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US President Donald Trump at a meeting of the Security Council. Credit: United Nations

By Thalif Deen
UNITED NATIONS, Jan 8 2021 (IPS)

The storming of Capitol Hill in Washington DC by an unruly mob is reminiscent of an insurrection in a “banana republic” –as hilariously portrayed in the 1971 Woody Allen comedy “Bananas” spoofing a revolt in a fictional Latin American country.

But judged by the disastrous four-year administration of President Trump such a description is an insult to all banana republics.

Trump’s presidency has been characterized by misgovernment, corruption, lies, xenophobia, nepotism, arrogance, and ultimately, contempt for the country’s democratic electoral process.

For long, America has been the world’s self-appointed cop ousting dictatorships and overthrowing authoritarian regimes (read: Iraq, Libya and Afghanistan), upholding human rights and preaching peace – even while selling millions of dollars in weapons to conflict-ridden countries.

As the New York Times pointed out what unfolded in Washington DC, however, was “one of the most severe intrusions of the Capitol” since the British invasion during the war of 1812 when it was burnt down.

Senator Mitt Romney, a Republican who was a longtime critic of Trump inside the bowels of his own political party, expressed his denunciation in a single sentence: “What happened here today was an insurrection incited by the President of the United States.”

As Cable News Network (CNN) pointed out, a growing number of Republican leaders and Cabinet officials believe Trump should be removed from office before President-elect Joe Biden’s January 20 inauguration, even if it means invoking the 25th Amendment or disqualifying Trump from ever holding office again.

The 25th Amendment to the US constitution provides procedures for replacing a president or vice president in the event of death, removal, resignation or incapacitation.

Stephen Zunes, Professor of Politics at the University of San Francisco, told IPS the shocking spectacle from the mob attack on the seat of American government with the apparent encouragement of the president, along with efforts by some Republican members of Congress to block the certification of the Electoral College, demonstrates that a significant faction of the conservative movement in the United States has become explicitly anti-democratic.

“While Wednesday’s events will likely backfire politically, it serves a warning that there are real authoritarian tendencies in this country led by people who are willing to use violence to seize power.”

Despite clear signs that there would be a serious attempt to storm the Capitol, security was minimal and the Capitol Police were quickly overrun, he added.

This contrasts with the massive and intimidating troop presence around the Capitol and other government buildings during the largely nonviolent protests for racial justice this past spring despite the absence of any such realistic threats.

This raises serious issues regarding racism and ideological biases in policy and related security measures in Washington, said Zunes.

He pointed out that the shock and dismay around Trump’s support for a de facto coup and his overall authoritarian tendencies are well-founded.

“At the same time, it must be acknowledged that presidential administrations and Congressional leaders of both parties have long supported autocratic regimes and occupation armies elsewhere through arms transfers and other security assistance. Indeed, the United States is the world’s number one backer of such anti-democratic governments”.

Support for democracy, he argued, must not stop at the water’s edge. “If Americans are serious about defending democratic institutions, we must apply such principles to our foreign policy as well.”

The demonstrators on Capitol Hill have been described mostly as right-wing extremists and white supremacists who are ardent supporters of Trump. At least four died in the melee.

Meanwhile, some of the US allies in Europe, including France, Germany and UK have expressed shock and revulsion at the insurrection in one of the world’s “model democracies”.

Dr. Alon Ben-Meir, professor of international relations at the Center for Global Affairs at New York University (NYU), told IPS that Wednesday, January 6, is a day that will live on in infamy; a day in which the president of the United States incited a mob to storm the nation’s capital, in which Trump perpetuated lies and falsehoods about the election to justify his betrayal of the country, the Constitution, his office, and the very foundations of this democratic republic.

He said the world watched in horror as the far-right mob managed to breach security and enter the Capitol building successfully. Clearly, the violent protestors were not repelled with adequate force or they would never had made their way in.

“Had the mob consisted of left-wing agitators instead, of black and brown bodies rather than white bodies, the news would be quite different — indeed, it is more than likely that had that been the case, the protesters would never had made it inside at all, let alone allowed to remain there for over four hours”.

What is perhaps most disgraceful, over and above Trump’s cynical and self-serving incitement, is his silence while the mob roamed through the Capitol, while senators and representatives hid themselves away until it was safe to return to complete the business of the day, said Ben-Meir.

“When he finally did make a statement, it was anything but a full-throated condemnation of the chaos and violence that had consumed the nation’s temple of democracy. Rather he told the rioters to return home, and added “We love you” – after reiterating his false claim that the election was stolen”.

In a word, said Ben-Meir, Trump sought to justify the insurrectionists, and the reason for that is plain: he wants to sow as much violence and discord as he possibly can between now and the inauguration.

That way he can point to the civil unrest and say “see, that is what happens when you steal an election.” Never mind that it has only been Trump and his fringe followers who have sought to steal an election, and to the credit of this still great nation, failed completely and utterly, he declared.

UN Spokesman Stephane Dujarric said the Secretary-General “is saddened by the events at the US Capitol in Washington, D.C., on Wednesday.”

In such circumstances, he said, “it is important that political leaders impress on their followers the need to refrain from violence, as well as to respect democratic processes and the rule of law. “

In a statement from Geneva, UN Human Rights Commissioner Michelle Bachelet said: “We are deeply troubled by Wednesday’s attack on the US Capitol, which demonstrated clearly the destructive impact of sustained, deliberate distortion of facts, and incitement to violence and hatred by political leaders”.

She said allegations of electoral fraud have been invoked to try to undermine the right to political participation. We are encouraged to see that the process has continued in spite of serious attempts to disrupt it.

“We call on leaders from across the political spectrum, including the President of the United States, to disavow false and dangerous narratives, and encourage their supporters to do so as well,” she added.

“We note with dismay the serious threats and destruction of property faced by media professionals yesterday. We support calls from many quarters for a thorough investigation into Wednesday’s events,” declared Bachelet

In a summing up, Ben-Meir said Trump used the power of his office to dismantle everything that President Obama has achieved, and he stopped short of nothing to delegitimize President-elect Biden’s victory.

“All I can say is eat your heart out, Mr. Trump. Obama left the presidency after serving two terms with honor and dignity and with the Nobel Peace Prize under his belt. And Trump will leave his office as an impeached one-term president who will live in infamy.”

The Democratic leadership, with the few Republicans who stood for the rule of law and did not submit to Trump’s whims, should immediately push for either impeachment or the invocation of the 25th Amendment to oust Trump from his office and bar him from ever holding a formal position again, he declared.

  

The post Storming of Capitol Hill Reminiscent of a Banana Republic appeared first on Inter Press Service.

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By External Source
Jan 7 2021 (IPS)

Supporters of President Donald Trump, following his encouragement, stormed the US Capitol building on Jan. 6, disrupting the certification of Joe Biden’s election victory. Waving Trump banners, hundreds of people broke through barricades and smashed windows to enter the building where Congress convenes. One rioter died and several police officers were hospitalized in the clash. Congress went on lockdown.

