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WHO: Impact of COVID-19 on cancer care ‘profound
WHO: Impact of COVID-19 on cancer care has been ‘profound’
By UN News Service
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The COVID-19 pandemic has had a “profound” impact on the diagnosis and treatment of cancer around the world, the UN World Health Organization (WHO) has said, before highlighting that breast cancer has become the most common type of the disease.
More than a year since the new
coronavirus crisis began, its impact on cancer care has been stark, with “50 per cent of governments (having) cancer services partially or completely disrupted because of the pandemic”, said Dr. André Ilbawi, from WHO’s Department of Noncommunicable Diseases.
“Delays in diagnosis are common. Interruptions in therapy or abandonment have increased significantly,” he continued, adding that this would likely have an impact in the total number of cancer deaths in coming years.
“Healthcare professionals have been under great stress to deliver services and there are significant reductions in research and clinical trial enrolment. To state it simply, the consequences of the pandemic on cancer control efforts have been profound.”
An unspecified number of countries “of all income levels” had been affected, the WHO medic continued, although some wealthier nations had managed to counter the effects of the pandemic, including the Netherlands, where special programmes have been set up to speed up access to cancer diagnosis and treatment for those with symptoms.
Amid uncertainty over which COVID-19 vaccine might be most suitable for cancer patients, given the increased vulnerability of some individuals, Dr Ilbawi said that
data from ongoing clinical vaccine trials had yet to be published.
“We do appreciate that cancer patients are being noted in these clinical trials because evidence has shown that cancer patients are at greater risk for COVIDrelated morbidity and mortality because of their immuno-suppression”, he said.
According to the WHO, the economic burden of cancer on communities is huge and increasing; in 2010, its cost was estimated at $1.16 trillion.
“In 2020, the number of people diagnosed with cancer globally reached 19.3 million, with the number of people dying increasing to 10 million”, said Dr Ilbawi. of all cancer cases. It is also the leading cause of cancer death worldwide among women.
Speaking via Zoom in Geneva ahead of World Cancer Day this Thursday, Dr Ilbawi noted that “for the first time, breast cancer now constitutes the most commonly occurring cancer globally, followed by lung, which has historically been leading cause in most of, of cancer, and third colorectal”.
The WHO official warned that the
burden of cancer is expected to rise further in the years ahead for a variety of reasons including population growth, with the number of new cases worldwide in 2040 likely to be 47 per cent higher than in 2020.
The greatest increases will be in low and middle income countries where late-stage diagnosis and lack of access to quality and affordable diagnosis and treatment are common, the UN agency said in a statement.
Highlighting efforts to tackle cervical cancer, WHO noted that it is the fourth most common cancer among women globally, with an estimated 604,000 new cases in 2020 and 700,000 cases and 400,000 deaths forecast in 2030. from cervical cancer occurring in low and middle income nations.
Underscoring the benefits of early diagnosis and appropriate treatment, the UN health agency appealed for better availability of human papillomavirus vaccine (HPV) and low-cost approaches for screening and treating pre-cancer “before it progresses to invasive cancer”, in addition to new approaches to surgical training.
“To get on the path to eliminate cervical
cancer, we must achieve three targets by 2030: 90 per cent of girls fully vaccinated with the HPV vaccine by 15 years of age, 70 per cent of women screened using a high-performance test by age 35 and again by 45 and 90 per cent of women identified with cervical cancer treated,” WHO said.
Achieving these targets would lead to a decline in cases of more than 70 per cent by 2050 and help to avert 4.5 million cervical cancer deaths.
A nurse provides care for cancer patients undergoing chemotherapy in a hospital in Burera District, Rwanda. Photo: Karen Prinsloo/UNICEF
Mshale Text Club: Text AFRICA to 24587 to join
Meet Hollies Winston who is running for Brooklyn Park mayor
By Tom Gitaa Mshale
After winning a seat on the Hennepin County Board of Commissioners, former Brooklyn Park mayor Jeff Lunde resigned his position on Jan. 3, sparking a special election to fill the seat.
The special election will be held on April 13 if a maximum of two candidates file to run. If more than two candidates file, the special election will be held on Aug. 10, with April 13 serving as the primary election day to narrow the field to two.
The candidate filing period opens on Feb. 2 and will end on Feb. 16.
