A prehistoric human species that lived in Europe 1.2 million to 800,000 years ago is emerging as a contender to be our last common ancestor with Neanderthals
Read More
https://www.newscientist.com/article/2239329-we-may-now-know-what-our-common-ancestor-with-neanderthals-looked-like/?utm_campaign=RSS%7CNSNS&utm_source=NSNS&utm_medium=RSS&utm_content=home
Views: 0
In the face of the COVID-19 crisis, we are all vulnerable. The virus has shown that it does not discriminate – but many refugees, those forcibly displaced, the stateless and migrants are at heightened risk.
Three-quarters of the world’s refugees and many migrants are hosted in developing regions where health systems are already overwhelmed and under-capacitated. Many live in overcrowded camps, settlements, makeshift shelters or reception centers, where they lack adequate access to health services, clean water and sanitation.
The situation for refugees and migrants held in formal and informal places of detention, in cramped and unsanitary conditions, is particularly worrying. Considering the lethal consequences a COVID-19 outbreak would have, they should be released without delay. Migrant children and their families and those detained without a sufficient legal basis should be immediately released.
This disease can be controlled only if there is an inclusive approach which protects every individual’s rights to life and health. Migrants and refugees are disproportionately vulnerable to exclusion, stigma and discrimination, particulary when undocumented. To avert a catastrophe, governments must do all they can to protect the rights and the health of everyone. Protecting the rights and the health of all people will in fact help control the spread of the virus.
It is vital that everyone, including all migrants and refugees, are ensured equal access to health services and are effectively included in national responses to COVID-19, including prevention, testing and treatment. Inclusion will help not only to protect the rights of refugees and migrants, but will also serve to protect public health and stem the global spread of COVID-19. While many nations protect and host refugee and migrant populations, they are often not equipped to respond to crises such as Covid-19. To ensure refugees and migrants have adequate access to national health services, States may need additional financial support. This is where the world’s financial institutions can play a leading role in making funds available.
While countries are closing their borders and limiting cross-border movements, there are ways to manage border restrictions in a manner which respects international human rights and refugee protection standards, including the principle of non-refoulement, through quarantine and health checks.
More than ever, as COVID-19 poses a global threat to our collective humanity, our primary focus should be on the preservation of life, regardless of status. This crisis demands a coherent, effective international approach that leaves no-one behind. At this crucial moment we all need to rally around a common objective, fighting this deadly virus. Many refugees, displaced, stateless people and migrants have skills and resources that can also be part of the solution.
We cannot allow fear or intolerance to undermine rights or compromise the effectiveness of responses to the global pandemic. We are all in this together. We can only defeat this virus when each and every one of us is protected.
Read More
https://www.who.int/news-room/detail/31-03-2020-ohchr-iom-unhcr-and-who-joint-press-release-the-rights-and-health-of-refugees-migrants-and-stateless-must-be-protected-in-covid-19-response
Views: 0
There are great deals of people that are making moves online, and they are profiting at every turn. You might see them living lavish lives without having to wake up and work the traditional 9 to 5 job. If that’s something that you want to jump into, you’ll need to master a few elements of network marketing success. Working on the net and having a lot of money doesn’t come without its own set of headaches. There are millions of people that realize that too late and end up losing a lot of money in the process. Instead of making those common mistakes that most people make, you can dodge bullets with ease if you just think about the 3 elements below…
Read More
http://www.associationofmarketing.org/articles/view.php?article_id=7064
Views: 0
The Nigerian Government has evacuated staff of the Nigerian Centre for Disease Control stranded in the Republic of Congo.
In a statement, Nigeria’s Ambassador to Republic of Congo, Deborah Iliya, commended the government and Ministry of Foreign Affairs for deploying an aircraft to airlift the stranded personnel back to Nigeria.
According to Iliya, the NCDC staff had travelled to Brazzaville, Republic of Congo, to undergo a special capacity building course by the World Health Organisation in order to expand their knowledge of Coronavirus management.
The statement reads, “The medical team had been stranded following the closure of air and land borders by the host country ostensibly for similar situation.
“In the same vein, the ambassador, on behalf of the Government of Nigeria, has commended the government and good people of the Republic of Congo for the singular act of solidarity and standing on good relations by the temporal opening of her airport to facilitate the departure of the team on March 26, 2020.
“This act has in no small measure further strengthened the bilateral harmony that exists between the two countries.
“This trying moment calls for unity, support for each other and forging a common front against Coronavirus and all that stands against peace.”
At the moment, Africa has 4,480 confirmed cases of Coronavirus and 135 deaths, with 97 infections and one death coming from Nigeria.
AddThis
:
Original Author
:
Saharareporters, New York
Disable advertisements
:
Read More
http://saharareporters.com/2020/03/29/coronavirus-nigerian-government-evacuates-stranded-ncdc-staff-congo
Views: 0
Do you dread marketing your business? Have you spent way too much time and money on advertisements that have brought you little to no customers? Marketing can be not only confusing but extremely frustrating as well if you fall victim to the following common mistakes…
Read More
http://www.associationofmarketing.org/articles/view.php?article_id=7240
Views: 0
Marketing has a certain set of common rules that apply to both online and offline strategies. There should always be a definite target group to which advertisers communicate their ideas instead of voicing them out to the whole global population. There are many products and services centered on teen and parent audiences who are the toughest audiences that marketers have to face…
Read More
http://www.associationofmarketing.org/articles/view.php?article_id=7484
Views: 0
Substantial progress has been made during the past decade to prevent and control schistosomiasis (also known as bilharziasis) globally. The disease affects more than 230 million people, mostly in sub-Saharan Africa.
