# East Africa Drought Leaves 9 Million Needing Aid: U.N.



## High_Gravity

East Africa Drought Leaves 9 Million Needing Aid: U.N. 









> GENEVA -- The United Nations says 9 million people need humanitarian assistance in the drought-hit countries of the Horn of Africa.
> 
> A spokeswoman for the U.N.'s aid coordination office says the drought is one of the worst to visit East Africa since the early 1950s.
> 
> Elisabeth Byrs told reporters in Geneva on Tuesday that some 3.2 million people each in Kenya and Ethiopia, 2.6 million in Somalia and 117,000 in Djibouti need aid.
> 
> Byrs says child malnutrition rates have reached emergency levels of 15 percent in some areas.
> 
> Lack of food has contributed to a surge in people leaving war-torn Somalia for neighboring Kenya in search of help in recent weeks.



East Africa Drought Leaves 9 Million Needing Aid: U.N.


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## Mr. H.

And here we sit, in Phat USA, turning 30% of our corn crop into unneeded fuel. We can't use it all, so we export 30% of our ethanol production. Big Ag at your service...


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## waltky

Aid agencies can't keep up with drought victims in Horn of Africa...

*Drought Crisis in Horn of Africa Overwhelming Aid Agencies*
_July 08, 2011 - United Nations and international aid agencies say the crisis in the Horn of Africa is overwhelming their ability to provide assistance to the millions of people suffering from the region's worst drought in 60 years.  The agencies say they are overstretched and underfunded and are appealing for more help from the international community._


> The drought crisis is affecting Ethiopia, Kenya, central and southern Somalia and Djibouti.  But, aid agencies say the impact is greatest in Somalia.  They say the fall in crop production is causing food prices to rise.  Compounding this problem is the ongoing fighting between the government and al-Shabab insurgents.    The United Nations reports more than one-third of Somalia's 7.5 million inhabitants needs humanitarian assistance.  Because of the prevailing insecurity, most aid agencies have left the country.  Some still maintain a presence in the more peaceful parts and also provide assistance through local aid agencies.
> 
> Recently al-Shabab issued a statement inviting international agencies to return to Somalia. The U.N. refugee agency welcomes this statement.  But, Chief UNHCR spokesperson, Melissa Fleming, says there needs to be guarantees of safety before staff can return.    "We go in as one U.N. - and I think the U.N. has been preparing for quite some time  and has really seriously been wanting to go into South-Central Somalia in a bigger way.  So, I think there has been a lot of contingency planning done and people braced to go in.  We are already operating in Somalia, but much more needs to be done and we are ready to go in, in a much more robust and meaningful way," Fleming said.
> 
> While hundreds of thousands of victims of drought and conflict remain stuck inside Somalia, thousands more are fleeing to neighboring countries.  The United Nations estimates 54,000 Somalis have crossed into Ethiopia since the beginning of the year.  And, it notes some 1,400 Somali refugees are crossing into Kenya every day.    International agencies agree they are fighting an uphill battle trying to provide food, water, shelter and other basic needs to these thousands of destitute people.
> 
> The World Food Program (WFP) is currently feeding six million drought victims throughout the Horn of Africa.  But, spokeswoman Emilia Casella says this number is expected to rise to 10 million.  "Malnutrition rates are particularly high among refugees from Somalia, especially children who have been crossing the border and we and our partners have seen rates of 45 percent as the number arises, we are procuring and bringing in more kinds of highly fortified, supplementary food products, especially for the young children," noted Casella.  The U.N. Children's Fund estimates more than two million young children from the Horn of Africa are malnourished and in need of urgent life-saving actions.  It says half a million of those children are facing imminent life-threatening conditions.  It warns many may be left with long-lasting physical and mental problems.
> 
> Source


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## Tank

We feed them and they breed them


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## Mr. H.

Yet we hear demands in this country to mandate 15% ethanol blends, up from the current 10%.


