Dr Neeraj Mistry, Managing Director, Global Network for Neglected Tropical Diseases/Photo: Agbelessessy/ANA

What targets are envisaged with the adoption of 36 multi-year national NTD control and elimination at the African Union meeting?

This is very, very important because, what it means is that, it’s institutionalized within the country’s national health plan, when each country in Africa has national integrated plan on NTD control. It also means that whereas before, NTDs were addressed by one disease at a time, now it’s moving towards more and integrated control programmes which means that it’s the very same communities that are affected by not just one disease but very often more than one disease, and so we’ve been more efficient in the response by saying when the community health workers go to treat one disease, we also add the drug for the other diseases. This makes the response more comprehensive.

How critical would you say are government leadership and commitment to NTD control and elimination?

That’s the other thing that’s important in having the national plan. If it’s in the national plan for NTD control it also means it gets financed or have the potential to get money from the ministry of finance. And increasingly this is something that we have to see. We have to see national countries, national governments of endemic countries contributing to their own national plans for NTD control. And, unlike HIV and other diseases where the budget is far more expensive and countries need more help the opportunities for countries to co-invest on their national plans for which we want to bring some external donors in the form of the US government and the UK government which are the leading contributors to NTD control.

Experts are of the opinion that we need to focus on interactions, synergies, and challenges of integration of NTD care with management strategies for communicable and non-communicable diseases without eroding the functionality of existing national programmes for NTDs. What’s your view on that?

I think the critical thing that we need to look at is what are the common factors across all these diseases? One, we want to look at what is the biological link between diseases like AIDS, TB, malaria and NTDs as well as some of the NCDs? But the other thing is, the common factor is the communities that are affected and very often the communities that are vulnerable to NTDs, are the ones that are living in the rural areas outside the cities and they are also the communities that are susceptible to other infectious diseases, like AIDS, TB and malaria. And so when we look at the supply chain, the distribution mechanisms, the community health workers etc., that are involved in responding to these diseases, we need to leverage off the common infrastructure to actually make the response more efficient.

Let’s talk about funding. Will you say the need for sustained and increased funding for NTD initiatives is today greater than ever? And are there requirements for increased political and funder commitment?

So, what we certainly have is tremendous progress with very little money in the NTD response. But the opportunity that we have with NTDs is the prospect of eliminating these diseases in the next seven years till 2020 which are based on the global target from the NTD community and the World Health Organization. And this was also re-stated with the London Declaration. And so, the need for funding is critical for a scale-up response when we increase coverage and a typical example is, if we have two African villages with let’s say a river running between it, if we treat one village and not the other, the village that we treated get re-infected from the village that hasn’t been treated. And so, with expanded coverage, of both villages, we can eliminate these diseases and that’s why an injection of additional funding is important to make sure that we actually expand the coverage to reach elimination. If we don’t get an injection of new funding, then we would maintain the level of NTD control that we currently have which will mean that we have to do these programmes for much, much longer. But if we get a new injection of funding, we can accelerate the response, broaden coverage and actually work to elimination.

Did you get the sense at the African Union Health Ministers meeting that governments are prepared to increase funding in their budgetary allocations for NTDs?

I think we’re seeing a new level of political commitment and this has been the call from the Global Network and the African Union Commission to raise the level of awareness of NTDs and to prioritize NTDs on the African health agenda; and now it is left at the country level for the process to work whereby ministries of finance have to work with the ministries of health to actually allocate that funding. But that leadership comes from the highest level, it’s the Heads of States that have to say that NTDs are a priority for their countries.

Regarding the PSA video that was launched recently, has there been any impact in your understanding that the video has helped in raising awareness?

Absolutely, what we saw in a very short period of time since the launch of the PSA video is the number of views of the video online and its well into the four or five hundred thousand range of the number of people that have viewed that. In addition to that we are actually seeing donations coming in from the general public. And these are small donations with people giving $10 or $20 each; but that is an important sign that the general public is actually seeing this as an important issue for us to address and that is the type of message that we actually need to send to the donor governments who are thinking about their development allocations and priorities as well as the endemic country governments to say that this is what the general view is on a disease priority for national development.

About END7

These and other partnerships with groups such as the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, governments, academic institutions, scientists, medical professionals, and non-profit organizations are critical in furthering the development of strategies to reduce human suffering from devastating vaccine preventable and neglected tropical diseases.

Former UN Secretary General, Kofi Annan

The decision was unanimously reached by the Elders at their latest biannual meeting in Ireland this week. Gro Harlem Brundtland, former Prime Minister of Norway, will become Deputy Chair of the organisation.

Archbishop Tutu, who was Chair of The Elders since the group was convened by Nelson Mandela in 2007, had announced his intention to step down. He will remain as an honorary Elder.

The Elders is an independent group of global leaders who work together for peace and human rights. They were brought together in 2007 by Nelson Mandela, who is not an active member of the group but remains an Honorary Elder. The Burmese pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi was also an Honorary Elder, until her election to the Burmese parliament in April 2012.

