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Experts call for Crisis Resolution In The Health Sector

Olasunbo Okoromi
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Experts call for Crisis Resolution In The Health Sector

The Association of Resident Doctors in the Federal Capital Territory (ARD-FCTA),  have urged the Nigerian government to proffer a lasting solution to the health crisis in Nigeria to enhance effective health delivery.

The President of the Association, Dr Nnamdi Nd-Ezuma made the call at a press briefing to mark the beginning of the 2021 Annual Health Week of the Association in Abuja Nigeria’s capital. He said that various activities have been lined up for the weekend event.

The events which are with the sole aim of projecting the image of the association in various capacities by giving back to the society are: free medical care, rural developmental projects, health talks, continued medical educations and personal developments.

According to the president, the year 2021 commenced with adaptations to the new perceived way of life from compulsory use of face mask to social distancing and less crowding, it also exposed the lacuna in Nigeria’s health systems.

He said that the lacuna has ultimately culminated in agitations from different health bodies that led to a national strike by NARD.

The theme for this year’s 2021 annual health week “The unresolved crises in Nigeria healthcare sector” was identified and chosen with the aim of discussing the different source of this crises and also proffer possible solutions to the long lasting problems, the lecture will be delivered by Dr Ahmed Danfulani, the Program Director, Federal Capital Territory Administration FCTA health insurance scheme.

The president encourage members of the Association  to take the week seriously as it would be for their interest and the interest of the people in the Federal Capital Territory.

He also appreciated the  Minister of FCT for his keen interest in the plight and welfare of health care workers in FCT, and also implore him to kindly look into the demands of the association and Health Care Providers at large.

Adding that the irregularities in salaries from IPPIS , Medical residency Training fund , promotion arrears, and other issues affecting ARD, needed to be addressed as ” this will go a long way in maintaining the industrial harmony enjoyed over the years”.

UNICEF says 30% AIDS-Related Deaths occurred in Nigeria in 2020

Olasunbo Okoromi
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UNICEF says 30% AIDS-Related Deaths occurred in Nigeria in 2020

United Nations Children’s Fund revealed that, about 30 per cent of AIDS-related deaths in 2020 occurred in children in Nigeria.

This was disclosed in a report in commemoration of World AIDS Day.

UNICEF stated in its report that 20,695 children aged 0-9 years were newly infected with HIV in 2020 or one child every 30 minutes in Nigeria.

The report showed that only about 3.5 per cent of the 1,629,427 Nigerians receiving antiretroviral treatments are children, revealing a big treatment gap.

The UN agency added that Nigeria has the highest number of children and adolescents aged 0-19 years living with HIV in West and Central Africa, with an estimate of 190,000.

The report noted that globally, at least 300,000 children were newly infected with HIV in 2020, or one child every two minutes.

It said another 120,000 children died from AIDS-related causes during the same period, or one child every five minutes.

Press statement disclosed that “Alarmingly, two in five children living with HIV worldwide do not know their status, and just over half of children with HIV are receiving“ antiretroviral treatment. Some barriers to adequate access to HIV services are longstanding and familiar, including discrimination and gender inequalities.

UNICEF Nigeria Country Representative, Peter Hawkins said children and adolescents continue to be left behind in the HIV response around the world.

Hawkins said “In Nigeria, teenage girls also bear the heaviest burden. We must increase and sustain HIV investments to ensure children are born free of HIV and stay HIV-free throughout childhood and adolescence.

South Africa’s Eskom CEO sees end to crisis in shift from coal

Henry Williams
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South Africa’s Eskom CEO sees end to crisis in shift from coal

South African state power utility Eskom sees an opportunity to emerge from years of crisis by shifting from coal-fired power generation towards natural gas and renewables, its chief executive correspondents.

Eskom has implemented power cuts for more than a decade in Africa’s most industrialised nation that have held back economic growth and deterred investment.

It has roughly 400 billion rand ($25 billion) of debt that it services through regular government bailouts.

Eskom operates 15 coal-fired power stations that generate more than 80% of the country’s electricity but regularly break down.

It also runs Africa’s only nuclear power station and a handful of smaller pumped storage, hydroelectric, backup gas plants and a wind farm.

But it is due to shut down about 22,000 megawatts (MW) of coal plants that are reaching the end of their life by 2035, close to half its 46,000 MW of nominal capacity now.

The plan is to replace some of that with gas and renewables, and allow independent power producers to make up the shortfall.

