WORLD POPULATION: 7,972,475,000
POLITICS & POLICIES
August 16, 2022: SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — Bill Gates on Tuesday called for South Korea to become more involved in international efforts to prevent infectious diseases like COVID-19 as he stressed the need for the world to be better prepared for the next pandemic. Representing the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, Gates signed a memorandum of understanding with South Korea’s foreign and health ministries pledging further partnerships in projects aimed at improving public health tools in the developing world and advancing vaccines and treatments for infectious diseases
August 10, 2022: At a time when the COVID-19 pandemic has challenged the WHO’s mandate “to act as the directing and coordinating authority on international health work,” the unprecedented monkeypox outbreak presented the organization with a chance to prove its value to the global community. Instead, through its cautious approach and hesitancy, the WHO contributed to the conditions that facilitated the disease’s continued spread. As a result, the WHO faces more questions about where it fits into the COVID-battered landscape of global health governance. https://www.thinkglobalhealth.org/article/monkeypox-outbreak-and-whos-existential-crisis
August 2, 2022: The Biden administration on Tuesday named veteran FEMA official Robert Fenton to lead the government’s response to the monkeypox outbreak. Why it matters: The Biden administration has faced mounting pressure to do more to stop the spread of monkeypox, which has prompted three states to declare health emergencies. Driving the news: Fenton, a FEMA regional administrator, has over 25 years of experience in federal emergency response and will serve as the White House national monkeypox response coordinator.
https://www.axios.com/2022/08/02/biden-monkeypox-coordinator-robert-fenton
PROGRAMS, PROJECTS, CONFERENCES, GRANTS, AWARDS & EVENTS
The objective of the Program Towards Elimination of Tuberculosis Project is to improve the coverage and quality of TB control interventions in the private and public sector in targeted states of India. Growth has accelerated in the last two quarters to reach 8.2 percent in the first quarter of FY18-2019. This growth was supported by a revival in industrial activity, strong private consumption, and a rise in exports of goods and services. https://projects.worldbank.org/en/projects-operations/project-detail/P167523
August 17, 2022: Healthcare Information and Management Systems Society (parent company of Healthcare IT News) is launching an early invitation to thought leaders and experts to present at the 2023 HIMSS Global Health Conference & Exhibition, taking place April 17-21 in Chicago. Presentation topics span a wide range, including healthcare and technology solutions, critical advancements, best practices and other stories. The event draws tens of thousands of healthcare professionals annually.
https://www.healthcareitnews.com/news/call-proposals-himss-global-health-conference-exhibition
HISTORICAL, REPORTS, DOCUMENTS, DATA & INDEXES
September 2, 2022: A comprehensive historical assessment of knowledge and beliefs about disease transmission sheds light on why influential institutions worldwide took too long to recognize that COVID-19 is primarily airborne. The authors trace this deadly resistance one hundred years back in history, to the rejection of sickly air called ‘miasma,’ the rise of germ theory and our own stubborn tendency to retain beliefs in spite of accumulating evidence to the contrary. https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2022/09/220902122738.htm
RESEARCH
August 20, 2022: Understanding the magnitude of cancer burden attributable to potentially modifiable risk factors is crucial for development of effective prevention and mitigation strategies. We analysed results from the Global Burden of Diseases, Injuries, and Risk Factors Study (GBD) 2019 to inform cancer control planning efforts globally.https://www.thelancet.com/journals/lancet/article/PIIS0140-6736(22)01438-6/fulltext
DISEASES & DISASTERS
August 3, 2022: On 23 July, the World Health Organization declared the monkeypox outbreak a “public health emergency of international concern”. The move is designed to trigger a coordinated international response and could unlock funding for vaccines or treatments.https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2022/08/health-wellbeing-news-monkeypox-covid19/
August 2, 2022: Globally, only half (52%) of children living with HIV are on life-saving treatment. UNAIDS, UNICEF, and WHO have brought together a new alliance to fix one of the most glaring disparities in the AIDS response.
