(2020-09-12). [Editorial] Global collaboration for health: rhetoric versus reality. thelancet.com The 75th session of the UN General Assembly (UNGA) opens on Sept 15, 2020. Being held remotely for the first time, the meeting will inevitably be dominated by the COVID-19 pandemic, but other issues on the agenda that have resonance for global health include the climate crisis, peace, disarmament, and humanitarian assistance. Underpinning this year's agenda is the UN theme of multilateralism, under the banner "The future we want, the United Nations we need: reaffirming our collective commitment to multilateralism".
(2020-09-12). While the stock market is booming, jobs report hides hunger. workers.org 
Getting enough food was hard for people working low-wage jobs before the pandemic. Now it's harder, given the huge increase in unemployment — 29 million jobless workers now live off meager unemployment insurance. Millions without work are getting nothing, and more than 50 million people are "food insecure," meaning they . . . |
(2020-09-12). 'Stop clapping, start paying': NHS workers demand better wages. thecanary.co 
Frontline NHS workers, many of whom have been helping to fight the coronavirus pandemic, have protested to demand better wages.Campaigners in central London held banners which read "stop clapping, start paying," "priceless yet penniless" and "640 healthcare workers dead, blood on their hands", alongside images of prime minister Boris Johnson. Many wore scrubs or other NHS uniforms.Demonstrators began a march to Trafalgar Square after a two-minute silence in honour of 640 healthcare workers who have died during the pandemic.The protest comes after nurses were excluded from the wage increase for around 900,000 publ…
(2020-09-12). US Tax Dollars Funded Every New Pharmaceutical in the Last Decade. zcomm.org Amid debates over costs—and profits—from a coronavirus vaccine, a new study shows that taxpayers have been footing the bill for every new drug approved between 2010 and 2019…
(2020-09-12). [Comment] The Lancet Small Vulnerable Newborn Series: science for a healthy start. thelancet.com The Lancet 2020 Campaign1 on child and adolescent health is a welcome call for a renewed focus on children. With less than a decade remaining to achieve the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), the campaign is a timely reminder about an unfinished agenda, reiterating the centrality of child survival and wellbeing in global development. The impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic bring more urgency to the need for increased attention to children. Although COVID-19 is usually mild in children, health-service disruptions and other indirect effects of the pandemic response are having devastating impacts on the wellbeing…
(2020-09-12). [Comment] Offline: The crisis of political language. thelancet.com George Orwell, in his 1945 essay Politics and the English Language, wrote that "to think clearly is a necessary first step towards political regeneration". The Moscow press briefing held last week on the Russian COVID-19 vaccine quickly turned into a platform for national rivalry. The research, led by scientists at the N F Gamaleya National Research Centre for Epidemiology and Microbiology, found encouraging evidence of an immune response using their prime boost strategy of a two-component, human recombinant adenovirus vector-based vaccine.
(2020-09-12). [Correspondence] Asthma exacerbations, air pollution, and allergens — Authors' reply. thelancet.com We thank Jordi Sunyer and Josep Antó for their comments regarding our Viewpoint.1 Their ground-breaking studies in the 1980s showed that what had been reported as an association of an outbreak of asthma with an increase in ambient levels of oxides of nitrogen,2 was in fact caused by exposure to an allergen. Without identifying the specific allergen, there would have been no way of knowing that the initial report was misleading. After the epidemics had been controlled, sporadic cases of asthma exacerbations that were associated with soybean allergy continued to occur.
