PYCA Launches Appeal to help Pakistani Flood Victims

Pakistan Youth and Community Association (PYCA) is launching an appeal to help the millions of people hit by Pakistan’s devastating floods.

The country’s worst ever flooding has affected almost 14 million people. The disaster has resulted in a mass movement of people leaving 500,000 homeless
and in desperate need of food, clean water, health care and shelter. The official figure of people killed in floods is 1600.

The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs said the disaster had eclipsed the scale of the devastating 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami, the 2005 earthquake in Pakistan and January’s earthquake in Haiti put together.

“Pakistan is suffering the Worst Natural Disaster in its living memory; millions of people need our support to survive. PYCA has launched this campaign to help people who are in need of direct humanitarian assistance. I appeal for people and charities to act quickly and donate generously to help those affected at this difficult time, 100% of proceeds will go to the victims,” Mustafa Malik, Chief Executive of the Pakistan Youth and Community Association said.

PYCA is receiving the donations at their base at Pakistan Centre, 58 Earl Howe Street, Leicester LE2 0DF. Donations can be deposited directly in the following bank account,

Bank: Barclays Account Name: PYCA Relief Fund
Account No. 90179132 Bank Sort Code: 20-49-11

For further details, please contact Pakistan Centre on 0116 254 8012 or send an e-mail to contact@pyca.org.uk.

Race Equality Foundation publishes migrant health briefing

Please find attached below “Health and access to health care of migrants in the UK”, published by the Race Equality Foundation. It is also available online at http://www.better-health.org.uk/files/health/health-brief19.pdf

This briefing says that the changing size, diversity and needs of the UK migrant population have yet to be sufficiently addressed in academic research and mainstream health policy and practice. It argues that it is important to move beyond a framework of ethnic differences and inequalities in health, and to consider a range of factors that may explain the experiences and needs of migrants. It also suggests ways in which research, policy and practice might address barriers to health, well-being and health care in meeting the needs of migrants.

Health and access to health care for migrants

NHS White Paper published

The NHS White Paper “Equity and Excellence : Liberating the NHS” was published on 12th July 2010. It can be accessed online at:

http://www.dh.gov.uk/en/Publicationsandstatistics/Publications/PublicationsPolicyAndGuidance/DH_117353

It sets out the Government’s long term vision for the future of the NHS. The vision builds on the core values and principles of the NHS, a comprehensive service, available to all, free at the point of use, based on need, not the ability to pay.

Under the new plans, patients will be able to choose which GP practice they register with, regardless of where they live.  Other changes include groups of GPs being given freedom and responsibility for commissioning care for their local communities.  Services will be more joined up, supported by a new role for Local Authorities to support integration across health and social care.  Strategic Health Authorities and Primary Care Trusts will be phased out.

Arrangements for people whose Limited Leave to Remain expires in August and who wish to apply for Indefinite Leave to Remain

Please find attached below a letter from UKBA regarding Indefinite Leave to Remain arrangements for refugees and those granted Humanitarian Protection whose 5 years Limited Leave to Remain expires from August 2010.  People falling into this category are eligible to apply for Indefinite Leave to Remain on the grounds that they have a continuing need of protection.    A briefing pack is also attached which contains the following items:

Copy of UKBA website pages

Flyer

Customer Journey Presentation

SET (Protection route) Application form

First contact letter

Frequently asked questions

Consultations on charging asylum seekers Healthcare fees published

Read more

Children who never existed

Workers living on a farm settlement about 35km from Harare, Zimbabwe’s capital, bury their dead children secretly because parents cannot afford to get them to a clinic or hospital in time.

“The farmer who is running this farm is not paying us our wages and, as a result, there is no way in which we can raise the money to go to clinics or hospitals,” Gerald Campion, 50, a farm worker, told IRIN.

The settlement has two self-appointed “midwives”, who sometimes err in helping pregnant women, resulting in deaths. “People on this farm don’t know how to use contraceptives, and there are so many pregnancies that the women take care of,” Campion said.

