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Showing posts from June, 2020

WHO speaks at the European Parliament on the COVID-19 response

On June 25, WHO Director General Dr Tedros  Adhanom Ghebreyesus and Dr Hand Kluge, Regional Director of WHO Europe, spoke at the European Parliament Committee for Environment, Public Health and Food Safety (ENVI) on the fight against COVID-19 and the global response and highlighted the leadership of the European Union during this unprecedented time.  “The EU is in a unique position to provide global leadership in defining the “new normal” as part of the global recovery”, Dr Tedros said.  He reminded parlamentarians, that “although the situation in Europe has improved, globally it is still getting worse” and he added that “In the first month of this outbreak, less than 10,000 cases were reported to WHO. In the last month, almost 4 million cases have been reported.”. The pandemic is showing how essential it is for governments at all levels, including local governments, to strengthen their capacity for prevention, preparedness and response.  But plans for the post-COVID-19 recovery, a...
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Partners in health: Germany and France commit to increased support to WHO affirming the Organization’s crucial role in global public health

Germany and France have reconfirmed their political, financial and technical support to WHO. His Excellency Olivier Véran, Minister for Solidarity and Health of the Republic of France, and His Excellency Jens Spahn Minister of Health of the Federal Republic of Germany, met with WHO Director General Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus in Geneva on 25 June to discuss the status of the global COVID-19 pandemic and measures to help countries where it continues to spread. “WHO is honoured to welcome you both here today,” said Dr Tedros during the press conference that followed the tripartite meeting, “we offer our sincere thanks for your expression of solidarity and support. We’re getting today all the support we need, political and financial.  I would like to express my gratitude.” Germany will lead the EU Presidency for the next six months. “Global health and managing the pandemic will be key themes,” said Minister Spahn. “This is why I came to discuss the Presidency plans and ways to support...
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Timeline of WHO’s response to COVID-19

WHO provides this timeline of the organization’s COVID-19 response activities for general information. WHO will update the timeline on a regular basis and in light of evolving events and new information. Unless noted otherwise, country-specific information and data are as reported to WHO by its Member States. This timeline continues in the spirit of, and supersedes, the WHO Rolling Updates and the WHO Timeline statement published in April 2020. It is not intended to be exhaustive and does not contain details of every event or WHO activity. As of 29 June 2020, the following milestones and events focused on COVID-19 have taken place: • The Director-General and Executive Director of the WHO Health Emergencies Programme have held 74 media briefings. The Director-General's opening remarks, transcripts, videos and audio recordings for these media briefings are available online. • There have been 23 Member State Briefings and information sessions. • EPI-WIN, WHO’s information network for ...
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8th TRIAD Meeting: Statement

The 2020 “Triad Statement” was issued at the close of the 8th biennial meeting of the WHO, the International Confederation of Midwives, and the International Council of Nurses.  In 2020 the Triad Meeting took place under the dual spotlight of the International Year of the Nurse and the Midwife and the COVID-19 pandemic.  The resulting Triad Statement focuses on actions that participants in their respective roles agree to take to support WHO Member States in strengthening nursing and midwifery towards priority health targets, including responding to COVID-19 and achieving universal health coverage.  http://dlvr.it/RZbzp0
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Final Statement on the 8th meeting of the International Health Regulations (2005)

Emergency Committee for Ebola virus disease in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (provinces of Ituri, North Kivu, and South Kivu) on 26 June 2020 The 8th meeting of the Emergency Committee, convened by the WHO Director-General under the International Health Regulations (IHR) (2005) to review the Ebola virus disease (EVD) outbreak in the Ituri, North Kivu, and South Kivu provinces of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), took place on Friday, 26 June 2020, from 13:00 to 15:50 Geneva time (CEST). The Committee’s role is to give advice to the Director-General, who makes the final decision on the determination of a Public Health Emergency of International Concern (PHEIC) and issues Temporary Recommendations as appropriate. Proceedings of the meeting Members and advisors of the Emergency Committee were convened by teleconference. The Secretariat welcomed the Committee and thanked them for their support. The Director-General welcomed the Committee and expressed gratitude for al...
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Act-Accelerator update

* The tools developed will benefit the whole world, and by saving lives and reducing severe COVID-19 disease, contribute to the goal of protecting health systems and restoring full societal and economic activity globally in the near term, and facilitating high-level control of COVID-19 disease in the medium term. * The consolidated investment case calls for US$31.3 billion over the next 12 months[1]. US$3.4 billion has been contributed to date, resulting in a funding gap of US$27.9 billion, of which $13.7 billion is urgently needed. * Pillar plans published today show a path to the accelerated development, equitable allocation, and scaled up delivery of 500 million tests to LMIC’s by mid-2021, 245 million courses of treatments to LMICs by mid-2021, and 2 billion vaccine doses, of which 1 billion will be purchased for LMICs, by the end of 2021. Today, the Access to COVID-19 Tools Accelerator (ACT-Accelerator) published its consolidated investment case, alongside the costed plans of t...
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10th Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of the Congo declared over; vigilance against flare-ups and support for survivors must continue

