Health « life-in-africa.info

Smoking is emerging to be one of the major causes of death in the modern world. This is attributed to the growing consumers of tobacco. Tobacco is responsible for the death of 1 in 10 adults all over the world, which translates to around 5 million deaths every year. It is because of this fact that cigarette smoking is now a public health priority. Best Electronic Cigarette South Africa

As we mentioned previously, the boom in cigarette smoking occurred sometime during the First World War. Tobacco companies were successful in including their products as part of the military ration. At the time, soldiers under the stress of warfare took up smoking. And since then, the tobacco industry has grown through an increased consumer patronage all over the world.

With the prevalence of cigarette smoking came its adverse health effects on its consumers. Smoking poses dangers directly and indirectly to the public. An indirect public health concern that cigarettes may pose is accidental fire. As for the health risks in smoking tobacco, the disease mainly strikes the cardiovascular system, resulting to heart attack, respiratory tract diseases, and even cancer.

In spite of these risks, the number of cigarette smokers all other the world has not dropped considerably. Though several smokers claim to have been meaning to quit this habit, they just find it so difficult. The fact is that after smoking for quite sometime, quitting smoking will prove to be very hard, but not impossible.

Why is it hard to quit smoking?

Foremost, this is because most smokers become addicted to the nicotine contained in tobacco products. Nicotine has a deadly addictive power. How? When a person puffs a cigarette, nicotine particles find their way to the lungs through inhalation. From there, nicotine is absorbed into the bloodstream just like the oxygen people breathe. It travels with the blood to the brain where it locks onto certain receptor areas. Dopamine is then released into the brain. This is the chemical that makes the smoker feel a euphoric sensation. Smokers find it difficult to quit because Best Electronic Cigarette South Africa

Not knowing what to do with their hands is another common complaint among ex-smokers while quitting. Once people get hooked, smoking becomes a big part of their lives. They seem to enjoy holding on a stick of cigarette and puffing on them. And after a long period of lighting up, it becomes a routine. As a fact, humans are creatures of habit. By some force of habit, smokers find themselves reaching for a cigarette and lighting it up automatically without thinking about it.

Certain “triggers” in the environment may also hamper a smoker’s desire to quit. Things may turn on a smoker’s need for a cigarette. These may be feelings, places, and moods. Even the things done routinely may trigger this craving for a smoke.

For those who have been smoking for quite a while already, they may not realize it but they form some emotional attachment to cigarettes. They find the cigarette calming and comforting during those stressful times. Cigarette smoking somehow becomes an extension of their social life, particularly when they are emotionally at the highest or lowest. Giving the smoker a feeling that giving up smoking would seem like giving up a trusted friend.

These are only some of the major reasons why it is hard to quit smoking. But there are also several strategies and quitting techniques that may aid smokers to finally give up on this tenacious habit. Quitting smoking all begins with one’s intention to stop. They must have the will power to overcome the craving for smoke. There are also a lot of quit smoking products in the market. These may also be worth trying. Support groups are proved to be very helpful, too.

Smokers must understand that to quit smoking may take more than one attempt. They must also try several methods before they can finally succeed. Smoking is a stubborn habit because it is closely tied to the acts in the course of people’s everyday lives. Even so, with determination, will power, and a strategy, to quit smoking is not out of the question and we will discuss some of the methods in further chapters. Best Electronic Cigarette South Africa

News On Tourism & Hospitaliity Industry In East Africa/Kenya Tanzania/Uganda/Rwanda/Burundi & Africa

It is a beehive of activity, where industry stakeholders are talking about topical issues influencing the Africa and beyond. Don’t be left behind, you too can become part of this great community and interact with fellow industry decision makers, while reading this article and giving your comment in this great article. There’s no question that 2009 has been another hectic year for the hospitality and tourism industry in the world and East Africa at large meaning Tanzania,Kenya,Uganda,Rwanda,Burundi.Events issues and concerns ranging from the global financial slowdown to erratic fuel prices and emergence of the HINI virus all worked against the industry. Despite all these the expectation to deliver high quality five-star service to the guests is still required. Does the hospitality industry have what it takes to be five-star? These can only be achieved through continuous re-training of the personnel and motivation of employees through good pay and incentives, which will give them the morale to strive towards giving quality and reliable service. East Africa countries have realized it is only through the above that can indeed be destination of choice if their house is put in order. As more hotels open around the country there is a need to “building the perfect hotel” and the role of a consultant in the hotel development process. Moreover, there are ways to make the hotel Bar more functional to accommodate extra guests during holiday seasons. There are several essential things that is supposed to be known about your hotel guests to be able to offer great service. Traditionally tourist activity at the Kenya Coast is low during the “off season” so that many properties opt to shut down temporarily. In reality the hotels should not shut down and actually it is the best time to stay open there are many ways on how they can operate and generate new business off season.

1.EAST AFRICAN COUNTRIES TO RE-CLASSIFY HOTELS IN 2010

The four countries of the East Africa Community have initiated the idea of re-evaluating and rating of hotels & restaurants using a new set of standards developed for the region. These are efforts aimed at streamlining the classification system in preparation for the launch of a common market protocol for the East African Community (EAC) by this year 2010. The implementation of this approved uniform standards and classification criteria for the East African Community marks a critical milestone in the integration of the region as one tourist destination “says Najib Balala, Minister for Tourism Kenya. For the success of this process, EAC individual partner states are expected to train professional assessors who will undertake the assessment and classification of hotels, restraurants and other tourist facilities. Kenya will invest $ 190,000 in training in line with the provisions of Article 115(2) of the establishment of ” a common code of conduct for private and public tour and travel operators, standardize hotel classification and harmonize the professional standards of agents in the tourism and travel industry within the community. This will not assure the visitors of high standards and good service but also be used as a marketing tool, as well as create uniformity among our tourism products within the community it will also help in providing advanced information on the kind of accommodation and other services expected at the destination. This landmark agreement was signed in November 2009 at a ceremony held in Tanzania 2009 at a ceremony held in Tanzania by all head of states of the four countries paving way for a common market which will allow free movement of people, goods, labour and capital across the member countries. This was during the tenth anniversary of the EAC and under the common market protocol the countries agreed to eliminate all barriers to trade, harmonize standards of goods and implement a common trade policy.

2. HOTEL OCCUPANCY RATE DROPS BY 8.2% DESPITE AIRPORT ARRIVALS GROWTH.

Based on the data, a hospitality industry bechmarking and research firm, room occupancy rate in Africa dropped by 8.2% to56.9 % , average daily rate increased 1.5% to $ 140.66 and revenue per available room decreased 6.9% to $80=00 based on research carried by Smith Travel Research (STR Global). According to an October 2009 report released by STR Global, there are 442 hotels- comprising 120,589 rooms under construction in Africa and the Middle East region. Chain affiliated hotels account for about 20% of total rooms under construction while the unaffiliated hotels comprise 25.2% (30,387 rooms).The affordable luxury segment accounts for 12.5% (25,940 rooms). Midscale properties, those without the food and beverage segment, account for the smallest portion of the total active pipeline: 1.3% and 1,558 rooms.

