Europe remains “in the firm grip” of COVID and the death toll on the continent could top 2.2 million this winter if current trends continue, the World Health Organization said Tuesday.

Some 700,000 could die in the coming months, the WHO said, as cases creep up across Europe, prompting some countries to reimpose tough restrictions.

The WHO expects “high or extreme stress in intensive care units (ICUs) in 49 out of 53 countries between now and March 1, 2022”.

“Cumulative reported deaths are projected to reach over 2.2 million by spring next year,” it added, up from the current 1.5 million.

COVID-19 is the leading cause of death across Europe and Central Asia, the WHO reported, citing figures from the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation.

The rise in Europe was being driven by a combination of the highly-contagious Delta variant, insufficient vaccination coverage and the easing of measures such as mask wearing and physical distancing, it said.

According to WHO data, COVID-related deaths increased last week to nearly 4,200 a day, doubling from 2,100 deaths a day at the end of September.

The WHO also said evidence was growing that vaccine-induced protection against infection and mild disease was declining.

“The COVID-19 situation across Europe and Central Asia is very serious. We face a challenging winter ahead,” regional director for WHO Europe, Hans Kluge, said in a statement.

He called for a “vaccine plus” approach, consisting of vaccinations, social distancing, the use of face masks and hand washing.

The WHO said face masks reduce COVID incidence by 53 percent according to a recent study, and “over 160,000 deaths could be prevented (by March 1) if universal mask coverage of 95 percent was achieved”.

(Source: AFP)

Kenyans will have to prove they are fully vaccinated against Covid-19 to gain access to government services and public places such as national parks, bars and restaurants under new health regulations.

The move comes despite Kenya recording a declining number of coronavirus infections in recent weeks, but against a backdrop of heightened restrictions in some European countries that are battling soaring cases.

Kenya will require people to show vaccination certificates from December 21, and is planning a 10-day mass inoculation campaign from November 26, Health Minister Mutahi Kagwe said in a statement issued late Sunday.

Visitors from Europe will also have to provide proof of full vaccination, he added.

Kenya, Kagwe said, has seen a “marked decrease” in the number of severe cases and deaths, with a positivity rate over the last 14 days ranging from 0.8 percent to 2.6 percent.

Since the start of the pandemic, the East African powerhouse has recorded a total of 254,629 cases and 5,325 deaths.

‘Not yet time to celebrate’

“I have no doubt that looking at these statistics, it’s very easy to become complacent and fail to appreciate the magnitude of the problem that we still face with the pandemic,” Kagwe said.

“The current decline in the number of new infections may be attributed to a buildup of immunity both through natural exposure to the disease and the ongoing vaccination exercise. Nonetheless we know that it’s not yet time to celebrate.”

Only 2.4 million people, or less than nine percent of Kenya’s adult population, have been vaccinated, according to official figures, compared with a government target of 30 million by the end of next year.

Kagwe voiced concern about the low uptake of Covid shots, particularly among the elderly, and said it had slowed after the lifting of a night-time nationwide curfew last month.

He said Kenya had received a total of 10.7 million vaccine doses and expected to get another eight million, without giving a timeframe.

Under the new measures, in-person access to government services including hospitals, education, tax and immigration offices will be limited to those carrying proof of vaccination.

Similar restrictions will be imposed for public places such as national parks and game reserves, hotels, bars and restaurants, while all indoor gatherings will be limited to two-thirds capacity for vaccinated people only.

All those working in the public transport sector, such as pilots, drivers and “boda boda” motorcycle taxi drivers must also be fully inoculated.

Source: AFP

Authorities in Cameroon say fewer than 300 of a targeted 300,000 state workers have agreed to be vaccinated against COVID-19 two weeks into a campaign. Some civil servants who spoke to VOA hold a mistaken belief that the virus is no longer a threat in Cameroon. But health officials say vaccinations in the Central African state must be stepped up amid concerns about another wave of infections.

Several dozen people enter and leave Cameroon’s Public Service and Administrative Reform Ministry Thursday morning. At the ministry’s courtyard is a new stand where civil servants can get COVID-19 vaccines free of charge.

Vaccination team member Roland Njalla said only 11 of the expected 400 ministry employees have volunteered to be vaccinated over the past 10 days.

“People are not well informed and edified as to what the vaccine is going to bring as an advantage, as a plus. People are afraid, they don’t know the side effects of the vaccine. I think that is the principal problem,” he said.

Cameroon officially launched a one-month campaign to vaccinate at least half of its 600,000 active and retired government workers against COVID-19 November 10. Vaccinations started five days before the official launch.

The Public Health Ministry says it has vaccinated just 300 of the 300,000 expected active and former state workers.

Public Service and Administrative Reform Minister Joseph Le said he is pleading with workers to accept the COVID-19 vaccine.

