virus

WHO chief heads to Ebola-hit DR Congo

  • But the head of African Union's health agency said on Thursday that one should be ready by the end of the year.
  • The head of the UN health agency was heading to the Democratic Republic of Congo on Thursday, in a show of support for the African country as it battles its latest deadly Ebola outbreak.
  • But the head of African Union's health agency said on Thursday that one should be ready by the end of the year.
The head of the UN health agency was heading to the Democratic Republic of Congo on Thursday, in a show of support for the African country as it battles its latest deadly Ebola outbreak.
"I want you to know that you are not alone," Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, the head of the World Health Organization, said in a message posted on X, addressing the Congolese people.
"Together, we will overcome this outbreak," he said, vowing to do "everything in my power to help you."
The WHO has recorded 10 confirmed and 223 suspected Ebola deaths in the DRC since the outbreak was declared on May 15, out of more than 1,000 confirmed and suspected cases, according to its latest figures up to May 24.
The true spread of the outbreak, thought to have circulated under the radar for some time, is likely much wider, the WHO has warned.
This is the 17th recorded Ebola outbreak in the vast central African country of more than 100 million people.
Complicating efforts to battle it is the fact that its epicentre lies in the east, a mineral-rich region that has been scarred by violence from various armed groups for more than three decades.
In the latest spasm of violence, the Rwanda-backed M23 has since 2021 seized swathes of territory, with fighting stepping up over the last year and a half.
Tedros has urged warring factions to stop the fighting.
"Conflict and displacement make everything harder," he said.
"I am making a direct appeal to all warring parties in this region: please, declare a ceasefire.
"No cause, no conflict, no grievance is worth condemning innocent people to death from a preventable disease."
 

Vaccine in the works

 
No vaccine or treatment exists for the Bundibugyo strain of Ebola, which is behind the current outbreak.
But the head of African Union's health agency said on Thursday that one should be ready by the end of the year.
"What we can tell you for sure, by the end of this year, 2026, Africa CDC will make sure that we have a vaccine and medicine against Bundibugyo," Jean Kaseya, head of Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) told reporters in an online briefing. 
"Our leaders are ready to invest. We are investing at technical level, at a strategic level, to make sure that (the vaccine) will happen," he added. 
Tedros is due to arrive in the country in the evening and said he would be going to Bunia, the capital of the Ituri province that is the ground zero of the latest outbreak.
The WHO said it had received 4.6 tonnes of aid at Bunia's airport, while UNICEF, the UN children's agency, said it was sending 100 tonnes of aid to the country.
 

Measures abroad

 
Neighbouring Uganda, which has recorded one death confirmed to be from Ebola and six additional cases, announced it was shutting its border with the DRC with immediate effect. 
The United States said it would not allow anyone afflicted with the virus to enter the country.
The administration of US President Donald Trump is working to open a treatment facility for afflicted US citizens in Kenya, instead of facilitating their return for treatment on American soil, as has been done in previous Ebola outbreaks.
A Kenya rights group filed a court petition on Thursday, seeking to halve operations at any such facility, while health officials have warned that such a centre could put another burden on Kenya's stretched health system.
Ebola has killed more than 15,000 people in Africa over the past 50 years. The deadliest outbreak in the DRC claimed nearly 2,300 lives out of 3,500 cases between 2018 and 2020.
rjm/nl/yad/sbk

virus

'You are not alone' in Ebola fight, vows DR Congo-bound WHO chief

BY ROBIN MILLARD

  • This is the 17th recorded Ebola outbreak in the vast central African country of more than 100 million people.
  • The WHO's chief pledged to do "everything in my power" to help conquer a deadly Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of Congo, as he headed to the African nation on Thursday.
  • This is the 17th recorded Ebola outbreak in the vast central African country of more than 100 million people.
The WHO's chief pledged to do "everything in my power" to help conquer a deadly Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of Congo, as he headed to the African nation on Thursday.
In lengthy message to the Congolese people, the World Health Organization's director-general Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus insisted that "together, we will overcome this outbreak".
According to its latest figures, up to May 24, the WHO has recorded 10 confirmed and 223 suspected Ebola deaths in the DRC since the outbreak was declared on May 15, out of more than 1,000 confirmed and suspected cases.
The WHO has warned that the true spread of the outbreak, thought to have circulated under the radar for some time, is likely much wider.
"I want to be with you in these moments. And I want you to know that you are not alone," Tedros said in the message posted on X, having earlier said he was on his way to the DRC.
"Ebola is now back. This time, the outbreak is hitting Ituri province the hardest," he said, with more than 90 percent of cases in the conflict-torn northeastern province.
"I know how frightening that is."
Tedros said he would be going to Ituri's capital Bunia, "and doing everything in my power to help you. I will not be managing this from a comfortable office far away."
 

'Declare a ceasefire'

 
The UN health agency's chief said the affected areas were already dealing with malaria, hunger, insecurity and now Ebola. "It is not fair, and I will not pretend otherwise," he said.
According to Tedros, the Ebola response would be built on Ituri's in-built resilience.
"We do not come to Ituri with only medicine and expertise. We come to join a community that already knows how to fight for its survival," he said.
Tedros fears insecurity in the eastern DRC, which has been plagued by conflict for three decades, is making it harder to contain the outbreak.
He urged the warring factions to give health workers the space to save lives.
"Conflict and displacement make everything harder," he said.
"I am making a direct appeal to all warring parties in this region: please, declare a ceasefire.
"People are dying from Ebola who do not have to die. Children are sick. Families are suffering. No cause, no conflict, no grievance is worth condemning innocent people to death from a preventable disease."
 

Fear and silence

 
No vaccine or treatment exists for the Bundibugyo strain of Ebola, which is behind the current outbreak.
However, Tedros said the spread of the virus could still be prevented by early care in treatment centres.
And he vowed that the authorities would help ensure loved ones are buried in dignity and safety.
He urged young people to help break "the fear and the silence that allow this virus to spread".
Tedros said he was no stranger to Ebola outbreaks in the DRC, recalling that from 2018 to 2020, he visited North Kivu province -- the epicentre of that outbreak -- 14 times. 
In that crisis, "trust grew slowly, then more quickly. People came forward. And together, we managed to contain the outbreak," he said.
This is the 17th recorded Ebola outbreak in the vast central African country of more than 100 million people.
"Together, you have overcome every single one before," said Tedros.
"We will get through this one too."
rjm/nl/sbk

virus

WHO warns of 'catastrophic collision' of Ebola and war in DR Congo

  • - Uganda shuts border - Neighbouring Uganda, which has recorded one death confirmed to be from Ebola and six additional cases, announced it was shutting its border with the DRC with immediate effect. 
  • Conflict in the Democratic Republic of Congo is complicating efforts to rein in a deadly Ebola outbreak, the World Health Organization chief warned Wednesday, while Uganda announced it was shutting its border. 
  • - Uganda shuts border - Neighbouring Uganda, which has recorded one death confirmed to be from Ebola and six additional cases, announced it was shutting its border with the DRC with immediate effect. 
Conflict in the Democratic Republic of Congo is complicating efforts to rein in a deadly Ebola outbreak, the World Health Organization chief warned Wednesday, while Uganda announced it was shutting its border. 
The WHO has recorded 10 confirmed and 223 suspected Ebola deaths in the DRC since the outbreak was declared in mid-May, out of more than 1,000 confirmed and suspected cases.
Its chief fears insecurity in the eastern DRC, which has been plagued for three decades by conflict involving a litany of armed groups, is making it extremely difficult to contain the outbreak. 
"Eastern DRC now faces a catastrophic collision of disease and conflict with the Ebola outbreak in Ituri province outpacing the response," the UN agency's head Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said on X.
No vaccine or treatment exists for the Bundibugyo strain of Ebola, which is behind the DRC's 17th recorded outbreak of the disease.
State services in rural Ituri province, where it was first detected, have been largely absent for decades.
In Rwampara, one of the epicentres of the outbreak, AFP saw a symptomatic woman being brought to hospital on a motorbike, squeezed between her sister and the driver. 
A health worker recorded a high fever and bleeding from her nose, a common symptom of Ebola, which causes a haemorrhagic fever. 
He rushed to spray chlorine on the bike and driver, who wore a surgical mask but little else to protect him against a virus that spreads through bodily fluids.
With no ambulances available, "people make do with motorbikes", the health worker, Dieudonne Sezabo, told AFP.
The hospital has set up a temporary isolation centre but is still awaiting crucial equipment deliveries.