3. AFRICA GETS MORE VOTING SEATS IN GLOBAL TOURISM BODY.

The United Nations World Tourism Organization (UNWTO) has elected Kenya, South Africa,Zimbambwe, & Burkina Faso to the Executive Council .This is a specialized agency of the UN dealing with tourism policy issues and development of the sector at the global level” it gives Kenya an opportunity in setting the pace and shaping tourism policy and strategy at the global level in the market four years” says Tourism Minister Najib Balala- who was also elected the first vice chairman to the Executive Council. The election gives Africa an opportunity to contribute to the preparation of the organizations programme of work and budget in selecting topics of vital importance to the global tourism sector for debate in general assemblies. Among the topical issues currently being addressed by UNWTO are the effects of the global financial crisis on the tourism sector the impact of climate change and HINI pandemic. The assembly is expected to come up with clear guidelines on how to address these changes. 4. NEW HOTELS OPENS IN KENYA NAIROBI FOR BUSINESS. (A) OLE SERENI. A new entrant into Kenyan market, opened its doors in October 2009 is located on Mombassa Road opposite Zain on the Eastern side of Nairobi National Park. It has 134 tastefully decorated rooms including two luxury suites with a Jacuzzi on a veranda overlooking the Nairobi National Park. It intends to offer both city and wildlife atmosphere. The hotel is valued at $ 12.5 million and will be managed by Sarovar Hotels India, Pvt, Ltd (not related to Sarova Hotels in Kenya). (B) CROWNE PLAZA. In another development the Intercontinental Hotels Group (IHG) announced plans to launch a new five star hotel in Kenya within this quarter. The 163-rooms five-storey Crowne Plaza Nairobi will have two bars, two restaurants , a banqueting hall, three meeting rooms, a health club, swimming pool, sauna with treatment area and a gym. This hotel group wants to develop Africa portfolio with more than 30 properties over the next three to five years, and these will all be in prime locations and high growth cities. This will strengthen its position of becoming the leading operator on the continent and to contribute significantly to IHGs over all portfolios. This hotel chain has been in Kenya (Nairobi) and Zambia (Lusaka) for over 40 years, a testimony to commitment to the African continent. Total rooms account for Nairobi on the rise, Hotel Name Rooms Number Ole Sereni 134 Crowne Plaza 163 Red Court 150 Sankara Nairobi 156

(C) RED COURT ADDS 150 ROOMS, PLANS TO ESTABLISH A HOTEL CHAIN. It is fully owned by Kenya Red Cross Society, has unveiled plans to expand across the Kenya as a chain. Underway is the refurbishment of Red Court hotel based in Nairobi on the Eastern side of Nairobi National Park opposite capital centre on Mombassa road just 3 minutes away from Ole Sereni to include an additional 150 rooms, a spp and 400 pax-ballrooms. The hotel will house a fully loaded business centre with several meeting rooms complete with free wifi as a value added service for guests. ” It is designed both for business and pleasure. The redesign will be more eco friendly in water and energy consumption and be able to harvest solar energy to compliment electricity grid …….and also conserve water by using of modern water harvesting technologies. The Red Court Nyeri,Red Court Nairobi which comprises of a modest 59 rooms are already operational with a health club a bar and restaurants and ten meeting rooms. The expansion plans are underway for Red Court chain of Hotels throughout the country starting with Red Court Eldoret,Red Court Kisumu and then Red Court Malindi.

(D) REDIDOR TO EXPAND OPERATIONS IN AFRICA AND BEYOND. Rezidor Hotel Group has announced plans to expand its operations to more African countries by 2012. The group will open three new properties under the Redisson Blu Hotel brand, Nigeria by 2012-raising the number of rooms in the country by 575. The president of Redisson claimed that “the region has a considerable untapped economic potential and is lacking internationally branded hotels in many capital cities” with 30 hotels with 7,500 rooms in operations and under development it will become their position as one of the leading hotel operators on the continent. A pipeline of future openings for the group includes expansion of the Redisson Blu Hotel brand in Kenya, Ethiopia, Zambia, Mozambique, Angola, Egypt and Libya. The Redissson Hotel Group is one of the fastest growing hotel companies in the world. The group features a portfolio of close to 370 hotels in operations and under development with more than 78,300 rooms in 58 countries.

Reducing Poverty in Africa

Progress accounts of Africa’s development are making a scene. Little by little, they are reducing poverty through organizational development. They are improving in different sectors one at a time. These changes are reversing the region’s poor economic performance. Once a forgotten continent, now, Africa is the center of attraction. Countries were astound with the firmness they showed against the appalling strike of the global financial crisis.

Poverty is a like a worldly dirt that Africa needs to clean. But the improvement they have made is really tremendous. This is brought by the support for the fight by different trade companies and sectors. Profit is not the only benefit that business men get by doing business in Africa, they were also able to contribute in poverty reduction.

Africans have waken up them selves from a long sleep. They started moving and improved their policies on investments and business. Transactions concerning business is a lot easier now compared to the old Africa. Thus, it produced more trades, job opportunities and increased wages, which are undeniably what African needs. Chances for a good living are now spared to poor Africans instead of dealing “exclusively” with corrupt government officials. Foreign investors benefits from Africa they way the African region benefits from them. The relationship is mutual. With the continuous improvement on investing and business climate, Africa and any African investment aspirants are ahead of a brighter future.

This progress is just a start. What happened are just baby steps from a giant island eying global competitiveness. The African government is still looking for tactics to completely eradicate poverty.

By this time, Africa is so much open for any investment ideas from inside or outside the continent. By creating more trades, they are also creating job opportunities for their people. The continent as a whole is composed of a big labor force. Africans would be very instrumental in any type of businesses if they are sent to trainings and seminars. If more investment come to Africa, there are greater chances that Africans can pull their families out of poverty. And more than that, traders and investors will gain more from their investments.

Education is another present focus of the African government. They believe that by educating people, they can step out of poverty. The government was urged to invest more on African women’s education. This will defy tribal and traditional beliefs. This will drive women away from destitution because they will be educated. In the future, they will be very essential in the maintenance and growth of the continent.

Agriculture is another key to rapid rural and urban development. Individual owned agriculture business can provide source of food to Africans. It is also a juicy fruit to improve country’s national health. The Africans’ health condition is dreadful. Most of its people are malnourished. The government is funding the agricultural sector to address the problem in poverty and health.

Looking For A Reputable Africa Charity?

Everywhere you look these days there’s a new charity. Sometimes it can be overwhelming to sort through all the ones claiming to be a beneficial and important Africa charity, to find charities that truly are an honest and useful Africa charity.

It’s important when researching to find a good Africa charity that you ask what percentage of the money given to the Africa charity is actually spent directly on the work that accomplishes their stated goal. You would be surprised at how little of the donated funds in most charities ever reached the people they are supposed to be helping. The sad thing is, that in many charity organizations, the majority of the donations go toward paying business expenses and salaries. A reputable Africa charity like WaterCan, at watercan will gladly provide its true breakdown of donation usage.

There are many areas an Africa charity can focus on for aide to Africa. People all over Africa are in need of food, and it’s very easy to find an Africa charity offering ways to donate money for the purchase of food staples. Education is another common focus for an Africa charity, particularly the education of girls since they tend to be the group most underserved.

