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UN Warns of ‘High Food Price Hot Spots’ in Africa; Hyperinflation In Many Countries

July 10, 2021by Mary Jane Freeman in Agriculture, Economic development updates, General, General updates, Geopolitics updates, Healthcare

UN Warns of ‘High Food Price Hot Spots’ in Africa; Hyperinflation In Many Countries—

July 9 (EIRNS)–The UN News office issued a release July 8 on the crisis of rising food prices, quoting Arif Husain, Chief Economist at the UN World Food Program, that, “High food prices are hunger’s new best friend.” Overall, the WFP paid 13 percent more for wheat for food relief, during the first four months of 2021, than it paid in 2020. Individual countries—especially the poor and food-import dependent, are experiencing terrible price shocks. The release gave many examples, from the recent WFP Market Monitor:

Lebanon: The price of wheat flour here from March through May was 50% higher than the previous three months. The year-on-year price rise was 219%.

Syria: The price of cooking oil March through May rose nearly 60% from the prior three months. Cooking oil year-on-year has increased in price by 440%.

Mozambique: The price of cassava March through May shot up by 45% over the prior three-month period. Mozambique is among what the WFP calls the “high food price hot spots” in Africa.

Fauci: 99.2% of June U.S. COVID Deaths Were Unvaccinated People

July 9, 2021by Mary Jane Freeman in COVID-19, General updates, Healthcare, Healthcare

Fauci: 99.2% of June U.S. COVID Deaths Were Unvaccinated People

July 8, 2021 (EIRNS)–The ideological insanity of people who either refuse to get COVID-19 vaccines, or who preach to others not to get the vaccine, is producing a forecastable result: death from SARS-CoV-2.

On July 4, Dr. Antony Fauci, director of the U.S. National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, appeared on the NBC News Meet the Press program. Host Chuck Todd asked Dr. Fauci,

“It’s disconcerting to realize that we have had nearly 10,000 people die of COVID in this most recent month that we completed in June. How preventable were each one of those deaths? And how many of them were unvaccinated?”

Fauci responded, “Well, if you look at the number of deaths [in June], about 99.2% of them are unvaccinated. About 0.8% are vaccinated. No vaccine is perfect. But when you talk about the avoidability of hospitalization and death, Chuck, it’s really sad and tragic that most all of these are avoidable and preventable… The overwhelming proportion of people who get into trouble are the unvaccinated. Which is the reason why we say this is really entirely avoidable and preventable.”

Fauci continued: “Over the decades that I’ve been doing this, you’re frustrated because you have diseases where you don’t have an appropriate countermeasure, be it prevention or a treatment. And then when you have a situation like you have today, where you have a formidable enemy in the virus that has tragically really disrupted our planet now for about a year and a half, destructive — destroyed economies, ….and yet we do have a countermeasure that’s highly, highly effective. And that’s the reason why it’s all the more sad … And whatever the reasons, … some of them are ideologic, some of them are just fundamentally anti-vax or anti-science or what have you. But, you know, we just need to put that aside now. We’re dealing with a historic situation with this pandemic. And we do have the tools to counter it.”

He added that, “There are people throughout the world who would do anything to get vaccines.”

On July 1, at a briefing at the White House by the White House COVID-19 Response Team, Dr. Rochelle Walensky, director of the Centers for Disease Control, said, “Preliminary data from a collection of states over the last six months suggest 99.5% of deaths from COVID-19 in these states have occurred in unvaccinated people.” Even though this covered a period at the beginning of the year when vaccines were not generally available, the numbers remain impressive.

WHO Briefers Angry at Lack of Health Infrastructure in the War vs. COVID-19

July 8, 2021by Mary Jane Freeman in COVID-19, General updates, Geopolitics updates, Healthcare

WHO Briefers Angry at Lack of Health Infrastructure in the War vs. COVID-19

July 6, 2021 (EIRNS)—The World Health Organization’s Mike Ryan and Maria Von Kerkhove answered questions for the public on Monday and allowed some of their frustration and anger to show. First on Monday: While new cases worldwide have stabilized, they have done so at an uncomfortably high level; this, in fact, reflects a dangerously unstable situation. While new cases in the Americas declined (13%), they raced upwards in Africa (15%) and Europe (28%). This last week had twenty countries undergoing sharp rises. Basically, the point of impact simply shifted. The two WHO specialists cited three interacting factors: uneven vaccination levels, the spread of the Delta variant, and social relaxing.

