(2020-06-22). Health workers across Belgium demand structural refinancing of healthcare. peoplesdispatch.org Health workers hit the streets in several Belgian cities on Thursday June 18 demanding the structural refinancing of healthcare, along with increased staff, employment guarantees, and better wages. Mobilizations were carried out in Brussels, Liège, Charleroi, Ghent, Hasselt, Sint-Truiden, Namur, and others. According to reports, 1,500 people staged a protest in front of the university hospital in Leuven (UZ Leuven). The Workers Party of Belgium (PTB/PVDA) also expressed solidarity with the health workers' protest. | The PTB/PVDA stated, "the white coats have already succeeded in getting the government to swallow…
(2020-06-22). Building multinational unity for Black lives. liberationnews.org 
On June 14, a Black Lives Matter protest began in Jackson Heights, the most diverse urban area in the world, ending in the immigrant neighborhood of Corona, the epicenter of the COVID-19 epidemic in New York City. The protest had an explicitly theme of "Multinational Unity for Black Lives," and united the multinational, largely immigrant …
(2020-06-22). Private Profit Kaiser v Protests. indybay.org Private profit Kaiser Permanente, a major medical provider in this backward country that still does not have socialized medicine unlike the rest of the industrialized world, sent an Email on June 20, 2020 at 1: 12 AM to its members telling us how to exercise our First Amendment right to protest. So that you know that this statement is not contrived, here is the outrageous blame-the-protest for failures of private profit medicine message:…
(2020-06-22). Doctors launch High Court challenge against Government over PPE inquiry. truepublica.org.uk Doctors and campaigners have launched a High Court challenge against the Government over its refusal to hold an urgent public inquiry into PPE shortages amid the coronavirus pandemic. The Doctors Associations reports that scores of frontline healthcare workers have died while battling the Covid-19 crisis, while widespread complaints over PPE shortages for medics have been …
(2020-06-22). World coronavirus cases rocket past 9 million as pandemic accelerates. wsws.org Public health expert warns that infections will not come in waves, but as "one very, very difficult forest fire of cases."
(2020-06-22). How to Destroy a National Health Service. thenation.com How to Destroy a National Health Service…
(2020-06-22). Colorado Adopts Mandatory Vaccinations for Children. globalresearch.ca Since the arrival of the coronavirus, the use of and familiarity with vaccines has dramatically increased prompting a more aware and questioning public. With little more than a 48 hour public notice, many Coloradans were enjoying a brilliant Sunday afternoon …
(2020-06-22). Four Years of Failure on Toxic Chemicals. commondreams.org In the past four years, as we've waited for the EPA to use the new power the law granted them, nearly 160,000 people have died from preventable asbestos-related diseases and the United States. (Photo: Carterdayne via Getty Images) | www.commondreams.org/sites/default/files… …
(2020-06-22). Turkish training plane crashes, 2 pilots survive. yenisafak.com According to Turkish Aerospace Industries (TAI), the Hurkus aircraft crashed during a test flight in Ankara's Beypazari district at around 12.30 p.m. local time (0930GMT).The two military pilots — one active duty, one retired — were taken to the hospital for health checks, said a TAI statement.Turkey's Disaster and Emergency Management Authority (AFAD), gendarmerie, and health teams went to the crash scene after learning of the incident.The cause of the crash is unknown and will be investigated, said the statement.Based in Ankara, TAI serves the aerospace and defense industries by manufacturing unmann…
(2020-06-22). South Korea battling 2nd wave of coronavirus: Official. yenisafak.com Health authorities in South Korea on Monday urged for an amplified guard against coronavirus, saying that it was battling a "second wave" of the novel infection.The country has seen a rise in new virus cases for some time now. However, the latest number of cases i.e. 17, is the lowest since May 26.It has reported a total of 12,438 cases thus far, including 280 deaths, and 10,881 recoveries after successfully suppressing the first wave, which began this February."We originally predicted that the second wave to emerge in fall or winter," Yonhap News Agency quoted Jeong Eun-kyeong, chief of Korea Centers for Disease…
(2020-06-22). 'No-swab' saliva test for coronavirus piloted in Britain. yenisafak.com A weekly coronavirus testing regime using a "no-swab" saliva test is being trialled in Southampton, southern England, and could result in a simpler and quicker way to detect outbreaks of the virus, the British government said on Monday."Saliva testing could potentially make it even easier for people to take coronavirus tests at home, without having to use swabs," said Health Secretary Matt Hancock."This trial will also help us learn if routine, at-home testing could pick up cases of the virus earlier."More than 14,000 doctors and health workers, other essential workers and university staff and their households wi…
(2020-06-22). No new coronavirus deaths in Netherlands as cases fall. yenisafak.com The Netherlands registered 69 new coronavirus cases on Monday, and no deaths from the disease, the country's health authorities said in their daily update.It was the first 24-hour period with no new deaths registered by the National Institute of Health (RIVM) since March 9.Dutch cases have declined gradually since reaching a peak at the start of April. Lockdown measures have been gradually phased out, though social distancing rules remain in place.