Theresa Maphosa, 14, of Hopley Farm, a makeshift settlement 10km outside Harare, has been left to tend her sick six-month-old brother after their mother died of bleeding while giving birth. Her father is unemployed and cannot afford to take the infant to hospital, and their neighbour, Nesia Simukayi, is afraid that the infant will die soon.

The plight of the farm workers illustrates the grim scenario portrayed in a new survey by the government and the UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF), indicating that access to vital social services for women and children is worsening.

A hundred children younger than five years die every day, mostly of preventable diseases like pneumonia, HIV/AIDS and diarrhoea, said UNICEF.

The Multiple Indicator and Monitoring Survey (MIMS) noted a 20 percent increase in the number of deaths of children aged under five years since 1999, particularly those in rural areas and vulnerable communities with low income.

The survey in May 2009 found that one in every two pregnant women in rural areas was delivering at home, 39 percent across the country did not have access to requisite medical facilities, “while 40 percent were not attended to at birth by a skilled attendant, posing huge dangers for both mothers and newborns”.

The poorest were also finding it more difficult to access health services, which had severely deteriorated during Zimbabwe’s 10-year economic crisis, said Tsitsi Singizi, UNICEF Zimbabwe’s communications officer.

Even though the MMIS report painted a gloomy picture, “As UNICEF, we hope that the report will be used to identify areas of need and mobilize the necessary resources,” Singizi told IRIN.

“We are concerned that the trend whereby standards of living continue to fall is bad news regarding the attainment of the Millennium Development Goals but with the right attitude, we can achieve them.”

Farms were hard hit by droughts and the fast-track land-reform programme, launched in 2000, and have been unable to produce enough food to feed the country.

The US-based Famine Early Warning System Network (FEWSNET) reported in September that Zimbabwe faced a cereal shortage of between 180,000 metric tons and 370,000 metric tons, making it difficult for vulnerable communities to access adequate nutrition.

A Civilised Society: Mental Health Provision for Refugees and Asylum-seekers in England and Wales

Restrictive policies on healthcare, education,accommodation, welfare support and employment are functioning to socially exclude and marginalise refugees and asylum-seekers, both exacerbating existing mental health problems and causing mental distress.

Current government policy is inherently contradictory. On the one hand mental health policy recognises the increased vulnerability of asylum-seekers and refugees and the need to support them. On the other hand asylum and immigration policy creates an environment which is having a devastating impact on the mental health, wellbeing and long-term integration prospects of refugees and asylum-seekers.

Mind’s latest research has found that despite experiencing high levels of mental distress, refugees and asylum-seekers face many challenges accessing mental health services in England and Wales.

Read full report here

http://www.mind.org.uk/assets/0000/5696/Refugee_Report_1.pdf

Life getting harder for Mogadishu displaced

Photo: Mohamed Garane/IRIN

An internally displaced person in Somalia (file photo)

Heavy rain, lack of medical services, few latrines and reduced aid have worsened the plight of the growing number of internally displaced persons (IDPs) camping on the outskirts of Mogadishu, sources said.

“We have two clinics in the area covering over 30 camps, with an average population of 550 families (3,300 people) per camp,” Hussein Ali Mohamed, a doctor with the UK-based charity Islamic Relief, said.

“I am seeing more and more cases of malnutrition and water-related diseases,” he added. “There are not enough latrines and those that there are, are being used by three or four times the number of people they were designed for in 2007.”

“You have people weakened by lack of food and poor health with minimum shelter,” Mohammed told IRIN on 9 November, adding that the main problems were respiratory tract infections and diseases related to malnutrition.

“Yesterday [8 November], a two-year-old boy weighing 3.5kg was brought to the clinic… Normally he should have weighed over 10kg. Unfortunately, that is becoming more frequent than in the past.”

The UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR) estimates there are some 900,000 IDPs in the Mogadishu-Afgoye corridor. Virtually all of them are in camps of one sort or another.

Asli Aden, a 30-year-old mother of four, has been an IDP in the Arbiska area, 20km south of Mogadishu, since 2007. While visiting the clinic with her sick child, she told IRIN that life in the camps was becoming even more difficult.

