Global cooperation – Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, Director-General of the World Health Organization (WHO) was addressing the Aspen Security Forum, which brings together top-level present and former government officials from the United States.
The Americas remain the current epicentre of the COVID-19 pandemic.
“For all our differences, we are one human race sharing the same planet and our security is interdependent – no country will be safe, until we’re all safe”, he told the virtual meeting.
“I urge all leaders to choose the path of cooperation and act now to end this pandemic! It’s not just the smart choice, it’s the right choice and it’s the only choice we have.”
Tedros said the pandemic has “stress tested” the global political, economic, cultural and social infrastructure, pushing national health systems everywhere, to their limits.
“The world spends billions every year preparing for potential terrorist attacks but we’ve learned lessons the hard way that unless we invest in pandemic preparedness and the climate crisis, we leave ourselves open to enormous harm”, he said.
As no country can fight the virus alone, Tedros said “our best way forward is to stick with science, solutions and solidarity, and together we can overcome this pandemic.”
Against “vaccine nationalism”
During a question-and-answer session moderated by US network TV news host, Lester Holt, the WHO chief was asked about ensuring fair distribution of a COVID-19 vaccine when one is developed.
Tedros warned against “vaccine nationalism” in a globalized world.
In April, WHO and partners launched the ACT Accelerator to speed up development of vaccines and medicines against the disease, and to ensure that they will be available to people everywhere.
“But to make it happen, especially fair distribution, there should be a global consensus to make a vaccine, any product, a global public product. And this is a political choice, a political commitment, and we want political leaders to decide on this,” he said.
“What we’re saying is sharing vaccines, or sharing other tools, actually helps the world to recover together, and the economic recovery can be faster and the damage from COVID-19 could be less.”
The supplies were transported on behalf of the Pacific Islands Forum, the region’s premier political and economic policy organization.
With commercial air services greatly reduced due to airport closures, and other measures to prevent further spread of the disease, the 18-member bloc has established a platform to facilitate the timely and rapid movement of medical and humanitarian assistance, known as the Pacific Humanitarian Pathway on COVID-19.
“The humanitarian air service flights are a welcome demonstration that the Pacific Humanitarian Pathway on COVID-19 is doing what leaders intended – protecting citizens and supporting health systems”, said Dame Meg Taylor, Pacific Islands Forum Secretary General.
The Pacific region is comprised of more than 20 countries and territories scattered across an area that represents roughly 15 per cent of the earth’s surface.
Therefore, air and sea transport “is nothing short of a lifeline”, according to Jo Pilgrim, Director of WFP’s Pacific Multi-Country Office, which is located in Fiji.
Impact of COVID-19
Although border closures have helped curb the COVID-19 threat, she said impacts have been significant, particularly as the region relies on tourism revenue.
“It’s also affected international supply chains, especially for air cargo, and this makes it very difficult for Pacific governments and international aid organizations to import goods, especially medical equipment like the personal protective equipment that you need to protect our health workers”, Ms. Pilgrim told UN News.
“Even shipping routes across the Pacific, which are major avenues for the importation of food and fuel, for example, have been affected. Even though they are still running, the services are reduced, and the costs are increasing.”
WFP support to nations
Unlike other WFP operations, the Pacific Office does not work on food aid distribution or food assistance. Instead, it supports governments with emergency preparedness in a region that is highly susceptible to cyclones and other extreme weather events.
During the pandemic, staff have been assisting national authorities in three areas: establishing COVID-19 call centres and tele-health initiatives, conducting remote surveys on food security at the household level, and in logistics.
“A good example for logistics is that with the shut-down of the aviation sector affecting the ability of governments and aid organizations to import goods, we have established the Pacific humanitarian air service which will deliver cargo to those countries where there are no viable commercial options available for the importation of freight by air”, said Ms. Pilgrim.
Filling the gap
The Pacific humanitarian air service will transport medical items, medicines, and equipment on behalf of UN agencies such as UNICEF and the World Health Organization (WHO), as well as the International Federation of the Red Cross.
Flights will also deliver supplies on behalf of countries, coordinated through the Pacific Islands Forum Secretariat and the Pacific Humanitarian Pathway for COVID-19.
“Normally, humanitarian air services only move cargo on behalf of humanitarian organizations”, Ms. Pilgrim explained. “But in this particular case in the Pacific, because of the unprecedented circumstances we find ourselves in, where no one can get anything on a plane, we’re also moving medical cargo for the governments.”
