Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
Over 2 Billion Faced Moderate Or Severe Hunger In 2021, UN Says
AP: UN: 2.3 Billion People Severely Or Moderately Hungry In 2021
The spike in food, fuel and fertilizer prices sparked by the war in Ukraine is threatening to push countries around the world into famine, bringing “global destabilization, starvation and mass migration on an unprecedented scale,” a top U.N. official warned Wednesday. David Beasley, head of the U.N. World Food Program, said its latest analysis shows that “a record 345 million acutely hungry people are marching to the brink of starvation” — a 25% increase from 276 million at the start of 2022 before Russia invaded Ukraine on Feb. 24. The number stood at 135 million before the COVID-19 pandemic in early 2020. (Lederer, 7/6)
On covid and vaccinations —
Bloomberg: Europe At Center Of New Wave Of Covid Infections, WHO Says
“We are seeing a much more intense wave of the disease passing through Europe again,” Michael Ryan, executive director of the WHO’s Health Emergencies Programme, said at a media briefing Wednesday. “And we will see it happen elsewhere -- we are already seeing it in South East Asia and in the eastern Mediterranean region as well.” (Hipwell, 7/6)
The Wall Street Journal: Covid-19 Vaccine Doses, Once In High Demand, Now Thrown Away
“We are now throwing doses in the garbage,” Moderna Chief Executive Stephane Bancel said during a panel discussion at the World Economic Forum meeting in Davos, Switzerland, in May. “It’s sad to say.” ... In some low-income countries, access to doses remains an issue. Some of the countries lacked the healthcare infrastructure to handle and store the shots at low temperatures, while others had difficulty planning and rolling out vaccination campaigns because supplies were unpredictable and lagged behind wealthier countries. (Loftus, 7/6)
In other global developments —
CNN: Vitamin D Supplements Sent A UK Man To The Hospital For A Week
A British man's overdose on vitamin D is a cautionary tale for people who are considering adding supplements to their lives, according to a paper published Tuesday in the journal BMJ Case Reports. (LaMotte, 7/5)
CIDRAP: Plan Calls For More Funding To Bring TB Under Control
Tuberculosis (TB) treatment and prevention advocates today released a plan they hope will achieve the goal of eradicating the infectious disease as a public health threat by 2030. The Global Plan to End TB 2023-2030, released today by the Stop TB Partnership, calls for a global investment of $250 billion from 2023 to 2030 to boost early TB diagnosis and treatment, develop and distribute a new TB vaccine, and accelerate the development of new TB medicines and diagnostics. (Dall, 7/6)
Bloomberg: 3M Faces More Costs After $581 Million Chemical-Cleanup Pact In Belgium
3M Co. still faces the prospect of additional costs to resolve contamination liabilities in Belgium after reaching an agreement to clean up and remediate PFAS, the so-called forever chemicals used in many consumer goods, a government official said. (Baker, 7/7)