While violent and shocking, what happened on Jan. 6 wasn’t a coup.

This Trumpist insurrection was election violence, much like the election violence that plagues many fragile democracies.

 

What is a coup?

While coups do not have a single definition, researchers who study them – like ourselves – agree on the key attributes of what academics call a “coup event.”

Coup experts Jonathan Powell and Clayton Thyne define a coup d’etat as “an overt attempt by the military or other elites within the state apparatus to unseat the sitting head of state using unconstitutional means.”

The U.S. didn’t have a coup, but this Trump-encouraged insurrection is likely to send the country down a politically and socially turbulent road

Essentially, three parameters are used to judge whether an insurrection is a coup event:

1) Are the perpetrators agents of the state, such as military officials or rogue governmental officials?

2) Is the target of the insurrection the chief executive of the government?

3) Do the plotters use illegal and unconstitutional methods to seize executive power?

 

Coups and coup attempts

A successful coup occurred in Egypt on July 3, 2013, when army chief Abdel Fattah al-Sisi forcefully removed the country’s unpopular president, Mohamed Morsi. Morsi, Egypt’s first democratically elected leader, had recently overseen the writing of a new constitution. Al-Sisi suspended that, too. This qualifies as a coup because al-Sisi seized power illegally and introduced his own rule of law in the ashes of the elected government.

Coups don’t always succeed in overthrowing the government.

In 2016, members of the Turkish military attempted to remove Turkey’s strongman president, Reçep Erdogan, from power. Soldiers seized key areas in Ankara, the capital, and Istanbul, including the Bosphorus Bridge and two airports. But the coup lacked coordination and widespread support, and it failed quickly after President Erdogan called on his supporters to confront the plotters. Erdogan remains in power today.

 

What happened at the US Capitol?

The uprising at the Capitol building does not meet all three criteria of a coup.

Trump’s rioting supporters targeted a branch of executive authority – Congress – and they did so illegally, through trespassing and property destruction. Categories #2 and #3, check.

As for category #1, the rioters appeared to be civilians operating of their own volition, not state actors. President Trump did incite his followers to march on the Capitol building less than an hour before the crowd invaded the grounds, insisting the election had been stolen and saying “We will not take it anymore.” This comes after months of spreading unfounded electoral lies and conspiracies that created a perception of government malfeasance in the mind of many Trump supporters.

Whether the president’s motivation in inflaming the anger of his supporters was to assault Congress is not clear, and he tepidly told them to go home as the violence escalated. For now it seems the riot in Washington, D.C., was enacted without the approval, aid or active leadership of government actors like the military, police or sympathetic GOP officials.

American political elites are hardly blameless, though.

By spreading conspiracy theories about election fraud, numerous Republican senators, including Josh Hawley and Ted Cruz, created the conditions for political violence in the United States, and specifically electoral-related violence.

Academics have documented that contentious political rhetoric fuels the risk of election-related violence. Elections are high-stakes; they represent a transfer of political power. When government officials demean and discredit democratic institutions as a simmering political conflict is underway, contested elections can trigger political violence and mob rule.

 

So what did happen?

The shocking events of Jan. 6 were political violence of the sort that too often mars elections in young or unstable democracies.

Bangladeshi elections suffer from perennial mob violence and political insurrections due to years of government violence and opposition anger. Its 2015 and 2018 elections looked more like war zones than democratic transitions.

In Cameroon, armed dissidents perpetrated violence in the 2020 election, targeting government buildings, opposition figures and innocent bystanders alike. Their aim was to delegitimize the vote in response to sectarian violence and government overreach.

The United States’ electoral violence differs in cause and context from that seen in Bangladesh and Cameroon, but the action was similar. The U.S. didn’t have a coup, but this Trump-encouraged insurrection is likely to send the country down a politically and socially turbulent road.

 

Clayton Besaw, Research Affiliate and Senior Analyst, University of Central Florida and Matthew Frank, Master’s student, International Security, University of Denver

This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.

The post Was It a Coup? No, But Siege on US Capitol Was the Election Violence of a Fragile Democracy appeared first on Inter Press Service.

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By Sudip Ranjan Basu
BANGKOK, Thailand, Jan 7 2021 (IPS)

As the people of Kiribati, Samoa and Tonga gear up as the first nations to welcome 2021, communities around the Asia-Pacific region and beyond look forward to bidding farewell to the most tumultuous year in recent decades.

2020 brought unparalleled human suffering that continued to devastatingly impact on the daily lives of people across all corners of the region. With the emergency authorization and distribution of COVID-19 vaccines, people are hoping for a ‘new normal’ recovery from the summer of 2021 onwards.

Sudip Ranjan Basu

Yet, over the past year, the health crisis has produced a synchronized economic downturn that resulted in technical recession episodes in the majority of countries, along with heightened vulnerability of the most marginalized groups.

Commentators and experts are making every effort to better diagnose the underlying symptoms and root causes of fault lines in our societies, which are leading to widespread discrimination, distress and destitution. Simply put, economic growth paradigms and development models, strategic policymaking guidelines and prioritization of implementation roadmaps are all at a variety of inflection points.

Faced with multiple challenges and uncertainties, policymakers are consulting and learning from past policy experiences that could provide practical guidance to the art of policymaking, especially in times of multifaceted crises. Not surprisingly, policymaking continues to remain the crucial tool in building resilience in response to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Enlarging people’s choices

Since the early days of the Keynesian revolution in the 1930s, decision-making has emphasized the importance of the equilibrium values of output and employment through well-coordinated and sequenced policies. However, the differential outcomes in GDP growth and other development yardsticks, including health and education have led to the concept of going beyond GDP, with a broader and deeper focus on socio-economic well-being, quality of life, and standard of living dimensions.

In the post-second world war rebuilding era, the inadequacy of a trickle-down approach shifted the focus on poverty alleviation, along with non-economic factors such as governance, decentralization, and trans-boundary cooperation, when economic globalization flourished. In fact, through the development decades of the 1960s to the 1990s, policymaking focused on enlarging people’s choices and capabilities, not only on the expansion of income and wealth.

Rediscovering development vision

In the 2000 autumn gathering at the UN Headquarters in New York, world leaders established the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), a set of clear time-bound objectives to achieve eight goals, and commit to substantial reductions in income poverty and other human development benchmarks through sustained economic growth by 2015.

From 2000 to 2015, the Asia-Pacific region made remarkable progress to reduce extreme poverty and other development gaps through calibrated policies to bolster trade openness and regional value chains; industry and technology-led structural transformation; policy coordination on regional public goods, and institution-driven subregional partnerships. Although communities were significantly impacted by the Great Recession of 2007/2008 and the Asian Financial Crisis of 1997/1998.

