A California company says its experimental blood test was able to detect many types of cancer at an early stage and gave very few false alarms in a study that included people with and without the disease. Many companies are trying to develop early detection “liquid biopsy” tests that capture bits of DNA that cancer cells shed into blood. Grail’s new results are from 2,300 people. The test detected 55% of known cancers and gave false alarms for 1%. It also accurately suggested where the cancer may be about 90% of the time. The company gave results in news release Friday and will report them Saturday at a conference in Chicago. They have not been published or reviewed by other scientists. …
«Держава в смартфоні» функціонує вже 3 роки – Кубів
Перший віце-прем’єр-міністр Степан Кубів заявив, що в Україні щонайменше три роки діють цифрові сервіси, якими громадяни можуть скористатися за допомогою смартфонів. «Те, що зараз називають «державою в смартфоні», ми уже створили. Завдяки Мінекономрозвитку державні закупівлі, мала приватизація, звіти про технічну допомогу та державні підприємства – у кожного громадянина в смартфоні. Ви можете купувати у держави, продавати державі та контролювати державу, не виходячи з дому», – сказав Степан Кубів під час звіту у Верховній Раді щодо цифрової економіки за 2016-2018 роки. За словами Кубіва, адміністративні послуги вже також доступні у смартфоні. «На сайті Урядового порталу можна отримати 125 публічних послуг повністю онлайн. Ви можете зареєструвати бізнес онлайн; отримати численні довідки та витяги з реєстрів; подати заяву на допомогу при народженні дитини та багато іншого», – сказав Кубів. Він також закликав депутатів долучитися до створення «держави у смартфоні» в контексті підтримки законопроекту про «Є-малятко». «Ця ініціатива дасть батькам можливість отримати в електронному вигляді 10 послуг, пов’язаних із народженням дитини», – сказав урядовець. 23 травня президент України Володимир Зеленський заявив, що його команда прагне зробити «країну в смартфоні, уряд у смартфоні». …
Chinese Scientists Find CO2 Better for Fracking than Water
Chinese scientists have discovered that carbon dioxide is more efficient to use in fracking than water. Fracking is the controversial process in which water or other fluids are injected into underground rocks at high pressure to release oil and natural gas deposits. U.S. environmentalists have denounced the process because of the huge amounts of water needed, the contamination of underground water supplies, and small earthquakes it triggers. In a new report in the journal Joule, scientists from the Chinese Academy of Sciences and China University of Petroleum discovered that using CO2 instead of water resulted in as much as 20 times more oil. ”These real-world results revealed that as compared to water fracturing, CO2 fracturing is an important and greener alternative,” especially in arid areas where the water has to be trucked in, the report says. Carbon dioxide is the main greenhouse gas blamed for global warming. The scientists say the CO2 used in fracking would stay underground and not be released into the atmosphere. The scientists say further research is needed as well as the winning over of cooperation from the industry. …
CDC: US Reports Most Measles Cases in 25 Years
Government health officials say there have been 971 cases of measles in the United States so far this year, the most cases since 1994, when there were 963 cases for the entire year. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said Thursday if current outbreaks in and around New York City continue into the fall, the United States could lose its status as a country that has eliminated measles. “That loss would be a huge blow for the nation and erase the hard work done by all levels of public health,” a CDC statement said. Measles was declared eliminated in the U.S. in 2000, and the CDC says one of the primary reasons is the availability and widespread use of a safe and effective vaccine. Fighting anti-vaccine propaganda The CDC, World Health Organization, and other experts are fighting propaganda from parents and anti-vaccine activists who refuse to inoculate their children, insisting the vaccine is dangerous. “Again, I want to reassure parents that vaccines are safe, they do not cause autism. The greater danger is the disease that vaccination prevents,” CDC Director Robert Redfield said. “Measles is preventable and the way to end this outbreak is to ensure that all children and adults who can get vaccinated do get vaccinated.” Before vaccine, 4 million cases Before 1963, when the measles vaccine was considered perfected, the CDC says as many as 4 million Americans got the disease every year and up to 500 victims died. The measles virus is highly contagious and …
