Julia Bleasdale: Cross-continental runner

The British Olympian has turned to state-of-the-art facilities in Ethiopia to go the extra mile

So what do you on Christmas Day – at the end of a year in which you have gone from 176th in the world at 5,000 metres and from way off the global scale at 10,000m to eighth place in the Olympic finals at both distances? A glass or two of bubbly with the turkey and trimmings?

Not for Julia Bleasdale. "I did a track session: four sets of 4x500m," she said today. "It looked reasonable on paper but at 2,750m it was not just the location that was breathtaking. Still, it was flattering to be one of the first to try out Bekele's new track."

This time last year Kenenisa Bekele, the world's fastest-ever 5,000m and 10,000m runner, was in Edinburgh, explaining that his fitness at the start of London Olympic year was not quite what it should have been because of the time he was spending overseeing the construction of a £900,000 track in Sululta, near Addis Ababa.

Twelve months on, the British athlete who made perhaps the biggest breakthrough in 2012 has been gaining the benefits of the state-of-the-art Ethiopian facility ahead of her appearance as Great Britain team captain in the women's 6km race at the Great Edinburgh International Cross-Country meeting at Holyrood Park tomorrow.

Fikru Tefera attacks coach over Afcon omission

Former Orlando Pirates striker Fikru Tefera has launched a scathing attack on Ethiopian national team coach  Sewnet Bishaw following his omission from the 23-man squad that will do battle at the Africa Cup of Nations later this month.

Just over a month ago Tefera captained Ethiopia at the 2012 CECAFA Cup but has now been omitted from the squad that will arrive in South Africa next week for the tournament that they won 51 years ago but haven't qualified for since 1982.

Tefera has labelled Sewnet a ‘stupid coach who never played professional in his life and just wants to gain popularity at his expense because he (Tefera) has achieved more in his career and is living a good life in South Africa'.

"I am not surprised you want to know why I am not in the squad and the answer is simply. It is because of politics and a stupid coach who wants to be seen as big and gain popularity for having left out a professional player from the squad," rants Tefera in his conversation with KickOff.com.

Ethiopia to Sue Dutch Company for Bio-Piracy

Ethiopia is ready to sue Dutch company Vennootschap Onder Firma (VOF) for violating the access and benefit sharing agreement reached between the country and Health Performance and Food International for teff resources according to Berhanu Adello, Director General of the EIPO.

EIPO will be filing suit in a German court because Germany was the only country who opposed the patent granted the Dutch company by the European Patent Office. If Ethiopia wins the case in Germany it would then be applicable in all European countries.

A committee made up of representatives from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, IBC and EIPO has already appealed to the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) to revoke the patent on teff said Berhanu.

It is to be remembered that HPFI was permitted access 12 varieties of teff to develop a range of products including bread, chocolates and biscuits as part of a research arrangement reached with the Larenstein University of the Netherlands, in collaboration with the Dutch Soil and Crop Company.

The agreement however specifically protected intellectual property rights being taken out on teff genetic resources or its components although it did not eliminate patents on processes related to teff said Berhanu.

The company however went on to file for property rights and the right to distribute teff and its products in Australia, US, Japan, and Latin American countries.

www.2merkato.com

Should teff be replaced by cassava?

Prime Minister Hailemariam Desalegn on Tuesday appeared before Parliament where he recommended a recipe opting to reduce the over dependency Ethiopians have on Teff. His comment came in the face of the ever hiking price of teff that is eventually making the grain unaffordable for many.
He also emphasized that the nutritional value one gets when eating injera [a sour pancake made from teff] alongside other food items ought to be the feeding habit of Ethiopians.
Historically, Ethiopians and teff are considered to be inseparable couples. However, according to pundits, while it is the preferred grain in making injera, its availability is limited by its high cost. Teff is currently the most expensive grain to purchase in Ethiopia as it requires labor-intensive harvesting and processing techniques, and produces especially low yields. Although teff covers the greatest land space in Ethiopia, it has the lowest yield per hectare, an average of 910kg/ha.
In line with this fact, do you think the Prime Minister’s comment has come at the right time?
Do you think that it is acceptable for Ethiopians to shift from Teff to other food items? How much important is to adapt a new feeding habit?

www.3dethiopianpolicy.com

In Ethiopia, HIV disclosure is low

In Ethiopia, where more than 1.2 million people are infected with HIV, disclosure of infection by patients is important in the fight against the disease. A new study led by a Brown sociology researcher investigates HIV-positive status disclosure rates among men and women in Africa’s second most populous country.

