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Month: March 2021

With COVID Making Comeback, No Time for Apathy, Vaccine Nationalism

Posted on by Web Master

The pandemic is tightening its firm grip on the world. Every country, be it those with advanced healthcare systems or otherwise, is overwhelmed by the enormity of the devastation caused by the raging virus. The pandemic has now widened its reach and impact. Epicentre after epicentre, it has claimed the lives of many and disrupted the livelihoods of multitudes.

The number of people infected by the virus has surpassed 120 million, and those who have succumbed to it are close to reaching three million. In Ethiopia, critically sick patients from COVID-19 have for the first time reached over 600, with over 2,600 killed and around 189,000 reported cases.

A year into the pandemic, we linger on with a mixed feeling. On the one hand is the feeling of hope that help is coming. On the other is fear and despair that some phenomenon may see us pulled back into a tragic past.

The good news first. Countries that were severely affected by the pandemic, except Brazil, are faring better now. Daily infection rates, hospitalisation and deaths are falling in the United States, United Kingdom and, to a certain extent, India. The drastic lockdown, social distancing and vaccine administration measures in these countries seem to have paid off.

The other commendable achievement comes from the scientific community. We have witnessed the conception, development, production and rollout of COVID-19 vaccines in record time. These will help nations immunise their citizens against the virus and attain herd immunity.

But there is bad news that could overwhelm the improvements that have been attained. The first is the surfacing of new variants here and there. They have been identified in South Africa, Brazil and the United Kingdom, for instance, and have made it across much of the globe. Some of these variants could be resistant to existing vaccines, according to health professionals, requiring additional time, energy and financial resources to control them.

Another concerning issue is vaccine nationalism, which is a selfish effort by affluent nations to hoard vaccine products and inputs until their populations reach herd immunity.

“Instead of working together to craft and implement a global strategy, a growing number of countries are taking a ‘my nation first’ approach to developing and distributing potential vaccines or other pharmaceutical treatments,” an article in the Harvard Business Review, headlined “The Danger of Vaccine Nationalism,” argues.

As a result of vaccine nationalism, less affluent countries, especially those in Africa, are getting vaccine doses way below the amount they need to achieve herd immunity.

“Rich nations have vaccinated their citizens at a rate of one person per second over the last month,” says an Oxfam report from March 10, 2021. “While more poor countries will see the arrival of doses in the coming days from the World Health Organisation’s [WHO] COVAX facility, the amounts available mean only three percent of people in those countries can hope to be vaccinated by mid-year, and only one fifth at best by the end of 2021.”

In light of a highly transmissible and mutating virus, such an approach will only work at the peril of the entire world as no one can claim safety until everybody else is safe.

Pandemic fatigue, defined by the WHO as “demotivation to follow recommended protective behaviours, emerging gradually over time and affected by several emotions, experiences, and perceptions,” also requires attention. After being through several lockdowns, social distancing restrictions and mask wearing, people are exhausted. They simply, regardless of the consequence, want to socialise as they did before the pandemic.

If these adverse effects are not harmful enough, then there is unfounded suspicion over the vaccine’s effects. The reason might be disinformation or cultural and psychological preferences. However, the effect is dreadful – a decision by some individuals not to get vaccinated will leave them and others at risk of catching the virus.

No doubt, there is a light at the end of the tunnel, but it could be extinguished by darkness unless efforts are made to control the potential effects of vaccine nationalism and pandemic fatigue. From governments to civil societies, everyone has to see to it that social distancing, mask wearing and other COVID-19 appropriate norms are strictly adhered to and that the public is aware that the battle is not over.

Give Child Labour Hashtags at Least

Posted on by Web Master

Few things speak louder of the poor state of a country than child labour. Technically, there are laws against this in Ethiopia. The labour law does not allow the employment of children under 14 for any purpose. If they are between that age and 18, there are limitations on the sorts of work they are allowed. The criminal code prohibits the trafficking of children for compulsory labour.

But often in Ethiopia, laws are taken as standards to live up to, not rules the violation of which are punishable by a court – hardly worth the paper they are written on sometimes. The same goes for child labour. It is rife and unimaginably ugly but a fact of life for anyone that bothers to take note.

