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  • Why African Americans are dying at higher rates from Covid-19

    Why African Americans are dying at higher rates from Covid-19

    Why African Americans are dying at higher rates from Covid-19 1

    WASHINGTON: The new coronavirus isn’t biased about who it infects – so why does data emerging from some states suggest that African Americans are bearing the brunt of the pandemic in the US?

    Experts say blacks are disproportionately impacted by underlying health conditions linked to poverty, face discrimination in medical care, and are more likely to work jobs that require them to leave their home.

    “We know that blacks are more likely to have diabetes, heart disease, lung disease,“ the nation’s top doctor, Surgeon General Jerome Adams told CBS News on Tuesday.

    These chronic illnesses, which are in turn linked to poverty and structural racism, can lead to more serious forms of the COVID-19 disease.

    Adams, who is himself black and has high blood pressure and asthma, added: “I represent that legacy of growing up poor and black in America.

    “And I, and many black Americans, are at higher risk for COVID.”

    – Emerging trend –

    There is no nationwide data available on COVID-19 cases by race, but a pattern of over-representation by black Americans has emerged in states or jurisdictions that are sharing the numbers.

    Sixty-eight percent of coronavirus deaths in Chicago have been among African Americans, who make up just 30 percent of the city’s population.

    “Those numbers take your breath away,“ the city’s mayor Lori Lightfoot said Monday at a coronavirus briefing. “This is a call to action for all of us.”

    The trend is repeated in North Carolina, Louisiana, Michigan, Wisconsin and the capital Washington.

    Doctor Georges Benjamin, executive director of the American Public Health Association, told AFP the issue was also linked to social class, with black people more likely to work jobs deemed essential that expose them to potential infection.

    “That population is more public facing,“ he said. “More bus drivers, more people taking public transportation to work, more people providing services in nursing homes, more folks working in grocery stores.”

    – Structural bias –

    The problem is compounded by implicit and explicit bias that African Americans face in the medical system.

    Doctor James Hildreth, president of the historically black Meharry Medical College in Nashville, Tennessee told AFP that in his city, most of the initial testing took place at Vanderbilt University Medical Center.

    Most of the patients who go to hospital systems like these have insurance, and it was only recently that three assessment centers run by the city of Nashville were built for the underprivileged and minority communities — one of them located at Meharry’s campus and run by its staff.

    “My point is, depending on which community you live in, and whether or not you have insurance… the chances for getting assessed are much less,“ he said.

    What’s more, it’s well documented that when black people seek care, they are less likely to have their symptoms believed or get adequately treated, Doctor Ebony Hilton, an anesthesiologist at the University of Virginia Medical Center told AFP.

    For example, black women are less likely to have their breast cancer mammograms seen by a specialist as opposed to a general radiologist, according to a 2015 Duke University study.

    Black heart patients who present with elevated levels of a group of proteins indicating cardiac injury are also less likely to be seen by specialists, per a 2018 study.

    A civil rights group wrote this week to the US health secretary, Alex Azar, calling on him to “release daily racial and ethnic demographic data related to COVID-19 testing, disease burden and patient outcomes.”

    This, said the Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law, was necessary to ensure a robust public health response, and to make certain care and testing aren’t being administered in a discriminatory manner.

    The group said the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) was already collecting the information but deliberately withholding it.

    Hilton stressed that it was in the interests of Americans as a whole to address the problem, because — unlike high rates of heart disease or cancer — a wave of coronavirus spreading through the black and Hispanic population will ultimately impact everyone else.

    “When you have a system that’s not treating these people of lower social economic status and these minority groups, they are then not being tested, they’re sent back home to infect their community,“ she said.