August 1, 2022: ALBANY, N.Y. (August 1, 2022) – The New York State Department of Health (NYSDOH) today updated New Yorkers on polio in New York State. Following the identification of a case of polio in a Rockland County resident, NYSDOH launched wastewater surveillance, among other detection efforts, to check for signs of the virus. Following analysis from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the polio virus was detected in samples from June in Rockland County. These findings underscore the critical importance of vaccination to protect all New Yorkers and New York children against polio.https://www.health.ny.gov/press/releases/2022/2022-08-01_polio.htm
TECHNOLOGY
The World Health Organization announced in April that it will consider changing its regimen recommendation for the Human Papillomavirus (HPV) vaccine , which protects against cervical cancer, the fourth most common cancer in women. https://www.fic.nih.gov/News/GlobalHealthMatters/Pages/who-debates-reducing-hpv-vaccine-schedule-one-dose.aspx
CLIMATE CHANGE & ENVIRONMENTAL HEALTH
August 31, 2022: MAHANDRI, Pakistan – The village of Mahandri was once a scenic stopover for tourists visiting the valley of Kaghan in Pakistan’s northernmost province of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa but recent flash floods have destroyed most of its infrastructure. The monsoon floods have killed about 14 people, washed away five restaurants, all 30 shops in the local market and destroyed health infrastructure in the village, which located on the Kunhar River. The river starts in the glaciers of the Kaghan valley, and melting ice has added to the deluge. https://healthpolicy-watch.news/climate-crisis-government-pakistan-floods/
August 8, 2022: The findings are based on a comprehensive review of more than 150 studies that looked at how children maintain physical activity, exercise and cope with heat, as well as how this might change as global temperatures rise. The research was published Aug. 5 in the journal Temperature. “Fitter adults are better able to tolerate higher temperatures, due to a combination of physiological, behavioral and psychological factors,” said Shawnda Morrison, an environmental exercise physiologist at Slovenia’s University of Ljubljana. She is an expert in adaptive and integrative human physiology in extreme environments.
EQUITY & DISPARITIES
August 31, 2022: Concern is growing that the scramble for scarce supplies of monkeypox vaccines could see some nations and high-risk groups miss out – recalling unequal global access to Covid-19 vaccines and HIV medication. The outbreak, which has reached nearly 100 countries outside of Africa, where the virus is endemic, is overwhelmingly being transmitted among men who have sex with men. They are getting priority for vaccination globally, but some face a longer wait than others.
https://www.eco-business.com/news/race-for-monkeypox-vaccines-exposes-global-health-inequality/
August 30, 2022: Human Rights Watch said Tuesday it examined more than 100 laws and policies concerning education, gender equity, and reproductive health, that are detrimental to the education of teenage mothers. Adi Radhakrishnan works with the rights group’s children rights division. He says some African laws have pushed young mothers out of school.
August 11, 2022: In the scramble for monkeypox vaccines, the European Union and the United States have once again left Africa behind. The World Health Organization says there are around 16 million doses, mostly in bulk form, of the only vaccine approved for protection against monkeypox. None are being distributed to Africans.
https://www.politico.eu/article/monkeypox-deals-fatal-blow-to-global-health-solidarity/
WOMEN, MATERNAL, NEONATAL & CHILDREN’S HEALTH
September 4, 2022: Over three violent days in early August, until a ceasefire was reached on 7 August, Israeli Defence Forces launched some 147 air strikes against targets in Gaza while Palestinian militants unleashed around 1,100 rockets and mortars into Israel. Briefing the Security Council on 8 August, Tor Wennesland, Special Coordinator for the Middle East Peace Process, reported that 46 Palestinians had been killed and 360 injured, and 70 Israelis injured.
https://news.un.org/en/story/2022/09/1125712
April 21, 2022: Since publishing this web story, the Women’s Health Research Institute has remained committed to finding ways to support research that is inclusive of all bodies that may benefit from it. As part of this work, Dr. Angela Kaida (Women’s Health Research Institute) and Bev Pomeroy (Island Health, Experience) are co-leading a project titled Beyond the Binary: Taking a patient-oriented and trauma-informed approach to building partnerships and dialogue to incorporate gender equity into women’s health research. This is a multi-stakeholder, participatory project intended to inform guidance for gender-equitable practice within BC’s women’s health research community. Through collaboration with people from intersecting trans, non-binary, intersex, Two-Spirit, queer, research, health, ethics, and academic communities, we aim to develop context-specific guidance, resources, and recommendations for researchers and health decision-makers. https://whri.org/beyond-the-binary-what-does-gender-inclusive-womens-health-research-look-like/
HUMANITARIAN, NONPROFITS, FOUNDATIONS & NGOS
September 1, 2022: GENEVA (AP) — China’s discriminatory detention of Uyghurs and other mostly Muslim ethnic groups in the western region of Xinjiang may constitute crimes against humanity, the U.N. human rights office said in a long-awaited report Wednesday, which cited “serious” rights violations and patterns of torture in recent years. The report seeks “urgent attention” from the U.N. and the world community to rights violations in Beijing’s campaign to root out terrorism.
August 29, 2022: In the Um Rakuba refugee camp in Sudan, donated medical supplies are vital to the survival of thousands of Tigrayan refugees who fled their homes in Ethiopia due to war. More than 2,000 miles away, Ukrainians who’ve fled their homes due to the Russian attack on Ukraine have similar emergency needs. https://www.taskforce.org/ethiopian-humanitarian-and-cnn-hero-ensures-medical-supplies-reach-people-affected-by-conflicts/
August 9, 2022: “The war increases levels of stress in pregnant women, which leads to an increase in the number of premature births reported,” Herve Verhoosel, Spokesperson for global health agency Unitaid, told journalists at a regular WHO press briefing. “Babies born prematurely are more likely to develop respiratory, neurological or digestive complications, conditions that often require oxygen for treatment”. https://news.un.org/en/story/2022/08/1124262
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