International
WHO wants to rein in meningitis by 2030
AFP
The World Health Organization unveiled a plan Tuesday to bring meningitis under control by 2030, slashing the 250,000 annual deaths caused by the debilitating disease.
Launching the first-ever global strategy to tackle the illness, the WHO said it wanted to eliminate epidemics of bacterial meningitis — the most deadly form.
By doing so, it hopes to halve the number of cases and reduce deaths by 70 percent. It also wants to significantly reduce disability caused by the disease.
“Wherever it occurs, meningitis can be deadly and debilitating; it strikes quickly, has serious health, economic and social consequences, and causes devastating outbreaks,” said WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus.
“It is time to tackle meningitis globally once and for all — by urgently expanding access to existing tools like vaccines, spearheading new research and innovation to prevent, detect and treat the various causes of the disease, and improve rehabilitation for those affected.”
Meningitis is a dangerous inflammation of the membranes that surround the brain and spinal cord, predominantly caused by infection with bacteria, and other pathogens including viruses and fungi.
Meningitis caused by bacterial infection tends to be the most serious form as it can spark fast-spreading epidemics.
It kills one in 10 of those infected — mostly children and young people.
It also leaves one in five with long-lasting disability, such as seizures, hearing and vision loss, neurological damage and cognitive impairment.
Over the last 10 years, epidemics have most commonly occurred in the so-called “Meningitis Belt”, spanning 26 countries across sub-Saharan Africa from Senegal to Ethiopia.
Outbreaks can severely disrupt health systems and create vast expenditures for households and communities.
The WHO said there was an “urgent need for innovation, funding and research to develop more meningitis-preventive vaccines”.
Several vaccines protect against certain meningitis types, but many countries are yet to introduce them into their national immunisation programmes.
Research is also under way to develop vaccines for other causes of meningitis, such as Group B Strep bacteria.
The WHO’s Global Roadmap to Defeat Meningitis by 2030 called for high immunisation coverage and improved strategies to prevent outbreaks and respond to them.
It also called for efforts to strengthen early diagnosis, treatment and rehabilitation.
The plan says meningitis will not be eliminated but it aims to get as close to that point as possible by reducing case numbers and then keeping them low.
International
Colombian President Gustavo Petro announces talks with clan del Golfo outside country
Colombian President Gustavo Petro stated on Friday that his government has begun talks outside the country with the Clan del Golfo, Colombia’s main criminal group also known as the Gaitanist Army.
“We have started conversations outside Colombia with the self-called Gaitanist Army,” the president said during the handover of 6,500 hectares of land to farmers in the Caribbean department of Córdoba.
The president noted that his administration “has seized more cocaine than any other government” because it seeks to “cut off the finances (of criminal groups) that fuel violence in many regions of Colombia.”
“A bill has been introduced that I hope the Congress studies thoroughly, because it essentially elevates restorative justice even for serious crimes,” Petro said.
The initiative he referred to was presented by his Minister of Justice, Eduardo Montealegre, aimed at “the consolidation of total peace.”
According to the Ministry of Justice, the bill seeks to provide the government with clear regulations to achieve the disarmament, demobilization, and reintegration of illegal armed groups.
For groups such as the Clan del Golfo, a judicial submission process will be applied, which could bring possible legal benefits if they genuinely cooperate, surrender weapons, and dismantle their groups.
International
María Corina Machado thanks OAS allies for condemning Venezuela’s growing repression
Venezuelan opposition leader María Corina Machado expressed her gratitude on Thursday to the “allied” countries that spoke out at the Permanent Council of the Organization of American States (OAS) regarding the increasing repression in Venezuela. Through her X account, she highlighted that “our regional allies took a firm stand in favor of democracy and the freedom of Venezuelans.”
The statement came a day after Gloria de Mees, rapporteur of the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) for Venezuela, presented before the OAS the worsening situation in the country, just over a year after the elections in which President Nicolás Maduro was declared the winner over opposition candidate Edmundo González Urrutia, who denounced electoral fraud.
Machado, who shared videos of speeches by representatives from Canada, the United States, Paraguay, Chile, and Panama, insisted that “Venezuela is the most urgent conflict in the Western Hemisphere and its definitive resolution is everyone’s responsibility.” She affirmed that “silence and inaction” are forms of “complicity” and urged international justice to act with “greater speed and firmness.”
Before her participation at the OAS, De Mees told EFE that the repression “is not new, but now it is systematic” and has intensified, affecting not only human rights defenders, journalists, and dissidents but “everyone, because there is fear of retaliation.”
International
Over 240 guatemalans detained at Florida’s Alligator Alcatraz await deportation
At least 249 Guatemalans are currently detained at the Alligator Alcatraz detention center in Florida, United States, awaiting deportation, the Guatemalan government reported this Friday.
The Guatemalan Ministry of Foreign Affairs detailed that the figure was confirmed by U.S. authorities to Guatemalan diplomats in Miami, Florida, during a visit to the center where they had the opportunity to interview 37 of their compatriots.
“The Guatemalans we spoke with said they have been at the detention center for only a few days and have been able to communicate with family members and lawyers. Most of them were detained due to their irregular immigration status,” the Ministry stated.
According to the same source, another visit by Guatemalan diplomats has been authorized soon to meet with other nationals held at the detention center in Florida.
Alligator Alcatraz, opened just over a month ago, was built in only one week on an abandoned airport in the Everglades, a natural area west of Miami, surrounded by alligators and swamps. Florida Governor Ron DeSantis sees it as a model for other centers, while activists consider it a symbol of human rights violations.
Democratic lawmakers reported the presence of 750 migrants “in cages” after entering the site on July 12. The facility currently has a capacity for 2,000 people, which could increase to 4,000, according to the Florida Division of Emergency Management (FDEM), which manages the site.
Every year, thousands of Guatemalans leave the Central American country to migrate irregularly to the United States in search of better living conditions and to escape the poverty and violence that plague Guatemala.
Nicaragua’s Telica volcano erupts four times, no damages reported
Colombian President Gustavo Petro announces talks with clan del Golfo outside country
María Corina Machado thanks OAS allies for condemning Venezuela’s growing repression
Tec de Monterrey honors one of its students for his contribution to nanotechnology in medicine
Defense Minister commends salvadoran soldier for Central American Cross Country victory
Extension of the state of emergency approved in southern Chile
-
International3 days agoMassive wildfire in Southern France kills one, injures nine
-
International3 days agoFlorida officials warn against raw milk after dozens sickened
-
International5 days agoU.S. Embassy staff restricted as gunfire erupts near compound in Port-au-Prince
-
Central America3 days agoFour honduran presidential candidates sign anti-corruption pact ahead of 2025 elections
-
International5 days ago
Uribe requests freedom amid appeal of historic bribery conviction
-
International3 days agoJapan marks 80 years since Hiroshima bombing with call for nuclear disarmament
-
International14 hours agoOver 240 guatemalans detained at Florida’s Alligator Alcatraz await deportation
-
Central America14 hours agoNicaragua’s Telica volcano erupts four times, no damages reported
-
International14 hours agoMaría Corina Machado thanks OAS allies for condemning Venezuela’s growing repression
-
International14 hours agoColombian President Gustavo Petro announces talks with clan del Golfo outside country