http://www.irinnews.org/irin-fp.aspxUpdated everydayen-gbTue, 15 May 2012 17:30:50 GMTTue, 15 May 2012 00:00:00 GMT]]>JOHANNESBURG 15 May 2012 (IRIN) - The UN Development Programme (UNDP) launched its first Africa Human Development Report today, stressing food security as a means to a better quality of life for all. http://www.irinnews.org/report.aspx?ReportId=95459JOHANNESBURG 15 May 2012 (IRIN) - The UN Development Programme (UNDP) launched its first Africa Human Development Report today, stressing food security as a means to a better quality of life for all. ]]>Fri, 23 Mar 2012 00:00:00 GMT]]>DAKAR 23 March 2012 (IRIN) - Health volunteers, aid agency and health authority staff are trying to immunize 111.1 million children under five across 20 countries in West and Central Africa against polio. The four-day campaign started today, but instability in some of the target countries could hamper the effort.http://www.irinnews.org/report.aspx?ReportId=95145DAKAR 23 March 2012 (IRIN) - Health volunteers, aid agency and health authority staff are trying to immunize 111.1 million children under five across 20 countries in West and Central Africa against polio. The four-day campaign started today, but instability in some of the target countries could hamper the effort.]]>Thu, 19 Jan 2012 00:00:00 GMT]]>NAIROBI/JOHANNESBURG 19 January 2012 (IRIN) - Uganda's National Drug Authority recently arrested sales representatives of a company selling a drug that purports to cure HIV; the firm's owners are not licensed to sell medicine and are being sought by the police.http://www.irinnews.org/report.aspx?ReportId=94679NAIROBI/JOHANNESBURG 19 January 2012 (IRIN) - Uganda's National Drug Authority recently arrested sales representatives of a company selling a drug that purports to cure HIV; the firm's owners are not licensed to sell medicine and are being sought by the police.]]>Tue, 18 Oct 2011 00:00:00 GMT]]>JOHANNESBURG 18 October 2011 (IRIN) - Genetically modified (GM) food aid bound for Africa has long been a bone of contention among governments, scientists, activists, consumers and aid workers.http://www.irinnews.org/report.aspx?ReportId=93991JOHANNESBURG 18 October 2011 (IRIN) - Genetically modified (GM) food aid bound for Africa has long been a bone of contention among governments, scientists, activists, consumers and aid workers.]]>Wed, 31 Aug 2011 00:00:00 GMT]]>DAKAR 31 August 2011 (IRIN) - Human rights advocates watching Gambia are worried that abuses against perceived dissenters will rise as the November presidential election nears, killing any chance of a free and fair poll. Already the official campaign period - the only time opposition parties are given access to the media and allowed to actively campaign - has been shrunk to 11 days from four weeks, sparking concern among political leaders.http://www.irinnews.org/report.aspx?ReportId=93620DAKAR 31 August 2011 (IRIN) - Human rights advocates watching Gambia are worried that abuses against perceived dissenters will rise as the November presidential election nears, killing any chance of a free and fair poll. Already the official campaign period - the only time opposition parties are given access to the media and allowed to actively campaign - has been shrunk to 11 days from four weeks, sparking concern among political leaders.]]>Tue, 09 Aug 2011 00:00:00 GMT]]>DAKAR 09 August 2011 (IRIN) - Journalists and civil society members in West Africa analysed a “counter-terrorism plan” drawn up by the Economic Community for West African States (ECOWAS) at a 4-5 August meeting in the Senegalese capital Dakar.http://www.irinnews.org/report.aspx?ReportId=93458DAKAR 09 August 2011 (IRIN) - Journalists and civil society members in West Africa analysed a “counter-terrorism plan” drawn up by the Economic Community for West African States (ECOWAS) at a 4-5 August meeting in the Senegalese capital Dakar.]]>Thu, 21 Apr 2011 00:00:00 GMT]]>JOHANNESBURG 21 April 2011 (IRIN) - A group of international academic institutions and an NGO backed by the European Union (EU) have launched Sustainable Nutrition Research for Africa in the Years to come, or SUNRAY, to develop a nutrition agenda for Africa, with specific emphasis on the 34 sub-Saharan countries.http://www.irinnews.org/report.aspx?ReportId=92550JOHANNESBURG 21 April 2011 (IRIN) - A group of international academic institutions and an NGO backed by the European Union (EU) have launched Sustainable Nutrition Research for Africa in the Years to come, or SUNRAY, to develop a nutrition agenda for Africa, with specific emphasis on the 34 sub-Saharan countries.]]