Ms. Pilgrim expressed hope that commercial flights will be back in the air soon.
“We don’t want to do anything that would contradict this or that would disincentivize the aviation sector commercially”, she said, “so all the flights that we will operate will be limited as much as possible to those sectors without commercial options.”
The Pacific humanitarian air service is currently funded by Australia and the United States, and the hope is that other donors will step up.
“WFP is a voluntary-funded organization and we rely completely on donations from governments and the private sector, so we can keep flying for as long as we’ve got funds coming in,” said Ms. Pilgrim. “And hopefully we will have enough support from the donor community to allow us to fill the gap in the aviation sector until it’s restored and our services are no longer required.”
Spain: Biotech innovation – the EIB provides €20 million in financing to Sanifit to develop treatments for vascular calcification
The EU bank will support Palma-based Sanifit in its work to develop cutting-edge solutions in biomedical research.
The venture debt operation is supported by the Investment Plan for Europe.
The European Investment Bank (EIB) is set to support the development of new treatments for progressive vascular calcification, an area of significant unmet medical need where there are currently no approved treatments. To this end, the EU bank will provide a €20 million loan to Spanish biopharmaceutical company Sanifit, which is developing novel treatments in two disease indications linked to calcification.
The EIB is advancing funds for this research, development and innovation (RDI) project by way of a venture debt operation with Investment Plan for Europe support, a financing instrument used by the EU bank to assist leading companies in innovative sectors. Since it was launched by the EIB under the Juncker Plan in 2016, this initiative has granted over €2 billion in financing for projects in areas such as robotics, artificial intelligence and biomedicine.
The EIB will provide Sanifit with long-term finance to drive the development of treatments for progressive vascular calcification disorders. The Company, founded as a spin-off out of the University of the Balearic Islands, has developed SNF472, a selective and potent inhibitor of hydroxyapatite (HAP) crystallisation, the final common pathway that leads to vascular calcification.
SNF472 is currently being investigated in a Phase 3 study for the treatment of calciphylaxis, a devastating rare disease where small blood vessels in skin and fat tissue are blocked due to severe calcification, leading to the death of approximately 55% of patients within the first year of diagnosis. A Phase 3 trial in a second indication, peripheral arterial disease, a major driver of morbidity and death in end-stage kidney disease patients, will launch in 2021.
EIB Vice-President Emma Navarro, responsible for the Bank’s operations in Spain, highlighted the “positive impact of this operation on strengthening the competitiveness of the European biomedical industry, a sector requiring large-scale investment and tailored financing solutions. We are delighted to help a leading Spanish company to develop new medical treatments for vascular calcification that will have clear benefits for human health and wellbeing. This agreement underscores the EIB’s commitment to supporting European innovation, which is now more vital than ever to promoting economic recovery and job creation.”
Dr Joan Perelló, Chief Executive Officer of Sanifit, commented: “The support of the EIB represents a significant endorsement of our technology and its potential to help patients suffering from debilitating conditions related to progressive vascular calcification. This is an extremely exciting time for Sanifit as we progress SNF472 through the clinic, and this further investment will be invaluable as we gather the late stage data required for approval, and to deliver treatment options to patients in need.”
Sanifit is a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company focused on treatments for vascular calcification disorders. The company is a spin-off from the University of the Balearic Islands and has offices in Spain and the U.S. The company’s lead asset, SNF472, has successfully completed a Phase 2 proof of concept study in calciphylaxis and showed a significant reduction in progression of coronary calcification in a Phase 2b study among hemodialysis patients. A Phase 3 pivotal study in calciphylaxis is currently underway and a Phase 3 trial in Peripheral Arterial Disease in End-Stage Kidney Disease patients will launch in 2021. Sanifit has raised approximately $130M, including a 2019 Series D round of $61.8M (€55.2M) in mid-2019. For more information please visit www.sanifit.com
EIB awards €30 million loan to EryDel for development of novel RBC treatment of rare diseases.
EryDel’s treatment platform under development for use in treating rare childhood diseases such as Ataxia Telangiectasia (AT).
Financing supported under the European Fund for Strategic Investments, the main component of the European Commission’s Investment Plan for Europe.
The European Investment Bank (EIB) and Italian biotech company EryDel SpA have signed a contract to provide a loan of €30 million to EryDel. This late-stage biotech company aims to develop and commercialise therapies based on its proprietary RBC technology for the treatment of rare diseases. The EU bank’s loan is backed by a guarantee from the European Fund for Strategic Investments (EFSI), the main pillar of the Investment Plan for Europe under which the EIB and the European Commission are working together as strategic partners, with the EIB’s financing operations boosting the competitiveness of the European economy.