    “Those workers who are now infected are going to the grocery store, and when the upper echelon of America are going to get their food, they will get infected too.” – AFP

    Why African Americans are dying at higher rates from Covid-19
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    https://www.thesundaily.my/world/why-african-americans-are-dying-at-higher-rates-from-covid-19-HX2231768

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  • Updated WHO Information Note: Ensuring continuity of TB services during the COVID-19 pandemic

    Updated WHO Information Note: Ensuring continuity of TB services during the COVID-19 pandemic

    Geneva. The World Health Organization (WHO) Global TB Programme, along with WHO regional and country offices, has developed an updated information note, in collaboration with stakeholders. This note is intended to assist national TB programmes and health personnel to urgently maintain continuity of essential services for people affected with TB during the COVID-19 pandemic, driven by innovative people-centred approaches, as well as maximizing joint support to tackle both diseases. It is important that the progress made in TB prevention and care is not reversed by the COVID19 pandemic. Finding and treating people with TB remain the fundamental pillars of TB prevention and care and those would require maintained attention. This updated note has additional details on clinical management considerations to manage TB and COVID-19, as well as new information on testing.

    Updated WHO Information Note: Ensuring continuity of TB services during the COVID-19 pandemic
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    https://www.who.int/news-room/detail/04-04-2020-updated-who-information-note-ensuring-continuity-of-tb-services-during-the-covid-19-pandemic

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  • Legal Issues Arising From Management Of Covid-19 Patients By Ahmed Adetola-Kazeem

    Legal Issues Arising From Management Of Covid-19 Patients By Ahmed Adetola-Kazeem

    Legal Issues Arising From Management Of Covid-19 Patients By Ahmed Adetola-Kazeem 2

    Legal Issues Arising From Management Of Covid-19 Patients By Ahmed Adetola-Kazeem 3


    A lot of legal issues are bound to arise as an aftermath of the outbreak of Coronavirus otherwise referred to as COVID-19.  There is therefore a need to shed light on some of the issues that may arise and how to navigate them. This article will x-ray the rights of patients, the rights of health workers and the basic minimum obligations of the government.

    The Code of Medical Ethics in Nigeria 2008 lists acts that constitute professional negligence. Rule 29.4 of the Code outlines some of these acts as follows:-

    a)      Failure to attend promptly to a patient requiring urgent attention when the practitioner was in a position to do so;

    b)     Manifesting incompetence in the assessment of a patient;

    c)      Making an incorrect diagnosis particularly when the clinical features were so glaring that no reasonable skillful practitioner could have failed to notice them; 

    d)     Failure to advise, or proffering wrong advice to  a patient on the risk involved in a particular operation or course of treatment, especially if such an operation or course of treatment is likely to result in serious side effects like deformity or loss of organ, or function;

    e)      Failure to obtain the informed consent of the patient before proceeding on any surgical procedure or course of treatment when such consent was necessary; 

    f)       Making a mistake in treatment e.g. amputation of the wrong limb, carelessness that results in the termination of a pregnancy, prescribing the wrong drug, or dosage in error for a correctly diagnosed ailment, etc;

    g)     Failure to refer, or transfer a patient in good time, when such a referral or transfer was necessary;

    h)     Failure to do anything that ought reasonably to have been done under any circumstance for the good of the patient;

    i)       Failure to see a patient as often as his medical condition warrants or to make appropriate comments in the case notes of the practitioner’s observations and prescribed treatment during such visits. It also includes failure to communicate with the patient or with his relatives as may be necessary with regards to any developments, progress or prognosis in the patient’s condition.

     

    Rule 11.2 of the 2008 Code of Medical Ethics in Nigeria provides that, “A physician shall preserve absolute confidentiality on all he knows about his patient even after the patient has died.”

                 Rule 44 of the Code of Medical Ethics has extensive provisions on Confidentiality and when disclosure of information can be made. The Rule provides in part that:

    “Disclosure of information on the patient by the doctor can only be made following an informed consent of the patient in writing. It is clear that the ethic covers even such information as induced abortion, venereal disease, attempted suicide, concealed birth and drug dependence but would exclude situations in which a discretionary breach of confidentiality is necessary to protect the patient or the community from danger and this must be made clear to the patient at the time of the confidential disclosure. Where statutory notification of disease is involved, the consent of the patient is not required.”            

                Confidentiality: To Disclose Identity Of Covid-19 Patients Or Not To Disclose?