A statement posted on the group’s website read: “The Elders celebrate the “compassion, ethical leadership and belief in undying hope” that Desmond Tutu has championed, and look ahead to the growth of the organisation under Kofi Annan’s chairmanship.”

Kofi Annan said: “I am honoured and privileged to have been chosen by my fellow Elders to succeed Desmond Tutu as Chair of such a distinguished set of individuals. I am also very grateful that Gro Harlem Brundtland – with whom I’ve worked closely at the UN – has accepted to join me as Deputy Chair.

“Together, our group of Elders possesses a considerable amount of international experience, but to apply this collective knowledge in the most effective way remains daunting. As Desmond Tutu himself often says, we are still ‘learning to Elder’.

“I trust that this young Foundation will continue to grow in its ability to inspire compassion, ethical leadership and a belief in undying hope which Desmond Tutu, throughout his life and as our Chair, has always championed.”

Desmond Tutu said: “As Elders we should always oppose Presidents for Life. After six wonderful years as Chair, I am sad to say that it was time for me to step down. I am looking forward to spending more time with my family.

“I am very fortunate to have become friends, over those years, with some of the world’s outstanding leaders. They are exceptionally generous and magnanimous people. It has been mind-blowing, for a former ghetto urchin like me, to have them sit under my gavel.

“Kofi is a brave, humble and dedicated leader. I have no doubt that he will steer this group to new heights. And with Gro as his deputy, there will truly be no stopping us!”

www.theelders.org

Photo: Sara Dacci/ANA

The visit is the second leg of King Letsie’s two-week long three-nation visit to Austria, Germany and the United Kingdom.

President Gauck and his partner, welcomed their guest on the steps of the Castle. After a group photograph, the King signed the official Guest Book and then proceeded to inspect a guard of honour mounted by detachments of the German Army, the Air Force and the Marines (navy).

The visit to Germany was intended to strengthen the already existing relations between Lesotho and Germany.

Lesotho receives assistance from Germany in areas of education and decentralization of Local Government.
The Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Relations, Mr. Mohlabi Tsekoa told LENA in an interview at Moshoeshoe I International Airport before departure that the His Majesty has been invited by the President of Austria, adding that the purpose is to hold talks pertaining to the relations between the two countries.

He said during the visit His Majesty and Austrian President will also sign an agreement of cooperation in various sectors that include health, agriculture, education and water.

While in Germany, the Minister said Her Majesty the Queen will visit the children’s hospital in that country.

Furthermore, His Majesty will also visit the Oxford University in the United Kingdom where he will deliver a keynote address on the African Renaissance.

Minister Tsekoa said His Majesty’s speech will cover Africa as a whole, highlighting issues of development and economics amongst others.

Their Majesties’ delegation is made up the Ministers of Foreign Affairs, Trade and Tourism who will participate at the investment promotion forum organised by the Lesotho National Development Corporation in Austria.

The Principal Chief of Kueneng and Mapoteng Chief Lesaoana Peete is also part of the delegation.

ANA Diplomatic Correspondent, Berlin
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The fair, 23 – 26 April 2013 expects some 30,000 trade visitors to attend, a third of whom from abroad.
The 50th in the series, the fair, regarded as one of the leading international trade fairs of the water industry is also expected to be attended by representatives of business, science and politics.

The range of topics on the business calendar at the fair includes every part of the value chain, with subjects ranging from drinking water extraction, water supplies and pipeline construction to wastewater disposal and treatment.

Around 800 companies are expected to showcase the latest innovations and technologies in the water industry.

The focus at this year’s fair is the Arab countries – the first time that countries of the region would be hosting a combined display at a European water industry trade fair.

Organizers are convinced that by securing the partnership of the Arab Countries Water Utilities Association (ACWUA), they have ensured the participation of a strong region. It also highlights the international dimension of Wasser Berlin International. Set up in 2006, the association comprised 17 Arab countries.

The region has its own unique requirements in terms of water production, distribution and management. The economic and ecological perspectives are quite different from those in Europe, for example.
Due to its climatic and geographical conditions, the partner region provides opportunities where innovative water supply and water disposal technology has good prospects for the future.

The financial world, demographic change, population growth, climate change and international laws are the factors which currently dictate “our day-to-day business operations”, says organizers of the fair.

Since water represents the global market, it was imperative that water industry companies adjust to “a new order.”

To support this process of adjustment, Wasser Berlin International was organized to “reflect the economic cycle of the water industry and take into account the areas that cross over into neighbouring sectors,” organizers say.

For the first time, there are six Competence Centres which deal with selected main topics. As independent sections their purpose was to provide an in-depth forum for raising issues and finding solutions and discussing the key topics at the fair.

MIM & SD

Durante sete dias, todos os Estados-Membros da OMS na Região Africana – estados insulares, países sem costa marítima e países em regiões costeiras – estarão atarefados na organização de uma série de actividades, incluindo campanhas de vacinação de alto nível e eventos de educação do público e partilha de informação na celebração da terceira edição da Semana Africana da Vacinação.

A cerimónia de lançamento regional será organizada no Uganda, um país que está prestes a introduzir a vacina pneumocócica conjugada no seu calendário nacional de vacinação de rotina para evitar os óbitos de bebés e crianças por pneumonia.

