Food poisoning

By Groum Abate

Food poisoning is a common, usually mild, but occasionally deadly illness. Food poisoning happens when someone eats food or drink that is contaminated with bacteria, or its toxins. Very occasionally, toxins from chemicals or pesticides can also cause food poisoning.
Last week police launched an investigation into multiple incidents of food poisoning following the admission of over 40 people suffering from severe diarrhea and stomach pain after eating at one of the well known burger outlets in the country, Burger Queen.
Some years back it is sadly remembered that a young man passed away poisoned by his last meal: a burger from Burger Queen. The joint re-opened shortly after.
The recent incident started on Wednesday July 9, 2008 after people started arriving at different hospitals. All of those who were admitted had one thing in common: they all said they had eaten at the popular burger mart on Monday or Tuesday.
Police interviewed some of those people who were admitted and those who have come forward, and have launched an investigation. Police along with health inspectors took samples from the kitchen of Queen Burger on Friday July 11, 2008 and sent them to a lab for testing. They subsequently closed the shop.
A father and son were admitted to the hospital after they shared a burger at the joint.
As is customarily done when a large number of food poisoning cases is encountered, hospitals reported the situation to the Ministry of Health on Thursday July 10, 2008.
Soon, many reports of the same stomach pain and diarrhea started coming in at hospitals around town from people who say they had eaten at Queen Burger on Monday and Tuesday, with the largest number being at Bethezata clinic with 30 people admitted.
It is hard to tell if food and drink are contaminated because the look, taste and smell may not be affected. Food poisoning can affect one person or a group of people, depending on whether they have all eaten the same contaminated food.
Food poisoning is becoming more dangerous here in Addis. Some weeks back about 16 edible oil shops have been closed after found selling poisonous cooking oil to the public.
The Metropolitan Health Bureau and National Health and Nutrition Research Institute announced that eight people have died and another 94 people admitted to hospital as a result of food poisoning from the contaminated oil.
The institute announced that the stated number of people were deceased after eating the edible oil which was mixed with a plant called “Medafe”, which is highly poisonous.
The plant, of which 35 percent constitutes oil, is poisonous both to humans and animals.
Some blame the appropriate governmental health office for failing to inspect restaurants and other outlets.
Most food poisoning is caused by the toxins produced by bacteria, or by the amount of bacteria itself said one doctor. Some bacteria can grow or multiply from one to millions given the right conditions of moisture, food, warmth and time. The more bacteria present, the higher the chance of infection and illness. The most common types of bacteria to cause infection are Campylobacter, E.Coli and salmonella he adds and said that the first step to prevent food poisoning is to know which types of food are vulnerable to contamination.
According to the doctor, most cases of food poisoning are not reported because people have mild symptoms and recover quickly.
Food borne illnesses usually arise from improper handling, preparation, or food storage. Good hygiene practices before, during, and after food preparation can reduce the chances of contracting an illness.

Optimism and skepticism on 2010

In a poor nation forced to endure intolerable food price hikes and overall inflation, the recent local and bi elections had passed being anything but a concern for the majority. This ‘unpopular topic’[ considering how much media attention government pardons, millennium celebrations, and recent Teddy Afro trial has received throughout the year] and the opposition groups’ claim of fearing the worst for the 2010 national elections seemed to be unable to knock doors. However, Ambassador Donald Yamamoto, U.S. Ambassador to Ethiopia, recently put a rather ambitious goal of making the Ethiopian 2010 national elections an exemplary one, not only for the African continent which doesn’t see much of that, but also to all developing countries. Capital’s Kirubel Tadesse explores the grounds for such optimism.

