Fist bumps 'cleaner than handshakes'

Sweaty palms, vice-like grips or the insufferable limp hand may be the least of your hand-shaking worries.

Scientists at Aberystwyth University in Wales have shown that a shake transfers more bacteria than other forms of hand-on-hand action.
They are calling for the widespread adoption of the fist bump instead, especially during flu outbreaks.
Public Health England whimsically suggested a Victorian-age bow or curtsy would be even safer.
The researchers took a pair of sterile rubber gloves and dipped one into a bacterial-broth so the outside was completely coated in E. coli.
They then performed a range of hand manoeuvres including handshakes of varying intensities, fist bumps and high-fives.
The findings, published in the American Journal of Infection Control, showed a handshake transferred 10 times as many bacteria as a meeting of fists, while a palm-to-palm high-five was somewhere in-between.
It is thought the smaller area of contact and shorter duration in the bump reduced the spread of bacteria.
Dr Dave Whitworth told the BBC News website: "There is definitely a serious side to this story, superficially it is very whimsical, but there is a serious message underneath.
"If there's a flu pandemic then handshaking might be something you want to think about or in a hospital with the spread of superbugs."
It is not the first time the argument has been raised. There have been calls in the Journal of the American Medical Association to ban handshakes from hospitals.
"There's a lot of inertia into changing this, a handshake is a badge of office and medics are trained to have a firm handshake to infuse patients with confidence, but you've got to ask is that appropriate behaviour," Dr Whitworth added.
 However, Dr Whitworth admitted he was no good at bumping knuckles and repeatedly got the angle wrong.
"My hand greeting of choice remains the handshake, but I do it as little as possible."
Peter Hoffman, an expert in infection control at Public Health England, told the BBC: "Fist bumping may be one small way of avoiding getting nasty germs on your hands but there are lots of others that more than make up for it.
"E.coli bacteria are found in the gut and so if someone has these bugs on their hands then basically their skin is covered in poo.
"If we washed our hands thoroughly and consistently after going to the toilet then we could substantially reduce the spread of harmful bugs and reduce illness.
"The ultimate approach to avoiding germs would be if we went back to the Victorian age when on meeting someone you would bow or curtsy from a respectful distance - no germs there!"-Source: BBC

Zambia makes strides in male circumcision

ZAMBIA has made dramatic increase in availability and acceptance of the male circumcision procedure in the last five years, a new data from the World Health Organisation (WHO) has revealed.
Over the past five years an estimated 635,458 men and boys countrywide have chosen medical circumcision representing the progress towards target of 80 percent coverage to 32.60 percent.

In 2008, only 2,758 men and boys countrywide had accessed male circumcision.
The WHO progress brief on voluntary medical male circumcision for HIV prevention in 14 priority countries of East and Southern Africa attributes the upturn to the commitment of several stakeholders.
These include  ministers of health, policy-makers, programme managers, health care providers, global and regional stakeholders including donors such as PEPFAR and the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, and implementing agencies who have been supporting programmes that deliver high quality services.
Another contributing factor is due to the growing acceptance in communities, among men and their partners, adolescents and parents.
“An impressive upturn in the number of male circumcisions performed occurred in 2013 with 2.7 million men in 14 priority countries of East and Southern Africa stepping forward for medical male circumcision, leading to a cumulative total of 5.82 million males circumcised since 2008”, the brief read in parts.
This positive trend signals a shift in pace and reduces the gap towards the ambitious target of 20.8 million males circumcised by 2016.
The 14 priority countries include Botswana, Ethiopia, Kenya, Lesotho, Malawi, Mozambique, Namibia, Rwanda, South Africa, Swaziland, Tanzania, Uganda, Zambia and Zimbabwe.
The named African countries have high rates of heterosexual HIV transmission and historically low levels of male circumcision coverage.
The brief further stated that voluntary medical male circumcision is rapidly becoming one of the most important science-based strategies for preventing HIV in eastern and southern Africa.
Achieving 80 percent coverage of voluntary medical male circumcision in 14 priority African countries would mean reaching a total of more than 20 million men, or approximately three times more than the number currently reached.

IFAD invests in Zambia's rural farmers

The government of the Republic of Zambia and the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) signed a loan agreement for a US$26.315 million project that will provide rural financial services to smallholder farmers who currently do not have access to such services in rural communities throughout the Southern African nation.

