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World Cancer Day: Early detection remains crucial

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Among the leading causes of death worldwide, the World Health Organization (WHO) estimates that 9.6 million people lost their lives to cancer in 2018.

Cancer is a group of diseases that attack any organ or tissue in the body. Eventually, the abnormal cells invade adjoining body parts, invading more cancer cells. Without early detection, it can also result in the loss of human life.

The burden of this disease grows continuously; individuals feel the pressure on a physical, emotional and financial level, Longevity reported.

Each year, World Cancer Day is observed on February 4 around the world to increase awareness of cancer-related issues.

The multi-year theme for World Cancer Day 2022-2024 is “Close the Care Gap and it focuses more on exposure, engagement and opportunities to meet global awareness of Cancer Day.

Meanwhile, nearly half of cancers worldwide can be traced back to a known risk factor, primarily tobacco or alcohol, a huge global study found on Friday, which said that behavioral changes can help reduce the threat of disease.

The study—published in The Lancet and conducted as part of a vast research program funded by the Bill Gates Foundation—concluded that 44.4 percent of cancer deaths worldwide were attributable to a known risk factor, AFP reported.

The Global Burden of Disease Study is a comprehensive regional and global research program involving thousands of researchers from most countries across the world.

The study analyzed the impact of 34 risk factors and confirmed what is already widely known—that tobacco is by far the biggest contributory factor to cancer, accounting for 33.9 percent of cases, followed by alcohol with 7.4 percent.

More than half of all male cancer deaths were attributable to such risk factors, and over a third of female deaths, the study found.

And since “the leading risk factors contributing to global cancer burden in 2019 were behavioral… reducing exposure to these modifiable risk factors would decrease cancer mortality” worldwide, the study concluded.

That also meant greater emphasis should be placed on prevention, the study found.

However, around half of cancers are not attributable to a known risk factor, meaning early diagnosis and effective treatments must accompany efforts to raise prevention efforts, the study found.

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Saudi Arabia confirms $500 million pledge to Afghanistan, Pakistan polio campaign

The WHO said the funds, initially pledged in April 2024, will be disbursed to help end the wild form of polio in Pakistan and Afghanistan and stop outbreaks of variant polio.

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The World Health Organization said Monday Saudi Arabia has reaffirmed its $500 million commitment to the Global Polio Eradication Initiative (GPEI).

The WHO said the funds, initially pledged in April 2024, will be disbursed to help end the wild form of polio in Pakistan and Afghanistan and stop outbreaks of variant polio, Reuters reported.

Wild polio — a naturally occurring form of the viral disease — is endemic in Pakistan and Afghanistan, which together reported 99 cases last year, according to the WHO. Variant polio is caused by the weakening of the oral polio vaccine.

The GPEI hopes to declare an end to the wild virus and the vaccine-derived variant by 2027 and 2029, respectively, compared with a previous deadline of 2026 for both forms.

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Chinese researchers find bat virus enters human cells via same pathway as COVID

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A newly discovered bat coronavirus uses the same cell-surface protein to gain entry into human cells as the SARS-CoV-2 virus that causes COVID-19, raising the possibility that it could someday spread to humans, Chinese researchers have reported.

The virus does not enter human cells as readily as SARS-CoV-2 does, the Chinese researchers reported in the journal Cell, opens new tab, noting some of its limitations, Reuters reported.

The scientists said that like SARS-CoV-2, the bat virus HKU5-CoV-2 contains a feature known as the furin cleavage site that helps it to enter cells via the ACE2 receptor protein on cell surfaces.

In lab experiments, HKU5-CoV-2 infected human cells with high ACE2 levels in test tubes and in models of human intestines and airways.

In further experiments, the researchers identified monoclonal antibodies and antiviral drugs that target the bat virus.

Bloomberg, which reported on the study earlier on Friday, said the paper identifying the bat virus had moved shares of COVID vaccine makers. Pfizer shares closed up 1.5% on Friday, Moderna climbed 5.3% and Novavax was up about 1% on a down day for the broader market.

Asked about concerns raised by the report of another pandemic resulting from this new virus, Dr. Michael Osterholm, an infectious disease expert at the University of Minnesota, called the reaction to the study “overblown.”

He said there is a lot of immunity in the population to similar SARS viruses compared with 2019, which may reduce the pandemic risk.

The study itself noted that the virus has significantly less binding affinity to human ACE2 than SARS-CoV-2, and other suboptimal factors for human adaptation suggest the “risk of emergence in human populations should not be exaggerated.”

 

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UN warns maternal deaths in Afghanistan may rise after US funding pause

Afghanistan has one of the highest death rates in the world for pregnant women, with a mother dying of preventable pregnancy complications every two hours

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A United Nations aid official said on Tuesday that Washington’s funding pause would cut off millions of Afghans from sexual and reproductive health services, and that the continued absence of this support could cause over 1,000 maternal deaths in Afghanistan from 2025 to 2028.

US President Donald Trump last month ordered a 90-day pause in foreign development assistance, pending assessment of efficiencies and consistency with his foreign policy, setting alarm bells ringing among aid groups around the world that depend on US funding.

Trump has also restored US participation in international anti-abortion pacts, cutting off US family planning funds for foreign organisations providing or promoting abortion.

Pio Smith, regional director for Asia and the Pacific at the United Nations sexual and reproductive health agency (UNFPA), said that over nine million people in Afghanistan would lose access to services and over 1.2 million Afghan refugees living in Pakistan would also be affected due to the closure of health facilities.

Afghanistan has one of the highest death rates in the world for pregnant women, with a mother dying of preventable pregnancy complications every two hours, he said.

“What happens when our work is not funded? Women give birth alone, in unsanitary conditions…Newborns die from preventable causes,” he told a Geneva press briefing. 

“These are literally the world’s most vulnerable people.”

“If I just take the example of Afghanistan, between 2025 and 2028 we estimate that the absence of US support will result in 1,200 additional maternal deaths and 109,000 additional unintended pregnancies,” he said.

Across the Asia-Pacific region, UNFPA receives about $94 million in US funding, he added.

Riva Eskinazi, director of donor relations at the International Planned Parenthood Federation meanwhile told Reuters it, too, would have to halt family planning and sexual and reproductive health services in West Africa as a result of the pause.

“We can foresee an increase in unintended pregnancies and maternal deaths. There is going to be a problem sending contraceptives to our members. It’s devastating,” she said.

IPPF, a federation of national organisations that advocates for sexual and reproductive health, calculates that it would have to forgo at least $61 million in US funding over four years in 13 countries, most of which are in Africa.

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