(2020-07-04). Trump gives fascistic rant at Mount Rushmore event held in defiance of health experts. wsws.org Trump sought to use recent attacks on monuments to leaders of the American Revolution and Civil War to brand protesters against police killings as "far-left fascists," while hailing the police and right-wing militia groups and pledging to crack down on opponents of his authoritarian and pro-corporate policies.
(2020-07-04). Danny Sjursen: Fourth Of July Musings. popularresistance.org Once again, this Fourth of July, Americans will celebrate — to the unwitting militarist racist tune that is the "Star Spangled Banner" — more than just the nation's Independence Day. Though most folks will, if at a reasonable social distance, focus more on the backyard beer and brats, U.S. jingoism and exceptionalism will invariably be on the menu. | That last sentiment, particularly amidst the COVID- and mass protest-exposing era of forever war at home and abroad, deserves a closer and critical look. For exceptionalism is truly a national disease that ravages American bodies and democratic institutio…
(2020-07-04). [Correspondence] US Global Gag Rule increases unsafe abortion. thelancet.com The Trump administration issued the Protecting Life in Global Health Assistance policy in 2017. This policy is an expansion of the Global Gag Rule that blocks US global health assistance to foreign non-governmental organisations that provide, counsel on, refer to, or advocate for abortion services; even if they do so with their own funding and in countries where abortion is legal. Following an additional policy expansion in 2019, foreign organisations that comply with the policy must now attach it to all subgrants that they give to other foreign organisations, including those that do not involve US global health…
(2020-07-04). [Perspectives] Salome Maswime: dynamic leader in global surgery. thelancet.com As Associate Professor and Head of Global Surgery at the University of Cape Town (UCT), South Africa, Salome Maswime is aware of the scale of the job in front of her. "For me the big problem is the disconnect between health systems and clinical care in low and middle income countries, especially concerning surgical care. Outcomes are often poor, there being not enough focus on the quality of surgery, and how it relates to integrated health care and overarching health systems performance", she explains.
(2020-07-04). [Comment] The Wakley—Wu Lien Teh Prize Essay 2020: Chinese health workers' experiences during the COVID-19 pandemic. thelancet.com "I feel deeply the burden of the honour placed upon me in being chairman of this Medical Conference, which is unique in our history, powerful in its representation, and which gives China a strong position amongst nations seeking the welfare of the people", wrote Wu Lien Teh in his first publication in The Lancet,1 on his inaugural address delivered at the International Plague Conference in Shenyang, China, in 1911. Wu was elected as the chair of the conference for his work in controlling the pneumonic plague epidemic outbreak in 1910—11 in northeastern China, which ultimately claimed about 60‚Ä&a…
(2020-07-04). [World Report] Collaborating on kidneys: Haiti's transplantation ambitions. thelancet.com Haiti lacks health programmes and facilities for kidney disease. Jane Regan reports on an ambitious collaboration between Haitian and US doctors to make kidney transplantation widely available.
(2020-07-04). [Clinical Picture] Coarctation of the aorta: a rare cause of severe hypertension in pregnancy. thelancet.com A 24-week pregnant 18-year-old woman was seen at her local health-care centre where she was found to have a respiratory rate of 38 breaths per min, a blood pressure of 250/90 mm Hg, and a heart rate of 39 beats per min. She collapsed and required intubation and ventilation. A chest x-ray showed bilateral infiltrates—pulmonary oedema—and she was treated with furosemide and nitroglycerin and transferred to our intensive care unit.
(2020-07-04). [Correspondence] Methodology in the GBD study of China — Author's reply. thelancet.com The Global Burden of Disease Study (GBD) 2017 provides comprehensive assessment of population health for 195 countries and territories and subnational units for selected countries, including all province-level administrative units in China. It is important to point out that, as the GBD uses a hierarchical analytical framework, data input from all GBD 2017 analytical units, national or subnational, are integrated into a single modelling process to provide a set of estimates for all locations that are internally consistent and comparable across locations and over time.
(2020-07-04). [Correspondence] Time for WHO to declare climate breakdown a PHEIC? thelancet.com At the opening plenary of the World Health Assembly in May, 2019, Richard Horton urged member states and the Secretariat of WHO to recognise climate change as a planetary emergency. A few days later, during a side event on air pollution, climate change, oceans, and health sponsored by the Government of Sweden, the Minister of Health for the Seychelles Jean Paul Adam argued that climate change has to be recognised as a public health emergency at the international level. Johan Giesecke1 once stressed that as public health emergencies of international concern (PHEICs) evolve into more complex forms, it becomes neces…
(2020-07-04). [Correspondence] Methodology in the GBD study of China. thelancet.com We found the Article by Maigeng Zhou and colleagues1 intriguing. However, we have some concerns. Our major concern arises from mixing data from mainland China and Taiwan. These two regions have distinct health-care and social welfare systems; they also have different time trends of how socioeconomic conditions evolved during the past half century. Therefore, mixing the data from these two regions might lead to biased estimates, especially for the health outcomes shaped by health policies (eg, vaccination programmes as a prevention strategy).
