A Simple Solution to Save Lives

As a researcher focused on diarrhoeal diseases, I have made it my life’s work to spread awareness about a little known disease with a devastating impact. It is called rotavirus, and it is the leading cause of severe diarrhoea — one of the most easily preventable public health challenges we face today.

Rotavirus kills more than 500,000 children under five around the world each year — almost 1400 deaths each day—the vast majority of them in sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia. It leads to millions more hospitalizations. In Sierra Leone alone, rotavirus is responsible for more than 3,500 deaths every year. Rotavirus attacks our families and threatens our nation’s future by targeting our most precious resource—our children.

But the true tragedy is that much of this death and suffering could be prevented right now if children in Sierra Leone had the same access to life-saving vaccines as children in industrialized countries, where the disease barely has an impact. In the United States, rotavirus vaccines have been widely available for five years, even though the disease only killed a handful of children a year when they were introduced. Here, where the need is much greater, they are not an option for the vast majority of children.

Vaccines are one of the best long-term investments to prevent disease and give children a healthy start to life — a few shots or drops can protect a child for a lifetime. And they are one of the most cost effective interventions to prevent illness in a country like ours with many competing health priorities. With rotavirus, existing oral vaccines have been shown to provide significant protection against the disease.

The challenge has been that until today rotavirus vaccines have been much too expensive for poor countries, where health resources are scarce. And donors have been hesitant to support the vaccine until costs come down.

But in this past week, there is new cause for optimism.  Children in developing countries will finally get access to the same life-saving rotavirus vaccines that children living in rich countries do.

On June 6, the GAVI Alliance, an international organization that supports the rollout of vaccines to low-income countries, announced it had been offered a significant price reduction for rotavirus vaccines from a pharmaceutical company that will lower the cost to US$2.50 a dose, a third of the previous low price. GAVI already supports introduction of life-saving vaccines in Sierra Leone, and now has plans to rapidly accelerate its financial support for rotavirus vaccines.

At the same time, there are new, more affordable rotavirus vaccines on the horizon that will sustain our efforts to save children’s lives for the long-term. Manufacturers in developing countries such as India are developing vaccines for rotavirus and other diseases that should be just as safe and effective – and even more affordable -- than those that exist today. In fact, when GAVI announced the price cut for the existing rotavirus vaccine, it disclosed that an Indian rotavirus vaccine candidate – which should be available around 2015 – will cost just US$1 per dose.

This is great news for Sierra Leone and anyone in West Africa, where rotavirus is an all-too-commonly accepted part of life. It is estimated that broad access to rotavirus vaccines in low-income countries could save up to 225,000 children annually. In fact, the World Health Organization strongly recommends including the rotavirus vaccine in all immunization programs because of its potential life-saving impact.

But even the most effective vaccines will only have an impact if they are made available to people who need them. As a researcher testing the efficacy of rotavirus vaccines in Ghana, Mali and Kenya, I have seen firsthand their potential to protect children. We now have a critical opportunity to take advantage of this momentum.  

We call on our government leaders to work with GAVI and immediately prioritize rapid access to rotavirus vaccines for every child across the country. Sierra Leone began introducing vaccines against pneumonia, another major childhood killer, in January and can play a similar leadership role against rotavirus. The longer we wait, the more lives are lost—lives of our future leaders.

We also call upon the vaccine industry to continue making vaccines more accessible. Reducing prices of available vaccines and creating opportunities for better, cheaper vaccines will ensure that funds given to GAVI can save even more lives. Governments, donors, and manufacturers all have a critical role to play in this effort.

Finally, I hope the international community will continue to recognize the value of vaccines and that their contributions are essential to support the rollout of these proven life-saving tools. Because today it is rotavirus, but tomorrow it may be new vaccines for malaria, typhoid or dengue fever.

Vaccines alone will not rid the world of rotavirus or solve all of our persistent health problems. We still need to focus on long-term challenges such as improving sanitation and strengthening health systems. But by providing access to rotavirus vaccines now, we will take a great step forward that can save thousands of lives starting today.

Opinion piece by Dr. George Armah

'Jog Phone!' I Witnessed It Twice

I have personally experienced the act of mobile phone snatching (jog phone) at least on two instances during the ongoing festivities. Unlike others, i have been fortunate to thwart  both attempts aimed at snatching (jog) my brand new 'Trinity' three sim phone, which was given to me as a gift by my mother. 

It is therefore an open secret that the streets of Freetown are presently not only jam-packed with peaceful celebrants but also with a large percentage of miscreants. These criminals mix themselves up with crowds of celebrants with the sole ulterior motive to forcefully and criminally convert people's properties to theirs.

