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ZTE and its partners scoop “5G Energy Challenge Award” from GSMA

By
Our Reporter
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ZTE Corporation (0763.HK / 000063.SZ), a global leading provider of information and communication technology solutions, today announced that the company, together with its partners, specifically, the Dahaize coal of China Coal Group Shaanxi Company, China Coal Technology&Engineering Group, China Coal Information Technology (Beijing), China Mobile and China Broadnet, has been rewarded 2023 GSMA “5G Energy Challenge Award” for their joint efforts in the project of “Dual-frequency 5G Networks for Smarter Coal Mining”.

This award well verifies that the “5G+Smart Mine” jointly built by coal mine and ICT has been recognized by the industry.

Currently, although the intelligent transformation of coal mine has become the consensus of the industry, negative factors like high risk for the underground personnel, insufficient data transmission capacity in production, complex production and management systems as well as difficult business integration still pose great threat to the industry, which makes it difficult to promote the current “5G private network 1.0” construction mode.

As one of the first batch of intelligent demonstration mines in China, Dahaize Coal Mine, bolstered with 5G 700MHz and 2.6GHz integrated networking, original intrinsically safe base stations and new cloud network architecture, has greatly improved the coverage of base stations while ensuring large bandwidth. It solves the problem of coal mine underground dispatching, realizes no optical cables in the working face, effectively reduces the network construction cost and promotes the intelligent development of Dahaize Coal Mine, thereby shaking off the image of being “bitter, dirty and tired” of the coal industry.

The success of “Dual-frequency 5G Networks for Smarter Coal Mining” project marks the successful practice of the first 5G 700MHz band and 2.6GHz fusion technology in the coal field in China, and it also lays the foundation for the in-depth development of “5G+” virtual interactive applications, robot clusters, unmanned driving, intelligent wearable equipment, intelligent patrol inspection, intelligent comprehensive mining, intelligent tunneling and other applications in coal mines.

Moving forward, ZTE, in partnership with industry partners, will stay committed to promoting the integration of 5G new infrastructure and the fourth industrialization,  expecting to provide support for the digital transformation and development.

For more information, please visit ZTE booth (3F30, Hall 3, Fira Gran Via) at Mobile World Congress 2023, or explore：https://www.zte.com.cn/global/about/exhibition/mwc23.html

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ZTE launches all-scenario UniSite solution and product series at MWC 2023

By
Our Reporter
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ZTE Corporation (0763.HK / 000063.SZ), a global leading provider of information and communication technology solutions, has released its all-scenario 5G UniSite solution and a series of industry-leading innovative products at Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, Spain, aiming to help operators build a future-oriented 5G network that is extremely simple, highly efficient, and all-band collaborated.

Unique 12TR tri-sector Ultra Broadband Radio(UBR) for simplest site solution

As global 5G commercialization enters the fast lane, the existing FDD bands are accelerating the evolution to 5G. However, the factor of highly fragmented spectrums has brought about many challenges such as a large amount of radio units, limited tower space, and high O&M costs.

ZTE’s 12TR UBR is unique in the industry, integrating 1.8GHz and 2.1GHz and tri-sector into one box with 12×120W ultra-high output power, which guarantees both the experiences of existing RATs and the evolution to 5G.

For the 12TR UBR working with the low-frequency tri-sector 6TR UBR, only two radio units are enough to support 5 FDD bands, making the site solution greatly simplified. Compared with the traditional solution, the energy consumption can be reduced by 30%. In addition, the existing antennas, power modules, batteries and other infrastructures can be reused to the maximum extent, further reducing TCO.

Serial high-power UBR for RAN sharing

In the 5G era, RAN sharing has become the most economically feasible choice for more and more operators. ZTE’s serial UBR products can meet the multi-band, high-power, and easy-deployment requirements from RAN sharing.

