Doctors Without Borders Cargo Plane With Full Hospital And Staff Blocked From Landing In Port-au-Prince

Doctors Without Borders/M?©decins Sans Fronti??res (MSF) urges that its cargo planes carrying essential medical and surgical material be allowed to land in Port-au-Prince in order to treat thousands of wounded waiting for vital surgical operations. Priority must be given immediately to planes carrying lifesaving equipment and medical personnel.


Despite guarantees, given by the United Nations and the US Defense Department, an MSF cargo plane carrying an inflatable surgical hospital was blocked from landing in Port-au-Prince on Saturday, and was re-routed to Samana, in Dominican Republic. All material from the cargo is now being sent by truck from Samana, but this has added a 24-hour delay for the arrival of the hospital.


A second MSF plane is currently on its way and scheduled to land today in Port- au-Prince at around 10 am local time with additional lifesaving medical material and the rest of the equipment for the hospital. If this plane is also rerouted then the installation of the hospital will be further delayed, in a situation where thousands of wounded are still in need of life saving treatment.


The inflatable hospital includes 2 operating theaters, an intensive care unit, 100-bed hospitalization capacity, an emergency room and all the necessary equipment needed for sterilizing material.


MSF teams are currently working around the clock in 5 different hospitals in Port-au-Prince, but only 2 operating theaters are fully functional, while a third operating theater has been improvised for minor surgery due to the massive influx of wounded and lack of functional referral structures.

Source
Doctors Without Borders/M?©decins Sans Fronti??res

Statement By Executive Director Ann M. Veneman Concerning The Situation Of Children In Sudan

"The recent escalation of fighting in West Darfur has added to the hardships and dangers faced by children and women in the region. Efforts to provide urgent assistance to children and women in dire need are hampered by the violence, and further displacement of civilian populations puts even greater pressure on camps that are already over-crowded.


"Wherever possible, UNICEF and its partners are providing urgent medical supplies, blankets, jerry cans and plastic sheeting, and treating and restoring water supplies in communities that have been attacked and in areas where displaced populations are now gathering.


"If children's urgent needs are to be met, humanitarian agencies need unrestricted access to affected areas, while the parties to the conflict must exercise restraint to prevent further mass displacements and allow people to return to their homes, and fully respect international conventions on the protection of children during armed conflict.


"For the sake of Darfur's children, UNICEF joins with the UN Secretary-General and the UN Humanitarian Coordinator in calling for a cessation of hostilities."

unicef

Aid Workers In Honduras Assisted By Satellites

Humanitarian aid workers responding to devastating flooding in Honduras have received assistance from space, with satellite images of affected areas provided rapidly following activation of the International Charter on Space and Major Disasters.



Tens of thousands of people have been displaced and 33 lives have been claimed by floods and landslides brought on by a tropical depression that hit the Central American country on 16 October.



On 27 October, the UN Institute for Training and Research (UNITAR) Operational Satellite Applications Programme (UNOSAT) asked the International Charter on 'Space and Major Disasters', referred to as 'The Charter', for support. Satellite images of the area acquired by ESA's Envisat were delivered the same day.



The Charter, founded in October 2000 by ESA, the French Space Agency (CNES) and the Canadian Space Agency (CSA), works to provide satellite data free of charge to those affected by disasters anywhere in the world.



With inundated areas typically visible from space, Earth Observation (EO) is increasingly being used for flood response and mitigation. One of the biggest problems during flooding emergencies is obtaining an overall view of the phenomenon, with a clear idea of the extent of the flooded area.



The crisis image of the Cortes Department, one of the hardest hit areas, is comprised of two Envisat radar images - one acquired on 25 October and one on 20 September that was used as a reference.



The flooding is being compared to the devastation left by Hurricane Mitch, which killed about 6 000 people when it ripped through Honduras a decade ago. Overall, Mitch claimed more than 10 000 lives across Central America.



In the wake of Hurricane Mitch, ESA, CNES and Spot Image worked to provide rapid and accurate EO-based maps of the area to emergency response teams. The reaction by the space community to the impact of Mitch is considered a precursor to the Charter.



