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Tag: RHPI:GOVERNMENT-HEALTH-POLICY

  • WHO experts to weigh whether world ready to end COVID emergency

    WHO experts to weigh whether world ready to end COVID emergency

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    LONDON, May 4 (Reuters) – A panel of global health experts will meet on Thursday to decide if COVID-19 is still an emergency under the World Health Organization’s rules, a status that helps maintain international focus on the pandemic.

    The WHO first gave COVID its highest level of alert on Jan. 30, 2020, and the panel has continued to apply the label ever since, at meetings held every three months.

    However, a number of countries, such as the United States, have recently begun lifting their domestic states of emergency. WHO Director-General Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus has said he hopes to end the international emergency this year.

    A final decision by Tedros based on the panel’s advice is expected in the coming days. There is no consensus yet on which way the panel may rule, advisors to the WHO and external experts told Reuters.

    “It is possible that the emergency may end, but it is critical to communicate that COVID remains a complex public health challenge,” said Professor Marion Koopmans, a Dutch virologist who is on the WHO panel. She declined to speculate further ahead of the discussions, which are confidential.

    One source close to negotiations said lifting the “public health emergency of international concern,” or PHEIC, label could impact global funding or collaboration efforts. Another said that the unpredictability of the virus made it hard to call at this stage. Others said it was time to move to living with COVID as an ongoing health threat, like HIV or tuberculosis.

    “All emergencies must come to an end,” said Lawrence Gostin, a law professor at Georgetown University in the United States who follows the WHO.

    “I expect WHO to end the public health emergency of international concern. If WHO does not end it… [this time], then certainly the next time the emergency committee meets.”

    Dr. Jarbas Barbosa, director of the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO), said he was concerned that a change in status would lead to complacency, with weaker surveillance and falling vaccination levels.

    “(The PHEIC) does not bring any kind any harm for countries but at the same time it keeps their attention,” he told journalists.

    Reporting by Jennifer Rigby in London and Emma Farge in Geneva; Editing by Alexandra Hudson

    Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

    Jennifer Rigby

    Thomson Reuters

    Jen reports on health issues affecting people around the world, from malaria to malnutrition. Part of the Health & Pharma team, recent notable pieces include an investigation into healthcare for young transgender people in the UK as well as stories on the rise in measles after COVID hit routine vaccination, as well as efforts to prevent the next pandemic. She previously worked at the Telegraph newspaper and Channel 4 News in the UK, as well as freelance in Myanmar and the Czech Republic.

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  • Protests break out in Iran over schoolgirl illnesses

    Protests break out in Iran over schoolgirl illnesses

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    DUBAI, March 4 (Reuters) – Worried parents protested in Iran’s capital Tehran and other cities on Saturday over a wave of suspected poison attacks that have affected schoolgirls in dozens of schools, according to Iranian news agencies and social media videos.

    The so-far unexplained illnesses have affected hundreds of schoolgirls in recent months. Iranian officials believe the girls may have been poisoned and have blamed Tehran’s enemies.

    The country’s health minister has said the girls have suffered “mild poison” attacks and some politicians have suggested the girls could have been targeted by hardline Islamist groups opposed to girls’ education.

    Iran’s interior minister said on Saturday investigators had found “suspicious samples” that were being studied.

    “In field studies, suspicious samples have been found, which are being investigated… to identify the causes of the students’ illness, and the results will be published as soon as possible,” the minister, Abdolreza Rahmani Fazli, said in a statement carried by the official news agency IRNA.

    Latest Updates

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    Sickness affected more than 30 schools in at least 10 of Iran’s 31 provinces on Saturday. Videos posted on social media showed parents gathered at schools to take their children home and some students being taken to hospitals by ambulance or buses.

    A gathering of parents outside an Education Ministry building in western Tehran on Saturday to protest over the illnesses turned into an anti-government demonstration, according to a video verified by Reuters.

    “Basij, Guards, you are our Daesh,” protesters chanted, likening the Revolutionary Guards and other security forces to the Islamic State group.

    Similar protests were held in two other areas in Tehran and other cities including Isfahan and Rasht, according to unverified videos.

    The outbreak of schoolgirl sickness comes at a critical time for Iran’s clerical rulers, who have faced months of anti-government protests sparked by the death of a young Iranian woman in the custody of the morality police who enforce strict dress codes.