(2020-07-04). [Comment] A Lancet Commission on women and cancer. thelancet.com Over the past decade, the global health community has begun to acknowledge that cancer is an increasingly important public health and economic challenge in all countries.1 What is not acknowledged is the disproportionate impact of cancer on the lives and livelihoods of women, and the downstream impacts this creates for societies. In 104 countries, breast cancer has the highest age-standardised incidence rate of all cancers in both sexes combined; in 23 countries, it is cervical cancer.2 Of the 938‚Äà044 deaths from these two cancers in 2018, most were premature and preventable and occurred in a…
(2020-07-04). [Editorial] Zoonoses: beyond the human—animal—environment interface. thelancet.com World Zoonoses Day on July 6 marks the day, in 1885, when a young boy received the first vaccine against rabies—a zoonosis, a disease caused by a pathogen transmitted from animals to humans. Rarely is a World Zoonoses Day so relevant to consider these diseases and their disruption of societies.
(2020-07-04). [Department of Error] Department of Error. thelancet.com Zhou M, Wang H, Zeng X, et al. Mortality, morbidity, and risk factors in China and its provinces, 1990—2017: a systematic analysis for the Global Burden of Disease Study 2017. Lancet 2019; 394: 1145—58—The appendix of this Article has been corrected as of July 2, 2020.
(2020-07-04). [Comment] Ambulatory management of primary spontaneous pneumothorax: when less is more. thelancet.com Spontaneous pneumothorax is a pneumothorax that occurs in the absence of trauma or iatrogenic injury, and occurs in about 20‚Äà000 people per year in the USA.1 Primary spontaneous pneumothorax is typically defined as a pneumothorax that occurs in patients without evidence of underlying lung disease, and is estimated to affect about 3000 people per year in the UK,2 whereas secondary pneumothorax occurs in patients with known lung disease such as emphysema, lymphangioleiomyomatosis, or Birt-Hogg-Dubé syndrome.
(2020-07-04). [Comment] Investing in surgery: a value proposition for African leaders. thelancet.com Globally, poor access to high-quality surgical, obstetric, and anaesthesia care remains a main contributor to global disease burden accounting for about a third of deaths worldwide.1 The need for strengthening surgical care systems is especially urgent in sub-Saharan Africa, where access is strikingly limited, leading to the highest mortality and morbidity from surgically preventable and treatable conditions in the world.2,3 Approximately 93% of the population of sub-Saharan Africa lacks access to safe, affordable, and timely surgical care, compared with less than 10% in high-income countries.
(2020-07-04). The University Community As A Microcosm Of The National Economy. popularresistance.org In sum, MMT suggests that the printing of money can be calibrated to the fulfillment of short and long term needs. Money could and should be provided for health care for all, support for education (K through university), structural renovation, transitioning away from fossil fuels, the creation of jobs for all and universal basic income programs, and support for a Green New Deal. These programs were vitally needed before the pandemic and are even more essential since its onset. Of course, cutting military spending, pork-barrel legislation, and creating a progressive tax system helps. But the human needs articulate…
(2020-07-04). 2010: Why the WHO Faked a Pandemic. anti-empire.com 
The World Health Organization has suddenly gone from crying "The sky is falling!" like a cackling Chicken Little to squealing like a stuck pig. The reason: charges that the agency deliberately fomented swine flu hysteria. "The world is going through a real pandemic. The description of it as a fake is wrong and irresponsible," the
(2020-07-04). Continued Unemployment Claims in the US Rise by Another 1 Million, Now at Eye-Watering 31.5 Million. anti-empire.com 
Normally, the jobs report by the Bureau of Labor Statistics is released on the first Friday of the month. And the unemployment claims report is released Thursday every week. But this month, the monthly jobs report was also released today because of the 4th of July weekend. And now we have this delicious situation of both reports on the same day, with the Labor Department's unemployment insurance data — people who are actually receiving unemployment benefits under state and federal programs — calling the Bureau of Labor Statistics' survey-based report a liar. And we'll go through them. | What the L…
(2020-07-04). Trump holds Mount Rushmore event in defiance of health experts. wsws.org This criminally reckless action, virtually certain to result in a new eruption of infections and deaths, was carried out in defiance of warnings from members of Trump's coronavirus task force.
