measles

Vaccine gaps fuel Bangladesh's deadly measles crisis

BY SHEIKH SABIHA ALAM

  • "The boy had (a) high fever and found it hard to breathe," Brishti told AFP, mopping the fevered brow of one-year-old Minhaz, cradled in her arms.
  • Rocking her baby to soothe his searing pain and gasping breaths, 18-year-old Rubia Akhtar Brishti recounts how her son nearly died in Bangladesh's deadly measles outbreak.
  • "The boy had (a) high fever and found it hard to breathe," Brishti told AFP, mopping the fevered brow of one-year-old Minhaz, cradled in her arms.
Rocking her baby to soothe his searing pain and gasping breaths, 18-year-old Rubia Akhtar Brishti recounts how her son nearly died in Bangladesh's deadly measles outbreak.
"The boy had (a) high fever and found it hard to breathe," Brishti told AFP, mopping the fevered brow of one-year-old Minhaz, cradled in her arms. "His whole body had rashes."
At least 143 people have died in the outbreak since March 15, the vast majority children, with more than 12,000 suspected cases -- the worst in the South Asian nation for 20 years.
Brishti, like dozens of others, rushed from her village seeking help in the capital Dhaka, where the DNCC Hospital in Mohakhali, set up originally for Covid-19, is flooded with cases.
The ward is filled with the sounds of coughing and cries of pain, as mothers hold nebulisers over their children's mouths to help their little lungs gulp for air, their tiny bodies marked by a searing rash.
Measles is one of the world's most contagious diseases, according to the World Health Organization (WHO), and spreads via coughs or sneezes.
While it can affect people of any age, it is most common among children and can cause complications, including brain swelling and severe breathing problems.
"Both of my children are sick now," said Nusrat Jahan, who had lost her vaccination cards and therefore missed getting her infants a shot. "Both the babies are suffering."
Her children were in different wards in the hospital.
"One is admitted on (the) first floor and another is on (the) second floor," she said. "I am caught in between (them), as both children cry for me."

Vaccine drive

Bangladesh has made significant advancements in vaccinations to tackle infectious diseases.
But a measles drive due in 2024 was delayed by the deadly uprising that toppled the autocratic government of Sheikh Hasina.
Many of the families with sick children in the ward say they come from areas where vaccine coverage was limited.
Yasmin Khatun, grandmother of one-year-old Safwan, said she had tried to get the baby protected.
"We took him to the centre but there were no vaccines available for measles," she said.
Health authorities are scrambling to stop the spread and roll out vaccination campaigns.
Health authorities launched an emergency measles-rubella campaign on April 5, alongside UN agencies, aiming to protect more than 1.2 million children.
Vaccines work the best when all are covered.
Government health services spokesperson Zahid Raihan said that among the affected children, 17 percent had received a single dose, while 11 percent had received two doses.
"In the absence of herd immunity, children can still get infected even after vaccination," Raihan said, saying 95 percent coverage of children was needed to ensure that.
"Last year, the coverage was only 59 percent," he said.
Golam Mothabbir, from Save the Children Bangladesh, said the hardest hit places included the crowded capital Dhaka, as well as the densely packed refugee camps of Cox's Bazar, home to more than a million people.
"We know that if not enough vaccines are administered or if the vaccine campaign isn't sustained, the outbreak will continue to spread, and paediatric wards will continue to fill," Mothabbir said.
sa/pjm/ane

