An American doctor who contracted the dreaded Ebola virus disease by treating victims of the deadly virus in Liberia, has been discharged from a U.S. hospital after receiving treatment.
With an experimental drug, his charity said on Thursday.
The doctor, named Kent Brantly, was one of the two American health workers being trated with ZMapp, a trial drug used on a handful of patients in the West African outbreak and flown to the United States this month.
The charitable organisation Brantly worked for in Liberia, Samaritan’s Purse, in a statement, said he was released from Atlanta’s Emory University Hospital today.
President of the Nigerian Medical Association, Dr. Kayode Obembe, has said the doctors’ body is ready to bring the industrial action embarked upon by medical doctors across the country to an end.
Obembe is said to have revealed this during a close-door session with Senate President, Senator David Mark on Tuesday night through the early hours.
According to a statement by the chief press secretary to the Senate President, Paul Mumeh on Wednesday, the meeting was also attended by Delta State Governor, Dr. Emmanuel Uduaghan; Senator Tunde Ogbeha, as well as the Senior Special Assistant to the President on Public Affairs, Dr. Doyin Okupe.
In the statement, which provides an update on the meeting, Mumeh explained that Obembe said he would not give the exact date and time that the strike would be called off until he reported back to his members But assured that it would be called off soon.
The statement quotes the NMA leader as saying the meeting was “very useful and successful” although he lamented as incorrect “the notion in some quarters that the striking doctors abandoned the nation in this trying times of major heath challenge on account of the outbreak of Ebola Virus Disease.”
“Doctors were not unmindful of the health challenges faced by the nation at the moment but needed government to correct some abnormalities in the health sector to make it more effective and responsive to the health care needs of the citizens,” the statement says, as Obembe pledged to convene a stakeholders meeting soon as part of the process to put an end to the current industrial action which is now 51 days old.
In a statement that is bound to shock the entire world in general and Catholic faithful in particular, Pope Francis has said he has only two or three years to live.
While not revealing the reason for the statement, the Pontiff from Argentina, who has been hailed widely as a a breath of fresh air due to his unconventional style and visits to poor neighbourhoods, is of the view that he would not live for more than three years.
The Pope, who hinted that he is troubled by ‘some nerve problems’ which require treatment, said this in a session with journalists aboard his jet as he returned from a trip to South Korea.
According to the Mailonline, Pope Francis also mentioned the possibility of retiring from the Papacy if his health failed to cope with the rigours of his office, a move that opened the way to the Papacy for him as his predecessor, Benedict XVI, also stepped down last year in what is an unprecedented move.
“I see it as the generosity of the people of God. I try to think of my sins, my mistakes, not to become proud. Because I know it will last only a short time,” the pope said, before adding: “Two or three years and then I’ll be off to the Father’s house.”
At 77, Pope Francis is regarded as the most vigorous Pope in years, his energetic visits around the world in a campaign for peace and tolerance accounting for his popularity.
Although reports surfaced at the time of his elevation to the Papacy that Pope Francis had a lung removed when he was a teenager due to an infection, it has not been confirmed by the Vatican.
The Nigerian doctor who attended to Patrick Sawyer, the Liberian-American with the first Ebola case in Nigeria, is dead.
The late female doctor, Dr. Ameyo Stella Adadevoh was the senior consultant endocrinologist at the Lagos hospital where Sawyer was treated before his death from Ebola.
Adadevoh became infected with the deadly Ebola virus, according to medical authorities, revealing that Adadevoh died in an isolation facility of the Mainland Hospital, Lagos.
Her death brings to five the number of people the highly contagious virus has killed in the country, following the death of Sawyer, two nurses, and an ECOWAS protocol officer who was stationed to attended to Mr. Sawyer as he arrived in Lagos.
Adadevoh’s death was confirmed by the Federal Ministry of Health in a statement late Tuesday.
that a “female Nigerian doctor has died at the Ebola Emergency Treatment Centre in Lagos.”
Signed by Dan Nwomeh, spokesperson for the Minister of Health, Onyebuchi Chukwu, the statement refiraned from mentioning the name of the female doctor, only stating that the victim was one of those who had primary contacts with Mr. Sawyer.
But the manner of saying the decease is the most senior doctor who participated in treating the Liberian points to the fact that Adadevoh is the one to whom reference is being made.
A relative of the late doctor, Kwami Adadevoh, also confirmed the death of the brave medical personnel in a post on social media.
