Tag Archives: Africa

UNICEF: Adolescent AIDS deaths have tripled since 2000

The number of adolescents who have died from AIDS has tripled in the past 15 years, and the disease is the second-leading cause of death in the age 10-19 population across the globe.

That’s according to data released Friday by the United Nation’s Children’s Fund, which added that the disease is the top killer for adolescents who are living in Africa. The organization, known more commonly as UNICEF, said adolescents are the only group that has not seen a drop in death rates in the past 15 years despite advances in disease prevention and treatment.

UNICEF said most of its data indicates most of the adolescents who are dying were infected with the disease when they were infants, when the treatments that help prevent infected pregnant mothers from passing the disease onto their children were not as common as they are today.

The UNICEF data showed that about 1.3 million children have been spared from the disease since 2000, largely thanks to improvements in mother-to-child transmission prevention. It said 60 percent of pregnant and breastfeeding women get medicine to prevent AIDS from spreading.

Despite those advances, the organization noted some shortfalls for the adolescent age group.

UNICEF said only one-third of the 2.6 million children under 15 who are living with AIDS are treated for the infection. It also announced that only 11 percent of 15-to-19-year-olds are tested for the disease in sub-Saharan Africa, where the infection rate is the most prevalent.

The disease also remains a problem for those who are not born with it.

UNICEF’s data showed that 26 new 15-to-19-year-olds become infected with the disease every hour, and 40 percent of those occur outside sub-Saharan Africa. The Associated Press reported that the United States, India, Indonesia and Brazil all had a “worrying rate” of teen infection.

UNICEF called for worldwide solutions that provide early diagnosis for babies (less than half of children are tested before they are two months old, and AIDS progresses quickly in newborns). It also seeks to keep women, children and adolescents treated and improve sex education.

U.N. Claims 1.4 Million Children Have Fled Boko Haram

The United Nations says that over 1.4 million children have fled Nigeria and surrounding countries to try and escape Islamic terrorist group Boko Haram.

UNICEF says that 1.2 million Nigerian children have fled from the northern part of the country and around 265,000 children have fled border towns in Cameroon, Chad and Niger.

“It’s truly alarming to see that children and women continue to be killed, abducted and used to carry bombs,” said Manuel Fontaine, the UNICEF regional director for West and Central Africa.

UNICEF also reported on their efforts to help those children. The report stated:

  • Over 315,000 children have been vaccinated against measles;
  • More than 200,000 people have received access to safe water;
  • Almost 65,000 displaced and refugee children have had access to education and are able to continue their learning thanks to the delivery of school materials;
  • Nearly 72,000 displaced children have received counselling and psychosocial support;
  • Almost 65,000 children under 5 have received treatment for severe acute malnutrition.

The U.N. officials also focused on Boko Haram’s targeting of women and girls in their terror assaults and kidnappings.

“Women and girls are involved in approximately three-quarters of the attacks,” she said. And children are “used, often without knowing, to carry bombs that were strapped to their bodies and detonated remotely in public places.”

Ebola Re-Emerges in Liberia

Liberian officials confirmed a third case of Ebola on Thursday, two months after the country had declared itself Ebola free.

A case management leader for the country’s Ebola Task Force says that the three villagers with the disease “have a history of having had dog meat together.”  Dog meat is common in the diet of Liberians.

The first confirmed case, a 17-year-old boy, died Sunday about 30 miles from the capital city of Monrovia.  The other two cases are in the same village as the dead teen.

“The two (latest) live cases are 24 years old and 27 years old. They are stable,” Deputy Health Minister Tolbert Nyenswah said on Thursday.

Scientists say that there is no proof yet that dogs can carry the Ebola virus.  Humans have been infected in past outbreaks by eating contaminated monkey meat.

“There is no need to panic. Our health team is on top of it. It will be contained,” Liberian President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf told Reuters.

At least 175 people are being monitored because of contact with the three confirmed cases.

Sudan’s Christian-Persecuting President On The Run

Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir, who has made persecution of Christians a major part of his Islamic dominated government, is on the run after the International Criminal Court declared him a war criminal.

The President returned to Sudan from South Africa, defying a court order to stay in that nation while the government of South Africa considered the ICC’s request for al-Bashir’s arrest.  He had been attending an African Union summit in Pretoria at the time of the warrant being issued for his arrest.

The South African government eventually issued the order for arrest about two hours after al-Bashir flew out of the country.

“We still remain quietly optimistic and determined to see justice done in this case,” deputy prosecutor James Stewart told the BBC.

U.N. head Ban Ki-moon reminded nations that have signed the ICC’s statues they’re obligated to arrest those who are sought by the court.

“The president of the assembly expresses his deep concern about the negative consequences for the court in case of non-execution of the warrants by states parties and, in this regard, urges them to respect their obligations to cooperate with the court,” said in a statement H.E. Mr. Sidiki Kaba, president of the Assembly of States to the Rome Statute of the ICC.

The charges are in connection with the genocide in Darfur and al-Bashir’s actions in setting up a strict Sharia law system in his country that included the killing of non-Muslims.  While he will be able to move freely within Sudan, he will not be able to leave the country for fear of arrest.

Boko Haram Violently Kills Dozens of Christians

Islamic terrorist group Boko Haram has violently killed dozens of Christians to death in their latest raids on villages.

Boko Haram killed 29 people in Adamawa state and most of the dead are Christians.  The killings come a week after the terrorists hacked to death 10 Christians in Pambula-Kwamda.

They destroyed the telephone mast first before invading our community — this was to prevent us from telephoning and requesting help,” said one community pastor.  “They killed 10 members of our church [Church of the Brethren in Nigeria, or EYN] using machetes and then slaughtering them.”