Uganda shuts border

Neighbouring Uganda, which has recorded one death confirmed to be from Ebola and six additional cases, announced it was shutting its border with the DRC with immediate effect. 
It also said it was imposing a 21-day quarantine on anyone arriving from the DRC, under the supervision of the Ministry of Health and district surveillance teams.
The WHO said the case fatality rate was under 25 percent -- much lower than in other recent outbreaks. 
But experts suspect the virus was circulating under the radar for some time and the true extent of the health crisis has yet to be seen.
The WHO chief lamented that clashes were "driving mass displacement, pushing exposed contacts into overcrowded camps and severing critical containment corridors". 
"Frontline workers are risking everything, while attacks on health facilities make tracking cases and their contacts nearly impossible," Tedros warned.
"We cannot build community trust or isolate the sick while bombs are falling," Tedros said, urging "all warring parties to agree to an immediate ceasefire to contain this outbreak".
The United States plans to open a quarantine centre in Kenya, the Wall Street Journal reported on Tuesday, primarily intended for Americans who need to leave the DRC quickly and quarantine. 
Kenya said it had screened some 55,000 people crossing the border from Uganda and had yet to confirm an Ebola case. 
burs-er/kjm

virus

Health workers battle with few resources on DR Congo's Ebola front line

  • The young woman arriving at the hospital in Rwampara, a town in northeastern Ituri province, had spent the journey wedged between her sister and the driver of the motorbike.
  • Squeezed onto the back of a motorcycle, clearly exhausted and symptomatic, a young woman arrived at Rwampara hospital, where overwhelmed health workers have found themselves on the front line of a deadly Ebola outbreak.
  • The young woman arriving at the hospital in Rwampara, a town in northeastern Ituri province, had spent the journey wedged between her sister and the driver of the motorbike.
Squeezed onto the back of a motorcycle, clearly exhausted and symptomatic, a young woman arrived at Rwampara hospital, where overwhelmed health workers have found themselves on the front line of a deadly Ebola outbreak.
The town in the violence-hit east of the Democratic Republic of Congo is one of the centres of a recent flare-up in cases of the highly contagious disease, which can cause severe bleeding and organ failure.
Since the current outbreak was declared on May 15, more than 220 suspected deaths and 900 suspected cases have been identified, according to official figures, in what the World Health Organization has declared an international emergency.
Experts suspect the virus was circulating under the radar for some time and that the true extent of the health crisis has yet to be seen.
The young woman arriving at the hospital in Rwampara, a town in northeastern Ituri province, had spent the journey wedged between her sister and the driver of the motorbike.
A health worker immediately took the woman's temperature, which was 39.7C, and noted the first symptoms even before she had got off the motorcycle: bleeding from the nose, a common symptom of Ebola, which causes a haemorrhagic fever.
"She gave birth a month ago and two weeks after giving birth she began to fall ill," her sister said, without giving her name.
State services have largely been absent for years in Ituri province, the epicentre of the current outbreak, where armed groups have roamed for years and regularly commit massacres.
When the first signs of the illness appear, families are often at a loss over what to do, especially in rural areas.
"We thought it was malaria. Then she was given tablets and medicinal plants but there was no change," her sister said.
The motorcycle driver who brought the two women to the hospital wore a surgical mask but no gloves or protective clothing.
Hospital health worker Dieudonne Sezabo rushed to spray him and the vehicle with chlorine in an attempt to prevent contamination.
Ebola spreads through direct contact with bodily fluids.
Behind the current outbreak is the less common Bundibugyo strain, for which there are no approved vaccines or treatments and which has a fatality rate of up to 50 percent.
With no ambulances available, "people make do with motorbikes", said Sezabo.
Unable to walk on her own, the young woman was helped by her sister -- who wore gloves but had bare arms -- into the entrance of the hospital, where staff dressed in full protective suits led her to the isolation ward.
The health response has been slow to get off the ground in Ituri, which relies mostly on the international airport in Bunia, the regional capital about 12 kilometres (7.5 miles) from Rwampara, for deliveries of medical aid.
The Congolese government on Saturday announced a ban on all flights to Bunia, apart from those with special authorisation.

'Convince them to return' 

While they await crucial deliveries of equipment, staff at the hospital have been forced to move patients with everyday illnesses in order to open a temporary isolation centre.
Two isolation tents set up by the NGO Alima in the first days of the response were set on fire by an angry crowd demanding the body of one of their friends, who had died of Ebola.
The riot was broken up when soldiers fired warning shots.
"Our concern is that several patients who were in isolation returned to the community after the isolation centre fire," said doctor Isaac Mukengi, Rwampara Hospital's medical director.
"We regularly send teams into the field to trace patients, convince them to return to the treatment centre so they can continue receiving care and limit the spread of the epidemic," he added.
It is the 17th Ebola outbreak in the DRC, one of the poorest countries in the world, and without a vaccine, efforts to contain the spread rely on adhering to preventive measures and quickly detecting cases.
"For good practices and rules on isolation, safe burials and contact tracing to be followed, a great deal of trust in the health authorities is required," said Pierre Boisselet, head of the country's Ebuteli research institute.
"The current situation of conflict and fragmented authority does not, at first glance, seem very favourable," he added.
Healthcare workers do their best to allow patients' families to visit them under the supervision of medical staff in order to reduce tensions and encourage the sick to go to the hospital.
"From a moral standpoint, it is important to establish this communication between patients and their family members," said Ganou Lamissa, logistics coordinator for the NGO Alima.
"This reassures not only the patients, but also the relatives, who can know under what conditions the patients are being cared for," he added.
str/clt-cld/kjm/jhb

demonstration

Bolivia blockades make saving lives 'ordeal'

BY JOSé ARTURO CáRDENAS

  • Hinojosa broke down in tears as she recounted the difficulties of getting her son to the hospital from El Alto, a suburb of La Paz, where they live at an altitude of 4,150 meters (13,600 feet).
  • Zulma Hinojosa waits anxiously in a doctor's office at La Paz's Children's Hospital for her 13-year-old son, who suffers from asthma and heart problems. 
  • Hinojosa broke down in tears as she recounted the difficulties of getting her son to the hospital from El Alto, a suburb of La Paz, where they live at an altitude of 4,150 meters (13,600 feet).
Zulma Hinojosa waits anxiously in a doctor's office at La Paz's Children's Hospital for her 13-year-old son, who suffers from asthma and heart problems. 
Oxygen and medicines are in short supply at hospitals in the city following nearly a month of blockades and protests against the Bolivian government, and she worries he will not get the treatment he needs. 
Hinojosa broke down in tears as she recounted the difficulties of getting her son to the hospital from El Alto, a suburb of La Paz, where they live at an altitude of 4,150 meters (13,600 feet).
It is difficult to navigate the debris that protesters are using to block the city with a child with asthma and a heart murmur, the 44-year-old mother told AFP. 
"I can't expose him to this stress, to walking so much, because he's on medication," she said, adding that the trip "is a real ordeal." 
Demonstrations began in early May with trade union demands for salary increases, stable fuel supplies and sounder economic management. 
But the movement has intensified, with protesters calling for President Rodrigo Paz to step down.
Demonstrators have blockaded entry routes into La Paz, shops have shuttered for fear of violence, and food, medicine and fuel supplies are running low.
"Medicine is getting more expensive, and some are running out," said Hinojosa, who makes a living working two jobs -- making empanadas and working as a carer. 
At least four people have died because they did not receive timely medical care due to the blockades, according to the government.

'No medicine'

At the Clinicas de La Paz public hospital, one of the oldest and largest in the country, the shortage of medical oxygen is critical.
Neurosurgeon Enrique Coritza, head of the surgical unit, told AFP that the hospital's current supply of oxygen will last only a few days.
"Starting Thursday, Friday, Saturday, we don't know what the situation will be," he warned.
Christian Calle, head of the hospital's pharmacy unit, complained that the "oxygen distribution" by suppliers does not meet "the hospital's actual needs."
At the entrance to a recovery room, 63-year-old Ruth Angulo watches her son recover from a stroke. 
"There are no medicines" at the hospital, she said, explaining that she had to search private pharmacies for his drugs. 

