Dr Margaret Chan up for election to head WHO for second term
Dr Margaret Chan (archives)
GENEVA, SWITZERLAND – The World Health Organization’s 192 members are meeting for five days in Geneva starting Monday 21 May. The assembly will elect a director general and current head Dr Margaret Chan, with solid backing from the board, looks set for re-election.
Chan, in her opening remarks Monday, emphasized the progress made by countries whose governments have shown “the importance of national ownership and leadership.” She cited India’s polio eradication programme, Ghana’s commitment to guinea worm eradication, noting that “during the first quarter of 2012, cases of this disease dropped 67% compared with last year, and now number just over 100.” And Namibia, which “is leading a group of 8 neighbouring African countries in a joint effort to eliminate malaria.”
Funds are tighter, and it’s time to get back to the basics, “shift to thrift” and be innovative, says Chan
Chan characterized the last decade as a golden one for world health, on many levels, but arguing against the doomsayers who believe the opposite is now true.
“At the start of the decade, the Millennium Development Goals showed how much the perception of health had changed, from a drain on resources to a driver of socioeconomic progress. In that golden decade, governments, in both donor and recipient countries, made the health agenda a top priority. Money for health development more than tripled. Substantial results followed, with a particularly strong impact on deaths from HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis, malaria, and childhood illness.”
More than 60 countries now pushing for universal health coverage
The director general saved her strongest words, in an upbeat message about where health is headed, for a shift towards universal health coverage.
“Following publication of the 2010 World Health Report on health system financing, more than 60 countries have approached WHO seeking technical support for their plans to move towards universal coverage.
“What we are seeing goes against the historical pattern, where social services shrink when money gets tight. I think this drive to expand coverage is a powerful signal. Despite deepening financial austerity, the will to do the right thing, the fair thing, for people’s health prevails.”
Television viewers in Ghana were shocked recently to see images of pregnant women placed in cages because they were unable to pay their medical bills, according to an editorial in The Chronicle, posted on allAfrica. “Pictures of pregnant women being held hostage at the Eastern Regional Hospital at Koforidua, because they were unable to pay for the cost of medication, beamed to our living rooms by E-TV, an Accra-based private television station, in the course of the week, was a disturbing spectacle,” notes the editor, who cites the failing national health system and the disappearance of free care for all mothers.
“Unfortunately, the two schemes appear to be collapsing and the dreaded Cash and Carry system, under which customers had to pay before being attended to in our various hospitals and health centres, is gradually creeping back into the body politic.”
UK charity Oxfam says that while Ghana’s national health system has been help up as an example for Africa, problems remain.
Geneva, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) - Geneva-based refugee and migration officials say the conflict in Cote d’Ivoire, which has been building for weeks, has suddenly heated up and some 20,000 people have been sealed off by fighting in the west.
“A major military offensive launched in Western Cote d’Ivoire by forces loyal to president-elect Alassane Ouattara has effectively sealed off tens of thousands of vulnerable displaced persons, preventing them from receiving adequate humanitarian assistance and protection,” the IOM (International Migration Organization) said in a statement issued late Tuesday afternoon 29 March.
Fighting near the western town of Duékoué has sealed off some 20,000 Ivoirians and migrant workers from neighbouring countries. They have taken refuge in a Catholic mission, with little in the way of supplies.
In the east, the city of Abidjan is reportedly by IOM to be the scene of violence, but the extent of it is difficult to gauge, and people are fleeing to Ghana. Some 800 people at the Takoradi border crossing are housed in a shelter designed for 200-300 and new arrivals say they have been victims of violence. Many of them saying they had to sell their possessions to find transport out of Cote d’Ivoire.
UNHCR, the UN refugee agency, says that some 3,000 Ivoirians have now fled to Ghana, but there are reports that many more are on their way and the agency is rushing to establish more refugee centres to handle them.
An estimated 116,000 Ivoirians have fled the country for eight other West African nations since November’s presidential election, reports UNHCR, and thousands of migrant workers have also escaped. Liberia, the neighbour to the west, has the largest number, more than 24,000 Ivoirians, with 10,000 crossing the border in the past seven days.
UNHCR reports that it has received $24 million of the estimated $96m needed to care for the refugees.
