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  • Schistosomiasis elimination: refocusing on snail control to sustain progress

    Schistosomiasis elimination: refocusing on snail control to sustain progress

    Substantial progress has been made during the past decade to prevent and control schistosomiasis (also known as bilharziasis) globally. The disease affects more than 230 million people, mostly in sub-Saharan Africa.

    Progress is mainly due to large-scale periodic treatment of affected populations with praziquantel, the only medicine recommended by the World Health Organization (WHO) against all forms of schistosomiasis. Regular treatment cures mild symptoms and prevents
    progression to severe, chronic disease.

    “Through progressive scale-up of periodic large-scale treatment
    to control morbidity in many endemic countries, we are closer to
    achieving the minimum target of 75% global coverage of all school‐aged
    children,    ” said Dr Amadou Garba Djirmay, who leads WHO’s global schistosomiasis control programme. “But
    if we want to achieve elimination, we must go a step further to
    introduce snail control in hot spots and in areas targeting elimination.
    This is bound to increase impact and accelerate progress towards
    interruption of transmission    .”

    Expansion of treatment is largely supported by donated praziquantel from Merck KGaA of up to 250 million tablets annually. In 2018, almost 78 million children were treated, representing 63% of all school‐aged children eligible for treatment.

    Transmission: role of snails

    Schistosomiasis is an acute, chronic parasitic disease caused by infection with trematode worms of the genus Schistosoma. It is prevalent in tropical and subtropical areas, especially in poor, rural communities that have little or no access to
    safe drinking‐water and basic sanitation. Infection is transmitted when people suffering from schistosomiasis contaminate freshwater sources when evacuating urine and faeces containing the parasite’s eggs.

    Once an egg comes into contact with fresh water, it releases miracidia (hatchlings) which enter a snail and produce hundreds of cercariae (larvae) daily. The cercariae enter the human body on contact with the skin and develop into adult worms.

    Besides treatment with praziquantel, eliminating snail hosts and improving sanitation are important methods for sustainable prevention of the disease. Dam and irrigation projects are known to be potential sites for outbreaks of the disease. Snail management,
    often achieved through mollusciciding, can help to reduce transmission by eliminating these intermediate snail hosts.

    Vector control

    In 2017, the World Health Assembly – WHO’s decision making body – adopted resolution WHA70.16 on the Global Vector Control
    Response, calling on Member States to develop or adapt national vector control strategies and operational plans. The strategy aims to reduce by at least 40% the incidence of vector borne diseases, including schistosomiasis, by 2025.

    In response, WHO is reinforcing snail control as part of its strategic approach to achieve the target of eliminating schistosomiasis as a public health problem and, ultimately, the goal of elimination of transmission. Snail control will complement mass
    treatment campaigns and sustain the public health impact of this core intervention.

    To facilitate implementation of snail control, in 2019 WHO published on specific, standardized procedures and criteria for efficacy
    testing and evaluation and in 2017 a manual on the use of molluscicides in the field. WHO is also planning to strengthen capacities
    of health staff in medical malacology in order to reinforce snail control activities in countries.

    In the past, molluscicides (particularly niclosamide1 based products) were widely used in schistosomiasis control programmes. For example, in China programmes largely relied on snail control for over 30 years to overcome the disease as a public
    health problem. In other parts of the world, however, snail control programmes were gradually discontinued and competencies faded away.

    “Snail control is a crucial component of the global schistosomiasis elimination strategy,” said Dr Rajpal Yadav, Scientist, WHO Department of Control of Neglected Tropical Diseases. “It
    is time we look for new snail control products that are cost–effective
    and of low risk to humans and the environment. Some efforts are being
    made to explore molluscicide compounds from plants, marine algae and
    microorganisms    .”

    An integrated control strategy involving mass treatment with praziquantel, snail control and environmental modification, wider access to sanitation and safe water, economic and environmental development, health education and poverty-alleviation can greatly
    contribute to sustainable control and elimination of schistosomiasis.

    WHO’s new road map on neglected tropical diseases for 2021–2030, due to be launched later this year, advocates enhanced financial and political support to achieve the target of interruption of transmission. Additional research to address gaps,
    develop tools and optimize the impact of existing programmes with snail control will complement the core strategic approach.

    Schistosomiasis: forms of the disease

    There are two major forms of schistosomiasis – intestinal and urogenital.

    Intestinal schistosomiasis usually results in diarrhoea and blood in the stool; enlargement of the liver and of the spleen and portal hypertension are common in advanced cases.

    Urogenital schistosomiasis is characterized by the presence of blood in the urine. Chronic infection results in fibrosis of the bladder and ureter that can evolve to hydronephrosis and create conditions for bladder cancer.

    In women, urogenital schistosomiasis can cause vaginal bleeding, pain during sexual intercourse and nodules in the vulva, a condition now described as female genital schistosomiasis. In men, urogenital schistosomiasis can induce disease in the seminal
    vesicles and prostate.

