health

'Low' risk to public of hantavirus after cruise ship deaths, WHO says

  • "The risk to the wider public remains low.
  • A suspected outbreak of hantavirus on a cruise ship, on which three people have died, presents a low risk to the public, the WHO Europe said Monday, as Dutch authorities planned to repatriate two sick people.
  • "The risk to the wider public remains low.
A suspected outbreak of hantavirus on a cruise ship, on which three people have died, presents a low risk to the public, the WHO Europe said Monday, as Dutch authorities planned to repatriate two sick people.
"The risk to the wider public remains low. There is no need for panic or travel restrictions," the World Health Organization's director for Europe Hans Kluge said in a statement, adding that hantavirus infections were "uncommon and usually linked to exposure to infected rodents".
In its first statement on the crisis, the vessel's operator Oceanwide Expeditions confirmed three deaths on board the MV Hondius, travelling across from Ushuaia in Argentina to Cape Verde off the coast of west Africa.
Two died on board and one after disembarking the ship. One passenger is in intensive care in Johannesburg and two others "require urgent medical care", the statement said.
"Dutch authorities have agreed to lead a joint effort to organise the repatriation of the two symptomatic individuals on board MV Hondius from Cape Verde to the Netherlands," the operator said.
Such a repatriation would depend on several factors, including authorisation from local officials in Cape Verde, said Oceanwide Expeditions.
An AFP photographer saw the ship on Monday morning, anchored in the port of Praia, off the coast of Cape Verde.
In a statement sent to AFP, the Dutch foreign ministry said it was "busy looking at the possibilities to medically evacuate a few people from the ship".
"If this can take place, the ministry of foreign affairs will coordinate it," said a spokesperson.

'Acting with urgency'

While local doctors have visited to assess the medical condition of the two sick passengers, no permission has been given to evacuate them to shore.
"Disembarkation and medical screening of all passengers require coordination with local health authorities and we are in close consultation with them," said the operator.
The WHO said it was "acting with urgency to support the response to the hantavirus event on board a cruise vessel in the Atlantic, following the tragic loss of life".
"WHO Europe is working with the countries involved to support medical care, evacuation, investigations and public health risk assessment."
Hantavirus, an illness usually transmitted to humans from rodents, has been confirmed in the passenger currently in intensive care in Johannesburg, the operator said.
However, it has not yet been established whether the virus caused the three deaths, said Oceanwide Expeditions.
There has also been no confirmation of hantavirus in the two symptomatic passengers still requiring attention on the ship.
"The exact cause and any possible connection are under investigation," said the ship's operator.
On Sunday, the WHO said one case of hantavirus had been confirmed and that there were "five additional suspected cases."
"While rare, hantavirus may spread between people, and can lead to severe respiratory illness and requires careful patient monitoring, support and response," the United Nations health agency said.
burs-cbw/po/sbk

tourism

Hantavirus: spread by rodents, potentially fatal, with no specific cure

BY AGNèS PEDRERO

  • - Transmission - Hantaviruses are transmitted to humans through infected wild rodents, such as mice or rats, which shed the virus in their saliva, urine, and droppings.
  • Hantavirus, the disease which has caused a deadly outbreak on a cruise ship in the southern Atlantic, circulates in rodents and can be deadly when transmitted to humans.
  • - Transmission - Hantaviruses are transmitted to humans through infected wild rodents, such as mice or rats, which shed the virus in their saliva, urine, and droppings.
Hantavirus, the disease which has caused a deadly outbreak on a cruise ship in the southern Atlantic, circulates in rodents and can be deadly when transmitted to humans.
Dutch cruise operator Oceanwide Expeditions confirmed Monday it was dealing with "a serious medical situation" on board the MV Hondius, travelling from Argentina to Cape Verde.
Hantaviruses are among the pathogens that can cause respiratory and cardiac distress, as well as haemorrhagic fevers. 
There are no vaccines or specific medications to combat hantaviruses, meaning treatment consists solely of attempting to relieve the symptoms.

The virus

There are many types of hantavirus, which vary in their geographical spread and their pathologies, according to Switzerland's FOPH health ministry.
"Human-to-human transmission has only been observed with one single virus type, which is extremely rare," it says.
Hantaviruses are found on every continent.
The virus is named after the Hantan River in South Korea, where more than 3,000 troops fell seriously ill after becoming infected with it during the 1950-1953 Korean War, the FOPH says.

Transmission

Hantaviruses are transmitted to humans through infected wild rodents, such as mice or rats, which shed the virus in their saliva, urine, and droppings.
A bite, contact with these rodents or their droppings, or breathing in contaminated dust can cause infection.
The French National Public Health Agency says human infection generally occurs through the inhalation of dust and aerosols contaminated by the excretions of infected animals.
This is typically "during activities in forests, or in long uninhabited buildings near forests, as well as during activities in rural areas where fields and farms offer a favourable environment for reservoir rodents", it says.
The only way to minimise the risk of infection is to avoid contact with rodents and their secretions and excretions.
The World Health Organization's Europe director Hans Kluge said hantavirus infections are "uncommon" and "it is not easily transmitted between people".
"The risk to the wider public remains low. There is no need for panic or travel restrictions," he said Monday.

Diagnosis

Suspected cases can be confirmed through various laboratory tests, according to the WHO, including through "the presence of hantavirus-specific IgM antibodies".

Onset

The two most common illnesses caused by infection are haemorrhagic fever with renal syndrome (HFRS), caused by hantaviruses found mostly in Europe and Asia; and hantavirus pulmonary syndrome (HPS), caused by viruses found in the Americas.
The hantavirus types in the Americas can also cause pulmonary oedema or acute respiratory failure.
Different health authorities give varying time periods before symptoms start to manifest.
According to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), HPS symptoms usually start to show one to eight weeks after contact.
HFRS symptoms usually develop within one to two weeks after exposure, and in rare cases, up to eight weeks, says the CDC.

Symptoms

Though most cases of hantavirus infection pass unnoticed, according to Switzerland's FOPH, hantaviruses can cause infections of varying severity in humans -- sometimes fatal.
The first clinical symptoms generally present like flu: fever, headache, and muscle aches.
The CDC says four to 10 days after initial HPS illness, late symptoms appear, which include coughing and shortness of breath. "Patients might experience tightness in the chest, as the lungs fill with fluid," it says.
The types of hantavirus prevalent in Europe and Asia can cause kidney dysfunction and even acute kidney failure.

Fatality rate

The Public Health Agency of Canada says around 200 HPS cases occur each year, primarily in North and South America, putting the average case fatality rate at 40 percent.
It adds that between 150,000 and 200,000 HFRS cases occur each year worldwide, most of which are in China, where the average case fatality rate is from one to 12 percent.
apo/rjm/st

