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Malawi’s Army Chief Tells Politicians Not to Interfere in Military Affairs

BLANTYRE, MALAWI — The commander of Malawi’s army has criticized what he says is interference from government officials into the affairs of the military. General Vincent Nundwe says this could incite anarchy and should stop.

Nundwe expressed the concern Saturday during a televised parade of newly commissioned military officers at the Malawi Armed Forces College in Salima district.

At the gathering, which President Lazarus Chakwera also attended as commander-In chief of the defense force, Nundwe said the military has long been receiving instructions from government authorities to promote some officers.

“Letters have been coming from the office of the president and Cabinet, addressed to the army commander, instructing him to promote some officers. We can’t accept that. We issue promotions to military officers ourselves,” he said.

Nundwe said such tendencies violate military etiquette and can cause conflict.

“We don’t want conflicts in Malawi. If you have time, use that energy for something productive, not bringing conflict into the military, no. I have already given an example about Ethiopia, where military officers are fighting one another. I can’t accept that,” he said.

Nundwe also voiced concern about some military officers lobbying for higher positions through politicians.

“If you are a military officer, there is a Command Element here which recommends you to the Defense Council if you are worth [a] promotion. You do not go and lobby from a politician as if you are working with politicians. So, to you politicians, if such officers approach you, please desist from engaging them,” Nundwe said.

In March of last year, Nundwe himself became a victim of political interference when then-President Peter Mutharika fired him as army commander for allegedly allowing the military to protect demonstrators protesting the results of the 2019 presidential elections.

Incumbent President Chakwera reinstated Nundwe in September 2020, after Chakwera defeated Mutharika during the rerun of presidential elections three months earlier, saying the aim was to restore justice to the operations of the Malawi Defense Force.

But Nundwe said Saturday that the Malawi Defense Force is an institution governed by the law and is supposed to serve all people in the country without interference.

In his remarks, Chakwera said his administration will ensure that soldiers receive the necessary support to enable them to deliver on their mandate without any political influence.

“All I expect from you is to stay true to your mandate, stay true to our nation’s citizens, stay true to our nation’s Constitution, and stay true our nation’s flag. I know that doing so involves giving up so much more than we can ever repay,” he said.

Chakwera told military officers that they should know that they are the pride of Malawi.

Source: Voice of America

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Mass Anti-Coup Protests in Sudan Mark Uprising Anniversary

CAIRO — Sudanese took to the streets in the capital of Khartoum and elsewhere across the country for mass protests Sunday against an October military takeover and a subsequent deal that reinstated Prime Minister Abdalla Hamdok but sidelined the movement.

The demonstrations mark the third anniversary of the uprising that eventually forced the military removal of longtime autocrat Omar al-Bashir and his Islamist government in April 2019.

Sudan then followed a fragile path toward democracy and ruled by a joint military-civilian government. The October 25 coup has rattled the transition and led to relentless street protests.

Video footage circulated online purported to show tens of thousands protesters marching in the streets of Khartoum and its twin city of Omdurman on Sunday. Protesters were seen waving the Sudanese flag and white ones with printed images of those killed in the uprising and ensuing protests.

Ahead of the demonstrations, Sudan’s authorities tightened security across the capital, barricading government and military buildings to prevent protesters from reaching the military’s headquarters and the presidential palace. They also blocked major roads and bridges linking Khartoum and Omdurman across the Nile River.

Security forces used tear gas to disperse protesters headed toward the palace on the bank of the Blue Nile in the heart of Khartoum, according to activist Nazim Sirag. The Sudan Doctors Committee said some protesters were injured, but didn’t provide a tally.

Activists described chaotic scenes, with many protesters rushing to side streets from the tear gas. Later, footage showed protesters at one of the palace’s gates chanting: “The people want the downfall of the regime” — a slogan heard in the Arab Spring uprisings that began in late 2010. Those movements forced the removal of leaders in Tunisia, Egypt, Libya and Yemen.

The Sudanese Professionals’ Association, which spearheaded the uprising against al-Bashir, called on protesters to gather outside the palace and block roads with make-shift barricades.

There were also protests in elsewhere in the country, such as the coastal city of Port Sudan and the northern city of Atbara, the birthplace of the uprising against al-Bashir.