The next generation of Ghana's Black Stars has future in the air (photo: wikipedia, 2008)
Lausanne, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) - The IOC (International Olympic Committee) at a 13 January meeting in Lausanne suspended Ghana’s National Olympic Committee (NOC), meaning that unless there is a major change the country will not participate in the London Games in 2012. The reason for the suspension was political interference, the IOC says in a statement, citing “the obvious lack of cooperation of the government authorities in Ghana and lack of respect of the Ghana public authorities’ written commitment to take all necessary actions to revise the sports legislation in Ghana before the end of 2010.”
The problem goes back to the election of the NOC’s president in 2009, the results of which were disputed. Ghana has had an NOC since 1952.
Kuwait was suspended in 2010 for similar problems.
The Globe & Mail in Canada reports that hardest hit “could be Ghana’s soccer team. The under-20 team is the current world champion”, and it points out that Ghana is also having trouble with Fifa, the world football body, which has threatened the country with sanctions if political interference does not end.
Links to other sites: GhanaWeb
Italy in 2007 gave Ghana €22 million to support small and medium-sized companies as part of overall development funding, but three years later the funds remain untouched, to the dismay of Ghana’s entrepreneurs, reports allAfrica. The money was designed to top up a €11m fund set up by the Italian government in 2003, according to the Chronicle newspaper, but the funds added in 2007 have reportedly not been disbursed mainly due to bureaucratic bungling. Other governments have also been involved in funding small business projects in Ghana, among them the US-financed African Development Foundation.
In May 2009 the Italian government announced a new $20m fund for small businesses in Ghana, to boost employment.
International sports, World Cup football roundup
Swiss coach to stay on until 2012
Honduras' Mauricio Sabillon fights for the goal against Swiss Xherden Shaqiri - Photo 2010 FWCLOC
South Africa (GenevaLunch.com) – Switzerland’s inability to qualify for the Group of 16 didn’t seem to take all of their fans by surprise, but it was nevertheless a sad day for Swiss football fans. The French-speaking press noted that the Swiss squad went from knowing victory to defeat in just three games.
Swiss coach Ottmar Hitzfeld said his team had tried hard and their loss was also his. For his part, Tranquilo Barnetta said the Swiss squad “lacked quality,” while Hakan Yakin seconded Barnetta’s opinion, “We’ve come up short due to our own limitations,” he said.
Hitzfeld, who is often described by the sports press as a “tactical genius” confirmed on 26 June that he will continue to head the Swiss squad until his contract ends in 2012.
With Switzerland out of the top two spots Spain and Chile qualified to the following round.
Uruguay to quarter-finals for the first time in 40 years
Luis Suarez celebrates his victory goals - Photo 2010 FWCLOC
Uruguay beat South Korea after an incredible match in which the South Americans took advantage of the few defense mistakes the South Koreans made.
The Korean coach said his team played well but meeting squads from other parts of the world is something they need to do more, to help their game.
In addition to the Koreans’ mistakes, Huh Jung-Moo believed luck just wasn’t on their side, an opinion shared by Uruguayan coach Oscar Tabarez. “Korea played a great game, but that slice of luck went our way not theirs this time—that’s football,” he said.
This is the first time since 1970, when Uruguay took the World Cup home, that the team has been able to qualify to quarter-finals.
Uruguay will meet Ghana who beat the USA 2-1 in extra time.
Soccer is a cruel game sometimes
Ghana fans celebrates - Photo 2010 FWCLOC
US football star, Landon Donovan expressed better than anyone what the US squad was feeling after being eliminated by Ghana: “We were a little naive tonight and at this level you can’t do that which is frustrating considering all the work we have done. I’m proud of what I have done and proud of what the team has done. Soccer is a cruel game sometimes. One minute you are on top of the world and the next minute you are bottom of the mountain,” he said.
USA coach, Bob Bradley said his team had gone down once too many times. “There was some chances for us but early in the overtime we went down again, and at that point, with everything we had put in physically we just didn’t have enough after that. At the moment it is just a stinging tough defeat.”
After beating the US Asamoah Gyan who helped Ghana to qualify to quarter-finals said he’s the “happiest man in the world.” Gyan said Ghana’s brings pride not only to his country but to “the whole of Africa.”
Follow GenevaLunch’s daily recap of the 2010 World Cup.
