politics

Mass layoffs targeting 10,000 jobs hit US health agencies

  • The restructuring plan would consolidate the current 28 divisions of the Department of Health and Human Services into 15, including a new entity called the Administration for a Healthy America, or AHA. While addressing issues such as America's obesity epidemic and industry-favored food regulations aligns with concerns shared by many in the scientific and medical communities, Kennedy's long history of promoting misinformation about vaccines and questioning basic scientific principles has caused deep concern.
  • Mass layoffs began at the major US health agencies on Tuesday as the Trump administration embarks on a sweeping and scientifically contested restructuring that will cut 10,000 jobs.
  • The restructuring plan would consolidate the current 28 divisions of the Department of Health and Human Services into 15, including a new entity called the Administration for a Healthy America, or AHA. While addressing issues such as America's obesity epidemic and industry-favored food regulations aligns with concerns shared by many in the scientific and medical communities, Kennedy's long history of promoting misinformation about vaccines and questioning basic scientific principles has caused deep concern.
Mass layoffs began at the major US health agencies on Tuesday as the Trump administration embarks on a sweeping and scientifically contested restructuring that will cut 10,000 jobs.
US Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. said the layoffs were part of a major reform of his department, aiming to refocus efforts on chronic disease prevention.
Calling it a "difficult moment for all of us," Kennedy said "our hearts go out to those who have lost their jobs." 
"But the reality is clear: what we've been doing isn't working," he added, complaining that "Americans are getting sicker every year" despite increasing spending at the federal agencies guiding US health policy.
According to photos and testimonials posted on social media, employees learned of their dismissal early on Tuesday morning by email or by having their access badges not working when they showed up to work in the morning.
The layoffs affect the Department of Health and Human Services and the federal agencies it oversees, such as those in charge of approving new drugs (FDA), responding to epidemics (CDC) or medical research (NIH).
According to US media reports, several senior officials from these agencies, including Jeanne Marrazzo, who had replaced Anthony Fauci as head of one of the NIH's branches, have been offered reassignment to isolated locations in Alaska or Oklahoma.
"The FDA as we've known it is finished, with most of the leaders with institutional knowledge and a deep understanding of product development and safety no longer employed," said Robert Califf, a former FDA commissioner during the Obama and Biden administrations.
The move comes despite the country facing its worst measles outbreak in years and mounting fears that bird flu could spark the next human pandemic.
Kennedy has alarmed health experts with his rhetoric downplaying the importance of vaccines and even suggesting that avian influenza should be allowed to spread freely among America's poultry.
Including early retirements and so-called "deferred resignations," the total downsizing will reduce the department's workforce from 82,000 to 62,000 employees, according to an official statement last week, saving an estimated $1.8 billion annually -- a tiny fraction of the HHS annual budget of $1.8 trillion.
The restructuring plan would consolidate the current 28 divisions of the Department of Health and Human Services into 15, including a new entity called the Administration for a Healthy America, or AHA.
While addressing issues such as America's obesity epidemic and industry-favored food regulations aligns with concerns shared by many in the scientific and medical communities, Kennedy's long history of promoting misinformation about vaccines and questioning basic scientific principles has caused deep concern.
The current measles outbreak has affected hundreds of people -- the overwhelming majority of them unvaccinated -- and resulted in two deaths.
arp-cha/md

environment

Battery boom drives Bangladesh lead poisoning epidemic

BY PHILIPPE ALFROY

  • Akter is one of 35 million children -- around 60 percent of all children in the South Asian nation -- who have dangerously high levels of lead exposure. 
  • Bangladeshi Junayed Akter is 12 years old but the toxic lead coursing through his veins has left him with the diminutive stature of someone several years younger.
  • Akter is one of 35 million children -- around 60 percent of all children in the South Asian nation -- who have dangerously high levels of lead exposure. 
Bangladeshi Junayed Akter is 12 years old but the toxic lead coursing through his veins has left him with the diminutive stature of someone several years younger.
Akter is one of 35 million children -- around 60 percent of all children in the South Asian nation -- who have dangerously high levels of lead exposure. 
The causes are varied, but his mother blames his maladies on a since-shuttered factory that hastily scrapped and recycled old vehicle batteries for profit, in the process poisoning the air and the earth of his small village. 
"It would start at night, and the whole area would be filled with smoke. You could smell this particular odour when you breathed," Bithi Akter told AFP. 
"The fruit no longer grew during the season. One day, we even found two dead cows at my aunt's house."
Medical tests showed Junayed's blood had twice the level of lead deemed by the World Health Organization to cause serious, and likely irreversible, mental impairment in young children.
"From the second grade onward, he didn't want to listen to us anymore, he didn't want to go to school," Bithi said, as her son sat next to her while gazing blankly out at the courtyard of their home. 
"He cried all the time too."
Lead poisoning is not a new phenomenon in Bangladesh, and the causes are manifold. 
They include the heavy metal's widespread and continued use in paint, in defiance of a government ban, and its use as an adulterant in turmeric spice powder to improve its colour and perceived quality. 
A great many cases are blamed on informal battery recycling factories that have proliferated around the country in response to rising demand. 
Children exposed to dangerous levels of lead risk decreased intelligence and cognitive performance, anaemia, stunted growth and lifelong neurological disorders. 
The factory in the Akter family's village closed after sustained complaints from the community. 
But environmental watchdog Pure Earth believes there could be 265 such sites elsewhere in the country. 
"They break down old batteries, remove the lead and melt it down to make new ones," Pure Earth's Mitali Das told AFP.
"They do all this in the open air," she added. "The toxic fumes and acidic water produced during the operation pollute the air, soil and water."

'They've killed our village'

In Fulbaria, a village that sits a few hours' drive north of the capital Dhaka, operations at another battery recycling factory owned by a Chinese company are in full swing.
On one side are verdant paddy fields. On the other, a pipe spews murky water into a brackish pool bordered by dead lands, caked with thick orange mud.
"As a child, I used to bring food to my father when he was in the fields. The landscape was magnificent, green, the water was clear," engineer and local resident Rakib Hasan, 34, told AFP.
"You see what it looks like now. It's dead, forever," he added. "They've killed our village."
Hasan complained about the factory's pollution, prompting a judge to declare it illegal and order the power be shut off -- a decision later reversed by the country's supreme court. 
"The factory bought off the local authorities," Hasan said. "Our country is poor, many people are corrupt."
Neither the company nor the Chinese embassy in Dhaka responded to AFP's requests for comment on the factory's operations.
Syeda Rizwana Hasan, who helms Bangladesh's environment ministry, declined to comment on the case because it was still before the courts. 
"We regularly conduct operations against the illegal production and recycling of electric batteries," she said. 
"But these efforts are often insufficient given the scale of the phenomenon."