The Zambia Rural Finance Expansion Programme will be co-financed with a $10.8 million loan from IFAD directly; a $11.988 million (Euro 9 million) loan from the IFAD managed Spanish Food Security Cofinancing Trust Fund; and a contribution from the government of Zambia. The financing agreement was signed on Tuesday by Alexander Chikwanda, Minister of Finance and National Planning of the Republic of Zambia, and by Kanayo F. Nwanze President of IFAD.

Agriculture in Zambia accounts for about 20 per cent of GDP and has the potential to be a major source of economic growth as the country has abundant fertile land and good rainfall. This potential can be better realized through investments in improved production, processing and marketing. Investments like these will be promoted by strengthening and diversifying rural financial services. Currently only about 37 per cent of the adult population use financial services, and only 14 per cent of them have bank accounts.

The new Rural Finance Expansion Programme is designed to help 140,000 rural households by increasing their access to and use of sustainable financial services. The programme will target small entrepreneurs and smallholder farmers while paying particular attention to women and young people. It is estimated that at least 50 per cent of the beneficiaries will be women and 25 per cent youth.

The programme will be managed by Zambia's Ministry of Finance through its Investment and Debt Management Department, complementing and reinforcing other rural finance services development initiatives such as the IFAD-funded Rural Finance Programme completed in September 2013.

In addition, it aims to enhance the capacity of financial service providers to deliver demand-driven services in rural areas. This will help increase in the number of adults using financial services, and reduce the cost of borrowing.

Since 1981, IFAD has invested a total of $188.5 million in 13 programmes and projects in Zambia, with a total cost of $315.3 million including cofinancing, benefiting 741,280 Zambian families.

‘My parents wants me married but I don’t want’

Noria Banda, 17 of Kachele Transit Home in Petauke.

Chief Nyamphande with Kachele Transit Home manager Diana Lungu

By DOREEN NAWA
LIVING in a society where children are treated like property rather than human beings that are entitled to rights has had adverse effects on the literacy of children in Petauke in Eastern Province.

At sunset every day, children in Petauke are seen walking out onto the streets; some from cattle kraal in villages after either selling little merchandises or taking care of animals.
The children do this at the instructions of their parents. “I have no choice but to send them to the market to sale things like groundnuts, maize and other foodstuffs depending on the season.
“School is expensive and sometimes not beneficial to them and the family as a whole. Like the situation is here in Petauke, a child might not even complete secondary education because of high fees,” says Maria Tembo, of Chief Sandwe of Petauke.
“Excited as I was,” Ms Tembo said.  “The fact that people were talking about education being helpful, I decided to enroll my child into school. My daughter too was excited but after grade seven, she was selected to Grade 8 and I failed to sponsor her and she could not continue. When I look back, I regret the time she wasted and the money I wasted during her primary education.  My daughter is now married,” Mrs Tembo said.
Literacy is the cornerstone of development politically, socially and economically. During the colonial days, Zambians had had centuries of deprivation of the right to education  and many thought that everything would change with the attainment of independency 50 years ago.
It was hoped that children all over the country would flock to schools and get the most need education in their lives. But they are not.
“I would have loved to go to school but my parents are saying that it is a waste of time because after Grade 7, they might not find money for my secondary education and I would have just wasted 7 years in school,” says Noria Banda, 17 of Kachele Transit Home in Petauke.
For Noria, she found herself in the transit home after her parents arranged for her to get married.
“I would have been in Grade 10 by now but my parents arranged that I get married. I refused the offer and they chased me from home that is how I found myself at the home,” Noria said.
Eastern Province has the lowest literacy rate in the country.
Statistics from the Ministry of Education show that around 50 per cent of the population is literate, but the figure is much lower in the rural areas and among women and girls.
It takes little imagination to see how difficult it is for an illiterate population to escape the trap of poverty. Try to imagine being unable to read. Think of all the signs around you as you walk down the street that would be meaningless to you. Think of how few jobs would be available to you. Think of how difficult it would be trying to learn anything new.
Experts say education is a vital component in human development, but many children in Petauke may not have the chance to get an education.
“It is not that simple here in Petauke to for extension officers like us to tell the parents to take their children to school. We have tried our best but it is not simple,” District Social Welfare officer Yoram Kaziya said.
“It is becoming readily accepted that children in Petauke and most parts of Eastern Province do not go to school, instead, they help fend for the family through various income-generation activities. They sale little merchandise and other take care of cattle.  More than two-thirds of children do not go to school,” Mr Kaziya said.
Mr Kaziya said changing the mentality is the main challenge, “disrupting the self-perpetuating culture of not taking children to school by inculcating new habits is not simple. Some parents have openly told us that ‘these are my children and I decide what’s best for them’,” Mr Kaziya said.
“We have massive potholes in the development of our children, especially that children themselves would rather respect their parents’ wishes,” Mr Kaziya said.
As much as the country lacks school infrastructure in most parts in the rural areas, parents also lack a culture of talking about the reasons why an educated populace is important to individual, family and national development.
“Education can be such an important tool. It can create a sense of context. It helps you understand what’s happening in your life and grants you a greater range of tools to build resilience and a greater sense of opportunity,” Chief Nyamphande of Petauke said.
Chief Nyamphande says education enables people to feel affirmed in their sense of purpose, belonging and identity.
“Because we see that school is not bring immediate benefits, parents would rather tell their children to go and cultivate in farms. This trend has to end and end now, because education is a vital component in any development,” the chief said.
Chief Nyamphande said some of the reasons why parents do not encourage their children to go to school is due to financial and sometimes it is the high levels of illiteracy among the parents.
“The challenge is to create a culture of educated populace by educating parents about the importance of taking their children to school,” the chief said.         
But the problems are too deep-rooted to be treated with just good school infrastructure. A radically different approach is needed.
It is a question of changing the mindset of children and parents here in Petauke. Otherwise, society will keep amassing deficits that no one can afford to pay.
Strengthening literacy from the early years is the long-term strategy to reduce illiteracy. Education is not only a fundamental human right but the very foundation of acquiring knowledge.
Investing in children through education now means the creation of a favourable environment for a literate generation in the future.

