Tag: World Health Organisation (WHO)

Coronavirus impact: Not the time to reduce the resources of WHO, says UN chief

KV Prasad Jun 13, 2022, 06:35 AM IST (Published)

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It is “not the time to reduce the resources for the operations of the World Health Organization or any other humanitarian organization in the fight against the virus,” United Nations Secretary General Antonio Guterres said Tuesday.

“It is my belief that the World Health Organization must be supported, as it is absolutely critical to the world’s efforts to win the war against COVID-19,” he said, after US President Donald Trump announced earlier that his country would cut off funding to the UN health body for mishandling the coronavirus pandemic.

US President Donald Trump on Tuesday announced halting America’s funding of the World Health Organization while a review is being conducted to assess its role in “severely mismanaging and covering up” the spread of the deadly coronavirus.

“Today I am instructing my administration to halt funding of the World Health Organization while a review is conducted to assess the World Health Organization’s role in severely mismanaging and covering up the spread of the coronavirus. Everybody knows what has gone on there,” Trump told reporters at his daily White House news conference on the pandemic.

The novel coronavirus, which originated from Wuhan City of central China’s Hubei province in November, has so far killed at least 1,19,000 people globally, including more than 25,000 in the United States, according to Johns Hopkins University.

Elon Musk forms several ‘X Holdings’ companies to fund potential Twitter buyout

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Thursday’s filing dispelled some doubts, though Musk still has work to do. He and his advisers will spend the coming days vetting potential investors for the equity portion of his offer, according to people familiar with the matter

KV Prasad Journo follow politics, process in Parliament and US Congress. Former Congressional APSA-Fulbright Fellow

WHO hails India’s decision on lockdown extension

KV Prasad Jun 13, 2022, 06:35 AM IST (Published)

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The WHO on Tuesday welcomed Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s announcement on the extension of the nationwide lockdown till May 3 due to coronavirus scare.

Dr Poonam Khetrapal Singh, Regional Director for South-East Asia of the World Health Organization, said that a six-week nationwide lockdown to facilitate effective physical distancing, coupled with expansion of core public health measures, will benefit India in combating the novel coronavirus.

“The WHO commends India’s timely and tough actions to stop COVID-19. It may be early to talk about the results in numbers. About a six-week nationwide lockdown to facilitate effective physical distancing, coupled with expansion of core public health measures such as detection, isolation and tracing contact of COVID-19 positive people would go a long way in arresting the virus spread,” said Dr Khetrapal in a statement.

“Despite huge and multiple challenges, India has been demonstrating unwavering commitment in its fight against the pandemic. In these testing times, the action lies as much with the communities as with the authorities and the health workforce. It is indeed time for each and every one to contribute their best and together beat the virus.”

The total number of confirmed cases of novel coronavirus in India climbed to 10,363, with 1,211 new cases and 31 deaths in the last 24 hours, as per the data of Ministry of Health and Family Welfare on Tuesday.

Of these 8,988 are active cases, 1,035 individuals have recovered and since discharged from hospitals, one person migrated to another country and 339 people succumbed to the disease.

Elon Musk forms several ‘X Holdings’ companies to fund potential Twitter buyout

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Thursday’s filing dispelled some doubts, though Musk still has work to do. He and his advisers will spend the coming days vetting potential investors for the equity portion of his offer, according to people familiar with the matter

KV Prasad Journo follow politics, process in Parliament and US Congress. Former Congressional APSA-Fulbright Fellow

COVID-19: No evidence suggests BCG vaccine can protect against the virus, says WHO

KV Prasad Jun 13, 2022, 06:35 AM IST (Published)

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There is no evidence that the Bacille Calmette-Guerin (BCG) vaccine, which is primarily used against tuberculosis, protects people against infection with the novel coronavirus, the World Health Organization (WHO) said.

The WHO therefore didn’t recommend BCG vaccination for the prevention of COVID-19 in the absence of evidence, according to its daily situation report on Monday, Xinhua news agency reported.