    1Limitations with the use of formulations based on niclosamide include restrictions on the usage of water immediately after application and temporary toxicity to non-target aquatic organisms including
    fish, amphibians and invertebrates. 

     

        Schistosomiasis elimination: refocusing on snail control to sustain progress
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      • Using SlideShare to Generate Leads

        Visual content marketing is motivating marketers to rethink their overall marketing strategy. Previously, written content was enough to make the marketing strategy of many business work effectively. However, it isn?t enough anymore. Now, it takes more than that to get the message to existing and prospective clients…

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      • Should You Be Analyzing Your Social Media Marketing Effectiveness?

        Social media is probably one of the most essential tools in today?s business. It may be difficult for businesses to survive without LinkedIn, Twitter, and Facebook accounts as they help to increase customer base and generate leads. While Facebook has over 800 million users, Twitter has about 200 million users. In addition, a blog with regular comments goes a long way in enhancing business effectiveness…

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        http://www.associationofmarketing.org/articles/view.php?article_id=7804

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      • Federal Inland Revenue Service Retires Directors

        Federal Inland Revenue Service Retires Directors

        Federal Inland Revenue Service Retires Directors 1

        Federal Inland Revenue Service Retires Directors 2


         

        The board of the Federal Inland Revenue Service has approved the retirement of all directors, who had served at least eight years with the organisation.

        The appointment of four Coordinating Directors and two Group Leads in an acting capacity was also approved by the board.

        Director of Communications and Liaison Department of the FIRS, Abdullahi Ahmad, made the announcement on Wednesday.

        He said, “The FIRS Board took this decision at its emergency meeting No. 2. held on Friday, March 20, 2020, during which it also approved the retirement of all directors who have served for eight years and above as directors in the Service, in line with Para 10.1(a)(iii) of Human Resources Policy and Programmes of the FIRS statute.”

         

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      • The Political Economy Of Coronavirus By Kunle Wizeman Ajayi

        The Political Economy Of Coronavirus By Kunle Wizeman Ajayi

        The Political Economy Of Coronavirus By Kunle Wizeman Ajayi 3

        The Political Economy Of Coronavirus By Kunle Wizeman Ajayi 4


         

        The most powerful person in Aso Rock, Abba Kyari; who is the chief of staff to the president, has tested positive to Covid19. No government official can reach President Buhari without him. There is a ripe suspicion that the kitchen cabinet might have been infected. Likewise in Europe, the most powerful person, Angela Merkel the chancellor of Germany, has been quarantined. While Trump and Boris Johnson took the same path in trying to ignore the pandemic, their governments are in deep crises of the damages and exposures their neglect has caused the citizens.

        As I type, the fear of corona virus is the beginning of real wisdom as governments are now banning even churches and mosques from gathering. The Nigerian federal ministry of health has announced 42 cases so far. And even the mass of working people who have hitherto doubted our thieving class so far, are now more wary and precautionary over their immediate safety without relying on the failed health institutions. People seldom shake hands now. Corona waves na the way to greet now! That corona virus has turned a corruption racket is what will be duly discussed another day. 

        Industries are closing down as Wall Street falls like pack of cards. US President Donald Trump is shouting “cuts” for the working class and bail-outs for industries and big business. Whereas, Socialist presidential aspirant Bernie Sanders is calling for “healthcare for all” as well as pay for all US citizens staying at home during the pandemic days. The globalised trend of the corona virus needs a global understanding and lessons of how the world is being ruled everywhere. The way US rulers have failed to care for the poor and invest in proper and compulsory healthcare for all but private pharmaceutical companies who make healthcare a commercial quantity that only the rich can afford, is the same way Nigerian rulers failed to build hospitals and kept allocating between 4 to 6% budgetary spending on education while them and their children spend billions on medical tourism. Also, Boris Johnson’s UK government is renting “beds at hospitals.” This is unlike Spain that has nationalized its healthcare!

        The price of crude oil has fallen globally. The global stock exchange has crashed as workers can no longer go to work and make great wealth for their casino. Coronavirus has superceded SARS with its speedy spread and effects globally. So the world economic crises have been, for the first time, propelled by a health crisis. What can the Left and the revolutionaries in Nigeria make out of this global crises that could leave no island untouched? 

        Naomi Klein, the author of the classic ‘The Shock Doctrine: The Rise of Disaster Capitalism’ has come up to warn that “if you’re a hard-core free-market economist, you understand that when market fails it lends itself to progressive change much more organically, than it does (when) the kind of deregulatory policies emerge. Political and economic elites understand that moment of crises is their chance to push through their wish list of unpopular policies that further polarize wealth…”

        I argue that while the government in Nigeria has reduced the cruelly expensive cost of petrol by just #20, and there is lipservice to building new hospitals, there is a larger probability of massive corruption as the federal government has already declared #2trillion intervention fund. Why we the working people have to very much care is because the same elements who created the crises (whichever ways) would end up profiting largely from the crises. This just as many military officers and politicians are billionaires courtesy the Boko Haram war.

