Category Archives: Health

Biden urged to end US aid ‘abortion ban’

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More than 140 rights groups call for repeal of 1973 Helms amendment widely misinterpreted as total ban on funding abortion services overseas

Joe Biden is being urged to clarify a longstanding US law restricting overseas aid that has been misinterpreted by successive administrations as an outright ban on funding abortion for any reason.

As the US president marked his first 100 days in office on Friday, more than 140 human rights and global health organisations, including Human Rights Watch, Amnesty International US and the Global Justice Center, signed a letter asking him to confirm that US aid can be used for abortion care in cases of rape, incest and when the woman’s life is in danger.

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Australia live news: Australia live news: Covid breach at Brisbane airport after traveller tests positive; Brittany Higgins and PM to meet

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Former Liberal staffer will speak to Scott Morrison and Anthony Albanese in Sydney, and Brisbane and Melbourne on Covid alert. Follow latest updates

Here's Justice Katzmann on the jingle being a benefit to Palmer pic.twitter.com/6fjHIDyBFX

Clive Palmer has been ordered to pay Universal Music $1.5m in damages over the “unauthorised” use of a version of the hit 1980s song We’re Not Gonna Take It by glam metal band Twisted Sister in a political ad during the 2019 election campaign.

Palmer used a cover version of the song during his multimillion-dollar advertising blitz during last year’s federal election campaign. The Palmer version of the song changed the lyrics to:

Australia ain’t gonna cop it, no Australia’s not gonna cop it, Aussies not gonna cop it any more.

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Australia news live: TGA says ‘no likely’ link betweens deaths and vaccine; Melbourne announces new Covid quarantine facility

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Victoria says 500-bed $15m facility to be built in Mickleham; Australia’s medicine regulator expected to determine whether death of two men in NSW linked to coronavirus jab. Follow the day’s news live

Thousands of corellas have been filmed flocking to the suburban streets of Nowra on the NSW south coast and it is terrifying.

China’s top envoy to Australia has blasted as “ridiculous” the claim that Beijing’s economic coercion has been the cause of tensions between the two countries.

China’s ambassador, Cheng Jingye, has also cautioned Australia against “teaming up in [a] small group against China” - in apparent reference to initiatives like the Quad with the US, Japan and India. Cheng said Australia should not play the “victim game”.

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UK to slash funding for overseas water and sanitation projects by 80%

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Scale of aid cut emerges in leaked FCDO memo, prompting experts to describe it as ‘a national shame’

The UK is to slash funding for lifesaving water, sanitation and hygiene projects in developing nations by more than 80%, according to a leaked memo.

The cuts have been described as “savage”, “incredible” and “a national shame” by experts highlighting that sanitation and handwashing is a key line of defence during the coronavirus pandemic. The reduction to the bilateral aid budget was revealed as details emerged of cuts in the foreign aid budget.

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Single dose of Covid vaccine can nearly halve transmission of virus, study finds

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Research from Public Health England suggests that protection conferred a fortnight after vaccination

A single dose of a Covid-19 vaccine can slash transmission of the virus by up to half, according to a Public Health England study.

The PHE finding offers further hope that the pandemic can be brought under control as it indicates that vaccinated people are far less likely to pass the virus on to others.

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Australia news live: health officials say hotel quarantine ‘fit for purpose’; Port Arthur massacre commemorated

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Brendan Murphy says there are no plans to invest in purpose-built isolation facilities. Follow latest updates

A fatal truck crash has occurred this morning in Sydney.

A truck driver has died in a crash on Sydney's M7 which has caused massive delays. #9Today pic.twitter.com/CjCtFRgq91

Just for everyone who thought the mouse plague was over, here is a rather concerning pic from Dubbo.

Dubbo’s Amy Payten says her cat’s given up too and just watched the mice run by - the pic says it all! https://t.co/a3NviYp1xV pic.twitter.com/DERCpTwOWP

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Covid ‘vaccination persuasion’ teams reap rewards in Turkey

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Door-to-door initiative targeting elderly people reluctant to have jab to be rolled out after local success

A coronavirus “vaccination persuasion” initiative targeting elderly people who have declined invitations to get vaccinated is gearing up to be rolled out across Turkey after proving a resounding success in a district in the country’s south-east.

Since February, doctors and healthcare workers in the mainly Kurdish city of Adıyaman, or Semsûr‎, have been calling people in age groups already eligible for the vaccine to ask why they have not come to clinics for appointments.