The first attempt on my phone took place in the evening hours of Sunday 24th April 2011 at about 11:00pm along Freetown Road in Lumley. I was driving home after a visit to my family in the east end of Freetown with my phone placed close to the vehicle's gear. Alone in my boss's Benz 190 which i was using in the thick of vehicular traffic, i spotted the flash of light on my phone. Curiosity forced my eyes out and i noticed that a guy that was standing by the car had flashed the torch to see whether or not there was anything inside the car he could lay hands on. I wasted no time to change the location of my phone from the gear basement to my pocket. Shortly afterwards, i overheard the guy dressed in red telling a supposed partner in crime who was standing by the road that he spotted the phone in my car.

Both of them later crossed to the other side of the road when they noticed that i was trickily monitoring their movement. It was during this period that another criminal dressed in black flashed his torch inside my car with the same motive to see if anything was left careless. At this point, i lost my cool and verbally lashed at the torch pointer.

shortly after that, then came the two criminals who have been monitoring my movement since. One of them hit the back of the car on the left side and shouted in the Krio local parlance: "Bra bra bra, u don mass me foot", meaning: "Senior, senior senior, you have stepped on my foot".

This experienced journalist who was well au fait with what the guys were up to pretended to look outside and allow their plot to continue, at least a bit more. The other one deep his head and hands inside of the other door to grab the phone which they thought was still on the gear basement. Instead of reaching the phone, he was blessed with a severe punch from me. The rest was history.

Again on Monday at about 8pm along Kissy Road. I was also driving my wife, a friend from Canada, his wife, and my wife's nephews, when another attempt was made at my phone.

I asked by friend's wife, who was seated at the front seat to check my phone and see who was calling. It was at this moment that three miscreants from the crowd of a mask devil rushed at the lady in a desperate attempt to snatch the phone. Our alertness was able to thwart that attempt also.

I have therefore decided to take time off the celebrations and sound this alarm bell  here that not all those that are dancing behind masks devils are peaceful celebrants. A good number of them are mixing themselves with the celebrates to perpetrate criminality. Am alerting my readers to learn from my experience and keep their phones. 

Beware! They are everywhere.

By Abdul Fonti

This Expensive Free Education

I suppose Sierra Leone is currently operating under a ‘Free Education System,’ but contrary to Government’s intention, heartless school authorities continue to extort and exploit poor parents on daily basis thereby sabotaging the government, thus changing the concept to an ‘Expensive Free Education System.’

It is no secret that these heartless and saboteur school authorities are devising new plans on a daily basis to the disadvantage of parents and students through excessive demands on unnecessary, or better still unwarranted activities’s fees.
 

It is even pathetic to note that the increasing number in school activities introduced by school authorities have immensely contributed to the degrading standard of education in the country.
 

Apart from these new activities that rob parents of their hard earned resources, compulsory school activities that include games and sports have lost their taste since school authorities are now capitalizing on these activities as escape roots to extort money from students and parents.
 

This ‘Free Education System’ seems to implore all the barriers to quality education that the previous educational system deplored thereby creating the enabling environment for the degrading standard in education.
 

The former system of education in this country was maybe expensive but at least standards were maintained unlike the present ‘Free Education System’ that is based on quantity education.
 

Under this ‘Free Education System,’ illegal fees have increased as students are now required to pay examination fees before taking tests. They are also required to pay marking fees before the test scripts are marked, and above all pay other fees before test results are released. Was this a common practice or occurrence in the past system of education? Of course not.
 

What of extra classes that have now become part of normal school curriculum. Teachers now dedicate their service to extra classes (with students for whom they are being paid to teach during normal school hours) totally ignoring school schedules. Are they trying to make people believe that syllabuses are now so broad to the extent that certain topics cannot be covered during normal school hours?
 

Even Prize Givings and Thanksgiving ceremonies that were formerly highly graced by students have now become difficult for them as these activities are now heavily tasked under this ‘Free Education System.’
 

On the other hand, if a parent affords paying this exorbitant charge, the child might seek the ugly choice of not participating. It might however be disgusting to anyone reading this piece to understand that these children face punishment in the hands of these heartless school authorities for non participation in these costly events.
 

What are these school authorities turning the ‘Free Education System’ to? With all these extortions in schools, this is definitely not the true meaning of Free Education. Or are they trying to make people assume that they do not understand the meaning of FREE EDUCATION?
 

