Immunization in Africa on the table

THANDISIZWE MGUDLWA

"We, African Ministers of Health, Finance, Education, Social Affairs, Local Governments attending the Ministerial Conference on Immunization in Africa, which took place from 24 to 25 February 2016 in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, and convened by the World Health Organization in collaboration with the African Union Commission, are committed to continued investment in immunization programs and a healthy future for all people of the African continent."

On Tuesday, last week, Heads of State from across Africa adopted a Declaration on Universal Access to Immunization in Africa.

They endorsed the Addis Declaration on Immunization which is a historic and timely pledge to ensure that everyone in Africa,  regardless of who they are or where they live, will receive the full benefits of immunization. 

The endorsement was issued during the 28th African Union (AU) Summit in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.

In a summit statement, it is reported that while Africa has made impressive gains over the last 15 years toward increasing access to immunization, progress has stagnated, and the continent is falling behind on meeting global immunization targets. 

At least one in five children in Africa still does not receive basic life-saving vaccines and, as a result, vaccine-preventable diseases continue to claim too many lives. Measles alone accounts for approximately 61,000 preventable deaths in the African region every year, it has bee found.

The Addis Declaration on Immunization calls for countries to increase political and financial investments in their immunization programmes. It includes 10 commitments, including increasing vaccine-related funding, strengthening supply chains and delivery systems, and making universal access to vaccines a cornerstone of health and development efforts. The full declaration can be found below.

Dr Matshidiso Moeti, World Health Organization (WHO) Regional Director for Africa noted, “Vaccines are among the most effective public health tools available,” said Dr Moeti,  “When children are given a healthy start, communities thrive and economies grow stronger. This show of support from Heads of State is a significant step forward in our efforts to achieve universal access to immunization and, ultimately, improve child health and drive sustainable development across Africa.”

It has also been found that fewer than 15 African countries fund more than 50% of their national immunization programmes. As Africa nears polio eradication, critical funding for immunization through the polio eradication programme is expected to ramp down. Additionally, countries approaching middle-income status will transition away from Gavi support for immunization in the coming years. Consequently, governments must redouble their efforts to make universal immunization coverage a national priority.

Dr Ala Alwan, WHO Regional Director for the Eastern Mediterranean commented, “As long as even one child in Africa lacks access to immunization, our work remains unfinished,” said Dr Alwan, “With the right mix of political will, financial resources and technical acumen, Africa can – and will – stem the tide of vaccine-preventable diseases across the continent.”

Also revealed was that with strong leadership and investment, increased access to immunization is within reach. For example, in 2010, Ethiopia built 16,000 new health centres, purchased 2,000 battery-free solar refrigerators for vaccine storage, and built a network of millions of health extension workers and volunteers at community level to increase access to immunization throughout the country. Since these investments were made, Ethiopia has made remarkable gains, with immunization rates soaring from 61% in 2010 to 86% in 2015.

Professor Yifru Berhan Mitke, Ethiopia’s Minister of Health, “Immunization is one of the smartest investments a country can make in its future,” said Professor Mitke, “We must do more to protect all our children from preventable diseases – not only because it is the right thing to do, but also because it makes economic sense. When our children are healthy, our families, communities and countries thrive.”

In addition, the Addis Declaration on Immunization was signed by Ministers of Health and other line ministers at the Ministerial Conference on Immunization in Africa (MCIA) in February 2016 in Addis Ababa. MCIA was the first-ever ministerial-level gathering with a singular focus on ensuring that children across the continent can access life-saving vaccines. To guide the implementation of the ADI, a roadmap is being developed in close collaboration with the WHO offices in the African Region and Eastern Mediterranean Region, the African Union Commission and immunization partners.

Dr Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, Chair of Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance board remarked, “African leaders are showing outstanding leadership by endorsing this landmark commitment which will allow more African children to be reached with life-saving vaccines no matter where they live,” said Dr Okonjo-Iweala, “We must now ensure that the commitments translate into sustainable financing for immunization. Gavi stands ready to support African countries in their efforts to implement equitable health approaches and maintain strong immunization coverage so we can create together a more prosperous future for communities across our continent.”