Energy Secretary: US Aims to Make Fossil Fuels Cleaner
The Trump administration is committed to making fossil fuels cleaner rather than imposing “draconian” regulations on coal and oil, U.S. Energy Secretary Rick Perry said Thursday at an energy conference in Salt Lake City. Perry previously said the administration wants to spend $500 million next year on fossil fuel research and development as demand plummets for coal and surges for natural gas. “Instead of punishing fuels that produce emissions through regulation, we’re seeking to reduce those emissions by innovation,” Perry said at the conference. Fossil fuel emissions have been cited by scientists as a major source of global warming. U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres recently said the world must change how it fuels factories, vehicles and homes to limit future global warming. Perry said the Trump administration has proven it can make energy cleaner, but he provided no details involving coal and other fossil fuels, other than the closing of old, inefficient coal-burning power plants and exporting increasing volumes of natural gas, an alternative to coal. Department of Energy spokesman Dirk Vande Beek didn’t immediately return an email and voicemail seeking more details about Perry’s claim. Perry pointed to an overall drop in emissions as proof of progress. Greenhouse gas emissions dropped 13 percent from 2005 to 2017, according to the most recent report from the Environmental Protection Agency. Lindsay Beebe of the Sierra Club in Utah said trying to make fossil fuels cleaner is misspent energy. “I don’t know that it’s possible right now, but what is ready right now …
IMF Denies Pressuring Venezuela to Release Economic Data
The International Monetary Fund said on Thursday it had not pressured Venezuela to release economic indicators after years of silence, while two sources said the country’s surprise data release this week was due to pressure from China. The central bank on Tuesday unexpectedly released data confirming Venezuela is suffering hyperinflation and massive economic contraction. The release reversed President Nicolas Maduro’s unofficial policy of classifying economic indicators as state secrets. The data reported a 22.5 percent contraction in Venezuela’s economy in the third quarter of 2018 from the same period of the previous year. The bank did not provide a full-year 2018 figure for economic activity. Monthly inflation in April 2019 was 33.8 percent, while 2018 full-year inflation reached 130,060 percent, the bank said. The IMF said it suspended work with Venezuela on its economic data in January, when opposition leader Juan Guaido invoked the constitution to assume the interim presidency, arguing Maduro’s 2018 re-election was illegitimate. Most Western countries, including the United States, have backed Guaido as the OPEC nation’s interim head of state. However, Maduro and ruling socialist party continue to control state institutions including the military, state oil company PDVSA and the central bank. The Fund said in March it was awaiting guidance from member countries on whether to recognize Guaido as the country’s leader. The United States and Venezuelan ally China are important IMF members, as they have the world’s two largest economies. “Work in this area has been suspended since late January as political developments gave …
Wall Street Slump Continues on U.S.-China Trade Uncertainty
U.S. stocks lost ground again on Thursday, as conflicting comments on trade talks from President Donald Trump and Beijing reinforced investor nervousness that a lengthy battle could be in the offing and harm global growth. Trump said talks with China were going well but those comments were countered by a senior Chinese diplomat who said provoking trade disputes is “naked economic terrorism.” The lack of clarity around the trade battle has rattled investors of late, after the S&P 500 had risen more than 17% through the first four months of the year on optimism a trade deal between the two countries could be reached. That optimism has faded, however, as the escalating dispute between the two countries has weighed heavily on Wall Street in May, with each of the three main indexes declining at least 5% for the month. The benchmark S&P 500 is nearly 6% lower from its closing high on April 30. “The market is coming to that realization that we are not getting really clean or clear information and it is going to be a lot of noise and just prepare for that,” said Ben Phillips, chief investment officer at Eventshares in Newport Beach, California. “It is a difficult market right now. There are a lot of macro signals that are starting to roll over and the question is the trade dispute causing that or is it other factors.” A government report on Thursday showed U.S. inflation was much weaker than initially thought in the first quarter …
