Nigeria Gets $669M Global Fund Grant For Health System Strengthening
The Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria awarded Nigeria a $669 million Round 8 grant for health system strengthening over five years, This Day/allAfrica.com reports. "During the grant signing ceremony in Abuja yesterday, Chairman of the occasion and former Head of State, General Yakubu Gowon, disclosed that the [The Global Fund] had spent $15.6 billion in 140 countries worldwide especially in Africa to support large scale prevention treatment and care programmes against these diseases. According to him, since the inception of the fund in Nigeria in 2002, the country had received $1.1 billion to fight the diseases in Rounds 1, 2, 4, 5 and 8" (Nwezeh/Aguiyi, 10/21).
Pakistani Refugees Put Strain On Health Services
The exodus of tens of thousands of Pakistani civilians from South Waziristan is significantly straining health services in the areas, according to Paul Garwood, a WHO spokesperson, VOA News reports. Though the "WHO has pre-positioned supplies … more supplies are needed, particularly the strengthening of health facilities in areas where IDPs [Internally Displaced People] are streaming into. As yet, we have no sign of casualties or disease outbreaks in this area. But, we are standing ready to prepare for this," Garwood said. He said health workers will be stationed on the border with Afghanistan and will immunize children against polio (Schlein, 10/20). Fiona Hesselden, UNICEF's deputy executive director, said, "The displaced families come from one of the poorest areas of Pakistan … Families have minimal resources and they urgently need safe water, clothing, food and health care," Reuters AlertNet reports (Kilner, 10/20).
NPR Examines 'Alleged Sexual Violence' Against Women In Guinea