More Americans Willing to Get Vaccine, Now Open to Children

WASHINGTON, LELEMUKU.COM - As more Americans are being vaccinated, more people say they are now willing to get the shots than in January.

However, questions about side effects and how the shots were tested still hold some people back. This presents a challenge for U.S. health officials who are ready to expand vaccination to children as young as 12 years old.

The AP-NORC survey, released Tuesday, found 1 in 5 American adults now say they probably or definitely will not get vaccinated. In January, when the shots were first given out, opinion researchers found about 1 in 3 said that they would not get vaccinated.

African Americans are becoming more open to the shots, with 26 percent now saying they definitely or probably will not get vaccinated compared with 41 percent in January.

That is similar to the 22 percent of Hispanic Americans. Among Asian Americans, just nine percent said they definitely or probably will not get the shots.


The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says that more than 150 million people — about 58 percent of all adults — have received at least one dose of a vaccine.

Among those who remain unvaccinated, only 34 percent of people in the study say they definitely will not get the shot. About three-fourths of those who said they are unlikely to get vaccinated have little to no confidence that the vaccines were tested enough. Some 55 percent were very concerned about side effects.

The numbers, however, mean a large number of unvaccinated Americans could be persuaded to get the shots.

Kizzmekia Corbett is an immunologist with the National Institutes of Health. Corbett helped lead development of the Moderna shot. She spends hours giving answers to questions from Americans — especially African Americans like her. Her job is to fight against misinformation about the three vaccines approved for emergency use in the U.S.

She tells people the COVID-19 vaccines will not cause inability to bear children. Also, the speedy development of vaccines does not mean they are less safe, Corbett told the AP.

Corbett has attended gatherings held by colleges, African American religious leaders, doctors, and even basketball great Kareem Abdul-Jabbar to talk about the vaccine. She said the best way to overcome distrust is to explain the science in understandable terms for strangers just like she does for her family.

But “really, we should have started the conversations very early about what went into it,” she said. This way, the public would have understood that no steps were missed in vaccine development.

Last month, U.S. health officials temporarily paused the use of Johnson & Johnson’s vaccine. They wanted to find out how to deal with a very rare risk of blood system blockages, known as blood clots. Even after that pause, overall confidence in the vaccines has increased compared with a few months ago.

On Monday, U.S. health officials expanded the use of Pfizer’s COVID-19 vaccine to children as young as 12.

Dr. Peter Marks is vaccine chief for the Food and Drug Administration. He said, “Having a vaccine authorized for a younger population is a critical step” in the effort against COVID-19.”

Approval for the shots comes before students return to school in autumn and to more normal activities. Shots could become available this week for the nation’s 12 to 15-year-olds.

Pfizer is not the only company seeking to lower the age limit for use of its vaccine. Moderna recently said early results from its study on 12 to 17-year-olds showed strong protection and no serious side effects. Another U.S. company, Novavax, has started studying its vaccine, which is in development, in the same age group.

Experts say children must get the shots if the country is to vaccinate the 70 to 85 percent of the population necessary to reach what is called herd immunity. That term describes a condition where enough people have become immune to an infectious disease that it is no longer a threat to people who are not immune to it. (Jonathan Evans| VOA)

Cosmetic Surgeries Operations Rise in South Korea During Pandemic

SEOUL, LELEMUKU.COM - South Korean demand for cosmetic surgery operations sharply increased in 2020.

Last year, the industry in South Korea was worth about $10.7 billion dollars. That was an increase of around nine percent from 2019. South Koreans are expected to spend around $11.8 billion this year, says Gangnam Unni, the country’s largest online cosmetic surgery website.

Ryu Han-na is a 20-year-old university student. She got an operation on her nose in December.

Ryu took her classes online throughout 2020. She said the abilities to rest at home and to wear a face covering in public were important for her.

“I always wanted to get a nose job...I thought it would be the best to get it now before people start taking off masks when vaccines become available in 2021,” she said as she prepared for the operation, which cost around $4,000.

“There will be bruises and swelling from the surgery but since we’ll all be wearing masks I think that should help,” she added.

That thinking is leading to an increased demand for such operations in South Korea. Gangnam Unni data showed its users grew to about 2.6 million last year, an increase of 63 percent from a year earlier.

However, the pandemic made it nearly impossible to sell cosmetic services to foreign patients. As a result, the industry has tried to promote its services more to people in the country and nearby.

Promote means to make something more popular or well-known.

Cosmetic surgeons say patients are interested in operations on all parts of the face. Some want operations on parts of the face that are easily hidden under coverings, such as the nose and lips. But others want operations in places that face coverings do not hide.

Park Cheol-woo is a surgeon at WooAhIn Plastic Surgery Clinic. Park was responsible for Ryu’s operation.

“Both surgical and non-surgical inquiries about eyes, eyebrows, nose bridge and foreheads - the only visible parts - certainly increased,” Park said.