O tema da comemoração da Semana Africana da Vacinação deste ano é “Salve vidas. Previna a Invalidez. Vacine-se.”

“Estamos muito satisfeitos com a elevada e crescente notoriedade da Semana Africana da Vacinação, que representa mais uma oportunidade para vincarmos o poder das vacinas comprovadas que salvam vidas e incentivarmos a vacinação de crianças, adolescentes e adultos contra doenças mortais”, refere o Director Regional da OMS para África, Dr. Luis Sambo.

“Esta parceria, que floresce entre a OMS, governos, parceiros e outras partes interessadas, está a ajudar os países a manterem o compromisso político com a vacinação e a estabelecer alicerces sólidos para uma cultura participativa de prevenção e de promoção da saúde nos Estados-Membros”, acrescentou o Dr. Sambo.

À semelhança das duas edições anteriores da SAV, (em 2011 e 2012), a edição de 2013 irá também ter diversas finalidades: aumentar a sensibilização para o valor da vacinação para salvar vidas; procurar aumentar a cobertura vacinal; alcançar comunidades carenciadas e marginalizadas (sobretudo as que vivem em zonas remotas, zonas urbanas desfavorecidas e zonas devastadas por conflitos com pacotes de intervenções de sobrevivência infantil novos e existente de alto impacto); reforçar os benefícios a médio e longo prazo da vacinação e de outras intervenções de sobrevivência infantil, e ajudar a transformar as vidas de milhões de crianças, dando-lhes a oportunidade de crescerem saudáveis, frequentarem a escola e melhorarem as suas perspectivas de vida.

Outras actividades planeadas por país incluem: concretização de intervenções que salvam vidas (p. ex., introdução de novas vacinas como as vacinas pneumocócica e do rotavírus), suplementação de vitamina A; medicamentos para desparasitação intestinal, distribuição de Mosquiteiros Impregnados com Insecticida de Longa Duração; actividades para ‘recuperar o atraso’, com vacinas de rotina em distritos com baixo desempenho; campanhas contra a poliomielite e o sarampo; e rastreio de crianças que possam não ter sido visadas em oportunidades anteriores e de casos de má-nutrição moderada ou grave.

Os países participantes vão também embarcar em campanhas de mobilização e sensibilização utilizado meios de comunicação tradicionais, modernos e as redes sociais; envolver os líderes religiosos sempre que for pertinente; organizar acções de sensibilização para profissionais da comunicação e profissionais de saúde, entre outros; empreender diálogo comunitário através de debates em painel; reconhecer o trabalho de profissionais de saúde dedicados, através da atribuição de certificados e sensibilizar os supervisores, assim como efectuar visitas de supervisão de apoio aos locais de vacinação. Estas actividades têm um objectivo comum e abrangente: mostrar o poder da vacinação na protecção da saúde pública.

Com a institucionalização da SAV e da dinâmica que esta está a ganhar, as realizações conseguidas durante as duas últimas edições fazem antever maiores êxitos para o futuro. Por exemplo, os registos ao dispor da OMS mostram que, durante a comemoração da Semana nos dois últimos anos, o acesso às vacinas aumentou sobretudo nas comunidades de difícil acesso, com mais de 150 milhões de pessoas vacinadas com a vacina oral da poliomielite em 13 países. Cerca de 1,7 milhões de pessoas foram vacinadas contra o sarampo na Eritreia e nos Camarões.

Convém notar que a Eritreia, que surpreendeu a comunidade internacional de saúde com os seus recentes êxitos em matéria de desenvolvimento sanitário, designou a sua campanha de 2012 como “Semana Nacional da Saúde Infantil, Nutrição e Vacinação” e indicou como um dos seus objectivos a vacinação contra o sarampo de “pelo menos 95% das crianças dos 9 aos 47 meses de idade.” É claro que também os adultos e não apenas as crianças têm a beneficiar com a vacinação, que tem sido descrita em termos globais por peritos de saúde pública como “uma das intervenções de saúde mais custo-eficazes e bem-sucedidas”, que permite evitar entre dois a três milhões de mortes por ano.

“Tanto crianças como idosos só têm a beneficiar com a vacinação”, afirmou o Ministro da Saúde e da Previdência Social da Tanzânia, Dr. Hussein Mwinyi, aos participantes da quarta reunião da Conferência Regional Anual sobre Vacinação, em Dezembro de 2012. “A vacinação é uma componente importante dos sistemas de saúde e uma estratégia fundamental para reduzir a mortalidade infantil, melhorar a saúde materna e combater as doenças. É por esta razão que precisamos trabalhar em conjunto enquanto região para chegar a todas as crianças em África com os serviços de vacinação”, acrescentou o Dr. Mwinyi.

À medida que os Estados-Membros se preparam para comemorar a SAV 2013, o Director Regional da OMS para África, Dr. Luis G. Sambo, manifestou-se esperançoso que através da comemoração anual da Semana Africana da Vacinação, a OMS, os governos e outras partes interessadas venham a contribuir de forma significativa para realizar a visão da Década da Vacinação (2011–2020) de: “um mundo no qual todos os indivíduos e comunidades desfrutam de uma vida livre de doenças evitáveis pela vacinação”.