Additionally, in this period of great convergence, policymaking focused on translating productive investment into building skills development in developing and least developed countries, pushing the envelope of ‘policy space’ in the broader context of trade and finance-technology interlinkages with human development. The shifting of the development paradigm underscored the importance of a robust and conducive international development framework, including expanding opportunities for South-South cooperation. Yet, the MDGs needed another push towards more sustainable development for all.

Integrating sustainability

In a landmark gathering of world leaders in September 2015 at the UN, the adoption of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development offered a new lease of life to an integrated approach to development thinking – synergizing the social, economic and environmental pillars of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) for transforming our world.

This formulation of ideas helped drive development practice and encouraged forward-looking policymaking to address new and emerging challenges and opportunities across beliefs, ideologies and institutional foundations.

Though at the regional level—a variety of development outcomes stimulated public discourse on diversity, trust and governance—progress towards the SDGs has remained largely uneven. It is, however, not hard to argue that the 2030 Agenda has inspired inclusive development to intersect with structural transformation, and accelerated energy transition and technology-driven industrialization to offer lasting solutions to the growing climate emergencies.

Building back better

Today, over 4.6 billion people of the Asia-Pacific region are confronting hardship and hindrance due to the COVID-19 pandemic. There are good reasons to believe that the weak health care systems, lack of social protection mechanisms, growing number of informal sector workers, limited diversification, and increased threats of climate change are opening up possibilities of a multi-speed recovery outlook in 2021 and beyond.

As communities gather steam to building back better, governments are recognizing the vital role of reimagining public policymaking to fit within the principle of value-based cooperation and multilateralism. Raising the ambitions of SDGs-centred policymaking is poised to define success in the next Decade of Action for all.

Sudip Ranjan Basu is Programme Officer (Partnerships), Office of the Executive Secretary, United Nations Economic ans Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP)

 

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A lockdown closer home. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres walking the empty corridors of the UN Secretariat building in New York in 2020. Credit: United Nations

By Darini Rajasingham-Senanayake
COLOMBO, Sri Lanka, Jan 7 2021 (IPS)

The currently available Covid-19 vaccines have been authorized for ‘emergency use ‘in Europe and North America. This is due to an apparent spike in Covid-19 flu cases in the northern hemisphere as winter advances. Highly advertised vaccines are being produced and rolled out at ‘warped speed’ by powerful pharmaceutical and bio-technology companies headquartered in Euro-America although their efficacy including how long their immunity lasts is not clear.

Global media and news channels like Al Jazeera, BBC, CNN and India’s NDTV have been marketing vaccines to the world with images of Prime Ministers, Vice President elects, and a Crown Prince in the Middle East taking the jab live on television– seemingly to encourage vaccine skeptics. Vaccine nationalism is growing with is intense competition among Pharmaceutical Corporations and countries that manufacture vaccines and their local partners.

However, the country-specific quantitative and qualitative data now available for many hot and humid tropical South East Asian and African countries for the year 2020, indicate that there is NO Covid-19 emergency in a vast majority of countries in the Global South, and hence little need to rush to buy vaccines.

In Laos, Cambodia, Thailand, Vietnam, Sri Lanka and Tanzania there is a very low incidence of Covid-19 mortality when compared to average annual rates of influenza related deaths.1 In Cambodia and Laos there was not a single Covid-19 death in 2020, while Vietnam had 34 deaths and Thailand a country of 70 million there were 26 deaths due to the virus in the year 2020 according to the Johns Hopkins University official Covid-19 Data base.

Nor have doctors, nurses, PHIs, frontline health workers in quarantine centers lost lives in these Southeast Asian countries, indicating low severity of the disease when compared to Euro-America where lockdowns and curfews did not limit high mortality rates. Nor have industrial, manufacturing or agriculture sector workers died in numbers due to Covid-19 in Southeast Asian countries. Nor were hospitals and intensive care units (ICU), overwhelmed in these countries, where there have been fewer patients in hospitals in 2020 than previous years.

While the Covid-19 virus has spread to all parts of the Global South, it clearly has far less traction in tropical countries than in the so-called ‘first world’ (Euro-America): In Sri Lanka, a country of 22 million there were 204 Covid-19 comorbidities deaths recorded with 35,300 Covid-19 positive tests, although in a normal year between 4,000 and 6000 people die of influenza co-morbidities

The luxury 14 floor Asiri Central Hospital in the capital Colombo was closed for weeks during the first Covid-19 lockdown. In India according to WHO data published in 2018, Influenza and Pneumonia Deaths reached 616,531 or 6.99% of total deaths, while lung Disease Deaths were 819,570 or 9.30% of total deaths in 2018, but there were fewer than 150,000 Covid-19 deaths in India in 2020. 2

Given significant differences in health infrastructure between tropical countries in Global South and Euro-America, the 2020 qualitative and quantitative data clearly shows that Covid-19 is mild in the Global South, since the ‘metric that matters’ to determine the severity of an illness and make effective, targeted policy, national policy is the infection fatality rate (IFC).

However, economically, socially and politically devastating curfews, lockdowns and isolation policies were introduced in these tropical countries on the ‘advice’ of the WHO, resulting in fear, isolation, stigmatization of patients living in crowded and poor neighborhoods, and increasing poverty and inequality.

Many low income and poor countries fell into bigger debt traps and Governments were urged to sell off strategic assets while giving ‘tax relief’ to various international corporations, investors and airlines.

Low Severity of virus but a deadly policy response

The relatively low severity of Covid-19 flu in tropical Asian and African countries compared to Euro-America where the disease is severe is arguably due to several interrelated, region and country-specific contextual factors such as year round hot and humid tropical weather (above 20 degrees Celsius), that degrades the virus and its transmission; more or less universal BCG vaccination that confers innate and trained immunity against respiratory illnesses in tropical countries; national health infrastructure including BCG monitoring; and local diet and food habits.

In the temperate regions of the industrialized world, larger volumes of processed food are consumed and non-communicable diseases that constitute the co-morbidities profile for Covid-19 are more widespread than in tropical countries, especially those where rice is a staple food.

The WHO appears to have used questionable epidemiology models, metrics and as several scientists have showed flawed PCR tests that inflate the numbers and create fear psychosis while recommending lockdown in countries in the Global South rather than use country-specific data and the tried and tested Infection Fatality Rate (IFR). The WHO’s Covid-19 global pandemic narrative has been crafted on the Case Fatality Rate (CFR), rather than the IFR which is much less by orders of magnitude as the authors of the Great Barrington Declaration note.

Treat Covid 19 like a health issue and not a disaster, wrote Jay Battacharya and Sanjiv Agarwal, in July 2020. 3 Many international scientists have exposed the fact that high numbers of false positive PCR tests account for high rates of supposedly asymptomatic cases and question the Covid-19 data presented by the WHO and the Johns Hopkins University (JHU) data base.

