Merck supports WHO to fight parasitic worm disease schistosomiasis in Africa

NaijaAgroNet:

 … Ethiopia to receive 13m Praziqantel tables in 2015

 

Arising from the first meeting of the Global Schistosomiasis Alliance which took place at the United Nations (UN) Conference Centre in Addis Ababa, the Merck Group endorsing the World Health Organization (WHO) fight against the parasitic worm disease schistosomiasis on the continent of Africa, reports NaijaAgroNet.

This is coming as NaijaAgroNet reports that Ethiopia is expected to receive 13 Million Praziquantel Tablets in 2015 to cater for patients suffering from schistosomiasis as Praziquantel has proved to be the most effective treatment for schistosomiasis.

WHO revealed to NaijaAgroNet that Ethiopia is one of the most endemic countries for schistosomiasis in the world, with an estimated 22 million people, which is over 20 per cent of the global population in need of treatment.

NaijaAgroNet also reports that since the start of the programme about 1.4 million patients, primarily children, have been treated.

Head, Public Affairs at Merck and responsible for the Merck Praziquantel Donation Programme, Frank Gotthardt, reiterated to NaijaAgroNet that they are committed to continuing the efforts in Africa, in cooperation with WHO, until schistosomiasis is eliminated.

“In order to fulfill this commitment, we will donate 100 million praziquantel tablets to African countries in 2015. Ethiopia will be one of the main beneficiaries of this donation," Gotthardt said in a press statement endorsed by the African Press Organization (APO).

This alliance, he said, will allow the different constituencies to engage in a coordinated approach to better address the challenges of meeting the elimination target. Just as the round table discussions and first global schistosomiasis meeting took place during the neglected tropical diseases week being hosted by the Ethiopian government from December 8 to 12.

NaijaAgroNet  recalls that the Merck Praziquantel Donation Programme was launched in 2007 with over 200 million tablets supplied since then and over 54 million children benefiting from the treated. Between 2011 and 2014, Merck’s annual donation, NaijaAgroNet  gathered, has grown from 25 to about 75 million tablets.

At the beginning of 2012, Merck announced that it will fight schistosomiasis until the disease has been eliminated in Africa. To reach this goal, the company will increase the annual donation of tablets up to 250 million in the medium term.

The further scale-up of the programme saw the offer allowing the treatment of about 100 million children a year. The expanded Merck Praziquantel Donation Programme will result in a financial commitment totaling around USD 23 million a year.

In addition, Merck is also supporting awareness initiatives at African schools to explain the causes of schistosomiasis to children and teach them how to prevent the disease.

 
Further, NaijaAgroNet reports that Merck is conducting research on a pediatric formulation of praziquantel for preschool children within the scope of a public-private partnership. So far, praziquantel tablets can only be administered to children over the age of six.   

By Isaac Oyimah/GEE
 +Remmy Nweke @Merck +World Health Organization

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UN enters Expo 2015 deal to end hunger

NaijaAgroNet:

 

The United Nations (UN) today, Thursday signed an agreement as the major exhibitors at Expo 2015 in Milan, which will run for six months from 1 May until the end of October, reports NaijaAgroNet.

The exhibition focusing on the theme “Feeding the Planet, Energy for Life” will avail UN to bring decades of experience and expertise on food security, nutrition, hunger and poverty reduction to the table.

The three Rome-based food agencies, namely the Food and Agriculture Organisaiton (FAO), International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) and World Food Programme (WFP) will coordinate the participation of the UN system under the leadership of the Director-General of FAO, José Graziano da Silva.

NaijaAgroNet confirms that already, some 22 UN agencies have submitted proposals for content and events at Expo 2015.

The Expo 2015 deal sealed at the Sheikh Zayed Centre, FAO headquarters in Rome, affirms the agreement on the UN’s participation at the 2015 World Expo signed by the UN Commissioner-General for Expo 2015 and FAO Assistant Director-General for Forestry, Eduardo Rojas-Briales, and Giuseppe Sala, Chief Executive Officer of Expo 2015.

Emma Bonino, Italy’s Minister of Foreign Affairs, José Graziano da Silva, Director-General of FAO, Kanayo F. Nwanze, President of IFAD and Claudia von Roehl, Director of the Government Partnership Division of the WFP participated in the signing ceremony.

In a related development, NaijaAgroNet gathered that before the signing ceremony, a side event “Women and Nutrition: ideas for a sustainable future,” was organized by the Italian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Expo 2015 with the participation of Emma Bonino and David Nabarro, the UN Secretary General’s Special Representative for Food Security and Nutrition.

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Pix: Ban Ki-moon, UN Secretary General

Farmers could cut emissions while boosting production- FAO

 

NaijaAgroNet:

UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) has said that farmers could earn more and protect the environment by using technologies and practices that reduce the global warming gases that livestock emit.

This statement was issued by the FAO in its report of five case studies which suggested that the potential for mitigation is greatest among low-productivity ruminant producers in South Asia, Sub-Saharan Africa and Latin America and the Caribbean.

NaijaAgroNet gathered from the report of the study that raising livestock such as pigs, cattle and poultry generates climate-altering gases with an impact equivalent to 7.1 billion tonnes of carbon dioxide per year, representing 14.5 per cent of all human-caused greenhouse gas (GHC) emissions.

According to the report the challenge stem from reducing emissions while meeting the soaring demand for livestock products which is a demand that is projected to rise by more than 70 per cent between 2005 and 2050.

The FAO's Assistant Director-General for Agriculture and Consumer Protection, Ren Wang said that “only 10 per cent of producers currently use technologies which could, if taken up more widely, cut the emissions from all livestock species by up to 30 per cent while boosting production. Currently, the majority of the livestock sector's emissions originate from cattle, with beef production contributing 41 per cent and cattle milk production contributing 20 per cent.