Disgraced ex-president Jammeh looms over Gambia election

Henry Williams
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Disgraced ex-president Jammeh looms over Gambia election

At a pre-election rally last month, supporters of Gambia’s main opposition coalition cheered the opening of the star attraction – a speech by former President Yahya Jammeh delivered over a crackly phone line from exile 2,000 miles away.

“(President) Adama Barrow destroyed everything good I left for Gambians to benefit from – the hospitals, agriculture and education,” Jammeh said to enthusiastic applause. “We should all unite and vote him out.”

Gambians go to the polls on Saturday and for the first time in 27 years Jammeh, who took power in a 1994 coup, will not be on the ballot.

He fled to Equatorial Guinea in 2017 after refusing to accept defeat to Barrow, ending a tenure marked by killing, torture, financial plunder and false claims of a homemade cure for AIDS.

Ethiopia’s PM, on frontline, urges troops to ‘destroy’ enemy

Henry Williams
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Ethiopia’s PM, on frontline, urges troops to ‘destroy’ enemy

Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed said his foes had been defeated and promised to recapture territory in the region of Amhara from rebellious Tigrayan forces after praising military victories against the Tigrayans in the region of Afar.

Footage from the front that aired on state-affiliated Fana Broadcasting on Tuesday showed Abiy wearing military jungle fatigues and cap and scanning the horizon with binoculars.

“The East Command secured an unimaginable victory in just one day of planning and adayand half long fighting,” he said. “Now we will repeat thatvictoryin this front.”Fana said he was addressing troops on the frontlines of the Ethiopian conflict, near Gashena in Amhara region. Reuters could not independently verify his location.

Abiy, whose army has been battling forces from the northern region of Tigray for more than a year, said he was headed to the frontline last week to supervise operations.

Death toll rises to 29 from Nigeria’s boat tragedy

Henry Williams
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Death toll rises to 29 from Nigeria’s boat tragedy

Nigerian officials have confirmed that nine more bodies from the Tuesday boat tragedy have been recovered on Wednesday morning.

This brings the death toll to 29 so far.

The search and rescue operation is ongoing.

It involves the police, the fire service and members of the Nigerian Security and Civil Defence Corps as well as local volunteers.

Hundreds of distraught parents and other relatives have gathered at the site.

Police at the location have told the BBC that the number of survivors rescued so far is still seven.

Victims of the boat accident were mostly Islamic school pupils – aged between six and 12 – travelling to a religious ceremony in the town of Bagwai.

Nigerian celebrities reject governor’s peace walk

Henry Williams
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Nigerian celebrities reject governor’s peace walk

Calls for a peace walk by Lagos Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu aimed at healing the city after the state government dismissed the Lekki report have been termed “disrespectful”.

The panel report that police intentionally shot protesters was dismissed by the Lagos government as “assumptions and speculations”.

Mr Sanwo-Olu said the city needed to heal, hence his proposal for a peace walk.

Nigerian entertainers Folarin Falana popularly known as Falz and Debo Adebayo also known as Mr Marcaroni rejected the governor’s invitation.

One of the panel’s recommendations was that victims of police brutality during the EndSars protests be compensated, a matter the governor said was being implemented.

Ethiopia says vital route into Tigray via Afar now clear

Henry Williams
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Ethiopia says vital route into Tigray via Afar now clear

A spokeswoman for Ethiopia’s Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed says “the belligerence of the TPLF” is to blame for a blockage of aid into the Tigray region.

The only viable overland route into Tigray has been through the neighbouring Afar region, and Mr Abiy’s spokeswoman told journalists the rebels have been trying to “choke off the Afar corridor” but that federal forces had since cleared the way.

The TPLF has previously blamed the government for the blocked route, while USAID says the government has “created de facto blockades, making communications, banking, and other vital services needed for aid efforts almost non-existent”.

More than five million people are in dire need of humanitarian assistance in the Tigray, Afar and Amhara regions, according to the United Nations. It says 100 trucks a day are needed to reach Tigray alone to meet needs there.

At the same press conference on Tuesday, the spokeswoman for Mr Abiy’s office was also asked to name the foreign powers Ethiopia accuses of attempting to weaken the country.

Football Kenya Federation president steps aside after fraud charges

Henry Williams
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Football Kenya Federation president steps aside after fraud charges

Nick Mwendwa has stepped aside as president of Football Kenya Federation (FKF) after being charged with multiple counts of fraud.

In a letter to FKF’s national executive committee members, Mwendwa stated he was handing over the reins to vice president Doris Petra because he felt “personally targeted” by his arrest and the subsequent charges, which he denies.

“In light of the frequent arrests and detentions, which have adversely affected my family and personal business, and whilst I am confident I will be cleared of any wrong doing in the end, I have asked my vice president Madam Doris Petra to assume all functions of the FKF president,” Mwendwa wrote.