(2020-07-04). Barcelona's landmark Sagrada Familia reopens for key workers. yenisafak.com Barcelona's Sagrada Familia reopened on Saturday, giving frontline workers the chance to have the usually tourist-packed landmark to themselves in recognition of their efforts during the coronavirus pandemic.People took photos and listened to audio guides after Archbishop of Barcelona Juan Jose Omella led representatives of healthcare workers into the church.The basilica, designed by architect Antoni Gaudi, closed almost four months ago. But for the next two weekends it will be open to essential workers, including those in healthcare, the police and NGOs, who will be able to explore without the usual crowds.The g…
(2020-07-04). Turkey's presence in Libya to do whatever int'l law requires: DefMin. yenisafak.com Turkey's presence in Libya is to do whatever the international law and justice require, the Turkish defense minister said on Saturday."Turkey is together with the Libyan brothers. No one should doubt it, we will not give up on it," Hulusi Akar said.Akar and Chief of General Staff Gen. Yasar Guler, who are on an official visit to Libya, met Turkish security forces in the country. They later visited Tripoli's Mitiga Hospital, which was frequently targeted by the attacks of warlord Khalifa Haftar's militias, and met the Turkish health care staff at the hospital."Our task here [in Libya] is providing military trainin…
(2020-07-04). Turkey issues arrest warrants over fireworks factory blasts in NW. yenisafak.com Turkey has issued arrest warrants over explosions at a fireworks factory on Friday that killed four people, according to judicial sources.Prosecutors in the northwestern Sakarya province issued warrants for the factory manager in charge and two foremen, said the sources on Saturday, who asked not to be named due to restrictions on speaking to the media.The investigation of the incident continues, the prosecutors reportedly said.The blasts took place at a factory in the province's Hendek district.A total of 114 people were taken to the hospital and nearly 100 were discharged, Turkey's health minister said Friday.T…
(2020-07-04). Erdogan says Turkey sent virus aid to 138 countries. yenisafak.com Turkey to date has sent medical aid to 138 countries to help them combat the coronavirus pandemic, said Turkey's president on Saturday."We have sent medical equipment and supplies to 138 countries, regardless of religion, language, race, or region," Recep Tayyip Erdogan told the inauguration ceremony for a new state hospital in Istanbul.Telling how Turkey's exemplary efforts against the virus laid the groundwork for new opportunities in medical tourism, he added, "We're determined to make Turkey the health center of three continents," meaning Asia, Europe, and Africa, with Turkey at their hub."Thanks to the meas…
(2020-07-04). Iran confirms 2,449 infections,148 deaths in 24 hours. en.mehrnews.com TEHRAN, Jul. 04 (MNA) — Iran's Health Ministry announced that 2,449 new cases of infections with the novel coronavirus disease have been confirmed in the past 24 hours.
(2020-07-04). Friday 7/3: Plague-Time Play-Time. indybay.org ATA GALLERY, 992 Valencia Street…
(2020-07-03). Over 800 Afghan civilians have lost their lives in six months: UN Assistance Mission. peoplesdispatch.org In a recent spate of at least 56 violent incidents, members of Afghanistan's civil society, religious leaders, healthcare workers, members of the judiciary, civil society activists, non-governmental organizations and journalists have been deliberately attacked…
(2020-07-03). Chileans carry out a two-day national protest against Piñera's government. peoplesdispatch.org The national strike has been called in rejection of the national government, its mishandling of the health and economic emergencies and the lack of food and aid for vulnerable population…
(2020-07-03). Caesarean delivery rates and analgesia effectiveness following injections of sterile water for back pain in labour: A multicentre, randomised placebo controlled trial. thelancet.com Compared to placebo, injections of sterile water did not reduce rates of caesarean delivery. For the main secondary outcome of pain relief the intervention did result in significantly more women reporting at least 30% and 50% reduction in pain for up to 90 min. Water injections have no effect on birth outcomes though can be an effective treatment for the relief of labour-related back pain.Funded by the National Health and Medical Research Council.