EryDel’s proprietary platform technology is an easy-to-use, fast and automatic bedside procedure for encapsulating small and large molecules including therapeutic enzymes in patients’ own red blood cells. The cells are immediately re-infused into patients, providing prolonged half-life in circulation, reduced immunogenicity, better tolerability and predictable vascular distribution. EryDel’s most advanced product is being developed to treat AT, a rare neurodegenerative childhood disease that causes severe disability. EryDel’s platform RBC technology will be applied to treat other rare diseases as well. The financing will support ongoing R&D by the company and its network of partners, which encompasses research institutes, clinical centres and patient associations.
EIB Vice-President Dario Scannapieco commented: “The fact that EryDel is developing therapies for very rare diseases is all the more reason for us to be proud to support this initiative. With the backing of the EFSI, the EIB is happy to finance EryDel’s development of their autologous RBC encapsulation therapy to treat very serious childhood diseases. As the bank of the European Union, we have to ensure that new innovative EU-based companies continue to have access to finance, so that they can bring their technologies to market to help improve people’s lives.”
European Commissioner for the Economy, Paolo Gentiloni, said: “The Investment Plan for Europe has a very strong track record in identifying and supporting innovative technology companies. With the financing of the Italian company EryDel and its pioneering RBC technology, we will help push the boundaries of what is possible in the treatment of rare diseases to the benefit of patients in Europe and across the world.”
EryDel CEO Luca Benatti said: “We’re delighted to receive this financing from the EIB, which supports our vision of becoming a fully integrated company that can bring innovative therapies to patients. The EIB clearly recognises the unmet medical need for effective therapies for rare diseases and the potential to help patients in Europe and around the world, and supports our belief that in the future there will be effective therapies developed by EryDel for a wide range of rare diseases. The funds will be used for planned expenditures for research and development and capital expenditure activities. Now that we have completed enrolment for our Phase 3 clinical trial ATTeST, the largest clinical study ever conducted in Ataxia Telangiectasia, the support and collaboration we are receiving from the EIB is significant.”
EryDel CCO Ronan Gannon said: “We’re honoured to have the EIB as a partner who shares our market view and technology vision and trusts EryDel to play a leading role in the global rare disease market. It also demonstrates that Europe plays an important role in leading-edge innovations.”
EryDel SpA is a global, late-stage biotech company aiming to use its proprietary red blood cell (RBC) technology to develop and commercialise therapies for the treatment of rare diseases. Its most advanced product EryDex is under late-stage development for the treatment of Ataxia Telangiectasia, a rare autosomal recessive disorder for which no therapy is currently available. A completed Phase II trial in AT patients demonstrated statistically significant efficacy of EryDex on both the primary and secondary endpoints. An international multi-centre Phase III pivotal study, ATTeST, is currently being conducted. EryDel has a pipeline of pre-clinical programmes that are working with its proprietary RBC delivery technology in treating other rare diseases, which includes the use of enzyme replacement therapies.
FIEE’s first fund dedicated to energy efficiency is fully invested ahead of schedule, prompting the launch of follow-up fund, which raised €127.5 million at a first close, above initial €100 million target
The Fund, with a target size of €175 million, gets €39.9 million from the EIB, backed by the European Fund for Strategic Investments, the main pillar of the EU’s Investment Plan for Europe
Investment team doubled and first investments being finalized in companies operating in the residential, energy community and HVACR segments
Fondo Italiano per l’Efficienza Energetica SGR (FIEE SGR), the leading Italian fund and one of the largest European funds specializing in energy efficiency for an energy transition, has launched its second fund – the Italian Energy Efficiency Fund II (FIEE II) – with a first close of €127.5 million, above the initial minimum of €100 million, and the objective of reaching the target of €175 million by the end of the year.
FIEE II has raised capital from the European Investment Bank (EIB) and prestigious Italian institutional investors and family offices, which together manage assets worth approximately €2 trillion. In particular, the EIB – one of the world’s most prominent institutional investors in the green economy and energy transition, and already an anchor investor in the first fund (FIEE I) with €25 million – has increased its commitment to nearly €40 million, confirming its role as anchor investor for FIEE II too. The EIB’s investment is supported by the European Fund for Strategic Investments (EFSI). An important contributor to FIEE II acting as an anchor investor with a commitment of €30 million – doubling the investment made in FIEE I – is also Aviva, led by Alberto Vacca, Italy’s Chief Business & Investment Officer. With 320 years of history and over 33 million clients worldwide, Aviva is one of the world’s largest insurance companies and has properly integrated ESG considerations into its investment decisions.
