Afghan President Ashraf Ghani has asked all government and media to use his family name only–not his tribal name. The president will no longer be referred to as “Ahmadzai,”a name the president used to appeal to voters in the Pashtun south and southeast during the presidential campaign earlier this year.
Ghani signed a letter last week to the administration of the Presidential Palace, telling all government departments to drop “Ahmadzai” from official documentation.
“The chairman of the Office of Administrative Affairs Abdul Salam Rahimi has sent a formal letter to all the ministries and state institutions to call the President of Afghanistan Mohammad Ashraf Ghani,” said Fayeq Wahidi, deputy presidential spokesman of the national unity government.
“Ahmadzai” refers to the Pashtun tribe from which Ghani comes. The Ahmadzai are one of the biggest tribes in Afghanistan, and are based largely in the south and southeast of the nation. Ghani himself, however, hails from Logar Province south of Kabul.
It is custom in Afghanistan for tribal names to be added to a name to denote affiliation to a tribe of region. Ghani used the name while campaigning for the presidency this year in an appeal to Pashtun voters in the south.
Ghani had run against Abdullah Abdullah, who drew support from Tajiks in the north and east of the country. Abdullah is currently the chief executive of the national unity government of which Ghani is president.
The two politicians formed the national unity government after each contended that he had won the election, and following pressure from the US and UN to reach an agreement.
This is not the first time the removal of tribal names has been a presidential concern in Afghanistan. Former President Mohammad Daoud Khan initiated a campaign to remove tribal names as a top-down effort in the 1970s.
Major charges brought against a man accused of plotting to assassinate Russian President Vladimir Putin have been dismissed by a Ukrainian court. The man, Adam Osmayev, had been charged as a terrorist for trying kill the Russian president, but is no longer considered to be a participant in a terrorist organization or to have prepared for the assassination of a statesman.
“The charges were dropped following numerous petitions I had filed requesting the court reopen the investigation into the case because Osmayev the allegations had not been proved that he participated in a terrorist organization or plotted to assassinate a government official,” stated Olga Chertok, Osmayev’s lawyer.
Osmayev still stands accused of several crimes, including entering Ukraine with forged documents, illegal manufacture of explosives and unintentional damage to property.
In 2012, a member of the group to which Osmayev belonged confessed the groups intentions to Ukrainian security officers after a bomb accidentally detonated in the apartment inhabited by the men. One of the three suspects in the crime, Chechen-born Ruslan Madayev was killed in the explosion.
Kazakh-born Ilya Pyanzin then confessed that he and his accomplices were preparing a bomb to assassinate Vladimir Putin–then prime minister of Russia. Reportedly, the men planned to detonate the bomb as Putin’s motorcade drove through Moscow.
In 2013, Pyanzin was found guilty in a Moscow court after extradition from Ukraine. He was sentenced to 10 years prison.
Chechen-born Osmayev was tried in Ukrainian court after he filed a human rights complaint with the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR), protesting extradition. Last August, Ukraine’s Prosecutor General revoked an earlier decision to extradite Osmayev. When the ECHR asked Ukraine for its justification for handing over Osmayev to Russia, Ukraine did not maintain its position, according to Chertok.
The charges against Osmayev that were dropped included charges under Article 258 and 258-3 (the creation and participation in a terrorist organization and preparation for the assassination of a statesman) of the Ukrainian Criminal Code. Osmayev still faces up to five years prison for the lesser charges for which he remains accused.
New Orleans’ biggest gun buyback was held last weekend, and it was a party. Art curator and artist Kirsha Kaechele and others brought together the community–as well as artists, musicians and performers–to create a gun buyback block party event where hundreds of guns were bought back from anonymous community members by reverends singing gospel in an all velvet room to the sounds of a solo cellist.