Surgeon Shin Sang-ho runs Krismas Plastic Surgery Clinic. Shin said many people have spent their emergency payment from the government at hospitals and surgical centers.

“I felt like it’s sort of a revenge spending. I’ve sensed that customers were expressing their pent-up emotions (from the coronavirus) by getting cosmetic procedures,” Shin said.

Pent-up emotions are feelings that have been held back or not expressed.

Government data shows that of about $13 billion in government payments, 10.6 percent was used in hospitals and drug stores. That was the third-largest area of spending behind supermarkets and restaurants. However, details of spending at hospitals were not provided.

A third wave of coronavirus remains a concern in South Korea as the country reports more daily cases. “We’ve seen growing numbers of cancellations...recently as people refrain more from going outside...” Park said. (VOA)

Deadly Brazil Dam Collapse Was Disaster Waiting to Happen

BRASILIA, LELEMUKU.COM  - Lax regulations, chronic short staffing and a law that muffled the voices of environmentalists on mining licenses made the devastating collapse of a dam in southeastern Brazil all but destined to happen, experts and legislators say.

The failure of the dam holding back iron ore mining waste on Jan. 25 unleashed an avalanche of mud that buried buildings and contaminated water downstream. At least 115 people have died, and another 248 people remain missing.

But one of the cruelest parts of the tragedy in Brumadinho is that it has happened before: In 2015, mining dams burst in nearby Mariana in what is considered Brazil’s worst environmental disaster.

What’s more, it could happen again, as many Brazilian states and the federal government move to ease regulation in the name of economic development.

In the three years since the Mariana rupture killed 19 people, the regulation of the industry has gotten less, not more, rigorous in Minas Gerais state.

“It felt like it was just a matter of time before something bigger would happen,” said Josiele Rosa Silva Tomas, the president of the Brumadinho residents’ association.

Problems that existed when the dams in Mariana burst, like dramatic short-staffing, have persisted, while a new law has reduced the say of environmental groups in the project licensing process.


And the danger remains widespread: A 2017 report from the National Water Agency classified more than 700 dams nationwide as at high risk of collapse, with high potential for causing damage.

In fact, some fear the risk may only increase. Environmental groups accused the previous Congress and president of rolling back significant protections, and many expect further weakening under President Jair Bolsonaro, who has said environmental regulation hamstrings several industries, including mining.

But the politics that contributed to the collapses in Minas Gerais are much more local. For centuries, the mineral-rich state has revolved around the mining industry — its name, given by Portuguese colonizers, translates to “General Mines.”

More than 300 mines employ thousands in the state, often in poor, rural areas.

Civil society groups often struggle to achieve basic guarantees. For instance, Tomas’ group has long fought to prevent mining projects from contaminating drinking water.

“Minas Gerais has a centuries-long history of being lenient with the mining sector. It’s cultural,” Joao Vitor Xavier, a state deputy, told The Associated Press. “The industry creates a discourse where they dangle jobs and economic growth in front of people, but they put profit over safety.”

The CEO of Vale SA, which owned and operated the Brumadinho mining complex, acknowledges their regulatory measures fell short.

“Apparently to work under the (current) rules has not worked,” Flavio Schvartsman said during a press conference several hours after the dam breach.

Vale officials have said they don’t yet know why the dam collapsed.

Arrest warrants have been issued for five people responsible for safety assessments of the dam, including three Vale employees. Vale was also involved in the Mariana rupture: The dams there were administered by the Brazilian giant and Australia’s BHP Billiton.

The Mariana collapse unleashed nearly 80 million cubic yards (60 million cubic meters) of mining waste into rivers and eventually the Atlantic Ocean. While its environmental impact is considered the worst in Brazilian history, Brumadinho has already far surpassed its

In the wake of the Mariana tragedy, Minas Gerais was already struggling to implement what regulation it had: A 2016 audit found the state had only 20 percent of the staff needed at the agency charged with regulating mines. Environmentalists say mining regulation has gotten even weaker since.

In 2015, the state approved a new process for licensing mining projects. It shifted responsibility from a board that included several environmental organizations to the state environmental secretary, who created a new board with a majority of participants favorable to mining industry interests.

Then-Gov. Fernando Pimentel argued the bill would reduce bureaucracy. But days before the law was approved, the Minas Association of Environmental Defense called it “one of the biggest setbacks in environmental regulation in the country.”

“The conditions are set so the licenses never get turned down,” Maria Teresa Corujo, a rare pro-environmental voice on the new board, told the AP.

In December, Corujo, of the National Forum of Civil Society in Watershed Communities, was the only member of the new board to vote against approving the expansion of the mining complex in Brumadinho. Notes from that meeting show the complex’s pollutant rating had been downgraded — a move that is now the purview of the environmental secretary — allowing the company to skip regulatory steps.

In July 2018, Xavier, the state lawmaker who has pushed for a ban on iron ore waste dams, made a grave prediction.

