Health

UK expects to receive COVID booster advice imminently: Health minister

Britain’s health minister Sajid Javid said on Sunday he expected to receive advice imminently on whether the government can broaden a booster jab program to try to tackle the emergence of the newly identified Omicron coronavirus variant.

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“The other thing that still remains hugely important, but I think it’s fair to say now more important than it was before, is our vaccination program,” Javid told Sky News.

“That is why I have also asked our expert advisers on vaccines called JCVI (the Joint Committee on Vaccination and immunization) to give me very quick advice on broadening, boosting our booster program and I expect to get that advice imminently.”

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First Person: Women in Madagascar too ashamed to seek help giving birth

Some of the poorest women in an underdeveloped region south of Madagascar are “too ashamed” to seek the maternal health services they need, according to a midwife working in a health centre supported by United Nations agencies, but that may be about to change.

Health

Peace or war, midwives keep delivering

Millions of lives each year rely on the expertise and care of midwives and yet a global shortage is squeezing the profession like never before, the UN sexual and reproductive health agency UNPFA said on Sunday, marking the International Day of the Midwife.

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Europe: Report highlights direct link between pandemic and childhood obesity

The COVID-19 pandemic has led to increased obesity in school-aged children in Europe, the World Health Organization (WHO) office for the region said in a new report issued on Wednesday, sounding the alarm for action.