“There is experimental evidence from both animal and human studies that the BCG vaccine has non-specific effects on the immune system. These effects have not been well characterized and their clinical relevance remains unknown,” WHO stated.

Two clinical trials addressing the question are underway, and WHO will evaluate the evidence when it is available, it noted.

BCG vaccination prevents severe forms of tuberculosis in children and diversion of local supplies may result in an increase of disease and deaths from the tuberculosis, it warned.

Also, catch all the latest updates and trends on the novel coronavirus with CNBCTV18.com’s blog

Elon Musk forms several ‘X Holdings’ companies to fund potential Twitter buyout

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Thursday’s filing dispelled some doubts, though Musk still has work to do. He and his advisers will spend the coming days vetting potential investors for the equity portion of his offer, according to people familiar with the matter

KV Prasad Journo follow politics, process in Parliament and US Congress. Former Congressional APSA-Fulbright Fellow

WHO chief ‘politicising’ COVID-19 pandemic, siding with China, says Donald Trump

KV Prasad Jun 13, 2022, 06:35 AM IST (Published)

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US President Donald Trump has fired a fresh salvo at the World Health Organization, accusing its chief of siding with China and “politicising” the coronavirus pandemic while repeating his threat to freeze the UN agency’s funding.

Trump’s allegation comes a day after the US President threatened to put a “very powerful” hold on US’ funding to the World Health Organization (WHO) and criticised it for having “missed the call” in its response to the coronavirus pandemic.

Trump slammed the Geneva-based global health agency for its early guidance aimed at countering the international spread of the coronavirus

The president’s fresh allegation comes after WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus cautioned against politicisation of COVID-19 and said that such a move will only result in “many more body bags”.

“If you want to be exploited and if you want to have many more body bags, then you [politicize the virus]. If you don’t want many more body bags, then you refrain from politicizing it,” Ghebreyesus said on Wednesday.

Hours later at the White House conference, Trump agreed that the COVID-19 should not be politicised, but alleged that the WHO chief was doing exactly that and was siding with China.

“When he (Ghebreyesus) says politicizing, he’s politicizing. That shouldn’t be. We spend USD 450 million last year, hundreds of millions in previous years. And they got to do better than that. They got to do better. When you talk about politics, I can’t believe he’s talking about politics look at the relationship they have to China,” Trump said in response to a question.

“China spends USD 42 million. We spend USD 450 million and everything seems to be China’s way. That’s not right. It’s not fair to us. And honestly, it’s not fair to the world,” he said.

The United States is reevaluating its funding with respect to the WHO, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo told reporters at the White House.

“This is very consistent with what President Trump said since the beginning of his campaign. Organizations have to work,” he added.

“They have to deliver the outcomes for which they were intended and we need to make sure that only the WHO but every international organization that we take taxpayer money and give it to them for the benefit of America we need to make sure it is delivering on this taxpayer dollars. The WHO is no different in that respect,” the top American diplomat said.

Trump asserted that the WHO had to get its priority right.

“I think they have to get their priorities right and their priorities are that everybody has to be treated properly, every country. And it doesn’t seem that way, he said.

“It doesn’t seem that way so we are going to do study investigation and we are going to make a determination as to what we are doing. In the meantime, we are holding back, we are going very unfair to the United States USD 452 million compared to USD 42 million that is to the World Health Organization. That is not good, that is not good, not fair,” he said.

“Not fair at all and other countries as you know also gave very substantially less than the United States and the world WHO got it wrong. I mean they got it very wrong, in many ways they were wrong. They also minimised the threat very strongly and not good,” Trump said.

In a statement, Senator Patrick Leahy said the WHO needed reform, just as it needs the strong support of the United States and other countries in order to do its job.

“But such complaints also apply to President Trump, who ignored numerous warnings, downplayed the threat, discounted medical science and squandered valuable time that could have saved countless lives,” the Democratic Senator said.