“I’m not saying we might have other dam ruptures in Minas Gerais. I am saying that, from everything I’ve seen and studied, I have no doubt we will have more ruptures of dams,” he told the state assembly.

Today, he still has no doubt that there will be more tragedies unless more rigorous regulations are implemented.

“These dams are not 100 percent safe,” he said. “How many of them can rupture? Any one of them.” (VOA)

World’s Worst Air is in South African Coal Community

PRETORIA, LELEMUKU.COM - South Africa's coal mining heartland has the worst air quality in the world, according to a recent study by environmental group Greenpeace. The 12 large coal mines in this area make it the world’s hotspot for toxic nitrogen dioxide emissions. Residents and health experts say the effects are ruining their health and their lives.

Thirty-five-year-old Patrick Mdluli considered himself healthy until he moved two years ago to Mpumalanga province - South Africa’s coal mining heartland.

He developed breathing problems, including tuberculosis and nasal issues.

“The mines, the dust, pollution -- you go to doctors, they tell you the very same thing. ‘Are you living next to a mine?’ Yes, I am. ‘Are you living next to a dumping site?’ Yes, I am,” said Mdluli.

A large coal mine operates, literally, in Mdluli’s backyard.

The mine has conducted blasts every day, shaking his small home to its foundation and causing a large crack in the wall.

This sunnyswath of South Africa last year earned the unfortunate distinction of having the world’s worst air quality, says the environmental group Greenpeace.
And it shows, said the head of one of Middelburg’s main clinics, Dr. Mohammed Tayob.

Tayob has lived in the area his entire life and says the emissions from the mines have made many of his patients sick.

“Children and adults are paying the ultimate price. When we say ultimate price, it’s the neurocognitive, loss of neurocognitive development, children’s infant mortality rate is higher in our area than other areas, adults, heart attacks and respiratory diseases are much higher. So people are paying with their lives, across the board, because of these pollutants in the air,” he said.

Tayob blames the coal mining industry and poor governance.

Although mines are big money, locals say the coal companies have done little to improve the community.

Middelburg is poor and many people lack basic services like electricity and running water.

Tayob said the government is also failing to enforce environmental laws and crack down on the mines.

“One cannot be faulted in thinking, ‘Is there some level of corruption operating in this area as well, where these big boys are getting away with murder, literally?’ They’re literally getting away with murder. It's just the reality. I’d like someone to come up and dispute this fact and challenge me on that,” he said.

VOA contacted three of the larger mines in the area for comment. None of them responded to our request.

Environmental activist Bafana Hlatshwayo said he and other activists are preparing to lobby decision-makers at an upcoming mining industry gathering in Cape Town.

They want the coal industry to shift to a cleaner resource: the region’s abundant sunshine.

Bringing solar panel production to the area, said Hlatshwayo, would also create jobs.

“We are not saying we want to close down the mines...We must go the renewable energy way, we are saying, people will manufacture solar panels inside South Africa, and they are the ones who are supposed to install the solar panels and they are the ones who are supposed to maintain the solar panels,” he said.

But that is a faraway dream for people like Mdluli and his neighbors, who complain unemployment is high and all of them - including the children - have health problems.

This province, said longtime resident and environmental activist William Jiyane, used to be beautiful.

“It’s endless agony, now, Mpumalanga. It’s not bread and butter anymore. It’s endless agony,” he said.

South Africa is the continent’s largest coal producer and relies on coal to power much of the economy.

But for the poor communities that live in the shadow of coal mines - it just makes them sick. (VOA)

Nigeria's 27M Disabled Wait Decades for Public Access

ABUJA, LELEMUKU.COM - In Nigeria, over 27 million disabled people live in obscurity, treated like second-class citizens, without access to public facilities. The Nigerian Disability Bill is meant to address these shortcomings. But, nearly two decades after it was initiated, the law has yet to be enacted.

Musa Muazu, 31, became disabled as a teenager when he suffered a fall that left him paralyzed. He relies on a wheelchair to get around.

Muazu is one of 27 million disabled Nigerians trying to lead a normal life.
But a lack of handicapped facilities means disabled people like Muazu struggle for access.

"Public infrastructures in Nigeria is another... let me call it a hell to persons with disabilities ranging from the school, you can imagine as a person with disabilities you're going to lectures in a four-story building.. you can imagine you want to access probably a bank, hospital, places of worship, there's no provision for ramp for you to come in," he said.

According to Nigeria’s Center for Citizens with Disabilities, 98 percent of public structures and facilities are not handicapped accessible.

At a community for the disabled in Abuja, thousands of handicapped Nigerians live virtually segregated from the rest of society.

Since 1999, Nigeria’s disabled have been seeking a law ensuring access to public buildings, roads, and sidewalks and protection against discrimination.

But their efforts to push for the Disabled Bill have been met with resistance.

Nigeria’s disabled account for a third of the 87 million people living in extreme poverty. On the streets of Abuja, many are reduced to begging.