health

Cruise ship operator says Dutch to repatriate two ill passengers

  • "Dutch authorities have agreed to lead a joint effort to organise the repatriation of the two symptomatic individuals on board MV Hondius from Cape Verde to the Netherlands," the operator said.
  • Dutch authorities will attempt to repatriate two sick people from a cruise ship battling a suspected outbreak of hantavirus that has already claimed three lives, the vessel's operator said Monday.
  • "Dutch authorities have agreed to lead a joint effort to organise the repatriation of the two symptomatic individuals on board MV Hondius from Cape Verde to the Netherlands," the operator said.
Dutch authorities will attempt to repatriate two sick people from a cruise ship battling a suspected outbreak of hantavirus that has already claimed three lives, the vessel's operator said Monday.
In its first statement on the crisis, Oceanwide Expeditions confirmed it was dealing with "a serious medical situation" on board the MV Hondius, travelling from Ushuaia in Argentina to Cape Verde.
The operator confirmed the three deaths, two on board and one after disembarking the ship. One passenger is in intensive care in Johannesburg and two others "require urgent medical care," the statement said.
"Dutch authorities have agreed to lead a joint effort to organise the repatriation of the two symptomatic individuals on board MV Hondius from Cape Verde to the Netherlands," the operator said.
Such a repatriation would depend on several factors, including authorisation from local officials in Cape Verde, said Oceanwide Expeditions.
In a statement sent to AFP, the Dutch foreign ministry said it was "busy looking at the possibilities to medically evacuate a few people from the ship."
"If this can take place, the ministry of foreign affairs will coordinate it," said a spokesperson.
The ship is currently located off the coast of Cape Verde. While local doctors have visited to assess the medical condition of the two sick passengers, no permission has been given to evacuate them to shore.
"Disembarkation and medical screening of all passengers require coordination with local health authorities and we are in close consultation with them," said the operator.
Hantavirus, an illness usually transmitted to humans from rodents, has been confirmed in the passenger currently in intensive care in Johannesburg, the operator said.
However, it has not yet been established whether the virus caused the three deaths, said Oceanwide Expeditions.
There has also been no confirmation of hantavirus in the two symptomatic passengers still requiring attention on the ship.
"The exact cause and any possible connection are under investigation," said the ship's operator.
On Sunday, the World Health Organization said one case of hantavirus had been confirmed and that there were "five additional suspected cases."
"While rare, hantavirus may spread between people, and can lead to severe respiratory illness and requires careful patient monitoring, support and response," said the WHO.
burs-ric/yad

illness

Three die on Atlantic cruise ship from suspected hantavirus: WHO

BY WITH AGNES PEDRERO IN GENEVA AND FRANCOIS AUSSEILL IN JOHANNESBURG

  • "To date, one case of hantavirus infection has been laboratory confirmed, and there are five additional suspected cases," the World Health Organization told AFP. "Of the six affected individuals, three have died and one is currently in intensive care in South Africa."
  • Three people have died on a cruise ship in the Atlantic, the WHO said Sunday, one a confirmed case of hantavirus -- an illness usually transmitted to humans from rodents.
  • "To date, one case of hantavirus infection has been laboratory confirmed, and there are five additional suspected cases," the World Health Organization told AFP. "Of the six affected individuals, three have died and one is currently in intensive care in South Africa."
Three people have died on a cruise ship in the Atlantic, the WHO said Sunday, one a confirmed case of hantavirus -- an illness usually transmitted to humans from rodents.
The outbreak occurred on the MV Hondius, travelling from Ushuaia in Argentina to Cape Verde.
"To date, one case of hantavirus infection has been laboratory confirmed, and there are five additional suspected cases," the World Health Organization told AFP.
"Of the six affected individuals, three have died and one is currently in intensive care in South Africa."
Earlier Sunday, South Africa's health ministry told AFP there had been an outbreak of a "severe acute respiratory illness", which had killed at least two people, with a third in intensive care in Johannesburg.
The patient treated in Johannesburg tested positive for a hantavirus, a family of viruses that can cause hemorrhagic fever, South African spokesperson Foster Mohale said.
In its statement, the WHO said hantavirus infections "are typically linked to environmental exposure (exposure to infected rodents' urine or faeces).
"While rare, hantavirus may spread between people, and can lead to severe respiratory illness and requires careful patient monitoring, support and response." 

Husband and wife

The first person on the cruise to develop symptoms was a 70-year-old passenger. He died on board the ship and his body was currently on the island of Saint Helena, a British territory in the South Atlantic, Mohale the South African spokesman said. 
His 69-year-old wife also fell ill on board and was evacuated to South Africa, where she died in a Johannesburg hospital, he said, adding that they were not yet able to confirm the victims' nationalities.
The third case, a 69-year-old Briton, was also evacuated to Johannesburg, where he was being treated in intensive care.
WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said in a post on X that the agency was working with the ship's operators and member states affected.
"WHO is facilitating medical evacuation of two symptomatic passengers, conducting a full risk assessment, and supporting affected people onboard," he added.
"Rapid, coordinated action is critical to contain risks and protect public health."
Earlier Sunday, a source close to the case speaking on condition of anonymity had said a Dutch couple were among the dead. The third fatality was still on board the ship.
Discussions were under way to decide whether two other sick passengers should be placed in isolation in hospital in Cape Verde, after which the ship would continue to Spain's Canary Islands, the anonymous source said.
The MV Hondius is listed as a polar cruise ship on the websites of several travel agencies. It is operated by a Dutch-based tour company, Oceanwide Expeditions.
One of the cruises offers an itinerary departing from Ushuaia for Cape Verde, with stops in the islands of South Georgia and Saint Helena. 
According to several online ship-tracking sites, the MV Hondius was just off the port of Praia, the capital of Cape Verde, on Sunday.
The vessel can accommodate around 170 passengers and has some 70 crew members.
Humans can catch hantaviruses from contact with infected mice or rats or their droppings, or being bitten or inhaling contaminated dust. There are multiple types of hantaviruses in different parts of the world, with different symptoms.
AFP contacted the cruise operator Oceanwide Expeditions but has not yet had a reply.
fal-apo/jj/pdw/mlm

health

Drugmaker asks US Supreme Court to restore abortion pill access

  • The lower court ordered that women seeking abortions anywhere in the United States had to obtain mifepristone at a clinic, rather than by mail order or through a pharmacy.
  • A key manufacturer of the United States' most widely used abortion pill asked the Supreme Court on Saturday to restore access to the drug, a day after a lower court halted mail delivery of the medication.
  • The lower court ordered that women seeking abortions anywhere in the United States had to obtain mifepristone at a clinic, rather than by mail order or through a pharmacy.
A key manufacturer of the United States' most widely used abortion pill asked the Supreme Court on Saturday to restore access to the drug, a day after a lower court halted mail delivery of the medication.
Mifepristone, which prevents pregnancy progression, is used alongside misoprostol, which empties the uterus, in the majority of abortions in the United States. It is approved for use up to 10 weeks into a pregnancy.
Danco Laboratories, which manufactures mifepristone and is one of two companies distributing the drug in the United States, asked the top court to stay a Friday decision by the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals that temporarily blocked abortion providers from prescribing and shipping the drug nationwide.
The lower court ordered that women seeking abortions anywhere in the United States had to obtain mifepristone at a clinic, rather than by mail order or through a pharmacy.
That decision, "injects immediate confusion and upheaval into highly time-sensitive medical decisions," the drugmaker wrote in its filing with the Supreme Court.
"The resulting chaos for patients, providers, pharmacies, and the drug-regulatory system is a quintessential irreparable harm that underscores the need for emergency relief from this Court."
Mifepristone has been approved since 2000 and is also routinely used for managing early miscarriages.
Anti-abortion activists, however, have called the drug's safety into question, with some citing a study conducted by a conservative think tank that never underwent formal peer review.
In 2024, the Supreme Court rejected a bid to restrict the drug, ruling that anti-abortion groups and doctors calling for greater limits lacked legal standing to bring the case.
Since a 2022 Supreme Court decision that struck down a nationwide right to abortion, some 20 states have banned or restricted it.
Polls show a majority of Americans support legal access to abortion even as activists push to limit or ban it outright.
pnb/acb

pandemic

Gridlock as pandemic treaty talks fail to finish

  • - World 'largely unprepared' - In May 2025, WHO members adopted a landmark agreement on tackling future health crises, after more than three years of negotiations sparked by the shock of Covid-19.
  • The World Health Organization said Friday that divided member states want up to a year of further negotiations on the missing piece of an international agreement on handling future pandemics.
  • - World 'largely unprepared' - In May 2025, WHO members adopted a landmark agreement on tackling future health crises, after more than three years of negotiations sparked by the shock of Covid-19.
The World Health Organization said Friday that divided member states want up to a year of further negotiations on the missing piece of an international agreement on handling future pandemics.
After a week of grindingly slow progress in talks at the WHO headquarters in Geneva, countries came to a stop and will decide on the next steps at the annual assembly of member states, to be held in the Swiss city from May 18 to 23.
Wealthy countries and developing nations are at loggerheads over how the pandemic treaty, which was adopted last year, will work in practice.
The agreement's unfinalised Pathogen Access and Benefit-Sharing (PABS) mechanism deals with sharing access to pathogens with pandemic potential, then sharing benefits derived from them, such as vaccines, tests and treatments.
"Real progress was made on the PABS annex and I am confident through continued negotiations differences will be overcome," WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said in a statement.
"Member states should continue approaching the outstanding issues with a sense of urgency because the next pandemic is a matter of when, not if.
"The PABS annex is the last piece of the puzzle not only for the Pandemic Agreement but all initiatives that WHO and member states have implemented as a result of lessons learned from the Covid-19 pandemic."

