More than 270,000 people have been displaced from Orakzai and Kurram agencies in tribal areas ———- KOHAT, 1 – Relief work has been suspended at the Kacha Pakha camp for internally displaced persons (IDPs) on the outskirts of Kohat town in northwestern Pakistan after two bomb attacks killed at least 41 IDPs, according to officials and media reports. Commissioner of Kohat Khalid Umerzai told IRIN both attacks on 17 April “seemed to be suicide bombings”. At least 50 other persons, almost all IDPs, were injured. The UN has condemned the attack and said it was temporarily suspending relief work in the Hangu and Kohat regions of the North West Frontier Province (NWFP). “These were people who had fled their homes. They had suffered displacement; they’d suffered losing their homes. They’d come to the registration point considering it a safe haven. They’d come for help. They’d come for sanctuary. We mourn their loss, and condemn their killing,” Martin Mogwanja, the UN Humanitarian Coordinator in Pakistan, said in a statement. The camp that was attacked houses some 1,000 people displaced by fighting between the army and Taliban militants. Fresh fighting in the Orakzai and Kurram agencies on the Afghan border is bringing a new wave of IDPs to the camp. According to a 16 April report by the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) sourcing the provincial government, there are 270,426 IDPs originating from Orakzai and Kurram agencies. Kohat is a key destination point for the displaced. Many are living with host families while others have moved into camps, according to aid workers. The motive behind the bombing is unclear, but Kohat police chief Dilawar Khan Bangash said “it seems the purpose was to target members of the Manikhel and Baramadkhel tribes who had constituted a large percentage of those fleeing recently”. He said the bombers, who had disguised themselves by wearing loose ‘burqas’, could have been seeking “revenge” as members of those tribes had raised a militia to fight Taliban militants in their areas. According to media reports, militant outfits based in Punjab Province in the east took responsibility for the blasts. “We are not safe. At home we face death and when we try to find safety by leaving our homes, we confront death here too,” Kharan Khan, a 60-year-old IDP in Kohat, told IRIN. He described “scenes of mayhem and chaos” as the bombers struck an area where IDPs were queuing to collect food rations. Pakistan has faced a series of militant attacks over the past few years. More than 500 people are estimated to have died as a result of bomb attacks in 2010 alone. “There is very limited security at camps because nobody really expects such vulnerable people to be attacked in so ruthless a manner,” said Jehanzeb Khan, a 25-year-old volunteer who works with IDPs in Kohat. He feared the suspension in relief work by the UN and possibly other organizations “would worsen the plight of IDPs”. kh/at/ed source.irinnews |
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Archive for April 19th, 2010
PAKISTAN: Relief work suspended after dozens killed in IDP camp attack
Posted by African Press International on April 19, 2010
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GLOBAL: Too few MDR-TB cases diagnosed
Posted by African Press International on April 19, 2010
 Photo: Dominic Chavez/WHO  |
Less than a quarter of countries globally have continuous surveillance systems in place
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NAIROBI, – The diagnosis of drug-resistant tuberculosis is still extremely low despite as many as half a million cases and 150,000 deaths from multidrug-resistant TB (MDR-TB) in 2008 globally, according to the World Health Organization (WHO).
“In 2008, there were 29,423 MDR-TB cases reported throughout the world by 127 countries. These cases only represent about seven percent of the MDR-TB cases estimated to have emerged that year,” WHO noted in a new report, Multidrug and Extensively Drug-Resistant Tuberculosis: 2010 Global Report on Surveillance and Response.
In the 27 countries with a high MDR-TB burden, only one percent of new TB cases, and three percent of previously treated TB cases, were tested for drug susceptibility.
“This points to the urgent need for improvements in laboratory facilities, access to rapid diagnosis, and treatment with more effective drugs and regimens shorter than the current two years,” the report said.
Less than a quarter of the world’s countries have continuous surveillance systems in place. In Africa, which experienced an estimated 69,000 cases of MDR-TB in 2008, only South Africa has continuous drug resistance surveillance in place.
“Given that African countries have the highest incidence of TB per population in the world, even at low levels of drug resistance the caseload of MDR-TB patients becomes very high,” the study commented.
“As a result, the rates of MDR-TB cases arising per 100,000 population in some southern African countries are five to six times higher than those of China and India.”
Kenya has diagnosed 551 cases of MDR-TB, but a shortage of laboratories means the government is unable to diagnose most patients. “We have one main lab to diagnose MDR-TB and three coming up, but our capacity is still very low,” Joseph Sitienei, head of the National Leprosy and TB Control Programme in the Ministry of Health, told IRIN/PlusNews.