'Unaware of the dangers'

Informal battery recycling is a booming business in Bangladesh.
It is driven largely by the mass electrification of rickshaws -- a formerly pedal-powered means of conveyance popular in both big cities and rural towns.
More than four million rickshaws are found on Bangladeshi roads and authorities estimate the market for fitting them all with electric motors and batteries at around $870 million.
"It's the downside of going all-electric," said Maya Vandenant of the UN children's agency, which is pushing a strategy to clean up the industry with tighter regulations and tax incentives.
"Most people are unaware of the dangers," she said, adding that the public health impacts are forecast to be a 6.9 percent dent to the national economy.
Muhammad Anwar Sadat of Bangladesh's health ministry warned that the country could not afford to ignore the scale of the problem.
"If we do nothing," he told AFP, "the number of people affected will multiply three or fourfold in the next two years."
pa/gle/cms/jfx

health

Slashed US funding threatens millions of children: charity chief

BY NINA LARSON

  • - 'More exposed' - During her Washington visit, the Gavi chief said she aimed to show how effective funding has been so far for her organisation.
  • A halt to US funding for Gavi, an organisation that vaccinates children in the world's poorest countries, will leave a dangerous gap threatening the lives of millions, its chief warned on Monday.
  • - 'More exposed' - During her Washington visit, the Gavi chief said she aimed to show how effective funding has been so far for her organisation.
A halt to US funding for Gavi, an organisation that vaccinates children in the world's poorest countries, will leave a dangerous gap threatening the lives of millions, its chief warned on Monday.
"The first impact would be for the most vulnerable children of the world," Gavi chief executive Sania Nishtar told AFP.
She spoke via video link from Washington, during a visit to try to convince US authorities that their 25-year collaboration with the Geneva-based organisation must continue.
The New York Times broke the news last week that President Donald Trump's administration, which has been aggressively slashing foreign aid, aims to cut all funding to Gavi.
That step featured in a 281-page spreadsheet related to cuts to USAID that was sent to the US Congress.
The decision would impact about 14 percent of Gavi's core budget -- and came just days after the Congress had approved $300 million in funding for the organisation.
"I was very, very surprised," Nishtar said, adding that her organisation still had received no official termination notice from the US government.
The medical doctor and former minister and senator in Pakistan said: "Gavi was supported by the previous Trump administration. We had a very good relationship."
If the cuts go ahead, Nishtar warned it would have devastating effects.

'Children will die'

"Frankly, this is too big a hole to be filled," Nishtar warned, even as Gavi scrambled to find donors to offset the missing US funding.
"Something will have to be cut."
Gavi says it helps vaccinate more than half the world's children against infectious diseases including Covid-19, Ebola, malaria, rabies, polio, cholera, tuberculosis (TB), typhoid and yellow fever.
Since its inception in 2000, Gavi has provided vaccines to more than 1.1 billion children in 78 lower-income countries, "preventing more than 18.8 million future deaths," it says.
Before the US decision, the organisation has a goal of vaccinating 500 million more children between 2026 to 2030.
The US contribution is directly responsible for funding 75 million of those vaccinations, Nishtar said.
Without them, "around 1.3 million children will die from vaccine-preventable diseases".
Beyond Gavi's core immunisation programmes, the funding cut would jeopardise the stockpiling and roll-out of vaccines against outbreaks and in health emergencies, including for Ebola, cholera and mpox. 
"The world's ability to protect itself against outbreaks and health emergencies will be compromised," Nishtar said.

'More exposed'

During her Washington visit, the Gavi chief said she aimed to show how effective funding has been so far for her organisation.
For every $1 spent on vaccinations in developing countries where Gavi operates, $21 will be saved this decade in "health care costs, lost wages and lost productivity from illness and death," the vaccine group estimates.
Unlike other organisations facing cuts, Gavi has not received an outsized contribution from Washington towards its budget, Nishtar noted, insisting that the US contribution was proportionate to its share of the global economy.
Other donors were paying their "fair share", while recipient countries also pitch in and are provided with a path to transition away from receiving aid, she said.
Some former recipients, like Indonesia, had even become donors to the programme, she pointed out, voicing hope that such arguments would help sway Washington to decide to stay the course.
Without the US backing, "we will have to make difficult trade-offs", Nishtar warned.
That "will leave us all more exposed".
nl/vog/rmb

quake

Fear of aftershocks in Myanmar forces patients into hospital car park

  • Fear of aftershocks is widespread across the city, with many people sleeping out in the streets since the quake, either unable to return home or too nervous to do so.
  • Hundreds of patients, including babies, the elderly and Buddhist monks, lie on gurneys in a hospital car park in the sweltering heat of Mandalay, a city still living in fear of aftershocks three days after a deadly quake struck Myanmar.
  • Fear of aftershocks is widespread across the city, with many people sleeping out in the streets since the quake, either unable to return home or too nervous to do so.
Hundreds of patients, including babies, the elderly and Buddhist monks, lie on gurneys in a hospital car park in the sweltering heat of Mandalay, a city still living in fear of aftershocks three days after a deadly quake struck Myanmar.
Mandalay General Hospital -- the city's main medical facility -- has around 1,000 beds but despite high heat and humidity, most patients are being treated outside in the wake of the massive earthquake that killed more than 2,000 people in Myanmar and neighbouring Thailand.
Friday's 7.7-magnitude quake was followed by repeated aftershocks that rattled Mandalay, Myanmar's second-largest city, over the weekend, and patients are being kept outside in case more tremors cause damage inside.
"This is a very, very imperfect condition for everyone," one medic, who asked to remain anonymous, told AFP. 
"We're trying to do what we can here," he added. "We are trying our best."
As temperatures soared to 39 degrees Celsius (102 degrees Fahrenheit), patients sheltered under a thin tarpaulin rigged up to protect them from the fierce tropical sun.
Relatives took the hands of their loved ones, trying to comfort them, or wafted them with bamboo fans.
Small children with scrapes cried amid the miserable conditions, while an injured monk lay on a gurney, hooked up to a drip.
It is not only the patients that are suffering. Medics sat cross-legged on the ground, trying to recuperate during breaks in their exhausting shifts. 
Although the hospital building itself has not been visibly affected, only a handful of patients who need intensive care, and the doctors who look after them, remain inside. 
The rest crammed themselves under the tarpaulin, or a shelter close by with a corrugated iron roof surrounded by motorbikes.
Fear of aftershocks is widespread across the city, with many people sleeping out in the streets since the quake, either unable to return home or too nervous to do so.
Some have tents but many, including young children, have simply bedded down on blankets in the middle of the roads, trying to keep as far from buildings as possible for fear of falling masonry.
The tempo and urgency of rescue efforts wound down Monday in Mandalay, one of the cities worst hit by the quake, as hopes faded of finding more survivors in the rubble of ruined buildings. 
Nearly 300 people remained missing across the country.
bur-aph/pdw/sco