World 'largely unprepared'

In May 2025, WHO members adopted a landmark agreement on tackling future health crises, after more than three years of negotiations sparked by the shock of Covid-19.
The accord aims to prevent a repeat of the disjointed international response that surrounded the coronavirus crisis, by improving global coordination, surveillance and access to vaccines.
PABS, the heart of the treaty, was left out to get the bulk of the deal over the line.
The outcome of this week's work will be presented to the annual assembly, which will be asked to consider continuing the process "and submit the outcome to the next assembly in May 2027", or an earlier special session later this year.
Only once the PABS annex is complete will countries be able to start ratifying the treaty.
Access to genetic sequences remains a sticking point.
Negotiations are also stalled by a demand from developing countries for guarantees of equitable access to vaccines outside pandemics, as well as wranglings over financial contributions that participating pharmaceutical companies should make.
New Zealand's former prime minister Helen Clark, co-chair of The Independent Panel for Pandemic Preparedness and Response, said the failure to reach agreement this week was "deeply regrettable".
"If a new pathogen emerged today, the world remains largely unprepared for it. A lack of action to prevent and prepare for the next pandemic threat is a disservice to humanity," she said in a statement.
apo-rjm/phz

waste

Manila landfill fire leaves locals gasping

BY PAM CASTRO

  • "Honestly, sometimes the smell is so strong that it can still seep through the N95 masks.
  • Filipino ferry dispatcher Dave Delos Reyes has been handing out N95 masks for nearly three weeks to protect passengers against the smoke that a landfill fire has sent billowing above a stretch of Manila Bay.
  • "Honestly, sometimes the smell is so strong that it can still seep through the N95 masks.
Filipino ferry dispatcher Dave Delos Reyes has been handing out N95 masks for nearly three weeks to protect passengers against the smoke that a landfill fire has sent billowing above a stretch of Manila Bay.
The fire at Metro Manila's Navotas landfill is largely invisible to the naked eye, combusting as deep as 15 metres (50 feet) below the surface and releasing a toxic brew of methane as well as carbon dioxide.
Nearly 500 people who lived on islands near the site have been evacuated to the town centre of Obando municipality, about 2.5 kilometres (1.6 miles) away, but it is not nearly far enough to escape the smoke.
"Honestly, sometimes the smell is so strong that it can still seep through the N95 masks. It hurts our throat and heads," Delos Reyes told visiting AFP reporters on Thursday.
At its peak, smoke from the underground fire was affecting air quality across Metro Manila, where an "acutely unhealthy" reading was recorded in multiple areas, according to a local monitor.
Those numbers are finally returning to normal, the Philippine Space Agency's Ernest Macalalad told AFP, the result of around-the-clock efforts to snuff out the fire by covering it with tons of soil, depriving it of oxygen.
But in Obando, residents and evacuees alike said the smoke was still impacting their health and livelihoods.
AFP journalists who traveled to the landfill site by boat saw billows of thick, gray smoke completely enveloping houses on Salambao -- one of the islands from which people were evacuated.
"The smoke from the landfill comes and goes. We can feel it for around 20 minutes, then it will be gone," said Monica Verses, who sells candy and drinks from the open window of her tiny convenience store. 
"Every time the smoke reaches my store, my chest tightens, and I cough a lot," the 62-year-old said.
The US government's disaster agency has linked emissions from landfill fires to cancer, liver damage, rashes and reproductive disorders. 
Multiple residents told AFP the smoke from the landfill, which stopped receiving trash last August, only gets thicker at night.

'Not a typical fire'

Fires like the one at Navotas pose a different set of challenges from aboveground blazes, said Superintendent Anthony Arroyo, a spokesman for Manila's fire bureau.
"It's not a typical fire with surface combustion or a blaze... there's layers of rubbish in a mountainous area, and below that... methane gas," he said.
Fires that start below the surface often begin spontaneously, as organic matter decomposes and creates heat, fueled by oxygen that sneaks in through the cracks.
Flooding the area with water had not been considered, as it risked compromising the liner that prevents chemicals from leaking into the ground below, Arroyo said. 
Instead, firefighters and public works employees were covering the site inch by inch with soil dredged from a nearby site.
"The soil itself absorbs heat. At the same time, it serves as a smothering method, removing the oxygen from the subsurface fire."
While about 50 percent of the affected area has now been covered, work has been slow-going, Arroyo added, with heavy equipment unable to be used in some parts of the landfill due to its sloping walls of refuse.
For evacuees like Ramon Adino, 68, who is living in a cramped school classroom with 12 other families, a return to "normal life" is now just a matter of waiting.
"I'm slightly better now, but I'm still struggling to breathe normally... It's like I'm always catching my breath," he said, adding he hoped the fire would "be extinguished soon".
Food vendor Marissa Gusi, 62, said that while living conditions at the evacuation site were difficult, she planned to prioritise her health.
"I'd rather stay here indefinitely than lose my life because of that smoke," she said.
pam-cwl/jm

