Tag Archives: Guinea

Guinea bans beauty pageants over ‘skimpy outfits’ outrage.

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A temporary ban has been placed on beauty pageants in Guinea in response to outrage over bikinis.

Mamady Youla, the country’s prime minister, had attended a beauty pageant during the weekend, where contestants in swimsuits (bikinis)  paraded in front of him.

This elicited criticisms from Guineans who accused the prime minister of encouraging prostitution by being present at the event.

Many nationals of the country had taken to social media to slam their government and express their distaste, BBC Afrique reports.

Guinea is an extremely conservative society with a majority Muslim population.

The government has said the ban will remain in place until a committee is set up to establish a new code of ethics.

Siaka Barry, Guinea’s culture minister, said the government had terminated its contract with the organisers of the pageant.

Barry was also present at the beauty pageant that led to the government-ordered ban.

Female Genital Mutilation: Two Girls Die After Circumcision.

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Freetown – A teenage girl died after undergoing a botched female circumcision in Sierra Leone, police said on Thursday, just days after the death of a 10-year-old girl in Guinea.

 

Female genital mutilation (FGM) is widespread in the neighbouring West African countries, with about 90% of women in both countries undergoing circumcision.

 

Teenager Fatmata Turay died after she was circumcised in an initiation ceremony in the village of Mabolleh in north Sierra Leone and three women involved, including the girl’s aunt, have been arrested, police said.

 

“There will be an investigation into the circumstances which led to the death of this girl,” said vice minister of social affairs Rugiatu Turay.

 

The death comes just days after a 10-year-old girl in Makpozou, a forested area in the south of Guinea, died in similar circumstances, according to the country’s social action ministry.

 

The child died in a circumcision camp for young girls, the ministry said.

 

Guinea’s government urged communities that practise FGM to “stop sacrificing the girls”, and said it was committed to the fight against the “vile practice”.

 

Female circumcision is common in West Africa, where it is considered a female rite of passage and where practitioners can earn up to $50 per girl.

 

Sierra Leone recently ratified a 2003 African Union protocol that seeks to ban FGM.

One Known Ebola Case Left In Guinea After Girl’s Discharge

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A dedicated Ebola clinic was treating Guinea’s only known case of the virus on Thursday after the recovery of a girl diagnosed with the disease, the charity running the facility said.

The Alliance For International Medical Action (ALIMA) runs the country’s sole treatment centre in the southern city of Nzerekore, where it has handled six of the 10 confirmed cases recorded since the outbreak was officially declared over in December.

“(Of) six confirmed cases, four have died, one was discharged after recovery and the sixth is still here,” said ALIMA emergency co-ordinator Solenne Barbe.

Barbe attributed the high mortality rate to the fact that the recent patients arrived too late to be treated with a good chance of survival.

The newest confirmed case is an elderly man from Macenta prefecture to the north of Nzerekore, she said, thought to be a healer visited by one of the dead while still alive and infected with the virus.

Credit: Guardian

WHO Declares Guinea Ebola-Free

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The World Health Organisation (WHO) on Tuesday declared Guinea Ebola-free, after more than 2,500 people died from the virus, leaving Liberia as the only country still waiting for the end of the epidemic.

 

People in the capital, Conakry, greeted the declaration by authorities and the WHO with mixed emotions, given the deaths and the damage the virus caused
the economy and the country’s health and education sectors.

 

Rene Migliani, WHO Official, National Coordination Centre for the Fight Against Ebola, said Ebola had made more than 6,200 children orphans in Guinea.

 

He said there were more than 3,800 Ebola cases in Guinea out of the more than 28,600 cases globally with 11,300 deaths.

 

Migliani said almost all the cases and deaths were in Guinea and its neighbours Liberia and Sierra Leone.

 

WHO said a country was declared Ebola-free 42 days after the recovery or death of the last patient and if there were no new infections.

 

It said Liberia lost more than 4,800 people to the haemorrhagic fever, “but if all goes well, the country can be declared virus-free in January.”

 

The country was declared Ebola-free in May and September, but each time new cases emerged thereafter.

