s hailed as one of the fastest-growing economies but Ghanaians want to feel growth in their pockets. Credit: Delali Adogla-Bessa / Ubuntu Times
Closed shops
The pandemic disrupted businesses that had to comply with health safety protocols. Credit: Delali Adogla-Bessa / Ubuntu Times
Barbershop
A barber looks forlorn having been deprived of a steady stream of customers because of the Coronavirus pandemic. Credit: Delali Adogla-Bessa / Ubuntu Times

There is some overlap with the first concern of infrastructure and the second concern of unemployment (46 percent raised this issue) as road projects mean jobs in project areas.

Credible employment figures are hard to come by and whilst the state makes unverified claims about jobs created, there is no denying that the Coronavirus pandemic crippled many businesses. Before the pandemic, the state claimed it had created 2,204,397 jobs.

It is worth noting that Ghana’s economy is largely informal. The Ghana Statistical Service estimates that 86.1 percent of all employment is found in the informal economy; 90.9 percent of women and 81 percent of men.

Fifth on the list of concerns was the management of the economy (20 percent) which also has a bearing on job creation.

Secondary School kids
Schoolchildren walk into an uncertain future after spending over nine months out of school because of the pandemic. Credit: Delali Adogla-Bessa / Ubuntu Times
An empty school compound
School compounds, once vibrant with pupils are left barren because of the pandemic. Credit: Delali Adogla-Bessa / Ubuntu Times
Children play football
Children play football in Accra during what would have been regular school hours. Credit: Delali Adogla-Bessa / Ubuntu Times

The third most prominent issue for Ghanaians ahead of the polls was education (28 percent).

Whilst the Akufo-Addo administration has been praised for ensuring free-secondary education free, again the Coronavirus pandemic has left most children out of school for almost nine months.

This is expected to deepen inequality and entrench the learning crisis.

Coronavirus testing
Concerns have been raised about the perceived deliberate reduction of Coronavirus testing in Ghana. Credit: Delali Adogla-Bessa / Ubuntu Times
Bats in Ghana
With the pandemic in mind, researchers have reminded us that fruit bats in Ghana carry strains of Ebola hence the need for preparedness plans. Credit: Delali Adogla-Bessa / Ubuntu Times
Blood pressure test
Hypertension, stroke, diabetes, and cancers are among the top 10 causes of death in Ghana. Credit: Delali Adogla-Bessa / Ubuntu Times

In a year defined by a pandemic, it is also no surprise that health is on this list.

Ghana has seen 323 deaths from the Coronavirus pandemic which is relatively low and most of the questions asked have been about the reduced testing by the state and the lack of significant support for the sciences to safeguard against future pandemics.

The pandemic may also have distracted from other pressing issues in the health space.

Water tanker
Many residents of Accra have to buy potable water from tankers on a weekly basis to ensure basic hygiene. Credit: Delali Adogla-Bessa / Ubuntu Times
Residents fetch wastewater
Residents in an Accra suburb choose wastewater from a water treatment plant over buying from tankers. Credit: Delali Adogla-Bessa / Ubuntu Times
Veronica bucket at a shop
The pandemic has meant almost every place of business has made running water available to the public improving hygiene. Credit: Delali Adogla-Bessa / Ubuntu Times
Entrance to an eatery
Eateries have staff on hand to sanitize the hands of all patrons, something that was not done less than a year ago. Credit: Delali Adogla-Bessa / Ubuntu Times
Social distancing at a polling center
Changes in health attitudes will be evident with social distancing on election day. Credit: Delali Adogla-Bessa / Ubuntu Times

There was no mention of sanitation in the survey probably because such conditions have improved greatly because of the pandemic.

It is worth noting that the bar was incredibly low in Accra the President continues to be mocked for his failed promise to make Accra the cleanest city in Africa.

But the lack of access to good clean water undoubtedly translates to an increased threat for diseases like cholera.

Africa Could Be Staring At Antimicrobial Resistance As Next Deadlier Pandemic If Swift Action Is Delayed

Nairobi, 18 November 2020 – With Antimicrobial Resistance (AMR) threatening development and health in Africa, six international and continental organizations are launching the first partnership of its kind to combat this public health crisis on the continent.

Noting the ‘silent public health threat’ that antimicrobial resistance poses in African countries, representatives from key health agencies have expressed concern over uncontrolled antimicrobial use across the continent.

The leaders spoke during a virtual press conference on the first day of the World Antimicrobial Awareness Week (WAAW) Campaign for Africa.

Dr. Matshidiso Moeti, WHO Regional Director for Africa says Africa needs to act swiftly on AMR to curb a looming health crisis.

“Antimicrobial resistance is one of the most pressing health challenges Africa faces. If we don’t act now, we could see the continent roll back the gains in health we have made through immense effort and sacrifice. We must stop endangering our future and think before we pop a pill in our mouth,” Dr. Matshidiso Moeti told the virtual press briefing. 

Antimicrobials include antibiotics, antivirals, antifungals, and antiparasitics used to prevent and treat infections in humans, animals, and plants.

Antimicrobial agents have saved millions of lives and protected animal health and welfare, as well as food security. But their rampant misuse in health settings and agriculture is killing 700,000 people annually around the world. 

In Africa, research findings estimate that 4.1 million people could die of failing drug treatments by 2050 unless urgent action is taken.

While data on AMR is sorely lacking on the continent, there are signs that resistance to commonly prescribed antimicrobials is significant. 

Malaria, which kills 3000 children in Africa every day, is increasingly showing resistance to once-effective treatment options. Tuberculosis is becoming resistant to the drugs typically used to treat it. 

Current studies indicate that drug resistance to HIV is increasing and could cause 890,000 deaths by 2030 in sub-Saharan Africa.

“Antimicrobial resistance threatens the health, safety, and prosperity of Africa. We need immediate and sustained action from governments and all partners across the human, animal, and environmental sectors. Together, we can prevent infections, ensure antimicrobials are used appropriately, and limit the transmission of drug-resistant infections,” Dr. Nkengasong John, Director of Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention told the virtual press briefing.