        The interplay of methods of these corruptive accumulations on one hand, and the trajectory of working class resistances is critically assessed weighing up why and how the working people were at the loosing ends at the 2008/9 global economic crises that made the Central Bank under the Soludo/Sanusi bail-outs policies made the criminal banks even richer than before. Though a few bank MDs and top officers were detained on “hospital beds” and such other “ajebutter” prisons; no bank owner was even questioned. 

        The fact that both the US and Nigeria are rich governments that have bad healthcare policies, discussing social infrastructures as class struggle under this system of “primitive accumulation” needs to be knocked up as perspectives to guide millions who want an end to crises and build another world that would be for all and not a tiny thieving few.    

        A CLASSLESS PANDEMIC

        The corona virus has shown that the gap between the rich and the poor is just an artificial creation. The nature of humans is more communal than competitive. Plenty of the rich mouth the fact that we are all equal, but some are more equal than others. This virus is a threat to all and shows that the world can organize together and defeat any virus that attacks it. Crises like this shows that there is no policy that is pro-rich that can save society. Most of the capitalists who rule our world have been saying that government cannot help all and cater for the needs of majority. They tend to tell us that getting “healthcare for all” is rocket science. Corona virus has proved that all that is wrong!

        Meanwhile, many Nigerians are debating as to the cause of corona virus, and why it has drawn more attentions than malaria that kills about 800 everyday and child mortality that murders about 300 women daily. These debates became rife when Ibrahim Magu; head of the Economic Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) asserted that “corona virus is caused by corruption.” His position, while quite misleading, is correct to the point that the virus is actually caused by the greed of man in unsettling the animal and forest lives. Most of the viruses live in the wildest of forests but humans go in and destroy their habitats. These make the virus homeless and have to migrate to live with humans. 

        The corona virus has also made the Nigerian politicians to have no escapist lives again. Most of them used to go abroad for medical tourism. But there is nowhere to run to now! This is why revolutionaries must use this chance to support striking doctors and demand for free, functionally standard and compulsory healthcare for all. We do not want a situation where the ruling class would use state wealth to build defence and cure for corona virus, only for the rich, instead for all. We must avoid repeating case of the last economic meltdown where what we could see is socialism for the rich and leave the poor uncatered for. This is why we must all reject the paltry #20 that was reduced from oil price as well as condemn the full devaluation of the naira. These policies will make the rich eat their cake and have it. Petrol price should be reduced to at least #45 while naira should be strengthened. The time to consider the #RevolutionNow demands of an “economy for the majority” is now! 

        2008/9: A FLASHBACK 

        When the 2008 global economic meltdown stormed Nigeria, the rulers ordered “technocrats” to adopt the Obama measures in bailing out the banks and their thieving managers. After prosecuting five CEOs of Afribank, Oceanic, Finbank, Intercontinental, and Union bank, The CBN went ahead to put #460bn as bail-outs for the banks after recovering just #70bn. The CEOs lost their posts for giving out #700bn loans without collateral. The loans portfolio of the bank, according to CBN, is #2.8tn. The richest guys in the country were involved in this public racket and were never touched. A good instance is Aliko Dangote who had a loan worth $15m with Oceanic Bank but got elected to replace Ndi OKereke as Nigerian Stock Exchange president. The same person has the monopoly of trading in rice, salt, sugar, textiles, and vegetable oil. The same persons who created the crises in the same place got rewarded after the crises. This is what Naomi Klein is warning about. For the rich, socialism is never good for the majority. The rich, in the time of corona virus and other disasters, want bail-outs but never for the working people. Just as Omoyele Sowore noted; “when crises arises, capitalism retires and socialism becomes the messiah!  

        We must start asking for Cost of Living Allowance (COLA) from the federal government. Every Nigerian must each be paid at least #100,000 monthly as the corona virus effect billing. We should also demand a standard hospital per 5 streets with the doctors and nurses paid appropriately! 

        THE TRUMP/BUHARI DISORDER

        President Buhari’s address to Nigerians has failed to address the pandemic. Trump’s tweets are of the same mental disorders like those of the ministers and officials of Buhari’s government.  Trump boasted that the “virus is under total control…The market will take care of itself,” he had to recant after the Dow Jones Industrial closed with its worst one-day decline since 1987; “The market will be very strong as soon as we get rid of the virus.”

        “But even as he was doing so, Trump maintained that he hadn’t said the virus was “under control,” which is something he has most definitely said on many occasions — along with other attempts to play down fears” CNN noted.

        Garba Shehu and other spokespersons of President Buhari have also been speaking from all sides of their mouths. They first downplayed the effect of the virus by revealing that malaria has been killing hundreds…Until they made some allocations of about $1.2trillion to the virus effects. The question remains the goals of the government. Many Nigerians do not trust the same government that has never given as much as 8% budgetary allocation to healthcare since the Buhari regime came into place, just like the PDP governments before it. While the president is one of the most sick, he prefers to betray electoral promises and visit private hospitals in the UK for months instead of building standard public health care. 