    COVID-19 is an infectious disease caused by a newly discovered coronavirus. Most people infected with the COVID-19 will experience mild to moderate respiratory illness and recover without requiring special treatment.  Older people, and those with underlying medical problems like cardiovascular disease, diabetes, chronic respiratory disease, and cancer are more likely to develop serious illness.[1]

    The Federal Ministry of Health confirmed the first case of COVID-19 in Nigeria on the 27th of February 2020. It is the case of an Italian citizen who works in Nigeria and returned from Milan, Italy to Lagos, Nigeria on the 25th of February 2020. In reaction to the report, the social was divided between those who want the name of the Italian disclosed and those that preferred it remains confidential. The outcry was even more when the Chief of Staff to the President tested positive according to reports from various media houses[2], but the Minister of Health decided to keep mute on the identity of the President’s aide who contacted the virus, citing confidentiality.

    It will ordinarily be wrong to disclose the medical status of someone infected with COVID-19, for instancethe case of the Italian who was the index case. However in view of the proviso to Rule 44 of the Code of Medical Ethics 2008 which provides that a discretionary breach of confidentiality is necessary in order to protect the community from danger, I am of the view that the test results of popular figures who hold strategic offices like the Chief of Staff to the President or a Governor must be disclosed to guaranty public safety. This is necessary in view of the countless number of people from all works of life they come in contact with on a daily basis.  It will be correct to have made their status public in the overriding interest of the public, since it will enable those who have come in contact with them isolate, just like we have seen in the cases of the British Prime Minister, the Bauchi State Govenor, Prince Charles, the First Lady of Canada and many more. We must commend those who announced their status in public themselves-it is the best thing to do in the interest of humanity

    The World Health Organization (WHO) provides additional guidelines for the management of coronavirus patients specifically.[3]

    Health workers should:

    •follow established occupational safety and health procedures, avoid exposing others to health and safety risks and participate in employer-provided occupational safety and health training; 

    •use provided protocols to assess, triage and treat patients; 

    •treat patients with respect, compassion and dignity; 

    •maintain patient confidentiality; 

    •swiftly follow established public health reporting procedures of suspect and confirmed cases; 

    •provide or reinforce accurate infection prevention and control and public health information, including to concerned people who have neither symptoms nor risk;

    •put on, use, take off and dispose of personal protective equipment properly;

    •self-monitor for signs of illness and self-isolate or report illness to managers, if it occurs; 

    •advise management if they are experiencing signs of undue stress or mental health challenges that require support interventions; and 

    •report  to  their  immediate  supervisor  any  situation  which  they  have  reasonable  justification  to  believe presents an imminent and serious danger to life or health.

     

    Doctors and health workers in Nigeria must endeavor to digest the guidelines in the Code of Medical Ethics as well as the WHO Guidelines for management of Coronavirus victims and ensure they work strictly by their provisions. A breach of these duties have dire consequences. 

    Options Available To Covid-19 Patients Who Are Victims Of Medical Negligence

    A Coronavirus patient who has suffered medical negligence has a number of options:

    1. He could file a complaint with the regulatory body (e.g. the Medical and Dental Council of Nigeria, in the cases involving a Doctor). The Doctor will in the first instance be investigated by the Medical and Dental Practitioners Investigation Panel, after which he will be tried by the Medical and Dental Practitioners Disciplinary Tribunal. If found culpable,  the Doctor may be warned, suspended from practicing for a period not exceeding 6 months or in very serious cases, have his name can be removed from the Register of Medical Practitioners. The Medical and Dental Practitioners’ Disciplinary Tribunal does not award monetary damages.

    2. A suit can be filed against the Medical Doctor, the Hospital, Agency or Government in the High Court for Medical Negligence and monetary damages will be awarded if the Defendant(s) are found culpable.

          3.  If there is an element of Crime, a report could be made to the Police who would conduct Criminal Investigation and where the investigation reveals gross negligence, recklessness or wanton disregard for life of the victim, the police can prosecute or forward the case file to the office of the Attorney General of the State for possible prosecution in deserving cases.  

