The condition of children in many African countries leaves much to be
desired. True. But a so-called expert who makes meaningless statements
such as "In Africa, there’s a taboo around mourning a baby.” doesn't
inspire my confidence about the accuracy of other social inferences or
assumptions he makes. The Ma'di, my immediate community, and all our
neighbors do mourn babies, even more than I've seen Europeans or their
American cousins mourn their grown ups.
To me it is fuzzy social science (which isn't exact to begin with) to
make sweeping generalizations of this kind about a multicultural,
multinational continent of nearly $1 billion people. Very soon, some
Africa hand in UNICEF or the plethora of Western agencies will design a
remedial program based on this study and stupid African governments who
should know better will embrace it with the dollars attached.
My beef apart, I think for the most part the neocolonial state (what
Chinweizu calls the Lugardist state) in Africa is incapable of
delivering the goods because it was never designed to solve the problems
of its citizens. Sorry, this type of state can't even be reformed. It's
rotten to the core.
So, why do African governments neglect their people? The answer is
because they were designed that way. Until a critical mass of us
understand this and are motivated enough to yank government from its
colonial, essentially anti-people roots and fundamentally restructure
it, we will keep asking this question for another 100 years or more.
musamize wrote:
November 22, 2006
Counting African Lives Lost in First Weeks
By CELIA W. DUGGER
<http://topics.nytimes.com/top/reference/timestopics/people/d/celia_w_dugger/index.html?inline=nyt-per>
More than a million babies die across Africa every year in their first
month of life, a tragedy neglected by donor countries and African
governments and hidden from view because the deaths often occur in
societies where mothers and their babies are secluded after birth and
the children go unnamed for weeks, according to a report by dozens of
medical and public health experts released today.
“Look at the reaction in the U.S. or the U.K. if even one baby dies,
particularly if there is malpractice
<http://topics.nytimes.com/top/news/health/diseasesconditionsandhealthtopics/malpractice/index.html?inline=nyt-classifier>,”
said Dr. Joy Lawn, a lead author of the report, “Opportunities for
Africa’s Newborns.” “Families get very upset and there’s a big hoo-ha.
In Africa, there’s a taboo around mourning a baby.”
Major international efforts to reduce child mortality from measles
<http://topics.nytimes.com/top/news/health/diseasesconditionsandhealthtopics/measles/index.html?inline=nyt-classifier>,
malaria
<http://topics.nytimes.com/top/news/health/diseasesconditionsandhealthtopics/malaria/index.html?inline=nyt-classifier>
and diarrhea have largely benefited older babies and young children
who have survived the trials of being a newborn. The 60 scientists and
doctors who collaborated on the report say they hope to bring a new
focus to the care of infants in Africa during the first days and weeks
of life.
Countries where newborns have the highest risk of dying — among them,
Liberia
<http://topics.nytimes.com/top/news/international/countriesandterritories/liberia/index.html?inline=nyt-geo>,
Ivory Coast
<http://topics.nytimes.com/top/news/international/countriesandterritories/ivorycoast/index.html?inline=nyt-geo>,
Mali
<http://topics.nytimes.com/top/news/international/countriesandterritories/mali/index.html?inline=nyt-geo>
and Nigeria
<http://topics.nytimes.com/top/news/international/countriesandterritories/nigeria/index.html?inline=nyt-geo>
— also have the most easily preventable deaths, according to the
report, which was financed by Save the Children, the United States
Agency for International Development and the World Health Organization
<http://topics.nytimes.com/top/reference/timestopics/organizations/w/world_health_organization/index.html?inline=nyt-org>.
Following are some of the most significant findings:
¶Many of the more than 300,000 babies who die because they are not
breathing at birth could have been saved if birth attendants knew a
simple resuscitation technique that relies on a mask and plastic bag
device that can be sold for as little as $10.
¶Some 70,000 babies die of tetanus infections that could have been
prevented if mothers had been given two 20-cent tetanus shots when
they were pregnant.
¶Many of the babies born prematurely who die could have survived if
they had been kept warm and snug against their mother’s chests, skin
to skin, and wrapped in place with a cloth.
This technique, called kangaroo mother care, uses the mother’s body
heat to care for a small premature baby suffering from low body
temperature. It has been found as effective as incubator care, the
report said. Lacking an understanding of their babies’ need for
warmth, poor mothers often give them cold baths.
Dr. Lawn, a senior researcher and adviser to a project on newborns at
Save the Children USA, said it was only in recent years that
researchers have analyzed data collected in large-scale surveys,
documenting the number and patterns of newborn deaths. “There wasn’t
anybody interested to pull the data for newborns,” she said.
The new report breaks down newborn death rates by country and finds
that some of the poorest ones have made impressive strides, a sign
that even with minimal resources notable improvements can be made.
Eritrea, Malawi, Tanzania and Ethiopia have significantly reduced the
risk of newborn deaths in recent years.
But there is a long way to go, the report says. Though a majority of
newborn deaths occur in the first week of life, most health care
providers across sub-Saharan Africa advise mothers to return with
their babies for a checkup only after six weeks.
“This is a visit for survivors,” the report said.
This study of Africa, which has the highest rates of newborn deaths
globally, builds on a Save the Children report released in May
addressing the four million newborn deaths that occur annually around
the world. The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation
<http://topics.nytimes.com/top/reference/timestopics/organizations/g/gates_bill_and_melinda_foundation/index.html?inline=nyt-org>,
which finances Save the Children’s work, years ago identified the gap
in attention to newborn health.
In the United States, 4.7 newborns die for every 1,000 born, compared
with 66 per 1000 in Liberia, which has the highest rate in the world.
%%%%%%%%%%
There is never a shortage of money to buy $40M jet for the president,
build him a $150M lodge, $400K to buy him a Range Rover, pay for
mambas to tear gas the populace, etc, etc.
But, somehow, there is always a shortage of money to buy drugs, pay
health workers, teachers, etc.
Life sucks in Africa!
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Everyone is raving about the all-new Yahoo! Mail beta.
<http://us.rd.yahoo.com/evt=45083/*http://advision.webevents.yahoo.com/mailbeta>
------------------------------------------------------------------------
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