AMR is exacerbated by the easy availability of medicines without a prescription. An estimated one in ten medicines globally is substandard or falsified, and the African region is one of the most affected in the world. 

In markets and on street corners, people are buying antimicrobials of unknown quality. Without proper medical supervision, people often stop their drug course too soon or they double-dose rather than keep to a prescribed strict time interval for appropriate drug-taking. 

The same happens in the treatment of animal diseases coupled with under-dosing, disrespect to drug withdrawal periods, and use of antimicrobials as growth promoters.

The improper use of antimicrobial medicines enables bacteria, viruses, fungi, and microscopic parasites to mutate into superbugs that are resistant to the drugs designed to kill them. 

These superbugs can travel across countries, resulting in thousands, or potentially millions, of deaths. Their treatment is resulting in prolonged hospital stays and the need for more expensive medicines, leading to huge additional costs in health expenditure by governments and individuals. 

“We are at a critical time to change the way we use antimicrobials for humans, animals, and plants and reduce the emergence and spread of antimicrobial resistance. If AMR is left unchecked, the next pandemic we face could be antimicrobial-resistant, and much deadlier if the drugs needed to treat it do not work,” Dr. Abebe Haile-Gabriel, FAO Assistant Director-General and Regional Representative for Africa told the media briefing.

The World Bank projects that the additional health care cost by 2050 could be between US$ 0.33 trillion and US$ 1.2 trillion.

AMR in agriculture reduces productivity, hinders the provision of safe food, and has a direct impact on food security and sustainability of livelihoods for farming communities. Improper disposal of pharmaceutical, hospital, abattoir, human, and animal waste contaminates the environment with antimicrobials and antimicrobial-resistant organisms. 

“Antimicrobial resistance is a matter of concern for Africa because of the public health threat on African citizens and the negative socio-economic impact on wellbeing and livelihoods,” noted Prof. Ahmed EL-Sawalhy, Director African Union Inter-African Bureau for Animal Resources.

AMR is not only a health issue but a complex problem that requires a united multisectoral approach. The six partners making this joint statement represent the public health, agriculture animal health, and environmental sectors.

The organizations jointly committed to 10 points of action, including fostering a One Health approach and leveraging each organization’s core competencies. 

Areas of collaboration include strengthening advocacy for the more prudent use of antimicrobials by increasing general public and medical practitioner awareness, understanding and behavior change; supporting the integration of AMR action in routine infection prevention and control (IPC) measures as well as vaccination, farm biosecurity, and good hygiene practices; and supporting compliance with international standards for the management of human, animal and industrial waste.

Kenyan Health Workers In The Pandemic Dance To Ease Their Minds

When Kenya recorded a first COVID-19 case in March, the government announced the closure of learning institutions in the country and eventually picked a few of them to be isolation centers for those who were traveling into the country as well as those who had been found to be positive.

Fridah Kibiti, a Nairobi-based nurse was deployed by her employer to the COVID-19 isolation and quarantine center at the Kenya Medical Training College (KMTC) five months ago, and she didn’t think much of it.

In August, Kibiti was tested for the virus after she developed flu and started sneezing, and was found to be positive. She had contracted COVID-19.

“I came for the night shift on a Wednesday and upon being given supper, I felt that food was tasteless,” she says.

Health workers in the front line against the pandemic dance to ease their minds
Kibiti, a health worker at the KMTC isolation and quarantine center who caught the virus in the line of duty speaks during an interview. Credit: Dominic Kirui / Ubuntu Times

Overwhelmed already by the care she was expected to give to her patients, Kibiti now had another challenge to add to her situation: that of fighting to recover from COVID-19. She was in need of psychosocial support, together with her colleagues who had been in the frontline in the fight against the disease at the center.

At the KMTC which is affiliated to Kenya’s leading public hospital, the Kenyatta National Hospital in the capital, Nairobi, Kibiti, together with her colleagues is engaging in weekly Zumba dances to ease their minds and make themselves feel better. Apart from the dance, the health workers also get psychosocial support from Amref Health Africa through funding from the EU.

According to the World Health Organization of the United Nations (WHO), COVID-19 has exposed health workers and their families to unprecedented levels of risk. Although not representative, data from many countries across WHO regions indicate that COVID-19 infections among health workers are far greater than those in the general population. Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, the WHO Director-General stresses the importance of keeping these health workers safe.

“The COVID-19 pandemic has reminded all of us of the vital role health workers play to relieve suffering and safe lives,” said Dr. Ghebreyesus. “No country, hospital, or clinic can keep its patients safe unless it keeps its health workers safe. WHO’s Health Worker Safety Charter is a step towards ensuring that health workers have safe working conditions, the training, the pay, and the respect they deserve.”

The Charter, released last month for World Patient Safety Day, called on governments and those running health services at local levels to take five actions to better protect health workers. These included steps to protect health workers from violence; to improve their mental health; to protect them from physical and biological hazards; to advance national programs for health worker safety, and to connect health worker safety policies to existing patient safety policies.

Doctor Caro Ngunu the head of the Division for Communicable Diseases who has been responsible for case management and prevention says that the Zumba and dance activity assists the health worker to debrief.

Health workers in the front line against the pandemic dance to ease their minds
Health workers enjoy a dance during one of the sessions in Nairobi. Credit: Dominic Kirui / Ubuntu Times

“COVID-19 is associated with a lot of stigma and the number of hours that we are working coupled also with the kind of environment within isolation and quarantine sites can be quite stressful and so it takes care of the mental wellbeing of the healthcare workers and that is why we regularly conduct it. It also brings people together, enhances teamwork,” says Dr. Ngunu.

The Psychosocial First Aid (PFA) sessions were established to provide psychosocial support to staff who are working at the isolation centers and clients being admitted at the isolation centers to relieve them from stress and depression.

This is after it was found out that the heavy workload and long hours of work that the health workers are tasked with during the pandemic, coupled with separation from their family members and loved ones has led to mental disorders i.e. anxiety, depression, stress, poor productivity or low morale at work among the health workers.

