{news} Fw: USGP-INT From Cynthia McKinney: Please donate what you can for agood cause

[Justine McCabe]

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Scott McLarty" <scottmclarty at yahoo.com>
To: <usgp-media at gp-us.org>; <dcsgp at yahoogroups.com>; <usgp-int at gp-us.org>
Sent: Monday, December 08, 2008 2:58 PM
Subject: USGP-INT From Cynthia McKinney: Please donate what you can for 
agood cause


> From Cynthia McKinney.....
>
> As I prepare this message, David Josué is in Haiti leading his family in 
> funeral services for his father who died one year to the date from the 
> death of his mother.  Many of you have had the opportunity to meet David 
> on the campaign trail.  Some of you know that at this time last year his 
> travel plans with our Power to the People campaign were abruptly canceled 
> due to the passing of his mother.
>
> David was in the process of renewing his efforts on behalf of his adopted 
> country of Guinea-Bissau after reading about yet another cholera outbreak 
> in that island country off the west coast of Africa.  He had updated his 
> website for his charitable activities there, http://www.aizan.org , and 
> had compiled a list of items that he wanted to send to the people there in 
> distress.  David has an active group of volunteers on the ground in 
> country and they are in need of items that we might take for granted: 
> soap, bleach, latex gloves, bicycles for volunteers to deliver assistance 
> to those in need.  And of course, cash donations are always appreciated. 
> Secure donations can be made online at http://www.aizan.org .
>
> While the cholera outbreak has abated now, international volunteers and UN 
> staffers cannot identify where or how it started.  David would love for 
> Aizan volunteers to be equipped so that they can be prepositioned to 
> intervene early to help save lives.  I encourage you to visit 
> http://www.aizan.org and donate what you can.
>
> Here's what the United Nations had to say on the situation in 
> Guinea-Bissau at its height:
>
>
> GUINEA-BISSAU: Cholera epidemic out of control
>
> DAKAR, 17 September 2008 (IRIN) - With 6,461 cholera cases and 122 deaths, 
> experts say the cholera epidemic in Guinea-Bissau is out of control.
>
> The number of reported cases has doubled in the past three weeks. All of 
> the country's 11 health regions have been affected, including the remote 
> Bijagos islands, 60 km off the Bissau coast, which have reported 158 
> cases.
>
> "At the moment, though measures are in place to deal with the epidemic, 
> the situation is not under control," said Daniel Remartinez, emergency 
> coordinator of the Spanish branch of non-governmental organisation (NGO) 
> Médecins sans Frontières (MSF-S).
>
> Hardest hit is Bissau with more than 4,500 cases, followed by Biombo 
> region with 836 reported cases, Quinara with 216 and Oio with 215.
>
> "Bissau [the capital] is a fantastic crossroads from which to spread the 
> epidemic throughout the country – all traffic goes through it," said 
> Sylvana Nzirorera, deputy-representative of the UN Children's Fund 
> (UNICEF) in Bissau.
>
> According to Franck Bouvet, UNICEF's regional water, hygiene and 
> sanitation specialist, international agencies over-estimated the 
> government's ability to coordinate the battle against the epidemic, 
> costing valuable time.
>
> Emergency response teams from the UN and government, MSF-Spain, French NGO 
> Médecins du Monde and the Guinea Bissau Red Cross, are trying to make up 
> for lost time.
>
> Zero capacity
>
> Cholera is endemic in Guinea-Bissau, which has hardly any water pipes in 
> most of the country, and an ailing pipeline in Bissau, which only reaches 
> a quarter of the city's residents, according to UNICEF.
>
> With no government budget to build up such networks, most people construct 
> their own poorly-maintained wells, according to UNICEF's Nzirorera.
>
> Few organised community groups have stepped in to manage water wells, 
> pumps and other sources, said Nzirorera. "In Bissau when there is an 
> emergency, it is hard to know who in the community to talk to," she 
> pointed out.
>
> International response
>
> MSF-Spain is helping the government control the infection and treat cases 
> in 17 health centres and hospitals in Bissau as well as Biombo and Oio 
> regions bordering the capital.
>
> According to MSF-S's Remartinez, cholera victims had not been safely 
> quarantined from other patients in health centres, so MSF-S set up tents 
> to treat them separately.
>
> UNICEF is disinfecting city wells and other water sources with bleach or 
> chlorine in the capital with local organisation Aqua Guinea-Bissau (AGB) 
> and volunteer sanitation brigades.
>
> They have only been able to find less than half of the 3,000 wells thought 
> to exist according to Nzirorera, because they are so well-hidden.
>
> Duarte Falcon, data-manager of the government's national epidemiology unit 
> told IRIN the government is working with the Guinea Bissau Red Cross and 
> UNICEF to go from door-to-door to give hygiene tips to avoid cholera.
>
> For Nzirorera, children are "the best vectors of [public hygiene] messages 
> for families", and religious leadershave the "charisma and power to 
> persuade their followers."
>
> Next Steps
>
> UNICEF's water expert Bouvet says the government has little information 
> about how the infection is spread, or its source. To date, experts say the 
> government has not carried out a nation-wide comprehensive study, which 
> would require multi-region data gathering and analysis.
>
> The US-based Centre for Disease Control is expected to lend the technical 
> know-how and is currently carrying out this study.
>
> "There are behavioural, climactic, and socio-economic determinants to the 
> cause and spread of cholera and it can be hard to identify exactly why it 
> appears when and how. However, we know that key factors increase the risk 
> of an outbreak:  inappropriate hygiene behaviour, lack of drinking water, 
> and inadequate sanitation," Bouvet said.
>
> For UNICEF's Nzirorera, the battle-lines now need to shift beyond the 
> capital so the disease does not escalate in more remote regions.
>
> Most experts agree the government lacks a national plan to fight cholera 
> long-term.
>
> Meanwhile, emergency organisations are trying to address short-term needs.
>
> "We'll stay until the epidemic is under control. We have no idea how long 
> that will be – it depends if the epidemic has reached its peak, or if that 
> is still to come," said Remartinez.
>
>
>
>
> _______________________________________________
> usgp-int mailing list
> usgp-int at gp-us.org
> http://forum.greens.org/mailman/listinfo/usgp-int
>


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------


No virus found in this incoming message.
Checked by AVG.
Version: 7.5.552 / Virus Database: 270.9.15 - Release Date: 12/5/2008 12:00 
AM