Health & Well Being

US Accused of COVID-19 'Travel Apartheid'

By Lisa Vives, Global Information Network

NEW YORK (IDN) — Harsh criticism continues to be heard from Africans and their leaders against UK and U.S. travel restrictions allegedly to control the spread of the Omicron Covid-19 variant—now showing up in several U.S. states.

"What is expected is a global approach, not selective," Sarafa Tunji Isola, Nigeria's high commissioner to the UK, told the BBC.

He also echoed comments made by the UN's chief, who described restrictions imposed on some southern African countries as "travel apartheid.”

: Global Information Network; SUSTAINABILITY; Health & Well Being; 06 December 2021

Call for A New Deal for Development to Bridge Vaccine Divide

By Jaya Ramachandaran

PARIS (IDN) — Ministers and high-level representatives from 55 developed and developing countries have proposed a New Deal for Development and stressed the urgency of bridging the vaccine divide and strengthening financing capacities in developing economies. They have called for greater international support for developing countries on the occasion of the Seventh High-level Meeting of the OECD Development Centre, under the heading “Accelerating a just recovery for all” on December 6.

: Jaya Ramachandran; SUSTAINABILITY; Health & Well Being; 06 December 2021

Photo: South Africa President Cyril Ramaphosa. Source: Mail & Guardian

African Countries Rage at New Travel Bans by Vaccine Hoarding Countries

By Lisa Vives, Global Information Network

NEW YORK | CAPE TOWN (IDN) — Southern African countries are facing new travel restrictions after the discovery of a handful of coronavirus variants, first found in Botswana. For some African leaders, it’s the classic case of shutting the stable door after the horse has bolted.

“Despite the repeated warnings of health leaders,” declared former British prime minister Gordon Brown, “our failure to put vaccines into the arms of people in the developing world is now coming back to haunt us. We were forewarned—and yet here we are.”

: Global Information Network; SUSTAINABILITY; Health & Well Being; 29 November 2021

The Outbreak of Omicron: Scientists and Leaders Call for Collaboration with Africa

By Reinhard Jacobsen

BRUSSELS (IDN) — International scientists and leaders have urged a "global response of collaboration with Africa on COVID-19 following Omicron outbreak". Over a hundred academics and leaders from Europe, Africa, the US among others say in a joint letter to the European Commission and the World Health Organization (WHO) that they are "concerned with the lack of action for vaccination in Africa and solidarity with Africa".

There is no way that isolation of Africa could be the solution to this problem, says the letter. "We ask that the response is based on science."

: Reinhard Jacobsen; SUSTAINABILITY; Health & Well Being; 29 November 2021

Photo: U.S. Ambassador to Mozambique Dennis W. Hearne with Mozambique Health Minister Armindo Tiago and COVAX Initiative partners. Credit: U.S. Embassy in Maputo, Mozambique

Argentina, United States Donate Vaccines to Mozambique

By Kester Kenn Klomegah

MOSCOW l MAPUTO (IDN) — The United States and Argentina Embassies in Maputo have donated large quantities of vaccines to the Government of the Republic of Mozambique. As their tremendous and recognizable contributions to help fight the spread of coronavirus, the United States offered 840,000 doses of the Johnson & Johnson vaccines while Argentina gave 450,000 doses of the AstraZeneca.

: Kester Kenn Klomegah; SUSTAINABILITY; Health & Well Being; 28 November 2021

Photo: Chinatown in Honiara, with some buildings burning. Credit: Georgina Kekea, NZ Herald

Solomon Islands: Geo-Political Battles Engulf the Pacific as Australia Sends Troops to Honiara

By Kalinga Seneviratne

SYDNEY (IDN) — The first batch of Australian Federal Police (AFP) arrived in the Solomon Islands capital Honiara on November 26 to help quell rioting, after the Prime Minister Manasseh Sogavare requested Australia's help under a security treaty the country signed with Canberra in 2017.

Australian troops are back in the independent South Pacific Island state, four years after an Australian-led military mission to Solomon Islands ended its 13 year “peace-keeping” operation in the country to put down an ethnic rebellion then.

: Kalinga Seneviratne; THE WORLD; Asia-Pacific; 26 November 2021

Photo credit: World Access to Higher Education Days.

Universities Need to Be More Accessible Instead of a Privilege

By Kalinga Seneviratne

SYDNEY (IDN) — If we are going to create a better world in the post-pandemic era higher education (HE) systems need to be more flexible and accessible, and governments need to be made to understand that funding the public university sector is essential to creating more equitable and socially stable societies. This is the message that came out clearly from the World Access to Higher Education Day (WAHED)—a day-long virtual conference coordinated from London and held on November 17 titled “Who will go to University in 2030?”.

: Kalinga Seneviratne; SUSTAINABILITY; Quality Education; 24 November 2021

Killer Tobacco Losing Ground, But Millions Still Threatened

By Jamshed Baruah

GENEVA (IDN) — Despite the COVID-19 pandemic creating havoc worldwide, the World Health Organization (WHO) has good news in public health. Its Global Tobacco Epidemic 2021 report says progress is being made in achieving the United Nations Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 3: to "ensure healthy lives and promote well-being for all at all ages".

: Jamshed Baruah; SUSTAINABILITY; Health & Well Being; 21 November 2021

The Global Pandemic Pushing Africa into A Severe Job Crisis

By Johann Ivanov*

ACCRA (IDN) — Africa is facing a severe employment crisis. But if nothing is done to find a solution, it could get much worse in the not-too-distant future, as World Bank projections from 2017 show: By 2035, Africa’s working age population will expand by 450 million. At the same time, however, only 100 million jobs are expected be created in the same period. And that was before the Covid-19 pandemic hit: Africa was severely affected and its economies experienced a contraction by 2 per cent in 2020. UNECA estimates that almost 30 million Africans have been pushed below the extreme poverty line.

: Africa & ME Editor; SUSTAINABILITY; Poverty; 20 November 2021

Africa Faces A “Perfect Storm” Due to Under-Investment in Children

By Ronald Joshua

ADDIS ABABA (IDN) — Child deprivation “has a lasting and detrimental impact on nations’ political stability, prosperity and sustainable development”, warns a new report. Titled The Economic Case for Investing in Children in Africa: Investing in our Common Future, the report was launched on November 18 at a pan-African virtual event involving representatives from African governments, the UN, World Bank, civil society organisations, human rights activists and child policy experts.