The younger the child is, nonetheless, the harder it is to fail to notice. There was just one kid working on a minibus taxi as an assistant to the driver (redat) that was hard to fathom for me. He could barely shut the sliding doors and was barely visible above the car seats even when standing straight. He had dry plump cheeks and rough, cracked hands.

He was diligent and quick on his feet for his age. From his physical stature, he must have been around six. If he was older, he must be suffering from malnurished, making him one of the over 30 million people suffering from the same ailment in Ethiopia. He is also one of the 27pc of the youth population participating in the labour force. Many of these are robbed of their childhood and opportunities to learn. Worse still, they may not have guardians and could be one of 20,000 children trafficked into compulsory labour, according to Humanium, a children’s charity.

Given how harsh these conditions are, how vulnerable the children could be, and the long-term consequences on human capital, this is top of the agenda, right? Children growing up in debilitating poverty, selling their labour for sums well under the poverty threshold as an alternative to begging, is a priority for society, no?

Not at all. There are neither rallies against child labour nor would anyone storm the streets over it. No one goes to war over starving children. What society puts on a pedestal –worthy causes to kill, maim and massacre for –are nationalism, historical memory and offenses and slights against one group by another. Child labour does not even get a measly hashtag, except perhaps on the World Day Against Child Labour, and even then because it does not hurt to virtue signal. Few in nonprofit organisations and government agencies working on children’s issues take a lasting interest.

Ethiopia is not alone in this. Most of the Global South – where all the bad things seem to happen – has high levels of child labour. More than a quarter of all children in poor countries are engaged in labour activities. UNICEF counts from five-year-olds who start providing 21 hours of unpaid housework services a week.

The culprit is poverty. If not enough wealth is created, millions of children will fall through the cracks to depend, or be forced to rely, on their labour to close income gaps for themselves and their guardians. Lack of wealth also means a government unable to provide a social safety net for its citizens, not even children.

There is no magic bullet. If there was one, laws should have worked. Enforcing them more strictly could help to an extent but not when poverty is entrenched and there is great demand for such cheap labour.

Long Way to Go for Ethiopian Art Scene before Stendhal Syndrome

Posted on by Web Master

Not long ago on a sunny morning, while I was contemplating the route of my daily walks, an idea long kicking around in my mind popped up. It was to buy a frame from a gift shop for a painting I bought ages ago.

It was a painting by Luelseged Reta, whom I had the chance to meet as an undergrad while making many exoduses to art exhibitions. He had a showing at Alliance Ethio-Française. The artist himself was there.

I usually look at the artwork by myself, yet that day I dared to approach the artist and ask him a question. Somehow, the conversation diverted to him muttering whether I had children or not. I did not. I intended to select two of his most favorite works and ask him to explain to me what they represent. I did not have to. He took me to where his paintings were hung. It was with this gesture that I never forgot his visual vocabulary. It reverberates to this day every time I look at artwork.

I understood why he had talked about children. There was a painting of a mother with her four children. But what caught my eye was a striking watercolor painting depicting a man and woman, highlighting the quintessence of a spectacle from an Ethiopian village. They are eagerly taking part in the preparation of tella, a traditional alcoholic drink.

A year later, in a souvenir shop, I saw a copy of the painting. A fresh graduate at the time, it cost almost all the money I had that day. I had to skip dinner later that night, but I bought it. However, for this or that reason, it was never framed. Yet it has always been kept in a safe place.

I arrived at the only gift shop in my neighbourhood for the frame. It is also an art gallery for young painters. The collections were all oil paintings, ranging from representational to figurative.

It was, in a way, reminiscent of old days when children would use watercolours, or more likely just colouring pencils, to draw flowers, angels and birds for holidays. They would be presented to neighbours. Things usually never go as planned – a roller coaster ride on the colour wheel. Sometimes the composition was all over the place. Other times, it became nearly impossible to get the proportions of the face right. White drawing paper was not as ubiquitous those days, making second chances not easy to come by. In the end, for the neighbours, it was the effort that counted.

