Day: April 25, 2022

Drop in Vaccines Exposes Latin American Children to Disease, Report Shows

One in four children in Latin America and the Caribbean does not have vaccine protection against three potentially deadly diseases, a U.N. report said Monday, warning of plummeting inoculation rates. 

While 90% of children in the region in 2015 had received the vaccine for diphtheria, tetanus and whooping cough (DTP3), by 2020 coverage had dropped to three-quarters, according to the U.N. Children’s Fund (UNICEF) and the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO), a regional office of the World Health Organization.  

This means that some 2.5 million children were not fully protected — and 1.5 million of them have not had even one dose in the three-shot regimen. 

Globally, according to WHO, 17.1 million infants did not receive an initial dose of the DTP3 vaccine in 2020, and another 5.6 million were only partially jabbed. 

Outbreaks of preventable diseases “have already occurred” in Latin America and the Caribbean, the agencies said. 

In 2013, only five people in the region contracted diphtheria — a bacterial disease that can cause breathing difficulties, heart failure and potentially death. 

Five years later, the number was nearly 900. 

There has also been a rise in cases of measles — another disease that can be prevented with inoculation — from nearly 500 cases in 2013 to more than 23,000 in 2019, said the statement. 

“The decline in vaccination rates in the region is alarming,” said UNICEF regional director Jean Gough. 

The reasons were multifold.  

“The context in the region has changed in the last five years. Governments have focused their attention on other emerging public health issues such as Zika, chikungunya and more recently COVID-19,” UNICEF neonatal expert Ralph Midy told AFP.  

“The existence of migrant populations that are difficult to locate and do not always have access to regular health services, in addition to people living in isolated or hard-to-reach areas, also hinders the vaccination process,” Midy said. 

The downward trend started even before the COVID-19 epidemic, which worsened the situation by interrupting primary health care services and causing some people to avoid clinics and hospitals for fear of the virus. 

“As countries recover from the pandemic, immediate actions are needed to prevent (vaccine) coverage rates from further dropping, because the re-emergence of disease outbreaks poses a serious risk to all of society,” said Gough. 

 

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Twitter’s Board Negotiates with Elon Musk Over Bid to Buy Platform

The board of Twitter is negotiating with Tesla CEO Elon Musk over his bid to buy the social media giant. 

Media reports Monday said the two sides are close to reaching a deal.  

Musk recently announced that he wants to buy the platform and later unveiled a financing package to back the acquisition.  

The Reuters news agency reported that Musk’s final offer is $43 billion in cash, citing anonymous sources familiar with the matter.

The New York Times reported that Twitter and Musk spoke into the early hours Monday and were discussing contingency plans if an agreement were to be signed and then fall apart.

Twitter shares were up more than 5% in trading Monday afternoon.  

Musk is the world’s richest person according to Forbes magazine with a nearly $279 billion fortune.

The businessman, who is also CEO of rocket developer SpaceX, has said Twitter needs to become a private company so that it can realize its potential for free speech. He has described himself as a “free-speech absolutist.”

Musk, who is a prolific tweeter with more than 83 million followers, tweeted Monday, “I hope that even my worst critics remain on Twitter, because that is what free speech means.”

He has proposed relaxing Twitter’s content restrictions, which could include rules that suspended former President Donald Trump’s account.  

Republicans cheered Musk’s possible takeover of Twitter.

“Hey, @elonmusk it’s a great week to free @realDonaldTrump,” tweeted the House Republican Conference.

Twitter banned Trump’s account after the U.S. Capitol was stormed on Jan. 6, 2021, citing a risk of more violence.

Some information in this report comes from the Associated Pres and Reuters.

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New Kenyan Play Targets Gender-Based Violence

Kenya saw a jump in cases of gender-based violence (GBV) during its COVID-19 lockdowns, which heightened social and financial stress.  To address the problem, Kenyan authorities are turning to the dramatic arts.

At the Kenya’s National Theatre in Nairobi, some 65 young people are putting their acting skills to use, as part of Kenya’s latest strategy to educate the public about the evils of gender-based violence.

Titled “A Little Girls Worth,” the one-hour play by Kenyan playwrights Derrick Waswa and Tommah Sheriff, is a new production co-sponsored by the Ministry for Public Service, Youth and Gender Affairs. It tells a story of how despite their extraordinary contribution in society, women suffer disproportionately.

Derrick Waswa, the play’s director, said the goal is to sensitize the public on violence against women, which he said stems from cultural beliefs that a woman is part of a man’s possessions.

“Basically people are blaming the violence and not looking at the cause. What we are trying to explain is that the African cultural nature has made women to be submissive. From the bible, you are told to submit to your husband as it is to the Lord, and in this African set up where a man has to pay dowery for you, it means they are technically purchasing you,” he said.

A February 2022 report by the Kenya Federation of Female Lawyers (FIDA Kenya) shows that cases of gender-based violence rose sharply during the pandemic, to the point where they made up nearly half the cases reported to the federation.

Authorities attribute the rise in these cases to the pandemic and the economic losses it caused.

The play premiered this month with a three-night run to audiences of 350 at the National Theater.

Audience members like Samson Osoro expressed hope that the dramatic arts will help change men’s mindset.

“This play will go a long way to also sensitize especially the men, who may be so unwelcome or harsh to our ladies, to know that ladies are also very important as men are. As a father I would really wish for my daughter to be treated in a better way than during the time of our mother and grandmother,” he said.

Njeri Migwi is the founder of Usikimye, an organization working to end sexual and gender-based violence in Kenya.  The group’s name means “speak up” in Swahili.

Migwai told VOA that programs such as door to door campaigns will reach more people, but said the play is a step in the right direction.

“Art imitates life and so for the government to use that as a means of educating… one of the things that I have been very passionate about is calling the government to start educating people about the importance of them being aware of GBV and how to acknowledge one of the forms.  So the government putting up the effort to put out a play is amazing,” said Migwai.

No further dates are set, but youth affairs authorities are hoping to show the play in social halls across the country.

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