Doctors qualify in Somali capital

I found this story very moving take a look!

Student doctors have graduated from a medical school in the Somali capital of Mogadishu - for the first time in nearly two decades.
The ceremony for 12 men and eight women was held inside a barricaded hotel, guarded by police, in the capital. The new doctors come at a time when Somalis in the conflict-wracked country desperately need medical care.

The Horn of Africa nation has been engulfed by chaos since President Mohamed Siad Barre was ousted in 1991. Civilians often bear the brunt of the bullet-pocked capital's battles between Islamist forces and government soldiers, backed by Ethiopian troops. The students had to dodge firefights on their way to university in one of the most violent cities in the world.

With the men wearing suits and ties and the women in Muslim headscarves, the graduates smiled for a portrait and hoisted their diplomas in the air at the Shamo Hotel.
They said they would not leave the country because their profession was in high demand in Somalia - and some of them have already joined hospitals in Mogadishu.

They graduated after a six-year programme that is recognised only in Somalia, not overseas.
'Fruit of resilience' "This is a really good moment of my life. I want to work and help my people with this new talent and I'm not leaving," said 20-year-old Na'ima Abdulkadir Mohamed.

Another graduate, Yahye Abdi-rahman, 22, said: "Few can believe that education is available in a city of bullets and violence.
"But God is great, we have overcome all the problems and now we can enjoy the fruit of our resilience."
Abdirizak Yusuf, 25, head of the medical students' association at Benadir University, said: "If we get a good and functioning government we can be a leader among African universities, regardless of security, because we know how to survive in anarchy."

The president of the university was equally optimistic. "The graduation of these students shows something that nobody outside Somalia can believe - that students can still learn despite violence and anarchy," Mohamed Malim Muse said. It has been a good week for health services in Mogadishu.
On Tuesday, the city got its first public ambulance system in 18 years, raising hopes residents will no longer have to resort to wheelbarrows to transport their wounded.
Five emergency vehicles with a team of nurses will answer calls from patients to a new 24-hour emergency 777 helpline, thanks to help from a non-governmental organisation.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/7765571.stm

Texts tackle HIV in SOUTH AFRICA

This article could not of been more dead on with our focus in class.

As we all have wished for better health, wealth, and happiness in Africa, South Africans become more diversified in their technology through the use of "texting" with cell phones. In efforts to get tested for HIV, a message is sent to the different cellphones in one of the countries that seems to have the worst problem of HIV. South African project Masilulefe will send one million free text messages a day to push people to be tested and treated.

With about six million people in South Africa with Aids, "South Africa is the epicentre of the global HIV epidemic," said Zinny Thabethe, an HIV activist who is part of the project.

With every positive a negative is always lurking. The issue with this project is the results from the message. Based on the 5% that have gotten tested, people will only go when they are sitting on their death beds.

The intention to help is there, but it falls on the education of this nation to work on preserving life for future generations.

Check out the article: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/7688268.stm

Texts used to tackle South Africa HIV crisis

LONDON, England (CNN) -- One million free text messages will be sent every day for 12 months from Monday in South Africa in a bid to raise HIV awareness and encourage testing for the disease.

The ambitious Project Masiluleke is being rolled out across the country after a pilot period that saw calls to a AIDS national helpline shoot up by 200 percent, organizers say.

The United Nations estimates that there are currently six million people living with HIV in South Africa and just one in 10 get the treatment they need.

"South Africa is the epicenter of the global HIV epidemic," said HIV activist Zinny Thabethe in Octorber at an annual conference for the social innovation network Pop!Tech, an organization instrumental in developing the concept.

'Project Masiluleke,' or 'Project M' was set up to try to encourage people to seek testing and treatment in a country where cell phones are abundant.

Africa is cited as the fastest growing mobile-phone network in the world. In South Africa, more than 80 percent of the population has one -- the country has a population of 49 million, and it is estimated that 43 million have cell phones. Almost 95 percent of the phones are prepaid.

The initiative plans to broadcast millions of health messages every month to phones across South Africa.

"This is the largest ever use of cell phones for health information," said Gustav Praekelt, one of the project's originators.

"There is near universal coverage," said Praekelt during the launch of the project. "And in the absence of other services, the mobile phone has become the central component for people to get access to information."

Organizers say 'Project M' will offer South Africans the privacy to get tested and pursue treatment options and counseling by staff who are HIV positive themselves.

The system sends the messages using a so-called "Please Call Me" (PCM) service. This free form of text messaging, common across Africa, allows someone without any phone credit to send a text to a friend asking them to call.

Each sent PCM message has the words "Please Call Me," the phone number of the caller, and space for an additional 120 characters. The extra space is normally filled with advertising, which helps offset the cost of running the service.

The message reads: "Frequently sick, tired, losing weight and scared that you might be HIV positive? Please call AIDS Helpline 0800012322."

Encouraging people to get tested is a huge challenge in a country where people with the AIDS virus still face stigma and shame.

However, 'Project M' appears to be having an impact, since it was initiated in October.

"We have observed a dramatic increase in the call rate to the AIDS Helpline -- from approximately 1,300 calls per day to a new average of 3,600," said Milo Zama, Projects Development Manager for LifeLine, one of the partners.

