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自今年年初以来，仅有6800多万人口的黎巴嫩出现了史无前例的新冠疫情激增，每天确诊病例达到创纪录的约5500例。为支持该国应对疫情，世界银行今天批准拨款3400万美元，用于支持黎巴嫩的疫苗接种。

这是世行资助的第一个为采购新冠疫苗提供资金的行动。该笔资金将为200多万人提供疫苗。这些疫苗预计将于2月初运抵黎巴嫩。

世行表示，去年8月贝鲁特港大爆炸造成惨重的人员伤亡，而新冠大流行则加剧了黎巴嫩的经济危机。

在世行支持下，疫苗的推出将优先针对以下群体：高危卫生工作者、65岁以上人口、流行病学和监测工作人员以及55-64岁之间的人群。通过优先考虑这些群体，该国的疫苗接种计划即使在供应受限的情况下，也有可能减少大流行带来的后果。

世行行长马尔帕斯表示，公平、广泛和快速地获得新冠疫苗对于保护生命和支持经济复苏至关重要。

他强调，这是一次重要的行动，他期待着继续支持更多国家的疫苗接种工作。世行的目标仍然是减轻疫情的影响，以拯救生命和改善生计。”

此次对黎巴嫩的支援行动借鉴了世行过去几十年来支持疫苗接种工作的经验，包括小儿麻痹症、麻疹和埃博拉病毒的接种。它将融资、全球专业知识和国内各部门的经验结合起来，在未来的卫生紧急情况发生之前，建立更强的复原力。

世行表示，该国的卫生部门严重超负荷运转。截至2021年1月17日，该国共有25万2千多例确诊病例，1865人死亡。过去14天的检测阳性率高达17%(而世卫组织建议的最高阳性率为5%)。

在准备部署疫苗的过程中，黎巴嫩政府在世行和其他伙伴的支持下，进行了新冠疫苗准备情况评估，成立了国家新冠疫苗委员会，并制定了疫苗部署计划草案。该计划草案具有世界卫生组织建议的所有关键要素，是黎巴嫩疫苗接种准备工作的一个核心部分。

Mexico’s main agricultural lobby, the National Agricultural Council, has criticised the government’s decision to ban genetically modified (GM) maize, while organic growers hailed the move in the hope that it would protect smaller farmers.

In a decree issued during the first week of January, Mexican authorities stated that they would “revoke and refrain from granting permits for the release of genetically modified [maize] seeds into the environment”.

The decree also mandated the phasing out of GM maize imports by 2024, and the elimination of glyphosate, a controversial herbicide, by the same date, a report on the Mexico News Daily website said.

While a total ban on glyphosate was still some way off, federal departments would immediately abstain from “purchasing, using, distributing, promoting and importing glyphosate or agrochemicals that contain it as an active ingredient,” according to the decree.

The objective of the decision was to “contribute to food security and sovereignty” and protect “native maize, maize fields, bio-cultural wealth, farming communities, gastronomic heritage and the health of Mexicans”, the decree said.

Commenting on the latest development, a spokesperson for the council, Laura Tamayo, told Reuters that, “The lack of access to production options puts us at a disadvantage compared to our competitors, such as maize farmers in the US.”

In addition, the council said a ban on the use glyphosate could cause agricultural production to fall by up to 45%, but government officials rejected this claim.

Meanwhile, Homero Blas, president of the Mexican Society of Organic Production, described the government’s decision to ban GM maize as a “huge victory”.

Mexico was largely self-sufficient in white maize used to make the country’s staple tortillas, but was dependent on imports of yellow maize from the US for livestock feed, which was made up largely of GM maize.

According to Reuters, the country’s government had yet to clarify whether the decree would result in the phasing out of imported GM maize for livestock, or whether the new regulations would apply solely to maize for human consumption.

Many South Africans fearful of COVID-19 are reportedly throwing caution to the wind by orally consuming ivermectin-based products registered nationally only for administration to livestock in oral, injectable or pour-on formats.

According to various sources, demand for these products has recently soared to such an extent that they are now difficult to come by.

Dr Gerhard Verdoorn, a renowned South African toxicologist who heads up the Griffon Poison Information Centre and is also the operations and stewardship manager of CropLife South Africa, said that he was especially concerned that people were dosing themselves with ivermectin-based animal products at rates far exceeding even the officially registered doses for treating parasites in livestock.

“People must not drink ivermectin products for livestock; especially not the injectable and pour-on products. The pour-on alone contains excipients that can really cause havoc on your intestines. People tell me that stock remedy ivermectin is having no negative effects on them now. But ivermectin is a tough molecule that stays in your body for a long time. I want to see if the people taking stock remedy ivermectin now are going to have any health problems in six months’ time,” Verdoorn said.

He pointed out that he was not against the use of ivermectin as a potentially preventative or curative treatment for COVID-19, provided that the medication used has been specifically formulated by medical professionals for use in humans.

Verdoorn advised people to visit their doctor to request them to get permission from the relevant government entities to compound ivermectin into oral solutions or pills for safe use by humans.

Dr Peter Oberem, CEO of South African animal health products provider, Afrivet, also repeated his warnings to the public not to consume stock remedy ivermectin.

He added that he has appealed to the South African Health Products Regulatory Authority (SAHPRA) to urgently reconsider its prohibition on the marketing and use of ivermectin-based products for humans.

“People are desperate. One way to stop the illegal use [of stock remedy ivermectin by people] is for SAHPRA to acknowledge the [COVID-19] crisis and go to various organisations for their research on ivermectin’s efficacy against the virus. The issue is the risk-to-benefit ratio. People will not die from taking human-approved ivermectin products. But people are dying from COVID-19,” Oberem said.

A statement issued recently by SAHPRA said that the authority was aware that there were other countries where ivermectin was registered for use to treat parasites in humans and also where this human-use formulation was “being used off-label in the management of COVID-19 infections”.

“SAHPRA notes that, to date, there have been no positive recommendations for the use of ivermectin in the management of COVID-19 infections by any regulatory authority with which SAHPRA has reliance agreements […], and that the World Health Organization does not currently recommend the use of ivermectin for the treatment or prophylaxis of COVID-19 infections,” the authority’s statement said.

SAHPRA’s statement also said that the authority was considering enabling access to approved formulations of ivermectin intended for human use, “provided that such a request is supported by evidence for the indication requested and is justified based on a risk [to] benefit assessment that includes safety and clinical efficacy data”.

Oberem said that Afrivet and the South African Veterinary Association have jointly designed a brochure and poster that warn people not to consume stock remedy ivermectin-based products, and that this brochure and poster were being distributed to outlets of these products across the country.