marathon

Marathon brothers run Ireland in race to find dementia cure

  • - 'A hard disease' -  Running with a fridge on board in London was "surreal", said Jordan, who did the stunt to bring attention to the disease. 
  • Jordan Adams, who ran the London marathon with a 25-kilogram fridge on his back last weekend, is now running around Ireland in a race to find a cure for a form of dementia both he and his brother are near certain to contract.
  • - 'A hard disease' -  Running with a fridge on board in London was "surreal", said Jordan, who did the stunt to bring attention to the disease. 
Jordan Adams, who ran the London marathon with a 25-kilogram fridge on his back last weekend, is now running around Ireland in a race to find a cure for a form of dementia both he and his brother are near certain to contract.
"This mission is ongoing, as is our family's devastation with dementia, one step at a time," Adams told a crowd who gathered to see him off on Wednesday in County Donegal, their latest stop.
The 30-year-old is running consecutive daily marathons for 32 days in each of Ireland's 32 counties -- north and south of the Irish border -- with the finish in Dublin on May 28. Without the fridge, though.
Assisted by his younger brother Cian, 25, who will mostly cycle the routes, the pair started in County Antrim in Northern Ireland on Monday, just a day after completing the 26.2-mile-long (42 kilometres) course in London. 
Nicknamed the FTD brothers, their mother Geraldine was diagnosed in 2010 aged 47 with a rare form of familial Frontal Temporal Dementia.
Overnight, Cian, then aged just 9, Jordan as a 15-year-old, their older sister and father became primary carers of their mum who died at 52 in 2016.
Two years later, Jordan learned he carries the MAT-T gene mutation which gives him a 99.9 percent chance of developing the same early-onset dementia. 
Soon after Cian tested positively for the same gene.
With terminal symptoms expected to aggressively emerge in their 40s, the brothers face a stark race against time.
"What makes this disease even more cruel is that we've lost twelve Irish relatives, including my mum and Nan," Jordan, from the English Midlands, told AFP.
"We wanted to come to Ireland where all the devastation started, to honour our Irish relatives," he said.
- 'A hard disease' - 
Running with a fridge on board in London was "surreal", said Jordan, who did the stunt to bring attention to the disease. 
But with Cian alongside to douse him with water, they reached the finish line together. 
"We both share the same diagnosis and the same future, so I know our mum was shining down with a lot of pride,"  Jordan told AFP.
The brothers are not new to extreme challenges. 
They ran around the United Kingdom two years ago, while Jordan has a seven-in-seven-days marathon challenge under his belt.
Undaunted by the Irish 32-in-32 test, Cian said it "comes in handy that he works as a physiotherapist.
"We've put together a good plan over the last six months, strength and conditioning, plyometrics, running training to get Jordan in the best nick possible for this challenge," Cian told AFP. 
"Touch wood, at the moment his legs feel good for it," he said.
The brothers have set themselves the goal of raising one million pounds in their mother's honour, and for research into an Alzheimer's cure that could save them.
After London, they are almost halfway there.
Carol Molloy, who helps run the local branch of the Alzheimer Society of Ireland (ASI), told AFP that around 64,000 people are living with dementia in the EU member.
An estimated one in 10 of those have a young-onset diagnosis, with that number expected to grow to around 150,000 by 2050, according to Molloy.
Some 50 percent of the proceeds of the brothers' marathon challenge will go to the ASI.
"What Jordan and Cian are doing is amazing, we are so grateful," said Molloy.
Dozens of local people joined the pair on their run, at least part of the way.
One participant Sean McFadden, a runner from Letterkenny who recently lost his father to dementia, said he would complete the full marathon route alongside the brothers in solidarity. 
"We have to hold our hearts out to the two lads and hope everything goes well," said the 50-year-old.
"It's a hard disease. For me today to be able to join in with the boys, it's quite special," he told AFP before setting off.
pmu/jkb/rh/ane

health

Cuban boy's sporting dreams on hold as surgery backlog grows

  • A few days later, the two children met in Havana and Juan Jose came away with a new spring in his step.
  • Juan Jose Guilarte is like any other 10-year-old as he races around a park in Cuba's capital Havana.
  • A few days later, the two children met in Havana and Juan Jose came away with a new spring in his step.
Juan Jose Guilarte is like any other 10-year-old as he races around a park in Cuba's capital Havana.
But one detail distinguishes the sports-mad youngster who dreams of Olympic glory: his prosthetic leg.
Juan Jose was born with a congenital malformation which resulted in his left leg developing only as far as the femur and the kneecap. 
His condition has never held back the effervescent youngster, who lists off a plethora of career ambitions, from "Youtuber, scientist and teacher" as well as elite athlete.
Twice a week he practises pentathlon -- running, obstacle racing, swimming, shooting and fencing -- and kung-fu.
In his bedroom, a Spiderman figurine occupies pride of place on his desk.
"I like him a lot because he is very fast and jumps a lot," he confided.
"He loves to dream, create and tell stories," his mother Sheila Guilarte said, noting that his condition never gets him down because he brims with self-confidence.
While no hurdle seems too high for Juan Jose to clear, his sporting ambitions have been thrown into flux by Cuba's worst economic crisis in decades, aggravated by a US oil blockade.
Since January, the Havana native has been waiting for an operation to prevent his thigh bone, which is still growing, piercing the skin of his stump, which would cause him unbearable pain.
Since the age of two he has already undergone three such procedures, after which he is fitted with a new prosthesis, adapted to his height and weight.
But a shortage of the anaesthetics used to sedate patients during surgery combined with recurring power outages have led to his latest operation being indefinitely postponed.

96,000 awaiting surgery

Cuba's health care system -- long a source of pride on the communist-run island -- was already in crisis before US President Donald Trump cut off oil exports to the cash-strapped island in January.
The move, coming on top of a six-decade-old US trade embargo, is part of a pressure campaign on the Cuban regime, which Trump has said is next in his crosshairs after Venezuela and Iran.
Faced with crippling shortages of both fuel and medication, hospitals have had to drastically reduce elective surgeries. 
According to the health ministry, 96.000 people, including 11,000 children, are on waiting lists for operations.
Before each sports session Juan Jose clips on a lightweight carbon-fibre prosthetic limb designed for running.
Getting his thigh into his prosthesis is more and more of a squeeze.
"It really hurts," he confided, adding: "I want to be operated on now."

From an American, with love

His carbon-fibre leg was a gift from a American boy with the same disability, who travelled to Cuba in 2023 to give away one of his artificial limbs after himself being on the receiving end of a donated prosthesis a few years earlier.
Juan Jose's neighbors saw the offer advertised on social media and immediately notified his family.
A few days later, the two children met in Havana and Juan Jose came away with a new spring in his step.
His prosthetist personalized the new appendage with a little Cuban flag -- which one day Juan Jose hopes to fly for his country.
"Since he was little he has said he's going to the Paralympics to win a medal," his mother said.
Juan Jose makes clear which podium place he's aiming for.
"I want to win gold!"
lis-jb/cb/dw

US

Departing US still owes money, says WHO chief

  • And the second is paying the arrears, so we hope they will do that but we haven't received anything yet."
  • The United States has still not paid off its membership fee arrears at the World Health Organization, the WHO chief said Wednesday, with Washington's intention to leave conditional on paying up.
  • And the second is paying the arrears, so we hope they will do that but we haven't received anything yet."
The United States has still not paid off its membership fee arrears at the World Health Organization, the WHO chief said Wednesday, with Washington's intention to leave conditional on paying up.
The UN health agency's director-general Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said he hoped the United States would come up with the money they owe -- a self-imposed condition for quitting the organisation.
US President Donald Trump, on his first day back in office in January 2025, handed the WHO his country's one-year withdrawal notice.
"In terms of the arrears from the US, the US withdrawal is conditioned with two things," Tedros told a press conference with the UN correspondents' association ACANU.
"One is notification one year in advance, which is actually met. And the second is paying the arrears, so we hope they will do that but we haven't received anything yet."
The United States was the biggest contributor to the WHO budget.
Tedros said there were "no signals" indicating that Washington would come up with the cash.
But he added: "To be honest, it's not about the money.
"The issue is health security needs universality and the US, by withdrawing, makes itself unsafe and makes the rest of the world unsafe. So it's lose-lose. 
"So our focus is not on the money. The focus is on helping the US to understand and reconsider.
"Where there is a vacuum, the virus wins. It's as simple as that.
"It's global cooperation and solidarity which is the best response."
Though the US flag no longer flies outside the WHO headquarters in Geneva, the WHO's decision-making body -- the annual assembly of member states -- will decide upon the US withdrawal when it meets from May 18-23.
The WHO constitution does not include a withdrawal clause.
But the United States reserved the right to withdraw when it joined the WHO in 1948 -- on condition of giving one year's notice and meeting its financial obligations in full for that fiscal year.
The notice period has now expired but Washington has still not paid its 2024 or 2025 dues, owing around $260 million.
The United States was traditionally the biggest donor to the WHO.
In January, as the notice expired, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio and US Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. attacked the WHO, claiming it had "tarnished and trashed everything that America has done for it", with "the insults to America" continuing to the end.
"The reverse is true," the WHO responded.
Despite the parting shot from Kennedy, the US health secretary still speaks with Tedros on a regular basis.
"We keep in touch every now and then," the WHO chief told reporters.
rjm/ag/phz