Progress is mainly due to large-scale periodic treatment of affected populations with praziquantel, the only medicine recommended by the World Health Organization (WHO) against all forms of schistosomiasis. Regular treatment cures mild symptoms and prevents
progression to severe, chronic disease.
“Through progressive scale-up of periodic large-scale treatment
to control morbidity in many endemic countries, we are closer to
achieving the minimum target of 75% global coverage of all school‐aged
children,” said Dr Amadou Garba Djirmay, who leads WHO’s global schistosomiasis control programme. “But
if we want to achieve elimination, we must go a step further to
introduce snail control in hot spots and in areas targeting elimination.
This is bound to increase impact and accelerate progress towards
interruption of transmission.”
Expansion of treatment is largely supported by donated praziquantel from Merck KGaA of up to 250 million tablets annually. In 2018, almost 78 million children were treated, representing 63% of all school‐aged children eligible for treatment.
Schistosomiasis is an acute, chronic parasitic disease caused by infection with trematode worms of the genus Schistosoma. It is prevalent in tropical and subtropical areas, especially in poor, rural communities that have little or no access to
safe drinking‐water and basic sanitation. Infection is transmitted when people suffering from schistosomiasis contaminate freshwater sources when evacuating urine and faeces containing the parasite’s eggs.
Once an egg comes into contact with fresh water, it releases miracidia (hatchlings) which enter a snail and produce hundreds of cercariae (larvae) daily. The cercariae enter the human body on contact with the skin and develop into adult worms.
Besides treatment with praziquantel, eliminating snail hosts and improving sanitation are important methods for sustainable prevention of the disease. Dam and irrigation projects are known to be potential sites for outbreaks of the disease. Snail management,
often achieved through mollusciciding, can help to reduce transmission by eliminating these intermediate snail hosts.
In 2017, the World Health Assembly – WHO’s decision making body – adopted resolution WHA70.16 on the Global Vector Control
Response, calling on Member States to develop or adapt national vector control strategies and operational plans. The strategy aims to reduce by at least 40% the incidence of vector borne diseases, including schistosomiasis, by 2025.
In response, WHO is reinforcing snail control as part of its strategic approach to achieve the target of eliminating schistosomiasis as a public health problem and, ultimately, the goal of elimination of transmission. Snail control will complement mass
treatment campaigns and sustain the public health impact of this core intervention.
To facilitate implementation of snail control, in 2019 WHO published on specific, standardized procedures and criteria for efficacy
testing and evaluation and in 2017 a manual on the use of molluscicides in the field. WHO is also planning to strengthen capacities
of health staff in medical malacology in order to reinforce snail control activities in countries.
In the past, molluscicides (particularly niclosamide1 based products) were widely used in schistosomiasis control programmes. For example, in China programmes largely relied on snail control for over 30 years to overcome the disease as a public
health problem. In other parts of the world, however, snail control programmes were gradually discontinued and competencies faded away.
“Snail control is a crucial component of the global schistosomiasis elimination strategy,” said Dr Rajpal Yadav, Scientist, WHO Department of Control of Neglected Tropical Diseases. “It
is time we look for new snail control products that are cost–effective
and of low risk to humans and the environment. Some efforts are being
made to explore molluscicide compounds from plants, marine algae and
microorganisms.”
An integrated control strategy involving mass treatment with praziquantel, snail control and environmental modification, wider access to sanitation and safe water, economic and environmental development, health education and poverty-alleviation can greatly
contribute to sustainable control and elimination of schistosomiasis.
WHO’s new road map on neglected tropical diseases for 2021–2030, due to be launched later this year, advocates enhanced financial and political support to achieve the target of interruption of transmission. Additional research to address gaps,
develop tools and optimize the impact of existing programmes with snail control will complement the core strategic approach.
There are two major forms of schistosomiasis – intestinal and urogenital.
Intestinal schistosomiasis usually results in diarrhoea and blood in the stool; enlargement of the liver and of the spleen and portal hypertension are common in advanced cases.
Urogenital schistosomiasis is characterized by the presence of blood in the urine. Chronic infection results in fibrosis of the bladder and ureter that can evolve to hydronephrosis and create conditions for bladder cancer.
In women, urogenital schistosomiasis can cause vaginal bleeding, pain during sexual intercourse and nodules in the vulva, a condition now described as female genital schistosomiasis. In men, urogenital schistosomiasis can induce disease in the seminal
vesicles and prostate.
1Limitations with the use of formulations based on niclosamide include restrictions on the usage of water immediately after application and temporary toxicity to non-target aquatic organisms including
fish, amphibians and invertebrates.
Read More
https://www.who.int/news-room/detail/25-03-2020-schistosomiasis-elimination-refocusing-on-snail-control-to-sustain-progress
Views: 0