The serial UBR products support combinations of multiple frequency bands of Sub-3GHz and Sub-1GHz, as well as diversified transmission power from 4×120W to 4×180W. Also, the power resources can be shared among different frequency bands on demand.

Among these products, the 1.8GHz + 2.1GHz + 2.6GHz tri-band UBR offers the industry’s largest transmission power – 4×180W, flexibly supporting multi-operator RAN sharing, while the industry’s unique 900MHz + 1.8GHz + 2.1GHz tri-band UBR integrates the three most widely used FDD bands, achieving the minimum tower space.

128TR extremely-large antenna array AAU for future ultra-large capacity

For the future ultra-large capacity demand in dense urban, ZTE has launched an extremely large antenna array AAU in the Sub-6GHz band, in which the number of transceiver channels are doubled from the traditional 64TR to 128TR, and the number of related antenna elements are doubled from 192 to 384 to achieve coverage boost and capacity gain.

Thanks to the innovation of the architecture and algorithm, the 128TR AAU can improve the dense urban coverage by 3dB, and more importantly, capable of 32 downlink data streams and 24 uplink data streams. Therefore, the cell peak throughput can reach 10Gbps, and the cell average throughput and the edge user experience can also be greatly improved.

mmWave ultra-large bandwidth AAU and MiCell for more scenarios

For traffic hotspots, site wireless backhaul, enterprises or households fixed wireless access(FWA), ZTE has launched an mmWave 8T8R AAU with 1.6GHz ultra-large bandwidth, which achieves up to 25Gbps peak throughput. Moreover, this product can be flexibly split into two 4T4R cells, enabling more additional applications on the same site.

MiCell, ZTE’s innovative mmWave distributed micro-cell solution can achieve 4Gbps throughput per RF head. This solution can meet the ultra-high traffic demand of stadiums, exhibitions, transportation hubs and other places, and flexibly adapt to the diverse application requirements of ultra-high capacity, low latency, and high reliability in B2B scenarios such as smart factories.

Through the innovative architecture design of MiCell, the Intermediate Frequency(IF) modules are moved from RF heads to BBU to achieve IF resource pooling, which can be dynamically shared by all the RF heads. This architecture minimizes the complexity of the RF head, making it much smaller and lighter, and power consumption can also be significantly reduced. Thanks to the innovations above, MiCell achieves flexible and efficient deployment, and smooth coverage expansion on demand.

iEasylink multi-band backhaul and MBS to improve reliability and distance

As a new member in iEasylink microwave solution, ZTE has launched ultra-compact multi-band (1×E-band and 4×normal band) full outdoor unit NR9961 and multi-band antenna (3 bands in 1) with Millimeter Beam Stabilization(MBS). This solution provides a much more reliable 10Gbps link with simplest hardware, greatly simplifying the installation and antenna aligning workload by 67%. Compared with traditional antenna, MBS can efficiently improve E-band link distance by up to 50%. Moreover, a modem card integrates 4 IF interfaces will also be available on NR9000 series modular IDU, which can reduce the power consumption by 50%, and increase the utilization of rack.

With the development of the 5G ecosystem, there will be more connections and services carried by 5G, driving the network evolution continuously forward. ZTE’s all-scenario UniSite solution helps operators build an ultimate 5G network with the lowest TCO to inspire the digital economy.

For more information, please visit ZTE booth (3F30, Hall 3, Fira Gran Via) at Mobile World Congress 2023, or explore：https://www.zte.com.cn/global/about/exhibition/mwc23.html

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ZTE to unveil more efficient, eco-friendly and cutting-edge products and solutions at MWC 2023, shaping digital innovation

By
Our Reporter
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ZTE Corporation (0763.HK / 000063.SZ), a global leading provider of information and communication technology solutions will be participating at the Mobile World Congress (MWC) Barcelona from February 27 to March 2, 2023. At MWC 2023, the company, with the theme of “Shaping Digital Innovation”, will unveil an extensive lineup of more efficient, eco-friendly and cutting-edge products and solutions.

