The World Congress on Fertility and Sterility took place last week in Durban. A major point of discussion was the level of teenage pregnancy in Sub-Saharan Africa, where the average birth rate is 143 (per 1000) for females aged 15 to 19. The world average is 65, so putting the figures side by side clearly appears “shocking”. Is it shocking, though? In the year 2000, average life expectancy was 77.7 years in the UK, 79.4 in Canada and 79.0 in Italy, meanwhile the figures for Malawi, Kenya and Ghana were 37.6, 48.0 and 57.4. Not a very scientific comparison, I know, but enough to illustrate the point that people quite simply live a lot longer in the West. We are therefore at liberty to wait until our twenties, thirties or forties to have a child. By the time I was born, my own mother was 37 - had she been a Malawian, she wouldn’t have had much longer to live.
Of course, there are issues that need to be addressed in Sub-Saharan Africa - better sex education, protection for minors to name but a couple, but blanketing them all under the problem of “teenage pregnancy” doesn’t help anyone. From my own experiences of Africa, childhood may be short but it’s a time of innocence in a way that no longer seems to exist in our own society. The World Congress estimates that 40 percent of Sub-Saharan women will experience motherhood by the age of 18. Well, motherhood is a part of life, it’s the natural next step once you stop being a child. Guinea has the highest rate of all - with 229 births per 1000 in the 15-19 age range. The Guinean mothers I have met are so attuned to their child’s needs, so happy in their role, that I really think we need to let them get on with it and stop imposing our own Western notions of what is right, timely and appropriate in very different societal circumstances. Sometimes statistics don’t give the whole picture.
Wednesday, 9 May 2007
Increasing numbers of children on treatment, despite lack of paediatric drugs
The number of HIV-positive children accessing antiretroviral (ARV) treatment in Malawi is increasing, despite a scarcity of suitable paediatric formulas.
An official in the health ministry, speaking under condition of anonymity, confirmed that adult tablets still had to be cut into smaller doses to treat children, but said this was a minor obstacle.
"In all fairness, it should be noted that there are more children on ARVs in Malawi now than ever before ... the treatment is also yielding positive results among children who would otherwise have died," the official told IRIN/PlusNews.
According to the latest government estimates, children constituted nine percent of the more than 12,000 people who had received ARVs from the government's national treatment programme during the last quarter, up from just five percent two years ago. In total, some 5,906 children are benefiting from the national programme.
The local UN Children's Fund (UNICEF) office supports using reduced doses of adult medication to treat children, because the cost of paediatric tablets is unaffordable to many parents and caregivers. Paediatric formulas also need to be kept in refrigerated storage, and home refrigeration is a luxury for most Malawians, who live far below the poverty line.
"It makes more sense, financially, for the government to use adult ARVs, as syrups cost a great deal more, not only in terms of procurement, but also in terms of storage once they are dispensed to patients," said Dr Miriam Shipimo, UNICEF manager for women, youth and HIV/AIDS.
"Ideally, these children should be using Pedimune, a three-in-one tablet that can be easily stored, but it remains out of reach ... so we still halve Triomune, the widely used adult ARV, and it's proving to be quite effective under the circumstances," she said.
Pedimune, manufactured by the Indian generic drug firm, Cipla, is available in most developed countries and at private clinics in Malawi, but still needs the approval of the World Health Organisation to be rolled out in the public sector.
Medicin Sans Frontieres (MSF), the international medical relief agency, welcomed the "innovative" method of treating the nation's HIV-positive children, but expressed concern over the accuracy of reduced adult dosages.
"We are not exactly pleased with this method, but lives are being saved as we wait for suitable paediatric formulas to made more widely accessible," said Ulrika von Pillar, the Belgian head of mission at MSF in Malawi.
An estimated 80,000 children are living with HIV in this resource-limited country, 24,000 of whom are in urgent need of paediatric ARVs.
An official in the health ministry, speaking under condition of anonymity, confirmed that adult tablets still had to be cut into smaller doses to treat children, but said this was a minor obstacle.
"In all fairness, it should be noted that there are more children on ARVs in Malawi now than ever before ... the treatment is also yielding positive results among children who would otherwise have died," the official told IRIN/PlusNews.
According to the latest government estimates, children constituted nine percent of the more than 12,000 people who had received ARVs from the government's national treatment programme during the last quarter, up from just five percent two years ago. In total, some 5,906 children are benefiting from the national programme.
The local UN Children's Fund (UNICEF) office supports using reduced doses of adult medication to treat children, because the cost of paediatric tablets is unaffordable to many parents and caregivers. Paediatric formulas also need to be kept in refrigerated storage, and home refrigeration is a luxury for most Malawians, who live far below the poverty line.
"It makes more sense, financially, for the government to use adult ARVs, as syrups cost a great deal more, not only in terms of procurement, but also in terms of storage once they are dispensed to patients," said Dr Miriam Shipimo, UNICEF manager for women, youth and HIV/AIDS.
"Ideally, these children should be using Pedimune, a three-in-one tablet that can be easily stored, but it remains out of reach ... so we still halve Triomune, the widely used adult ARV, and it's proving to be quite effective under the circumstances," she said.
Pedimune, manufactured by the Indian generic drug firm, Cipla, is available in most developed countries and at private clinics in Malawi, but still needs the approval of the World Health Organisation to be rolled out in the public sector.
Medicin Sans Frontieres (MSF), the international medical relief agency, welcomed the "innovative" method of treating the nation's HIV-positive children, but expressed concern over the accuracy of reduced adult dosages.
"We are not exactly pleased with this method, but lives are being saved as we wait for suitable paediatric formulas to made more widely accessible," said Ulrika von Pillar, the Belgian head of mission at MSF in Malawi.
An estimated 80,000 children are living with HIV in this resource-limited country, 24,000 of whom are in urgent need of paediatric ARVs.
Report on Child Deaths Finds Some Hope in Poorest Nations
The rate at which young children perish has worsened most disastrously over the past 15 years in Iraq, hard hit by both sanctions and war, and in Botswana, Zimbabwe and Swaziland, devastated by AIDS, according to a report released yesterday by Save the Children. But researchers also found against-the-odds progress in some of the world’s poorest nations.
Bangladesh has profoundly improved the chances that a child would survive by promoting family planning, a strategy that has enabled women to have fewer children, space births and strengthen their own health and that of their babies.
Nepal, despite a decade-long Maoist insurgency, has halved the death rate of children under age 5. It has enlisted the help of 50,000 mothers, most of them illiterate, who have squeezed vitamin A drops into the mouths of every child, hauled laggards in for vaccinations and even diagnosed pneumonia and dispensed medicines to combat it.
And Malawi, with an extreme shortage of doctors and nurses, has made surprising gains by taking simple steps that require no professional skills, for example distributing nets that protect children from malarial mosquitoes.
“In 2007, when we know what to do and how little it costs, that 28,000 kids are still dying each day is just plain wrong,” said David Oot, a public health expert on the team that produced the Save the Children report, “State of the World’s Mothers: Saving the Lives of Children Under 5.”
Despite many hopeful stories, broad progress against infant and child mortality has flagged since international health agencies began a campaign to reduce deaths 25 years ago, the researchers concluded. By the end of the 1980’s, global rates of child mortality had fallen 20 percent, and the lives of 12 million children were saved.
“Much of the momentum behind the child survival revolution has now been lost, and gains achieved in the 1980s and early 1990s have slowed or reversed,” the report says. “Under-5 mortality declined by only 10 percent from the early 1990s to 2000.”
Among the 60 developing countries where 94 percent of the child deaths occurred, 20 have either made no progress or have regressed, while 24 have cut death rates of children under 5 by at least 20 percent.
Iraq experienced the most staggering rise in under-age-5 mortality — 150 percent over 15 years. Since the war began in 2003, deteriorating health services, rising inflation and electricity shortages have worsened living conditions, the report said. In 2005, about 122,000 Iraqi children died before their fifth birthdays.
In countries that progressed, a focus on family planning was central to progress, the report said. In the five countries that made the greatest strides in reducing child deaths — Egypt, Indonesia, Bangladesh, Nepal and the Philippines — women’s use of contraceptives rose and fertility rates declined. In those countries, mothers were less likely to be physically depleted by having too many babies in too short a time. With fewer children, families were also able to invest more in the care of each child.
Political will was also an essential ingredient of success — and in Malawi, Tanzania, Nepal and Bangladesh was even more important than national wealth, the report found. Egypt, which has cut the death rate of children under age 5 by 68 percent since 1990, more than any other country, has shown a particular commitment to children’s health, said the researchers at Save the Children, a nonprofit group, and other experts.
“In words and deed, Egypt has put children more at the center of their social agenda than most other countries,” said Ruth Levine, author of “Millions Saved: Proven Successes in Global Health (Center for Global Development, 2004).
Egypt has carried out a comprehensive effort to improve the health of mothers and children. It invested in clean water and public health campaigns to teach the importance of hand-washing in disease prevention. It built roads that sped access to hospitals. It renovated dilapidated clinics. It made sure most mothers had midwives or other skilled workers to attend births. It strove to perfect immunization campaign strategies.
“There is a way to do a blanket of public health interventions that is very effective,” said Dr. Ayman El-Mohandes, a pediatrician and chairman of the Department of Prevention and Community Health at George Washington University’s School of Public Health, who served as a consultant on a United States-financed maternal and child health program in Egypt.
Bangladesh has profoundly improved the chances that a child would survive by promoting family planning, a strategy that has enabled women to have fewer children, space births and strengthen their own health and that of their babies.
Nepal, despite a decade-long Maoist insurgency, has halved the death rate of children under age 5. It has enlisted the help of 50,000 mothers, most of them illiterate, who have squeezed vitamin A drops into the mouths of every child, hauled laggards in for vaccinations and even diagnosed pneumonia and dispensed medicines to combat it.
And Malawi, with an extreme shortage of doctors and nurses, has made surprising gains by taking simple steps that require no professional skills, for example distributing nets that protect children from malarial mosquitoes.
“In 2007, when we know what to do and how little it costs, that 28,000 kids are still dying each day is just plain wrong,” said David Oot, a public health expert on the team that produced the Save the Children report, “State of the World’s Mothers: Saving the Lives of Children Under 5.”
Despite many hopeful stories, broad progress against infant and child mortality has flagged since international health agencies began a campaign to reduce deaths 25 years ago, the researchers concluded. By the end of the 1980’s, global rates of child mortality had fallen 20 percent, and the lives of 12 million children were saved.
“Much of the momentum behind the child survival revolution has now been lost, and gains achieved in the 1980s and early 1990s have slowed or reversed,” the report says. “Under-5 mortality declined by only 10 percent from the early 1990s to 2000.”
Among the 60 developing countries where 94 percent of the child deaths occurred, 20 have either made no progress or have regressed, while 24 have cut death rates of children under 5 by at least 20 percent.
Iraq experienced the most staggering rise in under-age-5 mortality — 150 percent over 15 years. Since the war began in 2003, deteriorating health services, rising inflation and electricity shortages have worsened living conditions, the report said. In 2005, about 122,000 Iraqi children died before their fifth birthdays.
In countries that progressed, a focus on family planning was central to progress, the report said. In the five countries that made the greatest strides in reducing child deaths — Egypt, Indonesia, Bangladesh, Nepal and the Philippines — women’s use of contraceptives rose and fertility rates declined. In those countries, mothers were less likely to be physically depleted by having too many babies in too short a time. With fewer children, families were also able to invest more in the care of each child.