Exhausted survivors of the Gulf of Aden crossing wait for help on a beach in Yemen/Photo: J. Björgvinsson/UNHCR

Recent years have seen Ethiopians make up the majority of these migrants: Of the 107,000 recorded migrants crossing the Red Sea/Gulf of Aden into Yemen in 2012, around 80,000 were from Ethiopia.

Four irregular migrants with diverse backgrounds, all from Ethiopia, told IRIN about their journeys to Yemen.* While their stories differ in details, they all share a similar set of experiences: brutality, broken promises and extortion.

Marta, mid-30s, from Dire Dawa, eastern Ethiopia:

Marta, mid-30s, from Dire Dawa, eastern Ethiopia/Photo: Casey Coombes/IRIN

“I spent a year and a half in Djibouti, where I gave birth to my daughter. After her father disappeared, we left for Yemen. I paid a broker 10,000 Djiboutian francs [about US$55] to ride in a boat with 15 others from Djibouti to Yemen.

“Our night-time crossing of the Red Sea was calm until the end. As we neared the Yemeni coast, the owner of the boat, who was part of the smuggling operation, threw us into the sea. No one knew how to swim because in Ethiopia, we don’t have a sea, just lakes. The brokers and their thugs were waiting for us as we came ashore. They raped me and the other women. I’m 9 months pregnant with a child from that night.

“When I arrived to Sana’a, I was tired and decided to stay. For seven months, I was a house maid, but now I can’t work because of the pregnancy, so I have no income. [Ethiopian] migrants from the community in Sana’a are supporting me.

“I’m interested in tackling my problems, but at the moment I am pregnant and I am tired. All my money goes to my daughter, so this makes me tired. One day I will win.”

Alima, 18, from Miesso, eastern Ethiopia:

Alima, 18, from Miesso, eastern Ethiopia/Photo: Casey Coombes/IRIN

“I paid a broker 20,000 Djiboutian francs [about $110] to take me to the island of Haiyoo, where we would take a boat to Yemen. Thugs captured us and demanded more money when we arrived to Haiyoo. Because I had no money, they raped me. Men who did not have money were beaten, and the women were raped. Eventually, I contacted family and convinced them to send $200.

“We arrived to Yemen, north of Bab al-Mandab [the Mandab Strait], in a 120-person boat, and were transferred to the Yemeni smugglers who control that part of the country. The gangsters raped most of the women and tortured and beat the men to extort more money.

“They sell women who can’t find more money to other brokers, who send them to work as maids in Yemeni households. A broker bought me and sent me to Radaa, where I worked for three months cleaning houses.

“One man who loved me paid for my release and married me. He was also in Radaa, working on a qat farm and raising livestock. We moved to Sana’a two months ago. He cleans in a restaurant and I’m a maid.

“If an opportunity arises, or if I make money, or if the situation in Yemen gets worse, I’m interested in going to a better country.”

Mesfin, 38, from Dese, north-central Ethiopia:

Mesfin, 38, from Dese, north-central Ethiopia/Photo: Casey Coombes/IRIN

“I travelled five days on buses, trains and hiding out on heavy trucks before arriving at the border with Djibouti. I could have cut straight across the Welo desert to the Red Sea, but it was too dangerous. Most people spend their lives there.

“I paid brokers 1,000 Ethiopian birr [about $50]. That was supposed to cover the entire trip from Ethiopia to Yemen, but I was forced to pay 400 Ethiopian birr [$20] extra at Haiyoo.

“We crossed the Red Sea in a small fishing boat loaded with about 80 people. While we were boarding, I heard the brokers contact Abd al-Qawi’s* people, who said they were prepared to receive them near Mokha. About five hours later, we hit land, and Abd al-Qawi’s gangsters started beating the men trying to escape and raping most of the women right there on the beach.

“They took me and some of the men and women to a detention centre, where they tortured them until money was transferred. The building was like a jail; people are not helped until someone sends them money. The women were raped there. I was detained and tortured for five days. On the fifth night, they untied me because I was in charge of feeding the others, and I managed to escape.

“I ended up in the main street of Mokha and caught a ride to Taiz in a day. An Ethiopian migrant paid for me to come to Sana’a, where I’ve been for five days. I want to work here, make some money, then return to Ethiopia to search for relatives.”

Yassin, 23, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia:

Yassin, 23, from Addis Ababa, Ethiopia/Photo: Casey Coombes/IRIN

“I stowed away on a train from Addis to the Djibouti border, and from there to Haiyoo we travelled in a Land Cruiser. I paid a broker 1,000 Ethiopian birr [about $50] for the whole trip.

“After a week of waiting in Djibouti, we took a fishing boat filled with 45 people to Yemen. Before pushing off on our four-and-a-half-hour journey, another boat left ahead of us, which was built to hold 25 people but 50 piled in. The boat split in half and sunk not long after its departure. We could hear their screams as they drowned in the night. When the bodies washed ashore, we buried them before leaving. During the pitch-black crossing, we encountered a ship which seemed like an island it was so big. The waves filled our boat with water, and we almost capsized. We arrived near Bab al-Mandab.