Kaechele, who has been close to the New Orleans community for years, told us about how the event, hosted in the Creole-roots “back of town” 8th Ward–an area where gun death statistics are on par with those during wars–went down New Orleans style. The street party included a beautifully choreographed opening ceremony by New Orleans Airlift with Mardi Gras Indians, Caramel Curves, custom cars and the best local rappers, all of whom are now collaborating on an album against gun violence.
Platinum rapper Mr. Serv On spoke on his involvement in the project: “I want kids that come from where I come from that don’t have a way out to see that their life is like my life, and music is the one thing that got me out- that was my freedom, that’s where my shackles came off. I was up to some bad things too but I found music. I want to give them a chance to win at life like someone gave me one”.
For a group of 8th Ward neighborhood girls, the Betty Squad Gumbo Dancers (pictured in purple and black), the street party was their first debut.
Kaechele also told us about how she came to the idea of holding a gun buyback in this way, about a friend whose life was cut short by gun violence and the influence of the Australian response to the 1996 Port Arthur massacre–a decision to buy back the entire country’s stockpile of guns–and how she decided to use private money to circumvent 2nd amendment issues, bridge the gap between libertarianism and the nanny state, make selling a gun more palatable for those in possession, and let the market promote peace.
Where did you get the idea to buy back guns?
“I lived in New Orleans’ 8th Ward for many years and witnessed what felt like endless deaths of boys who hadn’t had a chance in life. Just as I was moving to Australia my good friend Rayshon was shot–he was 19 and an aspiring musician. I couldn’t believe it happened to him as he had no connection to gangs or the neighborhood’s cycles of honor killings.
“Then, living in Australia I saw no gun violence. After a major Tasmanian massacre in the 1990s the government decided to buy back the country’s entire stockpile of guns. Being American, and having some slight libertarian leanings, I found the nanny state approach distasteful, but at the same time, had to acknowledge it worked. So I found myself with one foot on each side of a great divide.
“On the one hand I believe in personal liberty and feel that gun ownership should be a choice. But on the other I see that America’s approach is not working, and the class system combined with our gun policy is allowing too many innocent boys to die just because they are born in the wrong neighborhood.
“Then I had a breakthrough: What if we use individual liberty and the free market to create gun control? By offering private money we circumvent 2nd amendment issues and let the market promote peace.”
“The key, it seemed to me, was to place the buyback in the center of a high violence area where it is accessible (to both those who choose to sell guns as well as those who steal them–theft is rampant in the neighborhood). It was also essential to have the trust of the neighborhood, which I felt well poised for as I’d lived in the 8th Ward for 10 years and have close ties to the community.
“To further the incentive for trading guns in I partnered with celebrity rappers to create a recording studio (Gun Metal Records) where the neighborhood can lay tracks with their heroes. If anyone can inspire a young man to turn his gun in it is a rapper. That’s who they look up to. The rappers promoted the buyback through radio ads, billboards and fliers they distributed in nightclubs.”
How did you come to decide the best forum would be a “buy back party?”
“Block parties are something New Orleanians do to mark every event. It’s an integral part of the culture. I also felt that tying the buyback to a party would make the idea of selling your gun more palatable. When you have all the best rappers and dancers and your favorite radio DJ out telling you to join the buyback it has greater appeal. It also rallies the neighborhood around the idea that the killing has got to end. I don’t expect gun violence to disappear, but a few young boys may be inspired to look down upon killing as a way of life.”
Is the buy back project a result of coming into contact with the environment you moved into in St Roch? Is this an example of life/work leads to a new environment leads to a new kind of art?
“Absolutely! Living in the 8th Ward was one hundred percent my inspiration for this project, and in particular, losing Rayshon whom I thought would be my friend for life. Art is a reflection of our experience; in some practices it is our experience. Becoming part of the neighborhood ecology inspired me to use the biennial to shine light into the problem of youth mortality in the 8th Ward–and as I’ll later discuss, the problem of personal disenfranchisement in privileged white culture ;) I am not particularly political, in fact I have always hated political art. I’ve specifically noted in Life is Art writings how much I hate it, but what can I say? You become what you hate.