    A Need To Do More For Doctors And Other Professionals In The Health Sector

    Health workers are at the front line of any outbreak response and as such are exposed to hazards that put them at risk of infection with an outbreak pathogen (in this case COVID-19). Hazards include pathogen exposure, long working  hours,  psychological  distress,  fatigue,  occupational  burnout,  stigma,  and  physical  and  psychological violence. 

    During the outbreak of Ebola more than 500 health care workers died in Guinea, Liberia and Sierra-Leone alone. We also lost some of our finest doctors and health workers to the disease in Nigeria, the most prominent being Dr. Stella Adadevoh, who is credited with having curbed a wider spread of the Ebola virus in Nigeria by placing the index patient, Patrick Sawyer, in quarantine despite pressures from the Liberian  government. As we speak, The coronavirus is waging a war of attrition against health care workers throughout the world, but nowhere is it winning more battles at the moment than in Italy and in Spain, where protective equipment and tests have been in severely short supply for weeks. In Spain 13.6% (6500) of those affected with the coronavirus are health workers and in Italy 10% (7400) of those affected with the virus are health workers. [4] In New York dozens of health workers have been affected with the virus, while hundreds are in quarantine.[5] According to reports filtering in as the time of concluding this article, three health workers have been infected with COVID-19 in Abuja, Nigeria.[6]

    Human Rights Watch research into health system collapse in Hungary and Venezuela suggests the nations’ mismanaged, underfunded, and understaffed public healthcare system is poorly equipped to handle a COVID-19 outbreak. Patients and medical experts described a lack of basic hygiene protocol, lack of isolation rooms, and a shortage of health professionals, doctors and nurses, and medical supplies in general.

    The situation is not too different in Nigeria at the moment and except something drastic is done we might be witnessing a devastating effect of the pandemic. Nigeria’s, public health capacity has been diminished by large scale public sector corruption. Medical personnel lack surgical masks and local supplies have been diverted and shipped to other markets partly due to corruption. Many states are ill-prepared to combat the impeding surge in patients. A senior health worker with a government hospital in Abuja, in an interview with Sahara Reporters, lamented the lack of quality Personal Protective Equipment for them, adding that government must invest in the protection of health workers at the frontline of the battle against the virus. He said, “The unfortunate thing is that the government is not providing us with what to work with. It is sad that our PPE are not up to the world standard and can be penetrated by viruses. Some of us (health workers) have to use our personal funds to purchase gloves as we do not trust the ones government supplied. Nigerians should please remember us in their prayers and government should provide us with what we really need to work.” [7]

    There was report that in Bauchi State a Coronavirus patient rejected the isolation centre at the Bauchi Specialist Hospital and went back home while describing it as “too dirty”.[8]  

    It is disappointing to hear that the hazard allowance for doctors and health workers is N5,000 per month in Nigeria. The amount is very paltry compared to the risks and the attendant emotional and psychological stress suffered by the health-care workers (HWCs) particularly during monumental outbreaks like this. Unfortunately, when a patient is mismanaged, these doctors and health workers bear the burden of paying huge compensation and sometimes losing their jobs. More importantly, the brain-drain in the health sector is monumental, almost all my friends who are doctors, work abroad. Unfortunately, there are concerted efforts by the US Government to engage foreign Doctors to further fortify its health work force as COVID-19 ravages. Many young Nigerian doctors are already considering the offers because the Nigerian government has paid little attention to their welfare and the welfare of the general health workforce. To stop the exodus of our doctors, who are already in short supply, the government must act fast by improving their welfare packages in line with acceptable international standards.

