There is a certain way to carry out entrepreneurship. One has to follow certain fixed guidelines to develop an entrepreneurship of any choice. Designing a clear cut plan is necessary. Following are seven guidelines or techniques on the basis of which any entrepreneurship or business can be developed;
1. Focusing on the key product:
Your business revolves on the key product so focusing on your core product is the first step to create a business opportunity. A certain successful entrepreneur has stated that “Prospects buy when they trust your value is applicable to them and believe your company is stable” suggesting that an entrepreneur should focus on providing value to the customers. This suggestion is the key to the core plan. An entrepreneur of small business needs to differentiate from big business by concentrating on the core products. Specialization is the biggest asset of entrepreneurs.
2. Keeping it simple and short:
One should be able to tell what their business is in few precise and concise words(I.e the patter or pitch) lasting for 30 seconds since any prospect can understand clearly about the business without being confused.
3. Staying true to who you are:
You can reach your goals by knowing who you are and what gets you excited and not. Notably procrastination as human nature is can delay your growth plan so it’s better to not procrastinate and go for a perfect result oriented plan
4. Mapping it:
The best way to determine your service strategy is by mapping your capabilities with your target clients’ needs. Hence the customers who do not need your particular expertise are also avoided. The urge to cast a wide net is one common trait among many entrepreneurs. However a small business flourishes since it has limited service offering. Specializing in distinctive top quality service is the value in having a small business. So in many instances, a small business flourishes. Significantly, while choosing a provider, a list of decision making criteria can be made, from which, your client can choose as per your expectation. Then categorize yourself honestly or evaluate intensely as to where you would be position in each category. After this, make sure that your patter or pitch is still on target.
5. Utilizing the best marketing tools that work for you:
Implement the best marketing strategy that suits your personality and that of customers to be served. Identify the top two marketing tools that have worked for you in the past and then start adding new ideas from a fresh perspective. It’s also important to evaluate the selected marketing tools from cost basis. You have to take a decision as to which marketing tool will yield the best returns on your efforts. In one or another each tool should be result oriented or revenue productive.
6. Implementing a plan of action:
It’s essential to know whether the plan of action made is in progress or not. This can be done by establishing goals at short term say 3 months to long term of 6 months. During short term, you need to check your plan every month. If the plan is not being met you need to ask questions to yourself like did I select the appropriate tools for my target customer? Did I integrate the strategy into the plan? Or did I focus on only one of the marketing tool? Thus there should be a strategy check on a day to day basis so as to know if the plan is in progress as per your plan.
7. Exercising the plan:
The final step is to complete the daily actions and to put n extra efforts to accelerate your plan towards success. Precious time should be not wasted and used for reaching your goal soon.
These are the basic most important techniques for Entrepreneurship development.
Almost all the athletes are afraid of seeing an orthopaedic surgeon and it’s completely understandable. Some might get terrified of the idea of a surgery while others might think that the specialist would prohibit him/her from indulging in sports or exercises. However, quite unfortunately, some injuries do not heal with time and need professional medical aid. Before visiting a sports medicine doctor, there are certain necessary tips that you must follow. Let us discuss some of those suggestions in details.
Tips to see an Orthopaedic Surgeon
Visiting a surgeon for any kind of injury is a frightening experience but seeking help from the reputed and best sports medicine doctors would surely lessen all such intimidations. The below-mentioned tips are expected to improve your forthcoming visit.
• In the present times, the sports medicine sector has become extremely sub-specialised. Nowadays general surgeons are not found anywhere. Most of the physicians focus on those patients, who have problems within their subspecialty. Thus, you need to find a doctor, who has training on the type of issue you have. For example, if you fell during jogging and have immense pain on your hand; you must see a hand surgeon.
• You may have seen some other physician at the emergency care unit before going to an actual specialist. In that case, you need to take all the previous medical reports so that the orthopaedic surgeon has the chance of understanding the treatments, you had till now. This would allow him to understand your problem and mention the remedy as fast as possible.
• X-rays and MRIs play a vital role during fractures. So, if you have already performed such tests, do not forget to carry the reports. It would be better if you could get the real images rather than the ones provided by the radiologist. Actual accounts would offer the surgeon with the best opportunity to accurately diagnose the issue and formulate the treatment accordingly.
• If you are visiting this particular surgeon for the first time, you need to provide the doctor with a great deal of medical information. Thus, you need to fill up certain questionnaires and forms. The doctor would go through all these data to get an idea about your medical history and its relation to the issue you are suffering from.
• As an athlete, it is very common for you to suffer from musculoskeletal injuries. But if you have decided to go to a surgeon, you must know the answer to some standard questions:
1. From when did the problem start?
2. How did it occur?
3. Have you tried any treatments?
4. Have you taken any medication?
5. What is the nature of the pain?
6. Are there any activities that aggravate the pain?
Rather than stammering in front of your doctor, you must prepare the answers to these questions beforehand.
Following the above-mentioned tips would surely make your visit to a surgeon a rewarding experience. Before seeking professional help, do conduct a thorough research on the best sports medicine doctors and choose one wisely.
Although a man may enjoy the process by which he gets a raw, red penis – for example, by engaging in hours of blissful sex, often with the penis be handled in a rough but thoroughly delightful manner – he may afterwards wish he had exercised a little restraint. As penis health issues go, a raw, red penis is uncomfortable and inconvenient, but it is something that a little well-planned healing can take care of with (hopefully) no lasting damage.
So for the man who smiles beatifically at the thought of the devilish activities that have rendered his penis sore and tender to the touch, the following tips for healing that red penis may prove beneficial.
Healing tips
– Give it a rest. First and foremost, a man who has gained a red penis from overuse and rough handling needs to man up and give the poor fellow a bit of a rest. Granted, this can be hard to do. With thoughts in his mind about the sexual gymnastics he so recently enjoyed still fresh in his mind, many a man is tempted to jump right back in the saddle – whether that saddle involves another companion or simply his own hand. But no matter how tempted he may be, the dude will be better off if he exercises a little self-control and lets the healing process complete. Otherwise, he'll end up in even worse shape.
– Avoid temptation. With that said, it behooves a man to not invite temptation. While giving his penis a rest, he should also avoid triggers – favorite porn videos, conversations with a titillating co-worker, etc. – likely to cause his penis to pop up and beg for some attention.
– Choose clothing carefully. Sure, a guy may enjoy advertising his best qualities by wearing tight pants and perhaps going commando. But that's not going to help the worn-out penis. A little looseness in the cut of the trousers keeps the manhood from rubbing up against cloth – and wearing soft cotton underwear is going to soothe it more than the feel of rough wool or too-smooth polyester.
– Run free at home. Of course, at home and in private (or with the understanding of a roommate), it can be helpful to let the penis air out totally. Hanging out naked (or at least pants-less and underwear-less) helps speed up the healing process.
– Cool it. Depending on how raw and sore it is, many a red penis responds well to a little cold compress. Sure, he'll shrink and withdraw from it at first – but the coolness can be especially soothing and can encourage him to settle down as well.
– Watch the chemicals. When the penis is in a sore and raw state, it is even more susceptible to irritants. For that reason, be careful to avoid any cleansers or soaps that might irritate it. Mild soaps are good, and nothing that includes any fragrances should be used. The same goes for laundry detergents; the fewer harsh ingredients it contains, the better the penis will feel.