Then the anger: The WHO teams are fighting on the front lines. We’re really humanitarians, and we won’t give up. But the vaccines aren’t coming as they should, or even as promised. “The cavalry is not coming.” This destroys morale. So, people then give up, go back to work and accept what fate will bring them. What is needed is to build and invest in systems now—don’t wait for the next surge. A system involves: surveillance systems, testing in place, isolation, clinical care, contact tracing or at least cluster investigations and such; so that we can find out where the enemy is and go after it. Those systems need to be built now, and the wealthier West is not even doing it for their own populations. Their admonitions are an echo of Helga Zepp LaRouche’s 2020 call for a new global health platform for each country.

Ryan stressed that there were enough vaccines in the world right now to inoculate all the “at-risk” categories and the medical personnel. Kerkhove stressed that enough is known about the workings of the coronavirus to design a comprehensive war plan against it. It seems that the first 18 months of the battle finds the immaturity of political culture is no match for the reality of the virus.

Beasley Calls on Branson, Musk, and Bezos for $6 Billion To End Starvation

June 30, 2021by madeleine in Agriculture, General, General updates, Healthcare, World Food Program

Over the weekend, World Food Program Director David Beasley sent out a tweet, reiterating his frequent call on billionaires to step up to meet the $6 billion more needed this year to roll back hunger and prevent starvation. But this time he named names. He included in his tweet the June 26 CNN video story, “Bezos vs. Branson: Billionaires Battle Over Being First in Space.” Beasley tweeted June 26:
            “Hey, Richard Branson, Elon Musk and Jeff Bezos, so excited to see you compete on who gets to space first! BUT, I would love to see you TEAM up together to save the 41 million people who are about to starve this year on Earth! It only takes $6 billion. We can solve this quickly!”

The financial worth of these three, according to Global Citizen: Branson, $6.3 billion; Musk, $165.9 billion; and Bezos $192.6 billion.

El Salvador Government: Responsible for Clean Water, Decent Hospitals

June 24, 2021by Mary Jane Freeman in Agriculture, Economic development updates, El Salvador, General updates, Global Diplomacy, Healthcare, Healthcare

El Salvador Asserts Government Responsibility for Clean Water, Decent Hospitals

June 23, 2021 (EIRNS)—Salvadoran President Nayib Bukele sent a draft Water Bill to the National Assembly on June 19, which declares affordable access to clean water to be a human right, which it is the government’s responsibility to secure. Given the fact that the government’s “New Ideas” party has a majority in the Assembly, the bill could pass within 90 days. The bill’s Article I asserts the crucial principle:

“Article 1. The human right to water and sanitation is the right of all people to have sufficient, healthy, safe, acceptable, clean water available to them, accessible in amount, quality, continuity and coverage at an affordable price.

“The State, in all its basic authorities and institutions of Government has the obligation and paramount responsibility to guarantee, without any discrimination whatsoever among persons, the effective enjoyment of the human right to potable water and sanitation for its population, for which purpose it must adopt all policies, legislation and measures which lead to the full realization of this right.”

It is no wonder that most Salvadorans are now more optimistic about their future than they have been for decades. The Bukele government at the same time is celebrating the arrival of enough new, modern hospital beds to replace 50% of the existing beds in the country’s public hospitals. Those new beds are already being distributed around the country. The other 50% of old beds will be replaced in the second phase. Pictures of the existing decrepit beds, many dating back to the 1950’s, are sickening. As President Bukele pointed out: these beds have been used during 10 governments—not counting the coups d’etat.

World Food Program Warns: 41 Million People at Famine’s Door

June 23, 2021by Mary Jane Freeman in Agriculture, Economic development updates, General updates, Healthcare, World war danger updates

World Food Program Warns There Are 41 Million People at Famine’s Door

June 22 (EIRNS)–The World Food Program today issued a warning headlined, “41 Million People Now at Imminent Risk of Famine.” The UN WFP press release quotes Executive Director David Beasley, who addressed the WFP Board on June 21, “I am heartbroken at what we’re facing in 2021. We now have four countries where famine-like conditions are present. Meanwhile, 41 million people are literally knocking on famine’s door. If you look at the numbers, it’s just tragic—these are real people with real names. I am extremely concerned.”

The four countries with famine-like conditions are Ethiopia, Madagascar, South Sudan and Yemen, where people are experiencing famine-like conditions, which is phase 5, “famine/catastrophe,” on the IPS acute food insecurity index from 1 to 5.  Nigeria and Burkina Faso also have people in this worst category.

The 41 million people are across 43 countries. “The slightest shock will push them over the precipice. This number has risen from 27 million in 2019,” said the release.

Further from the release, “Conflict, climate change and economic shocks have been driving the rises in hunger, but pressures on food security are being compounded by soaring prices for basic foods this year. Global corn prices have soared almost 90% year-on-year, while wheat prices are up almost 30% over the same period.

“In many countries, currency depreciation is adding to these pressures and driving prices even higher. This in turn is stoking hunger in countries such as Lebanon, Nigeria, Sudan, Venezuela and Zimbabwe.