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India reportedly running out of vaccines amid Covid surge

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Government’s plans to ramp up the vaccination programme by the weekend under threat

India is reportedly running out of Covid-19 vaccines just as a virulent second wave continues to devastate the country, threatening the government’s plans to ramp up the vaccination programme by the weekend in an effort to curb the spread of the virus.

From Saturday, everyone in India over the age of 18 will be eligible for a vaccine, a decision made by the government as the virus has brought India’s healthcare system to its knees, with more than new 352,000 cases on Monday and over 2,800 more deaths.

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Can magic mushrooms really help you understand bitcoin?

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That’s what one German billionaire says. But it’s not why the Aztecs and the hippies were such fans

Name: The shroom boom.

Age: Ancient rock art in Castilla-La Mancha in Spain suggests that Psilocybe hispanica, one of the mushrooms that contains the psychoactive compound psilocybin, was taken in religious ceremonies as long as 6,000 years ago.

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‘Teeth have become the new boob job’: the rise of oral tweakments

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With $55 toothpaste and whitening treatments road-tested on TikTok, looking after your teeth is becoming fashionable. It’s even been rebranded as ‘oralcare’

If, once upon a time, going to the dentists was routine at best, your local dental practice is on the way to becoming something of a destination. At the same time, previously unglamorous dental products such as toothpaste, toothbrushes and mouthwash are more likely to be deemed worthy of a bathroom shelfie posted to Instagram. Teeth – and the right products and treatments for them – are now part of the self-care beauty boom.

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Australia news live: AMA says WA hotel quarantine not ‘fit for purpose’ for containing Covid

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Top doctor says leaks continue to happen because federal experts ‘deny’ virus is airborne; WA premier Mark McGowan to decide today whether Perth and Peel can reopen after three days of lockdown. Follow all the latest news and updates, live

• WA Covid hotspots: list of exposure sites
• Perth and WA Covid lockdown rules explained
• WA premier furious that Australian residents are travelling to ‘Covid-infected countries’

The social media giant Facebook has released a short statement confirming it has removed the page of independent federal MP Craig Kelly for repeated breaches of misinformation policy.

A Facebook company spokesperson said:

We don’t allow anyone, including elected officials, to share misinformation about COVID-19 that could lead to imminent physical harm or COVID-19 vaccines that have been debunked by public health experts.

We have clear policies against this type of content and have removed Mr Kelly’s Facebook Page for repeated violations of this policy.

Thanks to Matilda Boseley for another electric display of web logging.

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Outrage as No 10 rules out urgent inquiry into Covid mistakes

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Exclusive: bereaved families are told that ‘people who would need to give evidence’ are ‘working round clock’

The government has caused anger among bereaved families by telling them it will be too busy to start an inquiry into the UK’s handling of the Covid pandemic for months.

In a six-page letter to lawyers for thousands of families calling for an immediate statutory public inquiry, the government said “an inquiry now is not appropriate” and “the very people who would need to give evidence to an inquiry are working round the clock”. It said “it is not anticipated that the government’s workload will ease in the coming months”.

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Talking to yourself: a good antidote to loneliness – or the sign of a real problem?

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During the pandemic, I have gone from uttering a few words of encouragement to myself to full-blown arguments. I’m not the only one. I asked psychologists what purpose this serves

“We should probably go out now,” I say to Danny as I vegetate in front of the TV. “Yeah, we should, but I can’t be arsed,” Danny replies, sitting in an identical pose. “C’mon, we need the exercise; can’t sit here all day,” I insist. “Well, we can ’cause that’s what we did yesterday and the day before,” he answers. “Exactly! That’s why we have to go. C’mon!” I yell. “God! Fine, then!” he shouts back.

So we get up from our pit and head into the crisp morning air for a much needed dose of fresh air and exercise. Only there is no we. There’s only me. I’ve had a shouting match with myself pretty much every day since Covid came along and changed everything.

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Halfway there … the key numbers that tell the story of the UK’s vaccine drive

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The government has hit both its self-imposed targets so far. How will it go the rest of the way?

More than half of the UK population has now received at least a first dose of vaccine against Covid-19. By Friday evening 33,388,637 people had received one of the Pfizer, AstraZeneca or Moderna vaccines. Here’s how it was done, and what is still left to do.