FIEE II starts with significant support not only from the EIB but also from other FIEE I’s investors, which have responded enthusiastically to the fundraising by subscribing over 90% of first close’s commitments. Through FIEE II, FIEE SGR will extend its range of action to the rest of the European Union and will be able to invest not only in service companies but also in equipment manufacturers, with a particular focus on smart cities and energy communities, in addition to pursuing selected initiatives in the renewable energy sector.
FIEE SGR is managed by the CEOs Raffaele Mellone, former managing director of Merrill Lynch, and Andrea Marano, a former executive of Enel Green Power, and by the chairman Fulvio Conti, former CEO of Enel and chairman of TIM. The promoters also include Lamse S.p.A. (holding company of Andrea Agnelli and his sister Anna) and Maurizio Cereda (former deputy general manager and director of Mediobanca). The board of directors of the SGR also includes Gianfilippo Mancini, a manager with extensive experience in the energy sector gained in Enel and more recently as CEO of Sorgenia, and Giorgio Catallozzi, an independent director with many years of experience in the energy efficiency sector. The promoters have made a financial commitment of €4 million in FIEE II, replicating the commitment made for FIEE I.
European Investment Bank Vice-President Dario Scannapieco commented: “Italy has a lot to gain from investments in energy efficiency, as well as from the small-scale renewable energy projects that the fund will target. Furthermore, FIEE’s attention to projects in low carbon mobility, smart cities, and digitalization are a signal that this kind of investment is not only needed, but nowadays also makes economic sense.”
Raffaele Mellone commented: “The target market has grown and strengthened considerably over the last 4 years. This growth will be intensified by the European Green New Deal, whose effects will begin to materialise over the next 12 months. We have been in the industry for many years now and we have never seen such excitement and so many investment opportunities. Within a few weeks of the first close of FIEE II we will complete the first transactions in the residential, energy community and HVACR sectors, allocating the first portion of raised capital.”
“We are extremely pleased with the support from our investors and would like to thank them for their renewed confidence in our initiative. The positive results achieved by FIEE I show that energy transition is a long-term, sustainable and profitable trend for investors”, added Andrea Marano. “Our ambition is to continue to be a leading player in this constantly evolving and growing sector, and to this end we have doubled our investment team with professionals who bring 30 years of overall experience in investment and the energy sector in leading European institutions.”
“FIEE SGR represents a successful experience gained through the profitability of its investments in a segment of the real economy characterised by the efficient and sustainable use of energy. We are very pleased with the path we have taken, accompanied by our investors who appreciate not only the positive financial returns but also their anti-cyclical nature and resilience to extreme exogenous events such as the recent Covid-19 pandemic. In the current highly complicated macroeconomic environment, energy transition plays an even more crucial role than it did before.” concluded Fulvio Conti.
FIEE SGR has been supported by Legance for legal matters and Cisternino Desiderio & Partners for tax matters.
Fondo Italiano per l’Efficienza Energetica SGR (FIEE) is the equity fund that in recent years has enabled the implementation of the largest energy efficiency investment programme in Europe, concentrated in Italy. FIEE II continues the positive experience of FIEE I, which in just a few years has invested in companies well positioned in the energy efficiency sector in Italy, becoming a market leader in the residential and public lighting segments. The investments are concentrated in highly strategic sectors for the revival of Italy’s economy and for the sustainable growth of its competitiveness. Like the previous fund, FIEE II will have a duration of 12 years, with a target return of 10-12%, to be achieved also through periodic cash distributions, and with lower risk than traditional private equity. For more information please visit our website www.fieesgr.com
With the southernmost country on the continent, now among the top five of the world’s most affected, WHO underscored that it is critical to strengthen its COVID-19 response.
“At this time, when the COVID-19 epidemic in South Africa is spreading rapidly, it is important that we work together to intensify our fight against the virus”, said Owen Kaluwa, WHO Representative for South Africa.
To help manage the coronavirus outbreak, WHO will be deploying 43 experts from various fields, including seasoned infectious disease epidemiologist and public health expert, David Heymann, who headed the response to the 2003 epidemic of the closely-related viral respiratory disease, SARS.