Food aid cut

In 2007 when she first came to the camps, her family used to get 100kg of sorghum, 10kg of beans, 10kg of porridge and 3ltr of cooking oil each month from aid agencies.
“First they reduced it [sorghum or maize] to 75kgs per month, and about four months ago they cut all food aid by half so that we now get 37kg of maize or sorghum, 5kg of beans, 5kg of porridge and 1.5ltr of cooking oil,” she said. “Now, we don’t get oil or beans. I don’t know what we will do but it is getting harder and harder to feed the children.”

The plastic sheeting covering her makeshift home also had so many holes in it that it no long provided shelter from the rain. “Some nights, when it rains, we have to move to the corrugated-iron sheet latrines for shelter,” she explained.

Aid agencies in Somalia have recently said they needed more money but some donors are holding back, concerned at where resources might end up in areas too dangerous for international staff.

Many IDPs also used to go to Mogadishu to look for work and return to the camps with some earnings to supplement aid handouts. “Now because of the deteriorating security conditions many are afraid to go,” Jowahir Ilmi, head of local NGO Somali Women’s Concern, said.

Refugees ‘need better mental healthcare’

It reports that lack of support and resources is triggering mental health problems and making existing conditions worse.

It says denying refugees access to NHS services and treatments, and restrictive healthcare, education, accommodation and employment policies, are further marginalising people caught up in the system.

In particular, it says, primary care trusts and local authorities need to do more to liaise with refugee community organisations to develop culturally appropriate services.

Mind spokesman Marcel Vige said: “Accessing services is hugely difficult for a wide range of reasons, from language barriers to the stigma surrounding mental health, and this further marginalises them to the isolated fringes of society.

“While we came across some excellent examples of tailored services for refugee and asylum seekers, a vast number are not getting much needed help.”

Taremeredzwa’s scan results show growth of second tumour

Eighteen year old Zimbabwean girl Taremeredzwa Nomatter Mapungwana’s scan results showed a second tumour growing because she has not been eating and drinking well for long.

She has a rare disease known as cemento-ossifying fibroma. It is a hard fibrous growth that continues to enlarge, sometimes to very significant size, unless treated, most frequently seen in the jaw or mouth, sometimes in connection with a fracture or another type of injury. Treatment is by surgery. Doctors describe the condition which is disfiguring her facial bones as a non-cancerous aggressive benign tumor.

Nomatter arrived in London on Thursday morning accompanied by her family members and was admitted to The Royal London Hospital.

She is anaemic and needs nutritional supplements to boost her nutritional status before surgery. She is currently on blood transfusion.

Appeal

Girl Child Network Worldwide, a charity founded by CNN Hero of the Year nominee Betty Makoni in 1998 initiated the Tare Appeal  with four volunteers. There was an overwhelming response to the appeal with individuals and organisations from around the world generously donating money to the tune of £10 000. That amount covers her travel, accommodation and medication expenses. The life-saving operation will be carried out by surgeons at St Bartholomew’s Hospital in London.

Nomatter was a bright A’ Level student at St David’s Girls High School in Mutare until she was struck down by the disease and forced to quit in June. Her dream was to become a dermatologist after topping her class in Maths, Biology and Chemistry.

A nurse attends to Taremeredzwa

Donations

More money is needed to meet further medical treatment costs. An appeal box has been placed in her hospital room.

Meanwhile, a Tare We Care fund-raising gig has been organised. It will be held in Stratford on Friday 09 September 2009 at Escape Club.  Top musicians like Jusa Dementor, Chris Kusema and Afroface are billed to perform. Visit the Facebook link for more details about the show.

To donate please visit the Girl Child Network Worldwide website. 100% of your donation will be given to her family.

Donations can also be deposited in the following bank account:

Bank: Lloyds TSB
Branch: Southend-On-Sea
Branch Code:  309784
Account Name: Girl Child Network Trust Fund UK
Account No.: 03872848
SWIFT Code: LOYDGB21100

A committee has been set-up to be provide logistical support. For more details you can contact the following:

Betty Makoni:  07866154860 gcnworldwide@btinternet.com
Priscillah Nyathi: 07956024117 priscillanyathi@yahoo.co.uk
Munashe Moyo Gudo:  07795233614 munashe@zimteachers.com
Barbara Nyagomo Mambo : 07717164590  babsnyag@yahoo.co.uk

Click here to visit Tare’s Facebook page

View Taremeredzwa – My Story – You Tube video

Blow to Black mental health in Birmingham

By Rebecca Wood

A petition is to be delivered to Downing Street in protest at the forced closure of Birmingham’s only Black-led community mental health service.