    The psychological needs of doctors and health workers are also often ignored. Unsafe working conditions contribute to health worker attrition in many countries due to work-related illness and injury and the resulting fear of health workers of occupational infection, including from HIV and Tuberculosis. The 2006 World Health Report – Working Together for Health reported on a severe health workforce crisis in fifty-seven countries, most of them in Africa and Asia. [9]

    Protecting the occupational health of health workers is critical to having an adequate workforce of trained and healthy health personnel. Governments at the Federal and State levels are urged to do more by complying fully with the World Health Organization’s guidelines regarding the Rights of Health Workers while combating COVID-19. Some of the rights are:

    ·         assume overall responsibility to ensure that all necessary preventive and protective measures are taken to minimize occupational safety and health risks;

    ·         provide information, instruction and training on occupational safety and health, including; Refresher training on infection prevention and control(IPC); and Use, putting on, taking off and disposal of personal protective equipment(PPE);

    ·         provide adequate IPC and PPE supplies (masks, gloves, goggles, gowns, hand sanitizer, soap and water, cleaning supplies) in sufficient quantity to healthcare or other staff caring for suspected or confirmed COVID-19 patients, such that workers do not incur expenses for occupational safety and health requirements;

    ·         not be required to return to a work situation where there is continuing orserious danger to life or health, until the employer has taken any necessary remedial action;

    ·         allow workers to exercise the right to remove themselves from a work situation that they have reasonable justification to believe presents an imminent and serious danger to their life or health. When a health worker exercises this right, they shall be protected from any undue consequences; 

    ·         honour the right to compensation, rehabilitation and curative services if infected with COVID-19 following exposure in the workplace. This would be considered occupational exposure and resulting illness would be considered an occupational disease,

    ·         provide access to mental health and counselling resources; and 

    ·         enable co-operation between management and workers and/or their representatives. Etc.

    In conclusion, professional care givers for COVID-19 patients should uphold four basic principles formulated by Beauchamp and Childress in their book ‘Principles of Biomedical Ethics’ in order to protect themselves from liability for negligence. The four basic principles are autonomy, beneficence, non-maleficence and justice.

    Autonomy: People have the right to control what happens to their bodies. This principle simply means that an informed, competent adult patient can refuse or accept treatments, drugs, and surgeries according to their wishes. People have the right to control what happens to their bodies because they are free and rational. And these decisions must be respected by everyone, even if those decisions aren’t in the best interest of the patient.

    Beneficence: All healthcare providers must strive to improve their patient’s health, to do the most good for the patient in every situation. But what is good for one patient may not be good for another, so each situation should be considered individually. And other values that might conflict with beneficence may need to be considered.

    Non-maleficence: “First, do no harm” is the bedrock of medical ethics. In every situation, healthcare providers should avoid causing harm to their patients. You should also be aware of the doctrine of double effect, where a treatment intended for good unintentionally causes harm. This doctrine helps you make difficult decisions about whether actions with double effects can be undertaken.

    Justice: The fourth principle demands that you should try to be as fair as possible when offering treatments to patients and allocating scarce medical resources. You should be able to justify your actions in every situation. For instance, it will amount to a professional misconduct for a Health-care Worker to remove a poor man from the ventilator because a Senator was rushed in. 

    Ahmed Adetola-Kazeem is a partner in Adetola-Kazeem Legal Practice and specializes in Medical and Health Law

    Email: aadetolakazeem@gmail.com;aadetolakazeem@gaklp.com

    [1] https://www.who.int/health-topics/coronavirus#tab=tab_1(Accessed on the 28th of March 2020)

    [2] https://businessday.ng/coronavirus/article/abba-kyari-tests-positive-for-coronavirus-buhari-negative/

    https://www.channelstv.com/2020/03/24/buharis-chief-of-staff-abba-kyari-reportedly-tests-positive-for-coronavirus/ (Accessed on the 28th of March 2020)

    [3] Coronavirus Disease (Covid-19) Outbreak: Rights, Roles and Responsibilities Of Health workers, Including Key Considerations For Occupational Safety And Health”. https://www.who.int/docs/default-source/coronaviruse/who-rights-roles-respon-hw-covid-19.pdf?sfvrsn=bcabd401_0   (Accessed on the 26th of March 2020)

    [4] https://abcnews.go.com/Health/wireStory/collapsing-virus-pummels-medics-spain-italy-69789413 (Accessed on 26th March 2020)

    [5] https://www.washingtonpost.com/health/covid-19-hits-doctors-nurses-emts-threatening-health-system/2020/03/17/f21147e8-67aa-11ea-b313-df458622c2cc_story.html (Accessed on 28th of March 2020)