I told the young owner at the shop about the power of art, especially Stendhal syndrome. In 1817, Stendhal visited Florence. In his diary, the French novelist noted how he suddenly fell ill due to being close to all the great works of art in the city, as if his life was being drained from him. It was only when he distanced himself from them that he got better, an experience said to be shared by some visitors in Florence every year. Stendhal syndrome is not an actual medical affliction. But that it has an actual term speaks to how high of a pedestal art stands on.

Let us hope mini-galleries like the one I visited increase in number, as should art schools. More learned eyes with a taste for good art, instead of seeing it merely mechanically, are the real customers that incentivise a thriving art scene.

It is encouraging that hotels nowadays usually carry original works of art by local painters. No less encouraging are the modest galleries that pop up as a part of events, like at Fendika Cultural Centre.

One Pathogen to Another, Lessons from Fight Against COVID-19 to Malaria

Posted on by Web Master

The World Health Organisation’s latest World Malaria Report provided great relief and hope to many. There is no doubt that globally we have come a long way in the fight against malaria over the past 20 years. Many countries have severely reduced the threat of malaria, with both Belize and Cabo Verde having reported zero indigenous cases in 2019 the first time in two decades. Additionally, both China and El Salvador have made a formal request for certification after a third consecutive year with zero indigenous malaria cases.

Within the last five years, seven countries have achieved a WHO certification of malaria-free status. The long road to worldwide eradication of malaria is shortening, step by step.

Yet 409,000 people still died from malaria in 2019, a preventable and treatable disease. Even as we celebrate incredible gains over the past 20 years and the millions of lives saved, the realities and immense scale of the scourge of malaria cannot be ignored. The global malaria death toll was estimated at 736,000 two decades ago; the reality we must face now is that 20 years of efforts worldwide to fight the disease has not even reduced the death toll by half.

This is not to sound pessimistic over what has already been achieved; it is important for the scale of the malaria burden and its consequences to be recognised globally if governments and world leaders are to understand that more action is needed quickly.

After the global COVID-19 pandemic, many more people across the world will understand the reality of living in fear of a largely preventable illness, fearing for friends and loved ones, and the inescapable awful reality that avoiding a potentially deadly illness often comes down to having some form of privileged status, job security, a decent income and, sometimes, simply luck. If the terrible COVID-19 virus has produced any positives, it would be that many more people will now understand the extreme importance of tackling diseases like malaria.

What can we learn from COVID-19 to help to eradicate malaria?

The COVID-19 pandemic revealed the need to invest in and expand healthcare systems across the world. The WHO African region, which bore 94pc of the malaria case burden in 2019 (an estimated 215 million cases), also has extremely fragile health systems that operate at near-capacity outside of a pandemic.

Accurate and timely rapid diagnostic tests (RDTs) for malaria that are simple to use and could be administered by the patient in their own home could help to ease the burden on strained health systems.

SALVA! RDT [a product produced by the company to which the author of the article is a managing director], which only requires children or adults to spit into a tube, delivers an accurate result in five to 20 minutes. It could be administered by parents, teachers or community leaders in homes or schools, taking the burden off medically trained professionals and allowing them to focus on treatment for malaria and COVID-19. There is no need to send samples back to a lab for testing, and for people who live in rural areas, a rapid diagnostic test like SALVA! could lessen reliance on health worker visits or having to travel a long distance to a clinic. In diagnosing and treating malaria, time is of the essence to give people the best chance of making a full recovery.

Around 2.7 billion RDTs for malaria were sold by manufacturers in the last decade, with an estimated four-fifths of these sold to sub-Saharan African countries, according to the latest World Malaria Report. Additionally, 1.9 billion RDTs were distributed by national malaria programmes during this time, with 84pc in Sub-Saharan Africa.

This is remarkable progress, but the distribution of RDTs is only part of the solution to combatting malaria. Greater access to diagnostic tools must be combined with strengthened and fairer healthcare models. The COVID-19 pandemic has further highlighted the danger of discriminatory healthcare models, where access to quality healthcare and life-saving medicines is more of a privilege than a human right. It is hard to imagine an end to the pervasiveness of preventable diseases in the world’s poorest communities when paying for medicine to treat malaria (less than 10 dollars) still pushes struggling families into debt. Tackling diseases like malaria, which disproportionally affects the world’s poorest, relies on improving access to affordable quality healthcare, as much as the distribution and availability of RDTs. Receiving treatment for an often deadly disease like malaria should not be determined by available income.