(2020-09-12). [Comment] Secondary prevention of congenital cytomegalovirus infection. thelancet.com The burden of congenital cytomegalovirus infection is an unmet public health issue. Congenital cytomegalovirus affects 0 ∑7% of all neonates worldwide, and 15—20% of these have long-term sequelae.1 In high-income countries, around half of infected neonates are infected after maternal primary infection, and the other half after maternal non-primary infection (reactivation or reinfection).2 Since the late 1990s, the development of IgG avidity and PCR to quantify viral DNA load have improved diagnosis of maternal primary infection and of fetal infection with positive PCR in amniotic fluid retrieved by amni…
(2020-09-12). [Correspondence] Asthma exacerbations, air pollution, and allergens. thelancet.com Peter Burney and André Amaral1 refer to the episodes of severe asthma epidemics in Barcelona, Spain, to suggest that aeroallergens could be more threatening for people with asthma than are urban air pollutants. The principal cause of the asthma epidemics in Barcelona was a protein from the hull of the soybean (which was dispersed from the harbour silos to the city air when the cargo was unloaded) and not urban air pollutants, such as black carbon particles or nitrogen dioxide. However, the effect of exposure to soybeans on asthma exacerbations was lower than was the effect of exposure to air pollutants in the who…
(2020-09-12). Trump Aides Tried to Alter CDC COVID Reports to Fit President's False Claims. truthout.org Days after President Donald Trump
(2020-09-12). Spain sets pandemic record with 12,183 new cases. yenisafak.com The latest surge broke the previous record, which was set on Thursday, although at the beginning of the pandemic widespread testing was not available to confirm cases.Concern, however, is picking up over testing, with the rates of positive tests continuing to increase. Overall, the average positivity rate over the last week now sits at 11.8%.The World Health Organization says a country does not have the pandemic under control until the positivity rate is below 5%. Only one Spanish region — Asturias — has managed to keep it below that threshold.Deaths increased by almost 50 on Friday, leaving the count…
(2020-09-11). Why is the US Government Using Stolen Cash To Pay Doctors in Venezuela? thealtworld.com The US government is using cash stolen from the Venezuelan government as part of a hearts and minds campaign on behalf of opposition figure Juan Guaidó. | MPN— Venezuelan doctors currently fighting COVID-19 are receiving funding from an unlikely source: U.S. backed coup leader Juan Guaidó. Health workers, who sometimes earn less than $20 per month, are receiving $100 dollars monthly from the self-declared president of Venezuela. Where is Guaidó getting all this money from? The U.S. government, who, in turn, is using the billions of dollars it has confiscated from Venezuela to fund his latest political stunt.
(2020-09-11). Headlines for September 11, 2020. democracynow.org 500,000 Evacuated Across Oregon as Record-Shattering Fires Rage in Western States, AstraZeneca CEO Warned Investors of Vaccine Recipient Who Became Ill, Trump Admin Fines Pork Processor $13,500 for Lapses at Plant Where 1,300 Contracted Coronavirus, India Records Another Record Daily Coronavirus Toll, Senate Coronavirus Relief Bill Fails as Another 857,000 File New Unemployment Claims, Amazon Accused of Price Gouging After Raising Prices Up to 1,000% During Lockdown, Philadelphia Activists Defy City Order to Vacate Encampment for Unhoused Residents, Joe Biden Says He May Further Increase Military Spending If Elec…
(2020-09-11). What Went Wrong with AstraZeneca's Vaccine Trial? CEO Only Shares Details with Investors. democracynow.org 
As the world races to find a COVID-19 vaccine, one of the most promising vaccine trials has hit a major roadblock. AstraZeneca paused its Phase 3 COVID-19 vaccine trial after a woman in the trial developed severe neurological symptoms consistent with transverse myelitis, or inflammation of the spinal cord. Details were only revealed during a CEO call with investors, and "everyone was left to guess what went wrong," writes Ed Silverman, senior writer at the health news site STAT, which broke the story. Silverman says the halting of the U.K. trial raises several issues, including whether pharmaceutical companies ar…
(2020-09-11). 'Gather': Despite America's history of violence, Indigenous food sovereignty carries on. peoplesworld.org 
(2020-09-11). The rule of big oil causes misery in the Middle East. peoplesworld.org 
During the reign of the Emperor Justinian I (527-565 AD), a mysterious plague spread out of the Nile Valley to Constantinople and finished off the Roman Empire. Appearing first in China and North India, the "Black Death" (Yersinia pestis) radiated throughout the Mediterranean and into Northern Europe. It may well have killed close to half …
(2020-09-11). Times remain hard, especially for low-wage workers. mronline.org 
The current economic crisis has hit workers hard. Unemployment rates remain high, with total weekly initial claims for unemployment insurance benefits continuing to grow.