Omnicare, a provider of mental health services to Birmingham’s Black community for a quarter of a century, will close its doors to patients after a two-year battle with Birmingham City Council to stay open. A group of people who have benefited from its services plan to deliver a 500-signature petition to Downing Street on 9 October 2009 in a last ditch attempt to draw attention to the loss of what they argue is a vital service to the community.

Omnicare was set up to plug a care gap that had left many Black mental health patients in Birmingham destitute once they were discharged from hospital. It did so through a ten-bed hostel and a drop-in day centre.

Smear allegations

In the course of the two-year fight, allegations have been levelled at the Council by patients, campaigners and staff that it used the death of a hostel resident in September 2007 to damage the organisation’s reputation and to abruptly withdraw funds without consulting the service’s users.

IRR News tried to contact Birmingham City Council’s Third Sector Partnership Team about this allegation but no one was available for comment.

A safeguarding order, issued at the time of the death (and which saw long-term residents moved from the hostel under safety concerns, despite appeals to stay) was recently lifted by the Council. An inquest at the beginning of this year found that the resident concerned died of natural causes and that Omnicare had acted responsibly and could not have prevented the death.

Yet for Omnicare’s General Manager, Jackie McLean, the lifting of the order came too late for an organisation which has, ‘for two years, been living under a cloud’ hindering the possibility of seeking alternative funding from other sources. According to McLean, Birmingham City Council has never been able to adequately explain why it abruptly ceased its funding despite the fact that an investigation into the cause of death was ongoing.

Applying for funding

At the same time as the resident’s death and revocation of funding, the Third Sector Commissioning process was introduced in Birmingham and Omnicare began the application process for funding as a commissioned service provider.

It found the funding application process, replete with a lengthy application form and complicated costing requirements, very hard to deal with. Jackie McLean explains: ‘For a service that has been severely underfunded for years, we struggled with the hefty application. For us to calculate the costing of our services we would have had to get consultants in – something we definitely couldn’t afford. So we had to do it ourselves.’

In September 2008, the application was rejected, with the Council citing the safeguarding order as a factor in their decision. Omnicare’s long-term link as a provider of residential care and support for Birmingham’s mental health patients had been, apparently, finally severed.

Residents take the Council to court

During this two-year period, a group of seven residents and patients, shocked by the threat to a service they trusted and valued, sought their own advice about the legality of the enforced closure.

They took the Council to court and won a stay of execution on the grounds that the Council had failed in its legal duties to conduct a Race Equality Impact Assessment or to take into account the consequences of shutting down Omnicare’s services. Forced into a corner, the Council extended funding until September 2009.

Elvera Wallace, who was a regular client of Omnicare and a member of the group fighting the threatened closure, said at the time of the court case: ‘We felt we had to try and do something to help save the service. We knew what the council were doing to us wasn’t right.’

Destitution fears

Matilda MacAttram of Black Mental Health UK, which has campaigned alongside Omnicare, said: ‘Birmingham is the largest metropolitan authority in Europe yet there aren’t any other Black-led mental health services on the ground. The work that Omnicare is doing won’t be replaced once it closes and there is a real fear that its service users will be left destitute.’

MacAttram also commended the work of Omnicare, saying that it provided a unique service where patients were ‘not being demonised, not being restrained. Instead people were being treated with love and compassion.’

Sadly, Birmingham’s only Black-led community mental health service will be forced to close its doors to its 120-registered clients, amidst very real fears for the devastating effect this closure will have on the safety and well-being of its regular users and residents.

If you would like to sign Omnicare’s petition, due to be delivered to Downing Street on Friday 9 October 2009, please contact: Jackie McLean (General Manager), Omnicare Community Services, 63 Heathfield Road, Handsworth, Birmingham B19 1HE. Telephone: 0121 554 4755.

Next Page »