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## High_Gravity

Somalia Food Crisis One Of Biggest In Decades: U.S. State Department Official 








> NAIROBI, Kenya (AP)  East Africa's worsening famine is one of the largest humanitarian crises in decades, a U.S. State Department official said Friday, pledging "significant" aid despite the debt ceiling impasse being debated in Washington.
> 
> The U.S. already has pledged $5 million to help Somali refugees on top of a previously budgeted $63 million. Reuben E. Brigety, who is responsible for State Department assistance to refugees and conflict victims in Africa, said Washington is now studying how much more it will give.
> 
> "A great nation can do more than one thing at the same time and that is what we the United States will continue to do even in the context of the financial challenges that we are facing," said Brigety, an assistant deputy secretary.
> 
> Tens of thousands of Somali refugees are flooding camps in Ethiopia and Kenya in search of food after several seasons without rain decimated livestock and killed crops in Somalia.
> 
> Little help can reach those in the worst-hit area because an Al Qaida-linked militant group had banned aid work, though it recently said it would lift that ban.
> 
> Over the last several days, Brigety has visited camps in Ethiopia and Kenya, and talked with mothers and children who walked for days with little food or water.
> 
> Levels of malnutrition among refugees arriving at the camps are staggeringly high. The overall mortality rate at the camps in Ethiopia is seven people out of 10,000 per day, when a normal crisis rate is two per day, Brigety said.
> 
> At Kenya's Dadaab refugee camp, the largest in the world, Brigety spoke with a mother who arrived at the camp with six children, including a 7-year-old who has polio that she carried on her back. He said that even if Somalia sees rains again soon, the food crisis will go on for many more months.
> 
> "There are many seasoned relief professionals who would tell you we haven't seen a crisis this bad in a generation," he said. "We anticipate that this crisis will get worse before it gets better."
> 
> The crisis has swelled Dadaab's numbers to nearly 440,000 people, UNHCR said Friday.
> 
> And World Health Organization spokesman Tarek Jasarevic said at least 462 cases of measles, including 11 deaths, have been confirmed in recent months among Somali refugee children in Dadaab.
> 
> The aid group Save The Children said Friday that it has started feeding malnourished refugee children in pre-registration sites at camps in southern Ethiopia. Some 2,000 refugees are crossing into Ethiopia every day, swelling the camps' populations.



Somalia Food Crisis One Of Biggest In Decades: U.S. State Department Official


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## waltky

Muslims tryin' to starve the 'infidels'...

*Why are Somalia's militants clamping down on famine aid?*
_July 22, 2011 - Somalia's militant group Al Shabab announced that a ban on some aid groups remains in place. The decision stems from a distrust of outsiders and a desire to deny the famine's existence._


> As famine kills people in the Horn of Africa, politics colors the response: political struggles between the United States and the United Nations, inside of governments, and between the international community and al Shabab, the Islamist militia that controls southern Somalia, where the famines epicenter lies. Yesterday, an al Shabab spokesman brought the issue of politics front and center:
> 
> We say [the UN declaration of famine in southern Somalia] is totally, 100 percent wrong and baseless propaganda. Yes there is drought but the conditions are not as bad as they say, al Shabaab spokesman Sheikh Ali Mohamud Rage told a media briefing.They have another objective and it wouldnt surprise us if they were politicizing the situation.
> 
> It now appears that al Shabab has reversed its decision, made just days ago, to lift the ban on outside aid groups entering its territory. The story is still developing, but there is a strong chance that al Shabab will dig in its heels and try to ride the famine out, with all the consequences that entails in terms of human suffering.  Rages comment above, which drips with mistrust and anger, got me thinking about famine politics in southern Somalia.
> 
> MORE


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## waltky

Aid group disagrees with jihadists...