“My decision has been arrived at with the federation’s best interest at heart.”

On Monday Mwendwa pleaded not guilty to four counts of fraud at an anti-corruption court in Nairobi, having been re-arrested by police on Friday.

The total amount of money Mwendwa and others, who were not present in court, are accused of taking from FKF is about 38m Kenyan shillings ($337,700, £254,500).

Mwendwa, who had been head of the FKF since 2016, is currently out on a cash bail of 10m Kenyan shillings as he awaits trial.

How It Is Celebrated – Christmas In Austria

Angel Gimalo
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How It Is Celebrated – Christmas In Austria

Austria shares many Christmas traditions with its neighbor Germany, but also has many special Christmas customs of its own.

During Advent, many families will have an Advent Wreath made from evergreen twigs and decorated with ribbons and four candles. On each of the four Sundays in Advent, a candle is lit and a carol or two might be sung!

Most towns will have a ‘Christkindlmarkt’ (Christmas market) from late November or early December, selling Christmas decorations, food (like gingerbread) and Glühwein (sweet, warm mulled wine). Cities like Vienna, Innsbruck and Salzburg have huge markets and people from all over the world visit them.

Every town will also have a large Christmas Tree in the town square. In homes, trees are decorated with gold and silver ornaments and stars made from straw.

Christmas in Austria really starts around 4.00pm on Christmas Eve (‘Heilige Abend’) when the tree is lit for the first time and people come to sing carols around the tree. The most famous carol is Silent Night (‘Stille Nacht’), which was written in Austria in 1818.

The national pop radio station Ö3 has special Christmas ‘jingles’ and plays Christmas music from 4.00pm on ‘Heilige Abend’. It’s used by many people as the ‘soundtrack’ to the start of Christmas.

Traditionally the Christmas tree is brought in and decorated on Christmas Eve. Decorations include candles (now often electric) and sparklers.

For children other important decorations are sweets, such as small liqueur-filled chocolate bottles, chocolates of various kinds, jelly rings and ‘Windbäckerei’ (meringue, usually in the form of rings, stars, etc.).

Some children believe that the ‘Christkind’ decorates the tree. The Christkind also brings presents to children on Christmas Eve and leaves them under the tree.

Some children might also get a present from St Nicholas on December 6th. In Austria, St Nicholas is often accompanied by the Krampus, He a big horned monster clothed in rags and carries chains. He’s meant to punish children who have been bad!

The main Christmas meal is also eaten on Christmas Eve. It’s often ‘Gebackener Karpfen’ (fried carp) as the main course; this is because Christmas Eve was considered a ‘fasting’ day by many Catholics and no meat could be eaten.

However ‘Weihnachtsgans’ (roast goose) and roast turkey are becoming more popular. Dessert can be chocolate and apricot cake ‘Sachertorte’ and Austrian Christmas cookies ‘Weihnachtsbaeckerei’ like ‘Lebkuchen’ (honey gingerbread) and ‘Vanillekipferl’ (almond cookies made in the shape of a horse shoe).

Some ‘really cool’ people, or those who live in the mountains, might go skiing on Christmas Day. Skiing on New Year’s Day is also popular.

Every year, Austria’s capital city, Vienna, holds a world-famous classical music concert ‘NeuJahrsKonzert’ which takes place during the morning of New Year’s day.

It’s held in the ‘Großer Saal’ (large hall) of the Musikverein, the concert hall of the Viennese Music Association. The concert is played by the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra and always features music from the Strauss family: Johann Strauss I, Johann Strauss II, Josef Strauss and Eduard Strauss.

It is famous for its waltz music. During the last piece played, The Blue Danube, the introduction is interrupted by applause from the audience and the musicians then wish them a Happy New Year! The concert is shown around the world on TV.

For Epiphany, 6th January, many people will put a special sign in chalk over their front door. It’s a reminder of the Wise Men that visited the baby Jesus. It’s made from the year split in two with initials for ‘Christus mansionem benedicat’ which is ‘May Christ bless the house’ in latin. So 2021 would be: 20*C*M*B*21. The sign is meant to protect the house for the coming year.

(Some people say the ‘C M B’ can also represent the names that are sometimes given to ‘the three wise men’, Caspar, Melchior and Balthazar, in the middle.)

As in parts of Germany, the sign is traditionally written on the door by the Sternsinger (or star singers), carol singing children who dress up like the Wise men; and one who carries a star on a stick as a symbol for the Star of Bethlehem.

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