… quizzed about wife Cathy’s religion when he was signing for …
Women at the forefront of the COVID-19 response in Albania: “We will keep fighting until this virus is defeated”
On International Women’s Day, 8 March, WHO/Europe recognizes the huge contribution made by female health workers to the COVID-19 response. As Dr Hans Henri P. Kluge, WHO Regional Director for Europe, said in a recent statement, “The face of that frontline health worker we so often talk about is mostly the face of a woman.”
Meet Ms Dumi
One of these frontline health workers is Ms Hëna Dumi, head of the nursing care sector of an Albanian COVID-19 designated hospital. Formerly a university hospital, it was repurposed in March of last year and started treating only COVID-19 patients.
Ms Dumi, its chief nurse, has been fighting the pandemic since the beginning. Although she has worked in the health-care sector for 25 years, she says she never expected that anything on this scale would ever occur.
During the first days of the pandemic, Ms Dumi remembers being deeply shocked at the cases she saw. She put on a brave face for her patients, despite the risk of burnout she and her colleagues faced due to the increasing number of patients being admitted and the emotionally draining hospital shifts.
Currently, just over 110 000 cases of COVID-19 in Albania have been reported to WHO, with the number of deaths now coming close to 1900. The female nurses on the frontline, treating patients and saving lives from the virus, are shining examples of endurance and perseverance in the fight against this pandemic.
One common challenge that health workers like Ms Dumi face is the extreme difficulty of caring for multiple patients at the same time while coping with their own fatigue and fear of getting infected. Ms Dumi admits that it is especially difficult to lose patients to the virus – patients who are more than a statistic, who have already become like members of the family.
Regardless of the taxing workload, stress and anxiety, Ms Dumi is not ready to give up. To her, these difficulties pale in comparison to the joy she feels when a life is saved. This gives her the strength to fight until the virus is defeated. “We have to get this done. We need to do our best and put in some additional effort to bring life back to normal again,” she emphasizes.
Data show that health workers account for 8% of global COVID-19 cases, and that their risk of getting infected is more than triple the risk faced by most of us, the ones they are trying to protect. Five weeks ago, out of the 1.3 million health workers that had been infected with COVID-19, 68% were women.
Empowering our female health workers
Globally, 70% of the health workforce is made up of women as nurses, midwives and community health workers. Progression in this sector, however, is not guaranteed if you are a woman. There are stereotypes and barriers that deter women from moving up the career ladder or getting engaged in the decision-making process.
Distrust and pressure are among the challenges that Ms Dumi has herself faced as a woman in her profession. Closing the gender gap requires collective action. “We need to fight hard for our rights if we are to achieve any progress moving forward in this direction,” she says.
Collective action is required for an effective COVID-19 response as well, and WHO continues to cooperate with a number of national partners in Albania to ensure this, including health authorities, health workers, hospital managers, communicators, logisticians and laboratory technicians.
Protecting health workers who risk their lives saving others in the COVID-19 pandemic and ensuring access to vital resources are among the top priorities of the WHO Country Office in Albania and its national partners.
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European Parliament lifts immunity of Carles Puigdemont
The European Parliament voted on Tuesday in favor of lifting immunity from the former leader of Spain’s Catalonia region, Carles Puigdemont.
The European lawmakers also waived immunity for former Catalan health minister Toni Comin and former regional education minister Clara Ponsati.
The trio fled to Belgium in October 2017 along with other Catalan separatists. They are wanted by Spain after holding an independence referendum that the Spanish government said was illegal.
In 2019, Puigdemont, Comin and Ponsati won seats in the European Parliament. This gave them protection in their positions as members of the EU assembly.
But at the request of the Spanish judiciary, the parliament opened an inquiry into waiving their immunity. The parliament’s Legal Affairs Committee voted last month to recommend this.
MEP’s overwhelmingly supported lifting immunity
In the decision on Puigdemont, 400 legislators voted for the waiver of immunity, 248 were against and 45 abstained.
The motions against Comin and Ponsati were adopted by 404 votes to 247, the parliament said.
Votes shows Catalonia is a national issue
The vote sends “a message that the problems of Catalonia are to be resolved within Spain and not at a European level,” Spanish Foreign Minister Arancha Gonzalez Laya told reporters in a statement.