In India highly flawed PCR tests gave up to 80 per cent false positives and a community survey was abandoned 4 Sri Lanka and many other impoverished countries in the South have been locked down and economically devastated based on false positive tests and a global media narrative that exaggerated the number of Covid-19 cases. This is in a nutshell is the Covid-19 scam.

‘Test, test and trace’ using flawed tests has been the mantra for a global policy of economically, socially and politically devastating lockdowns and isolation, implemented by government and military in many countries. However, these policies were not based on country specific, quantitative and qualitative Covid-19 data analysis and were counter-productive to the mental and physical health and well-being of the population.

In many countries in Southeast Asia, constantly shifting announcements of Covid-19 cases without context or comparison with new lockdowns keeps up the fear psychosis, confuses workers who worry about their and their family’s safety if they return to work. Constant uncertainty and unavailability of public transport has devastated economies, social and political activity, while distracting from analysis of the relevant data.

Hunger Virus: The deadly policy response in the Global South

It is not Covid-19 virus, but the Covid-19 infodemic, as well as, WHO-led international policy that has triggered a deep economic, social and political crisis in the Global South at this time. The call for lockdowns, curfews and stoppage of public transport systems, often implemented by militaries based on the “Global pandemic” narrative and infodemic of Covid-19 infection figures form the John’s Hopkins University data base with contradictory messages resulted in creation of Covid-19 fear psychosis and anxiety in many tropical countries where the Corona virus is mild. As a result, millions have not been able to go to work and have lost jobs and livelihoods in countries like Sri Lanka and Thailand.

As OXFAM’s ’Hunger Virus” Report noted: COVID-19 is deepening the hunger crisis in the world’s hunger hotspots and creating new epicentres of hunger across the globe. By the end of the year 12,000 people per day could die from hunger linked to COVID-19, potentially more than will die from the disease itself.

The pandemic is the final straw for millions of people already struggling with the impacts of conflict, climate change, inequality and a broken food system that has impoverished millions of food producers and workers.

The Covid-19 narrative and WHO led global policy response has increased poverty and inequality across the world and widened disparities between the Global South and north, while eroding democratic space and practices, and militarizing public life and health systems: In Sri Lanka a punishing military curfew with just 4-hours prior notice was imposed in March 2020, after which the WHO head, Tederos, called the President of Sri Lanka to congratulate him. This same policy was implemented in India a few weeks later in India, where millions of migrant workers lost jobs and many died walking hundreds of miles to get home.

Meanwhile, as OXFAM noted “those at the top are continuing to make profits: eight of the biggest food and drink companies paid out over $18 billion to shareholders since January even as the pandemic was spreading across the globe – ten times more than has been requested in the UN COVID-19 appeal to stop people going hungry.” 56 new billionaires were created in 2020.

Covid-19 reveals a deep crisis in the International Aid and Governance System

Economically, socially and politically devastating lockdowns in 2020 have wiped out development and poverty reduction gains in some of the poorest countries in the world where Covid-19 is demonstrably milder than seasonal flu. Meanwhile, all the plastic and sanitary sprays and disposable masks further contribute to the global plastic garbage and toxicity environmental crisis.

Fundamental questions arise about the integrity of data, analysis and policy “advice’ provided by WHO, the John’s Hopkins University Covid-19 Global Data base and other UN agencies. It is increasingly apparent that many of the WHO’s recommendations and policy response on Covid-19 has marginalized data, perspectives and voices from the Global South.

As Debapriya Bhattacharya and Sara Khan noted in a recent paper: “the narrative on the post-COVID world seems to be once again characterised by the usual dearth of inputs from the global South. “Even though it has been accepted time and again that actors from the Global South will be critical in shaping the emerging international development landscape, gatekeepers are yet to come out of their comfort zones and make credible space for more Southern perspectives and initiatives. The current discourse continues to have a top-down view of issues that demand more local level contextualisation and substantiation…”. 5

The international development policy response to Covid-19 in the global south has exposed a deep crisis in the UN led international Development Aid system dominated by OECD DAC countries and continuing structures of colonial domination in the UN system. The deliberately hyped “global pandemic” media narrative coupled with the WHO’s and JHU’s daily ‘infodemic’ of Covid-19 numbers of infections, has distracted from the metrics that matter to determine the severity of a disease in a particular county.

Science has been turned on its head, as Scientific Principles like regional Context and Comparison, and country-specific data analysis are important for evidence-based policy making, seem to have been be dis-regarded amidst the JHU infodmeic, enabling hi-jacking of national and local level policy processes in countries in the Global South, by so-called international development agencies and related Corporate actors and interest. The quarantining of healthy people in counties where data shows that there is no Covid-19 health emergency is counter to science and common sense!

Low Covid-19 rates and vaccine Colonialism: BCG versus mRNA

The WHO has promised to provide 20 percent of vaccines free to the Government of Sri Lanka, but questions are now being raised as to why national health authorities in many Southeast Asian and African countries where there is NO Covid-19 health emergency, are being urged by the WHO and UNICEF, with the World Bank and Asian Development Bank (ADB), providing loans to buy vaccines at this time, especially when it is claimed that there may not be sufficient doses for populations in North America and Europe where there appears to be a Covid-19 emergency?

As these vaccines have not gone through an adequate trials process and their long term impacts on populations in the Global South (where the health and nutrition statuses of people are different than in the northern hemisphere), are unknown, would it not be prudent for governments in countries where the 2020 data shows that there is no Covid-19 health emergency to await non-emergency authorization of use of these vaccines? Moreover, would not the WB and ADB loans be better spent to build back livelihoods lost due to Covid-19 curfews and lockdown policy?

On average, it takes over 5 to 10 years to systematically trial vaccines. The ultra-costly Pfizer and Biontech and Moderna mRNA vaccines, that use brand new, never before used technology, were the first to be authorized in the UK and US. The WHO’s subsequent first authorization of the Pfizer vaccine for use throughout the world has conferred ‘first mover advantage” or strong brand recognition and product loyalty on the US Govt. allied Pfizer Pharmaceutical company before other cheaper vaccine come to the market.

However, there are questions about these mRNA vaccines and suggestions that the anti-bodies they trigger may last less than 10 months, while a US nurse tested Covid-19 positive after receiving a vaccine, and another nurse in Portugal died a week after taking the vaccine.

At the beginning of the Covid-19 epidemic in Euro-America in March 2020, the WHO, contrary to many scientific studies denied outright the hypothesis that the 100-year-old BCG vaccine may be protecting populations in tropical countries with universal BCG vaccination where there were low rates of Covid-19 infections and death.