Income inequality still haunts South Africa

THANDISIZWE MGUDLWA

Black South Africans still earn way below their white counter-parts 22 years after SA became a democracy.

With all the expectation of transformation and racial equality, the road ahead seems to long to achieve this objectives, when you consider that white South African still earn five times higher than black people.

This is confirmed by latest Living Conditions of Households in South Africa survey, conducted by Statistics South Africa (Stats SA), which is detailing the average annual income of South Africans.

According to Stats SA, he LCS has two primary objectives, firstly to provide statistical information on household consumption expenditure patterns to inform the updating of the consumer price index (CPI), and secondly to report on poverty levels and patterns."

The information presented was collected from 23,380 households across the country over a period of 12 months (2014/2015). The total figures are therefore an estimate based on the data provided.

According to the LCS report, the average income in South Africa is approximately R138,168 per annum, with the biggest portion derived primarily from work. Other income sources include capital gains, pensions and allowances, and rent.""

In addition, the data provided shows that white South Africans still command the highest average incomes in the country at approximately R444,446 a year. And this is over 1.5 times greater than Indians/Asians at R271,621 per year. And almost 5 times more than black South Africans, at R92,893 per year.

Moreover, black South Africans make up 80% of the country’s population. And whites accounted for 8%.

Stats SA’s data showed that despite the large wage inequality,  the gap has narrowed since the previous LCS report in 2011, which found that the average white South African earned six times higher than the average black South African.

Previous global studies on SA's income inequality have found that South Africa is the most unequal country in the world followed by Brazil.

News24

TOKOLOSHES ‘HAVING SEX WITH TEACHERS’!

   

By  News24Monday, February 06, 2017 15:01

 ~ 

‘TOKOLOSHES’ are having sex with female teachers at a school in Zimbabwe's eastern Manicaland province, a state-run newspaper has claimed.

The Manica Post reported that the attacks by the tokoloshes started at Chishuma Primary School in Odzi last June and are ongoing.

Two female teachers confirmed the attacks and said a pastor from a local church had conducted prayers to try to get to the bottom of the drama. He did not succeed, apparently.

"Mysterious human-like objects, believed to be tokoloshes are allegedly having forced sexual intercourse at night with female teachers at Chishuma Primary School in Odzi in a real-life drama whose script reads like folklore plucked from Gothic literature," the Manica Post said. The head of the Zimbabwe National Traditional Healers' Association George Kandiero told the paper: "The solution comes when the people affected find a genuine traditional healer who can cleanse that."

Tokoloshis have been reported before, often in connection with money-making enterprises.

In 2014, a Mutare MP was forced to deny publicly that a tokolosh had been found at his business premises. Three years earlier, the Chronicle said that the demand for tokoloshes (some of them imported from South Africa) was "outstripping supply" in Bulawayo and the eastern city of Mutare.

http://www.news24.com/Africa/Zimbabwe/bizarre-goblins-having-sex-with-teachers-in-zimbabwe-school-20170204

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Black History Month

Marie Van Brittan Brown: Home Security System Inventor

Marie Van Brittan Brown and her husband, Albert, created an early closed-circuit television system to be used for home monitoring.  That security system was the forerunner of all advanced home security technology in use today.

 How Marie Van Brittan Brown Became an Inventor

Marie Van Brittan (1922-1999) was born and raised in Jamaica, Queens. She became a nurse, who like most nurses, did not work regular 9-5 hours. Her husband, Albert Brown, was an electronics technician.  When she was home alone at odd hours of the day or night, she sometimes felt concerned. The crime rate in their neighborhood had increased, and everyone in the neighborhood knew that police response time in their area was notoriously slow.  Marie wanted a way to feel less vulnerable.   
Working with her husband, Albert, the two began devising a home security system. One issue that bothered Marie was having to answer the door to identify a visitor. Soon they had a plan for a motorized camera that was attached to a cabinet added to the door.  The camera could move up and down to take views through four separate peep holes. The top spot would reveal the identity of a tall person; the lowest one would show if a child was at the door. The other peep holes could capture any person between these two heights.
A television monitor was placed in the Browns’ bedroom, and Albert used a radio-controlled wireless system to feed the images seen at the door back to the monitor. A two-way microphone also permitted conversation with the person at the door.
If the homeowner was concerned about the person at the door, a button could be pushed that would sound an alarm to signal a security firm, a neighborhood watchman, or it could alert a nearby neighbor.  If, however, the person was a friend, a button could be pushed that would unlock the door remotely so that the visitor could come in.
As anyone who has visited an apartment in recent times knows, units exactly like the one the Browns invented are used in multi-dwelling buildings throughout the country.  Today the technology for such a system has shrunk drastically, but the invention is just the same.