”I’d like to thank you all for your prayers. Sadly my darling cousin has been called home. She has finished her course and now rests with God,” the Twitter message reads.
Five people initially infected with the Ebola have recovered, leading to hopes that the country can contain the scourge but her death also brings to five the number of people who have died from Ebola including Patrick Sawyer.
UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, has called for more accelerated action from governments, international organisations and civil society groups on Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), for sustainable development far beyond 2015.
MDGs was adopted by world leaders in the year 2000, as a 15-year roadmap to fight poverty, hunger and disease, protect the environment and expand education, basic health and women’s empowerment.
This was contained in his message on Monday in New York on 500-days to mark the conclusion of the MDGs.
He said it was so unfortunate that there are many fires raging around the world today, which include political turmoil, bloodshed, public health emergencies and human rights abuses.
Ban said there was flame of hope and encouraging progress in the global drive to improve the lives of the world’s poorest through the MDGs.
He said this week marks a milestone on the journey, as the world was now 500 days from the conclusion of the MDGs.
Ban noted that quietly yet cumulatively, against the predictions of cynics, the MDGs have helped unite, inspire and transform.
He said the global poverty has been cut to half.
“More girls are in school, more families have better access to improved water sources, more mothers are surviving child birth and more children are living healthier lives,’’he said.
“We are making huge inroads in fighting malaria, tuberculosis and other killer diseases, I have met many individuals who owe their survival to this campaign,’’he added.
Ban said in spite of this, millions are still struggling against extreme poverty and inequality.
“Too many communities have no proper sanitation, many families are still being left behind, and our world faces the clear and present danger of climate change,’’ he said.
Ban said now is the time for MDG momentum, as the ideas and inspiration of young people would be especially critical in this effort and their role must grow even more.
That is why I will mark the 500-day MDGs moment at UN headquarters with education advocate, Malala Yousafzai and 500 young people.
Ban said action in four areas can help fuel progress, and it includes making strategic investments in health, education, energy and sanitation, with a special focus on empowering women and girls, which boosts results across the board.
He said focusing on the poorest and most vulnerable countries, communities and social groups that have the toughest road to progress despite their best efforts.
Ban added that keeping financial promises has become imperative, even though this was a difficult budgetary times.
“But budgets should never be balanced on the backs of society’s weakest individuals,’’ he said.
He also advocated deepening cooperation among governments, civil society, the private sector and other networks around the world.
Ban said this would assist in making the MDGs the most successful global anti-poverty push in history.
He said even though the challenges are daunting, yet the action would save lives, build a solid foundation for sustainable development far beyond 2015 and help lay the groundwork for lasting peace and human dignity.
“We have 500 days to accelerate MDG action, let’s make every day count,’’he said. (Xinhua)
The cheering news continues for Nigeria as four more Lagos residents who had been held at the Lagos Treatment Centre have been released after being certified as free from the dreaded disease.
Minister of Health, Professor Onyebuchi Chukwu, said this in a statement released on Monday.
Chukwu, in the statement signed by his special assistant on Media and Communication, Dan Nwomeh, said that the four discharged persons are made up of two male medical doctors, a female nurse as well as a female patient.
Chukwu explained that the three medical personnel had participated in the treatment of Patrick Sawyer, the Liberian-American, who was the first person to die of the disease in Nigeria. He added that the fourth person happened to be at First Consultants Hospital, Obalende, Lagos where Patrick Sawyer was brought to from the airport.
“The Minister of Health has announced that four additional confirmed cases of EVD who have been managed successfully and are now disease free have been discharged today(Monday).
“They include two male medical doctors and one female nurse. The three participated in the treatment of the index case(Sawyer) while the fourth person was a female patient at the time the index case was on admission.
“This brings to five, the total number of patients diagnosed with EVD who have now been discharged from hospital.”
An announcement by the minister on Saturday had indicated that a female doctor, the first Nigerian to be diagnosed of EVD, had been discharged .
He added further that Nigeria recorded 12 cases of EVD in all, along with four deaths including that of Patrick Sawyer, although he revealed that 195 Nigerians remain under surveillance in Lagos and Enugu.
The Defence Headquarters (DHQ) had faulted a British Newspaper report that Nigerian government committed war crimes by terrorising some of its citizens in the war against insurgency.
This is contained in a statement posted on the Defence Headquarters official website www.defence info.mil.ng on Tuesday in Abuja.