Political will was also an essential ingredient of success — and in Malawi, Tanzania, Nepal and Bangladesh was even more important than national wealth, the report found. Egypt, which has cut the death rate of children under age 5 by 68 percent since 1990, more than any other country, has shown a particular commitment to children’s health, said the researchers at Save the Children, a nonprofit group, and other experts.
“In words and deed, Egypt has put children more at the center of their social agenda than most other countries,” said Ruth Levine, author of “Millions Saved: Proven Successes in Global Health (Center for Global Development, 2004).
Egypt has carried out a comprehensive effort to improve the health of mothers and children. It invested in clean water and public health campaigns to teach the importance of hand-washing in disease prevention. It built roads that sped access to hospitals. It renovated dilapidated clinics. It made sure most mothers had midwives or other skilled workers to attend births. It strove to perfect immunization campaign strategies.
“There is a way to do a blanket of public health interventions that is very effective,” said Dr. Ayman El-Mohandes, a pediatrician and chairman of the Department of Prevention and Community Health at George Washington University’s School of Public Health, who served as a consultant on a United States-financed maternal and child health program in Egypt.
NO COURT INJUNCTION : Malawi NGOs cave in over Paladin uranium mining project
Popular demand for uranium mining in Malawi has bullied non-governmental organizations (NGOs) in the country into submission following threats that they would take Paladin Resources (ASX, TSX:PDN) to court to stop it from mining uranium in the country's northern region district of Karonga.
Just after the received its mining license from the Malawi government to start developing its Kayerekera Uranium Project, the NGOs announced they would be going to court to stop Paladin from developing the mine. The NGOs argued that people around the area were not happy with the project as it threatened their health and that they could not allow the project to go on until all the claimed grey areas in its Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) report were addressed.
The development threatened to be a spanner in the works of Malawi's first ever mining venture. However over the weekend the Malawi government interacted with chiefs and people around the mine to hear their take on the project as well as to highlight to them its prospective benefits. From the discussions, it was apparent that there was a popular demand for the uranium mine in the district, which might change Malawi's economy from solely being agro-based as uranium would become the country's second largest forex earner.
"I was very surprised because on the ground people have different opinion on the project than that being championed by the NGOs who are against it and claimed to speak on behalf of the people," said Minister of Mines and Natural Resources Henry Chimunthu Banda after the meeting. "The people including chiefs are happy and spoke in support of the project which they said would transform lives and the district as well."
The NGOs argue that the EIA report submitted to government by Paladin was not conclusive as it does not spell out clearly how it would protect people from radioactivity. One of the NGOs against uranium mining - Catholic Commission for Justice and Peace (CCJP) in Malawi's northern city of Mzuzu - seems to have been bullied into submission and now turns to God for assistance but still insists Malawians are not being told the truth about the effects of uranium.
"We just hope God will guide us that this project does not take off," CCJP's John Chawinga told the local press. "Honourable Minister Banda is an interested party. There is no way he can go there and say people are not happy because government wants this project to take off at all costs and they are not telling the people the effects of uranium mining."
In April government awarded Paladin a 15 year license renewable for further 10 year period. The license covers an area of 55.5 sq. km. According to Paladin, commencement of construction of the Kayerekera Uranium Project marks a "highly auspicious moment in the development of Paladin towards becoming a major uranium supplier to the global markets".
"The Kayerekera Uranium Project is scheduled to commission in September 2008 and reach full production during the 2nd quarter of 2009. Annual production will be 3.3 Mlbs U3O8," reads part of the Paladin statement. "The CAPEX to build the project is US$185M for which the major portion of funding was raised through its US$250M convertible bond raising carried out in December 2006."
Had the NGOs managed to take Paladin to court, the case could have been the first of its kind in the country in recent times between the civil society and a private entity.
Just after the received its mining license from the Malawi government to start developing its Kayerekera Uranium Project, the NGOs announced they would be going to court to stop Paladin from developing the mine. The NGOs argued that people around the area were not happy with the project as it threatened their health and that they could not allow the project to go on until all the claimed grey areas in its Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) report were addressed.
The development threatened to be a spanner in the works of Malawi's first ever mining venture. However over the weekend the Malawi government interacted with chiefs and people around the mine to hear their take on the project as well as to highlight to them its prospective benefits. From the discussions, it was apparent that there was a popular demand for the uranium mine in the district, which might change Malawi's economy from solely being agro-based as uranium would become the country's second largest forex earner.
"I was very surprised because on the ground people have different opinion on the project than that being championed by the NGOs who are against it and claimed to speak on behalf of the people," said Minister of Mines and Natural Resources Henry Chimunthu Banda after the meeting. "The people including chiefs are happy and spoke in support of the project which they said would transform lives and the district as well."
The NGOs argue that the EIA report submitted to government by Paladin was not conclusive as it does not spell out clearly how it would protect people from radioactivity. One of the NGOs against uranium mining - Catholic Commission for Justice and Peace (CCJP) in Malawi's northern city of Mzuzu - seems to have been bullied into submission and now turns to God for assistance but still insists Malawians are not being told the truth about the effects of uranium.
"We just hope God will guide us that this project does not take off," CCJP's John Chawinga told the local press. "Honourable Minister Banda is an interested party. There is no way he can go there and say people are not happy because government wants this project to take off at all costs and they are not telling the people the effects of uranium mining."
In April government awarded Paladin a 15 year license renewable for further 10 year period. The license covers an area of 55.5 sq. km. According to Paladin, commencement of construction of the Kayerekera Uranium Project marks a "highly auspicious moment in the development of Paladin towards becoming a major uranium supplier to the global markets".
"The Kayerekera Uranium Project is scheduled to commission in September 2008 and reach full production during the 2nd quarter of 2009. Annual production will be 3.3 Mlbs U3O8," reads part of the Paladin statement. "The CAPEX to build the project is US$185M for which the major portion of funding was raised through its US$250M convertible bond raising carried out in December 2006."
Had the NGOs managed to take Paladin to court, the case could have been the first of its kind in the country in recent times between the civil society and a private entity.
Tuesday, 8 May 2007
Concerns Exist Over Lack of Pediatric ARVs
Concerns that children born with HIV and are denied access to proper pediatric Anti-retroviral (ARVs) drugs has been voiced by those involved in the provision of the life saving drugs to children.
Dr Edwin Libamba, head of HIV and AIDS department in the Ministry of Health blamed it on what he said was "lack of user friendly pediatrics formulation when it comes to ARVS."
"The other problem is that we have to wait until 18 months before we can diagnose HIV in pediatrics using the antibodies test that we have," he however added that the current treatment used for children needing ARVs was having positive results. " I would like to inform you that the research that we had in this country is encouraging. We can split the tablets that we use for adults and use them for children."
Since the availability of ARVs, the country has had no special anti-retroviral treatment for children due to financial constraints.
The situation had taken a turn for the better since the American Abbott Fund, Baylor College and the Government opened the country's first pediatric HIV clinic in the capital Lilongwe in December last year.
Executive Director of the Baylor-Abbott Fund Children's Clinical centre of Excellence Dr Peter Kazembe said the introduction of the clinic in the country would go a long way in addressing the suffering children.
"A lot of children were dying unnecessarily because of lack of treatment," says Dr Kazembe.
According to Dr Kazembe, the Clinic staffed with about13 doctors targets to treat 1,300 children with HIV by the end of the year.
Minister of Health Marjorie Ngaunje before the clinic was opened, had said the country had no capacity to address the complex needs of the thousands of children with HIV.
"I'm happy that we can now expand our capability to treat our youngest and most vulnerable children," Ngaunje said.
About 14 per cent of the country's population of about 12 million people has the virus. Statistics say at least 60,000 Malawians living with HIV are on the national anti-retroviral treatment programme.
It is estimated that more than 83,000 children in the country are living with HIV.
Dr Edwin Libamba, head of HIV and AIDS department in the Ministry of Health blamed it on what he said was "lack of user friendly pediatrics formulation when it comes to ARVS."
"The other problem is that we have to wait until 18 months before we can diagnose HIV in pediatrics using the antibodies test that we have," he however added that the current treatment used for children needing ARVs was having positive results. " I would like to inform you that the research that we had in this country is encouraging. We can split the tablets that we use for adults and use them for children."
Since the availability of ARVs, the country has had no special anti-retroviral treatment for children due to financial constraints.
The situation had taken a turn for the better since the American Abbott Fund, Baylor College and the Government opened the country's first pediatric HIV clinic in the capital Lilongwe in December last year.
Executive Director of the Baylor-Abbott Fund Children's Clinical centre of Excellence Dr Peter Kazembe said the introduction of the clinic in the country would go a long way in addressing the suffering children.
"A lot of children were dying unnecessarily because of lack of treatment," says Dr Kazembe.
According to Dr Kazembe, the Clinic staffed with about13 doctors targets to treat 1,300 children with HIV by the end of the year.
Minister of Health Marjorie Ngaunje before the clinic was opened, had said the country had no capacity to address the complex needs of the thousands of children with HIV.
"I'm happy that we can now expand our capability to treat our youngest and most vulnerable children," Ngaunje said.
About 14 per cent of the country's population of about 12 million people has the virus. Statistics say at least 60,000 Malawians living with HIV are on the national anti-retroviral treatment programme.
It is estimated that more than 83,000 children in the country are living with HIV.
Dilemma - Government, Faith Community - Daggers Drawn on Sex Education and Condom Use
At a time when government is mobilizing resources and appealing for concerted efforts aimed at finding effective alternatives to scale down the escalation of HIV and AIDS, there still remains the religions and faith beliefs that need to be ironed out in the promotion of condom use and sex education.
Despite overwhelming evidence in favour of it, the faith community still regard the practice of using condoms as protection against HIV/AIDS as a taboo and have said the condoms have pinprick size holes that let the virus through.
Despite the stand of the faithful the evidence in favour of sex education and condom use is too strong to permit religious taboo to prevent their use, particularly where HIV/AIDS, STI's and unwanted pregnancies are prevalent
National AIDS Commission (NAC) complained that their efforts in promoting condoms as a shield to help contain the spread of the disease are not bearing the much needed results because of a stand taken by some religious organisations that are in the forefront condemning condom use.
"Yes it is true that the use of condoms has received resistance from the faith community. We have had discussions with them (faith community) and indicated to them that we are not saying that condoms are 100% perfect," commented NAC Chairman Nicholas Chitimba. He pointed out that even the users are clearly told that condoms are not of maximum protection "but better use them than nothing."
"What we are saying is that among the weapons we have against HIV/AIDS, STIs and unwanted pregnancies, a condom is one of them and even if we are saying that condoms are 80% effective, better use them than nothing," Chitimba emphasised. " Yes there is perceived resistance from the faith groups based on religious beliefs but all in all, we are doing everything to make them understand and soften their stance."
However, Chitimba explained that it is interesting that though faith leaders do not come in the open to say condoms are effective in minimising the spread of HIV/AIDS and other related problems, they still admit that a lot of people fail to live up to expected standards when it comes to abstinence.
"Surprisingly they have admitted that indeed there are certain people who do not behave the way they should behave in terms of abstinence and if those individuals are in that sort of position, who are the faith groups to insist that they should not use condoms," he queried.
He said the option of using a condom is a human right issue and people should be left to make an individual decision to use or not to use a condom.
Chitimba advised those who failed to abstain from sex to make sure that they use some protection against HIV infection
"These religious groups will not let you use the condoms, they do not come in the open but if you are in a dangerous situation, always use a condom. It is an individual decision to use a condom or not."