        Working people in US,UK, and Nigeria should look beyond their reactionary rulers and make real political demands that will make sure the same rogues who cause the crises don’t come back to claim to be the super heroes of the same crises. The case of Ebola and Lassa in Nigeria are classics in this regard. While Nigeria was lucky to get over the Ebola case with the sacrifice of health officials; Lassa fever has killed thousands so far loosely tackled because rodents most likely cannot enter luxury houses.

        Nigerians should be aware that both Buhari and Trump are exponents of crazy capitalism and prefers to give false answers to real threats and would only be falsely apologetic later. We must understand that the rulers are neither interested in our well being nor our future. Their fear is that the virus should never become for all. They prefer crises for just the masses. But oga corona no mind. This is why despite Trump trying to call it Chinese virus or Buhari trying to boycott addressing the country, nothing matters to the working people than having a healthy society. Arms in arms, we will have to care for one another and defeat the most dangerous virus ever in the history of the world! 

        OPIUMS ON THE CROSS

        Pastors in Nigeria, aside the ban on public and mass gatherings, are seriously on trial! Many a youths are asking what their “God” would do in this time of corona virus to save the followers from untimely deaths. The first pastor to become so fearless had predicted that he would go to China to cure the virus. But by the time the Italian became the first case in view; the pastor got admitted in a hospital for unknown reasons.

        Also, the mosques are closing shop. Even many are contemplating drinking alcohol to help in preventing corona virus. Despite the fact that many a churches and mosques become well attended public places, the belief in better life and a prosperous world without danger have been the egg tacts around the building of these beliefs. Saudi Arabia has stopped religious visitations. Government everywhere is banning all worshipping junctures. If these bans have been summoned by political demands of the left, it couldn’t have sailed through but the struggle is being marshaled by a pandemic. Bernie Sanders was seen as too extreme but most of those pro-establishment strollers must be shitting in their yanshes now!

        Karl Marx was very clear that “religion is the opium of the masses, the soul of the soulless.” The realizations of the fact that the immediacy of the problems of society can only be derailed if the people think that there is an umbrella or belief that can make some magic. With corona now, even the state that employs religion is not apologetic in banning its public activities. Sadly, many priests still in shock as to a possible demarketing have kept on lying to their congregations. A viral video shows a pastor saying “coronavirus cannot enter Nigeria where there is corrosive anointing;” so cocky in ignorance.  Such public ranting must be condemned.

        CONFUSION BREAK BONE; NAIJA HEALTH IN CRISES

        When the deposed emir of Kano, former CBN governor Sanusi Lamido Sanusi, was banned to Awe in Nassarawa State; the town has two (2) doctors to two hundred thousand (200,000) people. Such is the metaphor of health care in Nigeria.  Most doctors, nurses, and other medical personnel have migrated to other climes in an unprecedented brain drain. As Yusuf posited “7 out of 10 Nigerians live on less than $1.25 (~500 Naira) a day and they also live in a country where 70% of health expenditures are out-of-pocket payments. Nineteen years after the Abuja Declaration where African Union states pledged to allocate at least 15% of their annual budget to health, Nigeria continues to default. With over 23,584 public primary health care facilities, 8,290 private primary health care facilities and 200,000 patent and proprietary medicine vendors (PPMVs) in Nigeria, yet the country’s health indices and other health indicators continue to remain abysmal without any significant improvement compared to other countries in Sub-Saharan Africa.

        Citizens are condemned to self-care using several unregulated drugs and African raw herbs. The yearly allocations to health care in the budget never rise beyond 6 and 8%. This is despite the fact that Aisha, wife of President Buhari once publicly complained that Aso rock clinic has no syringe! At the Teaching hospitals, one has to pay heavily to get health care as the state has been practicing health care commercialization. The medical equipments are really not there while there are so poor remunerations of medical personnel. Yet, when Ebola came knocking in 2014, the health workers paid the sacrifices. 

        Corona virus is global and has now halted the medical tourism of the rich class of whom President Buhari is the chief. If not for Covid-19, he would have gone visiting his London doctors for the umpteenth time!  

        The health workers’ unions have been fighting for a better system for years. This has been led by the Joint Health Staffs Union (JOHESU) and the Nigeria Medical Associations (NMA.) JOHESU has led enormous strikes and pickets but the neo-liberal policies of the ruling class keep ignoring these strikes. As I write, doctors in Abuja are on strike. The rulers are now in a quagmire. This is the time for the unions to collaborate with the civil society and revolutionary movements to take up the state and fight for “free health care for all.”

        THE EXAMPLE OF CUBA

        Fidel Castro’s people are the certified global doctors today! 

        A small island at the backyard of the United States of North America; Cuba is a state-capitalist economy led by revolutionary socialists. While the state have yet boomed since 1959 as a result of the prevailing capitalist globe, it has been vociferous on social welfarism especially education, food, health, and housing. This has been the minimum with which the Communist Party has been working on since the revolution. With its third president in charge now; Cuba is the country that is now rescuing the world from the genocide of corona virus. The vessel that is wholly affected by the virus has been shipped to the Cuban shore and Cuba has been treating the patients on board. Italy is receiving about 200 Cuban doctors and nurses as the catholic country leads the population of casualties. The Cuban health statistics shows that 98% is living healthily just as education is 98.5%. 