“The landing wasn’t very scary because we were dropped so close to shore. But as we waded to the beach, Abd al-Qawi’s thugs started shooting guns into the air to scare those who tried running away. They loaded us into trucks and took us to detention centres to extract money. Because I know different dialects, I acted as translator and was released with those who paid. I saw them rape women, hang men by their hands and beat them with metal rods and red-hot poles; they shot off fingers and toes, poked hot shards of metal into their eyes and poured boiling plastic on their bodies.

“I travelled one day by Hilux to Haradh along the Saudi border. I saw the same beatings and rapes for extortion in Haradh throughout my six months there. As you see in Yemen, there is no work, so I have plans to leave to anywhere by any means.”

*Full names withheld
*Most migrants referred to Abd al-Qawi as the name of the Yemeni gangs who carried out the abuses, though the origin of this name is not clear.

cc/jj/rz

IRIN News
www.irinnews.org

For more information see: Desperate Choices – conditions, risks and protection failures affecting Ethiopian migrants in Yemen

Theme (s): Human Rights, Migration, Refugees/IDPs,
[This report does not necessarily reflect the views of the United Nations]

The writer, Dr Michael J.K. Bokor

You see, at the political level, the tension that characterizes the NDC-NPP rivalry has polarized the country. So also is the tribal politics that is unavoidable in our case because of the peculiar nature of our type of politics, where ethnicity is a major deciding factor in who votes for whom.

That is why one has to be careful how one makes public pronouncements because instead of a military coup d’etat, we will have a civil war. In the next installment, I will explain why.

I shall return…
• E-mail: mjbokor@yahoo.com
• Join me on Facebook at: http://www.facebook.com/mjkbokor

The opinions expressed are the author’s and do not necessarily reflect the views or have the endorsement of the Editorial Board of www.africanewsanalysis.com, www.africa-forum.net and www.wapsfeatures.wordpress.com

Dans les régions rurales, les habitants parcourent de longues distances pour trouver de l’eau/Photo: Siegfried Modola/IRIN

« La corruption dans le secteur de l’eau se manifeste par l’absence de services d’approvisionnement durables, un ciblage des ressources et des investissements inéquitables et la participation limitée des communautés affectées dans les processus de développement », a dit à IRIN Bethlehem Mengistu, responsable régionale du plaidoyer pour l’organisation non gouvernementale (ONG) WaterAid.

Dans un rapport publié en 2010, l’Organisation mondiale de la Santé (OMS) estimait qu’environ 780 millions de personnes dans le monde, dont 343 millions d’Africains, n’avaient pas accès à une « source d’eau potable améliorée » (réseau d’eau courante, bornes-fontaines, puits ou sources protégés ou réservoirs d’eau de pluie).

Dans le monde entier, les maladies hydriques font environ 3 millions de victimes chaque année, selon l’OMS.

D’après les chiffres de la Banque mondiale, dans le monde entier, 20 à 40 pour cent des fonds publics destinés au secteur de l’eau disparaissent du fait de la corruption et des pratiques malhonnêtes.

Privés d’eau potable

En Afrique, le changement climatique et la croissance démographique entraînent une accélération de la concurrence pour le contrôle des ressources en eau, provoquant parfois des conflits communautaires. Les experts estiment par ailleurs que la corruption vient aggraver les problèmes liés à l’eau en Afrique.

« Parmi les exemples plus spécifiques de la façon dont la corruption prive les personnes pauvres d’un accès à l’eau potable, on peut citer les situations où des personnes riches ou ayant des liens politiques utilisent leur position pour influencer de manière excessive l’emplacement d’une source d’eau au détriment des pauvres », a dit à IRIN Maria Jacobson, responsable de programme auprès de la Facilité pour la gouvernance de l’eau (Water Governance Facility, WGF) un programme conjoint de l’Institut international de l’eau de Stockholm (Stockholm International Water Institute, SIWI) et du Programme des Nations Unies pour le développement (PNUD).

Selon Mme Jacobson, « dans un système corrompu dont le fonctionnement repose sur les pots-de-vin, [les pauvres] n’ont pas les ressources nécessaires pour participer » et sont dès lors « perdants en termes de qualité des services d’approvisionnement en eau ».

« Les personnes pauvres disposent également de très peu de moyens, voire aucun, pour entrer sur les marchés alternatifs lorsque les systèmes publics corrompus ne livrent pas la marchandise », a-t-elle ajouté.

Selon un rapport publié en 2008 par Transparency International (TI), une coalition mondiale de lutte contre la corruption, celle-ci a privé plus d’un milliard de personnes de l’accès à une source d’eau potable sûre et 2,8 milliards d’autres de services d’assainissement.

Une étude publiée en 2012 dans Water Alternatives, une revue évaluée par les pairs, a révélé qu’un projet d’exploitation agricole et d’élevage de grande envergure avait entraîné la contamination de sources d’eau desservant quelque 45 000 personnes en Tanzanie. Le projet avait été mis en oeuvre sur un terrain de 14 hectares loué par le gouvernement à une entreprise privée dans la région d’Iringa. Certains indices laissent croire que les procédures légales habituelles n’auraient pas été respectées.