The weekly Psychosocial Support Sessions (PSS) and Zumba dance came in handy to relieve the pressure off from work and share challenges and experiences during COVID-19 Response.

The Deputy Director for Preventive and Promotional services at the Nairobi Metropolitan Services Dr. Thomas Ogaro says that the mental therapy through these activities is of great importance for the health workers.

“It was important for the health workers to come together, share information, and get psychological help so that they can come back to their normal duties. This is very important and I would advise other counties to do the same because this will make their mental state very stable,” Ogaro says.

Health workers in the front line against the pandemic dance to ease their minds
Dr. Thomas Ogaro the deputy director for preventive and promotional services at the Metropolitan Services speaks during an interview. Credit: Dominic Kirui / Ubuntu Times

“The Zumba here is what we have been getting every Wednesday and the team has helped me. The exercise there is making me now even feel stronger because I can breathe better and also psychologically, I have started getting the strength, as opposed to what I have been telling my friends that I am a convict. Now I’m not a convict anymore!” Kibiti concludes.

Cancer Outpacing Zimbabwe’s Top Killer Diseases

Harare — Two years ago, his then 53-year old mother succumbed to colon cancer. A year later, his 24-year old sister was diagnosed with the same disease, yet earlier this year, 28-year old Tapfumaneyi Hwengwere also turned into another colon cancer patient in the family.

Hwengwere said now doctors have told him his cancer has reached stage four, meaning his case has leaped beyond redemption.

“I’m just taking medication to ease the pain although it’s clear my condition has gone beyond what the doctors can do to save my life,” Hwengwere told Ubuntu Times.

So, as Hwengwere and his sister contend with colon cancer, he (Hwengwere) said they find solace meeting many other cancer patients at the cancer clinics they often visit here.

According to Zimbabwe’s Cancer Registry, from 6,548 registered cases of cancer in 2013, figures have skyrocketed to 9,220 two years ago, with Hwengwere and his sister comprising the Southern African nation’s alarming cancer statistics.

Many Zimbabweans like Hwengwere and his sister bear the dreaded cancer illness at a time the country also faces the ravages of Coronavirus which has claimed over 200 lives since it struck this country.

Now, health experts here like Jason Utete, a private oncologist in Harare, the Zimbabwean capital have said as doctors they are attending to increasing cases of cancer on a daily basis.

“People are not aware of this; cancer cases we attend to daily are rising more than ever before; it’s scary,” Utete told Ubuntu Times.

cancer patient
A critically-ill cancer patient is photographed in 2014 being pushed on a stretcher bed by an unidentified man into a hospital ward at Parirenyatwa hospital in Harare, the Zimbabwean capital. Credit: Jeffrey Moyo / Ubuntu Times

Yet, with cancer deaths on a gradual rise in Zimbabwe, the country also suffers a scarcity of cancer specialists like Utete, who said owing to that, ‘prospects of detecting cancer early are minimal here.’

Meanwhile, Zimbabwe only has four cancer specialists, according to the country’s Ministry of Health and Child Care although the country is laden with over 7,000 cancer patients.

As such, besides the ravages wrought by Coronavirus, in Zimbabwe, cancer is gradually overtaking several deadly diseases, becoming the country’s number one killer.

Of the types of cancers that have become common among Zimbabweans, is colon cancer, which has affected many like Hwengwere and his sister, and even orphaned them after their widowed mother was killed by the same disease.

Even Zimbabwe’s young children have become victims of the deadly disease, according to this country’s Ministry of Health and Child Care, which has been on record in the media claiming over 700 underage children succumb to cancer each year.

Nurses, patients in hospital ward
Nurses are photographed in July 2014 tending women suffering from cervical cancer at hospital in the Zimbabwean capital Harare. Credit: Jeffrey Moyo / Ubuntu Times

As if that is not enough, an average of 5,000 new cancer cases are recorded annually, according to Zimbabwe’s National Cancer Registry, but more than 80 percent are only diagnosed at a very late stage.

“In both adults and young children here, cancer is often diagnosed late, which has resulted in rising cancer deaths in the country,” said doctor Utete.

Yet, more superstitious Zimbabweans like 73-year old Danisa Chambati who lives in Highfields high-density suburb in Harare has dismissed the existence of cancer, instead, scapegoating witchcraft for such diseases.

“There is nothing called cancer; people are bewitching each other, causing mysterious illnesses and deaths,” Chambati told Ubuntu Times.

But, despite his denial, Chambati’s children confirmed that their mother, his wife, in this case, was killed by colon cancer three years ago.

Team of nurses
In Zimbabwe, nurses have been going on strike demanding better wages as the country’s economy teeters on the brink of collapse, a move that has nonetheless worsened the situation of cancer patients seeking treatment in government hospitals. Credit: Jeffrey Moyo / Ubuntu Times

One of the children, 41-year old Letwin, who is a single mother living with the aging Chambati even claimed the father was suffering from prostate cancer, a condition she also claimed their father has frantically dismissed as untrue.

“Our father has prostate cancer, which is now at its advanced state, but even as doctors diagnosed him of the disease, he has vehemently stayed in denial, claiming that his illness is due to witchcraft in the family,” Letwin told Ubuntu Times.

As such, with many like Chambati clinging to myths related to cancer, many more Zimbabweans are perishing unknowingly to the disease.

In Zimbabwe, therefore, the rich and the poor, celebrities and politicians alike, are succumbing to cancer at an alarming rate.

On Valentine’s Day in 2018, Morgan Tsvangirai, Zimbabwe’s former Prime Minister in the government of national unity between 2008 and 2013, succumbed to colon cancer at a top medical center in neighboring South Africa.

Last year in September, former Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe who ruled this country for closer to four decades, also succumbed to prostate cancer at Gleneagles Hospital in Singapore.

Nurses and visitors
Nurses and visitors jostle in action in and outside the hospital in July 2014 during the busiest hours at Parirenyatwa hospital in the Zimbabwean capital Harare. Credit: Jeffrey Moyo / Ubuntu Times

In 2014 alone, 2,474 people succumbed to cancer in Zimbabwe, and in the same year, 7,018 new cancer cases were recorded, this based on figures from the Cancer Association of Zimbabwe.

