GE Partners Amref Health to Strengthen Maternal Healthcare Systems in Africa

...to reach 3.5 million expectant women, mothers and new-borns

Rebecca Ejifoma

GE Healthcare and Amref Health Africa today announced a framework agreement that aims to develop a range of in-country health care service collaborations across reproductive, maternal, newborn and child health, non-communicable diseases, water, sanitation and hygiene and safe surgery.

With plans of 20 programmes, from 13 currently, GE aims to reach 3.5 million expectant women, mothers and new-borns and train over 3,000 primary healthcare workers by 2020, together with partners including Amref.

Police Arrests Woman for Injuries on Maid with Heated Iron, Hot Water as Punishment

Rebecca Ejifoma

     

The Commissioner of Police, Lagos State, CP Imohimi Edgal, has ordered for the arrest of one Nkeiruka Ngwu for mentally and physically inflicting grievous wounds on her 10 year old housemaid using heated iron and hot water.

36 years old Nkeiruka of 47 Ogundana Street, Allen Avenue Ikeja, met her water loo on Wednesday March 7 this year after she allegedly used a well-heated clothes iron to cause grievous injury on  the victim's hands and legs. Also, she was accused of  pouring hot water on little Chioma which scalded her skin.

In a media release the Police Public Relations Officer, Lagos State Police Command, SP Chike Oti, issued on March 10, concerned mothers who saw the injuries on the child called the CP's attention after a previous warning to the suspect.

ERA/FoEN Urges FG to Enforce Single Stick Ban of Cigarette

Rebecca Ejifoma

The Environmental Rights Action/Friends of the Earth Nigeria (ERA/FoEN) has called on the federal government to immediately commence enforcement of the ban on sale of cigarettes in single sticks following a new Africa-wide report which shows that sale in single sticks is a tactic by tobacco corporations to reach kids because of their ready availability and cheapness.

The report, Sale of Single Sticks of Cigarettes in Africa, released in Cape Town, South Africa on Wednesday March 7 this year by the Africa Tobacco Control Alliance (ATCA), identified the British American Tobacco (BAT), Philip Morris International (PMI), and Imperial Brands as the main perpetrators of the practice in 10 African countries surveyed.

African Women Take Lead to End FGM, Child Marriage with Big Sister Movement

Rebecca Ejifoma

With statistics showing that 6000 girls in Africa are mutilated daily, 200 million women living with the effects of Female Genital Mutilation and Child Marriage (FGM/C) and 30 million girls at risk over the next decades, African women take the lead to end these harmful aged practices in the continent through the strategic launch of the Big Sister Movement.

The BIG SISTER MOVEMENT (BSM) is the largest grassroots coalition of Local Non-Governmental Organisations (NGOs) led by women survivors of FGM/C’s from The Gambia, Sierra Leone, Nigeria, Kenya and Somalia. It aims to give back the testimonies and scope of actions to survivors, to enable them to tell their own stories, advocate and find grassroots solutions to the issue of FGM/C in Africa.

UCLG Africa Celebrates Women, Advocates for Gender Equality

There are issues we should all be ashamed of. Think of your mother, sister or daughter being harassed by someone in the workplace, school, public space, public transport, or simply in the street. Unfortunately, this happens time and again on our continent, and the horrific statistics of women that lose their lives after being beaten by their husbands; women who are badly wounded following a dispute with parents or relatives; not to mention the many migrant women that suffer all kinds of humiliations including rape, human trafficking, and other undignified treatment.

In a media release the Secretary General - (UCLG) United Cities and Local Governments of Africa (UCLG Africa), Jean Pierre Elong Mbassi - issued, the United Nations has set, ‘Time is Now: Rural and urban activists transforming women’s lives', as the theme for the 2018 International Woman Day observed March 8 annually. It compels all everyone not to turn a blind eye on, and be deaf to such unacceptable situations of violence against women.

Merck Foundation Partners First Lady of Niger in Launch of Mark Foundation

Rebecca Ejifoma

Prof. Frank Stangenberg-Haverkamp, Chairman of the Executive
Board of E.Merck KG and the Chairman of Merck Foundation
 Board of Trustees, Her Excellency, the First Lady of
Niger, H.E. Mrs. Aissata Issoufou Mahamadou
and Dr. Rasha Kelej, CEO of Merck Foundation

Merck has launched its Foundation in Niger in partnership with the First Lady of Niger and their Ministry of Health builds healthcare capacity  in the country with special focus on cancer, diabetes and infertility.

During the launch, Merck Foundation, a non-profit organisation and a subsidiary of Merck KGaA Germany, marked ‘International women’s Day’ in Niger to empower infertile women through ‘Merck More Than a Mother' campaign.

The Chairman of the Executive Board of E.Merck KG and Chairman of Merck Foundation Board of Trustees, Prof. Frank Stangenberg-Haverkamp, said: “We are very proud to launch our Merck Foundation in partnership with the First Lady of Niger and Ministry of Health to build healthcare capacity, improve access to Cancer and Diabetes care and to empower infertile women in the country.”

African Development Bank Governors: Africa’s Population Explosion is a Ticking Time Bomb

Rebecca Ejifoma

Following projection that Africa will have over 840 million youths by 2050 with the continent having the youngest population on earth, the African Development Bank and its East and North African Governors have stressed the need for urgent measures to match the continent’s growing population and youth unemployment, which they likened to a “ticking time bomb”.

This was disclosed at the end of a two-day consultation at the headquarters of the Bank in Abidjan, Côte d’Ivoire, where the Bank and the Governors discussed strategies for closing Africa’s $170 billion infrastructure investment gap.
President of the African Development Bank, Mr. Akinwumi Adesina expressed: “ The good news is that the solution is within our reach and will require investments.