Today marks the end of the 10th outbreak of Ebola virus disease in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC). This long, complex and difficult outbreak has been overcome due to the leadership and commitment of the Government of the DRC, supported by the World Health Organization (WHO), a multitude of partners, donors, and above all, the efforts of the communities affected by the virus.  WHO congratulates all those involved in the arduous and often dangerous work required to end the outbreak, but stresses the need for vigilance. Continuing to support survivors and maintaining strong surveillance and response systems in order to contain potential flare-ups is critical in the months to come. "The outbreak took so much from all of us, especially from the people of DRC, but we came out of it with valuable lessons, and valuable tools. The world is now better-equipped to respond to Ebola. A vaccine has been licensed, and effective treatments identified,” said WHO Director-General Dr T...
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News Scan for Jun 22, 2020

Corona in India - NIH halts hydroxychloroquine trialsPandemic depression, anxiety in new momsEbola in the DRCCyclospora outbreak tied to salad || Corona Cases http://dlvr.it/RZCgZ7
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The World Health Organization reminds public to remain vigilant through Mr Bean’s Essential COVID-19 Checklist

Public Service Announcement reminds people about the importance of washing hands, physical distancing and showing kindness The World Health Organization (WHO), Project Everyone and Tiger Aspect Productions have partnered to launch a Public Service Announcement (PSA) using global comedy cartoon star, Mr Bean.   With cases of COVID-19 continuing to rise globally, “Mr Bean’s Essential COVID-19 Checklist” is a reminder to people about the importance of washing hands, physical distancing and demonstrating kindness to their neighbours. The PSA features a cartoon sketch of Mr Bean comically tackling a pesky roller blind to finally reveal a number of essential tips to protect people against COVID-19.    Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, Director-General of the World Health Organization, said: “COVID-19 affects every walk of human life, and we need to use all tools and avenues at our disposal to share life-saving information with all people around the world. I am grateful for the support of t...
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Statement from Dr Mike Ryan, Executive Director, WHO Health Emergencies Programme at the Yemen High-level Pledging Conference

(Thank you Mark, Shukran Dr. Al Rabeeah) I am speaking today on behalf of WHO Director-General Dr Tedros, and of Dr Ahmed Al-Mandhari, WHO Regional Director for the Eastern Mediterranean Region  Excellencies, distinguished delegates, ladies and gentlemen, salam aleikum,  As we all know, Yemen is the most complex humanitarian operation in the world.   Indeed, when Dr Al-Mandhari  - who is also participating in this event - visited Yemen last year, he saw parents who were desperate to find help for their sick children; an elderly man die before his eyes as doctors tried to save him, and he met  the son of one doctor who died of cholera while treating patients with the disease.  The situation has since become much worse. But in spite of it all, for the past five years, WHO and our partners have stood with the people of Yemen. When the world’s largest cholera outbreak hit, we together reversed the cycle of disease, protecting more than 10 million people. When measles threatened, we t...
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World Food Safety Day 2020: UN experts in Facebook live event on 5 June 2020

On 7 June 2020, the United Nations will mark the second global World Food Safety Day, led by two of its specialized agencies, the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) and the World Health Organization (WHO). Food safety is a shared responsibility, and everyone has a role to play including governments, industry, producers, business operators and consumers. This is reflected in the theme of the day ‘Food safety: everyone’s business!’ FAO and WHO are supporting their Members in efforts to provide enough safe food for all and to enable people to trust that what they eat is safe. Events such as World Food Safety Day help by highlighting the critical role played by all those who work to ensure that they are not derailed by disruptions and other challenges to continue keeping foods safe. On Friday, 5 June, ahead of World Food Safety Day 2020, FAO and WHO will hold a virtual celebration including video messages from FAO Director-General QU Dongyu and WHO Director-Ge...
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Record number of countries contribute data revealing disturbing rates of antimicrobial resistance

Geneva—A record number of countries are now monitoring and reporting on antibiotic resistance - marking a major step forward in the global fight against drug resistance. But the data they provide reveals that a worrying number of bacterial infections are increasingly resistant to the medicines at hand to treat them. “As we gather more evidence, we see more clearly and more worryingly how fast we are losing critically important antimicrobial medicines all over the world,” said Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, Director-General of the World Health Organization (WHO). “These data underscore the importance both of protecting the antimicrobials we have and developing new ones, to effectively treat infections, preserve health gains made in the last century and ensure a secure future.” Since the WHO’s Global Antimicrobial Resistance and Use Surveillance System (GLASS) report in 2018, participation has grown exponentially. In only three years of existence, the system now aggregates data from ...
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Health Workers: Get the WHO Academy COVID-19 app!