>Fri, 08 Apr 2011 00:00:00 GMT]]>NAIROBI 08 April 2011 (IRIN) - What’s green, controversial, 15km wide, 7,775km long, cuts across 11 African countries and is designed to reduce livestock deaths and boost food security for millions of people? Nothing yet, but the Great Green Wall project, a pipe-dream for decades, was recently endorsed by a swathe of African states stretching from Senegal to Djibouti.http://www.irinnews.org/report.aspx?ReportId=92422NAIROBI 08 April 2011 (IRIN) - What’s green, controversial, 15km wide, 7,775km long, cuts across 11 African countries and is designed to reduce livestock deaths and boost food security for millions of people? Nothing yet, but the Great Green Wall project, a pipe-dream for decades, was recently endorsed by a swathe of African states stretching from Senegal to Djibouti.]]>Mon, 14 Feb 2011 00:00:00 GMT]]>DAKAR 14 February 2011 (IRIN) - Researchers are analysing dust from the Sahel to study its role in the spread of bacterial meningitis in this region hardest hit by the debilitating and often fatal disease.http://www.irinnews.org/report.aspx?ReportId=91916DAKAR 14 February 2011 (IRIN) - Researchers are analysing dust from the Sahel to study its role in the spread of bacterial meningitis in this region hardest hit by the debilitating and often fatal disease.]]>Thu, 06 Jan 2011 00:00:00 GMT]]>JOHANNESBURG 06 January 2011 (IRIN) - The record prices of staple grains in 2008 made investment in agriculture an attractive proposition for countries exporting as well as importing food. The African Union (AU), with its mix of producers and buyers, has been steadily gearing up for self-sufficiency.http://www.irinnews.org/report.aspx?ReportId=91547JOHANNESBURG 06 January 2011 (IRIN) - The record prices of staple grains in 2008 made investment in agriculture an attractive proposition for countries exporting as well as importing food. The African Union (AU), with its mix of producers and buyers, has been steadily gearing up for self-sufficiency.]]>Thu, 30 Dec 2010 00:00:00 GMT]]>BANGKOK 30 December 2010 (IRIN) - A century after the drawing of an anaemic patient’s sickle-shaped red blood cells came out of Chicago in the USA - a sketch that officially placed this still pervasive genetic disorder into medical books - confusion, discrimination and lack of treatment continue to surround sickle cell disease (SCD), especially in Africa where more than 200,000 babies are born every year with the disease.http://www.irinnews.org/report.aspx?ReportId=91483BANGKOK 30 December 2010 (IRIN) - A century after the drawing of an anaemic patient’s sickle-shaped red blood cells came out of Chicago in the USA - a sketch that officially placed this still pervasive genetic disorder into medical books - confusion, discrimination and lack of treatment continue to surround sickle cell disease (SCD), especially in Africa where more than 200,000 babies are born every year with the disease.]]>Thu, 30 Dec 2010 00:00:00 GMT]]>DAKAR 30 December 2010 (IRIN) - This year in West Africa natural and man-made disasters - from floods to fighting - brought anguish and emergency assistance, and left communities, aid workers and analysts mulling the long-term causes.http://www.irinnews.org/report.aspx?ReportId=91494DAKAR 30 December 2010 (IRIN) - This year in West Africa natural and man-made disasters - from floods to fighting - brought anguish and emergency assistance, and left communities, aid workers and analysts mulling the long-term causes.]]>Tue, 07 Dec 2010 00:00:00 GMT]]>KIGALI/NAIROBI 07 December 2010 (IRIN) - Burkina Faso has become the first country to introduce a meningitis vaccine designed specifically for the African continent, where up to 450 million people are at risk from the disease.http://www.irinnews.org/report.aspx?ReportId=91307KIGALI/NAIROBI 07 December 2010 (IRIN) - Burkina Faso has become the first country to introduce a meningitis vaccine designed specifically for the African continent, where up to 450 million people are at risk from the disease.]]