Health News Roundup: Portugal identifies five monkeypox infections, Spain has eight suspected cases; Global smoking rates fall for first time, but rise for kids, Africa – report and more

 | cutline • press clip • news of the day |

Cryptopolytech Public Press Pass

Title: Health News Roundup: Portugal identifies five monkeypox infections, Spain has eight suspected cases; Global smoking rates fall for first time, but rise for kids, Africa – report and more

200000048 – World Newser | Savvy Newser |
•| World |•| Online |•| Media |•| Outlet |

•| News |•| World |•| Savvy |

Following is a summary of current health news briefs.

Portugal identifies five monkeypox infections, Spain has eight suspected cases

Portuguese authorities said on Wednesday they had identified five cases of rare monkeypox infection and Spain’s health services are testing eight potential cases after Britain put Europe on alert for the virus. The five Portuguese patients, out of 20 suspected cases, are all stable. They are all men and they all live in the region of Lisbon and the Tagus Valley, the Portuguese health authorities said.

Global smoking rates fall for first time, but rise for kids, Africa – report

Smoking rates have declined globally for the first time on record, according to a new report on tobacco use from a public health campaign group and U.S. academics. However, the figures from the Tobacco Atlas report – described as a potential tipping point by the authors – also mask growing numbers of smokers in parts of the world, as well as increased tobacco use among young teenagers in almost half of the countries surveyed.

Mozambique detects first case of polio in 30 years

Mozambique on Wednesday declared a polio outbreak after the virus was detected in a child living in the northeastern Tete region, the first case of the poliovirus in the country in almost three decades, the World Health Organisation (WHO) said. The case, which marks the second imported case of wild poliovirus in southern Africa this year following an outbreak in Malawi in February, was found in the child who began experiencing the onset of paralysis towards the end of March, the WHO said.

Factbox – Latest on the worldwide spread of the coronavirus

Health authorities in Shanghai face huge pressure to keep COVID-19 at bay the longer the city goes without a new community infection with residents counting down the days until June 1 and the end of their hated lockdown. DEATHS AND INFECTIONS

When Africans asked for COVID shots, they didn’t get them. Now they don’t want them

It’s noisy inside the Mamprobi clinic in Accra as kids clamber over their mothers while they wait to get their measles vaccines. Outside, an area reserved for COVID-19 shots is empty. A health worker leans back in his chair and scrolls on a tablet.

One woman, waiting to get her daughter inoculated, is fully aware of the dangers of measles: the high fever, the rash, the risk to eyesight. But COVID-19? She has never heard of a single case.

World in no better place to fight pandemics than before COVID – review

The world is no better prepared for a new pandemic than it was when coronavirus emerged in 2019 and may actually be in a worse place given the economic toll, according to a panel set up by the World Health Organization (WHO) to evaluate the global response. A lack of progress on reforms such as international health regulations means the world is as vulnerable as ever, the Independent Panel for Pandemic Preparedness and Response said in its report.

‘Huge’ pressure for Shanghai to stay COVID-free as lockdown end nears

Health authorities in Shanghai faced “huge” pressure to keep China’s most populous city free of COVID-19 as residents were counting down the days until June 1 when their lockdown is set to end after almost two months of isolation. The commercial hub of 25 million achieved a fourth consecutive day without any new infections in the community, holding on to its prized “zero COVID” status and keeping alive hopes for an imminent end to lockdown misery.

Mexico’s Guerrero state becomes ninth to allow abortions

Lawmakers in Mexico’s southwestern state of Guerrero voted on Tuesday to allow abortions, making it the ninth of the country’s 32 federal entities where women can legally end pregnancies amid a recent wave of loosening restrictions around the procedure. The approved measure, which strips punishment of one to three years of jail time from the penal code, passed with 30 votes in favor and 13 against.

China relaxes some COVID test rules for U.S., other travelers

China has removed certain COVID-19 test requirements for people flying in from countries like the United States and shortened the pre-departure quarantine period for some inbound travelers, as it finetunes its stringent measures to cope with the Omicron variant. The slight relaxations were made in response to factors including the “characteristics of coronavirus variants”, according to notices from Chinese embassies and consulates that did not provide further details.

From storage to transport, hurdles to getting COVID vaccine to N.Koreans

As North Korea battles its first known COVID outbreak, a lack of storage, chronic power shortages and inadequately trained medical staff pose acute challenges to inoculating its 25 million people – even with outside help, analysts said. North Korea has not responded to offers of aid from South Korea and international vaccine-sharing programs, but prefers U.S.-made Moderna and Pfizer over China’s Sinovac or British-Swedish Astrazeneca shots, according to South Korean officials.

(With inputs from agencies.)

Find more, like the above, right here on Cryptopolytech.com by following any of our extensive menus or clicking on the category tags appearing on or near the images. We compile great content FOR YOU in an unbiased manner to promote the growth of knowledge by sharing the ‘news of the day’ on various topics. The above article originally appeared on www.devdiscourse.com. We hope you enjoyed Health News Roundup: Portugal identifies five monkeypox infections, Spain has eight suspected cases; Global smoking rates fall for first time, but rise for kids, Africa – report and more.