This despite the fact that numerous studies had shown that the COST-EFFECTIVE tried and tested Bacillus Calmette-Guerin (BCG), may be useful against Covid-19 as a bridging vaccine as it protects against a broad range of respiratory tract illness in many parts of the Global South. Early BCG trials for Covid-19 adaptation seem to have disappeared from radar screens to be trumped by mRNA vaccines, as WHO contrary to many scientists had affirmed that there was ‘no evidence’ the BCG could fight Covid-19?

Are we not seeing what Naomi Klein termed “Disaster Capitalism” in her book titled “The Shock Doctrine” unfolding in Real Time? Klein uses the terms to describe the “brutal tactic of using the public’s fear and disorientation following a collective shock, be it, bio-terrorism, war, coups, market crashes or natural disasters to push through radical pro-corporate measures often called “shock therapy”. Thus, by accident or design, a disaster occurs and then the “humanitarian” business solution or cure is provided, as a total solution and complete business and profit cycle.

The WHO’s Covid-19 vaccine authorization process may reveal its cozy relationship with some big Pharmaceutical companies like Pfizer that are also backed by vaccine Czar, Microsoft’s Bill Gates. Gates Foundation is now WHO’s second largest funder, after China, since Donald Trump withdrew US funding from WHO. Gates is also promoting a shift to the digital economy and surveillance that enable gaming data analytics the world over — in competition with China’s Huawei.

The WHO-led Covid-19 policy response reveals a deep crisis in the UN and International “Aid” system that is increasingly captive to Corporate interests and great power rivalry. This issue is not new as a Transparency International’s British Branch Report has noted some years ago: “Within the health sector, pharmaceuticals stands out as sub-sector that is particularly prone to corruption.”

“There are abundant examples globally that display how corruption in the pharmaceutical sector endangers positive health outcomes. Whether it is a pharmaceutical company bribing a doctor for prescribing its medicines irrespective of a health need or a government employee facilitating the infiltration of substandard medicines into the distribution system, public resources can be wasted and patient health put at risk.”

Finally, it is highly likely that in many Tropical Asian countries may have achieved a degree of ‘herd immunity’ as the flu season at the end of 2019 had all the signs of Covid-19, also given high levels of travel and tourism to and from China in the region, but since there is no systematic anti-body testing, we do not know if this is the case.

Rather than buying vaccines it would be appropriate to conduct anti-body tests to assess how many in the population have immunities and if herd immunity has been achieved as the country-level data and statistics seem to indicate. Those who would like a vaccine may take a BCG booster.

1 Source: https://www.worldometers.info/coronavirus/#countries and also Johns Hopkins University CSSE COVID-19 Country-specific Data.
2 https://www.worldlifeexpectancy.com/india-lung-disease
3 https://theprint.in/health/lift-lockdowns-protect-the-vulnerable-treat-covid-like-a-health-issue-and-not-a-disaster/466786/
4 The COVID-19 RT-PCR Test: How to Mislead All Humanity. Using a “Test” To Lock Down Society by Dr. Pascal Sacre https://www.globalresearch.ca/covid-19-rt-pcr-how-to-mislead-all-humanity-using-a-test-to-lock-down-society/5728483
5 COVID-19: A game changer for the Global South and international co-operation? https://oecd-development-matters.org/2020/09/02/covid-19-a-game-changer-for-the-global-south-and-international-co-operation/

 

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The post If Covid-19 is Primarily a ‘First World’ Virus, Why is the Global South in Lockdown? appeared first on Inter Press Service.

Excerpt:

Dr. Darini Rajasingham-Senanayake is a Social and Medical Anthropologist, at the International Center for Ethnic Studies, based in Colombo. Sri Lanka.

The post If Covid-19 is Primarily a ‘First World’ Virus, Why is the Global South in Lockdown? appeared first on Inter Press Service.

Patients arrive at a health centre in Gaza. Credit: UNRWA

By Thalif Deen
UNITED NATIONS, Jan 7 2021 (IPS)

If the coronavirus is not deemed a biological weapon, is the heavily-publicized Covid-19 vaccine in danger of being weaponized when over 159,000 Palestinians who have tested positive in Occupied Palestinian Territories (OPT) are being denied treatment during a deadly pandemic?

The London-based human rights organization Amnesty International (AI) says Israel’s vaccine roll-out plan excludes the nearly 5 million Palestinians who live in the West Bank and Gaza Strip under Israeli military occupation.

Since the beginning of the pandemic last March, nearly 1,600 Palestinians in the OPT have died of the virus.

AI says the Israeli government must stop ignoring its international obligations as an occupying power and immediately act to ensure that COVID-19 vaccines are equally and fairly provided to Palestinians living under its occupation in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip,

Saleh Higazi, AI’s Deputy Regional Director for the Middle East and North Africa points out that Israel’s COVID-19 vaccine programme highlights the institutionalized discrimination that defines the Israeli government’s policy towards Palestinians.

“While Israel celebrates a record-setting vaccination drive, millions of Palestinians living under Israeli control in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip will receive no vaccine or have to wait much longer – there could hardly be a better illustration of how Israeli lives are valued above Palestinian ones.”

Dr Ramzy Baroud, a journalist and Editor of The Palestine Chronicle, told IPS Israel’s exclusion of the occupied Palestinian people from having access to vaccines is entirely consistent with Israel’s trajectory of racism, where Palestinians are exploited for their land, water and cheap labor, while never factoring in as an item on Israel’s list of priorities, even during the time of a deadly pandemic.

“Frequently we speak of Israel’s apartheid, often illustrating that in terms of giant walls, fences and military checkpoints that cage in Palestinians. But in Israel, apartheid runs much deeper as it reaches almost every facet of society where Israeli Jews, including settlers, are treated far better than Palestinians, whether those living in Israel or in the occupied territories,” he pointed out.

“Excluding Palestinians from a vaccine that is necessary to save the lives of thousands is part of protracted and systemic Israeli apartheid and racial discrimination”, said Baroud, a Non-resident Senior Research Fellow at the Center for Islam and Global Affairs (CIGA) and also at the Afro-Middle East Center (AMEC).

As of 3 January 2021, according to the World Health Organization (WHO), 159,034 Palestinians in the Occupied Palestinian Territories (OPT), including East Jerusalem, have so far tested positive for coronavirus since the first confirmed case was reported in March 2020.

As the Palestinian authorities in the West Bank and de facto Hamas administration in the Gaza Strip cannot independently fund vaccines and their distribution among the Palestinian population, they depend on global co-operation mechanisms such as COVAX, which still has not begun distributing vaccines, said Amnesty International.

“Israel must provide full financial support to ensure that the vaccine is promptly distributed to the Palestinian population without discrimination. Israel must also lift the blockade on the Gaza Strip to enable the proper functioning of its health system in the face of the COVID-19 pandemic”.

Gaza’s health care system –- subjected to half a century of occupation and more than a decade of blockade -– is already unable to meet the needs of its population. The COVID-19 pandemic and lack of fair access to vaccines have only magnified the discrimination and inequality faced by the Palestinian population, said Amnesty International.