>Wed, 24 Nov 2010 00:00:00 GMT]]>NAIROBI 24 November 2010 (IRIN) - Gay rights groups have hailed the results of the first study to show that an antiretroviral (ARV) drug can prevent HIV as an important step in the fight against HIV, but say that in countries that criminalize homosexuality, the breakthrough is unlikely to have a significant impact.http://www.irinnews.org/report.aspx?ReportId=91180NAIROBI 24 November 2010 (IRIN) - Gay rights groups have hailed the results of the first study to show that an antiretroviral (ARV) drug can prevent HIV as an important step in the fight against HIV, but say that in countries that criminalize homosexuality, the breakthrough is unlikely to have a significant impact.]]>Fri, 15 Oct 2010 00:00:00 GMT]]>ADDIS ABABA 15 October 2010 (IRIN) - As rural Africa experiences an increasingly moody climate which will erode resilience, drive up hunger and threaten economic growth, it is time countries got serious about development, participants at the seventh African Development Forum in Addis Ababa were told.http://www.irinnews.org/report.aspx?ReportId=90786ADDIS ABABA 15 October 2010 (IRIN) - As rural Africa experiences an increasingly moody climate which will erode resilience, drive up hunger and threaten economic growth, it is time countries got serious about development, participants at the seventh African Development Forum in Addis Ababa were told.]]>Thu, 14 Oct 2010 00:00:00 GMT]]>JOHANNESBURG 14 October 2010 (IRIN) - With its coffers running at least US$1 billion short, the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria is looking to the private sector to fill the funding gap. http://www.irinnews.org/report.aspx?ReportId=90765JOHANNESBURG 14 October 2010 (IRIN) - With its coffers running at least US$1 billion short, the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria is looking to the private sector to fill the funding gap. ]]>Thu, 14 Oct 2010 00:00:00 GMT]]>JOHANNESBURG 14 October 2010 (IRIN) - A new roadmap for curbing the global epidemic of tuberculosis aims to save five million lives between 2011 and 2015 and eliminate TB as a public health problem by 2050 but comes with a price tag of US$47 billion, nearly half of which must still be found.http://www.irinnews.org/report.aspx?ReportId=90767JOHANNESBURG 14 October 2010 (IRIN) - A new roadmap for curbing the global epidemic of tuberculosis aims to save five million lives between 2011 and 2015 and eliminate TB as a public health problem by 2050 but comes with a price tag of US$47 billion, nearly half of which must still be found.]]>Thu, 14 Oct 2010 00:00:00 GMT]]>DAKAR 14 October 2010 (IRIN) - The emergence of an effective new meningitis vaccine, rather than a large-scale outbreak of the disease, has prompted the current vaccination drive across West Africa. Health officials say the vaccine marks a “revolution” in preventing the highly contagious and fatal disease.http://www.irinnews.org/report.aspx?ReportId=90773DAKAR 14 October 2010 (IRIN) - The emergence of an effective new meningitis vaccine, rather than a large-scale outbreak of the disease, has prompted the current vaccination drive across West Africa. Health officials say the vaccine marks a “revolution” in preventing the highly contagious and fatal disease.]]>Wed, 13 Oct 2010 00:00:00 GMT]]>ADDIS ABABA 13 October 2010 (IRIN) - If African countries had had the capacity to do climate change projections, their data could have been fed into the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change’s (IPCC) assessments for the continent, said Richard Odingo, former vice-chair of the IPCC at one of the discussions ahead of the Seventh African Development Forum.http://www.irinnews.org/report.aspx?ReportId=90751ADDIS ABABA 13 October 2010 (IRIN) - If African countries had had the capacity to do climate change projections, their data could have been fed into the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change’s (IPCC) assessments for the continent, said Richard Odingo, former vice-chair of the IPCC at one of the discussions ahead of the Seventh African Development Forum.]]