Antibiotics to treat the world’s leading infectious cause of blindness have been delivered to nearly 300,000 people in Egypt.  It was the first mass drug administration (MDA) of its kind in the country for trachoma and is crucial in preventing children and adults from going needlessly blind.  It was delivered by the ministry of health and district level governates, with other organisations such as Sightsavers and other NGOs playing a vital role in distribution and facilitating its success.

Trachoma is an infectious and painful condition, which traps millions of people in a cycle of poverty because they are often unable to work. Over 1.7 million people in Egypt are at risk of trachoma, and a further 11 million live in areas where the disease is endemic, according to surveys taken in 2015.

To tackle the disease, community programmes have raised awareness and understanding of trachoma and how to prevent it, but until now no drugs had been mass distributed.

Egypt has a successful track-record in treating other neglected tropical diseases (NTDs). It was the first country in the Eastern Mediterranean to eliminate Lymphatic Filariasis (aka elephantiasis) and has made inroads to eliminating Schistosomiasis (snail fever). It is hoped this experience will help the country eliminate trachoma as a public health problem.

Philip Downs, Sightsavers’ Technical Director for NTDs said:

“This is a real milestone for public health in Egypt. Blinding trachoma has been causing suffering in Egypt since the age of the Pharaohs – yet could very soon be banished to the history books if it is made a priority.”

“This is the first time there has been such a large-scale distribution of antibiotics in the country. The Egyptian government, regional governments and other partners, have done a fantastic job to make this happen and proved that collaboration is key to overcoming challenges.

“But it’s important to remember that this is just the first step – more work is needed before Egypt follows in the footsteps of other countries and eliminates trachoma.”

The first trachoma MDA in Egypt happened in Matay, in the Menia region, at the end of July, where nearly 10 per cent of children aged one to nine had symptoms of the disease. Over the course of seven days health workers distributed doses of the antibiotic Zithromax®, donated by Pfizer, to 288,365 people aged six months and up.  Children under seven received their dose in the form of syrup. Teams issued medical advice as well as distributed the antibiotics, and included a nurse and a recorder. The teams went house to house in 24 villages and three suburban areas, travelling across difficult terrain, to villages nestled into the base of mountains, and even visited a Matay prison, where the director of health personally took a dose of the antibiotic in front of prisoners to encourage acceptance.

The 468 health workers also prepared communities for the drug distribution and shared information about trachoma through local media, social media, community leaders, policy makers, faith leaders, and other community organisations.

Dr Ahmed Mousa, Chairman of Nourseen, on the frontline of delivering the programme, said this community engagement was key to the success of the programme as it meant people knew what to expect and why it was important. He added: “The community was very receptive to receiving the drugs and the distribution went smoothly. Health education helps reduce a certain amount, but you need the drug to treat a big slice of the community all at once.”

The treatment programme was delivered by the Egyptian Ministry of Health and district level governates, and was the result of a global collaboration with international organisations including Sightsavers, the World Health Organization (WHO), the Nourseen foundation, KCCO and the International Trachoma Initiative (ITI). Local government and NGOs played a vital role in distribution and facilitating the success of the treatment programme.

For more information about the global drive to eliminate trachoma please visit https://www.sightsavers.org/protecting-sight/ntds/towards-trachoma-elimination/

Ends

For images and/or more information please call 01444 446739 or email Katya Mira at kmira@sightsavers.org

Notes to Editors

• Funders of the MDA in Egypt are the Egyptian Ministry of Health and Population and the Menia governorates in the Matay district, with Zithromax® provided by Pfizer and the International Trachoma Initiative (ITI). The project was made possible through a partnership with Sightsavers, the World Health Organisation, Nourseen Charity Foundation for Community Ophthalmology, Kilimanjaro Centre for Community Ophthalmology (KCCO) and ITI.

• If momentum continues, trachoma could be just years away from elimination. In 2012 Oman became the first country WHO validated as having eliminated trachoma as a public health problem, followed by Morocco in 2016, then Mexico, Cambodia and Laos in 2017, and most recently Ghana, Iran and Nepal in 2018. China, Togo, The Gambia and Myanmar are also believed to be on the cusp of elimination.