        Cuba stood by the world on hurricane Katrina; by South Africa against apartheid; by Angola against imperialist Portugal, and now that “God-forsaken communist country” stands by the world with the best of its great medical care against corona virus. This is a lesson that we need to abide by and make the world a socialist island. The current system of “greed and power” is a pandemic. It is ruled by political viruses that live mainly on primitive accumulations of the sweat and blood of the majority. The working class of all lands should unite and fight capitalism to the ruins and replace it with a world led by the people who make the wealth, not those who do nothing but steal the wealth.  

        IN ALL; THIS PANDEMIC WILL FALL

        The struggle for a safer world is in danger of that “common ruins of the contending classes.” Italy, Nigeria, Spain, China, US, and some others have recorded deaths through corona virus. It is currently rumoured that some senators and members of the House of Representatives have contracted the deadly virus. We have 582 deaths in US and 46,145 cases with only 295 recoveries. One death has been recorded in Nigeria with 46 cases recorded. 6,777 are dead out of 63,927 cases in Italy. China has 16,578 dead in 382,570 incidents. Germany has 29,056 with 123 people dead. German chancellor, Angela Merkel has been quarantined. India with over 1 billion population has about 500 cases with no deaths. 

        The Indian case is very peculiar in lessons for Nigeria. Public health care in all tiers is free and subsidized for those below the poverty line. The Indian health sector encompasses 18% of total outpatient care and 44% of total impatient care. Middle and upper class use public health care less than those with a lower standard of living

        The Covid19 pandemic has exposed big countries like Britain, US, China, Nigeria, and others. The pandemic have also exposed capitalism as an idea that is deficient to the mass of working people. The idea does not care for the majority but the thieving minority. The rich continue to be richer while the poor becomes poorer. We need labour and civil society to work together and reconstitute revolutionary relationships to make sure that working people does not be at the receiving end of this pandemic. We must remember that those who destroy the country must not be allowed to continue with their madness after the covid19. We must demand for #FreeHealthCareForAll!

        We must also demand that world-class hospitals are built massively all over the country and we leave the madness of neo-liberalism in the dustbin of ruins. To do these works, we need a movement of the working people dedicated to the revolution that will build a country for all like the Take It Back movement and the Coalition for Revolution (CORE). Socialist organizations like the Socialist Workers and Youth League (SWL) serve as the political tribunes that remind us all on the ideal and alternatives to the rot that is causing pandemics and wars to the world today.

        Capitalist presidents that combine neo-liberalism and fascism are in deep shit today as the covid19 has exposed their inefficiencies and monumental social infrastructural dangers. The health of the world is the safety net to our wealth. Why would we allow those who care about the wealth alone to continue to rule us? Why should we continue to allow those who think of only the individual and never the collective to continue to rule us? When Greta Thunberg was leading the climate change campaigns, Donald Trump was scolding her. Bernie Sanders, Jeremyn Corbyn, Omoyele Sowore, Elvo Morales, Bobbi Wine and other revolutionary change-seeking eggheads have all campaigned for another world; the point is for we the working people and all oppressed, in unity and action, lead #RevolutionNow to get a life warranty of #FreeHealthCareForAll!

        Nigerians should demand for Cost of living allowance (COLA) of at least #100,000 in order to survive as the country is being locked down. We all must observe hand washing regularly; social distancing; avoid touching of faces, and other sophisticated parts of the body. Government should provide water, gloves and hands sanitizers to all. There is no electricity just as there is very poor housing for the majority of the people. We need the majority of empty house in cities and towns to be massively redistributed. Electricity must be renationalized.

        With all unity and actions, we will defeat the yet another genocidal virus. This also tells us that we must choose to build the world for all and not for the few as the threat of grand barbarism stares us all in the face once again. Rosa Luxembourg would be rolling and smiling in her grave as we are condemned to learn from her battle cry: “socialism or barbarism!” 

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        The Political Economy Of Coronavirus By Kunle Wizeman Ajayi
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      • Dracunculiasis eradication: intensifying surveillance amid continued zero human cases in Ethiopia and Mali

        Dracunculiasis eradication: intensifying surveillance amid continued zero human cases in Ethiopia and Mali

        A total of 54 human cases of dracunculiasis (guinea-worm disease) were reported to the World Health Organization (WHO) in 2019, with Chad reporting 48 out of the 54 cases.

        In Chad, Ethiopia, Mali and South Sudan, trained volunteers are supporting surveillance and detection of infections in domestic dogs and cats. Surveillance has been heightened, as evidenced by the increase in reports of rumoured human cases which in 2019 peaked at 108 207 out of which 106 678 were investigated within 24 hours.