    [6] http://saharareporters.com/2020/03/28/exclusive-two-nurses-one-doctor-infected-coronavirus-abuja-hospital

    [7] Supra

    [8] https://www.dailytrust.com.ng/coronavirus-patient-rejects-bauchi-isolation-centre-returns-home.html (Accessed on 28th March 2020)

    [9] https://www.who.int/occupational_health/topics/hcworkers/en/(Accessed on 26th March 2020)

     

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    Legal Issues Arising From Management Of Covid-19 Patients By Ahmed Adetola-Kazeem
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  • 43,462 clinical samples taken for testing so far: Health DG

    43,462 clinical samples taken for testing so far: Health DG

    43,462 clinical samples taken for testing so far: Health DG 4

    PUTRAJAYA: A total of 43,462 clinical samples have been taken for Covid-19 testing to date, Health director-general Datuk Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah said today.

    Of those, 2,908 samples tested positive, 32,894 turned out negative while 7,660 samples are pending results, he said.

    Dr Noor Hisham said the MOH is capable of handling 11,500 tests daily, now that 48 of its laboratories are working together with those from public and private higher learning institutions, the Malaysia Genome Institute (MGI), Institute For Medical Research (IMR) and Malaysian Armed Forces hospitals.

    He said the MOH was also conducting tests on the rapid antigen test kits from South Korea, adding that if the accuracy level to locate Covid-19 is found to be high, the ministry will then order 200,000 units.

    Dr Noor Hisham said with those kits, clinical samples need not be sent for laboratory testing any longer.

    “Testing can be done at the clinics or hospitals and they would only require biosafety cabinets, so with these test kits from Korea, we would be able to obtain results much faster,” he said at the ministry’s Covid-19 daily briefing, here today. – Bernama

    43,462 clinical samples taken for testing so far: Health DG
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    https://www.thesundaily.my/local/43462-clinical-samples-taken-for-testing-so-far-health-dg-YY2203881

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  • 156 new Covid-19 cases as of noon today, tally now 2,626: Health DG (Updated)

    156 new Covid-19 cases as of noon today, tally now 2,626: Health DG (Updated)

    156 new Covid-19 cases as of noon today, tally now 2,626: Health DG (Updated) 5

    PETALING JAYA: There were 156 new Covid-19 cases, with three deaths recorded at noon today, which brings the total number of infected and deceased cases to 2,626 and 37, respectively.

    “To date, (out of the 2,626 new cases), 94 are being treated in intensive care and of these, 62 cases require breathing assistance,” Health director-general Datuk Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah said in a statement.

    He also noted that the country saw a record number of 91 patients having recovered and discharged in one day. This brings the number of those who have recovered to 479.

    There was no drastic increase of Covid-19 cases here so far.

    He explained that recording 150 to 200 cases a day is considered stable and attributes the number to active case inspections according to the ministry.

    “We have been observing cases closely and have compared the figures to other countries, to which we can say there has been no significant increase so far.”

    “What we fear is a sudden surge of between 900 to 1,000 cases in a day,“ he said.

    Hisham also shared that the Health Ministry has managed to increase the number of hospitals providing Covid-19 screening services across the nation, from 57 to 70 hospitals.

    The number of hospitals equipped to treat Covid-19 cases has also been increased from 26 to 38, thanks to cooperation from the Malaysian Armed Forces and the University of Malaya University Medical Center.

    “Seven of these hospitals are specialised in treating Covid-19 patients,” he said.

    Of the three fatalities, the 35th victim was a 57-year-old woman with a history of diabetes who had travelled to Indonesia. She was treated at the Sungai Buloh Hospital.

    Case 36 was a 47-year-old Malaysian, treated at the Sarawak General Hospital on March 23.

    Case 37 was A 46-year-old female. She had a history of high blood pressure and an autoimmune disease. She was hospitalised at the Miri Hospital in Sarawak.