'Nutrition deficiencies'

Food shortages are also affecting the hospital.
"We don't have beef, we don't have chicken, and we don't have vegetables, which is leading to nutrition deficiencies in patients," Calle said.
"We're measuring, rationing and cutting back on portions so there's enough" for the patients, she explained. 
Angulo's son used to be given "soup and a main course," but now "the portions are getting smaller," his mother said.
The situation is similar in hospitals across La Paz and El Alto, according to a report on Monday from the health ministry.
Neighborhood groups have protested in recent days to demand an end to the blockades, with people holding banners with slogans including "The people can't take it anymore."
jac/mis/mr/lb/lkd/cms

poverty

Low cost glasses help India's poor see a better future

BY PHILIPPE ALFROY

  • For less than two dollars, Jena left with a pair of corrective glasses -- and a clear vision of his future.
  • As soon as he put on his glasses, Indian vegetable seller Tofan Jena knew daily life would never be the same.
  • For less than two dollars, Jena left with a pair of corrective glasses -- and a clear vision of his future.
As soon as he put on his glasses, Indian vegetable seller Tofan Jena knew daily life would never be the same.
For the first time, the 49-year-old could see the world around him in sharp detail.
"I can make out all the letters of the alphabet, even the smallest ones," he marvelled, pointing to his phone screen.
Jena is among one billion people recorded by the World Health Organization who suffer from vision problems but lack the means to correct them.
The International Agency for the Prevention of Blindness estimates that $30 billion is lost in productivity from preventable or curable eye diseases in India alone.
Just an hour earlier, Jena who is a resident of Bhubaneswar, capital of the eastern state of Odisha, had his eyes examined for the first time in his life by GoodVision, whose mission is to bring eye care to underprivileged communities.
The charity hopes to close the gap in eyecare and works in 12 countries, including India, where around 550 million need glasses, and an estimated 250 million people lack access to them.
For less than two dollars, Jena left with a pair of corrective glasses -- and a clear vision of his future.
"I can read, I can write, and I can see very well at a distance," he repeats, as if trying to convince himself. 
"I'll be able to do everything with these glasses."

Access to care

The small miracle was repeated for dozens of residents in the poor district of Salia Sahi.
Technicians from the charity set up a mobile camp under a tarpaulin, offering shade from the blazing sun, while providing eye examinations, vision tests, and the selection and fitting of glasses.
At the end, a line of people stood blinking at the world, amazed at the clarity and detail many had forgotten or, for some, had never known.
With glasses perched on his nose, 43-year-old shopkeeper Minati Rout completes his journey by passing a final test: separating small pebbles from grains of rice.
"I was not able to read small letters, I was not able to thread in a needle... now I can, to do all those things," she said. 
"I will tell my neighbours to get their eyes checked here too."
Piush Khetan, the charity's India director, said they offer basic services which include a free eye screening and glasses for people in need as well as performing cataract surgery.
The lenses for the glasses come from China, while the frames are made in India from metal wire and assembled in about 10 minutes.
In the small town of Maniabandha, a two-hour drive from Bhubaneswar, patients wait on plastic chairs.
"These community camps are extremely important for villagers, because they have no access to eye care," said optometrist Gopinath Das.
"Sometimes they don't have money, sometimes they don't even know they have eye problems."
More than 400 underprivileged neighbourhoods and villages are visited each month, sites often overlooked by public health services.
"We are able to provide help to people, and we feel good about it," said technician Debasmita Behera, 23. 
"And I'm also earning."

'Stigma'

In Maniabandha, eight patients were taken to Bhubaneswar's Vision Care Hospital for cataract surgery.
Hospital director Srimant Kumar Mishra said the most difficult part is to motivate patients to be operated on.
"There is a lot of social stigma, they are afraid... They have a feeling that even if you get old, it is natural that they are not able to see."
GoodVision's France representative, Maryline Ehlermann, said "eye care is a very profitable investment", citing a study estimating that if the billion people with curable vision problems were treated, it would "generate $447 billion annually for the global economy".
In the world's most populous country -- also one of its most unequal -- the challenge is enormous.
"In India, we only take things seriously if it's a matter of life or death," said Khetan. 
"So we focus on providing information, we try to convince people of the importance of taking care of their eyes."
pa/pjm/ane/abs

suicide

Canadian who supplied poison for suicides to plead guilty

BY BEN SIMON

  • Prosser told AFP prosecutors had informed her that Law will plead guilty to counseling suicide, with the murder charges dropped, information also shared with Canadian media by Law's defense lawyer Matthew Gourlay.
  • A Canadian man accused of shipping poison to people contemplating suicide around the globe is expected to plead guilty to several counts on Friday, ending a case that has shocked the public. 
  • Prosser told AFP prosecutors had informed her that Law will plead guilty to counseling suicide, with the murder charges dropped, information also shared with Canadian media by Law's defense lawyer Matthew Gourlay.
A Canadian man accused of shipping poison to people contemplating suicide around the globe is expected to plead guilty to several counts on Friday, ending a case that has shocked the public. 
While Kenneth Law is set to admit to 14 charges of aiding or counseling suicide, Canadian prosecutors are withdrawing second degree murder charges, multiple sources have confirmed, causing anger among devastated families. 
Law, 60, is a former chef accused of running a number of online forums that offered predominantly young, distressed people advice on how to end their lives.
He allegedly shipped parcels to hundreds of people in dozens of countries containing sodium nitrite, a legally available preservative that can be fatal in certain concentrations. 
Kim Prosser's son Ashtyn took his own life in March 2023, weeks before Law's arrest. It is one of the 14 Canadian deaths at issue in the case being heard in Newmarket, just north of Toronto. 
Prosser told AFP prosecutors had informed her that Law will plead guilty to counseling suicide, with the murder charges dropped, information also shared with Canadian media by Law's defense lawyer Matthew Gourlay.
The office of Ontario's attorney general told AFP Law will appear in person on Friday "to take a plea."
Prosser, who said she will attend the hearing, spoke of the excruciatingly painful three years since her son's death on March 30, 2023. 
She said she received his ashes that April 13, her birthday, just two weeks before what would have been Ashtyn's 20th birthday.
"To be at the courthouse on Friday and to sit there... it's a beginning to another chapter of this process of healing," she said. 
Prosser, who now works in holistic coaching and wellness, told AFP she understands other families are furious Law will not be held culpable for murder, but said she does not share that emotion. 

'For me, it's murder'

David Parfett's son Thomas was 22 when he ended his own life in 2021 with materials allegedly supplied by Law. 
Thomas's death is not part of the ongoing Canadian case, but is one of nearly 100 British suicides reportedly linked to Law's online forums. 
Since Thomas's death, David Parfett has become an advocate for change, urging more rigorous legislation to confront online spaces that guide people toward harm. 
He noted that while he is not a lawyer, he believes Canadian authorities were missing an opportunity to establish the gravity of Law's conduct. 
"This was a man who was more than urging and assisting suicide," Parfett told AFP.
"If (Law) hadn't been offering detailed instructions about how to take your own life, then the chances are my son would still be here. So again, for me, it's murder," Parfett said. 
Leonardo Bedoya --whose 18-year-old daughter Jeshennia Bedoya Lopez died in 2022, allegedly with Law's help -- told Canada's CTV he was furious with the plea deal. 
"He's an assassin. A serial killer. They should treat him like a murderer," Bedoya told the network.