Separatists plan to appeal
The three MEPs have already announced that they will take the case to the EU’s highest court, the European Court of Justice.
kmm/rt (AP, AFP, dpa)
Less salt for a longer life – a doctor’s advice for a healthy diet
Eating less salt saves lives, but many people in the WHO European Region find it difficult to change their diets. On the occasion of Salt Awareness Week 2021, WHO/Europe shares the experience of Dr Joana Ferreira, who is helping her patients in Portugal find healthier alternatives for processed or traditional foods to reduce their salt intake.
Reducing salt in our diets is a vital step in reducing the risk of developing raised blood pressure; associated cardiovascular diseases such as stroke, heart failure and heart disease; and chronic kidney disease.
WHO recommends that we consume less than 5 g of salt per day, yet the average daily salt consumption in the European Region ranges between 8 g and 19 g per day – well above this recommendation. Evidently, more action must be taken to stem the health risks of a high-salt diet.
Health workers can play a critical role by educating patients and raising awareness of the dangers of excessive salt consumption. Clear guidance can empower people to take control and reduce salt in their diets by changing their salt-adding behaviours and choosing less salty foods.
A core priority of the European Programme of Work 2020–2025 – “United Action for Better Health in Europe” is ensuring health and well-being for all at all ages, which is supported by lower salt consumption.
High salt consumption decreases quality of life
Dr Joana Ferreira is a family doctor in Portugal who sees the impact of excessive salt consumption in her patients on a daily basis. “Excessive consumption of salt manifests in patients with high blood pressure (even without a diagnosis of hypertension), headache due to increased blood pressure, electrolyte disturbances, acute or chronic renal failure, and angina pectoris, which naturally decreases quality of life,” she explains.
“The reduction of salt intake is crucial to lowering the incidence of arterial hypertension in the population and, consequently, all associated cardiovascular comorbidities such as stroke, heart failure, coronary heart disease and chronic kidney disease,” adds Dr Ferreira.
Lowering salt intake is recognized as a WHO “best buy”: a cost-effective public health intervention for reducing noncommunicable diseases (NCDs). In 2013, the World Health Assembly established a global target for a 30% reduction in salt intake by 2025, towards the WHO <5 g recommendation. Even a 15% decrease in salt intake would lower blood pressure and prevent up to 8.5 million premature deaths within a decade in low- and middle-income countries.
Health inequity – when the “affordable” food is harmful
Cheaper, processed foods tend to have high salt levels. The “affordable” option can therefore be the most harmful to health. In many countries in the European Region, more than 50% of salt in diets comes from processed foods.
Dr Ferreira works mainly with primary-sector workers in rural areas. She explains how they often opt for certain traditional foods which are also high in salt and fat. “It is very difficult to control or change these established cultural habits,” she says. “Also, due to the scarcity of economic resources, the food patients choose tends to be the cheapest, with patients struggling to find healthier alternatives.”
Salt and the associated health risks are part of a broader pattern of health inequity. Beyond government action on the social determinants of health, a salt-reduction strategy requires a combination of efforts to change consumer behaviours and regulate the food industry. Easy-to-understand nutrition labelling is a key tool to help consumers identify and select foods that are lower in salt.
Health literacy as a policy cornerstone
Health workers can educate patients about the dangers of eating too much salt and which foods contribute to salt intake, and share practical tips to improve their diets. These health literacy interventions can be incorporated into a wider strategy of policy interventions.
“A lot of work needs to be done in the smallest communities, with partnerships between municipalities and primary health care,” says Mr Alberto Silva Cardoso, who was diagnosed with arterial hypertension 2 years ago. As a retired primary school teacher in Portugal, he is aware of the importance of education.
Thanks to initiatives by health professionals in Portugal to counter low awareness of the risks of excess salt intake, the country’s health literacy on salt consumption is improving.
World Salt Awareness Week
WHO/Europe supports World Salt Awareness Week 2021 under the slogan “More Flavour, Less Salt”, encouraging consumers to celebrate home cooking as an opportunity to get creative and eat healthily. Yet, while it is important for individuals to be informed and conscientious about what they consume, the responsibility of a low-salt diet should not rest solely with the consumer.