L’étude, menée par l’ONG italienne ACRA (Cooperazione Rurale in Africa e America Latina), indique que les engrais, les pesticides et les déchets animaux provenant de l’exploitation agricole ont été emportés en aval vers les points d’eau.

« La législation tanzanienne prévoit des mécanismes pour limiter les activités potentiellement polluantes, établir des zones protégées autour des sources d’eau et habiliter les associations d’utilisateurs d’eau à exercer un contrôle sur les activités qui altèrent la qualité de l’eau. Or, dans la pratique, ces mécanismes n’ont pas été efficaces dans la région d’Iringa parce que de nombreuses procédures n’ont pas été respectées », ont indiqué les auteurs.

Selon le rapport de TI, la corruption ferait « augmenter le prix du raccordement d’un foyer au réseau de distribution d’eau de jusqu’à 30 pour cent » dans les pays en développement, ce qui entraîne une hausse de plus de 48 milliards de dollars du « coût total de l’atteinte des Objectifs du Millénaire pour le développement pour l’eau et l’assainissement, qui sont les pierres angulaires de la résolution de la crise mondiale de l’eau. »

Au Kenya, par exemple, les pauvres de Nairobi, la capitale, paient 10 fois plus pour l’eau que leurs compatriotes plus riches, selon TI.

Incompétence des autorités

L’incompétence des autorités locales et nationales a aussi contribué à la situation actuelle.

« Puisque les revenus du secteur de l’eau n’ont pas d’affectation précise, ils ne sont pas réinjectés pour améliorer les services. Il n’est pas rare de voir des pompes et des tuyaux brisés ou qui fuient dans de nombreuses régions urbaines et rurales des pays africains », a dit à IRIN Barrack Luseno, un analyste kényan du secteur de l’eau.

Selon le rapport de TI, les points de captage d’eau construits au Malawi entre 1988 et 2002 ont généralement été placés dans des régions où de telles installations existaient déjà, notamment à cause du « favoritisme politique ».

« Les principaux moteurs [de la corruption] sont les limites imposées à la participation, à la transparence et à la redevabilité. Le plus souvent, les détails concernant les ressources du secteur ne sont pas divulgués, la participation des titulaires de droits aux questions critiques du développement est limitée et l’équilibre des pouvoirs [checks and balances] dans les principaux rôles décisionnels est faible », a ajouté Mme Mengistu, de WaterAid.

Dans un rapport publié en 2012, WaterAid recommande aux gouvernements d’investir plus, mais aussi d’adopter des mesures pour lutter contre la corruption débridée dans le secteur de l’eau.

« Les gouvernements et les bailleurs de fonds doivent s’assurer que des mécanismes rigoureux visant à établir l’équilibre [checks and balances] sont en place afin d’endiguer la corruption et de limiter le gaspillage », indique le rapport.

Le document cite également comme exemple la réactivité dont ont fait preuve les bailleurs de fonds et le gouvernement ougandais pour mettre fin aux détournements de fonds survenus dans le secteur national de l’eau à la fin 2012.

« Il faut constamment renforcer l’obligation de redevabilité des gouvernements dans la fourniture de services et encourager le respect de leurs devoirs en tant que détenteurs d’obligations [duty bearers]. Les organismes de services communautaires ont un rôle important à jouer en tant qu’organes de surveillance et doivent s’assurer que les titulaires de droits [right holders] obtiennent ce à quoi ils ont droit », ajoute le rapport.

L’implication des communautés dans le processus décisionnel et l’augmentation des investissements dans le secteur sont quelques-uns des moyens permettant d’assurer l’accès à l’eau d’un plus grand nombre de personnes.

« Nous devons garantir l’intégrité en assurant une plus grande transparence dans la manière de gérer les problématiques relatives à l’eau et à la terre. Il faut se rappeler que l’accès à la terre est tout aussi important pour les communautés rurales que l’accès à l’eau. C’est ce qui explique les conflits entre les éleveurs pastoralistes et les communautés d’agriculteurs », a ajouté M. Luseno.

Faut-il privatiser ?

Certaines personnes prônent la privatisation des services d’approvisionnement en eau. Sur le continent africain, le Sénégal et la Côte d’Ivoire sont considérés comme des exemples en la matière. Les critiques craignent cependant une augmentation des prix et estiment qu’il est dangereux de placer des ressources vitales entre les mains de sociétés à but lucratif.

Dans son ouvrage publié en 2010 et intitulé Privatizing Water: Governance failure and the world’s urban water crisis [Privatiser l’eau : l’échec de la gouvernance et la crise urbaine de l’eau dans le monde], Karen Bakers écrit : « Le consensus selon lequel la participation du secteur privé ne permettra pas, comme l’espéraient certaines personnes, de réussir là où les gouvernements ont échoué, c’est-à-dire de fournir de l’eau à tous, commence à émerger. »

Selon WGF, les débats idéologiques sur la privatisation des services d’approvisionnement en eau « ne profitent pas à ceux qui n’ont pas accès à une source d’eau et des services d’assainissement durables. »

La Banque mondiale estime qu’en 2007, quelque 160 millions d’usagers étaient desservis par des entreprises de distribution d’eau privées dans le monde. Environ 50 millions d’entre eux obtiennent leur eau grâce à des partenariats publics-privés pouvant être considérés comme réussis.