(2020-07-03). The Mask as a Symbol of Subjugation. dissidentvoice.org 
We know that wearing a mask outside health care facilities offers little, if any, protection from infection. — The New England Journal of Medicine, May 21, 2020 (T)hey told us exactly what was coming, and advised us to shut up and follow orders. Tragically, most people have done just that. — CJ Hopkins, 2020 It's …
(2020-07-03). 'Help raise our voice': Dialogue with Dr. Medhat Abbas, Gaza. workers.org 
Dr. Medhat Abbas has been director general of primary health care in Shifa Hospital and Al Aqsa in Gaza. He spent time in the Ministry of Health International Relations Department and has extensive experience in Health Services Management. Dr. Abbas is at the forefront of community health services and management . . . |
(2020-07-03). What do 6 months of COVID-19 pandemic tell us about USA? liberationnews.org 
Given the government's catastrophic profit-driven response and the lack of a vaccine, it's possible this pandemic is only in its early stages.
(2020-07-03). People tested for Covid-19 in England NOT asked to give addresses during peak of pandemic, complaints of 'incomplete' data. rt.com 
People in England tested for Covid-19 during the height of the pandemic were not being asked to provide address details, it has emerged. Local authorities have hit out at the "poor and incomplete" data they've received. | Read more | | According to the BBC, the UK Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) has confirmed users of the government's testing service only had to provide their postcode from April 23, as the country…
(2020-07-03). US govt providing unsterile Covid-19 screening supplies amid surge in testing demand, claims Washington state. rt.com 
Medical supplies sent by the federal government to help with coronavirus testing have been too slow to arrive and have failed quality control checks, according to Washington state's top health official. | A US government program aimed at supporting nationwide testing efforts has been "beset by logistical problems that impede our pandemic response and undermine our shared goals," Washington state Secretary of Health John Wiesman wrote in a letter to US Assistant Secretary for Health Admiral Brett Giroir. | Wiesman claimed that his state had received around 250,000 bulk-packaged swabs from the federal government…
(2020-07-03). First Russian coronavirus vaccine volunteers report no adverse side-effects. Hopes now high for mass immunization in fall. rt.com 
There may finally be an end in sight. Two weeks after Russia's home-grown Covid-19 vaccine was administered to a group of volunteers, there have been no negative side-effects, raising hopes that mass immunization may be possible. | Read more | | "Volunteers from the first group…feel good and have no complaints about their health," said a Ministry of Defense press release. "Over the past two weeks, there have been no ser…
(2020-07-03). France to probe ex-PM & minister over handling of Covid-19 — prosecutors. rt.com 
France's former prime minister Edouard Philippe and its health officials will be the targets of a probe into the government's handling of the coronavirus pandemic, prosecutors say. | Health minister Olivier Véran and his predecessor Agnès Buzyn will be investigated, along with Philippe, the attorney general said. | The probe comes after nine complaints were found to be admissible by the Court of Justice of the Republic "on the sole count of abstention from fighting a disaster." | | Edouard Philippe arrives for a meeting at the Elysee Palace. © Reuters / Christian Hartmann | Philippe resi…
(2020-07-03). After thousands of coronavirus deaths in care homes, government announces regular testing programme for staff and residents. thecanary.co 
Staff and residents in care homes for people over 65 or with dementia will be regularly tested for coronavirus (Covid-19) from week beginning 6 July, the government has announced.The Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) announced a new social care testing strategy on 3 July. As part of the strategy, staff will be tested weekly, while residents will receive a test every 28 days. This is in addition to intensive testing in any care home facing an outbreak or at increased risk of a flare-up, the department added.The repeat testing programme will be rolled out over the next four weeks to all care homes for the…
(2020-07-03). Senate kills amendment to withdraw US troops from Afghanistan. nationofchange.org "The pandemic clearly shows that expensive endless wars that cost $6 trillion from taxpayers make Americans less safe as they take funds from critical needs like healthcare."
(2020-07-03). Medicare for All over militarism. nationofchange.org Although it doesn't seem to interest most American voters, militarism is now as much of a domestic as it is a foreign policy issue.