 Patent Application Filed in 1966

The patent application was filed on August 1,1966 under the names of Marie Van Brittan Brown and Albert L. Brown, both of 151-58 135^th Avenue, Jamaica, New York.  The  application states that the invention being described is “a video and audio security system for a house under control of the occupant thereof.  Occupant can see who is at the door…” An audio system permits the occupant to converse with the person at the door.
In the mid-1960s no one was creating home surveillance systems.  Therefore, Marie and Albert were applying for a patent on what would truly be a “first.”  In citing the patents that their application relied upon in order to create the system, the Browns noted only three previous patents: the invention of the television system by Edward D. Phinney (approved February 7, 1939), an identification system created by Thomas J. Reardon (approved November 24, 1959), and a remotely-operated control of the scanning system (approved June 28, 1966).
Today the Browns’ patent is referenced by 13 subsequent inventors who trace their own creation back to having made use of some aspect of the Browns’ closed-circuit system. The most recent patent that referenced the Browns’ invention was in 2013.

 Marie Van Brittan Brown Featured in The New York Times

In a column in The New York Times (December 6, 1969) that was devoted to writing about approved patents, the reporter led with the Browns’ December 2, 1969 approval for Patent #3,482,037: “The patent drawings show a receiver resembling a small bedside television set, with a screen displaying a video picture of the visitor….A microphone and speaker permit voice communication with the person at the door, and then one button can sound an alarm; another can open the door if the resident determines that’s a safe course of action.”
In an interview with the Times, Mrs. Brown pointed out that with the patented system, “a woman alone could set off an alarm immediately by pressing a button, or if the system were installed in a doctor’s office, it might prevent holdups by drug addicts.”
The article noted that the Browns did not yet have a manufacturer for the system but they intended to install one in their own home, and then would try to interest home builders.
Unfortunately, the media stories on the Browns end after the patent approval was announced in 1969. Marie Van Brittan Brown did receive an award from the National Scientists Committee for her work but no year for the award can be identified.
Next/Market Insights reports that the do-it-yourself home security sector will be a 1.5 billion business by 2020. Whether or not the Browns made a profit from their invention was not reported in the press, but what we do know is they laid the groundwork for a very important form of home security.
Marie Van Brittan Brown died in Queens on February 2, 1999 at the age of 76.  She had two children, one of whom went on to be both a nurse and an inventor; the daughter holds almost a dozen patents, many having to do with aids to help people with health issues.

SOURCE: America Comes Alive

Black History Month

10 Most Successful African-American CEOs of All Time

by Staff Writer

America has long been a melting pot of different cultures, ethnicities, religions, and creeds. And with African-Americans historically being underrepesented in centers of power due to years of oppression, a celebration of African-American businesspeople is warranted. One of the most diverse groups in terms of methods of accruing wealth, here you'll find the ten most successful African-American CEOs of all time.

1. Oprah

   With her aptly acronymed television network, Oprah, in a word, OWNs. America's most beloved talk-show host, book club president, actress, producer, magazine owner, satellite radio station owner, philanthropist, lifestyle guru, and single-handed president picker, Oprah was raised being taunted for having to wear potato-sack dresses because of her poverty. Now, if she sneezes, the market moves. Not only the best businesswoman and alpha-female in the entire world, Oprah revolutionizes every industry that she touches, including politics — her unwavering support of President Obama absolutely helped to influence his 2008 election. People everywhere know her truth: if Oprah likes it, it's good.