La privatisation a cependant eu des résultats différents dans les pays où elle a été mise en oeuvre.

Une étude de la Banque mondiale a révélé que l’accès à l’eau dans la capitale mozambicaine, Maputo, s’était amélioré depuis que la gestion de l’eau avait été confiée à des entreprises privées.

Les réformes du secteur de l’eau ougandais prévoyaient l’augmentation des fonds provenant du gouvernement et l’amélioration de la gestion de la National Water and Sewerage Corporation – une entreprise publique gérée par le privé et responsable de l’approvisionnement en eau des 15 plus grandes villes du pays. En l’espace de cinq ans, l’institution est devenue, de l’entité totalement inefficace, déficitaire et contre-performante qu’elle était, une entreprise publique prospère et financièrement viable, selon WaterAid. La couverture du service est passée de 48 à 74 pour cent entre 1998 et 2010. Pendant la même période, le nombre de ménages raccordés est passé de 53 000 à 246 259.

Il n’a cependant pas été facile d’éradiquer la corruption.

« Les entrepreneurs privés interrogés dans le cadre d’une étude sur la corruption dans le secteur de l’eau ougandais estimaient que le pot-de-vin moyen pour l’attribution d’un marché s’élevait à 10 pour cent [du coût total]. La même étude montrait que 46 pour cent des consommateurs d’eau urbains avaient payé un supplément pour être raccordés au système », a dit Mme Jacobson, de WGF.

Le Kenya a pour sa part abandonné ses plans d’ouvrir le secteur de l’approvisionnement en eau de Nairobi aux entreprises privées, craignant une augmentation importante des prix de l’eau.

En 2008, le Mali a été le théâtre de manifestations anti-privatisation qui ont fait un mort et cinq blessés dans la capitale, Bamako.

Au Ghana, les tarifs de l’eau ont augmenté de 80 pour cent à la suite de la privatisation, et un tiers des habitants n’ont toujours pas accès à une eau propre et salubre.

« L’expérience suggère que les pouvoirs réglementaires en place doivent être efficaces pour que l’engagement du secteur privé fonctionne », a indiqué WGF.

Selon les experts comme Mme Jacobson, de WGF, il faut, pour mettre fin à la corruption dans ce secteur, évaluer l’efficacité des interventions de lutte contre la corruption, mettre en place des réformes juridiques et financières et développer les capacités du secteur public.

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IRIN News
www.irinnews.org

Theme (s): Démocratie et gouvernance, Santé et nutrition, Eau et Assainissement,
[Cet article ne reflète pas nécessairement les vues des Nations Unies]

Novartis has never been granted an original patent for Glivec in India. The Court denied an appeal challenging the rejection of a patent for Glivec, a life-saving medicine for certain forms of cancer, patented in nearly 40 countries including China, Russia, and Taiwan.

Novartis filed a Special Leave Petition with the Indian Supreme Court in 2009 challenging the denial of the Glivec beta crystal form patent on two grounds, based on Sections 3(d) and 3(b) of the Indian patent law. In addition to seeking a patent for Glivec, the company filed the case to help clarify these unique aspects of the patent law.

“Novartis has never been granted an original patent for Glivec in India. We strongly believe that original innovation should be recognized in patents to encourage investment in medical innovation especially for unmet medical needs,” said Ranjit Shahani, Vice Chairman and Managing Director, Novartis India Limited.

“We brought this case because we strongly believe patents safeguard innovation and encourage medical progress, particularly for unmet medical needs. This ruling is a setback for patients that will hinder medical progress for diseases without effective treatment options.”

The primary concern of this case was with India’s growing non-recognition of intellectual property rights that sustain research and development for innovative medicines. As a leader in both innovative and generic medicines, Novartis strongly supports the contribution of generics to improving public health once drug patents expire.

Novartis remains committed to patients and access to medicine. Through its full donation programs, Novartis provides Glivec free of charge to 95% of patients prescribed the drug in India, currently more than 16,000 patients. The remaining 5% of patients are either reimbursed, insured, or participate in a very generous co-pay program. Since Novartis began its first donation program in 2002, the company has provided more than 1.7 billion dollars’ worth of Glivec to patients in India.

Engaging with society to improve access to healthcare is integral to the way Novartis operates. In 2012, our contributions and programs in this area were valued at USD 2 billion, providing medicine to more than 100 million patients, and health education, infrastructure development and other programs to another 7.2 million people worldwide.

