[Editorial] Salient lessons from Russia's COVID-19 outbreak
The Lancet | thelancet.com | 2020-06-06
Alexander Myasnikov, Russia's COVID-19 information chief, said in mid-April that it would be "impossible" for Russians to get the virus, estimating the probability of extensive spread in Russia at "0 ∑0%". This hubris has been sorely exposed. As of June 2, Russia has 423‚Äà186 cases, the third most in the world, while relatively few deaths from COVID-19 (5031) have been recorded. The rapid spread of the epidemic in Russia has highlighted the strengths and weaknesses of the health system, and presents the traditionally strong Russian leadership with a new challenge.
thelancet.com/journals/lancet/article/PI…(20)31280-0/fulltext?rss=yes
[Department of Error] Department of Error
thelancet.com | 2020-06-06
Watts N, Amann M, Arnell N, et al. The 2018 report of The Lancet Countdown on health and climate change: shaping the health of nations for centuries to come. Lancet 2018; 392: 2479–514–In this Review, the methodology for indicator 5.1 (figure 25) has been updated to address concerns regarding the use of relying on the same search string in multiple databases to produce this data. Newspaper databases interpret search strings differently and use different algorithms to search and return articles. The updated methodology ensures that the searches are more uniformly interpreted across databases and remove…
thelancet.com/journals/lancet/article/PI…(20)31196-X/fulltext?rss=yes
[Comment] Healthier societies for healthy populations
Healthier Societies for Healthy Populations Group | thelancet.com | 2020-06-06
The COVID-19 pandemic makes the importance of health and wellbeing clear. The pandemic's implications for societies are far reaching. Yet the response to this pandemic and the creation and promotion of health and wellbeing require action beyond the health sector–and beyond the usual ways of working in global health. Governments are not adequately tackling inequality, ongoing economic crises, or continuing environmental damage, which undermines the health of current and future generations. For example, tobacco and alcohol use, unhealthy diets, air pollution, and insufficient physical exercise contribute to m…
thelancet.com/journals/lancet/article/PI…(20)31039-4/fulltext?rss=yes
[Department of Error] Department of Error
thelancet.com | 2020-06-06
Watts N, Amann M, Ayeb-Karlsson S, et al. The 2017 report of The Lancet Countdown on health and climate change: from 25 years of inaction to a global transformation for public health. Lancet 2017; 391: 581–630–In this Review, the methodology for indicator 5.1 (figure 40) has been updated to address concerns regarding the use of relying on the same search string in multiple databases to produce this data. Newspaper databases interpret search strings differently and use different algorithms to search and return articles.
thelancet.com/journals/lancet/article/PI…(20)31197-1/fulltext?rss=yes
[Perspectives] Indigenous populations: left behind in the COVID-19 response
Kaitlin Curtice, Esther Choo | thelancet.com | 2020-06-06
Scholar Annie Belcourt described Native American populations in the USA as having lives that are "challenging and short". Globally, across countries and populations, Indigenous peoples face a greater burden of disease than non-Indigenous peoples, including cardiovascular disease and HIV/AIDS and other infectious diseases, and have higher infant and maternal mortality and lower life expectancy. Their health is impacted by epigenetic stressors of generational oppression and violence, including disproportionate numbers of missing and murdered Indigenous women, lower educational attainment, and persistent poverty.
thelancet.com/journals/lancet/article/PI…(20)31242-3/fulltext?rss=yes
[Perspectives] Journal of a plague year
Phil Withington | thelancet.com | 2020-06-06
Daniel Defoe's A Journal of the Plague Year is one of the best single accounts of an epidemic written in English. Published anonymously in 1722 as a contribution to public debates about the prospect of plague reaching Britain from the French port of Marseilles, it takes the form of the literary memoir by "H.F." during London's "great plague" of 1665. The sources for the memoir and its status as fact or fiction are complicated. Defoe clearly had strong opinions, informed by continental initiatives, about how societies and people should respond to plague and he used Restoration London as a place to rehearse them.