“In terms of activities, the worst culprit is feed production and processing, which accounts for 45 per cent of emissions from livestock-related practices. This is followed by manure storage and processing, which is responsible for ten per cent of these emissions. In the case of ruminants, such as cattle, buffalo, sheep and goats, using better quality feeds would lower the amount of methane they emit during digestion as well as the quantity of nitrous oxide and carbon dioxide released by their decomposing manure.”

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EU boosts world wheat production with 20m grains

The United Nations (UN) says that the European Union (EU) will boost the recovery strategy in the world wheat production in 2013-2014, by lifting the industry with about 20 million tones of grains.

The UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), said that early prospects for 2013 cereal production points to increased world wheat output and by contributing largely to this outlook is an estimated 4-5 per cent increase in the winter wheat area in the European Union where, additionally, winter wheat conditions have been generally favourable so far.

NaijaAgroNet recalls that EU is the world's top wheat producer, ahead of China and India.

The FAO also highlighted that prospects are "satisfactory" in Russia and Ukraine, where winter plantings had remained in line with the previous year's levels.

Moisture conditions, FAO noted are somewhat improved in the region, except for areas of southern Russia, an important source of export supplies, which was worst affected by drought last year.

Equally, prospects are reported favourable in China, boosted by a higher minimum purchase price which has encouraged seedings, as said by FAO, to allay the fears from some other observers earlier in the winter of potential damage from unusually cold temperatures.

In India, plantings are around last year's good level, and another bumper crop is in prospect, the organization said, raising the drought-hit US as the exception to the upbeat picture.

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Ezu River corpse: MASSOB cries foul says they are our members, petitions UN, FG

Information reaching NaijaAgroNet puts credence to the story ran by us that initial investigations at the break of the news that some corpses dumped in Ezu River in Anambra State boundary with Enugu State was the handwork of the Nigeria Police Force (NPF), with serious implication for upstaging epidemics in over 100 communities along the riverines.

Reports by Leadership stated that the Movement for the Actualization of the Sovereign State of Biafra (MASSOB) has identified the corpse as its members in Police custody.

MASSOB went on to list some of their names, alleging that they were in Police custody, invariably killed and dumped in Ezu River, just as the group petitioned the United Nations, Federal Government, United States’ President Barack Obama, United Nations Human Rights Commission (UNHRC), and Amnesty International to name a few.

The group also insisted they identified the corpses of those found floating in the Ezu River at Amansea community, Awka North Local Government Area of Anambra State as those of their members arrested by Police on November 9, 2012.

Director of Information, MASSOB, Comrade Uchenna Madu, maintained in a press statement made available to newsmen Friday that the controversial corpses were those of their members who were arrested by security agencies in different parts of the Anambra State last year but were never released, nor charged to court.

He contended that Police secretly executed them alongside other criminals and dumped same in the river to cover their tracks. 

“MASSOB, with a deep sense of grief and sorrow, wishes to inform Mr. Ban Ki Moon (UN Secretary General), President Goodluck Jonathan, US President Barack Obama, United Nations Human Rights Commission (UNHRC), and Amnesty International about the gruesome murder of MASSOB members by the Special Anti-Robbery Squared (SARS) of Nigeria Police Force, Awkuzu, Anambra State,” he said.

Some of the victims’ names as given by MASSOB include Basil Ogbu, Michael Ogwa, Sunday Omogo, Philip Nwankpa, Eze Ndubisi, Ebuka Eze, Obinna Ofor, Joseph Udoh and Uchechukwu Ejiofor. 

Madu further pointed out that these victims were arrested at MASSOB’s security office at Onitsha, Anambra State, on November 9, 2012, by a combined team of Nigerian security agents - Army, Police and SSS - and were later handed over to SARS’ headquarters in Awkuzu, Anambra State, where they were detained until their suspicious disappearance. 

“We got information from an insider at SARS headquarters, Awkuzu, that armless MASSOB members detained at SARS were secretly killed alongside other robbery suspects,” he alleged. 

Reacting, the acting spokesman of the Anambra State police command, Mr. Emeka Chukwuemeka, said that it was only the outcome of the autopsy being conducted on the specimen taken from the corpses that could state whether the claims by the group were true or false.

NaijaAgroNet equally confirms that MASSOB may have visited the SARS in Awkuzu only to discover that their members in custody are missing.

Meanwhile the Anambra State government have began to build borehores to enable the affected communities have some alternative water supply, especially the Amansea town. 

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Somalia may slide back to food insecurity – FAO warns

Irrigated crops make Somali farmers more resilient.

Head of operations at the Food and Agricultural Organization (FOA) in Somalia, Luca Alinovi has sounded a warning that the country may slide back into food crisis, if present initiative towards food security is disengaged.

“By designing and executing a build-back-better process,” Luca said affected Somalia communities had get back on their feet in months but the danger is that the initiatives should be sustained in order to ensure full recovery from drought.

The eastern Africa republic is still at the verge of drought as the situations remains critical, hence, the United Nations Food and Agricultural Organization affirmed that continued aid is vital.

NaijaAgroNet recalls that the United Nations made a declaration last year July about the state of famine in Somalia which caused thousands of deaths and call for a massive humanitarian aid programme in a bid to preserve food security in the affected areas.

One of FAO’s latest forecasts also warns of reduced rains in the year which will lead to a below-average to poor harvest in some parts of the south which include the major sorghum-producing region, and deterioration of food security situation.

Aid strategy by the UN agency was designed to help farmers and herders to build long-term resilience to drought and other emergencies in regions plagued by recurrent droughts.

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