crime

Australian black market tobacco sparks firebombings, budget hole

BY DAVID WILLIAMS

  • In March, the government cut its budget forecast for tobacco tax revenue in the period to 2029 by Aus$6.9 billion.
  • Sky-high tobacco prices in Australia have created a lucrative black market, analysts say, sparking a violent "tobacco war" and syphoning away billions in potential tax revenue.
  • In March, the government cut its budget forecast for tobacco tax revenue in the period to 2029 by Aus$6.9 billion.
Sky-high tobacco prices in Australia have created a lucrative black market, analysts say, sparking a violent "tobacco war" and syphoning away billions in potential tax revenue.
Faced with a pack of 25 cigarettes costing up to Aus$50 (US$32) or more -- including Aus$1.40 in tax on each stick -- many smokers have instead turned to readily available illicit tobacco.
At the same time, authorities have cracked down on vapes, restricting legal sales to pharmacies and opening up another illegal market for people in search of affordable nicotine.
In March, the government cut its budget forecast for tobacco tax revenue in the period to 2029 by Aus$6.9 billion.
"We've got a challenge here and too many people are avoiding the excise," Treasurer Jim Chalmers conceded after revealing the figures.
He announced an extra Aus$157 million for a multi-agency force battling organised crime groups involved in the market and a string of "tobacco war" fire-bombings.
The situation was a "total disaster", said James Martin, criminology course director at Deakin University in Melbourne.
"We have taken a public health issue, smoking, and our tobacco control policies have transformed it into a multi-fronted crisis," he told AFP.
"It is a fiscal crisis, so we are losing billions and billions of dollars in tobacco tax excise but also, more concerning for me as a criminologist, it has turned into a major crime problem."
Since the start of 2023, there had been more than 220 arson attacks targeting either black-market retailers or store owners who refuse to stock illicit tobacco products, Martin said.

Extortion and intimidation

"This is really serious organised crime, extortion and intimidation of otherwise law-abiding citizens."
Alleged crime figures named in local media as big players include convicted heroin trafficker Kazem Hamad, who was deported to Iraq in 2023, and an infamous Melbourne crime family. 
Australian Criminal Intelligence Commission chief Heather Cook said criminals fighting over the "lucrative" illegal market were associated with "violence and dangerous behaviour".
"This is impacting communities," she told Melbourne's Herald Sun in February.
Law enforcement alone could not solve the problem, Martin said. 
"If we just keep making nicotine harder to get to, people are going to turn to the black market."
Australia had made two mistakes, he said: pricing legal cigarettes so high that a pack-a-day habit cost about Aus$15,000 a year and at the same time heavily restricting sales of vapes, which were predominantly sold on the black market.
"The government needs to lower the tobacco tax excise to stop the bleed to the black market, and they need to legalise consumer vaping products."
New Zealand was the only country that had successfully introduced a similar tobacco taxation policy to Australia's, Martin said.
"But they did it by legalising vaping back in 2020," he added.
"So, New Zealand used to have a higher smoking rate than we did back just four years ago. It's now substantially lower than Australia's."
Illicit cigarettes are flowing into Australia from China and the Middle East, with vapes predominantly being sourced from Shenzhen in China, the criminologist said.

'War on nicotine'

And the black market still thrives despite the Australian Border Force saying it detected huge volumes of illicit tobacco in the year to June 30, 2024 -- 1.8 billion cigarettes and more than 436 tonnes of loose leaf tobacco.
Daily tobacco smoking in Australia has fallen sharply over the past decades: from 24 percent of those aged over 14 in 1991 to 8.3 percent by 2023, according to a national household survey.
But monitoring of nicotine in Australian wastewater -- whether from cigarettes, vapes, or nicotine replacement products -- showed consumption per person had remained "relatively stable" since 2016, according to the government's health and welfare institute.
Edward Jegasothy, senior lecturer in public health at the University of Sydney, said smoking rates in Australia fell just as fast during periods of sharp price increases as they did when prices were stable.
The black market had undermined government policy by providing a cheaper alternative, he told AFP.
To address the problem, authorities would probably need to lower taxes on tobacco and strengthen law enforcement, he said.
Broader nicotine restrictions in Australia had left people with fewer less harmful alternatives to tobacco, Jegasothy said.
People switching to vapes were going to the unregulated market where concentrations of nicotine and other adulterants were unknown, he said. 
"So that's another risk that's unnecessarily there because of the black market."
The high tobacco tax policy also hit people in the lowest socioeconomic groups the hardest, Jegasothy said, both because they were spending a higher proportion of their incomes on it, and because they had higher rates of smoking.
Australia's "disproportionate" focus on cutting nicotine supply rather than reducing demand and harm echoed the "War on Drugs", Jegasothy argued in a joint paper with Deakin University's Martin.
"As with Australia's broader War on Drugs, there is little evidence to suggest that our de facto War on Nicotine is an optimal strategy for reducing nicotine-related harms," it warns.
djw/sft/dan/fox

WAL

Burton in 'dream' England women's rugby debut three years after 25-day coma

  • "I'm so excited," Burton, 25, told the BBC. "I've tried not to let the emotion get the better of me this week but, honestly, this group is unbelievable and I'm so grateful to be a part of it, so yeah it was a dream debut.
  • England's Abi Burton capped a "dream" Test debut by coming off the bench to score two tries as England hammered Wales in the Women's Six Nations on Saturday, three years after spending 25 days in a coma while battling encephalitis.
  • "I'm so excited," Burton, 25, told the BBC. "I've tried not to let the emotion get the better of me this week but, honestly, this group is unbelievable and I'm so grateful to be a part of it, so yeah it was a dream debut.
England's Abi Burton capped a "dream" Test debut by coming off the bench to score two tries as England hammered Wales in the Women's Six Nations on Saturday, three years after spending 25 days in a coma while battling encephalitis.
The two-time Olympic Sevens competitor has made a remarkable comeback to elite rugby union after a 76-day stay in hospital in 2022 after dealing with the auto-immune condition which attacks the brain.
Burton lost three stone in weight and was wrongly detained under mental health regulations after an initial misdiagnosis.
The back-row forward came on with just 13 minutes of normal time left at Cardiff's Principality Stadium yet still managed to score two of England's 11 tries in the 67-12 rout.
"I'm so excited," Burton, 25, told the BBC. "I've tried not to let the emotion get the better of me this week but, honestly, this group is unbelievable and I'm so grateful to be a part of it, so yeah it was a dream debut.
"Earlier on this week when we came for the team run I just stood here (on the pitch) and I just absolutely relished it. It's unbelievable and to make my debut here also is like a really big dream come true. Twickenham would be amazing, but this is also pretty cool as well."
Burton, speaking in midweek about the health problems she had overcome, said: "It's super freeing." 
"I now play without the thought that I'm going to disappoint somebody or disappoint whoever's around me, because ultimately every time I step on to the pitch now, I think this could be the last time because there was a point where I didn't even ever think like that."
She added: "I probably took some of those moments, those five, six years that I had playing in international rugby in the Sevens, going to all these extraordinary places, probably took those for granted quite a bit. 
"So now when I step on the pitch, good game, bad game, I'm just happy to be running around with my mates, smashing people up, doing what I love."
jdg/dj

