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Health News Roundup: Taiwan eyeing earlier end to COVID quarantine for arrivals; U.S. FDA approves bluebird bio’s gene therapy for a rare neurological disorder and more | Health
Following is a abstract of present well being information briefs.
Bahrain detects first monkeypox case – state media
Bahrain has detected its first monkeypox case, the state information company BNA mentioned on Friday, citing the well being ministry. The ministry mentioned the affected person was getting back from overseas when his signs had been suspected and recognized, BNA added.
Taiwan eyeing earlier finish to COVID quarantine for arrivals
Taiwan is eyeing an earlier finish to its obligatory quarantine for all arrivals and has been making related preparations, Premier Su Tseng-chang mentioned on Friday, as the federal government continues to ease controls put in place to comprise the unfold of COVID-19. Taiwan has stored its entry and quarantine guidelines in place as giant components of the remainder of Asia have relaxed or lifted them utterly, although in June it lower the variety of days spent in isolation for arrivals to 3 from seven beforehand.
U.S. FDA approves bluebird bio’s gene remedy for a uncommon neurological dysfunction
The U.S. Meals and Drug Administration (FDA) has authorised Bluebird bio’s gene remedy for the therapy of a uncommon neurological dysfunction, the corporate mentioned late on Friday. “SKYSONA is the primary FDA authorised remedy proven to gradual the development of neurologic dysfunction in boys” with early, lively Cerebral Adrenoleukodystrophy (CALD), the corporate mentioned in an announcement, saying CALD is a “devastating and deadly neurodegenerative illness.”
U.S. seeing decline in monkeypox new case development, CDC says
U.S. Facilities of Illness Management and Prevention (CDC) Director Rochelle Walensky mentioned on Thursday she was cautiously optimistic over a decline within the development of latest monkeypox instances, however that some areas of the nation are nonetheless experiencing an increase in infections. She additionally mentioned throughout a White Home briefing that the company was taking steps to deal with racial and ethnic disparities in distribution of monkeypox vaccines.
Mainland China stories first imported monkeypox case
The Chinese language metropolis of Chongqing reported one case of the monkeypox virus an infection on Friday in a person who arrived from overseas, marking mainland China’s first recognized monkeypox an infection amid the latest international outbreak of the virus. The transmission threat is low as the person was put in quarantine upon arrival in Chongqing, the municipal well being fee mentioned in an announcement. All shut contacts have been remoted and are underneath medical statement.
Client group says drugmakers abuse U.S. patent system to maintain costs excessive
Makers of the highest promoting medication in america are costing sufferers billions of {dollars} and worsening a drug pricing disaster by abusing the U.S. patent system to stifle competitors and inflate costs, a shopper group mentioned on Thursday, The New York-based Initiative for Medicines, Entry & Information (I-MAK) mentioned in a report that three of the highest 10 promoting medication within the U.S. face no competitors within the nation and can price Individuals an estimated additional $167 billion earlier than they’re anticipated to so.
WHO ‘strongly advises in opposition to’ use of two COVID remedies
Two COVID-19 antibody therapies are now not really useful by the World Well being Group (WHO), on the premise that Omicron and the variant’s newest offshoots have seemingly rendered them out of date. The 2 therapies – that are designed to work by binding to the spike protein of SARS-CoV-2 to neutralise the virus’ potential to contaminate cells – had been a number of the first medicines developed early within the pandemic.
France’s well being physique warns of resurgence of COVID virus within the nation
France’s nationwide well being physique warned on Friday of a resurgence of COVID-19 instances within the nation, and urged folks to proceed to get vaccinated to guard themselves in opposition to the virus. The Sante Publique France (SPF) physique mentioned that in the course of the week of Sept 5-Sept 11, there had been 186 confirmed COVID instances for each 100,000 folks in France – a determine up 12% versus the earlier week – representing a mean of round 18,000 new instances per day.
EU backs AstraZeneca’s drug for the prevention of toddler RSV
AstraZeneca mentioned on Friday its drug for stopping toddler RSV, Beyfortus (nirsevimab), was really useful for approval within the European Union by a European Medicines Company committee.
The drugmaker additionally mentioned if Beyfortus is authorised, it could turn out to be the primary protecting choice for new child and toddler inhabitants in opposition to RSV decrease respiratory tract illness.