It's possible by 2030

By DOREEN NAWA

A NEW Report has revealed that there is a chance the Aids epidemic can brought under control by 2030. According to a report by the United Nations Aids agency, t said the number of new HIV infections and deaths from Aids were both falling.

However, it called for far more international effort as the "current pace cannot end the epidemic".
And charity Medecins Sans Frontieres warned most of those in need of HIV drugs still had no access to them.
The report showed that 35 million people around the world were living with HIV.
There were 2.1 million new cases in 2013 - 38% less than the 3.4 million figure in 2001.
Aids-related deaths have fallen by a fifth in the past three years, standing at 1.5 million a year. South Africa and Ethiopia have particularly improved.
Many factors contribute to the improving picture, including increased access to drugs. There has even been a doubling in the number of men opting for circumcision to reduce the risk of spreading or contracting HIV.
Warning While some things are improving, the picture is far from rosy.

Access to antiretroviral drugs is still an issue

Fewer than four in 10 people with HIV are getting life-saving antiretroviral therapy.
And just 15 countries account for three-quarters of all new HIV infections.
The report said: "There have been more achievements in the past five years than in the preceding 23 years.
"There is evidence about what works and where the obstacles remain, more than ever before, there is hope that ending Aids is possible.
"However, a business-as-usual approach or simply sustaining the Aids response at its current pace cannot end the epidemic."
Michel Sidibe, the executive director of UNAids, added: "If we accelerate all HIV scale-up by 2020, we will be on track to end the epidemic by 2030, if not, we risk significantly increasing the time it would take - adding a decade, if not more."
Dr Jennifer Cohn, the medical director for Medecins Sans Frontieres' access campaign, said: "Providing life-saving HIV treatment to nearly 12 million people in the developing world is a significant achievement, but more than half of people in need still do not have access."
In Nigeria, 80% of people do not have access to treatment.
Dr Cohn added: "We need to make sure no-one is left behind - and yet, in many of the countries where MSF works we're seeing low rates of treatment coverage, especially in areas of low HIV prevalence and areas of conflict.
"In some countries, people are being started on treatment too late to save their lives, and pregnant women aren't getting the early support they need."

GSMA to launch health mobile app

By DOREEN NAWA

THE Groupe Speciale Mobile Association (GSMA) is set to launch its Mobile for Development mHealth programme for pregnant women and children in Zambia in September this year with a focus on nutrition.