budgets

WHO must cut budget by fifth after US pullout: email

BY ROBIN MILLARD

  • "We have, therefore, proposed to member states a further reduced budget of $4.2 billion -- a 21 percent reduction from the original proposed budget."
  • The World Health Organization has proposed slashing a fifth of its budget following the US decision to withdraw, and must now reduce its reach and workforce, its chief said in an internal email seen by AFP on Saturday.
  • "We have, therefore, proposed to member states a further reduced budget of $4.2 billion -- a 21 percent reduction from the original proposed budget."
The World Health Organization has proposed slashing a fifth of its budget following the US decision to withdraw, and must now reduce its reach and workforce, its chief said in an internal email seen by AFP on Saturday.
The WHO is facing an income gap of nearly $600 million in 2025 and has "no choice" but to start making cutbacks, WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said in the message sent Friday to the UN health agency's staff.
Besides announcing the US pullout from the WHO after returning to the White House in January, President Donald Trump decided to freeze virtually all US foreign aid, including vast assistance to health projects worldwide.
The United States was by far the WHO's biggest donor.
"Dramatic cuts to official development assistance by the United States of America and others are causing massive disruption to countries, NGOs and United Nations agencies, including WHO," Tedros said in his email.
He said that even before Trump triggered the one-year process of withdrawing from the WHO, the organisation was already facing financial constraints.
"The United States' announcement, combined with recent reductions in official development assistance by some countries to fund increased defence spending, has made our situation much more acute," said Tedros.
"While we have achieved substantial cost savings, the prevailing economic and geopolitical conditions have made resource mobilisation particularly difficult.

WHO budget cut

Last month, the WHO's executive board reduced the proposed budget for 2026-2027 from $5.3 billion to $4.9 billion.
"Since then, the outlook for development assistance has deteriorated, not only for WHO, but for the whole international health ecosystem," said Tedros.
"We have, therefore, proposed to member states a further reduced budget of $4.2 billion -- a 21 percent reduction from the original proposed budget."
In the body's last two-year budget cycle, for 2022-23, the United States pitched in $1.3 billion, representing 16.3 percent of the WHO's then $7.89 billion budget.
Most of the US funding was through voluntary contributions for specific earmarked projects, rather than fixed membership fees.
"Despite our best efforts, we are now at the point where we have no choice but to reduce the scale of our work and workforce," said Tedros.
"This reduction will begin at headquarters, starting with senior leadership, but will affect all levels and regions," he told staff.

Impact on lives

Earlier this month, Tedros asked Washington to reconsider its sharp cuts to global health funding, warning that the sudden halt threatened millions of lives.
He said disruptions to global HIV programmes alone could lead to "more than 10 million additional cases of HIV and three million HIV-related deaths".
The WHO is conducting a prioritisation exercise, to be completed by the end of April, to focus its efforts on core functions.
Since taking office in 2017, Tedros has made it his mission to reform the organisation's finances and put them on a more secure and predictable footing.
To overcome the risk of relying on a handful of traditional major nation-state donors, the WHO now also seeks philanthropy and public donations.
rjm/gv

fluoride

Utah becomes first US state to ban fluoride in drinking water

BY ISSAM AHMED

  • Ending fluoridation is generally opposed by the dental and public health communities.
  • The western US state of Utah has become the first to prohibit fluoridation of its public drinking water, part of a growing movement reexamining the decades-old public health practice.
  • Ending fluoridation is generally opposed by the dental and public health communities.
The western US state of Utah has become the first to prohibit fluoridation of its public drinking water, part of a growing movement reexamining the decades-old public health practice.
New US Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has long been a vocal critic of fluoridated water, which currently reaches an estimated 200 million Americans -- about two-thirds of the population.
Utah's ban, signed into law by Governor Spencer Cox on Thursday, is set to take effect on May 7. Legislatures in other Republican-led states including North Dakota, Tennessee, and Montana, are considering similar measures.
Opposition is not limited to red states. Liberal-leaning cities such as Portland, Oregon, and the City and County of Honolulu, Hawaii, have also banned fluoridation.
Fluoride was first introduced to US water systems in 1945, dramatically reducing childhood cavities and adult tooth loss. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention hails it as one of the top public health achievements of the 20th century.
But controversy has grown around its potential neurotoxic effects. Last year, the Department of Health and Human Services under former president Joe Biden concluded with "moderate confidence" that higher levels of fluoride are linked to lower IQ scores.
This January, a paper in the prestigious journal JAMA Pediatrics, authored by the same government scientists, found a "statistically significant association" between fluoride exposure and reduced IQ. However, it left open key questions about what dosage levels may be harmful.
The World Health Organization's safety threshold stands at 1.5 milligrams per liter -- about double the US guideline of 0.7 mg/L -- and the study said there was insufficient data to determine whether that limit should be revised.
Ending fluoridation is generally opposed by the dental and public health communities. Critics of the recent study argue it failed to adequately control for confounding variables and environmental factors.
Fluoride occurs naturally in varying concentrations and strengthens teeth in several ways: by restoring minerals lost to acid, reducing acid production by cavity-causing bacteria, and making it harder for those bacteria to adhere to enamel.
Proponents argue fluoridation reduces socioeconomic disparities in dental care.
But with fluoride toothpastes widely available since the 1960s, some research suggests diminishing returns. 
A recent Canadian study found that ending fluoridation increased dental caries, while an Irish study reported a decline in severe caries in both fluoridated and non-fluoridated areas.
Fluoridation policies also vary widely by country, with many, including Germany and France eschewing the practice altogether.
ia/bjt

US

Gavi: vaccine alliance facing US funding cuts

BY ROBIN MILLARD

  • Here is an overview of what it does, and how US funding cuts could impact its operations and child health worldwide: - Gavi's mission and set-up - Founded in 2000 as the Global Alliance for Vaccines and Immunisation, Gavi was created to provide vaccines to developing countries.
  • The Gavi vaccine alliance, which proudly claims it vaccinates more than half the world's children against deadly and debilitating diseases, is now seemingly next in line for US funding cuts.
  • Here is an overview of what it does, and how US funding cuts could impact its operations and child health worldwide: - Gavi's mission and set-up - Founded in 2000 as the Global Alliance for Vaccines and Immunisation, Gavi was created to provide vaccines to developing countries.
The Gavi vaccine alliance, which proudly claims it vaccinates more than half the world's children against deadly and debilitating diseases, is now seemingly next in line for US funding cuts.
The United States is reportedly set to axe its funding as President Donald Trump slashes foreign aid spending -- a move Gavi says could cost more than a million lives.
Despite its important role, Gavi is little known among the general public. Here is an overview of what it does, and how US funding cuts could impact its operations and child health worldwide:

Gavi's mission and set-up

Founded in 2000 as the Global Alliance for Vaccines and Immunisation, Gavi was created to provide vaccines to developing countries.
The United States has been on board from the start, as one of the six original donor countries. It now contributes around 15 percent of the regular budget.
A public-private partnership, Gavi is a non-profit organisation based in Geneva.
It works tightly with the UN health and children's agencies -- the World Health Organization (WHO) and UNICEF -- the World Bank and the Gates Foundation, as well as vaccine manufacturers, research agencies and vaccine-administering countries.
Its chief executive Sania Nishtar is a medical doctor and former minister and senator in Pakistan. Former EU chief Jose Manuel Barroso chairs the board.