They accuse the government of willful neglect and exclusion - a charge authorities deny.

"The law of other people that are abled are being passed," notedMohammed Dantani, secretary of the Disabled People’s Community. "Are we not Nigerians? We're also citizens, our number 27 million reached the number that when we pass a motion, it's supposed to be listened to or heard."

In November, Nigeria’s disabled protested to the national assembly, demanding passage of the long-delayed bill.

Lawmakers responded in December by finally passing the bill - to President Muhammadu Buhari.

In 2014, then candidate Buhari promised to sign the bill if elected. But as Nigeria heads to elections once again in February, that promise has yet to be fulfilled. (VOA)

Results Uneven in Hong Kong’s Voluntary Sex-Ed Program

HONGKONG, LELEMUKU.COM - When university student Zack Lee was younger, he received no sexual education at his Christian high school. The reproductive system was explained in science class, but further questions from students were not answered by the teacher.

“I didn’t have any sex education class during second school, and they didn’t teach me anything,” Lee said. “Most of my schoolmates are just like me, didn’t know how to use condoms and didn’t know how to have sex with girls.”

Instead he and his friends resorted to the internet to answer most of his questions, a common phenomenon in Hong Kong where standards of sex-ed can vary dramatically between schools.

Not a mandatory subject

Sex-ed is not taught as a mandatory subject in Hong Kong schools but is instead integrated into a curriculum on moral and civic education, the Education Bureau said by email, intended to help students learn “whole-person development to cope with challenges of the 21st century.”

The Education Bureau said that rather than focus on simply the “physiological aspect” of sex-ed, it also aims to teach students about “personal growth and development, making friends, dating, marriage and gender equality.” In practice however, results can vary with schools left to determine for themselves how to teach sex-ed.

The mixed results have raised concerns among rights groups as well as the Department of Health and the Hong Kong Family Planning Association, according to a study by Hong Kong’s Legislative Council.

Students on average receive around three hours of sex education a year, according to legislative council survey. During that time 60 percent of students learn about HIV prevention while 80 percent learn how to use a condom, according to the latest 2012 survey of 134 schools by LegCo.

Results uneven

“What we see is that the situation is very uneven. Some schools may have comprehensive sex education with enough hours but some schools just have none, they don’t have any sex education,” said Julia Sun, the director of Sticky Rice Love, an online forum for sex-ed issues.

Similar to much of Asia, the city’s cultural attitudes toward sex also veer toward conservative, with Sticky Rice’s website observing that “Hong Kong people seldom talk about sex” and conversations are often surrounded by shame and guilt.

Organizations like Sticky Rice are often invited into schools to give sex-ed talks, but what they are allowed to discuss often varies from government guidelines.

Many schools are eager to talk about how to prevent pregnancy, with a particular emphasis on abstinence, Sun said, but skip important lessons like emotional development, communication and consent. LGBT issues and gender identity are also still controversial topics, she said.

The Hong Kong Aids Foundation, which also works with schools, said many were reluctant to allow the organization to distribute condoms, even at the university level.

High educational standards

The mixed track record is at odds with Hong Kong’s otherwise high educational standards within the region.

Hong Kong secondary school students ranked second in the world for math and reading in a 2015 global study by the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development, while its universities are regarded as some of the best in Asia.

Its regional rivals Singapore and Taiwan, which have similar levels of economic development, also have mandatory sex-ed programs. Mongolia, while still a developing country, also stands out regionally for its advanced sex-ed program, according to the United Nations Population Fund.

Instead, Hong Kong has more in common with neighboring China, where sex-ed is also not mandatory and often limited to discussion of physiology and HIV prevention, without discussing greater issues of gender and sexuality, according to Jo Sauvarin, adviser on Adolescents and Youth at the UNPFA.

Prominent role of religion

Such an approach is often found across Asia, which as a region lags behind much of Africa and Latin America, where many countries ramped up sex-ed years ago in response to local HIV epidemics, Sauvarin said.

The cautious approach of many Hong Kong schools may in part be because of the prominent role religious organizations have played in educating Hong Kong youth.

Over half of all students attend schools with some kind of religious affiliation, varying from Christian to Buddhist to Sikh, according to government data. Many local organizations also point to the additionally conservative influence of Confucian thinking in Hong Kong’s education system.

In such a climate, pushback can also come from parents, who fear sex-ed might encourage their children to experiment, according to local groups. Sauvarin said, however, that simply telling them not to have sex or limiting their education can have the opposite desired effect.

“A number of programs in our region would focus more on those elements [like abstinence] and so they don’t have any effect on adolescent pregnancy or reduction of HIV if you just tell young people don’t have sex without giving them the information that they need,” she said. “In fact, in contrast programs that have comprehensive sexuality education actually delay the initiation of sex.” (VOA)

Human Diet Causing 'Catastrophic' Damage to Planet

LONDON, LELEMUKU.COM - The way humanity produces and eats food must radically change to avoid millions of deaths and "catastrophic" damage to the planet, according to a landmark study published Thursday.

