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COVID-19: Omicron Spreading Faster Than Delta Variant — WHO

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3 years ago

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The World Health Organisation (WHO) has said there is now “consistent evidence” that the Omicron variant was outpacing Delta, as COVID-19 continues to account for around 50,000 deaths worldwide every week.

WHO Director General, Tedros Ghebreyesus told journalists at the agency’s Headquarters in Geneva that it was also more likely that people who had been vaccinated, or recovered from the virus, could be infected, or re-infected.

“There can be no doubt that increased social mixing over the holiday period in many countries will lead to increased cases, overwhelm health systems and more deaths.

“All of us are sick of this pandemic. All of us want to spend time with friends and family. All of us want to get back to normal.

“The fastest way to do that is for all of us – leaders and individuals – to make the difficult decisions that must be made to protect ourselves and others,” he said.

He said delaying or cancelling events, was the responsible thing to do: “An event cancelled is better than a life cancelled. It’s better to cancel now and celebrate later, than to celebrate now and grieve later.”

More than 3.3 million people have lost their lives to COVID-19 this year – more deaths than from HIV, malaria and tuberculosis combined in 2020, and Africa was now facing a steep wave of infections, driven largely by the Omicron variant.

Just a month ago, Africa was reporting its lowest number of cases in 18 months, Ghebreyesus reminded reporters on Monday, whereas last week, it reported the fourth-highest number of cases in a single week so far.

“None of us want to be here again in 12 months’ time, talking about missed opportunities, continued inequity, or new variants,” he said.

The director general emphasised that for the pandemic to end in 2022, “we must end inequity, by ensuring 70 per cent of the population of every country is vaccinated by the middle of next year.”

Around the world, the WHO was working with countries to restore and sustain essential health services disrupted by the pandemic.

According to new data released this year, 23 million children missed out on routine vaccines in 2020, the largest number in over a decade, increasing risks from preventable diseases like measles and polio, the UN correspondent of the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reported.

Progress is, however, still being made in many other areas of healthcare and medicine.

Five countries were able to introduce the human papillomavirus vaccine (HPV) to prevent cervical cancer, and a further nine are planning to introduce it over the next six months, and in September, WHO launched a global road map to defeat meningitis by 2030.

The pandemic has also caused setbacks in the agency’s efforts to defeat the world’s leading infectious diseases, with an estimated 14 million more malaria cases and 47 thousand more malaria deaths in 2020, compared to 2019.

“However, WHO certified two countries – China and El Salvador – as malaria-free this year, and a further 25 are on track to end malaria transmission by 2025,” Ghebreyesus said.

He said the WHO also made an historic recommendation for broad use of the world’s first malaria vaccine.

Services for non-communicable diseases have also been hit, with more than half of countries surveyed between June and October, reporting disruptions to services for diabetes, cancer screening and treatment, and management of hypertension.

Summing up a tumultuous year, he also noted that several important steps had been taken to strengthen the global health architecture, and WHO itself.

“We launched the WHO Hub for Pandemic and Epidemic Intelligence in Berlin; We broke ground on the WHO Academy in Lyon; We established the WHO BioHub System,” he said.

In early December, Member States agreed to negotiate the world’s first new agreement on pandemic preparedness and response.

“We have also taken decisive steps to address instances of sexual exploitation and abuse and to make sure that our people meet the high standards that we, and our Member States, expect of them.

“We took decisive steps to address sexual exploitation, following shocking revelations of alleged abuse committed by some WHO staff during the deadly tenth Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of the Congo,’’ he said.

“2022 must be the year we end the pandemic,” said the director general, but to prevent a future disaster on the same scale, all countries must invest in resilient health systems, build on primary care, with universal health coverage as the goal.

“When people can’t access the services they need, or can’t afford them, individuals, families, communities and entire societies are put at risk.

“In the year ahead, WHO is committed to doing everything in our power to end the pandemic, and to beginning a new era in global health – an era in which health is at the centre of every country’s development plans,” he said.

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Justice Okamgba is journalist at Grassroots.ng

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Neptune Prime publisher to unveil cancer clinic, school, foundation for late journalists’ families as son weds in Yobe

Published

3 months ago

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August 29, 2024

By

publisher of Neptune Prime newspapers, Dr Hassan Gimba
Publisher of Neptune Prime newspapers, Dr Hassan Gimba

The publisher of Neptune Prime newspapers, Dr Hassan Gimba, has announced plans to commission three major projects in his home state, Yobe State

In an invitation letter sent to newsmen on Wednesday, the publisher disclosed that the event, which is scheduled to take place on August 31, is coinciding with the wedding Fatiha of his son, Barrister Suleiman Gimba.

According to the letter, the wedding Fatiha will take place by 11:00am at the residence of Mohammed Babate, Behind Water Board, Army Barracks, Potiskum.

“Immediately after the wedding Fatihah, we will be commissioning the Hafsatu Gimba Ahmed Memorial School located at VIO Street, Unguwar Jaji, Potiskum.

“This institution is dedicated to the memory of my late mother, aiming to serve the educational needs of our community,” the letter noted.