    Social media posts in recent days have shown photos and videos of girls who have fallen ill, feeling nauseaous or suffering heart palpitations. Others complained of headaches. Reuters could not verify the posts.

    The United Nations human rights office in Geneva called on Friday for a transparent investigation into the suspected attacks and countries including Germany and the United States have voiced concern.

    Iran rejected what it views as foreign meddling and “hasty reactions” and said on Friday it was investigating the causes of the incidents.

    “It is one of the immediate priorities of Iran’s government to pursue this issue as quickly as possible and provide documented information to resolve the families’ concerns and to hold accountable the perpetrators and the causes,” Foreign Ministry spokesperson Nasser Kanaani told state media.

    Schoolgirls were active in the anti-government protests that began in September. They have removed their mandatory headscarves in classrooms, torn up pictures of Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and called for his death.

    Reporting by Dubai newsroom
    Editing by Frances Kerry

    Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

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  • U.S. FDA proposes shift to annual COVID vaccine shots

    U.S. FDA proposes shift to annual COVID vaccine shots

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    Jan 23 (Reuters) – The U.S. health regulator on Monday proposed one dose of the latest updated COVID-19 shot annually for healthy adults, similar to the influenza immunization campaign, as it aims to simplify the country’s COVID-vaccine strategy.

    The U.S. Food and Drug Administration also asked its panel of external advisers to consider the usage of two COVID vaccine shots a year for some young children, older adults and persons with compromised immunity.The regulator proposed the need for routine selection of variants for updating the vaccine, similar to the way strains for flu vaccines are changed annually, in briefing documents ahead of a meeting of its panel on Thursday.

    The FDA hopes annual immunization schedules may contribute to less complicated vaccine deployment and fewer vaccine administration errors, leading to improved vaccine coverage rates.The agency’s proposal was on expected lines, following its announcement of its intention for the update last month.

    A nurse fills up syringes with the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) vaccines for residents who are over 50 years old and immunocompromised and are eligible to receive their second booster shots in Waterford, Michigan, U.S., April 8, 2022. REUTERS/Emily Elconin

    The Biden administration has also been planning for a campaign of vaccine boosters every fall season.

    Currently, most people in the United States need to first get two doses of the original COVID vaccine spaced at least three to four weeks apart, depending on the vaccine, followed by a booster dose a few months later.

    Pfizer’s primary vaccine doses for children and people involve three shots, with the third a bivalent shot given about two months later.

    If the panel votes in favor of the proposal, Pfizer Inc (PFE.N) and Moderna Inc’s (MRNA.O) bivalent vaccines, which target both the Omicron and the original variants, would be used for all COVID vaccine doses, and not just as boosters.

    Reporting by Leroy Leo in Bengaluru; Editing by Shailesh Kuber and Shinjini Ganguli

    Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

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  • Omicron subvariant XBB.1.5 accounts for 43% of U.S. COVID cases – CDC

    Omicron subvariant XBB.1.5 accounts for 43% of U.S. COVID cases – CDC

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    Jan 13 (Reuters) – The fast-spreading Omicron subvariant XBB.1.5 is estimated to account for 43% of the COVID-19 cases in the United States for the week ended Jan. 14, data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention showed on Friday.

    The subvariant accounted for about 30% of cases in the first week of January, higher than the 27.6% the CDC estimated last week.

    XBB.1.5, which is related to Omicron, is currently the most transmissible variant. It is an offshoot of XBB, first detected in October, which is itself made from a combination of two other Omicron subvariants.

    The World Health Organization (WHO) said earlier this week XBB.1.5 may spur more COVID-19 cases based on genetic characteristics and early growth rate estimates.

    While it is unclear if XBB.1.5 can cause its own wave of global infections, experts say the current booster shots continue to protect against severe symptoms, hospitalization and death.

    WHO Director General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus tweeted last week the subvariant has been on the rise globally and has been identified in over 25 countries.

    The rise in the new variant correlated with an uptick in COVID-19 cases in United States over the last six weeks.

    Increased prevalence of XBB.1.5 cases has eclipsed the previously dominant Omicron subvariant BQ.1.1 and BQ.1, which were offshoots of BA.5. The two strains together accounted for 44.7% of cases in the United States in the week ended Jan. 14, compared with 53.2% a week ago, the CDC said.