Most notably, ZTE will display information and communications technologies (ICTs), showcasing the recent advances it has achieved in the areas of Ultra-Efficient Network, Digital Expansion, Boundless Future and Smart Life at 3F30, Hall 3, Fira Gran Via.

In terms of the infrastructure network construction, ZTE will launch an end-to-end efficient network deployment solution for ultra-efficient networks, helping operators achieve ultra-efficient green connectivity in all scenarios. The latest full-scenario UniSite solution for wireless access will help operators efficiently deploy full-band and multi-RAT networks with optimal TCO and ready for 5G-advanced evolution; Turbo Core solution to integrate software flexibility and hardware efficiency with professional function acceleration cards to maximize the value of each bit; the high-performance 400G transport solutions for all scenarios with doubled capacity and the longest backbone transmission distance in the industry; the industry’s highest integrated 16-port 10G PON as well as the the industry’s first 50G PON Combo card that supports the coexistence and smooth evolution of three technology generations.

In terms of assisting operators digital business expansion, ZTE will display one-stop digital services through cloud-network-service integration, helping operators explore new blue ocean markets. In the ToB sector, ZTE will showcase the industry’s smallest Mini5GC, the industry’s unique wireless base station with built-in computing power NodeEngine solution, industrial gateways with various forms such as video gateway & Time Sensitive Networking (TSN) gateway, and optical access product for campuses; ZTE will present a “private network as a service” solution with on-demand deployment, cloud-network-service integration, precise performance, and easy O&M. ZTE will widely use cloud-based PLCs, digital twin, machine vision, robots, and AGVs to realize 5G full-connection factories, which is the best practice in intelligent manufacturing. In the ToH sector, the company will also deliver the ultimate whole-home gigabit-plus experiences based on the Wi-Fi 7 and the fiber-to-the-room (FTTR) home networking solution, supporting operators in delivering innovative and value-added services by expanding their digital ecosystem.

In terms of the energy saving, ZTE will showcase PowerPilot Pro Solution that intelligently reduces the power consumption of networks by up to 35% and conserves energy throughout the process by including solutions for full-scenario solar on site, a next-generation data center and new intelligent energy storage, creating the ultimate green and energy-efficient telecommunication network.

Facing the boundless future, ZTE plans to focus on innovative practices in 5G-Advanced evolution, and the future optical networks by displaying a number of cutting-edge innovations at MWC 2023. ZTE will showcase dynamic RIS, the industry’s first sub-band full-duplex prototype, a solution that integrates communication, sensing and computing. Meanwhile, ZTE will present the future optical network, and the company will adopt technologies such as hollow-core fiber and 32-dimensional OXC optical backplane to achieve lower latency, higher transmission performance and lower energy consumption. 

Facing the digital and intelligent life, ZTE will exhibit a lineup of products that can be applied across multiple scenarios including sports & health, audio & video entertainment, business & travel and home & education. They include ZTE Axon, ZTE Blade, the full Nubia series of consumer electronics products as well as a complete set of mobile broadband (MBB), fixed wireless access (FWA), and Internet of Things (IoT) solutions. Also on display will be several new impressive innovations, among them the world’s first AI-powered eyewear-free 3D tablet, and AR glasses providing super audio-visual experiences. As one of the world’s leading suppliers of 5G mobile broadband terminals, ZTE will also release the 5th Generation of 5G FWA and GIS version products at MWC 2023.

As the MWC partner program, a global industry innovation forum themed “Shaping Digital Innovation” will be held by ZTE at MWC 2023. Leaders from the global ICT industry, pioneers from related vertical sectors, experts from consulting and advisory firms and other eco-partners will be invited to discuss several hot topics at the forum, including development trends of future networks and how to further increase the productivity of digital intelligence. MWC 2023 will also include events organized by ZTE Mobile Devices to showcase 5G FWA products and a new lineup of innovative terminals.