Mhealth programme is an inter-industry partnership to connect mobile and health industries to reach millions of pregnant women and children in sub-Saharan Africa.
The mHealth initiative is an application  on mobile phones that enables women to access health information. 
GSMA is an association of mobile operators and related companies devoted to supporting the standardizing, deployment and promotion of the GSM mobile telephone system.
According to a press statement, Director of health at the GSMA, Dr Craig Friderichs, said through its ‘Mobile for Development mHealth’ programme, the mHealth initiative will be launched in 10 African countries by the end of this year.
Dr Friderichs said the context of the partnership is centred around the millennium development goals (MDGs) particularly those with a specific focus on maternal and unborn child health.
Phase one of the GSMA initiative will be rolled out before the end of the year in six priority countries namely Ivory Coast, Nigeria, Rwanda, South Africa, Uganda and Zambia.
Phase two is expected to commence in 2015, and will incorporate additional partners and services, addressing other countries including Kenya, Malawi, Mozambique and Tanzania.
“We believe that mobile and information and communications technologies (ICT) as a sector has a fundamental role to play in addressing health services,” Dr Friderichs said.
With electronics company Samsung also onboard, Thabiet Allie, head of content and services for the African Regional Headquarters at Samsung Electronics said the company has identified levels of engagement with the partnership.
Samsung plans to offer better pricing for devices, and secondly pre-embed a ‘smart health app’ on all smartphones across sub-Saharan Africa. The app will be available for download from the Google pay store.
In addition, Samsung will include information about the mHealth services initiative in all their future marketing initiatives, said Allie.
The new cross-ecosystem partnership is designed to provide a range of mHealth services to women and children, with a particular focus on nutrition.
Initial launch partners for the initiative include Gemalto, Hello Doctor, Lifesaver, Mobenzi, Mobilium, MTN, Omega Diagnostics and Samsung.

Collectively, the partnership will reduce barriers to handset ownership and connectivity for consumers and health workers by committing to offer discounted Samsung handsets and tablets to consumers and health workers across Africa; Provide access to the Samsung ecosystem (e.g. music, video and other value-added services) to be used as an incentive to drive health usage; Pre-embed a Smart Health application that provides a range of professional applications, information and services on 80 million Samsung handsets; and leverage existing and new MTN SIMs to allow free access to health content, health registration and data collection via the Smart Health application.

It will also provide simplified access to MTN mobile money, advertising and billing capabilities; and make innovative diagnostics like the Omega Diagnostics Visitect HIV CD4 point of care solution more affordable and accessible via mobile integration.

Through these commitments, the partners aim to simplify the relationships between mobile and health stakeholders, while maximising the ubiquitous nature of mobile technology and its capabilities for health providers and, ultimately, for patients. Health content, patient registration, data collection and critical diagnostics will increase the access to health care for vulnerable women and children across Africa, while providing the delivery mechanism for mHealth services that are commercially sustainable and scalable.

“This partnership heralds a new era in the delivery of health care in Sub-Saharan Africa, where currently access to even the most basic of health services remains the worst in the world. MTN is therefore proud to be part of this collaborative effort, which will deliver solutions that harnesses the expertise of some of the leading companies in the world, to improve access to health care for many of our customers across the seven launch countries,” said MTN Group Chief Commercial Officer, Pieter Verkade.

“Current lab based static diagnostics tools are unable to meet growing patients’ needs as countries step up their HIV treatment programs in conjunction with the decentralisation of CD4 testing.  Multi-layer partnerships for mHealth smartphone applications are poised to become an essential foundation in the bridge to augment the continuum of care to the neediest patients, whilst also providing management information and real time surveillance data,” said Andrew Shepherd, Founder and Managing Director, Omega Diagnostics Ltd.

“Healthcare in Africa has benefited greatly from advancements in mobile technology. Simultaneously, the healthcare industry is moving towards a delivery model that is more patient-centered, value-based and accessible in even remote environments. In this regard, Samsung is perfectly positioned to add value to this digital evolution in healthcare, as our devices are both at the cutting edge of innovation and available widely across the continent. These capabilities provide the much needed healthcare support in Africa, ensuring that we are aligned with the Millennium Development Goals as set by the United Nations,” said Thabiet Allie, Head of Content and Services at Samsung Electronics Africa.

The GSMA represents the interests of mobile operators worldwide. Spanning more than 220 countries, the GSMA unites nearly 800 of the world’s mobile operators with more than 250 companies in the broader mobile ecosystem, including handset makers, software companies, equipment providers and Internet companies, as well as organisations in industry sectors such as financial services, healthcare, media, transport and utilities.

Global Forum Calls for Urgent Action to Curb Health Inequities, Cut Maternal and Child Mortality

By DOREEN NAWA

More than 800 leaders and public health experts from around the world opened a landmark two-day meeting in Johannesburg to review new data and call for accelerated action to improve maternal, newborn and child health. The Partnership for Maternal, Newborn & Child Health (PMNCH) 2014 Partners’ Forum was opened by Graça Machel, Chair of PMNCH and African Ambassador for Committing to Child Survival: A Promise Renewed, who is making her first public appearance since the end of her mourning period after the death of her husband, Nelson Mandela.

