Year: 2021

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New Year Sees SA Hospitals Battling for Resources Amid COVID Surge

On By ModernMedia

As the new year begins, South African hospitals are struggling as unprecedented numbers of COVID cases in the second wave are pushing resources to the limit. Hospitals are having to cope with the situation even as their own workers are off sick or self-isolating.

Last week, at least one province was reported to have reached out to the army to request additional personnel to help cope with the additional burden. Wester Cape premier Alan Winde said the province was recruiting an additional 1 300 health care workers (HCWs)In a weekly media briefing, KwaZulu-Natal premier Sihle Zikalala stated on Sunday that a total of 8 723 public sector HCWs had been infected with COVID since the start of the pandemic.

“Of the total infected, 98 have sadly succumbed to the disease. The majority of the infected health-care workers are nurses,” he said. HCWs are also struggling with burnout and illness.  Experts had long been predicting the impact the second wave would have on South Africa’s already weakened health infrastructure. As of Sunday, 3rd January, there were a total of 167 492 active cases in the country.  

Dr Kams Govender, who works west of Durban, said: “What we are experiencing now is just the tremor, the tsunami is yet to come in mid January. It’s hit us hard and it’s going to hit us even harder then. We are physically and emotionally exhausted, and worse, losing our health-care colleagues every single day. But still we push on and show up and pray for better days where there is more light than darkness.”

The hospital at Prince Mshiyeni Memorial Hospital (PMMH) in Umlazi, KZN, was reported to be full and bodies had to be taken to funeral homes within 48 hours.

One nurse at PMMH said, “The hospital is full, the Covid wards are full, the normal wards are full. There are no beds for our outpatients, they lie in the passage on stretchers waiting for beds. The Covid patients will be placed with one another in a consultation room. We try to separate them but it’s not a proper place for patients to be in because there are no beds, just the stretchers. We are running out of oxygen points because there are so many patients that need oxygen. We tend to prioritise who needs it more, but right now everyone needs it.”
Source: Sowetan Live

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WHO Team Barred from Entry into China

On By ModernMedia

According to the World Health Organization, its team sent to China to investigate the origins of COVID were denied entry.

Conveying his disappointment at the team being barred from entry into China due to visas not being issued, WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said, “today, we learned that Chinese officials have not yet finalized the necessary permissions for the team’s arrival in China.”

Addressing the media in Geneva, he continued, “I’m very disappointed with this news, given that two members had already begun their journeys and others were not able to travel at the last minute, but had been in contact with senior Chinese officials.”

“But I have been in contact with senior Chinese officials. And I have once again made it clear that the mission is a priority for WHO and the international team.” He added, “We are eager to get the mission underway as soon as possible.” 

The experts were to investigate the origins of the SARS-CoV-2 virus in Wuhan.  The team of 10 will be led by Peter Ben Embarek, WHO’s expert on zoonoses – diseases that cross over the species barrier into humans from animals.

Dr Michael Ryan, the emergencies chief at WHO, said the understanding was that the team would begin the deployment from Tuesday, and that two of its members had begun travelling to China, with one member already turned back due to visa issues while the other was still in transit.

“We did not want to put people in the air unnecessarily if there wasn’t a guarantee of their arrival in China being successful,” said Ryan. “Dr Tedros has taken immediate action and has spoken with senior Chinese officials and has fully impressed upon them the absolute critical nature of this.”
“We hope that this is just a logistical and bureaucratic issue that can be resolved very quickly,” he continued.

According to the The Financial Times, Hua Chunying, the Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson, on Wednesday said, “Tracing the source [of the virus] is a complicated issue. To ensure that the international team’s work progresses smoothly, they must go through the necessary procedures.”

Source: The Independent

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A New Initiative to Boost Advanced Therapy Medicinal Products Development

On By ModernMedia

The University of Sheffield in concert with pharmaceutical giant Pfizer, has announced the creation of a new consortium to help accelerate the development of Advanced Therapy Medicinal Products (AMTPs), enabling radical new treatments such as gene therapy to reach patients sooner.

The Accelerating Research and Innovation for Advanced Therapies (ARDAT) consortium will bring together 34 academic, nonprofit and private organisations from across Europe and the United States. They will bring their expertise to bear on a €25.5 million project to accelerate ATMP development.

Rapid growth is expected in the AMTP field, with the submission of some 10-20 new drug applications annually to the FDA by 2025.
“While still an emerging field, ATMP research has largely been fragmented and siloed within organisations with little opportunity to share best practices and information,” said Dr Greg LaRosa, Head of Scientific Research, Rare Disease Research Unit at Pfizer.

“As gene and cell therapies research grows and more potential ATMPs move into later-stage clinical trials, it is in the interest of the industry and of patients to further our collective understanding of their mechanisms by sharing data and regulatory expertise.”

Source: University of Sheffield