But, Zimbabwe’s few cancer specialists like Utete have said ‘such figures are only related to recorded cases in health institutions.’

To him (Utete) ‘most patients could be dying because of cancer within their homes without access to health services due to exorbitant costs.’

In fact, according to government officials, even killer diseases like AIDS in Zimbabwe are being outpaced by cancer as the top killer disease.

“Cancer has turned out to be the topmost killer than HIV and because of this, several people are shunning seeking cancer screening services because they fear to be found with the now dreaded disease which they say is difficult to be treated compared to HIV,” a top official in the Ministry of Health in Zimbabwe, told Ubuntu Times on condition of anonymity as she was unauthorized to speak to the media.

“Apparently, there is now a stigma tag to cancer illnesses, subsequently making it difficult to make sure cancer is diagnosed and treated early,” added the Zimbabwean government official.

Kenya’s Unlikely COVID-19 Hero

Nyeri, Kenya — On a chilly Tuesday morning at the Consolata Mission Hospital in Kenya’s Nyeri County, Jane Kagwiria attends to patients and visitors at the gate as they come into the hospital. She checks their temperatures and ensures they follow the COVID-19 rules to wash their hands and maintain a social distance before entrance. She is a security guard at the hospital.

The 27-year-old mother of one, was able to get all these skills from the training she received from Amref Health Africa through the EU COVID-19 Response Programme. As a security guard, a vital part of her work is providing information about the virus to people coming to the hospital.

Security guard takes forefront in fight against COVID-19
Kagwiria answers a phone call at her security office at the Consolata Mission Hospital. Credit: Dominic Kirui / Ubuntu Times

Kagwiria continues to educate her community on the importance of adhering to prevention measures to curb the spread of the disease. Because of her dedication and passion in her work, she was chosen by the hospital management to be part of the hospital’s COVID-19 response team.

“When we first attended the training, there were some forms we were supposed to fill but after filling, the person in charge of training looked at the list and asked who I was and what a security guard was doing at a health workers’ training. I had put my name among those of doctors and nurses,” she says. ”But after explaining myself and my passion, I was allowed to attend and complete the training.

Kagwiria is also a student at the Sister Leonella Consolata Medical College that is housed by the hospital. She is studying preoperative theatre technology, a course she says has been the best challenge in her life and one that she says will fulfill her dream.

Security guard takes forefront in fight against COVID-19
Kagwiria checks patient temperature using a thermo gun at the gate to the hospital. Credit: Dominic Kirui / Ubuntu Times

But, even as she climbs up the ladder of life and succeeds in what she does right now, Kagwiria’s past life has not been a walk in the park.

In 2006 at age 11, she ran away from her home when her father wanted her to get circumcised so she could be married off.

“My father who was a drunkard at the time wanted me to get married after getting circumcised. I thought to myself that I couldn’t continue with that life and so I decided to run away,” she says.

Security guard takes forefront in fight against COVID-19
Kagwiria walks along the pavements at the hospital towards the theater. Credit: Dominic Kirui / Ubuntu Times

She then went to the priest at their church and explained to him what had happened and he took her to a nun with whom she lived and worked as a house help at Nkubu in Meru County where she was born.

She then met another priest while at Nkubu and being a jovial kid and an active Sunday school pupil, he asked her what she would like after she explained to him she had run away from home. “I told him that I would wish to go back to school,” she says.

Security guard takes forefront in fight against COVID-19
Kagwiria prepares theater equipment for use by the surgeon ahead of a surgery. Credit: Dominic Kirui / Ubuntu Times

The priest agreed and took her back to school, this time to a boarding school, where she sat her primary school exam three years later and passed. She then joined a secondary school and after four years, she sat her high school final year exams.

She then went back to her previous employer who was a nurse to work again as a house help, and she was welcomed. A few months later, Kagwiria joined some youth who were looking for a job at a security company. After going through an interview, she was hired.

“That was the beginning of my career as a security guard. As I went through training, my former high school principal gave me pocket money to survive through training. And when I started working, I was posted to St. Teresa Mission Hospital where I met a man who was a doctor there and fell in love with. I got pregnant with my son but he wanted me to have an abortion. He gave me money but I did not take it as I felt that my child’s life was more important,” she explains.

Security guard takes forefront in fight against COVID-19
Kagwiria hands an equipment to the surgeon during the surgery. Credit: Dominic Kirui / Ubuntu Times

Kagwiria now works for AND Security Company Ltd and is stationed at the Consolata Mission Hospital at Mathari in Nyeri. Here, she is praised as being the best.

Regina Kajuju, the Quality Assurance Manager at the hospital says that she met Kagwiria in 2018 when she was employed to work at the gate as a security guard.

Security guard takes forefront in fight against COVID-19
Kagwiria assists her son with homework at home. Credit: Dominic Kirui / Ubuntu Times

“Despite the fact that she has been working at the gate, she is so much attached to the patients. She has even gone ahead to join the college when she heard of an opportunity to train as a theatre technician. That was her own initiative, not being sponsored by the hospital,” Kajuju says.

Security guard takes forefront in fight against COVID-19
Jane Kagwiria sweeping the veranda with her son. Credit: Dominic Kirui / Ubuntu Times

Father Lucas Gatero, the Assistant Director at the Archdiocese of Nyeri (ADN) Security Company Limited also confirms the same.

“She has been the best we have in the company and have, in several occasions added her responsibilities. There was a time we wanted to move her to another workstation but even the hospital management opposed it, saying she was their best guard at the hospital gate,” Father Gatero says of Kagwiria.

Security guard takes forefront in fight against COVID-19
Kagwiria feeds her chicken at a small hutch near her house. Credit: Dominic Kirui / Ubuntu Times

Kagwiria is now almost completing her studies and is left with an internship where she is attached to the hospital and working at the theatre as an intern. She is on unpaid leave at the security company, but still volunteers to work there and help out during the pandemic.