“That being the case: I don’t think it is acceptable that we allow neighborhoods in America to languish like we do in St Roch. The gun death statistics there are the same as they are in war. And it is certainly not all about access to guns. We’ve really let our fellow Americans slip through the cracks in a way that more socially minded 1st world countries would never do.
“That said, the community has an incredible resilience and bright vitality. The 8th Ward can teach us a lot about how to live as a connected, mutually supportive culture. It is completely different from the modern American way where we have very little interaction with our neighbors. In this way, coming to the 8th Ward and witnessing the close ties in the community is incredible. Simply witnessing this was a highlight of the Biennial.”
How did the buy back party go? Could you describe it from the perspective of an art viewer?
“The block party was touching and awe-inspiring. There was a very warm, amplified energy with all the neighbors out for a common cause. I think the art viewers were a little blown away by the power of the culture. You had Mardi Gras Indians, Caramel Curves, a custom car show, performing horse riders, the best local rappers, dance troupes–all the highlights of New Orleans’ culture. New Orleans Airlift, a group of local artists and curators, did a beautiful job choreographing the opening ceremony. I think out of town visitors were overwhelmed. Many approached with tears in their eyes saying they had never seen anything like it. I’m glad we got to share a little of what New Orleans has to offer with the high art world. It also felt satisfying and a little subversive to highlight what is already here, as opposed to the usual biennial approach of bringing famous international artists into an environment. (That said we also showed several international artists through performance, our billboards advertising the buyback, and The Embassy interior. They were all really touched by the collaboration with local artists.)”
The buyback
“The buyback itself was magical. There was a line around the block of very nervous, agitated people. But as soon as they entered the room they grew hushed. It was very quiet and dark with lights only on the piles of guns and a sculpture (by Louise Riley). In the back of the all-velvet room a solo cellist played softly and beautifully. There was a sense of ceremony and reverence around the whole experience. Those trading in their guns became part of the piece; some sellers lingered, mesmerized by it all. We received 500 guns. I personally took in several assault weapons which was disturbing but also moving.
“People wanted to share the stories of their guns. Many wives and girlfriends came on behalf of their partners, or to get rid of a gun that belonged to their dead partner. By 4 p.m. the reverends accepting the guns were exhausted–I hired one of their gospel singers to perform just to keep them going (they all joined in singing and clapping) and we closed at 5–still with half the cash (!) ready for round 2.”
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Kirsha Kaechele
Kirsha Kaechele is an art curator and artist, and is the founder of Life is Art Foundation/KKProjects, an art space composed of six abandoned houses in the St Roch neighborhood, and The Embassy, a living installation in the 8th Ward of New Orleans.
The Embassy is a collaboration of artists, rappers and reverends for the purpose of inspiring the hearts and minds of New Orleans youth, to celebrate the vitality and creativity of the community and broach the tragedy of youth mortality through gun violence.
The Embassy’s gun buyback project is the biggest buyback in New Orleans history. The Embassy provides $100,000 solely for puchasing guns from sellers who remain anonymous. The guns are later destroyed by the Police Department, witnessed by the New Orleans and Jefferson Parish Gun Buyback Committee (GNOJPGBC).
Have you ever wondered about fake art and the authenticators who can tell the difference between real and fake?
In this article, world-renowned art authenticator Dr Kilian Anheuser of Geneva’s Fine Arts Expert Institute (FAEI) explains the problem of art fakes in the $60bn yearly art market, what types of paintings are more often forged or faked, the fate of paintings that cannot be authenticated, the ongoing duel between art faker and art authenticator, and the means and methods by which authenticators discover whether a painting is real or not.
Some of this information may surprise you–the questions are not as simple as they might at first seem.
Fakes are certainly a major problem for the art market today, but the real issues cannot be reduced to a simple question like “Is it a fake or not?”
