Connect with us

International

There are 12 African countries to receive malaria vaccine – UN

Published

on

593 Views

The World Health Organisation, WHO, Global Vaccine Alliance (GAVI) and the UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF) have announced that twelve African countries would receive the malaria vaccine.

The agencies, in a statement issued on Wednesday, disclosed that the nations would receive eighteen million doses of the first-ever vaccine against malaria over the next two years.

The RTS,S vaccine has been overseen to more than 1.6 million children in Kenya, Ghana and Malawi since four years ago and has been shown to be safe and effective.

NAN reports that it resulted in a considerable reduction in severe malaria and a decline in child deaths.

The WHO Director-General Tedros Ghebreyesus said malaria remained one of Africa’s deadliest diseases, killing nearly 500,000 children under the age of five yearly and accounting for approximately 96 percent of global malaria deaths in 2021.

“With the climate crisis changing weather patterns, mosquitoes that carry these diseases are increasing in density and spreading further afield,” Ghebreyesus said while speaking during his regular media briefing from Geneva.

The initial eighteen million dose allocation will allow nine additional African nations to introduce the vaccine into their routine immunisation programmes for the first time.

Those countries include the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Burkina Faso, Niger, Uganda, Benin, Liberia, Burundi, Sierra Leone and Cameroon.

The first doses are expected to arrive during the last quarter of this year, with rollout set to start by early 2024.

Continue Reading
Click to comment

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

International

Death toll in Spain rail crash reaches 64, injures 80

More than 500 passengers were travelling on the trains involved in today’s collision, the spokesperson for the regional government says.

Published

on

By

24 Views

At least 64 people have been killed, officials say, after a Spanish high-speed train collided with another train south of the capital Madrid, killed 64 passengers and injured 80.

The updated death toll makes the rail disaster the country’s worst since 2013, when 80 people died after a train derailed in north-western Spain.

More than 500 passengers were travelling on the trains involved in today’s collision, the spokesperson for the regional government says.

Spain’s Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez says he is “shocked by the serious train accident” and is in constant contact with the transport minister.

Rail operator Adif says the incident occurred between a Renfe train and another of the Iryo company, which covers the Madrid to Seville route”

It was a catastrophe” – a 17-year-old, who was travelling on one of the trains, tells a Spanish broadcaster there was “chaos” at the scene

Continue Reading

International

Luxury cruise passengers stranded in Cambodia due to soaring fuel costs

Global fuel prices have soared since the Iran war started earlier this year. The ship’s operator said the monthly fuel cost per cabin in parts of Asia has risen to as much as $8,000 (£6,000) from $1,800.

Published

on

By

23 Views

•Villa Vie Voyage ship

A luxury cruise ship on a years-long voyage around the world said it suspended operations due to extraordinarily high fuel costs, leaving over 200 passengers stranded in Cambodia.

The US-based operator of the Villa Vie Odyssey said it was working with passengers on disembarkation plans and “temporary living arrangements”.

According to the BBC, the nearly 200m (656ft) vessel departed Belfast in October 2024 for a “continuous voyage around the world”.

Global fuel prices have soared since the Iran war started earlier this year. The ship’s operator said the monthly fuel cost per cabin in parts of Asia has risen to as much as $8,000 (£6,000) from $1,800.

Villa Vie Residences said it had taken “significant steps to reduce fuel consumption, including slowing the itinerary and spending more time in port”. But those measures turned out to be insufficient to “offset the extraordinary increase in fuel costs”

“Passing the full increase on to residents is not a realistic solution,” it said.The company would spend the next 60 days on “restructuring and recapitalisation”, though “no outcome is assured”, it said.

There were reportedly around 200 passengers on board when they were ordered to disembark in the Cambodian port city of Sihanoukville, a once sleepy beach town that has gained global notoriety in recent years as a hub for Chinese casinos and scam centres.

The Villa Vie Odyssey’s voyage was expected to span 3.5 years and cover nearly 150 countries, according to its website.

Continue Reading

International

Brazil’s Lula Wins Fourth Term In Presidential Runoff

Flávio Bolsonaro rejected the runoff result, describing it as “inexplicable” and calling for the election to be annulled.

Published

on

By

48 Views

Brazil’s left-wing President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva has won a fourth term in office after defeating right-wing challenger Flávio Bolsonaro in a closely fought presidential runoff.

The 80-year-old secured just under 52 per cent of the vote, overturning Bolsonaro’s first-round lead in a surprise victory that runs against a wider shift towards right-wing leadership across Latin America.

Addressing cheering supporters in São Paulo, Lula thanked voters for what he described as their defence of Brazilian democracy.

The victory follows a bitter election campaign between the veteran left-wing leader and Bolsonaro, whose father, former President Jair Bolsonaro, is serving a prison sentence under house arrest for plotting a coup after losing the previous presidential election.

Flávio Bolsonaro rejected the runoff result, describing it as “inexplicable” and calling for the election to be annulled.

Continue Reading

Trending