Action at a national level is required to both educate consumers and work with the food industry to reduce salt levels in commonly available foods. Complementary interventions such as front-of-pack food labelling and taxation measures can further encourage food manufacturers to lower the salt content of food products and meals.
WHO/Europe established the European Salt Action Network to convene countries committed to salt reduction, share experiences and take steps to extend best practices to reduce salt intake in the whole Region.
Reducing salt intake is a priority for the prevention and control of NCDs, which contribute to an estimated 86% of deaths and 77% of disease in the Region. National and local action is required to empower consumers to make healthy choices, and to make the healthy choice the easy choice.
EU Parliament renames two buildings after prominent European women
On International Women’s Day, the European Parliament’s Bureau approved proposals to name two of its buildings in Brussels after prominent European women.
A building located at Rue Montoyer 63 will be named after Clara CAMPOAMOR, a Spanish lawyer and politician, who worked to further women’s rights and combat discrimination on the grounds of gender. Her commitment contributed to enshrine women’s suffrage in the Spanish Constitution of 1931.
A building located at Rue Wiertz 30-50 will be named after Sophie SCHOLL, a German student and anti-Nazi political activist. She was a member of the White Rose group, a pacifist resistance group led by students at the University of Munich. She was detained for treason when she was found distributing anti-Nazi leaflets, sentenced to death and executed by guillotine.
The Bureau, comprising the President, Vice-Presidents and Quaestors, also decided to rename meeting room SPINELLI 1G2 after the late Manolis GLEZOS, a Greek politician and Member of the European Parliament from 1 July 2014 to 8 July 2015 and from 24 July 1984 to 25 January 1985. He was a major figure in the national resistance against fascism.
Carles Puigdemont faces immunity vote in the European Parliament
Carles Puigdemont, the former leader of Catalonia, faces a moment of truth as the European Parliament prepares to vote on whether or not to lift his parliamentary immunity.
If the plenary adopts a waiver to strip the politician of his special protection, the Spanish authorities will move to reactivate a European Arrest Warrant (EAS) to bring him back to the country and put him on trial. The extradition will have to be decided first by the Belgian justice system.
In Spain, Puigdemont stands accused of sedition and misuse of public funds. Similar charges have been filed against another two separatists, Antoni Comín and Clara Ponsatí, who also risk losing their immunity.
Regardless of the outcome, the three will retain their status as Members of the European Parliament for the time being.
The vote, which takes place Monday evening, will centre on the report written by Bulgarian MEP Angel Dzhambazki, who belongs to the eurosceptic group European Conservatives and Reformists (ECR). Official results are expected Tuesday morning.
The report was approved last month by the parliament’s Committee on Legal Affairs (JURI). The committee concluded the events involving the three MEPs took place before they entered the European Parliament and the accusations are not related to their activities as European legislators. Therefore, they noted, immunity from prosecution does not apply to their case.
Fifteen MEPs of the committee voted in favour of lifting immunity, with eight opposing and two abstaining.
While that vote was secret, the numbers indicate that a simple majority against Piedmont will be likely replicated in the hemicycle.
The three main parties (EPP, S&D and Renew Europe) of the European Parliament, which together hold more than half the seats, have long opposed the protection afforded to the Catalan politicians.
However, these parties are large and diverse, and differences of opinion are expected to happen. Spanish MEP Izaskun Bilbao, who seats with the liberal Renew Europe, has already said she will vote against the waiver. “Political problems are not resolved through sentences but with dialogue and politics,” she wrote on Twitter.
The aforementioned ECR group, which includes MEPs from the Spanish far-right party Vox, is also poised to vote in favour of lifting the immunity, although the Flemish separatist N-VA, a close ally of Puigdemont, is certain to break the party’s discipline.
The Greens and The Left are widely expected to move against the waiver. The Greens/EFA group accommodates MEPs from Esquerra Republicana de Catalunya (ECR), another Catalan pro-independence party.
Puigdemont, Comín and Ponsatí are non-attached MEPs, a condition that has worked to their disadvantage during the whole legal process.
With these challenging numbers in mind, the trio has been carrying out a PR campaign to convince their fellow parliamentarians to vote in their favour in order to maintain their immunity or, at least, to make the result as tight as possible.
Brussels has been a favourite stage for the Catalan independence movement, which has used the capital to raise the international profile of their political crusade.
