Canadian hospitals, strapped for staff, strain with sick children
Toronto, CanadaReuters Canadian hospitals are straining to care for an influx of sick children, many with respiratory illnesses, in the midst of staffing constraints and as a shortage of children’s over-the-counter medication sends more kids to hospital. Hospitals across the country are reassigning staff to paediatric care and putting children in other parts of hospitals, […]
Record number of COVID-hit Australians in hospital as Omicron surges
Sydney, AustraliaReuters The number of Australians admitted to hospitals with COVID-19 hit a record of about 5,450 on Monday, official data showed, as the spread of highly contagious new Omicron sub-variants strains the healthcare system nationwide. The figure has grown since late June, as the BA.4 and BA.5 strains became dominant since they can evade […]
The Interview: US Senator and pastor Raphael Warnock
ADELLE M BANKS, of Religion News Service, speaks with Senator (and pastor) Raphael Warnock as he releases his new book ‘A Way Out of No Way’…
Essay: North Korea – how the COVID outbreak is putting pressure on the regime
In an article first published on The Conversation, CHRISTOPH BLUTH, Professor of International Relations and Security at the University of Bradford in the UK, looks at the impact of COVID-19 on one of the world’s most isolated nations…
Ukraine seeks urgent WHO meeting on impact of invasion on health
Geneva, SwitzerlandReuters Ukraine, backed by dozens of other countries, has written to the World Health Organization’s regional chief calling for an urgent meeting on the impact of Russia’s invasion on health and healthcare, a letter obtained by Reuters on Friday showed. The letter, sent this week by Ukraine’s diplomatic mission in Geneva, Switzerland, where the […]
Ukraine war ripples to Yemen where no funds mean no food
Aden, YemenThomson Reuters Foundation Ali’s brittle legs stuck out awkwardly from a gray onesie that hung off him, although it was meant for his age. At three months old, the Yemeni infant has already spent a third of his life fighting to keep it. Ali was treated for acute malnutrition free of charge at the […]
“A war for life of our child”: Health crisis spills out of Ukraine conflict
ANNA KOPER and JENNIFER RIGBY, of Reuters, report on the spectre of a regional health catastrophe which could come on top of the huge toll in death and destruction due to the fighting in Ukraine…
Fears of medical shortages and disease in Ukraine after Russian invasion
London, UKReuters Ukraine is running low on critical medical supplies and has had to halt urgent efforts to curb a polio outbreak since Russia invaded the country, public health experts say. Medical needs are already acute, with the World Health Organization warning on Sunday that oxygen supplies were running out. A boy receives polio vaccine […]
COVID disrupts health services in over 90 per cent of countries – WHO
Geneva, SwitzerlandReuters Disruptions in basic health services such as vaccination programs and treatment of diseases like AIDS were reported in 92 per cent of 129 countries, a World Health Organization survey on the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic showed on Monday. The survey, conducted in November-December, 2021, showed services were “severely impacted” with “little or […]
Malaria deaths rise by 69,000 in 2020 due to COVID-19 disruptions, says WHO
Dakar, Senegal Reuters Healthcare disruptions linked to the coronavirus pandemic helped malaria kill 69,000 more people in 2020 than the previous year, but a worst-case scenario was averted, the World Health Organization said on Monday. In total over 627,000 people globally – most of them babies in the poorest parts of Africa – were killed […]