'Heinous crime'

Dalhousie University law professor Robert Currie told AFP prosecutors seeking to try Law for murder were handcuffed by a legal "gap."
Under Canadian law, it is not clear if "murder is a separate crime from counseling suicide, or whether the same conduct can make up both of those crimes," he said. 
Prosecutors had hoped a Supreme Court decision in a separate case would resolve the uncertainty, but Canada's top judges "declined to clarify" the issue, Currie added. 
Because Law's prosecutors doubted they could secure murder convictions, they're "going with the bird in hand," Currie said, stressing that counseling suicide is a serious offense. 
Experts suggest Law is likely to be jailed for 10 to 20 years in Canada, depending on whether he receives concurrent or consecutive sentences, at a subsequent hearing.
"Given the heinous nature of this crime, I would be surprised if he didn't get something fairly stiff," Currie told AFP, noting Law could face further justice elsewhere, with extradition to the UK a plausible future step. 
bs/sst

Islam

Saudi Arabia turns to drones to shield pilgrims from extreme heat

BY HAITHAM EL-TABEI

  • "Heat exhaustion is one of the main issues" during the hajj, said Saudi health official Jamil Abu Al-Aynayn. 
  • With temperatures hitting 45C in Mecca this week, Saudi health workers have increasingly relied on drones to supply a vast array of medical clinics treating heat-stressed pilgrims during the hajj. 
  • "Heat exhaustion is one of the main issues" during the hajj, said Saudi health official Jamil Abu Al-Aynayn. 
With temperatures hitting 45C in Mecca this week, Saudi health workers have increasingly relied on drones to supply a vast array of medical clinics treating heat-stressed pilgrims during the hajj. 
The rituals at the hajj have been a constant for centuries. 
But technology is rapidly changing the experience for pilgrims and officials alike -- with AI, UAVs and mobile apps providing crucial services, logistical support and helping manage the mammoth crowds. 
Rather than relying on congested roads filled with over 1.5 million pilgrims, drones in particular have proven to be a technological remedy for helping keep the 127 clinics spread across Mecca, Mina and Arafat adequately provisioned. 
"The main goal is to provide fast service to the guests of God during the season," Fahd Al-Bathi, the chief operating officer at the National Unified Procurement Company (NUPCO), told AFP. 
Preparations for the medical needs of the hajj season began nine months ago.  
Standing before a colour-coded map of medical centres dotting the area, the NUPCO operations officer Turki Al-Obaidi said his teams work around the clock during the hajj. 
"Our teams must ensure we reach patients as quickly as possible. This is a crucial factor with these extremely large crowds," he added. 
Before the adoption of drones, drivers could spend over an hour en route to clinics running low on supplies.
Now, authorities have centralised operations around a sprawling centre that supplies drones with medications and other necessities.
"We are seeking to integrate new innovations through which we can ensure that medical supplies arrive safely, as quickly as possible, and with the highest quality," said Bathi. 
In the operations room -- equipped with a giant data screen -- staff carefully track drone deliveries, while other employees use electric scooters to get around faster.
Drones are part of a growing arsenal of technology-led solutions aiming to better manage the hajj and the challenges presented by the searing desert climate. 
Artificial intelligence has been deployed to help monitor the footage from thousands of cameras in and around the holy city of Mecca.
The new solutions help supplement more traditional methods to manage the heat, which include giant fans, trucks distributing free water and mist systems that help cool crowds. 
"Heat exhaustion is one of the main issues" during the hajj, said Saudi health official Jamil Abu Al-Aynayn. 
"We maintain a high and rapid level of readiness." 
ht-ds/ser

virus

WHO urges DRCongo's neighbours to act immediately on Ebola risk

BY AGNèS PEDRERO

  • One person is confirmed dead in neighbouring Uganda with a further six confirmed infected after Monday saw the health ministry confirm two new cases.
  • States neighbouring the Democratic Republic of Congo are at great danger from Ebola and should act immediately to counter the deadly virus, the head of the World Health Organisation said on Monday.
  • One person is confirmed dead in neighbouring Uganda with a further six confirmed infected after Monday saw the health ministry confirm two new cases.
States neighbouring the Democratic Republic of Congo are at great danger from Ebola and should act immediately to counter the deadly virus, the head of the World Health Organisation said on Monday.
"Countries bordering DRC are at especially high risk and should take immediate action," said WHO director-general Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, adding that he would travel on Tuesday to the DRC, the vast, central African country at the epicentre of the current outbreak.
"The outbreak is spreading rapidly," Tedros told a virtual ministerial meeting on the viral haemorrhagic fever, which spreads through direct contact with bodily fluids. It can cause severe bleeding and organ failure.
He said the current outbreak was "especially challenging".
"First, the delay in detecting the outbreak means that we are now playing catch-up with a very fast-moving epidemic. We are urgently scaling up operations but at the moment, the epidemic is outpacing us," he said by video link from Geneva. 
Secondly, the eastern provinces of the DRC, where the outbreak was first detected in mid-May, "are highly insecure, with intensified fighting in recent months (and) there is also significant distrust of outside authorities among the local population".
Thirdly, he pointed out, there were "no approved vaccines or therapeutics" for the Bundibugyo strain of Ebola behind the current outbreak.
The WHO has recorded 10 confirmed Ebola deaths and 220 suspected deaths in the DRC since mid-May, while also recording a further 900 suspected cases since Kinshasa declared the outbreak on May 15. 
The United Nations agency said the true spread of the virus -- which experts suspect was circulating under the radar for some time -- was probably much wider.
One person is confirmed dead in neighbouring Uganda with a further six confirmed infected after Monday saw the health ministry confirm two new cases.
Ten other African countries are "at risk" of infection, the African Union's health agency, Africa CDC, warned on Saturday.
These are Angola, Burundi, the Central African Republic, the Republic of Congo, Ethiopia, Kenya, Rwanda, South Sudan, Tanzania and Zambia.

Building trust

Africa CDC head Jean Kaseya said "high mobility and insecurity" contributed to the regional spread of the outbreak, which the WHO has declared an international emergency.
Insecurity is a huge obstacle in the eastern DRC, which has been plagued for three decades by conflict involving a litany of armed groups.
State services in rural areas of Ituri province have been largely absent for decades.
South Kivu province is controlled by the M23 armed group, which has never managed an epidemic like Ebola.
Tedros said it was vital to address the trust deficit in Ebola-affected communities.
Two hospitals in Ituri have been attacked by suspicious locals in the past five days -- one in Mongbwala, where the outbreak was initially detected, and the other in Rwampara, where tents used to isolate Ebola patients were torched.
The violence in Rwampara erupted after a deceased man's family was prevented from taking his body away for burial because of contamination risks.
"Loved ones are throwing themselves at the bodies, touching the corpses... while organising mourning rituals bringing together loads of people", Jean Marie Ezadri, a civil society leader in Ituri, told AFP last week. 
Tedros said the WHO was pouring money, medical supplies and staff into the DRC to support the authorities and speeding up clinical trials on potential treatments.
"It will get worse before it gets better," he said. "But we know this virus and we know how to stop it."
apo/gil/cw

Enhanced

Swimmer Gkolomeev 'beats' record at drug-fueled Enhanced Games

BY ANDREW MARSZAL

  • The men's 50m backstroke was won by Hunter Armstrong in 24.21sec, the clean swimmer defeating two rivals who had taken performance-enhancing drugs.
  • Greek swimmer Kristian Gkolomeev was the only athlete to "beat" a world record Sunday at the Enhanced Games, winning the men's 50m freestyle at the divisive event where competitors were free to take performance-enhancing substances.
  • The men's 50m backstroke was won by Hunter Armstrong in 24.21sec, the clean swimmer defeating two rivals who had taken performance-enhancing drugs.
Greek swimmer Kristian Gkolomeev was the only athlete to "beat" a world record Sunday at the Enhanced Games, winning the men's 50m freestyle at the divisive event where competitors were free to take performance-enhancing substances.
His time of 20.81sec -- which is not considered official -- came in the final event of the night in Las Vegas, sparing the blushes of organizers who had predicted that multiple world records would be surpassed due to a sophisticated doping regime.
Gkolomeev, who was also wearing a synthetic "supersuit" long banned at events such as the Olympics, went faster than Australia's Cameron McEvoy's mark of 20.88 set in March.
"It was a great race... I got it," said Gkolomeev, who pocketed a $1 million bonus for the unofficial record.
"Maybe next year I'll break it again."
The Enhanced Games have been denounced as dangerous by athletics governing bodies and anti-doping agencies, citing serious health risks for participants.
Participants, lured by prize money including $250,000 for event wins, included Olympic medallist swimmers James Magnussen, Cody Miller and Ben Proud.
Co-founder Max Martin had predicted "quite a few" world records would be "beaten." The night turned out to be littered with near-misses until Gkolomeev's dramatic triumph.
Britain's Proud won the men's 50m butterfly in 22.32sec, just 0.05 off the world mark. 
"We all know what we came for. And that's world records. And so, to be that agonizingly close, it's frustrating," said the Paris 2024 silver medallist.
Gkolomeev earlier clocked 46.60sec in the 100m freestyle, missing the world record of 46.40.
"I think tonight, yes, we did expect a few more world records to happen. But at the end of the day, this is live sports, and this is always something that you can never plan for," Martin told AFP.
"We've had certain injuries today with athletes that couldn't participate because of that," he added.