Referring to the perceptions that condoms are promoting bad behaviour in terms of sex especially among the youth Chitimba challenged those who have the research evidence to expose it. "No let them show me research paper that shows that this is the case," he says bluntly.
"My own stand is that I would not deny people access to condoms. If indeed there are other means available on the market where people can protect themselves from getting infected with the virus, then I would encourage people to explore all those options," says Executive Director of Malawi Network of Religious Leaders living or personally infected by HIV/AIDS (MANERELA) Reverend Father MacDonald Sembereka. "And without encouraging and compromising one's faith, I would encourage them to use the best option that we have so far which is basically a condom."
He explained that if the role of faith community is to preserve human life and if there is enough data that condoms are also measures for protecting people's lives, people should explore it.
"Basically the role of faith community is to preserve human life which emanates from the fact that life is sanctity and as such we have to protect it.
"If condoms are at all measures for protecting life and there is enough data to substantiate the fact that it is not to the contrary as the faith community puts it, then I would not have any problem," he said.
Father Sembereka said he is very aware that what is preached to the faithful every Sunday will make people abstain from casual sex "and it would be foolish to indulge in unprotected sex which on most occasions leads to HIV/AIDS, STIs and unwanted pregnancies and on the over-all, untimely death."
"I would not have problems if people use condoms as long as they use them within the defined context. Of course I know pretty well there are people we preach to but very often they still go out and have sex. They will be foolish if they do it without protecting themselves," emphasised Father Sembereka.
He said he does not subscribe to ideologies that condoms promote promiscuity.
"No, for a long time people have been promiscuous not that the advent of condoms has escalated the levels of promiscuity. I don't think there is a research to that effect. We are aware of incidences where people have condoms right in their pockets and they do not use them when having sex and we are mindful of the fact that within the faith community, we are talking of people who have the virus. Do we encourage them to abstain, can we encourage married couples to abstain, can we encourage people who are staying together to abstain, what are the option that we give them?" Father Sembereka wondered.
With regard to condom use and sex education, maintaining an open dialogue and exploring arguments objectively rather than through heated debates may help everyone to review the evidence and consider their stand and come up with a compromise that will benefit people in all walks of life.
Surely the aim of everyone is to see a reduction in teenage and unwanted pregnancies and reduced infection of HIV/AIDS and STIs within the nation.
Despite overwhelming evidence in favour of it, the faith community still regard the practice of using condoms as protection against HIV/AIDS as a taboo and have said the condoms have pinprick size holes that let the virus through.
Despite the stand of the faithful the evidence in favour of sex education and condom use is too strong to permit religious taboo to prevent their use, particularly where HIV/AIDS, STI's and unwanted pregnancies are prevalent
National AIDS Commission (NAC) complained that their efforts in promoting condoms as a shield to help contain the spread of the disease are not bearing the much needed results because of a stand taken by some religious organisations that are in the forefront condemning condom use.
"Yes it is true that the use of condoms has received resistance from the faith community. We have had discussions with them (faith community) and indicated to them that we are not saying that condoms are 100% perfect," commented NAC Chairman Nicholas Chitimba. He pointed out that even the users are clearly told that condoms are not of maximum protection "but better use them than nothing."
"What we are saying is that among the weapons we have against HIV/AIDS, STIs and unwanted pregnancies, a condom is one of them and even if we are saying that condoms are 80% effective, better use them than nothing," Chitimba emphasised. " Yes there is perceived resistance from the faith groups based on religious beliefs but all in all, we are doing everything to make them understand and soften their stance."
However, Chitimba explained that it is interesting that though faith leaders do not come in the open to say condoms are effective in minimising the spread of HIV/AIDS and other related problems, they still admit that a lot of people fail to live up to expected standards when it comes to abstinence.
"Surprisingly they have admitted that indeed there are certain people who do not behave the way they should behave in terms of abstinence and if those individuals are in that sort of position, who are the faith groups to insist that they should not use condoms," he queried.
He said the option of using a condom is a human right issue and people should be left to make an individual decision to use or not to use a condom.
Chitimba advised those who failed to abstain from sex to make sure that they use some protection against HIV infection
"These religious groups will not let you use the condoms, they do not come in the open but if you are in a dangerous situation, always use a condom. It is an individual decision to use a condom or not."
Referring to the perceptions that condoms are promoting bad behaviour in terms of sex especially among the youth Chitimba challenged those who have the research evidence to expose it. "No let them show me research paper that shows that this is the case," he says bluntly.
"My own stand is that I would not deny people access to condoms. If indeed there are other means available on the market where people can protect themselves from getting infected with the virus, then I would encourage people to explore all those options," says Executive Director of Malawi Network of Religious Leaders living or personally infected by HIV/AIDS (MANERELA) Reverend Father MacDonald Sembereka. "And without encouraging and compromising one's faith, I would encourage them to use the best option that we have so far which is basically a condom."
He explained that if the role of faith community is to preserve human life and if there is enough data that condoms are also measures for protecting people's lives, people should explore it.
"Basically the role of faith community is to preserve human life which emanates from the fact that life is sanctity and as such we have to protect it.
"If condoms are at all measures for protecting life and there is enough data to substantiate the fact that it is not to the contrary as the faith community puts it, then I would not have any problem," he said.
Father Sembereka said he is very aware that what is preached to the faithful every Sunday will make people abstain from casual sex "and it would be foolish to indulge in unprotected sex which on most occasions leads to HIV/AIDS, STIs and unwanted pregnancies and on the over-all, untimely death."
"I would not have problems if people use condoms as long as they use them within the defined context. Of course I know pretty well there are people we preach to but very often they still go out and have sex. They will be foolish if they do it without protecting themselves," emphasised Father Sembereka.
He said he does not subscribe to ideologies that condoms promote promiscuity.
"No, for a long time people have been promiscuous not that the advent of condoms has escalated the levels of promiscuity. I don't think there is a research to that effect. We are aware of incidences where people have condoms right in their pockets and they do not use them when having sex and we are mindful of the fact that within the faith community, we are talking of people who have the virus. Do we encourage them to abstain, can we encourage married couples to abstain, can we encourage people who are staying together to abstain, what are the option that we give them?" Father Sembereka wondered.
With regard to condom use and sex education, maintaining an open dialogue and exploring arguments objectively rather than through heated debates may help everyone to review the evidence and consider their stand and come up with a compromise that will benefit people in all walks of life.
Surely the aim of everyone is to see a reduction in teenage and unwanted pregnancies and reduced infection of HIV/AIDS and STIs within the nation.
Transport Problems Contributing to High Maternal Mortality Rate
At only 13, Zione (not real name) has a very daunting and demanding responsibility. She looks after her two younger sisters. She bathes them, prepare them food and does all the household chores in the home to make their lives bearable.
Little Zione's 'workload' and responsibilities are large when equated with her tender age. The role she has in her home would have been her mother's role if only she were alive.
If only her mother was alive, Zione herself could have been taken care of together with her sisters. Zione would have been in school. The mother would have been there for her children all the time. She would have tried her best to give the children their basic and essential needs.
Unfortunately for Zione and many other children in the country, her mother died when she was very young. She died soon after giving birth to her third child, Zione's sister who is now a year old. The hospital personnel attributed her death to her late arrival at the hospital.
The hospital was 'sure' that the mother would have survived had she arrived there earlier.
"Life has not been the same since my mother's death. My father left soon after her death and married another woman from a nieghbouring village. We had no option but stay with my grandmother who is very old," laments Zione who had to drop out of school to look after her sisters.
To make matters worse, her father has not been providing any financial or material assistance to the children despite him having a job as a security guard at a nearby school.
The death of Zione's mother is but one of the many pregnancy related deaths the country continues to experience. Malawi is said to have one of the highest maternal mortality rates in the continent.
As Minister of Health, Marjorie Ngaunje puts it; Malawi's staggering maternal mortality ratio of 984/100,000 live births is still unacceptably too high."
In simple terms, out of every 100,000 mothers who give birth, 984 of them die to pregnancy related complications. These deaths result into a lot of problems in the homes considering the great role that mothers play in their homes and in society as a whole.
"Death of a pregnant woman or mother in any family is a catastrophe. I am saying this because such a death, deprives the household of vital income as well as love and affection," says Ngaunje.
She says loss of women's lives has a direct effect on family structure and it also affects society as a whole since it has to cope with orphaned children who are left behind.
The Minister says it is sad to note that one of the reasons why the country still has a high maternal mortality ratio is failure to bring patients to the appropriate health facilities in time.
She explains that this normally happens due to transport problems to ferry the patient to the health facilities.
Ngaunje says it is the wish of government through her Ministry to ensure that measures are put in place to save the situation.
"It is therefore important that everything possible should be done to save the lives of our beloved mothers who are key to new generations in our society," says the minister.
She says that her ministry's goal is to ensure that maternity cases should be referred from Health Centres to District Hospitals or from District Hospitals to Central Hospitals in time before complications arise.
Ngaunje adds that government and its development partners are sparing no effort to bring in interventions aimed at ensuring a transport system that will move referral patients from one facility level to another.
Speedy handling of clients through the provision of transport in good time is one of the strategies in the road map that has been recently launched by the ministry.
The road map is yet another move by my ministry towards reducing the high maternal mortality ratio. The road map stipulates several strategies which will guide policy makers, programme managers, development partners, the civil society and other stakeholders in their support to government's efforts towards accelerated attainment of the millennium development goals related to maternal and new born health," says Ngaunje.
The ministry has of late encouraged the use of motor cycle ambulances as an intervention in the ambulatory services.
The motor cycle ambulances are indeed proving to be effective to the communities especially those in the rural areas where most of the roads are really in bad shape.
Little Zione's 'workload' and responsibilities are large when equated with her tender age. The role she has in her home would have been her mother's role if only she were alive.
If only her mother was alive, Zione herself could have been taken care of together with her sisters. Zione would have been in school. The mother would have been there for her children all the time. She would have tried her best to give the children their basic and essential needs.
Unfortunately for Zione and many other children in the country, her mother died when she was very young. She died soon after giving birth to her third child, Zione's sister who is now a year old. The hospital personnel attributed her death to her late arrival at the hospital.
The hospital was 'sure' that the mother would have survived had she arrived there earlier.
"Life has not been the same since my mother's death. My father left soon after her death and married another woman from a nieghbouring village. We had no option but stay with my grandmother who is very old," laments Zione who had to drop out of school to look after her sisters.
To make matters worse, her father has not been providing any financial or material assistance to the children despite him having a job as a security guard at a nearby school.
The death of Zione's mother is but one of the many pregnancy related deaths the country continues to experience. Malawi is said to have one of the highest maternal mortality rates in the continent.
As Minister of Health, Marjorie Ngaunje puts it; Malawi's staggering maternal mortality ratio of 984/100,000 live births is still unacceptably too high."
In simple terms, out of every 100,000 mothers who give birth, 984 of them die to pregnancy related complications. These deaths result into a lot of problems in the homes considering the great role that mothers play in their homes and in society as a whole.
"Death of a pregnant woman or mother in any family is a catastrophe. I am saying this because such a death, deprives the household of vital income as well as love and affection," says Ngaunje.
She says loss of women's lives has a direct effect on family structure and it also affects society as a whole since it has to cope with orphaned children who are left behind.
The Minister says it is sad to note that one of the reasons why the country still has a high maternal mortality ratio is failure to bring patients to the appropriate health facilities in time.