The first one to announce his candidacy was Hollies Winston, a self-employed small business consultant and advocate. “I want to create a Brooklyn Park that works for all of us,” he said when announcing his bid one week after Lunde won the county seat.
This is his second attempt to be mayor having run unsuccessfully against Lunde in 2018 when he received 45.68% of the vote against Lunde’s 52.50%.
Winston, 42, was born in Chicago but raised in the Twin Cities where his family moved to when he was 10. After the move to the Twin Cities, his father who is a lawyer went on to become vice president at Northern States Power Company, the predecessor to present day Xcel Energy, the power company that serves most of Hennepin county. His mother spent most of her career as well in corporate America. They have both since retired to Arizona.
Winston graduated from the International School of Minnesota High School and then Northwestern University for his bachelors degree, before receiving an MBA from the Carlson School of Management at the University of Minnesota. He lives in Brooklyn Park’s Maplebrook neighborhood with his wife Latrice and their three children.
Winston admits to struggling as a youngster after moving to the Twin Cities at a young age with trying to adjust to his new surroundings “but a strong support system from my family back then is what made me succeed in life,” he says.
That strong family support structure is the foundation for his candidacy, he says, and guides him on how he approaches public policy.
Elections for the mayor and city council in Brooklyn Park, as in most cities, are nonpartisan but Winston is the DFL endorsed candidate and has secured big name endorsements including the area’s US Representative, Dean Phillips, as well as the speaker of the Minnesota House of Representatives Melissa Hortman, who lives in the city.
In an interview with Mshale on his candidacy outside city hall, Winston outlined his top priorities for Brooklyn Park if elected.
Winston said he’s running because he believes “everyone should have the same equal opportunities,” adding that while the city has made strides in providing access, opportunities are not extended equally to those who choose to make Brooklyn Park home.
But Winston’s top issue is the covid-9 pandemic which is superseding other issues at the moment, he says: “we have to get our arms around the pandemic, as many of our residents are frontline workers whether they be in the healthcare field or in businesses where they cannot work from home.”
To address the pandemic, Winston says there is a role for the city in terms of getting out information to residents about the resources available to them, so that “people know their options.”
Winston also listed crime as a priority, saying there is an uptick in crime that is concerning to all residents. He attributes the increase partly to the pandemic but also to a lack of opportunities for the youth. “People want to feel safe,” he said. Winston said that “it depends who you talk to. People of color if you ask them, they would say it could be better. For other communities they would say it is great.”
Winston does not believe police and public relations in the city are strained to the level they are in big cities like Minneapolis, but that police in Brooklyn Park could do better. “We do need to move those relations to where we are not just okay but to excellent,” he said. He wants to see the department engaging the public more, “so they are not meeting you for the first time when there is an emergency.”
Another priority is the rebalancing of the city’s revenue source. Winston serves on the city’s budget advisory commission and his term ends on April. He says serving on the commission has given him a better understanding and appreciation of the intricacies of the city budget.
He however believes the city’s residents, especially homeowners, are bearing the brunt of providing more revenue to the city. The way to address the imbalance is to attract more businesses to the city, both small and big. “That way as we grow as a city we have a better mix to be able to support our budget,” said Winston.
Hollies Winston was the first to announce his bid for mayor of Brooklyn Park. He is the DFL endorsed candidate and has garnered endorsements from US Representative Dean Phillips who represents Brooklyn Park and Minnesota House Speaker
Melissa Hortman who lives in the city. Photo: Tom Gitaa/Mshale
Mshale Text Club: Text AFRICA to 24587 to join
Google Pledges $10 Million to help Kenyan economy mitigate effects of COVID-19
By Edwin Okong’o Mshale
Google Chief Executive Officer Sundar Pichai announced Wednesday that the American tech giant will make a $10 million grant to help Kenya’s economy recover from the downturn related to the coronavirus pandemic.
Pichai made the pledge during a virtual meeting with Uhuru Kenyatta, the East African nation’s president.
“As economies begin to reopen from a tough 2020, recovering from the pandemic, we see opportunity to support governments, to help businesses, people who are looking for jobs, and communities recover,” Pichai said. “Today, I’m excited to announce a $10 million (1.1 billion Kenyan shillings) for economic recovery.”
