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Sources

Prayers Are Not The Cure For Malaria

In southeastern Congo, where a malaria outbreak is killing young children, some believe the disease has mystical origins and turn to higher powers rather than doctors.

Baby receiving treatment for malaria at a municipal hospital in M'banza Congo
Baby receiving treatment for malaria at a municipal hospital in M'banza Congo
Maurice Mulamba

KONGOLO — The prayer and liberation ceremony in this southeastern Congolese city has been abruptly interrupted. The parents of a 4-year-old boy named Joyce, suffering from malaria, had brought him to the church earlier on this Monday morning, hoping it would heal him. But he died before the rite ended.

When the mother saw that her boy was dead, she threw herself to the floor, as her tears and those of her relatives instantly replaced the prayers and the songs. The priest's calls for calm had no effect on Joyce's family members, desperate and angry for not succeeding in saving the small boy.

"He only had fever for two days at home," cries Joyce's father.

Since September, panic has taken over the whole Kongolo area. Malaria has killed many — mostly young children aged under five. Emmanuel Mpungu, a local activist, claims that more than 20 children under the age of five are dying every day in the area. "The civil society has already warned the political and administrative authorities and the sanitary services," Mpungu explains.

There are some discrepancies about the death toll. John Bahati, the top local medical official, says that his structure reported 20 malaria-related deaths in September. But, he adds, "the numbers of the civil society aren't necessarily wrong. The deaths can be registered in different organizations, public or private."

Desperate, some parents turn to the church, hoping to find an improbable recovery for their children. "Never before have we seen such an epidemic in our territory, with so many deaths. Malaria, anemia, respiratory infections: All these diseases have exhausted and weakened our children," says Louise Kabwit. This 40-year-old mother believes, like many others, that the evil hitting their land is mystical. "Only God can save us," she says, resigned.

Heat and bugs

Some churches — especially those belonging to the "renewal movement" — take advantage of such groundless superstitions and ordain days, sometimes weeks, of prayers and fast. They claim to be doing this to liberate the territory from "the spirit of malaria."

But there are much more rational explanation for the resurgence of malaria at this time of year, i.e. rising autumn temperatures, after a comparitively cool July and August. This sudden change in temperatures creates extra risks for children and elderly people, while mosquitoes multiply in the heat and can cause the malaria virus to spread. "So you see, there's nothing mysterious about it," Bahati comments.

Families are warned to be wary of any first sign of fever among their children or old people and take them to appropriate medical structures. But there's only one reference hospital in the whole territory and patients there complain of the lack of aid and poor hygiene conditions.

"It's because the healthcare is of such poor quality that the sick choose instead to go and see traditional practitioners or priests," reckons Luc Mumba, another leading activist of Kongolo. But when it comes to malaria, it is only in the hospital where anyone stands a chance of being cured.

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Future

Pausing AI Research: Are Humans Intelligent Enough To Do The Right Thing?

Everyone from Elon Musk to Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak to top Artificial Intelligence researchers have signed a public petition calling on a six-month moratorium on AI research. The ultimate decision will be left in the hands of humans, who are smart, but also vain and greedy.

Photo of Israel Protest against Judicial Reform in Tel Aviv, Israel

Israeli-born author Yuval Noah Harari is one of the leading voices urging caution about AI development

Pierre Haski

-Analysis-

PARIS — A request for a six-month moratorium on artificial intelligence research, shared Wednesday by the Future of Life foundation, garnered over 1,000 signatures within hours from leading engineers and entrepreneurs in American technology. Notable signatories include Elon Musk, the head of Tesla and SpaceX; Steve Wozniak, the co-founder of Apple; and the visionary author Yuval Noah Harari.

Their request is simple: they're calling for a six-month moratorium on any new research into AI tools that goes beyond what has already been accomplished by conversational software such as GPT-4, which has attracted significant attention.

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