Healing a raw, red penis can take some time and effort. Things can go better and more smoothly if a guy makes a practice of applying a first rate penis health creme (health professionals recommend Man 1 Man Oil, which is clinically proven mild and safe for skin) regularly. For best results, look for a crème that can properly and thoroughly moisturize the poor penis. A crème with both a high end emollient (such as shea butter) and a natural hydrator (like vitamin E) is urged. In addition, penis skin will be more resilient if a crème with a potent antioxidant is used, such as alpha lipoic acid. This will enable the skin to better fight excess free radicals, which otherwise can cause oxidative damage.
There are many medical fields that deal with body pain, and many patients often ask if they should visit a chiropractor, an osteopath or an orthopedist. While these professions seem related to each other, they are actually different health practices, each with their own specific specialties.
Chiropractors, osteopaths and orthopedic doctors specialize in different things, thus the best health provider for you will depend greatly on your condition or injury. Before making a decision, it is important to understand what chiropractors, osteopaths and orthopedists do and what makes them different from each other so you can easily choose the right health care professional.
Chiropractors
Chiropractors are individuals who treat conditions related to the musculoskeletal system. They are also called D.C.s or Doctors of Chiropractic. D.C.s deal with pains and discomfort relating to the bones, muscles, ligaments, joints and nerves. Most of them treat pain conditions in close proximity to the spine. However, they also specialize in musculoskeletal pain on the various extremities of the body.
The profession is well established in the United States and is the third largest health profession field after medicine and dentistry.
What Do Chiropractors Do? The chiropractic approach is non-pharmacological in nature. Professionals make use of their hands or various instruments to manipulate joints, muscles, ligaments and other affected area. Most treatment plans involve several sessions of manipulation.
Aside from manual adjustment and manipulation, they may also provide counseling to their patients. Chiropractors do not prescribe medication, but may usually recommend nutritional supplements or give suggestions on exercise and positive eating habits.
Chiropractor Training. To practice the profession, an individual needs a Doctor of Chiropractic (D.C.) degree. Achieving this requires 4 years of post-graduate education after obtaining an associate’s degree. They will also need at least 500 hours of hands on experience and training for manipulations and adjustments.
Osteopaths
An osteopath or Doctor of Osteopathic Medicine (D.O.) is a medical professional who puts emphasis on the body’s self-healing ability. Osteopaths advocate a care approach that focuses on the “whole person.” They believe that physical problems and abnormalities affect the whole body. To help facilitate the healing process of the body, they make use of manipulative and manual therapy.
What Do Osteopaths Do? Like chiropractors, osteopaths also follow a natural approach to healing. They use a technique called osteopathic manipulative treatment or OMT. This technique allow them to use their hands to diagnose and treat injuries and painful conditions on the joins, ligaments and muscles.
D.O.s usually employ gentle forms of manipulation such as stretching and application of mild pressure on the affected areas. What makes the practice different from chiropractic is the fact that osteopaths can write prescriptions and do surgical procedures.
Osteopath Training. Obtaining a D.O. degree also requires 4 years of post graduate study after finishing a 4-year undergraduate degree.The degree requires students to go through at least a year of internship and rotations in hospitals. They can practice, prescribe medication and perform surgeries anywhere in the United States.
Orthopedics
Orthopedists are surgeons that specialize in the musculoskeletal system. While they are surgeons in nature, they do not necessarily use surgery every time. They also employ nonsurgical means to treat muscle and trauma and injuries, degenerative diseases, tumors, infections and congenital disorders of the musculoskeletal system. The labels orthopedists and orthopedic surgeons are often used interchangeably and mean the same thing.
What Do Orthopedists Do?Orthopedic surgeons diagnose and treat various musculoskeletal problems. They diagnose conditions through physical exams, X-rays and other laboratory tests. Majority of the conditions are usually treated with non-surgical procedures like physical therapy, exercises or even pain management methods. In severe cases of pain disorders, orthopedists perform surgical treatments like joint replacement, soft tissue repair and arthroscopy.
In cases that do not require surgical procedure, orthopedists may recommend patients to see physical therapists or osteopaths for therapy or manipulation. Because orthopedic surgeons are Medical Doctors (M.D.s) by profession, they can write prescriptions for their patients.
Orthopedic Training. Orthopedic surgeons are required to complete a four year undergraduate degree and four years of medical school. Medical school graduates then have to undergo a five-year residency training to specialize in surgery. The five-year training consists of one year for general surgery and four years for orthopedic surgery.
Who Should I See?
Finding the right health care provider can be confusing for first time patients. Who you choose to see will greatly depend on your condition and the kind of approach you prefer. An osteopath is a good choice if you want holistic treatment. If you have acute back pain or pain caused by injury or trauma, a visit to a chiropractor may be a good idea. An orthopedic surgeon, on the other hand, may be recommended for extreme cases of pain or those caused by other underlying physical conditions.
Choosing a good family doctor is not easy. You need to see a doctor who can perform the right diagnosis based on the symptoms of the patient. So, we suggest that you take your time while doing research before choosing a doctor. Given below are 5 tips that may help you make the best choice.
1) Consider an In-Network Specialist
If you have a health insurance policy, you may be able to avail the service of a doctor at discounted rates. Seeing these doctors won’t cost you an arm and a leg. These are in-network professionals. This type of pro can help you avoid any additional fees or surprise co-pays.
If you don’t know any of these doctors, your insurance provider can give you a list of a few good names. Alternatively, you can check online or ask the doctor that can accept your insurance.
2) Opt for Specialized Care
While choosing a doctor, make sure you take into account the needs of your family. In other words, if a family member is in need of special care, your chosen doctor should be able to offer it.
If your doctor can’t help you with this, your best bet is to look for a specialist. Typically, family care doctors can help you get in touch with a good specialist.
3) Consider the Commute
Often, distance is one of the most overlooked factors when opting for a doctor. Although 10 miles is not a long ride, you may not be able to spare that much time if you have a busy schedule. So, it may cause you a lot of inconveniences. Therefore, we suggest that you be practical as far as the distance is concerned.
4) Schedule an Initial Visit
You need to see the doctor in person before you choose them as the doctor may not have the bedside manners you want. Typically, most professionals offer a free of charge initial consultation. This discussion can help you find out if they have a good personality.
5) Read reviews and Ask for Referrals
Nowadays, you can read reviews on almost anything under the sun if you have access to the internet. The same goes for family medicine. It is not a factor that you have to consider, but it can help you get a deeper insight into the quality of service the doctor offers.
For instance, talking to the referrals will help you find out if the staff is friendly. By reading reviews and talking to a few referrals, you can make a better decision.
The Takeaway
Looking for a good family doctor is really important. So, it’s better that you do your homework and consider all the options that your insurance provider gives you. Actually, what you need to do is look for a doctor that you can work with for a long-term. After all, your health, as well as the health of your family members, depends largely on good health care. So, make sure you consider these tips before choosing a family doctor.
“Those who make peaceful revolution impossible will make violent revolution inevitable.” – President John F. Kennedy (1962)
This week may be one of the worst weeks for Nigerian judiciary and they might have made the much vaunted Sowore’s revolution inevitable. The first salvo was the list of judges released by the National Judicial Council replete with the names of their sons and daughters as well as hangers on. Second is the farcical decision in EFCC vs Kalu where the Supreme Court “suo motu” created a new section to the constitution of Nigeria by vacating a conviction duly given under an extant law. The strange rationale by the Supreme Court is that the presiding judge, now elevated to the Court of Appeal should not have pronounced the sentence. The Court conveniently ignored the fact that the accused counsel had invited the judge to come back and continue the hearing by a formal letter!