Clean athletes win

More than a dozen personal bests were set, including several by athletes who came out of retirement. US swimmer Miller rolled back the years to win the 50m men's breaststroke, telling the crowd he was delighted to shave "seven-tenths off my personal best at 34."
But while the vast majority of the 42 competing sprinters, swimmers and weightlifters were taking typically banned substances such as testosterone and anabolic steroids, the handful who opted to compete clean also achieved wins.
The men's 50m backstroke was won by Hunter Armstrong in 24.21sec, the clean swimmer defeating two rivals who had taken performance-enhancing drugs.
"Unenhanced" sprinters Fred Kerley, of the United States, and Tristan Evelyn, of Barbados, won the 100m sprints. Kerley ran 9.97sec in the men's, while Evelyn achieved 11.25 in the women's.
"Man, they got to do better than that. They need to train a little harder. Get on that shit a little bit more," joked Kerley, a former 100m world champion who is serving a suspension for missing drug tests.
Weightlifters Beatriz Piron, Boady Santavy and Wesley Kitts all attempted unprecedented snatch lifts in their categories, but fell short -- despite organizers bending the rules to give the two men a fourth attempt each.
"Man, if I had about four more weeks (in training) I'd say I'd have had a good shot at it," said Kitts.
Hafthor "Thor" Bjornsson, better known as "The Mountain" in "Game of Thrones", could not quite break his own deadlift record of 510kg.

Long-term fears

Donald Trump Jr and billionaire Peter Thiel were among the investors for the event, which took place at a lavish purpose-built arena in a Las Vegas casino parking lot.
Health experts warned that several of the substances being taken could risk "life-shortening and fatal consequences," including heart, liver and kidney issues, as so little is known about the long-term effects of doping.
Enhanced Games officials said all medications were approved by the US Food and Drug Administration.
Parent company Enhanced sells many of the substances being taken by its athletes to the public.
amz/dh

virus

Dread and denial at heart of deadly DR Congo Ebola outbreak

  • "The authorities need to bring us vaccines," Sakiya, 26, told AFP. But no vaccine or treatment exists for the Bundibugyo strain of Ebola responsible for the vast central African country's 17th outbreak of the disease, believed to have already killed 204 people overall.
  • Unlike other residents of Mongbwalu, a town at the heart of the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo's latest devastating Ebola outbreak, Laureine Sakiya believes that the blood-letting virus exists after seeing some of her neighbours die.
  • "The authorities need to bring us vaccines," Sakiya, 26, told AFP. But no vaccine or treatment exists for the Bundibugyo strain of Ebola responsible for the vast central African country's 17th outbreak of the disease, believed to have already killed 204 people overall.
Unlike other residents of Mongbwalu, a town at the heart of the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo's latest devastating Ebola outbreak, Laureine Sakiya believes that the blood-letting virus exists after seeing some of her neighbours die.
Already suspicious of the Congolese state following decades of neglect and conflict, many in the outbreak's epicentre in the northeastern Ituri province are split between criticism of the government's response and denial of the disease's very existence.
Gold-diggers and hawkers criss-cross mineral-rich and conflict-torn Ituri. Mud-covered motorbikes of travelling Congolese are a regular sight in Mongbwalu, some 100 kilometres (60 miles) from Uganda and just 200 kilometres away from unstable South Sudan.
In the space of several weeks, the outbreak has spread to several provinces nearby and on to Ugandan soil, with the World Health Organization declaring the epidemic an international emergency.
Of the 322 people suspected to have contracted Ebola in Mongbwalu -- where many of the outbreak's first cases were recorded -- 88 have died, according to the latest toll from the authorities.
"The authorities need to bring us vaccines," Sakiya, 26, told AFP.
But no vaccine or treatment exists for the Bundibugyo strain of Ebola responsible for the vast central African country's 17th outbreak of the disease, believed to have already killed 204 people overall.

'Coffin affair'

In the local hospital, a modest building nestled within the hillside town's trees and high grass, healthcare workers are rinsing the floor and walls with a chlorine solution.
All are clad from head to toe in hazard suits with facemasks and goggles, to guard against a disease spread through close physical contact and bodily fluids.
But handwashing is done in plastic buckets -- a sign of the inadequate response to an outbreak many fear could be among the worst in the virus's history.
Local aid groups are on the ground, while medical charity Doctors Without Borders (MSF) has loaned Mongbwalu's hospital tents to isolate suspected victims in.
"The epidemic is out of the ordinary," said an MSF coordinator, Florent Uzzeni, in the main regional city of Bunia.
The official toll was almost certainly an undercount, he said, adding that "the capacities to test people are extremely limited".
Past Ebola outbreaks have sparked violence among locals either wary of the state's response or sceptical of the disease. Some believed that the latest epidemic was of a "mystical malady", a common belief in some remote areas of the DRC.
"At the beginning, people believed it was a coffin affair," said Jonathan Imbalapay, a civil society leader in Mongbwalu.
The first suspected case was identified in Bunia, the Ituri provincial capital. After the man's death, the victim's family brought the body back to Mongbwalu.
But the 80-kilometre journey on the eastern DRC's infamously rickety and bumpy roads damaged the coffin, exposing the Ebola-ridden corpse.
Traditional leaders and some locals wanted to burn the compromised casket.
After tests in a provincial laboratory failed to pinpoint Ebola as the source, the disease and accompanying panic were both allowed to spread in Mongbwalu.
It was only when samples arrived at the biomedical research laboratory in the capital Kinshasa -- nearly 1,800 kilometres away as the crow flies -- that the Ebola outbreak was confirmed. 
Adam Hussein, a 35-year-old representative for Mongbwalu's traditional faith healers, fretted about Ebola denial and called on everyone to take precautions. 
"I worry about those who say that this disease is invented," he said.
str-cld/sbk/rmb/rlp

food

Yemen family deprived of aid reduced to eating tree leaves

  • So now she gathers leaves and slips them into her plastic bag.
  • With no food aid, 65-year-old Saeedah Mohammed heads out with a plastic bag to pick tree leaves near her displacement camp in southern Yemen, before serving them to her grandchildren to stave off hunger.
  • So now she gathers leaves and slips them into her plastic bag.
With no food aid, 65-year-old Saeedah Mohammed heads out with a plastic bag to pick tree leaves near her displacement camp in southern Yemen, before serving them to her grandchildren to stave off hunger.
Behind the camp wooded hills stretch under a clear sky, while on the ground, yellowed and stony earth is strewn with rubbish.
Amid the trash and destitution, daily life manages to organise itself, however imperfectly.
Worn-out clothes dry on lines strung between spindly trees, and two old discarded tyres lie in the dust.
In Al-Manij camp near Taez in southwest Yemen, Mohammed lives in a makeshift tent with her two divorced daughters and their six children. 
Aid from the World Food Programme (WFP), on which her family depended, stopped more than six months ago.
So now she gathers leaves and slips them into her plastic bag. Back at the tent, she puts them in a bucket and pours in water from a jerrycan.
To cook the leaves, she improvises a hearth with a few branches and some stones.
"I add a little salt and boil the leaves until they soften. Then I mash them and give them to the children to appease their hunger a little," she told AFP.
Their makeshift tent has a hole through which her granddaughter poked a laughing face, under the amused gaze of her brothers and sisters.
The family shared the dish in silence. The children scooped the mushed leaves with little hands from a large metal tray, finishing the meal in a just few mouthfuls.
They haven't eaten meat for so long that they have "forgotten what it tastes like", their grandmother said with a sigh.
This diet gives them recurrent diarrhoea, but she has no choice: "We go to bed hungry, we wake up without breakfast. We have nothing. No sugar, no flour, nothing."
– 4.5 million displaced –
Yemen, the Arabian Peninsula's poorest country, has been ravaged by more than a decade of civil war which has displaced at least 4.5 million people and triggered a severe humanitarian crisis.
As humanitarian funding keeps decreasing, Mohammed and her two daughters beg so they can buy bread, collect leftovers from restaurants -- or make do with leaves. 
They fled their home in 2015 after fighting broke out between Iran-backed Houthi rebels and government forces in her village of Al-Kadha. Fighters confiscated their home and cattle, destroying any hope of return.
"No one comes to see us any more. People have forgotten us. It's as if we don't exist," Saeedah Mohammed said.
str-saa/cm/san/hme/ris/srm