During MWC 2023, ZTE will also host a series of launch events alongside China Telecom, China Unicom and a number of global telecoms operators. ZTE will also participate in five theme forums organized by GSMA at which ZTE will share insights and practical cases with global operators, industry partners and opinion leaders around several topics of importance to the industry, including intelligent manufacturing, sustainability and the metaverse, with the goal of helping customers create new values for the industry.

At the same time, ZTE will stream the goings on at MWC 2023 live on a featured website set up for that purpose to provide customers worldwide a glimpse into highlights of the exhibition without leaving home. The website will also be where ZTE CEO Xu Ziyang and various members of the executive team will share the latest insights into the digital intelligence era, including the company’s plan to jointly deliver new values and drive new growth in digital intelligence amid accelerated digital transformation by deepening its partnerships with global customers and partners as well as by advancing digital intelligence and low-carbonization.

For more information, please visit ZTE booth (3F30, Hall 3, Fira Gran Via) at Mobile World Congress 2023, or explore：https://www.zte.com.cn/global/about/exhibition/mwc23.html

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UNAIDS asks Museveni to reject Anti-Homosexuality Bill and lives to be saved

By
Geoffery Serugo
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Anne Githuku Shonge

UNAIDS has warned that the just passed Anti-Homosexuality Bill will have extremely damaging consequences for public health, by curtailing the human rights of people living with HIV and some of the most vulnerable people of Uganda to access life-saving services.

On Tuesday, Parliament passed Anti homosexuality bill which seeks to protect traditional families by prohibiting sexual relationships between people of the same sex, strengthening that country’s capacity to deal with emerging threats to the traditional family, protecting the cherished culture of Uganda and protecting children and youth who are vulnerable to sexual abuse.

It also seeks to criminalise same-sex relationships with a liability of imprisonment of two to 10 years for homosexuality, aggravated homosexuality, attempted homosexuality, aiding and abetting homosexuality, conspiracy to commit homosexuality and other related practices.

UNAIDS East and Southern Africa Director Anne Githuku-Shongwe said If enacted, this law will undermine Uganda’s efforts to end AIDS by 2030, by violating fundamental human rights including the right to health and the very right to life.    It will drive communities away from life-saving services, and obstruct health workers, including civil society groups, from providing HIV prevention, testing and treatment.  

She said the evidence is crystal clear; the institutionalization of discrimination and stigma will further push vulnerable communities away from life-saving health services. Research in sub-Saharan Africa shows that in countries which criminalize homosexuality HIV prevalence is five times higher among men who have sex with men than it is in countries without such laws. 

“This law, if enacted, will hurt Ugandans. It will cost lives and it will drive up new HIV infections. We urge the Government to not enact this harmful law,” she said.

The harmful Bill stands in marked contrast to a positive wave of decriminalization taking place in Africa and across the world, in which harmful punitive colonial legislation is being removed in country after country. Decriminalisation saves lives and benefits everyone.

She said although the Anti-Homosexuality Bill has been passed by parliament, it is not yet enacted as a law and can, in the interest of promoting public health and equal rights of Ugandan citizens, be rejected by the President. It is not too late for this Bill to be rejected and lives to be saved.  

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Uganda exports military consignments to Equatorial Guinea

By
Simon Kabayo
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The Minister of Defence and Veterans Affairs, Vincent Bamulangaki Ssempijja on Wednesday, 23 flagged off the export of military consignments to the Republic of Equatorial Guinea at Entebbe Airbase.

The consignment included 5,400 Cartons of Armed Forces Uniforms and accessories manufactured by Southern Range Nyanza Ltd (Nytil), Jinja-Uganda.

Ssempijja who represented His Excellency Yoweri Museveni thanked the Republic of Equatorial Guinea for choosing to trade with Uganda.

