MANZINI, 20 September 2010 (PlusNews) – Kaposi’s sarcoma (KS), an HIV-related cancer, may not make headlines in southern Africa, but dealing with this disfiguring and potentially deadly illness presents a daunting task for health workers. How to administer chemotherapy at a small rural clinic is just one of the many difficulties faced by health workers treating patients with KS at 10 health facilities run by international medical charity, Medicines Sans Frontiers (MSF) in the Chiradzulu district of southern Malawi. Other challenges are the lack of infrastructure and safety equipment for injection-driven chemotherapy, poor case management and problematic drug supplies, MSF... Continue Reading
By Nangayi Guyson – NOUAKCHOTT (AFP) – Mauritania’s air force on Sunday clashed with al-Qaeda militants in the Sahara desert in northern Mali, destroying three vehicles carrying fighters, a Mauritanian military official told AFP. The senior official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, did not say how many people were killed or wounded in the strikes, which came on the third day of an offensive against Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM)n but about 12 militants are said to have been killed in the fighting in Raz-el-Ma, 250km (155 miles) west of Timbuktu. However a woman was among the dead,... Continue Reading
By Nangayi Guyson, – Seven civilians were killed by gunmen on Wednesday in an area north of Bujumbura that residents suspect of harbouring a reformed rebellion and where security forces launched a swoop. “When we arrived at the scene we found six bodies with bullet and machete wounds and 11 others injured four of them critically,” Ntirandekura told AFP, adding that a seventh victim died in hospital. Earlier, regional police chief David Nikiza said two civilians were killed and wounded in the Rukoko marshes by unidentified armed bandits. Regional administrator Bonaventure Ntirandekura said a gang of eight bandits in army... Continue Reading
By Nangayi Guyson – Johannesburg – Former Liberian President Charles Taylor’s chief lawyer representing him at his war crimes trial is visiting South Africa. A defence team spokesperson said on Thursday Courtenay Griffiths is in Johannesburg but gave no further details has been given but sources say, Griffiths had expressed interest in meeting officials around Africa, possibly to testify at Taylor’s Netherlands-based trial at the Special Court for Sierra Leone. Taylor says he is innocent of 11 war-crimes charges linked to allegations he supported rebels during Sierra Leone’s 11-year civil war, which ended in 2002 with an estimated 100 000... Continue Reading
By Nangayi Guyson – Khartoum At least 37 people were killed and 26 injured on Thursday when two buses collided in the northern Sudanese state of White Nile, the director of Sudan’s traffic police said. “The accident came after bus tried to overtake a truck, but it failed and it collided into a minibus coming the other way, setting the minibus on fire”, Mohammed Tahier Fadl said. Thirty-seven people were recorded dead and 26 others were injured in the crash,” with four children among the dead. The accident happened near the settlement of Alrader, some 60km south of the capital... Continue Reading