heat

Heatstroke kills 16 in India as temperatures climb

  • Temperatures in several cities across the South Asian country of 1.4 billion people have recently hovered well above 45C. The deaths were reported in the southern state of Telangana, with revenue minister Ponguleti Srinivasa Reddy calling for "statewide vigilance" to safeguard public health.
  • At least 16 people have died of heatstroke in southern India so far this summer, officials said Sunday, as a heatwave grips swathes of the country following official health warnings.
  • Temperatures in several cities across the South Asian country of 1.4 billion people have recently hovered well above 45C. The deaths were reported in the southern state of Telangana, with revenue minister Ponguleti Srinivasa Reddy calling for "statewide vigilance" to safeguard public health.
At least 16 people have died of heatstroke in southern India so far this summer, officials said Sunday, as a heatwave grips swathes of the country following official health warnings.
India is no stranger to scorching summers but years of scientific research have found climate change is causing heatwaves to become longer, more frequent and more intense.
Temperatures in several cities across the South Asian country of 1.4 billion people have recently hovered well above 45C.
The deaths were reported in the southern state of Telangana, with revenue minister Ponguleti Srinivasa Reddy calling for "statewide vigilance" to safeguard public health.
"The intensity of the heat has reached unprecedented levels" and officials in Telangana should issue advance warnings about precautions to be taken during heatwaves, Reddy's office said in a statement.
Health experts say that extreme heat can lead to dehydration that thickens the blood and, in particularly severe cases, causes organs to shut down.
The local government in Telangana advised the elderly, children and pregnant women not to venture out in daytime unless necessary.
Earlier this week, the India Meteorological Department predicted above-normal temperatures and intense heatwave conditions in several parts of the country.
Temperatures in the capital New Delhi and other nearby cities have stayed over 40C throughout this week, sending power usage soaring to record levels.
In addition to the burning midday heat, overnight minimum temperatures are also high, giving people little respite.
India, the world's most populous nation, is the third-biggest emitter of greenhouse gases and relies heavily on burning coal for power generation.
It has committed to achieving a net-zero emissions economy by 2070 -- two decades after most of the industrialised West.
The country's highest officially recorded temperature is 51C, measured at Phalodi in Rajasthan in 2016.
bb/abh/hol/mjw

virus

Ebola toll tops 200, other African countries seen at risk

BY DYLAN GAMBA

  • - First known victims - The Red Cross said on Saturday that three Congolese volunteers had died in Ituri after apparently contracting Ebola there. 
  • Officials in the Democratic Republic of Congo updated the death toll from the Ebola outbreak to 204 late Saturday, hours after the Red Cross said three volunteers had died there and Uganda confirmed three new Ebola cases.
  • - First known victims - The Red Cross said on Saturday that three Congolese volunteers had died in Ituri after apparently contracting Ebola there. 
Officials in the Democratic Republic of Congo updated the death toll from the Ebola outbreak to 204 late Saturday, hours after the Red Cross said three volunteers had died there and Uganda confirmed three new Ebola cases.
A health ministry statement said 204 deaths had been recorded in three provinces of the vast central African country, from 867 suspected cases. The last World Health Organization toll on Friday put the number of deaths at 177 from 750 suspected cases.
The World Health Organization has declared the outbreak of the highly contagious haemorrhagic fever an international emergency.
On Saturday, the African Union's health agency warned that more countries on the continent were at risk of being affected by the Ebola virus, in addition to the DRC and Uganda.
"We have 10 countries at risk," said Jean Kaseya, head of the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC), listing Angola, Burundi, the Central African Republic, the Republic of Congo, Ethiopia, Kenya, Rwanda, South Sudan, Tanzania and Zambia.
Kaseya said "high mobility and insecurity" in the region were helping spread the disease.
The new cases confirmed in Uganda on Saturday bring to five the total confirmed in the east African country since it was detected there and in the DRC on May 15. One person in Uganda has died.
The health ministry named the new patients as a Ugandan driver, a Ugandan health worker and a woman from the DRC. All are alive.
Ebola is a deadly viral disease that spreads through direct contact with bodily fluids. It can cause severe bleeding and organ failure.
The current epidemic centres on the conflict-wracked eastern DRC, where it was detected in Ituri province, which borders Uganda, before spreading to South Kivu.

First known victims

The Red Cross said on Saturday that three Congolese volunteers had died in Ituri after apparently contracting Ebola there. 
The three "were carrying out dead body management activities on March 27 as part of a humanitarian mission unrelated to Ebola", said the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC).
"At the time of the intervention, the community was not aware of the Ebola virus disease outbreak... They are among the first known victims."
Ebola has killed more than 15,000 people in Africa in the past half-century.
On Friday, the WHO raised the risk from Ebola in the DRC to its highest level -- "very high".
It said the risk in central Africa was "high" but the global risk remained "low".
The outbreak, which experts suspect was circulating under the radar for some time, is caused by the less common Bundibugyo strain, for which there are no approved vaccines or treatments.
On Thursday, Uganda suspended public transport to the DRC after confirming its first two cases -- one infection and one death -- involving Congolese nationals who crossed the border.
It said the driver confirmed infected on Saturday had been at the wheel of the vehicle in which one of the ill Congolese nationals had travelled to Uganda.
The health worker was exposed to the virus when treating that Congolese patient.
The third case was a Congolese woman who had visited Uganda and tested positive for Ebola after returning to the DRC.

'Everyone's problem'

The eastern DRC has been plagued for three decades by conflict involving numerous armed groups.
State services in rural areas of Ituri have been largely absent for decades.
South Kivu is controlled by the Rwandan-backed armed group M23, which has never had to manage an epidemic like Ebola.
"This is everyone's problem," Congolese Health Minister Samuel Roger Kamba told a news conference in Addis Ababa alongside Kaseya.
He said the Kinshasa government needed to have "total control" of the DRC territory to stop the virus spreading.
bur-jj/rlp

Enhanced

Enhanced Games athletes under scrutiny as health fears swirl

BY ANDREW MARSZAL

  • For former 100m world champion Fred Kerley, who is competing without drugs in the Enhanced Games, the question of athletes' responsibility for peddling experimental drugs to the public was swatted away more directly.
  • The drug-fueled Enhanced Games have put competing athletes under scrutiny, with critics asking why they signed up for a pro-doping competition that is potentially dangerous for their health, and to young viewers who could be tempted to emulate them.
  • For former 100m world champion Fred Kerley, who is competing without drugs in the Enhanced Games, the question of athletes' responsibility for peddling experimental drugs to the public was swatted away more directly.
The drug-fueled Enhanced Games have put competing athletes under scrutiny, with critics asking why they signed up for a pro-doping competition that is potentially dangerous for their health, and to young viewers who could be tempted to emulate them.
Asked for their motivations ahead of this weekend's Las Vegas multi-sport event, the responses ranged from the spikily defiant to the purely mercenary -- with a smattering of caution.
Retired Australian Olympic swimmer James Magnussen, who confirmed he has taken five banned substances from a list including testosterone, peptides and anabolic steroids, said he was not concerned because use of the drugs was already rife among friends back home.
"I have to try and convince my friends back in Australia to dial down the amount of peptides or enhancements they're taking," he joked.
But when questioned if he was worried that children or teenagers might watch the Games, or Instagram posts showing his impossibly ripped physique, and order supplements themselves, Magnussen said the question was hypocritical.
"When I turn on TV here in America, I see ads for every pharmaceutical brand I could imagine, I see ads for gambling, I see ads for alcohol," he said.
"None of those things are for child consumption. So it is up to the parent and the role model to differentiate for the child what is for their consumption and what is not."
For former 100m world champion Fred Kerley, who is competing without drugs in the Enhanced Games, the question of athletes' responsibility for peddling experimental drugs to the public was swatted away more directly.
"It's a business at the end of the day... you got to sell to somebody," he told AFP.
"I've got shares in the company. So more power to them," added Kerley.
The Enhanced Games are being bankrolled by billionaire Peter Thiel, Donald Trump Jr., and Saudi royalty, among others.
Not every athlete at the Enhanced Games was as defiant.
British swimmer Ben Proud, who won silver at the 2024 Paris Olympics, said he had concerns about young fans consuming the Games content and being inspired to "enhance" themselves as a result.
"What I wish is, for social media, I could ban any under 18, any under 21, to be able to see my content... but it's just impossible to hide from," he told AFP.
"I'm doing my job, I'm swimming, I'm performing, there's a whole team around us who deal with the media and what's going on. And I hope that people do protect younger athletes."
While he has taken the plunge at 31 after Olympic success, he said there is "no way" younger athletes should dope.