The key to both goals is a dramatic shift in the global diet — roughly half as much sugar and red meat, and twice as many vegetables, fruits and nuts — a consortium of three dozen researchers concluded in The Lancet, a medical journal.

"We are in a catastrophic situation," co-author Tim Lang, a professor at the University of London and policy lead for the EAT-Lancet Commission that compiled the 50-page study, told AFP.

Currently, nearly a billion people are hungry and another 2 billion are eating too much of the wrong foods, causing epidemics of obesity, heart disease and diabetes.

Unhealthy diets account for up to 11 million avoidable premature deaths every year, according to the most recent Global Disease Burden report.

At the same time the global food system is the single largest emitter of greenhouse gases, the biggest driver of biodiversity loss, and the main cause of deadly algae blooms along coasts and inland waterways.

Agriculture — which has transformed nearly half the planet's land surface — also uses up about 70 percent of the global fresh water supply.

"To have any chance of feeding 10 billion people in 2050 within planetary boundaries" — the limits on Earth's capacity to absorb human activity — "we must adopt a healthy diet, slash food wasteand invest in technologies that reduce environmental impacts," said co-author JohanRockstrom, director of the Potsdam Institute for Climate Change Impact Research.

"It is doable but it will take nothing less than global agricultural revolution," he told AFP.

The main culprit

The cornerstone of "the great food transformation" called for in the study is a template human diet of about 2,500 calories per day.

"We are not saying everyone has to eat in the same way," Lang said by phone. "But broadly —especially in the rich world — it means a reduction of meat and dairy, and a major increase in plant consumption."

The diet allows for about 7 grams(.25 ounce) of red meat per day, and up to 14. A typical hamburger patty, by comparison, is 125 to 150grams.

For most rich nations, and many emerging ones such as China and Brazil, this would represent a drastic five- to tenfold reduction.

Beef is the main culprit.Not only do cattle pass massive quantities of planet-warming methane, huge swaths of carbon-absorbing forests — mostly in Brazil — are cut down every year to make room for them.

"For climate, we know that coal is the low-hanging fruit, the dirtiest of fossil fuels," saidRockstrom. "On the food side, the equivalent is grain-fed beef."

It takes at least 5 kilos of grain to produce a kilo of meat.

And once that steak or lamb chop hits the plate, about 30 percent will wind up in the garbage bin.

Dairy is also limited to about one cup (250grams) of whole milk — or its equivalent in cheese or yogurt — per day, and only one or two eggs per week.

At the same time, the diet calls for a more than 100 percent increase in legumes such as peas and lentils, along with vegetables, fruits and nuts.

Grainsare considered to beless healthy sources of nutrients.

"We can no longer feed our population a healthy diet while balancing planetary resources," said Lancet editor-in-chief Richard Horton."For the first time in 200,000 years of human history, we are severely out of sync with the planet and nature."

Pushback

The report drew heavy fire from the livestock and dairy industry, and some experts.

"It goes to the extreme to create maximum attention, but we must be more responsible when making serious dietary recommendation," said Alexander Anton, secretary-general of the European Dairy Association, noting that dairy products are "packed" with nutrients and vitamins.

ChristopherSnowdonof the Institute of Economic Affairs in London said the report "reveals the full agenda of nanny-state campaigners."

"We expected these attacks," said Lang. "But the same food companies pushing back against these findingsrealizethat they may not have a future if they don't adapt.

"The question is: Does this come by crisis, or do we start planning for it now?"

Some multinationals responded positively, if cautiously, to the study.

"We need governments to help accelerate the change by aligning national dietary guidelines with healthy and sustainable requirements, and repurposing agricultural subsidies," the World Business Council for Sustainable Development said in a statement. (VOA)

Dozens of Amazon Workers Sickened by Bear Repellent

WASHINGTON, LELEMUKU.COM - Dozens of workers were sickened Wednesday when a can of bear repellent was accidentally punctured at an Amazon warehouse in New Jersey.

Twenty-four people were hospitalized. One was in critical condition; the conditions of the otherswere not immediately known.

About 30 other workers were treated at the warehouse in Robbinsville, authorities said.

Robbinsville Township spokesman John Nalbone told NJ.com the 255-gram can of bear repellent contained a concentrated amount of capsaicin, an active component ofchilepeppers. Most of the workers complained about burning throats and difficulty breathing.

"The safety of our employees is our top priority, and as such, all employees in that area have been relocated to a safe place and employees experiencing symptoms are being treated on-site,'' Amazon said in a statement. "As a precaution, some employees have been transported to local hospitals for evaluation and treatment. We appreciate the swift response of our local responders." (VOA)

Congo's Worst Ebola Outbreak Hits Women Especially Hard

KINSHASA, LELEMUKU.COM - The Democratic Republic of Congo is in the throes of its worst-ever Ebola outbreak, with more than 420 cases in the country’s volatile east, and a mortality rate of just under 60 percent. But this outbreak — the nation’s tenth known Ebola epidemic — is unusual because more than 60 percent of patients are women.

