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Nigerian city counts its dead after days of Christian-Muslim riots

Officials were counting the dead in a central Nigerian city yesterday after two days of violent clashes between Christian and Muslim gangs. Nearly 400 bodies are reported to have been received at the main mosque in Jos, while there are also expected to be a significant number of Christian casualties. Thousands of people fled their homes in the city after rival mobs burned houses, shops, and several churches and mosques in the worst sectarian violence in the country since 2004. Witnesses said sporadic gunfire could still be heard yesterday morning, as the army patrolled the city following a 24-hour curfew, during which soldiers had orders to shoot on sight. "The situation ... is gradually returning to normal," Brigadier Emeka Onwuamaegbu told Agence France-Presse. "There've not been any cases this morning of any destruction or violence."A police spokesman said there were "many dead" but there has been no official confirmation of the number killed. The violence was triggered by elections in Plateau state, where Jos is the capital. It sits at the fertile crossroads between Nigeria's Christian south and Muslim north, and has a history of religious strife. The mainly Christian-backed People's Democratic party, which currently holds federal power, was reported to have won the poll - the first in Jos in more than a decade - on Thursday. But supporters of the All Nigeria People's party, which has strong Muslim support, suspected vote-rigging after the official results were not posted at the ballot counting centres.Clashes between gangs of Hausa Muslims and mostly Christian Beroms began on Thursday night and continued into Saturday afternoon. Security forces were deployed from neighbouring states to try to quell the violence. Patrolling on foot and in armoured personnel carriers, the soldiers detained more than 500 people. The road from the north was blocked and flights to the city cancelled. Local religious and ethnic leaders made appeals for calm on the radio.Murtala Sani Hashim, who was responsible for registering bodies brought to the main mosque in Jos, said yesterday that the tally of the dead was 367. The Jos University Teaching Hospital had received 25 bodies, and 154 injured people. "Gunshot wounds, machete injuries - those are the two main types," said Dr Aboi Madaki, the hospital's director of clinical services.Dan Tom, a Nigerian Red Cross official, said some bodies had not yet been cleared off the streets. "Over 10,000 people have been displaced from their homes and are now seeking refuge in churches, mosques, and army and police barracks," he said. Communal violence in Nigeria, which has a roughly equal population of Christians and Muslims, is often inflamed by the country's rough politics. Local elections are always tense because state authorities control huge budgets. But competition for resources at an individual level is often the main cause of clashes. In Nigeria's "middle belt", tensions have been simmering for years between mainly Christians and animist minority groups, regarded as indigenous to the area, and Hausa settlers and migrants from the Muslim north. In 2001, 1,000 people died in sectarian fighting in Jos.NigeriaChristianityIslamReligionguardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2008 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds

Only five out of 51 hospitals pass hygiene test, say inspectors

Nearly all hospitals are failing to meet hygiene and cleanliness standards set by the government to prevent superbug outbreaks, inspectors say today. Most of the breaches are not serious, but the Healthcare Commission warns that only consistent and comprehensive controls in all NHS trusts will ensure that infection rates for MRSA, Clostridium difficile and other hospital-acquired infections continue to fall."At nearly all trusts we have found gaps that need closing," said Anna Walker, the commission's chief executive. "It is important to be clear that at these trusts we are not talking about the most serious kind of breaches. But these are important warning signs to trust boards that there may be a weakness in their systems."At three out of the 51 trusts (around a third of the total) where unannounced spot checks took place, inspectors found serious breaches of the government's hygiene code. Bromley Hospitals NHS trust, Ipswich Hospitals NHS trust and Ashford and St Peter's NHS trust were all issued with improvement notices which require urgent action to safeguard patients. More than half of all the trusts were failing to keep all areas clean and well-maintained. One in five trusts did not properly comply with the rules on decontamination of instruments and other equipment used with patients. One in eight did not have adequate isolation facilities for patients who have picked up infections, which is extremely important for preventing the spread between patients on wards.However, the commission said it was encouraged by the positive steps many trusts had taken to remedy the breaches it had identified. Out of the 51 trusts, only five had a completely clean bill of health. These were Barking, Havering and Redbridge Hospitals NHS trust, Kingston Hospital NHS trust, Leeds Teaching Hospitals NHS trust, St George's Healthcare NHS trust and St Helen's and Knowsley Hospitals NHS trust.Walker said that generally, trusts were paying close attention to infection prevention and control and their efforts appeared to be bringing rates down. But the commission wants to see compliance with the hygiene code all of the time and for every patient. "It is the consistent application of these systems that will ensure infection rates continue to drop. These issues are a top priority for the public. We make no apologies for demanding high standards. We have been asked by the government to help maintain the concentration on these issues and we intend to do just that."The commission is warning trusts that they must comply before they can register with the new Care Quality Commission, which begins work next April and will be able to impose conditions on trusts and levy fines if they fail.Health minister Ann Keen said any breach of the code was unacceptable and trusts must take immediate action.MRSA and superbugsNHSHealthguardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2008 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds

Errors test openness at Beth Israel Deaconess

For the past year, Paul Levy, president of Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, has more than ever before staked his reputation on "transparency," particularly about medical errors inside his Harvard teaching hospital.