measles

Bangladesh measles outbreak kills over 220 children since March

  • Since March 15, the number of suspected cases nationwide has reached 34,980, mostly among children aged between six months and five years.
  • Bangladesh has recorded 227 child deaths since March in one of its worst outbreaks of measles in decades, with the number of suspected cases reaching nearly 35,000, government data showed Wednesday.
  • Since March 15, the number of suspected cases nationwide has reached 34,980, mostly among children aged between six months and five years.
Bangladesh has recorded 227 child deaths since March in one of its worst outbreaks of measles in decades, with the number of suspected cases reaching nearly 35,000, government data showed Wednesday.
One of the hardest hit areas is Kurukpata in the Chittagong Hill Tracts, home to Indigenous communities, which border war-torn Myanmar.
Children in these rural areas are often left out of vaccination coverage, and some families avoid vaccination programmes due to fear.
"The most affected area of Chittagong Hill tracts is Kurukpata, one of the remotest parts of Bangladesh," district health chief Sheikh Fazle Rabbi told AFP, saying more than 80 children had been treated for measles.
Local Kurukpata council head Kratpung Mro said the cases were unusually high.
"Communication from Kurukpata is difficult," he said. "People, mostly farmers, are among the poorest and cannot afford even boat or motorcycle fares to reach the hospital."
Kratpung Mro said the government should "launch awareness programmes and bring Indigenous communities under vaccination coverage".
Ngangoi Mro, 30, a farmer, brought his two-year-old son, Rengle Mro, who was suffering from high fever, cough and diarrhoea, to the clinic.
"We walked four kilometres (2.5 miles) and then took a vehicle to the hospital from our village, as my boy became very weak," he told AFP.
Measles is one of the world's most contagious diseases, according to the World Health Organization (WHO), and is spread through coughs and sneezes.
It can affect people of any age but is most common among children, and can cause complications that include brain swelling and severe respiratory problems.
Since March 15, the number of suspected cases nationwide has reached 34,980, mostly among children aged between six months and five years.
Bangladesh health officials, aid by the UN children's agency, WHO and the security forces are working to vaccinate children.
sa/pjm/jm

health

US judge orders Purdue Pharma to pay billions ahead of bankruptcy

  • The criminal sentencing caps off years of legal battles and paves the way for Purdue and its former owners, the Sackler family, to pay more than $8 billion as part of a settlement.
  • A US federal judge on Tuesday sentenced OxyContin-maker Purdue Pharma to pay billions of dollars over its role in the opioid crisis, ahead of upcoming bankruptcy proceedings and its dissolution.
  • The criminal sentencing caps off years of legal battles and paves the way for Purdue and its former owners, the Sackler family, to pay more than $8 billion as part of a settlement.
A US federal judge on Tuesday sentenced OxyContin-maker Purdue Pharma to pay billions of dollars over its role in the opioid crisis, ahead of upcoming bankruptcy proceedings and its dissolution.
The criminal sentencing caps off years of legal battles and paves the way for Purdue and its former owners, the Sackler family, to pay more than $8 billion as part of a settlement.
Between 1999 and 2023, around 806,000 people died from opioid overdoses in the United States, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Purdue and other opioid makers and distributors are accused of encouraging free-wheeling prescription of painkillers like OxyContin starting in the 1990s, while hiding how addictive the drugs are.
Last year, several US states reached a settlement with Purdue and the Sackler family, with a bankruptcy plan that will see funds routed to affected communities and individuals.
The total amount to be paid in fines, forfeitures and penalties surpasses $8 billion.
The company is set to be dissolved on May 1, with the remnants becoming Knoa Pharma, a public benefit company that will provide opioid use disorder treatments and overdose reversal medicines.
For more than six hours on Tuesday, US Judge Madeline Cox Arleo listened to dozens of victims and their families testify about the impact Purdue Pharma and the opioid epidemic had on them.
She then ordered Steve Miller, Purdue Pharma's board chair, to apologize to them.
During the proceedings to resolve a Department of Justice probe and clear the way for the settlement, Arleo read the names of more than 200 victims who had submitted written statements before the hearing.
"These people are not statistics in an epidemiological study," she said, adding that the testimonies were "heartbreaking."
The judge also apologized on behalf of the US government, saying it had "failed" to protect the public from Purdue Pharma, whose practices were "driven by greed" and had a "corporate strategy much like a criminal enterprise."
While many testifying on Tuesday urged the settlement agreement to be rejected -- in part because it protects the Sackler family from criminal prosecution -- Arleo called it the "best route I see among the options before me."
She urged the lawyers handling the bankruptcy proceedings to honor their promises of compensation.
For many people, opioid addiction begins with prescribed pain pills, such as OxyContin, before they increase their consumption and eventually turn to illicit drugs such as heroin and fentanyl, an extremely powerful synthetic opioid.
pel/llb/jgc/aks/hol

film

'Jurassic Park' star Sam Neill says cancer-free after gene therapy

  • Neill, 78, said in a weekend interview he had lived with the blood cancer for about five years but his chemotherapy treatment eventually stopped working.
  • Actor Sam Neill says he is cancer-free after five years of living with lymphoma, thanks to a genetic therapy that modified his immune system.
  • Neill, 78, said in a weekend interview he had lived with the blood cancer for about five years but his chemotherapy treatment eventually stopped working.
Actor Sam Neill says he is cancer-free after five years of living with lymphoma, thanks to a genetic therapy that modified his immune system.
The New Zealander, who starred as Dr Alan Grant in the 1993 blockbuster "Jurassic Park", revealed in a 2023 memoir he was "possibly dying" with stage-three non-Hodgkin lymphoma.
Neill, 78, said in a weekend interview he had lived with the blood cancer for about five years but his chemotherapy treatment eventually stopped working.
"I was at a loss and it looked like I was on the way out, which wasn't ideal, obviously," he told Australia's Channel Seven News.
The actor was treated with CAR T-cell therapy, which uses a disabled virus to genetically reprogram human infection-fighting T-cells, enabling them to target specific cancers.
"I've just had a scan just now, and there is no cancer in my body -- that's an extraordinary thing," Neil said.
He is calling on Australian federal and state governments to fund CAR T-cell therapy for blood cancer patients across the country.
Neill's acting career began in the 1970s and has spanned dozens of roles in TV and film, including "Peaky Blinders", "The Hunt for Red October", and "The Piano". 
djw/oho/mtp

health

US opioid crisis victims testify at emotional Purdue Pharma hearing

BY RAPHAëLLE PELTIER

  • Purdue has admitted to promoting OxyContin by paying doctors to prescribe it, bringing in tens of billions of dollars for the laboratory and the Sackler family.
  • Dozens of victims of the US opioid crisis expressed their grief and anger as they testified on Tuesday against Purdue Pharma, the maker of the pain pill OxyContin which was ordered to pay billions by a judge ahead of its dissolution.
  • Purdue has admitted to promoting OxyContin by paying doctors to prescribe it, bringing in tens of billions of dollars for the laboratory and the Sackler family.
Dozens of victims of the US opioid crisis expressed their grief and anger as they testified on Tuesday against Purdue Pharma, the maker of the pain pill OxyContin which was ordered to pay billions by a judge ahead of its dissolution.
Between 1999 and 2023, around 806,000 people died from opioid overdoses in the United States, according to government data.
Purdue and other opioid makers and distributors are accused of aggressively marketing prescription painkillers like OxyContin starting in the 1990s, while hiding how addictive the drugs are.
Among the victims of the opioid epidemic was the mother of a teenage boy. "Because my mom died, I had depression and thoughts of killing myself," the son told the court in an emotional testimony via video call, sitting next to his father.
"I hope you feel guilty," he told the Sackler family, which owned Purdue for decades.
The family and company are due to pay more than $8 billion in fines, forfeitures and penalties.
The hearing to conclude a Department of Justice probe was originally scheduled to take place remotely, but US Judge Madeline Cox Arleo moved it to an in-person hearing after seeing protesters outside her courthouse in Newark, New Jersey.
"That's the least I could do," the judge told a victim who thanked her.
On Tuesday, some 40 victims and their families attended the hearing, with more joining online. Their testimonies, which Arleo described as "heartbreaking," ran for more than six hours.

