Musings From Abroad

WHO, Africa CDC begin response plan to check mpox outbreak

Published

3 months ago

September 9, 2024

A response strategy for the mpox outbreak throughout the continent was unveiled on Friday by the World Health Organisation and the Africa Centre for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC).

The collaborative endeavour seeks to support African nations in their attempts to stop the virus’ spread and save lives by fortifying and expediting their response to it.

Starting this month and lasting until February of the next year, it is expected to cost almost $600 million.

Three weeks after the WHO deemed the new strain of mpox spreading to be a public health emergency of global concern, the plan was announced.

Dr. Jean Kaseya, director-general of the Africa CDC, stated that fifteen additional countries will gain preparedness while the other fourteen countries will receive five5% of the funding.

Through partners, the remaining 45% will be used for operational and technical assistance. The organisation did not say who would provide the funds.

“We have classified countries based on their degree of risk, where there is intense spread as is happening in eastern DRC and other places where there is transmission happening,” said WHO regional director for Africa, Matshidiso Moeti.

“And then right down to countries where we are working very much on building the preparedness and readiness to address in case cases appear, as has happened in Guinea.”

According to Kaseya, the strategy emphasises community involvement, lab testing, and surveillance—emphasizing that immunisations alone will not stop the outbreak from spreading.

The Africa CDC reported that there had been 5,549 confirmed cases of mpox across the continent since the beginning of 2024, along with 643 deaths related to the illness.

This indicates a considerable increase in infections as well as deaths over the preceding year.

Nineteen per cent of the cases are in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Children under the age of fifteen account for the majority of mpox infections in Burundi, the second most affected country, and Congo.

Mpox is a virus that can be transmitted from person to person through personal contact, as well as from place to person by objects and surfaces touched by a person infected with mpox.

Musings From Abroad

Swiss company Mercuria partners Zambia’s IDC in new metals trading firm

Published

1 day ago

December 21, 2024

Ifeoluwa Dada

According to a statement released by Swiss commodities trader, Mercuria, on Thursday, it has established a metals trading arm with Zambia, the second-largest producer of copper in Africa.

The trading unit is jointly owned by Mercuria and an arm of Zambia’s Industrial Development Company (IDC), and its purpose is to allow Zambia to engage directly in the minerals trading market.

The joint venture “envisages the establishment of a vehicle to market and trade Zambian copper by mutual leverage,” according to a statement from Cornwell Muleya, the CEO of IDC.

The southern African nation wants to increase copper output to roughly 3 million metric tonnes within the next ten years, and in 2023, it produced roughly 698,000 tonnes of copper, down from 763,000 metric tonnes the year before.

In June, the Zambian government announced that it would establish a minerals trading unit.

Investors including First Quantum Minerals and Barrick Gold are ramping up production, with output set to receive a further boost once Vedanta Resources’ Konkola Copper Mines restart activity.

“Our joint venture with IDC marks a significant milestone for Zambia as it positions itself more strategically in the global minerals market,” Kostas Bintas, Mercuria’s global head of metals and minerals, said in the statement.

Musings From Abroad

Blinken to reveal UN Sudan funding additions

Published

2 days ago

December 20, 2024

Ifeoluwa Dada

Additional financing for humanitarian aid to Sudan and initiatives to strengthen civil society in the nation, where a conflict has killed tens of thousands of people and displaced millions, will be announced by U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken at the United Nations on Thursday.

Blinken will make many announcements when he leads a UN Security Council meeting on Sudan on Thursday, which will centre on humanitarian aid and civilian protection, Deputy U.S. Representative to the UN Ned Price told reporters on Wednesday.

According to Price, the announcements would include more money for humanitarian help, initiatives to strengthen civil society, and the return of democracy.

“Sudan, unfortunately, has risked becoming a forgotten conflict,” Price said.

“So part of the reason the secretary … opted to convene a signature event on this very topic is to make sure it remains in the spotlight,” Price said.

For almost 18 months, the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces and Sudan’s army have been engaged in combat, resulting in a severe humanitarian crisis that has forced over 12 million people from their homes and made it difficult for U.N. organisations to provide aid.

A power struggle between the RSF and the Sudanese Armed Forces preceded a planned shift to civilian administration, which sparked the conflict in April 2023.

Although the army declined to join this year’s U.S.-mediated peace negotiations in Geneva, the warring parties did pledge to increase assistance access, which prevented any movement towards a ceasefire.

Price stated that before President Joe Biden’s term ends next month, the United States would keep collaborating with allies to enhance humanitarian access in Sudan and eventually end hostilities.

“We are going to leave nothing on the field in our efforts to work with allies, with partners, with the Sudanese stakeholders themselves, on the issues that matter most – humanitarian access, the provision of humanitarian assistance, ultimately, the process by which we can work to get to a cessation of hostilities, which is most urgently needed,” he said.