About Sightsavers

Sightsavers is an international organisation that works in more than 30 developing countries to prevent blindness, restore sight and advocate for social inclusion and equal rights for people with disabilities. It is a registered UK charity (Registered charity numbers 207544 and SC038110) www.sightsavers.org

Sightsavers holds Independent Research Organisation (IRO) status, making us one of the only international non-governmental organisations to hold this status in the UK. We conduct high quality research to address global gaps in knowledge and put research findings into practice by feeding them back into the design of our programmes.

There are 36 million blind people in the world; 75% of all blindness can be prevented or cured.

In the six decades since its foundation, Sightsavers has:

• Supported over 1.1 BILLION treatments for neglected tropical diseases
• Carried out over 10.2 million operations to restore sight
• Trained more than 795,427 primary eye care workers
• Carried out rehabilitation training for 225,954 blind or low vision beneficiaries
• Supported 62,908 blind or low vision children to gain a school education

By Nevson Mpofu

Taurai Nyandoro

The Government of Zimbabwe has been urged to un-lock the US$400 Million Global Fund HIV and AIDS Finance. This will make it work way-forward solutions to prevent the further spread of HIV and AIDS. The call has come at a time the country is running serious shortage of ARVs.

Secondly, the Executive Director of the Zimbabwe AIDS Net-Work [ZAN] Taurai Nyandoro advised the Government to pay US $6, 9 Million owed to suppliers of ARVs between 2017 and 2018. This, he said is the other reason why suppliers of ARVs are not supplying the country with drugs.

According to ZAN Director, to un-lock the Global Fund US $4 million, the Government must increase support to programs that focus on HIV and AIDS.

‘’ Zimbabwe must un-lock US$ 400 million Global Fund HIV  finance which can help in alleviating poverty related to the spread of the deadly HIV which progresses to AIDS if not well managed .

‘’How-ever, to un-lock the finance, the Government must support programs in line with HIV and AIDS in the country.’’

‘’We want the number of those clients under the Global Fund to increase from 710,000 clients to a much bigger figure. The Government working with NAC has 113, 000 [Anti-Retroviral Therapy] ART Clients while PEPFAR has 193 clients .This will help eradicate HIV. Even by 2030 it’s possible to eliminate HIV if as well 90%, 90 %, 90% targets of the UNITED NATIONS are put in place.

Nyandoro further highlighted that the Ministry of Health and Child-Care has 100,000 people on ARV TEST and TREATMENT. This brings to 8000 new clients a month accessing services. He further advised the Government to give 15% support to the Health sector in its budget. This 15% increase which is Z$502 million makes it easy to get Global Fund support.

‘’The need to unlock the Global Fund finance facility is a big way-forward in making an end to the spread of HIV. There is shortage of ARVs of which the problem must be solved as fast as possible in the country’’, concludes Nyandoro .

A National AIDS Council official who declined to be named out said NAC in 2019 availed Z $23 million for HIV and AIDS in the country. He pointed out that besides this big money availed, the shortage of ARVs and STI Anti-Biotics is there because the Government owes suppliers much money.

‘’Yes. The shortage of ARVs must be addressed now. Anti-Biotics on Sexual Transmitted Diseases Treatment are on the short supply list as well. The challenge is now with those who use ARVs, the HIV positive people’’, he said.

By Adama Makasuba

Minister of Health, Dr. Ahmadou Lamin Samateh

The Gambia’s health sector has announced to enforcing a law that bans smoking in public dubbed Comprehensive Tobacco Act before end of 2019.

The move according to the officials is aim at curtailing tobacco mayhem. The press conference was organized by RAID-The Gambia.

The Act was implemented in 2013 after Gambia’s ratifying the World Health Organization’s FCTC on June 5 2005 and enforced the tobacco control law in 2016.

Speaking at the press conference, Modou Nja health director said: “we have a lot of work to do, we need to fight and enemy and the enemy is tobacco and we need to ensure that we try to educate on the danger of use of tobacco.”

He warned parents who send their children’s to buying cigarette that “is illegal” and that anyone who smokes needs to smoke a distance of 100 meter (size of a football field).

“People have to understand that both pregnant and lactating women wherever they are seated they are not supposed to smoke tobacco around them,” he warned.