Impact of US pullout

Nishtar said the US cutting its funding would have a "disastrous impact" on global health security and potentially result in more than a million deaths from preventable diseases.
Some 97 percent of Gavi's funding goes directly to vaccination programmes, meaning that if 15 percent of the budget goes, vaccination campaigns will suffer.
Over 2026-2030, Gavi aims to protect 500 million children against 20 or so diseases -- so by its calculations, 75 million fewer children would be vaccinated.
And if around nine million lives would be saved, that number could drop by 1.3 million.
Gavi is also worried about its ability to maintain its stockpiles of vaccines against diseases like Ebola, cholera and meningitis.
The WHO said Friday that an estimated 154 million lives have been saved over the past 50 years due to global vaccination drives.
"Our best defence against infectious diseases is continued investment in life-saving immunisations for all," it said.
"Nobody should be mistaken that reversing the gains of the past 25 years of immunisation is anything other than a grave threat to us all."

Budget and US funding

Its budget for the 2021-2025 cycle is over $21 billion -- swelled by more than $12 billion for the Covax scheme, which Gavi co-led in response to the Covid pandemic.
Washington contributed $4 billion to Covax, and was its biggest funder.
With Covax, US regular contributions and pledges for 2021-2025 amount to $1.19 billion.
The United States has steadily increased its regular contributions to Gavi, from $48 million in 2001 to $300 million in 2024.
"US global health assistance has emphasised ending preventable child deaths through high-impact, low-cost interventions," the alliance says.
US contributions accounted for 10 percent of Gavi's funding in 2011-2015; 15 percent for 2016-2020; and 24 percent in 2021-2025, including Covax.
But excluding Covax, the United States is the third-biggest contributor to Gavi, behind the Gates Foundation and Britain, covering about 15 percent of the budget.
For the years 2026-2030, Washington made a five-year pledge of at least $1.58 billion.

Gavi's vaccines

Gavi supports vaccines against 20 infectious diseases, including Covid-19, Ebola, malaria, rabies, polio, cholera, typhoid and yellow fever.
Gavi says that since its inception, it has helped immunise more than 1.1 billion children in 78 lower-income countries, "preventing more than 18.8 million future deaths".
By June 2023 it had crossed the landmark of having helped provide roughly six billion vaccinations globally.
According to its latest figures, more than 69 million children were vaccinated in 2023.
The alliance says that for every dollar spent on vaccines between 2021 and 2030, $21 would be saved in healthcare costs, lost wages and lost productivity due to illness and death.

Covid jabs role

Gavi co-led Covax, the globally pooled Covid vaccine procurement and equitable distribution effort.
The scheme to ensure Covid vaccines reached people in poorer countries wound up in December 2023.
It delivered nearly two billion doses to 146 territories.
Gavi estimates more than 2.7 million deaths were averted by Covax in low- and middle-income countries.
rjm/apo/jhb

politics

RFK Jr's 'Healthy Again' agenda begins with massive health dept layoffs

BY ISSAM AHMED

  • The restructuring plan would consolidate the current 28 divisions of the Department of Health and Human Services into 15, including a new entity called the Administration for a Healthy America (AHA).
  • US Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. on Thursday announced plans to cut a quarter of his department's workforce as part of a sweeping restructuring, framed as a push to prioritize chronic disease prevention under his "Make America Healthy Again" agenda.
  • The restructuring plan would consolidate the current 28 divisions of the Department of Health and Human Services into 15, including a new entity called the Administration for a Healthy America (AHA).
US Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. on Thursday announced plans to cut a quarter of his department's workforce as part of a sweeping restructuring, framed as a push to prioritize chronic disease prevention under his "Make America Healthy Again" agenda.
The plan will see the elimination of 10,000 positions, reducing the department's workforce from 82,000 to 62,000 employees when including early retirements and those who accepted buyouts offered by Elon Musk's so-called Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE).
It comes as the country faces its worst measles outbreak in years and as concerns mount that bird flu risks sparking a new human pandemic.
Kennedy has alarmed health experts with his rhetoric downplaying the importance of vaccines against measles, a childhood disease once-vanquished in the United States, and suggesting that avian influenza should be allowed to spread freely among poultry.
According to an official statement, the plans would save an estimated $1.8 billion annually -- a mere 0.1 percent of the Department of Health and Human Services' annual budget of $1.8 trillion. 
"We aren't just reducing bureaucratic sprawl," said Kennedy. "We are realigning the organization with its core mission and our new priorities in reversing the chronic disease epidemic."
The restructuring plan would consolidate the current 28 divisions of the Department of Health and Human Services into 15, including a new entity called the Administration for a Healthy America (AHA).
"This Department will do more -- a lot more -- at a lower cost to the taxpayer," Kennedy added.
President Donald Trump's opponents in Congress hit back. 
"Let's be clear: Arbitrarily firing over 10,000 workers at the Department of Health and Human Services will not make Americans healthier. It will make Americans sicker and less secure," said leftwing Senator Bernie Sanders, vowing to use his position on a key committee to try to "reverse these disastrous cuts."

History of misinformation

The Food and Drug Administration will be the hardest hit, with 3,500 job cuts, followed by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention with 2,400, and the National Institutes of Health, which will lose 1,200 employees.
Three hundred cuts will come from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, responsible for administering government-backed health insurance programs.
"This is an assault on Medicare. This is an assault on Medicaid. This is an assault on families and consumers across America," said Democratic Senate minority leader Chuck Schumer.
The new blueprint pledges to shift focus toward "ending America's epidemic of chronic illness by focusing on safe, wholesome food, clean water, and the elimination of environmental toxins," the statement said.
While Kennedy's push for cleaner food and stricter environmental standards aligns with concerns in the health community, critics warn that his long history of spreading vaccine misinformation and questioning basic scientific principles casts serious doubt on his commitment to evidence-based policy.
In 2023, for example, he suggested that infectious disease research should be paused for eight years. He has also cast doubt on whether the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) causes AIDS -- and even whether germs cause illness at all.
More recently, Kennedy has emphasized treatments like Vitamin A for measles over routine vaccination, claiming the vaccine itself causes deaths "every year."
"He couldn't do a worse job than he's doing," Paul Offit, a pediatrician and vaccine expert, told AFP recently.
The current measles outbreak has sickened 378 people -- the overwhelming majority of them unvaccinated -- and caused two deaths.
Kennedy's suggestion on Fox News that avian flu should be allowed to spread unchecked so that "you can identify the birds that survive, which are the birds that probably have a genetic inclination for immunity," and then breed them -- has also drawn sharp criticism.
Experts warn that encouraging viral spread could accelerate dangerous mutations and increase the risk to humans.
ia/aha