Among them is Baby Benedicte. Her short life has already been unimaginably difficult.

At one month old, she is underweight, at 2.9 kilograms. And she is alone. Her mother had Ebola, and died giving birth to her. She’s spent the last three weeks of her life in a plastic isolation cube, cut off from most human contact. She developed a fever at eight days old and was transferred to this hospital in Beni, a town of some half-million people in the east of the Democratic Republic of Congo.

More than 400 people have been diagnosed with Ebola here since the beginning of August, and more than half of them have died in a nation the size of Western Europe that struggles with insecurity and a lack of the most basic infrastructure and services. That makes this the second-worst Ebola outbreak in history, after the hemorrhagic fever killed more than 11,000 people in West Africa between 2013 and 2016.

This is 10th outbreak to strike the vast country since 1976, when Ebola was first identified in Congo. And this particular outbreak is further complicated by a simmering civil conflict that has plagued this region for more than two decades.

Guido Cornale, UNICEF’s coordinator in the region, says the scope of this outbreak is clear.

“It has become the worst outbreak in Congo, this is not a mystery,” he said.

What is mysterious, however, is the demographics of this outbreak. This time, more than 60 percent of cases are women, says the government’s regional health coordinator, Ndjoloko Tambwe Bathe.

"All the analyses show that this epidemic is feminized. Figures like this are alarming. It’s true that the female cases are more numerous than the male cases," he said.

Bathe declined to predict when the outbreak might end, though international officials have said it may last another six months. Epidemiologists are still studying why this epidemic is so skewed toward women and children, Cornale said.

“So now we can only guess. And one of the guesses is that woman are the caretakers of sick people at home. So if a family member got sick, who is taking care of him or her? Normally, a woman,” he said.

Or a nurse. Many of those affected are health workers, who are on the front line of battling this epidemic. Nurse Guilaine Mulindwa Masika, spent 16 days in care after a patient transmitted the virus to her. She says it was the fight of her life.

"The pain was enormous, the pain was constant," she said. "The headache, the diarrhea, the vomiting, and the weakness— it was very, very bad."

For the afflicted, the road to recovery is long and lonely. Masika and her cured colleagues face weeks of leave from work to ensure the risk of infection is gone. In the main hospital in the city of Beni, families who have recovered live together in a large white tent, kept four meters from human contact by a bright orange plastic cordon. They yell hello at their caretakers, who must don protective gear if they want to get any closer.

And for Baby Benedicte, who is tended to constantly by a nurse covered head to toe in protective gear, the future is uncertain. Medical workers aren’t entirely sure where her father is, or if he is going to come for her.

She sleeps most of the day, the nurse says, untroubled by the goings-on around her. Meanwhile, the death toll rises. (VOA)

Philemon Yang Inaugurates US-Funded Center for Disease Control in Cameroon

YAOUNDE, LELEMUKU.COM - Cameroon is the recipient of a new public health emergency center constructed with the support of the U.S. Defense Threat Reduction Agency. The facility, which provides training for hospital staff and helps to detect disease outbreaks, was inaugurated Monday by Cameroon's prime minister, with the U.S. ambassador on hand.

Prime Minister Philemon Yang said the Yaounde Public Health Emergency Operations Center will enable Cameroon to meet the objectives of the Global Health Security Agenda, launched in 2014 with the goal of making the world safe and secure from infectious disease threats.

"We require the continuous availability of detection capacities and the rapid deployment of operational teams as well as drugs and adequate logistics. This public health emergency center is at the heart of this mechanism," Yang said.

Cameroon joined the United States and 28 other nations as founding members of GHSA.

The government committed itself to improving food safety, to prevent the emergence and spread of drug resistant organisms, and to reduce the number and magnitude of infectious disease outbreaks.

The new emergency operations center cost $3.5 million to build. The U.S. ambassador to Cameroon, Peter Barlerin, said the U.S. has also assisted Cameroon through the construction of a National Public Health Laboratory, development of Ebola and cholera preparedness plans and supported the national surveillance systems in public and animal health.

"The important thing is to be able to react quickly and efficiently and this operation center will give Cameroon the opportunity to do that and to coordinate among different regions and with international authorities," Barlerin said.

Etoundi Mballa, head of disease control in Cameroon's Ministry of Public Health, said neighbors like Gabon, Chad, Equatorial Guinea and the Central African Republic will also benefit from the services of the new center.

He said threats of infectious diseases that loom over Central Africa and affect mostly the poor include cholera, measles, yellow fever, polio and tetanus.

Mballa said the public health emergency operations center the people of America have helped Cameroon to construct will enable the central African states' health officials to detect disease outbreaks at the earliest possible moment, respond effectively with eradication or repost methods to save the lives of not only Cameroonians but the people of the entire central African sub region.