Zimbabwe’s Cross Border Truck Drivers Smuggling COVID-19 Cases

Chirundu — Outside Chirundu border post which stands out at Chirundu, a border town between Zimbabwe and Zambia, a fleet of haulage trucks loaded to the brim with various goods line up as they slowly drive out of the border town heading to Harare, the Zimbabwean capital.

As some of the trucks slow down about two kilometers outside the border, desperate commuters looking for transport scramble to catch the first haulage truck that grinds to a halt before they quickly jump in straight to the driver’s side.

One of the drivers, busy picking passengers at Chirundu border post hesitantly peers through the window, with a face mask partially concealing his face.

“15 USD to Harare my brother; just wear your mask and come and fit in and we hit the road home,” the driver said to Ubuntu Times.

Hesitantly revealing his name as 46-year old Justin Makuvire, he said ‘there are no cross border buses during this lockdown and as drivers, we have to cash in on the situation before the lockdown is lifted.’

As Makuvire was bending his head down through the window of his truck, about nine passengers streamed in his truck straight to the driver’s compartment and none of the passengers donned face masks even as the government here has made it a rule for everyone to wear face masks in public.

Cross border haulage truck drivers like Makuvire apparently are not afraid of contracting Coronavirus owing to myths he has come to believe.

Trucks on queue
Haulage cross border trucks head to South Africa, lining up at the border between the two countries. Zimbabwe’s cross border truck drivers stand accused of smuggling in and out more cases of Coronavirus. Credit: Jeffrey Moyo / Ubuntu Times

“COVID-19 only infects white people; I have personally not seen a black person who has suffered from the disease, and so I don’t give transport to white people,” Makuvire told Ubuntu Times as he laughed off and drove away with his newfound treasure—the passengers to Harare.

With many desperate Zimbabweans in neighboring countries like Zambia and South Africa desperate to travel home by whatever means available, for cross border haulage truck drivers like Makuvire, this has become their turn to cash in on desperate travelers.

Heavy cross border trucks in Zimbabwe are considered essential services providers and therefore even as public transport remains banned during the lockdown in this Southern Africa nation, the trucks have taken advantage of the void left by public transport operators to cash in on desperate cross border travelers.

So, even undocumented cross border travelers like 25-year old Millicent Chatsauka who headed to Zambia back to her job as a housemaid on the 19th of June, she had nothing to worry about.

“As soon as I get on the truck, I know I will be sure to reach my destination; police don’t even bother passengers on the trucks because they just get bribes from the drivers,” Chatsauka told Ubuntu Times.

As such, according to healthcare officials working in Zimbabwe’s Ministry of Health like Jonasi Sibanda, ‘truck drivers have money to spare and on getting at any roadblock they just pay their way through even if they may be transporting passengers already COVID-19-infected.’

To Sibanda, ‘this means then it’s easier for cross border truck drivers to smuggle in and out cases of Coronavirus.’

So, although nothing much is being done to stop cross border haulage truck drivers from smuggling in and out more cases of COVID-19, the government here is aware cross border truck drivers like Makuvire are only helping to derail the slight gains made in the fight against Coronavirus.

Haulage trucks on move
A fleet of heavy trucks head to South Africa from Zimbabwe at a time public transport for passengers was suspended by the government here to curtail the spread of the disease and as a result, desperate travelers are having to board cross border trucks with the help of cross border truck drivers. Credit: Jeffrey Moyo / Ubuntu Times

“Yes, we know cross border truck drivers are smuggling travelers in and out during the national lockdown meant to surmount COVID-19, and police are on the ground watching out for any suspects into that business of bringing and taking out suspected cases of Coronavirus,” a top government official who spoke to Ubuntu Times on condition of anonymity because he was unauthorized to speak to the media, said.

With Coronavirus pounding thousands across the African continent, child rights activists like Hilary Muchina highlights, ‘underage children have become the latest victims of trafficking by cross border truck drivers.’

“Highways are less busy during lockdown which gives an advantage to truck drivers who then smuggle in and out some unaccompanied minors even as COVID-19 cases are rising every day,” Muchina told Ubuntu Times.

Muchina claimed that ‘the people whom truck drivers smuggle, straightaway go in to blend with communities without being tested for Coronavirus because they avoid such processes hesitant to be quarantined.’

The Grain Millers Association of Zimbabwe (GMAZ) has also been on record in the local media claiming those truck drivers transporting maize from Zambia and South Africa were picking up passengers, creating fertile grounds for the spread of COVID-19.

GMAZ is a voluntary organization that represents the interests of local, large, medium, and small scale grain millers in Zimbabwe.

“The conduct of cross border truck drivers here violates the rules of the lockdown; they (cross border truck drivers) accelerate the spread of Coronavirus,” said Garikai Chaunza, the GMAZ spokesperson.

But, travelers like Chatsauka hear nor see any evil about what cross border truck drivers are doing.

“Everybody knows public transport for ordinary travelers is hard to come by during the lockdown and so cross border truck drivers are helping us and they make it easy for us to reunite with our families than getting detained at quarantine centers where people returning home from other countries are kept like bandits,” said Chatsauka.

Now, despite rising cases of Coronavirus virus across Africa, and in Zimbabwe in particular, in the absence of buses amid lockdown measures to curb the spread of the disease, travelers have switched to using trucks.

In Mutare, east of Zimbabwe, a border town with Mozambique, residents like 52-year old Dheliwe Ngwenya bewail the presence of cross border truck drivers ‘who move freely about endangering the communities in the town.’

Zimbabwe’s President Expels Health Minister Over Graft

Harare, July 7 — Zimbabwe’s President Emmerson Mnangagwa has eventually expelled the country’s Health Minister Obadiah Moyo after he was implicated in a 60 million USD corruption scandal related to COVID-19 material bought for government.

The arrest follows mounting pressure on Mr. Mnangagwa to quit by members of opposition political parties and civil society organizations who have set July 31 for crippling protests calling for the Zimbabwean leader to step down.

Calls have also been growing for Minister Moyo to be fired. He was arrested last month after he was implicated in a Coronavirus equipment procurement scandal which has since been termed Covidgate.