“He continues to shamelessly and relentlessly try to shift responsibility for his disastrous response to the coronavirus to anyone and everyone except himself. It’s the American people who desperately need new leadership,” Leahy said.

Senator Ted Cruz, in an interview to Houston’s Michael Berry Show, alleged that if China behaved like a responsible government, this crisis could have been averted.

It could have potentially been contained to the region where the outbreak occurred, but for months, they denied it, they suppressed it, he said.

“The World Health Organization acted as puppet and a mouthpiece for the Chinese Communist government, insisting the coronavirus had no risk of a human to human transmission… the World Health Organization was helping China spread that propaganda. Many of the deaths we have seen worldwide are a direct consequence of the Chinese coverup,” Cruz said.

Elon Musk forms several ‘X Holdings’ companies to fund potential Twitter buyout

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Thursday’s filing dispelled some doubts, though Musk still has work to do. He and his advisers will spend the coming days vetting potential investors for the equity portion of his offer, according to people familiar with the matter

KV Prasad Journo follow politics, process in Parliament and US Congress. Former Congressional APSA-Fulbright Fellow

Scores of detained Rohingya freed in Myanmar as coronavirus fears mount

KV Prasad Jun 13, 2022, 06:35 AM IST (Published)

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Cases against scores of Rohingya Muslims detained after fleeing Myanmar’s restive Rakhine state have been dropped, as fears grow of a potential coronavirus outbreak in the country’s overcrowded prisons.

A military crackdown in 2017 forced some 750,000 Rohingya to escape to Bangladesh, where they languish in sprawling refugee cities.

Those who remain in Rakhine live under tight restrictions with little access to healthcare and education, unable to move freely in conditions Amnesty International has branded “apartheid”.

For years many have taken to boats and buses to escape.

But in recent months hundreds have been caught and detained in prisons — charged with breaching immigration laws, offences which carry up to two years in jail.

On Wednesday a court suddenly dropped cases against two of the largest groups of arrested Rohingya, totalling 128 people.

“Charges against both adults and children are withdrawn and they are to be released,” judge Khin Myat Myat Htun told Pathein court in Ayeyarwady Region.

An AFP reporter confirmed four buses carrying the Rohingya and bound for Yangon left Pathein prison early Thursday morning.

Scores more are set to be released by other courts and sent back to Rakhine, a Rohingya activist told AFP.

“In total about 250 Rohingya are likely to be sent back on Saturday,” he said, asking not to be named for security reasons.

It is unclear where the Rohingya will be taken in Rakhine and authorities have not yet given the reason for their sudden liberation.

Next week is Myanmar’s New Year, however, when the president often grants amnesties to prisoners.

With coronavirus fears gripping the country, calls have amplified for low-risk inmates to be released from what Human Rights Watch describes as Myanmar’s “horribly overcrowded and unsanitary” jails.

The World Health Organization has warned prison populations are particularly vulnerable to the pandemic.

The Rohingya garner little sympathy within Myanmar, where many people buy the official line they are illegal immigrants, even though many trace their roots in the country back generations.

Elon Musk forms several ‘X Holdings’ companies to fund potential Twitter buyout

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Thursday’s filing dispelled some doubts, though Musk still has work to do. He and his advisers will spend the coming days vetting potential investors for the equity portion of his offer, according to people familiar with the matter

KV Prasad Journo follow politics, process in Parliament and US Congress. Former Congressional APSA-Fulbright Fellow

Coronavirus: Trump renews attack on WHO

KV Prasad Jun 13, 2022, 06:35 AM IST (Published)

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US President Donald Trump renewed his attack on the World Health Organization (WHO) as he said that the US will make a determination on WHO funding.

On Wednesday, Trump while addressing the daily briefing claimed that the WHO has gotten the pandemic “wrong”. The WHO must “get its priorities right”, he says, adding that the US is going to do “a study, investigation” to determine if it will continue to fund the agency, the BBC reported.