'Hole in our family'

Alexis Pleus's son was prescribed OxyContin after suffering a high school football injury.
He died in 2014 from a heroin overdose, leaving a "gaping hole in our family for eternity," said Pleus.
Those who survived addiction spoke of their "guilt" of being alive, while families of those who died blamed themselves for not having done enough.
Many painted a picture of "destroyed" lives: divorces, losing custody of their children, prison, psychiatric hospitals, and astronomical medical bills in the hope of regaining "a normal, meaningful life."
The wives of two men who died recalled losing their homes. One of them said she suffered from post-traumatic stress disorder.
In many cases, families that were torn apart said the nightmare "started in the doctor's offices."
Purdue has admitted to promoting OxyContin by paying doctors to prescribe it, bringing in tens of billions of dollars for the laboratory and the Sackler family.
For many, opioid addiction begins with prescribed painkillers before they increase their consumption and eventually turn to illicit drugs such as heroin and fentanyl, an extremely powerful synthetic opioid.
Many in the courtroom wept during the hearing, and the judge was visibly emotional when listening to Julie Werner Strickler, whose son was prescribed his first pills in the army.
"These people are not statistics in an epidemiological study," the judge said when handing down the sentence.

'Criminal enterprise'

After Arleo read the names of more than 200 victims who had submitted written statements, she ordered Steve Miller, Purdue Pharma's board chair, to apologize to them.
Arleo also apologized on behalf of the US government, saying it had "failed" to protect the public from Purdue, which she likened to a "criminal enterprise."
The sentence against Purdue paves the way for bankruptcy proceedings and its dissolution on May 1, as agreed in a settlement with several US states last year.
What remains of Purdue will be replaced by Knoa Pharma, a public benefit company that will provide opioid-use disorder treatments and overdose reversal medicines.
Several victims on Tuesday called for the rejection of the settlement, which would protect the Sackler family from criminal prosecution.
Expressing her frustration with the deal, Arleo said that it was still the "best route."
"It's no shock. This is the second time I've been in a courtroom where the judge was apologetic and basically said there should have been jail sentences included. But there's always a 'but,'" said Edward Bisch, who lost his teenage son in the epidemic.
For many victims and their families, the fight continues daily in community initiatives to prevent and treat opioid addiction, which are set to receive part of the sums owed by Purdue.
pel/ms/aks/hol

Everest

Australian climber on record sea-to-summit Everest bid

BY PAAVAN MATHEMA

  • Macartney-Snape spent three months walking from sea level to the Everest summit, and it was his documentary that sparked the idea for Foran.
  • Among the hundreds of climbers hoping to scale Everest this season, 27-year-old Australian Oliver Foran began his journey far away, cycling and then walking all the way from the sea.
  • Macartney-Snape spent three months walking from sea level to the Everest summit, and it was his documentary that sparked the idea for Foran.
Among the hundreds of climbers hoping to scale Everest this season, 27-year-old Australian Oliver Foran began his journey far away, cycling and then walking all the way from the sea.
Foran is seeking to break the 67-day "sea-to-summit" record, first pedalling 1,150 kilometres (715 miles) from the warm waves of the Bay of Bengal in India to Nepal and now trekking to the icy 8,849-metre (29,032-foot) peak.
"I always wanted to climb Mount Everest, but I wanted to do it in a special way," Foran told AFP by telephone on a break from his long hike upwards to Everest Base Camp, and then to the highest place on Earth.
It is also a deeply personal journey, with Foran raising funds for youth mental health.
The former real estate agent climbed his first major mountain, Nepal's 6,189-metre (20,305-foot) Island Peak, in 2024.
He then summited 6,812-metre (22,349-foot) Ama Dablam last year.
He hopes Everest will be his first 8,000-metre mountain.
He has been training -- cycling, exercising and working on his breathing -- for the past six months to build endurance for the altitude.

'Unique'

The sea-to-summit is a rare feat, first completed by another Australian, Tim Macartney-Snape, in 1990. Macartney-Snape spent three months walking from sea level to the Everest summit, and it was his documentary that sparked the idea for Foran.
The current record is held by South Korean climber Kim Chang-ho, who walked and then kayaked the Ganges river, cycled to Nepal and then trekked up to the base camp in 2013, five years before his death on another mountain.
Foran aims to slash a week off that record and reach the summit in 60 days.
"It is a challenging task and a unique one," said Gelje Sherpa, his lead guide and expedition organiser at AGA Adventures.
"There are so many facilities and options to summit Everest in a record time now, but he is using only his own human power. That is big." 
Foran cycled across India and Nepal in the first 16 days, navigating sweltering hot plains before steep, relentless hills. 
He said he is driven by "something bigger" than himself, the memory of his teenage grief when his mother died of brain cancer.
"I didn't know how to process it... Life on the outside looked pretty good, but inside I was just emptier than ever," he said.
The unresolved grief reached a breaking point seven years later.
Foran said he had "made up my mind that that was it" -- but a call to a friend proved life-saving.
"I made the decision then that... if I ever got the opportunity to stop somebody else from getting to that point or to give them another way, I would," he said.

'Inspiration'

That commitment underlines his Everest expedition.
Foran is partnering with Australian organisation Youturn with a target to raise $200,000 to build a youth mental health support centre back home.
Aaron Minton, a director at Youturn, said it would be a "youth-focused mental health and well-being hub".
Foran hopes his journey can offer both awareness and inspiration, sharing the good parts and the struggles of his journey through his social media.
"What's really motivating me is, hopefully, having an inspiration on some of these younger people -- that might be a little bit stuck with where they are right now in their lives," he said.
"Also, I'm doing it for my mum, because she can't, and I want to make her proud."
As he continues his ascent, an unexpected source of comfort that accompanies him is the Madonna song "Like a Prayer".
"My mum used to listen to it. And it now holds a special place in my heart," he said.
"So that's what I'm going to be whistling to myself when I'm walking up to the summit."
pm/pjm/pbt/fox