(2020-09-11). LA health director accused of 'playing politics' after saying schools won't reopen 'until after the election' in leaked audio. rt.com 
LA County's public health chief has come under fire after saying that local schools would not reopen until after the 2020 presidential election, prompting criticism that officials are putting politics ahead of science. | The county's health director, Barbara Ferrer, recently told local educators that schools would remain shuttered until the beginning of November, repeatedly referring to the upcoming election, according to "We don't realistically anticipate that we would be moving t…
(2020-09-11). Almost half of Russians say they don't want to be vaccinated against Covid-19 & 43% believe dangers of coronavirus are exaggerated. rt.com 
Just under half (45.6 percent) of surveyed Russians don't want to be vaccinated against coronavirus, regardless of where the vaccine comes from, according to a new study by Moscow's Higher School of Economics (HSE). | The research revealed that just 13.2 percent of those questioned want to get vaccinated as soon as possible, with a further 4.6 percent wishing to wait a few months. Of those who refuse to be immunized, almost a quarter (24.6 percent) still intend to monitor the results of mass vaccination, with another quarter (25 percent) saying they're entirely opposed to all vaccines. | Part of the country's…
(2020-09-11). Help on its way: Russia set to ship up to 50 MILLION doses of pioneering coronavirus vaccine Sputnik V to badly-hit Brazil. rt.com 
Brazil, which has suffered the world's second highest Covid-19 death toll, is planning to receive up to 50 million doses of the Russian made Sputnik V, the planet's first registered coronavirus vaccine. | "Deliveries are expected to start in November," according to the Russian Direct Investment Fund (RDIF), which bankrolled the formula's development. The matter is still awaiting final approval by Brazilian regulators. | As of now, the multimillion dose agreement involves only a single Brazilian state, Bahia, but it is expected it be eventually be rolled out at national level. | After some Western criticism, th…
(2020-09-11). For Nearly Six Months, Weekly US Unemployment Claims Exceed One Million. globalresearch.ca Since March, weekly US claims for unemployment insurance (UI) were greater than ever before in the nation's history for 25 straight weeks. | What seemed unimaginable when 2020 began is cold, hard reality. | Over one million jobless US workers continue to …
(2020-09-11). New UN Report Recommends ICC Investigate Possible War Crimes by All Sides—Including US-Backed Coalition—in Yemen. commondreams.org "Yemen has been ravaged in ways that should shock the conscience of humanity," said one of the report's authors. | www.commondreams.org/sites/default/files… …
(2020-09-11). Unemployment insurance numbers rise across the board. fightbacknews.org San José, CA – The latest report on unemployment insurance by the Department of Labor showed larger numbers across a number of measures. The number of new claims for regular state UI the week ending September 5 increased by 20,000 from the previous week. The same for the federal Pandemic Unemployment Assistance or PUA for self-employed and gig workers, which rose by more than 90,000, or 12%. Together total new claims rose to almost 1.7 million for the latest week. | The numbers of continuing claims, which show how many people are actually collecting benefits, also rose. The number of people getting regular state…
(2020-09-11). Poll: Financial Pain From Coronavirus Pandemic 'Much, Much Worse' Than Expected. popularresistance.org In America's four largest cities, at least half of people say they have experienced the loss of a job or a reduction in wages or work hours in their household since the start of the coronavirus outbreak. That's the finding of a new poll published Wednesday by NPR, the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health. | Many of these problems are concentrated among Black and Latino households in the four cities, according to the poll, which gathered responses from July 1 through Aug 3.
(2020-09-11). UK: England COVID-19 Cases Are Doubling Every Seven Days, Study. telesurenglish.net A population surveillance study developed by the Imperial College London in England found that COVID-19 cases are doubling every seven days, according to the latest statistics. | RELATED: | "The prevalence of the virus in the population is increasing. We found evidence that it has been accelerating at the end of August and beginning of September," professor of infectious disease dynamics and research co-writer Stev…
(2020-09-11). WHO warns against potential Ebola spread in DR Congo and beyond. news.un.org Ebola is spreading in a western province in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), raising fears that the disease could reach neighbouring Republic of Congo and even the capital, Kinshasa, the World Health Organization (WHO) said on Friday.
(2020-09-11). Chile To Remember Allende and Victims of Pinochet Dictatorship. telesurenglish.net Human rights defenders Friday will hold a procession in Santiago to honor late President Salvador Allende and all those killed during the coup that happened on September 11, 1973. | RELATED: | The pilgrimage will be held amidst strong health measures. However, relatives and friends of those arrested, executed, and disappeared will march to demand justice as many of the victim's whereabouts are still unknown. | Presiden…
(2020-09-11). Take Back The Night Like A Fresh Burning Star. counterpunch.org I am, she said, though borne into demolition. —"Poem for Suheir Hammad" by Trish Salah One hundred years ago, women were risking everything to get the right to vote, including marching on Washington during the Spanish Flu epidemic, which saw millions of people drop like flies. American suffragists had been fighting since the turn of
(2020-09-11). Iraqi health care workers threaten nationwide strike to demand resources to fight pandemic. wsws.org Iraq had initially contained the pandemic with lockdown measures, but cases and deaths have more than doubled since early July, when the government began the gradual lifting of restrictions.