“This year, the UN World Food Program is undertaking the biggest operation in its history, targeting 139 million people this year.” Beasley asks for $6 billion. “We need funding and we need it now.”

Africa Enters 3rd Wave; Equitable Vaccine Distribution Could Have Prevented It

June 22, 2021by Mary Jane Freeman in COVID-19, Economic development updates, General updates, Healthcare, Healthcare

Africa Entering Third Wave; Equitable Vaccine Distribution Could Have Prevented It

June 21 (EIRNS) — Africa has officially entered its third wave of the COVID-19 pandemic in less than two years — having been struck with two waves in 2020, and now going into another Winter season — with little relief in sight, and new more-virulent variants to deal with. “New cases, continent-wide are up by nearly 30% in the past week, and deaths are up by 15%,” said WHO Africa Regional Director, Doctor Matshidiso Moeti, in her weekly press conference June 17. “The threat of a third wave is real and rising.” A meager 1% of the African population has been vaccinated, due to the massive logistics barriers involved, along with lack of vaccine accessibility and financing.
            The land-locked nation of Uganda is the latest crisis spot– as cases in the nation of nearly 50 million have shot up over 131% in the last week– with Namibia, DR Congo and Angola each showing lesser spikes. Many more of the victims are now younger, and a much higher percentage of them now require oxygen as part of treatment. Uganda’s hospitals are nearing their limits, and the nation has put out requests to neighboring states for emergency relief supplies.
            The other nation again in the unwanted spotlight is South Africa, where President Cyril Ramaphosa was forced to make a national address on June 15, as he once again declared a Level 3 lockdown. “A third wave of infections is upon us,” the president said. In just the past two weeks, “the average number of daily new infections has doubled. Then, we were recording around 3,700 daily infections. Over the last seven days, we have recorded an average of 7,500 daily infections. Hospital admissions due to COVID-19 over the last 14 days are 59% higher than the preceding 14 days.”
            Again reflecting the increased threat from variants, Ramaphosa said, “The average number of people who die from COVID-19 each day has increased by 48%  from 535 two weeks ago to 791 in the past seven days.” [emphasis added] Although South Africa responded effectively and built emergency capacity last year, four of the most populous provinces are officially in a third wave, with Gauteng — the most urban and populous — accounting for nearly two-thirds of new cases in the past week. “The increase in infections … is now faster and steeper,” he said, and “within a matter of days, it is likely that the number of new cases in Gauteng will surpass the peak of the second wave.” And Winter is just starting.
            South Africa’s vaccine rollout has been severely frustrated, first by the denial of AstraZeneca vaccines from India (as they faced their own crisis), and further by the complications around the Johnson & Johnson version, either one of which could have prevented this crisis. Vaccines are “the one statistic that provides a clear reason for hope,” Ramaphosa said. Last year (during the second wave), over hundreds of healthcare workers had become infected, as the “South African variant” was first encountered. “In the last seven days,” he said, “only 64 health care workers have been infected.”
            By the end of the week, South Africa is expected to produce its own Johnson & Johnson vaccines. 

Diplomacy by Example: Ibero-America Shares Its Vaccine Production

June 15, 2021by madeleine in Healthcare

The first 400,000 doses of the Astra-Zeneca vaccine produced by Argentina and packaged by Mexico were delivered by the Mexican Air Force over the weekend to Bolivia, Paraguay and Belize: 150,000 each for the first two; 100,000 for the latter, much smaller country. Another 811,000 doses, now ready for injection, were shipped back on commercial airlines to Argentina, for its use. Mexican Foreign Ministry officials report some 500,000 vaccines should be shipped to El Salvador, Honduras and Guatemala “shortly,” and others after that.


Accompanying the vaccines to La Paz, Mexican Deputy Foreign Minister for Multilateral Affairs and Human Rights declared in a joint press statement with Bolivian Foreign Minister Rogelio Mayta,  that “we are one people, one community,” and we are most happy that we are able to help. Mayta agreed that “we are a single brotherhood.” He thanked Mexico, assuring Delgado that when Mexico needs help,Bolivia will be there for Mexicans, too.
Mexico’s Deputy Foreign Secretary for Latin America and the Caribbean, Maximilian Reyes Zúñiga, reported in a June 13 {El Economista} oped he headlined “Latin American Solidarity; A Diplomacy of Results,” that Mexico will be sharing the Chinese Cansino vaccine which it is preparing to produce and its own “Patria” vaccine, now in Phase II trials, with the rest of the region. He then delivered a pointed message to those like the Biden administration and other G-7 nations who have been ignored the needs of other nations:

“We are not just fulfilling a commitment made. This also entails our vision of solidarity with Latin America and the Caribbean, a diplomacy of results which places the common good before the egotistical interests which often dominate international relations. By helping others, we help ourselves. Mexico trusts in the power of leading by example, and that our actions will benefit not only the people who receive the vaccines, but that they will be a powerful image so that other countries do the same and also act in solidarity.”

