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Ugandans Now Live Up to 50Years – ReportPeter NyanziDaily MonitorNovember 20, 2007Uganda is one of only two countries that have made thegreatest gains in improving life expectancy in the last 10years, a new World Bank report has shown.According to the African Development Indicators (ADI)2007 that was released last week, the life expectancy ofUgandans has now climbed by seven years to 50, up fromjust 43 in 200l.With Tanzania behind at 46.3 and Kenya at 49.0, Ugandais now the only country above the 50 mark in the GreatLakes region and therefore the best country for those whowant to live a bit longer.Ugandan mothers also have a better chance to surviveduring pregnancy with a maternal mortality ratio of880:100,000 live births compared to Tanzania’s1,500:100,000 and Kenya’s 1,000:100,000.But the situation is not as good for children under-fivewith a mortality rate of 136:1,000 live births compared toKenya’s 120:1,000 and Tanzania’s 122:1,000.Generally, the report says because of HIV/Aids, TB,malaria, and other diseases, improvements in lifeexpectancy have stalled in some countries and retreatedin a few others.Uganda is also largely lagging behind in adult literacyrates with only 57 per cent of females able to read andwrite compared to Tanzania’s 62.2 per cent and Kenya’s70 per cent.The report says poor health and poor schooling hold backimprovements in people’s productivity and the chances ofmeeting the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs).Malaria is still a big concern in the region with152/100,000 Ugandans dying of the disease compared toKenya’s 63/100,000 and Tanzania’s 130/100,000 people.But the report is generally positive about growthprospects for Africa where about 41 per cent of thepeople still live on less than $1 (Shs1,700) a day. On thecontinent, Uganda is listed as second among the countrieswith the largest proportion of people living in the ruralareas (87.4 per cent) next to Burundi (90 per cent).The report says after years of stop-and-start results, manyAfrican economies “appear to be growing at the fast andsteady rates needed to put a dent in the region’s highpoverty rate and attract global investment.”-32- Traditional African Clinic October 2008This growth has been mainly attributed to good policiesand governance, which the report says “matter a greatdeal.”Ms Obiageli Ezekwesili, the World Bank VicePresident for Africa Region said over the past 10 yearsAfrica has recorded an average growth rate of 5.4 percent “which is at par with the rest of the world” but thatthe ability to support, sustain and diversify the sourcesof these growth indicators “would be critical not only toAfrica’s capacity to meet the MDGs but also tobecoming an exciting investment destination for globalcapital.”The report says Africa now enjoys better growthprospects because the leaders have under taken majorreforms over the past decade. But it decries thenegligible role the private sector has played inimproving the living conditions of the citizen.It says accelerating and sustaining growth requiresimproving Africa’s investment climate, spurringinnovation, and building institutional capacity togovern well.☻☻☻☻☻☻Continued from page 21 - Scientists MapGenomes of Malaria ParasitesSome of its genes closely resemble a human geneinvolved in regulation of the immune system.The World Health Organization said malaria killed881,000 people and infected 247 million peopleworldwide in 2006, the latest year for which figureswere available. Some malaria experts say thosenumbers underestimate the problem.Most deaths occur in Africa and are caused by thePlasmodium falciparum parasite, whose genome wasmapped in 2002.The researchers found the vivax genome was similar inmany ways to the falciparum parasite, meaning thatcertain vaccine approaches being tried against theAfrican parasite may be worth trying against this one."During the course of evolution, malaria parasites havedevised different tricks to avoid being detected anddampen the host immune responses," Pain said by e-mail."Thus, it has been rather difficult to find a singleparasite protein that could be used as an effectivevaccine candidate which would provide effective andlong-term protection against all parasite strainscirculating within a given population at a given time,"he said.URL: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/27088500/☻☻☻☻☻☻