“On behalf of His Excellency the President, I wish to specifically thank His Excellency Obiang Nguema Mangue, the Vice President of the Republic of Equatorial Guinea who has been behind this strategic effort to link our brotherly countries in the sphere of trade and investments,” Ssempijja said.

According to Minister Ssempijja, Uganda and Equatorial Guinea have been cooperating in different areas including the Defence and Security sector. He added that the scope of the cooperation has expanded to include trade which will result in increased revenue for the socio-economic development and mutual benefit of the African People.

Hon. Ssempijja encouraged other sectors to borrow a leaf from Nytil textile by exploiting available market opportunities in the region and far so that together as a country, they are able to build a resilient economy.

The Corporates Affairs Director of Nytil, Mr. Richard Mubiru who spoke on behalf of the general manager, Mr. Vinay Kumar observed that this is the first time in its history that Uganda is exporting Armed Forces Uniforms outside East Africa, to Equatorial Guinea under the African Continental Free Trade Area.

“Nytil credits this success to the President of Uganda’s commitment to growing the manufacturing sector where the Government of Uganda has promoted initiatives like Buy Uganda Build Uganda (BUBU) Policy and reservations to promote investment and trade,” said Mr. Mubiru.

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Stanbic Uganda, Refactory partner to equip entrepreneurs with digital skills

By
Geoffery Serugo
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Stanbic Uganda Holdings Limited (SUHL) in partnership with Refactory, a training academy, has announced a five-year deal to equip local entrepreneurs with digital skills to smoothly run their businesses.

The partnership will help equip local business leaders, entrepreneurs, government, and civil society organizations with strategic support and skills to enable them to guide their respective companies through the digitization process.

Speaking at the event in Kampala on Wednesday, 22 March 2023, Andrew Mashanda, Chief Executive of SUHL, said the partnership with Refactory is in line with Stanbic Uganda’s purpose of driving Uganda’s growth and will create industry-relevant tools to quicken the pace of digital transformation in line with Uganda’s National Development Plan “Vision 2040.”

“This is also in line with Stanbic Holdings’ vision of becoming a platform business that leverages digital technology to improve the overall client experience and tap into new ecosystems,” he added.

Joel Muhumuza, FlyHub Chief Executive, said through a series of Masterclasses, business leaders will undergo tailored training modules to help them understand how they can best steer their teams as they invest in information technology assets.

“Business leaders who will participate in the training will be enabled to access digital software development services from FlyHub and Refactory on a trial basis before they decide to formally enlist expert support,” he said.

“This partnership will help demystify, through the masterclasses, what digital transformation for businesses means by creating a tool kit to allow institutions, and individuals to evaluate themselves and see where they need to begin, and what potential tools they need to go to the next level. With this information, participants will either take the choice to find suitable solutions for themselves from the market or engage FlyHub and Refractory to build and deploy the desired solutions in their respective organisations,” he added.

Michael Niyitegeka, the Programme Director at Refactory said: “We are excited to enter this partnership with Stanbic Uganda and very much looking forward to collaborating with FlyHub to support business leaders and individuals to navigate their digital transformation journeys.”

“While the government and leaders in the private sector appreciate that digital transformation is vital to the development of the country, there is an apparent lack of understanding of exactly where to begin, what tools are appropriate for them to use, and how they can make wise investments in the right technology when they just want to focus on their businesses,” he added.

In addition to designing the masterclasses, FlyHub and Refactory will collaborate in developing toolkits that will be available to all customers of Stanbic Uganda Holdings to use in the process of examining their respective organisation’s digital transformation readiness.

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Red Cross distributes menstrual hygiene kits to Congolese refugee in Bundibugyo

By
Geoffery Serugo
-

Uganda Red Cross Society with support from Austrian Development Cooperation is implementing the SkyBird Project which is addressing Water Hygiene and Sanitation (WASH) needs of vulnerable communities in selected districts in Uganda.