EU regulator backs wider use of AstraZeneca COVID remedy
Europe’s medicines regulator has backed utilizing AstraZeneca’s preventative COVID-19 remedy as a therapy for the illness and likewise endorsed one other drugs as a preventative choice for an additional widespread virus. The regulator’s suggestions are normally adopted by the European Fee when it takes a remaining determination on drug approvals.
(With inputs from businesses.)
World
Video: In Interview, Zelensky Challenges West Over Hesitations to Support Ukraine
In a wide-ranging interview with The New York Times, President Volodymyr Zelensky of Ukraine urged the United States and Europe to do more to defend his nation, dismissing fears of nuclear escalation and proposing that NATO planes shoot down Russian missiles in Ukrainian airspace.
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International Criminal Court: 20 years, billions spent, limited success as US considers sanctions
As the U.S. weighs sanctions against the International Criminal Court (ICC) over potential arrest warrants for Israeli officials, some experts have questioned the value of the court, given its track record since its founding.
“[The ICC] has been around for over two decades, [but] it has less than 10 successful prosecutions,” Orde Kittrie, a senior fellow at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies and law professor at Arizona State University’s Sandra Day O’Connor College of Law, told Fox News Digital. “It’s spent over $2 billion. It’s been really ineffective.”
As of July 2022, 31 cases have appeared before the ICC, which resulted in 10 convictions and four acquittals. The court has issued 37 arrest warrants, with 21 people ultimately detained while 12 people remain at large, according to the European Union’s External Action Service.
The ICC’s total annual budget for 2023 totaled around $183,500,000, which is an increase of around $34,500,000 or around 20% increase from 2022’s budget.
VISA BANS FOR ICC OFFICIALS URGED BY BIPARTISAN SENATORS AFTER ISRAEL ARREST WARRANT REQUESTS
Member states each bear a portion of the overall budget based on the size of their economies, with the most significant funds coming from large European economies, Japan, South Korea, Australia and Brazil, according to the Journal of Human Rights.
Japan ranked as the largest contributor in 2022 with around $26,850,000, while Germany and France rank thereafter with around $19,000,000 and $14,400,000, respectively.
Appropriations for the court are divided into nine categories: the Judiciary, Office of the Prosecutor, the Registry, Secretariat of the Assembly of States Parties, Premises, Secretariat of the Trust Fund for Victims, Permanent Premises Project – Host State Loan, Independent Oversight Mechanism and Office of Internal Audit. The court also notes that “assets that the Court holds are normally not held to generate commercial returns and are therefore non-cash generating assets,” meaning it must build its budget from contributions alone.
Even with that sizable budget, and the significant increase year over year, the court relies heavily on the cooperation of members to enable its operations. Outgoing Registrar Peter Lewis in 2023 said the court faced an unprecedented workload – even before taking on the investigation into alleged crimes in the Gaza Strip – and that state parties’ cooperation remained crucial to any success.
US ALLIES FRANCE, BELGIUM DEFEND ICC PROSECUTOR’S REQUEST FOR ISRAELI ARREST WARRANTS
US sanctions
This makes any sanctions against the organization a potentially crippling measure: Then-President Trump in 2020 authorized an asset freeze and family entry ban against ICC officials after the court opened investigations into alleged U.S. war crimes conducted in Afghanistan.
“The ICC Prosecutor … thinks the Biden administration is more interested in a cozy relationship with the ICC than with protecting Israelis and Americans from its power grab,” Anne Bayefsky, director of the Touro Institute on Human Rights and the Holocaust as well as president of Human Rights Voices, told Fox News Digital.
“If President Biden does not immediately invoke the American Service Members Protection Act, terminate all cooperation and support of the ICC, and use his authority to sanction ICC officials for their outrageous prosecution – actually persecution – of the democratic representatives of the Jewish state … justice will have been dealt a disastrous blow,” Bayefsky said.
The Biden administration increased its cooperation with the ICC, offering assistance and intelligence to the court to bolster its investigation into alleged Russian war crimes during the invasion of Ukraine, though Kittrie noted that the ICC case against Putin “hasn’t made a difference” and possibly merely added “some sense” of legitimacy for the ICC prosecutor.
PROGRESSIVE SENATOR BACKS POTENTIAL ICC ARREST WARRANT FOR NETANYAHU: ‘UNPRECEDENTED WAR’
Bayefsky and others have urged the Biden administration to invoke the American Servicemembers Protection Act and sanction the ICC in response to any arrest warrants for Israeli officials.