healthcare

Going online helps Pakistan's women doctors back to work

BY ZAIN ZAMAN JANJUA

  • In an impoverished neighbourhood of Karachi, Muhammad Adil was able to take his eight-year-old son to a nearby Sehat Kahani–run health unit because it saves him time and money.
  • With her four-year-old nestled nearby, doctor Saniya Jafri consults from home in Karachi with a patient on the other side of Pakistan via her laptop.
  • In an impoverished neighbourhood of Karachi, Muhammad Adil was able to take his eight-year-old son to a nearby Sehat Kahani–run health unit because it saves him time and money.
With her four-year-old nestled nearby, doctor Saniya Jafri consults from home in Karachi with a patient on the other side of Pakistan via her laptop.
She is one of thousands of Pakistani female doctors returning to practice through "telemedicine" after leaving the profession because of family obligations and workplace barriers to women in the conservative society.
Although women outnumber men in Pakistan's medical registrations, many stop practicing after marriage, exacerbating the fast-growing nation's shortage of doctors.
Jafri, a mother of three, gave up cardiology after marriage.
"I did not want to choose long working hours and be away from home for a long time," she told AFP. 
But an initiative by digital health firm Sehat Kahani helped her back into the workforce by providing a digital platform to connect home-based, mostly female doctors, with patients in underserved communities.
Private clients are also catered for.
The initiative has brought 7,500 doctors back into practice, its co-founder says, and aims to boost healthcare for disadvantaged areas in Pakistan that face a dearth of services -- especially female patients who often feel more comfortable speaking with women medical staff about health issues.
Gallup surveys and doctor associations suggest more than a third of Pakistan's female medical graduates never enter the profession -- or leave it after marriage -- due to lack of family support, poor childcare facilities, and harassment.
The situation is symptomatic of wider challenges for women in Pakistan who face significant economic and social disparities, with the World Economic Forum ranking the nation second-to-last for gender equality.
- 'Doctor Brides' –
Jafri now balances caring for her children and household chores with attending to patients online.
"I wanted to stay with my children," the 43-year-old said of the flexible arrangement.
An overwhelming majority of the tens of thousands of aspirants who compete for places in government-run medical universities are women -- a rare instance in Pakistan of female student admissions outnumbering men.
Yet working at hospitals and clinics is widely seen as incompatible with family life for women, especially those with young children.
"The lady doctor who advises mothers to exclusively breastfeed for six months does not have such a facility at her own workplace," said Zakiya Aurangzeb, President of the Pakistan Islamic Medical Association.
She said long hours and the risk of sexual harassment and mob violence from the families of patients who suffered poor outcomes also put off women and their families.
Seeing those challenges as well as Pakistan's dismal healthcare access in poor communities, doctor Sara Saeed Khurram set up Sehat Kahani, a digital network that includes 80 clinics where patients visit for a remote consultation with a doctor, guided by an in-person nurse.
She hoped to realise the full benefits of the years of training and government subsidies for degrees that many families seek for their daughters due to the social status they confer in Pakistan society, where a "Dr" honorific is considered to improve marriage prospects for women.
"When that wedding card goes out that you're marrying a doctor... it just raises the social stature of the entire family," said Khurram.
"Once that purpose is done... then it becomes very difficult for you to challenge the societal norms that exist in that family to let her work."
Khurram understands the situation first-hand.
"I also became what we call the doctor bride or the 'doctor bahu'," she said, using the Urdu term for "daughter-in-law".
Though she remained in the workforce, Khurram watched her mostly-female medical school cohort drop out of work one by one, facing pressure from in-laws to focus on tending the home.
- Healthcare gap –
The lack of female doctors is deepening the strain on Pakistan’s healthcare, a mix of public and private systems with sharp disparities between cities and rural areas in the country of 250 million people and poor outcomes for urban working-class neighbourhoods.
Around 70,000 women -- almost a fifth of the 370,000 total registered doctors -- are listed in official registries but not practicing, according to medical associations.
Ushering female doctors back to the workforce online also provides better options for patients.
In an impoverished neighbourhood of Karachi, Muhammad Adil was able to take his eight-year-old son to a nearby Sehat Kahani–run health unit because it saves him time and money.
"When we come here, we are able to save our daily wage because it's close," he said, after a free consultation with Jafri on his son's chickenpox.
Digital healthcare improved flexibility and could help women back into the workforce, Jafri said, but cautioned that ultimately family backing was key. 
"If a woman doctor receives support from her husband, parents, and in-laws, she can excel," she said.
"Those who get it go on to succeed, but many who don't are forced to give up".
zz/ceg/fox

Global Edition

S. Korea probes syringe hoarding as war hits plastic makers

  • The Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency told AFP on Tuesday that it "promptly began an investigation" into four medical device distributors suspected of violating the ban, following a complaint by the food and drug safety ministry.
  • South Korean police said on Tuesday they were investigating firms suspected of hoarding medical syringes, as the Middle East war hits supplies of an oil-derived component crucial for making many plastic goods.
  • The Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency told AFP on Tuesday that it "promptly began an investigation" into four medical device distributors suspected of violating the ban, following a complaint by the food and drug safety ministry.
South Korean police said on Tuesday they were investigating firms suspected of hoarding medical syringes, as the Middle East war hits supplies of an oil-derived component crucial for making many plastic goods.
The US-Israeli strikes on Iran and the virtual closure of the Strait of Hormuz have rattled deliveries of naphtha, a liquid essential for making a key ingredient in many medical supplies.
The disruption has particularly affected petrochemical sectors in Asia and forced governments to take action, with South Korea imposing a ban this month on hoarding syringes and needles to guard against shortages.
The Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency told AFP on Tuesday that it "promptly began an investigation" into four medical device distributors suspected of violating the ban, following a complaint by the food and drug safety ministry.
The agency vowed to strengthen inspections across the supply chain to crack down on illicit behaviour.
Under the ban, companies must not hold more than 150 percent of last year's average monthly sales volume in syringes and needles for five days or longer, or refuse sales without a valid reason.
But some firms appear to be exploiting the supply crunch by stockpiling syringes and selling them at higher prices, according to the ministry.
One distributor was found to have held excess inventory of about 130,000 units for more than five days, it said.
More than half of South Korea's naphtha imports last year came via the Strait of Hormuz, according to the presidential office.
President Lee Jae Myung pledged in a social media post on Saturday to take the "strongest possible" action against "antisocial behaviour that exploits community crises to worsen them and profit from them".
Lee's chief of staff announced this month that South Korea had secured an additional 2.1 million tonnes of naphtha from countries including Saudi Arabia and Oman via routes that do not pass through the strait.
sjh/mjw/jm

health

Horses unlikely saviours for those who serve in uniform

BY PIRATE IRWIN

  • Former Royal Air Force reservist John Lewis contemplated suicide, serving police officer Nick Morton had a mental health breakdown and ex- military intelligence operative Al Strudwick lost his self-confidence after having both his legs amputated because of sepsis.
  • Members of the armed forces and the police may put their lives on the line for their country but even they have their mental and physical limits and often it is horses, not humans, who can provide salvation.
  • Former Royal Air Force reservist John Lewis contemplated suicide, serving police officer Nick Morton had a mental health breakdown and ex- military intelligence operative Al Strudwick lost his self-confidence after having both his legs amputated because of sepsis.
Members of the armed forces and the police may put their lives on the line for their country but even they have their mental and physical limits and often it is horses, not humans, who can provide salvation.
Former Royal Air Force reservist John Lewis contemplated suicide, serving police officer Nick Morton had a mental health breakdown and ex- military intelligence operative Al Strudwick lost his self-confidence after having both his legs amputated because of sepsis.
All three shared a fear of horses, but it was to be the animals and not the therapists who would bring the trio back from the depths of despair after being put in touch with British charity Warrior Equine.
Such has been Warrior Equine's success that it has been selected as the charity for the prestigious Royal Windsor Horse Show, which takes place on May 14-17.
Morton had over 20 years of experience, but the accumulation of dealing with traumatic incidents, such as child murders, took its toll. 
"We are sometimes seen as that knight in shining armour, unflappable," he told AFP.
"But actually we're human beings. Same as our military colleagues are, we're all humans. 
"We weren't born police officers or soldiers," added Morton.

'Overwhelmingly controlling'

To keep costs at a minimum Warrior Equine, which was founded in 2019, has no permanent facilities or horses and uses both civilian equestrian centres and military horses for their three-day courses, of which between six and eight are held annually.
Warrior Equine was the brainchild of Ele Milwright, though she and equine instructor Jim Goddard had been working with veterans for several years before that.
As the wife of an RAF officer, Milwright had an inkling of how troubled some service personnel were after tours of duty.
"I did notice a lot of our friends and colleagues were coming back a little bit quirky," she said.
"You couldn't quite put your finger on it, but they came back and it was different.
"Nobody told you what to do about it. It was the elephant in the room. 
"So three things, understanding the value of horses, understanding how horses think, their psychology, and my commitment to help people with a military background or those who serve, all came together." 
The work involves the attendee leading the horse into a pen and using body language and energy to encourage the horse to move and interact.
As the attendees practise emotional self-regulation techniques, such as softening their body language, slowing their breathing and lowering their heart rate, they will aim to achieve a calm but focused state, which the horse will find safe to be around.
Lewis said the experience rescued him from the darkest of places.
The father of two had contemplated suicide after he suffered multiple fractures and spent months in hospital when a school bus squashed him between it and his vehicle.
"That vulnerability became exacerbated every time I was away from my family and my kids," he said.
"It became so overwhelmingly controlling. Even if I went into a supermarket to buy a loaf of bread and there wasn't any bread on the shelf, that was me failing to be able to protect them.
"Then I would get into conflict in the supermarket just because there wasn't bread on the shelf."