WaterCan is a charity that is dedicated to fighting global poverty, by creating sustainable access to clean water, hygiene education and basic sanitation. By providing for this basic need, this Africa charity builds the foundation for better health, food production, and gender equality. Young girls in African communities are generally responsible for fetching water, and this can take hours a day to accomplish if the water source is far from the village. By providing clean drinking water closer to the village, WaterCan gives the female population an opportunity to spend their time in school or other useful service.

WaterCan’s website Watercan offers information about their work in the African countries of Uganda, Tanzania, Ethiopia and Kenya. You can also read stories about this Africa charity at work, learn more about why clean WaterCan make a significant difference in communities where this is a luxury, and read about the people who have been touched by this dedicated Africa charity.

A significant amount of the population has no access to clean water for drinking, bathing and other necessities we take for granted every day. An Africa charity making a difference in this often overlooked area of need, is WaterCan a Canadian based charity focusing on bringing clean water to all. Through their focus on Africa charity, WaterCan continues to focus on Sub-Saharan Africa, where 50% of the population has no access to clean water, and only 36% has access to sanitation.

By making a difference in this very important aspect of daily life, WaterCan brings more than just another African charity to the world. They bring life, health, wealth, safety and education for women and children.This is an Africa charity well worth supporting. For more information visit Watercan.

Re-Colonization Of Africa Through Buying Agricultural Land: Wealthy Nations And Their Multinationals On The Rampage

AFRICA’S WILLED RECOLONISATION

By Akinyi Princess of K’Orinda-Yimbo

The global food crisis of 2007/2008 that triggered riots from Cape to Cairo and from Senegal to Haiti made governments and their agriculturally-engaged companies to get on the saddle and gallop – with their thinking caps on. Export tariffs were slapped on staple food crops to minimise how much could be sold outside their countries. In my book – Darkest Europe and Africa’s Nightmare: A Critical Observation of Neighbouring Continents, I mentioned, rather apocalyptically, that if we Africans don’t take care then the outside world will turn our continent into “a timber plantation.” This is now happening, but on a worst-case scenario. Africans are being colonised again and this time not with the power of weapons but through Africans themselves selling their continent willingly. The 99- and 999-year lease – a remnant of colonialists – surely cannot fool anybody. This is equivalent to a full century and/or full millennium which translates into three and a half to thirty-four consecutive generations of Africans.

Africans are selling the one natural resource they can’t afford to sell – their land. Especially arable land. In Antananarivo, Madagascar, earlier in 2009, President Ravalomanana’s government was overthrown by angry urban poor who were already spending two thirds of their income to feed themselves ever since the 2008 massive rise in global prices for commodities like rice and wheat. This was not just because of his own private jet bought from a member of the Disney family for his own use with public funds – no. President Ravalomanana was leasing 1.3 hectares (half the size of Belgium and half of Madagascar’s arable land) to South Korea’s Daewoo for 99 years to grow maize and palm oil and send all harvests during this period back home to feed South Koreans. Daewoo paid nothing: they PROMISED to improve the island’s infra structure. And of course they would provide “jobs for the citizens of Madagascar by farming it, which is good for Madagascar” (read cheap slave labour). As usual the public was kept in the dark. Until the news was leaked by London’s Financial Times. This is the first government in the world to be toppled by angry mobs and the military for “land-grabbing”. Kudos to the people.

There are more than 100 similar land-grabs globally, since September 2008, where huge tracts of farmland are bought up by wealthy countries as well international corporations. Mark Weston, Britain’s international development policy consultant does the colourful canvas thus: “Imagine if China, following a brief negotiation with a British government desperate for foreign cash after the collapse of the economy, bought up the whole of Wales, replaced most of its inhabitants with Chinese workers, turned the entire country into an enormous rice field and sent all the rice produced there for the next 99 years back to China… Imagine that neither the evicted Welch nor the rest of the British public knew what they were getting in return for this, having to content themselves with vague promises that the new landlords would upgrade a few ports and create jobs for the local people.

“Then, imagine that, after a few years – and bearing in mind that recession and the plummeting pound have already made it difficult for the UK to buy food from abroad – an oil-price spike or an environmental disaster in one of the world’s big grain-producing nations drives global food prices sharply upwards and beyond the reach of many Britons. While the Chinese next door in Wales continue sending rice back to China, the starving British look helplessly on, ruing the day their government sold off half their arable land. Some of them plot the violent recapture of the Welch valley.”

This – huge tracts of land being “sold” to foreigners for “promises” – is what is happening all over Africa this very minute. Except that in my experience not many Africans are that good at organising themselves as a unified force to recapture their valley. They would either fall upon each other with machetes for a few grains some “kind” soul dropped them from the air, or they’d turn into a trillion factions with double the number of “generals”.

Even the great pope of the free market, Financial Times, has used words like “rapacious” for the likes of Daewoo, warning that it was the most “brazen example of a wider phenomenon” where rich nations are trotting the globe buying up the natural resources of poor countries. The new colonialism is vast in Africa, with the buyers being wealthy countries unable to grow their own food. The Arabs are back fleeing their barren sands to turn Africa into their granary like they did one and a half millennia ago (in Egypt at the time). The Gulf states are in the lead in this new investment. Bahrain, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, controlling between them 45% of the world’s oil, are snatching AGRICULTURAL LAND in Egypt, Ethiopia, Cameroon, Zambia, Uganda, but also in Cambodia, Brazil, Kazakhstan, Ukraine and Russia. South Korea has grabbed a staggering 960,000 hectares in Sudan, the largest country in Africa, where at least 6 other rich countries are said to have secured large land-holding – and precisely where the local population are among the hungriest and least secure in the world. The Saudis are negotiating 500,000 hectares (not acres) in Tanzania. Companies for the United Arab Emirates have snapped up 324,000 hectares in Pakistan. Highly populated countries like China, South Korea and India have acquired swathes of African farmland to produce food for export. India recently lowered tariffs for Ethiopian commodities that could enter India after the Indian government lent money to 80 Indian companies to buy 350,000 hectares of farmland in Africa, particularly huge tracts in Kenya and Ethiopia. And this is the same Kenya where, in the year 2008, the locals of African descent were chopping each other’s limbs off, being shot by their own police and armed forces and burning innocent men, women and children locked up in churches – because of the land tenure! This is the Kenya where the Gallmanns, Briatores and Bransons and many others own private ranches the size of 3 Cypruses, where Prince William and his girlfriend spend a bit of “Hollywood in the bush” once or so a year – the rest of the time, all the above celebrities have their small states looked after by their private property “my Africans” – while 75% of Afro-Kenyans have no scratch of land to plant a tomato!

Kenya made a deal with Qatar, an Arab land with only 1% arable land, to acquire 40,000 hectares of land to grow food. A third of Kenya’s population was facing food shortages and President Kibaki had no better answer for hungry Kenyans opposing the deal but to impose a state of emergency and then turn around to appeal for international food relief. Where is the logic here, by the bony ancients? If Qatar can grow food on Kenyan soil to feed Qataris, why can’t Kenya grow food in Kenya to feed Kenyans? The land offered to Qatar is in the fertile Tana River delta with an abundance of fresh water. Some 150,000 Kenyan farming and pastoralist families for whom the land is communal graze their 60,000 cattle there. It is no wonder that, supported by opposition activists and environmentalists fearing the destruction of a pristine ecosystem of mangrove swamps, savannah and forests, the people now threaten armed resistance. When that happens, the rest of the world will only report about “warring African tribes”, not a group of people fighting to keep their land and ecosystem instead of allowing it delivered to Qatari farmers to feed their Arabs.