With COVID-19 science now doubling every 20 days and new guidance being published daily by WHO, health workers face the challenge of keeping up with constantly evolving information related to this disease. http://dlvr.it/RZ4VvH
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Corona in India - Are Antigens the Answer to Coronavirus Testing in unlock || Corona Cases

 A new type of test under development could provide another way to identify people actively infected with the novel coronavirus. Like the diagnostic tests already in use— known as PCR tests— these new tests would spot the virus itself. They would detect protein molecules called antigens that sit on the surface of the virus. The technology for COVID-19 antigen tests has been around for years. It's the same that's used in rapid strep and flu tests. These tests would be equipped with another kind of protein—an antibody— that would recognize and bind to the coronavirus antigens. So, from nasal swab to test result would take just a few minutes. The COVID-19 antigen tests would be much simpler to make and operate than PCR tests. They also would be easier to scale up and offer widely. But experience with other rapid antigen tests suggests tests probably won’t be as accurate as PCR. This is because PCR finds and makes many copies of the virus’s genetic material so that it’s more d...
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Corona in India - How Do Serology Tests Work for COVID-19 || Corona Cases

 Many people have been calling for more antibody tests for the novel coronavirus. And antibody tests certainly are important but it’s essential to understand a bit more about how these tests work and how the results will be used. So antibody tests are a type of test called a “serological” test and they detect the presence of antibody proteins made by our immune systems to fight infections like the one caused by the novel coronavirus. But it can take many days after infection for our immune system to make antibodies that can become detectable by lab tests. That means that antibody tests aren’t very useful in identifying people who have recently become ill with the virus. Serological antibody tests are best used many days or even weeks after someone has had the infection. So serological test results give us information about who may have had the infection in the past. Right now, we don’t know if having antibodies to the novel coronavirus means that a person can’t get re-infected. ...
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Corona in India - How front end warriors are fighting the coronavirus in unlock 1.0 || Corona Cases

 The novel coronavirus has been declared a global health emergency by the World Health Organisation. So how are scientists responding? And what can science doto help control the outbreak? A top priority is epidemiology. Epidemiologists are on the front line, tryingto understand how and why the virus is spreading. They gather data on the timingand location of new cases, where new infections are coming from and how long symptoms take to appear. These data go into models that can predicthow fast the infection might spread. This is critical for both creating containment plans, and assessing whether counter-measuresare actually working. By looking at the patterns of spread, epidemiologists can infer the mode of transmission, such as in saliva or through the air. Epidemiologists also need to know whetherpeople who are infected but not showing symptoms could still pass on the disease, something which would make thiscoronavirus harder to wipe out. Understanding the source of the virus is ...
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Corona in India - Fighting Coronavirus with Soap in unlock 1.0 || Corona Cases

 Washing your hands with soap is possibly thesimplest way to flush pathogens down the drain. Soap molecules can interact with pathogens,such as coronavirus leading to their destruction. Each molecule has 2 parts. The head is hydrophilic, which means it likesto interact with water, while the lipid tail is hydrophobic, which means it wants to getaway from water to find similar, water-avoiding particles. This is the basis of how soap works. When the molecules encounter lipid particleson our skin, the tails aggregate around them to form spherical structures called micelles, creating water-free environment. Similar thing happens when they encounterenveloped viruses such as coronavirus. Enveloped viruses carry their genome and supportingproteins inside a lipid bilayer membrane with the proteins necessary for infection embeddedin the membrane. In cells and viruses these lipids are packed neatly into 2 sheets with the lipid tails facing inward. The lipid ends of the soap molecules are att...
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Corona in India - How to Fight with Corona In Unlock 1.0 || Corona Cases

 For almost a decade, scientists chased the source of a deadly new virus through China’s tallest mountains and most isolated caverns. They finally found it here: in the bats of Shitou Cave. The virus in question was a coronavirus that caused an epidemic of severe acute respiratory syndrome, or SARS, in 2003. Coronaviruses are a group of viruses covered in little protein spikes that look like a crown— or "corona" in Latin. There are hundreds of known coronaviruses. Seven of them infect humans, and can cause disease. The coronavirus SARS-CoV causes SARS, MERS-CoV causes MERS, and SARS-CoV-2 causes the disease COVID-19. Of the seven human coronaviruses, four cause colds, mild, highly contagious infections of the nose and throat. Two infect the lungs, and cause much more severe illnesses. The seventh, which causes COVID-19, has features of each: it spreads easily, but can severely impact the lungs. When an infected person coughs, droplets containing the virus spray out. The viru...
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