thelancet.com/journals/lancet/article/PI…(20)31243-5/fulltext?rss=yes
[World Report] COVID-19 vaccine development pipeline gears up
Asher Mullard | thelancet.com | 2020-06-06
Vaccine makers are racing to develop COVID-19 vaccines, and have advanced ten candidates into clinical trials. But challenges remain. Asher Mullard reports.
thelancet.com/journals/lancet/article/PI…(20)31252-6/fulltext?rss=yes
[Department of Error] Department of Error
thelancet.com | 2020-06-06
Reiner RC Jr, Hay SI. Mapping geographical inequalities in childhood diarrhoeal morbidity and mortality in low-income and middle-income countries, 2000–17: analysis for the Global Burden of Disease Study 2017. Lancet 2020; 395: 1779–801–In this Article, the author byline has been amended to Local Burden of Disease Diarrhoea Collaborators. This correction has been made to the online version as of June 4, 2020, and the printed version is correct.
thelancet.com/journals/lancet/article/PI…(20)31248-4/fulltext?rss=yes
[Comment] Regenerative medicine: challenges and opportunities
Giulio Cossu, Robin Fears, George Griffin, Volker ter Meulen | thelancet.com | 2020-06-06
In 2018, the Lancet Commission on stem cells and regenerative medicine1 reported how, despite an exponential growth in experimental therapies, there had been limited clinical uptake. Regenerative medicine comprises various novel approaches such as cell and gene therapy that have produced life-saving therapies for a few genetic diseases affecting blood or skin. Enthusiasm about the broad potential of regenerative medicine led to a gap between expectations and the realities of translating technologies into clinical practice.
thelancet.com/journals/lancet/article/PI…(20)31250-2/fulltext?rss=yes
[Obituary] Fernando Morales
Andrew Green | thelancet.com | 2020-06-06
Infectious disease specialist focusing on HIV prevention and treatment. Born in Buenos Aires, Argentina, on Aug 15, 1970, he died from suspected complications of COVID-19 in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, on May 5, 2020, aged 49 years.
thelancet.com/journals/lancet/article/PI…(20)31244-7/fulltext?rss=yes
Operating Outside the Rule of Law: Washington Pressures International Criminal Court
Philip Giraldi | globalresearch.ca | 2020-06-04
There is apparently no limit to what the United States and Israel can get away with without any consequences. The United States has been waging devastating economic warfare against Iran and Venezuela while also blaming China for a global health …
globalresearch.ca/washington-pressures-international-criminal-court/5715040
Solidarity Includes Wearing a Mask at Protests
Norman Solomon | zcomm.org | 2020-06-04
With latest research indicating that about 35 percent of infected people have no symptoms at all, unwillingness to wear a mask jeopardizes the health of others…
zcomm.org/znetarticle/solidarity-include…
[Commentary] Testing for COVID-19 in patients with cancer
Omar Alhalabi, Swami Iyer, Vivek Subbiah | thelancet.com | 2020-06-04
The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic is, undoubtedly, posing unprecedented challenges on patient care including those without COVID-19 [1]. Given the complexity of cancer care, which is often multidisciplinary requiring immunosuppressive therapy, surgery and radiation, oncologists have to be judicious more than ever to protect patients, caregivers and all healthcare workers [2]. COVID-19 has challenged operations of all hospitals, travel industry, food industry, and closure of academic institutions.
thelancet.com/journals/eclinm/article/PI…(20)30118-8/fulltext?rss=yes
[Commentary] Governments and international institutions should urgently attend to the unjust disparities that COVID-19 is exposing and causing
Luis Alberto Martinez-Juarez, Ana Cristina Sedas, Miriam Orcutt, Raj Bhopal | thelancet.com | 2020-06-04
During the COVID-19 pandemic, world leaders should pay more attention to those populations living in the poorest conditions, such as the homeless, those in prisons, poor ethnic & racial minorities, and millions of distressed migrants and refugees in unsanitary camps, settlements, shelters or detention centres. These vulnerable groups are most likely to suffer the consequences of inadequate and equitable access to testing, treatment and medical care [1]. Socio-economic circumstances determine the distribution of health conditions in populations and the severity of outcomes.