“This campaign is intended to ensure that the professional environment is not a place where the virus spreads, but a suitable environment for professional development for all of us. We will continue to emphasize that vaccination is the only way to protect ourselves from the devastating effects of this terrible pandemic,” he said.

Cameroon announced last month that the COVID-19 Delta variant was present in the country and infection rates were increasing.

The health ministry is encouraging people to be vaccinated and continue to wear face masks, wash their hands regularly and keep at least a meter from each other.

Health Minister Manaouda Malachie said people are reluctant to take the vaccine because of lack of awareness, rumors and exposure to misinformation spread mainly on social networks.

Manaouda said 1993 Nobel Peace Prize winner Nelson Mandela, whom many Cameroonians consider their mentor, once called vaccinations the most powerful of all preventive health measures. He says the COVID-19 vaccine saves lives and reduces the risk of getting and spreading the virus.

The Cameroon Bar Association said last month that some government officials were blocking unvaccinated civilians from public offices.

Evaristus Morfaw Nkafu, president of the General Assembly of the Cameroon Bar Association, said no law compels public service users to provide vaccination cards.

“There are some authorities who have decided that those who are not inoculated will not enter into their premises. It means they are discriminating against Cameroonians. Rather than coercing, I think the government should educate the people. They should persuade the people and even give incentives,” said Nkafu.

Nkafu said a campaign to raise awareness on COVID-19 vaccination should be offered to those who are hesitant by reaching out and providing crucial information where they live.

The government denied that it is compelling people to be vaccinated.

It is definitely encouraging the jabs.Only one-half percent of the targeted 12 million people were fully vaccinated as of October 30.

Source: VOA

US pharmaceutical giant Pfizer on Tuesday announced a deal to make its prospective antiviral Covid-19 pill available more cheaply in the world’s least-wealthy countries.

Pfizer will sub-licence production of its promising Paxlovid pill to generic drug manufacturers for supply in 95 low- and middle-income nations covering around 53 percent of the world’s population.

Under the deal struck with the global Medicines Patent Pool (MPP), Pfizer — which also produces one of the most widely-used Covid vaccines with German lab BioNTech — will not receive royalties from the generic manufacturers, making the treatment cheaper.

The agreement is subject to the oral antiviral medication passing ongoing trials and regulatory approval.

The Pfizer drug is to be taken with the HIV medicine ritonavir.

Interim data from ongoing trials demonstrated an 89 percent reduction in the risk of Covid-19-related hospitalisation or death compared to a placebo, in non-hospitalised high-risk adults with Covid-19 within three days of symptom onset, said Pfizer.

Similar results were seen within five days of symptom onset, it added.

The Geneva-based MPP is a United Nations-backed international organisation that works to facilitate the development of medicines for low- and middle-income nations.

If approved, the pill could be on the market in “a matter of months”, MPP policy chief Esteban Burrone told AFP.

Pfizer also said Tuesday  that it was seeking an emergency use authorisation, or EUA, in the US for the Covid pill.

HIV drug mix

Pfizer will forego royalties on sales in all countries covered by the agreement while Covid-19 remains classified as a Public Health Emergency of International Concern by the World Health Organization.

Last month, the WHO maintained the highest level of alert over the spread of the SARS-CoV-2 virus that causes Covid-19.

Paxlovid, or PF-07321332, is an investigational antiviral therapy designed to block the activity of the SARS-CoV-2-3CL protease — an enzyme that the coronavirus needs to replicate.

Taking it together with a low dose of ritonavir helps slow the breakdown of PF-07321332. It therefore remains active in the body for a longer period at a high concentration, to help combat the virus.

The pill could potentially help patients avoid severe illness, which can lead to hospitalisation and death, Pfizer said.

“We believe oral antiviral treatments can play a vital role in reducing the severity of Covid-19 infections, decreasing the strain on our healthcare systems and saving lives,” said Pfizer chairman and chief executive Albert Bourla.

While a multitude of vaccines have been rolled out in the pandemic, the hunt for treatments for those who have already caught the disease has not been as fruitful.

Agreement follows Merck deal

The MPP was founded by Unitaid, which works on innovations to prevent, diagnose and treat major diseases in poorer countries.

“During a pandemic, saving time means saving lives. This agreement could help us to reach more people more quickly as soon as the medicine is approved,” said Unitaid executive director Philippe Duneton.

Potential sublicensees have until December 6 to register an expression of interest.

The announcement comes after the MPP signed a similar voluntary licensing deal with Pfizer’s US rivals Merck & Co last month for its investigational oral antiviral medicine molnupiravir.

Subject to regulatory approval, the deal will help create broad access to molnupiravir in 105 low- and middle-income countries.

Pills are easier to make than vaccines, do not require a cold chain for delivery and can be self-administered by the patient.

In terms of relieving health systems by preventing hospitalisations, “it’s a game changer”, said Burrone.