Gone are the days when Nigerian judiciary is famously celebrated as the last bastion of defense for the common man. The days of Kayode Esho, Chukwudifu Oputa, Muhammed Uwais is long gone. Our judiciary is no more like Caesar’s wife, above board. The problem however is not necessarily down to the hydra headed monster of corruption alone but a more sinister evil called, nepotism. It is my humble opinion that an opaque process for selection of judges led us to where we found ourselves this week. And the problem did not start with the current chief justice. The dysfunction and bastardization have been long in coming, and as we will find out in this piece, the cancer has eaten deep into the fabric of this nation. The revolution is inevitable.
Lawyers
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What precipitate this write up is a social media post by a good friend of mine and I obtained his permission to repost his comment with my personal edits: “It took Orji Kalu only 4 months including Covid lockdown challenge to move from the High Court to Supreme Court to get his so called sound judgment from Supreme Court while it took ten years to get his case completed at the High Court level. Ten good years! And we are told justice in Nigeria is not cash and carry? The Supreme Court is preparing the ground for a revolution and very soon something extraordinary will take place. The same Supreme Court that will give 2021 and 2022 court date for poor defendants, sat and summarily decide a case within 4 months while cases of those facing a life sentence languish in the labyrinth of jungle justice!”
My first response to the post, is to retort that the problem did not start with judiciary, but they seem to have led the “nunc dimitis” for the internment of democracy in Nigeria. The judiciary may have pushed us to the praecipe but they were not the only one. We all recalled the impunity days of PDP rule and how they ride roughshod on people’s right, celebrating acquisition of jets obtained from corrupt practices while hordes of masses suffer the indignity of scrapping for foods from the gutter. Towards the end of that era, we all thought, if we can just get a man of integrity into Aso Rock, someone who will brook no atom of corruption, we will change the country. The election of 2015 seems to have lulled Nigerians into thinking that all we need is someone or a duo with integrity, so we elect Buhari and Osinbajo, a puritan and a pastor and went home satiated. What we were not prepared for or more appositely choose to ignore is the fact that the vehicle that brought them into governance is none other than the decrepit system that PDP used to feather their nest. In the first 4 years, we were told that the problem is with the National Assembly where the legistlooters shifted their control of the vortex of power in Abuja, opposing every anti-corruption moves of the executives. Then come the last election where the ruling party now controls the executive and legislative arm, but corruption runs through the gamut of the judiciary and Aso Rock looks the other way while nepotism festers in its rank.
It is as if the cancer has completely swallowed up the entire fabric of the nation. Cases involving the poor dragged on for years while those who can afford senior advocate can get quick justice. Many warned that this will sound the death knell of democracy in Nigeria. Every attempt to even build on free and fair election has been truncated by the judiciary. What with the recent confounding judgment from Imo and Bayelsa. Our two gargantuan political parties now owned our judiciary lock, stock and barrel. They sit in smoke filled rooms to determine who will be governors, legislators and judges, and those who will play ball are readily appointed as pawns in the chest board of the Nigerian ruling class, wives, nephews, cousins, sons and daughters are made judges and senior advocates overnight without recourse to any modicum of meritocracy. A friend of mine recently quipped that the problem of nepotism is not just that it defeats meritocracy and breeds mediocrity but that it infects the entire body politics and renders it comatose. Corruption can be traced, and ill-gotten wealth recovered but nepotism is more sinister. Those who obtain position of power and authority through nepotism hold fealty only to their masters who appointed them. Such appointee will readily twist the constitution, made up section that does not exist all at the behest of their “godfather”. It is insidious and evil.
I graduated from Nigerian Law School 30 years ago, after an excellent stint at Great Ife. My class at Ife, drawn from the north, east, west middle belt and south-south has in its rank some of the best legal minds any country will be proud of. We graduated with high hopes to take on the world and change the land. Few of us found ourselves abroad on scholarship where we flourish and excel. Those in legal practice in Nigeria, either at the federal or state ministry of justice or private practice are the ones my heart bleeds for, especially those without access to members of the National Judicial Council. I have had the privilege to advance my career abroad as an attorney and public defender. I frequently sit on panels that recommend colleagues for appointment as judges in a fair, open and transparent process; something my colleagues in Nigeria could only dream of.
When I look at the state of Nigerian legal practice my heart bleeds. The career growth of colleagues in the legal profession in Nigeria is stunted not for lack of excellence but influence in the right place. Influence peddling is an art form in Nigeria and politicians used to have the exclusive preserve of selling it to the highest bidder, but our Judicial Council seems to have mastered the art. The problem will not be this pronounced if the sons and daughters they are foisting on Nigerian judiciary are steeped in the Nigerian experience or have a modicum of merit. As many of my colleagues are apt to complain, majority of the recent appointees hardly spend few years in Nigeria. They all went to schools abroad. Totally devoid of the Nigerian experience, and constantly removed from the everyday life Nigerians suffers under. Majority of them lives in the gilded mansions of their forbears in Abuja and other state capitals, where they are rarely touched by the “better angels of our nature” to use the phrase coined by Abraham Lincoln. It is therefore no surprise that they care only for what their “godfather” demand.
Let me however warns that the biggest mistake we could make is to think that the rot is only in the heart of our judiciary. Think again. Nepotism is next door, next street, next town and everywhere in Nigeria. It rampages through the land, be it North, East or West. Just look at our churches and mosques, who do you see minister or lead the prayers when the founder/visioner is not around? You guess right, if you say their sons and daughters. Gone are the days when Pa Fadayomi push to have a meritorious doctor of aerodynamics succeed him. Gone are the days when the leader of the faithful in Nigeria is selected by their aptitude in the knowledge of the Quaran. Nowadays, the exit of the leader is the beginning of the reign of the progeny. It has infected our colleges and universities, scholarship and opportunities that used to be available on merit are now exclusive preserve of the vice chancelor’s children and family members. Woe betide the school senate members that dare ask questions. Advertisement for jobs that has already been reserved for the children of the privileged are means to extort money in the form of application fees a la Abba Moro immigration recruitment scheme. A recent recruitment without advertisement at our apex bank reported by Sahara Reporters shows that successful applicants names were picked out of the rolodex of the governor. Commercial Banks staff are not an exemption, they are either recruited based on sex appeal or influential ministers/senators’ “recommendation” which doesn’t come easy for the educated but less privileged applicants.
A friend concluded an animated discussion on social media on this issue with a distinctively Nigerian resignation: “It is clear that those who do not want things to work properly in Nigeria are more powerful than those who are working towards finding solutions to our problems.” Again, my response is what do we have to lose if we embrace Omoyele Sowore’s revolution, even with its youthful disdain for experience? Especially when our current experienced leadership seems to treat the Nigerian masses with contempt. Look at it this way: They do not need our votes to win election, as they could procure midnight judgment in Abuja a la Bayelsa and Imo. They do not need to legislate to fill any lacunae in our constitutional experience as the Supreme Court proved in Kalu’s case. In fact, as long as oil flows and they have the means to fill their Cayman Island bank accounts, we may as well not exist. Greed and avarice have become the directive principle of Nigerian ruling class. To rescue ourselves from their vice grip, we need revolution now!
The Speaker of the House of Representatives (Dewan Rakyat) has accepted a motion by Tun Dr Mahathir, Member of Parliament for Langkawi, that the present PM does not command the confidence of the majority of the Dewan.