WHO will be complementing scaled-up national and provincial responses to minimize the spread and impact of COVID-19.
“Our collective efforts are necessary to identify cases, isolate and provide care, follow up contacts and fully implement physical distancing and other key public health measure”, said the WHO official.
WHO will fund the international surge team and South Africa will provide administrative resources. The team will be jointly led by WHO Regional Director for Africa, Matshidiso Moeti, and Executive Director of the agency’s Health Emergencies Programme, Michael Ryan, who will work virtually from Brazzaville, Congo, and Geneva respectively, to support the experts on the ground.
“Dr. Moeti and Dr. Ryan have become familiar and trusted figures in the fight against COVID-19”, said South African Minister of Health, Zweli Mkhize. “They have been supporting and complementing our national efforts and we have had very fruitful and honest discussions with them”.
Before their deployments in the provinces of Eastern Cape, Free State, Gauteng, Kwazulu Natal and Mpumalanga, the delegation completed an initial period of quarantine and testing.
“These provinces have been identified as the ones needing the most urgent support where the first team can make the most impact”, according to General Health Director Sandile Buthelezi.
Tasks ahead
The surge team aims to contribute to national efforts, including in surveillance and streamlining of epidemiological systems.
It intends to improve case management by promoting WHO’s global COVID-19 response guidelines and reduce the burden on hospitals by increasing community buy-in to assure greater compliance with public health measures.
‘Key priority’
WHO’s Regional Office for Africa has made supporting South Africa “a key priority”, according said Dr Moeti, who affirmed that working together “will help flatten the curve and save lives”.
“Our solidarity which spans the globe is a model partnership for an effective response”, she concluded. “United we will defeat COVID-19.”
GENEVA (4 August 2020) – A year after India revoked the special status of Jammu and Kashmir, UN human rights experts* today called on India and the international community to take urgent action to address the alarming human rights situation in the territory.
“Urgent action is needed,” the experts said. “If India will not take any genuine and immediate steps to resolve the situation, meet their obligations to investigate historic and recent cases of human rights violations and prevent future violations, then the international community should step up.”
Since the Indian Parliament revoked the constitutionally mandated status of the state of Jammu and Kashmir on 5 August 2019, “the human rights situation in Jammu and Kashmir has been in free fall,” the experts said. “We are particularly concerned that during the COVID-19 pandemic, many protestors are still in detention and Internet restrictions remain in place.”
“We have yet to receive any reply to three of the four letters,” the experts said.
The October 2019 closure of the Jammu and Kashmir State Human Rights Commission, which had been one of the few ways victims of human rights violations could seek remedy, is particularly concerning. Furthermore, no information was provided to the public about what would happen to the ongoing cases the body had been investigating, including hundreds of suspected enforced disappearances dating from as far back as 1989. Allegations regarding thousands of unmarked and some mass graves sites have also not yet been properly investigated.
“Decades on, families are still waiting in anguish and now there is a stream of new alleged rights violations,” the experts said. “With no State Human Rights Commission and internet restrictions, the avenues for reporting are further reduced.”
In 2011, India extended an open invitation to Special Rapporteurs to visit, but has several requests pending. “We call on India to schedule pending visits as a matter of urgency, particularly of the experts dealing with torture and disappearances,” they said.
John Hume, Irish nationalist, Northern Ireland peace broker, praised by Catholics, Protestants and world leaders
John Hume was a Catholic nationalist who stood for Ireland as a unitary state, but he was also a peacemaker and straddled the divide into the mainly Protestant unionist camp at a time when Northern Ireland was in a state of deep conflict in the last century.
His funeral was at St, Eugene’s Cathedral, Londonderry on Aug. 5 after he died two days earlier at the age of 83.
Ireland’s President Michael D Higgins, Taoiseach (Prime Minister) Micheál Martin and Northern Ireland’s first and deputy first ministers Arlene Foster and Michelle O’Neill were among the mourners at the requiem mass.
Due to the novel coronavirus, COVID-19, Hume’s family had asked mourners to stay at home and light a “candle for peace” at their door in tribute ahead of the funeral which was tailored to the pandemic.
Hume was born in Londonderry in January 1937 at the height of the Depression, the son of an unemployed riveter, Reuters news agency wrote.
‘CAN’T EAT A FLAG’
His father, his hero, urged him to avoid narrow nationalist chauvinism “because you can’t eat a flag”.