“We’re going to fight this battle until the last minute, whether it’s in the European Parliament or in the [European] Court of Luxembourg if we have to go there,” Puigdemont told Euronews last month, after the JURI committee’s vote.
What happens next?
Monday’s vote will close a chapter in the long battle that the three Catalan politicians have been waging in order to avoid extradition to Spain. But another phase will open.
If MEPs decide to lift their colleagues’ immunity, the trio will become liable to prosecution and trial. The vote will not equate to a guilty verdict since MEPs are not judging the background of the case.
The Spanish authorities have been waiting for the plenary’s vote to know if they can reactivate the European Search Warrant placed over Puigdemont for sedition and misuse of public funds during the 2017 illegal independence referendum in Catalonia and the unilateral declaration of independence. As the then-leader of the region, Puigdemont himself pronounced that declaration.
In Spain, nine Catalan pro-separatist leaders and activists have already been found guilty of sedition and given prison sentences of between 9 and 13 years. Puigdemont, Comín and Ponsatí were supposed to be part of that same trial, but their exile made it impossible.
The legal team of Puigdemont is putting its hopes on the precedent set by the case of Lluís Puig, another Catalan politician wanted in Spain.
In a surprising twist earlier this year, Belgium rejected the extradition of Puig arguing that the Spanish Supreme Court was not competent to judge him and there was a risk of not respecting his presumption of innocence.
Spanish judge Pablo Llarena, of the Supreme Court, disagreed with this decision. To avoid a similar outcome, Llarena has referred the matter to the EU Court of Justice for a preliminary ruling to determine whether the Belgian justice system is applying the warrant in the correct manner.
Llarena wants Luxembourg (the seat of the ECJ) to voice its opinion on Puigdemont before moving further with the arrest warrant.
The legal battle will be complex and take many months to resolve. If the Belgian justice system ends up denying Spain’s request, the three Catalan MEPs will be able to stay inside the country as MEPs – but without their special immunity.
Only a final judgment in Spain could take away their seats in the hemicycle.
Viktor Orban should become the agent of European integration | View
Too little, too late for Mr. Orban
Too little, too late if you ask me.
To tolerate a disruptive behaviour for years and years, ignoring authoritarianism and right-wing excesses under some made-up Christian-conservatism, is the same as looking idly at extremism growing freely inside the very fabric of our leadership structure and in our societies.
And now that we have arrived here do we really think that Viktor Orban and Fidesz are in any way affected by the EPP’s decision to suspend his party? Or that they will suddenly be ashamed and change something in their political approach? Unfortunately, it is too late for that. We all know what’s going to happen from here.
Orban will intensify his rhetoric, and he will posture even more shamelessly as the self-styled last defender of Christianity.
In his own words sent to the EPP group, he is “attacked” in a moment when “hundreds of thousands of Europeans are hospitalised, and our doctors are saving lives” and the EPP decision is “undemocratic, unjust and unacceptable”.
Orban will continue to pump public money, national and European into his propaganda machine. He will continue to shout and put posters on motorways depicting himself as the defender of all Europe from immigrants, from the evil Soros, and from the incompetent politicians in Brussels, who spend their time tirelessly working out plans to harm the innocent people who voted for him.
Of course, he is the kind of leader with little regrets, and he will sacrifice anything and anybody, including his citizens, for his political gain.
Speaking of Soros, let’s ask him if he’s happy with supporting Orban in the early nineties. And more importantly, let’s ask ourselves if Hungary’s people deserve what’s coming to them. An isolated country ruled by an authoritarian leader who twists reality to match his particular interest. Orban is a political leader that will confuse the destiny of his country with his political survival.
The growing swell of anti-European strategists are working hard to find fractures in our political construction, and there is nothing more prominent and more explicit than Orban and Fidesz.
And the fact he was allowed to be part of EPP, throwing at him small and insignificant threats that he ignored repeatedly, was a real help for him to prosper and work on more fractures between us. He was the “bad boy,” the one who said it at it was, and because the costs were postponed continuously, he is now playing a martyr facing a wrongful conviction. Let’s face it! He used us and he used all the European crises to gain political advantage.
But it can be an excellent lesson for the future if we can understand the dangers behind [such] hesitation.