'Quite comical'

Lewis had tried several types of therapy and was so sceptical about Warrior Equine he turned back three times on his way to attend a course.
However, he eventually realised "I had to give this a go because ultimately, I was going to leave my kids with no dad."
It proved to be a cathartic moment.
"The point where the horse can detect that you're in control of those stress emotions going on inside you, they will, of their own free will, walk over to you and follow you around with no lead," said Lewis.
"They'll sit on your shoulder in this amazing way. And the way it's been described to us, and you can really see it, is that they just want to sit there and trust you."
Lewis says it has transformed his life and rid him of the excessive controlling behaviour.
"That dark tunnel doesn't even stare me in the face," he said.
"I know it's there. But I'm able to turn my back on it every single time."
Such has been the positive impact on Strudwick's self-confidence he climbed the Pen y Fan mountain in Wales -- part of the test for candidates for the British SAS special forces -- in a wheelchair.
"It made me realise how far I had come, from lying in a hospital bed for 50 nights, and being released with shot-away kidneys and a slowly recovering liver, to climbing a mountain," he said.
Despite the double amputation, Strudwick is blessed with self-deprecatory humour -- his forthcoming book is titled "Finding My Feet Again" -- as is his wife.
Shedding his prosthetic legs on a crowded beach in Cornwall, he went swimming with her.
"My little stumps kept sticking out of the water, which was quite comical," he said.
"My wife joked when we were about to get out of the water that I should crawl up the beach screaming 'shark!' and see people's reaction to it."
He resisted.
"It would have traumatised the youngsters!"
pi/gj

health

US Supreme Court hears Bayer bid to end Roundup weedkiller suits

  • Bayer is arguing that it should be shielded from state lawsuits since the federal Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) approved the sale of Roundup to consumers and farmers without any warnings.
  • The US Supreme Court heard a bid on Monday by German pharmaceutical and agrichemical giant Bayer to put an end to a wave of lawsuits over the weedkiller Roundup.
  • Bayer is arguing that it should be shielded from state lawsuits since the federal Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) approved the sale of Roundup to consumers and farmers without any warnings.
The US Supreme Court heard a bid on Monday by German pharmaceutical and agrichemical giant Bayer to put an end to a wave of lawsuits over the weedkiller Roundup.
Bayer has spent more than $10 billion settling litigation linked to Roundup since it acquired its producer, the US group Monsanto, in 2018.
The World Health Organization's International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) considers glyphosate, one of Roundup's ingredients, a probable human carcinogen, but Bayer says scientific studies and regulatory approvals show the widely used weedkiller is safe.
The top US court agreed to hear Bayer's appeal of a $1.25 million Missouri jury award to a man, John Durnell, who claimed Roundup was responsible for his cancer -- one of thousands of similar "failure-to-warn" lawsuits facing the company.
Bayer is arguing that it should be shielded from state lawsuits since the federal Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) approved the sale of Roundup to consumers and farmers without any warnings.
"Every agency around the globe -- New Zealand, Japan, Australia, the European Union, Canada -- they've looked at glyphosate," Paul Clement, an attorney for Monsanto, told the justices.
"It's probably the most like studied herbicide in the history of man and they've all reached the conclusion based on more data and the kind of expert analysis they can do that there isn't a risk here," Clement said. "You shouldn't let a single Missouri jury second-guess that judgment."
The Trump administration has backed Bayer's stance that a federal statute on pesticide labels preempts state laws requiring warnings on products that may be carcinogenic.
It's not feasible to have 50 different states coming out with their own determinations, Deputy Solicitor General Sarah Harris said.
"Iowa says maybe this causes cancer. California says absolutely causes cancer. Some other state says this doesn't cause cancer at all, so put that on your label too," Harris said. "It completely undermines the uniformity of the labeling."
Clement, the Monsanto lawyer, also stressed a need for maintaining uniformity.
Failure to do so would "open the door for crippling liability and undermine the interest of farmers who depend on federally registered pesticides for their livelihood," he said.

'Slip through the cracks'

Ashley Keller, a lawyer representing Durnell, who blames his non-Hodgkin lymphoma on exposure to Roundup, said the EPA's analysis of the weedkiller should not be the final word.
"I think there are a lot of conscientious people working at that agency," Keller told the court. "I think we should also all agree that things slip through the cracks with that agency."
Both conservative and liberal justices asked tough questions to lawyers for the two sides and it was not immediately clear how they would rule.
Monsanto, in a statement issued after Monday's oral arguments, said a favorable court ruling "would provide essential regulatory clarity for companies who seek to bring currently approved and new products to market." 
The Supreme Court is expected to issue a ruling by June or early July.
cl/dw 

government

California billionaire tax appears headed to the ballot

  • The proposal gathered 1.5 million signatures -- nearly twice the number required to get on the ballot.
  • A proposed emergency tax on California billionaires to help fund the state's cash-strapped healthcare system has gathered enough signatures to trigger a referendum in November, the union behind the measure announced.
  • The proposal gathered 1.5 million signatures -- nearly twice the number required to get on the ballot.
A proposed emergency tax on California billionaires to help fund the state's cash-strapped healthcare system has gathered enough signatures to trigger a referendum in November, the union behind the measure announced.
The proposal gathered 1.5 million signatures -- nearly twice the number required to get on the ballot.
"Most Californians and most billionaires recognize how reasonable and necessary this proposal is -- both to keep emergency rooms open and to save California businesses from closing," Suzanne Jimenez of the Services Employees International Union-United Healthcare Workers West (SEIU-UHW), the measure's lead sponsor, said late Sunday.
Under the California Billionaire Tax Act, the state's wealthiest residents would be hit with a one-time tax of five percent of their net worth.
Some 90 percent of the tens of billions of dollars in expected revenue would be used to fund the state healthcare system for five years to offset the massive federal cuts imposed by President Donald Trump's budget law.
While the tax would be a one-off, the proposal has sparked controversy in the most populous state and across the nation.
Opponents fear it will scare off Silicon Valley and trigger an exodus of the ultra-wealthy, which would hurt tax revenue. California is home to more than 250 billionaires, more than any other US state.
The American left has been divided on the issue. Governor Gavin Newsom, a Democrat who is considered a potential 2028 presidential hopeful, opposes it, while progressive Senator Bernie Sanders is its chief supporter in Congress.
High-profile entrepreneurs are against it. According to US media, Google co-founder Larry Page, Oracle's Larry Ellison, and Palantir co-founder Peter Thiel have all taken steps to reduce their footprint in California.
And the cryptocurrency and artificial intelligence communities are funding ad campaigns against it.
Jimenez, the union leader, described the measure's wealthy opponents as "a very small group of the most controversial billionaires on the planet."
"Healthcare workers and our allies won't quit until we fully protect our patients from the looming healthcare disaster that will be caused by $100 billion in cuts to California healthcare," she added.
In the face of growing wealth inequality worldwide, taxation of the ultra-rich has become a flashpoint of debate in recent years.
Brazil put the idea of a billionaire tax on the G20 agenda when it hosted the forum's annual leaders' summit in 2024.
Last year France's parliament rejected the proposed 'Zucman tax,' a measure that would have taxed the ultra-wealthy at an annual rate of two percent.
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