*Aid Group: Somalia Needs Massive, Immediate Famine Response*
_July 22, 2011 - An international aid agency said a massive and immediate humanitarian response is needed to save the lives of millions of Somalis who are at risk of hunger and disease because of the ongoing drought in the Horn of Africa._


> The International Rescue Committee (IRC) said aid should be increased to match the scale of the disaster.  Zoe Daniels, deputy director of programs for the Horn of Africa, said an aggressive and global mobilization of emergency aid is required.  The scale of the disaster in the Horn of Africa, especially Somalia, Ethiopia and Kenya is huge, and so the funds that need to be mobilized need to be massive and immediate to be able to save the lives of millions of Somalis that are at risk of hunger and disease, she said.
> 
> Daniels said the international response should go beyond just food aid.  Youve got over 11 million people at risk in this area  Kenya, Somalia, and Ethiopia  including refugees that have moved from Somalia, and there needs to be a huge response in terms of the level of funds that are provided, and there also needs to be access to meet the peoples needs, Daniels said.  She said the International Rescue Committee has been responding to the crisis from its onset several months ago.
> 
> The International Rescue Committee has been providing support in both Dadaab Camp in Kenya and the camps in Dolo Odo in southern Ethiopia. In Ethiopia, we are providing water in several of the camps, and in Dadaab were providing health services; were helping with screening as people arrive from Somalia, she said.
> 
> The U.N. this week declared a famine in southern Somalia's Bakool and Lower Shabelle regions, both strongholds of the al-Qaida-linked militant group al-Shabab. Al-Shabab recently allowed some foreign aid agencies into the region, reversing a ban on most relief groups.  In central Somali we do have access; we have a very dedicated staff of Somalis working for us in central Somalia, and we are able to access the area and to send in support to our teams there," she said. "However in other parts of Somalia, the security situation is very difficult, and we are not able to access the areas."
> 
> MORE


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## Tank

Feed them:

GM corn set to stop man spreading his seed | Environment | The Observer


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## Dude111

http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/businesstechnology/2015710458_watergirl24m.html

What's really sad is that she'd setup a donation page for getting water to Africa instead of asking for presents for her birthday. 

She only managed to get $220 of her $300 goal. But after word got out about her project,they reactivated her account and now it's past $70,000!

It won't bring her back,but it was nice to see other people have a better life because of her.


Poor girl 


EDIT:

You can donate to this project here,its already close to 80,000 and climbing 

www.mycharitywater.org/p/campaign?campaign_id=16396


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## waltky

Horn of Africa people starving...

*UN agency holds emergency talks on Horn of Africa crisis*
_Tue, Jul 26, 2011 - A catastrophic drought in the Horn of Africa demands massive and urgent action from the international community, the UN food agencys chief said yesterday as emergency talks opened on the crisis._


> The worst drought in 60 years has wreaked havoc on war-torn Somalia and parts of Djibouti, Ethiopia, Kenya, Sudan and Uganda, increasing pressure on world leaders to boost aid for millions of people on the brink of starvation.  The catastrophic situation demands massive and urgent international aid, said Jacques Diouf, head of the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), which was hosting the meeting at its headquarters in Rome.
> 
> DONATIONS
> 
> Its imperative to stop the famine, Diouf said, adding that US$1.6 billion were needed for the next 12 months.  Donor countries will meet on the escalating drought crisis tomorrow, French Minister of Food, Agriculture and Fishing Bruno Le Maire said at emergency UN talks in Rome.  He said yesterdays meeting of UN aid chiefs and charities in the Italian capital would also prepare for the donor conference in Nairobi in two days time.
> 
> UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has called on donor countries for that amount in aid for two regions of southern Somalia declared famine zones by the UN last week.  The FAO has warned the situation will deteriorate if nothing is done now.  And despite recent EU fund pledges, aid agencies say more needs to be raised, and fast.  France, which called the meeting as current head of the G20 group of leading world economies, said the international community had failed to ensure global food security.
> 
> The international community has failed to ensure food security in the world, Le Maire told UN aid agency chiefs and charity representatives.  If we dont take the necessary measures, famine will be the scandal of this century, Le Maire said, adding: Our meeting is a question of life or death for tens of thousands of people.  UN officials say famine over the last few months has killed tens of thousands of people, forcing desperate survivors to walk for weeks in search of food and water.
> 
> GELDOF TO THE RESCUE