In Bundibugyo District, URCS distributed 830 Menstrual Hygiene Kits and 500 jerrycans to DR-Congolese refugee women and girls of childbearing age. This was aimed at improving hygiene and sanitation amongst the women. The kit contains a towel, pant pegs, knickers, a bucket, a bar of soap, reusable and non-reusable sanitary pads and a 20-liter Jerry can.

The distribution was carried out at Lamia Church of Uganda and Busunga Catholic Church clusters, Nyahuka Town council, Sindira, and Bundingoma sub-counties where refugees reside.

Uganda Red Cross Society works closely with the District while implementing its activities, during the distribution of the Menstrual Hygiene kits.

Ssenyondo Francis the Chairperson District Disaster Management Committee noted that “Uganda Red Cross has been supportive to us as a District right from developing the District Contingency Multi-hazard plan to supporting refugees. They have improved hygiene in communities, put up latrines, & hand wash facilities. These menstrual hygiene kits have come in time when we needed them most, these kits will help women improve on their hygiene during their monthly days.”

Sensitizing the communities through community engagement is vital during emergencies, Uganda Red Cross volunteers in Bundibugyo conducted santizitation of over 5000 persons of concern on menstrual hygiene and sanitation, they were empowered with knowledge and skills in managing Menstrual hygiene. Winfred Auma Manager Bundibugyo Uganda Red Cross Society noted that “The support from Austrian Red Cross and the Austrian Development.

Cooperation of menstrual kits to refugee women is part of Protection and promoting dignity among girls and women.” We have not only distributed menstrual hygiene kits, but we have also constructed latrines and emphasized hand washing by setting up hand washing facilities in communities.”

Kyomugisa Esther one of the beneficiaries noted that” I have been suffering when I go into my periods because I didn’t have enough materials to use, these kits will help me manage my periods well, thanks to Red Cross.”

Uganda hosts over 1.4 million refugees and asylum seekers who require Humanitarian services across the country.

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Museveni is foresighted, supportive to business communities- Sudhir to world investors 

By
Simon Kabayo
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Business tycoon, Sudhir Ruparelia has described President Museveni as foresighted and supportive to business communities and is always willing to listen to all business entrepreneurs whenever need arises. He has therefore urged world investors to invest in Uganda because it is a land of opportunities which propel businesses to thrive.

Sudhir revealed this while addressing top investors at Lohana International Business Forum LIBF) held at Speke Resort Munyonyo on Wednesday, 23 under the theme “Africa Calling” which was presided over by President Yoweri Kaguta Museveni

Sudhir further revealed how accommodative Ugandans are, a reason why some foreign families have been able to live in the country for over 120 years and have succeeded in establishing a chain of businesses.

“Uganda has many natural resources, a young and increasingly educated workforce, steadily rising middle income and more stable in governance including micro economic policies which makes an idea of this nation for a long-term investment,”

Sudhir Ruparelia is the Chairman Board of Trustees Lohana Community which hosted a Business Forum that saw over 800 delegates from 28 countries across the world attending the event.

Sudhir told the President that the Business Forum is aimed at Networking and creating business opportunities for Uganda and the region.

“As the chairman board of trustees of Lohana Community it is my privilege to extend a warm welcome to you, particularly those who travelled from abroad to be with us. Your Excellence your presence has made everyone’s day. Thank you for finding time from your extremely busy schedule,” Sudhir said.

“Some people who are here for the first time can’t believe that such a beautiful country exists in the world. Uganda has a conducive investment climate which helps businesses to consistently grow,” he assured the businessmen and women.

 “We have invested in commercial activities like agro-processing, ICT, construction, pharmaceutical, hospitality and education.”

In his speech Museveni encouraged the Lohana Community to take advantage of various investment opportunities in Uganda and do business.

Museveni outlined huge cluster raw materials mainly of agro products and mining which need value addition by setting up factories in Uganda.

