- Somalia is experiencing a dramatic increase in the number of cases of leishmaniasis, an infectious disease transmitted by bites from sand flies.
Within 12 months, the country’s only health centre, in Bakool in the south, has seen admissions for leishmaniasis rise from 140 to 980. This figure represents a worrying increase of 700%.
Marie-Eve Raguenaud of Médecins sans Frontičres Belgium believed the figure is a tip of an iceberg, as there has been no epidemiological surveillance in the conflict-ravaged country.
"Our experience in the field leads us to believe that cases of leishmaniasis are being under-declared," Ms Raguenaud said.
The disease proves to be a real sword of Damocles hanging over the population of a country where health infrastructure has been ravaged by 15 years of civil war.
Without appropriate treatment, visceral leishmaniasis, one of the three clinical forms of the disease rife in Somalia, has a mortality rate of close to 100%. The situation is all the more serious as the country is already struggling with endemic tuberculosis and malnutrition made worse by the major drought of 2005 and 2006.
afrol News - It is called "financial inclusion", and it is a key government policy in Rwanda. The goal is that, by 2020, 90 percent of the population is to have and actively use bank accounts. And in only four years, financial inclusion has doubled in Rwanda.
afrol News - The UN's humanitarian agencies now warn about a devastating famine in Sudan and especially in South Sudan, where the situation is said to be "imploding". Relief officials are appealing to donors to urgently fund life-saving activities in the two countries.
afrol News - Fear is spreading all over West Africa after the health ministry in Guinea confirmed the first Ebola outbreak in this part of Africa. According to official numbers, at least 86 are infected and 59 are dead as a result of this very contagious disease.
afrol News - It is already a crime being homosexual in Ethiopia, but parliament is now making sure the anti-gay laws will be applied in practical life. No pardoning of gays will be allowed in future, but activist fear this only is a signal of further repression being prepared.
afrol News / Africa Renewal - Ethiopia's ambitious plan to build a US$ 4.2 billion dam in the Benishangul-Gumuz region, 40 km from its border with Sudan, is expected to provide 6,000 megawatts of electricity, enough for its population plus some excess it can sell to neighbouring countries.