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Health needs from humanitarian emergencies at an all-time high

 WHO and partners need US$ 2.2 billion to provide lifesaving health services to more than 79 million people in more than 30 countries facing protracted emergencies this year, according to WHO’s Humanitarian Response Plans 2016 launched today.

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White House to transfer Ebola funds to combat Zika virus

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Obama administration is to announce Wednesday it will transfer leftover money from the largely successful fight against Ebola to combat the growing threat of the Zika virus, congressional officials say.

Roughly 75 percent of the $600 million or so would be devoted to the Centers for Disease Control, which is focused on research and development of anti-Zika vaccines, treating those infected with the virus and combating the mosquitoes that spread it. The rest would go to foreign aid accounts to fight the virus overseas.

The officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to publicly discuss the matter before the White House announcement.

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SPEECH BY HIS EXCELLENCY DR. ERNEST BAI KOROMA ON THE OCCASION OF THE FORMAL LAUNCHING OF THE 2015 POPULATION AND HOUSING CENSUS PROVISIONAL RESULTS ON MARCH 31ST 2016

 

 

Salutation:

Distinguished ladies and gentlemen,

From the 5th – 18th December, 2015, we carried out the officialcountingof ournation'spopulation and the compilation  of economic, social and otherdata; data that would inform the formulation ofdevelopmentpoliciesand plans; data that would guide the  demarcation of constituenciesforelections.

Over 16,000 field workers were deployed across the country for this exercise. A huge awareness campaign was embarked upon to engender public participation.

But Census is not just about counting our population or collecting different types of data. It is a process that also involves the analysis and evaluation of the data so collected and, of course, the publication and dissemination of the final figures and facts about the country’s demographic, social and economic realities.

We have come a long way in this journey, in providing the baseline data that will continue to serve as a reference point for our development trajectories. Today’s launch of the provisional result of the December 2015 population and housing census is a continuation of that long journey, it is part of the process of publication and dissemination.

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Foreign nationals from Ebola-affected countries can stay 6 more months

The Obama administration said Tuesday it will allow foreign nationals from Ebola-affected countries in West Africa to stay in the U.S. for another six months, even though global health officials said the outbreak that killed 11,000 people abroad is officially over.

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How the outbreak and WHO's response unfolded January 2016

 How the outbreak and WHO's response unfolded

 

January 2016

WHO's response to the Ebola virus disease outbreak in West Africa had 3 phases. Phase 1 focused on rapid scale-up of the response; phase 2 focused on increasing capacities, phase 3 focused on interrupting all remaining chains of Ebola transmission, and responding to the consequences of residual risks.

WHO
Map of Ebola cases in West Africa from January 2014 to December 2015.
 

Phase 1: Rapid scale-up of the response

 

In Phase 1 (August – December 2014), WHO and its partners focused on rapid scale-up of the response. This included:

  • Increasing the number of Ebola treatment centres and patient beds.
  • Rapidly hiring and training teams in safe and dignified burials.
  • Strengthening social mobilization capacities.

Work in these areas began in August 2014, as the outbreak exploded, and continued through the end of December. During this period, the UN Mission for Ebola Emergency Response (UNMEER) was launched.

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Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone "effectively managing" Ebola flare-ups

Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone "effectively managing" Ebola flare-ups

 

Health authorities from Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone and representatives of partner organizations have expressed confidence in the capacity of the 3 Ebola-impacted countries to effectively manage residual risks of new Ebola infections—pointing to the rapid government-led containment of recent flare-ups of the disease.

Dr Abou Beckr Gaye, WHO Representative, Guinea (left) Dr Sakoba Keita, Ebola Response National Coordinator, Guinea (center) Dr Bruce Aylward, WHO Executive Director ai, Outbreaks and Health Emergencies (right)
WHO/M. Winkler

Meeting in Conakry

 

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The Geopolitics of Cheap Oil

             

THE WASHINGTON POST VIA GETTY IMAGES

huffingtonpost.com - by John Feffer - January 7, 2016

The market was supposed to save the planet.

That, at least, was the argument of many economists grappling with the problem of climate change. As fossil fuels became scarcer, they pointed out, the price of oil and natural gas would go up. And then other options, like solar and wind, would become cheaper, particularly as investment flowed into that sector and drove down the cost of new technologies.

And voila: The invisible hand would gradually turn down the global thermostat.

It’s a ridiculous argument.

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The ‘Gene Drive’ That Builds a Malaria-Proof Mosquito

Anopheles stephensi Mosquito (female). David Scharf/Corbis

Image: Anopheles stephensi Mosquito (female). David Scharf/Corbis

wired.com - November 24th, 2015 - Sarah Zhang

On Monday, scientists announced they could cheat the laws of evolution: They had devised a way to force a gene that kills malaria parasites to spread through a whole population of mosquitoes that normally carry the parasite—at least in a lab. No malaria in mosquitoes means, hypothetically, no malaria in people, either. All this is possible thanks to a controversial new technology known as a gene drive.

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Climate Scientists Used to Just Get Angry. Now They’re Taking Action

Climate talks in Paris 2015. Christophe Morin/Bloomberg /Getty Images

Image: Climate talks in Paris 2015. Christophe Morin/Bloomberg /Getty Images

wired.com - December 4th, 2015 - Lizzie Wade

Ken Caldeira liked plenty of things about working in finance in the early 1980s. He had studied applied science as an undergrad, and developing software on Wall Street kept his problem-solving skills sharp. But however interesting he found the day-to-day work, Caldeira couldn’t escape the thought that in the grand scheme of things, all he was really doing was “helping rich people get a little richer.”

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What's The Scariest Halloween Costume Of Them All?

 A mosquito lurks, eager to score some Halloween candy. Ben de la Cruz/NPR
Image: A mosquito lurks, eager to score some Halloween candy. Ben de la Cruz/NPR
 
npr.org - October 29th 2015 - Susan Brink
 
Who's the scariest animal of them all?

That's a good question to ponder as Halloween looms. Because everybody loves a good scary animal costume.

 
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