Next door in Uganda, 400 small farmers comprising a total of 2,000 people, were driven out (using violence through the Ugandan army) of their land in 2001 to make room for the German coffee grower Neumann Kaffee Gruppe. This was against the OECD guidelines for multinational concerns. On 24th August 2001, the concern’s boss, Michael R Neumann, together with President Museveni inaugurated the plantation. The people who were driven off their land can since then neither feed themselves adequately nor pay school fees for their children. This is another in a long line of violations of social human rights perpetrated by yet another African so-called leader against his own citizens. Are Africans surprised when the rest of the world view them as some strange pathogens? Who is polishing the patina of Africa’s “bad image”?

Mozambique has signed a $2bn deal to give 10,000 Chinese “settlers” land in return for $3m in military aid from Beijing. Right. Take the land for 99- or 999-year lease and settle down while you give the starving Mozambicans both reason and means to kill each other off, leaving Mozambique a Chinese province. Food is a weapon is a weapon is a weapon….

But the list is long. The British investor Cru Investment Management has grabbed tracts of the fruitful agricultural land in dirt poor Malawi. US investment banker Philippe Heilberg, assisted by a “warlord”, acquired 4,000 square kilometres of land in southern Sudan. Congo-Brazzaville is allegedly selling 10 million hectares to Euroancestral South Africans to farm. Multinational finance concerns such as Deutsche Bank, Blackstone Group, Goldman & Sachs and Dexion Capital all have invested in African agricultural land. The World Bank and International Finance Corporation are engaged in “the development of agro-business” big time in Africa and other developing countries ever since the food crisis of 2008, pumping billions to agro-concerns to ensure food production in Africa for their own countries. All such investors no longer want to depend on speculators, they want to eliminate middlemen and take control themselves. Cru Investment spokesman, Duncan Parker maintains, “Africa has what it takes to be one of the leading food producers worldwide. Her potential in workers is big, her soil productive and there’s plenty of sun and water.”

Is the man not talking about the same Africa whose people are starving and dying of diseases that could be avoided by mere clean drinking water?

And Philippe Heilberg told the US media that whatever political and legal risks he is taking in Africa at the moment will pay most lucratively because he expects several African states in the coming years to simply fall apart. Can Africans legitimately blame Heilberg for his arrogance and indifference? Besides, when one listens between the words, there is always a plan-in-motion behind such blatant utterances. Africans may well be the next Palestinians – pariahs in their own land.

And now food is not the only thing that African land is needed for. Think of the recent EU Desertec cordoning off the Sahara for solar energy for Europe. In the Desertec Concept are the words:

In the upcoming decades, several global developments will create new challenges for mankind. We will be confronted with problems and obstacles such as climate change, population growth beyond earth’s capacity, and an increase in demand for energy and water caused by a strive for prosperity and expansion.The DESERTEC Concept provides a way to solve these challenges.

The question is, SOLVE THEM FOR WHO? Certainly not for Africans. And how doest this concept work?

It works just like a coal steam power plant, with the difference that concentrated solar power is used for steam production, instead of coal. Large mirrors are positioned in such a way that they reflect and concentrate the sunlight onto a certain point much like capturing sunlight through a magnifying lens. A major advantage of this technology is that a part of the sun’s heat can be collected in heat storage tanks during the day and then run through steam circuits at night or specifically during peak hours, depending on the demand. With this technology, renewable and controlled energy can be provided according to the demand of the electricity grid.

Yet Africans, fifty years down independence road and with the technology already existing and sitting their for a price they can more than afford, cannot position large mirrors in such a way that they reflect and concentrate the abundant African sunlight like capturing sunlight through a magnifying lens! Africans have had the Sahara forever – but they just couldn’t come up with the idea of getting some solar energy from this vast desert. No idea from the whole of Sunny Africa? Yes they could, if Africans start thinking of themselves as worthwhile human beings too, and join forces to keep what is theirs theirs. Otherwise Africans might as well follow the butcher meekly to the slaughter house because that’s where they’re going to end up – in “native reserves” dying off as a people until the few Africans left are put in museums like they were once the main attraction in circuses all over the West in the 18th through early 20th centuries.

German, British and American companies have also bought land in Tanzania and Ethiopia to grow biofuels. Ethiopia – the byword for famine – argues that since it imports oil, biofuels will set off price fluctuations and dependency on oil! What about the environmental impact – 75% of the land allocated to the foreign biofuel firms are forested and these forests will have to be chopped off! The Chinese chopstick manufacturers are delighted.

A Norwegian biofuel company will create “the largest jatropha plantation in the world” by deforesting vast tracts of land in northern Ghana. The company was back to darkest Europe when it flagrantly cheated an illiterate chief to sign 38,000 hectares with his thumbprint. Jatropha is a non-too-demanding plant that produces oily seeds from which biodiesel can be made.

This entire new scramble for poor countries’ land is the result of the food crisis of 2007-2008 when the price of wheat, rice and other cereals skyrocketed across the globe. When the food-grower countries applied tariffs to minimize the amount of staple crops that left their countries, the supply was further tightened resulting in prices shooting further up. It was a policy-created scarcity rather than the true-and-tried traditional supply and demand. A situation arose where rich countries reliant on massive food imports put on their thinking caps. They began to put the fundamentals of global trade (that each country should concentrate on its best product and then trade it) under the microscope. The Gulf states, among other rich countries, with their unimaginable amounts of cash from trading oil suddenly realised you can’t eat cash dipped in oil. Nor can you gnaw on a Rolls-Royce. Or feed your children computer chips. The sheikhs & associates saw that the costs of food imports had doubled in five years. The future boded for worse – both regional and global markets were no longer reliable.

The perfect answer was to own agricultural land. “Control of foreign farmland”, writes Paul Vallely, “would not only secure food supplies, it would eliminate the cut taken by middlemen and reduce food-import bills by more than 20 percent. And the benefits could only increase.” Because the fundamental conditions that had ushered in the worldwide food crisis remain unchanged and could easily get worse.

According to the UN the world population will double by 2050. To grow enough food to feed 9bn people choke the planet. So, long term strategies are the right response. When the Prime Minister Taro of Japan (the world’s largest food importer) asked the G8 leaders in Italy: “Is the current food crisis just another market vagary?” he answered his own question: “Evidence suggests not; we are undergoing a transition to a new equilibrium, reflecting a new economic, climatic, demographic and ecological reality.”

Not that the market is asleep either. The cost of land is rising rapidly, making the irresponsible but insatiable African leaders salivate. And we Africans sit with our hands folded on our laps, waiting for some force of nature to come to our rescue. Many are not even aware of the fact that their ancestral land is being offered for re-colonisation, because their governments are big boys who believe informing their citizens of what is going on puts the boys in a subservient position. These are the chaps in this world who are unaware that they are servants of their people.