“What he was saying is what I am saying today, that real politics are not about flag-waving. They are about providing bread on your table and a roof over your head,” Hume said.
He received plaudits from Catholic, Anglican and Protestant leaders as well as political leaders internationally for his role in the peace process.
“The death of John Hume, one of the greatest peacemakers and champions of social justice of our time, will be felt by many people locally and around the world,” said the Catholic bishop of Derry, Bishop of Derry after his death.
“He dedicated his life to the welfare of this community, at no small cost to himself.
“While he strode the world stage, he remained firmly rooted in his local city. It was the specific circumstances that prevailed here in his native city that helped develop his vision for the future.”
The tributes to Hume, one of the key architects of the Northern Ireland peace process, reflected his international reputation, the BBC reported.
Former US President Bill Clinton remembered his persistence and unshakeable commitment to non-violence, while former UK Prime Minister Tony Blair, who was in office when the Good Friday Agreement for peace in Northern Ireland was signed, described him as a political titan.
His role in brokering the 1998 power-sharing arrangement, which brought an end to the region’s sectarian violence involving groups like the Irish Republican Army (IRA) and the Ulster Volunteer Force (UVF), saw him win a Nobel Peace Prize.
Hume was a co-recipient of the prize with, David Trimble when he was leader of the Ulster Unionist Party a party that stands Northern Ireland being part of the United Kingdom and not in a united Ireland.
The two had brought into the peace process warring sides seen as representing groups backed by minority Catholics and majority Protestants.
“In his campaign for peace, inspired by the example of the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., he employed a winning combination of public exhortation against the violence of the Irish Republican Army and secret diplomacy with its political leadership, sitting down for talks in his modest rowhouse over coffee. Deftly and persistently he enlisted the White House to help him reach his goal,” Alan Cowell wrote in The New York Times on Aug 3.
PRESBYTERIAN MODERATOR
The Moderator of the Presbyterian Church in Ireland, Rev. David Bruce, said, “In pursuing a peaceful and just society, John Hume’s belief that past grievances and injustices could give way to what he called ‘a new generosity of spirit and action’ should not be forgotten.
“He demonstrated a genuine desire to bring people together for the common good and to build a just and peaceful society. We give thanks for peacemakers, and on this sad day, John Hume in particular.”
The Anglican Archbishop of Armagh, John McDowell, said Hume “will be remembered not only as a significant politician in Ireland but also for his unambiguous dedication to making political change happen by purely peaceful means.”
Painted murals of Hume have long been a feature of the walls of Londonderry – also known as Derry – a city bordering Ireland which witnessed some of the darkest chapters of what is often referred to as “The Troubles” in Northern Ireland.
On one, his silhouette ranks besides fellow Nobel laureates Nelson Mandela, Mother Teresa and Martin Luther King Jr.
As a boy, Hume attended Saint Columb’s College in Derry before entering the seminary in Maynooth, in County Kildare in the Republic of Ireland, where he decided that the priesthood was not for him, RTE, the Irish national broadcaster reported.
He became a teacher and married Patricia in 1960.
A tribute from Pope Francis to Hume was read out at the funeral mass by Bishop McKeown.
“Mindful of the Christian faith that inspired John Hume’s untiring efforts to promote dialogue, reconciliation and peace among the people of Northern Ireland, his Holiness commends his noble soul to the loving mercy of Almighty God,” said Francis
The Irish pop star and celebrity Bono wrote, “We were looking for a giant and found a man whose life made all our lives bigger.”.
Thailand’s overall response, and ability to curb infections, has led the World Health Organization (WHO) to identify Thailand, alongside New Zealand, as a success story in dealing with the pandemic. Of course, that success entirely depends on continued vigilance, a whole-of-society approach, and ramped up testing to prevent a second wave as borders open and full economic activities are resumed.
The economic impact of the pandemic has been serious, with predictions of an 8.1 per cent contraction of the economy in 2020. According to a recent survey, 65 per cent of people in Thailand report that their incomes are totally or very inadequate under pandemic conditions, with almost the same percentage saying that their finances had been adversely affected.
UNDP Thailand and a local NGO arranged for the delivery face masks to the ethnic community in Phuket province, Thailand.
Having started in my position just one week before the lockdown, my view of Thailand has been very COVID-centric. We have all personally felt the effects of the pandemic in many different ways and a large number of UN staff in Thailand have been apart from their families for months due to travel restrictions – my own family reunification was postponed for the first half of the year, and I hope to see my husband next month for the first time since the outbreak. At the same time, we are profoundly aware that vulnerable communities are bearing the brunt of this crisis, making our advocacy and work with partners all the more important.