Today, the Charter has 10 members, including ESA, CNES, CSA, the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO), the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), the Argentine Space Agency (CONAE), the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA), the British National Space Centre/Disaster Monitoring Constellation (BNSC/DMC), the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) and the China National Space Administration (CNSA).








Source: Mariangela D'Acunto


European Space Agency

Urgent Assistance Needed To Help Haitian Children Affected By The Hurricanes, Says UNICEF

Urgent assistance is needed to bring life-saving help to children in Haiti affected by the four successive hurricanes. According to the Government of Haiti, an estimated 300,000 children are in need of aid throughout the country.


UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador, actress Mia Farrow, traveled to Haiti to visit the devastated city of Gonaives and to talk to the families whose houses and livelihoods were washed away with the rains. "The people here need more food and water," said Farrow after visiting three different shelters in the city. "The children and the families I have spoken with are hungry and thirsty," said Farrow, who also met with families who had taken shelter in the church. "They need so much more help from the international community and they need it now."


An inter-agency appeal for $107 million, of which UNICEF is requesting $6 million, was launched on 10th September. To date, just over three per cent of the funds have been raised against the appeal. UNICEF has already provided over 120,000 liters of water, water purification tablets, hygiene kits, blankets, therapeutic milk, high energy food supplement, and other relief supplies.


"The devastation in Gonaives reminds me of the Tsunami when I was in Aceh, except that this time there is so much mud everywhere that it is hard to see how the people will get rid of it," said Nigel Fisher, President of UNICEF Canada, who was accompanying Farrow in Gonaives.


Relief operations are moving towards the post-disaster recovery activities, but pressing humanitarian needs are yet to be met. Entire parts of the country remain inaccessible by road due to landslides and collapsed bridges. The dispatch of humanitarian supplies relies on costly sea and air transportation.


Over 400 schools were damaged by the natural disaster and many more are being used as shelter. Children are expected to return to school on 6 October, and UNICEF assistance will contribute towards creating favorable conditions for the displaced population to return to their homes and vacate the schools. UNICEF will work in close collaboration with the Ministry of Education to help ensure that children return to school on time.


About UNICEF


UNICEF is on the ground in over 150 countries and territories to help children survive and thrive, from early childhood through adolescence. The world's largest provider of vaccines for developing countries, UNICEF supports child health and nutrition, good water and sanitation, quality basic education for all boys and girls, and the protection of children from violence, exploitation, and AIDS. UNICEF is funded entirely by the voluntary contributions of individuals, businesses, foundations and governments.

UNICEF

President Bush Restates Opposition to Doubling Aid to Africa in Advance of G8 Meeting

President Bush on Wednesday restated his opposition to doubling the United States' financial aid commitment to Africa in advance of the Group of Eight industrialized nations meeting in Scotland next month, the... New York Times reports. Bush was meeting with South African President Thabo Mbeki at the White House as part of Mbeki's two-week campaign to speak with G8 leaders about Britain's proposed International Finance Facility, which would frontload development aid to help Africa meet the U.N. Millennium Development Goals (Becker/Sanger, New York Times, 6/2). U.K. Chancellor of the Exchequer Gordon Brown at a February meeting of the Group of Seven industrialized nations proposed increasing aid to developing nations to $100 billion annually through the finance facility. Brown has said that more than 50 countries have expressed support for the initiative, although the United States so far has failed to fully endorse the plan. Although the Bush administration supports 100% debt cancellation for the world's poorest countries, the United States does not support the U.K. plan to raise funds for poverty alleviation, according to U.S. Treasury Undersecretary John Taylor (Kaiser Daily HIV/AIDS Report, 4/18). During Wednesday's meeting, Bush said that doubling the U.S. contribution to Africa "doesn't fit our budgetary process." Mbeki -- who is urging wealthy nations to "choose their own ways to help" Africa -- said that the European Union is considering a new tax to finance Britain's initiative. "I am absolutely certain President Bush is willing to commit whatever is required," he added. However, because British Prime Minister Tony Blair has received opposition over the plan from Germany and Italy, Bush's opposition could "doom the effort" at the G8 meeting in July, according to the Times (New York Times, 6/2).