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Covid, false positives and conditional probabilities… | David Spiegelhalter and Anthony Masters

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An 18th-century clergyman’s legacy is central to understanding the pandemic

Bunhill Fields burial ground contains the relics of John Bunyan, William Blake and Daniel Defoe. Of import to statisticians is the tomb of the Rev Thomas Bayes, Presbyterian clergyman from Tunbridge Wells, who died 260 years ago. He is famous for his work on conditional probabilities, which concern the chance of one event occurring, given another event has happened.

Take lateral flow tests. The conditional probability of getting an (incorrect) positive result (call this A), given you are not infected (B), is less than one in 1,000. That rate is very low. Bayes’s theorem shows how to calculate what we really want: the conditional probability you are not infected (B), given you have a positive test (A). In that case, you would be isolating with no benefit. Unintuitively, when the virus is rare and there are very few “true positives”, this probability can be high. Currently in secondary schools, around three in 10 positive lateral flow tests turn out to be false.

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Seeking fun guy: tall, with GSOH … and a Covid jab

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For many who use dating apps to find their ideal partner, the willingness to have a vaccination is becoming a deal breaker

Before the pandemic, Neha knew exactly what she was looking for in a date: an athletic, liberal-minded guy who liked healthy living but wasn’t too outdoorsy. Ideally, he would be Indian like her. Party types were a no-no, pets were a turn-off. Now, multiple dating apps, three lockdowns and a handful of real-life dates later and Neha’s adding a new, elusive quality to that list: Covid vaccination status.

Related: Dating apps: is it worth paying a premium to find love?

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Coronavirus live news: more than half of UK population has had first Covid jab; Germany restricts travel from India

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Parts of western Australia in three-day lockdown; Germany reports 23,392 Covid cases; Thailand curbs shop opening hours after daily case record

France has reported 32,633 new coronavirus cases, Reuters reports.

The country has recorded over 5.44 million cases in total.

Angela Merkel has urged Germans to accept nationwide pandemic restrictions that took effect at midnight, resulting in a 10 p.m.-to-5 a.m. curfew and further limits on personal contacts and access to nonessential stores in regions with high infections.

Merkel acknowledged the new rules are “tough” but insisted they are needed to curb the spread of the virus in the country, Associated Press reports.

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Western Australia Covid lockdown: new case confirmed as hotel quarantine failures condemned

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Australian Medical Association president Dr Omar Khorshid says state governments are not doing enough to protect those in quarantine from coronavirus

Continued leaks from hotel quarantine are “a frustration to all Australians” and state governments are not doing enough to prevent it, the president of the Australian Medical Association, Dr Omar Khorshid, has said, while the Western Australian premier called on the federal government to “step up and help”.

Authorities revealed one new community case was detected on Saturday – a man in his 40s – as WA’s Perth and Peel region began a snap three-day lockdown after the latest hotel quarantine outbreak. The virus spread in the corridors of the Mercure quarantine hotel in Perth, infecting a man who was staying adjacent to a couple with the virus who had returned from India.

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Fears Covid anxiety syndrome could stop people reintegrating

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Exclusive: compulsive hygiene habits and fear of public places could remain for some after lockdown lifted, researchers say

Scientists have expressed concern that residual anxiety over coronavirus may have led some people to develop compulsive hygiene habits that could prevent them from reintegrating into the outside world, even though Covid hospitalisations and deaths in the UK are coming down.

The concept of “Covid anxiety syndrome” was first theorised by professors last year, when Ana Nikčević, of Kingston University, and Marcantonio Spada, at London South Bank University, noticed people were developing a particular set of traits in response to Covid.

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‘Like losing a hand’: musicians on the crisis in hearing loss

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Oscar-nominated film Sound of Metal depicts a drummer battling hearing loss. As rock stars like Myles Kennedy explain, it’s a debilitating and worryingly widespread problem

The Bafta-winning film Sound of Metal dramatises every musician’s worst nightmare. Ruben Stone, played by Riz Ahmed – who is up for a best actor Oscar this weekend – is a metal drummer who loses his hearing, and the film depicts Ruben’s loss exactly as he hears it, where the world around him and the intense music he plays suddenly fade to a muted and distorted drone.

These scary and involving scenes have highlighted a crisis in hearing damage right across the music industry, be it through deafness or tinnitus (a constant ringing in the ears). In a report published last month by the British Tinnitus Association (BTA), over half of the 74 tinnitus-suffering musicians surveyed said they developed the condition due to noise exposure, but nearly a quarter said they never wore hearing protection.

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