About Novartis

Novartis provides innovative healthcare solutions that address the evolving needs of patients and societies. Headquartered in Basel, Switzerland, Novartis offers a diversified portfolio to best meet these needs: innovative medicines, eye care, cost-saving generic pharmaceuticals, preventive vaccines and diagnostic tools, over-the-counter and animal health products. Novartis is the only global company with leading positions in these areas. In 2012, the Group achieved net sales of USD 56.7 billion, while R&D throughout the Group amounted to approximately USD 9.3 billion (USD 9.1 billion excluding impairment and amortization charges). Novartis Group companies employ approximately 128,000 full-time-equivalent associates and operate in more than 140 countries around the world. For more information, please visit http://www.novartis.com.

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Parents are taking considerable risks to get hold of the vaccine/Photo: UNICEF Pakistan/Asad Zaidi

Parents and officials are going to great lengths to immunize children after militants imposed a ban on polio vaccinations in Pakistan’s restive North Waziristan Agency. Government officials are withholding money and identity documents from groups affiliated with the ban, and parents are travelling long distances to get their children vaccinated, in some cases smuggling the vaccine back home.

Abdul Hassan* emerged recently from the district hospital in Bannu, just outside North Waziristan, clutching his toddler son and niece. Their 100km bus ride from Miranshah, the administrative centre of North Waziristan, was well worth it, he said, because he was able to get the children vaccinated.

“The children have received polio drops, which they had not received for over a year, and that is a relief,” he told IRIN.

Militants in the area banned all polio vaccinations in June 2012, to protest the killing of civilians by drones.

Around “200,000 children have been missed [by polio immunization drives] as a result of the ban in North and South Waziristan”, said Mazhar Nisar, health education adviser at the Prime Minister’s Polio Monitoring and Coordination Cell in Islamabad.

He said this “of course meant greater chances of the virus spreading and endangering more children.”

Despite eradication efforts, polio remains endemic in Afghanistan, Pakistan and Nigeria.

Battling the ban

The government is trying a carrot-and-stick approach to get the ban reversed.

“We are making what efforts we can to bring [the ban] to an end, so the anti-polio campaign can resume,” said Fawad Khan, health director at the Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA) Secretariat in Peshawar.

Nisar told IRIN that the Governor of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) Province, officials at the FATA Secretariat and the political agent – a representative of the federal government – in North Waziristan were “all attempting to talk to tribal elders and sort out matters so anti-polio drives could resume.”

In addition to the negotiations, they are also using colonial-era legislation to impose collective punishment on the areas.

In December 2012, using powers available to him under the Frontier Crimes Regulation of 1901, the political agent for North Waziristan put in place measures that included denying tribal people of North Waziristan passports, national identity cards and other official documentation if community leaders don’t overturn the ban.

A small honorarium to tribal elders was also stopped and development work in some areas has been suspended.

The steps were taken after the Wazir and Dawar tribes declined to back the anti-polio programme, Political Agent Siraj Ahmed Khan said.

Militants had also imposed a polio vaccination ban in South Waziristan but Nisar said this had since been “somewhat relaxed.”

A doctor, who asked not to be identified, at the hospital in Wana, the administrative centre of South Waziristan, told IRIN, “Generally people are allowed to bring people into the hospital to receive anti-polio drops, but teams are not permitted to move in the field to deliver them.”

So far, the government’s tactics in North Wazirstan have not led to a relaxation of the unofficial community ban.

Parents act to protect their children

“Our children are still not receiving drops. We are scared for them,” Amina Bibi*, from near Miranshah, told IRIN.

Bibi said she had seen “adults who had suffered polio,” and “was scared of what could happen if the children are not protected.”

Other parents with similar concerns are taking matters into their own hands.

Some “take their children to larger towns like Peshawar or Bannu to receive the polio drops”, said journalist Ayesha Hasan. Peshawar is about 285km from Miranshah.

“My infant son is too young to travel, so I went to Bannu and brought back some vaccines. Doctors there put it in a plastic bottle, packed ice around it and I hid it in a tin of dried milk,” Hazir Gul*, 30, told IRIN.

“They told me how to give the drops, and I also brought home enough for two neighbours with small children,” he said. “I was really scared the militants would discover what I was doing.”

Javed Khan, who works at a clinic in Peshawar, the capital of KP province, told IRIN, “At least a dozen or so families have come to me over the past six months or so and taken vaccine home.”

Distrust, misinformation

An administrative official in Miranshah, who asked not to be named, said, “Yes we know parents are bringing in vaccine. They are desperate, and we try to help discreetly.”

These actions take considerable courage as they expose the parents to potential violence from the anti-polio vaccine militants. The militants in North Waziristan have campaigned vigorously against the polio vaccine, and, according to Hasan, “planted in the minds of people the idea that it may be harmful for their children in some way.”

She said that even people who had previously served as polio immunization workers have voiced suspicions that the vaccine could affect reproduction or be harmful in other ways.

A polio vaccination centre in Bannu District, close to the border of North Waziristan, is a popular choice for parents hunting for the vaccine.

But, as Gul said, “It is not easy to move long distances with children, and the militants could find out where we are going.” He added, “So far whatever measures the government is taking seem to have had no impact here.”

*not real names

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IRIN News

www.irinnews.org
Theme (s): Children, Governance, Health & Nutrition, Security,