thelancet.com/journals/eclinm/article/PI…(20)30120-6/fulltext?rss=yes
Sri Lankan health workers protest wage and transport cuts during pandemic
wsws.org | 2020-06-04
While hospital workers across all grades and union affiliations participated in the protests the unions are seeking to head off a confrontation with the government.
www.wsws.org/en/articles/2020/06/04/slhe…
The Pandemic Is a Threat. The President Is Worse
Gregg Gonsalves | thenation.com | 2020-06-04
The Pandemic Is a Threat. The President Is Worse.
thenation.com/article/society/protests-p…
Survey exposes COVID-19 dangers facing call centre workers
wsws.org | 2020-06-04
Several call centre workers have lost their lives to COVID-19, with thousands in fear that their health and safety is being jeopardised.
www.wsws.org/en/articles/2020/06/04/call…
Mayo Clinic Minute: Why tobacco users should call it quits
newsnetwork.mayoclinic.org | 2020-06-04
Tobacco users have an increased risk of becoming very sick if they contract the virus that causes COVID-19. If you use tobacco and want to stop, consider World No Tobacco Day on Sunday, May 31 as a start date. "During this time when the COVID-19 pandemic has made maintaining the health of ourselves and our …
newsnetwork.mayoclinic.org/discussion/ma…
Protect the environment, prevent pandemics, 'nature is sending us a clear message'
news.un.org | 2020-06-04
On this year's World Environment Day, celebrated on June 5, the UN is drawing links between the health of the planet, and human health, and highlighting the importance of protecting biodiversity, the system that supports life.
news.un.org/feed/view/en/story/2020/06/1…
Trump Exploits Public Health and Racial Crises to Silence Public, Increase Pollution, Steamroll Vulnerable Communities
commondreams.org | 2020-06-04
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commondreams.org/newswire/2020/06/04/tru…
Mayo Clinic Q&A podcast: Health and Human Services plays key role in supporting Americans amid COVID-19 crisis
newsnetwork.mayoclinic.org | 2020-06-04
The COVID-19 pandemic has been a unique situation that has required work across federal and state agencies to support communities and frontline workers during this challenging time. The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) has played a key role by providing effective health and human services and fostering advances in medicine, public health …
newsnetwork.mayoclinic.org/discussion/ma…
Nearly half a million health care workers worldwide infected with coronavirus
wsws.org | 2020-06-04
The International Council of Nurses reports that 600 nurses have died in the COVID-19 pandemic and estimates that 450,000 health care workers of all kinds have been infected worldwide.
www.wsws.org/en/articles/2020/06/04/coro…
Surgisphere: Governments and WHO Changed COVID-19 Policy Based on Suspect Data From Tiny US Company
Melissa Davey | globalresearch.ca | 2020-06-04
We bring to the attention of our readers selected quotes from a report published by The Guardian. | "The World Health Organization and a number of national governments have changed their Covid-19 policies and treatments on the basis of flawed data …
globalresearch.ca/surgisphere-governments-who-changed-covid-19-policy-based-suspect-data-tiny-us-company/5714989
US nurses speak on dangers of COVID-19 exposure at their workplaces
wsws.org | 2020-06-04
WSWS reporters spoke to nurses across the US who shared their anger and frustration over governmental and employer neglect throughout the COVID-19 pandemic.
www.wsws.org/en/articles/2020/06/04/cdcr…
When Profits and Politics Drive Science: Rushing a Vaccine to Market for a Vanishing Virus
Ellen Brown | globalresearch.ca | 2020-06-04
More than 100 companies are competing to be first in the race to get a COVID-19 vaccine to market. It's a race against time, not because the death rate is climbing but because it is falling
'Global solidarity' needed, to find affordable, accessible COVID-19 vaccine
news.un.org | 2020-06-04
In the race to end the coronavirus pandemic, the UN chief reminded a virtual medical conference on Thursday that "a vaccine, by itself, is not enough".
