🔅 Uganda's Health Debacle: #UgandaHealthExhibition
Plus: ☀️ The Countries Hit Hardest by Climate Change, 🇪🇹 Peace Talks For Ethiopia and the Oromo Liberation Army, 🎨 African Masks: A Global Legacy of Abstraction, ☕ And much more...
Photo of the day: Streets of Bissau, Guinea-Bissau
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Global Markets: Will Britain's Coronation Party Up the Economy? | Brits threw a shindig to celebrate King Charles III’s coronation this weekend, and the government is undoubtedly hoping the pomp and circumstance will bring a little cheer to the economy, which is currently struggling with inflation. King Charles’ party started with a procession from Buckingham Palace to Westminster Abbey, and included approximately 2,200 guests and an extra $437 million of resulting economic activity.
*Data accurate as of the close of markets across the continent
HEALTH
Uganda's Health Debacle: #UgandaHealthExhibition
Uganda's healthcare system is in a shockingly bad state.
And it's all coming out in the popular hashtag #UgandaHealthExhibition.
Pictures have been circulating of doctors treating patients on the floors of hospitals; one photo showed a doctor and health worker stitching a patient’s head injury on a floor mat.
Another showed a doctor wearing gloves as shoes before surgery.
Who started this campaign?
Popular cartoonist Jimmy Spire Ssentongo has been tweeting under the hashtag #UgandaHealthExhibition, highlighting the poor conditions in hospitals and clinics, including understaffing, absenteeism, theft of drugs, abuse of patients, extortion and bribery.
The campaign has gained traction with over 175,000 followers, and support from those working in medical care, who joined in.
What has the government said?
Uganda's Ministry of Health has disputed the allegations, and tried to block Ssentongo’s tweets, tweeting pictures of clean hospital buildings with good medical facilities instead.
But the campaign still somehow led to lawmakers discussing the health sector in parliament and sharing stories of problems from their constituents.
What's the underlying problem?
Uganda’s Ministry of Health spokesman, Emmanuel Ainebyoona, eventually acknowledged that there are problems in the healthcare system, blaming it on a lack of funding.
Activists are calling for an increase in the healthcare budget and better management of available funds.
What's the lesson here?
So, Ssentongo's campaign is proof that activism on social media can cause real change.
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OTHER HEADLINES
Across the Continent
☀️ Africa Feeling the Heat: The Countries Hit Hardest by Climate | The UN Climate Change Summit is happening in the UAE in November, and if there’s one thing we know for sure, it’s that the most affected countries by global temperature increases are in Africa. Five of the top ten are located in the continent, and here’s a quick rundown of how climate change is hitting them: Chad is landlocked in central Africa, and has been dealing with a double-whammy of droughts and floods. Somalia has been crippled by repeated droughts, leading to famine and mass migration. Due to droughts, Kenya is experiencing a loss of livestock and hundreds of elephants. South Sudan is dealing with floods and outbreaks of cholera and malaria. Ethiopia is facing severe droughts and flooding, worsening poverty and food insecurity. Africa is clearly bearing the brunt of climate change, and the UN Climate Change Summit can’t come soon enough.
🇪🇹 Peace Talks Between Ethiopia and the Oromo Liberation Army | Peace talks between Ethiopia’s government and the Oromo Liberation Army (OLA) have begun in Zanzibar. This is the first time the Ethiopian government has said it will negotiate with the OLA, a splinter group of the Oromo Liberation Front battling the government for decades. It's about time: both the government and the OLA have been trading blame for attacks in Ethiopia’s Oromiya region, where scores of civilians have been killed. Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed has said the people of Ethiopia and the government “eagerly need this negotiation,” and the OLA had previously forged an alliance with the Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF).
🎨 African Masks: A Global Legacy of Abstraction and Symbolism | African masks have made a lasting impression on the art world, from their exaggerated facial features to the spiritual meanings behind them. They were a form of abstraction before abstraction was a thing, and their influence has been seen in works from Amadeo Modigliani to Picasso. When European artists discovered African masks, they were inspired by stylistic elements, not symbolism. African masks are a symbol of fertility, power, and spiritual connectedness. African masks have left a lasting legacy on the art world and will continue to inspire for years. You can read up more on their history and legacy here.
FOOD FOR THOUGHT
Proverb of the Day
“No matter how much the world changes, cats will never lay eggs.”
— Kenyan Proverb.