She explains that this normally happens due to transport problems to ferry the patient to the health facilities.
Ngaunje says it is the wish of government through her Ministry to ensure that measures are put in place to save the situation.
"It is therefore important that everything possible should be done to save the lives of our beloved mothers who are key to new generations in our society," says the minister.
She says that her ministry's goal is to ensure that maternity cases should be referred from Health Centres to District Hospitals or from District Hospitals to Central Hospitals in time before complications arise.
Ngaunje adds that government and its development partners are sparing no effort to bring in interventions aimed at ensuring a transport system that will move referral patients from one facility level to another.
Speedy handling of clients through the provision of transport in good time is one of the strategies in the road map that has been recently launched by the ministry.
The road map is yet another move by my ministry towards reducing the high maternal mortality ratio. The road map stipulates several strategies which will guide policy makers, programme managers, development partners, the civil society and other stakeholders in their support to government's efforts towards accelerated attainment of the millennium development goals related to maternal and new born health," says Ngaunje.
The ministry has of late encouraged the use of motor cycle ambulances as an intervention in the ambulatory services.
The motor cycle ambulances are indeed proving to be effective to the communities especially those in the rural areas where most of the roads are really in bad shape.
SWAM in the Fight Against HIV/Aids in Nkhota Kota
In it's efforts in the fight against HIV/AIDS, the Society for Women Against AIDS in Malawi (SWAM) is implementing a two year project in Nkhotakota District aimed at empowering the youth, girls and young women in particular to have increased access to Sexual and Reproductive Health rights.
SWAM, a non governmental and non profit making organization embarked on the project whose goal is to reduce the susceptibility and vulnerability of young women and girls to HIV/AIDS by building the capacity of local communities to fight HIV/AIDS in a rights perspective.
The organisation's Executive Director, Gavelet Mzembe said in an interview that through the project, the youth in the district have been equipped with knowledge in sexual and reproductive health rights.
"As a result of a successful community mobilization, youth clubs were established and trained in sexual and reproductive health and life skills. Through discussion forums and community outreach in these clubs, the youth have reached out to more than 2,500 people with messages on life skills and Sexual and Reproductive Health," Said Mzembe.
She said her organization embarked on the project in Chia and Lozi areas in the district because of their proximaty to the lake where a lot of fishermen were demanding sex from women in exchange for fish.
"We as SWAM wanted to come in and help reduce the Fish for sex practice which was increasing the HIV prevalence rate in the area," said Mzembe.
She said her organization has managed to train 20 fishermen of which 3 were women as peer educators in Gender and Sexual reproductive health rights. Amongst the group were also 2 representatives from Nkhotakota AIDS Support Organisation (NASO) and Fisheries Department who work closely with the fishermen.
Mzembe explained that the training was aimed at equipping the fishermen with peer education skills so that they can reach out to their fellow fishermen resident in the area and other fishermen coming from other areas.
According to Mzembe, the project is already achieving results as some of the women and fishermen involved in the practice have come out in the open to testify and condemn it.
A lady from Kampanje Village who opted for anonymity testified being a victim of fish for sex as she used to buy fish for sale at the lake.
"I am a victim of fish for sex. I used to buy fish from the lake for resale. This is where I used to have sexual intercourse with the fishermen in order to gain favors so that I get more fish. I am HIV positive and can testify about the evils of this practice and advocate for change," said the lady.
Mzembe said SWAM in partnership with the communities, has established 5 Income Generating women groups and through their initiatives, they developed constitutions and opened bank accounts for the groups.
The women groups are trained in business management skills and have already identified houses to be used for bakeries in Chia and Lozi areas.
She said the women were given money to start up their businesses and the Malawi Economic Justice Network (MEJN) organized a Trade Literacy Workshop .
Mzembe said her organization is so far impressed with what the project has achieved in the area and was optimistic that a lot more would be achieved.
"Through this project, lives have been transformed, through this project we have managed to impart knowledge and skills among women and girls," she said.
Emily Zakeyo, a woman from Lozi was all praises to SWAM from bringing the project to the area which she said had really changed her life in various aspects.
"In the past, I had very little knowledge of HIV/AIDS issues but with the coming of this project by SWAM, I have learnt a lot of issues in as far as HIV/AIDS, sexual and reproductive health issues are concerned," She said.
Zakeyo said her life had also been transformed as she is now able to manage her home financially, courtesy of the business skills and capital that she got from SWAM.
She explained that she used to rely on money or fish given to her by fishermen who would demand to have sex with her in exchange of whatever they gave out to her.
"I did not realize that I was putting my own life at risk until SWAM came to this area with this project," she said.
The project is being funded by DanChurch Aid.
SWAM, a non governmental and non profit making organization embarked on the project whose goal is to reduce the susceptibility and vulnerability of young women and girls to HIV/AIDS by building the capacity of local communities to fight HIV/AIDS in a rights perspective.
The organisation's Executive Director, Gavelet Mzembe said in an interview that through the project, the youth in the district have been equipped with knowledge in sexual and reproductive health rights.
"As a result of a successful community mobilization, youth clubs were established and trained in sexual and reproductive health and life skills. Through discussion forums and community outreach in these clubs, the youth have reached out to more than 2,500 people with messages on life skills and Sexual and Reproductive Health," Said Mzembe.
She said her organization embarked on the project in Chia and Lozi areas in the district because of their proximaty to the lake where a lot of fishermen were demanding sex from women in exchange for fish.
"We as SWAM wanted to come in and help reduce the Fish for sex practice which was increasing the HIV prevalence rate in the area," said Mzembe.
She said her organization has managed to train 20 fishermen of which 3 were women as peer educators in Gender and Sexual reproductive health rights. Amongst the group were also 2 representatives from Nkhotakota AIDS Support Organisation (NASO) and Fisheries Department who work closely with the fishermen.
Mzembe explained that the training was aimed at equipping the fishermen with peer education skills so that they can reach out to their fellow fishermen resident in the area and other fishermen coming from other areas.
According to Mzembe, the project is already achieving results as some of the women and fishermen involved in the practice have come out in the open to testify and condemn it.
A lady from Kampanje Village who opted for anonymity testified being a victim of fish for sex as she used to buy fish for sale at the lake.
"I am a victim of fish for sex. I used to buy fish from the lake for resale. This is where I used to have sexual intercourse with the fishermen in order to gain favors so that I get more fish. I am HIV positive and can testify about the evils of this practice and advocate for change," said the lady.
Mzembe said SWAM in partnership with the communities, has established 5 Income Generating women groups and through their initiatives, they developed constitutions and opened bank accounts for the groups.
The women groups are trained in business management skills and have already identified houses to be used for bakeries in Chia and Lozi areas.
She said the women were given money to start up their businesses and the Malawi Economic Justice Network (MEJN) organized a Trade Literacy Workshop .
Mzembe said her organization is so far impressed with what the project has achieved in the area and was optimistic that a lot more would be achieved.
"Through this project, lives have been transformed, through this project we have managed to impart knowledge and skills among women and girls," she said.
Emily Zakeyo, a woman from Lozi was all praises to SWAM from bringing the project to the area which she said had really changed her life in various aspects.
"In the past, I had very little knowledge of HIV/AIDS issues but with the coming of this project by SWAM, I have learnt a lot of issues in as far as HIV/AIDS, sexual and reproductive health issues are concerned," She said.
Zakeyo said her life had also been transformed as she is now able to manage her home financially, courtesy of the business skills and capital that she got from SWAM.
She explained that she used to rely on money or fish given to her by fishermen who would demand to have sex with her in exchange of whatever they gave out to her.
"I did not realize that I was putting my own life at risk until SWAM came to this area with this project," she said.
The project is being funded by DanChurch Aid.
Microbicide Trials On HIV Transmission Prevention Halted
Malawi will continue with phase 3 Trials on the efficacy of a microbicide gel that is being tested for HIV prevention in women despite trials of a similar kind being halted in other participating countries.
A statement made in January by International Partnerships for Microbicides (IPM) informing the public that CONRAD, a reproductive health research organization had halted the phase 3 efficacy trials of its Cellulose Sulfate (CS) based microbicides has resulted in the public asking why the trials on being carried out by John Hopkins Foundation in Malawi are still continuing.
According to Dr Newton Kumwenda, Director of the John Hopkins Foundation, the research in Malawi will not be affected by IPM's statement to stop the CS trials because the products are different.
"The trials in Malawi are not affected in any way be the stopping of the Cellulose Sulfate trials since the products are different" he said.
Kumwenda confirmed that trials are on track, will continue and are progressing well.
Malawi is currently involved in phase 3 human trials of the Pro 2000 and Buffer Gel microbicide being carried out in two centers based in Blantyre and Lilongwe. Approximately 500 women are involved in each of the two centers.
Trials in Malawi on the Pro 2000 and Buffer Gel started in 2005 and data has regularly been monitored by a safety monitoring board. Reviews since trials began have already taken place 4 times with another review due to take place shortly.
According to Kumwenda, the past reviews have revealed no problems so far thus the continuation of trials. "We hope that if trials are stopped at all, it will be due to successful results rather than other problems," he said.
Asked how participants are selected for the trial, Kumwenda said all trials are being conducted with utmost care following both local and international guidelines for the welfare of the participants as well as the scientific integrity of trial.
Participants should be 18 years or older, sexually active, healthy and be willing to be tested for HIV.
Before participating in the trials, women are counseled and informed on the importance of continuing to use other forms of protection against HIV.
"They are counseled that the products are only being tried if they can protect against infection, but we do not know for sure if they work therefore they need to protect themselves against HIV all the time by using condoms which we know for sure are effective," Kumwenda said.
Counseling is continuing and available for participants whenever a request is made. At every opportunity a participant is available, counseling on risk reduction is provided.
Kumwenda confirmed again that CS is a completely different product from Pro 2000 and Buffer Gel being tried in Malawi and that it was unlikely that the different products will have the exact same effects. "We hope that the Buffer Gel and Pro 2000 will have different and positive results."
The trials on Pro 2000 and Buffer Gel taking place in Malawi are at present being carried out in Philadelphia USA, South Africa, Zambia and Zimbabwe.
Effort to develop a microbicide gel for use by women to prevent them from contracting HIV suffered a significant setback when the phase 3 human trials were halted end of January this year.
Phase 3 of the trial involved the participation of women in order to determine the efficacy of the Cellulose Sulfate based gel but preliminary results indicated that Cellulose Sulfate could lead to an increased risk of HIV infection in women who use the product.
Trials on the CS have been carried out in Benin, India, South Africa, Uganda and Nigeria. A target total of 4,734 women were scheduled to participate in the trials.
Although problems were observed in the other countries, no such problems were observed in the Nigerian trials and data is still being examined further to shed some light on the apparent observations so far and their implications.
It has been confirmed that increasingly women and girls bear the brunt of the HIV/AIDS pandemic.
In the year 2006 statistics reveals that over 59% of the people living with the virus in sub-Saharan Africa were women.
In Malawi, over 52% of the people living with HIV are women.
Traditions, culture and social differences are some of the most significant factors that have made women more vulnerable to becoming infected with HIV.
The development of a microbicide is expected to have given women, especially those in a stable relationship or married some control over protecting themselves from becoming infected with HIV or other sexually transmitted Infections (STIs). Not requiring the participation of the male partner, microbicides had been seen as a positive move towards empowering women to protect themselves from HIV and STI infections.
