Day: April 26, 2024

Kenya has recorded a steady decline in malaria cases in the past decade indicating significant progress in the country’s intensified efforts to eliminate the disease.

National malaria prevalence dropped from 8% in 2015 to 6% in 2020, according to the Kenya Malaria Indicator Survey.

Health Cabinet Secretary (CS) Susan Nakhumicha attributes the milestone to the collaborative efforts between the national and county governments, healthcare professionals, private partners, as well as communities in the uptake of malaria prevention and treatment measures.

Nakhumicha reported that malaria incidents decreased by 7% between 2016 and 2023, while the mortality rate declined by 32% between 2019 and 2023.

Speaking in Muhoroni Sub-County, Kisumu County on Thursday during World Malaria Day 2024, the CS emphasised the need for a collective approach by engaging all sectors to accelerate the efforts to realise a malaria-free Kenya by 2030.

‘There is a strong responsibility on the community to ensure that the investments
in malaria count. This is by ensuring consistent and correct use of critical malaria prevention tools like the Long-Lasting Insecticidal Nets (LLINs),’ she said.

She said the mass distribution of 16 million LLINs to over 27 million citizens in 22 high malaria-burden counties in the financial year 2023/24 substantially reduced cases of the vector-borne disease in the country.

The government’s initiative to implement indoor residual spraying (IRS) in malaria-burdened counties such as Busia, Migori and Homa Bay has yielded remarkable results in reducing transmission rates and effectively preventing and protecting pregnant women and children under age 5 from malaria.

The IRS focuses on spraying buildings with an insecticide which kills mosquitoes, a vector that spreads malaria.

‘Furthermore, the roll-out of a malaria vaccine in high-endemic counties has contributed to a decrease in hospitalisations due to severe malaria in children under five years of age,’ she added, while expressing satisfaction at the sign
ificant strides on the uptake of the RTS-S malaria vaccine recommended by World Health Organization (WHO).

However, Nakhumicha claimed that progress remains fragile and challenging and she underscored the need to urgently address the intersecting issues of gender disparities, health equity and human rights in the quest to eradicate malaria.

‘Despite these achievements, challenges persist, including financial constraints, climate change, and emerging resistance to insecticides and drugs. We must remain vigilant in our surveillance efforts and invest in innovative strategies to address these obstacles head-on,’ she remarked.

Dr. James Dan Otieno, malaria technical officer with WHO Kenya, while representing Dr. Abdourahmane Diallo, WHO Kenya Representative, at the event, emphasised the critical role of enhanced partner collaboration in achieving Kenya’s ambitious malaria eradication goals.

He reiterated that with a focused effort in the fight against the scourge, Kenya has the potential to achieve zero malar
ia cases by 2030.

Dr. Otieno lamented over the grim reality that an estimated 3.5 million new clinical cases are recorded and 10,700 deaths occur due to malaria annually.

Source: Kenya News Agency

Tunis: A collective of Tunisian and foreign academics and intellectuals have recently issued a call for the inscription of Al-Muqaddimah (The Introduction ) by Tunisian scholar Ibn Khaldun on the Memory of the World Register of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO).

The collective “proposes the joint inscription of Al-Muqaddimah on the ‘Memory of the World’ register by all partners worldwide who preserve its manuscripts, have translated them, disseminated them, or simply valued them through critical or analytical work as shared heritage for all humanity.”

It notes a long and complex process of appropriation and patrimonialisation of the man and his work, initiated and transmitted from generation to generation, primarily in Tunis, his hometown.

The collective, on Friday, organised a tour in the footsteps of Ibn Khaldun” in the Medina of Tunis. The departure was from the Tunis City Library, passing through the most emblematic places in the life of this native scholar o
f Tunis, such as the Quranic School and Tourbet el Bey Street where Ibn Khaldun’s house is located.

Source: Agence Tunis Afrique Presse

Tunis: Various civil society organisations on Friday decried in a joint press release, the content of the booklet that had been withdrawn from the United Nations stand at the Tunis International Book Fair (FILT) and the handling of this issue by the fair’s management, pointing out that this booklet is liable to “undermine the most essential values of the society, the family structure and the laws of the Tunisian Republic.”

These NGOs denounced “the interference of certain United Nations representations in Tunisia in social relations, in defiance of diplomatic customs and their obligations to respect the specific characteristics of each country,” claiming that the image of the family conveyed in this booklet is far from being a reproduction of reality and aims to compromise family stability and cohesion.”

FILT Director Mohamed Saleh El kadri told a news briefing on Thursday that the management had decided to withdraw the booklet from the United Nations stand.

“The booklets are in Tunisian dialect and contai
n questions put by children to their parents about sex education,” he said.

The organisers of the UN stand had been called upon to withdraw the booklet after checking its content, which raises questions about homosexuality and relationships between people of the same sex, the official pointed out, adding that the information do not comply with the specific characteristics of the Tunisian society, which remains attached to its authenticity and identity, while at the same time being open to universal values.

The Tunisian Association for Education Quality, the Tunisian Association of Parents and Students, the Coordination of Angry Parents, the Association “Our Pupils” and the National Organisation for Education and the Family expressed astonishment at the excesses noticed in publications at the International Book Fair and the “irresponsible” statements made by its director to the media.

For its part, the International Organisation for the Protection of Children in the Mediterranean (French: OIPEM) expressed r
ejection of the exploitation of children and teenagers for the purposes of implementing ‘dubious programmes’ which might undermined the society and its heritage and religious referential, underlining the right of children to all forms of knowledge and learning.

Sex education must be included in school curricula and within the family in order to protect children, the OIPEM considered.

Source: Agence Tunis Afrique Presse

Tunis: Health Minister Ali Mrabet on Thursday met with President of the Accreditation Committee for Tunisian Faculties of Medicine and Vice-Chairman of the Executive Board of the Arab Board of Health Specialisations (ABHS) Mohamed Hedi Souihli and ABHS member Chokri Hamouda.

Several issues were discussed during this meeting, including notably the setting-up shortly of an ABHS office in Tunis, reads a Health Ministry press release.

The meeting also helped review ways to step up exchanges between the Tunisian specialisation boards, notably the Family Medicine Specialty Board and the ABHS scientific councils, in terms of development of postgraduate studies and digital transition.

The minister commended on the occasion, the role of the Accreditation Committee for Tunisian Faculties of Medicine in communication and rapprochement of points of view between the various players of the academic training and training centres related to the different health specialisations, pointing out the need for further coordinati
on to launch the implementation of the ABHS’ programmes in Tunisia.

Source: Agence Tunis Afrique Presse