The disgraced Zimbabwean Minister’s alleged corrupt dealings were linked to Drax International LLC and Drax Consult SAGL, companies Zimbabwean prosecutors claimed were illegally awarded contracts by the country’s health ministry without a competitive tender process.

As Minister Moyo faced the boot, Delish Nguwaya, a local representative of Drax International, who had also been arrested as part of investigation into the Health Minister’s case, was on the same day granted bail of 50,000 Zimbabwean dollars by a Harare High Court Judge.

Zimbabwean President Emmerson Mnangagwa’s son, Collins, is said to be closely linked to Drax International which has grabbed tenders to supply other COVID-19 material to the country’s Ministry of Health, but no moves have been made as yet to bring the President’s son to book.

Meanwhile, the now former Health Minister here was alerted of his expulsion from his ministerial post by Chief Secretary to the President and Cabinet, Misheck Sibanda in a letter.

“Please be advised that His Excellency the President of the Republic of Zimbabwe, Cde ED Mnangagwa, has in terms of section 340, subsection (i), paragraph (f), as read with section 104, subsection (i) of the Constitution of Zimbabwe removed you, Obadiah Moyo from the office of Cabinet Minister and Minister of Government with immediate effect for conduct inappropriate for a Government minister,” said Sibanda in the letter to Moyo.

He (Moyo) becomes Zimbabwe’s third government Minister so far expelled from government during Mr. Mnangagwa’s reign, this after former Tourism Minister Prisca Mupfumira and also former Deputy Information Minister, Energy Mutodi.

But opposition political supporters doubt Mr. Mnangagwa’s sincerity after he dismissed his Health Minister.

“He (Mnangagwa) will only be taken seriously if his son also involved in the COVID-19 scandal is arrested,” said Gilbert Mugari, an opposition Movement for Democratic Change Alliance backer in Harare.

Zimbabwe’s Health Minister In Charge Despite Reports Of Expulsion

Harare, June 21 — Zimbabwe’s Health Minister, Obadiah Moyo who had been widely reported to have been fired after he was implicated in a 60 million USD corruption scandal related to COVID-19 material bought for government, is in fact still having his job.

Minister Moyo was arrested recently after he was implicated in a Coronavirus equipment procurement scandal which has since been termed Covidgate in this Southern African nation.

The Zimbabwean Minister’s alleged corrupt dealings were linked to Drax International LLC and Drax Consult SAGL, companies Zimbabwean prosecutors claimed were illegally awarded contracts by the country’s health ministry without a competitive tender process.

He (Moyo) was arrested on Friday facing three counts of criminal abuse of office.

The previous week, Delish Nguwaya, a local representative of Drax International, was arrested as part of the same investigation and was denied bail by a Harare magistrate.

Zimbabwean President Emmerson Mnangagwa’s son, Collins, is said to be closely linked to Drax International which has grabbed tenders to supply other COVID-19 material to the country’s Ministry of Health, but no moves have been made so far to apprehend the President’s son.

Collins stands embroiled in a one million USD Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) dispute while the president’s top bodyguard, Valdano Brown, clinched lucrative contracts to supply COVID-19 equipment to the country’s Ministry of Health without properly going to tender.

Now, Minister Moyo, who is very close to the Zimbabwean President, despite his alleged underhand dealings with a company linked to the Zimbabwean strongman’s son, was released from police custody and allowed to sleep at his home only to appear in court the following day.

In court, the state alleged that the Minister had awarded a tender to a company linked to a terrorist group, but with the National Prosecution Authority not opposing bail, the Zimbabwean politician was released on 50,000 Zimbabwean dollars bail, which is 2,000 USD.

The matter was remanded to 31 July 2020.

Following his appointment as Zimbabwe’s Health Minister two years ago, Moyo was exposed by different publications to have fabricated his education qualifications as a medical doctor.

Nigeria Sees Rising Coronavirus Cases But Fears Of Underreporting Linger

Abuja, June 10 — The Nigerian government in late May adopted an unusual protocol for sending treated Coronavirus patients home. Instead of two consecutive negative tests recommended by the World Health Organization, the government announced that patients would be discharged after a single test.

Local authorities welcomed the decision, including those in Lagos, the country’s commercial capital, and the city worst hit by the virus, where the number of Coronavirus patients is gradually outpacing available bed spaces.

Last Thursday, Nigeria Centre for Disease Control went a step further, announcing that a negative test would soon no longer be needed to discharge patients. Symptomatic patients would be discharged 10 days after symptom onset, and those without symptoms will spend a few additional days, it said.

“If your symptoms last for longer, we will wait for longer managing you supportively,” said Chikwe Ihekweazu, who heads the agency, at a press conference. “If you are asymptomatic, you can be discharged 14 days after your first positive result. A negative laboratory test is no longer required to discharge a COVID-19 patient.”

The agency said it was adopting the new methods to “decongest” the isolation centers as the numbers of new infections mount. Nigeria has seen an average of 1,300 cases a week since May 4, significantly higher than 286 recorded at the end of April.

But even as the numbers grow, many remain suspicious that the country may be underreporting the real extent of the contagion in Africa’s most populous nation. The country’s growing number of cases has largely failed to dispel lingering doubts about a reporting process that in some cases has been problematic, and at other times politicized.

“As of close of business last Friday, Nigeria had only tested 74,999 samples, which is a woeful return by any standard,” said Cheta Nwanze, lead partner at the Lagos-based research group, SBM Intelligence. “I fear that politicization, and the current government’s obsession with looking good at all levels.”

By Sunday, Nigeria had the third-highest number of infections in Africa at 12,233. It had 342 fatalities — the fifth-highest behind Egypt, South Africa, Algeria, and Sudan. About 50 percent of Nigeria’s infections were recorded in the last three weeks and Lagos alone accounts for nearly half of those cases.

Yet, when measured per capita, Nigeria’s rising figures don’t measure up given the country’s large population. In fact, when the number of cases is compared per million, Nigeria ranks 34 on a ranking of 57 nations, according to Worldometer, which compiles data on the Coronavirus pandemic.