The Speaker said he made this decision to be fair and just and to uphold the integrity of the Dewan and Parliament. He is perfectly within his right to so decide.
What next?
The motion must be put (tabled) at the sitting of the Dewan. There will be a debate on the motion. At the end of which there will be a vote by Members of Parliament present in the Dewan.
If the motion is carried, by a simple majority of those present and voting, then the PM must tender his resignation together with that of his Cabinet.
The PM may also, instead of tendering his resignation, request the King to dissolve Parliament. The King is not obliged to agree to the request. Recall that the then sitting MB of Perak made this request to the then Sultan Azlan Shah of Perak in the Perak State Assembly crisis. The request was not acceded to.
If the King agrees to the request to dissolve, and the Dewan is accordingly dissolved, a general election must be held within 60 days of the dissolution.
The King may, as an alternative to dissolution, invite a Member of Parliament to form the next government. This person must be one who in the King’s judgment is likely to command the confidence of the majority of the Members of the Dewan Rakyat. This is in his subjective discretion. It is his judgment and based on whom he thinks is likely to have the majority confidence.
How the King decides who has this majority confidence depends on His Majesty. He can invite members and interview them as to whom they support, as was done by the King recently when deciding on the appointment of the present PM. But he need not do so by this method. His Majesty can choose any method he thinks most appropriate to decide who in his judgment is likely to have the confidence of the majority.
There is also the possibility that this issue of who has the confidence of the majority be decided by the Dewan on a fresh motion, if accepted to be tabled by the Speaker.
Gurdial a former law professor, currently practises law.
Read More
https://www.thesundaily.my/opinion/motion-of-no-confidence-against-the-pm-IL2386749
KUALA TERENGGANU: The atmosphere during the Movement Control Order (MCO) period in Redang Island and Perhentian Island is quieter than during the monsoon season.
This is due to the current circumstances during which no tourism activities are allowed, and the residents also do not carry out much activities, but to remain at home in compliance with the order.
Pulau Perhentian Village Community Management Council (MPKK) chairman Mohd Zakuan Mad Nasir said that during the monsoon season, although there is no tourists on the island, life goes on normal for the locals as they still go to food stalls, gather at the surau for prayers and and also attend wedding ceremonies and other events.
“However, with the MCO, the residents choose to remain at home because they understand the importance of adhering to the rule so that the government’s aim to break the chain of the Covid-19 infection is achieved,” he said when contacted by Bernama today.
Based on observation, the supply of daily necessities for more than 2,000 people on the island is still sufficient for another week or two.
“Recently, the state government provided assistance for the affected families and some non-governmental organisations (NGOs) also came to deliver basic necessities such as rice, flour, milk, sugar and cooking oil.
“Most of the villagers are fishermen, so they still go to the sea, but not far out, as that is their only source of income, but they comply with the MCO to be back by 6 pm,” he said, adding that so far, there is no Covid-19 positive case reported on the island.
Tourism activities in Pulau Perhentian and Pulau Redang were ceased for four months following the monsoon season and programmes for the new tourism calendar year were supposed to start last March 1, but postponed due to the MCO.
Despite the inconvenience, the residents comply with the order and this is acknowledged by the Malaysian Civil Defence Force (APM) coordinator of the Pulau Redang Unit, Lieutenant Awang Azmi Kamarulzaman.
Awang Azmi, who is from the island himself, said despite living on the island and being isolated from the mainland, it did not mean that they had no contact with the outside world and could defy the MCO.
“This is because authorities like APM, RELA and the Royal Malaysian Police continue to monitor the movement of the residents to ensure that they also practice social distancing when going out to buy groceries at nearby shops.
“Although they are allowed to go out to the mainland for important purposes, so far there has been no movement in and out of the island. The compliance to MCO by residents on the island is very satisfactory,” he added.
Meanwhile, Batu Rakit State Assemblyman Bazlan Abdul Rahman said Pulau Redang is one of the main locations where aid is sent as the island is farther from the mainland.
“We have delivered food supplies to the island on March 30 and will continue to deliver essential items if MCO is extended.
“The Batu Rakit State Assemblyman’s office is in constant contact with the Social Welfare Department, APM, RELA and the police to safeguard the welfare of about 2,000 people on the island during MCO,” he added. –Bernama
Read More
https://www.thesundaily.my/home/mco-pulau-perhentian-pulau-redang-is-quieter-than-during-monsoon-season-XX2231880
Originally broadcast live on 06 April 2020, the daily press briefing on coronavirus COVID-19, direct from WHO Headquarters, Geneva Switzerland with Dr Tedros WHO Director-General, Dr Micheal Ryan, Executive Director of the Health Emergencies Programme, and Dr Maria Van Kerkhove, Technical lead, WHO Health Emergencies Programme with special guests Lady Gaga and Hugh Evans, CEO and Co-founder of Global Citizen.
Transcript:
Speaker key:
TJ Tarik Jasarevic
TAG Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus
LG Lady Gaga
HE Hugh Evans
MR Dr Michael Ryan JA Jamie
MK Dr Maria Van Kerkhove KA Kai
KT Kate
IN Innocent
YA Yang
00:00:19
TJ Good evening to everyone from Geneva and WHO headquarters. Welcome to the regular press conference on COVID-19. Journalists who are online can ask their questions by clicking raise hand if you are
on Zoom. Today we have a special guest but I will let Dr Tedros do his opening remarks and introduce them. Before I give the floor to Dr Tedros, just to remind you, we will also be sending you some news from other
WHO offices around the world with the audio file from this press briefing a little bit later. I give the floor immediately to Dr Tedros.
00:01:07
TAG Good morning, good afternoon and good evening. The COVID-19 pandemic continues to take a heavy toll on families, communities and nations the world over but it’s also giving rise to incredible acts of generosity,
solidarity and co-operation. We have said consistently that we’re all in this together and we can only succeed together. We need an all- of-society approach with everyone playing their part. That includes people in the entertainment
industry.
Today I’m very delighted to be joined by one of the biggest names in entertainment in the world, Lady Gaga, and my friend Hugh Evans, the founder and CEO of Global Citizen.
WHO has been working with Global Citizen for several weeks on the Together At Home concert series with artists like Chris Martin and John Legend giving free online performances.
Now we’re working with Lady Gaga and Global Citizen to take this concept and make it even bigger through the One World Together At Home virtual global special on Saturday 18th April. It’s now my great pleasure to invite
Lady Gaga and Hugh Evans to say more about this very special event, One World.
00:03:10
LG Thank you very much, Dr Tedros. Good morning, good afternoon and good evening to everyone who’s listening and watching. I would like to thank the World Health Organization and the
United Nations as well as Global Citizen; thank you very much, Dr Tedros and Hugh Evans, for all of your leadership in this fight against COVID-19 and thank you very much to the World Health Organization for asking me to collaborate
with you on this special.
We are also very grateful to all of the healthcare professionals across the country and around the world who are on the front lines during COVID-19. This global pandemic is a catastrophe. I’m so thankful to them and I’m also
praying for those who are sick. It’s been a pleasure to partner with Global Citizen and we’ve been working all together behind the scenes to raise money for the World Health Organization.
I would also like to send my prayers as well to people that are losing their jobs and are having a hard time feeding themselves and their children. We are raising money for the World Health
Organization’s COVID-19 Solidarity Response Fund and seven days ago we held a call with more than 68 corporate leaders from some of the world’s biggest and most generous companies and I asked them to join my corporate kindness
list as there have been many corporations and philanthropists that have been very, very generous during this time.