        “We are working with the broader scientific community to understand the epidemiology of animal infections, mainly in dogs in Chad, where the highest number of human cases were reported in 2019,” said Dr Dieudonné Sankara, who leads WHO’s eradication and elimination team in the Department of Control of Neglected Tropical Diseases. “Interestingly, there have been no human cases in Ethiopia and Mali, and 4 human cases in South Sudan in 2019, compared with 10 in 2018.”

        In Mali, the number of animals infected with Dracunculus medinensis (the guinea-worm) has decreased from 20 animals in 2018 to 8 dogs and 1 cat in 2019. However, insecurity remains a challenge to freely accessing some endemic areas in Mali.

        Conversely, Chad reported 1935 infections in dogs and 46 in cats in 2019, an increase of 85% from 2018, and a 176% increase among humans.

        Angola reported only 1 human case in 2019. Community-based surveillance is being reinforced mainly in Cunene Province where a case was reported in 2018.

        In South Sudan, integrated surveillance activities have been carried out with the trachoma and onchocerciasis control programmes, in accordance with WHO’s recommendation that programmes collaborate, integrate and co-implement activities, whenever possible, to strengthen surveillance.

        In order to strengthen cross-border surveillance, WHO led a mission to Cameroon in November 2019 to investigate circumstances around an “imported” case in the country’s Far North Region. Discussions were held with the health authorities to establish active surveillance in all villages in the area, including training for application of temephos.[1]  

        Also, in 2019, and with the support of trained field workers, vector control was intensified to larvicide ponds and water sources in more than 400 villages, compared with 72 villages in 2018.

        In late 2019, WHO supported cross-border meetings with officials of national dracunculiasis eradication programmes from Mali, Burkina Faso and Côte d’Ivoire in West Africa; between Ethiopia and South Sudan in East Africa, and between Angola and Namibia in Southern Africa, to share experiences and plan joint surveillance activities across the borders to prevent transmission of the disease.

        The disease

        Dracunculiasis is a crippling parasitic disease caused by infection with D. medinensis, a long, thread-like worm. It is usually transmitted when people drink stagnant water contaminated with parasite-infected water fleas.

        WHO works with Member States and in partnership with The Carter Center and the United Nations Children’s Fund to support efforts to eradicate the disease. WHO provides technical guidance, works with national programmes to coordinate surveillance in dracunculiasis-free areas, and monitors and reports on the progress achieved.

        WHO is the only Organization mandated to certify countries as free of transmission of the disease following the recommendations of the International Commission for the Certification of Dracunculiasis Eradication.

        Since 1995, WHO has certified a total of 199 countries, territories and areas, including 187 Member States, as free of dracunculiasis transmission.

        [1] Temephos is a cyclopicide used to kill water fleas (cyclops) that carry the infective guinea-worm larvae.

         

        Dracunculiasis eradication: intensifying surveillance amid continued zero human cases in Ethiopia and Mali
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      • Why You Need Sales Referrals to Hit Your Next Sales Goal

        Finding leads through cold-calling can often seem relentless, and at times, pointless. A sales referral can come to your aid during such times. A sales referral is one of the best lead generation techniques, as many selling tips have been claiming for ages. Trust is something that doesn’t come that easy to most people when they’re dealing with a sales professional. It?s like they’re perched to flee at any moment as they doubt everything that’s said by the sales professional, as if it were a carefully planned conspiracy. Sound familiar?…

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        http://www.associationofmarketing.org/articles/view.php?article_id=14371

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      • Stephen King Is More Introspective in His New Novel Doctor Sleep

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        In Stephen King’s new novel, Doctor Sleep, King brings back the character of Danny Torrence, the little boy in The Shining. In interviews King says that when fans ask about the fate of specific characters (the one’s that actually live through the horror), he’s been more interested in the those that question the fate of Danny. I think most people who have seen the movie remember the cute little boy on a tricycle with a bowl haircut racing down the empty corridors of The Overlook Hotel. Later to run from a mad “white knuckle alcoholic” who was his father.