Trump: China Maybe Regrets Backtracking on Trade Provisions
President Donald Trump said Thursday he still believes China “would love to make” a new trade deal with the United States and might now regret backtracking on some agreements negotiators for the two countries had reached. “We had a deal and they broke the deal,” Trump said at the White House. “I think if they had to do it again they wouldn’t have done what they did.” Trump contended that tariffs he has imposed on hundreds of billions of dollars worth of Chinese imports has prompted some manufacturers in China to move their production to other countries. “I think we’re doing very well with China,” he said, adding that tariffs have had little effect on inflation in the U.S. Trade talks between officials of the world’s two biggest economies broke off recently, but U.S. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin has said he likely will travel to Beijing “in the near future” to continue negotiations. Meanwhile, Chinese Vice Foreign Minister Zhang Hanhui accused the U.S. of engaging in “naked economic terrorism” in the trade war. He leveled the accusation in Beijing during a news briefing on President Xi Jinping’s official visit to Russia next week. Beijing and Washington have been engaged in a trade war since last July, when Trump first imposed tariffs on hundreds of Chinese products worth billions of dollars, leading to a set of retaliatory tit-for-tit tariff increases. Trump and Xi had agreed to de-escalate the trade war last December while they started negotiations to reach a lasting deal. …
Місія МВФ готова повернутися до Києва після визначення пріоритетів новим урядом – заява
Місія Міжнародного валютного фонду, яка завершила напередодні візит в Україну, заявила, що повернеться знову, коли новий український уряд визначиться із пріоритетами своєї роботи. «Команда фахівців МВФ мала дуже плідні дискусії з владою України, включно з президентом Зеленським, стосовно перегляду програми стенд-бай між Україною та МВФ. Експерти МВФ дійшли висновку щодо реалістичності грошово-кредитної та податково-бюджетної політики. Місія готова повернутися до Києва для продовження дискусій після парламентських виборів, щойно новий уряд визначиться з пріоритетами своєї політики», – вказав у заяві за підсумками візиту керівник місії МВФ в Україні Рон ван Роден. Місія Міжнародного валютного фонду розпочала роботу в Україні 21 травня. У перебігу візиту експерти місії мали зустрічі з керівництвом НБУ, представниками фінансового та економічного секторів уряду, з президентом Володимиром Зеленським. Останній на зустрічі з місією заявив, що співпраця з фондом буде продовжена. 18 грудня 2018 року посол України у США Валерій Чалий повідомив, що в штаб-квартирі Міжнародного валютного фонду у Вашингтоні затвердили виділення Україні фінансової підтримки для продовження реалізації важливих реформ. Обсяг нової програми – 3,9 мільярда доларів. Згідно з повідомленням, вона має стати основою для економічної політики уряду в 2019 році – передбачається, що ця політика буде зосереджена на зниженні інфляції та реформах оподаткування, фінансового і енергетичного секторів. 21 грудня Україна отримала перший транш за новою програмою співпраці з Міжнародним валютним фондом обсягом близько 1,4 мільярда доларів. …
China Cheers State TV Anchor in Face-Off with Fox
The highly anticipated showdown on Wednesday night between Trish Regan of Fox Business and Liu Xin of China Global Television Network (CGTN) — the overseas arm of state-controlled China Central Television (CCTV) — turned out to be a tame question-and-answer session with little exchange of barbs. Some observers say that, as both are neither policymakers nor experts on trade, their “disappointing” talks contributed nothing of substance, but stoked up emotions of national pride in China. Others, however, welcome such dialogues that allow free exchange of differing views to continue and set an example for U.S. and Chinese officials to resume their trade negotiations. The media hype has not only shed light on the increasingly sharp divide between the two countries over trade but also press freedom in China as well, they add. Face-off The buildup for the debate started last week when Liu released a commentary, accusing Regan of “economic warmongering,” which led to Regan’s invitation via Twitter for an “honest” debate and Wednesday’s face-off between them. Liu appeared as a guest, via satellite from Beijing, on Regan’s U.S. based show. Citing rights issues, CGTN wasn’t allowed to livestream the segment, but many Chinese appeared to watch it on the internet. As expected, during the 16-minute-long segment, Liu stuck closely to China’s talking points on every question Regan raised, be it China’s intellectual property (IP) theft, state capitalism or tariffs. When asked by Regan to respond to a hypothetical question if the United States “forces” China’s …