    156 new Covid-19 cases as of noon today, tally now 2,626: Health DG (Updated)
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    https://www.thesundaily.my/local/156-new-covid-19-cases-as-of-noon-today-tally-now-2626-health-dg-updated-IM2196309

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  • Most deaths due to late treatment: Dr Noor Hisham

    Most deaths due to late treatment: Dr Noor Hisham

    Most deaths due to late treatment: Dr Noor Hisham 8

    PUTRAJAYA: Most of the Covid-19-related deaths in the country are due to late treatment, according to Health director-general Datuk Seri Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah (pix).

    He said there were five stages of Covid-19 infection but most of them came to hospital when they were already at stage three.

    “Stage one is where a person is asymptomatic but positive, while stage two is positive with mild symptom and stage three is when a patient has some form of pneumonia but does not require oxygen aid.

    “In stage four, a patient will require oxygen therapy and the last stage (stage five) is when patients cannot breathe well and we need to intubate them and put them on ventilator,” he told a media briefing today.

    Dr Noor Hisham also explained that in most stage four patients, their health would deteriorate fast to move to stage five.

    “For example, the latest death, the patient already had breathing difficulty for the last three days,” he said.

    He also said that besides late for treatment, age and comorbidities were also among factors that contributed to the Covid-19-related death.

    “Some of the death cases had comorbidities and most of them were above 70 years old,” he said.

    Meanwhile, Dr Noor Hisham said the MOH would enhance its case detection activities.

    “It means we will find the case, we test the case, and if it is confirmed, we isolate the case and give treatment.

    “We will continue to do our best to look into the focus group. For example, now we know that 60% of the infection are among the tabligh group. We will go and find them and test them,” he said, adding it was to ensure the individuals from the group would not infect others. – Bernama

    Most deaths due to late treatment: Dr Noor Hisham
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    https://www.thesundaily.my/local/most-deaths-due-to-late-treatment-dr-noor-hisham-HB2175988

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  • How do you power billions of sensors? By converting waste heat into electricity

    How do you power billions of sensors? By converting waste heat into electricity

    Interconnected healthcare and many other future applications will require internet connectivity between billions of sensors. The devices that will enable these applications must be small, flexible, reliable, and environmentally sustainable. Researchers must develop new tools beyond batteries to power these devices, because continually replacing batteries is difficult and expensive.

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    https://techxplore.com/news/2020-03-power-billions-sensors-electricity.html

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  • WHO teams with partners to mitigate the potential impact of the COVID-19 pandemic in malaria-affected areas

    The rapid spread of COVID-19 is testing the resilience of robust health systems around the world. WHO and its partners are taking measures to mitigate the potential impact of sustained transmission of the coronavirus in malaria-endemic settings –
    particularly in sub-Saharan Africa, which shoulders more than 90% of the global malaria burden.

    To date, a small proportion of the global COVID-19 cases have been identified in malaria-affected countries. However, as of 17 March, 25 countries in the African Region had reported cases of COVID-19, and local transmission of the disease had been detected
    in 6 countries (Algeria, Cameroon, Kenya, Rwanda, Senegal, South Africa).

    “At this point, we still don’t know what the COVID-19 pandemic will look like in sub-Saharan Africa,” said Dr Pedro Alonso, Director of the WHO Global Malaria Programme. “But we do know that when public health emergencies have
    hit parts of Africa with weak health systems and high malaria transmission, the impact on malaria disease and death has been very severe.”

    The 2014-2016 Ebola outbreak in Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone, for example, undermined malaria control efforts and led to a massive increase in malaria-related illness and death in the 3 countries.

    Joint action 

    To support malaria-affected countries, WHO has identified the need for a set of inter-related actions among global partners: 

    • generating, using and disseminating accurate information; 
    • mitigating against health system disruptions; and 
    • ensuring the continuity of routine malaria-specific interventions while also providing, where needed, additional emergency measures, such as mass drug administration, in health systems significantly impacted by COVID-19. 

    The Organization convened partners on 17 March to discuss areas of collaboration, coordination and next steps.

    WHO has begun monitoring the evolving geographic location of COVID-19 cases to understand the extent to which the coronavirus and malaria affect the same target groups. This information will reveal who is likely to be at greatest risk, where and when,
    and thus inform the need for malaria-specific interventions to save lives.

