Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
Marlboro Cigarettes To Disappear From UK Shelves Inside 10 Years
NPR: Marlboro Maker CEO Says The Company Plans To Stop Selling Smokes In The U.K.
The top executive for tobacco giant Philip Morris International told The Daily Mail Sunday that the company will stop selling cigarettes in the United Kingdom in the next 10 years. The company's CEO Jacek Olczak said the company's iconic Marlboro brand of cigarettes will be taken off the shelves in the U.K. within the next decade. "It will disappear. The first choice for consumers is they should quit smoking," he told the outlet. "But if they don't, the second best choice is to let them switch to the better alternatives." (Diaz, 7/26)
In other global news —
Axios: EU Regulators Recommend Moderna COVID-19 Vaccine For Teens
The European Medicines Agency (EMA) on Friday recommended the authorization of Moderna's coronavirus vaccine for children between the ages of 12 and 17. This is the first time that Moderna's shot has been approved for teens. Until now, the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine was the only option for children in Europe. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has not extended the use of Moderna's vaccine to children under 16. The Pfizer vaccine remains the only available option for that age group in the U.S. (Gonzalez, 7/23)
Axios: New Zealand Suspends Quarantine-Free Travel With Australia
New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern announced Friday that quarantine-free travel from Australia to New Zealand will be suspended as COVID-19 cases rise in Australia. The travel bubble, which opened in April, was supposed to boost the economy and serve as a model to safely allow international travel. More than 200,000 people have utilized the quarantine-free travel bubble since April, the Washington Post reports. (Frazier, 7/23)
Axios: Israel To Require Vaccine Certificates To Attend Social Events
Israeli officials announced that citizens will be legally required to present vaccination certificates to attend many social events across the country. Israel has fully vaccinated 58% of its population, but Prime Minister Naftali Bennett said the country needs to safeguard public health and maintain the Israeli economy by implementing the vaccination certification. (Frazier, 7/23)
AP: Some French Health Workers Resent, Resist Mandatory Vaccines
While most French health care workers are vaccinated against the virus, a small but vocal minority is holding out. With infections exploding, a new law requiring them to get the shots is exposing the divide. The French government, which has declared that the nation has officially entered its “fourth wave” of the pandemic, pushed the law mandating COVID-19 vaccines for health care workers, to protect hospitals and avoid a new lockdown. Government spokesman Gabriel Attal says the move isn’t meant to stigmatize reluctant health care workers but to limit risks to the vulnerable people they care for. (Gouvy, 7/26)
The New York Times: No Longer ‘Hidden Victims,’ Children Are Dying as Virus Surges in Indonesia
Hundreds of children in Indonesia have died from the coronavirus in recent weeks, many of them under age 5, a mortality rate greater than that of any other country and one that challenges the idea that children face minimal risk from Covid-19, doctors say. The deaths, more than 100 a week this month, have come as Indonesia confronts its biggest surge yet in coronavirus cases over all — and as its leaders face mounting criticism that they have been unprepared and slow to act. (Paddock and Suhartono, 7/25)
AP: Pandemic Leaves Indians Mired In Massive Medical Debts
Life has been tentatively returning to normal in India as coronavirus cases have fallen. But millions are embroiled in a nightmare of huge piles of medical bills. Most Indians don’t have health insurance and costs for COVID-19 treatment have them drowning in debt. ... The pandemic has devastated India’s economy, bringing financial calamity to millions at the mercy of its chronically underfunded and fragmented healthcare system. Experts say such costs are bound to hinder an economic recovery. (Pathi and Arthur, 7/26)