The fight against malaria is also a fight against poverty. The possibility of eradicating malaria within our lifetime depends upon accelerated and focused efforts to tackle both the disease and the level of poverty in the world’s poorest communities.

The world has changed dramatically since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic. Efforts to combat the novel virus have proven that governments and world leaders can come together to prevent loss of life on a grand scale. In rebuilding the new world, we now have the choice of what kind we wish to create.

It will be challenging, but possible, to create a world where the most vulnerable no longer die from preventable and treatable diseases and where everyone has access to quality healthcare regardless of income. However, it will not happen unless the world now comes together to demand more action to tackle malaria, with the same amount of focus, effort and investment that has been provided to tackle COVID-19.

Avoiding a K-Shaped Global Recovery

Posted on by Web Master

The United States expects to “celebrate independence” from COVID-19 by Independence Day (July 4), when vaccines will have been made available to all adults. But for many developing countries and emerging markets, the end of the crisis is a long way off. Achieving a rapid global recovery requires that all countries be able to declare independence from the virus.

Because the coronavirus mutates, it will put everyone at risk as long as it continues to flourish anywhere in the world. It is thus critical that vaccines, personal protective equipment and therapeutics be distributed everywhere as quickly as possible. Insofar as today’s supply constraints are the result of a poorly designed international intellectual property regime, they are essentially artificial.

While IP reform, in general, is long overdue, what is needed most urgently now is suspension or pooling of the IP rights attached to products needed to fight COVID-19. Many countries are pleading for this, but corporate lobbies in advanced economies have resisted, and their governments have succumbed to myopia. The rise of “pandemic nationalism” has exposed a number of deficiencies in the global trade, investment and IP regimes.

Advanced economies, especially the US, have acted forcefully to reignite their economies and support vulnerable businesses and households. They have learned, even if only briefly, that austerity is deeply counterproductive in such crises. Most developing countries, however, are struggling to obtain the funds to maintain existing support programmes, let alone absorb the additional costs imposed by the pandemic. While the US has spent a quarter of its GDP to support its economy (thereby greatly containing the magnitude of the downturn), developing countries have been able to spend only a small fraction of that.

At nearly 17,000 dollars per capita, US spending has been some 8,000 times higher than that of the least-developed countries, according to our calculations based on World Bank data.

Beyond unleashing their fiscal firepower, developed countries would help themselves and the global recovery by pursuing three policies. First, they should push for a large issuance of special drawing rights (SDRs), the International Monetary Fund’s (IMF) global reserve asset. As matters stand, the IMF could immediately issue about 650 billion dollars in SDRs without seeking approval from member-state legislatures. And the expansionary effect could be boosted significantly if rich countries were to transfer their disproportionately larger allocations to countries in need of cash.

The second set of actions also involves the IMF, owing to its large role in shaping macroeconomic policies in the developing world, particularly in countries that have turned to it for help with balance-of-payments problems. In an encouraging sign, the IMF has actively supported the pursuit of massive, prolonged fiscal packages by the US and the European Union, and has even recognised the need for enhanced public spending in developing countries, despite the adverse external conditions.

But when it comes to setting the terms for loans to countries facing balance-of-payments stress, the IMF’s actions are not always consistent with its statements. An Oxfam International analysis of recent and ongoing standby agreements finds that between March and September 2020, 76 of the 91 IMF loans negotiated with 81 countries required public-expenditure cuts that could undermine healthcare systems and pension schemes, freeze wages for public-sector workers (including doctors, nurses and teachers), and reduce unemployment insurance, sick pay and other social benefits.

Austerity – especially cutbacks in these vital areas – will not work any better for developing countries than it would for developed ones. And more assistance, including the SDR proposals discussed above, would give these countries additional fiscal space.

Lastly, developed countries could orchestrate a comprehensive response to the overwhelming debt problems many countries are facing. Money spent servicing debt is money that is not helping countries fight the virus and restart their economies. In the early stages of the pandemic, it was hoped that a suspension of debt servicing for developing countries and emerging markets would suffice. But it has now been over a year, and some countries need comprehensive debt restructuring, rather than the usual Band-Aids that merely set the stage for another crisis in a few years.

