(2020-04-04). [World Report] Developing antibody tests for SARS-CoV-2. thelancet.com Laboratories and diagnostic companies are racing to produce antibody tests, a key part of the response to the COVID-19 pandemic. Anna Petherick reports.
(2020-04-04). [Correspondence] Education and research are essential for lasting peace in Yemen. thelancet.com Yemen, known to many as the land of Sheba, and Manhattan of the desert, is now referred to only as one of the poorest countries on Earth. The name Yemen has become synonymous with cholera, famine, death, instability, and war. The war continues to erase the lives, history, and the future of Yemenis, and meaningful aid and peace have yet to reach Yemen.
(2020-04-04). [Editorial] COVID-19 will not leave behind refugees and migrants. thelancet.com Never has the "leave no one behind" pledge felt more urgent. As nations around the world implement measures to control the spread of SARS-CoV-2, including lockdowns and restrictions on individuals' movements, they must heed their global commitments. When member states adopted the UN 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, they promised to ensure no one will be left behind. Chief among the world's most vulnerable people are refugees and migrants. The COVID-19 crisis puts these groups at enormous risk.
(2020-04-04). [Editorial] Open versus endovascular repair of aortic aneurysms. thelancet.com When the UK National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) released draft guidelines on the diagnosis and management of abdominal aortic aneurysms in May, 2018, it caused outcry. By recommending that endovascular aneurysm repair (EVAR) of unruptured aneurysms should not be offered—even in patients for whom open surgical repair was contraindicated—critics said that many patients would be denied life-saving treatment and that the guidelines were unworkable.
(2020-04-04). [Comment] A planetary health perspective on COVID-19: a call for papers. thelancet.com It is natural during the unfolding coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic to focus on emergency response planning, including containment, treatment procedures, and vaccine development, and nobody would doubt the need for these measures. However, an emergency can also open a window of opportunity for reflection and learning. We live in increasingly global, interdependent, and environmentally constrained societies and the COVID-19 pandemic exemplifies these aspects of our world. We would therefore be wise to take a broad integrated perspective on this disease, the impacts of which are already spilling over in…
(2020-04-04). [Comment] Offline: COVID-19—what countries must do now. thelancet.com How should countries plan for the approaching health crisis caused by coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19)? In the UK, Prime Minister Boris Johnson, himself struck down with infection, has written to every household warning that, "we know things will get worse before they get better". The UK Government is right to prepare the public for the coming human catastrophe. All governments have a responsibility to do the same. But this advice does not go far enough. Here are five critical actions that need to be considered immediately.
(2020-04-04). [Correspondence] Authoritarianism and the threat of infectious diseases. thelancet.com Punitive social policy, encompassing the dismantling of the welfare state with the expansion of the penal state and its associated institutions, as nicely stated by Elias Nosrati and Michael Marmot in their Perspective,1 might indeed be considered an upstream social determinant of health. Nosrati and Marmot's analysis relates to the findings described by Navarro and colleagues,2 linking political ideology with policies aimed at reducing social inequalities such as welfare state and labour market policies.
(2020-04-04). [Perspectives] Face transplants as surgical acts and psychosocial processes. thelancet.com In 2017 the face of Katie Stubblefield made headlines. Not the face she was born with or the face that emerged after 22 reconstructive surgeries. This was another face altogether: a transplant that Stubblefield would receive from Adrea Schneider. There have been 46 recorded face transplants in history. Katie's was the 40th—only the third to have taken place at the Cleveland Clinic in Ohio, which also undertook the first face transplant in the USA, on Connie Culp, in 2008. According to the Cleveland Clinic, it took 11 surgeons and staff from 15 specialties more than 31 hours to transplant Stubblefield's new…
(2020-04-04). [Correspondence] Chagas disease: still a neglected emergency? thelancet.com 10 years after highlighting the health consequences for millions of people infected with Trypanosoma cruzi, a 2019 report from the Pan American Health Organization concluded that there has been little progress in the prevention and treatment of Chagas disease, a problem that now extends beyond Latin America.1…
(2020-04-04). [Correspondence] Obsolete medical law in Japan harms doctors' health. thelancet.com Japan has achieved one of the most successful health-care systems in the world.1 Under the nation's insurance scheme, Japanese citizens have taken for granted that anyone can choose any health-care facility and receive the most advanced medical care across the nation. However, little attention has been paid to the fact that such a health system is supported by dedicated and self-sacrificing medical professionals. Such overloaded expectation is especially high in rural areas where the number of doctors remains low.