The new National Electoral Board of Ethiopia (NEBE) led by its chair Professor Merga Bekana has only spent a little more than a year in office but has already undertaken a huge responsibility as it had bi and local elections in on first months agenda.
When it was time to report its annual performance to parliament, NEBE thought it had a lot to boast about. It claims ‘the wounds of the May 2005 elections are now healed’ as this year’s election was peaceful and no street actions followed even though the capital, Addis Ababa, was at stake. NEBE says there were record high voters in the registration as well as in the voting and an efficient voting mechanism was put in place. However, it notes that one vital component was missing, opposition participations. The reason is short, “the parties left the election for their own reasons.”
The United Ethiopian Democratic Forces (UEDF), the biggest opposition party in parliament, had pulled out of the local councils and the bi-elections, accusing the ruling party of intimidating supporters. Prof. Beyene Petros, Chairman of UEDF had told Capital that his party had come up with decisions after it had tried on several occasions to address its complaints to the NEBE. Just a week later after taking part in the first phase of elections, the Oromo Federalist Democratic Party (OFDM) followed suit, stating it was blindfolded on day one and has no reason to hope for the second day to be any different. Long before the two party’s boycotts Ethiopian Democratic Party (EDP-Medhin) had announced that it would not participate in Addis Ababa City elections. It was missing all these that NEBE was set to report to parliament its successful year’s performance to which Opposition MPs didn’t only ridicule the evaluation but walked out of the House while top NEBE officials were defending their claims.
Opposition figures have repeatedly shown signs of discouragements and have cried for political will. OFDM Chair Bulcha Demeksa (MP) was direct to express a lost hope when Capital asked for his party assessment of elections and parliament participation, during a press conference called to announce the boycott. While it is this atmosphere one easily can capture from opposition camp, the U.S. says Ethiopia’s 2010 national elections can be a model for the African continent.
In his latest quarterly briefing [the second for the year] Ambassador Donald Yamamoto has raised hopes towards the coming elections. He explained that in 2010, there is a need for progression of elections; better management and organisation with high consciousness by the electorate about their rights and more reflective of political will.
“As we have always said the election in 2000 had problems, 2005 was much better and in 2010, the goal is to even be a model for Africa. Not only to Africa but to the developing world and that is the ultimate goal,” Yamamoto said. While saying this goal the Ambassador did not forget the one aspect the recent elections missed as he stated that full participation of the electorate, the opposition groups’ and other stake holders is an ultimate goal by itself.
Analysts point out one major point they say the Ambassador remarks failed to address. The stance of opposition groups that claim to have just witnessed the worst elections very recently. “Even if there were no foreign observers during the elections, the boycott by the opposition groups is hardly news for the U.S., “comments anonymously opposition MP who had heard similar motivations personally, “from this point of view the stated gaol seems to need a reality check as it neither acknowledges recent drawbacks nor hints any possible change in the political will which should be present to repeat the May 2005 pre election period let alone to set up a model.”
Among stakes of the 2010 elections, the success of some of the former Coalition for Unity and Democracy Party (CUDP) members who are now in the U.S., preaching ‘all means struggle’ that may undermine the country’s constitution, is one. Sadly, most of these people were pardoned after found guilty on similar offences. According to analyst, any conflicts that will color the 2010 election would serve this group as it would use it to make a point that elections would not work in Ethiopia. Last week, the latest to join this group is former CUDP Secretary, Muluneh Eyuel. His surprise decision to travel to the U.S., abandoning the UDJ [reports are suggesting NEBE rejects the UDJ name] was unclear as to why and only came to light when his memo was published this week by an Amharic weekly. Muluneh explained that let alone peaceful political process and elections, his former party [UDJ] had to send Professor Ephiram Yishak to beg the P.M. in order to hold a founding congress, after a scheduled meeting at Imperial hotel was aborted. “If we are wrong and the peaceful struggle works and attains positive outcomes, I would be more than happy as I once had the same commitments toward the means and causes of the former CUDP, but sadly, that is not the reality on the ground,” Muluneh’s memo reads. It is winning the hearts and minds of these kinds of politicians and their supporters [now few] that any successful elections campaign and reflective outcomes would result in. However, the opposition groups are not optimistic about its realization.
Chair Birtukan Medksa and her deputies had met Ambassador Yamamoto recently. The embassy declined to detail any of the meeting [due to its policy] but according to sources top UDJ officials explained the challenges they were facing in order to have their group accredited. The Ambassador on the other hand was explaining the need for a better election by 2010. No new commitments or promises were heard from the Ambassador to the visitors who anonymously held the U.S. accountable for failing to pressure the government during the 2005 unrest, to which Ambassador Yamamoto or then sitting Ambassador, Vicki Huddleston, showed no regrets in a Capital exclusives.
Despite huge scepticism of political will and mistrust of U.S. commitments, Yamamoto had a short message why optimism is reasonable. “We are working with the government and the people. We all have a stake in the 2010 elections and if we don’t work on it now to support the process, then I think it going to impact all of us. That’s why we are working very closely,” the Ambassador responded to Capital, during the briefing.
For now in the face of two new laws and one bill [political party registration, press law and NGO] the opposition says whatever the U.S. is working on with the government, there is too little space for them in which to operate.

