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ISRAEL-OPT: Power cuts, fuel shortages affect health and water supplies

Tue, 02 Dec 2008 06:16:24 GMT

Tuesday, December 02, 2008

WEST BANK/GAZA Tuesday, December 02, 2008 (IRIN) - Adel Abu Sido, 31, a taxi driver from Gaza City, stands over his two-week old premature baby, Hadil, dreading her air supply may abruptly stop. Hadil’s incubator is not reliably providing enough oxygen due to the inconsistent power supply at Al-Shiffa Hospital, the main healthcare centre in the Gaza Strip. The fuel for hospital generators has nearly run out and a shortage of basic medical supplies has left Al-Shiffa with only 20 percent of the...

Source: http://www.irinnews.org/report.aspx?ReportId=81770

TIMOR-LESTE: Porous border increases avian flu risks

Mon, 01 Dec 2008 23:05:21 GMT

Monday, December 01, 2008

DILI Thursday, June 26, 2008 (IRIN) - With little capacity to prevent avian flu from crossing the border from the neighbouring Indonesian region of West Timor, health officials are concerned about possible outbreaks. To date, none has been reported in Timor-Leste, but health specialists say it is only a matter of time. “If it comes today, there is no chance we could do anything at all,” Chana Opaskornkul, emergency coordinator of the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) in Timor-Leste,...

Source: http://www.irinnews.org/report.aspx?ReportId=78953

SWAZILAND: Treatment programme woes

Mon, 01 Dec 2008 21:39:48 GMT

Monday, December 01, 2008

JOHANNESBURG Thursday, September 18, 2008 (IRIN) - Shortages of antiretroviral (ARV) and other drugs in public health facilities in Swaziland have been among a long list of grievances cited by protesters during several weeks of unprecedented political unrest ahead of parliamentary polls on Friday. Health department officials have admitted that supplies of some ARV drugs ran low in July and August, but insist that the problem has been resolved. "I can appreciate that people on treatment get very...

Source: http://www.irinnews.org/report.aspx?ReportId=80465

KENYA: Insecurity in northeast halts HIV activities

Mon, 01 Dec 2008 20:19:13 GMT

Monday, December 01, 2008

MANDERA Monday, December 01, 2008 (IRIN) - Recent fighting and an increased security presence along the Kenya-Somalia border have brought HIV/AIDS campaigns to a virtual standstill in Kenya's northeastern region, according to local health workers. Hundreds of people were displaced in October by a security operation in Mandera district after a conflict between the Garre and Murule clans acquired a cross-border dimension, with one clan receiving support from Somalia's Al-Shabaab militants....

Source: http://www.irinnews.org/report.aspx?ReportId=81743

AFGHANISTAN: Nazia, "I work as health worker despite threats to my life”

Mon, 01 Dec 2008 17:53:43 GMT

Monday, December 01, 2008

KANDAHAR Monday, December 01, 2008 (IRIN) - Armed attacks and threats against health workers are jeopardising progress made on reducing the infant mortality rate in Afghanistan (down from 257 per 1,000 live births in 2001 to 129 in 2008, according to the UN Children’s Fund). Nazia, a female health worker in Kandahar Province, told IRIN about the threats she has been receiving to quit her job. “I work in a mother and child health clinic in Kandahar city. Through my work I not only support my...

Source: http://www.irinnews.org/report.aspx?ReportId=81740

ENVIRONMENT: Efforts to combat air pollution

Mon, 01 Dec 2008 07:51:55 GMT

Monday, December 01, 2008

Efforts to combat air pollution move into high gear Air pollution is a great concern to health and the environment of The Gambia.

To tackle this challenging and imperative task on cleaning our air, the Departement of State for Forestry and the Environment, the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) and the National Environment Agency (NEA) have convened last week a workshop centred on the theme : ‘‘The sulphur reduction in vehicule fuels in The Gambia.’’ As our country boomed economically in recent years hundreds of new cars were being imported.

This gradually resulted to air pollution with negative impacts on people’s health. The transport sector is responsible for a significant amount of air pollution in urban areas (Banjul, Serrekunda, Brikama etc).

The Gambia government, through the Department of State for Forestry and the Environment, has made huge efforts to tackle the pollution problem. The Gambia Environment Action Plan (GEAP), that constitutes the main policy document, has registered significant progress during the course of its implementation.