"Reprinted with permission from kaisernetwork kaisernetwork. You can view the entire Kaiser Daily HIV/AIDS Report, search the archives, or sign up for email delivery at kaisernetwork/dailyreports/hiv.. The Kaiser Daily HIV/AIDS Report is published for kaisernetwork, a free service of The Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation . © 2005 Advisory Board Company and Kaiser Family Foundation. All rights reserved.

UNICEF Ready To Assist Children Affected By Floods In Colombia, Panama And Venezuela

UNICEF today said the children's agency is poised to support children and their families affected by the floods that are driving thousands of people from their homes in Colombia, Panama and Venezuela.


The agency would work as part of the United Nations Country teams.


The May-November rainy season in the region has been extremely severe this year as a result of a climatic phenomenon known as La Ni?±a.


UNICEF is ready to support the governments of Colombia, Panama and Venezuela to meet the needs of affected children and families, to provide lifesaving supplies and to protect the children's rights to health, nutrition, protection and education.


Source:

UNICEF

USAID Fights Neglected Tropical Diseases

On February 20, 2008,
President Bush challenged the world to reduce and eventually control and
eliminate the burden of neglected tropical diseases (NTDs) as a major
threat to health and economic growth in the developing world. The new
Presidential Initiative for NTD Control will increase the United States'
commitment to NTDs from $15 million in 2008 to a total of $350 million over
five years. These funds will provide integrated treatment to more than 300
million people in Africa, Asia, and Latin America. In addition, the new
initiative will expand the targeted number of countries from 10 in 2008 to
approximately 30 by 2013.


The initiative will build on U.S. Agency for International Development
(USAID) investments in NTDs control and will target seven major diseases:
lymphatic filariasis (elephantiasis); schistosomiasis (snail fever);
trachoma (eye infection); onchocerciasis (river blindness); and three
soil-transmitted helminthes (hookworm, roundworm, and whipworm).



Approximately one billion people, mostly in the developing world,
suffer from one or more NTDs. Seven of these diseases - the seven targeted
by the new initiative - can be controlled and even eliminated through
targeted mass drug administration. Most of these diseases either blind,
deform, or debilitate their victims. In addition, they can contribute to
limited school enrollment, diminished childhood growth and cognitive
development, and reduced economic productivity in adults. Treating the
millions of people who suffer from NTDs will help to change these negative
effects and to improve not only personal health, but also economic growth
at large.



USAID's Commitment to Fighting NTDs



USAID began an integrated NTD control program in 2006, focusing
initially on five countries in Africa - Burkina Faso, Ghana, Mali, Niger,
and Uganda. In its first year of implementation, this program delivered
more than 35 million NTD treatments to more than 14 million people. The
program is now expanding to Haiti, Sierra Leone, and southern Sudan, and at
least two additional countries will be added in 2008. USAID has invested
$30 million to date in this NTD control program.



Key Partnerships



Most drugs needed to treat NTDs have been donated by pharmaceutical
companies, including GlaxoSmithKline, Johnson & Johnson, Merck, and Pfizer.
These donations are valued at hundreds of millions of dollars each year,
and may reduce the estimated cost for other program components to between
40 cents and slightly more than one dollar per person, per year in
Sub-Saharan Africa.



In addition to the pharmaceutical industry, USAID works closely with
the Ministries of Health in each country and key international partners who
are leading efforts in NTD control.



The United States will further enhance efficiency and efficacy in the
new NTD control program by leveraging existing initiatives such as the
Basic Education Initiative, the President's Malaria Initiative, and the
President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief.



The United States will work in partnership with countries struggling
with overlapping disease burdens. These countries will have the opportunity
to be selected based on a competitive grants process to receive additional
support. This will ensure an integrated country specific approach to
fighting NTDs.



For more information on USAID and its Infectious Disease programs,
visit usaid. The White House announcement may be found at
whitehouse.


U.S. Agency for International Development

usaid