Most paintings have undergone considerable changes during successive cleaning and conservation campaigns which are perfectly normal even for late 19th/early 20th century “modern” art, now already more than a hundred years old.
Any earlier paintings, such as the old masters with extremely high market values, you will never ever find in their original state. Some of these, discovered in very poor condition, would effectively be re-painted by a skilled conservator on their original support, with just traces of the original paint layer remaining.
Should this be called a fake or an example of outstanding restoration?
Anyway, we feel a potential buyer ought to know what exactly he will get for his money.
With the old masters there is also the issue of historic copies–often of high quality and by skilled period artists–or multiple workshop copies. Pre-modern workshops were enterprises with apprentices and employees, not studios where an inspired artist worked on his own. Art historians know about these issues, many investors in art do not.
Dr Anheuser at work
There are of course outright fakes.
We get to see many of them, and we are certainly more aware of the situation than many others. Money always attracts shady characters, and there is plenty of money in the art market. It is difficult to set a starting point. Ten years ago or twenty, whatever, but the trend is clear and will continue for as long as there is money to be made. At present, only a small minority of collectors, art dealers and investors protect themselves through a proper scientific expertise before a purchase. All too often in the past, and often enough still at present, a painting on which doubts have been cast will simply be sold on to someone unaware or willing to take a gamble. Otherwise, if the authenticity of a work of art is never questioned because for all parties concerned it is convenient not to know, the painting will retain its market value, be it fake or genuine. Such are the economics of the art market.
Money is the incentive for most art forgeries.
Other motivations such as personal revenge are relatively rare. This means that for a forger or an unscrupulous restorer the ratio between effort and prospective gain must remain interesting. Old masters with their sophisticated painting techniques and historic materials difficult to obtain are relatively rarely outright fakes. In this sector you’d rather find concealed restorations to “improve” the looks of a painting, or to get a prestigious attribution accepted.
Modern art is more likely to be faked outright.
Yes, forgers do know about scientific techniques and historic working practices. Never underestimate your opponents. Most (exept for those who simply cannot be bothered as someone is always likely to buy their painting eyes shut because they cannot resist a tempting bargain) do try to avoid beginner’s mistakes as far as pigments are concerned, and they would also focus for example on lesser known artists who still sell for good money but where a potential buyer is less likely to demand a sound scientific expertise than for a premium painting.
A serious scientific authentification laboratory does not simply carry out isolated tests.
What we and also our colleagues in museum laboratories and elsewhere do is to look for inconsistencies between materials, techniques and known workshop practices. Even if physico-chemical analysis brings up no anachronistic elements as such, meaning that in principle all the materials and techniques were available and in use at the time in question, the painting techniques and materals may still not match what is known about a painter’s working habits, known from historic sources or other technological studies. To make the most of the analytical results, these cannot therefore be interpreted in isolation but must always be discussed in their historic and art historical context.
Herein lies the difference between a typical university scientist competent in the use of his analytical methods who may come up with a correct analytical result but will be unable to tell you more, and a specialized paintings authentication laboratory who will know the crucial questions to be asked, and who will be able to interpret the results to work out the answers.
These laboratories bring together different competences such as conservation scientists, technical art historians and conservators, each of whom is able to contribute complementing observations from their own specialty background. At FAEI, for example, we are a scientific team of two chemists-cum-art historians, each with some 20 years experience in the scientific analysis of works of art, an imaging specialist and a qualified paintings conservator. Similar competences can be found in museum laboratories (most countries have at least one major museum equipped with a scientific laboratory, in the UK for paintings this would be for example the National Gallery in London, in the US there are several such as the Chicago Institute of Art, the National Gallery in Washington DC, or the Getty Conservation Institute in L.A.). However, these would not normally take on work for private clients, which is where laboratories like ours come in, providing services to collectors, art dealers, investors, and also to public institutions.
When the film star was asked about reports he was now blacklisted, Yun-Fat replied, “I’ll just make less [films in China] then.”
