Day: May 18, 2024

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Homa Residents Urged To Seek Early Diagnosis Of Hypertension


Top health officials in Homa Bay County have urged residents to seek early diagnosis for hypertension and other non-communicable diseases (NCDs) to prevent deaths.

The Medicins Sans Frontieres (MSF) organisation’s County Manager, Steven Kimoki, said that many Homa Bay residents suffering from NCDs such as hypertension, asthma, and diabetes seek medical attention very late, leading to complications.

Kimoki, who is in charge of mobile services, said mortality rates would not be high if NCDs were treated at an advanced stage.

‘There is a huge gap because the majority of patients suffering from hypertension and other non-communicable diseases seek medical services in health facilities when it is very late. As medical officers, there is nothing much we can do for such a patient,’ Kimoki said.

Speaking at Marindi Village in Homa Bay Sub-county during the marking of the World Hypertension Day, Kimoki said there was need for residents to embrace lifestyle change by eating healthy and exercising regularly.

The ce
remony was also graced by the acting Homa Bay County Executive Committee Member for Health, John Agili, and the County Coordinator for NCDs, Silas Mado.

Kimoki said the best way to manage hypertension and other NCDs is to begin medication at an early stage.

This means people should be accustomed to seeking regular screenings for NCDs. Regular screening enables early detection of the diseases, resulting in early treatment.

‘We are urging our people to develop the habit of regularly visiting health facilities for screening for hypertension and other non-communicable diseases. This will enable medical officers to start treating them early,’ Kimoki said.

Dr. Agili warned that hypertension and other non-communicable diseases were silent killers.

He expressed concerns that many people do not take the diseases seriously in the county.

‘I want our people to know that hypertension, asthma, and NCDs also kill like other diseases. Let us avoid dragging our feet in seeking routine checkups,’ Dr. Agili said.

He sai
d the county government had put in place a policy of ensuring health promoters undertake awareness creation on NCDs in the county.

‘We recruited community health promoters who move door to door in villages to enlighten residents on how to manage the NCDs,’ Agili said.

Mado said they had developed a strategy for tracking NCD patients.

‘We have also trained our health workers on how to handle NCD patients,’ Mado said.

Source: Kenya News Agency

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Church Commended For Promoting Health, Education


Interior Principal Secretary (PS) Dr. Raymond Omollo has lauded the church for playing a critical role in supporting the education and health sectors in the country.

The efforts, he said, have gone a long way in augmenting government initiatives to strengthen the two sectors.

‘They have schools, hospitals, and health facilities spread across the country to take care of the welfare of Kenyans.

Therefore, we welcome the role the church is playing in the development of the country,’ he said.

Besides education and health, the church was instrumental in fostering peaceful coexistence in the country through spiritual nourishment and a number of programmes run by the various denominations.

Through teachings, morals, and economic empowerment programmes run by the church, a lot of gains have been made in keeping the country secure.

‘As the PS in charge of security, part of my work is to keep the country secure and maintain law and order. The church has a role to play in that through its teachings. So there is a
lot of complementarity,’ he said.

Speaking at Migosi Adventist Church in Kisumu, Dr. Omollo said the government will continue to partner with the church to strengthen various programmes and build national unity.

The PS was the chief guest at the church’s 10th alumni anniversary, where different personalities who went through the church convened to give thanks.

‘We are here to give back to the church. As you are aware, this church has a primary school which not only offers education but also supports spiritual nourishment for our children,’ he said.

‘We are also reconvening as those who went through this church as youths, and now we are adults. We want to encourage those who are young to know that they can grow up and become like us,’ he said.

Source: Kenya News Agency

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Senior Federal Gov’t Officials in Semera to Visit Development Projects


Addis Ababa: Senior federal government officials arrived in Samara this morning to conduct field visits on various ongoing development projects in the Afar regional state.

The officials are expected to visit drinking water and sanitation schemes, summer wheat cultivation activities and irrigation development projects in the region.

Minister of Water and Energy Engineer Habtamu Itefa, Minister of Agriculture, Girma Amente , Minister of Irrigation and Lowlands, Engineer Aisha Mohammed and other government officials were among members of the delegation.

The visit was intended to have observation on the progress of ongoing projects in various districts of the region that will benefit the rural community.

Source: Ethiopian News Agency

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Ethiopian Champions in Liberalizing Air Transport, Open African Air Transport Market: AFRAA Consulting Director


Addis Ababa: Ethiopian Airlines has always championed in liberalizing air transport connectivity and opening African Air Transport Market, African Airlines Association (AFRAA) Consulting Director said.

In an exclusive interview with ENA, Consulting Director, Government, Legal and Industry Affairs at AFRAA, Raphael Kuuchi said Ethiopian Airline even long before the AU had come up with a concept of a Single African Air Transport Market (SAATM)

The SAATM is a flagship project of the African Union Agenda 2063, to create a single unified air transport market in Africa, the liberalisation of civil aviation in Africa and as an impetus to the continent’s economic integration agenda.

