Africa

‘Alarming’ malnutrition in Ethiopia’s war-hit Tigray: MSF

ADDIS ABABA, Ethiopia (AFP) — Doctors Without Borders on Wednesday described “alarming” malnutrition in parts of Ethiopia’s war-hit Tigray region and said the situation was likely to worsen with the coming rainy season. The medical charity, known by its French initials MSF, said residents were struggling to access food distribution points and lamented that the aid response “hardly ever extends beyond larger towns” to Tigray’s rural areas. “MSF teams are observing alarming levels of malnutrition […]

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Two dead in fire in S.Africa Covid ward

JOHANNESBURG, South Africa (AFP) — Two patients died on Tuesday after a fire broke out in the coronavirus ward of a hospital in northern South Africa, the local health department said. The incident occurred at a hospital in Modimolle, 170 kilometres (106 miles) north of Johannesburg in rural Limpopo province. “A team of fire experts… have been dispatched to F.H. Odendaal hospital in Modimolle where two patients died after a fire broke out at the […]

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DR Congo announces end to Ebola outbreak

KINSHASA, DR Congo (AFP) — The Democratic Republic of Congo on Monday announced the end of a nearly three-month outbreak of Ebola that claimed six lives out of 12 known cases. The outbreak, the DRC’s 12th since the disease was first identified in 1976, was rolled back thanks to a campaign to vaccinate hundreds of people, the new health minister Jean-Jacques Mbungani said. The disease was first detected on February 7 in the eastern province […]

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Algerian president seeks to calm social anger

ALGIERS, Algeria (AFP) — Algerian President Abdelmadjid Tebboune on Sunday urged his government to open “a dialogue” with social partners to appease mounting social anger. Unemployment at 15 percent, soaring prices and shortages of basic food items have all added to turmoil caused by a deep economic crisis due to the fall in oil revenues and political deadlock since the popular Hirak pro-democracy uprising two years ago. During a cabinet meeting, Tebboune ordered “a dialogue […]

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South Africa to get first of 4.5 million Pfizer vaccine doses

JOHANNESBURG, South Africa (AFP) — South Africa will on Sunday take delivery of the first batch of its 4.5 million Pfizer coronavirus vaccines as the country readies to start ramping up immunization. In a statement, Health Minister Zweli Mkhize said 325,260 doses were scheduled to land at the country’s OR Tambo International Airport in Johannesburg late on Sunday. A similar number is expected weekly until the end of this month. “Thereafter the vaccine supply will […]

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UN warns of famine in drought-ravaged southern Madagascar

JOHANNESBURG, South Africa (AFP) — Persistent drought in southern Madagascar has left hundreds of thousands of people on the brink of famine and stoked acute malnutrition among children, the United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) warned Thursday. Ministry of Health data revealed that 16.5 percent of children under five now suffer from acute malnutrition, almost double the proportion four months ago, the agency said. The Ambovombe district in the Indian Ocean island’s far south has […]

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Bird flu detected in Mali

BAMAKO, Mali (AFP) — Mali’s agriculture ministry said on Tuesday that it had detected outbreaks of bird flu in the West African state and announced precautionary measures to “contain the disease”. Veterinary officials discovered the outbreaks after investigating high animal mortality levels on poultry farms around the capital Bamako as well as two other towns, according to a statement. The ministry has ordered precautionary measures including disinfecting and quarantining farms, and destroying carcasses. It also […]

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S.Africa to resume J&J vaccinations

JOHANNESBURG, South Africa (AFP) — South Africa announced Monday it would shortly resume using Johnson & Johnson anti-Covid vaccines, two weeks after the jab was suspended to vet risks over blood clots. The vaccine will be included in South Africa’s much-delayed anti-Covid vaccination campaign from Wednesday after being given the green light by SAHPRA, the country’s health watchdog. “It has since been established there is a one in a million chance of getting the clot […]

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Angola flood death toll rises to 24

LUANDA, Angola (AFP) — The death toll from a torrential rainstorm that hit Angola’s capital Luanda this week has risen to 24, with more than two thousand homes flooded, officials said. The hours-long storm pounded the coastal city on Monday, triggering flash floods that brought down buildings and swept away trees and cars. “The number of deaths has risen from 14 to 24,” Luanda’s provincial government said in a statement late Wednesday. At least 2,344 […]

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South Africa’s Cape Town blaze ‘under control’

CAPE TOWN, South Africa (AFP) — South Africa’s Table Mountain smouldered on Tuesday after a fire swept the iconic site, destroying a library housing rare collections and forcing thousands to evacuate, but officials said the blaze was under control. Smoke rose from the mountain after firefighters battled to contain the flames with the help of helicopters dumping water on the blaze, which first broke out Sunday. “The fire is very much under control,” City of […]

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650,000 African children given malaria jab: WHO

GENEVA, Switzerland (AFP) — Two years into a malaria vaccine pilot scheme, more than 650,000 children have been immunised across Kenya, Ghana and Malawi, the World Health Organization said Tuesday. Global advisory bodies for immunisation and malaria are expected to convene in October to review data on the vaccine and consider whether to recommend using it more widely. The RTS,S vaccine is the only existing jab shown to reduce malaria in children. It acts against […]

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Flash floods kill 14, displace 8,000 in Angolan capital

LUANDA, Angola (AFP) — Flash floods triggered by torrential rains in Angola have killed at least 14 people and displaced around 8,000 in the capital Luanda, the national news agency reported. Bridges and homes collapsed on Monday as hours of heavy rain fell on the ocean-facing city, swamping streets and sweeping away cars and trees. Citing the spokesman for the national civil protection agency Faustino Mingues, news agency Angpop said most of the victims were […]

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