lifestyle

Chinese slimmers trade lost fat for beef

BY EMILY WANG

  • "This opportunity just came at the right time, so I signed up," Shu said.
  • In a community centre in eastern China, Shu Fangqiang shrugged off his jacket and stepped onto a scale, one of hundreds of locals signing up for an unusual weight loss programme -- "Trade Fat for Beef".
  • "This opportunity just came at the right time, so I signed up," Shu said.
In a community centre in eastern China, Shu Fangqiang shrugged off his jacket and stepped onto a scale, one of hundreds of locals signing up for an unusual weight loss programme -- "Trade Fat for Beef".
The rules are straightforward: for every half kilogram he loses, Shu will receive the same weight in boneless beef, or 1.5 kilograms (3.3 pounds) of beef on the bone.
The programme is one of many springing up across China, backed by local authorities anxious to tackle rising obesity rates, which are fast becoming a pressing public health issue.
Participants who are already keen to lose weight say the initiative is an added bonus.
"Even without the beef, I wanted to lose weight for my health," said Shu, whose body mass index (BMI) of 30 is classified as obese.
More than a third of Chinese adults were overweight in 2022, and around 8.3 percent were obese, according to the World Health Organization (WHO), compared with the United States, where 72.4 percent of adults are overweight and 42 percent are obese.
However, the number of obese people in China has tripled between 2004 and 2018, according to the Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention.
If current trends continue, the share of overweight and obese Chinese adults could reach 70.5 percent by 2030, the National Health Commission (NHC) says, whose obesity criteria is stricter than the WHO's.
"This opportunity just came at the right time, so I signed up," Shu said.
Participants of the campaign in the city of Wuxi were weighed once in March, and will return in January 2027 for a second and final weigh-in.
They will then be rewarded with expensive cuts like oxtail if they lose more weight -- though the total amount of free meat available is capped at 10 kilograms (22 pounds).
Organisers say more than 1,000 people have registered since the Wuxi campaign started in March -- with thousands more turned away for not meeting local community residence requirements.
Queues for weigh-ins reached up to a dozen people at a time in both the men and women's sections, an AFP journalist saw.
At the front of the queues, participants stepped on weighing scales which displayed their height, weight and BMI.
Staff members then measured their waists, logged their data on a form and used an encouraging stamp to mark it and to cheer participants on.
An on-site doctor offered personalised medical advice.

 'Flab for potatoes'

Similar grassroots initiatives have also surfaced in other localities across the country, with many shared widely on social media.
In the southwestern province of Yunnan, slimmers can take part in the "Flab for Potatoes" programme and if they shrink their waistlines considerably, can upgrade to chicken.
Countrywide, popular supermarket chain Yonghui has invited customers to register their losses over 10 days by weighing themselves in-store.
They can then trade every 1.5 kilograms lost for half a kilogram of beef, crayfish or kiwi.
When AFP visited the Wuxi community centre, banners at the weigh-in urged participants to slim down steadily rather than quickly, and to aim for health over thinness.
Organisers also posted warnings against weight-loss drugs, self-induced vomiting and extreme fasting, with doctors on hand to offer guidance.
Participant Shu told AFP he wanted to lose 20 kilograms.
"Being obese affects your mental state, your work performance and your overall well-being," he said.
"Sometimes when I'm heavier, I don't sleep well at night."
As of 2021, there were 402 million overweight or obese adults over 25 in China -- the world's largest population, according to a study published in The Lancet medical journal.
Another study, published in The Lancet in 2021, attributed the problem to rapid urbanisation and a shift toward processed, high-sugar and high-fat foods, as well as increasingly sedentary lifestyles.

 'Hard to resist'

In Wuxi, 44-year-old Zheng Haihua said she was signing up to encourage her to "move more and eat less", and to commit to exercising. 
"The biggest challenge for me is... controlling my appetite, because when you see delicious food, it's hard to resist," Zheng laughed. 
Local physician Wu Changyan sympathised, adding "there's life pressure, and the convenience of modern life makes it easy to eat more and eat too much."
The NHC and other authorities have launched national initiatives in an effort to counter the trend, concerned about links with chronic disease and increased healthcare costs.  
Local efforts like the Wuxi one are "a fun way to get people motivated", Wu told AFP. 
But Li Sheyu, a clinical professor at Sichuan University's West China Hospital, said the campaigns might have limited impact. 
"I would not consider it a gamechanger in the big picture," he said, noting they were essentially just a traditional incentive method for weight loss. 
"But (they are) a good example of disseminating weight-loss ideas to the public."
em/reb/dhw/ane/cms

