Three people have lost their lives in what is now a confirmed outbreak of yellow fever in the midwestern and northwestern parts of Uganda. At a joint World Health Organization (WHO) and Ministry of Health press conference on Friday, held at the Ministry of Health headquarters in Kampala, Health Minister Dr Jane Ruth Aceng said that laboratory tests confirmed the four reported cases from the districts of Moyo and Buliisa.

According to Dr. Aceng, two adult men aged 18 and 21, succumbed to the deadly virus in the north western district of Moyo earlier in January. The two were timber dealers, plying their trade between Uganda and neighbouring South Sudan. A third male victim, a 37-year-old cattle keeper, died last November in the mid-western district of Buliisa. The cattle keeper’s wife also tested positive for the yellow fever virus on 22nd January.

In trying to tackle the spread of the disease, the ministry in conjunction with the World Health Organization have dispatched rapid response teams to the affected districts to conduct investigative and containment measures. Uganda’s Ministry of Health also intends to deploy vaccination drives in the affected areas of the country.

“The ministry has requested for yellow fever vaccines from the International Coordination Group, that manages the global stock piles of yellow fever and meningitis vaccines. We anticipate that within the next two weeks, vaccines will be available and vaccinations will commence in Moyo and Buliisa districts,” Dr. Aceng said.

Directives to curb the spread include mandatory vaccinations for all travellers in and out of the country to minimise the risk of cross-border infections. The population have also been advised to sleep under a mosquito net and report any suspected cases to the nearest health facility.

The East African nation has grappled with a number of disease outbreaks in in recent years; these include Zika virus, yellow fever and ebola.

Ravenous swarms of desert locusts in Ethiopia, Kenya and Somalia, already unprecedented in their size and destructive potential, threaten to ravage the entire East Africa subregion, the UN warned Monday.

Recent weather in the region has created conditions that favour rapid reproduction of the crop-devouring insects. Left unchecked, their numbers could grow 500 times by June, the UN’s Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) said.
“The speed of the pest’s spread and the size of the infestations are so far beyond the norm that they have stretched the capacities of local and national authorities to the limit,” the Rome-based agency said.

FAO head Qu Dongyu said the swarms threaten “the food security of the entire subregion”, adding that FAO has activated a “fast-track mechanism… to support governments in mounting a collective campaign to deal with this crisis”.

Efforts to control the voracious pests are already under way in the region, but financial donations from the international community for the emergency response are vital “in view of the scale and urgency of the threat”, he said.

Swarms potentially containing hundreds of millions of individual desert locusts can move 150 kilometres (90 miles) a day, devastating rural livelihoods in their relentless drive to eat and reproduce, FAO said.
It said it needed $70 million (63 million euros) for urgent pest control and to help those whose livelihoods have been destroyed.

Locusts continue to pour into Kenya from Ethiopia and Somalia and are rapidly spreading to the centre of the country. While the government has deployed aircraft and handheld spraying capabilities across the country, the locust invasion continues to spread across more counties.

In Ethiopia, the insects are moving steadily south towards the Rift Valley, the country’s breadbasket, the agency said.
“Ethiopia and Somalia have not seen desert locust swarms of this scale in 25 years, while Kenya has not faced a locust threat of this magnitude in 70 years,” FAO said. It said that while South Sudan and Uganda are not currently affected, they are at risk.

FAO said it was providing forecasts, early warning and alerts on the timing, scale and location of locust invasions. It warned in particular of substantial locust breeding activity in India, Iran and Pakistan as well as Egypt, Eritrea, Saudi Arabia, Sudan and Yemen.

At the heart of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (1948) and many other human rights conventions is education as a fundamental human right. 

Yet owing to socio-cultural, religious and economic factors, millions of children and adults are unable to explore educational opportunities. 

Education in itself is the most strategic tool to lift marginalised populations out of poverty and meeting all the Sustainable Development Goals. 

As the world marks the International Day of Education today (24 January), which was declared by the United Nations General Assembly in 2018, we call on governments of African nations to commit more politically into education, drive inclusiveness by deploying education for peace and development.  

When children are denied their right to Education, their community is deprived of a sustainable future. This is why education is the most essential vehicle for driving substantial progress in health, economic growth and innovation which invariably offers a more environmentally resilient society.

Damning global figures show worsening inequalities between rich and poor families, between boys and girls and between rural and urban areas – over 600 million children and adolescents unable to read and do basic numeracy; three out of five girls in sub-Saharan Africa are unable to complete junior secondary school and some four million children and youth refugees are on the loose – out of school, roaming. 

Aside from being a fundamental right and tool for public good, education and relearning are humanity’s greatest renewable resource.

Malnutrition and food insecurity are products of poverty and inequitable distribution of opportunities, but it also suggests inadequate knowledge of nutritional facts and production methods.

Hungry children will not go to school. Children with failing health will not go to school. When they do, their performance is easily impaired by ill-health and poor nutrition.  Hunger-poverty-malnutrition-lower life prospects-joblessness-poverty. And the cycle carries on!

Through basic and relevant education, marginalised people learn more about health. They are better able to protect themselves and their children against diseases. Wellness among children improves if their parents have had quality education. Increased access to education can reduce troubled learning and contribute to reducing poverty.  

These educational poverty gaps between genders, the disconnect between the rich and poor families, and disparities between rural and urban areas are best closed by measured investment in social progress and human capital through education.    

Learning can empower people, preserve the planet, boost shared prosperity and foster peace. Africa’s education strategy must align with the Global Education 2030 Programme. 

To root Africa firmly within the core of the global knowledge economy, we need a paradigm shift towards functional education and training systems to meet the skills, innovation, creativity and competencies required to promote sustainable development.