The price of this lesson is the future of democracy, nonetheless. We will continue to meet Orban at the European Council. His party is still in power and part of the European Parliament. He will seek alliances with the extremist forces from inside Europe and also abroad. It will be a nightmare.
But it’s a good reason to understand why we need a united Europe, without two speeds, with west and east, north and south, joining hands and sharing visions.
The too-much-delayed Conference on the Future of Europe is the opportune moment.
Maybe the design of its governance is not ideal. Still, we must go past that and focus on the content, use it to give voice to our citizens and pursue a union that emerges more resilient in the face of crisis, generates economic opportunity and growth, and is more prominent in this new multi-polar world.
The best joke on Orban is to turn him into an undercover agent of European integration.
_Dragoș Tudorache is a Romanian MEP. _
Broadcast in Chile sparks dialogue on service and prayer
SANTIAGO, Chile — An audience of some 50,000 across Chile tuned in last week to watch a program that offered perspectives of the country’s Bahá’í community on how people can remain hopeful and respond constructively to the health crisis.
The 40-minute program was broadcast online by EMOL TV—one of Chile’s leading news outlets—in collaboration with the Chilean Association for Interreligious Dialogue (ADIR). The program is part of a series that began in April 2020 as the pandemic hit and provides the country’s faith communities an opportunity to offer messages of hope.
“Through this and an earlier broadcast last August,” says Luis Sandoval of Chile’s Bahá’í Office of External Affairs, “the Bahá’í community has tried to impart the same spirit that people feel when they pray together, whether in their homes, online with friends and neighbors, or with their compatriots under the roof of the Bahá’í House of Worship in Santiago.”
Omar Cortes of ADIR says, “In their contributions, the Bahá’í community has always left a very positive impression on the editors and audience of EMOL TV. This last broadcast by the Bahá’í community was appreciated for its attentive reflections, touching on the health and social crisis with wisdom.”
The most recent program, which has stimulated dialogue on spiritual themes among the many viewers, featured reflections from people across the country who are engaged in Bahá’í community-building endeavors.
Appearing in the broadcast, Veronica Oré, director of the Bahá’í House of Worship in Santiago, commented on the budding cooperation and mutual support among citizens, saying, “Rather than looking with sadness and hopelessness at what is happening, we can see a great opportunity emerging to better understand what it means for all segments of humanity to act as one.”
“The world is but one country,” she adds, referring to a well-known teaching of Bahá’u’lláh which continues, stating: “and mankind its citizens.”
Another speaker, a young person from Santiago, called on her fellow youth to arise and support one another, whether friends or strangers, in a unified response to the needs of society. Others shared insights from conversations in spaces created by the Office of External Affairs in which participants explore issues such as the extremes of wealth and poverty, equality between men and women, the protection of nature, and the economy.
Speaking about the series of broadcasts, Mr. Cortes of ADIR says, “We are grateful to EMOL TV because, as a secular media organization, it dared to venture into this type of broadcast.”
Mr. Sandoval comments further on the important role of the media in fostering a public dialogue on religion’s capacity to inspire hope. “Transmitting a potent message related to the reality of the country and the principles that show new ways of living, of organizing ourselves, and of relating to each other can contribute to the transformation of society for the welfare of all.”
Risks of pandemic women’s rights warning of US, EU, NZ leaders
The coronavirus pandemic and ensuing economic and political turmoil have sharpened the challenges facing women as they demand equal rights, three of the world’s most influential female leaders warned Monday.
US Vice President Kamala Harris, New Zealand’s Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern and EU chief Ursula von der Leyen addressed the European Parliament on International Women’s Day.
“Simply put, our world does not yet work for women as it should,” Harris, the first woman and the first American of African and Asian descent to serve as US vice-president, told MEPs.
“COVID-19 has threatened the health, the economic security, and the physical security of women everywhere,” she warned in a video address recorded in Washington.
Von der Leyen, the first woman to head the EU executive, touted her plans to insist on transparency and in hiring and salaries to incite European companies to close the gender pay gap. The women in Europe are paid 14 percent less than men and only 67 percent are in paid work, compared to 78 percent of men. “This is simply not acceptable,” she said.
“At the same time, women comprise 70 percent of the global health workforce, putting them on the front lines and at risk of contracting the virus,” Harris said.