(2020-06-22). Iran ready to share anti-corona expertise with Afghanistan: official. en.mehrnews.com TEHRAN, Jun. 22 (MNA) —Iran's Treatment Deputy of Health and Medical Education Ministry, Qasem Jan-Babaei said in a meeting with Afghanistan's Deputy of Public Health Ministry that Iran is ready to share some anti-corona successful expertise with Afghanistan.
(2020-06-22). Thursday 6/25: Our Lives on the Line: Patient Protection & Affordable Care Act Under Attack. indybay.org Online via livestream…
(2020-06-22). U.S. Threats Cannot Deter Cuba's Internationalist Approach. strategic-culture.org As the U.S. continues its defunding of international organisations, the Pan American Health Organisation (PAHO) is next in line, as U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo declared his country's funding conditional upon "U.S. values". The mismanagement of funds, particularly at UN institutions, is a well-known occurrence. However, the corruption existing at international institutions reflects the obscure, or non-existent process, of accountability, which capitalism encourages in order to maintain the monopoly over human rights rhetoric. | Under U.S. President Donald Trump, pointing out corruption is becoming a veneer…
(2020-06-21). Ten-Point Agenda for the Global South after COVID-19. dissidentvoice.org 
Jorge González Morales (Mexico), Capitalism, 2020 Greetings from the desk of the Tricontinental: Institute for Social Research. In 1974, the United Nations General Assembly passed a New International Economic Order (NIEO), which was driven by the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM). The resolution laid out a clear plan for the structural transformation of the world system, which …
(2020-06-21). Afghanistan: UN condemns attacks on healthcare amid COVID-19 pandemic. news.un.org Fifteen attacks on healthcare in Afghanistan were recorded during the first two months of the COVID-19 pandemic, according to a new report published on Sunday by the UN Assistance Mission in the country, UNAMA.
(2020-06-21). 911 Services That Dispatch Mental Health Counselors, Not Cops, Gain Traction. zcomm.org "Abolition of police in the current moment that we're talking about, around defunding the police, does not get rid of other systems of oppression that people face"
(2020-06-21). On International Yoga Day, UN spotlights power of ancient practice to help ease COVID stress. news.un.org The UN celebrates the sixth annual International Day of Yoga on 21 June, recognizing the ancient practice as a holistic approach to health and wellbeing, and a powerful tool for dealing with the myriad stresses brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic…
(2020-06-21). Global Experts Alarmed at Trump's Handling of COVID-19: Report. telesurenglish.net Global public health experts are aghast at United States President Donald Trump's comments that he will not call for more economic shutdowns even as COVID-19 case numbers continue to rise due to a reopening of the economy. | RELATED: | Ten states in the U.S. have reported this week their highest seven-day average since the pandemic started. Yet, Trump and other leaders are pushing citizens to return to work and their…
(2020-06-21). Bolivia: Hospitals Close Due to Staff Exposure With COVID-19. telesurenglish.net At least two hospitals in Bolivia closed Saturday as staff members had exposure with COVID-19 positive cases without proper protective gear and safety protocols. | RELATED: | "We closed the Viedma hospital because 90 people had contact with patients (who tested positive to the infections disease)," the Hospital Director Juan Jose Mendoza, told local media. | Viedma was designated to attend coronavirus cases but…
(2020-06-21). Doctors feeling increased levels of exhaustion, stress and concerns over NHS capacity. thecanary.co Doctors are feeling high levels of exhaustion and have little confidence they can manage the huge backlog of missed patient care, research shows. | A survey by the British Medical Association (BMA) of more than 7,000 doctors between June 16 and 18 showed an increase in stress levels among the workforce. | Many have little confidence in the NHS's ability to deal with the large backlog of missed, cancelled and postponed care, the union said. | Some also fear that the health service does not have the capacity to manage a second spike in coronavirus (Covid-19) infection levels. | There has been a slight increase in t…
(2020-06-21). 'Difficult': Health workers on fatherhood in pandemic. yenisafak.com Balancing family life during the coronavirus pandemic is not easy. Yet some healthcare workers have been great role models to their children, and are also helping save the lives of COVID-19 patients.Dads in Turkey's southern Mersin province carry on with their devoted fight against the virus even on Father's Day.They continue to serve at the Mersin City Training and Research Hospital, and have to take extra care when meeting their families due to a possible risk of virus transmission. Mehmet Muku, 51, says it is hard to express the feeling of paternity, which he met in his later years.Responsible for the PCR lab…
