This is the News in Brief from the United Nations
Bubonic plague puts young lives at risk in DR Congo: UNICEF
A resurgence of Bubonic plague in the eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) is putting young lives at risk, the UN Children’s Fund, UNICEF, has warned.
Poverty, conflict and displacement are contributing to the return of the illness for the first time in more than a decade, and new research supported by the agency revealed that children are especially vulnerable.
The research focused on three health zones in Ituri province, where more than 490 cases were recorded between 2020 and 2021, with 20 fatalities. Some 578 cases, and 44 plague-related deaths, occurred throughout the entire province during the same period.
Bubonic plague, also known as the black death, is an infectious disease caused by a bacteria usually found in small mammals and their fleas. It is characterized by painful swollen lymph nodes.
Although the disease is easily treatable with antibiotics, which are available in most health zones in Ituri, UNICEF stressed that it is important to seek treatment quickly.
The agency is appealing for support to assist affected communities in Ituri, including through a rat and flea eradication campaign and the construction of homes that are more resistant to them.
This is the News in Brief from the United Nations.
UNHCR chief calls for greater support for the nearly 7 million forcibly displaced from Sudan and South Sudan
Finding solutions based on peace and development is crucial for the future of the nearly seven million forcibly displaced people from Sudan and South Sudan, the UN High Commissioner for Refugees, Filippo Grandi, said following a three-day visit to the two countries.
During the trip Mr. Grandi met Sudan’s Prime Minister Abdalla Hamdok and South Sudan’s President Salva Kiir where they discussed how the two countries can work together to help their displaced populations.
“Returning home is one solution but it is not the only one”, the High Commissioner said. If someone chooses to remain displaced, the initiative must ensure that “they can do so with dignity and sense of belonging”.
Concluding his visit, Mr. Grandi urged continued support for the Revitalized Peace Agreement, signed in 2018, aimed at finding lasting solutions for refugees, internally displaced people (IDPs), returnees and host communities.
“This initiative is a unique opportunity to place the respective Governments and displaced people at the centre of planning for the future and so, it will require concerted efforts to ensure their sustained stability and security”, he said.
High blood pressure now more common in low and middle-income countries, new report finds
The vast majority of people with high blood pressure, or hypertension, live in low and middle-income countries, a World Health Organization (WHO) report released on Wednesday has revealed.
The study, which was co-led by Imperial College London, found that this amounts to 82 per cent of people with hypertension – or around one billion people.
The researchers found that Canada, Peru and Switzerland had among the lowest prevalence of hypertension in the world in 2019, while some of the highest rates were seen in the Dominican Republic, Jamaica and Paraguay for women and Hungary, Paraguay and Poland for men.
The study also revealed significant gaps in diagnosis and treatment. About 580 million people with hypertension were unaware of their condition because they were never diagnosed. The study also indicated that more than half of people with hypertension, or a total of 720 million individuals, were not receiving the treatment that they needed.
As hypertension is easy to diagnose and treat with low-cost medicines. Professor Majid Ezzati, senior author of the study called it “a public health failure”
In parallel with the report, the World Health Organization launched the first new guideline in 20 years on the treatment of hypertension, to help countries improve their management of the disease.
Katy Dartford, UN News