        Doctor Sleep is, in my opinion, semi autobiographical. Like Duma Key, which deals with the aftermath of a man who is in a horrendous accident (like King), Doctor Sleep deals with the reality of what it is like to be a recovering alcoholic. I didn’t know King was an alcoholic, but he has been in recovery for over twenty years. So he knows the depths to which one can plunge as well as the difficulties in trying to remain sober. In Doctor Sleep, Danny is an alcoholic like his father and a chain smoker like his mother (who, in the novel, has died of lung cancer). When writing the book, King’s son, Owen, told him that the “plunge” he had given Danny, now Dan, was not far enough to equal the plunge Dan’s father, Jack, had taken. King takes his advice. So, if you don’t want gross, speed read ahead. Dan, after having picked up a girl, gotten in a fight, spends all of his paycheck on cocaine, wakes up still drunk and has to go to the bathroom. “Another lurch from his unhappy gut… That released all of the puke triggers: the vinegar smell of hard cooked eggs in a big glass jar, the taste of barbecue-flavored pork rinds, the sight of french fries drowning in a ketchup nosebleed. All of that crammed into his mouth last night between shots. He was going to spew… ” And that he does in spectacular fashion. But that leads to the main reason for the scene… Dan’s plunge. As he’s leaving the bathroom, out of another room comes a toddler with a baggy diaper full of everything a baby discards, sees the coke on the table, runs to it crying, “canny, mama, canny!” Danny keeps him from getting the “canny” and the little boy falls asleep with his drunk mother. Danny notices bruises on the little boy’s body. While the mom is passed out, he goes through her wallet taking all of her money. Justifying this by saying she’d been the one who made him spend his paycheck on coke. The taking of the money haunts Dan. And the bruises on the little boy haunt Dan. This, to me, is the real crux of the novel. Dan can not get beyond the demons of his past, his murderous, alcoholic father, the dead but not dead people from The Overlook who visit him leaving behind pieces of their rotting, putrefying bodies and the mother with her bruised baby boy. Dan discovers “that memories are the real ghosts” and that, “you take yourself with you, wherever you go.”

        Of course in every King novel there has to be some type of supernatural forces causing havoc. In this novel, King expands on the concept of “the shining”. It’s the ability to read other people’s minds, or move objects, or project out of one’s self. Dan has it and so does a young teenage girl named Abra. In Doctor Sleep, they have to battle a bunch of centuries old serial killers, the True Knot, disguised as RV driving pensioners who literally feed off the pain of others. They only feed on those with “the shining”, and they make their deaths particularly brutal. It makes for better “steam”. They get a big kick out of 9/11 and other tragedies. The leader of this group, a woman named Rose, has a tusk. In Doctor Sleep, Dan fights his past with much greater dread and sense of terror than he does the woman with the tusk. Dan does, through AA, “come to know a new freedom and new happiness.” He also comes to realize that he “will not regret the past nor wish to shut the door on it.” With this novel King, apparently, is not shutting the door on his past.

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        Source by Linda M Caminiti

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      • Niches Lead to Riches

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        It doesn’t matter WHAT your niche is.

        It only matters THAT you have one.

        AFTER ALL: Niches lead to riches.

        Now, there are two potential types of niches you can leverage:

        1. Niche Expertise

        2. Niche Market

        Having a Niche Expertise means you know a LOT about a SPECIFIC TOPIC that applies to a WIDE AUDIENCE.

        So, it’s the answer to the question:

        1. What, specifically, are you known FOR?

        2. What word do you want to OWN?

        FOR EXAMPLE: Let’s say you’re a consultant whose expertise is on how to handle angry, pissed off or difficult customers.

        Fantastic! That’s what you’re known FOR.

        And the good news is, entrepreneurs with Niche Expertise have several advantages:

        They become a big fish in a big pond.

        They apply their knowledge cross industrial.

        They open wide doors for expanding their businesses.

        They diversify their client base, which leads to new business.

        They become the obvious expert sought out by the mainstream media.

        They allow new markets to add multiple dimensions to their single topic.

        Dave Jackson is a good example of this. He’s “The Angry Customer Guy.”

        That’s Niche Expertise.

        On the other hand, having a Niche Market means you know a LOT about a SPECIFIC GROUP OF PEOPLE to whom you apply MANY TOPICS.

        So, it’s the answer to the questions:

        1. Whom, specifically, are you known BY?

        2. What industry do you want to DOMINATE?

        FOR EXAMPLE: Let’s say you’re a consultant who works solely in the Jewelry Retail Industry.

        Awesome! That’s whom you’re known BY.

        And the good news is, entrepreneurs with a Niche Market have several advantages:

        They become a big fish in a small pond.

        They apply their knowledge cross-topical.

        They open deep doors for expanding their businesses.

        They specialize their client base, which leads to repeat business.

        They become the obvious expert sought out by industry and trade media.

        They allow industry trends to add multiple dimensions to their various topics.

        Shane Decker is a good example of this. He’s “The Jewelry Store Guy.”

        That’s a Niche Market.

        Now, occasionally you will run into entrepreneurs that have both a Niche Topic AND a Niche Market.

        FOR EXAMPLE: How to handle angry, pissed off or difficult customers … who shop at retail jewelry stores.

        That’s a SUPER Niche!

        And although it’s rare, if you can pull it off … good on ya!

        You get the best of both worlds.

        Either way, you MUST remember this process:

        1. Focus first; THEN spray. Either covering your topic or your industry.

        2. Develop specialized knowledge. Either about your topic or about your industry.

        3. Pick a lane. Either the topic lane or the industry lane.

        4. Go with gusto! Either about your topic or about your industry.

        5. Become That Guy. Either “for” the topic or “by” the market.

        REMEMBER: People prefer specialists.

        Turn your niches into riches.

        LET ME ASK YA THIS…

        Are you niching?

        LET ME SUGGEST THIS…

        For the list called, “46 Marketing Mistakes Your Company Is (Probably) Making,” send an email to me, and I’ll send you the list for free!