As the Resident Coordinator, my focus has been on working closely with the UN Country Team to develop the UN’s comprehensive response strategy to the pandemic and positioning it to be cutting edge, forward leaning, and offering thought leadership to sustain development gains and build back better.
Our understanding of the impact of the crisis and its implications on the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) continues to unfold as we speak. It is only now that we are more fully understanding the implications of COVID-19 on agriculture and farm households, and the more long-term social impact.
The Royal Thai Government’s contribution to the UN’s COVID-19 Fund speaks to this shared responsibility. Similarly, the role played by the 1 million health volunteers, two-thirds of whom are women, in contact tracing across the country speaks to the whole of society approach.
The government’s stimulus packages have been comprehensive, rapid and well-sequenced, constituting 15 per cent of GDP. Almost half of respondents to a recent survey reported having received government support. Modelling estimates suggest that while government expenditure is emerging as the most effective means to support growth and employment, cash handouts followed by soft loans are the next best measures. In partnership with the National Economic and Social Development Council, the national economic planning agency of Thailand, UN Thailand will monitor the impact of these fiscal stimulus packages targeted at local economies to inform government programming.
The government will also need to closely watch the impact at the household level in the third and fourth quarters, and further refine the mix of stimulus measures with sharper targeting. In terms of vulnerabilities, the impact assessment indicates that youth could potentially lose out the most given rising unemployment and with nearly half a million young people joining the labour force at a time when jobs are difficult to secure. Similarly, women and men are impacted equally, yet differently, which will serve as a drag to the recovery process.
Increased health and social protection
UN Women/Ploy Phutpheng
Scene at Suvarnabhumi Airport, Bangkok, Thailand.
UN Thailand’s strategy focuses on investing in partnerships with a clear-eyed view to build back better, while keeping the SDGs on track. The plan combines the direct health response based on the principle of leaving no one behind while investing in forward-looking policies to protect jobs and economies as well as to strengthen social capital.
Our immediate health response focuses on supporting the Government to strengthen surveillance and laboratory capacity, as well as to facilitate private and public sector engagement on vaccine research and pilot a “new normal” health service through tele-medicine. It also ensures that vulnerable groups such as migrants and refugees have access to PPE and health services.
In order to leave no one behind, UN Thailand has prioritised social protection, including successfully advocating for augmenting old age, child, and disability grants. In dialogue with the Royal Thai Government, we are supporting real-time monitoring of gender-based violence and violence against children while strengthening prevention and response. The UN is also mapping digital infrastructure to understand geographies and communities that are underserved to bridge the digital divide and support e-learning platforms for schools.
Rebuild a more equitable society
IOM/Benjamin Suomela
Burmese migrant worker in Bangkok
In partnership with local communities, the UN is scaling up sustainable tourism models which protect biodiversity, linking supply chains with markets to strengthen the network of community food management, as well as working with small and medium enterprises to support green technology to jumpstart the local economy, and supporting dialogue with youth across the country to showcase innovations which have created jobs for the marginalised in response to the crisis.
All evidence suggests that the pandemic will impact the SDGs, but it doesn’t have to, as long as there is effective reprioritisation, and public and private investments are strategically maximised. A resilient recovery will demand sustained economic support, long-term thinking, and policies which include a focus on building back better to jumpstart local economies and enable a green recovery.
Polling suggests that more than one-third of people in Thailand have donated cash, food or supplies during the pandemic, with most donations under 5,000 baht (about 160 US dollars). To me, this speaks of the social capital of the country and in many ways the glue that holds society together. There is also anecdotal evidence that in more marginalised regions, such as the northeast and deep south, the scale of donations has been higher.
We have seen in Thailand and around the world that times of crisis bring out the best of people. COVID-19 presents unprecedented challenges, but also opportunities to build back better. UN Thailand remains committed to working collaboratively to recover from the pandemic and to rebuild for a more equitable, just and resilient society.
The appeal, during World Breastfeeding Week, comes as WHO warned that not using mother’s milk is linked to 820,000 child deaths a year, at a cost to the global economy of $300 billion.
“WHO has been very clear in its recommendations to say absolutely breastfeeding should continue,” said Dr. Laurence Grummer-Strawn, head of the World Health Organization’s Food and Nutrition Action in Health Systems unit. “We have never documented, anywhere around the world, any (COVID-19) transmission through breastmilk.”