(2020-06-21). Virus death toll rises in Kuwait, Bahrain. yenisafak.com Kuwait confirmed six more fatalities due to the novel coronavirus on Sunday, while Bahrain registered one death. | In a statement, the Kuwaiti Health Ministry said 505 more infections and 513 recoveries were recorded over the past 24 hours. | The country's toll now rose to 39,650 cases, including 326 deaths, and 31,240 recoveries. | In Bahrain, the Health Ministry said one patient had died from the disease. | The Gulf state's infections now stand at 21,331, including 61 deaths, and 15,790 recoveries. | Since originating in China last December, the pandemic has claimed over 464,500 lives in 188 countries and regio…
(2020-06-21). Iran still experiencing first wave of COVID-19: Health Min. en.mehrnews.com TEHRAN, Jun. 21 (MNA) —Iranian Minister of Health and Medical Education, Saeed Namaki said that we are experiencing the first wave of coronavirus pointing to the increasing cases of patients in Iran.
(2020-06-21). Your Boss's Personal Beliefs Should Not Dictate Your Health Care. truthout.org As a practicing OB/GYN, I have the privilege of taking care of patients seeking reproductive health care, including birth control. I have patients who have started on birth control pills because they don't want to be pregnant. I have patients who have decided to get a hormonal IUD to prevent pregnancy and treat heavy bleeding. I have patients with complex medical problems who make decisions that balance the management of their medical problems, consideration of the risks of pregnancy and the impact that d…
(2020-06-20). [Comment] Framing health stories: Highlights 2020 photography competition open for submissions. thelancet.com The video and pictures of the killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis, MN, USA, as police officer Derek Chauvin knelt on Floyd's neck while he pleaded that he could not breathe, as well as photographs of subsequent anti-racism protests around the world, are some of the most powerful images this year. These pictures highlight the devastating impacts of structural racism and the deep inequities in our societies, and have given renewed urgency to the Black Lives Matter movement. This year has also brought moving and sometimes shocking photographs of health-care staff working in challenging conditions—too often…
(2020-06-20). [Perspectives] Seeing COVID-19 through José Saramago's Blindness. thelancet.com Some 6 months into the COVID-19 pandemic, the emotional devastation, socioeconomic impacts, and pressures on front-line health-care workers continue to shape our world. While words cannot always do justice to the extent of individual suffering from this disease, fiction can sometimes offer a way to process the present moment, and this feels particularly true of Portuguese writer José Saramago's Blindness (1995).
(2020-06-20). [Comment] Men's health: COVID-19 pandemic highlights need for overdue policy action. thelancet.com The COVID-19 pandemic is shining a cruel light on the state of men's health globally. In 38 out of 43 countries for which provisional data were available, as of June 10, 2020, more men than women have died from COVID-19 despite a similar number of confirmed cases in each sex.1 In several countries, including the Netherlands, Dominican Republic, and Spain, about twice as many men as women have died from COVID-19.1 International Men's Health Week on June 15—21 is an opportune time to focus attention on this issue and the need for a new and systematic approach to improve the health of men generally.
(2020-06-20). [Editorial] Global governance for COVID-19 vaccines. thelancet.com The COVID-19 pandemic has uncovered serious gaps in the health-care systems of many nations. In particular, it exposes a fragmented global governance system that does not have the structures to coordinate the pooling and sharing of resources needed to combat pandemics. Since the early days of the pandemic, medical protectionism has emerged as nations scrambled for their own stocks of personal protective equipment and ventilators. COVID-19 vaccines could be the next example. Already there is a danger of a vaccine bidding war, with governments competing for a limited number of doses, well before a vaccine even reac…
(2020-06-20). [World Report] COVID-19 resurgence in Iran. thelancet.com Iran was one of the first countries to experience a COVID-19 epidemic, and began relaxing restrictions in April, but cases have since rebounded. Sharmila Devi reports.