There are a number of ways that creditor governments can facilitate such restructuring and induce more active participation from the private sector, which so far has been relatively recalcitrant. As the INET Commission’s report emphasises, if there were ever a time to recognise the principles of force majeure and necessity, this is it. Countries should not be forced to pay back what they cannot afford, especially when doing it would cause so much suffering.

The policies described here would be of enormous benefit to the developing world and would come at little or no cost to developed countries. Indeed, it is in these countries’ enlightened self-interest to do what they can for people in developing countries and emerging markets, especially when what they can do is readily available and would bring enormous benefits to billions. Political leaders in the developed world must recognise that no one is safe until everyone is safe and that a healthy global economy is not possible without a strong recovery everywhere.

 

By-stand at Society’s Peril

Posted on by Web Master

Some of us would think that a person is most likely to get help when others are present. It is actually the opposite, and the culprit is the phenomenon known as “the bystander effect.” Popularised by social psychologists Bibb Latane and John Darley, two factors are attributed to this concept.

Primary is the diffusion of responsibility. Each person present thinks the other would extend help and wait on other bystanders to take action; therefore, avoiding personal responsibility to act. Had it been a single person present, then they would not have hesitated as much to take action as they would feel solely accountable. The other factor is social influence – not knowing what to do or how to act in the face of others’ lack of action. Seeing that nobody is doing anything to help the individual in distress keeps others from intervening.

The bystander effect, as in many societies, is a significant problem in Ethiopia. I see it every day. There is that person who cares enough to take action or do her part while everybody else goes about their day.

Take households. One parent, usually the mother, does most of the housework and the caring for her children. In our workplaces, there is usually one employee that does their work beyond and above the call of duty, even though she is not properly compensated for her hard work, and several others who slack on the job.

In our neighbourhoods, there is that outspoken person bothering everyone with issues of littering, water shortages or neighbourhood security. They usually come off as sticking their noses in other people’s business.

There is an Amharic saying, “Ye fukikir bet sayzega yaderal,” roughly translated to “Negative competition over who should close the door between residents will leave the door open.” It indicates that leaving the job for whomever to step in and do it will leave it undone.

Why can we not do it ourselves? Why do we wait for someone else to do it for us?

When we come across something that needs fixing, we should take the initiative to fix it. We can start in our households. For instance, in many households, if there is trash that needs to be put into a garbage can, dishes to be washed or beds to be made, we usually wait for either the maid (if there is one) or another family member to do it. This is a common practice that extends to other areas of our lives.

The mentality of “Why would I go through the trouble of doing it while I have other important things to do?” is dangerous. It makes us lazy and incapable. The problem of responsibility avoidance or diversion also has its roots in procrastination. People who tend to wait for others to take action instead of taking it themselves are procrastinators.

Another factor related to the bystander effect is the lack of delegation. Some people, myself included, are not good at delegating tasks to others as we think they cannot do it the way we want it or how we think it should be done. If people would just transfer responsibilities to others and let them be, then the procrastinators would somehow step up as there would be no one else to take responsibility.

Sometimes it is imperative to not act in order to let others take responsibility; that way, they learn not to wait on other people – a taste of their own medicine. This may come as a contradiction, but it is one way of teaching a lesson to those people who often avoid the responsibility of taking action. Then they would realise that they are on their own and feel obligated to take action. However, this is hoping that it will not create a vicious cycle where this action, done repeatedly, makes it favorable for the person who often takes responsibility to lay off accountability and get reluctant.

With Society Distracted, Underground Drug Market Thrives

Posted on by Web Master

Last Friday, around 8:00pm, I witnessed a crime first-hand in the area known as Sheger by the roundabout past Bole Medhanialem Church. A skeletal-looking young man approached the vehicle window, flashing a small hand light in our eyes. He offered us a substance packed in a small transparent plastic bag. We closed the windows and told him we did not want any drugs. He kept pestering us without shame.

We had to drive past to avoid him but could not go too far as we were waiting for someone. We could still see him standing at the spot we left. Several vehicles came and went, purchasing his merchandise, which was likely cannabis, a psychoactive drug. To our shock, his customers were not just young people but also people who were obviously in their 40s. Transactions were completed in a second.