>Mon, 27 Sep 2010 00:00:00 GMT]]>GRAND BASSAM 27 September 2010 (IRIN) - “Animal production – that is nutrition.” The statement by Victoria Tsepko of Ghana’s Food and Agriculture Ministry summed up one of the themes of a nutrition forum of the Economic Community of West African States – helping nutrition find its place in the agriculture sector.http://www.irinnews.org/report.aspx?ReportId=90601GRAND BASSAM 27 September 2010 (IRIN) - “Animal production – that is nutrition.” The statement by Victoria Tsepko of Ghana’s Food and Agriculture Ministry summed up one of the themes of a nutrition forum of the Economic Community of West African States – helping nutrition find its place in the agriculture sector.]]>Thu, 16 Sep 2010 00:00:00 GMT]]>NAIROBI 16 September 2010 (IRIN) - The proportion of women in sub-Saharan Africa who died because of pregnancy fell by more than a quarter between 1990 and 2008, according to estimates released on 15 September. http://www.irinnews.org/report.aspx?ReportId=90490NAIROBI 16 September 2010 (IRIN) - The proportion of women in sub-Saharan Africa who died because of pregnancy fell by more than a quarter between 1990 and 2008, according to estimates released on 15 September. ]]>Wed, 28 Jul 2010 00:00:00 GMT]]>KAMPALA/JOHANNESBURG 28 July 2010 (IRIN) - Members of the African Union (AU) reaffirmed at the end of their meeting on 27 July in Kampala, Uganda, that they would strive to spend 15 percent of their national budgets on health, but at the end of the day it is about how "effectively and efficiently" you spend the money, not about how much.http://www.irinnews.org/report.aspx?ReportId=90000KAMPALA/JOHANNESBURG 28 July 2010 (IRIN) - Members of the African Union (AU) reaffirmed at the end of their meeting on 27 July in Kampala, Uganda, that they would strive to spend 15 percent of their national budgets on health, but at the end of the day it is about how "effectively and efficiently" you spend the money, not about how much.]]>Mon, 26 Jul 2010 00:00:00 GMT]]>KAMPALA 26 July 2010 (IRIN) - "Children don't vote," said Dr Robert Mwadime, of Uganda Action for Nutrition, at a session on the subject before the three-day African Union (AU) meeting opened in Kampala, Uganda. This means that political leaders in Africa often pay scant attention to the millions of children who die every year of malnutrition-related causes. Most of the audience nodded in agreement; many clapped. http://www.irinnews.org/report.aspx?ReportId=89970KAMPALA 26 July 2010 (IRIN) - "Children don't vote," said Dr Robert Mwadime, of Uganda Action for Nutrition, at a session on the subject before the three-day African Union (AU) meeting opened in Kampala, Uganda. This means that political leaders in Africa often pay scant attention to the millions of children who die every year of malnutrition-related causes. Most of the audience nodded in agreement; many clapped. ]]>Tue, 06 Jul 2010 00:00:00 GMT]]>DAKAR 06 July 2010 (IRIN) - More than half the paediatric fevers treated in public health clinics in Africa are caused by diseases other than malaria, according to a study by Oxford University and other research groups, whose authors caution against the "continued indiscriminate use of anti-malarials for all fevers across Africa." http://www.irinnews.org/report.aspx?ReportId=89756DAKAR 06 July 2010 (IRIN) - More than half the paediatric fevers treated in public health clinics in Africa are caused by diseases other than malaria, according to a study by Oxford University and other research groups, whose authors caution against the "continued indiscriminate use of anti-malarials for all fevers across Africa." ]]>Fri, 02 Jul 2010 00:00:00 GMT]]>JOHANNESBURG 02 July 2010 (IRIN) - New drugs to fight malaria may well lie at the bottom of the ocean, according to researchers studying over 2,500 samples from marine organisms collected at depths of over 900 metres. They have already found 300 that contain substances that can kill the parasite. http://www.irinnews.org/report.aspx?ReportId=89701JOHANNESBURG 02 July 2010 (IRIN) - New drugs to fight malaria may well lie at the bottom of the ocean, according to researchers studying over 2,500 samples from marine organisms collected at depths of over 900 metres. They have already found 300 that contain substances that can kill the parasite. ]]>