Independent Examines Aid To Ethiopia

In an article that examines larger aid-related questions and themes, the Independent explores the effects of the Band Aid campaign in Ethiopia 25 years after it first attempted to help famine victims in the country. Band Aid’s “Bob Geldof [recently] went back to Africa to see how millions of lives have been transformed” by the campaign, reports the newspaper. Still, “[t]here are those who have said that Band Aid, and everything that sprang from it, was a waste of time. More than two decades on and millions of people in Ethiopia and across East Africa are again facing severe food and water shortages after three years of poor rains,” according to the newspaper. The article includes an interview with the Ethiopian prime minister and locals who received assistance through Band Aid (Vallely, 12/2).

Ministry Of Health Study Says Maternal Mortality Is ‘A Serious Public Health Problem’ In Mozambique

Maternal mortality continues to be “a serious public health problem” in Mozambique, according to a Ministry of Health study released on Monday, AIM/allAfrica.com reports. The study found that between Nov. 2006 and Oct. 2007 there were 1,398 reported maternal deaths, but the actual number is probably much higher because of unreported deaths. Health Minister Ivo Garrido said the findings would help establish health priorities in the future. “Situations have been revealed here that are difficult for a decision maker, a manager, to swallow,” Garrido said. “But they are the realities of the country. Some are related to the country’s poverty, but others are directly linked to the Ministry of Health, and can be easily solved” (12/1).