The protests were called by the pro-democracy movement that led the uprising against al-Bashir and stuck a power-sharing deal with the generals in the months that followed his ouster.

Relations between the generals and the civilians in the transitional government were shaky and capped by the military’s Oct. 25 takeover that removed Hamdok’s government.

Hamdok was reinstated last month amid international pressure in a deal that calls for an independent technocratic Cabinet under military oversight led by him. The agreement included the release of government officials and politicians detained since the coup.

Talks are underway to agree on what Gen. Abdel-Fattah Burhan, head of the ruling Sovereign Council, described as a “new political charter” focused on establishing a broader consensus among all political forces and movements.

Addressing Sudanese late Saturday ahead of the protests, Hamdok said he stuck the Nov. 21 deal with the military mainly to prevent bloodshed. He warned that the country could slide further into chaos amid uphill economic and security challenges.

“Today, we are facing a retreat in the path of our revolution that threatens the country’s security and integrity,” Hamdok said, adding that the agreement was meant to preserve achievements his government made in the past two years, and to “protect our nation from sliding to a new international isolation.”

“The deal, in my view, is the most effective and inexpensive means to return to the course of civic and democratic transition,” he said.

Hamdok urged political parties and movements to agree on a “national charter” to complete the democratic transition and achieve peace with rebel groups.

The pro-democracy movement has meanwhile insisted that power be handed over to a civilian government to lead the transition. Their relentless protests follow the slogan: “No negotiations, no compromise, no power-sharing” with the military.

The list of demands also includes restructuring the military and other security agencies under civilian oversight and disbanding militias. One is the Rapid Support Forces, a paramilitary force that grew out of janjaweed militias and is accused of atrocities during the Darfur conflict and most recently against pro-democracy protesters.

Sunday’s protests have “unified all revolutionary forces behind a single demand: handing over power to civilians,” said Mohammed Yousef al-Mustafa, a spokesman for the Sudanese Professionals’ Association.

“Prime Minister Hamdok must declare a clear position and choose whether to join the people or continue siding with the generals,” he told The Associated Press.

The continued protests since the coup have increased pressure on the military and Hamdok, who has yet to announce his Cabinet.

Security forces used violence, including firing live ammunition at protesters, in the past round of demonstrations, according to activists. At least 45 people were killed and hundreds wounded in protests triggered by the coup, according to a tally by a Sudanese medical group.

Source: voice of America

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Saudi-Led Airstrike Kills Seven Houthis In Yemen’s Taiz

ADEN, Yemen, A total of seven members of the Houthi group were killed in an airstrike, launched by the Saudi Arabia-led coalition, in Yemen’s south-western province of Taiz yesterday, a local military source said.

“Warplanes of the Saudi Arabia-led coalition bombed a convoy of the Houthi rebel militia, when the convoy was travelling in the western parts of Taiz,” a military official said, on condition of anonymity.

The airstrike destroyed two vehicles belonging to the rebel group and killed seven of its members, in Taiz’s district of Maqbanah, he said.

The Saudi-led coalition has made no comment yet, while it has recently intensified airstrikes on various Houthi-held sites, across the war-ravaged Arab country.

Yemen has been mired in a civil war since late 2014, when the Houthi militia seized control of several northern provinces and forced the internationally-recognised government of President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi out of the capital, Sanaa.

The Saudi-led Arab coalition intervened in the Yemeni conflict in Mar, 2015, to support Hadi’s government.

Source: Nam News Network

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UNHCR Ethiopia Fact Sheet, November 2021

Ethiopia is the third-largest refugee-hosting country in Africa, sheltering 817,068 registered refugees and asylum-seekers as of 30 November 2021. The overwhelming majority originate from South Sudan, Somalia and Eritrea.

10,892 refugees have received COVID-19 vaccines, including 6,152 fully vaccinated. UNHCR, the Refugees and Returnees Service (RRS) and partners, continue to reinforce prevention measures in refugee camps and sites hosting Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs).

UNHCR continues to respond to the situation of Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) in Ethiopia, leading and co-leading the Protection and Camp Coordination & Camp Management (CCCM) Clusters and providing protection, emergency aid and other support to IDPs and IDP returnees.

