UN health agency calls for help with de-worming efforts in West Africa’s Sahel region

Countries gripped by a hunger crisis in West Africa’s Sahel region urgently need additional help to combat a series of intestinal-worm and other Neglected Tropical Diseases (NTDs) that have spread in the wake of regional flooding, the United Nations health agency said today.

According to the UN World Health Organization (WHO), simple de-worming interventions will ensure that people can fully benefit from the food aid distributed.
“Humanitarian (agencies) should come out in full force and support de-worming activities in affected countries as malnourished children and adults are very susceptible to contracting these NTDs, transmitted via contaminated water, soil and parasites,” said WHO’s African Regional Director, Dr Luis Gomes Sambo, in a news release.
NTDs are a group of poverty-associated chronic infectious diseases – such as bilharzia, roundworms, hookworms and whipworms – that are endemic in poor and rural populations in the developing countries of Africa, America and Asia, according to WHO.
The diseases affect over 1.4 billion people worldwide, and cause severe morbidity and mortality, and are transmitted by insect bites, flies, water contact or worms in the soil, and are easily spread in areas of poor sanitation.
Dr. Gomes said the flooding created the “ideal breeding ground” for contracting NTDs and worm-like diseases in the Sahel region, which spans Senegal, Mauritania, Mali, Burkina Faso and Niger, amongst other countries. As a consequence, they are now “more at risk of malnutrition,” he added.
The Sahel region has been gripped by prolonged drought and internal conflict, with nearly 19 million people currently food insecure, including more than one million severely malnourished children under the age five years.
The agency said the number of food insecure people in the region is likely to increase because of the rise in the number of NTD cases, with NTD cases also on the rise because of low quality drinking water and inadequate latrine coverage that coincide with the Sahel flooding.
“The full impact of the Sahel crisis will only be felt in the months ahead on people’s livelihoods,” the health agency noted in the news release. “Integrating de-worming activities is… feasible and cost-effective – costing less than 50 cents to treat a person for a year.”
It added the low cost was “especially important” because only half of $1.6 billion of an appeal for Burkina Faso, Mali, Chad, Mauritania and Niger have been received.
Cholera outbreaks in several countries of the Sahel have exacerbated the situation, and the problem is extending to Central African countries, such as Chad and Cameroon, WHO noted.

Britain's Debenhams, ASOS buck retail gloom

British retailers Debenhams and ASOS laid out plans to deliver future growth overseas as their rising profits showed their resilience to weaker home market conditions.

Both Debenhams, Britain's No. 2 department store group, and ASOS, the fast-growing online fashion retailer, have bucked the gloomy trend in the sector, dogged by weak consumer confidence.

Shares in Debenhams, up 59 percent over the last year, rose 6 percent after it increased its target for online sales to 600 million pounds ($961.8 million) from 500 million through the next three to five years.

The group also upped its target for overseas franchise stores from 130 to 150, with a focus on new openings in the Middle East and Asia.

Debenhams currently trades from about 170 stores in Britain, Ireland and Denmark, and 71 overseas franchise stores.

The group, which ranks behind rival John Lewis in terms of annual sales, also posted a 4.2 percent increase in full-year pretax profit to 158.3 million pounds, against a forecast 157.5 million, driven by its breadth of products, appeal to a range of customers and multiple routes to market.

Yet the company did not see any general upturn in the sector, where Argos parent Home Retail for example has just posted an 18 percent drop in first-half underlying pretax profit and is closing stores.

"We've seen no significant change in consumer confidence in the last six to nine months and customers are acclimatizing to what life is like in these challenging economic times," said Chief Executive Michael Sharp.

FURTHER PROGRESS

Sharp expects the UK to be as competitive as last year in the run-up to Christmas, the main selling season for most retailers. He does not anticipate a significant improvement in the economic environment in 2013 but said he does expect Debenhams to make further progress.

ASOS posted an expected 40 percent rise in yearly profit as strong trading in overseas markets more than offset slower growth in the UK, and said it was positive on the outlook.

The retailer, which targets young women looking to emulate the designer looks of celebrities such as Nicole Scherzinger and Pixie Lott, made a proforma underlying pretax profit of 44.5 million pounds.

UK retail sales growth of 10 percent was dwarfed by international sales growth of 64 percent.

As well as the UK, the company has websites in the United States, Australia, Germany, France, Italy and Spain. "On a daily basis on the planet we are the most visited fashion website for 15 to 34 year olds," CEO Nick Robertson told Reuters.

He said that by this time next year the group will have set up local language websites in both China and Russia.

"These are just two more markets which we will start small and gradually build," he said.

Prior to Thursday's update, ASOS shares had risen 90 percent so far this year, hitting a record 2,571 pence last week. But the stock was down 8 percent at 2,302p at 0951 GMT (0551 EDT), after Robertson played down recent re-heated speculation of a possible bid from Amazon.Com Inc .

"What I can categorically say is I have haven't spoken to (Amazon CEO) Jeff Bezos for three years," he said.