Well Mr. Government, if some or all of these extortions that I have highlighted above presently demoralizing parents and students are the meaning of your ‘Free Education System,’ then the need for a reverse in this system abounds.
 

This present situation in our schools is most definitely not in consonance with what free education entails. If only the concept of Free Education is to achieve it intended purpose, it needs to be treated with all seriouness attached. Teachers needs to be adequately paid, schools need to be provided will learning materials and school buses should be provided among others. Mr. Government, do something now. It is better late than never.

By Abdul Fonti

The Untoched Vocation of Prostitution

Prostitution at every age and sex is becoming more startling and rampant to a degree that it poses a threat to the future of Sierra Leone. Most disheartening is the fact that the practice is enjoying an autonomous status as nobody seems to care. An appreciable comprehension of my analysis would be to attempt a definition of the concept Prostitution in the context of this piece.

I perceive prostitution as a commercialization of sex (the exchange of sex for money). It can be deduced that this concise definition of the concept lends credence to my initial assertion that the nation’s future is under serious threat. The reason being, a horrible figure of the country’s population cannot be dissociated from this ‘sacrosanct profession’. Let me also fascinate readers with the harsh reality that this practice is not only associated with the feminine sex but that it also captures a greater spectrum of males. Astounded? 

Just hold your breath a while. Please drift away from the stereotyped perception that women are the only committers of prostitution and take a quick snap at those men who cling on to more than two partners or even women twice older, for material gains they stand to make from such relationships.

Many would want to argue that they are not prostitutes because they are not seen at night within the vicinities of the beach or pubs or other notable prostitution sights. Can someone please tell the difference between an easy-to-identify prostitute and a person dating two or more partners in secret? There is none!

Most prostitutes have used LOVE as a pretext to justify their involvement in the act. Love is the cloak used to seal the real intent of unions – extortion of cash from partners with stronger financial status. Don’t be misled, it all hinges on prostitution. Many of the easy-to-identify prostitutes have advanced poverty as the cause to their entering prostitution, an excuse subject to debate.

My opinion on this is that women go into prostitution simply to satisfy their insatiable desires with little or no regard for the moral, social and religious implications involved.

Sadly, this practice has gradually crawled into institutions that are supposed to be held in high esteem. School going ages are virtually seen on a daily basis carrying ladies’ bags, one of the trade marks of prostitutes, roaming from one office to another to do what? Heaven knows. I challenge a search of these ladies bags, to be found will be cosmetics, cloths, few coins, tooth brushes and tooth paste, you name the rest. 

Many wander about with no certainty as to where they can pass the night off. One only need to take a night stroll down one of the city’s major streets to see mostly teenage girls who are supposed to be at home reading, half naked, advertising to get attraction.

The issue of dress is a different thing all together. Most girls have fallen in love with the practice of being nude. Their style of dress has made it difficult to discern what occasion they are set for. 

Most of the dresses displayed by girls are the trade marks of prostitutes. Such people would argue that they are not prostitutes if challenged. The question then arises; why do we have the number of prostitutes increasing by the day? It’s plain! Because there has been a proportionate increase in the number of demand for prostitutes. Don’t be shocked, the demanders are most elderly folks who are either supposed to be models or at least advisers to their preys. To such folks, I say, seeds sown today shall surely be reaped in the morrow.

It’s really nothing but a blot on the landscape. No one seems to be doing anything or at least commenting on this menace. Prostitution, from every indication has attained a status that can best be described as, ‘the untouched vocation’.

My last word to the easy-to-identify and also to the discreet prostitutes is that in as much as no one seems to be bothered about their ugly profession, they must know that God had a special place for them in His heart when they were being created. The idea of trading their bodies thus has no moral justification.

By Abdul Fonti

Sierra Leone Don't Respect Living Heroes

Sierra Leoneans, like many other nationals in the world, are notable for their failure to respect and recognize heroes, especially when these heroes are still alive.

In most cases, heroes are only recognized in Sierra Leone when they are dead.

This situation has forced several people to ponder whether or not this country has living heroes, i.e. people who are recognized and respected as heroes when they are still alive.  In this piece, I will attempt a few definitions for the term ‘hero’, so as to give readers a clear understanding of the subject matter. This piece will also highlight some of the consequences the country suffers as a result of the failure of its citizens to recognize breathing heroes.

I have been able to obtain three definitions of the term ‘HERO’, from various standard dictionaries and the debate here would be concentrated on the said definitions mentioned in the ensuing.

i) A hero is a man of superhuman qualities, favoured by the gods; demigod.

ii) Illustrious warrior (such as is given to hero returning from battle).

iii) Man admired for achievements and noble qualities.