Exclusive breastfeeding for six months has many benefits for the infant and mother which far outweigh any risk from the new coronavirus pandemic, according to WHO.
These advantages include the fact that breastmilk – including milk which is expressed – provides lifesaving antibodies that protect babies against many childhood illnesses.
This is only one of the reasons why new mothers should initiate “skin-to-skin contact” and “room-in” with their babies quickly, as “the risks of transmission of the COVID-19 virus from a COVID-positive mother to her baby seem to be extremely low”, added Dr. Grummer-Strawn.
Having tested the breastmilk of “many” mothers around the world in a variety of studies, the WHO official explained that although a few samples had contained the virus, “when they followed up to see whether the virus was actually viable and could be infective, they could not find any actual infective virus”.
Underscoring the WHO’s longstanding support for using mother’s milk over substitutes, Dr. Grummer-Strawn also warned that the pandemic had weakened essential breastfeeding support usually provided to families with newborns.
COVID ‘undermining essential support’
“The interruption of services has been tremendous around the world providing the kind of support mothers normally would get with breastfeeding,” Dr. Grummer-Strawn told journalists.
“Oftentimes, the health services that would provide maternal child health have been diverted to take care of the COVID response; sometimes families do not feel comfortable in going into the health services, because they’re afraid that they might get COVID and so they don’t come for the routine kinds of support.”
According to the WHO, “about 820,000 children’s lives are lost every year because of a lack of breastfeeding”, Dr. Grummer-Strawn continued, in reference to deaths among under-fives. “Economically, there are losses of about $300 billion a year in economic productivity, lost because of a lack of breastfeeding,” he added.
Numerous good things come from breastfeeding – for the child and their mother in developing and industrialized countries – WHO has long maintained.
It has insisted that “it is not safer to give infant formula milk”, together with UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF) and the International Baby Food Action Network (IBFAN).
Benefits for baby and mother
The three organizations have united in their call to Governments to protect and promote women’s access to skilled breastfeeding counselling, for World Breastfeeding Week 2020 (1-7 August).
“Breastfeeding provides benefits during the time of breastfeeding, and those that are most recognised are protection against diarrhoea, which is one of the top causes of mortality in low-income countries, protection against respiratory infections, against obesity – childhood obesity later on – as children get older, protection against leukaemia,” said Dr. Grummer-Strawn.
Breastfeeding also protects the mother against breast cancer, ovarian cancer, Type 2 diabetes later on, the WHO official said, “so there are benefits for both the mother and the baby, and when we added these up it comes out to about 820,000 lives around the world, even in high-income countries”.
In addition to the pandemic, breastfeeding is under pressure from what WHO and UNICEF have described as harmful promotion of breast-milk substitutes.
Countries could do more to protect parents from misleading information, the UN agencies believe. “We continue to be very concerned about the practices of the formula industries, both the big multinational corporations as well as in many countries there are local manufacturers of breastmilk substitutes that are trying to get mothers to get on to their products,” said Dr. Grummer-Strawn. “They use a number of tricks, sometimes it’s not as blatant advertising as it once was, because they know that they can get caught.”
According to WHO, of 194 countries analysed, 136 have legal measures related to the International Code of Marketing of Breast-milk Substitutes and subsequent resolutions adopted by the World Health Assembly (known as the Code).
Tricks of the trade
However, only 79 countries prohibit the promotion of breast-milk substitutes in health facilities, and only 51 have provisions that prohibit the distribution of free or low-cost supplies within the health care system, WHO said in a report published in May.
Only 19 countries have prohibited the sponsorship of scientific and health professional association meetings by manufacturers of breast-milk substitutes, which include infant formula, follow-up formula, and growing up milks marketed for use by infants and children up to 36-months old, the UN health agency study found.
WHO and UNICEF recommend that babies be fed nothing but breast milk for their first six months, after which they should continue breastfeeding – as well as eating other nutritious and safe foods – until at least two years old.
“The aggressive marketing of breast-milk substitutes, especially through health professionals that parents trust for nutrition and health advice, is a major barrier to improving newborn and child health worldwide,” said Dr. Francesco Branca, Director of WHO’s Department of Nutrition and Food Safety. “Health care systems must act to boost parent’s confidence in breastfeeding without industry influence so that children don’t miss out on its lifesaving benefits.”