'Apples with apples'

Enhanced Games organizers say all substances being administered to athletes are approved by the US Food and Drug Administration.
But many scientists warn that the long-term impacts of using these drugs at levels high enough to try to beat world records is totally unknown.
A University of Birmingham study said heart, liver and kidney issues could be among the impacts, potentially decades later.
Asked if he was concerned, Magnussen told AFP: "We all took an injection a couple of years ago that it's impossible to know what the long-term effects are, and I'm not sure that many people ask questions about that."
Questioned further on whether he was opposed to Covid-19 vaccines, and yet supportive of the Enhanced Games' unprecedented doping regime, he added: "Not necessarily.. I'm just comparing apples with apples."
Other athletes said they were content to rely on the expertise of the doctors provided by the Games.
Proud "took the word from Enhanced, all the doctors we have here" that the drugs were safe.
"All the information I got is from doctors. I don't trust, you know, social media influencers," said former Greek Olympic swimmer Kristian Gkolomeev.
"Mostly I talk to the doctors from the Enhanced Games. I didn't really know anything about it before."
amz/ea

virus

Uganda confirms new Ebola cases, linked to DR Congo

  • On Friday, the WHO raised the risk from Ebola in the DRC to "very high".
  • Three new Ebola cases have been confirmed in Uganda, health authorities said Saturday, after the World Health Organization raised the risk from the deadly outbreak to the highest level for neighbouring Democratic Republic of Congo.
  • On Friday, the WHO raised the risk from Ebola in the DRC to "very high".
Three new Ebola cases have been confirmed in Uganda, health authorities said Saturday, after the World Health Organization raised the risk from the deadly outbreak to the highest level for neighbouring Democratic Republic of Congo.
The new cases bring to five the total confirmed in Uganda since the current outbreak was discovered in the east African country on May 15.
It named the patients as a Ugandan driver, a Ugandan health worker and a woman from the DRC, the epicentre of the outbreak, which the WHO has declared an international emergency.
"Three new cases of the Ebola Virus Disease (EVD) have been confirmed in the country," the Ugandan health ministry said in a statement on X.
All three are alive.
On Friday, the WHO raised the risk from Ebola in the DRC to "very high".
The United Nations health agency said the regional risk in central Africa was "high", though it maintained the global risk was "low".
Ebola is a deadly viral disease that spreads through direct contact with bodily fluids. It can cause severe bleeding and organ failure.
There have been 82 confirmed cases and seven confirmed deaths in the DRC, alongside almost 750 suspected cases and 177 suspected deaths, the WHO said.
The outbreak, which experts suspect was circulating under the radar for some time, is caused by the less common Bundibugyo strain, for which there are no approved vaccines or treatments.
On Thursday, Uganda suspended all public transport to the DRC after confirming its first two cases -- one infection and one death -- involving Congolese nationals who crossed the border.
It said the driver confirmed infected on Saturday had been at the wheel of the vehicle in which one of the ill Congolese nationals had travelled to Uganda.
The health worker was exposed to the virus when she was treating that Congolese patient.

'Especially challenging'

The third new case, the ministry said, was a Congolese woman who had been treated in Kampala for abdominal pains and discharged "in good condition" on May 14.
She tested positive for Ebola after she returned to the DRC.
"All contacts linked to the confirmed cases have since been identified and are being closely monitored," the health ministry said.
WHO director general Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said on Friday the situation in the DRC was "especially challenging".
Health workers were scrambling -- in highly insecure, remote areas -- to catch up with the spread of the virus and track down contacts of everyone thought to be infected, he said.
The epicentre is in the eastern DRC -- neighbouring several African countries, including Uganda -- which has been plagued for three decades by conflict involving a litany of armed groups.
The DRC epidemic was first detected in Ituri province and has now spread to South Kivu, to an area controlled by the Rwanda-backed M23 militia.
State services in rural areas of Ituri have been largely absent for decades and its inhabitants are increasingly blaming the Congolese government for the slow response to the outbreak.
In South Kivu, M23 has never had to manage the response to a serious epidemic of a disease like Ebola, which has killed more than 15,000 people in Africa in the past half-century.
bur-dyg/gil/jhb

environment

Pope condemns environmental harm in Italy's 'Land of Fires'

  • Italy's "Land of Fires", also known as the "Triangle of Death", has served as a dump and illegal incineration site since the late 1980s.
  • Pope Leo XIV made a visit on Saturday to Italy's "Land of Fires", where for decades the mafia has illegally dumped and burned toxic rubbish, poisoning both people and their land.
  • Italy's "Land of Fires", also known as the "Triangle of Death", has served as a dump and illegal incineration site since the late 1980s.
Pope Leo XIV made a visit on Saturday to Italy's "Land of Fires", where for decades the mafia has illegally dumped and burned toxic rubbish, poisoning both people and their land.
Hazardous waste -- often from Italy's wealthy north -- has long been set alight or buried in the area around Acerra, a city near Naples, in the southern region of Campania.
For decades, the soil, groundwater and air have been contaminated by heavy metals, dioxins and asbestos.
Cancer rates among the area's three million or so residents are higher than the national average.
Leo condemned "a deadly mix of obscure interests and indifference toward the common good, which has poisoned the natural and social environment".
The US-born pope drew excited crowds when he arrived in his popemobile at a piazza in Acerra, a city of around 60,000 people.
"The pope is maybe the only person who can awaken the conscience a little bit of all the people who have harmed this territory," local worshipper Giuseppina De Francesco, 60, told AFP.
In 2025, Europe's top rights court ruled that Italy had failed to protect residents and gave the government two years to fix the situation.
The pontiff's visit coincides with the 11th anniversary of a landmark climate manifesto by Leo's predecessor, Pope Francis.
The "Laudato Si" encyclical, which denounced mankind's ruthless exploitation of the environment, was hailed by experts for its scientific grounding.

'Poisoning'

"In life, we understand that the more fragile beauty is, the more it requires care and responsibility," said Leo in an address at the city's cathedral to the clergy and families of the victims of environmental pollution.
"This land has paid a heavy price. It has seen many of its children buried. It has borne witness to the suffering of children and innocents," added the leader of the world's Roman Catholics.
He thanked the "pioneer" activists he said had raised awareness with "their courageous commitment" to fight the "poisoning" of the land.
Italy's "Land of Fires", also known as the "Triangle of Death", has served as a dump and illegal incineration site since the late 1980s.
Instead of paying exorbitant sums to have toxic substances disposed of legally, companies paid the region's Camorra mafia a fraction of the cost to dump waste ranging from broken sheets of asbestos to car tyres and containers of industrial-strength glue.
Since 2013, a host of parliamentary inquiries has found the authorities negligent and in some cases complicit.
They have also highlighted the health fallout, including an increase in cases of cancer and foetal and neonatal malformations.
In 2018, the Senate said mobster criminality and political inaction had caused an ecological disaster in the region.
cmk/ide/dt/phz/jhb/gil

environment

Pope visits Italy's 'Land of Fires'