“Everybody has to be treated properly,” Trump says, “and it doesn’t seem that way”, as he repeats his assertion that China is unfairly favoured by the global body.

The comments continue a spat between the US president and the WHO.

On Wednesday, appearing to call out Trump, Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus defended the WHO’s work and called for an end to the politicisation of COVID-19.

Also answering questions on Wednesday, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said that the administration was “re-evaluating our funding with respect to the World Health Organization”.

“Organisations have to work. They have to deliver the outcomes for which they were intended,” Pompeo said.

Elon Musk forms several ‘X Holdings’ companies to fund potential Twitter buyout

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Thursday’s filing dispelled some doubts, though Musk still has work to do. He and his advisers will spend the coming days vetting potential investors for the equity portion of his offer, according to people familiar with the matter

KV Prasad Journo follow politics, process in Parliament and US Congress. Former Congressional APSA-Fulbright Fellow

Coronavirus: Trump threatens to freeze WHO funding, accuses it of being ‘China centric’

KV Prasad Jun 13, 2022, 06:35 AM IST (Published)

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President Donald Trump has threatened to put a “very powerful” hold on US’ funding to the World Health Organization, accusing the UN agency of being “very China centric” and criticising it for having “missed the call” in its response to the coronavirus pandemic.

Trump slammed the global health agency for its early guidance aimed at countering the international spread of the coronavirus.

“We’re going to put a hold on money spent to the WHO. We’re going to put a very powerful hold on it and we’re going to see. It’s a great thing if it works. But when they call every shot wrong, that’s no good,” Trump told reporters at his daily White House news conference on Tuesday.

The Geneva-headquartered World Health Organization (WHO), receives vast amounts of money from the United States.

“We pay for a majority or the biggest portion of their money. They actually criticized and disagreed with my travel ban at the time I did it. They were wrong. They’ve been wrong about a lot of things. They had a lot of information early and they didn’t want to – they’re very – they seem to be very China centric,” Trump said.

The president said his administration was going to look into the US funding to the WHO.

“We give a majority of the money that they get, and it’s much more than the USD 58 million. USD 58 million is a small portion of what they’ve got over the years. Sometimes they get much more than that. Sometimes it’s for programs that they’re doing, and-it’s much bigger numbers. If the programmes are good, that’s great as far as we’re concerned,” he said.

“But we want to look into it, WHO, because they called it wrong. They (WHO) called it wrong. They missed the call. They could’ve called it months earlier. They would have known and they should have known and they probably did know. So, we’ll be looking into that very carefully, and we’re going to put a hold on money spent to the WHO,” Trump said.

Meanwhile, Senator Jim Risch, chairman of Senate Foreign Relations Committee, called for an independent investigation into the WHO’s handling of the COVID-19 response.

“The WHO has failed not only the American people, it has failed the world with its flagrant mishandling of the response to COVID-19,” said Risch.

WHO Director general Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus’ apparent unwillingness to hold the Chinese Communist Party to even the minimum standard of global health and transparency hindered the world’s ability to blunt the spread of this pandemic, he said.

“It is completely unacceptable that the world’s global health organization has become a political puppet of the Chinese government,” he alleged, adding that “an independent investigation into the WHO’s handling of the COVID-19 response is imperative.”

The United States is the largest contributor to the WHO.

“Our valuable tax payer dollars should go towards investments to prevent the spread of disease, not to aid and abet cover-ups that cost lives and isolate portions of the world’s population on political grounds, as has been the case with Taiwan,” Senator Risch said.

A bipartisan group of nearly two dozen lawmakers announced Tuesday to introduce a resolution to defund the WHO until Ghebreyesus resigns and an international commission investigates the organisation’s role in covering up the Chinese Communist Party’s failed COVID-19 response.

“The WHO helped the Chinese Communist Party hide the threat of COVID-19 from the world and now more than 10,000 Americans are dead, a number that is expected to rise dramatically in the coming weeks,” Congressman Guy Reschenthaler alleged.