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Equatorial Guinea confirms eight more Marburg cases

By
Agencies
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 Equatorial Guinea’s Ministry of Health has confirmed eight more cases of Marburg, bringing the number of confirmed cases to nine since the outbreak of the viral haemorrhagic fever was declared on February 13.

The new cases were confirmed following laboratory analysis of additional samples. So far, there are 20 probable cases and 20 deaths. The new cases have been reported from Kie Ntem in the east, Litoral in the country’s west, and Centro Sur provinces, all with international borders with Cameroon and Gabon. The areas reporting cases are about 150 kilometres apart, suggesting wider transmission of the virus.

 “The confirmation of these new cases is a critical signal to scale up response efforts to quickly stop the chain of transmission and avert a potential large-scale outbreak and loss of life,” said Dr Matshidiso Moeti, Word Health Organization (WHO) Regional Director for Africa. “Marburg is highly virulent but can be effectively controlled and halted by promptly deploying a broad range of outbreak response measures.”

WHO is working with the national authorities to step up emergency response measures by enhancing disease surveillance, testing, clinical care, infection prevention and control, as well as carrying out further epidemiological investigations and bolstering public awareness to help curb infection spread.

Additional experts in epidemiology, logistics, health operations and infection prevention and control from WHO will be deployed in the coming days. The Organization is also supporting the health authorities in neighbouring Cameroon and Gabon to ramp up outbreak readiness and response.

Marburg is transmitted to people from fruit bats and spreads among humans through direct contact with the bodily fluids of infected people, surfaces and materials. The disease is highly virulent and causes haemorrhagic fever, with a fatality ratio of up to 88%. It is in the same family as the virus that causes Ebola virus disease.

There are no vaccines or antiviral treatments approved to treat the virus. However, supportive care – rehydration with oral or intravenous fluids – and treatment of specific symptoms, improves survival.

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Amnesty International urges Museveni to reject Anti homosexuality bill

By
Geoffery Serugo
-
Uganda Parliament pass Anti-Gay Bill.

Amnesty International has urged President Yoweri Museveni to reject the just passed Anti homosexuality bill.

Yesterday, Parliament passed Anti homosexuality bill which seeks to protect traditional families by prohibiting sexual relationships between people of the same sex, strengthening that country’s capacity to deal with emerging threats to the traditional family, protecting the cherished culture of Uganda and protecting children and youth who are vulnerable to sexual abuse.

It also seeks to criminalise same-sex relationships with a liability of imprisonment of two to 10 years for homosexuality, aggravated homosexuality, attempted homosexuality, aiding and abetting homosexuality, conspiracy to commit homosexuality and other related practices.

Tigere Chagutah, Amnesty International’s Regional Director for East and Southern Africa, said President Museveni must urgently veto this appalling legislation, which was passed following a rushed vote on Tuesday evening. The law, dubbed the ‘2023 Anti-Homosexuality Bill’, amounts to a grave assault on LGBTI people and is contemptuous of the Ugandan constitution.

 “This ambiguous, vaguely worded law even criminalizes those who promote’ homosexuality or ‘attempt to commit the offence of homosexuality. In reality, this deeply repressive legislation will institutionalize discrimination, hatred, and prejudice against LGBTI people, including those who are perceived to be LGBTI and block the legitimate work of civil society, public health professionals, and community leaders,” he said.

“Instead of criminalizing LGBTI people, Uganda should protect them by enacting laws and policies that align with the principles of equality and non-discrimination enshrined not only in Uganda’s Constitution, but also the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights,” he said.

According to the Bill anyone caught committing this crime could face up to 10 years behind bars. It also criminalizes the promotion of homosexuality, a provision that encourages homophobia.

The Uganda Anti-Homosexuality Act, 2014 was passed by Parliament on December 20, 2013 with life in prison substituted for the death penalty. Whereas it was signed into law by President Yoweri Museveni on February 24, 2014, the Constitutional Court on 1 August 2014 annulled the law citing that it was passed without the required quorum in the House.

 

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