  • Italy's "Land of Fires", also known as the "Triangle of Death", has served as a dump and illegal incineration site since the late 1980s.
  • Pope Leo XIV will visit Italy's "Land of Fires" on Saturday, where for decades the mafia has illegally dumped and burned toxic rubbish, poisoning both people and their land.
  • Italy's "Land of Fires", also known as the "Triangle of Death", has served as a dump and illegal incineration site since the late 1980s.
Pope Leo XIV will visit Italy's "Land of Fires" on Saturday, where for decades the mafia has illegally dumped and burned toxic rubbish, poisoning both people and their land.
The head of the Roman Catholic Church will travel to Acerra, a city near Naples in the southern Italian region of Campania, where hazardous waste -- often from the wealthy north -- has long been set alight or buried.
For decades, the soil, groundwater and air have been contaminated by heavy metals, dioxins and asbestos.
Cancer rates among the area's three million or so residents are higher than the national average and Leo is expected to decry the injustice as well as urge care for the environment.
In 2025, Europe's top rights court ruled that Italy had failed to protect residents, and gave the government two years to fix the situation.
This visit coincides with the 11th anniversary of a landmark climate manifesto by Leo's predecessor, Pope Francis.
The "Laudato Si" encyclical, which denounced mankind's ruthless exploitation of the environment, was hailed by experts for its scientific grounding.
Leo is expected to arrive by helicopter shortly before 9:00 am (0700 GMT) Saturday in Acerra, a city of some 60,000 inhabitants.
The US-born pontiff will deliver his first address at the cathedral to the clergy and the families of the victims of environmental pollution.
He will then meet and address parishioners from various towns in the region, before departing for the Vatican at midday.
Italy's "Land of Fires", also known as the "Triangle of Death", has served as a dump and illegal incineration site since the late 1980s.
Instead of paying exorbitant sums to have toxic waste disposed of legally, companies paid the region's Camorra mafia a fraction of the cost to dump everything from broken sheets of asbestos to car tyres and containers of industrial-strength glue.
Since 2013, a host of parliamentary inquiries has found the authorities negligent and in some cases complicit.
They have also highlighted the health fallout, including an increase in cases of cancer and foetal and neonatal malformations.
In 2018, the Senate said mobster criminality and political inaction had caused an ecological disaster.
Leo's visit is part of a series of summer trips to areas of Italy, which include a stop on the Mediterranean island of Lampedusa in July.
cmk/ide/dt/phz

Argentina

WHO members note Argentina's withdrawal letter

  • At the 79th annual World Health Assembly of member states, the WHO's decision-making body, countries had to consider Argentina's wish to follow the United States and leave the body.
  • The World Health Organization's member states on Friday noted Argentina's notification of withdrawal from the UN agency and said they would always welcome full cooperation from Buenos Aires.
  • At the 79th annual World Health Assembly of member states, the WHO's decision-making body, countries had to consider Argentina's wish to follow the United States and leave the body.
The World Health Organization's member states on Friday noted Argentina's notification of withdrawal from the UN agency and said they would always welcome full cooperation from Buenos Aires.
At the 79th annual World Health Assembly of member states, the WHO's decision-making body, countries had to consider Argentina's wish to follow the United States and leave the body.
The assembly considered several proposals regarding Argentina's withdrawal notification, and agreed a compromise text by consensus.
The assembly "noted" the communication received by UN chief Antonio Guterres on March 17, 2025 notifying him that Argentina withdraws from the WHO, "effective one year after the receipt of that letter".
The assembly "resolves that while the World Health Organization will always welcome the Argentine Republic's full co-operation... it is not considered that any further action at this stage is desirable", the approved, brief resolution said.
Norway and Paraguay were the main drivers behind the compromise.
Buenos Aires was a minor contributor to the WHO's budget. The G20 country's membership fees for 2024 and 2025 were around $4.1 million a year.
A report by WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus in January recalled that in 1949-1950, seven member states -- including the Soviet Union, Czechoslovakia and Bulgaria -- issued notice saying they no longer considered themselves members.
When they resumed participation, the assembly decided they would pay a "token payment" for the period when their membership was inactive.
The resolution adopted Friday used exactly the same language as member states did in 1950.

WHO 'not a social club'

Sigrid Kranawetter, the WHO's governing bodies director, said: "I don't like to use the word withdrawal because it's legally not correct".
The WHO is "not a social club" and "you don't stop your membership," Kranawetter said. 
"There is no need for anyone who accepts the WHO constitution to withdraw from it, because you do not give up any part of your sovereignty when you accept the WHO constitution. 
"If you stop engaging, if you stop working, that is the prerogative of a sovereign state. You can do that any time."
She noted that with the recent hantavirus outbreak, "WHO is there to support", and had been "working with Argentina on hantavirus very closely".
In the assembly, China asked whether departing members could still participate in WHO frameworks.
"Global public health is a whole and cannot be divided; no country can stay out of it," its representative said.
The African group, represented by Sierra Leone, said it "regrets any development that diminishes WHO's universality, and encourages continued dialogue with the member states concerned".
Argentina's neighbours Bolivia and Chile said they recognised and respected Buenos Aires' sovereign decision.
rjm/ach 

health

Ebola risk now at highest level in DR Congo, says WHO

BY ROBIN MILLARD

  • The WHO upgraded its risk assessment level from high to very high for the DR Congo, while keeping the regional risk level at high and the global risk level at low.
  • The risk from the deadly Ebola outbreak has been raised to the highest level for the Democratic Republic of Congo, the World Health Organization said Friday, as the toll continued to rise.
  • The WHO upgraded its risk assessment level from high to very high for the DR Congo, while keeping the regional risk level at high and the global risk level at low.
The risk from the deadly Ebola outbreak has been raised to the highest level for the Democratic Republic of Congo, the World Health Organization said Friday, as the toll continued to rise.
There are now 82 confirmed cases and seven confirmed deaths in the DR Congo, with almost 750 suspected cases and 177 suspected deaths, the WHO said.
The outbreak, which experts suspect was circulating under the radar for some time, was caused by the less common Bundibugyo strain of Ebola, for which there are no approved vaccines or treatments.
The WHO is prioritising certain existing treatments to see how effective they might be in combating the strain.

Situation 'deeply worrisome'

WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said the situation was "especially challenging" as health workers scramble to catch up with the spread of the virus and track down contacts of everyone thought to be infected, in highly insecure areas.
"We know the epidemic in DRC is much larger" than the confirmed cases, he told journalists at the WHO headquarters in Geneva.
The situation in neighbouring Uganda was "stable", with two cases confirmed in people who travelled from DRC and one death, with "intense contact tracing" seemingly having prevented further spread.
While a US national who was working in the DRC has tested positive and been transferred to Germany for care, Tedros said another US national deemed to be a high-risk contact had been transferred to the Czech Republic.
Ebola is a deadly viral disease spread through direct contact with bodily fluids. It can cause severe bleeding and organ failure.
The WHO upgraded its risk assessment level from high to very high for the DR Congo, while keeping the regional risk level at high and the global risk level at low.
The assessment determines the potential impact of a public health threat and the necessary response measures, with WHO advice set to follow.
The WHO's emergency alert and response director Abdi Rahman Mahamud said the assessment looks at the potential risk for human health; the risk of an event spreading; and the capacity available.
"The potential of this virus spreading rapidly is very high, and that changed the whole dynamic," he said.

Catch-up phase

Speaking from the field, Anne Ancia, the WHO's representative in the DRC, said the case numbers would keep rising until all the response operations could be put in place.
The virus has been "rampant and silently disseminating for a few weeks already", and "we are sprinting behind" playing catch-up, with the spread "not yet under control", she explained.
When no treatments or vaccines are available, finding contacts and isolating them for 21 days "is the only way that we will be able to disrupt the transmission".
More than 1,400 contacts were being traced in northeastern Ituri province, the outbreak's epicentre, she added.
WHO's Africa regional director Mohamed Yakub Janabi said Ebola had a so-called silent early phase, when symptoms resemble malaria or typhoid, meaning transmission can remain undetected.
Ancia said rising case numbers at this stage was a "good sign" because it showed that surveillance and active discovery of cases was working.
Janabi added that "it often reflects that the response is intensifying, uncovering the true scale of the outbreak".

Treatment trials planned

There have only been two previous outbreaks of Bundibugyo, in Uganda in 2007 and DRC in 2012.
With no approved treatments or vaccines for Bundibugyo, WHO chief scientist Sylvie Briand said the UN agency was prioritising all existing tools that might be useful in combating the outbreak.
The WHO research and development branch's technical advisory group on treatments has prioritised two monoclonal antibodies for clinical trials: Regeneron 3479 and Mapp Biopharmaceutical's MBP134.
It also recommended evaluating the oral antiviral obeldesivir in clinical trials as post-exposure prophylaxis for people who are high-risk contacts.
Briand said it looked "promising" as something that might be able to prevent infected contacts from going on to develop disease from that infection.

No swift vaccine options

As for vaccines, the Ervebo vaccine works against the Zaire strain of Ebola but there is "very little evidence of cross-protection for Bundibugyo", said Briand.
While a Bundibugyo-specific equivalent has been worked on, there are no doses currently available for clinical trials, and if prioritised, it could take six to nine months to develop.
And while a candidate vaccine targeting Bundibugyo and leveraging the ChAdOx platform is in production, there is not yet any data from animal testing to support going forward for clinical trials on humans, said Briand.
rjm/apo/jj