Latest news with #TedrosAdhanomGhebreyesus
Irish Times
18 hours ago
- Health
- Irish Times
Nurses risked everything for us during the pandemic. Now many are abandoned to its awful legacy
It's not a question of if, but when. Scientists are warning that a new pandemic is lurking over the horizon poised to pounce on us. 'It's an epidemiological certainty,' says WHO director general Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus. 'Are we ready for the next one?' asks everyone from Boston College and Johns Hopkins University to the Economist and the United Nations. 'No,' is the straight answer for this country. READ MORE Ireland's grubby treatment of its Covid-19 heroes will cause some frontline workers to think twice the next time before they risk their lives for the greater good. Specifically, the nurses – those people who did not have the luxury of working from home, who imperilled themselves by caring for the infected, who self-isolated while off duty and eschewed public transport to avoid transmitting the virus, who hesitated to touch their own children but held the hands of the dying when their families could not be with them in the final days of their lives and who then zipped them inside body bags and phoned their kin to inform them the one they loved had gone. They did it in terrifying circumstances under the claustrophobic weight of protective gowns, hairnets, shoe covers, gloves, face shields and masks. In the early days, the masks were the standard surgical type and sorely inadequate. There were no vaccines for the first 10 months. Nurses and other hospital workers saw colleagues fall ill and be taken away to ICU to be put on ventilators. More than 20 healthcare workers died from Covid. What thanks have they got for all that? A €1,000 crisis bonus that their union representatives had to beg for before it was eventually paid. [ My battle with long Covid: I was in disbelief. Was I making it up? How could I not stand up while the kettle boiled? Opens in new window ] To this day, there is a cohort of forgotten heroes whose abandonment brings shame on us all. They are the ones who went out and defended the barriers for the rest of us and now they are living with that awful legacy called long Covid. While normal life of honking traffic, construction sites, children in school uniforms, packed restaurants and pubs and big weddings has resumed outside their front door, they remain trapped in a post-pandemic freeze frame. Extreme fatigue, brain fog, weakened immunity, headaches, muscular pain, palpitations and shortness of breath have left them unable to go back to work. Some days, they cannot even get out of bed. One young nurse who was assigned to a Covid ward in a big Dublin hospital told me she has cardiac complications and has been on antibiotics four times in the past seven months. Another said she contracted Covid in January 2021, that zero hour following the Government's 'meaningful Christmas'. Four and a half years later, she is attending a long Covid clinic and is being treated by an infectious diseases consultant, a cardiac consultant, a GP and an occupational therapist. She is on daily medication for tachycardia (fast heart rate) as well as low-dose naltrexone (LDN), aspirin for micro-clots, painkillers and numerous supplements. [ The healthcare workers with long Covid: 'I'm living with the consequences of a 'meaningful Christmas'' Opens in new window ] She is one of 20 nurses with long Covid who are suing the HSE, the Department of Health and their employer hospitals for compensation. They issued the High Court proceedings two years ago. The State is fighting them. Simultaneously, the Irish Nurses and Midwives Organisation (INMO) was in the Labour Court last week seeking to extend a long Covid special payment scheme for public health workers who are still suffering the consequences. The scheme, which has been extended three times already following public controversy, is scheduled to expire on June 30th. Minister for Health Jennifer Carroll MacNeill has told the Dáil it will definitely be terminated this time. The departments of Social Protection and Public Expenditure maintain it is not possible to definitively identify the source of infection for each of the 120 nurses affected. The last time the State was so ruthlessly parsimonious was when Charlie Haughey precipitated the 1989 general election rather than sanction £400,000 compensation for 106 individuals who had been infected with the Aids virus by State-supplied blood. It's an attitude that brings to mind Oscar Wilde's definition of a fool as one who knows the price of everything and the value of nothing. An asinine State is one willing to pay €335,000 for a politicians' bike shelter but repays its true champions with the threat of impoverishment. Ireland and Greece are the only EU countries that do not recognise Covid and long Covid as an occupational illness for patient-facing workers If the special long Covid payment scheme ends in two weeks, its current recipients will be switched to the normal public service sick leave scheme. It means that for the first three months they will receive their basic wage – with no allowance made for the night-duty premiums and overtime many nurses rely on. They will get half their wage for the subsequent three months. With rents or mortgages to pay, their worry amid a national homelessness crisis raises the stress levels long Covid thrives on. During the pandemic, our cocooned communities gathered outside our homes in the grim lockdown evenings to applaud the country's frontline workers for caring for us. Even TDs stood in the Dáil chamber to clap. How would we have reacted had we known then that this would be the thanks they would get? 'It's gone from a round of applause to a middle finger from the Government,' said a nurse identified as Siobhán on RTÉ radio last year. Ireland and Greece are the only EU countries that do not recognise Covid and, ergo, long Covid as an occupational illness for patient-facing workers. That anomaly means nurses, doctors, porters, caterers, paramedics, fire fighters, gardaí and everyone else who contracted long Covid while protecting the rest of us are ineligible for occupational injury benefit payments. A Department of Social Protection report in November 2023 suggested that uncertainty about the condition's longevity in individual cases was a prohibitive factor. What a callous calculation that must be to ponder if you cannot get out of bed and don't know when you ever will. Our culture takes nurses for granted. We'll pat them on the head and call them our angels of mercy, because tokenism works when you are dealing with people motivated by a vocational duty to the greater good. They deserve better.