He said pricing for the Pfizer pill had not yet been set, but said that “in a competitive environment… the prices tend to come down” to a low level.

Doctors Without Borders (MSF) meanwhile suggested it might cost around $700 per Pfizer treatment course, in line with molnupiravir.

The medical charity said it was disheartened by the deal, saying restrictive voluntary licences were no substitute for guaranteed global access to Covid tools to bring the pandemic under control.

Source: AFP

Hundreds of thousands of people suffer from leukemia in all parts of the world, and many ultimately lose their fight against the disease. While there is currently no cure for leukemia, it is possible to treat the cancer to prevent it from coming back.

A biochemistry researcher at the University of Yaounde Medical School in Cameroon’s capital said she developed a plant-based solution to fight leukemia.

“My solution is to make xenografts by administering an aqueous extract of plant bark powder to mice capable of developing tumors,” Francine Tankeu told Anadolu Agency (AA). “We make them leukemic beforehand and then we follow their evolution.”

The next step is to arrange the remedy in a final physical aspect of the drug as it will be used in a patient and according to its compatibility.

“This other step includes several aspects such as toxicological studies to ensure its safety before moving to the human stage (of trials),” said Tankeu.

She noted results on animals show a significant regression of tumor volume after 30 days.

“The survival rate is good, but the test has not yet been performed on a human patient. The steps to be taken before clinical testing, like human trials, are not complete and I don’t have enough funds,” she said.

The idea to use plants came from her daily life, where she noticed a majority of the population uses traditional plant-based medicine for diseases.

“The beneficial effects of Syzygium Guineense, the plant I use, are not negligible because its activity is anti-leukemic. Beyond being used as a spice for local dishes, it is also used for the treatment of certain cancers,” she said.

‘Improved traditional medicine’

She figured if she could establish a scientific basis for the traditional use and formulate an improved traditional medicine, it would be “very useful.”

The methodology is “in tune with African socio-cultural realities” she said.

Tankeu wants to formulate “an improved traditional medicine” and to study the effects of the leafy forest plant when it is administered in conjunction with anti-cancer drugs to see if there would be a synergistic effect or a reduction in side effects from chemotherapy.

She received the Young Talent Award In 2020 from the For Women in Science in Sub-Saharan Africa program at the L’Oreal Foundation and UNESCO.

This prize allowed her to realize her work is “an effective contribution to the problem of cancer,” she said.

But the fight remains “vast, long and far from being won in view of the growing number of patients in the world as well as the obstacles to scientific research,” said Tankeu.

It is “very complicated in my country” for several reasons she told the Turkish news agency.

Notably, the lack of financial avenues, absence of technical platforms and prejudice against female scientists.

She noted that teachers prefer to work with male researchers because of perceptions that family responsibilities of women present obstacles.

In addition, “many children die before they are even put on treatment because the standard of living of the inhabitants is lower than the cost of examinations for an accurate diagnosis,” she said.

The number of cancer cases is increasing annually in Cameroon and diagnosis times are long – more than 60% of patients arrive at an advanced stage and treatment is expensive – according to the Health Ministry.

Tankeu also lamented about erroneous beliefs and perceptions

“It is a real barrier,” she said.

Despite the situation, the young biochemist said she views the future of her solution with “a lot of optimism, especially given the previous results.”

Source: Daily Sabah

The rising number of cases of Covid-19 in Europe is of “grave concern” and the region could see another half a million deaths by early next year, the World Health Organization warned on Thursday.

With 78 million cases in the WHO’s European region—which spans 53 countries and territories and includes several nations in Central Asia—the cumulative toll now exceeded that of South East Asia, the Eastern Mediterranean region, the Western Pacific, and Africa combined, the organisation said.

“We are, once again, at the epicentre,” WHO Europe director Hans Kluge told a press conference.

Kluge noted that the “current pace of transmission across the 53 countries of the European Region is of grave concern”.

According to “one reliable projection” the current trajectory would mean “another half a million Covid-19 deaths” by February, Kluge added.

The increases were observed “across all age groups”,  he said.

Kluge blamed the soaring caseload on “insufficient vaccination coverage” and “the relaxation of public health and social measures”.

Hospital admission rates were higher in countries with lower vaccination rates, he said.

Measures like testing, tracing, physical distancing and the use of face masks were still part of the “arsenal” in fighting the virus.

“We must change our tactics, from reacting to surges of Covid-19, to preventing them from happening in the first place,” Kluge said.

The number of new cases per day has been rising for nearly six consecutive weeks in Europe and the number of new deaths per day has been rising for just over seven consecutive weeks, with about 250,000 cases and 3,600 deaths per day, according to official country data compiled by AFP.

Over the past seven days, Russia has led the rise with 8,162 deaths, followed by Ukraine with 3,819 deaths and Romania with 3,100 deaths, according to the data.

Source: AFP