“The world has made remarkable progress to improve health and expand opportunities over the past 14 years. Despite all efforts, there is still much more to be done,” said Graça Machel. “Women and children have not been covered adequately. We must ensure that all women, adolescent girls, children and newborns, no matter where they live, are able to fulfill their rights to health and education, and realize their full potential.”

In support of the UN Secretary-General’s Every Woman Every Child movement, the Partners’ Forum builds on two months of high-level meetings in Toronto, Prague, and Washington, DC, where global leaders and health experts met to discuss strategies to promote the health of women and children. At this Forum, leaders discussed steps to assist countries that have lagged behind in efforts to improve reproductive, maternal, newborn and child health, and made specific recommendations for how to maintain the focus on women and children within the post-2015 development agenda. Notably, participants also pledged their financial and policy support and a range of new resources to support the implementation of the new Every Newborn action plan (ENAP), a roadmap to improve newborn health and prevent stillbirths by 2035.

“We are privileged as a country to host this important meeting about the urgent need to improve women’s and children’s health. This global gathering gives us the opportunity to learn from each other’s successes and challenges, and to identify new approaches,” said Dr. Aaron Motsoaledi, South African Health Minister. The Government of South Africa is a Forum co-host, together with PMNCH, Countdown to 2015, A Promise Renewed and the independent Expert Review Group.

Despite improvements, 289,000 women still die every year from complications at birth and 6.6 million children do not live to see their fifth birthday, including nearly 3 million newborns. At least 200 million women and girls are unable to access family planning services that would allow them to control when they have children.

The world has been especially slow in improving health outcomes for newborns. Globally, each year, 2.9 million newborns (first 28 days of life) die and 2.6 million are stillborn (die in the last three months of pregnancy or during childbirth). Recent data published in The Lancet Every Newborn Series indicate that 15,000 babies are born and die every day without ever receiving a birth or death certificate. The accompanying analysis found that 3 million maternal and newborn deaths and stillbirths in 75 high burden countries could be prevented each year with proven interventions that can be implemented for an annual cost of only US$1.15 per person.

Responding to this crisis, partners at the Forum launched the ENAP, endorsed by the World Health Assembly in May 2014. The action plan is based on concrete evidence to further reduce preventable newborn deaths and stillbirths. Signalling their support for the full and prompt implementation of the plan, Forum attendees announced 40 new commitments. These commitments are in support of the UN Secretary-General’s Every Woman Every Child movement and come from a diverse group of stakeholders, including governments, civil society organizations and the private sector.

“There is absolutely no reason for so many newborns to die every year when their lives can be saved with simple, cost-effective solutions,” said Dr. Flavia Bustreo, Assistant Director-General for Family, Women’s and Community Health at the World Health Organization. “The WHO remains committed to support countries and work with partners as the plan gets implemented, and to the accountability agenda, which includes reporting on progress achieved every year until 2030.”

New data is critical to inform discussions about changing this reality. Today, partners at the Forum released the Countdown to 2015 Report for 2014, which presents the latest assessment of progress in the 75 countries that account for 95 percent of all maternal and child deaths each year. The report finds that in several countries, more than half of the mothers and children in the poorest 20 percent of the population still receive two or fewer of the eight interventions deemed essential for preventing or treating common causes of maternal and child death, including vaccinations, skilled birth attendance, pneumonia and diarrhea treatment, and access to family planning. The analysis shows that, in these 75 countries, a median of 39 percent of deaths of children under age five occur during the first month of life, underscoring a need for improved access to quality skilled delivery care for mother and baby around the time of birth, when most stillbirths and maternal and newborn deaths occur.

“We have affordable interventions that we know work. There’s no excuse for not bringing them to the women and children who need them,” said Dr. Mickey Chopra, Chief of Health at UNICEF and co-Chair of Countdown to 2015. “The health and well-being of our next generation, and the right of millions of children to live happy, productive lives, is at stake.”

One other report was also launched at the 2014 PMNCH Partners’ Forum: Success Factors for Women’s and Children’s Health Report spotlights 10 “fast track” countries making considerable progress in reducing maternal and child deaths, showing that rapid progress is possible despite significant social and economic challenges. The report showed the benefits of investing in high-impact interventions such as skilled care at birth, immunization, and family planning.

Delegates at the Forum emphasized the importance of ensuring that future efforts focus on countries that are making slow progress, and on poor and marginalized populations, including newborns and adolescents. Delegates also urged political leaders to work across different sectors—including education, skills and employment, water supply and sanitation, nutrition, energy, roads, and women’s empowerment—to ensure an integrated approach to improving the health of women and children.