With the aforementioned meanings, do we really have living heroes in Sierra Leone? I want to believe we do have breathing heroes, although a good number of people have been ‘forced’ to believe that the only heroes Sierra Leone can boast of are the likes of Bai Bureh, I.T.A Wallace Johnson and Sengbeh Pieh, all of whom are dead and gone.

Why the citizens are not recognizing their heroes, when these heroes are still alive, remains a puzzle.

There are hundreds of Sierra Leoneans who are excelling in their various fields and corners. These people cut across various ages, sex, colour and political persuasions.

To verify that there are indeed heroes in Sierra Leone, one only needs to carefully listen and watch as people pay tributes to dead people. That is the time when praises would be lavished on the departed soul. At such events, people are not hesitant to talk on all of the admirable achievements and potentials of the deceased.

This is also the time that people will come with ranches full of cows, goats, fish and rice.
 

Ironically, all of these things would be shared among living people as a way of ‘honoring’ the dead, when the fact remains that some of these people actually died of hunger and/or curable diseases. They die because they cannot feed themselves and lack money to seek medical attention when they fell sick. But when they die, money and food is in excess.

Why do people withhold all of the aforementioned wealth and wait until the demise of a ‘hero’ or ‘potential hero’, is among the barrage of questions begging answers.

Investing such wealth on, and honoring these heroes whilst they are still alive will make a whole lot of difference to the life of the individual in particular, his family in general and the nation as a whole.

What does it benefit the dead hero to praise sing him when he has seized to breathe, especially so when he was never recognized and respected during his tenure of life?

What benefit do the nation or bereaved family members achieve from such tributes and showcasing of wealth during funeral ceremonies?

Why do people ignore and dismiss the talents and achievements of their compatriots when they are still alive? 

Selfishness and political bigotry cannot be far from the answer.

No matter what is said and done when a person is dead, there is no doubt that the dead person, bereaved family members and mama salone stand to gain nothing other than regrets and increased backwardness of the nation.

The dead will never appreciate anything that people do to honour him, especially so when they failed to appreciate his qualities when he was alive.

The backward state of Sierra Leone cannot be dissociated to some of these things which we normally dismiss as insignificant.

Failing to appreciate, respect and honour our living heroes is also gravely affecting the emergence of new heroes.

Potential heroes prefer not to put on display their talents for the progress of the nation; an occurrence that is no fault of theirs. This is due to lack of motivation.

It is pathetic to note that a good number of heroes and potential heroes are subjected to psychological torture. In most cases, some of these heroes succumb to such frustrations and they gradually lose their heroism to cowardice.
 

This is not only affecting the people under review as individuals, but is by extension negatively affecting the nation’s progress, since the numbers of disgruntled and jobless people will continue to record a steady rise.

Worst of it is the fact that some influential citizens do suppress and disrespect heroes and potential heroes for reasons ranging from selfishness, petty jealousy, pull-him-down syndrome, and politics.

In Sierra Leone, it is an open secret that politicians in government don’t respect the talents of politicians in the opposition; rich people displays total disregard for the heroism of poor people; and old people lacks respect for young people.

Politicians only shower praises and talk on the achievements of their opponents after the latter would have died.

How can the country ever progress when highly placed personalities deliberately and viciously ignore the aptitude of other citizens because of politics, societal status and other differences?
 

The urgency to change our attitudes in this regard cannot be overemphasized, as Sierra Leone is already losing a lot due to the citizen’s wickedness and lack of respect for one another’s talents.

We actually have living heroes in Sierra Leone and the time to start recognizing them is now. They deserve better than neglect and frustration.

Thumbs up to all the heroes in Sierra Leone. Keep the fire burning.

Submitted by Abdul Fonti

What a 50th Independence Anniversary!

It is already an open secret that April 27 2011 marks fifty years since Sierra Leone gained its ‘independence’ from her British colonial masters.

In terms of development, one cannot be wrong to say Sierra Leone has achieved little as compared to its age of ‘independence’ in relation to other sister countries she had independence before in Africa.

Considering the country’s abundance in natural and human resources, Sierra Leone is far from its rightful position in the world. Sierra Leone’s backwardness cannot be dissociated from the numerous negative vices of corruption, tribalism, regionalism and disparity, to name but a few. The aforementioned and more have marred the fifty years of Sierra Leone as an ‘independent’ country.