The food and financial crises combined have made agricultural farmland the new strategic asset. Veteran speculator Jim Rogers, in league with fellow veterans like Lord Jacob Rothschild, said in July 2009: “I’m convinced that farmland is going to be one of the best investments of our time.” This should actually augur well for Africa because there is land in abundance in the continent, and the agricultural sector – Africa’s backbone – is in need of capital and technology. A win-win situation. Except that Africans are auctioning their continent’s most sacred possession for nought and a staggering 99- or 999-year lease (depending on which salivating leader is dealing with whom. There are leaders out there offering the old colonial 999-year lease). That interprets into three and a half to thirty-four generations of Africans – left in limbo. Or as eventual specimens in museums of the wealthy.

Producing enough food to feed 9bn people in 2050 will crush the planet, denuding forests and drainage rivers and ruining arable land. In Copenhagen, capital saw to it that their lackeys, known as governments the world over, treated climate change as Father Christmas – a fairy tale. But, to capital’s delight, oil prices continue to rise in direct relation to fertilizer and tractor fuel – hence biofuels to further cut the land that would be available for food crops. The horrors are ahead because the fat harvest times are over – there won’t be enough food for the table even for the filthy rich – unless they can afford €3m a day residency in outer space. The market economy will this time – as always – not provide for all and sundry as falsely proclaimed. Land prices have jumped from 15% to 30% globally.

After the financial crisis in mortgage-based derivatives, agricultural land is the new strategic asset. An asset that nobody can manufacture or erect, and then sell. Once given away, it is gone and there’s no replica or spare parts, Africans.

Marginally seen, it could be a good thing for African countries. Apart from the staggering and varied natural resources, some of which cannot be found anywhere on the planet, land, as already said, is what Africans have in plenty. All Africa needs is capital to develop her agriculture. A mammoth share of this capital is ferreted out of the continent by the handful few wrongly-wired Africans to develop economies NOT AFRICAN. The Big Curse for which Africans only have themselves to blame. The rest of the world call it capital flight – as if this staggering amount of money simply made up its mind to take to the air and fly to the West – the mad terminologies of our times where human beings call their own dead “collateral damages”.

The financial global players who brought on the crisis are the very same ones now roaming the agricultural landscape and grabbing chunks of it. These land deals should bring investments, technology and know-how to local farmers, reduce dependency on food aid and similar maladies. They should provide infrastructure that goes beyond roads leading from the foreign leaseholder’s farms to the port that transport 100% of their harvests back to their own countries. The deals should enable the building of schools and health centres for the whole community. They should provide enough taxes to the government for more development – assuming African governments would at last invest in their own countries and people instead of castles and numbered accounts overseas. African so-called leaders have some inborn dread of educated and healthy citizens. Instead of recognising the greatest potential to their nations of human resources they see adversaries.

Then there is the problem of monoculture in growing plantation of large-scale food crops dependent of huge amounts of pesticides and fertilisers. This would ruin the long-term sustainability of tropical soils not suited to intensive cultivation, as well as damage the local water table. Soil erosion will occur and ruin long-term land fertility. The diversity of plants, animals and insect life will be drastically threatened while the intensive usage of agrochemicals bring in water-quality maladies. In addition the irrigation of the foreign investors’ plantations would take water away from the indigenous users. So these grabs are in effect water grabs – the most valuable part of these deals – instead of land grabs, since once you own the land you own the water beneath it.

The chief executive of Nestlé, Peter Brabeck-Letmathe puts it this way: “Water withdrawal for agriculture continue to increase rapidly. In some of the most fertile regions of the world (America, southern Europe, northern India, north-eastern China), over-use of water, mainly for agriculture, is leading to sinking water tables. Groundwater is being withdrawn, no longer as a buffer over the year but in a structural way, mainly because water is seen as a free good.”

It is not. The average person in the world uses 3,000-6,000 litres of water daily, less than a tenth of which is used for hygiene or manufacturing. The rest goes to farming. Meat-eating has increased and meat requires ten times more water per calorie than plants. The thirstiest products on earth are biofuels. To grow Soya for one litre of biodiesel takes up to 9,100 litres of water and up to 4,000 litres to transform corn into bioethanol. Brabeck-Letmathe predicts, “Under the present conditions and with the way water is being managed, we will run out of water long before we run out of fuel.” India and the USA combined produce a third of the world’s cereals, but Frank Rijsberman of the International Water Management Institute cautions, “we could be facing annual losses equivalent to the grain crops” of India and the USA.

The land grabs are now a pandemic. As with natural resources in Africa, there is no transparency and foreign governments and multinationals engaged in bribes have no great fear of prosecution in poor countries. In their own wealthy countries, at least somebody may publicly cry foul or demonstrate with huge placards in the streets without fearing being shot down by the police or armed forces.

In Africa land rights are not just written, they also exist through custom and practice. There should indeed be (if nothing else) compulsory sharing of benefits such as construction of schools and health centres. Short leases, or better still contract farming, would leave smallholders in control of their land and contract to investors. On the other hand the investors must never have the right to export entire harvests especially during a food crisis in the host country.

Land-grabs represent a serious violation of the human right to food. Humankind’s most primordial fight was over food. It is food that makes the fittest who then survives. I therefore call to all Africans, Continental and Diaspora, and all friends and fans of Africa, to join me in this fight by going to my web site – www.akinyi-princess.de – and signing in the Guest Book with both your name, the words LANDGRAB REFERENDUM and your valid email address. In addition, please spread the word to your friends, families, social network chums and pals, chat room and forum acquaintances around the globe to join us in the fight. I need at least 25,000 authentic email “signatures” to enable me to write a petition to the AU Commissioner in Addis Ababa demanding that African governments may not simply “negotiate” land grab deals with foreign governments and multinationals without prior consultations with their respective citizens in the form of a referendum. The petition is now being professionally drafted and will be posted in my web site ASAP.

The Human Rights Implications Of Hiv/aids In The Enforcement Of Law In Sub-Sahara Africa: The Ghanaian Example

1 An Overall Picture of HIV/AIDS Prevalence in Sub-Sahara Africa

No where has the impact of Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome / Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV/AIDS) been more severe than Sub-Saharan Africa. Twenty-five years ago, AIDS was unknown in sub-Sahara Africa, yet AIDS is now the number one killer disease in region, surpassing malaria. According to United Nations records, an estimated 3.2 million adults and children in Sub-Sahara Africa become infected with HIV during the year 2003 alone and additionally 2.3 million people died of AIDS-related illness in the same year. It is estimated that 29.4 million people are currently living with HIV/AIDS in Sub-Saharan Africa, that is, two-thirds of HIV/AIDS cases reported globally. At the national level, the 21 countries with the highest HIV prevalence are in Africa. In at least 10 African countries, prevalence rates among adults exceed ten percent. Also at the individual level, the arithmetic of risk is horrific. In Zimbabwe and Botswana, one in four adults carries the virus. A child born in Zambia or Zimbabwe today is more likely than not to die of AIDS. It is also estimated that, there are 13 million children orphaned by AIDS worldwide, 10 million of them in Sub-Saharan Africa.

Malaria still claims about as much as many African lives as AIDS, and preventable childhood diseases still kill millions of children. What sets AIDS apart, however, is its unprecedented impact on national and regional development. Because it kills so many adults in the prime of their working and parenting lives, it decimates the workforce, fractures and impoverishes families, orphans millions of children, and shreds the fabric of communities.