Центр зайнятості: найбільш оплачувана робота в Києві – директор департаменту
Посада директора департаменту підприємства наразі є найбільш оплачуваною в Києві з усіх професій, за відповідним класифікатором. Про це з посиланням на Центр зайнятості повідомляє Київміськадміністрація. «Найбільш оплачуваними спеціалістами в Києві сьогодні є директори департаментів підприємств – як державних, так і приватних, – у різних галузях економіки. Зокрема, у сфері телекомунікацій та банківської діяльності. Цінові пропозиції за вакансіями для таких топ-менеджерів мінімум утричі перевищують середню зарплату в столиці», – йдеться в повідомленні. Повідомляється, що наймані працівники цієї категорії можуть розраховувати на зарплату у понад 43 тисячі гривень. «Попит на досвідчених керівників у столичних компаніях в умовах росту економіки лишається стабільно високим, проте пропозиція кадрів недостатня», – вказали експерти. За даними Держстату, рівень безробіття в Україні в квітні 2019 року склав понад 311 тисяч людей. …
Fox Host, Chinese State TV Anchor Face Off Over Trade War
A Chinese state TV anchor and a host from Fox Business, whose sparring over the U.S.-China trade war has been avidly followed on Chinese social media, brought their duel to the American cable network for what turned out to be a respectful encounter. The showdown between Liu Xin of China’s state-run English channel CGTN and Fox Business Network host Trish Regan was aired on Wednesday evening in the United States but was not shown live on TV in China, though it had been hyped by state and social media. Following U.S. moves this month to increase tariffs on Chinese imports and blacklist tech giant Huawei Technologies Co Ltd the rhetoric out of Beijing has become more strident. At the start of the roughly 16-minute segment, Liu corrected Regan to say that she was not a member of the Chinese Communist Party and was speaking for herself as a CGTN journalist. Otherwise, there was little in the way of fireworks. Liu agreed intellectual property theft was a problem, although not only in China, and that there was a “consensus” in China that “without the protection of IP rights, nobody, no country, no individual, can be strong and can develop itself.” Regan asked Liu her definition of state capitalism, and Liu described China’s system of “socialism with Chinese characteristics, where market forces are expected to play the dominating or the deciding role in the allocation of resources.” Liu said state-owned enterprises play “an important but increasingly smaller role, maybe, in the economy,” …
DRC’s Ebola Battle Fraught With Security Risks
The World Health Organization says success in ending the Ebola epidemic in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo hinges upon improving security in North Kivu and Ituri provinces. The region has been engulfed in conflict for many years, and many locals do not trust outsiders, even the ones trying to stop the spread of the deadly virus. The U.N. health agency reports security incidents in eastern DRC have increased dramatically in the past few months. So far this year, it reports 174 attacks by armed groups in North Kivu on health care facilities, workers and patients. These include five deaths and 51 injuries. In mid-April, Cameroonian Dr. Richard Mouzoko was shot and killed while working in a hospital in Butembo, North Kivu. This incident was seen as a big setback to the Ebola operation. This past Saturday, villagers killed a health worker in the health sector of Mabalako. WHO Regional Director for Africa, Matshidiso Moeti, says health workers are being intimidated and threatened by armed men and live in fear, not knowing when the next violent attack may occur. She says this insecurity is leading to a lack of access and driving the increase in cases. “When the response cannot reach people,” she said, “they do not get the chance to be vaccinated or to receive life-saving treatment if they do fall ill. “The technical means to stop this Ebola outbreak are available,” she added. “But without access or a secure operating environment, they cannot be deployed optimally and effectively enough. …
Гривня впала майже на 30 копійок стосовно долара – НБУ