Cameroon has so far been spared the Ebola outbreaks that have hit several other African countries but experienced a cholera outbreak in July that killed at least a dozen people. (VOA)

Taiwan's 'Notebook Boy' Commits His Memories in Writing

TAIPEI, LELEMUKU.COM - Chen Hong-zhi's notebooks are his life. Nine years ago, Chen seriously damaged his hippocampus, a part of the brain associated with forming memories, in a traffic accident.

The 26-year-old has lost the ability to make and retain short-term memories. Instead, he painstakingly records his days in lined notebooks, crammed with entries in blue ink.

"I use the notebook to remember who I helped today, how much farm work I did, whether there was rain ... the notebook is my memory," said Chen, who lives with his stepmother, Wang Miao-cyong, 65, in a remote village in Hsinchu County, northwestern Taiwan.

"I once lost one of my notebooks. I was so sad that I was crying and asked my dad to help me find it."

Since his father died four years ago, Chen and his stepmother have lived on a government disability allowance and a small income they get from farming fruit and vegetables, which they barter with neighbors, some of whom call Chen "notebook boy."

Dr Lin Ming-teng, head of the psychiatry department at Taipei Veterans General Hospital, said Chen has made remarkable progress despite his extensive brain damage.

"From the X-ray, we can see a large part of his brain in black - these are the sections that were operated on after the traffic accident," Lin said.

"After losing such a substantial portion of his brain, it is quite amazing for him to achieve what he is doing now," Lin said, adding that Chen could only remember things he had done in the last five to 10 minutes.

Lin said the damage had also affected Chen's ability to receive and process information.

"This has an effect on his relationship with his mother, too, as sometimes his mother cannot get over the fact that he forgets things," Lin said.

Wang longs to go back to her hometown in Indonesia, but she feels she cannot leave Chen alone.

"If I leave, who will take care of my son? I can't imagine his future after I die."

For now, Chen's notebooks allow him to preserve some semblance of order in his life.

"October 26 go to Beipu alone, Chen clan organization, go find phone, go Catholic church, Citian Temple, 10:38 ZZZ," reads one poignant note about a day he spent searching for, and praying to find, his lost mobile phone.

Ten days later, he found his phone, documenting the find in his notebook, of course. (VOA)

US Navy Hospital Ship Brings Care to Venezuela Migrants in Colombia

CARACAS, LELEMUKU.COM - Even though five-year-old Kamila is used to getting blood drawn, she cried out when the needle pricked her arm, clinging to her mother for comfort in a classroom-turned-clinic in the northern Colombian city of Riohacha.

Venezuelan Kamila was born premature at 30 weeks, weighing just 900 grams (2 lbs). Her early entry into the world came with kidney problems and cerebral atrophy that have delayed some parts of her development and kept her limbs spindly.

She is one of thousands set to receive treatment this week from doctors and dentists from United States Navy hospital ship the USNS Comfort.

Many are Venezuelan migrants who have fled economic crisis across the border. Others are Colombians, including indigenous Wayuu, seeking care amid constant delays in Colombia's overcrowded health system.

The United Nations on Monday pledged $9.2 million in aid for Venezuela, where hunger and preventable disease are soaring due to food and medicine shortages. President Nicolas Maduro blames the country's problems on U.S. sanctions and an "economic war" led by political adversaries.

Most patients, pre-screened by local authorities, will receive care on land in two clinics set up in schools, while those needing surgery will be flown by helicopter to the ship itself, anchored far offshore.

"The tests we needed for her would have cost so much in Venezuela, but here they did it in a few seconds," said Kamila's mother Yennymar Vilchez, 24, who arrived four months ago.

The ship's staff last week treated more than 5,400 patients over five days in Turbo, a city near the jungle border with Panama, including 131 who had surgery.

An estimated 2,500 will be seen in Riohacha, 91 kilometers (56 miles) from the border with Venezuela, through Friday.

The arrival of Venezuelans has burdened the beleaguered Colombian healthcare system, especially in border cities, where patients can wait months for basic care.

"The migration crisis has certainly played a factor," Captain William Shafley told journalists after an opening ceremony. "We're here to help the Colombian government and their obviously strained healthcare system."

Colombia, which has received about one million Venezuelan migrants, could be hosting four million by 2021, the government has said.

Many cross the countries' porous land border without documentation, heading onward to other Latin American countries like Ecuador and Peru.

Outside the dentistry room, Yessica Epiayu, 29 and a member of the Wayuu indigenous community, corralled her six children, aged 3 to 11, as they took turns getting cleanings.

Her eldest son Orlando grinned broadly, proudly showing off a gifted dental mirror.

Some surgeries require too much follow-up to be performed on the ship and are referred back to local authorities.

Venezuelan Belkis Chirino, 29, a former restaurant manager, had hoped her 11-month-old daughter Jade could get pelvic surgery to guarantee she will walk despite a congenital deformity.