US

US cutting Gavi vaccine alliance aid may cause 'over a million deaths'

BY DANIEL LAWLER WITH ROBIN MILLARD IN GENEVA

  • "A cut in Gavi's funding from the US would have a disastrous impact on global health security, potentially resulting in over a million deaths from preventable diseases and endangering lives everywhere from dangerous disease outbreaks," she said.
  • The United States cutting funding to Gavi, an organisation that provides vaccines to the world's poorest countries, could result in more than a million deaths and will endanger lives everywhere, the group's CEO warned on Thursday.
  • "A cut in Gavi's funding from the US would have a disastrous impact on global health security, potentially resulting in over a million deaths from preventable diseases and endangering lives everywhere from dangerous disease outbreaks," she said.
The United States cutting funding to Gavi, an organisation that provides vaccines to the world's poorest countries, could result in more than a million deaths and will endanger lives everywhere, the group's CEO warned on Thursday.
The news that Washington is planning to end funding for Gavi, first reported in the New York Times, comes as the two-month-old administration of President Donald Trump aggressively slashes foreign aid. 
The decision was included in a 281-page spreadsheet that the severely downsized United States Agency for International Development sent to Congress on Monday night.
Gavi's chief executive Sania Nishtar told AFP the alliance had "not received a termination notice from the US government".
The alliance was "engaging with the White House and Congress with a view to securing $300 million approved by Congress for our 2025 activities and longer-term funding", Nishtar said.
"A cut in Gavi's funding from the US would have a disastrous impact on global health security, potentially resulting in over a million deaths from preventable diseases and endangering lives everywhere from dangerous disease outbreaks," she said.
Health experts and organisations have warned that cutting Gavi's funding would ultimately cost the world more money and set back a quarter-century of progress in the fight against many deadly diseases.
Jennifer Nuzzo, a professor of epidemiology at Brown University in the United States, said the "mind-bogglingly short-sighted proposal" would have "devastating consequences for the health of children everywhere".
"US support for Gavi's vaccination efforts is not charity -- it's a cost-effective investment to prevent deadly and costly outbreaks that can come here," she told AFP.

'Cruel'

Gavi says it helps vaccinate more than half the world's children against infectious diseases including Covid-19, Ebola, malaria, rabies, polio, cholera, tuberculosis (TB), typhoid and yellow fever.
The United States currently provides around a quarter of the budget of Gavi, a public-private partnership headquartered in Geneva.
David Elliman, a child health researcher at University College London, said cutting funding "is not only cruel, but is not in the interests of anyone".
"If diseases such as measles and TB increase anywhere in the world, it is a hazard to us all," he told the Science Media Centre, adding that measles was already rising in the United States, Europe and elsewhere.
In the face of the Trump administration's sweeping aid cuts, "institutions are reluctant to speak out in case they are targeted and individuals are self-censoring to protect themselves," said Andrew Pollard, head of the Oxford Vaccine Group.
"We must wake up to the moral case for supporting the remarkable global health efforts that help the poor of the world, but also remember that it is in our own interest," he added.
"As the Covid-19 pandemic reminds us, infectious diseases cross borders and put all of us at risk."

'We will regret this'

Several health researchers also said the cuts would be a poor return on investment. 
For every $1 spent on vaccinations in developing countries where Gavi operates, $21 will be saved this decade in "health care costs, lost wages and lost productivity from illness and death", the vaccine group estimates.
A report from the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health recently found that costs averted by vaccine programmes in 73 countries will add up to nearly $782 billion over the next decade.
Craig Spencer, a doctor and Ebola survivor at Brown University, said the loss of US support to Gavi means "kids will die".
He also warned that Gavi maintains the global stockpile of vaccines for diseases including Ebola, cholera, yellow fever and more.
"We will regret this," Spencer wrote on X.
dl-rjm/sbk

pollution

Fire fighting helicopter tackles Thailand blazes

BY MONTIRA RUNGJIRAJITTRANON

  • As well as damaging important forests, the fires are fuelling Thailand's anxieties about air pollution, which causes millions of people to need medical treatment each year.
  • A bright orange helicopter races over the jungle to dump water on a raging wildfire that is adding to the air pollution choking Thailand's northern tourist hub of Chiang Mai.
  • As well as damaging important forests, the fires are fuelling Thailand's anxieties about air pollution, which causes millions of people to need medical treatment each year.
A bright orange helicopter races over the jungle to dump water on a raging wildfire that is adding to the air pollution choking Thailand's northern tourist hub of Chiang Mai.
Chutaphorn Phuangchingngam, the only female captain in Thailand's national disaster prevention team, draws on two decades of flying to steer the Russian-made chopper through the thick smoke.
Forest fires are burning in several areas of northern Thailand, contributing to the annual spike in air pollution that comes with farmers burning stubble to prepare their land for the next crop.
Chiang Mai had the sixth worst air quality of any major city in the world on Thursday morning, according to monitor IQAir, and the city governor has warned residents against staying outdoors.
Chutaphorn told AFP the dense forest and hilly terrain made helicopters the best tool to fight the blazes.
"We use (helicopters) to put out fire in areas that are difficult to reach, especially in the mountains," she said.
Chutaphorn and her six-member crew flew over Huai Bok reservoir, collecting 3,000 litres of water each time before heading two kilometres to the fire zone, spread across more than 1.6 hectares (four acres).
Northern Thailand is the latest area around the world to suffer significant wildfires, after South Korea -- currently battling its biggest on record -- Japan and California.
While the causes of forest fires can be complex, climate change can make them more likely by creating hotter, drier weather that leaves undergrowth more prone to catching light.
As well as damaging important forests, the fires are fuelling Thailand's anxieties about air pollution, which causes millions of people to need medical treatment each year.

