New Copyright body for Southern and Eastern Africa

According to Intellectual Property Watch, a new copyright body, Southern and Eastern Africa Copyright Network (SEACONET) has been formed to strengthen regional collaboration and cooperation in the field of creative industries, copyright and related rights.

The Malawi based body comprising of seventeen African countries will also focus on fighting piracy and harmonisation of copyright laws in the 17 affiliated sub-Saharan African countries.

According to the IPwatch report, the need to create the body is due to the lack of a regional forum where issues relating to the promotion and protection of creative industries, copyright and related rights could be discussed.
The body, according to Allafrica.com is to come up with new methods of combating piracy in the region and to create an information database for artistic and cultural activities.
The countries involved are Angola, Botswana, Kenya, Lesotho, Madagascar, Malawi, Mauritius, Mozambique, Namibia, South Africa, Swaziland, Seychelles, Tanzania, Uganda, Zambia and Zimbabwe

Preventive treatment of Malaria reduces anaemia and improves classroom attention in school children

According to a research report published in the current issue of the Lancet, preventive treatment for malaria reduces the prevalence of malaria infection and anaemia among schoolchildren, and significantly improves their classroom attention. However, in contrast to a study done in Sri Lanka, the study did not find improvement in educational achievement among the children.

The study by a team of scientists from Kenya, UK and US, and funded by Gates malaria Partnership was carried out in 30 primary schools in Western Kenya among children aged 5-8 years who were given the treatment at 4 months interval.

The report further observes that even though some children did not complete the dose of treatment because of the bitter taste of the malarial drug amodiaquine, the outcome was similar among the children who received complete and incomplete treatment.

According to the report, the findings illustrate the “possible gains of integrating malaria control into broader school health programmes” and there may need for further research to investigate any long-term educational benefits.