September 22, 2006
Outbreak in Africa of Network Broken Limbs Syndrome (Nebrols)
A new epidemic - known as Nebrols - that threatenes many lives in Africa, has been brought to light by Ugandan humorist, Joachim Buwembo. The BBC reports on Uganda's version of "Can you hear me now?".
"... In rural parts of Uganda, medical workers have found themselves overwhelmed by the number of elderly men and women who had sought treatment for broken arms and legs- which turns out to be the incidental outcomes of the spread of mobile phone use in Uganda.
The speed at which the mobile phone companies were rolling out their networks had not kept pace with the rate at which the phones were being bought and distributed all over the country.
So there were parts of rural Uganda in which there were plenty of elderly men and women with mobile phones, but where the network signal was so weak that the only way to make a phone call was to climb up a tree on some nearby hill, and make your call while clinging to its branches.
When old people begin to climb tall trees there is bound to be a sudden increase in falls and broken bones.
Hence the epidemic of Nebrols - an acronym for the Network Broken Limbs Syndrome. "
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