Meanwhile, 10 human rights and non-governmental organizations (NGOs) are urging the Israeli authorities to live up to their legal obligations and ensure that quality vaccines be provided to Palestinians living under Israeli occupation and control in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip as well.

The 10 organizations include Adalah – The Legal Center for Arab Minority Rights in Israel, Al Mezan Center for Human Rights, Amnesty International Israel, B’Tselem – the Israeli Information Center for Human Rights in the Occupied Territories, Gisha – Legal Center for Freedom of Movement, Lawyers for Palestinian Human Rights, Medical Human Rights Network IFHHRO, MEDACT, Physicians for Human Rights, Israel and the Palestinian Center for Human Rights.

Dr Baroud said even before the vaccines arrived in Israel, Tel Aviv has greatly mishandled the crisis from the onset.

In the West Bank, Israeli soldiers repeatedly demolished Palestinian makeshift clinics, which aimed at testing people for COVID-19, confiscated equipment and restricted movement essential to making testing kits available to hard-hit areas, he added.

In Gaza, which has been under Israeli siege for many years, he noted, the problem was much more severe, as the population of two million people had to cope with the ravages of the disease without any tools to test for the virus, let alone to contain it.

“While Israel’s behavior is expected, it is also self-defeating, as Israelis and Palestinians are constantly in contact through the military occupation, the prison system and other forms of such repugnant interactions”.

There can be no containing the pandemic in Israel if it continues to spread in Palestine. The Coronavirus doesn’t respect Israel’s matrix of control, of walls, checkpoints and the likes, said Dr Baroud, author of five books, including “These Chains Will Be Broken: Palestinian Stories of Struggle and Defiance in Israeli Prisons” (Clarity Press). www.ramzybaroud.net

“The views of marginalized groups must be at the forefront of any decision-making to ensure that national vaccine policies aren’t exclusionary or discriminatory. All states must confront existing inequalities to ensure everyone has access to vaccines,” said AI’s Higazi.

In early December, Israel reached an agreement with Pfizer pharmaceutical company to supply 8 million doses of its newly approved COVID-19 vaccine – enough to cover almost half of Israel’s population of nearly 9 million since each person requires two doses.

Israel also reached a separate agreement with Moderna to buy 6 million doses of its vaccine – enough for another 3 million Israelis, according to AI.

As the race to distribute COVID-19 vaccines gathers pace, Amnesty International calls on states and companies to ensure that no one is denied access to health care, including vaccines, because of where they live, who they are or what they earn.

 

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The post Is the COVID-19 Vaccine a Potential Biological Weapon in Reverse? appeared first on Inter Press Service.

Excerpt:

Meanwhile,” the COVID-19 pandemic has worsened the already dire humanitarian and socio-economic situation” Secretary-General António Guterres said at a meeting online last November, marking the International Day of Solidarity with the Palestinian People.

The post Is the COVID-19 Vaccine a Potential Biological Weapon in Reverse? appeared first on Inter Press Service.

A strange coalition of former enemies has joined forces to oust Central African Republic's newly re-elected leader.

The Kani brothers presided over a reign of terror in the Libyan town of Tarhuna - now their crimes are being revealed.

Sharon Machira explains how people living in Kenya, Nigeria and South Africa can enter.

Zambia and Red Bull Salzburg's Patson Daka says that he can be as good as Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, Mo Salah or Sadio Mane.

By Jan Lundius
STOCKHOLM / ROME, Jan 6 2021 (IPS)

 

Oh, Lord won’t you buy me a Mercedes Benz.
My friends all drive Porsches, I must make amends.
Worked hard all my lifetime, no help from my friends.
So, oh Lord, won’t you buy me a Mercedes Benz.
                                             Janis Joplin, 1970

COVID-19 has made several of us aware of the frailty of our bodies, the certainty of death and how valuable health, companionship and compassion are. Such insights are not uncommon in poor societies where a person’s main and perhaps only asset is her/his body and what s/he is able to do with her/his hands. However, wealthy and privileged people are surrounded by, dependent on, and even integrated with an ever more sophisticated technology, which increasingly, for better or worse, is separating us from what human existence has been for thousands of years.

James Dean accident.

Once technology has made its entry into the human sphere; from fire and wheels, to printing presses, trains, radio, aircraft, TV, the Intranet, sophisticated weaponry and … cars, everyone’s life, even unprivileged ones, has changed to an extent that it is difficult to fathom. For example, cars were invented as an effective and comfortable means of transport, but they soon became so much more.

Our cities, the entire landscape, has utterly been changed to accommodate motor vehicles. An ongoing change that has been far from accomplished. I have been stuck in endless traffic jams in places as different as Kinshasa and Bangkok. Traveling by car through Europe has become a nightmare with hordes of enormous trucks clogging traffic everywhere and menacing lives and limbs of other road users, whose lives already are at risk by the behaviour of reckless drivers. Each year approximately 1.35 million people are killed on roadways around the world, meaning that each day more than 3,700 people are killed in clashes involving cars, buses, motorcycles, bicycles and trucks. Traffic accidents are currently the leading cause of death for children and young people 5–29 years of age. Not counting the millions of persons becoming seriously maimed for life.

Motor vehicles fill the atmosphere with smog, carbon monoxide, and other toxins, something that on top of the damage wrecked to the entire biosphere is especially troubling since this poisonous air leave tailpipes at street level, where humans and animals breathe the polluted air directly into their lungs.

Don’t get me wrong – I own a car and it has given me an unprecedented freedom and brought me to places and experiences I would neither had the time, nor the possibility to reach without my car. Nevertheless, advancing age and the COVID-19 pandemic, which I assume is to a great extent caused by our manipulated natural environment and advanced communication means, have made me think of how amazingly fast, mind changing and even dangerous technological change has become.

In my youth, a telephone was a device with a round number dial, which through landlines was hooked up to switchboards. An interurban call could be both cumbersome and expensive. Nowadays a telephone combines cellular and mobile computing into one, small unit that takes photos, shows the person you are talking to, stores and provides a wealth of information, tells you were you find yourself and within a second, and at a low cost, connects you with people anywhere in the world. How could I even dream about this in the 1990s when I first encountered a mobile phone?

It all started 1957, when an Egyptian engineer named Mohamed Atalla proposed a metal-oxide-semiconductor (MOS) process, based on the use of silicon. In 1983, the first commercially available handheld mobile phone was introduced and in 2014, worldwide mobile phone subscriptions had grown to over seven billion; enough to provide one for every person on Earth. In 2019, the majority of smartphones released have more than one camera, are waterproof and unlock using facial recognition, or fingerprint scanners. I own a much simpler device, but it has become an integrated part of my life. Friends and family become upset if I don’t carry it with me.