Hong Kong actor Chow Yun-Fat, known to the West mainly through the 2000 blockbuster film “Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon,” is reportedly now banned from making movies in China.
Recently, the actor met with students protesting the communist government of China which has recently taken over control of Hong Kong.
After meeting with students, he gave public comments in which he did not support the new government:
“I’ve met the residents, the students. They are very brave, and it’s touching to see that they’re fighting for what they want. The students are reasonable. If the government can come up with a solution that the citizens or students are satisfied with, I believe the crisis will end,” Yun-Fat told Apple Daily.
Commenting on the use of teargas by police at the demonstrations, he said, “When the government uses violent measures on students, it’s a turn-off for the people of Hong Kong. I don’t wish to see anyone getting hurt.”
Other Hong Kong stars also commented publicly on the issue, siding with protesters, but have not been reported to be blacklisted, including Andy Lau and Tony Leung Chiu-wai.
Lau said there should be “no tear gas, no violence, no abuse,” and Leung said, “I support all the people of Hong Kong who peacefully ask for what they want and protest the government’s use of excessive force against people who have gathered peacefully, and hope the government can quickly arrange for sincere talks with the people.”
Others stars, including Hong Kong-born Jackie Chan, supported Beijing in aggressively quelling the demonstrations.
Chan expressed concern about the cost of the protests in dollars, advocating a “return to rationality,” echoing comments he’d made years earlier that “there should be rules to determine what people can protest about and on what issues they can’t protest about,” and that “Chinese people need to be controlled.”
One day before politicians were to vote on a controversial new law, riots erupted in the capital of Burkina Faso. The parliament and government party headquarters were set on fire, the national television headquarters was attacked, cars were burned, and the airport was closed. Five people so far have died in the sudden chaos.
Ouagadougou’s National Assembly building was stormed by hundreds of Burkinabe, who then moved on to the presidential palace, but were held back by the presidential guard, who fired warning shots into the air.
Reportedly, many Burkinabe soldiers have joined the protests, including the nation’s former defence minister, General Kouame Lougue.
Opposition leader Zephirin Diabre has called for the military to side with “the people.”
“October 30 is Burkina Faso’s Black Spring, like the Arab Spring,” an official of the opposition Movement of People for Progress, Emile Pargui Pare, was quoted.
The riots broke out just one day before national politicians were scheduled to vote on a controversial law that would allow Burkina Faso’s President Blaise Compaore to run for election next year.
The legislation would allow the president to extend his 27-year rule of the county, which began in 1987 as the result of a coup.
Compare has been re-elected four times. The first two terms were seven years each, and the second two terms were five years each. Constitutional limits on the office were brought in during 2005.
The new legislation could allow Compare to retain power for another 15 years.
Reacting to the riots, Compaore declared a state of emergency and dissolved the government. The president also released a statement saying he was ready to talk with opposition.
The government of Burkina Faso announced that the vote on the legislation had been called off, but did not specifiy whether this was a cancellation or postponement to the vote.
In Ethiopia’s western Gambella region, 540 people–mostly ethnic Amhara–were killed during a massacre that began in the town of Meti, Godere Zone.
The massacre took place September 10, and was not reported until Voice of America’s (VOA) Amharic Service covered the killings last week.
The massacre began after the Ethiopian government began to forcefully evict Mezenger people from their ancestral land as part of a plan to redistribute the land to recently retired TPLF Generals.
In the government program, the land is handed over to the retired servicemen for “investment” purposes. The effect of the plan has included an illegal campaign of selling lands, accompanied by the arrival of hundreds of “Tirgrayans’ as ‘workers’ for the TPLF land developers.
The government of Ethiopia is guilty of ethnically targeted human rights violations, according to Amnesty International. The violence is directed against Ethiopia’s largest minority group, the Oromos, and is motivated by political fear. Thousands have been tortured, according the Amnesty’s report.
