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COVID-19: Refugee health challenges remain high – UN

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By Gistflash News

July 2, 2021

UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) says refugee health challenges remain high amid COVID-19 with malaria the single most common cause of illness among in 2020.

The UN Refugee Agency, in its Annual Public Health Global Review, released on Thursday also stated that Psychological distress caused by COVID-19 and acute malnutrition constituted major threats to refugees’ health and well-being.

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In a year marked by the pandemic, UNHCR’s key focus was to advocate the inclusion of refugees in COVID-19 national response plans.

The agency also worked to support national health systems by procuring personal protective equipment, other equipment like oxygen concentrators, COVID-19 test kits and medicines, and by increasing intensive care capacity in countries such as Lebanon and Bangladesh.

At the onset of the pandemic, amidst movement restrictions and the fear of getting infected, refugees’ access to health facilities was significantly reduced.

However, adaptations were made to ensure that refugees continued to have safe access to essential services. As lockdowns and restrictions eased, the use of health services was largely restored.

“We worked to reduce crowding in clinics, find alternatives to delivering services, such as with remote follow-up, and, above all, to keep refugee communities informed.

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“Special efforts were needed to secure continuity of maternal and neonatal health services, as well as mental health services, given that refugees’ capacity to cope was severely stretched due to COVID-19,” said Sajjad Malik, UNHCR’s Director of the Division of Resilience and Solutions.

Overall, during last year, UNHCR supported access to comprehensive primary health care services and referral to secondary and tertiary care in 50 countries, hosting 16.5 million refugees.

In 2020, 112,119 live births were reported from 159 refugee settlements in 19 countries – a similar level to 2019.

Neonatal deaths represented a significant proportion of deaths among children under the age of five and maternal mortality continued to raise concerns in most countries where UNHCR operates.

Too many women in refugee settings continued to die from pregnancy-related complications which were preventable and treatable.

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UNHCR works to support clinics with more trained staff, medicine and equipment, in order to manage obstetric emergencies, and save mothers and newborns.

As in 2019, malaria was the single most common cause of morbidity reported among refugees (20 per cent), followed by upper and lower respiratory tract infections.

To fight malaria, UNHCR and partners work to secure access to early diagnosis and treatment, and help communities find ways to reduce exposure to mosquito bites through insecticide treated mosquito nets.

They also advocate for environmental measures to reduce mosquito breeding sites.

Acute malnutrition remained a significant health problem in many UNHCR operations.

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The onset of the pandemic resulted in mobility restrictions, and UNHCR, in collaboration with partners, had to review the delivery of nutrition programmes to ensure both continuity of care and COVID-19 mitigation measures.

For example, therapeutic and supplementary feeding programmes helped bridge the nutrition gap experienced by children, women, and other people with specific nutritional needs such as those living with HIV and/or tuberculosis.

To continue these programmes, UNHCR prepositioned supplies to allow the provision of rations for a longer duration and reduce the frequency of visits to clinics.

Moreover, the agency increased distribution days to reduce crowding. In places such as southern Chad and western Rwanda, UNHCR also provided counselling via radio and telephone on recommended feeding practices for infants and young children.

“As we are in the second year of the COVID-19 pandemic, funding is required to sustain the pandemic response in support of national systems.

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“However, this must not be at the cost of maintaining access to other essential health services.

“Overall, a much larger investment is needed, to ensure that refugees – just like everyone else – can enjoy the right to the highest attainable physical and mental health,” Malik said.

NAN

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Foreign

Magnitude 5.8 earthquake hits Greek island of Crete

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By Gistflash News

Sept 27, 2021

A magnitude 5.8 strong quake hit Greece’s Crete island on Monday, according to the Geodynamics Institute of the National Observatory of Athens.

The tremor’s epicentre was located at a depth of 10 km, some 25 km south of the city of Heraklion, the capital of Crete island, while aftershocks up to 4.3 magnitude have followed, according to Greek scientists.

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Material damage has been reported, with no injuries until now, local officials told Greek national news agency AMNA.

Earlier, the Euro Mediterranean Seismological Centre put the quake’s magnitude at 6.2, which was later revised to 6.0.

Xinhua/NAN

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WHO investigators seeking COVID-19 origin going back to China

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By Gistflash News

Sept 27, 2021

The World Health Organisation (WHO) is launching a new investigation into the origins of COVID-19, months after an earlier probe ended without drawing firm conclusions, according to a report published.

WHO was putting together a team of some 20 scientists, who will be charged with finding new evidence in China and other locales, the Wall Street Journal reported.

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The group will examine whether the virus emerged from a laboratory, a theory that has been angrily rejected by China.

In December 2020, WHO investigators began visits to Wuhan, China, where the first known outbreak of the virus took place.

But their March 2021 report said they had gotten insufficient information from Chinese scientists to answer key questions about COVID-19’s origin.

In August, U.S. intelligence agencies issued a separate report saying they also could not make firm conclusions about COVID-19’s origins.

dpa/NAN

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Florida Gov. appoints Nigerian-American, Joseph Ladapo Surgeon-General

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By Gistflash News

Sept 25, 2021

Ron DeSantis,  Florida Governor,  U.S.  has appointed a Nigerian-American, Dr Joseph Ladapo,  as Florida Surgeon-General and Secretary of the Department of Health.

DeSantis in a statement posted on the Florida Department of Health website,  stated that he was pleased to announce Ladapo for the position.

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“I am pleased to announce that  Ladapo will lead the Florida department of health as our state’s next surgeon-general

“Ladapo comes to us by way of the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA, with a superb background.”

According to him, Ladapo has had both a remarkable academic and medical career with a strong emphasis in health policy research.

The governor said: ” Ladapo will  bring great leadership to the department of health, ” thanking both Dr Scott Rivkees and Dr  Shamarial Roberson for their hard work on behalf of all Floridians.

Lieutenant-Governor,  Jeanette Nuñez described Ladapo’s as, “an excellent choice to serve as our next surgeon general.

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“Ladapo has impeccable credentials and a strong vision to effectively serve the people of Florida at the helm of our public health agency.

“Through his service to our state, we will continue Florida’s work to advance our public health goals,” Nuñez said.

Ladapo said he is honored to have been chosen by DeSantis to serve as Florida’s next surgeon-general.

“We must make health policy decisions rooted in data and not in fear.

“From California, I have observed the different approaches taken by governors across the country and I have been impressed by DeSantis’ leadership and determination,” he said.

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The new surgeon-general said he was impressed by DeSantis’ leadership to ensure that Floridians were afforded all opportunities to maintain their health and wellness, while preserving their freedoms as Americans.

“It is a privilege to join his team and serve the people of Florida,” he said.

Ladapo was recently granted a professorship at the University of Florida (UF) College of Medicine.

Prior to joining UF, he served as an associate professor at the David Geffen School of Medicine at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA),caring for hospitalised patients.

He is a graduate of Wake Forest University, who also holds an MD from Harvard Medical School and a PhD in Health Policy from Harvard Graduate School of Arts and Sciences.

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