Trained operators provide callers with accurate healthcare information, and referrals to local testing clinics

Many of the messages are broadcast in English and in local languages such as Zulu.

As well as Pop!Tech, the project has been developed and funded by HIV charities and technology and design firms, including Nokia Siemens, MTN, the Praekelt Foundation, iTeach and National Geographic.

Pop!Tech's Director of Communications Jason Rzepka told CNN there are plans to expand the project to other affected countries after its official launch in February 2009.

He said: "One of the objectives of the February launch event will be to secure additional funding, so we can continue to expand Project Masiluleke into its planned 2nd and 3rd phases beyond South Africa."

Surgeon saves boys life by text

A British doctor volunteering in DR Congo used text message instructions from a colleague to perform a life-saving amputation on a boy.
Vascular surgeon David Nott helped the 16-year-old while working 24-hour shifts with medical charity Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF) in Rutshuru.
The boy's left arm had been ripped off and was badly infected and gangrenous.
Mr Nott, 52, from London, had never performed the operation but followed instructions from a colleague who had.
The surgeon, who is based at Charing Cross Hospital in west London, said: "He was dying. He had about two or three days to live when I saw him."
Careful instructions
It is not clear how the boy was injured. It was suggested that he had been bitten by a hippopotamus while fishing, but Mr Nott also heard that he had been caught in crossfire between government and rebel forces.
There were just 6in (15cm) of the boy's arm remaining, much of the surrounding muscle had died and there was little skin to fold over the wound.
Mr Nott knew he needed to perform a forequarter amputation, requiring removal of the collar bone and shoulder blade.
He contacted Professor Meirion Thomas, from London's Royal Marsden Hospital, who had performed the operation before.
"I texted him and he texted back step by step instructions on how to do it," he said.

It was just luck that I was there and could do it
David Nott
"Even then I had to think long and hard about whether it was right to leave a young boy with only one arm in the middle of this fighting.
"But in the end he would have died without it so I took a deep breath and followed the instructions to the letter.
"I knew exactly what my colleague meant because we have operated together many times."
The operation is only performed about 10 times a year in the UK, usually on cancer patients, and requires the back-up of an intensive-care unit. Patients usually lose a lot of blood during the procedure.

David Nott explains the procedure

Mr Nott, from Fulham, west London, had just one pint of blood and an elementary operating theatre, but the operation, performed in October, was a success and the teenager made a full recovery.
The surgeon, who volunteers with MSF for a month every year, said: "I don't think there's more than two or three surgeons in the UK who can do this. It was just luck that I was there and could do it.
"I don't think that someone that wasn't a vascular surgeon would have been able to deal with the large blood vessels involved. That is why I volunteer myself so often, I love being able to save someone's life."
In the absence of intensive-care facilities, Mr Nott said he had personally monitored the boy's recovery from his bedside, tending his wounds.
"It was touch and go whether he would make it so when I saw his face on the MSF website afterwards, it was a real delight," he added.


http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/health/7761994.stm

Positive: "United States of Africa"

Britain's American colonies did it. Europe's nations did it. Can Africa's disparate countries form their own political union? Jean Ping, the 67-year-old chairman of the African Union Commission, believes they can, despite the troubled history of African unity. Ping, who left his post as Gabon's foreign minister to take the helm of the pan-African body earlier this year, brings a unique personal history to the job. In the 1930s his Chinese-born father, who sold porcelain along Africa's western coast, missed his boat in Gabon and decided to settle in a small fishing village. He wound up marrying the chief's daughter—who became Ping's mother. Now Ping is charged with bringing unity and order to a continent that has seen little of either in its recent history. He recently spoke with NEWSWEEK's Jason McLure at AU headquarters in Addis Ababa about creating a United States of Africa, bringing peace to the Democratic Republic of Congo and Darfur, and his views of American democracy.

NEWSWEEK: There is a debate in the African Union about how long it will take to create a United States of Africa. Libya's Muammar Qaddafi has pushed for its immediate creation. What's your vision?
Jean Ping: For those who want a quick creation it could be three phases of three years. Gradualists talk about 35 years. I think there is a possibility of compromise. We also have a debate on what type of "United States" we will have: be it a confederation, a federation, or a centralized government.

What is the motivation?
We need bigger markets. Some of our countries are too small and too weak. Africa is a big continent full of raw materials. But this big continent is divided by 165 borders into 53 countries. Even the voice of a larger country like Nigeria or South Africa by itself is inaudible in international negotiations on world trade or climate change. But collectively it's impossible to ignore 53 countries with almost one billion inhabitants.
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About eastern Congo, the United Nations has said it will send an additional 3,000 peacekeepers, bringing the total troop force to 20,000. Is that enough to halt the bloodshed?
No I don't think so. The U.N. troops are not generally authorized to use force. They are in very bad shape. It is very difficult for them, not only due to their [small] numbers but due to the nature of their mandate, to do what some Congolese and Africans are expecting. That's why civilians are throwing stones at them.