The car took longer time to become what it is now, approximately a hundred years. However, like the smart phone it has in many parts of the wold become an integrated part of an individual’s life and personality. When I more than twenty years ago visited a relative in Miami I found there were no sidewalks and how I during my morning strolls felt how her neighbours suspiciously watched me, brooding behind their curtains, or while mowing their implacable lawns. A pedestrian! It must be a shady character, even if he is reasonably well-dressed.

A friend of mine living in the USA once told me he was going to invest his hard-earned money in a new, luxurious car, even if he actually could not afford one. When I asked why he made such a stupid investment, he replied: “I have to be able to look my children straight into their eyes. I do not want them to be ashamed of having a loser as a dad. A bastard who cannot even afford a proper car.”

There is no way of avoiding the fact that the car has become part of “Western mentality”. Pixar Animation Studios have made highly successful films, Cars 1, 2 and 3, about humanized motor vehicles, and horror book writer Stephen King has written several captivating novels about demon cars possessing their owners. The UK author J.G. Ballard wrote a disgusting novel, Crash, about symphorophilia, a form of pathological car-crash fetishism where humans and cars intermingle in an inseparable manner.

A comfortable, beautiful car may envelop us in soothing comfort and impart a sense of well-being and confidence, as in Bruce Springsteen’s Pink Cadillac:

I love you for your pink Cadillac.
Crushed velvet seats.
Riding in the back,
Oozing down the street.
Waving to the girls,
Feeling out of sight.
Spending all my money
On a Saturday night.

Quite a number of American songs pay homage to the freedom of Open Higways, rides into the wilderness and freedom of the unknown. However, this does not prevent such rides from being journeys mixed up with anxiety, and perhaps even fear. Springsteen again – Stolen car:

And I’m driving a stolen car
On a pitch black night.
And I’m telling myself I’m gonna be alright
But I ride by night and I travel in fear
That in this darkness I will disappear.

Accordingly, cars have for many become incarnations of more or less hidden desires, as well as part of their personality. The main technological surrogate and an easy manner for obtaining life-affirming adrenaline rushes and endorphin kicks might still be car driving, preferably in luxury vehicles and at a high speed. A pleasure that for commercial reasons often has become associated with sex. Advertisements and popular culture tell us that luxury vehicles attract sexual partners and enhance our personal prestige.

In 2019, almost 92 million motor vehicles were produced worldwide, with China, Japan, and Germany as the largest producers of private cars and commercial vehicles. An estimated 1.4 billion cars and trucks are currently moving on the roads of the world, every year consuming more than a thousand billion litres of fossil fuel.

However, a paradigm shift might lie ahead. Self-driving and electrical cars will with all probability take over the roads and consumers may be inclined to chose more environmentally friendly means of transportation than expensive and prestigious luxury cars. European car manufacturers have discerned a trend among young consumers indicating that several of them like to purchase small, eco-friendly vehicles, or prefer to use common means of transport instead of owning a car of their own.

However, this does not mean that humanity will be liberated from its possibly fatal dependence on technology. In order to survive we have to be aware of the dangers this mentality implicates for the survival of our biosphere and thus human life. If we had been better intellectually equipped, more morally oriented, we might have been able to use our sophisticated technology for better purposes. Now it seems to threaten us instead, as though we were stuck in a car while traveling at high speed towards a final accident, a crash. A dangerous and incomprehensible world.

Jan Lundius holds a PhD. on History of Religion from Lund University and has served as a development expert, researcher and advisor at SIDA, UNESCO, FAO and other international organisations.

 

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Women producing facemasks in Ghana. Credit: World Bank

By Angela Lusigi
Jan 6 2021 (IPS)

On 1st January 2021, trading under the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) Agreement commenced after months of delays caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.

The AfCFTA aims to bring together 1.3 billion people in a $3.4 trillion economic bloc, making it the largest free trade area since the establishment of the World Trade Organization. Ghana is hosting the AfCFTA Secretariat in its capital city, Accra.

A pathway to achieving development goals

If African countries enhance competitiveness through trade and create more efficient regional value chains and labour markets, as envisaged in the AfCFTA Agreement, they would increase momentum towards implementing the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. Poverty and inequality would be greatly reduced through sustainable structural transformation that prioritizes reaching those farthest behind.

In addition, the expansion of choices and capabilities for women and youth through intra-Africa trade and interconnectivity would help to achieve several goals under the Agenda 2063 of the African Union, including Goal 4 on transformed economies through sustainable and inclusive economic growth, Goal 17 on full gender equality in all spheres of life and Goal 18 on engaged and empowered youth and children.

The AfCFTA as a driver of structural transformation and job creation

The AfCFTA could transform Africa’s economic landscape and create productive opportunities. The potential increase in manufacturing jobs, commercial enterprises and agribusinesses could change the lives of millions of women and youth who often face higher levels of unemployment and are overrepresented in vulnerable jobs.

According to the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (ECA), the AfCFTA could become the largest regional free trade zone in the world, with a combined business and consumer spending of US$6.7 trillion by 2030.

The Commission also estimates that intra-African trade would increase by 15 to 25 percent, or US$50 billion to US$70 billion, by 2040. The United Nations Conference on Trade and Development has estimated an increase of up to 33 percent.

The extreme vulnerability of women’s enterprises

The coronavirus disease (COVID-19) has disrupted the movement of goods, services and people, which has most impacted the poorest and most vulnerable. Workers and entrepreneurs in the informal sector, comprising 85.8 percent of Africa’s workforce, were particularly affected by social distancing and stay-at-home orders that saved lives but decimated livelihoods. In addition, 9 of 10 African working women are in the informal sector, and most are self-employed or contributing to a family business.

Strengthening women’s enterprises through stronger trade and value chains creates opportunities for wealth and empowerment that could lift millions out of poverty. These entrepreneurs are often engaged in services, agriculture and natural resource-based sectors, for which there is significant potential to increase productivity by enhancing skills, increasing investment and promoting innovation.

Women and youth in decision-making

Current estimates of intra-African trade undervalue the contribution of informal traders in border regions and small enterprises run primarily by women and youth. Estimates of intra-African trade are quite low—approximately 16 percent of imports and exports in 2018; however, between 50 and 60 percent of total intra-African trade is carried out by unregistered traders or firms. Women are the face of informal cross-border trade in Africa and account for up to 70 percent of informal cross-border traders.

Angela Lusigi, UNDP Resident Representative in Ghana

Workers and entrepreneurs in the informal sector, comprising 85.8 percent of Africa’s workforce, were particularly affected by social distancing and stay-at-home orders that saved lives but devastated livelihoods.

And yet, women traders and their organizations are often excluded from programmes and decision-making on trade issues. Furthermore, research shows that women are not reached by development interventions to facilitate trade, increase productivity and improve competitiveness in export-oriented sectors.

Many women traders and entrepreneurs do not have access to the information and training opportunities available through trade networks. Their voices and needs, particularly those of women in the informal sector, are absent in AfCFTA negotiations, policymaking and decision-making.