But the doctors need further X-rays and the intense procedure, which risks damaging some nerves, will require significant time in the hospital.

"I'm grateful even though she doesn't get the surgery," said Chirino. "At least they can help my Venezuelan brothers and sisters."

But others like Vilchez, Kamila's mom, got good news. Her daughter's kidneys are getting healthier and a new medication will help her other symptoms.

"It's wonderful!" she said, as she clutched the brown pharmacy bag, Kamila in her arms. (VOA)

Southwest Maluku Resident got Health Service

TIAKUR, LELEMUKU.COM - Thousands of residents of outer islands in the Southwest Maluku Regency (MBD), Maluku province, receive health care from the military through a social service mission KRI dr Soeharso which is a floating hospital.

"TNI has conducted missions baksos form of health services for the people in the outer islands, such as Lakor, Moa, Leti, Kisar and others," said Head of Information Military Command XVI / Pattimura, Colonel Arh M Hashim Lalhakim, in Ambon on Saturday.

He said the military mission of social service in the form of health care in a number of outer islands MBD district that has lasted for four days on 6-9 February 2016.

"Enthusiastic people against such activities is quite high and it is seen by visiting the health service posts that have been provided," said M Hashim.

TNI medical social activities in the district of MBD, he said, first started in the district Lakor Island on February 6, 2016 carried out from 09.00 to 16.00 ET.

These activities, he added Dansatgas Kapuskes opened by Major General TNI Dr. Beni Yura Rimban, which was attended by the District Muspika elements Lakor Island, with the number of patients as many as 748 people.

Furthermore, the service activity in the Moa Island on February 7, 2016, starting at 09:00 until 16:00 ET.

The activity was opened Waaster the Armed Forces Commander, Brigadier General (Mar) Gatot Triswanto, as well as Health Wadansatgas TNI, with the number of patients was 1,303 people.

Next, the activities on February 8, 2016 which took place on the island of Leti start at 09.00 until 21.00 ET.

The activity was opened by Waaster TNI Commander Brigadier General (Mar) Gatot Riswanto with the number of patients as many as 1,343 people.

Subsequently, on February 9, 2016, health services in the district of Kisar Island starting at 09:00 until 15:00 ET.

The activity was also opened by Brigadier General (Mar) Gatot Riswanto which was attended by the Chairman of the District Council MBD, Drs Peter Cao, the number of patients as many as 1,041 people.

"The activities of the health service will continue to run up to Papua," said M Hashim.

Alluded to the involvement of soldiers Military Command XVI / Pattimura in the mission, the Military Command XVI / Pattimura strongly supports activities involving military personnel who served in the outer islands.

"TNI troops who served in the outer islands helped along the KRI dr Soeharso health workers," he said. (Antara)

Maluku Just Have an Accredited Hospital

AMBON, LELEMUKU.COM - Maluku Health Office Head Dr. Meiske Pontoh said only one general hospital in Maluku who passed and received accreditation.

"Hospitals are accredited according to the old rules in fact already reached 60-70 percent, but by using the new pattern has not been all accredited and still in process, while already passed only recently Haulussy dr M. Ambon," said Meilke Pontoh in Ambon on Sunday.

He said dalu only strengthen various administrative documents as requirements such as the creation of standard operating procedures (SOP), but this latest module second issue entry documents.

According to him, the priority now is to implement or not the service appropriate accreditation has been obtained.

"It's no longer like that. It's not being said in the document as it is implemented, including the availability of specialist doctors and hospitals want manejemen problem was the availability of medical equipment," he said.

This accreditation actually do not have to wait for the hospital so even if only one of general medical doctors should be ready to begin the process of accreditation because of its provisions tauhn 2016 all hospitals had to be accredited, but from Eastern Indonesia asked for leniency and should not be generalized to other regions, because the assessment of BPJS road continues ,

"Last December 2015 we received a report from BPJS seven out of 27 RS warned that there is danger, including Haulussy," he said.

Hospitals are fighting for accreditation now Piru Hospital, West Seram regency (SBB).

"Hospital Piru now towards accreditation, and the province has invited them to get information about the accreditation of a hospital that uses the new rules," he said.

However, these people may not pass it on to the management Piru Hospital, then was not planned in implementing activities that are not teranggarkan in the district budget.

"Ideally, when it comes to socializing participating province, the return pass to the managerial ranks and please plan for accreditation readiness," he said.

This process should begin with the first socialization ranging from janitors, security guards up the managerial ranks hospitals to be better informed, due to improvements in the quality of service so the hospital must be accredited.

So that later can view the availability of medical personnel, equipment functioning and well-maintained, until the strength of professional readiness.

"Assistance from hospitals Haulusy, socialization, form teams in hospitals Piru guided by the province and they form four working groups in order to obtain accreditation Hospital targets can be run programmatically," said Meilke Pontoh. (antara)