(2020-04-04). [Department of Error] Department of Error. thelancet.com Mease PJ, Rahman P, Gottlieb AB, et al. Guselkumab in biologic-naive patients with active psoriatic arthritis (DISCOVER-2): a double-blind, randomised, placebo-controlled phase 3 trial. Lancet 2020; 395: 1126—36—In this Article, the following sentence from the Participants section has been corrected as follows: "Patients were permitted, but not required, to continue stable use of selected standard treatments, including NSAIDs or other analgesics up to the regional marketed dose approved; oral corticosteroids (‚â§10 mg/day of prednisone or equivalent dose); or non-biologic DMARDs (limi…
(2020-04-04). [World Report] 2020 Canada Gairdner Award winners announced. thelancet.com On March 31, the Gairdner Foundation announced the winners of its annual prizes in biomedical science and global health. Talha Burki spoke with the laureates.
(2020-04-04). [Correspondence] Mass drug administration: time to consider drug pollution? thelancet.com Mass drug administration is the strategy recommended by WHO to control or eliminate many neglected tropical diseases that cause devastating consequences worldwide. This strategic approach, which has produced unquestionable benefits, consists of treating every person, infected or not, living in a defined geographical area at approximately the same time.1 In 2017, more than 1 ∑7 billion treatments (mainly albendazole, mebendazole, ivermectin, azithromycin, and praziquantel) were delivered to 1 ∑04 billion individuals.
(2020-04-04). [Comment] The COVID-19 pandemic in the USA: what might we expect? thelancet.com As of March 19, 2020, 191‚Äà127 cases of, including 7807 deaths attributed to, coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) have been reported worldwide.1 The incidence of reported cases in China has dramatically reduced to tens per day as a result of strict social distancing measures; however, the pandemic severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) is now generating sustained transmission in many countries including the USA. In The Lancet, Isaac Ghinai, Tristan D McPherson, and colleagues2 report details of the first known human-to-human transmission of SARS-CoV-2 in the USA, which was…
(2020-04-04). [Editorial] Redefining vulnerability in the era of COVID-19. thelancet.com What does it mean to be vulnerable? Vulnerable groups of people are those that are disproportionally exposed to risk, but who is included in these groups can change dynamically. A person not considered vulnerable at the outset of a pandemic can become vulnerable depending on the policy response. The risks of sudden loss of income or access to social support have consequences that are difficult to estimate and constitute a challenge in identifying all those who might become vulnerable. Certainly, amid the COVID-19 pandemic, vulnerable groups are not only elderly people, those with ill health and comorbidities, or…
(2020-04-03). Russian declaration aimed at stopping sanctions amid coronavirus crisis REJECTED at UN General Assembly. rt.com 
The US, UK, and EU, as well as Ukraine and Georgia, rejected a Russian draft declaration calling for unilateral sanctions to be lifted to fight Covid-19. | Moscow's permanent mission to the UN issued a statement on Thursday questioning why Ukraine, Georgia, the UK, US, and EU had shot down its proposal, arguing that these nations "refused to cast aside politicized approaches and interests," and that their decision could negatively affect "a great number of people" — especially in developing nations currently under sanctions. | The rejected motion called for broad international cooperation on combating the…
(2020-04-03). Is the Pandemic Patriarchal? counterpunch.org 
Newsflash, The New York Times, March 31, 2020: As the coronavirus pandemic brings the world to a juddering halt and anxious citizens demand action, leaders across the globe are invoking executive powers and seizing virtually dictatorial authority with scant resistance. . . . As the new laws broaden state surveillance, allow governments to detain people indefinitely
(2020-04-03). Angola 3 Newsletter: DECARCERATE!!!! indybay.org We dedicate this newsletter to the men, women and children in detention centers, jails and prisons, where they are unable to social distance or sanitize–leaving them to anxiously wait for the virus to take hold in their facilities. Please encourage your local governments to take action before the virus hits.
(2020-04-03). The Madness of More Nukes and Less Rights in Pandemic Times. counterpunch.org Another perilous pandemic is sweeping the country in the midst of the coronavirus one, and it has been lurking in the shadows for years just itching for a fear-ridden moment like this to break out forcefully. Right-wing repressive forces are using this unprecedented crisis to impose unconstitutional denials of abortion rights; to drastically lower voter
(2020-04-03). 7 ways to (virtually) support refugee rights on Palm Sunday. greenleft.org.au 
People seeking asylum and refugees are going…
(2020-04-02). A chronically ill boy's story sums up the coronavirus lockdown torture for millions of missing people. thecanary.co 
Note: the author's partner lives with the disease discussed in this articleAnyone who is chronically ill or disabled may be facing bigger challenges during the coronavirus (Covid-19) lockdown. And there's one group of people who are more at risk than others. Yet the government is still
(2020-04-02). "There Aren't Enough Tests": As Pandemic Intensifies, Global South Prepares for the Worst. democracynow.org 
After devastating China, Europe and the United States, the coronavirus pandemic is now intensifying across the Global South. The United Nations warns the pandemic is poised to destroy fragile economies in poor nations, decimating food security, education and human rights. We speak with Yanis Ben Amor, assistant professor of global health and microbiological sciences at Columbia University and executive director of the Center for Sustainable Development at the Earth Institute.