Гривня впала на 28 копійок стосовно долара, свідчать дані на сайті Національного банку України. На 30 травня вартість долара була встановлена на рівні 26 гривень 68 копійок. Євро подорожчав із 29 гривень 55 копійок до 29 гривень 76 копійок. Українська валюта двічі цього місяця повторювала річний максимум щодо долара США – 26 гривень 11 копійок. Такі офіційні курси НБУ встановлював на 21 травня 2018 року, 14 та 22 травня 2019 року. …
Pro-China Policies Unlikely in Australia, India After Recent Elections
In recent weeks, Australia and India have re-elected incumbent prime ministers. These Asia-Pacific countries, who have a difficult relationship with China, are unlikely to make the kind of policy changes that Beijing has been seeking for a long time, analysts said. Australia this month re-elected Prime Minister Scott Morrison stunning pollsters who had anticipated his defeat for several months. India gave a landslide victory to Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party, who campaigned largely on a nationalistic agenda. China wants support from Australia and India on issues like the U.S.-China trade war, the Huawei controversy, South China Sea controversy and the Belt and Road Initiative. The Communist Party in Beijing attaches great importance to obtaining support from democratic countries as a means to enhance China’s global influence. It has spent huge sums to obtain the support of the relatively poor European countries like Greece in order to expand the Chinese footprint. But Australia and India are unlikely to support China on many of the issues that are core to Beijing’s foreign policy. But there may be some exceptions. India has invited Huawei to start trials of its 5G telecommunications network while Australia has blocked it. “Australia was the first country to reject Huawei’s 5G technology and it is very hard to see how it is going to revisit the decision,” said Richard McGroger, senior fellow at Lowy Institute in Sydney. China’s official media expressed dissatisfaction over a statement by Morrison describing China as a customer of Australia and the …
Drought Forces Water Bans in Sydney
Water restrictions are to be imposed in Sydney, Australia’s biggest city, for the first time in almost a decade because of falling reservoir levels and a long-standing drought. Residents who breach the regulations could be fined US$150. The flow of rainwater into some of Sydney’s reservoirs is at its lowest since World War II. From Saturday, households will face restrictions that will target the use of water outdoors. Garden sprinklers will be banned, and tougher measures could follow. The New South Wales state government says that “early and decisive action” will help to conserve supplies as a record-breaking drought worsens. Australia’s Bureau of Meteorology is predicting below-average rainfall and higher temperatures for the next three months across the much of the continent. “With the lowest inflows into Sydney’s water storage since 1940, the government has come to a decision that it is best to go into water restrictions,” said Melinda Pavey, the New South Wales state Minister for Water. “We may get rain. The Bureau of Meteorology’s predictions are not fabulous, but as we know as we plan weekends, they are not always right and I hope that they are wrong. We are taking the appropriate course of action to take it to level one.” New South Wales has been in drought since the middle of 2017. Catherine Port, from Sydney Water, a government-owned company, says its officers will patrol to ensure the water ban is not broken. “Sydney Water have a team of community water officers that will be …
Україна покращила позиції в рейтингу конкурентоспроможності
Україна піднялася на п’ять позицій порівняно з минулим роком у рейтингу конкурентоспроможності – до 54-го місця з 59-го. Про це йдеться в щорічній доповіді World Competitiveness ranking 2019 швейцарської бізнес-школи IMD. Всього до списку увійшли 63 країни. Україна розмістилася між Словаччиною і Перу. Сингапур вперше з 2010 року очолив рейтинг найбільш конкурентоспроможних економік. Друге місце посів Гонконг. Сполучені Штати Америки, які раніше очолювали рейтинг, опустилися на третє місце. Читайте також: П’ять економічних викликів для нового президента Укладачі доповіді відзначають, що Сингапур домігся успіхів завдяки технологічній інфраструктурі, кваліфікованим робочим кадрам, сприятливому імміграційному законодавству й ефективному створенню нових підприємств. У першу п’ятірку країн з найбільшою висококонкурентною економікою увійшли також Швейцарія і Об’єднані Арабські Емірати. Росія перебуває на 45 місці. Замикає рейтинг країн Венесуела, де триває політична й економічна криза. …