“The report credited to the British Newspaper, Daily Independent, UK, in which it claimed that Nigerian government `committed war crimes by terrorising some of its citizens in the war against insurgency’.
“Is to say the least, unduly judgmental and quite consistent with the disdain and bias with which a section of the western media reports Africa,’’ it said.
The statement said that the newspaper did not lay claim to any sense of professionalism in coming out with that grossly unsubstantiated and bogus allegation against the Nigerian government.
“ No credible independent source or government official was contacted to ascertain the veracity of those wild claims yet the sanctimonious and all-knowing newspaper could not exercise any restraint to be sure of its story.
“Is it not preposterous to even suggest that `4000 people have died in military custody…’ when it is on record that suspected terrorists are held in various facilities while being processed for prosecution?
“At what point then did 4000 people die in military custody?
“This ludicrous report did not come as a surprise to anybody since this biased mindset against Nigerian government has always characterised this newspaper even before the commencement of the ongoing counter-terrorist operation,’’ it emphasised.
The statement said that the newspaper and its ilk should be reminded that the Nigerian military and by extension the government cannot be intimidated by this patterned bias and supremacist mindset in reporting Africa.
It said having adopted this kind of judgmental posture, “we will not be surprised by any phantom video they will release to support their wild claim.
“We therefore urge the general public to discountenance this obviously jaundiced report or whatever phantom video as it is all aimed at tarnishing the image of Nigerian military.
“The preposterous interrogative posture of Daily Independent since the inception of the war on terror in Nigeria clearly questions the integrity of the said documentary.
“And is therefore an indication of frantic effort at tarnishing the Nigerian military and ultimately the Nigerian nation.
“The so called documentary should therefore be taken with a pinch of the salt,’’ it advised.
The Lagos State Water Corporation (LSWC) on Monday said it spent over N4 billion yearly to run its operations of providing potable water to houses in the state.
The Group Managing Director of (LSWC), Mr Shayo Holloway, who made the disclosure in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Lagos, said that making water potable was expensive.
According to him, if you imagine what goes into producing water, it is painful to see water leakages all over, especially with the corporation’s flat billing system because the property are not metered.
“That is why we want to meter property so that everybody will feel the need to conserve water.
“A lot of money is being wasted through water wastage and we are doing everything to correct that.
“We are working with the private sector in ensuring massive reduction in water wastage in the state.
“We have started installing meters in homes. As at today, we have installed about 4, 000 meters comprising 3, 000 in Ikeja and 1, 000 in Lekki and we are installing more.
“Our long term goal is to have every home metered,’’ he said.
According to him, metering allows the consumer to know what he is consuming and to pay for water consumed.
Holloway said metering would reduce wastage as a lot of water was being lost within houses from leaking tanks and Water Closets that people did not border to quickly rectify.
“But when there is a meter it will read all those leakages and that will make people to be more proactive towards addressing leakages within their households.
“So, what that means is that we will then have more water available for more people.
“They meters are working and will work even more in multi-tenement buildings,” he said.
Holloway said that because each property was supplied by one service connection, that service connection would be metered.
He said that it was for the occupants of multi-tenement buildings to resolve how they would pay for water consumed. (NAN)
Minister of Water Resources Mrs. Sarah Reng Ochekpe
The Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) has attributed the slow pace of agricultural development in Africa to poor implementation of policies.
The FAO Representative to Nigeria, Mrs Louise Setshwaelo, made this known in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Abuja on Monday.
Setshwaelo, said that the continent did not lack of good policies to promote agriculture, “but the will power to implement those policies’’.
She said that better implementation of policies was one of the areas FAO was collaborating with various governments in Africa to address malnutrition in the continent.
“We develop a lot of policies in Africa and honestly what I can say is that most African countries have good policies.
“What is lacking is implementation of those good policies and I think the political will has to be there,’’ she said.
The FAO representative also stressed the need to strengthen infrastructure to support agriculture in Africa, adding that irrigation was most under-utilised in the continent.
She urged African governments to ensure that investments in the agricultural sector were sustainable.
Setshwaelo said that increased access to land, credit and capacity building would further encourage the participation of youths and women in agriculture.
“We have women who make up to 50 per cent of the agriculture labour; women who are farmers themselves.
“Women actually have very limited access to resources, first is the issue of land and secondly is the issue of credit, they are the least people who are able to access these resources they need for production,’’ she said.
She urged youths to avail themselves of the opportunities in agriculture to become actively involved in developing the sector.