war

Mideast war threatens Africa's supply of humanitarian medicine

BY ELéONORE SENS

  • - Mideast hub - Situated at the crossroads between Asia, the world's leading producer of medicines, and Africa, the Middle East serves as the primary gateway for supplying the African continent.
  • The Middle East conflict is exacerbating tensions over the humanitarian supply of medicines in Africa, a sector already severely impacted by funding cuts, with nonprofits warning of emptying shelves.
  • - Mideast hub - Situated at the crossroads between Asia, the world's leading producer of medicines, and Africa, the Middle East serves as the primary gateway for supplying the African continent.
The Middle East conflict is exacerbating tensions over the humanitarian supply of medicines in Africa, a sector already severely impacted by funding cuts, with nonprofits warning of emptying shelves.
Rising fuel costs and the logistical difficulty of transport through the Strait of Hormuz are affecting the delivery of medication to crisis and conflict zones in Africa, where the situation is already dire following US aid cuts.
"By the end of April, some of our medicine stocks will be depleted," Rodrigue Alitanou, director of operations for medical NGO Alima, told AFP from his office in Dakar.
Alima, which operates in 13 African countries, is sounding the alarm.
"If this goes on for a month and a half, two months, the warnings we are sounding will transform into direct impacts on the continuity of our activities," he said.
Africa imports more than 70 percent of medication and more than 90 percent of pharmaceutical ingredients.
Alitanou is concerned about rising import costs due to soaring fuel prices.
"An extra $2,000 in costs means 200 fewer children suffering from malnutrition will receive treatment," he said.
"We're already seeing it in Sudan, we're already seeing it in the DRC and it's starting to become apparent in most countries," he added.

Mideast hub

Situated at the crossroads between Asia, the world's leading producer of medicines, and Africa, the Middle East serves as the primary gateway for supplying the African continent.
Several humanitarian supply centres in Dubai's humanitarian free zone have seen their operations disrupted, affecting logistics transport to Africa.
In Dubai, the World Health Organization's (WHO) logistics hub, which supplies medicines to more than 150 countries worldwide, had to cancel shipments at the start of the conflict due to the closure of airspace and revise routes for delivering supplies.
"Supply lead times are lengthening because we cannot pass through the Strait of Hormuz and have to go via the Cape of Good Hope, particularly with cargo ships, so it is more expensive and adds 15 days to a month to the supply chain," said Damien Dubois, purchasing and inventory officer at MSF Supply, a supply centre within Doctors Without Borders (MSF).
A spokeswoman for the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria told AFP it had observed "delays and cost increases" although the organisation had not yet identified any shortages.
Anne Senequier, co-director of the Global Health Observatory at the Institute for International and Strategic Relations (IRIS), said that "at present we are not talking about a shortage of medicines due to the conflict, we are talking about an additional strain on an already fragile situation, with the risk of shortages emerging in certain vulnerable regions".
Those interviewed by AFP remain cautious regarding the ceasefire agreed Tuesday between the United States and Iran, with strikes continuing Wednesday in the Gulf and maritime traffic in the Strait of Hormuz still disrupted.
For Alitanou "this ceasefire is a first step, but it is not enough. Conflicts are ongoing in the Gulf states and continue to undermine our operations".
Agathe Lamouret, shipments coordinator at MSF Supply, said she believes "it's going to remain very unstable, especially as we don't know what will happen" after the two-week truce.
For his part, Christian Lindmeier, a WHO spokesman, said that "it will take several weeks to overcome the disruption caused by the closure of the Strait of Hormuz".

'Just-in-time' basis

Africa, which is heavily reliant on imports, is particularly vulnerable to geopolitical upheavals, said Ines Alaoui, head of international health policy at France-based Coalition Plus, an organisation uniting international HIV health groups.
"On the African continent we operate on a just-in-time basis. We don't produce or stockpile more than is necessary," she said.
The organisations within Coalition Plus were already bearing the brunt of US aid cuts, with shortages of preventive medicines and antiretrovirals observed on the ground.
The new crisis is "further eroding healthcare", Alaoui said, adding "we fear that people living with HIV will have to stop their treatment".
For Senequier of IRIS, "the risk is that certain vulnerable groups will turn to counterfeit medicines, which will put their health at risk".
els/bfm/kjm