(2020-06-20). [Comment] The Lancet Commission on dengue and other Aedes-transmitted viral diseases. thelancet.com The past 50 years have seen the emergence of epidemic arboviral diseases transmitted by the urban mosquito, Aedes aegypti. More than 120 countries are affected by frequent and cyclical dengue epidemics that result in an estimated annual 400 million infections and 100 million symptomatic cases.1 Chikungunya virus re-emerged in 2004 from east Africa and spread to Asia, the Pacific, the Americas, and Europe.2,3 Zika virus spread from sub-Saharan Africa through Asia and the Pacific to the Americas, where it caused a major outbreak associated with severe birth defects and neurological complications.
(2020-06-20). [Comment] Wakley Prize Essay 2020: medicine and plain truths in a pandemic year. thelancet.com "Sorrow and Truth, sit you on either side of me, whilst I am relieved of this deadly burden…Lend me art, without any counterfeit shadowing, to paint and delineate to the life the whole story of this mortal and pestiferous battle."1 When London-based Renaissance author Thomas Dekker came to write his account of the 1603 plague outbreak, he renounced the "silver-tongued muses", feeling that only plain words and plain truth could do justice to the moment. Four centuries on, the COVID-19 pandemic demands a similar response.
(2020-06-20). [Correspondence] Cancer and cardiovascular disease. thelancet.com Helen Strongman and colleagues1 concluded that "survivors of most site-specific cancers had increased medium-term to long-term risk for one or more cardiovascular diseases compared with that for the general population." The accompanying Comment2 argued that there should be further research into whether cancer should be included in cardiovascular risk prediction tools and refers to cardiovascular models such as Framingham3 and the Pooled Cohort Equations.4…
(2020-06-20). [Department of Error] Department of Error. thelancet.com Richardson P, Griffin I, Tucker C, et al. Baricitinib as potential treatment for 2019-nCoV acute respiratory disease. Lancet 2020; 395: e30—31—In this Correspondence, the authors Michael Rawling and Edward Savory (BenevolentAI, London, UK) were mistakenly omitted. This correction has been made to the online version as of June 18, 2020.
(2020-06-20). [Correspondence] Cancer and cardiovascular disease — Authors' reply. thelancet.com We thank Nasra Alam and colleagues and Jonathan Knisely and colleagues for their comments about our cohort study.1…
(2020-06-20). US Lawmakers, Top Official Clash On China's Involvement In COVID-19 Vaccine. popularresistance.org US lawmakers and a top official leading the White House's efforts to produce a coronavirus vaccine clashed on Thursday over whether American health authorities should be working with China to speed up the process. | At a Senate Armed Services Committee hearing to confirm General Gustave Perna to co-lead "Operation Warp Speed", the Trump administration's initiative to develop a coronavirus vaccine and therapeutics, several lawmakers asked whether the United States is committed to working with China on research. | Senator Richard Blumenthal, a Democrat representing Connecticut, raised the concerns "that the adminis…
(2020-06-20). Head of Russia's sovereign wealth fund volunteers to test experimental Covid-19 vaccine on himself. rt.com 
The head of Russia's sovereign wealth fund Kirill Dmitriev was one of the first to step forward to get the home-grown Russian coronavirus vaccine. The injection is currently in the trial phase, human testing began just days ago. | Speaking to Moscow business daily RBK, Dmitriev "Well, for now, you see, everything is fine. I will keep you posted. A vaccine is, of course, the most important element, but…
(2020-06-20). How Did Syria Control the Pandemic So Well? ahtribune.com 
How is it that Syria, targeted by war and economic siege, has had such striking success in controlling the COVID19 pandemic? With epidemics raging on either side — across Europe and all around the Persian Gulf — how did the embattled Syrian Arab Republic emerge (by mid-June) with so little damage, and indeed with the lowest number of cases and deaths in the entire Middle East region? | This was not due to luck, nor to a laissez-faire Swedish style practice, as some pandemic denier friends of Syria have reported. On the contrary, the Syrian government: (1) took the virus threat seriously, communicat…
(2020-06-20). Bolivia Reaches New Infection Record as Health System Collapses. telesurenglish.net Bolivia's Health Ministry reported 977 new COVID-19 cases on Friday, bringing the total number of infections to 22,476 in a country whose death toll has reached 715 so far. | RELATED: | The situation is especially worrying in Santa Cruz, the most populated region of Bolivia with just over three million inhabitants, which concentrates the majority of cases (13,539) and the highest number of deaths (319). | The epidemiologic…
(2020-06-20). Imperialist occupation and wars are the driving force behind the displacement of people. peoplesdispatch.org In its annual "Global Trends" report released on June 18, Thursday, the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) noted that the total number of displaced persons globally rose by a record 9 million in 2019. Though most of them are internally displaced, the number of people forced out of their countries, or international refugees, is also increasing. | The spread of COVID-19 globally has caused renewed concern about the safety and well-being of the world's refugee population, most of whom are living in unsafe conditions. While health infrastructure in refugee camps, particularly in third world countri…
(2020-06-20). Doctors head legal challenge to UK government on health care deaths and PPE. wsws.org At least 181 health workers and 131 social care workers have died while working on the frontline.
