Only 35 percent of births are attended by a skilled health professional, and one in 18 women dies in pregnancy or childbirth, according to World Health Organization (WHO) and UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF) statistics. The statistics have changed little over the past decade. “Nigeria’s maternal mortality rate is still comparable to those countries at war or [just emerging from war],” Iyabo Obasanjo-Bello, who chairs the Nigerian senate health committee, told IRIN.
TB vaccine trials for babies take place in South Africa
A new trial to test the efficacy of a tuberculosis (TB) booster shot for babies is about to start in South Africa, but when your subjects are too young to eat solids, the challenge rises to a new level. Almost 2,800 infants will participate in the two-year trial, in which researchers from the South African Tuberculosis Vaccine Initiative (SATVI) hope to prove that a new vaccine can act as a booster shot to improve the efficacy of the only existing inoculation against TB, the Bacille Calmette-Guerin (BCG) vaccine, in use for nearly 90 years.
Rain stops school in Uganda
More than a third of the primary schools in northern Uganda’s Amuru district, where thousands of people are trying to rebuild their lives after being displaced by two decades of war, lack physical classrooms, according to the district’s education office. Across the country, where primary education is supposed to be free, more than 1.1 million primary-aged children do not attend school, according to UN data compiled by Save the Children.
UN should shine light on Myanmar war crimes
Media attention on imprisoned democracy activist and Nobel Peace Prize winner Aung San Suu Kyi will ideally draw attention to other, systemic problems in Myanmar — including the conscription of child soldiers, sexual violence, forced displacement and other violations of international law. International Criminal Tribunal prosecutor Geoffrey Nice and International Commission of Jurists executive Pedro Nikken argue these crimes are all known to the UN and it is incumbent upon the UN Security Council to investigate.
Nigeria struggling to address maternal mortality
Childbirth in Nigeria remains a deadly affair, where one in 18 women dies during pregnancy or childbirth and only 35% of births are attended by a health professional. Tradition, cultural barriers, a lack of medical personnel and supplies and the government’s inability to further its own maternal and child care initiatives contribute to the continuing problems.
Drug-resistant malaria on the rise
Scientists say that malarial parasites in Cambodia are showing early signs of resistance against the artemesinin family of anti-malarial drugs. Scientists are scrambling to contain a global outbreak of drug-resistant malaria strains, which they say they have confirmed in two separate clinical trials. The World Health Organization warned of early signals to decreased effectiveness in Southeast Asia in 2006.
Botched abortions are epidemic in Tanzania
In Tanzania, where abortion is illegal, hospitals face a steady stream of women suffering from botched procedures. Abortion is punishable by a seven-year prison sentence, so doctors attempting to repair the damage done by amateurish abortions typically don’t ask questions. “They are supposed to be arrested,” one doctor said. “Our work as physicians is just to help and make sure they get healed.”
Pashtun hospitality could become burden as Swat refugees pour in
With approximately 3 million people displaced by fighting between the Taliban and Pakistani forces in the Swat Valley and surrounding regions during the past month, private charities and individuals have been forced to take in refugees who cannot stay at the overrun government refugee camps. Pashtuns, who abide by a code of honor known as Pashtunwali, have taken in distant relatives and strangers and are providing shelter, food and water for them for the indefinite future — a burden that could threaten to destabilize Pashtun communities.