The U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) and Johnson & Johnson, a pharmaceutical and consumer health company, formed a three-year partnership that will invest $3 million for an integrated health and conservation program in rural communities in Kenya, Nepal and the Democratic Republic of Congo.

The war against HIV/AIDS, it is emerging, will not be won unless sexual and gender-based violence is tackled.

Following the global food crisis, over 100 million people in the world are said to be at the risk of starvation. The National President of Nigeria Nurses and midwives, Comrade Lawal Hussaini Dutsinma, stated this in Mina yesterday at a press briefing to mark the 5th Biennial/ 4th Quadrennial, National Delegates Conference. Dutsinma who quoted World Bank statistics, said a sharp increase in food prices over the past one year has been felt all over the world. He stated that the problem was caused by droughts in the major grain producing nations and rising oil prices. According to him, other causes include increase in the prices of fertilizer, transportation of food products and industrial agriculture and the increasing use of bio fuels in developing countries, as well as falling food stockpiles. The president noted that poverty, heightened by the present global food crisis, was having a devastating effect on the health of families.

The Chairperson of the Commission of the African Union, Mr. Jean Ping, on Monday 13 October 2008, received in audience, Mr. Alain Le Roy, the UN Under- Secretary General for Peacekeeping Operations. The meeting provided an opportunity for the two to exchange views on South Sudan, Darfur and Somalia issues.

DAYUM, dayum, dayum! Byatchslap dayum!! WTH! BBA3 is being gutted.

A Consultative Meeting on “Mobilizing the African Diaspora for Development” was held yesterday with African governments, Africa Union, the African Development Bank, USAID, IFC, France and other donor partners at the World Bank during the 2008 Annual Meetings. The meeting was chaired by Ms. Obiageli Ezekwesili, the World Bank’s Vice President for the Africa Region.

As the economies of various African nations continue to strengthen, and foreign direct investment rises, the private and public sectors in the U.S. and Africa are increasingly focusing their attention on the impact that current healthcare systems and their infrastructure have on the overall business investment climate in Africa.

Today marks the first ever Global Handwashing Day, celebrated in over 70 countries across five continents in an effort to mobilize and motivate millions around the world to wash their hands with soap. At the UN, staffers will wash up in the UN Secretariat Lobby from 8:30 to 9:45, and later in the afternoon before lunch - a “critical moment” before eating.

Pneumococcal disease, one of the world’s leading causes of death and serious illnessi, must be recognised as an urgent global health issue together with HIV, malaria and TB, say the UK All-Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) on Pneumococcal Disease Prevention in the Developing World in a report launching at the House of Lords today. Between 700,000 and one million children under the age of five die each year from pneumococcal disease, equivalent to malaria and more than AIDS and tuberculosis ii,iii.

It is Sunday evening once again and anxiety is mounting, as Big Brother Africa 3 housemates up for eviction are awaiting their fate, the anxiety and nerve wrecking feeling is not only experienced in the house as followers of the M-Net reality show are also eagerly and anxiously waiting to see who will be leaving the house that week.

The current financial crisis will interrupt Africa's growth momentum, analysts have warned.

The Confederation of African Football (CAF) has short- listed Togolese striker, Emmanuel Seyi Adebayor, Al Ahly influential forward, Mohammed Aboutrika, Egyptian and Wigan hitman, Amir Zaki, Ivorien skipper, Didier Drogba and Black Stars of Ghana midfielder, Michael Essien for the Glo-CAF Award African Player of The Year. No Nigerian player made the top list that had two Egyptians.