The FAO representative said there was need to build the capacity of young people to add value to the value chain.
“We need to build the capacity of not only the older population but also to encourage young people.
“It is not just about production, they can also be service providers, they can also be input providers, marketers and they add value to every knot of the value chain they can go into.’’
According to her, if agriculture receives improved participation of youths and women, it will reduce post harvest losses recorded in the sector.
“Because if you are producing little and 30 per cent of that is lost as post harvest losses, the chances of really reducing hunger also go down,’’ she said. (NAN)
The third feature in the series lays emphasis on the fact that climate change poses challenges to growth and development in Africa
The emissions already in the atmosphere, together with the greenhouse gases that will be emitted in the future, mean that the climate will continue to change. These changes in climate will create new risks and will amplify existing risks for natural and human systems. The IPCC report finds that for the remainder of this century, climate change will pose further challenges to food security, livelihoods, health and wellbeing.
A man walks over an irrigation channel in East Africa. Photo: Courtesy Neil Palmer/CIAT
During this century, temperatures in the African continent are likely to rise more quickly than in other land areas, particularly in more arid regions. Under a high-emissions scenario, average temperatures will rise more than 2°C, the threshold set in current international agreements, over most of the continent by the middle of the 21st century.
Average temperatures will rise by more than 4°C across most areas in the late 21st century. Changes in average temperature are projected to be greater over northern and southern Africa and relatively smaller over central Africa.
Under a low-emissions scenario, average temperature rises across Africa are projected to be less than 2°C over the course of the century. Projections for rainfall are less certain than projections for temperature. Most areas of the African continent do not show changes in average yearly rainfall under low-emissions scenarios. However, projections do show a very likely decrease in average yearly rainfall over areas of southern Africa beginning in the mid-21st century, and expanding substantially by the late 21st century, under a high-emissions scenario. In contrast, likely increases in average yearly rainfall are projected over areas of central and eastern Africa beginning in the mid-21st century for the same high-emissions scenario.
As climate change impacts become more dramatic, their effect on a range of climate extremes in Africa, including heavy rainfall, heat waves and drought, will become increasingly important55 and will play a more significant role in disaster impacts. There will be a likely increase in the frequency of hot days across the Sahara and parts of west, east and southern Africa.56 Eastern and southeastern Africa will likely experience more heavy rainfall, with more extreme wet days by the mid-21st century and greater potential for intense flooding, partially driven by possible changes in landfall of cyclones originating in the Indian Ocean. Global mean sea level will continue to rise during the 21st century under all emissions scenarios, by a magnitude that poses significant risks for Africa’s coastal settlements, as well as for coastal economies, cultures and ecosystems.
Sub-Saharan Africa is a rapidly developing region with a population of about 900 million, and wide ecological, climatic and cultural diversity. At present, six of the t0 fastest growing economies in the world are in Africa. Growth in these economies started from a relatively low base so the current rate of economic growth needs to be seen against a background of three decades of poor development performance, conflict and economic marginalisation. Some of these problems remain. However, there are hopeful signs that a number of countries are turning a corner – for the better.
It is critical to recognise that Africa’s growth is fragile. Real economic transformation has yet to take root. Part of Africa’s vulnerability lies in the fact that recent development gains have been in climate-sensitive sectors. Economically, many Africans depend for food, fibre and income on primary sectors such as agriculture and fisheries, sectors which are affected by rising temperatures, rising sea levels and erratic rainfall. Demographic and economic trends in Africa mean that climate impacts will be acute. For example, growing populations will increase the demand for water and food but prolonged droughts will put additional pressure on already scarce water resources and will reduce crop yields.
Already the region suffers from widespread, recurring risks to food production. Without adequate measures to adapt, these risks could become more intense under a changing climate. For scenarios approaching 4°C warming, the risk to food security in Africa could be very severe, and there would be limited potential for reducing risk through adaptation. The IPCC points out that some of the major crops in Africa are highly sensitive to changes in temperature. For example, climate change is very likely to have an overall negative effect on yields of major cereal crops across Africa, though with strong regional variability in the degree of loss. Estimated yield losses at mid-century range from 18% for southern Africa to 22% aggregated across sub-Saharan Africa, with yield losses for South Africa and Zimbabwe in excess of 30%.
An American doctor who contracted the dreaded Ebola virus disease by treating victims of the deadly virus in Liberia, has been discharged from a U.S. hospital after receiving treatment.