LBCI
a day ago
- Health
- LBCI
WHO chief says 'attacks on health' in Iran-Israel conflict 'appalling'
The WHO's leader on Thursday denounced attacks on health facilities in the Iran-Israel conflict as "appalling," urging all sides to protect hospital buildings, staff, and patients. "The escalation of hostilities between Israel and Iran is putting health facilities and access to health care at risk. The reports on the attacks on health so far are appalling," World Health Organization director-general Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said on X. AFP
Zawya
a day ago
- Health
- Zawya
DISD students speak at H20 Global Health Summit in Geneva
Dubai – A group of six students from the German International School Dubai (DISD) were honored today at the prestigious H20 Summit at the WHO headquarters in Geneva. Launched in 2018 by the G20 Health and Development Partnership, the H20 Summit is a global platform supporting the agendas of the G20 and G7, bringing together leaders and stakeholders to advance health and development priorities. DISD students were invited on stage this morning to present gifts to WHO Director-General Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus. In a deeply moving moment the students Lara Gutmann and Luca Erkol then delivered speeches that captured the urgency and passion of a new generation calling for global health equity. 'Listening to the voices of the future generation is vital to achieve health for all,' said Lara, reflecting on the DISD-hosted G20 youth simulation. 'We all deserve to live in good health, no matter the economic status of the country we call home.' Luca reinforced this message with a compelling appeal to G20 leaders: 'If global challenges are youth challenges, then global solutions must also be youth solutions,' he said. 'Global health – and youth health – is not just an agenda item; it is a commitment to all of the people not represented here… securing their future generations' right to dream.' The DISD student delegation was publicly commended in the opening keynote by South Africa's Minister of Health, Dr. Aaron Motsoaledi, who thanked them for their commitment and for hosting a Model G20 simulation on public health earlier this year in Dubai. 'I would also like to thank the students from the German International School Dubai… for their commitment in discussing and elevating the importance of global and public health for our future generations,' Dr. Motsoaledi said, highlighting their contribution in a video address to summit delegates. On May 8, DISD students took part in a G20 Simulation Workshop on Post-Pandemic Global Health, led by Hatice Küçük Beton, Executive Director of the G20 & G7 Health and Development Partnership. Organized by their teachers Sitem Kolburan and Louisa Willgrass, the workshop allowed students to assume the roles of world leaders, debate pressing health challenges, and explore the complexity of global diplomacy. Key topics included pandemic preparedness, the marketing of unhealthy food to children, and sustainable healthcare. A video documenting the simulation, including student reflections and a statement from Hatice Beton on the importance of youth engagement, was selected for presentation at the H20 Summit. Hatice Beton said in the video 'I was surprised very positively. They were so energized and really had concrete ideas, … and I think they can really drive some impact with some of the ideas they came up with today.' In a remarkable development, the Health Minister expressed interest in reviewing the students' recommendations for potential inclusion in the official G20 agenda when world leaders gather in Johannesburg in November 2025. The students' proposal – presented as a Model G20 Leaders' Declaration - included initiatives such as: A Global Youth Health Fund to support education and healthy lifestyle campaigns. A youth for health program integrating health education into school systems, and mobile health clinics in underserved regions across Africa and Southeast Asia. 'This moment shows the true impact of youth-led dialogue,' said Sitem Kolburan, the students' class and English teacher of the German International School Dubai. 'We are incredibly proud of our students for representing DISD and the youth of the world with such clarity, courage, and conviction.' With this international recognition, DISD is eager to further amplify youth voices and expand engagement with local and global partners. The school welcomes the opportunity to collaborate with media to share this inspiring milestone in student-led leadership and diplomacy. Media Contact: Corinna Rösner Head of Marketing and Communications DISD - German International School Dubai |
New Straits Times
a day ago
- Health
- New Straits Times
WHO reiterates calls for unimpeded entry of aid, fuel into Gaza