(2020-04-02). A Russian firewall for Venezuela against U.S. sanctions. mronline.org 
The optics of the Russian oil leviathan Rosneft's decision to sell its subsidiary Rosneft Trading SA and sell all its assets in Venezuela after the US Treasury sanctioned its trading arm two weeks ago as part of Washington's regime change project to oust president Nicolás Maduro, may not look good to the uninformed outside observer.
(2020-04-02). Fighting for immigrant rights during a pandemic. splcenter.org As people across the country are confined to their homes during the COVID-19 pandemic, little attention has been given to a group of people whose health is in danger because they are locked away from the outside world — people in immigrant detention centers.
(2020-04-02). COVID-19 Doesn't Discriminate — Neither Should Congress' Response. aclu.org Congress' third bill addressing the impacts of COVID-19, the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act (CARES Act), was a necessary attempt to respond to this public health crisis but its exclusion of immigrant communities is downright racist and xenophobic. Immigrants were
(2020-04-02). India: Migrant workers' plight prompts UN call for 'domestic solidarity' in coronavirus battle. news.un.org Pervasive challenges remain for hundreds-of-thousands of migrant workers in India whose lives were upended by the sudden lockdown across the country, in response to the threat of the coronavirus pandemic, said the UN human rights chief on Thursday.
(2020-04-02). Archbishop Hanna Calls For Releasing All Detainees As Coronavirus Detected In Prison. imemc.org Archbishop of Sebastia from the Greek Orthodox Patriarchate of occupied Jerusalem, Attallah Hanna, issued a statement calling on Israel to release the Palestinian political prisoners in its jails, especially after a recently released detainee was found to be infected with the Coronavirus. The Archbishop said that Israel must release all …
(2020-04-02). Republicans Are Using the Covid-19 Crisis to Kill Abortion Rights. thenation.com Republicans Are Using the Covid-19 Crisis to Kill Abortion Rights…
(2020-04-02). COVID-19 should not herald rollback in rights for people with autism: UN chief. news.un.org The rights of persons with autism must be taken into account in efforts to address the COVID-19 coronavirus: "a public health crisis unlike any other in our lifetimes", the UN Secretary-General said on Thursday.
(2020-04-02). 'People Should Not Be Forced to Put Their Lives on the Line to Vote'. thenation.com 'People Should Not Be Forced to Put Their Lives on the Line to Vote'
(2020-04-02). Biden walks balance between relaxation of sanctions & continuing maximum pressure. iranian.com Statement from Vice President Joe Biden on Sanctions Relief During COVID-19 In times of global crisis, America should lead. We should be the first to offer help to people who are hurting or in danger. That's who we are. That's who we've always been. And, in the midst of this deadly pandemic that respects no …
(2020-04-02). Big Brother in the Age of Coronavirus: 100+ Groups Warn Against Exploiting Pandemic to Permanently Expand Surveillance State. commondreams.org As the number of COVID-19 cases climbed toward a million worldwide on Thursday, over 100 human rights groups issued a joint statement warning that governments' response to the coronavirus pandemic "must not be used as a cover to usher in a new era of greatly expanded systems of invasive digital surveillance." | www.commondreams.org/sites/default/files… …
(2020-04-01). COVID-19: International community must step up to prevent pandemic from devastating vulnerable on the run. news.un.org Given how quickly the COVID-19 pandemic is spreading, an outbreak is "looking imminent" in the world's refugee camps, crowded reception centres or detention facilities where migrant families are sheltering, the Executive Director of the UN Children's Fund (UNICEF) said on Wednesday.
(2020-04-01). The Added Importance of the Census, in Light of COVID-19. aclu.org Last year around this time, my biggest worry was how the inclusion of the Trump administration's proposed citizenship question would depress participation in the decennial census. Thankfully, our Supreme Court victory means there is no citizenship question on the census. Now, I have a new worry: a global pandemic and the health of my loved ones. As it turns out, the 2020 Census plays a role here too, as it will have enormous implications on our health care for decades to come. | Specifically, the census will determine the allocation of $300 billion dollars of federal aid for the states' health care — mo…
(2020-04-01). New York Mobilizes Rikers Island Prisoners To Dig Mass Graves for Coronavirus Victims. mintpressnews.com Rikers Island itself is on the verge of near collapse, over 300 inmates and staff have tested positive and human rights campaigners warn conditions in the notorious prison are dire.