See also:

*Oxfam: $800 Million Needed to Feed Hungry in Horn of Africa*
_Wednesday, July 20, 2011  UNITED NATIONS (AP)  The relief agency Oxfam is urging donors to provide $800 million desperately needed to help 10 million hungry people in the Horn of Africa who are victims of severe drought._


> Of the estimated $1 billion needed to stave off a major humanitarian catastrophe, Oxfam said Tuesday night that only around $200 million in new money has so far been provided.  In the last two weeks, Oxfam said, Britain has pledged an estimated $145 million  almost 15 percent of what is needed.  The European Union pledged around $8 million, with more expected in the coming days, Spain pledged nearly $10 million and Germany around $8.5 million but Oxfam said France has so far not pledged any new money and Denmark and Italy have said no significant new sums are available.
> 
> "There is no time to waste if we are to avoid massive loss of life," Fran Equiza, Oxfam's regional director, said in a statement. "We must not stand by and watch this tragedy unfold before our eyes. The world has been slow to recognise the severity of this crisis, but there is no longer any excuse for inaction."  Oxfam said U.N. humanitarian appeals for $1.87 billion for the region this year are only 45 percent funded, leaving a gap of over $1 billion  $332 million for the U.N. appeal for Kenya, $296 million for the U.N. appeal for Somalia, and $398 million for the government-run appeal in Ethiopia.
> 
> On July 8, Oxfam and the Rome-based U.N. Food and Agriculture Organization issued a joint appeal for assistance in Djibouti, Ethiopia, Kenya, Somalia and Uganda.  They said the number of people requiring emergency assistance has grown from 6.3 million early this year to 10 million today, the majority in Kenya.
> 
> Oxfam: $800 Million Needed to Feed Hungry in Horn of Africa | CNSnews.com


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## waltky

Horn of Africa famine update...

*Somalia famine predictions ignored*
_22 Jul 2011 - "Whenever there is an indicator of such a disaster, we must not only sit and wait for the emergency response."_


> The world had an opportunity to save thousands of lives that are being lost in parts of Somalia due to the famine, if only the donor community had paid attention to the early warning systems that predicted it eight months ago.  "The situation would not have been this bad if there was emergency response for prevention, despite the conflicts in the country," said Anna Ridout, Oxfam's spokesperson.   The United Nations declared a famine in south Somalia on July 20, following the two year drought in the country, and the high child mortality rate due to the lack of food in the region.
> 
> According to the UN, the southern part of the country hosts 310,000 acutely malnourished children at the moment. At the same time, nearly half of the population in Somalia is threatened with the famine. In some regions, at least six out of 10,000 children under the age of five die daily.   The death rate is three times higher than what the UN Children's Fund defines in a famine, which is two people per 10,000 per day.  According to Oxfam, the UN announcement, which is the first one in the region this century, should be a wake-up call to the rest of the world.
> 
> "There has been a catastrophic breakdown of the world's collective responsibility to act. 3,500 people a day are fleeing Somalia and arriving in parts of Ethiopia and Kenya that are suffering one of the driest years in six decades. Food, water and emergency aid are desperately needed. By the time the UN calls it a famine it is already a signal of large scale loss of life," Oxfam said.   The organisation said that emergency aid was vital now to avoid people dying in massive numbers.
> 
> "Whenever there is an indicator of such a disaster, we must not only sit and wait for the emergency response. We can conveniently invest the funds by putting irrigation systems in place, vaccinating people, especially children, against anticipated diseases, and creating proper infrastructure to be used in case there is need for food supply," said Ridout.
> 
> *Drought made worse*



See also:

*EU donates extra 27.8m to 'heartbreaking' Somalia*
_Thursday, July 28, 2011 - EUROPES HUMANITARIAN aid commissioner told of heartbreaking scenes in Somalia and Kenya as people succumb to starvation, exhaustion and disease in famine-ravaged parts of the Horn of Africa._