A significant number of women in Asia and Africa have been involve in large scale efficacy trials
"With these microbicide candidates in large scale efficacy trials and a new generation of microbicides well into safety studies, microbicides could be available in five to seven years," is a statement by IPM in November, 2006.
The safety concerns that caused the discontinuation of the CS trials is seen as a set back and will have a significant effect on the future development and availability of a microbicide that will empower women to protect themselves against HIV the world over.
A statement made in January by International Partnerships for Microbicides (IPM) informing the public that CONRAD, a reproductive health research organization had halted the phase 3 efficacy trials of its Cellulose Sulfate (CS) based microbicides has resulted in the public asking why the trials on being carried out by John Hopkins Foundation in Malawi are still continuing.
According to Dr Newton Kumwenda, Director of the John Hopkins Foundation, the research in Malawi will not be affected by IPM's statement to stop the CS trials because the products are different.
"The trials in Malawi are not affected in any way be the stopping of the Cellulose Sulfate trials since the products are different" he said.
Kumwenda confirmed that trials are on track, will continue and are progressing well.
Malawi is currently involved in phase 3 human trials of the Pro 2000 and Buffer Gel microbicide being carried out in two centers based in Blantyre and Lilongwe. Approximately 500 women are involved in each of the two centers.
Trials in Malawi on the Pro 2000 and Buffer Gel started in 2005 and data has regularly been monitored by a safety monitoring board. Reviews since trials began have already taken place 4 times with another review due to take place shortly.
According to Kumwenda, the past reviews have revealed no problems so far thus the continuation of trials. "We hope that if trials are stopped at all, it will be due to successful results rather than other problems," he said.
Asked how participants are selected for the trial, Kumwenda said all trials are being conducted with utmost care following both local and international guidelines for the welfare of the participants as well as the scientific integrity of trial.
Participants should be 18 years or older, sexually active, healthy and be willing to be tested for HIV.
Before participating in the trials, women are counseled and informed on the importance of continuing to use other forms of protection against HIV.
"They are counseled that the products are only being tried if they can protect against infection, but we do not know for sure if they work therefore they need to protect themselves against HIV all the time by using condoms which we know for sure are effective," Kumwenda said.
Counseling is continuing and available for participants whenever a request is made. At every opportunity a participant is available, counseling on risk reduction is provided.
Kumwenda confirmed again that CS is a completely different product from Pro 2000 and Buffer Gel being tried in Malawi and that it was unlikely that the different products will have the exact same effects. "We hope that the Buffer Gel and Pro 2000 will have different and positive results."
The trials on Pro 2000 and Buffer Gel taking place in Malawi are at present being carried out in Philadelphia USA, South Africa, Zambia and Zimbabwe.
Effort to develop a microbicide gel for use by women to prevent them from contracting HIV suffered a significant setback when the phase 3 human trials were halted end of January this year.
Phase 3 of the trial involved the participation of women in order to determine the efficacy of the Cellulose Sulfate based gel but preliminary results indicated that Cellulose Sulfate could lead to an increased risk of HIV infection in women who use the product.
Trials on the CS have been carried out in Benin, India, South Africa, Uganda and Nigeria. A target total of 4,734 women were scheduled to participate in the trials.
Although problems were observed in the other countries, no such problems were observed in the Nigerian trials and data is still being examined further to shed some light on the apparent observations so far and their implications.
It has been confirmed that increasingly women and girls bear the brunt of the HIV/AIDS pandemic.
In the year 2006 statistics reveals that over 59% of the people living with the virus in sub-Saharan Africa were women.
In Malawi, over 52% of the people living with HIV are women.
Traditions, culture and social differences are some of the most significant factors that have made women more vulnerable to becoming infected with HIV.
The development of a microbicide is expected to have given women, especially those in a stable relationship or married some control over protecting themselves from becoming infected with HIV or other sexually transmitted Infections (STIs). Not requiring the participation of the male partner, microbicides had been seen as a positive move towards empowering women to protect themselves from HIV and STI infections.
A significant number of women in Asia and Africa have been involve in large scale efficacy trials
"With these microbicide candidates in large scale efficacy trials and a new generation of microbicides well into safety studies, microbicides could be available in five to seven years," is a statement by IPM in November, 2006.
The safety concerns that caused the discontinuation of the CS trials is seen as a set back and will have a significant effect on the future development and availability of a microbicide that will empower women to protect themselves against HIV the world over.
Malawi: 'Brain Drain' in Health System Continues Unabated
Most nurses who have left Malawi have immigrated to the United Kingdom (UK), offering that country their services in the past. But now the United States of America (US) is fast becoming another attractive destination after many nurses are having an extension to their working visa being rejected in the UK, even after having worked there for nearly 5 years.
The American Hospital Association has reported that the US last year needed an extra 118,000 nurses, a demand that will rise to 800,000 by 2020. In order to cater for this shortage a little un-noticed provision in the Immigration Bill is expected to be used. This could intensify the drain of nurses from the developing world.
Reaction has been swift and filled with outrage with Physicians for Human Rights (PHR), a US advocacy group saying that this provision could undermine the multi-billion dollar effort by the US to combat AIDS and Malaria by potentially worsening the already existing shortage of health workers in poor countries like Malawi.
"We're pouring water in a bucket with a hole in it, and we (US) drilled the hole," declared Holly Burkhalter from PHR when the proposals were first made.
There is no doubt, the public health sector in Malawi is already badly hit by the "Brain Drain" in the large exodus of medical professional personnel leaving the country for greener pastures in the developed world.
It has been reported that over the past five years 52% of health administrators, 64% nurses and 85% physicians have left the government health system either to join private medical providers, join other NGOs or have left the country to join overseas health systems.
Freda* has just come off her night shift in one of the largest referral hospital in Lilongwe, Kamuzu Central Hospital (KCH). Working on the Female General Ward 2A had been totally exhausting for her, and if it were not for the patients' guardians helping her during the night, some of the patients would have been left unattended for long periods while she paid attention to the patients that required immediate attention.
The ward has 31 beds with an overflow of patients sleeping on the floor and on the verandah with an estimate of 38 patients to care for. Freda has one auxiliary nurse to help her. Sitting on a chair and looking more like she has been running a marathon, Freda says she is fast burning out and after working at the hospital, she barely has the energy to take care of her family.
"I have been working for many years as a nurse and at one time we were many on the ward and we were all working as a team.The burden of caring for patients was shared; we were even able to take time to have a cup of tea."
She says it is difficult to take a break without feeling as though there are more important things she should be doing.
"You feel as if it is time wasted if you stop; and even if guardians are many and disturb you when you have to give special care to a patient, we can not do otherwise since they do help in caring for their relatives because the nurse patient ratio is so bad."
She says when she became a nurse it was never her intention to work in any other organization but one of the major hospitals in the country.
Asked if she would consider leaving the country to join the medical profession overseas, Freda says now she would indeed consider it: "Before, I would have problems but now, even although nursing my own people is my passion, I feel that I am not able to give my best because I have to care for so many patients at one time. How can I give my best?" she asked adding, "besides, I have heard that very good working conditions and higher salaries have benefited many of my colleagues. Maybe it is time to look somewhere else for a job that will benefit me and my family."
Is Freda about to become a "Brain Drain" statistic in Malawi?
Recent media reports on the Senate Immigration Bill with a small but significant provision that will make it possible for an unlimited number of health care workers and their immidiate family to live and work in America makes the US another possible destination for nurses from Malawi. The Senate Bill 2611 already passed by the Senate Judiciary Committee will make it possible for more foreign nurses to live and work in the US.
The provision is intended to assist the US government fill the gap of a shortage of nursing staff needed for their health system.
At present the US has 500 special visas for nurses each year that makes it possible for nurses and their immediate family members to get a green card and live in the US.
The possibility of recruiting foreign nurses to cater for the needs of the US has drawn some negative responses from experts from within the US and Africa who have been following the situation of the "Brain Drain" from the African continent
The American Hospital Association has reported that the US last year needed an extra 118,000 nurses, a demand that will rise to 800,000 by 2020. In order to cater for this shortage a little un-noticed provision in the Immigration Bill is expected to be used. This could intensify the drain of nurses from the developing world.
Reaction has been swift and filled with outrage with Physicians for Human Rights (PHR), a US advocacy group saying that this provision could undermine the multi-billion dollar effort by the US to combat AIDS and Malaria by potentially worsening the already existing shortage of health workers in poor countries like Malawi.
"We're pouring water in a bucket with a hole in it, and we (US) drilled the hole," declared Holly Burkhalter from PHR when the proposals were first made.
There is no doubt, the public health sector in Malawi is already badly hit by the "Brain Drain" in the large exodus of medical professional personnel leaving the country for greener pastures in the developed world.
It has been reported that over the past five years 52% of health administrators, 64% nurses and 85% physicians have left the government health system either to join private medical providers, join other NGOs or have left the country to join overseas health systems.
Freda* has just come off her night shift in one of the largest referral hospital in Lilongwe, Kamuzu Central Hospital (KCH). Working on the Female General Ward 2A had been totally exhausting for her, and if it were not for the patients' guardians helping her during the night, some of the patients would have been left unattended for long periods while she paid attention to the patients that required immediate attention.
The ward has 31 beds with an overflow of patients sleeping on the floor and on the verandah with an estimate of 38 patients to care for. Freda has one auxiliary nurse to help her. Sitting on a chair and looking more like she has been running a marathon, Freda says she is fast burning out and after working at the hospital, she barely has the energy to take care of her family.
"I have been working for many years as a nurse and at one time we were many on the ward and we were all working as a team.The burden of caring for patients was shared; we were even able to take time to have a cup of tea."
She says it is difficult to take a break without feeling as though there are more important things she should be doing.
"You feel as if it is time wasted if you stop; and even if guardians are many and disturb you when you have to give special care to a patient, we can not do otherwise since they do help in caring for their relatives because the nurse patient ratio is so bad."
She says when she became a nurse it was never her intention to work in any other organization but one of the major hospitals in the country.
Asked if she would consider leaving the country to join the medical profession overseas, Freda says now she would indeed consider it: "Before, I would have problems but now, even although nursing my own people is my passion, I feel that I am not able to give my best because I have to care for so many patients at one time. How can I give my best?" she asked adding, "besides, I have heard that very good working conditions and higher salaries have benefited many of my colleagues. Maybe it is time to look somewhere else for a job that will benefit me and my family."
Is Freda about to become a "Brain Drain" statistic in Malawi?
Recent media reports on the Senate Immigration Bill with a small but significant provision that will make it possible for an unlimited number of health care workers and their immidiate family to live and work in America makes the US another possible destination for nurses from Malawi. The Senate Bill 2611 already passed by the Senate Judiciary Committee will make it possible for more foreign nurses to live and work in the US.
The provision is intended to assist the US government fill the gap of a shortage of nursing staff needed for their health system.
At present the US has 500 special visas for nurses each year that makes it possible for nurses and their immediate family members to get a green card and live in the US.
The possibility of recruiting foreign nurses to cater for the needs of the US has drawn some negative responses from experts from within the US and Africa who have been following the situation of the "Brain Drain" from the African continent
SA, Malawi sign co-operation agreement
Foreign Minister Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma and her Malawian counterpart Joyce Banda signed a co-operation agreement between the two countries at Zimbali Lodge near Durban on Monday.
Zuma said that the Joint Permanent Commission for Co-operation Agreement created a "framework" for the two countries' future co-operation in bilateral relations.