Amid Health Care Shortage, Immigrants Are Rural America’s Saving Grace
Roberta Boltz keeps her doors unlocked at night. The former coal mine worker says it is just one perk of living in the small Pennsylvania town of Hegins. But last Christmas morning, she had her first epileptic seizure, and her only worry about rural life took center stage: access to health care. There is no hospital in her community of 812 residents, and she says she does not trust the one closest to her. “I’ve heard people say they wouldn’t send their dog to that hospital,” Boltz said. “They’re so understaffed.” Seated upright in a platinum nightgown, with gauze covering her thin forehead, Boltz recently made the one-hour commute to Danville, Pennsylvania’s, eight-story, 559-bed Geisinger Medical Center to receive care, as she has done during several critical life moments. Geisinger treated her son’s Crohn’s disease when he was a child, and more recently, after her husband suffered a heart attack. Located beside a 300-acre forest, Danville is not much more urban than Hegins. With a population of 4,631, it could not by itself support a hospital this size that serves all of central Pennsylvania and has grappled with its own issue of filling medical staff positions. Geisinger has tried to solve its own staffing problem by hiring immigrants from Jamaica, India, the Philippines, South Korea, Kenya, Cameroon, Nigeria, Ghana and others — many of whom have come to live in a borough (town) that is 94% white. In interviews with VOA, Geisinger staff referred to the nursing shortage crisis as …
Поточного обсягу міжнародних резервів України достатньо для виконання боргових зобов’язань – НБУ
Поточний обсяг міжнародних резервів України становить 19,3 мільярди доларів – цього достатньо для виконання боргових зобов’язань. Про це заявив глава Національного банку України Яків Смолій на зустрічі з місією Міжнародного валютного фонду, повідомили у прес-службі НБУ. За словами Смолія, співпраця з МВФ важлива для фінансової стабільності України, бо до кінця поточного року Київ має сплатити понад 5 мільярдів доларів за зовнішнім і внутрішнім валютними зобов’язаннями. «Співпраця з МВФ – це також і доступ до іншого – офіційного і приватного – фінансування, а також запорука продовження структурних реформ, без яких неможливе довгострокове стійке зростання української економіки», – наголосив глава НБУ. 24 травня речник МВФ Джеррі Райс повідомив, що Міжнародний валютний фонд готовий відновити діалог про подальшу співпрацю з Україною після виборів. Місія Міжнародного валютного фонду розпочала роботу в Україні 21 травня. Представник МВФ в Україні Йоста Люнгман заявляв, що місія перебуватиме в Україні два тижні й оцінюватиме виконання поточної програми співпраці з фондом. 18 грудня 2018 року посол України у США Валерій Чалий повідомив, що в штаб-квартирі Міжнародного валютного фонду у Вашингтоні затвердили виділення Україні фінансової підтримки для продовження реалізації важливих реформ. Обсяг нової програми – 3,9 мільярда доларів. Згідно з повідомленням, вона має стати основою для економічної політики уряду в 2019 році – передбачається, що ця політика буде зосереджена на зниженні інфляції та реформах оподаткування, фінансового і енергетичного секторів. 21 грудня Україна отримала перший транш за новою програмою співпраці з Міжнародним валютним фондом обсягом близько 1,4 мільярда доларів. …
US Treasury Says 9 Trade Partners Deserve Scrutiny Over Currency Practices
The Trump administration said on Tuesday that no major trading partner met its currency manipulation criteria but nine countries, including China, required close attention as Washington presses tariffs and negotiations to address trade deficits. The Treasury Department, in a semi-annual report to Congress, said it reviewed the policies of an expanded set of 21 major U.S. trading partners and found that nine required close attention due to currency practices: China, Germany, Ireland, Italy, Japan, South Korea, Malaysia, Singapore, and Vietnam. “No major U.S. trading partner met the relevant 2015 legislative criteria for enhanced analysis” as a currency manipulator, the department said in a statement. President Donald Trump has imposed tariffs on $200 billion worth of Chinese imports and begun the process of imposing tariffs on another $300 billion in Chinese goods. Talks to end the trade dispute between the two countries collapsed earlier this month, with the two sides in a stalemate over U.S. demands that China change its policies to address a number of key U.S. grievances, including theft of intellectual property and subsidies for state enterprises. The Treasury Department said Washington believes direct foreign exchange intervention by the People’s Bank of China has been limited in the past year. “Treasury will continue its enhanced bilateral engagement with China regarding exchange rate issues, given that the RMB (yuan) has fallen against the dollar by 8 percent over the last year in the context of an extremely large and widening bilateral trade surplus,” Secretary Steven Mnuchin said in the statement. …
