| PAKISTAN: More dead as fresh rain hits southern provinces |
 DADU, 13 August 2007 (IRIN Asia) - At least 51 people have died in the past few days as further heavy rain battered Sindh Province, and more rain is forecast in Balochistan. At least a dozen homes have reportedly collapsed or been damaged, most of them in Karachi. Many others have been flooded. The governments of Sindh and Balochistan have been put on alert for storms and heavy rain.
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CONGO: Train hosts two-day anti malaria drive |  BRAZZAVILLE, 13 August 2007 (IRIN Africa) - Across jungles, hills and savannah, a train hired by the Congolese government and the UN Children's Fund (UNICEF) delivered 300,000 impregnated mosquito nets as it chugged along railroads from Pointe-Noire on the Atlantic coast to the capital Brazzaville.
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COMOROS: An univited wedding guest |  JOHANNESBURG, 13 August 2007 (IRIN Africa) - Until the traditional wedding season kicked off in July on Grand Comore, largest of the three islands that make up the Comoros archipelago, cholera was almost under control.
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NIGER: Despite security assurances, mines keep aid agencies out of north |  DAKAR, 13 August 2007 (IRIN Africa) - The mayor of a remote city in lawless northern Niger last week appealed for help with severe hunger and flood-related damage, but humanitarians are struggling to respond because mines recently laid by anti-government fighters have made the city unreachable.
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COTE D'IVOIRE: Authorities work to stamp out uncontrolled sale of medicines |  ABIDJAN, 13 August 2007 (IRIN Africa) - People in the Ivorian commercial capital, Abidjan, can be seen leaving the doctor’s office, prescription in hand, heading not to the pharmacy but to Roxy market in the Adjame neighbourhood, where the same medicines can be had for a fraction of the price.
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ZIMBABWE: Shortages provides window of opportunity for swindlers |  HARARE, 10 August 2007 (IRIN Africa) - It's early morning and a small truck with fake number plates draws upto a shopping centre in St Mary's, a populous suburb in the dormitory town of Chitungwiza - about 30km from the capital Harare - and within minutes long queues form after the word spreads that there is beef for sale.
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BENIN: Internet new frontline in AIDS awareness |  COTONOU, 10 August 2007 (IRIN Africa) - Dieudonné Sourou never leaves the cybercafé in Cotonou, Benin’s commercial capital, where he comes every week to check his personal emails, without sending what this 25-year-old calls "useful messages" raising HIV awareness.
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SIERRA LEONE: The election issue -- basic services |  FREETOWN, 10 August 2007 (IRIN Africa) - Sierra Leoneans go to the polls on 11 August having the second lowest standard of living in the world, according to UN Human Development Report. Of the country’s some six million people, nearly 2.5 million have no access to clean water and even fewer have access to electricity. An estimated 1.5 million live in extreme poverty and at least 4.8 million are jobless. Basic health care remains unavailable to most people. The average Sierra Leonean has a life span of just 40 years.
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PAKISTAN: Malaria risk heightens in flood-hit south |  ISLAMABAD, 9 August 2007 (IRIN Asia) - Health experts warn of an increased risk of malaria in flood-affected southern Pakistan, as flood-waters triggered by cyclone Yemyin at the end of June recede further, providing fertile ground for mosquitoes to breed.
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UGANDA: ‘No more Marburg cases’ – health minister |  KAMPALA, 9 August 2007 (IRIN Africa) - The outbreak of the deadly Marburg virus in Uganda’s western Kamwenge District has been contained, but the country will maintain active surveillance for several more weeks, authorities said.
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