Dr Gimba added that as part of the launch programme, the Abubakar Monja Lifeline Foundation for Late Journalists’ Families, which he founded to cater to the families of journalists who have passed away, will be empowering youths it trained in tailoring and plumbing.

“Additionally, I would like to invite you to inspect the ongoing construction of the Lami Fatima Babare Cancer Outreach and Clinic situated nearby, also in Unguwar Jaji.

“The clinic is an initiative of the Lami Fatima Babare Cervical Cancer Foundation, which was founded in 2020 – in memory of my late wife, Lami Fatima Babare – to provide medical services and referrals to cancer patients,” the letter noted.

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Enugu State Gov’t Moves to Revamp Oji River College of Health Technology,

…beefs up security

Published

3 months ago

on

August 25, 2024

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Health Technology in Oji River

The Enugu State Government has announced its intention to revamp the existing infrastructural facilities to give the Enugu State College of Health Technology in Oji River a face-lift and also scale-up institution to a technology-savvy citadel of learning.

The government made this known during a meeting with the management, staff, and students of the institution at the Enugu State Government House at the weekend, stressing its commitment to ensuring quality health service delivery in the state.

The government, which made this known through the Special Adviser on Health Matters, Dr. Yomi Jaye, also asked the students of the institution to go back to school and continue with their academic calendar, as all those involved in the recent breach of security in the school’s neighborhood had been rounded up and now facing the law.

The governor equally gave the college management a two-week ultimatum  to develop a workplan, which the government would work on to ensure that the school functions at its optimum level.

Briefing Government House correspondents after the meeting, Dr. Jaye said, “We interacted with the management, staff and students of the Enugu State College of Health Technology, Orji River, to come up with a strategic plan to revamp the college and restore its lost glory.

His Excellency, Governor Peter Mbah, has expressed his willingness not only to revamp the school, but to upscale it to a technology-savvy teaching community.

“As you can see, the government is bullish about building Type-2 Healthcare Centre in each of the 260 wards and this college will produce some of the qualified workers that will deliver quality healthcare services to Ndi Enugu.

“We appeal to the parents and guardians to allow the students to go back to school and resume their academic activities as more security personnel have been deployed to make sure that both Oji River and its neighbouring communities are properly secured.

“It is also important to inform you that those who perpetrated the security breach have since been arrested and the victims, which included one student, also freed,” he maintained.

Also speaking, the Provost of the College, Dr. Lazarus Ezugwu, expressed his happiness over the state government’s move to revamp the institution, saying he was optimistic that the glory of the institution would be restored in no distant time.

When commending Governor Peter Mbah and the security agencies for their swift response to the recent security breach at the College, he also confirmed that security had been strengthened around the institution and Oji River in general.

“The meeting is such a commendable one. It goes a long way in telling us the type of visionary leader we have in the state. To be sincere, the total overhaul that will be done in the college is going to be enormous. What is coming to the college cannot be imagined because the governor has shown both special interest and political will. This is what we have been yearning for, for so many years,” Dr. Ezugwu stated.

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FP2030 Report Links Family Planning & Gender Equality

…The 2023 data report reveals that more women and girls than ever have access to family planning

Published

6 months ago

on

May 12, 2024

By

FP2030 Report
Source - internet: mother and child having a moment

FP2030 has launched its 2023 measurement report, Meeting the Moment: Family Planning and Gender Equality.

FP2030 Report
Dr. Martin Migombano-FP2030

The 2023 report shows significant achievements in family planning across the globe, even in the face of stagnant funding.

Speaking during the launch of the 2023 annual measurement report in Washington DC, Dr. Samukeliso Dube, FP2030 executive director, said:

“In this report, you will hear more success stories: more people than ever before are using voluntary, rights-based contraception. You will also learn more about the opportunities ahead.”

The links between family planning and gender equality are the central theme of this year’s measurement report.

The data set covers 85 countries, including for the first time Botswana and Namibia, two middle-income countries that have now made commitments to FP2030, and Jordan, which has moved into the lower-middle income category.

The report showed that in the 85 countries reviewed there are over 1 billion women of reproductive age; an estimated 377 million of those women are using a modern method of contraception, 92 million more than were using a method in 2012. 

“This year’s report comes at a critical time in our movement. We are at the intersection of several crises: globally, 800 women are dying every day in childbirth. 218 million women in the global south countries have an unmet need for modern contraception – meaning they want to avoid a pregnancy but are not using a modern method,” added Dr. Dube.

The movement for rights-based family planning is an integral part of the global push for gender equality.

Gender is at the root of every person’s ability to make and carry out decisions about sex, contraception, and sexual and reproductive health.

As the global push for gender equality gains strength, FP2030 affirms the central importance of rights-based, gender-transformative family planning. 

Dr Sheila Macharia -FP2030 Report
Dr Sheila Macharia

The report is the first to fully reflect the impact of FP2030’s move to decentralize from one secretariat in Washington DC, to five regional hubs in Nairobi, Kenya; Abuja, Nigeria; Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia; and Panama City, Panama; to ensure that the partnership is driven by regional priorities.

The report contains demographic updates from each region, as well as a special focus on postpartum family planning, a topic chosen by the Regional Hubs, as a high impact practice with demonstrated ability to improve maternal and newborn health outcomes and increase uptake of contraception.

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