LONDON: The World Health Organisation's (WHO) director-general has expressed concern over deteriorating situation of healthcare facilities in the Gaza Strip, calling for unimpeded entry of aid and fuel into the besieged enclave, Anadolu Ajansi (AA) reported. "Nasser Medical Complex in Khan Younis, #Gaza, is struggling to stay operational amid relentless strain and lack of supplies," Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said in a post on X. He said the hospital received over 300 injured people on Tuesday, reportedly linked to two incidents near non-UN militarised food distribution sites where 75 people died, including 11 children. About 590 patients are currently hospitalised, Tedros said that it is almost double Nasser's capacity. "The hospital is unable to increase its capacity due to lack of ventilators, monitors, beds and staff," he said. The WHO chief underlined that Nasser is located within the evacuation zone, but he added many health workers cannot reach the hospital due to fear for safety or lack of fuel for transportation. Tedros said WHO delivered a minimum amount of fuel on Wednesday which is enough to sustain just five more days of operation but warned that without additional fuel, services will begin shutting down. "WHO once again calls for the protection of the hospital; for unimpeded entry of health aid and fuel into and across Gaza via all possible routes. "Time is ticking to save lives. Ceasefire!" the WHO director-general added. – Bernama-Anadolu
Euronews
2 days ago
- Health
- Euronews
What are the health risks of Israeli strikes on Iran's nuclear sites?
As the conflict between Israel and Iran intensifies, air strikes on Iran's nuclear sites could have serious health consequences across the region. Monitoring groups have not yet documented any such impact. On Monday, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), the United Nations' nuclear watchdog, said it had not identified radiation leaks as a result of Israeli strikes that began Friday and have killed hundreds of people in Iran. But that could change quickly as the attacks continue. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, chief of the World Health Organization (WHO) said Tuesday that he is worried about 'the targeting of nuclear sites, which may have immediate and long-term impacts on the environment and health of people in Iran and across the region'. Not all strikes on nuclear facilities would be the same, and an Israeli military official has said their forces plan to minimise the risk of a nuclear disaster and the consequences for civilians. 'There are gradients of risk,' Simon Bennett, who leads the civil safety and security unit at the University of Leicester in the UK and wrote a book on wartime risks to nuclear facilities, told Euronews Health. A successful attack on a live nuclear reactor would be the most devastating to human health, spreading radioactive materials that could endanger people hundreds of kilometres away. But Iran's only commercial nuclear power plant, the Bushehr plant, has not been targeted or affected by the recent attacks, according to the IAEA. Israel has targeted three key nuclear facilities: Natanz, Isfahan, and Fordo. The sites use centrifuges to enrich uranium gas, which produces the fuel that powers civilian nuclear reactors. These centrifuges would also be central to an Iranian effort to develop nuclear weapons, which European Union officials have said must not happen. Israeli strikes fully destroyed the above-ground plant at the Natanz facility, which is more than 100 miles from Tehran. The attacks also severely damaged the site's below-ground operations, which contain its centrifuges. According to the IAEA's director general Rafael Mariano Grossi, there is both 'radiological and chemical contamination' inside the Natanz facility. During an emergency meeting on Monday, Grossi said uranium isotopes may have spread within the facility. Such a leak would consist primarily of alpha particles and would pose a 'significant danger if uranium is inhaled or ingested'. Those dangers include a higher risk of cancer and damage to the kidneys, lungs, and bones. 'However, this risk can be effectively managed with appropriate protective measures, such as using respiratory protection devices while inside the affected facilities,' Grossi added. The level of radioactivity surrounding the site, meanwhile, 'has remained unchanged and at normal levels, indicating no external radiological impact to the population or the environment from this event,' Grossi said. Israel also hit a nuclear research facility in Isfahan on Friday, the IAEA said, damaging four buildings, including a uranium conversion plant. But there has been no sign of increased radiation there. Israel has been eyeing an attack on the secretive Fordo fuel enrichment site, which is where many analysts believe Iran has been working on its nuclear weapons capabilities. The site, built clandestinely, was first publicly acknowledged in 2009. Fordo is buried deep in the mountains of northern Iran, and US President Donald Trump is reportedly considering dropping a bunker-busting bomb to destroy the heavily fortified facility. The site's location deep below ground means that in the immediate aftermath, 'the likelihood of significant contamination [in the surrounding region] is significantly reduced, if not zero,' Bennett said. Over time, though, radioactive isotopes would be 'leaching into the groundwater,' he added. That means it will be critical that Iran allows the IAEA into the country to help manage any leaks – similarly to how the agency assists at the Chernobyl site in Ukraine, decommissioning and managing radioactive waste, Bennett said. It's not yet clear whether Iran will do so. One week into the conflict, it is still escalating. 