This crime – selling a substance outlawed in Ethiopia – is not an isolated event. It also happens in broad daylight, as normalised as buying coffee.

A few steps away from the spot where this thriving “business” is taking place, I met with two policemen to whom I reported the crime. They were not surprised. They knew what takes place and admitted that things are out of their hands as the offenders get arrested and come out of prison a month later to repeat the same crime.

Indeed, a weak policing and justice system, underfunded security apparatus and minimum sentences are encouraging factors that allow such crimes to thrive. The most significant incentive, unfortunately, for underground drug markets to exist is demand, nonetheless. Such stubborn crime constitutes a serious challenge that must be met with a strong response from police, courts and the public.

The spread of the illegal substance market damages individuals, families, societies and the country. From high schools and universities to working places, youth have become major customers of the drug market. This has taken place under an atmosphere of public apathy, where it is not unfamiliar to see high school students smoking on the streets wearing their uniforms.

Having teenagers and young adults whose psychological, physical and mental wellbeing is harmed by substance abuse is a huge economic and social loss for Ethiopia. Unlike how it is understood in many cultures, addiction distorts chemicals within the brain, especially dopamine. In as far as it distorts the mechanisms within our bodies, addiction technically constitutes a disease.

A country that is in desperate need of skilled human power should not stand by in the face of a thriving underground illegal substance market, as users will be faced with declining academic and professional performance, increased risk of contracting diseases and psychiatric disorders.

Medical doctors warn that substance abuse inflicts a severe toll on public health. Beyond health damage, people under the influence of drugs also pose significant safety risks and costs, such as car accidents. Heavily addicted users also often resort to criminal activities such as theft to raise funds for their drug supply. The serious damage of the habit also poses unnecessary expenses in healthcare. Worse still, it could result in death, as witnessed by the 167,000 people that lose their lives annually, most of them under 50 years of age.

The severity of the problem demands tireless action from security forces, society and schools to work on prevention, education and intervention, including treatment and rehabilitation of those already impacted.

Specific and consistent national abuse prevention programmes can create informed communities and families. It will establish and provide the public with the skills to pass on and to make healthy choices and decisions for the benefit of themselves and the nation. Community-based approaches to prevention and helping those who have already fallen victim to drugs could be vital to avoid substance dependence.

Just like any other crime, law enforcement is another crucial element in this. In concert with the public, the sources and underground supply chain should be constantly monitored and broken. Individuals earning income from the underground market and users should receive rehabilitation and engage in formal employment.

But crimes thrive mainly as a result of the demand out there. It is necessary to have community-level support programmes targeting rehabilitation and, most importantly, instituting social safety net and employment opportunities. Few things push people closer to substance abuse more than poverty and destitution if the glue-sniffing homeless children on the streets of Addis Abeba are any indication.

“Becoming more grotesque.”

Posted on by Web Master

Tedros Adhanom, director-general of the World Health Organisation (WHO), said on the growing gap between the number of vaccines administered in rich countries compared to that in low-income countries. Wealthy nations are vaccinating one person every second, according to USAID, while only a fifth of the population of low-income countries is expected to be vaccinated by the end of 2021.

Toward More Bicycling

Posted on by Web Master

A thriving business is that of bicycle and motor repair shops, including this one on the Jakros-Salite-Mehret road. Bicycles of various sizes are on display, as are several spare parts emphasising the shop’s maintenance abilities. Bicycling to work is not a developed culture in Ethiopia but could grow in importance as vehicles become more expensive.

Zig-zagging Queues

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With a growing population and increasing urbanisation, public transport services are having a hard time meeting demand. Take this scene in Saris, where commuters are queued to catch a minibus taxi to Meganagna. The lines have zig-zagged all the way past the end of the pedestrian walkway along a road under an overpass.

Summit for Transport

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President Sahle-Work Zewde (centre) makes her way to the two-day investment summit for the transport sector held at Skylight Hotel last week on its opening day, March 24, 2021. She is joined by Dagmawit Moges (right), minister of Transport, and Chief Justice Meaza Ashenafi, president of the Federal Supreme Court. The transport sector has unveiled some 44 areas for private and public-private investment, including foreign investors