Momodou Gassama, an  official at World Health Organization said: “people who were dying because  of second hand smoke was somehow years ago was about 600, 000 people but current estimate as far as WHO ‘s recent estimate is concerned nearly one million people die now are due to people smoking second-hand or inhaling or expose to second-hand smoking.”

“We’ve been quoting 6 years back that nearly 6 million people were dying now it is far more than that. The conservative estimate is that almost 8 million or more people die every year of tobacco instead of that 6 million people,” he added.

He said among the measures that could help fight against the use of tobacco that it is by enforcing drastic measures on the use of tobacco, adding that WHO report indicates that tobacco use has decline drastically across the world.

By Wallace Mawire

Dr. Ihab Ahmed, SAA President

Five African countries have submitted bids to the Society for AIDS in Africa (SAA) to host the  International Conference on AIDS and Sexually Transmitted Infections in Africa (ICASA) 2021 conference.

The society has revealed that the countries which have submitted their bid for pre-selection to be the host of ICASA 2021  are Kenya, Zambia, Nigeria, Uganda and Tunisia.

The pre-selection started from 14 August 2019 ending on 29 August 2019, according to the society.

ICASA is a major bilingual international AIDS conference which takes place in Africa.

This year the 20th International Conference on AIDS and STIs in Africa will take place in Kigali, Rwanda.

It is reported that the conference represents a tremendous opportunity to highlight the diverse nature of the African region’s HIV epidemic and the unique response to it.

It is also added that the conference theme this year  “AIDS Free Africa – Innovation, Community, and Political Leadership” engages the whole continent and all stakeholders in the Post-SDG Framework, where sustainability of the response in reaching 90, 90, 90 UNAIDS will not be possible if human rights are not a key priority for a new of leadership in the context of strengthening the application of science-based evidence.

ICASA is a major international AIDS conference which takes place in Africa. Its current biennial hosting alternates between Anglophone and Francophone African countries.

The society says that the convening of the International Conference on AIDS and Sexually Transmitted Infections in Africa  represents a tremendous opportunity to highlight the diverse nature of the African region’s HIV epidemic and the unique response to it.

The biennial International AIDS Conference is the premier gathering for professionals   working in the field of HIV, as well as leaders, people living with HIV and others committed to ending the epidemic. It is reported to   be a tremendous opportunity for researchers from around the world to share the latest scientific advances in the field, learn from one another’s expertise, and develop strategies for advancing all facets of  collective efforts to treat and prevent HIV.

The Society for AIDS in Africa was established in Kinshasa in October 1990 during the 5th International Conference on AIDS and Associated Cancers in Africa, a precursor to the International Conference on AIDS
and STIs in Africa (ICASA).

It is reported that the formation of the Society for AIDS in Africa, was facilitated by the (W.H.O) to encourage the African continent to host international conferences on HIV/AIDS, a disease whose scourge has hardest hit the continent.It is reported that the move encourages and empowers Africans to directly address and respond to the challenges posed by the HIV and AIDS pandemic on the continent.

The Society envisions an HIV free Africa with capacity to confront all related consequences and diseases. The Society enables a positive environment for research on HIV and related diseases. The Society for AIDS in AFRICA (SAA) is governed by an Executive Council drawn from South, North, East, West and Central Africa. SAA collaborates with
AFRICASO, SAFAIDS, SWAA, NAP+, and Network of Youth in Africa and enjoy the support of the UN- System, as well as various International organizations, including the International AIDS Society (IAS).

Since its inception, SAA has successfully organized 19 International Conferences on HIV /AIDS and STIs in 14 Africa countries. On 6th December, 2017, in Abidjan, during ICASA 2017 the Sofitel Hotel Ivoire, the Minister of Health of Rwanda in the presence of ICASA 2017 President and the ICASA Director and other Executive Board Members, won the bid to host the 20th International Conference on AIDS and STIs which was conferred to Rwanda. Rwanda’s selection was a result of a rigorous evaluation of 3 countries to host ICASA 2019.

With the signing of the Memorandum of Understanding between Minister of Health and SAA with the strong support of the Rwandan Government, Dr. Ihab Ahmed, SAA President, officially declared Rwanda as the next host
country of the 20th edition of ICASA, ICASA 2019.

By Maniraguha Ferdinand

Over 30 000 people cross Gisenyi border everyday

Since this Thursday no Rwandan national is allowed to cross into Republic Democratic of Congo without getting a visa.

