💊 Climate change makes Internet bad; HIV makes Mpox worse; A Kenyan affair
#282 | Good comes from an outbreak; Women’s bones at stake; Fake skin researchers make
Hello again from us at The Kable. Wednesday’s child is full of woe, so we must begin by telling you, woefully, that what the world hoped was a game-changing Covid treatment is not really. In its phase 3 trials, Merck’s antiviral Lagevrio (Molnupiravir) did not show a statistically significant reduction in infections on Covid exposure through household contacts. Just like Pfizer’s Paxlovid.
More woe, as bird flu is catching on among other animals in Peru’s protected areas. The virus has killed thousands of pelicans and over 700 sea lions here. Over in Canada, in a little over a year, 7.2 million domestic birds and, at the very least, 1,730 wild birds have been infected with H5N1, setting the government back over $82 million in compensation.
In Kenya, prayers didn’t help, woefully (okay, you get it, we’ll stop now), so the country must brace for acute food insecurity among 5.4 million people and malnutrition in almost a million children.
In Austria, a group of budding Greta Thunbergs, aged 5 to 16, has filed a lawsuit against the government for breaching their right to “generational justice”. The government’s crime? Not doing enough to protect these little kids from the life-threatening impacts of climate change.
Injustice continues over in Venice, as Venetians may soon have to ditch their gondolas and get on their feet as a severe drought-induced water deficit makes it impossible for their usual modes of transport to navigate the city’s canals.
In what passes off as academic study these days, researchers are spending their time speculating on whether a phallic-shaped wooden object found 20 years ago is, indeed, a dildo. Or maybe a pestle? Or a good luck charm? We may never know, but speculate we must.
Across the pond, the US FDA is refusing to accept that pasta, cereal and pickles are healthy, and the producers of these products are not having it. They’re so mad at the FDA that they’ve drafted 54 full pages worth of a rant about the infringement of their First Amendment rights. Welcome to America.
Amidst all this woe, there is also some wow, as the Seoul High Court recognised the rights of same-sex couples for the first time. All thanks to a governmental health insurer.
In India, after a Covid-caused delay, big wow that the government is back to considering including sanitary napkins, adult diapers and other commonly used hygiene products in its National List of Essential Medicines.
And finally, more woeless news, as Ghana expands its malaria immunization programme to cover 51 more districts.
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