Displaying items by tag: Health

Conservative MP Andrew Mitchell, the former international development secretary, has said his mind has changed on assisted dying and he now supports making it legal. He said he supports ‘very, very tight reform’, to allow people to end their own life when they are told they have six months to live. This would be for people mentally capable of making the decision. Also, he thinks many more MPs support the idea than ever before, and that the House of Commons will be mostly in favour of it before this parliament is up. Care Not Killing said, ‘It comes down to the sanctity of life and the belief that it is important to offer care and support to people rather than trying to end their lives. And I think that is a good view, not just for Christian MPs but actually for all MPs to bear in mind.’

In the frantic race for a Covid-19 vaccine, one issue in clinical trials is the lack of diversity. Experts are saying that the long history of abusive research practices has left many people of colour distrustful of the medical establishment, making it difficult to recruit them for clinical trials. Since black people are dying of Covid-19 at almost 2.5 times the rate of whites, recruiting a balanced cohort is essential. Pray for extra community outreach, childcare and transportation to testing and trial stations.

A Venezuelan activist has warned Americans that torching and toppling historical statues could be dangerous. She noted that destructive behaviour toward significant figures such as George Washington, Christopher Columbus, and Abraham Lincoln, is an effort to destroy a national identity. When she was a teenager in Venezuela statues came down because Chavez didn't want Venezuela’s history displayed. Then he changed the street names, school curriculum and some movies couldn't be shown on TV. Meanwhile, the USA’s top infectious disease expert warned, ‘Over recent days we've seen a pandemic spike well beyond the worst previous ones. We’ve got to get that under control or we risk an even greater outbreak.’

After further easing of lockdown measures, health leaders are calling for an urgent review to determine whether the UK is properly prepared for the ‘real risk’ of a second wave. In an open letter published in the British Medical Journal, ministers were warned that urgent action would be needed to prevent further loss of life. The presidents of the Royal Colleges of Surgeons, Nursing, Physicians, and GPs all signed the letter which stated, ‘While the future shape of the pandemic in the UK is hard to predict, the available evidence indicates that local flare-ups are increasingly likely and a second wave a real risk. Many elements of the infrastructure needed to contain the virus are beginning to be put in place, but substantial challenges remain.’ The chair of the BMA urged ministers to set up a cross-party group with a ‘constructive, non-partisan, four nations approach’, tasked with developing practical recommendations. Pray that the public calmly consider this warning and act wisely.

Already the media are saying that a second, more deadly, wave of coronavirus is expected to hit Europe this winter. Europe's top WHO official, Dr Hans Kluge, warns that the second spike could coincide with outbreaks of other infectious diseases. He issued a stark warning to countries beginning to ease their lockdown restrictions, saying, ‘Now is the time for preparation, not celebration’; adding as the number of cases of Covid-19 in countries such as the UK, France and Italy begin to fall, it did not mean that the pandemic was coming to an end. The epicentre of the European outbreak is now in the east, with the number of cases rising in Russia, Ukraine, Belarus and Kazakhstan.

Asia’s youngest democracy is grappling with political instability that has hampered efforts to reduce poverty, stamp out corruption, and develop its rich energy resources. Though the prime minister had tendered his resignation after failing to pass the budget several times, he withdrew his resignation to help lead the fight against the Covid-19 pandemic, and has called for a state of emergency while approving a $250-million fund to fight it. As this mostly Catholic nation recently celebrated Easter, we stand with them and declare that Jesus is ‘the resurrection and the life’ over East Timor. We declare that traditional and nominal religious following must be shaken off, and speak of a coming to life of real and loving relationship with the Saviour. See also

Superdrug has started selling a coronavirus antibody test, costing £69, to the public. They sold out in a few hours. The tests are intended to tell if someone had the virus in the past. The user takes blood samples and posts them off to a laboratory, where it takes 24 hours to produce a result. Medical giant Abbott, which makes the tests, insists that they are not intended to be used by people taking their own blood samples. They have only been found to be accurate on blood samples taken by trained healthcare providers directly from patients' veins. The MP who chairs the parliamentary panel on consumer protection said, ‘Superdrug seems to be playing on people’s fears and that is not right. What people really need is a readily available, easy to use test that is accurate’. She added that the cost is excessive and it is not 100% accurate. See

Yemen’s Saudi-backed government has accused the Houthis of covering up a large outbreak of coronavirus in areas that they hold, and has called for urgent global assistance to help their war-ravaged health sector deal with coronavirus. The United Nations warned that the country could suffer a ‘catastrophic’ food security situation due to the pandemic. The WHO said that the virus is spreading undetected among the population in the country, control of which is divided between the government in the south and the Houthi group in the north.

The Catholic Church has said that the Government should treat the effects coronavirus has on ethnic groups as a matter of urgency. New analysis suggests that black men and women are more than four times more likely to die a coronavirus-related death than white people. Black males are 4.2 times more likely, and black women 4.3 times more likely, to die after contracting the virus. People of Bangladeshi, Pakistani, Indian, and mixed ethnicities also had an increased risk of death compared with those of white ethnicity. While public health leaders have said that they will review how different factors, such as ethnicity, obesity, and geographical location influence the effects of the virus, the church has said that more must be done.

A blood test to find out whether people have been infected with coronavirus in the past has been approved by Public Health England, a ‘very positive development’. The test looks for antibodies to see if a person has already had the virus and might now have some immunity. Until now, officials have said such tests are not reliable enough. The government previously spent £16m buying antibody tests which proved to be ineffective. This test is the first one to offer serious potential. Experts at Porton Down evaluated the test and found that if someone had been infected, it gave the correct result 100% of the time. And if someone had not caught coronavirus, then it gave the correct result in 99.8% of cases.