At a time like this, we need to reminisce on the things that have held our country’s development to ransom for the past several years. In my view, Sierra Leone is still not an independent country in its true sense. How can a country boast of independence when it still depends on its colonial master for its wellbeing? Ironically as it sounds, nobody is seemingly paying attention to that. Sierra Leoneans must now be more focused on fighting for the country’s independence rather than complacently believing that Sierra Leone had achieved its independence fifty years ago. We are still under ‘colonial rule’ because as it stands now, Sierra Leone is non-existent without financial support from Britain and other countries. The financial support being given by these countries is in itself a whole topic for debate. In my view, any country that largely depends on international funding is still under colonial rule. These international countries will not support a country if that country does not succumb to its benchmarks.
They do not only set the criteria for a country to qualify for donor support but they also give you people they refer to as ‘expatriates’ whenever you receive funds from them. Since these expatriates are paid from the very money they give you, does that not amount to colonialism in the strict sense?

Now that it has been established that Sierra Leone is far from been called an independent country, let us now look at the circumstances surrounding the commemoration of the country’s so called 50th independence anniversary.

Though the government had earlier promised that we were going to have a year-long commemoration, it is sad that nothing has happened in that direction. This is March, the third month of the country’s 50th independence anniversary year of 2011, and there are no indications that Sierra Leone is commemorating ‘fifty years of independence’.

With no attempt to politicize this issue, the two major vices responsible for the awkward situation Sierra Leone presently finds herself are corruption and economic hardship. How do you expect multitude of have-not nationals to commemorate an independence anniversary in pomp and pageantry amid stinking corruption and total economic strait? Making a mockery of the situation is whilst observing this Golden Independent Jubilee under a presumed climate of attitudinal and behavioral change the Anti Corruption Commission (ACC) is currently investigating at least five officials of the Independence Anniversary Committee set up by President Ernest Bai Koroma. They are being investigated for embezzlement of funds meant for the commemoration of the country’s ‘fiftieth independence anniversary’.

The least talked about the hardship that has besieged Sierra Leone, especially in the past few months, the better. Nothing is virtually happening – Sierra Leone is actually not on a standstill, but it is dangerously retrogressing from bad to worst.

The people of Sierra Leone are now refusing to cooperate with anything that has to do with the independence commemoration, not because they are not patriotic but because they are dying of hardship and frustrated over the news of massive corruption in the country. That’s the reality and nothing good will happen if the various stakeholders fail to map out strategies to either change the perception of the people or reverse the negative trend in Sierra Leone for the better.

The green, white and blue flags are supposed to be flying now all over Sierra Leone. But come to even the center of Freetown, PZ, and you would be shocked that not a single flag is positioned there. Sierra Leoneans are yet to heed to the calls to paint their houses; we are not seeing the green, white and blue attires; Ernest Koroma’s call for people to dress in African or Sierra Leonean outfits on Fridays has not yield any dividend. Nothing is happening. What an independence commemoration!

Let this year serves as a year of reflection. We have come a long way but we sadly have nothing to show after fifty years. Sierra Leone deserves better than this.

Tiff Man Dem

Sitting quietly in my room updating my outdated anti virus, then my neighbor's dog went nuts! Sparky is what they call him because of his Albino looks. Sparky by the way is a "he" and he seldom bark at people. I find it very strange the he was going wild at 1am.

I decided to take a peek . There he was. Even when he's bent over sawing at something in the streets, it was obvious that he is over 6 ft and was up to no good.

"UDAT dae yanda?" I yelled. He stopped sawing, still bent over, like an ancient sculpture.

I was overwhelmed with courage and it spilled out "TIFFF!!" at the top of my lungs.

Man dropped everything, tucked tail and ran.

By the time the neighbours came out of their houses, he was gone living his tools behind.

Upon investigation, it was revealed that he was trying to cut off these old rails that are used to devided the sidework from the streets.

Since no one's property was missing everyone went back home, thinking that It was a waste of time. The tools were tossed in a garbage and Amadu ( A neighbour) who found the saw useful, decided to keep it . One even mentioned that we shouldn't blame the man. Times are hard.

I try to be a good neighbour, so I always keep my opinion to myself, to avoid argument. Mostly NOT to to resist the urge of mouthing off and calling them "idiots".

If you are a Sierra Leonean, you pay taxes,public property is also your. These taxes are used by the government improve our living conditions.

If you notice someone stealing or vandalizing government property, it is your duty as a tax payer to defend it.

If you siddom en lef all thing say na government business, there will never be a better Salone.

Lonta.

I will upload pictures of this incident in my next post.