“The United States is the largest contributor to WHO. It is not right that Americans’ hard-earned tax dollars are being used to propagate China’s lies and hide information that could have saved lives. This bill will hold the WHO accountable for their negligence and deceit,” he asserted.

The United States’ intelligence community has reported that the Chinese government hid the threat of COVID-19 and, as a result, made it difficult for the rest of the world to respond early, appropriately and aggressively, said Congressman Fred Keller.

“For reasons beyond understanding, the WHO acted as a silent partner in this effort instead of protecting the lives of millions across the world, including hundreds of thousands of American citizens. Our hard-earned tax dollars should not go to a global organization more concerned with not offending the Chinese government than providing accurate information and protecting innocent lives,” Keller said.

Senator Marco Rubio accused the Chinese Communist Party of using WHO “to mislead the world.”

“The organisation’s leadership is either complicit or dangerously incompetent. I will work with the Trump Administration to ensure that WHO is independent and has not been compromised by the CCP before we continue our current funding, he added.

According to Johns Hopkins University, there are over 1.43 million confirmed coronavirus cases across the world and over 82,000 people have died due to the disease. The US has nearly 400,000 infections, the highest in the world.

Elon Musk forms several ‘X Holdings’ companies to fund potential Twitter buyout

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Thursday’s filing dispelled some doubts, though Musk still has work to do. He and his advisers will spend the coming days vetting potential investors for the equity portion of his offer, according to people familiar with the matter

KV Prasad Journo follow politics, process in Parliament and US Congress. Former Congressional APSA-Fulbright Fellow

World Health Day: An opportunity to express gratitude towards doctors fighting COVID-19

KV Prasad Jun 13, 2022, 06:35 AM IST (Published)

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Vice President M Venkaiah Naidu and Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday said the World Health Day is an opportunity to reaffirm our gratitude towards all doctors, nurses, medical staff and healthcare workers leading the battle against COVID-19.

“Today on #WorldHealthDay, let us not only pray for each other’s good health and well-being but also reaffirm our gratitude towards all those doctors, nurses, medical staff and healthcare workers who are bravely leading the battle against the COVID-19 menace,” the Prime Minister tweeted.

He also said on this World Health Day, let us also follow practices such as social distancing which will protect our own lives as well as the lives of others.

“May this day also inspire us towards focusing on personal fitness through the year, which would help improve our overall health,” he said.

The vice president appealed to citizens to respect and appreciate the selfless work of the medical community.

“Any misbehaviour or assault on doctors & nurses is unacceptable & most stringent action must be taken against culprits behind such incidents,” his office tweeted.

The World Health Day is observed every year on this day to highlight a priority area of concern for the World Health Organisation (WHO).

Elon Musk forms several ‘X Holdings’ companies to fund potential Twitter buyout

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Thursday’s filing dispelled some doubts, though Musk still has work to do. He and his advisers will spend the coming days vetting potential investors for the equity portion of his offer, according to people familiar with the matter

KV Prasad Journo follow politics, process in Parliament and US Congress. Former Congressional APSA-Fulbright Fellow

Coronavirus: World short of six million nurses, says WHO

KV Prasad Jun 13, 2022, 06:35 AM IST (Published)

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As COVID-19 captures global headlines, the World Health Organisation (WHO) warned Tuesday that the world needs nearly six million nurses.

The UN’s health agency along with partners Nursing Now and the International Council of Nurses (ICN) underscored in a report the crucial role played by nurses, who make up more than half of all health workers worldwide.

“Nurses are the backbone of any health system,” WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said in a statement.

“Today, many nurses find themselves on the frontline in the battle against COVID-19,” he noted, adding that it was vital they “get the support they need to keep the world healthy.”

The report said that there are just under 28 million nurses on the planet.

In the five years leading up to 2018, the number grew by 4.7 million.

