Geneva, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) - Customs guards in Geneva near the border caught three thieves red-handed in the early hours of Friday, just after they took a safe and several laptops from the World Health Organization. The three are professionals, known to police, but according to the Tribune de Geneve, they were caught in a car stolen a year earlier, at a roadblock in Chêne-Bougeries, where police were surprised to discover the extent of the robbers’ haul. The customs office and Geneva police are investigating the men’s records and the theft itself.
WHO’s first-ever simultaneous Immunization Week underway
Measles initiative (photo, WHO)
Switzerland, recommendations for measles vaccination: part of the MMR (MOR in French) vaccine against measles, mumps, rubella, with the first dose at age 12 months, second dose at 15-24 months, moved up to 12-15 months for children in daycare centres
Bern / Geneva, Switzerland – Switzerland’s focus for world Immunization Week which began Saturday 24 April is measles eradication. “Do your bit!” (contribuez-y !) is the slogan, to pull in parents who have not vaccinated their children. Measles is often wrongly considered a benign disease of childhood: while complications are rare they can be extremely serious, and there is no real treatment for the disease.
Ninety-five percent of children age two must have received two doses of measles vaccine in order to eliminate the disease from Switzerland. The current rate of coverage is 87 percent having one dose by age 2 and 71 percent having two doses.
Bern points out that there is a solidarity factor: those who cannot be vaccinated for medical reasons, a group that includes newborns and pregnant women, will be protected only by others having had their shots.
WHO in Geneva, Switzerland
Geneva, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) – The fading role of traditional media and the rise of new media were overlooked by the WHO (World Health Organization), a root cause of some of the management problems with the H1N1 epidemic, a senior WHO official says. Keiji Fukuda, the WHO’s special advisor on pandemic influenza, was addressing 29 experts who have gathered to review how the swine flu pandemic was managed, the first review of International Health Regulations.
Traditional media’s past role of disseminating information correctly has been weakened by the rise of rapid and often rumour-based new media, Fukuda implied.
Geneva, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) – More than half of the world’s population now lives in cities, the World Health Organization (WHO) says. The Geneva-based organization is focusing on urbanization and health for World Health Day, noting that by 2030 six out of ten people will be living in urban areas.
Links to other sites: WHO with photo essay, and CNN’s “heat map” of global population growth in cities around the world
Spring open houses and wine courses good starting point
learning about wine
Geneva, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) – Warmer weather will soon be upon us, and among the pleasures Spring brings to Switzerland is the start of the wine-tasting season, with individual cellars and villages holding open house days. These are a popular Swiss tradition that allow consumers to sample and compare wines, but alcohol abuse, a growing problem among young people, is starting to make an appearance. “With young people, we’re losing some of the understanding of the larger culture that has always been part of wine-drinking,” says Jean Hutin of Domaine Les Hutins in Dardagny, canton Geneva.
Geneva, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) - Monday 23 March is World Water Day, and Swiss consumer groups are doing their bit by encouraging Swiss consumers and restaurants to favour tap water over bottled water. There is no reason for people in Switzerland to pay for bottled water, they argue, for hygiene or health reasons, and tap water doesn’t require containers so is better for the environment.
Swiss water suppliers offer a search page (F/G/I) on their site where consumers can check details about the source and quality of their water, although smaller towns and villages may be able to check only nearby larger towns.
Refugees from Equator province, November 2009, when number reached 100,000 http://www.flickr.com/photos/unhcr/4271338608/ (photo: BB Diallo/UNHCR)
Geneva, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) – Several United Nations offices appealed Tuesday morning 9 March in Geneva for an urgent infusion of aid money to meet the needs of 110,000 refugees in northern Republic of Congo’s Likouala province. Eighty-two percent are women and children who fled fighting in Democratic Republic of Congo’s Equateur Province. UNHCR is asking for $20 million.
The request is part of a broader appeal by UN agencies, who say they have received only $17.3 million of the nearly $59 million the need for refugees from the Equator region in the country in 2010. Partners in the appeal are: the World Food Programme, Unicef, the World Health Organization, Unesco, the UN Development Programme, the UN Food and Agricultural Organization and the UNFPA.
The refugees fled from Equator province in late October 2009 “when Enyele militiamen launched deadly assaults on ethnic Munzayas over fishing and farming rights in the Dongo area,” the UNHCR says.
Haiti earthquake, the aftermath (Photo: Matthew Marek/American Red Cross)
Geneva, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) – Several organizations based in Switzerland are spearheading much of the relief effort in Haiti, and they are appealing to the public for funds. Aid has begun pouring into the country, more than 30 hours after the 7.0 scale earthquake that ravaged the capital, Port-au-Prince.