    In parallel, WHO is working across the 3 levels of the organization to ensure that any advice intended to curb coronavirus transmission and to guide COVID-19 disease management is appropriate in malaria-affected settings.  

    In recent days, there have been reports of disruptions, as a result of COVID-19, in the production and global supply chains of essential malaria commodities, such as the long-lasting insecticidal nets, diagnostic testing and antimalarial medicines. Coordinated
    efforts are required to ensure the availability of key malaria control tools – particularly in countries with a high burden of the disease – and that efforts to limit transmission of COVID-19 do not compromise access to malaria prevention,
    diagnosis and treatment services. 

    Malaria-affected countries may also experience disruptions in health systems in the coming months. A marked increase in febrile patients seeking treatment for COVID-19 at health facilities, for example, would present a significant challenge for a health
    workforce that may itself be depleted by the disease.

    Policy guidance

    WHO is developing guidance for national malaria control programmes and implementing partners to prepare them for the challenges they may face as result of COVID-19.  Among other areas, the guidance will address the mitigation of stockouts of
    malaria medicines and commodities; the use of preventive malaria therapy for health workers; the deployment of emergency measures in some settings; and the generation of information relating to the geographic distribution and populations affected
    by COVID-19 in malaria-endemic settings.  

    Restrictions around grouping people together – for training, social and behavior change communication activities, fixed-site distribution and clinical care – as well as the restrictions around movement of people in the country, will require
    significant adaptations in order to deliver quality interventions and care.

    All people living in malaria-affected areas are advised to follow same precautions as the general population, including: frequent hand-washing, respiratory hygiene, social distancing, seeking prompt medical care if symptoms arise (cough, fever,
    difficulty breathing), and other WHO-recommended actions. 

    WHO stands ready to work with countries and other stakeholders to mitigate the negative impact of the coronavirus on malaria responses worldwide and, where possible, contribute towards a successful COVID-19 response.  

    About COVID-19

    COVID-19 is the infectious disease caused by the most recently discovered coronavirus. This new virus and disease were unknown before the outbreak began in Wuhan, China, in December 2019. Essential information on the COVID-19 pandemic can be found in
    a dedicated WHO site.

    About malaria

    Malaria is a preventable and treatable disease caused by parasites that are transmitted to people through the bites of infected female Anopheles mosquitoes. In 2018, there were an estimated 228 million cases of malaria worldwide and
    405 000 malaria-related deaths. For more on malaria, visit: www.who.int/malaria

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    https://www.who.int/news-room/detail/18-03-2020-who-teams-with-partners-to-mitigate-the-potential-impact-of-the-covid-19-pandemic-in-malaria-affected-areas

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  • New Cabinet portfolio requires time to study: Muhyiddin

    New Cabinet portfolio requires time to study: Muhyiddin

    New Cabinet portfolio requires time to study: Muhyiddin 9

    PUTRAJAYA: Prime Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin said today any Cabinet member holding a new portfolio would require time to study the ministry and manage it well.

    Commenting on women’s groups concerns with the Women and Family Ministry’s new appointments, Muhyiddin said he had briefed the newly-minted minister Datuk Seri Rina Mohd Harun about what to do to manage the ministry because she was new at the ministry.

    “But it’s not that she is totally lack of experience. The new portfolio requires everyone to take more time to study,“ he said, adding that he had also told Rina to work closely with her deputy Datuk Siti Zailah Mohd Yusoff.

    According to media reports, women’s rights groups had expressed their concerns over the appointment of Rina and Siti Zailah as the new minister and deputy minister mainly because their track records allegedly do not inspire confidence.

    “What is important is not what her personal view is. What is important is what the government thinks about it and that she or whoever is in the ministry needs to understand,“ Muhyiddin said at a news conference after chairing the Economic Action Council (EAC) meeting here.

    “Bear with us; we will manage it,“ he added. – Bernama

    New Cabinet portfolio requires time to study: Muhyiddin
    Read More
    https://www.thesundaily.my/local/new-cabinet-portfolio-requires-time-to-study-muhyiddin-XC2136505

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