The first factor many see as responsible for Nigeria’s relatively low numbers is the testing factor. So far, Nigeria with an estimated population of 200 million has only conducted about 75,000 tests. South Africa with 59 million people has done nearly a million tests; Ghana with a population of 31 million has done about more than three times the number of tests than Nigeria, while the small island nation of Mauritius, with a population of just above 1 million, has done over 150,000 tests.

“In summary, the issues are of control, of a need to look good, and a lack of competence in handling the pandemic,” said Mr. Nwanze.

In a bid to do more testing, the government increased the number of COVID-19 testing laboratories from four in February when the virus was first recorded in the country to 30 in June. It announced on April 28 an ambitious plan to test at least two million people by the end of July. After more than a month into the three-month target period, the country has only achieved less than 80,000 tests.

The second factor besides the country’s limitation with testing is perhaps more deadly: the suspicion that the country’s political leaders are deliberately underreporting cases of the disease in their domains for political reasons. In a country often polarized by politics and ethno-religious sentiments, the allegation does not seem far too off.

“NUMBERS GAME. Every evening NCDC releases #COVID19 numbers, what do they mean? Samples are sent to labs by task forces controlled by State Governors. The labs can only test what they are given. He who controls the sample set controls the numbers. Governors want low numbers,” Jibrin Ibrahim, a political science professor who runs the Abuja-based Centre for Democracy and Development, wrote on Twitter on Saturday.

Such sentiments are widespread and they have been strengthened by recent events. In early May, the state epidemiologist in the southern state of Akwa Ibom was dismissed in what local media said was punishment for sending more samples to the NCDC-run laboratories for testing than the governor had approved.

Up north in Kano, the country’s second-most populous state, after hundreds died mysteriously and cases of Coronavirus dramatically rose there in April, the government announced even without full autopsies that the deaths were not Coronavirus-related as widely suspected, rather were caused by malaria, hypertension, and diarrhea. Many rejected that claim. On Monday, several weeks after, the Health Minister, Osagie Ehanire, announced that investigations had shown 979 people died there, and 50 to 60 percent of those may have been caused by COVID-19.

Of the country’s 37 states, two — Kogi in the north-central and Cross River in the south — insist they have no cases of the virus despite being bordered by states with many cases. The country’s medical body and the NCDC accuse authorities in the two states of refusing to send samples of suspected cases for testing. In May, the NCDC said its staff sent to Kogi were attacked and chased away.

After the NCDC announced three cases from the state late May, the governor Yahaya Bello dismissed the result as a conspiracy to record cases against the state. An aide described the testing process that led to the result as “fraudulent,” prompting a rebuke from the country’s medical association.

“His use of profane words is capable of demoralizing the exemplary gold-winning health workers and the untiring NCDC, which possibly can lead to a national catastrophe,” Francis Faduyile, president of the Nigerian Medical Association said in a statement on May 29. The state government had “hardened its heart and ensured that the Kogi people remain in the dark, untested”, he added.

Responding to Mr. Ibrahim’s comment about governors falsifying the numbers, Nasir el-Rufai, the governor of the north-western state of Kaduna, said while the claim was “partly true,” some governors, himself inclusive, were doing the right thing and did not want the “fake low numbers.”

“FCT, Kaduna & Lagos States at least are actively tracing contacts because we want RIGHT numbers of those infected — to test, trace contacts & treat them. We want to save lives not have ‘unexplained deaths’,” said Mr. El-Rufai, who recovered from the deadly virus in May.

Nigeria has not yet flattened the curve. But the country in June relaxed its lockdown by allowing the reopening of offices and places of worship. Night curfew remains in place as well as a ban on interstate travels and an advisory on the use of face masks in public and social distancing.

Analysts fear that reopening places of worship and offices is hasty and may complicate an already dire situation with most residents barely observing the recommended social distancing or even using the facemasks.

Last Monday, at a local market in Kubwa, a suburb of the capital Abuja, majority of traders wore no masks and maintained no physical distance. Traders continued with their businesses as normal times.

In the most affected state, Lagos, the government said it will run out of bed spaces in three weeks if the numbers continue to grow. The state now plans to introduce home-care for patients without symptoms, only admitting those with moderate and critical symptoms to the isolation centers.

“If we carry on with the rate of positive testing that we are obtaining, we’re going to run out of isolation beds in our established isolation facilities,” Akin Abayomi, Lagos Commissioner for Health said at a press briefing on Friday.

“Therefore, we are projecting. If we keep getting 150, 200 positives every day, in another two or three weeks, even though we’re opening new isolation centers all the time, in time, we’re going to run out of beds,” the local newspaper The Cable quoted him as saying.

Secondary Impacts Of COVID-19 Threatens Children’s Lives Than The Disease Itself, Warns A New Report

Nairobi, June 3 — As many as 30 million children’s lives are at risk from deadly diseases such as malaria, lack of immunization, or increased malnutrition, as health systems are overwhelmed by the COVID-19 pandemic, a new report has warned.

Titled Covid-19 Aftershocks: Secondary impacts threatens Children’s lives than the disease itself, considers what would happen if the devastating secondary impacts of the 2014-2016 Ebola outbreak on children were replicated in the 24 most fragile countries covered by the United Nation’s COVID-19 humanitarian appeal.

“Although key differences exists between the 2014-2016 Ebola outbreak in West Africa and Covid-19, Ebola outbreak provides valuable insights into the secondary health impacts children can experience during an infectious disease outbreak where weak health systems are already stretched to their limit, people’s routines are disrupted, and fear takes hold,” says the report, authored by World Vision, a Christian humanitarian agency for children.

Of the UN’s 24 world’s poorest and most fragile countries with preexisting humanitarian plans, 14 are from the African continent. They include Somalia, South Sudan, Sudan, Nigeria, Niger, Mali, Libya, Ethiopia, DRC, Chad, Central African Republic, Cameroon, Burundi, and Burkina Faso.

While countries across the globe are required to respond to the COVID-19 pandemic, those with existing crises are considered particularly vulnerable, and less equipped and able to do so.

