💊 The Kable says hi to Nigeria; GSK says bye to Vir Bio; WHO says au revoir to Covid origin stories

#277 | Show us the texts, says the NY Times; Male contraception, a new drug chimes; Live concerts, against ears they're crimes.

Hello, and welcome back to The Kable where we have an excellent piece on Nigeria by our Ria Purandare, plus all the pertinent developments in life sciences.

In the UK, mental health is increasingly reaching crisis levels, beginning with very young people. So much so that the health service is offering mental health training for people working with children and youngsters. Youth workers, sports coaches and librarians will all receive training to help them spot signs that young people in their care need mental health interventions.

GSK's big Covid ambitions never really materialised, even counting Sotrovimab. Nor did the Covid vaccine it was working on with Vir Biotech. Now, GSK is amending its collab, leaving Vir to fund its Coronavirus work by itself or with other partners.

Pfizer's EU Covid vaccine deal which was the subject of an EU investigation last year comes under more heat. The New York Times has filed a lawsuit asking for texts between Pfizer's CEO and the European Commission chief to be made public.

Kenya, dealing with an ongoing drought, and seeking to avoid a record 6th consecutive rainless season, is relying on an age-old technique to bring forth the waterworks: mass prayer.

And finally, Colombia, which witnessed an increase in deforestation in 2022, has a radically new idea to improve deforestation stats. The country is mulling a 20% reduction in its deforestation target over the next 4 years.