news.un.org/feed/view/en/story/2020/06/1…
New claims for state unemployment insurance 1.9 million in last week of May
Fight Back | fightbacknews.org | 2020-06-04
San José, CA – On Thursday, June 4 the federal Department of Labor reported that 1.9 million new claims for state unemployment insurance or UI benefits were filed in the week ending May 30. This was down by 250,000 claims from the previous week, continuing the slow decline in new applications. However, this was still more than two and a half times higher than the previous pre-pandemic record of almost 700,000 claims made during the deep 1981-82 recession. | The total number of people receiving state unemployment benefits – which is delayed by a week – rose by 650,000 to 21.5 million for the week ending May 23. Th…
www.fightbacknews.org/2020/6/4/new-claim…
Coronavirus grief: Coping with the loss of routine during the pandemic
newsnetwork.mayoclinic.org | 2020-06-04
It isn't easy adjusting to changes brought on by the pandemic. Consider how to deal with grief caused by the loss of your normal routine. The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic has changed people's lives in many ways. In addition to feeling grief over the loss of life caused by COVID-19, you're likely grieving the loss …
newsnetwork.mayoclinic.org/discussion/co…
Protesters in Palo Alto Masked Up and Close Together
Racism is a Dire Health Threat | indybay.org | 2020-06-04
On May 31 protesters spurred by the murder of George Floyd wore masks of many varieties, but social distancing was difficult. When asked about the 6 feet rule, some said they hadn't noticed how close they were to fellow demonstrators. Others said racism is a dire health threat that demands protest.
indybay.org/newsitems/2020/06/02/1883365…
[Review] Quality of primary health care in China: challenges and recommendations
Xi Li, Harlan M Krumholz, Winnie Yip, Kar Keung Cheng, Jan De Maeseneer, Qingyue Meng, Elias Mossialos, Chuang Li, Jiapeng Lu, Meng Su, Qiuli Zhang, Dong Roman Xu, Liming Li, Sharon-Lise T Normand, Richard Peto, Jing Li, Zengwu Wang, Hongbing Yan, Runlin Gao, Somsak Chunharas, Xin Gao, Raniero Guerra, Huijie Ji, Yang Ke, Zhigang Pan, Xianping Wu, Shuiyuan Xiao, Xinying Xie, Yujuan Zhang, Jun Zhu, Shanzhu Zhu, Shengshou Hu | thelancet.com | 2020-06-06
China has substantially increased financial investment and introduced favourable policies for strengthening its primary health care system with core responsibilities in preventing and managing chronic diseases such as hypertension and emerging infectious diseases such as coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). However, widespread gaps in the quality of primary health care still exist. In this Review, we aim to identify the causes for this poor quality, and provide policy recommendations. System challenges include: the suboptimal education and training of primary health-care practitioners, a fee-for-service payment s…
thelancet.com/journals/lancet/article/PI…(20)30122-7/fulltext?rss=yes
How to safely go to your doctor during the COVID-19 pandemic
newsnetwork.mayoclinic.org | 2020-06-04
Are you wondering if it's time to schedule those doctor appointments you've been putting off? Restrictions related to coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) are easing in many places, but you may still have concerns about COVID-19. Learn how to stay safe from coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) while getting the care you need. Do your homework Before you …
newsnetwork.mayoclinic.org/discussion/ho…
Operating Outside the Rule of Law: Washington Pressures International Criminal Court
Andrey Areshev | strategic-culture.org | 2020-06-04
There is apparently no limit to what the United States and Israel can get away with without any consequences. The United States has been waging devastating economic warfare against Iran and Venezuela while also blaming China for a global health crisis that it is unwilling to help address due to its withdrawal from the World Health Organization. Israel meanwhile is planning on illegally annexing significant parts of the Palestinian West Bank in July, with a green light from the Tr…
strategic-culture.org/news/2020/06/04/op…
Health Over Profits!" Where The Hell Is OSHA At? Oakland Speak-out For Health Safety &
Labor Video Project | indybay.org | 2020-06-04
Trade unionists and workers spoke out about the failure of Cal-OSHA to defend health and safety on the job. Cal-OSHA because of Governor Newsom and the California legislature has less than 200 OSHA inspectors and there are no physical inspections. Workers also talked about how they are retaliated against for making health and safety complaints.