It is undisputed fact that, the cost HIV/AIDS imposes on countries forces them to make heartbreaking choices between today’s and future lives, and between health and dozens of other vital investments for development. Given these realities, African governments and their partners are taking every possible step to prevent further HIV infections and to care for and support the millions of Africans already infected and affected. [See, World Bank Report on HIV/AIDS in Africa, 2003 at www.aidsandafrica.com/aids.] Also political declarations within the United Nations [Political Declaration on HIV/AIDS, Res. S-26/2, Res. 60/262; Res. 55/5, Res. 60/] and other conventions such as the Convention on the Elimination of all Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW) are made in which countries reaffirm their implementation and commitment on HIV/AIDS.

Disappointingly, the national and international legal regimes on HIV/AIDS have almost forgotten of protection of the fundamental human rights of HIV/AIDS victims and also the individual governments have become insensitive to the human rights implications in the enforcement of national laws and fulfillment of their international obligations under international human rights laws already in existence before the HIV/AIDS was known.

In addition to the fundamental rights and freedoms contained in the constitutions of sub-Sahara African states some of them have a special chapter in their constitutions called the Directive Principles of State Policy (DPSP) which provide for core principles around which national politics and economic life should evolve. There has been in some of these state ongoing debates as to whether the provisions of DPSP are justiceable in the same measure as other provisions on Fundamental Human Rights and Freedoms contained in the same constitution (for example, as in chapter 6 of the 1992 Constitution of Ghana).

Some argued that these are political questions which may show the competence or otherwise of governments rather than legal questions to be determined by courts and as such the courts can not compel their governments or institutions to fulfill requirements under such provisions. Even so, there are at least two good reasons for including them in a constitution: First, DPSP enunciate a set of fundamental objectives which people expect all bodies and persons that make or execute public policy to strive to achieve. The second justification for including directive principles in the constitution is that taken together, they constitute, in the long run, a sort of barometer by which the people could measure the performance of their government. In effect they provide “goals for legislative programmes and a guide for judicial interpretation” See, [paragraph 95 of the Draft Report of the Constitutional Proposals]. In considering the justiceability or otherwise of the provisions contained in the DPSP see, [the Ghanaian cases of New Patriotic Party v. Inspector General of Police (SC 4/93), the Council of Indigenous Business Association (1997) case; and Ghana Lotto Operators Association & 6 Others (2008).]

There have been ongoing debates in the African regional forums as to whether a mandatory duty is imposed on States, for which they have no discretion, to secure the maximum welfare, freedom and fundamental human rights to every person including HIV/AIDS victims within their sovereign territories. And in countries such as South Africa, Namibia and Botswana there is the movement towards comprehensive privacy laws to remedy past injustices and to ensure that the laws are consistent with international law though there are differences in the level of protection in each of these States. See, [James Michael, Privacy and Human Rights, UNESCO 1994, at 1].

2 Equality and Non-discrimination

Stigmatization is one of the human rights violations which people living with HIV and AIDS face mainly because some sections of society still associate the disease with immorality. People with AIDS therefore often find themselves discriminated against thereby undermining their fundamental human rights and freedom.

Article 2 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights states:

Everyone is entitle to all the rights and freedoms set forth in this Declaration without discrimination of any kind, such as race, colour, sex, language, religion, political or other opinion, national or social origin, property, birth or other status. [G A Resolution 217A (III) G.A.O.R, 3rd session, Part I Res. (1948) at 71]

Article 2(2) of the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights embodies similar provision. [See, 999 U.N.T.S 3 U.K (1977). The ICESCR protects ‘second generation' human rights (mostly positive and susceptible only of progressive and differential compliance as each state's economy permits)]

These two documents, among others to which most sub-Sahara African States are signatory including Ghana, prohibit discrimination of any kind which by analogy includes HIV/AIDS status. Constitutions of these States guarantee protection from discrimination on the same grounds provided in the international instruments but do not list HIV status as a ground for non-discrimination. However, non-discrimination on ground of HIV status may be considered to be included in the wording ‘other status’ as expressed in some constitutions, for example, in section 20(1) of Malawian Constitution.

One could also argue that people living with HIV may be protected under the right to equality and non-discrimination on ground of ‘social status’ as expressed in some other constitutions, for example, under Article 7(2) of the Constitution of Ghana or Article 35 of the Constitution of Mozambique. Even where the constitutional provision does not include HIV/AIDS as an explicit ground or any of the above status, it can be read into ‘disability’ or ‘other grounds’ as in Section 9(3) of the South African Constitution. It is important that HIV status in cases dealing with HIV/AIDS or AIDS-related discrimination be analyzed as an analogous ground rather than a disability.

There is also no special legislation in the sub-Sahara African States guaranteeing the right to equality and non-discrimination of people living with AIDS. In fact, pieces of legislations in relation to HIV/AIDS have been reviewed in Zambia in recent past and these include the Penal Code and the Public Health Act. Ghana, Nigeria and other West African States need to make such legislative amends. There are existing national policies and charters in some of these countries but no steps have been taken to translate these into reality.

Domestication of HIV/AIDS treaties have been blocked by internal systems in different countries. In some countries there is no need for domestication because the constitution allows. For example, Article 144 of the Namibian Constitution states ‘unless otherwise provided for, the general rules of public international law and international agreements binding upon Namibia under this Constitution shall form part of the law of Namibia.’ However, countries such as Zambia, Ghana and Nigeria favour indirect transformation where parliamentary ratification is required.

There are, however, some obligations of immediate effect for all parties to the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (ICESCR), in particular the understanding of the terms ‘guarantee’ and ‘ensure’ non-discrimination and equal treatment respectively, that is, Article 2(2) and 2(3) of the ICESCR. It would be argued here that to the extent that an article in the Covenant guaranteeing a particular right and detailing the steps to be taken, the obligation in respect of that right becomes an ‘obligation of conduct not one of result.’ See, [Goodwin-Gil, in Alston and Tomasevski (eds) and The Right to Food (1984) 9 N.Y.I.L 69, at 111.]

In the case of Makuto v. the State of Botswana (2002), the Court of Appeal set a precedent according to which HIV status could be implicitly understood as being on the list of protected grounds of discrimination despite no specific mention in the Constitution of Botswana. Article 17(2) of the 1992 Constitution of Ghana, like in many other sub Sahara African states, has reproduce the words of the Universal Declaration and the Covenants, that a person shall not be discriminated against on grounds of gender, race, colour, ethnic origin, religion, creed or social or economic status, but without any corresponding legislations enacted.

People with HIV/AIDS should not be stigmatized against and should be facilitated to realize their full economic and social potential as far as their physical and mental condition permit. Whether ill or not the same rights should be administered equally by the state unless those rights are limited by law on reasonable and undiscriminating grounds.

3. Right to Privacy

According to Edward Bloustein (1964), privacy is an interest of human personality. It protects the inviolate personality, the individual’s independence, dignity and integrity. To Ruth Gavison (1980), there are three elements in privacy: secrecy, anonymity, and solitude. It is a State which can be lost, whether through the choice of the person in that State or through the action of another person. Although these definitions fall in line with jurisprudential school of thought they underpin the jus gentium. The Calcutt Committee in UK said that, ‘nowhere have we found a wholly satisfactory statutory definition of privacy.’ But the committee was satisfied that it would be possible to define it legally and adopted this definition in its first report on privacy:

The right of the individual to be protected against intrusion into his personal life or affairs or those of his family, by direct physical means or by publication of information.