If you live in the Lake Geneva area and you would like to contribute to funds going to Haiti, here is a GenevaLunch selection of key groups, with fund appeals and explanations about their work in the area on their web sites:
Gold Disc Swiss artist Shana P singing her latest single “Regarde moi.” Students at Webster afterwards released 250 red and white bio balloons, as a symbol of solidarity and support to those living with HIV/Aids. Members of the Student Government Association handed out free condoms and information about HIV testing services in Geneva and nearby France.
(Video) Geneva, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) – World Aids Day 1 December brought some good news, starting with a change of policy in South Africa, whose president said the country will now start treating all children with Aids. South Africa for several years denied the extent of its Aids problem and Tuesday’s announcement by President Jacob Zuma was greeted positively by Aids groups around the world.
Geneva is home to several organizations that work closely with Aids/HIV projects, from research to financing programmes, developing treatments and humanitarian assistance. World Aids Day Tuesday was observed in a variety of ways, from students at Webster University setting off balloons and attending a charity concert to the Global Fund for Aids, Malaria and Tuberculosis publishing its latest figures.
Viral Flu, © 2009 Novartis AG
Geneva, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) – US President Barack Obama declared swine flu a national emergency late Friday 23 October, in order to relax some Medicaid and Medicare (national health insurance for the elderly and the poor) rules ahead of a potential surge in cases that could swamp the country’s medical facilities. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) says the epidemic has increased in the past weeks and is now widespread in 46 of the 50 states. Swine flu activity has reached levels that the seasonal flu variety normally reaches in late November to March, CDC reported 23 October.
People at particular risk are pregnant women, especially those in the latest stage of pregnancy, children under the age of two, and people with pre-existing pulmonary problems, like asthma. In these cases, patients can develop severe symptoms within 3-5 days. The World Health Organization (WHO) says that the disease can progress rapidly, leading to respiratory collapse and the urgent need for mechanical respiration.
[includes video] Geneva, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) – Two Boston University student interns, one at the World Health Organization, the other at the World Trade Organization, were interviewed by their university’s BU Today, on video, about their experience working in international organizations in Geneva.
The accompanying article and video are reproduced with permission from BU.
By Devin Hahn. Text by Benjamin Hall.
“I’d be lying if I said I didn’t feel like I had a bit of an edge, having studied under the bright minds at the World Health Organization,” says Tara Vaughn.
Vaughn spent last fall in the Geneva Internship Program, taking courses and working at the WHO in the strategic information unit, focusing on prevention of mother-to-child transmission of HIV/AIDS. Her courses featured daily speakers from different realms of public health, and topics included abortion rights, public health issues that arise from natural disasters, and climate change.
Montreux, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) – Coordinated international response to a bioterrorist attack was simulated in Montreux 7 and 8 September in an exercise code-named Black Ice II, according to the Swiss Department of Foreign Affairs. The exercise simulated an attack resulting in a pneumonic plague epidemic, and tested the institutional response to such an attack in order to better prepare for the real thing.
Alem Kitmama, Ethiopia: safe water is a major health problem (image: WHO)
Updated 20 August Basel, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) – Much-touted low-cost, easily applied solar treatments to disinfect water are not reducing diarrhea as expected, says a team at the Swiss Tropical Institute-University of Basel (STI). The group recommends that “Further global promotion of Sodis for general use should be undertaken with care until such evidence is available.” Daniel Maeusezahl and his team have published their findings from studies carried out in Bolivia in PLoS Medicine, a scientific journal.
Their report is a blow to hopes that developing countries can use a readily available, inexpensive solution to the often-deadly problem of diarrhea due to untreated water. Pneumonia, diarrhea and malnutrition account for most of the 10.8 million child deaths that occur annually around the world and an estimated 60 percent of these are preventable according to the STI.
The problem lies not so much in the science as in humans using the solution correctly, it appears. Ed note: a discussion comment on the study, by Zulfiqar A Bhutta, Aga Khan University in Karachi, Pakistan interprets the study somewhat differently: “The failure of some plausible interventions when implemented at scale may also reflect a failure of delivery strategies rather than an ineffective intervention.” (see Frank Stinger comment here)
Viral Flu, © 2009 Novartis AG
Basel and Geneva, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) – Swiss drugs maker Novartis said 5 August it had begun trials of a swine flu vaccine on humans in Germany, the US and the UK. If the trials are successful, the vaccine could be approved by regulators using a fast-track approvals process in Europe and the US. Large-scale production would then be ramped up in time for the northern hemisphere’s flu season in autumn.
All major drugs manufacturers are racing to finish human trials in order to begin production of a vaccine. Australian drugs manufacturers announced last month that they had begun human trials.