indybay.org/newsitems/2020/06/02/1883364…
Blue Planet Live presenter condemns 'way we manipulate wildlife'
The Canary | thecanary.co | 2020-06-04
The mismanagement of the environment and the destruction of natural wildlife habitats have allowed viruses like coronavirus (Covid-19) to emerge, according to a zoologist and broadcaster. | Liz Bonnin, who co-presents Blue Planet Live, described the coronavirus pandemic as an "existential crisis" and blamed the over-extraction of natural resources and the "manipulation" of wildlife. | Scientists believe Covid-19 has origins in animals, likely from bats, and may have come from live animal markets in China. | Previous global epidemics including severe acute respiratory syndrome (Sars) and Ebola have also been linke…
thecanary.co/discovery/news-discovery/2020/06/04/blue-planet-live-presenter-condemns-way-we-manipulate-wildlife/
Maintaining public health top priority for gov't: Pres. Rouhani
en.mehrnews.com | 2020-06-04
TEHRAN, Jun. 04 (MNA)
Iran records 3,574 new COVID-19 cases
en.mehrnews.com | 2020-06-04
TEHRAN, Jun. 04 (MNA)
Measures Against Nord Stream 2 Show Neglect of Interest in EU Consumers, Company Says
sputniknews.com | 2020-06-04
Earlier, US Senators introduced legislation expanding sanctions against Nord Stream 2 that apply to all companies that provide certification, insurance and port facilities for the project.
sputniknews.com/world/202006041079521567…
WHO 'very concerned' by new Ebola outbreak in DR Congo
yenisafak.com | 2020-06-04
The World Health Organization (WHO) on Thursday said it is "very concerned" about a new Ebola outbreak that has recently claimed four lives in the western Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC)."We are very concerned about this new outbreak in Mbandaka, where we have worked very closely with the government in 2018 to contain the last outbreak," WHO Regional Director for Africa Dr. Matshidiso Moeti said at a joint media briefing of the WHO and the World Economic Forum.The DRC government confirmed on Monday that a new outbreak of Ebola virus disease is occurring in Mbandaka in the western Equateur province.The Health M…
yenisafak.com/en/world/who-very-concerne…
EU to use $2.7 billion fund to buy promising COVID-19 vaccines
yenisafak.com | 2020-06-04
The European Union is preparing to use an emergency 2.4-billion- euro ($2.7 billion) fund to make advance purchases of promising vaccines against the new coronavirus, EU officials told Reuters.The move was discussed at a meeting of EU ambassadors on Wednesday, after Germany, France, Italy and the Netherlands said they were speeding up negotiations with pharmaceutical companies to secure access to vaccines currently under development.The EU rainy-day fund, known as the Emergency Support Instrument (ESI), would also be used to increase vaccine production capacity in Europe and offer liability insurance to pharmaceu…
yenisafak.com/en/world/eu-to-use-27-bill…
Virus shouldn't deepen injustices across world: Erdogan
yenisafak.com | 2020-06-04
Turkish president on Thursday said coronavirus vaccination should be a common property of all humankind and produced at an adequate quantity for all.In a video message issued for the 2020 Global Vaccination Summit held in London, Recep Tayyip Erdogan said the outbreak should not be allowed to lead to further divisions in the world."There is no doubt that the availability of the vaccine to humanity as a whole and its production in adequate quantities for all are critical as its development," he said. | "COVID-19 has reminded us once again that we are actually one big family sharing a common fate and future," Erdog…
yenisafak.com/en/world/virus-shouldnt-de…
U.S. campaign against Cuba's medical brigades targets healthcare, not 'forced labor'
Joe Emersberger | mronline.org | 2020-06-03
For decades, Cuba has sent tens of thousands of its medical professionals abroad to work in countries where natural disasters or poverty have left people without healthcare. In the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic, and the catastrophic U.S. response to it, the absurdity of a propaganda war against Cuban medical missions has become more obvious …
mronline.org/2020/06/03/u-s-campaign-aga…
The impact of ethnicity on clinical outcomes in COVID-19: A systematic review
Daniel Pan, Shirley Sze, Jatinder S. Minhas, Mansoor N. Bangash, Nilesh Pareek, Pip Divall, Caroline ML. Williams, Marco R. Oggioni, Iain B. Squire, Laura B. Nellums, Wasim Hanif, Kamlesh Khunti, Manish Pareek | thelancet.com | 2020-06-03
Data on ethnicity in patients with COVID-19 in the published medical literature remains limited. However, emerging data from the grey literature and preprint articles suggest BAME individuals are at an increased risk of acquiring SARS-CoV-2 infection compared to White individuals and also worse clinical outcomes from COVID-19. Further work on the role of ethnicity in the current pandemic is of urgent public health importance.