Privacy is a fundamental human rights recognized in the UN Declaration of Human Rights (Article 12), the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (Article 77) and in many other international and regional treaties. Privacy forms the basis for human dignity and other core values such as freedom of association and freedom of speech.

Article 77 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights provides that no one shall be subjected to arbitrary or unlawful interference with his privacy, home family or unlawful attacks on his honour and reputation. The right to privacy encompasses obligations to respect physical privacy, including the obligation to seek informed consent to HIV testing and privacy of information including the need to respect confidentiality of all information relating to a person’s HIV status.

Nearly every country in Sub-Sahara Africa that is party to the Covenant recognizes a right of privacy but nothing in the laws relating to HIV indicates that HIV status can be communicated either to a partner, spouse of the infested person or to the government or any party without prior consent of the infested person. Thus, the laws of most African States do not make HIV a notifiable condition. The most recently written or amended constitutions of South Africa, Namibia, Nigeria, Mauritius, Cote d’Ivoire, Benin, Togo Zambia and Cameroon, for example, include specific rights to access and control one’s personal information. The 1992 Constitution of Ghana provides in article 15(1) that: ‘The dignity of all persons shall be inviolable.’ It also states in Article 18(2) that: ‘no person shall be subjected to interference with the privacy of his home, property, correspondence or communication except in accordance with law…’ (though the provision is silent on physical privacy).

The Ghanaian Constitution guarantees the right to privacy but in the context of HIV this right is expressed in the respect of confidentiality and the insistence on informed consent in testing. The National HIV/AIDS Policy and Guidelines for Expanded HIV Testing in Malawi provides for ‘beneficial disclosure’ which, in exceptional cases empowers the medical practitioner or health care worker to notify the partner(s), without the consent of the source client (where a properly counseled HIV-positive individual repeatedly refuses to disclose his or her status to sexual partners)

In other countries of Africa where privacy is not explicitly recognized in the constitution, such as Angola, Mozambique, Swaziland, Tanzania, and Zimbabwe, the courts have found expressions in other provisions of international agreements that recognize privacy right.

Even with the adoption of legal and other protections, violations of privacy remain a concern. In some countries, laws have not kept up with the technology, leaving significant gaps in protections. Hence, the medical professionals, the police, the prisons officials and all other established institutions that handle cases and information on HIV/AIDS infected persons violate their privacy right without any remedies available for them. The regulatory framework for the conduct of medical test in these countries, which includes of course HIV/AIDS test, is rudimental with no protection against privacy right, risk or adverse effects from the clinical tests or to monitor the test records from beginning to the end of the process.

There is the need for ethical rules for all professionals handling HIV/AIDS affected people to generally prohibit the disclosure of medical records of patients without their consent, whether those records are in the public or private institutions. Any national law that makes HIV test compulsory under any circumstances or make HIV records publicly assessable by any means (that is, electronic) violates the right to privacy.

4. Right to Liberty of Movement

The right to liberty of movement encompasses the rights of everyone lawfully within a territory of a Sate and freedom to choose his or her residence as well as the right of nationals to enter in and leave their own country.

Article 13(1) of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (1948) states:

Everyone has the right to freedom of movement and residence within the borders of each State. Everyone has the right to leave any country, including his own, and to return to his country.

This expression is repeated in article 12(3) of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (1966) with an additional clause that:

The above mentioned right shall not be subject to any restrictions except those which are provided by law, are necessary to protect national security, public order public health or morals or the rights and freedoms of others, and are consistent with the other rights recognized in the present Covenant.

Article 12(1) African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights (1981/1986) also provides:

Every individual shall have the right to freedom of movement and residence within the boarders of a State provided he abides by the laws. Every individual shall have the right to leave any county including his own, and to return to his country. This right may only be subject o restrictions provide for by law for the protection of national security, law and order, public health or morality.

These instruments and a series of multilateral treaties concluded through the United Nations imposed obligation upon parties to this end. Ahead of the Vienna World Conference on Human Rights 1993, Asian states adopted the Bangkok Declaration 1993 and supported by African states which challenged what was perceived as the western concept of human rights. The declaration stressed the need to consider human rights in their national and regional context and emphasized the principle of respect for national sovereignty and non-interference in the international Affairs of states.

However, the universality of human rights and its place beyond the limits of domestic jurisdiction were reaffirmed by the Vienna Declaration and Programme of Action on Human Rights, 1993 which was adopted by the Vienna World Conference.

The right to liberty of movement which is embodied in the international human rights instruments is included in the constitutions of African States though HIV/AIDS is neither explicitly mentioned in their constitutions nor in their immigration Acts. For example, Article 21(1)(g) of the 1992 Constitution of Ghana simply provides that:

All persons shall have the right to freedom of movement which means the right to move freely in Ghana, the right to leave and to enter Ghana and immunity from expulsion from Ghana.

There is no reference to restriction on the basis of HIV status. In fact, the immigration laws of these countries do not require non-nationals to be tested for HIV prior to gaining admission to these countries. However, the immigration Act of Malawi comes very close to that as it listed several categories of persons labeled as ‘prohibited immigrants’ including persons infected, afflicted or suffering from a prescribed disease (which may also mean HIV/AIDS). Section 10 of Form 3-1/0033 for Namibian visa lists several diseases that should be reported to the Department of Home Affairs and these diseases include syphilis or any venereal disease, or leprosy or AIDS virus.

The National Policy on HIV/AIDS in countries such as Botswana, Cote d’Ivoire and Mali provide that there will be no restriction placed on travel by persons known, or suspected to be HIV positive in those countries and foreigners entering their country will not be required to provide proof that they are HIV negative. However, foreigners who apply for jobs with government of those countries are required to undergo tests as a condition of employment and if they test positive to HIV, they may be denied a work permit. It is always the view of governments that admission of foreigners with HIV positive may alleviate the burden upon the already limited resources of their countries. But, the denial of treatment and care services to non-nationals can jeopardize the effectiveness of the national response to HIV.

There is no public health rationale for restricting liberty of movement or choice of residence on the grounds of HIV status. According to current international health regulations, yellow fever is the only disease which requires a certificate for international travel. Any domestic law and practice that prohibit the entry into a country on grounds of HIV status or request testing as a condition for issuance of entry visa violates the right to liberty of movement provided in the international human rights instruments to which it is a party. It will be erroneous to generalize that all HIV infected visitors to a country engage or will engage in indecent practices to endanger the nationals of that country. Movement without any form of contact does not necessarily increase the epidemic.

5 Freedom from inhuman and degrading treatment

The Universal Declaration of Human Rights as a common standard of achievement for all people and all nations provides under Article 5 that: “No one shall be subjected to torture or to cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment.’ Article 7 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (1966) made the same expression and in addition provides that ‘no one shall be subjected without his free consent to medical or scientific experimentation.’

The right to freedom from cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment can arise in a variety of ways in the context of HIV/AIDS. For example, imprisonment is punishment by deprivation of liberty but should not result in the loss of human rights or dignity. In particular the State through prison authorities owns a duty of care to prisoners including the duty to protect the right to life and access to HIV related information, education and means of preventing it.