    Reporting by Khushi Mandowara and Sriparna Roy in Bengaluru; Editing by Maju Samuel and Shounak Dasgupta

    Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

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  • U.S. FDA allows abortion pills to be sold at retail pharmacies

    U.S. FDA allows abortion pills to be sold at retail pharmacies

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    WASHINGTON, Jan 3 (Reuters) – The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) will allow retail pharmacies to offer abortion pills in the United States for the first time, the agency said on Tuesday, even as more states seek to ban medication abortion.

    The regulatory change will potentially expand abortion access as President Joe Biden’s administration wrestles with how best to protect abortion rights after they were sharply curtailed by the Supreme Court’s decision to overturn the landmark Roe v Wade ruling and the state bans that followed.

    Pharmacies can start applying for certification to distribute abortion pill mifepristone with one of the two companies that make it, and if successful they will be able to dispense it directly to patients upon receiving a prescription from a certified prescriber.

    The FDA had first said it would be making those changes in December 2021 when it announced it would relax some risk evaluation and mitigation strategies, or REMS, on the pill, that had been in place since the agency approved it in 2000 and were lifted temporarily in 2021 due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

    The changes included permanently removing restrictions on mail order shipping of the pills and their prescription through telehealth.

    The agency finalized the changes on Tuesday after reviewing supplemental applications from Danco Laboratories and GenBioPro, the two companies that make the drug in the United States.

    “Under the Mifepristone REMS Program, as modified, Mifeprex and its approved generic can be dispensed by certified pharmacies or by or under the supervision of a certified prescriber,” the agency said on its website on Tuesday.

    Mifeprex is the brand name version of mifepristone which, in combination with a second drug called misoprostol that has various uses including miscarriage management, induces an abortion up to 10 weeks into a pregnancy in a process known as medication abortion.

    Abortion rights activists say the pill has a long track record of being safe and effective, with no risk of overdose or addiction. In several countries, including India and Mexico, women can buy them without a prescription to induce abortion.

    “Today’s news is a step in the right direction for health equity,” Planned Parenthood President Alexis McGill Johnson said in a statement.

    “Being able to access your prescribed medication abortion through the mail or to pick it up in person from a pharmacy like any other prescription is a game changer for people trying to access basic health care,” Johnson added.

    NO EQUAL ACCESS

    The regulatory change will, however, not provide equal access to all people, GenBioPro, which makes the generic version of mifepristone, said in a statement.

    Abortion bans, some targeting mifepristone, have gone into effect in more than a dozen states since the U.S. Supreme Court overturned the constitutional right to terminating pregnancies when it scrapped the 1973 Roe v. Wade ruling last year.

    Women in those states could potentially travel to other states to obtain medication abortion.

    The president of anti-abortion group SBA Pro-Life America, Marjorie Dannenfelser, said the latest FDA move endangers women’s safety and the lives of unborn children.

    “State lawmakers and Congress must stand as a bulwark against the Biden administration’s pro-abortion extremism,” she said in a statement.

    FDA records show a small mortality case number associated with mifepristone. As of June 2021, there were reports of 26 deaths linked with the pill out of 4.9 million people estimated to have taken it since it was approved in September 2000.

    Retail pharmacies will have to weigh whether or not to offer the pill given the political controversy surrounding abortion, and determine where they can do so.

    A spokesperson for CVS Health (CVS.N) said the drugstore chain owner was reviewing the updated REMS “drug safety program certification requirements for mifepristone to determine the requirements to dispense in states that do not restrict the dispensing of medications prescribed for elective termination of pregnancy.”

    A spokesperson for Walgreens (WBA.O), one of the largest U.S. pharmacies, said the company was also reviewing the FDA’s regulatory change. “We will continue to enable our pharmacists to dispense medications consistent with federal and state law.”

    Reporting by Ahmed Aboulenein; Additional reporting by Eric Beech in Washington, Shivani Tanna, Rahat Sandhu, and Kanjyik Ghosh in Bengaluru; Editing by Himani Sarkar

    Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

    Ahmed Aboulenein

    Thomson Reuters

    Washington-based correspondent covering U.S. healthcare and pharmaceutical policy with a focus on the Department of Health and Human Services and the agencies it oversees such as the Food and Drug Administration, previously based in Iraq and Egypt.

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