During a speech in the Rose Garden on Wednesday at a press conference with Kenyan President William Ruto, Biden reiterated that the U.S. “made our position clear on the ICC … we don’t recognize the jurisdiction of the ICC, the way it’s being exercised, and it’s that simple. We don’t think there’s an equivalence between what Israel did and Hamas did.”
The Rome Statute counts 124 signatories, including most of Africa, Europe and South America, but it does not include some notable holdouts: the United States, China, Russia, Ukraine, Israel, Saudi Arabia, Iran, North Korea and Turkey, among others.
The Biden administration reversed the sanctions but reinforced the position that the U.S. continued to “disagree strongly with the ICC’s actions relating to the Afghanistan and Palestinian situations.”
The Center for Constitutional Rights argued that the sanctions delayed critical investigations at the ICC, “directly and indirectly negatively” impacting the work at the ICC, though perhaps not as drastically as the U.S. would have hoped.
ISRAEL SLAMS GERMAN GOVERNMENT’S VOW TO ARREST PRIME MINISTER NETANYAHU OVER ICC WARRANT
Instead, the group argued that the sanctions created a difficult working relationship for the ICC and any potential collaborators, such as civil society organizations, investigators, lawyers and victims who would worry about facing similar sanctions for helping the ICC.
The ICC, which commenced operations in 2002, bases its authority on the signatories of the Rome Statute, which outlines four core international crimes that the court will prosecute: genocide, crimes against humanity, war crimes, and crimes of aggression, all of which are “not subject to any statute of limitations” but limited to only crimes that occurred after the statute came into force.
President Clinton signed the statute in 2000, but he demanded that the eventual ICC should address “fundamental concerns” before he or any other U.S. president considered putting the statute before the U.S. Senate for ratification. The Bush administration took it a step further, withdrawing the U.S. signature and instead adopting the American Servicemembers Protection Act.
Also known as the “Hague Invasion Act,” the law allows the president to use “all means necessary and appropriate to bring about the release” of U.S. or allied citizens detained or imprisoned by the ICC.
The bill also prevents the U.S. from providing support for the ICC, per Sec. 2004: The U.S. is prohibited from responding to requests for cooperation, of providing support to the court (including from law enforcement), of helping with extradition and using appropriated funds to assist the court, among others.
World
No, this video doesn't show turbulent Singapore Airlines flight
The video is being shared widely on social media and even in news reports in the context of the Singapore Airlines flight that hit severe turbulence and left one man dead, but the footage has been misattributed.
A video doing the rounds on Facebook supposedly shows the inside of the Singapore Airlines plane that was travelling from London to Singapore when it was hit by severe turbulence on 21 May.
It shows a passenger’s viewpoint as the plane is suddenly violently rocked, sending a member of the cabin crew crashing into the ceiling.
Refreshments and personal belongings are also thrown into the air, and luggage falls from the overhead lockers, hitting the screaming passengers.
Social media users are sharing the video with captions linking it to the Singapore Airlines incident, which left a 73-year-old British man dead and several others injured.
However, the footage doesn’t show the inside of that plane at all. Instead, it depicts a passenger flight from Kosovo to Switzerland in 2019.
We know this because Euronews itself reported on it at the time.
It was reported that 10 people were injured on that flight, operated by Bulgaria’s ALK Airlines, including the flight attendant who was thrown into the ceiling.
The incident happened about 20 minutes before the plane was due to land after it hit a pocket of severe turbulence.
A similar thing happened to the Singapore Airlines flight, but they are clearly separate events.
The plane bound for Singapore was battered by severe turbulence and suffered a sudden drop in altitude, causing passengers and items to hit the ceiling and be thrown about the aircraft.
Eyewitnesses say that certain passengers smashed into the overhead lockers and parts of the ceiling where lights and oxygen masks are stored, denting them and breaking straight through them.
Others had severe injuries, with blood pouring down their faces. In all, about 60 passengers were said to be injured, seven of which were in critical condition.
The Boeing plane, carrying 211 passengers and 18 crew members, was diverted to Bangkok, Thailand, where it landed safely.
Some social media users have been quick to point the finger at Boeing, which has suffered huge blows to its reputation in recent years over various plane malfunctions.
However, investigations into what happened on the Singapore Airlines flight are ongoing, and as things stand, the incident was caused purely by the severe turbulence that the plane flew into.
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