> Kristalina Georgieva called for the delivery of more emergency assistance within Somalia as the European Commission released 27.8 million for the immediate relief effort and agreed to mobilise another 60 million. The EU executive has already provided 70 million to the region this year.  Ms Georgieva told reporters in Brussels that a very, very dramatic emergency was unfolding as the authorities in Kenya and Ethiopia struggle to cope with a huge influx of refugees from Somalia. About 1.5 million people have been internally displaced by the worst drought for 60 years in the region.
> 
> The commissioner was speaking as she returned from a visit to the Doolow refugee camp in southern Somalia and the Dadaab camp in northern Kenya.  The UN declared a famine last week in two pockets of southern Somalia and warned it may spread. The affected areas are in the control of al-Shabaab, an Islamist militia affiliated to al-Qaeda. Even as mortality rates rise, al-Shabaab has banned several agencies from providing aid and accused international authorities of exaggerating the crisis.
> 
> Ms Georgieva said there was no doubt that the distribution of food within Somalia was being hampered by continuous fighting in the drought-affected area and the complex political situation in the country. She added, however, that some Somalis were now able to seek aid at a camp in Mogadishu, the capital, without having to cross into Kenya and Ethiopia.
> 
> Lets not forget, once they cross these borders, they turn into refugees who may never return and they are creating tremendous pressure on resources in these countries in very harsh parts of Kenya and Ethiopia. Ms Georgieva said she saw families at Doolow who had walked for 10, 20 and 30 days cross the border into Ethiopia. Doolow is the last point. When I talked to them they all would prefer help to be made available to them in Somalia, she said.
> 
> More EU donates extra &#8364;27.8m to 'heartbreaking' Somalia - The Irish Times - Thu, Jul 28, 2011


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## waltky

Cracks in Al Sahbaab's unity over drought aid...

*Somalia's Islamists appear divided on blocking famine aid*
_August 3, 2011 - The leadership of Al Qaeda-inspired Al Shabab claims there is no famine and that aid groups have 'hidden agendas.' But the group's field commanders appear more receptive to outside help._


> International aid desperately needed by starving Somalis is ready to be shipped, but leaders of an Islamist insurgency blocking its delivery show few signs of lifting their ban, aid workers and diplomats said.  The deadlock continued even as Washington on Tuesday night softened its line on aid for Islamist-held territory in Somalia. Agencies who take food to these areas no longer risk prosecution if any US-funded supplies fall into the militants hands, as was previously demanded by strict anti-terror laws at the Treasurys Office of Foreign Assets Control.
> 
> Planeloads of food have already been sent to Somalias capital, Mogadishu, where sections controlled by the globally recognized government are seeing handouts to the most affected people. But great swathes of the rest of southern Somalia remain off limits to the main agencies, including the UNs World Food Programme.  The problem is that Al Shabab, Somalias Al Qaeda-inspired Islamist group, has repeatedly denied that there is a famine in their territory, and refuses help from what they have termed Christian organizations with hidden agendas.
> 
> Al Shababs spokesman was not immediately available for comment. But diplomats and aid workers in Nairobi privately say that its leadership, gathered around a global jihadist agenda, was still strictly against aid from groups it has already banned.  At the same time, the sources said, there was a very active and contested debate going on within moderates in the organization as to whether the blanket opposition to aid should be removed.  Already UNICEF, the UNs childrens agency, has landed an aid airplane at a Shabab-controlled airfield in the southern Somali city Baidoa  the first time it had approval to do so in two years. Its officials on the ground had made quiet approaches to local Shabab commanders to clear the flight.
> 
> Those commanders lie on the Islamists moderate wing, made up of pragmatists with a more local agenda aimed simply at ousting the government in Mogadishu, rather than carrying out calls for global jihad. Other agencies still trying to take food and supplies into Somalia were said to be testing approaches to other pragmatists within Al Shabab, an analyst said on Wednesday.  I think the momentum is now with the people [in Al Shabab] who are saying let the aid agencies come in because of the gravity of the situation, says Rashid Abdi, Horn of Africa analyst with the International Crisis Group. The clan elders are also putting on a lot of pressure, saying we cannot let our people die, if you continue on this crazy path we will rise up against you.
> 
> Approving deliveries is now very clearly a life or death decision, with senior aid officials warning that famine is likely to expand beyond the two Somali regions where it has already been declared.  Unless we see a massive increase in the response, the famine will spread to five or six more regions, Valerie Amos, the UNs humanitarian affairs and emergency relief coordinator, warned on Tuesday. We, of course, stand ready to increase our response on a massive scale. We have the capacity. But we also face armed groups who say they do not want us there. We are doing all we can, through negotiations, to change that situation.
> 
> Source


