ANTANANARIVO, May 5 (NNN-AGENCIES) — Humanitarian agencies are raising a new alarm on further shortage of food in southern Africa region after several countries declared drought or below-average rains. On Thursday, the World Food Programme (WFP) listed MADAGASCAR as a new country facing drought. A statement said southern Madagascar has experienced unusual drought conditions, forcing hundreds of thousands of people to the brink of famine. The WFP appealed for $74 million for the next six months to save lives and “prevent a catastrophe”. The UN agency said consecutive years of…
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COVID-19 in West Africa: regional resource mobilisation and allocation in the first year of the pandemic
INTRODUCTION The world is currently confronted by an acute public health emergency caused by the ongoing COVID-19 global pandemic. The outbreak was first reported in Wuhan, China in December 2019—about a century after the Spanish flu of 1919, has since rapidly spread across the world resulting in infections, morbidity and mortality at scale unknown in recent times. The impact of the pandemic is evident in its evolution and how it is redefining global health emergencies. The pandemic has been described as one of the greatest challenges the world has had…
Read MoreWest and Central Africa: Weekly Regional Humanitarian Snapshot (27 April – 3 May 2021)
CENTRAL AFRICAN REPUBLIC RESURGENCE OF CRIMINALITY REDUCING HUMANITARIAN ACCESS Since the withdrawal of armed forces to the Kambakota and Ouogo axes, a resurgence of criminality has been observed, including armed attacks on civilians and health workers. The surge in criminality considerably reduces humanitarian access. Aid agencies do not have access to the Kambakota and Ouogo axes, except for medical evacuations enabled by community health workers. In addition, for the past two years, there have not been any patrols of the UN Multidimensional Integrated Stabilization Mission in the Central African Republic…
Read MoreWFP Southern Africa COVID-19 Response, Situation Report 4 May 2021
Situation Overview With the number of confirmed COVID-19 cases in Southern Africa now over 2 million and the number of deaths standing at 63,000 – noting that both figures are believed to be significantly underreported due to limited testing and documenting capacity – the pandemic continues to damage lives and livelihoods across the region. While some countries appear to experience a relative lull in the progression of its spread, others – notably Madagascar, where borders are now closed and the parts of the country in lockdown – battle their worst…
Read MoreWHO welcomes Sweden’s announcement to share COVID-19 vaccine doses with COVAX
3 May 2021 – Geneva: WHO Director-General Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus welcomed the Government of Sweden’s announcement today to share 1 million doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine with the COVAX Facility to provide life-saving vaccines to people at risk from COVID-19 in low income countries. “Sweden’s announcement that it will share 1 million doses of COVID-19 vaccines with COVAX is a superb gesture that must be replicated urgently, and repeatedly, by governments around the world to accelerate the equitable rollout of vaccines globally,” said Dr Tedros, who met today with…
Read MoreWHO: Small Ebola Outbreak Contained in DR Congo
The World Health Organization says a small outbreak of the Ebola virus has been contained in an eastern province of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC). According to Congo’s Ministry of Health, the outbreak inflected 12 people and killed six in North Kivu province. The WHO congratulated the Democratic Republic of the Congo’s health authorities and the heath workers “on the ground for their swift response which built on the country’s previous experience in tackling Ebola outbreaks,” said the U.N. agency in a statement Monday. According to its statement,…
Read MoreWHO Fears COVID Resurgence in Africa, Urges Vigilance
GENEVA – The World Health Organization urges African countries to be on guard and to remain vigilant in their fight against a resurgence of COVID-19 transmission across the continent. To date, African countries are reporting more than 4.5 million cases of COVID, including 120,000 deaths. WHO Regional Director for Africa, Matshidiso Moeti says the latest figures indicate this deadly virus has continued to plateau on the continent. While welcoming a seemingly good news, she warns the pandemic is trending upwards in 13 countries. “We cannot be lulled into a false…
Read MoreInstitutional mistrust and child vaccination coverage in Africa
Abstract Introduction Despite considerable improvements in vaccination coverage over the last decade, half of the world’s unvaccinated and undervaccinated children are located in Africa. The role of institutional trust in explaining vaccination gaps has been highlighted in several qualitative reports but so far has only been quantified in a small number of high-income countries. Methods We matched information on child vaccination status from the Demographic Health Surveys with information on institutional trust from the Afrobarometer surveys at the subnational level. A total of 166 953 children from 41 surveys administered in…
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