Denial of voluntary testing and counseling in treatment trials to prisoners could constitute cruel inhuman treatment. The duty of care comprises a duty to combat prison rape and any other form of sexual discrimination or victimization that may result in the prisoners/inmates being infected with HIV. There is no public health justification for mandatory HIV testing to prisoners or for refusing inmates living with HIV/AIDS access to all activities available to the rest of the prisoners. Prisoners with AIDS should be considered for early release and given proper treatment outside prison.

6 Conclusion

The introduction of Anti-Retroviral (ARV) treatment in Africa may have mitigated the impact of the Human Immunodeficiency virus and Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome (HIV/AIDS) on the individual, but the possible catastrophic aspects of the epidemic such as, economic, social, cultural and human rights have received no serious attention by individual sub-Sahara African states for some of the reasons discussed above. The national policy on HIV/AIDS has no force of law in most of these countries though it has a strong moral persuasive force. It is therefore not legally binding on these States which have the right to make their own decisions regarding a variety of HIV/AIDS-related human rights. Notwithstanding these, state parties to the human rights treaties should take steps individually and through international assistance and cooperation in a view to achieving the full realization of the rights recognized in those treaties by all appropriate means including particularly the adoption of legislative measures. It is left with these states, to guarantee that those rights discussed in the present article should be exercised in good faith and without discrimination on the basis of HIV/AIDS status.

Acknowledgements

This article benefited from useful interactions, discussions and variety of perspectives expressed by very prominent authorities in Human Rights Issues during a series of seminar held at Pretoria University in South Africa which formed Part of the 17th All African Human Rights Moot Court Competition attended by representatives from 73 Law Faculties in Africa (from 30 June to 05 July 2008). I am particularly grateful to Prof. Frans Viljoen, Director of Centre for Human Rights, Pretoria University. The paper also benefited from a research by the Human Rights Watch (HRW) which addressed gender inequity in Africa (Policy Paralysis: A Call for Action on HIV/AIDS-Related Human Rights Abuses against Women and Girls in Africa, (HRW 12, 2003).

Avian H5n1 Flu Protect Your Health From Illness In 2008

Bird or H5N1 flu represents a spreading mortal danger globally. Millions and millions of people traverse the globe each and every day, crossing borders both legally and illegally. If does not matter if the spread is sea, air, train or donkey in the end. In the end a virus at one small village in a remote geographical door can be spread to hundreds if not thousands of potential victims of the malady. The fortuitous nature all depends in the end on chance – on the cunning nature of the influenza virus to mutate – in this to mutate so that it can spread from avian or even pigs to human beings. On top of that a most lethal virus strain may mutate so that it passes a number of hosts before doing its final toll and damage to humans – crippling international trade and economies. Imagine how we could function in our economy without goods from China, not only those goods but smaller components and pieces of work on item simply marked “Made in the United States”

The H5N1 “bird flu’ strain that worries most of those who study the statically spread of diseases (epidemiologists) at present, caused a nasty shock in Hong Kong. Approximately ten ago this peril struck killing six people and forcing the Hong Kong authorities to in essence slaughter its entire flock of chicken , ducks and all other forms of poultry. Remarkably and amazingly the virus lay “dormant” in the field, only to resurface to do its damage in 2003.

Since, that point, according to the experts at the United Nations, avian flu has spread to over 65 countries in Europe, Africa, Asia and the Middle East. Untold millions of birds have been taken down and culled, some according to the books, others unreported .What worries the experts as well is the birds not taken down – that are in isolated remote areas off the beaten track, infected wild birds, and poultry whose demise would cause financial hardship to the farmers or storekeepers and although reported as officially destroyed in the culling process are not.

It appears that most of the cases reported in the spread of H5N1 flu have been mainly in the area of Vietnam, China (including Hong Kong), and Indonesia. However in a worrisome trend Burma and Pakistan have reported their first spread of human infections. Nearby to Pakistan both Bangladesh and India are not reporting major outbreaks of this scourge.

Experts warn that the only way the spread of the disease can be put under control is to get at the actual root source of the disease. If the disease is controlled at its initial base it cannot be prevalent and then spread from an initial base. Controlling the growth and cultivation of H5N1 avian virus is the most effective way of seeking control of this most lethal agent.

Overall from year to year the “flu” has a mortality of between quarters of a million to half a million people worldwide each year. Major flu outbreaks are referred to as “pandemics”. A pandemic is a large scale outbreak of a disease over a large area.

In the case of the 1918 post World War 1 “Spanish Flu”, a pandemic might have been said to attack the population of the city of Baltimore. 3100 people alone perished in Baltimore.

With modern methods of transportation the area of the pandemic would include the whole world. By the time the 1918 “Spanish flu” had run its course it is estimated that between 50 and 100 million people were killed – many of them in isolated areas of country.

If a pandemic of flu occurs the effects would be catastrophic for the globe – and not only for countries directly affected. Normal commerce and business functions would grind almost to a halt. By this stage of a spread of the flu virus most of the spread is from person to person. People would stay at home and not go work, where they might be infected by other people at work or along the normal course of the day. Even countries not directly infected would be affected. Not only would communications not be at high levels of service but international trade would shut down as countries lock their borders to keep out the spread of the H5N1 avian flu.

We live in a highly interdependent world where most products and services come from a number of sources and steps around the globe. Just one vital choke point of a step in a process of manufacturing or delivery of a products or services would be limited, restricted or even curtailed.

Luckily we live in a modern world today, not only with modern transportation and communication but the ability to plan ahead and coordinate efforts for both the treatment and most importantly the prevention of the spread of the H5N1 avian flu virus.

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Health Benefits of Milk Thistle

What is Milk Thistle

The liver plays a vital role in metabolizing fats, carbohydrates and proteins. It continually operates to keep the body cleansed of toxins. Milk thistle, a powerful antioxidant, has long been used to promote healthy, vibrant liver function. It is maninly used to cleanse and maintain the liver but also to support the production of new liver cells and replace the old and damaged ones.

Milk Thistle Side Effects

Some rare possible side effects may include; mild abdominal pain, diarrhea, nausea, dyspepsia, flatulence, bloating, anorexia, headache, skin reactions, insomnia, and impotence.

Milk Thistle Research

Recent studies suggest that milk thistle supplements may have to ability to assist in the treatment of chronic liver diseases such as; liver cirrhosis, hepatitis C, type II diabetes, toxin induced liver damage (such as factory workers exposed to harmful chemicals), mushroom poisoning, and gall bladder disorders. It has also been reported to be used as a mild laxative and an anti-inflammatory.

Milk Thistle Origin

The milk thistle plant is found growing in the wild in the warm climates of Southern Europe, North Africa and the Middle East. It gets its name from white spots on its prickly leaves that secrete a white substance, hence the name “milk-thistle.” The seeds of the plant contain about 5% of an ingredient called silymarin. Once synthesized, the “extract” from the seeds can contain as much as 80% silymarin.

Milk Thistle Review

Milk Thistle is a powerful antioxidant. Antioxidants help prevent free radical damage and slow the aging process. Milk thistle in particular, has long been used to promote healthy, vibrant liver function. It may be useful for many other things and studies are currently underway to prove other health benefits.

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