Prioritizing women and youth for prosperity for all

Only resilient, prosperous and sustainable livelihoods can withstand future crises in a post-COVID-19 world. More equitable access to the opportunities arising from the implementation of AfCFTA could create shared prosperity and reduce vulnerability to future shocks.

This includes increasing the participation of women and youth-led enterprises in agricultural and food trade, which is expected to increase by 20 to 35 percent (US$10 billion to US$17 billion).

These opportunities are not gender or scale neutral. Overlooking the specific challenges faced by women and youth in business may result in many being left behind. African women who work as informal traders often face harassment, violence, confiscation of goods and even imprisonment.

The operationalization of the AfCFTA and the development of institutional mechanisms and support infrastructure must be guided by their potential impact on women and youth, as well as the potential contributions these groups can make.

In order to leverage Africa’s rich human assets in the AfCFTA, the needs and priorities of women and youth must be reflected in the legal and technical frameworks currently being established. Including their voices will ensure more equitable and sustainable opportunities, which is critical to the effectiveness of the ongoing liberalization of the services trade.

This includes facilitating cross-border investment, protecting intellectual property rights, collaborating on customs and taxation, and implementing trade facilitation measures. In particular, innovative solutions and new technologies must be applied to offset the uneven distribution of benefits from liberalization, which stems from differences in resource availability and levels of industrialization.

Moving forward, women must drive the agenda

Women in business should be fully engaged in the implementation of the AfCFTA in order to improve the distribution of benefits and accelerate the Agreement’s impact on jobs, livelihoods and economies. Boosting productivity and closing the gap in resources between women and men in trade could change the trajectory of the AfCFTA, leading to faster implementation and shared prosperity.

Governments, regional institutions and trade associations and networks must take three bold policy actions to ensure that micro and small enterprises owned primarily by women and youth are not left behind.

First, Governments should support real citizen engagement in the design and implementation of legislation and the development of hard and soft infrastructure for the free movement of goods and services. They must promote advocacy, raise awareness and create space for consultations. This includes engaging with empowered and capable women’s business associations and networks.

Second, regional institutions should help countries to collect and share trade-related data that captures the informal sector. Realtime monitoring of the Agreement’s impacts on economic, social and environmental indicators is essential for compensating losers and convincing late adopters.

Mapping and connecting trade observatories across countries and employing digital technology could provide real-time, disaggregated data to aid in negotiations and dispute settlements, as well as promote transparency and accountability.

Third, more public and private partnerships are needed to support gender-sensitive financing and business development services. It is necessary to scale up and sustain investment in women’s enterprises and provide skills business development services in order to grow viable women’s businesses and value chains that transition from the informal sector and respond to opportunities emerging from the AfCFTA.

 

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The post Making African Continental Free Trade Area Work for Women in a Post-COVID-19 World appeared first on Inter Press Service.

Excerpt:

Angela Lusigi is, UNDP Resident Representative in Ghana

The post Making African Continental Free Trade Area Work for Women in a Post-COVID-19 World appeared first on Inter Press Service.

Residents of a remote village say more than 20 people were killed when a helicopter opened fire.

Only a united Africa can defeat COVID-19. Credit: WHO

By Sam Otieno
NAIROBI, Kenya, Jan 5 2021 (IPS)

The ANTICOV COVID-19 clinical trial, aimed at identifying treatments that prevent mild cases from progressing to severe forms of the disease, is crucial to Africa, researchers say. The trial will investigate home-based treatments to help prevent local health systems from being overwhelmed.

Borna Nyaoke-Anoke, Senior Clinical Project Manager & Medical Manager for DNDi, says that the studies target mild and moderate cases of COVID-19 and are important to Africa because lower-income countries remain under-represented in COVID-19 studies. The vast majority of COVID-19 clinical trials are being conducted in Europe, the US, and East Asia – testing treatments in contexts with considerable access to equipment and trained staff.

Launched late last year, the coalition comprises clinical experts, policymakers, and others from institutions such as ministries of health, universities, not-for-profit development research and development organisations, donor agencies and international organisations.

The ANTICOV trial will treat patients with mild to moderate symptoms through home-based care across Africa. This will prevent congestion of healthcare facilities with patients with mild symptoms who do not require respiratory support or critical care management.

He adds it will also prevent progression of mild to moderate disease-preventing healthcare facilities from being overwhelmed.

Nyaoke-Anoke says that while all eyes are on vaccines as the panacea, vaccines alone won’t be enough to stop the pandemic. Treatments are just as crucial, especially as they could prevent transmission to household contacts of infected patients required to self-isolate – something that may not be possible in many African communities.

“We hope that conducting these studies locally will facilitate prompt adoption of new evidence into medical treatment guidelines, enabling faster access to new medical tools and the trust of affected communities,” Nyaoke-Anoke tells IPS.

Nyaoke-Anoke says that the ANTICOV study will mobilise a collaboration of African and global science and public health leaders to respond to the urgent unmet medical needs on the continent. It will provide much-needed answers to enable countries in Africa and beyond to adopt effective therapeutic strategies adapted to resource-constrained settings.

“ANTICOV clinical trial, which is currently being rolled out in 13 African countries, will test multiple COVID-19 early treatment options identifying treatments adapted to Africa’s specific needs,” says Nyaoke-Anoke.

Hence, it will position the continent as a critical player in providing quality data on effective therapeutics, immunology, and epidemiology of mild to moderate COVID-19 disease, invaluable to the ongoing pandemic.

Babatunde Salako, director-general of the Nigerian Institute of Medical Research, welcomed the development. It provides an opportunity for Africans and African researchers to be part of this crucial trial, yielding specific information for African patients in terms of treatment and disease progression.

Salako, in an interview with IPS, says that it creates an opportunity for the continent to be involved in clinical trial targeted at African populations when they are often left out of such large trials. Experience in clinical trials would be enriched through participation with the opportunity to form new networks and collaborators.

“African researchers will be contributing data and scientific information for global decision making concerning COVID-19 and may provide an opportunity for the world to examine the peculiarity of Africa’s response to COVID-19 infection and control,” says Salako.

Benjamin Kagina, senior research officer at the Vaccines for Africa Initiative, University of Cape Town, South Africa, says the clinical trials were a great initiative. The clinical trial would generate locally relevant evidence that can be used together with other promising interventions, such as vaccines, to mitigate the pandemic’s negative impacts.

He explained that collaborations were critical in strengthening research capacity in Africa. More importantly, the trial will generate context-specific data that can inform practices and policies in Africa.

“It will enhance research collaboration and networking among African researchers. This will advance medical research in the continent that addresses the needs of Africans,” says Kagina.

 

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The British and Irish Lions series with South Africa could be held in the UK and Ireland if Covid-19 prevents fans from travelling.