'At this point, given the fog of war… everything is conjecture,' Bennett said. A new at-home spit test appears to be as effective as birth control pills at preventing pregnancy – and it will soon roll out across Europe, Euronews Health has learned. The device from Inne, a Berlin-based women's health tech company, has been available for years as a fertility-monitoring tool designed to help people boost their chances of pregnancy. Called Minilab, it works by tracking users' progesterone, the sex hormone that plays a role in fertility, via daily changes in their saliva. Now, Minilab can also be used to prevent pregnancy, after a small study showed the device was 92 per cent effective – about on par with birth control pills, but without any of the side effects. 'Progesterone can be used for conception or contraception,' Eirini Rapti, Inne's chief executive and founder, told Euronews Health in an exclusive interview. But 'there was no reliable saliva testing' on the market, she said. So Rapti and her team decided to create it themselves. The British Standards Institution, which reviews medical device manufacturers in Europe, certified Inne's Minilab this month, meaning it can now be sold as a contraceptive device as well as a fertility tracker. Inne plans to roll out the device in the European Union in September, with sales in the United Kingdom to follow. The device is part of a new wave of women's health apps that have gained steam in recent years by infusing tech into fertility awareness, in a bid to make these contraceptive methods more effective, scientifically rigorous, and personalised. Key competitors like Natural Cycles – which, in 2017, became the EU's first certified contraceptive app – rely on temperature readings to track hormonal levels. But Rapti said saliva, as 'hardcore biological data,' is more accurate because it isn't affected by, for example, having a fever or working up a sweat. Meanwhile, blood tests are considered the gold standard for hormone tracking, but some research indicates saliva could be a promising alternative because it is cheaper, faster, and can be done easily at home. The Minilab device is fairly easy to use. Around the same time each day, the user spits into a test strip and inserts it into a small, sleek device that measures their progesterone. That data feeds back into an app, which learns about their hormonal fluctuations over time. That allows it to identify their fertile window, or the approximately six days per month when they are most likely to get pregnant. 'It's similar technology to COVID tests with antibodies, or pregnancy tests,' Rapti said. In the company's observational study, more than 200 women in Germany used the Minilab for six months. They were advised not to have unprotected sex on days the app said they were fertile, and asked to record their sexual activity. Eleven women got pregnant, but two were excluded from the analysis for violating the study guidelines. Others had unprotected sex on days the app identified as high risk for pregnancy, Rapti said. 'We did not have a case where our system gave the wrong ovulation day, or the wrong fertile day,' Rapti said. The findings translate to an effectiveness rate of 92 per cent, meaning that if 100 women used the Minilab as a contraceptive for one year, eight could expect to become pregnant. That's about the same as birth control pills or the contraceptive patch, and more effective than condoms (82 per cent). But it's far less effective than non-hormonal intrauterine devices (IUDs), sometimes called copper coils (more than 99 per cent). Notably, the study – which has not yet been published in a peer-reviewed, academic journal – did not include a control or comparison group, so Inne can't definitively prove that the device is what prevented pregnancy. Other methods of birth control have also been researched for decades, which means it can be difficult to directly compare Inne's results. But if the findings hold up over longer periods of time and with larger groups of people, it would make Minilab equally effective as Natural Cycles, the only other app-based contraceptive on the European market. The approach is also not for everyone. Women should not use Minilab if they have irregular menstrual cycles or were pregnant or breastfeeding within the past three months, the company said. It said women interested in switching from a hormonal contraceptive – such as birth control pills or certain IUDs – should wait at least two months before starting Minilab to allow their hormones to return to natural levels. Minilab already has thousands of users in Germany, Austria, and Switzerland, Rapti said. Eventually, she hopes to add testing for cortisol – the stress hormone – as well as testosterone and vitamins, to help women track their health throughout their lives, not only around pregnancy. 'If you have three or four years of data,' Rapti said, 'you can really start building some intelligence'.