 

 

(Reuters/NAN)

Three New Cases Of Ebola Recorded In Guinea

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According to a senior health official in Guinea who spoke yesterday Wednesday, October 28, three more people have been infected with the Ebola virus. According to Fode Tass Sylla, spokesman for the national centre for the fight against Ebola, the three were infected in Forecariah in western Guinea from the family of a woman who died of Ebola and whose body was handled without appropriate protection.
 “In all, nine sick people are being treated at our centres throughout the country and most are connected to the dead woman,” he told Reuters, adding that authorities had known of the three fresh cases since Saturday.

Two New Ebola Cases Discovered In Guinea

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Two people have fallen ill with Ebola in Guinea after two weeks with no new confirmed cases of the disease in West Africa, the World Health Organization said on Friday.

WHO spokeswoman, Margaret Harris, told a United Nations briefing in Geneva that one case was in Forecariah, western Guinea, and appeared to be linked to a previously known chain of infection, while the other was in the capital Conakry.

Ebola transmission is considered to be over once a locality has gone 42 days without a new case of the disease. The other two countries that were worst hit by the epidemic were Liberia, which was declared transmission free on September 3, and Sierra Leone, which is counting down another 22 days until it is clear, Reuters reported.

Read More: thenationonlineng

Buhari Applauds Guinea Bissau’s President, Obasanjo’s Role In Resolving Guinea’s Political Crisis

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President Muhammadu Buhari lauded President Jose Mario Vaz and the people of Guinea-Bissau for the peaceful resolution of the recent political crisis that left the country without a government for 37 days.

A statement issued in Abuja by the president’s Special Adviser on Media and Publicity, Mr Femi Adesina, also quoted President Buhari as applauding the laudable role played in the resolution of the crisis by his Special Envoy, Chief Olusegun Obasanjo.

Obasanjo was similarly adopted by ECOWAS as the regional body’s Special Envoy on the political dispute in Guinea-Bissau.

The president thanked Obasanjo for a job well-done and commended the ECOWAS Authority of Heads of State and Government for its steadfast commitment to peace, security and progress in Guinea-Bissau and the entire West African region.

President Buhari welcomed President Jose Mario Vaz’s acceptance of the solution to the recent political crisis proffered by Obasanjo and congratulated Mr Carlos Correia on his emergence as the new Prime Minister of Guinea-Bissau.

Read More: nannewsnigeria

Buhari Orders Take Over Of Nigeria’s Airspace Over Gulf Of Guinea From Ghana

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President Muhammadu Buhari has ordered the takeover of the security of the nation’s airspace over the Gulf of Guinea from Ghana, even as he directed the Ministry of Aviation to expedite action on the setting up of a new national carrier.

Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Aviattion, Mrs Binta Bello, told journalists at the Presidential Villa in Abuja yesterday, that the president had given instructions to commence the process of taking over the airspace immediately, as neighbouring countries now have the capacity to cover their own airspace. “We have a directive by the president to start the process of securing the management of Nigerian airspace over the Gulf of Guinea, which Ghana has been maintaining since 1945 and there is a move on the ground by Togo and Republic of Benin to take over the management of their own airspace from Ghana,” she said.

She assured Nigerians and the international community that the country’s airspace was safe and had just recorded a score of over 90 per cent by the International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO).

Read More: thisdaylive

All Eyes On Malabo For AFCON 2015 Draws Today

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All eyes in Africa will be focussed on Equatorial Guinea on Wednesday as the capital of Malabo plays host to the draw for the Africa Cup of Nations just weeks after Morocco were stripped of the right to host the event.

The traditional ceremony to determine the group matchups for the January 17 to February 8 continental showpiece, was initially set for Rabat before Morocco asked for the tournament to be postponed because of the devastating Ebola outbreak which has cost nearly 7,000 lives in west Africa.

Morocco were instead not only stripped of the right to host the tournament but disqualified from the event as Equatorial Guinea, the third highest producer of petrol in Sub-Saharan Africa, stepped in at the final hour to save the day.

Equatorial Guinea, who co-hosted the 2012 event with Gabon, face a race against time to be ready with less than two months until kick-off, and the draw is set to unveil further indications of progress on preparations.

One aspect that hasn’t changed is the format with four groups of four teams drawn in a round-robin first round line-up shared between the cities of Malabo, Bata, Mongomo and Ebebiyin.