(2020-07-03). "No One Has Died from the Coronavirus" globalresearch.ca A high-profile European pathologist is reporting that he and his colleagues across Europe have not found any evidence of any deaths from the novel coronavirus on that continent. | Dr. Stoian Alexov called the World Health Organization (WHO) a "criminal medical …
(2020-07-03). Global COVID Cases Over 11 Million, John Hopkins University. telesurenglish.net Johns Hopkins University on Friday confirmed COVID-19 worldwide cases surpassed 11 million. | RELATED: | According to the Hopkins Center for Systems Science and Engineering (CSSE), global cases reached 11,031,905. | The U.S. has the highest contagion toll, with 2,873,612 COVID-19 recorded cases, as well as 131,926, deceases due to the virus and 1,201,749 recoveries. U.S. health institutions registered over 37,000…
(2020-07-03). Remdesivir for Covid-19: $1.6 Billion for a "Modestly Beneficial" Drug? globalresearch.ca The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services has recently "bought" all of Gilead Science's Remdesivir for $1.6 billion. "500,000 doses at $3,200 per patient — to be available to American hospitals but not for other countries"[6] | That's $1.6 …
(2020-07-03). South Africa Reports Highest Daily Increase in COVID-19 Cases. telesurenglish.net South Africa Friday reported its biggest single-day jump in coronavirus cases, as hospitals across the country brace for an onslaught of patients and officials warn of another strict lockdown. | RELATED: | On Thursday, over 8,700 infections were confirmed, taking the country's total count to 168,061, according to Health Ministry data, while deaths rose by 95 to 2,844. | The surge comes as the government has allowed…
(2020-07-03). WHO Expects Preliminary Results Of COVID-19 Drug In Two Weeks. telesurenglish.net The World Health Organization (WHO) will see within two weeks the first's results of a clinical trial of candidate drugs to treat the COVID-19 pandemic, its Director-General Tedros Adhano announced Friday. | RELATED: | "Nearly 5,500 patients in 39 countries have so far been recruited into the Solidarity trial," said Adhanom during a press briefing at the Geneva Association of United Nations Correspondents (ACANU). | "Solidarity" is an…
(2020-07-03). Bolivia: School Year Postponed Due To Peak Infection Forecasts. telesurenglish.net Bolivia's Health and Education Ministries postponed the resumption of learning activities on Friday, as they attempt to curtail a COVID-19 contagion peak in August and September. | RELATED: | "To protect the health of students, teachers, administrative staff of educational units, parents and the population throughout the country, the Ministry of Education, Culture and Sport, in coordination with the Ministry of Health…
(2020-07-03). Hundreds of Saudi and Gulf Military Personnel Trained in Britain as Yemen War Continues. globalresearch.ca New data shows Britain's Royal Air Force trained Saudi personnel in 2019 on fighter jets used to bomb civilians in Yemen — a country on the brink of famine — while UK soldiers coached other forces in the Saudi-led coalition …
(2020-07-03). Huge COVID Case-counting Deception at the CDC. globalresearch.ca For this piece, we have to enter the official world (of the insane)—where everyone is quite sure a new coronavirus was discovered in China and the worthless diagnostic tests mean something and the case numbers are real and meaningful. Once …
(2020-07-03). US Buys Up Remdesivir: We Must Break Patents for Access to COVID-19 Drug. peoplesdispatch.org Newsclick's Prabir Purkayastha points out that countries must use the compulsory licence clause to make sure the drug is available to all. He also analyses how this might be a prelude to similar acts once a vaccine is available.
(2020-07-03). Black Immigrants On The Front Lines Of COVID-19. popularresistance.org As the country continues to fight the COVID-19 pandemic, Black immigrants — immigrants who identify as Black regardless of country or region of birth — are playing an important role on the front lines in healthcare, food supply, education, and biomedical industries. Black immigrants make up a significant portion of healthcare workers. In 2018, there were more than 560,000 Black immigrant workers in the healthcare sector. These workers made up 3.4 percent of all healthcare workers, a share almost three times their share of the U.S. population. In the food industry at large, there are over 223,000 Black immigrant…
(2020-07-03). Cuba's Two Pandemics: The Coronavirus And The US Embargo. popularresistance.org As soon as the first cases of COVID-19 were detected in Cuba, our country mobilized all its resources to contain the spread of the virus. | Our healthcare workers go door to door checking people for possible symptoms. Those with symptoms are transferred to specially designated centers to receive treatment, mostly with medication developed by Cuba's own pharmaceutical and biotech industry. The medical examinations and treatments are all provided free of charge. | As of June 20, 85 people have died of COVID-19 in Cuba. Our mortality rate of 3.9 percent is very low compared to the rest of the world. We reached the p…
(2020-07-03). EU grants conditional clearance to COVID-19 antiviral remdesivir. yenisafak.com The EU executive said the drug, produced by Gilead Sciences Inc, was the first medicine authorised in the European Union for treating COVID-19 following a "rolling review" begun by the European Medicines Agency at the end of April.The agency reviews data as they become available on a rolling basis, while development is still ongoing.The Commission said on Wednesday it was in negotiations with Gilead to obtain doses of remdesivir for the 27 European Union countries.However, that may prove difficult after the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services announced it had secured all of Gilead's projected production…