Considering that air pollution is reaching alarming proportions, Nancy Niang, Ag permanent secretary at the Department of State for Forestry and the Environment explained that sulphur combines with oxygen to create emissions that contribute to decreased air quality and thus have negative environmental efforts.

Consequently, she outlined, human health impacts are generally related to respiratory illnesses, including increased frequency in bronchitis and asthma. ‘‘We in The Gambia need regulatory efforts to reduce the sulphur content in fuels,’’she emphasized.

Author: By Abdoulie John

BURUNDI: Patients suffer as health workers' strike continues

Fri, 28 Nov 2008 08:25:26 GMT

Friday, November 28, 2008

BUJUMBURA Friday, November 28, 2008 (IRIN) - A weeklong strike by health workers in Burundi has cut services in key hospitals to a bare minimum, with patients complaining of neglect. “I have constant pain in my stomach and chest; I recently gave birth but remained unwell and in need of medical care," Cecile Ndayishimiye, a patient in Bujumbura, the capital, said. "I gave birth two weeks now but my child is not breastfeeding because I am sick; this strike is too bad for me." The nurses and...

Source: http://www.irinnews.org/report.aspx?ReportId=81716

Communities Sensitised on home based management of Malaria

Fri, 28 Nov 2008 05:13:34 GMT

Friday, November 28, 2008

The Regional health management team of Central River Region (CRR) today, Wednesday November 18, held a one day sensitisation for care givers, teachers, opinion leaders, women’s groups, and youth groups on Malaria prevention and control, signs and symptoms, early ANC clinic attendance, use of treated bed nets and counselling at Ballangharr village in the Lower Saloum district CRR North.

The sensitisation programme was founded by the global fund through the malaria control programme office. Musa Camara, representative of the regional health team, underscored the need for routine antenatal clinic visits for effective intermittent preventive treatment in pregnancy.

He assured the public that the new anti-malaria drug is safe and effective, saying introduction of the new drug will contribute effectively in addressing the high incidence of malaria morbidity and mortality by increasing community based management of the disease. Mr Camara emphasised the need for children and pregnant mothers to sleep under a treated bed net.

Ida Ceesay, CHN Senior tutor, seized the opportunity to commend efforts of the Global Fund for complementing the efforts of the Gambia Government to attain quality and affordable health services for all. Mrs Ceesay urged both mothers and care givers to adopt what she called prompt and appropriate treatment of malaria at both home and community level within 24 hours on the set of the symptom.

Sarjo Sambou, community health nurse of the area, described home based management as an integral part of the overall malaria case management strategy which is aimed at improving access to treatment for malaria in areas with limited access to health facilities.

Author: by Lamin SM Jawo

Health post for Katamina

Fri, 28 Nov 2008 04:48:57 GMT

Friday, November 28, 2008

Janjangbureh Area Council has completed construction of a health post in Katamina village, Niamina West District, CRR.

The construction of the health post is valued over two hundred thousand dalasis (D200, 000). Yusupha Manneh, Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Janjangbureh Area Council, in a recent interview with this reporter, spoke at length on the importance of health to national development, noting that health is one of the fundamental needs for development.

Mr Manneh explained that the health post will benefit over ten cluster villages in the CRR and it will also increase access to health services for the rural community.

He called on the communites of the area to make best use of the facility and to ensure its proper up keep Modou Jagne, Development Officer of Janjangbureh Area Council said, the Health post will help the health workers to work in conducive environment and also to carry out their duties effectively.

Author: by Lamin SM Jawo

Waste contract wrongly awarded

Thu, 27 Nov 2008 20:10:00 GMT

Thursday, November 27, 2008

A HIGH court judge has ordered the Health Department to set aside a R16million contract it earlier awarded to a controversial Butterworth medical waste disposal company. The company, Aesthetic Waste Services, was raided earlier this year by the Green Scorpions environment inspectors following a Daily Dispatch expos, which revealed it had stored medical waste without the necessary permit. Yesterday, Bhisho High Court acting judge Leon Kemp instructed MEC Pemmy Majodina and her department to...

Source: http://www.dispatch.co.za/article.aspx?id=274891