The need for a world health system will be discussed at the upcoming Schiller Institute conference.

For the Common Good of all People, not the Rules Benefiting the Few!

International Schiller Institute/ICLC online conference, June 26/ 27, 2021

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World Food Program Director David Beasley Sounds the Alarm on Famine in Ethiopia

June 14, 2021by madeleine in General, Healthcare

On June 10, David Beasley, Executive Director of the UN World Food Program (WFP), confirmed distressing new information that although it is are “deploying more than 180 staff and increasing food distributions to reach 1.4 million people,” these are less than half of the estimated 4 million people in the Ethiopian region of Tigray facing severe hunger. Of those, 350,000 are threatened with famine, representing the highest number in a single country over the past decade, the World Food Program said in a statement.

Beasley emphasized that “the brutal reality for our staff in Tigray is that for every family we reach with life-saving food, there are countless more especially in rural areas whom we cannot reach. We have appealed for humanitarian access but are still being blocked by armed groups…. Our teams tell me that in 53 villages they visited, 50% of mothers and almost a quarter of children they’ve been screening are malnourished. Millions of people urgently need food. Without it, many of them will die.”

According to the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC) analysis, published by the UN and aid partners on June 10, “the conflict, which began last November between central government forces and regional forces of the Tigray People’s Liberation Front, is the key cause of acute food security in Tigray,” The fighting has destroyed infrastructure—especially farms—killed or scattered livestock, and has caused massive displacement of the population.

Executive Director of the UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF) Henrietta Fore stated that “without humanitarian access to scale up our response, an estimated 33,000 severely malnourished children in currently inaccessible areas in Tigray are at high risk of death. The world cannot permit that to happen.”  She also addressed a severe situation in Cabo Delgado, Mozambique in her June 11 briefing. UNICEF Press Release

Beasley appealed to world leaders, saying that “three things are needed to prevent hunger from claiming millions of lives in Tigray; a ceasefire, unimpeded access for WFP and partners to all areas, and the money to expand our operations to meet the growing numbers of people who desperately need emergency food assistance.” WFP Statement

The upcoming two-day Schiller Institute International June 26-27 conference is part of a continuous process to build a stronger and stronger anti-Malthusian alliance worldwide, incorporating a network of people who understand the profound importance of a Renaissance of Classical culture.

For the Common Good of all People, not the Rules Benefiting the Few!

International Schiller Institute/ICLC online conference, June 26/ 27, 2021

RSVP today →

WHO Director General: G7 Health Declaration Is Insufficient

June 14, 2021by madeleine in General, Healthcare

The World Health Organization (W.H.O) Director General, Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, applauded the intention of the Carbis Bay Declaration on Health released today by the G7 meeting near Carbis Bay in Cornwall, UK, but stated that it is insufficient to address the current pandemic crisis.

The Declaration signers pledged one billion doses of vaccine to the poorest nations; to decrease the approval time for new vaccines to 100 days, and to increase capabilities for the world to track and sequence new diseases, among other initiatives.

Dr. Ghebreyesus stressed, “‘Many other countries are now facing a surge in cases – and they are facing it without vaccines. We are in the race of our lives, but it’s not a fair race, and most countries have barely left the starting line. We welcome the generous announcements about donations of vaccines and thank leaders. But we need more, and we need them faster…Together we need to build on the significant scientific and collaborative response to the Covid-19 pandemic and find common solutions to address many of the gaps identified.’” He also emphasized that (even though it’s too little, too late) 11 billion doses are needed to vaccinate at least 70% of the world’s population by mid-2022.

His statements were underscored by Henrietta Fore, Executive Director of UNICEF, who said this weekend: “‘We have reached a grim milestone in this pandemic: There are already more dead from COVID-19 in 2021 than in all of last year. Without urgent action, this devastation will continue. Equitable access to COVID-19 vaccines represents the clearest pathway out of this pandemic for all of us — children included. 

“UNICEF thanks G7 member states for their significant pledges and continued support. However, much work remains to continue to ramp up both the amount and the pace of supply to the rest of the world, because when it comes to ending the COVID-19 pandemic, our best interests and our best natures align. This crisis will not be over until it is over for everyone.’” UNICEF Press Release

The upcoming two-day Schiller Institute International June 26-27 conference is part of a continuous process to build a stronger and stronger anti-Malthusian alliance worldwide, incorporating a network of people who understand the profound importance of a Renaissance of Classical culture.

For the Common Good of all People, not the Rules Benefiting the Few!

International Schiller Institute/ICLC online conference, June 26/ 27, 2021

RSVP today →

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