WHO and its partners have started the EXPAND-TB Project, a multi-country initiative to scale up and accelerate access to diagnostic technologies for MDR-TB, after a pilot programme in Ethiopia found that a rapid scale-up of laboratory services for MDR-TB diagnosis was feasible, even at regional level, in resource-constrained settings.
Treatment a hurdle
Treating MDR-TB can cost between 50 and 200 times more than first-line treatment for non-resistant TB, an outlay that developing countries often cannot afford.
Each MDR-TB case cost the Kenyan government an estimated US$21,000, compared with $80 for first-line TB treatment. “We have only managed to put 110 people on MDR-TB treatment,” Sitienei said.
Uganda, one of the EXPAND-TB countries, regularly experiences drug shortages due to funding and supply chain issues; shortages could lead to treatment interruption, which raised the risk of resistance.
The WHO report concluded: “While information available is growing, and more and more countries are taking measures to combat MDR-TB, urgent investments in infrastructure, diagnostics, and provision of care are essential if the target established for 2015 – the diagnosis and treatment of 80 percent of the estimated M/XDR-TB cases – is to be reached.”
kr/he source.irinnews
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Kenya: Minister Ruto will not relent – Takes his crusade to church leaders
Posted by African Press International on April 19, 2010
Draft law bad for Kenyans, says Ruto
Agriculture minister William Ruto (right), Keiyo South MP Jackson Kiptanui (centre) and a church member during a fundraiser in aid of Kitany, Africa Inland Church in Keiyo South district where the legislators took the “No campaign” on the draft constitution April 18, 2010. Photo/JARED NYATAYA
Posted Monday, April 19 2010 at 10:09
In Summary
- President still enjoys excessive powers under the draft constitution, says Agriculture minister.
Agriculture minister William Ruto has said that the draft constitution does not reflect the wishes of Kenyans and vowed to remain steadfast in his push to have the document rejected.
The minister, who took his No campaign to Christians in the North Rift, said he will not relent in opposing the draft constitution unless amendments are made on contentious issues.
He said the president still enjoyed excessive powers under the draft constitution and the clause on maximum and minimum land an individual should own was not good for a capitalist country like Kenya.
“Kenyans wanted a servant president and not a king as enshrined in the draft constitution. Setting land limits for Kenyans will disunite Kenyans when the country was yearning for a constitution that will unite them,” said Mr Ruto during a fundraiser in aid of the African Inland Church in Keiyo South constituency.
The minister said the draft constitution did not address the interests of majority of Kenyans as it failed to create room for proper devolution that will guarantee equitable distribution of resources to the grassroots level.
“The draft constitution if passed as it is will reduce devolved funds from the current 18 percent to 15 per cent when majority of Kenyans wanted 60 per cent.”
Mr Ruto said there was need to build consensus on chapters dealing with land, abortion and devolution for the draft constitution to be universally acceptable to all Kenyans.
The minister who was accompanied by Environment assistant minister Jackson Kiptanui claimed leaders pushing for a Yes vote had a sinister agenda and appealed to Kenyans to treat them cautiously to avoid giving the country to a faulty document.
“There is a sinister motive behind the push for Kenyans to endorse a faulty document in the guise that they had waited for a new constitution for long. They want to use excessive presidential powers for their own good at the expense of the majority,” said Mr Ruto.
He said it was unfortunate that leaders who led the No vote during the 2005 referendum were now rallying Kenyans behind the draft constitution yet “nothing had changed in the document.”
“It doesn’t make sense for us to have refused the 2005 draft constitution if we can accept the current one as nothing has really changed,” Mr Ruto said.
He said it was not in order for some Kenyans to change tune and support a flawed document simply because those who said “No are now in the Yes team.”
Mr Ruto told the gathering that it was difficult to make changes once the draft constitution is passed saying it requires another referendum.
“Those pressing for the changes to be made later are not sincere since they know very well how difficult it is to change the document once it’s passed. We will need one million votes and another referendum,” said the minister.
He appealed to those campaigning for the Yes vote to reconsider their stand so as to build consensus saying as responsible leaders, they should not allow desperation to be the guiding principle to pass a faulty document.
“Let’s not condemn this country to a faulty constitution simply because the constitution journey has taken two decades. We have time to change where we feel this document is likely to pull us behind as a country.”
source.nation.ke
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