Copyright Vs Piracy, Investigative report

By Abiy Demilew

Part one

This ending week the Addis Ababa Police launched anti-piracy operation after repeated pleas for intervention knocked at their doors. And according to Capital’s sources, only until Thursday afternoon, the police forces captured at least 40 suspects from different corners of the city. This number will continue to grow since the operation is still underway.
Police sources also disclosed to Capital that, in an operation held to capture a key suspect around St. Urael Church, Aksum Building, close to Bole Medhanialem, the police squad on mission was met by resistance in which two on-duty officers have been attacked and wounded with one still being hospitalized. The suspect managed to escape.
Calmed and cooled down for a few years now, the latest crusade was launched after four films, Fikir Siferd, Sara, 11th Hour and Fikirina Dance, off from screens recently, have flooded the town three days before their official release day, last Monday.
In the normal piracy trend of almost two years, copies of any latest releases used to flood the market on and after the first day of their official release day. Controversially, the official producers and distributers used to sell their original copies only on the very first day of the release since the illegal copies, sold between the bargain prices of 5 to 8br, totally take over the market the same afternoon.
According to various people we talked to in the art scene, piracy of movie releases has gotten worse and is heavily impacting on producers and directors not to sell out their off-screen movies in good prices.
Mesfin Getachew, Director, Producer of Zumra, recently affirmed Capital that, the record and distribution company which agreed and signed to buy his off-screen movie, changed its mind after its latest experience of a film release which was only sold the very first day.
Legal perspective
All existing state laws including the constitution have endorsed the copyright law ever since it was introduced in the Imperial constitution. In the last ten years, the law has been strengthened and modified and now the country owns the first ever state body working on the protection, preservation and promotion of the intellectual property rights of citizens.
However, existing laws still are not seen implemented in protecting the intellectual and copyrights of the right owners. Until a few years ago, there were people including artists, police officers, senior officials and many others who didn’t even know that the country has legalized the copy and intellectual right laws. Somehow, it is still continued since the reverse has been working for years.
Awareness:- the concept and basic principles of copy and intellectual rights including the importance, advantages, privileges, limitations and their legal protections still need to be advocated and discussed in different levels; since the reality exists very much opposite.
Survival & Job opportunity:- Accompanied by the computer technology boom, almost all characters of piracy appear to be youth. In a long chain of contacts and secret interviews we have made, almost all of the characters told us that, they are in this business as a means of survival and job opportunity.
“We are expected to respect laws and peoples’ rights while nobody cares about us to give us a job opportunity,” said one youth in the copying business. “How can I respect somebody’s right on an empty stomach?”
For some of them, this business is the easiest and fastest gateway towards getting rich and making their lives better. “Most of the friends I had in this business have changed relatives’ personal and their family’s’ lives and are driving fancy cars,” said Akmel, the other pirate I met in Merkato.
Key players and stakeholders of piracy
Investigating the issue and exploring deeper, figuring out the key players and stakeholders of the piracy business, I was caught by a shocking surprise and kept asking myself endless of questions.
The complexity of the interest groups and personalities involved in the background makes it more complicated than it already is, since the business has embraced various types of people and knowledge from different walks of life.
we will continue to explore the issue.