Day: December 8, 2022

Luanda – Republic of Angola should work towards consolidating the unity of the Organisation of African, Caribbean and Pacific States (OACPS) around the ideals of peace and development, the organisation’s secretary general, Georges Rebelo Chikoti, has said.

Chikoti said so Thursday (8th) to the press on the sidelines of the Council of Ministers preparatory meeting for the 10th Summit of Heads of State of the OACPS, set for 9 and 10 December in Luanda.

Angola is expected to take over the rotating presidency of the organisation, for three-year term.

He said he believes that the Angolan leadership will engage the most developed States in environmental issues, so that the Climate Summits do not remain restricted to the promises, but with strong positions on the environmental background.

He hopes the “Luanda Declaration”, to be adopted by the Heads of State, will have positions against climate change, engaging the international community in supporting countries, such as those in the Caribbean and the Pacific, which face drought, floods, typhoons.

The diplomat referred that peace and security should also dominate the Angolan mandate, taking into account the performance of the Angolan statesman, João Lourenço, in the peace efforts, particularly in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC).

He stated that there is solidarity against the discrimination of some countries, such as Cuba, due to the end of the embargo imposed on it by the US, aiming at automating South/South cooperation, for the development of the member countries.

Georges Chikoti underlined that the trust fund, created at the Kenya Summit in 2019, has acceptable membership and will finance future activities of the organisation and the secretary, adding that the fundraising campaign continues.

The official also said that the accession of the Maldives to the OACPS will be confirmed at this event.

On the other hand, the Angolan ambassador to the Kingdom of Belgium and the European Union, Mário Azevedo Constantino, said that the “Luanda Declaration” should guide the Angolan presidency, towards achieving the common goals of the country and the organisation.

He considered it important to identify, along with the European Union, new partners to add value to the OACPS, while confirming the need to guarantee the necessary assistance to the countries most affected by climate change.

To Mário Constantino, the Angolan initiatives in the fields of solidarity, food security and environmental protection for the three-year mandate are optimistic.

The Mozambican ambassador to Angola, Osvalda Joana, hopes that the organisation will find the best ways to help develop the member countries, in an orderly manner, and their respective economies.

Source: Angola Press News Agency

Luanda – National Institute for Scholarship Management (INAGBE) has carried out a five-day life proof of Angolan students enrolled in educational institutions in Spain.

The move is meant to validate and renew the scholarships.

However, a delegation made up of INAGBE officials completed on Wednesday the scholarship renewal process.

They assessed in loco the academic situation of the students, undergoing training in Madrid and also maintained contacts with the teaching institutions where they are enrolled.

In Spain, there are 26 students in various areas of training, including Engineering, Health Sciences, Education, Management and Hospitality, Tourism, among others.

There are two undergraduate, 19 Master’s and 5 PhD students (of whom two have already completed their training).

The students at Master’s and PhD level are being trained as part of the Programme that annually sends 300 graduates/Masters to the best universities in the world.

The delegation was coordinated by the senior technician of the Scholarship Admission Department, Izabel Conceição.

The delegation is also expected in Portugal for the same purpose.

Source: Angola Press News Agency

The COVID-19 pandemic has set global malaria control efforts back, especially in Africa, the World Health Organization says.

However, this year’s World Malaria Report says countries were able to lessen disruptions to prevention, testing and treatment.

In 2019, before the pandemic struck, there were 568,000 malaria deaths. Despite the pandemic and other humanitarian emergencies, WHO information shows concerted action by countries has prevented the worst potential impacts of COVID-19-related disruptions to malaria services.

WHO officials say the world has largely managed to salvage many of the gains made against malaria during the past 20 years.

Abdisalan Noor, head of the WHO Global Malaria Program’s Strategic Information unit, said malaria cases dramatically increased in the first year of the pandemic. However, he said the number of cases last year remained largely the same as in 2020.

“Overall, however, the pandemic and its related disruptions have led to increases in malaria burden over the last two years, and we estimate that about 63,000 deaths and about 13 million cases [were] attributed to disruptions during the COVID-19 pandemic,” he said.

Most deaths and cases have occurred in the WHO African region, Noor said, adding that progress in malaria control is continuing. For example, he said 11 countries with the world’s highest malaria levels have largely held the line against the disease during the pandemic. Among them are Burkina Faso, the Democratic Republic of Congo, India, Mali and Tanzania,

Despite the challenges posed by the pandemic, Noor said nearly 300 million insecticide-treated bed nets were distributed to susceptible families. Bed nets are regarded as the most important tool against malaria, and their declining effectiveness is of concern.

Noor cited growing insecticide resistance and households’ decreasing retention of bed nets as major problems.

“In particular, because of the physical durability of the bed net itself as well as the maintenance of the bed net in the household … we are not getting the gains we would have hoped for from the ITN [insecticide-treated net], which essentially means that given that mass campaigns have been every three years, we have a considerable period between campaigns when people are not receiving effective protection,” he said.

WHO officials consider the current setback as a temporary glitch on the road to global malaria elimination. They say key opportunities, such as a new generation of malaria control tools, could help accelerate progress toward this goal.

They say long-lasting bed nets with new insecticide combinations and other innovations in vector control are in the offing, and by late next year, the world’s first malaria vaccine will be offered to millions of children. Also, they add, other lifesaving malaria vaccines are in development.

Source: Voice of America

The World Health Organization reports COVID-19 cases are continuing their downward spiral in Africa but warns the pandemic is not over and nations must remain vigilant.

Following a recent four-week resurgence of COVID-19, cases and deaths once again are dropping in Africa. Since this month-long spike ended on November 20, the World Health Organization has recorded slightly more than 12,300 new cases and 50 deaths.

The WHO regional director for Africa, Matshidiso Moeti, said these numbers are at their lowest levels since the start of the pandemic in 2020.

“Despite the recent uptick, there is hope that Africa will be spared the challenges of the previous two years when surging cases marred the holiday season for many,” said Moeti. “While the current efforts keep the pandemic within control, we are carefully monitoring its evolution. We must remain vigilant and be ready to adopt more stringent preventive measures if necessary.”

Moeti said investments in COVID-19 management over the last three years are paying off and the region is better able to cope with the virus. She notes the number of intensive care unit beds has increased and medical oxygen production has grown.

She said Africa also has strengthened its laboratory capacity including conducting genomic sequencing. But she added that worrisome gaps in vaccination remain, especially among the most vulnerable.

Moeti said it is urgent that health workers be vaccinated to protect them from getting severe illness and dying. Other high-risk groups who must be vaccinated, she said, include the elderly, people living with HIV, and those who have potentially life-threatening conditions such as diabetes, obesity, and cardiovascular disease.

“These, in our view, are the groups in which we need to … really push, accelerate in coverage, increasing the proportion of people that are covered and reaching the highest level of coverage possible, while also, of course, making sure that those of them who took their first series of vaccines early also are boosted so to sustain the level of immunity, particularly protect them against severe illness,” she said.

The WHO reports only 26 percent of Africans are fully vaccinated against COVID-19. Regional director Moeti said greater coverage can be achieved and more people reached by integrating COVID-19 vaccination into routine immunization and primary health care services.

As the pandemic winds down, she said, COVID-19 should be brought out of an emergency response mode and integrated into routine health care.

Source: Voice of America