– Ivory Coast, Algeria the teams to avoid –

Ironically, Equatorial Guinea will be in the top seeded hat as hosts, just six months after the former Spanish colony were disqualified from qualifying after fielding an ineligible player during a preliminary round fixture against Mauritania.

They will joined, as one of the top four seeds, by four-time champions Ghana, 2012 African winners Zambia and the Ivory Coast.

The ‘Elephants’ of the Ivory Coast, who lost finals in 2006 and 2012 and also reached the semi-finals in 2008, remain a formidable force as the seedings were determined by previous CAN results.

Their glory teams of the past have undergone several changes in recent years as they turn to life without retired legend Didier Drogba and now lean on the coaching leadership of dashing Frenchman Herve Renard who led Zambia to their first title three years ago.

Manchester City’s Yaya Toure and Roma striker Gervinho are key players for the Ivory Coast with a strong cast of talent in place to support the 1992 champions.

Holders Nigeria and seven-time champions Egypt failed to qualify leaving Algeria the danger team from hat number two alongside 2013 finalists Burkina Faso, Mali and Tunisia.

The ‘Desert Foxes’ of Algeria reached the second round of the World Cup for the first time this year, and are chasing a second African title after their only success on home soil in 1990.

The country are enjoying a purple patch with top club ES Setif recently winning the African Champions League and the CAN providing a serious opportunity to increase their flourishing international reputation.

On paper, hat number four appears stronger than the third set of teams with former giants Senegal, Cameroon and Guinea joining the Congo while Cape Verde, South Africa, Gabon and Democratic Republic of Congo complete the 16-nation line-up in pot three.

Cameroon, now without former captain Samuel Eto’o, failed to qualify in 2012 and 2013 which dropped their ranking while Senegal have failed to get past the first round since 2006.

The ‘Indomitable Lions’ of Cameroon, won the last of their four African titles in 2002, when they defeated a Senegal team making their lone appearance in the championship match.

2015 CAN draw:

Pot 1: Equatorial Guinea (hosts), Ghana, Ivory Coast, Zambia

Pot 2: Algeria, Burkina Faso, Mali, Tunisia

Pot 3: Cape Verde, South Africa, Gabon, DR Congo

Pot 4: Cameroon, Senegal, Guinea, Congo

Source – kokomansion.com

Guinea Hunger Strike at Village Occupation after Ebola Worker Killings

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A hunger strike has been launched in Guinea in protest against the military’s presence in a village where an Ebola awareness team was killed in September.

About 20 leaders from the southern Wome village are camping outside parliament since launching the strike. The “military occupation” of Wome had forced some 6,000 people to flee their homes, an opposition leader said. The government and military have not commented on the allegations.

In September, the government accused villagers of murdering eight people raising awareness about Ebola.

Some of the bodies – of health workers, local officials and journalists – were found in a septic tank in Wome some 50km (30 miles) from the south-eastern city of Nzerekore.

The motive for the attack was not clear, but it came at a time when many communities either denied the existence of Ebola or accused health workers of spreading the virus.

 

Ebola in Brazil?

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Brazil says it has identified a suspected Ebola case who arrived in the country on Thursday.

The patient, Souleymane Bah from Guinea, presented himself after coming down with a fever at a public health centre in the town of Cascavel in the southern state of Parana. He has been flown to Rio de Janeiro to the National Institute of Infectology.

Doctors say he no longer has a fever and blood test results are expected on Saturday. Health Minister Arthur Chioro said the situation was under control and “all health protocols and procedures were applied efficiently and with great success”.

Guinea is one of the three West African countries most affected by Ebola.Mr Bah’s symptoms appeared on the 20th day after he left Guinea – within the 21-day incubation period. But since his arrival he has not shown any symptoms and his fever has not returned. Mr Bah arrived in Brazil as a refugee and was granted leave to remain until 2015 by immigration police.

Sixty-four people who came into contact with Mr Bah, mostly in the health centre in Parana, are also being monitored for symptoms of Ebola, although the Health Ministry says they are considered low risk. Concerns have been expressed about what route Mr Bah took to get to Brazil.