Banda said: "There are so many areas where we can co-operate. This brings the guarantee to that co-operation."
In 2005 Malawi was South Africa's 10th largest export destination in Africa.
Zuma was expected sign a number of agreements ahead of the two-day African Union retreat being hosted by Zuma at Zimbali Lodge.
The retreat begins on Tuesday
Zuma said that the Joint Permanent Commission for Co-operation Agreement created a "framework" for the two countries' future co-operation in bilateral relations.
Banda said: "There are so many areas where we can co-operate. This brings the guarantee to that co-operation."
In 2005 Malawi was South Africa's 10th largest export destination in Africa.
Zuma was expected sign a number of agreements ahead of the two-day African Union retreat being hosted by Zuma at Zimbali Lodge.
The retreat begins on Tuesday
Monday, 7 May 2007
Mission to Malawi
TWO city teachers are spending their summer holidays in Malawi schools to help improve children's education.
Katherine Simpson and Jane McClounan will stay with families in a rural community for five weeks as part of an international charity's project to raise education standards in Africa.
As well as helping to develop learning methods, the teachers will lay foundations for what could be a lasting bond between schools in Malawi and Glasgow.
It is hoped the scheme will lead to future exchanges, with teachers and children travelling between countries.
advertisementJane, 40, who works at Shawlands Primary, is no stranger to taking classes in foreign countries as she has already taught in Egypt, China, Taiwan and the Philippines.
She said: "Although I have worked overseas before, this will be totally different - I'm looking forward to what will be the experience of a lifetime.
"Each of us will be living with a family in a village where there is no or electricity or running water.
"Massive class sizes and lack of material resources present huge problems but in co-operation with Malawian colleagues we will work very hard to make a positive contribution."
Jane and Katherine, who teaches autistic kids at Middlefield residential school in the West End, are due to be sent to communities in Dedza district, central Malawi.
They fly out in June and should find out which schools and families they will be placed with over the next few days.
Katherine, 27, said: "It will be a real culture change in every sense.
"It can be perceived as corny to say I want to make a difference,' but that's why I went into teaching in the first place."
The project is run by Link Community Development, a charity dedicated to advancing education in Africa which places teachers in Malawi, Ghana, Uganda and South Africa.
A total of 18 teachers from schools across Scotland are heading for Malawi - the highest-ever number from north of the Border.
Catherine McKenna, 30, programme manager with the charity, said: "There has been a bigger focus on Scotland since we opened our new office in Edinburgh last year.
"The teachers won't be asked to take classes but will help improve the management of the school by comparing different methods of teaching and learning.
"We work in partnership with the education department in Malawi and the other countries we're involved with."
The charity is also looking to recruit teachers in October for next year's project.
Anyone interested should email Link Community Development at scotland@lcd.org.uk or visit www.lcd.org.uk
Katherine Simpson and Jane McClounan will stay with families in a rural community for five weeks as part of an international charity's project to raise education standards in Africa.
As well as helping to develop learning methods, the teachers will lay foundations for what could be a lasting bond between schools in Malawi and Glasgow.
It is hoped the scheme will lead to future exchanges, with teachers and children travelling between countries.
advertisementJane, 40, who works at Shawlands Primary, is no stranger to taking classes in foreign countries as she has already taught in Egypt, China, Taiwan and the Philippines.
She said: "Although I have worked overseas before, this will be totally different - I'm looking forward to what will be the experience of a lifetime.
"Each of us will be living with a family in a village where there is no or electricity or running water.
"Massive class sizes and lack of material resources present huge problems but in co-operation with Malawian colleagues we will work very hard to make a positive contribution."
Jane and Katherine, who teaches autistic kids at Middlefield residential school in the West End, are due to be sent to communities in Dedza district, central Malawi.
They fly out in June and should find out which schools and families they will be placed with over the next few days.
Katherine, 27, said: "It will be a real culture change in every sense.
"It can be perceived as corny to say I want to make a difference,' but that's why I went into teaching in the first place."
The project is run by Link Community Development, a charity dedicated to advancing education in Africa which places teachers in Malawi, Ghana, Uganda and South Africa.
A total of 18 teachers from schools across Scotland are heading for Malawi - the highest-ever number from north of the Border.
Catherine McKenna, 30, programme manager with the charity, said: "There has been a bigger focus on Scotland since we opened our new office in Edinburgh last year.
"The teachers won't be asked to take classes but will help improve the management of the school by comparing different methods of teaching and learning.
"We work in partnership with the education department in Malawi and the other countries we're involved with."
The charity is also looking to recruit teachers in October for next year's project.
Anyone interested should email Link Community Development at scotland@lcd.org.uk or visit www.lcd.org.uk
Visit brings perspective on reform
ALBANY -- The members of Parliament from Malawi, one of Africa's smallest and poorest countries, were at first too embarrassed to respond to a question about how much they're paid.
"You'd be laughing all the way back to your houses if I told you," Dr. George Nga Mtafu said.
A retired neurosurgeon who heads the opposition party and the reforms committee in Malawi's Parliament, Mtafu was speaking to a group of State University of New York officials in a wood-paneled, 13th-floor boardroom Friday afternoon.
The seven Parliament members, including Atupele Austin Muluzi, the son of former Malawi President Bakili Muluzi, were concluding a weeklong visit to Albany. They came to study New York state government in the hopes of taking back ideas to advance reform in their country's struggling, fledgling democracy.
In the Malawi National Assembly, commonly called the Parliament, there are 193 members and they're elected to five-year terms.
"We could both probably stand to learn a few things about reform," quipped Helen Desfosses, former president of the Albany Common Council and a UAlbany professor who teaches courses on African politics.
In Malawi, about two-thirds of the Parliament members were voted out in the last election.
It turns out the Malawians have a few things to learn from New York lawmakers, on that score at least.
"You practically have to die to lose your seat in the New York state Legislature," Desfosses noted.
The irony of Friday's salary question was not lost on Mtafu, head of the United Democratic Front, an opposition party that's openly feuding with Malawi's president, Bingu wa Mutharika, who quit UDF in a public row in 2005 over corruption allegations.
A few blocks up State Street hill, at the Capitol, a spirited debate is raging sotto voce among New York's lawmakers who want a raise above their $79,500 base pay (which typically exceeds $100,000 with bonuses for committee work) but fear angering their constituents.
In Malawi, members of Parliament earn 87,000 kwacha, about $500 in U.S. dollars.
That may amount to three times as much as a typical Malawian subsistence farmer earns growing maize and tobacco each year, but, as Mtafu put it, "It's peanuts."
Even worse than their low pay, perhaps, is the lack of respect elected officials are accorded in a country still struggling to find its footing as a democracy after breaking free from British imperial control in 1964.
Independence in Malawi was followed by a three-decade rule under tough, dictatorial President Hastings Kamuzu Banda. In 1994, the country adopted its first democratic constitution.
In practice, though, there is not a strong system of checks and balances in place and the executive branch still acts much like a dictatorship.
The most egregious usurpation of power by the president, according to the Parliament members, is in the matter of the budget. There is no public discussion, no input from lawmakers, no review or transparency.
"You'd be laughing all the way back to your houses if I told you," Dr. George Nga Mtafu said.
A retired neurosurgeon who heads the opposition party and the reforms committee in Malawi's Parliament, Mtafu was speaking to a group of State University of New York officials in a wood-paneled, 13th-floor boardroom Friday afternoon.
The seven Parliament members, including Atupele Austin Muluzi, the son of former Malawi President Bakili Muluzi, were concluding a weeklong visit to Albany. They came to study New York state government in the hopes of taking back ideas to advance reform in their country's struggling, fledgling democracy.
In the Malawi National Assembly, commonly called the Parliament, there are 193 members and they're elected to five-year terms.
"We could both probably stand to learn a few things about reform," quipped Helen Desfosses, former president of the Albany Common Council and a UAlbany professor who teaches courses on African politics.
In Malawi, about two-thirds of the Parliament members were voted out in the last election.
It turns out the Malawians have a few things to learn from New York lawmakers, on that score at least.
"You practically have to die to lose your seat in the New York state Legislature," Desfosses noted.
The irony of Friday's salary question was not lost on Mtafu, head of the United Democratic Front, an opposition party that's openly feuding with Malawi's president, Bingu wa Mutharika, who quit UDF in a public row in 2005 over corruption allegations.
A few blocks up State Street hill, at the Capitol, a spirited debate is raging sotto voce among New York's lawmakers who want a raise above their $79,500 base pay (which typically exceeds $100,000 with bonuses for committee work) but fear angering their constituents.
In Malawi, members of Parliament earn 87,000 kwacha, about $500 in U.S. dollars.
That may amount to three times as much as a typical Malawian subsistence farmer earns growing maize and tobacco each year, but, as Mtafu put it, "It's peanuts."
Even worse than their low pay, perhaps, is the lack of respect elected officials are accorded in a country still struggling to find its footing as a democracy after breaking free from British imperial control in 1964.
Independence in Malawi was followed by a three-decade rule under tough, dictatorial President Hastings Kamuzu Banda. In 1994, the country adopted its first democratic constitution.
In practice, though, there is not a strong system of checks and balances in place and the executive branch still acts much like a dictatorship.
The most egregious usurpation of power by the president, according to the Parliament members, is in the matter of the budget. There is no public discussion, no input from lawmakers, no review or transparency.
Living on a Dollar a Day in Malawi
Malawi is one of poorest countries in the world, and according to NPR.org, more than half of the population lives off less than £0.50/$1.00 per day. That’s 127 Malawian Kwacha.
A goon from The Something Awful Forums started a thread entitled Eating on a Dollar per Day, stating him and his room mate are going to live for a dollar a day for a month too taking advice from fellow goons on what to buy and what not to.
Because prices in Malawi are so low, and prices in the USA are lower than that of the UK, I kinda assumed it’s £1 a day in English exchange and tax prices and that got me thinking how we are so wasteful.
I think nothing of going into a shop and paying £1 for a pasty to “keep me going” until my evening meal. This is the entire daily budget for somebody living in Malawi or a poor part of the USA.
The Day’s Accounting
The daily balance sheet for the Phiri family:
Income
Cotton: $0.07/£0.04
Donations: $0.63/£0.32
Tomatoes: $0.01/£0.01
Bike taxi: $0.09/£0.05
Goats: $0.10/£0.05
Sugar cane: $0.04/£0.02
TOTAL: $0.94/£0.47
Expenses
Maize flour: $0.45/£0.23
Soap: $0.04/£0.02
Salt: $0.02/£0.01
School fees: $0.10/£0.05
Clothes: $0.08/£0.04
Paraffin (for lamps): $0.17/£0.09
Fertilizer: $0.04/£0.02
Fish: 35
TOTAL: $1.25/£0.63
How would you budget if you were given $30/£30 and told to make it last a month in your city?
I would get:
£1.00 Months supply of multi-vitamin
£2.00 2 x 3KG bags of pasta
£0.50 Salt
£1.00 Various spices
£5.00 Various budget chicken cuts
£2.00 Bananas and Apples
£3.00 3 x 1KB bags of brown rice
£1.00 Jar of peanut butter
£2.00 Cheap musli type cereal
£1.50 Plenty of powdered milk mix
£2.88 36 x Packets of ramen noodles
£6.00 Freakin’ huge sack of potatoes
£1.00 Few large cabbages
£0.30 Large bar of cheap chocolate
£0.80 A crapload of boullion for either
seasoning or making soup.