Fast track procedures take into account strain changes
The WHO (World Health Organization) says that fast-track procedures worked out by regulators in many countries are based on existing procedures for approving seasonal flu vaccines, which take into account small changes in the flu virus, so-called “strain changes.”
Chinese authorities closed off the town of Ziketan in China’s Qinghai province to stem the spread of pneumonic plague after a second person died of the disease. The victim was a neighbour of the first, a herdsman in the sparsely populated area in northwestern China, mostly inhabited by Tibetans. About 11 relatives of the first victim are being treated in isolation at hospital. Health authorities are passing out flyers and using radio and television to educate people on preventive measures. Pneumonic plague is highly infectious and can be spread from person to person. Untreated, it will kill almost all those infected. WHO, the World Health Organization, has said China has not asked for help but has been very quick to report and react to the situation. BBC, Washington Post, Xinhua,
Geneva, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) – Chagas disease is one of the largest debilitating and killer diseases in Latin America, but it is not winning the battle it needs for public attention in order to reduce the number of its victims. It is considered a neglected tropical disease by the WHO (World Health Organization), which put it on the agenda for the May 2009 World Health Assembly, in part because it appears to be traveling, thanks to eco-tourism. It was bumped when the agenda was reduced to allow the meeting to focus on the new pandemic, A/H1N1.
Chagas disease appears to be spreading from isolated rural areas to urban areas as people move to cities, but there is little prevention for the insect-borne disease, no standardized diagnostic test and huge knowledge gaps remain about effective treatment.
Verbier, Valais, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) – About 50 residents at Les Elfes, an international summer camp in Swiss ski resort Verbier, canton Valais, are being treated for A/H1N1 swine flu after coming down with symptoms last week, the latest outbreak among groups of school-age children and youths in the region. Valais cantonal authorities said in a release (Fre) that the situation was “under control”. About 40 young people and 10 monitors came down with the flu. The camp’s other participants were treated and let go. Some of the children have left for home already, according to the press release.
Geneva, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) - The World Health Organization in Geneva has decided to stop issuing its global tallies of A/H1N1 flu cases, noting that “at this point, further spread of the pandemic, within affected countries and to new countries, is considered inevitable.” Newly affected countries are still required to confirm all new cases and “as far as feasible, provide weekly aggregated case numbers and descriptive epidemiology of the early cases.
Reporting requirements are being relaxed for countries with “community-wide” transmission of the virus but all countries are being asked to remain vigilant in monitoring the virological characteristics of the pandemic virus.
Basel, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) - Pharmaceutical giant Novartis saw net sales grow 8 percent in local currencies, but slip 2 percent in US dollars in the first six months of 2009. Exchange rates had significant impact on profits, which fell by 12 percent to CHF4.32 billion, compared to the same period in 2008. Company CEO Daniel Vasella notes in the company’s press release on results that the company expects to “continue record underlying results in constant currencies.”
Geneva, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) – The heads of five international organizations have put their support behind an online global petition to world leaders to insist on a successful outcome to UN-led negotiations on climate change in Copenhagen Denmark in December 2009.
The organizations are: the World Health Organization, World Intellectual Property Organization, World Meteorological Organization, World Trade Organization and the Rome-based International Fund for Agricultural Development.
Geneva, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) – The swine flu (A/H1N1) is now unstoppable, and although so far the “severity is moderate” countries must now take measures to vaccinate their populations, the World Health Organization (WHO) noted after a high-level meeting Monday 13 July in Geneva. Its group of experts says there is not enough vaccine to cover all needs. To ensure an equitable distribution among countries it issued guidelines calling for health workers to be covered and populations at risk to be vaccinated before other groups.
Versoix, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) - Six cases of swine flu have been confirmed among children attending the College du Léman summer school at Versoix, near Geneva, reports Romandie news. They will spend the next seven days in isolation in a nearby villa. Four other cases are under investigation.
Global Humanitarian Forum, Kofi Annan, 23 June 2009, Geneva
Update 2 13:01 Geneva, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) – “This conference must provide a powerful voice for the victims of climate change,” Kofi Annan said in opening remarks at the second annual Global Humanitarian Forum, Tuesday morning 23 June in Geneva. The forum is focusing on the impact on humans of climate change during the two day conference that brings together leaders from government, industry and academia.
“We have the knowledge, resources and the technology to reduce the pace of climate change,” said Annan. “What is needed is the vision, the courage” to act. He cited as an example of a good private and public partnership a weather information project recently launched in Africa by the Global Humanitarian Forum, Ericsson, World Meterological Organization and mobile phone operators. “Collecting accurate information about weather and climate across Africa will give farmers better guidance about when to plant and harvest crops as well as helping alert communities about severe storms.”