00:04:38
Since then we have also been calling on philanthropists around the world as well and tech companies included. I’d like to reiterate our deep gratitude to the medical community. My heart is very, very aching and warm for those
who are ER doctors as well as nurses who are sleeping in cars to make sure they don’t infect their families or their patients. What you’re doing is putting yourselves in harm’s way to help the world
and we all salute you and you are a triumph truly.
I am proud to say that over the past seven days we’ve raised a total of $35 million for the Solidarity Fund. This money will [inaudible] essential PPE, supplies and testing kits around the world and will help improve lab capacity
to rapidly process tests. It will also [inaudible] research development. It is so important to think globally and to support the World Health Organization to curb the pandemic and prevent future outbreaks.
I know Dr Tedros is particularly concerned about Africa and [inaudible]. We also need to act globally by supporting local charities and initiatives so that the front-line health workers in most immediate need have the resources they need
to survive during this time. It has been an honour to help with this huge broadcast event, which will take place on April 18th, where we need to tell the stories of and celebrate the front-line community, healthcare workers and their acts of kindness.
We will be on different networks, many networks actually and I want to [inaudible] about what we’re going to be doing. What’s very important is that two things happen for all of us; that we celebrate and we highlight the singular, kind global community
that is arising right now. Two, we want to highlight the gravity of this historically unprecedented cultural movement and, three, we want to celebrate and encourage the power of the human spirit.
00:06:47
I would like to, on behalf of the World Health Organization and Global Citizen, thank Dr Tedros as well as everyone that has donated so far. We are going to continue fundraising but I would like to also let you know that
this broadcast special is not actually a fundraiser. We all wanted to raise the money before we went on air so when we do air live on April 18th put your wallets away, put your credit cards away, anything
away that you need to and just sit back and enjoy the show that you all very much deserve.
I’d like to pass this now to Hugh Evans, who’s been a wonderful partner of mine. Hugh, thank you so much and thank you, Dr Tedros.
HE Good morning, good afternoon, good evening and thank you, Dr Tedros and thank you, Lady Gaga. Your Excellencies, ladies and gentlemen; Lady Gaga, Dr Tedros,
you’ve both demonstrated extraordinary leadership at an unprecedented moment when our society is being challenged like never before and we are so thankful for your leadership. I’d like to echo Lady Gaga’s sentiment and commend the incredible acts
of bravery demonstrated by the front-line community health workers around the world and I hope that we as a shared humanity emerge from this moment forever grateful for the work of doctors, nurses, teachers, grocery store workers and all of those who are
the backbone of our communities.
Global health is at the very core of the global citizen mission and we must ensure that the world’s poorest and most marginalised people have access to resources to cope with and tackle this health crisis. Through One
World: Together At Home on April 18th we’ll be calling on philanthropists, corporations and governments to fund critical global COVID-19 response efforts including distribution of resources and PPE to critical front-line healthcare
workers.
00:09:09
In our partnership with the WHO and United Nations Global Citizen is committed to driving action to help ensure our global health systems are strong enough to stop a future pandemic before it happens. April 18th is going to be a moment of global unity
connecting the world through a historic global broadcast. We are bringing together the greatest artists in the world under the passionate and extremely talented curation of Lady Gaga.
In alphabetical order some of the artists we’ll be announcing today include Alanis Morissette, Andrea Bocelli, Billie Eilish, Billy Joe Armstrong of Green Day, Burna Boy, Chris Martin, Sir David Beckham, Eddie Vedder,
Sir Elton John, Finneas, Idris and Sabrina Elba, J Balvin, John Legend, Kacey Musgraves, Keith Urban, Kerry Washington, Lang Lang, Lizzo, Maluma, Sir Paul McCartney, Priyanka Chopra Jonas, Shah Rukh Khan, Stevie Wonder and many more to be announced over the coming weeks from all corners of the globe under the passionate and extremely talented curation of Lady Gaga.
We’re grateful to all of you for participating and supporting this critical effort. One World Together At Home will be broadcast live on Saturday April 18th 2020 at 5:00pm PDT, 8:00pm EDT and 12:00am BST, airing on ABC, NBC, Viacom and CBS networks,
IHeartMedia, and Bell media networks and platforms in Canada. Internationally BBC1 will run the programme on Sunday April 19th and additional international broadcasters include BN Media Group, Multi-Choice Group and RTE in Ireland.
00:11:43
The digital broadcast will celebrate and support brave community health workers who are doing life-saving work on the front line and we’ve all seen the limitations of world leaders around this world to step up and face this extraordinary challenge
and we want to do our best to support the essential work of the World Health Organization, driving action and raising critical funds. Thank you again, Dr Tedros, and thank you, Lady Gaga, for your leadership.
Thank you all.
TJ Thank you very much to our guests for their remarks. Dr Tedros, I guess you would like to thank them too.
TAG Once again I would like to thank Lady Gaga and Hugh Evans for their partnership. We had a call last week and I was so amazed by the energy and passion of Lady Gaga. It’s incredible commitment to humanity and that’s
when I said, I think what she has planned can happen. It’s bringing the world together to improve awareness and to mobilise resources to fight the pandemic so I thank her for her incredible passion and commitment and leadership and
also to my friend, Hugh Evans, for connecting all the dots and for his leadership.
We all look forward to joining you for the One World: Together At Home concert on 18th April. As the pandemic continues we recognise that individuals and governments want to do everything they can to protect themselves and others and so do we.
We understand that some countries have recommended or are considering the use of both medical and non-medical masks in the general population to prevent the spread of COVID-19.
00:14:21
First and foremost medical masks must be prioritised for health workers on the front lines of the response. We know medical masks can help to protect health workers but they’re in short supply globally. We’re concerned that the mass
use of medical masks by the general population could exacerbate the shortage of these specialised masks for the people who need them most. In some places these shortages are putting health workers in real danger.
In healthcare facilities WHO continues to recommend the use of medical masks, respirators and other personal protective equipment for health workers. In the community we recommend the use of medical masks by people who are sick and those who
are caring for a sick person at home.
WHO has been evaluating the use of medical and non-medical masks for COVID-19 more widely. Today WHO is issuing guidance and criteria to support countries in making that decision. For example countries could consider using masks in communities where other measures such as cleaning hands and physical distancing are harder to achieve because of lack of water or cramped living conditions.
If masks are worn they must be used safely and properly. WHO has guidance on how to put on, take off and dispose of masks. What’s clear is that there is limited research in this area. We encourage countries that are considering the use
of masks for the general population to study their effectiveness so we can all learn. Most importantly masks should only ever be used as part of a comprehensive package of interventions. There is no black or white answer and no silver bullet.
Masks alone cannot stop the pandemic. Countries must continue to find, test, isolate and treat every case and trace every contact. Mask or no mask, there are proven things all of us can do to protect ourselves and others.
00:17:13
Keep your distance, clean your hands, cough or sneeze into your elbow and avoid touching your face. Less than 100 days since WHO was notified about the new coronavirus research has accelerated at incredible speed. The viral genome
was mapped in early January and shared globally, which enabled tests to be developed and vaccine research to start. More than 70 countries have joined WHO’s Solidarity Trial to accelerate the search for an effective treatment and about
20 institutions and companies are racing to develop a vaccine.