(2020-09-11). Postponed: Memorial for People Killed by Police/Vigilantes since the George Floyd Uprising. indybay.org Due to unhealthy air quality, this memorial event is postponed until next Thursday.
(2020-09-11). New Orleans Sanitation Workers Strike, Union Busting, Convict Labor & Labor Solidarity. indybay.org A panel was held on the strike of New Orleans striking sanitation workers who went out in May for PPE, health and safety and $15.00 an hour. Included on the panel were strikers and also supporters in Seattle and Tacoma who have been picketing the corporate owner of the contractor Metro which employed the workers. This company brought in convict labor to bust the strike.
(2020-09-11). Brazil's Bahia State Calls Purchase of Russian Sputnik V Vaccine 'Step to Save Lives'. sputniknews.com MOSCOW/MEXICO (Sputnik) – Rui Costa, the governor of the Brazilian state of Bahia, said on Friday that the agreement with Russia to purchase the Sputnik V vaccine against the coronavirus disease was life-saving.
(2020-09-11). Crucial Testing for Child Lead Poisoning Has Plummeted During Pandemic. truthout.org Families skipping or delaying pediatric appointments for their young children because of the pandemic are missing out on more than vaccines. Critical testing for lead poisoning has plummeted in many parts of the country. | In the Upper Midwest, Northeast and parts of the West Coast — areas with historically high rates of lead poisoning — the slide has been the most dramatic, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. In states such as Michigan, Ohio and Minnesota, test…
(2020-09-11). Police Encounters During Mental Health Crises Don't Have to Be Violent. commondreams.org A demonstrator holds a sign during a protest to demand justice for Daniel Prude, on September 3, 2020 in New York City. (Photo: Kena Betancur/AFP via Getty Images) | www.commondreams.org/sites/default/files… …
(2020-09-11). Fauci Warns Pre-Pandemic Normalcy Not Likely Until 'Well Into' or 'Towards the End of 2021'. commondreams.org The public health expert also addressed the need to reduce cases headed into fall, halted vaccine trials, and reported attempts to "muzzle" him. | www.commondreams.org/sites/default/files… …
(2020-09-10). "Democratic Public Health": Big Pharma Relies on Developing World While Limiting Access to Treatment. democracynow.org 
We look at the history of clinical vaccine trials and exploitation of vulnerable people in the U.S. and India, which recently surpassed Brazil as the country with the second most infections worldwide. Kaushik Sunder Rajan, an anthropologist at the University of Chicago, says there is a documented history of "ethical lapses" and lack of accountability in vaccine studies in India. "The critical issue here is not whether vaccines are good or bad, but … even more, I would suggest what is at stake is a democratic public health," he notes.
(2020-09-10). Headlines for September 10, 2020. democracynow.org Wildfires Destroy Oregon Towns, Bringing "Apocalyptic" Orange Skies to West Coast, Human Activity Blamed for 68% Drop in Animal Population Since 1970, President Donald Trump Acknowledges Downplaying COVID-19 Threat to U.S. Public, Biden Blasts Trump's "Life-and-Death Betrayal of the American People" on COVID-19, Bob Woodward Blasted for Withholding Trump's Comments on COVID-19 for Months, NIH Director Says Politics Shouldn't Trump Science in Vaccine Development, UW-Madison Halts In-Person Classes After 1,000+ Students Test Positive for Coronavirus, India Reports Record Daily Coronavirus Infections as Global Death…
(2020-09-10). COVID Vaccine Trials Seek Black & Latinx Participants, But History of Medical Apartheid Sows Mistrust. democracynow.org 
As President Trump pushes to release a coronavirus vaccine before the November election, a National Institutes of Health report details how the process could be slowed by a lack of participation in vaccine studies by African American and Latinx people, many of whom mistrust the U.S. healthcare system due the history of racist medical exploitation. "The written history of medicine, the canon, has been carefully curated to elide the experience of African Americans," says medical ethicist Harriet Washington, author of "Medical Apartheid: The Dark History of Medical Experimentation on Black Americans from Colonial Ti…
(2020-09-10). Why Herd Immunity is a Distraction. counterpunch.org 
There has been a spectrum of actions taken by governments to address near-term prevention of the spread of COVID-19. The extremes have ranged from total lockdowns (e.g., Italy, Belgium and Spain); to legal enforcement of quarantines and contact tracing (e.g., Canada and Germany); to much lighter forms of restriction (e.g., Denmark and Norway); to even more minimal restrictions, but with extensive testing and tracing (e.g., Taiwan and South Korea). There have also been some clearly incompetent policies, notably in the United States, where the country's public health infrastructure has been eviscerated not just by…
(2020-09-10). As COVID spreads: Epidemic of evictions goes viral. workers.org 
Houston — The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention announced a federal eviction moratorium on Sept. 1 to prevent the spread of the coronavirus. Coming several months into the pandemic, it may help keep many in their homes — but only until Dec. 31. This is very much a case . . . |
(2020-09-10). The Heat: Trump criticized for COVID-19 response. america.cgtn.com 
This week marks six months since the World Health Organization declared the coronavirus a global pandemic. Fast forward to September and the death toll in the United States continues to climb.