Military officials also say that Boko Haram is the likely source of suicide bomb attacks in a Christian community on May 19th that left nine people dead. They are also believed behind a shooting attack in Wagga.

“The attacks killed 19 people in Garkida and Madagali,” said the Rev. Samuel Dante Dali, president of the EYN. “The bombing signals a renewal of violence by the Islamist insurgent group Boko Haram at a time when Nigerian authorities are claiming victory in many parts of the northeast.”

The town of Gubio was attacked and burned Wednesday night leaving 37 men, women and children dead.  Over 400 buildings were destroyed in the terrorist attack.

Muslims Throw Christians Overboard To Drown

Italian officials have 15 Muslims under arrested after it was discovered they singled out Christians to throw overboard during a crossing from Africa to Italy.

Authorities in Palermo, Sicily, are charging the Muslims with suspicion of murder.

The Christians were part of a boatload of migrants who left Libya Tuesday in a rubber boat.  Police say the Muslims, who are from Ivory Coast, Mali and Senegal, began to throw the Christians overboard as they were in the middle of the crossing.

The dead are from Nigeria and Ghana.

The remaining passengers reportedly formed a human chain to stop the Muslims from being able to kill anyone else on the boat.

Thousands each year attempt to make the voyage from Africa to the European coast and die in the process.  Rarely do people die from deliberate means as the Christians who were killed in this incident.

Teen Drinks Lotion For Two Days Hiding From Islamist Massacre

Surviving by drinking lotion while hiding in a closet, a Kenyan teenager is praising God for surviving the brutal attack by Islamic terrorists on a University in Garissa.

Cynthia Cheroitich, 19, spoke to reporters at a local hospital after being treated for dehydration and malnourishment.

“I was just praying to my God, saying that if it has come to my day, it has reached. But if it not yet, let God decide whatever He likes,” she said.

She said that she chose the closet after the Islamist gunmen yelled any student hiding under their beds would “come out very fast.”  She covered herself with clothes so that a quick check of the closet wouldn’t reveal her presence.

She said that when she began to feel hungry and thirsty, her only option was a bottle of body oil.

Cynthia was so terrified that she did not believe at first the Kenyan military forces were actually there to help her.  The troops had to find a teacher to explain to the girl that it was safe to leave the closet.

The Islamic terrorist group Al-Shabaab admitted the attack which was targeting Christian students.  Witnesses said that the terrorists would ask who the student worshiped and if they answered Christ they were shot on the spot.

Christian Aid Mission Calls For Prayers For Kenya

The Christian aid group Christian Aid Mission is calling on the world’s believers to pray for the Christians of Kenya after a crackdown by the government on charity groups within the nation.

Amie Cotton with CAM says that al-Shabaab sympathizers had been using charity and non-profit organizations as a way to funnel money to the terrorist organization.  As a result, the government has banned all groups in the country.

A result of the ban is that churches in the region are closing down as terrorist groups intimidate those in the communities and the churches have no funding to try and fight the groups.  However, Cotton says God’s work is still going forward.

“Despite all of this, we still have reports that ministry is ongoing in multiple cities,” says Cotton.  “They go out every day, on the edge, knowing that terrorists have infiltrated. But they’re willing to go for the cause of Christ.”

Cotton says that despite the ban of NGOs, the group is still going to work through relationships with residents of the country.

“We have been in existence for over 60 years, and we have relationships with grass-roots Christian ministries that are indigenous to their cities and to Kenya as a whole,” Cotton answers.

Boko Haram Rampage Leaves Dozens Dead

Officials in Borno State are reporting a massacre over the weekend in the Christian town of Shani carried out by Islamic terrorist group Boko Haram.

The communications with the town were cut off during the attack and officials say they are just now learning the scope of the attack.

A resident of the town told the Nigerian Daily Post that Boko Haram descended on the town around 8 p.m. local time on Saturday.

“They came on about 10 motorcycles from Gwaskara axis, well armed with Ak47 rifles, improvised explosive devices and petrol bombs, wrecking havoc without confrontation as there was no military operatives, nor police to assist the armless civilians who were running for dear lives,” the witness said.

The witness said at least two dozen people were killed and many businesses looted.

“A boy ran into my shop and said his father and elder brother had been shot. He was only wearing shorts, no top and sweating despite the wintry weather. I shut down my shop immediately, leaving some items outside,” business-owner Shuabu Lawal said.

Obama Asks Congress For Over $6 Billion For Ebola

On the heels of the United Nations saying it lacked the resources necessary to stop the Ebola outbreak in west Africa, President Obama is asking Congress for billions in aid to fight the killer virus.

The President wants $6.18 billion to fund efforts both within the U.S. and in Africa to combat the virus.

“The funding is needed immediately to strengthen and sustain our whole-of-government response to strengthen preparedness in the U.S. and to help end the Ebola epidemic at its source in West Africa, and to prevent disease outbreaks, detect them early, and swiftly respond before they become epidemics that threaten the American people,” the administration said.  “It’s in situations like this one, when activities surpass the current level of funding, that the request is deemed an emergency.”

The World Health Organization reported Wednesday that the death toll is at least 4,818 people out of 13,042 confirmed cases.

The head of the U.N. mission fighting the virus said there are still villages in the impacted countries that have received no aid or help from outside their nation.

“It’s not here yet,” Tony Banbury said about the needed resources. “There are still people, villages, towns [and] areas that [are] not getting any type of help right now and we definitely don’t have the response capability on the ground now from the international community.”