According to the report, the very real secondary health impacts of COVID-19  in countries of fragility will reverberate through these communities and countries for years to come, compounding what are already extremely difficult situations and threatening to undermine progress made towards increasing health, wellbeing, and prosperity. 

“The Ebola outbreak’s transmission rates were slightly different from the current COVID-19. We had not experienced a disease of pandemic levels in the recent years that were going to paralyze the entire world. Ebola was hence the closest we could reflect on in this report,” Joseph Kamara, World Vision East Africa Regional Director, and Emergency Affairs told Ubuntu Times in a zoom meeting interview.

As a result of the 2014-16 Ebola epidemic, Guinea, Liberia, and Sierra Leone lost an estimated $2.2 billion of their Gross Domestic Product (GDP) due to health costs, loss of lives, lower agricultural production, and reduced investments. 

“The world is only beginning to understand the impacts of pandemics like COVID-19 on the least-developed countries as a whole and over the long term,” the report says.

Despite having established health systems, developed nations struggle to contain the COVID-19 pandemic as seen in high mortality rates, medical supply shortages, and overburdening of health care providers and facilities.

Countries identified in the UN’s global humanitarian response plan are prime examples of countries whose health systems were underprepared and underdeveloped prior to the COVID-19 pandemic.

“Even if the children do not represent the high-risk group of COVID-19 fatality particularly, it is crystal clear that this pandemic has hidden risks to African children’s rights and well-being,” Eric Hazard, Director of Advocacy and Campaign for Africa at Save the Children, the British humanitarian organization for children told Ubuntu Times in an interview.

According to a recent World Health Organization (WHO) analysis of 182 Member States, 10 percent were not ready to respond to an infectious disease outbreak.

The report further warns that over 26 million children are at a greater risk of being exposed to potentially fatal diseases due to a 30 percent reduction in Diphtheria-tetanus-pertussis (DTP3) immunization coverage.

“More than five million additional children could suffer from malnutrition, including severe wasting, and 100,000 additional children could die from malaria,” the report warns.

The UN identifies children as a group of priority concern, highlighting their increased risk of experiencing shocks.

Surpassed only by pneumonia, diarrhea, and sepsis, malaria is the fourth highest killer of children under five.

In the 2014-2016 Ebola outbreak in West Africa, says the report, the region saw a 50 percent reduction in access to healthcare services, leading to increased deaths from malaria by an average of 50.5 percent across Guinea, Liberia, and Sierra Leone.

“Due to fear, outpatient visits to hospitals dropped to as low as 10 percent as people were afraid to visit healthcare facilities in case they caught the virus themselves. Similar fears are being seen with COVID-19,” the report says.

According to the UN children agency, UNICEF, malnutrition causes nearly half of all deaths in children under 5, either directly from acute forms or from increased vulnerability to infections and other illnesses. 

And with the pandemic restricting access to nutritious food, children previously relying on school feeding programs no longer access the services, coupled with closed markets, limiting opportunities to buy or sell produce and other food items.

In Kenya, children have been out of school for three months due to COVID-19, but current heated debate pitting parents, education stakeholders, and the government on whether to reopen schools or not has created an environment of confusion.

Child washing hands.
A young child is guided on the importance of and how to carry out proper hand washing using running water and soap to fight Coronavirus. Many Kenyans have raised concerns over the challenge of access to water and sanitizers even as the government urges the population to practice handwashing. Children living in arid and semi-arid land as well as children in urban slums face challenges of water availability in the face of the pandemic. Credit: World Vision EARO

Education Cabinet Secretary George Magoha has been insisting that children will sit for national exams this year despite being out of school, adding that children were going on with learning through digital skills.

It is a statement that has left parents from disadvantaged economic backgrounds in dilemma as inequalities such as access to smartphones, a reliable internet, and television as well as radio sets exist.

“Not every child has access to online learning or through radio or take-home material. If those can be supplemented with going to school, at particular intervals or phases, that would work,” says Kamara.

He adds, “We have to come up with innovations that fit into our context. Our context is much different than the context in the western world where they have access to fast internet. We do not have the infrastructure to extend online learning, especially to rural children and urban poor.”

“The rapid spread of the pandemic has been clearly overburdening an under-resourced African system. We have managed to resist the pandemic from the sanitary point of view, but in another way, the system has been shifting as there has been a disruption hence the continent is likely to be in a scenario of an increase in incidences from preventable and treatable diseases,” says Hazard of  Save the Children.

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Economic Freedom In Our Lifetime

1 year ago
A packed FNB stadium with over one hundred thousand supporters demonstrated the mass appeal of the Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) amongst South African voters...
Monica Geingos, First Lady of the Republic of Namibia and President of the Organization of African First Ladies for Development.

Organization Of African First Ladies For Development

1 year ago
The Organization of African First Ladies for Development (OAFLAD) launched the #WeAreEqual Campaign on Wednesday, August 23, 2023, at a banquet ceremony held in...
Dumisani Baleni EFF South Africa Communications officer for Gauteng Province, South Africa.

EFF Confronts Racism In South African Schools

1 year ago
An incident involving a thirteen-year-old girl child at the Crowthorne Christian Academy in South Africa led to the schools' closure and the re-sparking of...
African leaders discussed the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) at the 36th African Union (AU) Summit held on 18th February 2023 at the AU headquarters in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.

Africa’s Rebirth At 60: Carrying Noble Ideas That Nobody Is Willing To Implement

1 year ago
To most academics, intellectuals, and pragmatists advocating for a genuine Pan-African renaissance six decades after the founding of the Organisation of African Unity (OAU,...
Photo Of newly inaugurated President, Bola Tinubu, and immediate past President, Muhammad Buhari.

Tinubu’s Inauguration: End Of An Error, The Dawn Of Calamity

1 year ago
"I am confident that I am leaving office with Nigeria better in 2023 than in 2015." President Buhari ended his farewell speech with this...
Zimbabwe’s President posing for a photo with his guests.

IMF And World Bank: The ‘Bad Samaritans’ And Neoliberals Cheating Africa Into A Cycle...

1 year ago
The Western liberal consensus has long been intervening and interfering in Africa. The first form of intervention was through the slave trade from the...