Working with Partners

UNHCR’s main government counterpart in the refugee response in Ethiopia is the Government’s Refugees and Returnees Service (RRS). UNHCR works closely with 57 humanitarian and development organizations, managing the ‘Ethiopia Country Refugee Response Plan (ECRRP) 2020-2021’. The ECRRP seeks to consolidate a collective multi-partner response in support of the refugees in the country. UNHCR is also part of the “Humanitarian Country Team”, where various programmes are discussed strategically to ensure that the refugees’ needs are effectively addressed across the UN System. UNHCR builds on well-established coordination fora, including the inter-sector Refugee Coordination Group, consisting of national and regional sectorial working groups, coordinating sectorspecific responses. To foster refugee inclusion in national services and economic activities, in line with Ethiopia’s commitment within the Global Compact on Refugees (GCR), UNHCR is strengthening partnerships with Ethiopian line Ministries, regional and local authorities, development partners and the private sector. As part of the Inter-Agency Standing Committee (IASC) cluster system for Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) at national and sub-regional level, UNHCR is leading and co-leading the Protection, Camp Coordination & Camp Management (CCCM) and Emergency Shelter & Non-Food Items (ES/NFI) Clusters.

Source: UN High Commissioner for Refugees

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Omicron Variant May Sideline 2 Leading Anti-COVID Drugs

WASHINGTON — As strained U.S. hospitals brace for a new surge of COVID-19 cases caused by the fast-spreading omicron variant, doctors are warning of yet another challenge: the two standard drugs they’ve used to fight infections are unlikely to work against the new strain.

For more than a year antibody drugs from Regeneron and Eli Lilly have been the go-to treatments for early COVID-19, thanks to their ability to head off severe disease and keep patients out of the hospital.

But both drugmakers recently warned that laboratory testing suggests their therapies will be much less potent against omicron, which contains dozens of mutations that make it harder for antibodies to attack the virus. And while the companies say they can quickly develop new omicron-targeting antibodies, those aren’t expected to launch for at least several months.

A third antibody from British drugmaker GlaxoSmithKline appears to be the best positioned to fight omicron. But Glaxo’s drug is not widely available in the U.S., accounting for a small portion of the millions of doses purchased and distributed by the federal government. U.S. health officials are now rationing scarce drug supplies to states.

“I think there’s going to be a shortage,” said Dr. Jonathan Li, director of the Harvard/Brigham Virology Specialty Laboratory. “We’re down to one FDA-authorized monoclonal antibody” with omicron because of the reduced effectiveness of Regeneron and Lilly’s drugs.

The delta variant still accounts for more than 95% of estimated U.S. cases, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. But agency leaders say omicron is spreading faster than any past variant and will become the dominant strain nationwide within weeks.

Delivered by injection or infusion, antibodies are laboratory-made versions of human proteins that help the immune system fight off viruses and other infections.

Glaxo’s drug, developed with Vir Biotechnology, was specifically formulated to bind to a part of the virus that is less likely to mutate, according to the companies. Early studies of laboratory-simulated omicron by the drugmakers and outside researchers show promising results.

Supply of the drug is “extremely limited, and additional doses of the product will not be available until the week of January 3rd,” the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services said in a statement posted online.

After pausing distribution last month to conserve supply, HHS is now shipping 55,000 doses of the drug, called sotrovimab, to state health departments, with the doses arriving as early as Tuesday. An additional 300,000 are expected in January.

The agency said it is distributing the drug to states based on their levels of infections and hospitalizations.

HHS recommends states conserve the drug for the highest risk patients who are most likely to have omicron infections, either based on laboratory testing that can identify the variant or elevated levels of omicron spread in local communities, identified as 20% and higher.

High-risk patients include seniors and those with serious health problems, such as obesity, heart disease, diabetes and immune-system disorders.

Prior to the pause in shipments, Glaxo’s drug accounted for about 10% of the 1.8 million antibody doses distributed to state health officials between mid-September and late November, according to federal figures.

London-based Glaxo says it is on track to produce 2 million doses by May, under contracts with the U.S., Canada, the U.K., Japan and several other countries. The company is working to add more manufacturing capacity next year.

The loss of two leading antibody therapies puts even more focus on a pair of highly anticipated antiviral pills that U.S. regulators are expected to soon authorize.

The drugs from Pfizer and Merck would be the first treatments Americans can take at home to head off severe disease. Pfizer’s drug in particular has shown a powerful effect, curbing hospitalizations and deaths by nearly 90% in high-risk patients.