WHO is committed to ensuring that as medicines and vaccines are developed they’re shared equitably with all countries and people. I want to thank the Medicines Patent Pool and Unitaid for the initiative they announced last
Friday to include medicines and diagnostics for COVID-19 in their licensing pool.
I also want to thank the President of Costa Rica, President Carlos Alvadaro, and the Health Minister, Daniel Salas, for their proposal to create a pool of rights to tests, medicines and vaccines with free access or licensing on reasonable and affordable
terms for all countries. Muchas gracias, Mr President. I support this proposal and we’re working with Costa Rica to finalise the details.
00:19:09
Poorer countries and fragile economies stand to face the biggest shock from this pandemic and leaving anyone unprotected will only prolong the health crisis and harm economies more. I call
on all countries, companies and research institutions to support open data, open science and open collaboration so that all people can enjoy the benefits of science and research.
Finally we’re nearing the end of the Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. This is one piece of good news. If there are no more cases the Government of the Democratic Republic of Congo could declare the outbreak over as early
as this Sunday. We’re not there yet and we remain in full response mode. We’re continuing to investigate alerts and to test samples.
This would not have been possible without the incredible health workers who have put themselves at risk for more than 18 months to stop this outbreak, just as health workers are putting themselves in danger to save lives from COVID-19. Health
workers in DRC faced the double threat of fighting a deadly virus in one of the world’s most dangerous and unstable regions, exposing themselves to Ebola and bullets.
Tomorrow, as you know, is WHO’s birthday, a day we celebrate each year as World Health Day. This year we’re paying tribute to the incredible contribution of all health workers, especially nurses and midwives. Nurses and midwives are the backbone of
every health system. They’re there from the first moments of life to the last. Tomorrow we’re publishing our first report on the state of the world’s nursing which highlights gaps and makes recommendations for all countries.
00:22:00
One of the lessons I hope the world learns from COVID-19 is that we must invest in health workers, not only to protect lives but also to protect livelihoods. I thank you.
TJ Thank you very much, Dr Tedros. Also, as always, we have Dr Mike Ryan and Dr Maria Van Kerkhove, who will be answering questions. We will now open the floor. I will go to one question
that I received by email this morning and I promised to answer; that’s Ankit Kumar from India Today. Ankit is asking; we have recently seen a spike in cases caused through religious gatherings in India, in fact almost a third of new cases
were linked to one gathering in India. We have also seen incidents of violence against health workers due to fear and misinformation. Is WHO concerned with these developments, what is WHO’s message to religious and community leaders and their
followers?
MR First and foremost the idea of violence against health workers is driven by fear and it’s driven by misunderstanding but it’s really unacceptable. We ask everyone and every community to see our health workers
as our heroes and to support them in every way we can.
With regard to gatherings of any type, be they religious or be they for other purposes, there are always risks associated with such gatherings in the midst of a major epidemic. WHO has issued guidance on that. Many of these gatherings
are now postponed or cancelled. We’ve been working very, very closely with religious and faith-based organisations all over the world including groups from the Islamic tradition, Christian
traditions and others and continue to work through faith-based organisations to communicate using our Epiwin platform.
00:24:21
We’re also continuing to develop guidance specifically for the holy month of Ramadan and are working through our Eastern Mediterranean regional office to be able to advise governments and religious institutions on how best to manage
the risks associated with such holy events.
But it’s very important again; having COVID-19 is not anybody’s fault. Every case is a victim and every case needs to be treated with sensitivity, as the health workers who treat them so it’s very important that we’re not profiling COVID-19
along racial, along religious, along ethnic lines. This is not helpful.
TJ Thank you very much. This was a question from Ankit Kumar from India Today. Now we will go to journalists online. We will start with Jamie from Associated Press. Jamie, can you hear us?
JA Hi, yes. Can you hear me? TJ Yes. Please go ahead.
JA Great, thank you very much. I wanted to ask you about… Over the weekend Dr Anthony Fauci mentioned that – if I understood it correctly – as much as 50% of transmission could be asymptomatic. Just aligned
with that, if you could give us a little bit more about what you’re thinking about the fact that some countries have said that this outbreak is more infectious than influenza. The CDC is saying that it’s up
to three times more infectious than influenza so what do you have to say about that? Thanks.
00:26:13
MK I’ll start and then perhaps Mike or DG would like to supplement. The modes of transmission and the way in which this virus is transmitted are of significant interest to all of us. What we are doing is working
with member states, we’re working with everyone that’s affected by this, looking through the research and trying to understand when most transmission is happening, when any transmission is happening.
What we know from reports, what we know from published literature is that the predominant way in which transmission is occurring is amongst symptomatic individuals and these are people that can be very early on in symptoms, even when they start
to feel a little bit unwell. This is supported by some data that attempts to catch a virus from individuals who are symptomatic.
We also know that it’s possible that people can transmit in the few days before they become symptomatic or in their pre-symptomatic phase. There have been some studies that have come out and we learned about this when we were on mission
in China back in January or early February, that there are individuals that can shed virus one to three days before they develop symptoms.
However it’s very important to note that even if you are pre-symptomatic or even if you don’t have any recognised symptoms you still have to transmit through droplets, you still have to have these infectious particles that come out
of your nose and your mouth. So while we know that that is possible we do not believe that it’s a major driver of transmission.
00:27:42
We’ve also seen modelling estimates that suggest that there’re large numbers of unrecognised transmission and I used unrecognised on purpose because I’m not saying asymptomatic. I’m saying that we may be missing people who are out there who are infected
but we’re missing them because of current surveillance strategies. That is certainly possible in many parts of the globe.
Whether or not those individuals are asymptomatic; we will have to wait until we see the results of serologic studies, which we hope we’ll be seeing in the coming days if not weeks.
So what we can say is that most people are transmitting this virus while they are symptomatic.
JA Hi, Jamie. Just in addition because I think – I would never in any way contradict my good friend, Tony Fauci, such an eminent man. There are many different estimations of what might represent asymptomatic
transmission or other infections in the community and we do know and everyone accepts that when the seroepidemiology studies do come online we will probably find more people who’ve been infected unknowingly; there’s no question of that.
The thing we need to address in all of this is very often the idea of severity versus infection and there is a huge association between the dose of exposure and the severity of infection. We see this in many other
infectious diseases so we also probably need to look at who is getting sick and very sick and is the dose and the type of exposure they’re getting different to those who may be exposed and seroconverted in the community.
00:29:26
So it’s not just a matter of looking at how many people in the community are infected but are there specific elements of exposure that cause individuals to have a higher dose of exposure or a specific route of exposure
that causes more severe infection? There is also that concept of infectious dose when we talk about the different types of transmission. If somebody is exposed to a high dose from another individual directly or from a surface that’s
heavily contaminated you can imagine the large dose.
In other circumstances individual particles or virus particles potentially floating through the air; it can be demonstrated that that may happen in certain circumstances, certainly in healthcare settings. But is that significant in
terms of driving infection, is that significant, does that produce an infectious dose that can successfully infect another individual?
These are all very important things that still need to be studied. Again we’re only a number of weeks into this. I think we need to have the seroepi studies. I think we need more information on what is the infectious dose and particularly
the relationship between the dose of exposure or infection and the severity of disease subsequently, which has been seen with many, many other diseases in the past including cholera, Ebola and others.
TJ Thank you very much, Mike and Maria. We will go now to our next question; that’s Kai Kupferschmidt. Kai, can you hear us?
