The Week in Pictures: Competition in sport and for food
Nine-year-old Palestinian girl Mariam Dawwas, who is malnourished, being carried by her mother in the Rimal neighbourhood in Gaza City. The World Health Organisation warned on July 27 that malnutrition is reaching 'alarming levels' in Gaza.
PHOTO: AFP
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Straits Times
4 hours ago
- Straits Times
Hunger and disease spreading in war-torn Sudan, WHO says
Sign up now: Get ST's newsletters delivered to your inbox Sudanese medics wearing face masks prepare the infusion for patients suffering from cholera at a United Nations-Run makeshift clinic, in Tawila north Darfur, Sudan, August 5, 2025. REUTERS/Mohammed Jamal LONDON - Hunger and disease are spreading in war-torn Sudan, with famine already present in several areas, 25 million people acutely food insecure and nearly 100,000 cholera cases recorded since last July, the World Health Organisation said on Friday. Sudan's conflict between the army and rival Rapid Support Forces has displaced millions and split the country into rival zones of control, with the RSF still deeply embedded in western Sudan, and funding cuts are hampering humanitarian aid. "Relentless violence has pushed Sudan's health system to the edge, adding to a crisis marked by hunger, illness and despair," WHO Senior Emergency Officer Ilham Nour said in a statement. "Exacerbating the disease burden is hunger," she said, adding that about 770,000 children under 5 years old are expected to suffer from severe acute malnutrition this year. Cholera has also hit a camp for Darfur refugees in neighbouring eastern Chad, the United Nations refugee agency said on Friday. An outbreak in the Dougui refugee settlement has so far resulted in 264 cases and 12 deaths, said Patrice Ahouansou, UNHCR's situation coordinator in the region, leading the agency to suspend the re-location of refugees from the border with Sudan to prevent new cases. "Without urgent action, including enhancing access to medical treatment, to clean water, to sanitation, to hygiene, and most important, relocation from the border, many more lives are on the line," Ahouansou told a briefing in Geneva. REUTERS
Asia News Network
15 hours ago
- Asia News Network
Two dead, 11 infected this year as Japanese Encephalitis hits 9 districts in Nepal
August 8, 2025 KATHMANDU – At least two people died and 11 others have been infected with the Japanese encephalitis (JE) virus that has spread in nine districts of the country since January. Of the deceased, one is a 49 years old male from ward 7 of Kanepokhari Rural Municipality in Morang district and another is a 17 years old male from ward 2 of Devtal Rural Municipality in Bara district. Of the 11 people infected with the deadly disease, four have recovered, and the remaining seven are still receiving treatment. Japanese encephalitis is a viral brain infection endemic to Asia and parts of the Western Pacific. According to the World Health Organisation, it is a mosquito-borne flavivirus belonging to the same family as dengue, Zika, yellow fever, and West Nile viruses. The virus kills a third of those who fall ill and leaves up to a half of the survivors with severe lifelong disabilities, according to the UN health body. Last year, 23 people succumbed to the disease, including one in the Kathmandu Valley, and over 80 people were infected. This year, in addition to Morang and Bara districts, Jhapa, Saptari, Siraha, Sarlahi, Parsa, Nawalparasi West, and Chitwan districts have also reported JE cases. Officials say the actual number of cases could be much higher, as tests were carried out only on hospitalised patients with severe symptoms. Data from the Ministry of Health and Population show that only one nine-year-old patient was found inoculated with the JE vaccine. Four infected persons, including one of the deceased, had not received the vaccine, and the vaccination status of the remaining eight patients is unknown. Five of the infected persons are children. Data shows that the mortality rate among people above 15 years of age is higher compared to those below 15, which indicates that those not receiving JE vaccine are at high risk of infection. Doctors say complications from JE infection can cause permanent injuries to the brain and the nervous system. The disease has no cure, so treatment focuses on managing symptoms. However, safe and effective vaccines have been developed to prevent infection. Health officials said their attempts to convince development partners, including the World Health Organisation, to support a mass JE vaccination campaign have not succeeded over the past year. In 2005, JE killed nearly 2,000 people in Nepal—mostly children from Tarai districts. Nepal started administering the JE vaccine in 2006, eight years before the World Health Organisation officially issued prequalification certification, due to the high rates of infection and deaths from the virus at the time. In the first phase, all populations of the highly affected four districts—Banke, Bardiya, Dang, and Kailali—reveived the JE vaccine. Later, the vaccination programme was expanded to 19 other affected districts, and children under 15 were inoculated. The government integrated the JE vaccine into routine immunisation in 2015. Still, people continue to die and dozens get infected by the deadly virus every year. Public health experts say this is the right time to vaccinate all those at risk. Even if the vaccine does not help in outbreak management, it provides immunity against future infections, according to them. The JE virus is transmitted to humans through the bite of infected Culex mosquitoes. Pigs and ducks are considered natural reservoirs of the virus. Doctors advise avoiding mosquito bites, such as by using mosquito repellents, wearing long-sleeved clothes, and getting vaccinated if one lives in or travels to disease-endemic areas. They also stress the importance of awareness and timely treatment to prevent infections and deaths. An estimated 12.5 million people are thought to be at high risk of JE infection in Nepal.
Straits Times
a day ago
- Straits Times
WHO calls US axing mRNA vaccine contracts a ‘significant blow'
Sign up now: Get ST's newsletters delivered to your inbox Dr Joachim Hombach said the US' decision to terminate 22 federal contracts for mRNA-based vaccines was a major blow to a hugely promising platform. GENEVA - The decision by US President Donald Trump's administration to terminate 22 federal contracts for mRNA-based vaccines is a major blow to a hugely promising platform, the World Health Organisation said on Aug 7. The announcement made by Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr marked his latest effort to weave vaccine scepticism into the core of US government policy. 'This is, of course, a significant blow,' WHO immunisation figurehead Joachim Hombach told the UN correspondents' association ACANU. 'mRNA vaccines are a very important technology and platform which has served us extremely well for Covid. We also know there is very promising work going on in relation to influenza vaccines. 'From our perspective, the platform is particularly useful in relation to developing vaccines against emerging and pandemic threats, because these platforms can be very rapidly adapted.' Unlike traditional vaccines, which often use weakened or inactivated forms of the target virus or bacteria, mRNA shots deliver genetic instructions into the host's cells, prompting them to produce a harmless decoy of the pathogen and train the immune system to fight the real thing. The US health department's Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority is 'terminating 22 mRNA vaccine development investments because the data show these vaccines fail to protect effectively against upper respiratory infections like Covid and flu', Mr Kennedy said. Dr Hombach – executive secretary for the WHO's strategic advisory group of experts on immunisation – called for work on the development of mRNA vaccines to continue around the world. 'This is, from our perspective, an unfortunate and untimely move but we are confident that the research endeavour will continue because it's an extremely promising technology,' he told reporters. Shortly after his inauguration in January, Mr Trump signed an executive order directing the United States to withdraw from the WHO, an organisation he has repeatedly criticised over its handling of the Covid-19 pandemic.