“If it’s rolled out effectively this has a real big potential,” to make up for antibody treatments, said Andrew Pekosz, a virologist at Johns Hopkins University. “That’s an immediate place where these antivirals could minimize the impact of omicron.”

Still, initial supplies of both drugs are expected to be limited.

The shrinking toolbox of treatments is a painful reminder that the virus still has the upper hand in the U.S., even with more than 200 million Americans fully vaccinated.

Scientists around the world are racing to understand omicron, including whether it causes more or less severe disease and how easily it evades protection from prior infection, vaccination, and antibody drugs.

“We’re certainly going to see hospitalizations rise,” said Dr. James Cutrell of the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center. “If we have a lack of antibodies that’s certainly going to contribute to that many more patients needing to be in the hospital.”

Source: Voice of America

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Verstappen crowned F1 champion after Mercedes drop appeal

London, Mercedes will not appeal the outcome of last Sunday’s season-ending Abu Dhabi Grand Prix and Red Bull’s Max Verstappen is Formula One world champion, the team said in a statement on Thursday.

Verstappen, 24, took the title after overtaking Mercedes’ seven-time world champion Lewis Hamilton on the last lap of the race following a safety car period. The Dutch driver will collect his trophy in Paris on Thursday, Reuters said.

Source: Bahrain News Agency

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UN says hunger on the rise in the Arab world; Somalia and Yemen worst-affected countries

ROME, A third of people in the 420-million-strong Arab world do not have enough to eat, the United Nations said, highlighting that 69 million suffered from malnutrition last year.

In a report, the world body’s Food and Agriculture Organization said that between 2019 and 2020, the number of malnourished in the Arab world rose by 4.8 million people to 69 million, nearly 16 percent of the population.

“The increase in the levels of undernourishment has occurred across all income levels, in conflict-affected as well as non-conflict countries,” the FAO said.

“In addition, nearly 141 million people did not have access to adequate food in 2020 — an increase of more than 10 million people since 2019.”

It said the Covid-19 pandemic “brought another major shock”, with the number of undernourished people in the region increasing by 4.8 million compared with 2019.

Conflict-hit Somalia and Yemen remained the worst-affected countries last year, with nearly 60 percent of Somalis going hungry and more than 45 percent of Yemenis undernourished.

“Yemen had the highest prevalence of anaemia in 2020, affecting 61.5 percent of women of reproductive age,” it said.

The FAO said hunger has increased by 91.1 percent in the Arab world over the past two decades.

“Rates of stunting (20.5 percent) and overweight (10.7 percent) among children under five years of age were high in 2020,” the FAO noted.

It said adult obesity, especially in the richer Arab states, was also on the rise.

“The latest year estimate for the Arab region shows that 28.8 percent of the adult population was obese, i.e. more than double the global average of 13.1 percent.

“High-income countries exhibited the highest prevalence of adult obesity in the region whereas the low-income countries had the lowest levels.”

Source: Nam News Network

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US State Department: Terrorism Still a ‘Pervasive Threat Worldwide’

WASHINGTON — Terrorist groups remained “a persistent and pervasive threat worldwide” through last year, the U.S. State Department concluded in a new assessment on Thursday.

“The United States and its partners made significant major strides against terrorist organizations,” the report concluded about Western anti-terrorism efforts through the end of 2020, the last year of former President Donald Trump’s White House tenure. However, it said “the terrorism threat has become more geographically dispersed in regions around the world.”

The report said that although the Islamic State terrorist group lost all the territory it had seized in Iraq and Syria, “the organization and its branches continued to mount a worldwide terrorism campaign, carrying out deadly attacks globally,” killing more people in 2020 than in any previous year.

The report said that al-Qaida and its affiliates faced the “significant” loss of two key leaders, yet their networks “continued to exploit under-governed spaces, conflict zones, and security gaps in the Middle East to acquire terrorist resources and conduct terrorist attacks.”

The State Department concluded that al-Qaida “bolstered its presence abroad, particularly in the Middle East and Africa, where affiliates AQAP, al-Shabab in the Horn of Africa, and Jama’at Nasr al-Islam wal Muslimin in the Sahel remain among the most active and dangerous terrorist groups in the world.”