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## waltky

10 Somalis Dead After Fight Over Food...

*At least 10 killed in Somali refugee camp firefight*
_Fri Aug 5, 2011 - At least 10 Somalis, among them refugees, were killed on Friday during a firefight that broke out in Mogadishu when troops and residents looted truckloads of food meant for famine victims, two witnesses said._


> Earlier one witness said he saw a soldier killed and dozens of refugees wounded at Badbaado camp, home to some 30,000 refugees. Early on Friday government troops fired shots and fought amongst themselves as they looted maize and oil.
> 
> "At least 10 people died and 15 others were wounded," Aden Kusow, himself a refugee, told Reuters from Badbaado camp.  "Seven of those died in the camp. The other three died outside as they fled. Most of those who died are refugees," he said.
> 
> About 100,000 refugees have reached the capital in the last two months and hundreds more are streaming into the city, hoping to escape the brunt of the worst drought to hit the Horn of Africa in decades.
> 
> At least 10 killed in Somali refugee camp firefight | Agricultural Commodities | Reuters


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## Dude111

Thank you for those upsetting updates.....

Sad whats happening there


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## High_Gravity

Kenya Drought: Growing Desperation In East Africa 








> KAKUMA, Kenya -- The two mothers exchanged blows as they held their wailing infants in their arms after one of the women tried to cut in the long line for children to receive treatment for severe malnutrition.
> 
> The women faced off a second time after passing their children to onlookers amid the melee: The younger woman head-butted the other to the ground before hospital personnel intervened and separated them.
> 
> "She ordered me to move after she cut the line and I have been here since dawn. I could not let her," said one of the women who only identified herself as Chipure, a mother of eight children, who got a swollen lip from being head-butted.
> 
> The incident at the Kakuma Mission Hospital illustrates the growing desperation in northern Kenya, as a famine in neighboring Somalia that has killed tens of thousands draws an international aid effort. At least five people are reported to have died here in Kenya's Turkana region, one of the most remote and marginalized areas in the country, where people depend on herds of animals that are dying from the drought.
> 
> According to the U.N. children's agency, a little more than half of the population here consumes just one meal a day. The hunger crisis is so bad that families here are even sharing food supplements given to infants.
> 
> The temperature here can hit 104 degrees Fahrenheit (40 degrees Celsius), and 20 liters of water costs a third of John Ekidor's daily wage.
> 
> "The last time I took a bath was a week ago," said Ekidor, 33, who supports his family of eight by panning for gold. "Eating one meal a day is now a matter of chance."
> 
> At the Makutano Health Center, dozens of women line up to get their children a special peanut butter paste that is high in protein and carbohydrates.
> 
> Nyanyuduk Logiel, a 28-year-old mother of five, has brought her 3-year-old daughter Lokol back for follow-up care. The toddler is only about a third the weight she should be and can barely stand. She weighs only 12.35 pounds (5.6 kilograms).
> 
> In the nearly two weeks since little Lokol has been on the treatment, she's gained almost a quarter of a pound (100 grams) but has a long way to go before she reaches the weight she should be  33 pounds (15 kilograms), says Jimmy Loree, the nurse in charge of the clinic.