television

'Ketamine Queen' jailed for 15 years over Matthew Perry drugs

BY HUW GRIFFITH

  • Iwamasa repeatedly injected Perry with the ketamine that she had supplied, including on October 28, 2023, when he administered at least three shots of Sangha's drugs, which killed the actor.
  • A British-American dealer dubbed the "Ketamine Queen" who sold the drugs that killed "Friends" star Matthew Perry, and boasted she supplied an elite circle of Hollywood VIPs, was jailed for 15 years on Wednesday.
  • Iwamasa repeatedly injected Perry with the ketamine that she had supplied, including on October 28, 2023, when he administered at least three shots of Sangha's drugs, which killed the actor.
A British-American dealer dubbed the "Ketamine Queen" who sold the drugs that killed "Friends" star Matthew Perry, and boasted she supplied an elite circle of Hollywood VIPs, was jailed for 15 years on Wednesday.
Jasveen Sangha, 42, was one of five people charged over the death of the beloved Canadian-American actor, who was found unresponsive in the hot tub of his luxury Los Angeles home in 2023.
Sangha, a dual citizen of the United States and Britain, ran a drugs emporium from her swanky apartment in Los Angeles, from where she dished out narcotics to wealthy customers in America's entertainment capital.
"To cultivate her business, (Sangha) marketed herself as an exclusive dealer who catered to high-profile Hollywood clientele," prosecutors wrote in sentencing papers. 
"As she told one customer in 2020, 'I'm really select with people,' and 'it's a very VIP circle of celebs.'"
Sangha worked with a middleman, Erik Fleming, to sell 51 vials of ketamine to Perry's live-in personal assistant, Kenneth Iwamasa.
Iwamasa repeatedly injected Perry with the ketamine that she had supplied, including on October 28, 2023, when he administered at least three shots of Sangha's drugs, which killed the actor.
When Sangha heard news reports about Perry's sudden death, she tried to cover her tracks.
"Delete all our messages," she instructed Fleming.
Sangha's actions "show a cold callousness and disregard for life. She chose profits over people, and her actions have caused immense pain to the victims' families and loved ones," prosecutors wrote.
Investigators who raided Sangha's home in the aftermath of Perry's death found methamphetamine, ketamine, ecstasy, cocaine, and counterfeit Xanax pills, as well as a money counting machine, a scale, and devices to detect wireless signals and hidden cameras.

Doctors

Perry, 54, had openly struggled for decades with addictions, but had appeared to colleagues to be beating his demons when he died.
His death set off waves of grief among generations of "Friends" fans and sparked a police probe that uncovered a ring of suppliers and enablers, including medical doctors who were callously profiting from the pain of a man they should have been helping.
Dr. Salvador Plasencia, who admitted four counts of distribution of ketamine in the weeks before Perry's death, was ordered to serve 30 months in jail when he was sentenced last year.
Another doctor, Mark Chavez, was ordered to be confined at home and told to do hundreds of hours of community service.
Plasencia bought ketamine off Chavez and sold it to Perry at hugely inflated prices.
"I wonder how much this moron will pay," Plasencia wrote in one text message.
Prosecutors said addict Perry was paying over $2,000 per vial of ketamine; his dealers paid a fraction of that.
Iwamasa and Fleming are scheduled to be sentenced later this month.
Sangha admitted one count of maintaining a drug-involved premises, three counts of distribution of ketamine and one count of distribution of ketamine resulting in death or serious bodily injury.
Her plea acknowledged that she also sold four vials of ketamine to another man, 33-year-old Cody McLaury, in August 2019.
McLaury died hours later from an overdose.

'Mostly sober'

Perry had been taking ketamine as part of supervised therapy for depression.
But prosecutors say that before his death, he became addicted to the substance, which is used as an anesthetic, but also has psychedelic properties and is a popular party drug.
"Friends," which followed the lives of six New Yorkers navigating adulthood, dating and careers, drew a massive following and made megastars of previously unknown actors.
Perry's role as the sarcastic man-child Chandler brought him fabulous wealth, but hid a dark struggle with addiction to painkillers and alcohol.
In 2018, he suffered a drug-related burst colon and underwent multiple surgeries.
In his 2022 memoir "Friends, Lovers and the Big Terrible Thing," Perry described going through detox dozens of times.
"I have mostly been sober since 2001," he wrote, "save for about sixty or seventy little mishaps."
hg/md