In addition, it said, “Iran continued to support acts of terrorism regionally and globally during 2020. Regionally, Iran supported proxies and partner groups in Bahrain, Iraq, Lebanon, Syria, and Yemen, including Hezbollah and Hamas.”

The report said senior al-Qaida officials “continued to reside in Iran and facilitate terrorist operations from there. Globally, the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps-Qods Force remained the primary Iranian actors involved in supporting terrorist recruitment, financing, and plots across Europe, Africa, and Asia, and both Americas.”

The State Department report said the global COVID-19 pandemic “complicated the terrorist landscape, creating both challenges and opportunities for terrorist groups. While the pandemic disrupted terrorist travel, financing, and operations, terrorist groups adapted their approaches and appeals, using the internet to continue radicalizing others to violence and inspiring attacks worldwide.”

The Islamic State “exploited the crisis to reinforce violent extremist narratives, proclaiming to followers that the virus was ‘God’s wrath upon the West,’” the report concluded.

Despite the ongoing terrorist threat, the report said the U.S. “continued to play a major role” in prosecuting IS foreign terrorist fighters and in marshaling allied countries to fight global terrorism.

It said that to ensure that Islamic State fighters captured by the Syrian Democratic Forces never return to the battlefield, “the United States continued to lead by example in bringing back its citizens and prosecuting them when appropriate,” including 10 charged with an array of terrorism-related crimes.

Source: Voice of America

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Why SNOMED CT? New platform presents a refreshed case for investing in the comprehensive clinical terminology

SNOMED International released today its refreshed SNOMED CT Case for Investment report.

London, United Kingdom, Dec. 16, 2021 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — SNOMED International released today its refreshed SNOMED CT Case for Investment report. Available on a new interactive platform, the Case for Investment presents evidence that SNOMED CT adds measurable value to a broad range of primary and secondary health processes leveraging SNOMED CT encoded data to enable improved patient outcomes. Through the narrative, the report provides accessible and understandable answers to questions such as, “what is SNOMED CT?”, ‘what makes SNOMED CT unique?’, “how and where is it in use globally?” and “why invest in SNOMED CT?”

SNOMED CT, the most comprehensive and multilingual clinical healthcare terminology in the world, possesses unique characteristics that differentiate it from other classifications and terminologies. Among these characteristics are SNOMED CT’s position as a core reference terminology, its clinically comprehensive 350,000+ concepts supported by a machine-readable semantic network, broad use and mandate in select countries.

Showcasing real world use and outcomes of SNOMED CT is the best way to demonstrate its value, understanding that SNOMED CT must be embedded in a clinical information system, health data & analytics platform or an interoperability solution for it to function. Through the Case for Investment, 10 examples of SNOMED CT use across data entry and integration, clinical information sharing, point of care analytics, population and management analytics and research domains have been featured. Ranging across different countries such as Australia, Canada, China, United Kingdom, United States, continued collection of additional SNOMED CT case studies remains an ongoing priority.

SNOMED International CEO, Don Sweete, commented on the development and outcomes of the Case for Investment. “There has been a tremendous evolution in SNOMED CT over the past 10 years and this report demonstrates the value that it offers healthcare systems and stakeholders worldwide” said Sweete. “With a complement of 41 Members that represent health systems globally, continuously refreshed knowledge and analysis on the nature, utility and value of standards like SNOMED CT can’t be overstated. Health system decision-makers need to be equipped with clear knowledge of how their investments in SNOMED CT translate into positive outcomes for the health of their nation’s citizens.”

In terms of conclusions, the report presents SNOMED CT as a scalable and “fit for purpose” clinical terminology, adhering to international criteria, data quality and suitability requirements. A part of the bigger picture, SNOMED CT is one of many contributing factors to improving patient outcomes, and studies show that the use of SNOMED CT-embedded systems can provide significant qualitative and quantitative patient outcome benefits.

Looking forward, SNOMED CT must also contemplate how it enables the future needs of medicine and research. A healthcare industry that is ever evolving, the future opportunities for SNOMED CT will be driven by new healthcare data sources and new healthcare technologies such as national cohorts, big data and AI, clinical genomics, phenomics and environment, etc.

Experience the breadth of the SNOMED CT Case for Investment through the organization’s interactive value platform at value.snomed.org.

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Kelly Kuru
SNOMED International
comms@snomed.org