The decision was made by General Directorate of Immigration in DRC after Ebola outbreak  killed more than 1800 since August last year.

Rwandans  who live in  Rubavu district bordering with Goma City of DRC,   used to cross to DRC upon presenting their identity cards.

Now any Rwandan who want to cross to Goma, have to  pay a visa worthy 20 USD with one year warranty.

Rwanda has also started asking visas DRC nationals interring its territory to curb the spread of Ebola outbreak.

Since last month, three people have died of Ebola in Goma city, raising the fear on Rwandan side.

More than thirty thousands people cross Rwanda-DRC border every day, including business people and students on both side.

Congolese officials told Radio Okapi on Friday that they aware of their people   in Rwanda who  are being required visas.

Rwanda has put much efforts into avoiding Ebola on its territory by screening anyone entering in the country and preparing a center were patients of Ebola could be treated if found.

By Amos Fofung

Minister of Public Health, Dr Manaouda Malachie.

The director of Kaele District Hospital, Doctor Djongmo Daissala in Mayo Kani Division, Far North region of Cameroon has been slammed with a three-month suspension from his responsibilities following the death of a pregnant woman and her unborn child.

His suspension attributed mostly to negligence is contained in a communique signed by the Minister of Public Health, Dr Manaouda Malachie.

The communique suspends Dr Djongmo Daissala from his responsibilities as Director of the State institution for absence of a deontology and serious breach of professional obligations as he failed to deliver in his duties resulting to the lost of two lives which could be very much prevented.

Last weekend, a 38-year-old pregnant lady died due to lack of medical attention at the Kaele District hospital. Reports hold that she was not attended to due to absence of health personnel and finally succumbed to her labour pains.

Angered the news, the Health minister who has made it his mission to restore professionalism in the public health sector in Cameroon, took the decision to sanction the recalcitrant director.

The same communique appoints the District head of the Kaele health centre to replace him during the three months suspension period.

This is not the first time a pregnant lady in dying in Cameroon due to negligence on the part of health personnel. In 2016, Koumate Monique who was seven months pregnant with twins died at the La Quintinie hospital in Douala due to the passiveness of hospital staff who are reported to have requested down payment before she’s attended to.

By Samuel Ouma|@journalist_27

Hon. Ken Okoth

The World deadly disease cancer has hit Kenya hard after it consumed the life a young legislator on Friday, July 26. Hon. Ken Okoth Breathed his last breath in Nairobi Hospital after battling colorectal cancer for quite number of months. Mr. Okoth was rushed to the hospital on Thursday after his condition worsened. In a span of four hours while in the facility his condition further deteriorated and was admitted to the Intensive Care Unit (ICU).

Following the failure of his organs the doctors were forced to put him on the life support machine against his wish. The lawmaker had put it clear to his family not to put him on the machine. On Friday he died few hours after the machine had been put off. His death was made public by his brother.

“We want to inform the nation, that people of Kibera (the constituency he served for seven years), that the leader they trust, a servant leader, Hon. Ken Okoth is no more. He passed on while ago,” announced his brother.  The news about his death was shocked the whole country. A number of people including the President Uhuru Kenyatta expressed their sadness for the loss of the leader whom they described as vibrant, committed, selfless, eloquent and dedicated.

Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta, his deputy William Ruto and the opposition leader Raila Odinga lead the whole country in mourning the fallen hero. Social media pages were flooded with condolence messages from grieving Kenyans. His personality and leadership skills were the most celebrated aspects of his life. Some Kenyans went to an extent of urging other leaders to acquire his style of leadership which they described as inspiring and positive.

President Kenyatta described the deceased as an intelligent who inspired lives of many Kenyans especially the needy in the society. He said, “It is with a heavy heart that I have this afternoon received the sad news of the death of Hon. Ken Okoth. Death has robbed us of an astute legislator. May God comfort his family, friends and indeed all Kenyans during this difficult period of mourning.”

Ruto said, “Okoth had a dogged personality, tenacity that elevated him among his pears and gave him an invincible aura. His battle with cancer exemplified his brevity, endurance and strength in Adversity.” And the African Union envoy for infrastructure Raila Odinga hailed the legislator for his bravery in battling the disease and his selfless leadership.