Opinions? Responses? Opinions?
Please donate to Malawi via Unicef by clicking the “Donate Now” button on the following URL:
http://www.unicef.org/infobycountry/malawi.html
africa, aid, charity, donate, food, goon, malawi, poorest countries in the world, somethingawful
A goon from The Something Awful Forums started a thread entitled Eating on a Dollar per Day, stating him and his room mate are going to live for a dollar a day for a month too taking advice from fellow goons on what to buy and what not to.
Because prices in Malawi are so low, and prices in the USA are lower than that of the UK, I kinda assumed it’s £1 a day in English exchange and tax prices and that got me thinking how we are so wasteful.
I think nothing of going into a shop and paying £1 for a pasty to “keep me going” until my evening meal. This is the entire daily budget for somebody living in Malawi or a poor part of the USA.
The Day’s Accounting
The daily balance sheet for the Phiri family:
Income
Cotton: $0.07/£0.04
Donations: $0.63/£0.32
Tomatoes: $0.01/£0.01
Bike taxi: $0.09/£0.05
Goats: $0.10/£0.05
Sugar cane: $0.04/£0.02
TOTAL: $0.94/£0.47
Expenses
Maize flour: $0.45/£0.23
Soap: $0.04/£0.02
Salt: $0.02/£0.01
School fees: $0.10/£0.05
Clothes: $0.08/£0.04
Paraffin (for lamps): $0.17/£0.09
Fertilizer: $0.04/£0.02
Fish: 35
TOTAL: $1.25/£0.63
How would you budget if you were given $30/£30 and told to make it last a month in your city?
I would get:
£1.00 Months supply of multi-vitamin
£2.00 2 x 3KG bags of pasta
£0.50 Salt
£1.00 Various spices
£5.00 Various budget chicken cuts
£2.00 Bananas and Apples
£3.00 3 x 1KB bags of brown rice
£1.00 Jar of peanut butter
£2.00 Cheap musli type cereal
£1.50 Plenty of powdered milk mix
£2.88 36 x Packets of ramen noodles
£6.00 Freakin’ huge sack of potatoes
£1.00 Few large cabbages
£0.30 Large bar of cheap chocolate
£0.80 A crapload of boullion for either
seasoning or making soup.
Opinions? Responses? Opinions?
Please donate to Malawi via Unicef by clicking the “Donate Now” button on the following URL:
http://www.unicef.org/infobycountry/malawi.html
africa, aid, charity, donate, food, goon, malawi, poorest countries in the world, somethingawful
Sunday, 6 May 2007
Westminster Semnary California Students to Malawi
A team of WSC students is traveling to Malawi this summer to serve the church there.
Mark and Michelle VanderPol, Steve Bussis, Matt Barker, and Stephen Roberts. They will be teaching classes in Greek, the Doctrines of God, Man, Christ, and the Ministry of Word and Witness to seminarians, as well as serving in impoverished communities.
They would appreciate any textbooks and/or other books that would be useful to these classes, or would be helpful additions to their library. You can contact them through Stephen Roberts (alivingsacrifice@gmail.com).
They ask for prayer as you think of them.
Mark and Michelle VanderPol, Steve Bussis, Matt Barker, and Stephen Roberts. They will be teaching classes in Greek, the Doctrines of God, Man, Christ, and the Ministry of Word and Witness to seminarians, as well as serving in impoverished communities.
They would appreciate any textbooks and/or other books that would be useful to these classes, or would be helpful additions to their library. You can contact them through Stephen Roberts (alivingsacrifice@gmail.com).
They ask for prayer as you think of them.
Saturday, 5 May 2007
Tanzanian jailed in Malawi for drug trafficking
The Lilongwe Senior Resident Magistrate`s Court on Wednesday sentenced Tanzanian national Salim Nassir Salim (36) to a six-year jail term for drug trafficking.
Salim, from Kyela in Mbeya Region, was arrested at the Kamuzu International Airport in Lilongwe two weeks ago by Malawian immigration and police officials allegedly for being found with 32 pellets of a substance suspected to be cocaine in his stomach.
He was alleged to have taken the illicit drug all the way from Brazil as he headed back to Tanzania via Malawi. Subsequent scanning in hospital confirmed that Salim had indeed swallowed the pellets.
Senior Magistrate Vokochi Ndovie sentenced Salim to a fine amounting to Malawian Kwacha 400,000, equivalent to 3.6 million/- or six years` imprisonment with hard labour in default on convicting him. The accused failed to pay the fine and he was hauled to prison.
Magistrate Ndovie said Salim deserved the punishment ``as part of the international war on drug trafficking`` and the court had an obligation to stop the crime, regardless of whether?the drugs were destined?for Malawi or elsewhere.
He stated that Salim committed an offence by carrying cocaine even if the drugs were in transit since it was contrary to Malawi?s laws on dangerous drugs.
According to police Sub Inspector Christopher Katani, who was prosecuting, Salim was found in possession of 32 pellets of cocaine weighing 518.63 grammes on April 21, 2007.
Each pellet had a street value of about US$135, translating into USD4,320 or 5.4million/-, Katani told the court, asking the court to hand down a harsh sentence to the accused ``because cocaine is one of the main causes of mental problems in people and there is therefore a need to dissuade trafficking in the drug``.
The prosecutor submitted further that, although Salim was a first offender, he deserved a severe deterrent sentence ``because he meticulously planned the offence by concealing the cocaine in his stomach``.
In mitigation, Salim asked the magistrate to be lenient with him because he was a first offender and had a family back home in Tanzania that depends on him.
He also pleaded with the magistrate to pardon him ``on account of the fact that the cocaine was not destined for Malawi and was being taken to Tanzania.
Some Tanzanian businesspeople living in Malawi, who preferred anonymity, told this paper that many East Africans have for long been crossing into Tanzania from Malawi through illegal entry points in Mbeya Region.
They added most East African drug dealers from outside the region would rather connect from Malawi than take direct flights to their respective countries, which makes Malawian police always suspect East Africans connecting through Malawi.
``Why should they be fond of connecting to and from Malawi when they can take direct flights to their respective countries?`` wondered Malawian deputy police spokesperson Kingsley Dandaula.
Salim, from Kyela in Mbeya Region, was arrested at the Kamuzu International Airport in Lilongwe two weeks ago by Malawian immigration and police officials allegedly for being found with 32 pellets of a substance suspected to be cocaine in his stomach.
He was alleged to have taken the illicit drug all the way from Brazil as he headed back to Tanzania via Malawi. Subsequent scanning in hospital confirmed that Salim had indeed swallowed the pellets.
Senior Magistrate Vokochi Ndovie sentenced Salim to a fine amounting to Malawian Kwacha 400,000, equivalent to 3.6 million/- or six years` imprisonment with hard labour in default on convicting him. The accused failed to pay the fine and he was hauled to prison.
Magistrate Ndovie said Salim deserved the punishment ``as part of the international war on drug trafficking`` and the court had an obligation to stop the crime, regardless of whether?the drugs were destined?for Malawi or elsewhere.
He stated that Salim committed an offence by carrying cocaine even if the drugs were in transit since it was contrary to Malawi?s laws on dangerous drugs.
According to police Sub Inspector Christopher Katani, who was prosecuting, Salim was found in possession of 32 pellets of cocaine weighing 518.63 grammes on April 21, 2007.
Each pellet had a street value of about US$135, translating into USD4,320 or 5.4million/-, Katani told the court, asking the court to hand down a harsh sentence to the accused ``because cocaine is one of the main causes of mental problems in people and there is therefore a need to dissuade trafficking in the drug``.
The prosecutor submitted further that, although Salim was a first offender, he deserved a severe deterrent sentence ``because he meticulously planned the offence by concealing the cocaine in his stomach``.
In mitigation, Salim asked the magistrate to be lenient with him because he was a first offender and had a family back home in Tanzania that depends on him.
He also pleaded with the magistrate to pardon him ``on account of the fact that the cocaine was not destined for Malawi and was being taken to Tanzania.
Some Tanzanian businesspeople living in Malawi, who preferred anonymity, told this paper that many East Africans have for long been crossing into Tanzania from Malawi through illegal entry points in Mbeya Region.
They added most East African drug dealers from outside the region would rather connect from Malawi than take direct flights to their respective countries, which makes Malawian police always suspect East Africans connecting through Malawi.
``Why should they be fond of connecting to and from Malawi when they can take direct flights to their respective countries?`` wondered Malawian deputy police spokesperson Kingsley Dandaula.
Friday, 4 May 2007
Malawi holds festival
Malawi is hosting its very own music festival this year, with organisers touting it as the perfect alternative to the world-famous Glastonbury in the UK.
The Lake of Star's Festival is held on the palm-fringed shores of Africa's third-largest lake and will feature some of the biggest names in music.
International DJs will play alongside some of Africa's finest, offering the perfect mix for tourists wishing to hear some great music while also taking in the local culture.
Thousands of people attend the event every year and once the party has ended, there is plenty to see and do in the region around the northern part of the lake.
The scenery is breathtaking, while bars and clubs will continue to keep the festival vibe in full swing until the last person has left the dance floor.
Malawi has come to the world's attention in recent times with the Queen of Pop Madonna adopting a child from the country.
The Lake of the Star's Festival will take place in October 2007.
Fancy going to this event? Use Opodo's travel search engine to find flights and hotels for your stay.
The Lake of Star's Festival is held on the palm-fringed shores of Africa's third-largest lake and will feature some of the biggest names in music.
International DJs will play alongside some of Africa's finest, offering the perfect mix for tourists wishing to hear some great music while also taking in the local culture.
Thousands of people attend the event every year and once the party has ended, there is plenty to see and do in the region around the northern part of the lake.
The scenery is breathtaking, while bars and clubs will continue to keep the festival vibe in full swing until the last person has left the dance floor.
Malawi has come to the world's attention in recent times with the Queen of Pop Madonna adopting a child from the country.
The Lake of the Star's Festival will take place in October 2007.
Fancy going to this event? Use Opodo's travel search engine to find flights and hotels for your stay.
IMF and World Bank Face Declining Authority as Venezuela Announces Withdrawal
Venezuela's decision this week to pull out of the IMF and the World Bank will be seen in the United States as just another example of the ongoing feud between Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez and the Bush Administration. But it is likely to be viewed differently in the rest of the world, and could have an impact on both institutions, whose power and legitimacy in developing countries has been waning steadily in recent years.
Other countries may follow. President Rafael Correa of Ecuador announced last week that it was kicking the World Bank's representative out of the country. It was an unprecedented action, which President Correa punctuated by stating that "we will not stand for extortion by this international bureaucracy." In 2005, the World Bank withheld a previously approved $100 million loan to Ecuador to try to force the government to use windfall oil revenues for debt repayment, rather than the government's choice of social spending.
This is the way these two institutions have operated for decades. With the IMF as leader, and the U.S. Treasury department holding veto power, they have run a "creditors' cartel" that has been able to exert enormous pressure on governments over a wide variety of economic issues. This pressure has not only generated widespread resentment, but has also often led to economic failure in the countries and regions where the IMF and World Bank have had the most influence. Over the last 25 years Latin America has had its worst long-term economic growth performance in more than a century.
Venezuela also has specific grievances against the IMF, which are likely to generate sympathy in other developing countries with democratic, left-of-center governments. On April 12, 2002, just hours after Venezuela's democratically elected government was overthrown in a military coup, the IMF stated publicly that it was "ready to assist the new administration [of Pedro Carmona] in whatever manner they find suitable."