(2020-04-01). Iranian foreign ministry's "SANCTION" graphic beamed tonight on Azadi Tower in Tehran. iranian.com …
(2020-04-01). US wrong if it thinks virus will stop China in Iran: Analysis. iranian.com China's long-running pursuit of infrastructure projects in Iran is set to continue despite intensified US sanctions as the Islamic Republic battles the novel coronavirus, analysts say. China is Iran's largest crude oil customer and a top trade partner. It regards the Middle Eastern powerhouse a key destination in China's trillion-dollar Belt and Road Initiative involving …
(2020-03-31). Economic sanctions should be lifted to prevent hunger crises in countries hit by COVID-19 — UN rights expert. news.un.org As the world exhibits new bonds of solidarity in response to the coronavirus pandemic, it is a matter of "humanitarian and practical urgency to lift unilateral economic sanctions immediately," to prevent hunger crises in pandemic-hit countries, a UN human rights expert, said on Tuesday.
(2020-03-31). Government inaction puts staff and inmates in immigration detention at risk. greenleft.org.au 
(2020-03-30). In a 10-Day Span, ICE Flew This Iranian Detainee Across the Country Nine Times. iranian.com Less than two weeks ago, the Trump administration urged Americans to avoid nonessential travel to prevent the spread of the coronavirus. Major airlines slashed their routes. All the while, Sirous Asgari took nine different flights around the country. None of them was by choice. Asgari bounced around on chartered jets from Louisiana to Texas to …
(2020-03-30). Civil rights groups condemn COVID-19 authoritarianism. greenleft.org.au 
(2020-03-27). Weekend Read: SPLC demands ICE act amid pandemic to save the lives of countless immigrants trapped in its crowded detention centers. splcenter.org …
(2020-03-26). Asylum Seekers Stranded in Mexico Face a New Danger: COVID-19. aclu.org 
Since the Trump administration first unrolled its policy of
(2020-03-25). SPLC and allies seek federal court injunction in system-wide suit to protect people detained by ICE from contracting COVID-19. splcenter.org The SPLC and its allies asked a federal court today to issue a preliminary injunction requiring that U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) take immediate steps to protect people in its custody, particularly those who have medical conditions making them more susceptible to serious illness and death from COVID-19.
(2020-03-23). This is No Time to Play Politics with our Democracy. aclu.org Update 03/27/2020: Congress passed a $2 trillion stimulus package intended to address the broad impacts of the COVID-19 global pandemic. While it included $400 million for states to expand access to the ballot for eligible voters, as outlined in this blog, more can and must be done to safeguard our democracy. , , To ensure elections proceed and eligible Americans can vote, any federal legislative package addressing the impact of COVID-19 on our elections must include an immediate, substantial infusion of federal funding and federal requirements for no-excuse mail-in absentee voting and early in-person voting.
(2020-03-20). How the ACLU Organized to end Racial Profiling on Greyhound Buses. aclu.org Two years ago, the ACLU set a clear goal: push Greyhound to refuse Customs and Border Protection (CBP) officers access to their buses to conduct warrantless searches. As part of the Trump administration's immigration crackdown, CBP officers were targeting bus passengers around the country, boarding their buses to racially profile, harass, and too often, detain people who they suspected of being undocumented. Of course, you can't tell someone's immigration status by how they look or sound — this practice is unconstitutional and blatantly racist. By pushing aggressively with the help of our membership and…
(2020-03-20). Grassroots effort sponsored by SPLC protects voting rights for hundreds across South Florida. splcenter.org Clutching a clipboard full of voter registration forms under his arm, Marq Mitchell knocked on the front door of a small, beige, stucco house in Fort Lauderdale, Florida.
(2020-03-20). Fight To Vote: Florida man's voting rights restored by Amendment 4. splcenter.org Abdul Yaw Akachi was talking to his neighbors one sunny day in Florida when a voting rights advocate walked up to him.
(2020-03-19). We Know Prisons Need COVID-19 Plans, but our Arizona Prison Tour Suggests it's not Happening. aclu.org Earlier this month, the
(2020-03-13). No, Venezuela does not have a six child per family policy. zcomm.org I respect UK journalist Andrew Buncombe. As I noted for FAIR last year, he was one of the few corporate journalists who reported on a study linking Trump's financial sanctions on Venezuela to thousands of deaths by the end of 2018. Since 2018, Trump has repeatedly intensified the sanctions and threatened Venezuela with military action,