Amnesty based its report on 200 testimonies gathered in Ethiopia. “We interviewed former detainees with missing fingers, ears and teeth, damaged eyes and scars on every part of their body due to beating, burning and stabbing–all of which they said were the result of torture,” said Claire Beston, Amnesty International’s Ethiopia researcher.
The testimonies included extensive reports of torture and abuse, including prolonged detainment, detainment without charge, detention in unofficial military camps, mutilation using bayonets, hot coals, and hanging by wrists. Beatings, electric shocks, mock executions, burning with metal or molten plastic, rape and gang rape were common abuses reported.
The reason for the targeted abuse, according to Amnesty, is political. The government fears political opposition, stemming particularly from the Oromo Liberation Front (OLF), a regional armed group. Ethiopia will hold general elections in 2015, and Amnesty expects human rights abuses will continue or increase.
“The Ethiopian government’s relentless crackdown on real or imagined dissent among the Oromo is sweeping in its scale and often shocking in its brutality,” said Beston.
“This is apparently intended to warn, control or silence all signs of ‘political disobedience’ in the region.”
Numerous reports detailed arrests without cause or with only suspicion, arrests without charge or without trial, and arrests and retribution against uninvolved family members.
“People are arrested for the most tenuous of reasons: organizing a student cultural group, because their father had previously been suspected of supporting the OLF or because they delivered the baby of the wife of a suspected OLF member. Frequently, it’s because they refused to join the ruling party,” said Beston.
In April and May 2014, ethnic conflict in Ethiopia received international attention after security forces opened fire during a series of peaceful protests, and beat hundreds of protesters and bystanders. Dozens died and thousands were injured.
“These incidents were far from being unprecedented in Oromi,” said Beston. “They were merely the latest and bloodiest in a long pattern of suppression. However, much of the time, the situation in Oromia goes unreported.”
Approximately 5,000 ethnic Oromos have been arrested between 2011 and 2014 for political reasons, according to Amnesty.
Amnesty stated that it believed there was an urgent need for intervention in Ethiopia by regional and international humanitarian organizations that could conduct independent investigations into human rights abuse allegations in Oromia.
“The Ethiopian government must end the shameful targeting of thousands of Oromos based only on their actual or suspected political opinion. It must cease its use of detention without charge, torture and ill-treatment, incommunicado detention, enforced disappearance and unlawful killings to muzzle actual or suspected dissent,” said Beston.
Russia launched a Progress 57 Cargo Ship from Baikonur Cosmodrome, Kazakhstan Wednesday, bound for the International Space Station. The ship was launched just three hours after the failed launch of the American rocket Antares, which exploded over Wallops Island, Virginia. The Russian ship is expected to rendezvous with the International Space Station later Wednesday.
The Russian ship, a Progress M-25M space freighter, was launched on a Soyuz-2.1a from Baikonur space center Wednesday, according to Russian space agency Roscosmos.
“The launch was made at 10:10 AM Moscow time, Wednesday. All pre-launch operations and the launch of the space freighter by a new rocket were conducted as scheduled,” said Roscosmos.
The successful launch took place just three hours after the failed launch of the American Cygnus commercial cargo carrier Antares, which exploded after crashing back into the ground in Wallops Island, Virginia.
The Progress M-25M is expected to dock with the space station’s Pirs docking compartment exactly six hours after liftoff.
The Progress is carrying almost 5,200 pounds of food, fuel and supplies for the six-person International Space Station crew, including 1,322 pounds of fuel, over 100 pounds of oxygen, 925 pounds of fresh water, and 2,828 pounds of dry cargo.
Wednesday’s launch was Russia’s first using a Soyuz-2.1a rocket. Previous space freighters were launched atop Soyuz-U rockets. The 2.1a is a modernized version of the older launcher, and uses updated electronics, a digital flight control system, and is capable of lofting 300 more kilograms (660 pounds) to the International Space Station’s orbit, according to Roscosmos.
The upgraded rocket also uses less foreign parts than the Soyuz-U, which depended more heavily on components from Ukraine.