00:31:01
KA Yes, Tarik. Thanks a lot for taking my question. I wanted to ask about the global push to try and find a pre-exposure prophylaxis or a post-exposure prophylaxis. I understand there’re
several trials going on, most of them with chloroquine or hydroxychloroquine. I was just wondering whether you can speak a little bit to what role this could potentially play.
Of course also there’re a lot of smaller studies going on. Is there any way to make sure that they all lead to results that can be proved in the end?
MR Maria can give you more detail but certainly one of the Solidarity trials – I think Solidarity 3 or 4 – we have one of the trials under design which will be a multi-centre study which will look at prophylaxis in healthcare workers to see whether there’s evidence that giving lower doses of drugs like chloroquine or hydroxychloroquine to healthcare workers would reduce their risk of becoming infected in a healthcare environment.
Those studies are certainly underway and again there are a number of those studies underway in smaller studies around the world but again as WHO we’re trying to bring together a larger set of collaborative studies that will give
us the answers we need.
In terms of post-exposure prophylaxis I don’t believe we have at the moment studies planned but Maria can speak to that but there is certainly evidence for the use of – not proven evidence of effectiveness but there are a number
of studies underway and trials underway that use hyperimmune globulin in the treatment of disease; in other words they use that purified plasma of recovered individuals to give an antibody boost to people who are
suffering the disease.
00:32:49
Similar approaches have been used in post-exposure prophylaxis for other diseases but Maria may be aware of studies underway in that area.
MK Only to add that, as you mentioned, there are a number of smaller studies that are happening globally and across a large number of countries. We have teams through our science division and through GOARN,
through the Global Outbreak Alert Network, who are pulling together available literature on a number of topics, one of which is looking at different types of therapeutics and drugs.
The idea is until we can have a study that pulls together enough of a sample size to get these answers to these questions we’re trying to evaluate every piece of evidence that is published so that we can look at the way in
which these studies were done, we can look at the strengths, we can look at the limitations so that can help guide us closer towards an effective treatment for COVID-19.
TJ Thank you very much. The next question is from BFM Radio. Is is Kate who is with us?
KT Yes, hi. Good evening or good morning. I’m from BFM Radio Malaysia. My question is, many countries around the world have imposed lock-downs or some sort of restrictions on movement. I was wondering
what WHO’s guidance would be; what’s the sweet spot, the kind of data that governments need to consider before lifting or relaxing some of these lock- downs? Thank you very much.
00:34:29
MR Thank you. It is a difficulty for governments right now because the lock-downs in many situations are proving effective in dampening the flames of the epidemic in those countries but those
lock-downs are also causing great economic hardship and everybody especially in the developing world needs to get to a more sustainable way of managing this epidemic and controlling COVID-19 without continuing to damage economic and social life.
The transition strategy out of lock-down requires a calibrated, step-wise approach. It would be probably very inadvisable just to lift a complete lock-down, all of the measures because lock-downs are a general term that
include closure of schools, closure of churches, stay-at- home orders, closure of workplaces. It’s a mixture of different things and I think each government needs to break out, what does our lock-down actually constitute, what are the elements
of our lock-down, where is that happening in the country, do we now understand the epidemiology of the disease in each area in which we have an element of lock-down or shut- down.
Then to chart the path out, you have to build strong public health capacity to take over from the lock-down. In other words the lock-down is pushing the disease down by putting people back in their homes, by separating communities. Once you raise
the lock-down you have to have an alternative method to suppress the infection. The way to do that is active case finding, testing, isolation of cases, tracking of contacts, quarantining of contacts and strong community education and
participation and ownership around normal physical distancing, hygiene and giving communities the power to control infection by in effect managing their own physical distance, managing their own capacities to support the response.
00:36:32
In that situation, if you’ve strong public health capacity, if you’ve got a community that’s mobilised and empowered and if you’ve strengthened your health system then you’re potentially in a position to start unlocking or unwinding the lock-down.
The specific parameters you need to be looking at are on two sides.
One is, it would be very inadvisable to lock down [sic] if the number of cases coming through the hospital is already at a level where your occupancy of beds is nearly at 100%. You need to be in a position where
you now have free beds in your system so that you’re managing and coping with the caseload and that means you have some absorption capacity left.
You need to look at things like the doubling rate; how many days does it take for the number of cases to double? You need to look at positivity rates; what proportion of all samples that we test are positive? You’ll see in
somewhere like Korea two to 6% of the samples they test are positive. Last week in New York 37% of tested samples were positive so you need to carefully look at what proportion of people you test are positive.
00:37:45
You need to look at the number of contacts that are generated per case and it goes on and on and WHO will be issuing guidance to countries that is a much more specific around the parameters they should be looking at. There are no absolutes here, there
are no answers, there are no numbers that say if this number is this then you do that. That doesn’t exist but what we can do is offer countries very specific measurements that they need to look at to chart the path out of lock-down.
That step-wise approach of unlocking somewhat and then waiting to see; I think you need to say, we will stop doing this element of the shut-down and then we will wait and we will look at the data and if that works we go to the next
stage and the next stage. So a careful, calibrated, step-wise exit from lock-down with putting in place public health capacities, putting in place community capacity, building the capacity of the health system to cope should the disease bounce back up; that’s the safe path out of lock-down.
We want to achieve it as quickly as possible and we want to avoid many countries going into that circumstance and we still have many countries around the world who are not in a locked- down situation. In fact their epidemiology would suggest
they can avoid the worst of this and we need to support them to avoid them going into that situation.
The most damaging lock-downs are in many developing countries where people – as the DG has said many times – can live from hand to mouth, not from pay cheque to pay cheque but from day to day and we have to find adaptive solutions
around lock-down and around disease control in vulnerable periurban populations living in poverty, in poor rural communities. We have to find alternative, adapted ways to manage lock-downs or slow-downs or shut-downs in
those situations.
00:39:41
TJ Thank you very much. This was Kate from BFM Radio in Malaysia. Now we will go to Nigeria to Natural Star and it’s Innocent. Innocent, can you hear us?
IN Thank you. Can you hear me?
TJ Not very well but we will try. Please go ahead.
IN Okay, thank you for taking my questions. I have two questions to ask. One; how will WHO assess African countries on what they’ve done concerning the lock-down and management of COVID-19?
Then the second one; there’s news going around that vaccines are to be tested on Africans when they’re developed. How true is that and is there a window that’s in the nearer future when a vaccine will be developed for COVID-19? Thank you.
Hello?
TJ Yes, we are just trying to make sure that we understood the question but we will try. MR I think this is Nigeria. Is it?
TJ Yes.
00:41:08
MR Maria may answer the question around vaccine development. With regard to our general assessment on lock-down – and the Director-General may wish to comment on this because he’s been speaking with many leaders in Africa
and, I believe, spoke with the whole of the African Union leadership and countries late last week so therefore is in a much better position than me to speak about that.
We would characterise so far, Africa’s actually doing well in this response thus far. Countries have essential capacities for testing, many countries are taking strong action and want to really focus on finding cases and doing contact tracing and trying to stop this disease becoming much more extensive given the fact that health systems are not as strong in many countries.
They need support in that though, they need support in testing, they need support with protective gear and they need to be given the resources to be able to mount those types of responses so I would characterise that Africa has not suffered the worst
of this pandemic so far. The worst of it can be avoided with very, very swift action to support those countries in Africa who really do want to take a comprehensive approach to this disease.
With the many vulnerable people including refugees and migrants who live in those countries it is our responsibility to provide that support but, DG, you may wish to speak about your interactions with the African
Union countries.
