U.N. Needs $133M To Combat Hunger In Niger

“The U.N. says it needs $133 million to fight hunger in Niger after poor rainfall and harvests have led to serious food shortages in the West African nation,” the Associated Press/Globe and Mail reports (4/7). According to Reuters, “The requested funds would support emergency distribution of food, water, and medical treatment after the government of Niger called for international help with the crisis in March” (Fominyen, 4/7). “Food shortages and malnutrition have affected an estimated 4.7 million people, the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) reported in a revised emergency humanitarian action plan prepared to support the Government’s efforts to quickly mobilize additional funds,” the U.N. News Centre writes (4/5).

Globe And Mail Examines Angola’s Doctor Shortage

The Globe and Mail looks at how doctor shortages in Angola affect the country’s health system. “This, in a nutshell, is Angola’s dilemma: plenty of money and not enough health care; magnificent new buildings, but no doctors to fill them. Like many other developing nations, it has discovered that oil wealth is not the solution to its problems,” the newspaper writes.

The country’s shortage of health workers is “enormous,” according to Jose Van Dunem, Angola’s health minister. “But he said the country is rapidly expanding its health training at universities and private schools, and is sending 100 students to Cuba every year to study medicine.” The article includes details about the health situation in Angola and reports on several of the “impressive” Chinese-built hospitals that don’t have enough staff (York, 4/7).

Malawian Official Defends Proposed Law Criminalizing HIV Transmission

Cyrus Jeke, a spokesperson for Malawi’s Ministry of Gender, Children and Community Development, defended plans for a proposed law that would make it crime for an HIV-positive person to knowingly transmit the virus to another person, the BBC reports. “It’s not fair to knowingly infect somebody,” Jeke said. “The underlying factor is that if anybody knowingly infects somebody … that means he commits an offence.” According to the news service, “Plans for the new bill were announced in March and provoked a heated debate about whether or not the criminal law should be applied to HIV transmission” (4/7).

PBS’ NewsHour Reports On Campaign To Eradicate Guinea Worm In Southern Sudan

PBS’ NewsHour aired a show on the fight against Guinea worm in Southern Sudan. “The Atlanta-based Carter Center has trained thousands of field workers and volunteers. It’s been a grassroots effort to spread the word on how guinea worm is transmitted and distribute simple tools to prevent it: a personal filter that’s used like a drinking straw or a specially treated cloth, which can keep the parasite out of water people gather from ponds. … Eradication efforts have been so successful, it’s now down to the surveillance and dogged pursuit of the last few cases, making sure they’re treated before they can spread the disease” (De Sam Lazaro, 4/7).

TIME Looks At Study On Reducing Newborn Deaths In India

TIME reports on a recent Lancet study that “suggests that gathering women together for monthly chats on sound pregnancy practices and reproductive health may drastically cut neonatal mortality rates in rural communities.” The article focuses on how this could impact infant mortality in India, which despite its “phenomenal economic growth” still has “abysmally high rates of newborn deaths” (Brenhouse, 4/6).