|
|
|
 In an effort to combat the spread of lebrosy, Liberia's Health Ministry has set up its first-ever TB & Leprosy Treatment Center in the northeastern town of Ganta in Nimba County - where dozens of people have contracted the diseases.
The treatment center is trying to battle not only the disease but also the belief that lepers have been cursed by their ancestors.
The Ganta Leprosy Center treats some 300 men, women and children living with leprosy. John Saah Brimah, who runs the center, says one priority is to educate the community on how to prevent the transmission of leprosy.
“The first line of prevention is somebody who you know has leprosy and is not on treatment, when they are coughing or sneezing you ask them to cover their mouth and nose while coughing," Brimah says. "The second line could be you take all of the children that are born, to be vaccinated. Because one of the vaccines, which is BCG help you to reduce the getting of the worst part of leprosy. I am not saying that when you take the vaccine you will not get leprosy but you will not get the worst one.”
The spread of the disease in rural Liberia is due to widely held belief that the disease is caused by mystical powers and one that cannot be cured by modern medicine, according to Brimah, who adds more health workers are being trained to educate patients and their families.
“We have trained people who are working in those TB clinics more about leprosy. So whenever you see these things I am talking about, a red mark on you that is not hurting and it is not itching, you have to report to these clinics," he says. "Any of the big hospitals in Liberia are all having TB clinics open in them because this leprosy and TB they are like uncle and nephew. It is the same germ that can cause both of them. So every TB clinic should have the facility of also treating leprosy.”
Abraham Tamba, 40, a patient at the center, has been receiving treatment for more than seven months. His hands are deformed and he says family members abandoned him because of his condition.
“My conditions are terrible. All of my hands are deformed. I have been suffering from this illness for several months now," Tamba says. "And to make my situation more worsen, my family members have turned against me and no one wants to care for me. I am doing everything be myself. That’s how it looks.”
Leprosy is a chronic bacterial disease of the skin and nerves in the hands and feet and, in some cases, the lining of the nose. It is not clear how the leprosy germ is spread, but household and prolonged close contact is important. The germs probably enter the body through the nose and possibly through broken skin. The germs get in the air through nasal discharge of untreated lepromatous patients. Patients with leprosy should be treated by a doctor who has experience with the disease. Treatment is with multiple drugs for six months to two years.
The TB and Leprosy Control program of Liberia plans to publish nationwide figures on instances of leprosy in Liberia soon. But, for now, it is providing treatment and shelter for more than 1,000 patients suffering from the disease.
Source: voanews
|
|
|
|
 China has made several gestures to Egypt's visiting president to help him boost the ailing Egyptian economy, offering credit to a major Egyptian bank and providing police cars for the country's security forces.
Egyptian President Mohammed Morsi secured the Chinese pledges of support on Tuesday, after arriving in Beijing on his first visit outside the Arab world since taking office in June. Mr. Morsi met with Chinese President Hu Jintao before the two leaders witnessed the signing of several economic agreements.
Under the deals, China will offer of $200 million in credit to the National Bank of Egypt and provide Egyptian police with 300 vehicles. A delegation of 80 Egyptian business leaders also was in Beijing to discuss investment projects with Chinese counterparts.
The Egyptian economy has been battered by the global economic slowdown and 18 months of political instability since the February, 2011 popular uprising that toppled longtime autocratic president Hosni Mubarak.
Sharp declines in Egypt's tourist arrivals and foreign investment have forced the government to seek billions of dollars in assistance from the International Monetary Fund.
Mr. Morsi is seeking to boost Chinese tourism and investment in his country, whose trade with China reached $8.8 billion last year, up 40 percent from 2008.
Morsi spokesman Yasser Ali said the two sides also discussed the violence in Syria, with both leaders agreeing that they should work together to “stop the bleeding in Syrian streets” and to oppose foreign military intervention.
Mr. Morsi is due to meet with Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao and Vice President Xi Jinping on Wednesday.
Source: Chinanews
|
|
|
|
 Liberian President Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf has suspended her son and 45 other government officials for failing to declare their assets to anti-corruption authorities, in her first major step to battle graft in her administration.
Charles Sirleaf, one of three of the president's sons appointed to government posts, was suspended from his position as Deputy Central Bank Governor.
Corruption is seen as a big obstacle to development in the West African state, which remains one of the world's poorest countries nearly a decade after the end of a 14-year civil war.
The suspensions come amid growing concern about government graft in Liberia, which is a nascent iron ore producer and has attracted international energy companies such as Chevron, seeking to develop its offshore oil blocks.
"President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf has, with immediate effect, suspended 46 government officials," said the statement, issued by the presidency late on Monday.
The statement said the officials could be reinstated after they declared their assets to the commission.
The other sons of the president in government posts are Robert Sirleaf, senior adviser and chairman of state oil company NOCAL, and Fumba Sirleaf, head of the National Security Agency.
Johnson-Sirleaf, who jointly won the Nobel Peace Prize last year for her role in maintaining peace in Liberia after the war, was Africa's first elected female head of state when she came to office in 2005. She was re-elected for a second term late last year.
Those suspended are, as follows:
Hon. E. Othello Gongar
Commissioner, Governance Commission
Hon. Wissedi Sio-Njoh
Commissioner, National AIDS Commission
Amb. Alhaji G. V. Kromah
Amb.-At-Large, Ministry of Foreign Affairs
Amb. David Anderson
Chief of Protocol/Executive Mansion
Hon. Micah Wilkins Wright
Deputy Minister/Solicitor General (MOJ)
MORE NAMES
Source: Reuters | emansion.gov.lr
|
 Amazing Giant Snake Found in the Red Sea that killed 320 tourists and 125 Egyptian divers, has been killed by a professional team of elite Egyptian scientists and qualified divers.
Names of the scientists who participated in the process of catching the huge snake were: D. Karim Mohammed, d. Mohammed Sharif, d. Mr. Sea, d. Mahmoud students, d. Mazen Al-Rashidi.
And the names of the divers who participated in the process of catching the huge snake were: Ahmed leader, Abdullah Karim, fisherman Knight, Wael Mohammed, Mohammed Haridi, spears Alvajuma, Mahmoud Shafik, a full-Sharif. The Snake body has been transferred to in the Egypt morgue at Sharm El Sheikh international animal.
Source: African Spotlight
|
|
|
|
 Libya’s Supreme Court has annulled a law that criminalized praising late leader Muammar Gaddafi and his regime, following an outrage among civil groups and legal experts describing it as undemocratic. On Thursday, court head Judge Kamal Bashir Dahan ruled that the new law, passed in May, Reuters reports.
"In the name of the people, the court has decided to accept the appeal of Law 37 of 2012 as it is unconstitutional," he said in a brief hearing.
Under that law, passed by the National Transitional Council, praising or glorifying the ousted Colonel Gaddafi was punishable by a prison sentence ranging from three to 15 years. The law also criminalized spreading news or information “harming the February 17 revolution.”
The Supreme Court agreed to review Law 37 after lawyer Saleh al-Marghani appealed it, saying it violated freedom of expression.
"This law is unconstitutional as it prevents freedom of speech. We are nearing elections and a basic step is to ensure there is freedom of speech," he said.
Democracy seems to be trailing in post-Gaddafi Libya, where those who toppled the strongman’s regime have appeared to deploy the same repressive tactics against their opponents.
Source: thedailyattack
|
|
|
|
BEEAFRICAN NETWORKS now PARTNERING with