Smog crisis

Levels of PM2.5 pollutants -- dangerous cancer-causing microparticles small enough to enter the bloodstream through the lungs -- were almost 15 times the World Health Organization's recommended limit in Chiang Mai on Thursday, according to IQAir. 
The government banned crop burning early this year to try to improve air quality, with violators facing fines and legal action, but authorities said the measures have proven ineffective.
"There are still large numbers of farmers who continue to burn their fields," said Dusit Pongsapipat, head of the Department of Natural Disaster Prevention and Mitigation in Chiang Mai.
Danaipat Pokavanich, a clean-air advocate involved in drafting the Clean Air Act -- a bill to curb pollution in Thailand -- praised the firefighting efforts but called them a "temporary fix".
"The law alone won't stop farmers from burning," he said.
He recommended offering financial incentives to encourage sustainable farming practices and investing in technology to reduce the need for burning.
Until then, Chatuphorn and her team remain ready to take to the skies to do their part to clean up the air by putting out forest fires.
"Flying a helicopter for disaster work is different from flying passengers," she said, citing limited visibility as a major challenge.
She remains committed to her childhood dream.
"I just wanted to touch the cloud," she said, after the helicopter landed. "Though now all I feel is just the smoke."
tak/pdw/pjm

vaccines

Trump administration to cut vaccine support to developing countries: report

  • "The withdrawal of US financial support for Gavi would severely threaten the tremendous progress made in reducing deaths due to vaccine-preventable diseases and would increase the risk of outbreaks here in the United States," added William Moss, executive director of the international vaccines access center at Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health.
  • President Donald Trump's administration is set to cut funding to Gavi, the global health organization that provides vaccines across the developing world, a report said Wednesday.
  • "The withdrawal of US financial support for Gavi would severely threaten the tremendous progress made in reducing deaths due to vaccine-preventable diseases and would increase the risk of outbreaks here in the United States," added William Moss, executive director of the international vaccines access center at Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health.
President Donald Trump's administration is set to cut funding to Gavi, the global health organization that provides vaccines across the developing world, a report said Wednesday.
The decision was included in a 281-page spreadsheet that the severely downsized United States Agency for International Development (USAID) sent to Congress on Monday night. 
The document details which grants the agency intends to continue and which it will terminate, according to the New York Times, which obtained a copy.
The United States will also significantly scale back support for malaria programs but will maintain some funding streams for treating HIV, tuberculosis, and providing food aid in countries facing conflict and natural disasters.
Only 869 of more than 6,000 USAID employees remain on active duty, according to the Times. The administration has decided to continue about 900 grants while ending over 5,340.
The newspaper estimated a $40 billion reduction in the annual budget of the agency, which has since been absorbed by its parent department, the State Department.
"#USA support for @Gavi is vital. With US support, we can save over 8 million lives over the next 5 years and give millions of children a better chance at a healthy, prosperous future," Gavi, a public-private partnership headquartered in Geneva, wrote on X in response to the report.
"The withdrawal of US financial support for Gavi would severely threaten the tremendous progress made in reducing deaths due to vaccine-preventable diseases and would increase the risk of outbreaks here in the United States," added William Moss, executive director of the international vaccines access center at Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health.
It estimated that US support over the past 25 years has helped save 18 million lives and enabled 19 countries to transition away from Gavi's support, with some becoming donors themselves. The United States provides around a quarter of the organization's budget.
ia/md

children

UNICEF warns 825,000 children trapped in Sudan battle

  • The Sudanese army has been fighting the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) for almost two years, and the town of El-Fasher in North Darfur is under siege.
  • At least 825,000 Sudanese children are trapped by fighting around the beleaguered state capital of North Darfur, threatened by violence or starvation, UNICEF warned Wednesday.
  • The Sudanese army has been fighting the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) for almost two years, and the town of El-Fasher in North Darfur is under siege.
At least 825,000 Sudanese children are trapped by fighting around the beleaguered state capital of North Darfur, threatened by violence or starvation, UNICEF warned Wednesday.
"We cannot turn a blind eye to this hell on earth," said Sheldon Yett, the UN children's agency representative for Sudan, demanding an end to the conflict.
The Sudanese army has been fighting the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) for almost two years, and the town of El-Fasher in North Darfur is under siege.
"An estimated 825,000 children are trapped in a growing catastrophe in and around El-Fasher," said Yett, adding that more than 70 children have been killed or maimed this year.
"With these numbers reflecting only verified incidents, it is likely the true toll is far higher, with children in a daily struggle to survive," he said.
In North Darfur, more than 60,000 people have been displaced in the past six weeks, adding to the more than 600,000 displaced -- including 300,000 children -- since the war started in April 2023.
The war between General Abdel Fattah al-Burhan's army and Mohamed Hamdan Daglo's RSF has claimed tens of thousands of lives and driven 12 million people from their homes. 
A few weeks ago, Doctors Without Borders (MSF) and the UN World Food Programme suspended their work in a huge displaced persons camp in Zamzam, just south of El-Fasher. 
UNICEF, however, continues to operate there and in the city itself, but food supplies are expected to run out within weeks.
"UNICEF delivered ready-to-use therapeutic food (RUTF), and other lifesaving supplies to Al Fasher three months ago, but these stocks are now depleted," Yett said. 
"Repeated efforts by UNICEF and partners to deliver more supplies have been unsuccessful given threats from armed fighters and criminal gangs." 
abd/dc/mlm

Haiti

Jamaica rebuffs Rubio push against Cuban doctors

BY SHAUN TANDON

  • "We are, however, very careful not to exploit the Cuban doctors who are here.
  • Jamaica on Wednesday rebuffed a push by US Secretary of State Marco Rubio to sever a program that brings in Cuban doctors, who have become critical to health care in fellow Caribbean countries despite allegations of labor exploitation.
  • "We are, however, very careful not to exploit the Cuban doctors who are here.
Jamaica on Wednesday rebuffed a push by US Secretary of State Marco Rubio to sever a program that brings in Cuban doctors, who have become critical to health care in fellow Caribbean countries despite allegations of labor exploitation.
Donald Trump's top diplomat held talks on the sidelines of a Caribbean summit aimed in part at finding new ideas on violence-ravaged Haiti, with host Jamaica saying it would help the new US administration in a "global war on gangs."
But Jamaican Prime Minister Andrew Holness made clear his differences with Rubio on the doctors, who are sent by Cuba around the world and have become a major source of revenue for the cash-strapped government.
Rubio, a Cuban-American and vociferous foe of the communist government in Havana, announced last month that the Trump administration would bar visas for foreign government officials who assist the program, which he characterized as human trafficking.
"Let us be clear, the Cuban doctors in Jamaica have been incredibly helpful to us," Holness said at a joint news conference with Rubio.
He said that the 400 Cuban doctors in the country filled a deficit as Jamaican health workers emigrated.
"We are, however, very careful not to exploit the Cuban doctors who are here. We ensure that they are treated within our labor laws and benefit like any other worker," Holness said.
"So any characterization of the program by others certainly would not be applicable to Jamaica."
Rubio promised to engage with Jamaica to have a "better understanding" of how it treats Cuban doctors.
"Perhaps none of this applies in the way it's handled here," Rubio said.
But Rubio said the United States remained opposed "in general" to the program.
"The regime does not pay these doctors, takes away their passports and basically, it is, in many ways, forced labor, and that we cannot be in support of," Rubio said.
The US special envoy on Latin America, Mauricio Claver-Caron, has also credited Barbados with taking steps to pay Cuban directors directly.
Antiguan Prime Minister Gaston Browne earlier this month sharply denounced the US pressure, saying the absence of Cuban doctors would "literally dismantle our healthcare services and put our people at risk."
According to Cuban official figures, Cuba sent 22,632 medical professionals to 57 countries in 2023, with Cuba earning $6.3 billion in 2018 and $3.9 billion in 2020, in part in the form of oil from Venezuela.