Although the African continent has been largely spared by the coronavirus, long shutdowns to curb the spread of the pandemic have taken a heavy toll on economies that were already struggling. With a population of 52 million people and a GDP of $95.5, Kenya is one of the largest economies in Africa. It has recorded over 100,000 cases and 1,751 deaths. Last week, Kenyan scientists announced that they had identified a new coronavirus strain in the country, which could complicate recovery. But if used wisely and as Google mandates, the $10 million grant could make a significant impact on the recovery of the country, where the per capita income is $1,816.5, according to 2019 World Bank data.
Pichai said the $10 million would be divided into three separate grants. The first $2 million will go to Kenyan nonprofit organizations that work in underserved communities. Small and mid-size enterprises (SMEs) will get $3 million. The remaining $5 million will go towards supporting technology startups.
“I have always felt Kenya as being very entrepreneurial and willing to drive technology and innovation,” Pichai said.
He said the grant was “just a beginning” and that he looked forward to “announcing more in the coming months.”
President Kenyatta said access to digital technology in Kenya had grown exponentially in the last 20 years. Because of that growth, 95 percent of Kenyans now have access to financial services mostly via their mobile devices. Twenty years ago, only 30 percent of the population had a bank account, and everyone had to stand in long queues to in banks to conduct financial business, Kenyatta said. He promised to continue to invest in the sector. The president added, however, that Kenya hadn’t seen the full impact of technology in driving economic growth.
“Now we need to work together [with Google] to see how we can translate that into economic opportunity for our people,” Kenyatta said, “how they can link small and mid-size enterprises that are the backbone of our economy to global markets. This is really where the future lies.”
This is not the first time Google has given money to Kenya, according to Pichai. In September, the tech giant gave $1 million to help the economic recovery of Kenyan women who had lost income due to the pandemic. The company also started a digital hub to help 300,000 Kenyan SMEs build online presence to take advantage of the growing trend in online commerce. Google has also been working to make remote learning successful in Kenya, Pichai said.
“Society has made huge strides on connectivity and it’s a trend around the world,” Pichai said. “Covid has really accelerated digital trends by years, and online digital has been a lifeline for many businesses around the world.”
Kenyatta’s and Pichai’s meeting was organized by the Corporate Council on Africa, a Washington, D.C.- based organization that aims to strengthen trade and commercial ties between the continent’s economies and the United States. It was moderated by Kenyan journalist and former CNN news anchor, Zain Varjee.
In this September 25, 2018: Google employees are seen working outdoors at Googleplex headquarters main office. The company has pledged $10 million to
help Kenya in its COVID-19 fight Photo: Anton Gvozdikov/Shutterstock
President Biden appoints Enoh Ebong as acting director of USTDA
President Biden last week announced the appointment of Nigerian-born Enoh T. Ebong as the acting director of the U.S. Trade and Development Agency. The federal agency is responsible for helping American companies “create U.S. jobs through the export of U.S. goods and services for priority development projects in emerging economies.”
Political appointees of federal agencies typically leave their positions when a new administration comes in. Incoming administrations then fill the positions with officials in acting capacities, until they can nominate and the Senate confirms permanent leaders.
Until her appointment to the USTDA, Ebong was the head of strategic partnerships at the Milken Center for Advancing the American Dream. She previously worked at USTDA from 2004 to 2019 when she worked a variety of roles including as general counsel, deputy director and chief operating officer.
Ms. Ebong earned a Juris Doctor from the University of Michigan Law School, a Master of Arts in Communication from the Annenberg School for Communication at the University of Pennsylvania, and a Master of Arts in History, with Honors, from The University of Edinburgh, Scotland.
“It is an honor to return to USTDA. The opportunity to lead the Agency comes at a critical moment when the world is turning to the United States for leadership on clean energy and climate-smart infrastructure, as well as safe and secure ICT solutions,” said Ms. Ebong during her swearing-in ceremony. “The Agency is one of the most effective, targeted and proven tools within the U.S. government. I’ve long believed in USTDA’s mission and program, which are fully aligned with the President’s vision of strengthening our economy and addressing climate as an essential component of American foreign policy and national security.”
Biden from Pg. 1
just concluded census. Biden issued an executive order stopping that move. The Census Bureau will now include all persons counted last year as required by law.
One of the executive orders Biden signed marks a return to Obama-era prioritization of immigration action against those who pose a threat to national security and those convicted of serious crimes and away from those that pose no danger to the United States such as families and the undocumented that have lived in the US for years but have committed no crime.
Enoh T. Ebong Photo: Courtesy USTDA
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