International sports, 2010 Football World Cup
The party is on for Africa - Photo 2010 Fifa World Cup LOC
[Video]Tshwane/Pretoria, South Africa (GenevaLunch) – The Ghana Black Stars recorded the first victory for the host continent with a 1-0 win over Serbia, to the delight of the vuvuzela tooting crowd. In fact the Serbian team helped in their own destruction by first having a player sent off and then conceding a stupid penalty.
England goalkeeper Robert Green was equally generous in donating a goal to allow the USA to draw 1-1. (See reaction of Glen Johnson below)
South Africa looked like they might win the opening game but conceded an equalizer to Mexico to end 1-1.
Germany and Argentina look the form teams from the first few days: the Germans thumped Australia 4-0 while Argentina beat Nigeria 1-0.
South Korea beat a disappointing Greek side 2-0.
France were held to a 0-0 draw by Uruguay in one of the dullest games.
Switzerland have a tough opening match against Spain on Wednesday afternoon.
Follow GenevaLunch’s daily recap of the 2010 World Cup.
Video: Glen Johnson reacts to USA draw
Luanda, Angola (GenevaLunch) – The match was off to a slow start and the score remained low, but in the end what mattered was the one goal that gave Egypt a 1-0 win over Ghana for the title of the Africa Cup of Nations.It is the seventh time Egypt has taken the title, and it is the first time in any major football tournament that a team has won three successive titles. The winning goal came only five minutes before the end of an otherwise unexciting match, with substitute Mohamed Nagui coming “almost out of nowhere”, reports allAfrica, which notes that it was his fifth goal of the tournament, making him the top scorer despite not starting in a single game.
Links to other sites: allAfrica photo essay, BBC photos, GhanaWeb
The world food security conference in Rome, Italy closed 18 November with promises to invest more in agriculture and “to eradicate hunger at the earliest date”, according to the Food and Agricultural Organization (FAO), which hosted the three-day event. FAO Director-General Jacques Diouf expressed his disappointment at the lack of measurable targets and specific deadlines.
UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon said that each day 17,000 children die of hunger in the world. He urged immediate action on long-term remedies to hunger in the world, noting that there was enough food in the world for everybody.
The Minister for Food and Agriculture of Ghana, Kwesi Ahwoi, reminded the conference that the last food security summit in 1996 had pledged to cut the world’s hungry by half, to 420 million by 2015. The conference was told that more than one billion people go to bed hungry every night.
Links to other sites:FAO media site, Ghana Broadcasting Corporation, Guide2.co.nz
Zurich, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) – Nineteen countries have now secured their places in the Fifa World Cup finals to be held in South Africa in 2010 after the penultimate games in the qualification series. In the African group Ghana and Cote d’Ivoire are through and six places are up for grabs. Australia, Japan and the two Koreas take the Asian places with one more team entering a playoff with New Zealand. Seven of the 13 European places are decided:
Basel, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) - Switzerland moved to the top of its qualifying group for the 2010 Fifa World Cup with a 2-0 win over Greece in their match. The Swiss scored two goals in the final 10 minutes after playing much of the game with an extra man as Vyntra was sent off for receiving two yellow cards.
[includes AllAfrica video, world media coverage] Geneva, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) - Africa is back on the world media map for more than poverty and wars: US President Barack Obama’s speech Saturday 11 July in Accra, Ghana, sparked widespread interest, nowhere more than in Africa itself.
Updated 10 April 13:10 London, England and Switzerland (GenevaLunch) - Mars has become the latest chocolate maker to go green with its products, making a commitment ” to spend tens of millions of dollars annually certifying that the cocoa used in the $10bn of chocolate products it sells every year is sustainably sourced by 2020,” reports the Financial Times. Mars claims to be the world’s largest end-user of chocolate. The company joins Cadbury (whose European head office is in Rolle, Vaud, Switzerland), the largest chewing gum and sweets maker in the world, which has a significant chocolate business. Cadbury announced in March that it would increase direct Fair Trade buying from farmers, spending £45 million in the next 10 years to “to secure the sustainable socio-economic future of cocoa farming in Ghana, India, Indonesia and the Caribbean where the cocoa farming industry is facing increasing challenges.”
Bern, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) – Switzerland will give CHF27 million in aid to Ghana, which it cites as an exemplary sub-Saharan African country in terms of political and economic development.