“But this still leaves a global shortfall of 5.9 million,” the WHO said, pointing out that the greatest gaps were in poorer countries in Africa, southeast Asia, the Middle East and parts of South America.

The report urged countries to identify gaps in their nursing workforce and invest in nursing education, jobs and leadership.

ICN chief executive Howard Catton told a virtual briefing that infection rates, medication errors and mortality rates “are all higher where there are too few nurses”.

Furthermore, “shortages exhaust our current nursing workforce”, he added.

In fighting the pandemic, Mary Watkins, who co-chaired the report for Nursing Now, called for urgent investment in virus tests for healthcare workers.

“We have a very high proportion of healthcare workers not going to work because they’re afraid that they’ve been infected and that they can’t prove that they have not got the infection — or that they’ve had it, and they’re over it,” she said.

Catton said that 23 nurses had died in Italy and cited figures suggesting that around 100 health workers had died around the world.

Meanwhile he said there were reports of nine per cent of health workers being infected in Italy and “we’re now hearing of rates of infections up to 14 percent in Spain”.

He also cited reports of “completely unacceptable and reprehensible” attacks on health workers battling COVID-19, largely due to ignorance about their work, combined with countries not doing enough to protect them.

“COVID is putting it into a very stark lens for us all,” he said, though he welcomed the growing appreciation in some countries of nurse’s work.

Catton said that could help change perceptions of the value of nursing — which in turn might help make it a more attractive profession.

Beyond COVID-19, Watkins said many wealthier countries were not producing enough nurses to meet their own healthcare needs, and were therefore reliant on migration, exacerbating shortages in poorer countries.

“Eighty per cent of the world’s nurses only currently serve 50 per cent of the world’s population,” she noted.

Catton warned of risks that richer countries would rely on the Philippines and India to “supply the world with nurses”, which could lead to significant shortages in India.

The experts said nursing remains female-dominated and needed to recruit more men.

“There is clear evidence that where there are more men in any profession in the world, the pay and the terms and conditions improve,” Watkins said. (AFP)

Elon Musk forms several ‘X Holdings’ companies to fund potential Twitter buyout

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Thursday’s filing dispelled some doubts, though Musk still has work to do. He and his advisers will spend the coming days vetting potential investors for the equity portion of his offer, according to people familiar with the matter

KV Prasad Journo follow politics, process in Parliament and US Congress. Former Congressional APSA-Fulbright Fellow

USAID announces $2.9 million to India to fight coronavirus

KV Prasad Jun 13, 2022, 06:35 AM IST (Published)

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The US government, through its aid agency USAID, has announced a grant of USD 2.9 million to India to help it fight the coronavirus pandemic.

US Ambassador to India Kenneth Juster said the assistance will further support India’s response to COVID-19.

The US government, through USAID, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), and other relevant agencies, is working closely with India to support the country’s response to the pandemic, he said.

The US Agency for International Development (USAID) is one of the leading aid agencies globally.

“COVID-19 is a global public health threat that can be addressed best by close collaboration among governments and international organizations,” a release issued by the US Embassy here quoted the envoy as saying.

It said the new grant builds on a foundation of more than USD 1.4 billion in health assistance, and nearly USD 3 billion in total assistance, that the United States has provided to India over the last 20 years.

It said the new funds will support the USAID’s health strengthening project, implemented by Jhpiego, an international non-profit health organization affiliated with Johns Hopkins University.

It will also support the World Health Organization (WHO) initiatives in India.

“The funds will help the Government of India slow the spread of COVID-19, provide care for the affected, and support local communities with the tools needed to contain the disease,” the US embassy said.

Elon Musk forms several ‘X Holdings’ companies to fund potential Twitter buyout

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Thursday’s filing dispelled some doubts, though Musk still has work to do. He and his advisers will spend the coming days vetting potential investors for the equity portion of his offer, according to people familiar with the matter

KV Prasad Journo follow politics, process in Parliament and US Congress. Former Congressional APSA-Fulbright Fellow