Kenya Drought: Growing Desperation In East Africa


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## signelect

We are in one of the worst droughts in Texas history and all across the south west.  I bet we have easily that number needing aid.  I am not saying we don't help but we could start at home.


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## High_Gravity

signelect said:


> We are in one of the worst droughts in Texas history and all across the south west.  I bet we have easily that number needing aid.  I am not saying we don't help but we could start at home.



Our situation in the US is nothing like what is going on in East Africa.


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## Dude111

No... People need to send alot of water over there!!!!!!!

Very bad whats going on


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## High_Gravity

Dude111 said:


> No... People need to send alot of water over there!!!!!!!
> 
> Very bad whats going on



Waters not a bad start but they need food also.


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## waltky

Ugandan children turnin' into zombies...

*Mysterious zombie disease afflicts thousands of Ugandan children*
_Wednesday, March 21, 2012 - Agnes Apio has to tie up her son Francis before she can leave the house. In his state, he is a danger to himself. Where once he walked and talked like a normal child, now he is only able to drag himself along in the dirt. Francis is suffering from Nodding Disease, a brain disorder that, according to CNN, afflicts at least 3,000 children in northern Uganda, leaving them physically stunted and severely mentally disabled._


> I feel dark in my heart, Apio says as waves flies away from her sons face and mops up his urine after a seizure, This boy has become nothing.  Reportedly the children gnaw at their fabric restraints, like a rabid animals, says The Daily Tech.  The article calls them zombie children, having no cure and no future.  First the victims become restless, cant concentrate. They say they have trouble thinking. Then comes the nodding, an uncontrollable dipping of the head that presages the diseases debilitating epilepsy-like seizures. It is this nodding motion that gives the illness its name.
> 
> Nodding Disease first attacks the nervous system, then the brain. As the epilepsy-like seizures progress and worsen, the children become less and less like themselves, and more and more distant and blank. Eventually the brain stops developing and the victims bodies stop growing. So far, no patients have recovered.  Grace Lagat also has to tie up her children in order to leave the house. Daughter Pauline, 13, and son Thomas are bound hand and foot to keep them from shuffling away and getting lost. Pauline recently disappeared for five days.  Experts are baffled as to what causes the disease, which only occurs in children. Early findings suggest a confluence of the presence of the black fly-borne parasitic worm Onchocerca Volvulus, which causes river blindness, and acute vitamin B6 deficiency.
> 
> According to the Centers for Disease Control, onset usually takes place at the age of five or six and progresses rapidly, leaving the victims severely mentally and physically handicapped within a couple of years.  Victims can wander off and disappear. Some 200 secondary deaths have been blamed on fires and accidents caused by children with the disease.  Physicians and workers with the Ugandan Red Cross are frustrated by what they see as a lack of urgency in the governments handling of the disease. After months of lagging, officials have only begun an official tally of cases within the last two weeks.
> 
> The situation was already dire when a team from the World Health Organization visited northern Uganda in 2009. CNN quotes one doctor from the team, Dr. Joaquin Saweka as saying, It was quite desperate, I can tell you. Imagine being surrounded by 26 children and 12 of them showing signs of this. The attitude was to quickly find a solution to the problem.  Solutions, however, have been slow in coming.  Doctors have been treating the seizures caused by the disease with epilepsy drugs, but their efficacy is limited. The drugs only slow the progression of the disease, but fail to stop it.
> 
> Currently, Ugandan government officials say that they are doing everything they can to fight the epidemic. They say that new epilepsy drugs are being tried and special training has been instituted for local health officials. This, they say, is as much as can be done for a disease whose cause and cure are largely unknown.  Saweka said, When you know the root cause, you address the cure. Now you are just relieving the symptoms. We dont expect to cure anybody.
> 
> MORE & Video


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## waltky

Mebbe dey'll be able to irrigate the Sahara and get water to drought-stricken areas...