(2020-09-10). Moonshot or moonshine? Experts sceptical about government's latest coronavirus plan. thecanary.co 
Boris Johnson's government is considering shelling out up to £100bn for a mass at-home coronavirus (Covid-19) testing programme. But experts are sceptical about its ability to deliver.Known as "Operation Moonshot", if it worked, up to 10 million tests could be carried out every day from the comfort of people's own homes.How would Operation Moonshot work?: Ministers and health officials are hoping for a test that doesn't need processing in a lab. It would mean users get their results in a matter of minutes rather than days.The saliva test would mean people don't need to travel to testing centres or wa…
(2020-09-10). OPCW should not be a 'geopolitical tool,' Russian envoy tells UN Security Council as Germany seeks to involve it in Navalny case. rt.com 
Russia's ambassador to the UN Vasily Nebenzya slammed on Thursday Germany for withholding information about the health of activist Alexey Navalny and condemned Western attempts to politicize chemical weapons watchdog, the OPCW. | "Russia is deeply concerned by the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons becoming an instrument in the geopolitical struggle," Nebenzya said at the United Nations Security Council session on the use of chemical weapons in Syria. | He
(2020-09-10). Peace through weapons sales to the UAE. nationofchange.org If the American people really want to pursue peace in the Middle East and instead use our taxes to build up U.S. infrastructure, healthcare, education and address the climate crisis, then we must immediately pressure our Congressional representatives to make sure that the U.S.-UAE weapons sales deal does not go through.
(2020-09-10). University Of Michigan Residential Staff On Strike. popularresistance.org The bottom line is our health can't wait. Our communities can't wait. The University's inaction in the face of ResStaff's explicit concerns and action items over the last few weeks has made it clear that public health is not the priority. The University has repeatedly referred to the Wolverine Culture of Care, but has not extended this same care to us. If U of M administrators do not want to live up to the Michigan Difference, we will be the difference ourselves. Health comes first. ResStaff will not stand for anything less than policies and adequate resources that reflect this priority.
(2020-09-10). The Trump Administration's Attack on Abortion Access Disproportionately Harms Communities of Color Already Devastated by COVID-19. aclu.org Six months into the COVID-19 pandemic, it is devastatingly apparent that the United States' longstanding racial inequalities have only been amplified during this crisis. Nowhere is that truer than in health care, including reproductive health care., , Even before the pandemic, people of color faced severe barriers to accessing essential reproductive health care as a result of interrelated factors such as structural racism, gendered oppression, and associated economic disparities. Abortion restrictions, such as bans on insurance coverage for abortion or laws mandating delays in abortion care and an extra unnec…
(2020-09-10). Salt Lake City police engage in a cover-up after shooting autistic 13-year-old boy multiple times. wsws.org Linden Cameron was shot by a Salt Lake City, Utah police officer after his mother called emergency services to report that her son was experiencing a mental health crisis and needed help.
(2020-09-10). Human disturbances of wild areas increase the likelihood of future pandemics. wsws.org Deforestation and other human incursions into wild areas decrease biodiversity and promote the growth of species that are reservoirs of potential zoonotic diseases.
(2020-09-10). Leaders pledge 'quantum leap' towards fully funding COVID-19 vaccines and treatments. news.un.org Global leaders, including more than 30 Heads of State and Ministers, have underlined their commitment towards fast-tracking the development and production of COVID-19 tests, medicines and vaccines, that will be available for anyone, anywhere, who needs them.
(2020-09-10). UN Warns Pandemic-Intensified Famines Are Looming. zcomm.org "A lack of funding for emergency relief and the complications created by the coronavirus scourge have now pushed some of the world's neediest populations closer to famine conditions."