The Western African nation of Niger is experiencing an outbreak of cholera. To date, 51 people have died of the disease this year–deaths are on the rise, with 38 deaths taking place in September alone.
The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (UNOCHA) reported that 1,300 people have been infected with cholera so far this year in Niger. The high rate of infection has been caused in part by the heavy flooding which has existed in Niger since June.
The outbreak involves four of Niger’s eight regions, and UNOCHA is taking steps to contain the illness and prevent it from appearing in new places, according to officials.
Cholera is a food- and water-borne disease, like salmonella, polio, hepatitis A, e. coli, and transmissible spongiform enephalopathies–although cholera is a particularly aggressive infection–and is prevalent in Asia, Africa and South America.
The ingestion of food or drink contaminated with human waste is the common means of cholera transmission. Symptoms include diarrhoea and dehydration, and death can result within 24 hours if the disease remains untreated.
The world is currently experiencing its seventh recorded cholera pandemic. Each has been devastating.
There are currently 100 active strains of cholera in the world, which makes development of an effective vaccine difficult, as each vaccine can only target one version of the bacterium.
The current outbreak in Niger involves the special concern of 105,000 refugees from Boko Haram and the Nigerian army have settled in Diffa, southeastern Niger. Many of these refugees have settled on the islands of Lake Chad where there is limited access to drinking water and hygiene and sanitation are precarious.
Tuberculosis is a disease that is seldom heard about these days, but the WHO and MSF have said that forms of TB known as multidrug-resistant tuberculosis (MDR-TB) have risen to the level of a global threat. TB is already carried in a latent form in approximately one-third of the global population, and MDR-TB is increasingly the form that is being passed from person to person. Additionally, an even more dangerous form of the disease–extensively drug-resistant TB (XDR-TB)–has been reported in 100 countries.
Tuberculosis has faded into the background of threatening diseases in the West. It saw renewed interest in 1991 when MDR-TB became epidemic in New York–nearly one-fifth of cases did not respond to treatment. That epidemic cost over $1 billion and several years of effort to bring under control.
Today in the US only 1.4 percent of an annual 9,500 TB cases are drug resistant, but the threat remains, according to the World Health Organization’s (WHO) global TB program director, Dr Mario Raviglione.
“They believe that TB is an extinct disease,” Raviglione said of the threat. “I don’t know why.”
WHO released a report this month that reported that nine million people became sick with TB in 2013–half a million more than previously thought. Of these, 3.5 percent of new cases were drug resistant.
“In many settings around the world the treatment success rate is alarmingly low,” WHO stated. “Furthermore, extensively drug-resistant TB (XDR-TB), which is even more expensive and difficult to treat than MDR-TB, has now been reported in 100 countries.”
Some countries currently have very high rates of MDR-TB. Belarus, for example, has a rate of 35 percent.
It is estimated that one-third of the global population harbors TB bacteria, but most are not aware that they carry the latent disease. The virus, however, continues to transmit to others while in its latent phase.
When TB enters its active phase–commonly when a person’s immune system is lowered–it becomes dangerous.
Children can be protected from TB–even its worst forms–by a widely distributed vaccine. Adults are usually protected by the same vaccine.
DR-TB is treatable, but the treatment requires long, expensive, painful side-effects to the antibiotics, including psychosis, deafness and constant nausea. The treatment takes around two years, and 50 percent of patients die. When it comes to XDR-TB, 80 percent of patients die.
Drug resistant TB is created by humans. Incomplete treatment allows the TB to adapt to antibiotics. When a person develops DR-TB they pass that form of TB on to others.
Of the TB cases that have been documented by the WHO worldwide, 3.5 percent are DR-TB cases passed on from people who have DR-TB.
“We think that drug-resistant TB is really becoming an epidemic in its own right,” said Dr. Grania Brigden, TB adviser for Médecins Sans Frontieres (MSF).
