Wrong Drugs for Malaria War

Nairobi — The government is concerned about the continued use of wrong malaria drugs in the market, including in its own health facilities.

Only a third of people seeking malaria treatment are getting the recommended medicine and some are even being treated with chloroquine, which was phased out almost 10 years ago.

The first ever comprehensive malaria study in Kenya, the 2007 Kenya Malaria Indicator Survey (KMIS), which was launched in recent weeks, revealed that only 29 per cent of patients received the recommended Artemesinin Combination Therapy (ACT).

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Making Africa More Competitive

Tunis, Tunisia - African businesses can become far more competitive, but African governments and their international partners will need to improve access to finance, resist pressure to erect trade barriers, upgrade infrastructure, improve healthcare and educational systems, and strengthen institutions.

This major new report, The Africa Competitiveness Report 2009, reflect research efforts of three institutions - the World Economic Forum, the African Development Bank and the World Bank. The report notes that limited access to financial services remains a major obstacle for African enterprises, but underdeveloped infrastructure, limited healthcare and educational services, and poor institutional frameworks also make African countries less competitive in the global marketplace. The report also points to a number of success stories in the region that highlight steps countries can take to improve the business environment.

The jointly produced report launched today in Tunis, Tunisia, is the second report on the region's business environment to leverage knowledge and expertise within the three organizations. The report also presents an integrated vision of the policy challenges African nations face as they build a foundation for sustainable growth and prosperity.

The report highlights two short-term and three longer term policy themes for improving the competitiveness of African economies. click for more

Boost Africa Agriculture

F.E.B.N. Issue Post[AfriAGRICULTURE]: As more than 300 million Africans - face chronic hunger, donors must honour their pledges to help boost agriculture, which is the key to ensuring food security, top United Nations officials say.

Some 21 African countries now depend on food imports, leaving their populations highly vulnerable to increases in the global prices of such staples as rice, wheat, corn, and cooking oil, according to the UN Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD), which devoted a meeting of its governing board yesterday to the issue of Africa's food crisis.

"Africa has been hit very hard by several crises - food, finance, fuel - without causing these crises," UNCTAD Secretary-General Supachai Panitchpakdi told the meeting in Geneva. "Africa is an innocent bystander."

He warned that Africa's food crisis may not get the attention it needs since much of the focus in recent months has been on the global financial turmoil, and the impact of that could be severe.

"There may be much less financing just when African farmers need to plant and harvest more," he noted. "I've heard that in some regions, farmers can't plant because they can't get credit and financing for trade has been lacking. All this has to be remedied."

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