The authorities in Argentina are concerned he may have come to South America through one of the country’s airports or ports. The Brazilian Health Ministry says it has contacted the World Health Organisation about these concerns.

WHO- West Africa Ebola outbreak deaths exceed 4,000

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World Health Organization’s most recent report provides that the number of people killed in the Ebola outbreak has risen above 4,000.

Latest figures shows there have been 8,376 cases and 4,024 deaths in the worst-affected West African nations of Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone.

The news comes as Liberian MPs refused to grant the president additional powers to deal with the Ebola crisis. President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf has already declared a state of emergency that allows her to impose quarantines.

 

Guinea Player Leaves Team to Calm Team Players’ Ebola Fears

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Guinea forward Lass Bangoura says he left his national team to calm the fears of his Spanish club teammates who were worried about the Ebola outbreak.

Lass was called to play for Guinea in its 2015 Africa Cup of Nations qualifier against Ghana on Friday, which was moved from Guinea to Morocco because of concerns about Ebola.

But Lass said on Thursday, “When they told me my teammates were worried, I made the decision to come back, speak with them, and tell them that they shouldn’t be afraid.

“They called me twice, but I couldn’t answer because I was training, and later I spoke with my agent. I then spoke with my coach and I told him that I had a problem with my club because my teammates were afraid, and that if he could let me go to do things because I didn’t want trouble with my club, which is who pays me.”

Rayo Vallecano spokesman Fernando Lopez told The Associated Press that the club did not ask Lass to return, but instead it suggested he not travel to Guinea and instead go directly to Morocco. Lopez said Lass agreed to that travel plan.

Air France Flies to Ebola-hit Guinea out of ‘Solidarity’: Hollande

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FRANCE-GUINEA-DIPLOMACY

President Francois Hollande said Monday as he hosted a visit by Guinea’s President Alpha Conde, that Air France is maintaining its flights to Ebola-hit Guinea as a sign of France’s “solidarity”.

International help needed to be ramped up for Guinea and other west African nations struggling with the deadly epidemic, which has killed more than 3,000 people since the start of the year, the French leader said. At the same time, those countries suffering “should not be isolated and should remain open,” he said. “That is why Air France continues to work” by maintaining flights to Guinea’s capital Conakry, Hollande said.

Air France, however, in August suspended its services to neighbouring Sierra Leone, which is also beset by the virus. Other airlines, including British Airways, have also halted flights to Ebola-struck parts of west Africa.

Hollande assured Conde of France’s “total solidarity” as Guinea grapples with the disease. Ebola has infected 1,074 people and killed 648 in Guinea.

He said his government has allocated 35 million euros ($44 million) and would soon establish a third Ebola clinic with the dispatch of another 25 French doctors to help Guinea battle the epidemic.

Ebola: 7 Deaths & 18 Cases in Nigeria

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EBOLA AIRPORT EB

Nigeria now has 18 Ebola cases, after a fourth case was found in Port Harcourt, the health minister said on Wednesday.

The Port Harcourt carrier skipped quarantine and traveled to Port Harcourt, bringing the disease there. A doctor died in the oil city last week. Health Minister Onyebuchi Chukwu said a patient he had treated had also now died.A total of 255 people were under surveillance in Port Harcourt, while 41 were in Lagos.

Meanwhile, the World Health Organization has said on Wednesday, that more than 1,900 people have died with a total of more than 3,500 people have been infected by the Ebola virus in Liberia, Guinea, Sierra Leone and Nigeria since the first documented cases in December.

Ebola Confirmed in Senegal

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ebola.si

Despite closing boarders by banning Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone in the bid to halt the spread of Ebola, Senegal reports its first Ebola case.

Senegal’s health minister, Awa Marie Coll- Seck informed reporters on Friday that an infected man coming from Guinea came into Senegal with the virus and was quarantined immediately.

The young Guinean is a student who wanted treatment at a hospital in Dakar but however did not reveal the nature of his illness to the hospital staff. This angered residents in Dakar.

The Ebola outbreak, which began in Guinea, has killed more than 1,500 people across the region, and at least 3,000 people have been infected with the virus.

africa-ebola-map

Hence, regarding the spread of Ebola from one country to another, do you think it is wrong to seek for medical help from another country?