This instantaneous show of financial support for a newly installed dictatorship - one which immediately dissolved the country's constitution, general assembly, and Supreme Court - was unprecedented in the IMF's history. Typically the IMF does not react so quickly, even to an elected government. It is no wonder that this move was seen in Venezuela and elsewhere as an attempt by the IMF to support the coup itself. Washington, which dominates the Fund, had advance knowledge of the coup, supported it, and funded some of its leaders - according to U.S. government documents.
In additions, Venezuela has not been happy with the IMF's consistently under-projecting its economic growth in recent years, as the Fund has also done with Argentina. The IMF's forecasts are widely used and can therefore influence investors.
But the resentment against the IMF and World Bank, and demands for change, are worldwide. The scandal over Paul Wolfowitz's leadership at the World Bank, which is about to topple the Bank's most unwanted president ever, is just the tip of the iceberg. Last month the IMF's Independent Evaluation Office stated that since 1999, nearly three-quarters of aid to the poor countries of Sub-Saharan Africa are not being spent. Rather, at the IMF's request, it is being used to pay off debt and accumulate reserves. This is a terrible thing to do to some of the poorest countries in the world, who desperately need to spend this money on such pressing needs as the HIV/AIDS pandemic.
Venezuela's decision is likely to strengthen the hand of developing nations within the IMF and World Bank who are demanding serious reforms. Right now the United States, with less than 5 percent of the world's population, has more votes in the IMF than countries representing the majority of the planet. The world's developing countries, which bear the brunt of these institutions' mistakes, have little or no voice in their decision-making. Venezuela's move - and any other countries that follow - will show the IMF and World Bank that the option of quitting these institutions altogether is a real one.
Whether this will spur reform that can actually change the colonial relationship that these institutions maintain with their borrowers remains to be seen. More likely, they will simply continue to become less relevant to the developing world, as has happened drastically over the last decade.
Other countries may follow. President Rafael Correa of Ecuador announced last week that it was kicking the World Bank's representative out of the country. It was an unprecedented action, which President Correa punctuated by stating that "we will not stand for extortion by this international bureaucracy." In 2005, the World Bank withheld a previously approved $100 million loan to Ecuador to try to force the government to use windfall oil revenues for debt repayment, rather than the government's choice of social spending.
This is the way these two institutions have operated for decades. With the IMF as leader, and the U.S. Treasury department holding veto power, they have run a "creditors' cartel" that has been able to exert enormous pressure on governments over a wide variety of economic issues. This pressure has not only generated widespread resentment, but has also often led to economic failure in the countries and regions where the IMF and World Bank have had the most influence. Over the last 25 years Latin America has had its worst long-term economic growth performance in more than a century.
Venezuela also has specific grievances against the IMF, which are likely to generate sympathy in other developing countries with democratic, left-of-center governments. On April 12, 2002, just hours after Venezuela's democratically elected government was overthrown in a military coup, the IMF stated publicly that it was "ready to assist the new administration [of Pedro Carmona] in whatever manner they find suitable."
This instantaneous show of financial support for a newly installed dictatorship - one which immediately dissolved the country's constitution, general assembly, and Supreme Court - was unprecedented in the IMF's history. Typically the IMF does not react so quickly, even to an elected government. It is no wonder that this move was seen in Venezuela and elsewhere as an attempt by the IMF to support the coup itself. Washington, which dominates the Fund, had advance knowledge of the coup, supported it, and funded some of its leaders - according to U.S. government documents.
In additions, Venezuela has not been happy with the IMF's consistently under-projecting its economic growth in recent years, as the Fund has also done with Argentina. The IMF's forecasts are widely used and can therefore influence investors.
But the resentment against the IMF and World Bank, and demands for change, are worldwide. The scandal over Paul Wolfowitz's leadership at the World Bank, which is about to topple the Bank's most unwanted president ever, is just the tip of the iceberg. Last month the IMF's Independent Evaluation Office stated that since 1999, nearly three-quarters of aid to the poor countries of Sub-Saharan Africa are not being spent. Rather, at the IMF's request, it is being used to pay off debt and accumulate reserves. This is a terrible thing to do to some of the poorest countries in the world, who desperately need to spend this money on such pressing needs as the HIV/AIDS pandemic.
Venezuela's decision is likely to strengthen the hand of developing nations within the IMF and World Bank who are demanding serious reforms. Right now the United States, with less than 5 percent of the world's population, has more votes in the IMF than countries representing the majority of the planet. The world's developing countries, which bear the brunt of these institutions' mistakes, have little or no voice in their decision-making. Venezuela's move - and any other countries that follow - will show the IMF and World Bank that the option of quitting these institutions altogether is a real one.
Whether this will spur reform that can actually change the colonial relationship that these institutions maintain with their borrowers remains to be seen. More likely, they will simply continue to become less relevant to the developing world, as has happened drastically over the last decade.
Teachers are Malawi bound
TWO primary school teachers from Midlothian are to spend the summer helping to improve education in Malawi.
Jill Robinson and Liz Charles are also hoping to educate children here about Malawi when they return.
Ms Robinson, a teacher at Newtongrange Primary, said: "I have been offered a once-in-a-lifetime experience this summer that will have a profound effect on me."
Ms Charles, a pre-school support teacher in the pupil support team at Greenhall, said: "When I heard about the programme, I jumped at the chance."
This article: http://news.scotsman.com/international.cfm?id=692602007
Jill Robinson and Liz Charles are also hoping to educate children here about Malawi when they return.
Ms Robinson, a teacher at Newtongrange Primary, said: "I have been offered a once-in-a-lifetime experience this summer that will have a profound effect on me."
Ms Charles, a pre-school support teacher in the pupil support team at Greenhall, said: "When I heard about the programme, I jumped at the chance."
This article: http://news.scotsman.com/international.cfm?id=692602007
'World is walking 10% faster'
The pace at which city dwellers walk has increased by 10 per cent in the last decade, a new study has shown.
The findings, from 32 countries, reflect the fact that increasing numbers of people are living in the fast lane.
Teams with stop watches timed how long it took 35 men and women to walk along a 60ft stretch of pavement.
Comparing the results with those compiled by US psychologist Professor Robert Levine in the 1990s, the study showed that people were, on average, now walking 10 per cent faster. Men are generally 25 per cent quicker on their feet than women.
People were in the greatest hurry in Singapore. Following in their footsteps were the residents of Copenhagen and Madrid, the two fastest-paced European cities.
Surprisingly, London is relatively slow compared with some other cities, the results show. On the list of 32 international cities, compiled by British psychologist Professor Richard Wiseman, it ranked only 12th.
The findings also explode the myth of the laid back Irish. Dublin topped Prof Levine's table in 1997 and takes fifth place on the new list.
New York, the city that never sleeps, provided another surprise. The Big Apple is renowned for its buzzing and frenetic pace of life, yet ranks only eighth.
A closer look at the UK showed that the fastest walkers were in London, followed by Belfast, Edinburgh and Cardiff.
The study was carried out with the help of the British Council, which promotes cultural links in 109 countries.
Researchers in each city found a busy street with a wide pavement that was flat, free from obstacles, and sufficiently uncrowded to allow people to walk at their maximum speed.
They only monitored adults who were on their own, and ignored anyone conducting a mobile phone conversation or struggling with shopping bags.
The average walking times in seconds from each city studied were as follows:
1) Singapore (Singapore); 10.55
2) Copenhagen (Denmark); 10.82
3) Madrid (Spain); 10.89
4) Guangzhou (China): 10.94
5) Dublin (Ireland); 11.03
6) Curitiba (Brazil); 11.13
7) Berlin (Germany); 11.16
8) New York (US); 12.00
9) Utrecht (Netherlands); 12.04
10) Vienna (Austria); 12.06
11) Warsaw (Poland); 12.07
12) London (United Kingdom); 12.17
13) Zagreb (Croatia); 12.20
14) Prague (Czech Republic); 12.35
15) Wellington (New Zealand); 12.62
16) Paris (France); 12.65
17) Stockholm (Sweden); 12.75
18) Ljubljana (Slovenia); 12.76
19) Tokyo (Japan); 12.83
20) Ottawa (Canada); 13.72
21) Harare (Zimbabwe); 13.92
22) Sofia (Bulgaria); 13.96
23) Taipei (Taiwan): 14.00
24) Cairo (Egypt); 14.18
25) Sana (Yemen); 14.29
26) Bucharest (Romania); 14.36
27) Dubai (United Arab Emirates); 14.64
28) Damascus (Syria); 14.94
29) Amman (Jordan); 15.95
30) Bern (Switzerland); 17.37
31) Manama (Bahrain); 17.69
32) Blantyre (Malawi); 31.60
The findings, from 32 countries, reflect the fact that increasing numbers of people are living in the fast lane.
Teams with stop watches timed how long it took 35 men and women to walk along a 60ft stretch of pavement.
Comparing the results with those compiled by US psychologist Professor Robert Levine in the 1990s, the study showed that people were, on average, now walking 10 per cent faster. Men are generally 25 per cent quicker on their feet than women.
People were in the greatest hurry in Singapore. Following in their footsteps were the residents of Copenhagen and Madrid, the two fastest-paced European cities.
Surprisingly, London is relatively slow compared with some other cities, the results show. On the list of 32 international cities, compiled by British psychologist Professor Richard Wiseman, it ranked only 12th.
The findings also explode the myth of the laid back Irish. Dublin topped Prof Levine's table in 1997 and takes fifth place on the new list.
New York, the city that never sleeps, provided another surprise. The Big Apple is renowned for its buzzing and frenetic pace of life, yet ranks only eighth.
A closer look at the UK showed that the fastest walkers were in London, followed by Belfast, Edinburgh and Cardiff.
The study was carried out with the help of the British Council, which promotes cultural links in 109 countries.
Researchers in each city found a busy street with a wide pavement that was flat, free from obstacles, and sufficiently uncrowded to allow people to walk at their maximum speed.
They only monitored adults who were on their own, and ignored anyone conducting a mobile phone conversation or struggling with shopping bags.
The average walking times in seconds from each city studied were as follows:
1) Singapore (Singapore); 10.55
2) Copenhagen (Denmark); 10.82
3) Madrid (Spain); 10.89
4) Guangzhou (China): 10.94
5) Dublin (Ireland); 11.03
6) Curitiba (Brazil); 11.13
7) Berlin (Germany); 11.16
8) New York (US); 12.00
9) Utrecht (Netherlands); 12.04
10) Vienna (Austria); 12.06
11) Warsaw (Poland); 12.07
12) London (United Kingdom); 12.17
13) Zagreb (Croatia); 12.20
14) Prague (Czech Republic); 12.35
15) Wellington (New Zealand); 12.62
16) Paris (France); 12.65
17) Stockholm (Sweden); 12.75
18) Ljubljana (Slovenia); 12.76
19) Tokyo (Japan); 12.83
20) Ottawa (Canada); 13.72
21) Harare (Zimbabwe); 13.92
22) Sofia (Bulgaria); 13.96
23) Taipei (Taiwan): 14.00
24) Cairo (Egypt); 14.18
25) Sana (Yemen); 14.29
26) Bucharest (Romania); 14.36
27) Dubai (United Arab Emirates); 14.64
28) Damascus (Syria); 14.94
29) Amman (Jordan); 15.95
30) Bern (Switzerland); 17.37
31) Manama (Bahrain); 17.69
32) Blantyre (Malawi); 31.60
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