The National Assembly speaker Justin Muturi reiterated that Okoth has left a huge gap in the parliament saying he was a great leader. “It is unfortunate that his demise comes at a time when we all looked forward to his recovery and comeback to the National Assembly after his return to the country recently. The Parliament has lost a valuable comrade, Kenya and indeed his constituents,” said the speaker.

The 41-year-old lawmaker had been in Paris, France for seven months for treatment and he returned to the country in July. Early this year, he revealed to a local newspaper how he discovered he was suffering from cancer. He said that for a year he was on treatment for ulcers and bacterial infections noting the doctor prescribed for him pills to manage stress and anxiety. When the situation persisted he went for cancer screen and he was diagnosed by stage 4 colorectal cancer.

His death came at a time when government his being urged to declare cancer a national disaster. The disease has been killing thousands annually and various leaders call for government to take action before it gets out of hand. Research says that cancer is the third leading cause of deaths and second among non-communicable diseases in the country.

Okoth’s death comes barely one month after another prominent person in the country died of cancer. The dominant mobile service provider Safaricom CEO Bob Collymore succumbed to Acute Myeloid Leukemia on July 1. Collymore was diagnosed with the disease in October 2017 and he was forced to take a nine month leave to seek medication in the United Kingdom. The two joined the list of nine people who have lost their lives due to cancer in the past two years.

By Wallace Mawire

Zimbabwe Lawyers for Human Rights (ZLHR) and Community Water Alliance (CWA) report that they are gravely concerned by recent reports of an outbreak of typhoid in some parts of Harare’s high-density suburbs.

The organizations say that according to media reports and monitoring reports by CWA’s health monitors, typhoid cases have been recently recorded in some of Harare’s high-density suburbs. More than 800 cases of typhoid are reported to have been recorded since January and several people have received treatment.

ZLHR and CWA say that they are appalled that in 2019, the country continues to record outbreaks of cases of typhoid, a  ‘medieval’ water-borne disease that is largely preventable.

“This is an indictment on local and central government and exposes gross negligence on the part of the state that continues to dismally fail to fulfil constitutional obligations” they say.

It is reported that the prevailing situation in high density suburbs of Glenview and Budiriro is an affront to citizens’ fundamental right to health care, the right to clean, safe and potable water, the right to an environment that is not harmful to their health or well-being, the right to dignity and the right to life.

They add that the constitution, particularly section 48, section 51, section 73, section 76 and section 77, places an obligation on state actors to ensure that citizens’ rights are not compromised but progressively realised.

“Therefore, it is imperative that government takes these rights seriously and upholds the fundamental obligations contained in the supreme law of the land,” they said.

ZLHR and CWA said that they consider  the current typhoid outbreak as a terrible consequence of local and central government’s failure to commit adequate resources, and lack of capacity to manage the country’s health care system and provide basic services such as water and sanitation infrastructure.

They say that over the years, they have previously repeatedly highlighted the key drivers of the outbreak of typhoid and other waterborne diseases which include the erratic supplies of clean water in most urban communities,
the supply of contaminated water, and failure to attend to the leaking of raw sewage into the environment.

“We have also condemned the continued destruction of wetlands in Harare as wetlands play a critical role in purifying ground water, which can also minimise the contamination of sources of water,” they add.

The organizations say that both City of Harare and government should take immediate decisive action to contain the typhoid outbreak before the problem reaches unsustainable levels.

ZLHR and CWA make the following recommendations:

•        All relevant government actors must robustly respond to cases of typhoid before the problem reaches unsustainable levels;

•       Through relevant line ministries and the local authorities, the state must come up with an urgent, well-resourced comprehensive plan that adequately provides for responsive mechanisms to any suspected cases of typhoid across the country;

•       Government must implement urgent and effective measures for the provision of safe, clean, potable water as a direct measure to combat the spread of typhoid;

•       Government should roll out a well-publicised campaign as part of a public awareness campaign on
prevention of the spread of typhoid and containing it wherever it is reported;

•       Government must set up a commission of enquiry that looks into the recurrence of a preventable disease and come up with recommendations for non-recurrence in the future;

•       Government must increase funding allocation on water, sanitation and hygiene and strive to achieve 15% allocation to health as stipulated in the Abuja Declaration in order to enhance the quality of life of citizens;