What about the current ceasefire, signed in Nairobi on Nov. 7?
If the ceasefire is not respected, then we should use force. But those who use force will be Africans, like the countries of the Great Lakes or the African Union. The ex-Interhamwe who are there, the [Hutu] genocidaires who moved from Rwanda to eastern Congo, they are considered by Rwanda to be a threat to their security. This problem, the root cause of the conflict, should be solved. I am confident we can solve it. If this problem is solved there are no more reasons for [renegade Tutsi] Gen. Laurent Nkunda to fight, because he says he is fighting to protect the Tutsi of the Congo.

The African Union has voiced concern about the International Criminal Court's genocide indictment of Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir, saying it could prevent Sudan from implementing the 2005 Comprehensive Peace Agreement between the North and South. Why?
We in the African Union, we have to fight impunity. But we say that the step taken by the International Criminal Court is not going to help the situation. We have decided to ask the U.N. Security Council to suspend the implementation [of the indictment] for 12 months. The second thing is we have asked the Sudanese government to prosecute those who are responsible for crimes.

How would President Bashir's government be able to prosecute those involved? You can understand why outsiders would be skeptical.
Well I don't want to go into details, but is it a genocide in Darfur? The U.N. Security Council sent a mission there in 2005 and the conclusion of that mission is that there is no genocide. There are crimes against humanity and war crimes. Crimes against humanity and war crimes are very important, but there is no need to use 'genocide' if it is not proven

(the rest of the interview can be found on NewsWeek.com at this link: http://www.newsweek.com/id/171588 )

Africa gets set for KORA awards

-Project, a Nigerian/ Sierra Leonean trio music group which comprises Majeed, Slez and Saal will be joining other notable Nigerian acts to battle for this year's KORA Music Award. KORA is Africa's version of the Grammy awards.

The KORA Awards are music awards given annually for musical achievement in sub-Saharan Africa. Founded in 1994 by Ernest Adjovi, they are comparable to the American Grammy Awards in intent. The award is named after the KORA, an important West African plucked chordophone.

The awards were last held in 2005, but it is set to re-launch in December 6th, 2008 in Calabar, Nigeria. X-Project, the Lori le exponent has been nominated along side two Nigerian MTV Base award winners - 2Face Idibia and D’Banj. P-Square, Asa, Sasha, Sammie Okposo, Infinity, Olu Maintain, T Y Bello, Yinka Ayefele, are in the West African category.

Nominees from other African countries are Amity Meria from Burkina Faso; Elizio Tcheka from Cape Verde; Espooir 2000, Soum Bill, Les Go Two Koteba, Honakamy and Tour 2 Grade from Ivory Coast; and Gang of Instruments, Jaziel Bros, Patience Dabany and Oliver Wgoma from South Africa. 

From Comoros Island; Chebli & Mpassi were nominated, Micath as nominated from Ethiopia, Jaydee from Tanzania. Ras Munik and Cool is 1 are in the nomination list from Mauritius.

The event manager of the talented group told AfricaNews that X-Project has all what it takes to win this year’s edition of the award. 

“They have every opportunity to win the award. They are the only group in Africa that is very unique. Coming from Sierra Leone and having just only Nigerian in the group gives X-Project leverage above anybody listed in the category,” he said. 

“I will not unveil our strategies now but we are coming out in full force for the campaign in Nigeria, Sierra Leone, Guinea, Gambia, South Africa, Ghana, New York, London and other countries where our songs are making waves at the moment”. 

X-project just returned to Nigeria after making headline performances across the United States. 

Positive Article: UK Doctor Saves Life of Congo Teenager

http://www.guardian.co.uk/society/2008/dec/03/congo-text-message-amputation/print

Surgeon carries out amputation by text

• Sam Jones
• The Guardian, Wednesday December 3 2008

A British surgeon volunteering in the Democratic Republic of Congo saved the life of a teenage boy by amputating his shoulder using instructions texted by a colleague in London.

David Nott, 52, a general and vascular surgeon at Chelsea and Westminster hospital, was working with the charity Médecins sans Frontières (MSF) in the town of Rutshuru when he came across the badly injured 16-year-old in October.

The teenager's left arm had been so badly damaged - either in an accident or as a result of the fighting between Congolese and rebel troops - that it had already had to be amputated. But the flesh and bone that remained had become badly infected and gangrenous.

"He was dying" said Nott. "He had about two or three days to live."

The doctor realised the boy's best chance of survival was a forequarter amputation which requires the surgeon to remove the collar bone and shoulder blade. The only problem was that it was an operation Nott had never performed. But he remembered that one of his colleagues at home had carried out the procedure.

"I texted him and he texted back step-by-step instructions," he said.

"Even then I had to think long and hard about whether it was right to leave a young boy with only one arm in the middle of this fighting.

"But in the end he would have died without it, so I took a deep breath and followed the instructions to the letter."

Such an operation, if performed in the UK, would require careful planning with every sort of modern medical product on hand if things went wrong.

But in Congo Nott had just one pint of blood and an elementary operating theatre.

Despite the basic conditions, the operation was a success and the teenager made a full recovery.

More than 5 million people have been killed in Congo since the early 1990s when the Rwandan genocide spread into what was then Zaire.