Imports of aid through southern Gaza completely halted as fresh fighting adds to distribution challenges
mena2 hours ago
As winter approaches, the World Health Organisation on Monday stressed the importance of staying vigilant as cases of Covid and influenza rise in Europe, encouraging more people to get vaccinated.
"This is not a time to relax," Who Europe director Hans Kluge told a press conference.
The 53 countries that make up the Who Europe region, which includes Russia and countries in Central Asia, were once again at the epicentre of the Covid-19 pandeomic, accounting for nearly 60 per cent of new Covid cases worldwide, Kluge said.
At the same time, cases of the seasonal influenza are peaking.
With this new wave of Covid, deaths and admissions to intensive care are not increasing to the same degree as earlier waves, and the Who stressed the link to vaccination campaigns.
"Vaccination remains one of our most effective tools against both flu and Covid-19," Kluge said, urging those eligible to get jabs for both the influenza and booster shot for Covid-19 as soon as possible.
On Monday, the Who also marked World Polio day, a disease which affects mostly the very young and causes paralysis, and has been virtually wiped out in the western world.
A mutated variant of the polio virus derived from oral polio vaccines has however recently been detected in the UK, Ukraine, Israel and the US.
Less virulent than the natural virus, this variant can nevertheless cause severe symptoms, such as limb paralysis in unvaccinated patients.
While rare, the variant has become more common in recent years due to low vaccination rates in some communities.
"I think it's important that we understand that anywhere in the globe if we left people behind, the polio virus is a very good barometer to tell us Who are they," Who Europe expert Siddhartha Datta told reporters.
Datta explained that regardless of the region, the populations affected were those "underserved," meaning that they for different reasons had not received enough vaccines to reach the 95 per cent coverage target
No cases of the natural polio virus have been reported in Europe for more than 20 years.
"This is not something we can take for granted," Kluge said.
In the region as a whole, coverage with the third dose of the polio vaccine fell by one per cent between 2019 and 2020. By 2021, only 25 of the 53 countries had achieved 95 per cent polio vaccine coverage.
ALSO READ:
Imports of aid through southern Gaza completely halted as fresh fighting adds to distribution challenges
mena2 hours ago
The Spice Board of India has taken steps to ensure the safety and quality of Indian spice exports to these regions
asia2 hours ago
Compound annual growth rate of the Mena e-commerce industry has grown by 25% from 2018 until 2023
business3 hours ago
His on-field earnings amounted to $200 million while his off-field earnings were $60 million thanks to sponsorship deals
football3 hours ago
On April 19, the building suffered damages after residents felt a jerk and were evacuated by authorities
uae3 hours ago
Competition with confirmed field of more than 800 to be held at Al Nasr Club Dubai from May 17-19
sports3 hours ago
Netanyahu says ground assault on Rafah is vital to the mission of destroying Hamas to prevent any repetition of the October 7 attack
mena3 hours ago
Sheikh Mohammed said that the leaders also discussed topics to consolidate Arab cooperation in common economic, political and social fields
uae3 hours ago