Sneezing a Lot? Handheld Allergen Detector Can Help
Whether you live in a city of somewhere more rural, there are always things in the air, invisible to the naked eye that could make you sneeze or cause major illness. Detecting these microscopic materials such as pollen, mold and pollutants could be time consuming and costly. A lab at the University of California, Los Angeles is trying to solve that problem by developing a handheld allergen detector for consumers. VOA’s Elizabeth Lee has the details. …
Hospitals in Rural America Increase Foreign-Born Hires
The U.S. faces a massive shortage of health care professionals over the next decade, including up to 120,000 physicians by 2030, according to data by the Association of American Medical Colleges. With an aging U.S. population and workforce, immigrant doctors and nurses are playing a growing role in health care, especially in rural areas where staff shortages are most severe. But as VOA’s Ramon Taylor reports, their help alone may not be enough to end the crisis. …
Trial Begins in Oklahoma Lawsuit Against Opioid Maker Johnson & Johnson
A civil lawsuit brought by the state of Oklahoma against drugmaker Johnson & Johnson went to trial Tuesday over the company’s alleged role in the U.S. opioid epidemic. The first-of-its-kind trial, which holds opioid manufacturers responsible for the drug crisis gripping the country, could have a large impact on other states seeking similar compensation. In opening statements, Oklahoma Attorney General Mike Hunter called the prescription opioid epidemic the “worst man-made public health crisis in the history of our state and country.” Hunter further characterized Johnson & Johnson as being motivated by greed and having been engaged in “a cynical, deceitful multimillion-dollar brainwashing campaign.” Drugmakers named in the lawsuit denied claims made by the state, which is located in the U.S. Great Plains. Two of those companies settled with the state before the trial began. In an opening statement, Larry Ottaway, a Johnson & Johnson defense lawyer, told the court that Janssen Pharmaceuticals, a subsidiary of Johnson & Johnson, advertised its drugs in compliance with a Food and Drug Administration consensus that said opioids “only rarely caused addiction.” The state of Oklahoma alleges Johnson & Johnson created a surplus of painkillers and is responsible for creating a “public nuisance.” “If you have an oversupply, people will die,” said Brad Beckworth, a private attorney hired by the state of Oklahoma. In explaining some of the numbers behind the crisis, he told the court there were 135 opioid pills available for every adult in Cleveland County, which has a population of about 280,000. …
Pakistan Trying to Grapple With Its Biggest HIV Outbreak
A joint rapid response team of experts from the United States and the U.N. World Health Organization arrived in Pakistan Tuesday to support the response to the country’s “biggest” outbreak of HIV infections in a southern district where more than 700 people, mostly children, have been diagnosed over the past month. Nearly 22,000 individuals have been subjected to blood screening since the outbreak was first reported in Larkana on April 25. The district, with an estimated population of 1.5 million, is located in Sindh province and it has previously also experienced repeated, though limited, outbreaks of the virus, which causes AIDS. The major testing program is ongoing and local officials say hundreds of people line up everyday outside screening camps to get tested voluntarily after watching news on television about the HIV epidemic in their area. “More than 80% of those infected are children less than 15 years old,” said Dr. Maria Elena G. Filio-Borromeo, UNAIDS’ country director for Pakistan and Afghanistan. She spoke to VOA from the Pakistani province where her agency is leading the coordination and facilitation of support from U.N. agencies to help local partners effectively respond to the crisis. Borromeo noted that more than half the children affected are under the age of 5. “This poses a particular challenge. It is likely that they got the virus through unclean needles and syringes, or through unsafe blood transfusion,” she said. The UNAIDS country chief would not, however, speculate on exactly what might have caused the HIV outbreak. …