“It has consistently championed for the need to open up the market so that we can have open space for airlines to be able to travel, to operate freely and support the economic development and connectivity of this continent,” the director stated.

This has paid off significantly thus far, he said, adding today Ethiopian is the biggest a
irline operating on the African continent.

“We want to see other airlines also to come up to where the Ethiopian Airlines is. Ethiopian is not just comfortable being the only one, and the biggest on the continent. Ethiopian is going ahead and supporting other African airlines so that they too can come up because together we are stronger. That is the philosophy.”

Raphael reiterated that we are all behind Ethiopian Airlines so that it can be able to support other African airlines to get where they are not only operationally but also in terms of technical and operational support, making sure that they get equipment and other facilities available.

Moreover, he pointed out that Africa is probably the last continent to fully liberalize air transport connectivity.

“Without liberalization of the air transport market in an internal air transport market in Africa, the airlines will continue to struggle to get passengers and will continue to struggle to grow.”

Hence, the Single African Air Transport Market is an AU
initiative to help all African countries open up their air spaces so that we have Africa as a domestic market, he added.

This way we can have African airlines operate more freely, take advantage of the air traffic connectivity across the continent and be able to grow their businesses, become stronger and more competitive against non-African airlines.

On other hand, he noted that the implementation of the Africa Continental Free Trade Area is also another opportunity.

“If we liberalize our market, we are able to trade among ourselves and improve the movement of people and facilities,” he underlined.

He stressed we want to see that Africans are able to travel across other African countries, either without visas or visas on arrival, or the acquisition of those visas much easier.

According to him, this way the continent will have more travel, connectivity and trade amongst each others.

Source: Ethiopian News Agency

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Ethiopian Airlines Inaugurates Renovated, Expanded Domestic Passenger Terminal


Addis Ababa: The Ethiopian Airlines Group has inaugurated its renovated and expanded Domestic Passenger Terminal today.

During the occasion, Ethiopian Airlines Group CEO, Mesfin Tassew said the airline has spent 50 million USD for the renovation and expansion of the terminal, which increases its capacity by more than 100 percent.

Beyond increasing its capacity, the goal of Ethiopian Airlines is to provide an international level of services to our domestic passengers, he said.

This focus on passenger experience aligns with the airline’s broader vision of solidifying Ethiopia’s position as a global tourism destination.

So, he added that it is our dream and vision to continue expanding our domestic air transport service for the benefit of Ethiopians and tourists who are coming to Ethiopia to visit the exciting destinations of the country.

“The renovation and expansion of the terminal was intended to cope up with the growing demand of domestic transport service. Ethiopian Airlines has a strong commitment to
continue enhancing the development and expansion of domestic air transport, which is vital for both the social and economic development of the country. As you know, we are investing a lot to construct new airport runways at this time, we are constructing five and we’re also upgrading terminal facilities in other domestic airports, ” the CEO elaborated.

Tourism Minister Nasisie Chali said that the inauguration of the renovated and expanded domestic passenger terminal is crucial for Ethiopia’s image building and tourism.

Any such development efforts by Ethiopian Airlines have direct bearing on tourism sector of the country, she said.

Ethiopian Transport and Logistics State Minister, Bareo Hassen on his part said Ethiopian Airlines is playing key role in the transport and logistics sector.

The renovation and expansion of the terminal will increase its services and competition, he added.

Source: Ethiopian News Agency

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Reform Implementation Has Made Defense Institutions Become Research, Innovation Center, Says Field Marshall Birhanu Jula


Addis Ababa: Reforms launched over the last years have made Defense institutions to become research and innovation centre, Chief of Staff of the Defense Force, Field Marshall Birhanu Jula said.

Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed and senior military officers have visited the remarkable work done by the Defense Engineering Industry Corporation to produce various weapons, rockets, and tanks using reverse engineering.

Speaking at the occasion, Field Marshall Birhanu Jula said the work of building armor capabilities of defense forces continue to be strengthened based on research.

Field Marshall Birhanu added that the defense industry and defense logistics maintenance center have been made to carry out their duties based on the strategic needs of defense forces.

In particular, he mentioned that the defense institutions are carrying out their work according to the direction set to improve the weapons needed for the army.

He added that the institution is not only profitable now, but it is also engaged on innovative works
.

The country cannot continue buying everything from abroad, he stated, adding that they started working out of the conviction that it is possible to reach the level where it can export using the local capacity.

Defense Minister Abreham Belay on his part recalled that the challenges faced by Ethiopia in recent years have created an opportunity to enhance the country’s internal capabilities.

Ethiopia has built a strong national defense forces, he said, adding that this has strengthened the country’s defense capabilities through reforms carried out at the National Defesne Forces.

The challenges Ethiopia faced in the past few years have made the country to have drawn lessons the minister said, adding in particular, the challenges have opened new avenues to increase our capabilities.

He said that in order to protect the security of the country, we are not only buying weapons from abroad, but using our own capabilities to improve and repair the old weapons.

Source: Ethiopian News Agency

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