thelancet.com/journals/eclinm/article/PI…(20)30148-6/fulltext?rss=yes
The Sadism of American Power
Kenn Orphan | counterpunch.org | 2020-06-03
It was just a couple of weeks ago that President Trump was both inciting and praising anti-lockdown protesters around the country. These included armed white militia men who stormed state capitol buildings demanding an end to public health measures to curb the spread of the deadly Covid-19 virus. Many of them were filmed harassing nurses…
counterpunch.org/2020/06/03/the-sadism-o…
Trump, WHO, the pandemic and big pharma
Deirdre Griswold | workers.org | 2020-06-03
Smack in the middle of the biggest pandemic in a century, President Donald Trump has announced he is withdrawing the U.S. from the World Health Organization. One would expect Trump's decree to bring an outcry from all the people here who specialize in public health. That's happening, but it's not . . . | Continue reading Trump, WHO, the pandemic and big pharma at Workers.org…
workers.org/2020/06/49072/?utm_source=rs…
WHO chief updates journalists on Ebola outbreak, COVID-19 treatment study
news.un.org | 2020-06-03
Nearly 50 staff from the World Health Organization (WHO) and its partners arrived in Mbandaka in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) on Wednesday, location of the country's latest Ebola outbreak.
news.un.org/feed/view/en/story/2020/06/1…
Bicycles: Setting the wheels of change in motion during and after COVID-19
news.un.org | 2020-06-03
World Bicycle Day highlights the potential for transforming the way the world moves around, before and after the COVID-19 pandemic, helping create a healthier, more sustainable future, the World Health Organization (WHO) said on Wednesday.
news.un.org/feed/view/en/story/2020/06/1…
Big banks profit from COVID-19 as food, shelter, even water at risk for millions
G. Dunkel | workers.org | 2020-06-03
On top of COVID-19, another epidemic
Why Should Anyone Care About Paying Big Bucks for Vaccine Government Funded?
Dean Baker | cepr.net | 2020-06-03
The New York Times ran a piece on the second round of government funding for the development of a coronavirus vaccine. The piece only mentions in passing the issue raised by some Democrats in Congress about the price of any vaccine that gets developed through this funding. This is probably too simple for the NYT …
cepr.net/why-why-should-anyone-care-abou…
Lockdowns Saved No One, Made COVID Worse, and Sentenced Many More to Death From Non-COVID on Top
Marko Marjanović | anti-empire.com | 2020-06-03
: | 1. Lockdowns Saved No One: | When we were headed into lockdowns in March
Lancet 'expresses concern' over hydroxychloroquine paper
The Canary | thecanary.co | 2020-06-03
The Lancet has raised concerns about a study it recently published that prompted the World Health Organisation to suspend trials of two anti-malarial drugs as a potential Covid-19 therapy.The paper, published on 22 May, found hydroxychloroquine and chloroquine had been linked to increased risk of death and heart arrhythmias among people admitted to hospital with coronavirus.US president Donald Trump has been criticised for promoting the drugs