At least 1,200 passengers on board the Spanish-owned Ocean Dream cruise liner off the coast of Venezuela were refused permission to land 17 June after three crew members were diagnosed with A/H1N1 flu. Eleven more crew members are suspected of being infected. “The virus was detected in three crew members and the boat must now stay in quarantine until June 24,” said Venezuelan health official Jorge Alchaer, reports the BBC. Venezuela has 25 confirmed cases of the flu, according to the WHO (World Health Organization). Local Venezuelan news sources report that the 376 Venezuelan passengers have been allowed onto the island of Maragarita for testing. Reuters, WHO, El Nacional (Spa)
Used with permission of Novartis Vaccines, June 2007. © Novartis Vaccines, click to enlarge
Basel, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) – Swiss drugs manufacturer Novartis announced 12 June that it had successfully produced an antivirus effective against the wild type of A/H1N1 swine flu virus that is at pandemic levels using new cell-based technology.
The news comes hot on the heels of the widely expected World Health Organization’s (WHO) announcement 11 June of a phase six pandemic, the highest level. The drugs maker says that its cell-based production technology will allow it to produce vaccines much more quickly than by using the traditional method of adapting the virus strain to grow in eggs. It has a production facility in Marburg, Germany that can produce millions of doses a week.
Following further testing and clinical trials on the “wild strain” antivirus, Novartis hopes to be able to produce, test and deploy an antivirus for the reassortant A/H1N1 strain provided by the US Centers for Disease Control by this autumn.
As the World Health Organization (WHO) announces phase six of the pandemic A/H1N1 swine flu 11 June, a curious fact jumps out from the map that the organization publishes each day with its statistics. Not one sub-Saharan African country has reported a single case of the new flu. The only African country with officially reported cases is Egypt, with 10 (11 June).
On the face of it, the populations in many of Africa’s countries would be prime candidates for contracting flu. They are poor, often malnourished, suffering from war and disease in many places, and crowded into teeming cities with poor provision of basic services. How have they avoided A/H1N1?
Geneva, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) – After an emergency meeting early this afternoon the World Health Organization (WHO) declared that the the A/H1N1 (swine) flu pandemic had entered its highest phase 6, denoting “sustained community-level outbreaks in at least two WHO regions.” In its latest update 10 June, WHO reported almost 28,000 confirmed cases of swine flu in 74 countries worldwide, with 141 deaths. Sudden spikes in confirmed cases in the past few days have been reported from widely-separated countries like Australia and Chile, prompting WHO concern.
[with UN TV video] Geneva, Switzerland and Bonn, Germany (GenevaLunch) – Eighteen United Nations and non-UN aid agencies 8 June issued a joint statement arguing for “humanitarian impacts” to be included in the new climate change protocol. A December meeting in Copenhagen, Denmark of ministers from around the world will seek to replace the Kyoto Protocol, adopted in 1997. A new agreement must “set out a workable approach to help the world counter the impacts of extreme weather events and environmental degradation on vulnerable communities,” the Inter-Agency Standing Committee argues.
Geneva, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) – A mid-way report from the World Health Organization (WHO) on how well nations are doing in their efforts to meet health-related Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) shows some progress, particularly in reducing childhood mortality by 27 percent since 1990. Some countries are not on track, however, to meet the goal of reducing mortality in children by two-thirds from 1990 figures, and for the goals to improve maternal health and HIV/Aids care, many countries are lagging behind.
The World Health Statistics 2009 is an annual health report by the WHO that looks at 100 statistics provided by the organization’s 193 member countries. This year it provides the first assessment of MDGs progress.
Left to right: Rifat Atun, The Global Fund; George Alleyne, Caribbean Commission on Health and Development, Dr Ala Alwan, WHO; Marie-Pierre Lloyd, Seychelles; Leslie Ramsammy, Guyana (click on image to view larger)
Geneva, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) – Swine flu may be in the headlines, but non-communicable diseases (NCDs), especially in developing countries, were in the corridors and meeting rooms as the World Health Assembly, the global body of the World Health Organization (WHO), held its annual meeting in Geneva 17-22 May. NCDs are estimated to reduce gross domestic product by up to five percent in many low- and middle-income countries, where four out of five of the 35 million deaths a year from NCDs occur. A growing chorus of voices is arguing that these diseases should become part of the health package of the UN Millennium Development Goals which countries have signed a compact to meet by 2015.
The figures were put forward this week by three key international health groups who represent 730 member health care organizations which are calling for an “immediate and substantial increase in financing” for these diseases: the International Diabetes Federation, International Union Against Cancer and World Heart Federation.