2. Kenneth Frazier

   Here's something good to come out of Penn State: Kenneth Frazier, CEO of Merck & Co., Inc. He's the first African-American CEO of a pharmaceutical company, and only the second lawyer to become a CEO of big pharma. A champion of innovation and an all-around good guy, Frazier is also a successful pro bono lawyer, and the man responsible for the release of a wrongly accused Alabama man from death row. While at Penn State, he worked in a local aquarium, selling newts and tadpoles; now he's in charge of one of the distributors of birth control and tetanus shots. All in all, not a bad move.

3. Ursula Burns

   Women have it hard. African-American women have it harder. African-American businesswomen have it triple tough, and that's just the truth. A first-generation American citizen and raised in the housing projects of New York City, Ursula Burns defied many odds and, as of 2009, is the CEO of paper and copy giant Xerox. Ranked as the 14th most powerful woman in the world, Ursula Burns is no stranger to back-breaking work as a means of rising through the ranks — she began her tenure with Xerox as a summer intern in 1980. Contrasting fearlessness with recklessness, she is passionately focused on growth for the company.

4. Robert L. Johnson

   Not only is he named after one of the most prolific blues musicians of all time, Robert L. Johnson is a true influencer of American culture and the first African-American billionaire. The former CEO of Black Entertainment Television provided for the world a voice and a vehicle for all things African-American: television shows, hip-hop, R&B, soul, and movies. Additionally, Johnson was the first African-American to head a company listed on the New York Stock Exchange. Part owner of the Charlotte Bobcats, along with rapper Nelly and basketball giant Michael Jordan, his life and style beg the question: with friends like those, who needs…other friends?

5. Aliko Dangote

   The CEO of the eponymous Dangote group, this Nigerian businessman is the richest person of African descent in the world. Contributing to the development of Nigeria with the largest industrial conglomerate in West Africa, the Dangote Group employs upwards of 11,000 people, dealing with industries such as sugar refining, flour mills, food distribution, and cement. Also a heavy contributor to political parties in the region, Dangote's businesses account for one-fourth of the Nigerian Stock Exchange.

6. Russell Simmons

   Give it up for the man who produced the The Beastie Boys, Will Smith, LL Cool J, and everyone else that you can think of from the annals of rap history. The original hip-hop mogul and pioneer of the genre and its subsequent entrepreneurial spin-offs, Russell Simmons is as much activist and spiritual practitioner as he is CEO. Whether he's founding Def Jam records, marrying a super model, and seeking enlightenment, Russell Simmons has his hands in much of the entertainment that we hold dear today.

7. Sean "Puff Daddy" "Puffy" "P. Diddy" "Diddy" Combs

   The Artist Formerly known as Prince's radical name-to-symbol has gotnothingon this guy. The richest and one of the most successful figures in hip-hop, unless you're as B.I.G. as him, he won't be missing you. From the projects to his own projects as CEO of Bad Boy Entertainment and Sean John Clothing, Combs has been a recording executive, producer, rapper, actor, entrepreneur, and a man of many names.

8. Madam C. J. Walker

   Also known as Sarah Breedlove, Madam Walker was the first American woman to become a millionaire for her own achievements. Experiencing hair loss at an early age, she experimented with home products until she developed a workable salve. Parlaying her $1.50-a-day job as a washer into a hair-care empire in only 12 years time, this fascinating 19th-20th century mogul is a true inspiration and pioneer for African-Americans and businesswomen everywhere. Walker used her money to forward anti-lynching campaigns and black education, dying in 1919 at the age of 51.

9. Kenneth Chenault

   The third African-American CEO of a Fortune 500 company, Kenneth Chenault has been the CEO of American Express since 2001. Another lawyer turned CEO, Chenault worked his way through the ranks at American Express — beginning in 1981. Also an active public servant and recipient of the prestigious Third Lantern Award, Kenneth Chenault has been likened to perennially successful business magnate, Jack Welch.

10. Shawn "Jay-Z" Carter

    Rap and hip-hop can't be stopped! Producing some of the most financially successful CEOs of all time, you also have to give the industry credit for producing some of the greatest stories of all time. Another African-American born into impoverished American housing projects, Jay-Z is the current CEO of Roc Nation and his net worth is an estimated $450 million. Also, he's married to one of the hottest female entertainers of all time, and they just had a new baby. Rumor also has it that he and Beyonce are planning to shoot a music video…in space.
11. SOURCE: Business Insurance

Black History Month