00:42:46
MK I’ll answer the question around vaccines. What we can say is that there are a number of vaccines that are in development and vaccines will be tested through clinical trials with all ethical considerations
in place in whichever populations are under study with informed consent, with open and transparent communication. This is of the utmost importance, that not only do we have strong, robust scientific evidence
but we ensure that all of the studies that are done are done with appropriate and the highest level of ethical considerations.
One thing on the first question around Africa is that there are a number of countries in Africa right now which have very few cases and Mike has alluded to this in his earlier response.
Some only have imported cases and there is an opportunity here, this window of opportunity that the DG has spoken about exists in many countries still. There is an opportunity to prevent the worst from happening
in a number of countries across Africa and across countries that are still seeing their first case; in some island countries.
We need to support those governments, those countries, all of the people in those areas to prevent the worst from happening, to prevent these individual cases from becoming clusters, these clusters from becoming community transmission. I think that’s
where we need to put a lot of emphasis and support so that we can prevent countries from reaching a point where they need to put in these very restrictive movement restrictions.
TAG Thank you. Thank you for that question, my brother from Nigeria. On the situation, as Mike said, of course when you see the number of cases the African continent has the lowest number of cases so far but that doesn’t mean that
the situation will not deteriorate. It may.
00:45:06
So Africa should do everything to prevent this situation from getting worse and that’s why African leaders are doing their best. I had a chance to participate in a meeting, a Leaders’ Coalition which was arranged or invited by the current Chairperson
of the African Union, the President of South Africa, President Ramaphoza and many leaders from all corners of the continent have actually participated.
The main agenda is to have a continental strategy and also make sure that that continental strategy helps the national strategy but in addition to a coalition of political leaders or the heads of state and government they have also agreed to have a coalition of business leaders. Business leaders in Africa are also getting together because Africa will need resources and one of the major problems that was identified during the discussion
was especially shortage of equipment starting from medical equipment, PPE and test kits and so on.
The leaders have agreed to look for concrete solutions to address the problem and they also believe that considering the number of cases we have in the continent testing cases, tracing contacts and isolating them, meaning using the comprehensive approach,
will actually help. They believe that lock-downs alone may not help or the physical distancing alone cannot help and they have agreed to do everything to follow the comprehensive approach.
From WHO’s side we have been supporting and we increased, improved the testing capacity in Africa significantly in the past two months and many countries in Africa have now testing capability although we may have a shortage of test kits but
we’re working on that too and we’re finding different ways of addressing the gap.
00:48:06
But we will support the African Union, we will support the Africa CDC and also we will continue working through our WHO regional office in Congo Brazzaville and continue to support and fight the pandemic together.
Then on the vaccines issue there was, I think, a comment last week from a couple of
scientists who said the testing ground for the new vaccines will be Africa. To be honest, I was so appalled and it was a time when I said, when we needed solidarity these kind of racist remarks actually would not help, it goes against the solidarity.
Africa cannot and will not be a testing ground for any vaccine. We will follow all the rules to test any vaccine or therapeutics all over the world using exactly the same rules. Whether it’s
in Europe, Africa or wherever we will use the same protocol and if there is a need to be tested elsewhere to treat human beings the same way, equally.
The hangover from a colonial mentality has to stop — and WHO will not allow this to happen. It was a disgrace actually and appalling to hear during the 21st century from scientists that kind of remark and we condemn
this in the strongest terms possible but we assure you that this will not happen in Africa and will not happen elsewhere, in any country. Proper protocols will be followed and human beings will be treated as human
beings because we’re all human beings.
00:50:37
Then after saying this the vaccine development; we’re addressing two issues and we will be announcing as soon as possible, hopefully during this week, a big initiative to accelerate the research and development and production of vaccines and also
design mechanisms for equitable distribution of the vaccines.
While we’re looking for vaccines, unless we break the barriers to equitable distribution of the products, whether it’s vaccines or therapeutics, we will have a problem, so we need to address the problem ahead of time, we need to address the problem
of access or challenges to access ahead of time.
That’s why we will put together a mechanism and we will appoint senior people from the North and South that will work out the details on how they can accelerate production but at the same time how they can ensure equitable distribution. Solidarity
is very important here. When a vaccine or a medicine is ready we have to be able to deliver it all over the world.
There should not be a divide between the haves and the have-nots.
If we say solidarity, solidarity should be in its full form and I hope each and every individual, each and every human being will go for that kind of solidarity. I thank you.
TJ Thank you, Dr Tedros. We’ll take a couple more questions. We go to Yang from Xinhua news agency. Yang, can you hear us?
00:52:58
YA Can I hear you?
TJ Yes, we can hear you. Please go ahead.
YA As World Health Day is approaching what do you have to say to the front-line medical workers in China and around the world in the global anti-virus efforts? This question is
for Dr Tedros. Thank you.
TJ If we understood well, the question is what is the message to health workers in China and around the world. Maybe you can repeat the question one more time, please.
YA Okay. As World Health Day is approaching what would you say and what message do you want to deliver to the front-line medical workers in China and around the world in the global anti-virus effort?
TAG I think I have said it earlier; as you know, this is the year of the nurse and the midwife, 2020. We were ready to celebrate it in a big way and it was supposed to be the main event in our
Assembly in mid-May. Unfortunately we’re in this situation but we will be launching a report tomorrow which is the first of its kind. It’s a report on the state of nursing. We will launch it tomorrow during the World Health
Day.
00:55:01
But while launching that report, although it’s about nursing, we will celebrate all health workers, midwives, pharmacists, doctors, you name it. I think the world is now seeing the importance and the central role that health workers play. People,
when they’re asked, of course, to choose they would say health first because it’s only when you’re healthy that you can aspire to anything, whether it’s wealth or fame or anything. It doesn’t matter if you’re not healthy.
If you’re not healthy the first thing you ask for is to get back your health and our health workers are making sure that happens and they’re central and very important for any individual. So not only during COVID but during other times too health
professionals are very important because they are safeguarding that very important aspect of life — that’s health.
So we have to celebrate them every day. Of course during COVID we can see to what extent they’re sacrificing. We have lost many of them. They’re dying while saving lives so my message first is to the public at large; that each and every individual
should recognise, whether it’s during normal times or pandemics like now, the role of health professionals and help them, protect them, really appreciate and respect what they are doing.
To the health workers, although especially during this COVID pandemic you’re working in a difficult situation you should know that your work is the most blessed one, your work is something special to the extent of losing your life
while helping others to live. We respect you and appreciate you for that and we also believe in you and that you will do everything to control this pandemic.
00:58:11
But you should know that you have – and the world understands – the most important job. We can see the humility which is coming from some leaders because of this pandemic. I know they’re seeing, starting from their own lives, the whole world through
a different prism and they will also see your role.
But the most important is not the recognition from the public or from leaders but the internal commitment and passion you have and believing that you’re doing the most blessed thing and you have all our respect and appreciation and we believe in
you, that together we will finish this pandemic. All the respect and appreciation we have to you, the greatest respect and appreciation ever. Thank you.
TJ Thank you very much, Dr Tedros. I think this important message will be heard from everyone and we will conclude this press briefing with these important words from Dr Tedros. We will
have an audio file available in the minutes to come and we invite you for our next briefing on Wednesday. Thank you.
TAG [Inaudible] and see you on Wednesday – tomorrow actually for the launch. Yes, see you tomorrow.
01:00:18
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