In the December 17 issue of AIDS Care, Ayalu Reda, a sociology graduate student, and colleagues from Jimma University in Ethiopia found that among a sample of 1,540 patients receiving antiretroviral treatment in eastern Ethiopia, a majority (66 percent) disclosed their HIV-positive status to their spouse, while fewer disclosed to siblings (17 percent) and other relatives (16.8 percent). A small number of patients (11.6 percent) did not disclose their infection status at all. None of the patients had disclosed to all of their family members. Unmarried and illiterate patients had higher levels of nondisclosure.

Reda said he was prompted to conduct the study after working in Ethiopian hospitals and seeing many patients refuse to use local medical centers, opting to be treated farther from home. “We suspected that this may be related to the fact that patients did not disclose their infection status to family members and did not want to risk being seen taking medications in nearby centers,” Reda said.

This study’s low disclosure rates confirmed his suspicions, highlighting a lack of awareness about the virus and a pervasive stigma surrounding those who are infected. “This will create significant obstacles to the life-long treatment process and the prevention of the spread of the virus. It may also increase drug resistance. Concerted counseling efforts need to be instituted to create a supportive environment whereby patients could successfully disclose their infection without fear of discrimination,” Reda said.

In addition to Reda, other authors on the paper were Sibhatu Biadgilign, Kebede Deribe and Amare Deribew from the College of Medical and Health Sciences at Jimma University, Ethiopia.

indepthafrica.com

The Increasing Problem of Stray Dogs in Addis Ababa

Addis Ababa, January 3, 2012 (Ezega.com) - A repeated issue that is raised by the neighborhood committee in the area that I live in is the issue of the ever increasing number of stray dogs. The committee resolved to contact the municipality offices after an elderly man was bitten but had to make the call several times before exterminators were finally sent with the promise that the problem would be dealt with.

“We were told that they would come on a certain night and take care of the problem and they did come and the next morning the neighborhood was littered with the dead bodies of several dogs but it was not  a very effective solution, the problem was still there’ said Ato Feleke, a resident of the neighborhood.

The method used by the municipality to address the problem are archaic, inhumane and not conscious of the consequences of leaving dead animals lying as well as being ineffective according to Feleke.

The problem created by seemingly uncontrollable packs of dogs is affecting all parts of the city including main thoroughfares used by people making use of the public transport system.

Lucy: Making Ethiopian Food Look Good

One of the complaints I've always heard leveled against Ethiopian food is that it isn't "pretty," or that it doesn't photograph well. The latter may often be true, because the texture and consistency of many Ethiopian dishes has a tendency to get lost in translation when photographed. A lovely, well-seasoned mound of stewed golden lentils can look like baby food in the wrong hands.
But I take issue with the idea that Ethiopian food isn't pretty. And I think the subject of this week's cafe review -- Lucy Ethiopian Restaurant & Lounge -- more than proves my point.

Last week, I complained bitterly about the tendency for Americans to eat a lot of bland, beige-colored food. I am not alone in this complaint; our fixation with beige food has become a national health concern. Wrote Juliann Schaeffer in the November 2088 issue of Today's Dietician, quoting Susan Bowerman, MS, RD, CSSD, a lecturer in the department of food science and nutrition at Cal Poly San Luis Obispo:

"We eat foods primarily based on their taste, their cost, and how convenient they are," [Bowerman] notes. "The food manufacturers have done a great job of creating many foods that are easy to eat, inexpensive, and rich in sugar, fat, and salt so that they taste good. Starches, fats, and sweets are the least expensive foods in the diet, so it's easy to see why we lean toward these 'brown/beige' foods. They fill us up for very little monetary cost, but there are significant health costs to a diet that is so high in refined carbohydrates and devoid of the vitamins, minerals, fiber, and phytochemicals that are so abundant in plant foods."