'Global war on gangs'

Rubio's trip comes as he considers a new strategy on Haiti, the hemisphere's poorest country, which has been plunged into chaos for years after government authority collapsed and armed groups took over.
A Kenyan-led mission supported by former US president Joe Biden has deployed to Haiti in hopes of bringing stability, but the troop numbers have come up short and violence has resumed.
Holness said the United States has been an "incredible partner" on Haiti but that the priority should be on a "significant expansion in resources" to Haiti's fledgling national police so it can take on gangs.
"The present holding situation that we have, it's not necessarily moving the situation forward," he said.
Holness said he spoke with Rubio about "a global war on gangs, and there is already significant policy alignment" between Jamaica and the Trump administration.
Rubio has issued a waiver to Trump's sweeping cuts to aid to back the Haiti mission. He also announced that the United States would provide assistance to Jamaica to combat gangs, including software.
Rubio said that the support to Jamaica "highlights exactly what our vision for aid moving forward is."
"The United States is not getting out of the aid business," he said.
But instead of funding non-governmental groups, Rubio said, "We want to provide foreign aid in a way that is strategically aligned with our foreign policy priorities."
sct/dc

military

Finland starts scheme to improve conscripts' fitness

  • "The decline in physical activity among young people of conscription age is a serious issue for young people themselves and for society as a whole," Finnish Defence Minister Antti Hakkanen said in a statement.
  • Finland said on Wednesday it has kicked off a two-year scheme to improve the fitness of conscription-age youths, warning that their physical condition was declining, and this was a serious societal issue.
  • "The decline in physical activity among young people of conscription age is a serious issue for young people themselves and for society as a whole," Finnish Defence Minister Antti Hakkanen said in a statement.
Finland said on Wednesday it has kicked off a two-year scheme to improve the fitness of conscription-age youths, warning that their physical condition was declining, and this was a serious societal issue.
At age 18, Finnish men have to do compulsory military service for a period ranging from nearly six months to a year, and Finnish women can volunteer to do so. 
The Finnish defence ministry announced the start the programme, which aims to promote better physical fitness and a more physically active lifestyle for young men and women of that age. 
"The decline in physical activity among young people of conscription age is a serious issue for young people themselves and for society as a whole," Finnish Defence Minister Antti Hakkanen said in a statement.
Data from the check-up conducted on all new recruits when they are called up showed that physical fitness for that age group has been weakening, Ville Isola, who is leading the project, told AFP. 
"The number of people in bad shape has increased, while the number of people in good shape has decreased," he said. 
"We don't really know why these young people don't move enough," he said. 
Over the next two years, the goals are to increase the amount of physical exercise during military service, and to motivate young people to become more physically active, for example by joining sport associations.
The plan is to develop practices that would remain after the project ended.
By having the scheme cover both military service and encourage civilian life choices of conscription-age citizens, Finland hopes it will ensure the country has "a functional reserve also in the future," said Hakkanen. 
Two million euros has been put into the scheme, part of a wider project by the government to increase physical activity among all Finnish citizens. 
ank/jll/rmb

environment

Over a billion pounds of Coke plastic waste to enter waterways: study

BY ISSAM AHMED

  • The result: the company's plastic use is projected to exceed 4.13 million metric tons (9.12 billion pounds) annually by 2030.
  • By 2030, Coca-Cola products will account for an estimated 1.33 billion pounds (602,000 metric tons) of plastic waste entering the world's oceans and waterways each year, according to a stark new analysis published Wednesday by the nonprofit Oceana.
  • The result: the company's plastic use is projected to exceed 4.13 million metric tons (9.12 billion pounds) annually by 2030.
By 2030, Coca-Cola products will account for an estimated 1.33 billion pounds (602,000 metric tons) of plastic waste entering the world's oceans and waterways each year, according to a stark new analysis published Wednesday by the nonprofit Oceana.
That's enough plastic to fill the stomachs of 18 million whales. 
The report arrives amid mounting concerns over the human health risks posed by the spread of microplastics, which scientists increasingly link to cancer, infertility, heart disease, and more.
"Coca-Cola is by far the largest manufacturer and seller of beverages in the world," said Matt Littlejohn, who leads Oceana's campaigns targeting corporate polluters. 
"Because of that, they really matter when it comes to the impact of all this on the ocean."
Coca-Cola ranks as the world's top branded plastic polluter, followed by PepsiCo, Nestle, Danone, and Altria, according to a 2024 study published in Science Advances.
Oceana's estimate is based on Coca-Cola's publicly reported packaging data from 2018 to 2023, combined with sales growth forecasts to create a "business-as-usual" scenario. 
The result: the company's plastic use is projected to exceed 4.13 million metric tons (9.12 billion pounds) annually by 2030.
To estimate how much of that plastic will reach aquatic ecosystems, researchers applied a peer-reviewed method developed by an international team of scientists and published in the academic journal Science in 2020 to arrive at the 1.33 billion pounds estimate, which is equivalent to nearly 220 billion half-liter bottles.
For Oceana, the clearest solution to reduce this staggering figure lies in bringing back reusable packaging -- whether in the form of returnable glass bottles, which can be reused 50 times, or thicker PET plastic containers, which are designed for 25 uses.

Dropped reuse pledge

Coca-Cola itself acknowledged in 2022 that reusable packaging was "among the most effective ways to reduce waste," and committed to a goal of reaching 25 percent reusable packaging by 2030.
But that pledge was quietly dropped in its latest sustainability roadmap, released in December 2024. 
The company's updated goals instead focus on increasing recycled content in packaging and boosting collection rates -- while stressing the significant challenges in recycling soda bottles and shifting consumer habits.
Environmental advocates have long warned against overreliance on recycling, arguing that it often serves to shift blame onto consumers rather than addressing the root of the crisis.
"Recycling is great, don't get me wrong," said Littlejohn. "But if you're going to use recycled plastic to produce more single-use plastic, that's a problem."
Plastic production relies on oil, making corporate plastic use a direct driver of climate change.
Still, there is reason for hope: Coca-Cola already operates large-scale refillable systems in several countries, including Brazil, Germany, Nigeria, and even parts of the United States, such as southern Texas.
"They have the largest reusable infrastructure of any beverage company, and they have the ability to grow that and show the way for the rest of the industry," said Littlejohn.
In a statement to AFP, a Coca-Cola spokesperson said that while the company's efforts currently focus on using more recycled materials and improving collection systems, "we have been investing and remain committed to expand our refillable packaging options, and this work will continue as part of our consumer-centric strategy."
ia/jgc