US

Nigeria sweats in heatwave as Iran war drives up costs to stay cool

BY TONYE BAKARE WITH NICHOLAS ROLL IN ABUJA

  • "The sun is too hot," Akanni told AFP, wedged between two equally sweaty passengers.
  • Azeez Akanni hopped on a yellow bus heading for the central business district on Lagos Island, beads of sweat rolling down his neck and arms. 
  • "The sun is too hot," Akanni told AFP, wedged between two equally sweaty passengers.
Azeez Akanni hopped on a yellow bus heading for the central business district on Lagos Island, beads of sweat rolling down his neck and arms. 
The 32-year-old clothier regularly navigates chaotic traffic to deliver luxury clothes and footwear to customers across the megacity of Lagos, Nigeria's commercial capital. 
But his and millions of others' commutes have been snarled by brutal temperatures as Africa's most populous country fights a heatwave. 
Adding to the pain, a spike in fuel prices from the Iran war has sent costs for air conditioning and back-up generators shooting up alongside the mercury.
"The sun is too hot," Akanni told AFP, wedged between two equally sweaty passengers.
High temperatures are nothing new in the west African nation, perched just above the equator. 
But according to the Nigerian Meteorological Agency (NiMet), things are getting worse: it warned in a 2025 report that in the decade from 2016-2025, nine out of the 10 years were "among the 12 warmest on record".
Last week, UK-based Korean DJ JinseoulMusic, who is currently touring Nigeria, shared her struggles in a post on Instagram to her more than 430,000 followers. 
"Surviving Nigerian heat with no light," she wrote, using the colloquial term for electricity. "Heat woke me up in the middle of the night."
Analysts blame the rising temperatures in Lagos on climate change, its coastal location, dense population, limited greenery and heavy traffic. 
The constant use of generators compounds the issue, as the petrol-guzzling machines release heat and greenhouse gases.
Public transport meanwhile is shambolic, with most commercial vehicles dilapidated and lacking working air conditioning. 
Temperatures peaked in Lagos at 35C at the end of March, according to NiMet.
They reached 38C in the capital Abuja, while Sokoto in the northwest hit 44C, with NiMet describing the conditions as "unhealthy".

Rising fuel prices

Nigeria's unique economic situation as Africa's fourth-largest economy, but with a dilapidated power grid much less stable than some of its poorer neighbours, has led to the widespread use of private generators, at least among those who can afford them.
That number may be dwindling as fuel prices soar due to the Iran war.
"I no longer use it because of the hike in price," Emmanuel Chinonso, 40, a ride-share driver in Abuja, told AFP.
When the grid goes out on a sweltering night, so does his fan, he said.
Like elsewhere in the country, gasoline prices have nearly doubled in the capital, from around 850 naira per litre to more than 1,300 -- a record high in a country where petrol sold for around 195 naira at the start of 2023. 
Many drivers, like Chinonso, keep their car air conditioning off to conserve fuel -- and "plead" for a tip from customers in return for switching it on.
"If you explain to them, some of them are very understanding and kind," he said.

Health warnings

Despite humid air thick with dust and vehicle fumes, and engines idling as vehicles waited for passengers on a recent Wednesday, thousands of Lagos traders continued to display their goods under direct sunlight, despite warnings against prolonged exposure. 
Hawkers balancing basins of iced fizzy drinks moved through traffic, offering quick relief to commuters.
With the cost of living on the rise following years of high inflation, many traders exposed to the sun and polluted air are more concerned about putting food on the table than air quality. 
"The weather is not good," Aminat Jimoh told AFP as he fried tofu by a cluttered roadside. "But we have to endure because we cannot eat if we don't come here."
The heatwave could also worsen Nigeria's malaria burden. According to the World Health Organization, climate change -- through increased rainfall, temperatures and humidity -- can in some cases accelerate malaria transmission by enabling mosquitoes to breed faster.
Nigeria recorded about a quarter of the world's malaria cases and 30 percent of global deaths in 2024, according to the WHO.
The approaching rainy season offers some relief as storms tamp down temperatures.
But it will also bring its own challenges, such as flooding.
"I know that rain has its own problem but I can't wait for this heat to go," Akanni said. 
tba-nro/sn/sbk