(2020-06-20). Global outrage over violent police arrest of 50-year-old French nurse Farida. wsws.org The response of the French ruling class to health care workers' demands for increased resources to combat the pandemic in decent and safe conditions is naked repression.
(2020-06-20). Land Loss Has Plagued Black America Since Emancipation—Is It Time to Look Again at 'Black Commons' and Collective Ownership? commondreams.org Society is facing "an unrivaled opportunity to look again at the idea of collective black action and ownership," the authors write. (Image: Inequality.org / Institute for Policy Studies) | www.commondreams.org/sites/default/files… …
(2020-06-20). Patents and the Pandemic, Again. commondreams.org In this picture taken on April 29, 2020, engineers work on an experimental vaccine for the Covid-19 coronavirus at the Quality Control Laboratory at the Sinovac Biotech facilities in Beijing. (Photo: Nicolas Asfouri/AFP via Getty Images) | www.commondreams.org/sites/default/files… …
(2020-06-20). Global Experts Alarmed At Signs US Has 'Given Up' Fight To Stop COVID-19. popularresistance.org Global public health experts are looking on in "alarm and disbelief" as the U.S. economy reopens even as Covid-19 case numbers continue to rise in a number of states, with President Donald Trump signaling he has no intention of calling for more economic shutdowns regardless of the outcome. | As The Washington Post reported Friday, newspapers across Europe have recently published articles and editorials expressing shock at the Trump administration's approach to the pandemic. | "U.S. Increasingly Accepts Rising Covid-19 Numbers," read a headline this week in the Swiss paper Neue Zàºrcher Zeitung. | While image…
(2020-06-20). Global Health Experts Alarmed at Signs US Has "Given Up" Fight Against COVID-19. truthout.org Global public health experts are looking on in "alarm and disbelief" as the U.S. economy reopens even as Covid-19 case numbers continue to rise in a number of states, with President Donald Trump signaling he has no intention of calling for more economic shutdowns regardless of the outcome. | As The Washington Post
(2020-06-20). "I Can't Breathe": Remembering David Cross, Killed by Corrections Officers in Santa Cruz County Jail. indybay.org David Cross, a 44-year-old local plumber, was killed on September 18, 2005 in Santa Cruz County Jail while experiencing a mental health crisis. Corrections officers who responded that day to address his health issues decided Cross needed to be restrained, so they sat on his back as he lay on his stomach and "hog tied" him on the floor of the jail. Cross screamed, "I can't breathe," "I'm going to die," and "Please get off me," before his body went limp after 3 1/2 minutes of being restrained. Fast forward to 2020, and it is likely that many will see the killing of David Cross in a new light. The world is currently…
(2020-06-19). March set for RNC in Jacksonville: 'We can't breathe'. fightbacknews.org Jacksonville, FL — The Coalition to March on the RNC applied for permits from the city of Jacksonville, June 17, to hold a rally and march opposed to Donald Trump and the Republican National Convention. | The main slogan of the event will be "We Can't Breathe — Defeat Donald Trump." The Coalition to March on the RNC will seek to emphasize the Black-led struggle against police brutality under the past four years of Trump in office. The Coalition also stands for a people's agenda — money for living-wage jobs, education, universal healthcare, peace and equality. | The Coalition to March on the RNC…
(2020-06-19). Minnesota mass gathering participants eligible for COVID-19 testing. newsnetwork.mayoclinic.org ROCHESTER, Minn. — Minnesota Governor Tim Walz recently announced that any Minnesota resident who participated in a protest, vigil, or other mass gathering, including first responders, are eligible to receive a COVID-19 test. Mayo Clinic and Mayo Clinic Health System sites in Minnesota are helping to support public health departments in local communities and have …