*'Huge' water resource exists under Africa*
_20 April 2012 - Scientists say the notoriously dry continent of Africa is sitting on a vast reservoir of groundwater._


> They argue that the total volume of water in aquifers underground is 100 times the amount found on the surface.  The team have produced the most detailed map yet of the scale and potential of this hidden resource.  Writing in the journal Environmental Research Letters, they stress that large scale drilling might not be the best way of increasing water supplies.
> 
> Across Africa more than 300 million people are said not to have access to safe drinking water.  Demand for water is set to grow markedly in coming decades due to population growth and the need for irrigation to grow crops.  Freshwater rivers and lakes are subject to seasonal floods and droughts that can limit their availability for people and for agriculture. At present only 5% of arable land is irrigated.
> 
> Now scientists have for the first time been able to carry out a continent-wide analysis of the water that is hidden under the surface in aquifers. Researchers from the British Geological Survey and University College London (UCL) have mapped in detail the amount and potential yield of this groundwater resource across the continent.
> 
> Helen Bonsor from the BGS is one of the authors of the paper. She says that up until now groundwater was out of sight and out of mind. She hopes the new maps will open people's eyes to the potential.  "Where there's greatest ground water storage is in northern Africa, in the large sedimentary basins, in Libya, Algeria and Chad," she said.  "The amount of storage in those basins is equivalent to 75m thickness of water across that area - it's a huge amount."
> 
> *Ancient events*


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## waltky

Polio still a problem in third world...

*Polio fight at tipping point: WHO*
_Sat, May 26, 2012 - MAKE OR BREAK: An Emergency Action Plan aims to boost vaccinations in the three remaining endemic countries, but there is a funding gap of US$945 million_


> The international group tasked with ridding the world of polio said on Thursday it was shifting to emergency mode as the fight enters its final stretch.  Polio remains endemic in just three countries  Nigeria, Pakistan and Afghanistan  after India was taken off the list in February.  The Global Polio Eradication Initiative (GPEI) said accelerating efforts now could wipe out polio for good  if not, its spread to other countries would remain a constant risk.  If it is stamped out, polio would be the second infectious disease affecting humans after smallpox to be completely eradicated.
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> The GPEI, spearheaded by the WHO and UNICEF among others, says failure could lead within a decade to 200,000 children being paralyzed each year.  Aside from the health benefits, it also estimated savings of US$40 billion to US$50 billion by 2035 by taking into account cash spent on campaigns and treatments, and gains in productivity.  Polio eradication is at a tipping point between success and failure, WHO Director-General Margaret Chan said in a statement.  Polio is an infectious disease which affects mainly children under five and can cause paralysis in a matter of hours. Some cases can be fatal.  The GPEIs Emergency Action Plan aims to boost vaccination coverage in the three remaining endemic countries, but it said it has a 50 percent funding gap of US$945 million through the end of next year.
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> The group hopes a resolution being considered by health ministers this week in Geneva, Switzerland, declaring polio eradication a programmatic emergency for global public health would mobilize the political commitment and resources needed to make up the shortfall.  Nigeria, Afghanistan and Pakistan saw an unexpected rise in cases last year, according to experts, who said conflict, political change and poor infrastructure all make vaccination programs difficult.  Outbreaks in recent years in China spread from Pakistan, and in West Africa transmitted from Nigeria, highlight the continued threat of resurgence.  The polio map looks better than it ever has before, [but] at the same time the program is a little bit on the edge because the funding support needed to get that final mile isnt really there, said Jay Wenger of the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, which supports the GPEI.
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> India was taken off the list of polio endemic countries by the WHO on Feb. 25 after more than a year passed with no fresh cases.  Worldwide, polio cases have dropped by more than 99 percent since 1988, from an estimated 350,000 infections to 1,352 reported in 2010.  We know polio can be eradicated and our success in India proves it, president of GPEI partner Rotary International Kalyan Banerjee said.  UNICEF executive director Anthony Lake said the groups efforts were at risk until every child was fully immunized against polio.  We have come so far in the battle against this crippling disease. We can now make history  or later be condemned by history for failing, Lake said.
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> Polio fight at tipping point: WHO - Taipei Times


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