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        Source by Scott Ginsberg

        Views: 0

      • Customer Service Tips – How to Handle Irate Customers

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        Are you ready to learn how to keep every guest happy? It starts with making sure that your managers are thoroughly trained in every position within your restaurant. They need to know all the jobs, so they can step in if someone calls off sick, or if sales are higher than expected.

        The manager needs to be highly trained in excellent customer service. This type of service is called “wow” service because your customers will say “Wow!” about their experience at your restaurant.

        One way to easily accomplish that “wow” experience is simply by telling your managers that every time they are in direct contact with any guest, that they are smiling, being friendly and attentive to the guests. If a famous person was coming to your restaurant, how would you treat that person? Every guest should be receive that same VIP treatment.

        In case of a dissatisfied, angry, or irate customers, we recommend applying the GLAD technique. This will dramatically decrease customer related matters, and lead to customer recovery.

        What is the GLAD Technique?

        1. Go to the guest
        2. Listen carefully to the guest
        3. Apologize to the guest
        4. Do what it takes to solve the problem

        When approaching the upset customer, always shows genuine concern. It is important to listen to the guest without cutting them off. Make sure that you take the time to fully understand their concerns. Remain calm. Responding to anger in a calm manner may help reduce the person’s anxiety. Don’t be fake, be real.

        Always apologize to the guest, even if the customer is wrong. Even when you are certain the person is wrong, go with the mindset that the person is right. Never offer excuses as to why the problem occurred, but offer solutions instead.

        Solutions will vary depending on the complaint and the circumstances. Offer a solution and ask if this will meet the customer’s needs. Go above and beyond. Remember, one angry customer leads to other lost customers. Keep in mind that for each customer you lose, you will lose 11 customers within the next few weeks. That number will compound because those 11 people will also repeat what they heard from the first customer. Ultimately you could be losing hundreds of customers because of one dissatisfied customer. If the matter is serious, you could even lose your restaurant’s reputation, and the restaurant could end up being shut down.

        Every customer that leaves your restaurant tells family, friends and co-workers about the experience at your restaurant. If the experience was mediocre they won’t say anything, but if it was very good experience at your restaurant they will tell others. If it was a negative experience and they walked out dissatisfied, then the reputation of your restaurant will be impacted. Negative feedback from your customers could mean the end of your business. Don’t underestimate the power of the word-of-mouth effect. Word-of-mouth will work with you or against you depending on the guest’s experience.

        Do you really want to lose business because of customer complaints? Teaching effective customer service techniques to your managers and staff should be at the top of your to-do list.

        Teach your managers to be proactive in preventing customer related matters. Manager presence in the dining room is a wonderful path to reduce customer complaints. The manager should spend at least 80% of his/her time in the dining room, and only 10% in the manager’s office.

        The manager also needs to physically approach each customer’s table to ensure that WOW guest service is in effect. The manager also needs to learn how to detect negative body language and how to express positive body language.

        How do customers show their dissatisfaction with their body language?

        • When you are in direct eye-to-eye contact, you can witness the anger in the customer’s eyes.

        • Seeing untouched food, especially when everybody at the table ate their food, except the one customer who barely touched his or her food.

        • The manager asks the customer, “So how was your meal and service tonight?” The customer replies, “It’s okay”. If the customer was fully satisfied with both the service and the meal they may say it was “terrific” or “great,” not just “okay.”

        • When you look at a guest and you get an uncomfortable “gut” feeling, act on that feeling.

        • You see a customer looking around as though they want someone to help them. You may even see them glaring at a server speaking with other customers.

        What is your body language saying?

        • Always use direct eye contact when talking to your guests. Never look away while you are talking to your guest. Looking away gives the impression that you are not interested in what the other person has to say.

        • Never cross your arms when talking to guests, this could be interpreted as shutting them out or anger.

        • Never roll your eyes, as this is very disrespectful and it appears that you are belittling their concerns.

        • Constantly listen to the guest even if they are angry. It may help to allow the person to vent their anger. Always acknowledge their feelings.

        • Ask the customer what would improve the visit to your restaurant.

        What do you do with Moody Customers?

        This is your opportunity to turn around the customer’s mood from a bad to good. Make certain that you are on top of things and pay attention to details. If you have any concerns about their experience, you may even offer the table a free appetizer or dessert. It may seem like you are losing money by “giving away” food or “discounting” their meals; however, you will lose more money from each lost customer than you will for that one food item or meal. If you successfully turn things around, then you may create repeat business. Kindness and consideration of their needs will often overcome their anger.

        A wise person said, “How you handle positive feedback is important, but it is more important to know how to handle negative feedback.” Make sure you tell the customers that you appreciate the fact that they took the time to tell you about their experience. Don’t make excuses, instead find solutions. Don’t disagree with the customer, even if you know the guest is wrong.

        If you don’t learn from your mistakes, you are doomed to repeat them again and again.

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        Source by Donna Schim

        Views: 0