Say it with Flowers

Thousands peacefully rally in Bangkok, Thailand, demanding government’s resignation. Photo: Rungroj Yongrit/EPA.

Dr. Strangelove

• Philip Oltermann, WHO opens pandemic intelligence hub to look out for future crises, The Guardian, September 1, 2021

A World Health Organization “pandemic intelligence hub” launched by the UN agency’s director general, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, and Germany’s Angela Merkel in Berlin on Wednesday will try to help governments identify future pandemics at an earlier stage and improve monitoring of new variant strains of COVID-19. [Read more].

Muumuu

• Ian Sample, WHO monitoring new coronavirus variant named Mu, The Guardian, September 1, 2021

The Mu variant, also known as B.1.621, was added to the WHO’s watchlist on 30 August after it was detected in 39 countries and found to possess a cluster of mutations that may make it less susceptible to the immune protection many have acquired. [Read more].

Wonderbra

A woman goes shopping at a weekly municipal non-food market as the country eases COVID-19 restrictions, in Espinho, Portugal. Photo: Violeta Santos Moura/Reuters.

Yes, Edna, whilst the Titanic was sinking, only very few rich people succeeded at getting a seat on the lifeboats, but nonetheless the orchestra kept playing and their music gave Jack the inspiration and courage to be “He who saves a life saves the world entire”

• Swee Kheng Khor, Three Vaccine Assumptions for 2021, Project Syndicate, February 23, 2021

As COVID-19 vaccination programs scale up globally, they must be able to withstand reality. Policymakers need to incorporate three realistic assumptions into their immunization plans: delays are inevitable, inequality will increase, and vaccine procurement could be a proxy for geopolitics. [Read more].

Package Insert

With respect to the health, safety and well-being of ourselves and others, it is advisable — if only for civic duty — to take a look, with regular cadence, at the World Health Organisation’s “Mythbusters” page, which aims at refuting the relentless “infodemic” of COVID-19 misinformation. Indeed, facts can be disarming when presented as an “anti-narrative” of a narrative filled with viral rhetoric. For instance, I quote, “FACT: Thermal scanners CANNOT detect COVID-19”. Of course, there may be many causes for fever, not only COVID-19. So why to generalise? Not well, in too many places there are too many signs reading “If you have fever you are not allowed”, but “If you have a toothache with a fever you are welcome” certainly sounds fairer. Another advice which I would quote is, “FACT: People should NOT wear masks while exercising”, as — quite obviously — in such instances surgical masks may make breathing more difficult. “The important preventive measure during exercise is to maintain physical distance of at least one meter from others”. Last but not least, I’ll quote one more, so as not to eclipse the light of a relative truth: “FACT: There are no medicines that can prevent or treat COVID-19”. So be healthy, keep your immune system up, and enjoy your reading!

The Right of Not Becoming Arcovazzi’s Wife

A protest held outside the Department of Health in Dublin, Ireland last week against plans to grant ownership of the National Maternity Hospital to the Sisters of Charity religious order. Photo: Niall Carson/PA.

Under the Umbrella

Beirut, Lebanon: Pink umbrellas decorate the facade of the Ministry of Public Health as part of a campaign to raise awareness of breast cancer prevention. Photo: Mohamed Azakir/Reuters.

Stairway to Heaven

An abandoned toilet on the banks of the Mekong river in Laos. The degradation of the water, vital as an economic lifeline for 60 million people, is a great concern for the six Asian nations it flows through. Photo: Barbara Walton/EPA.

Arcovazzi’s Colonial Development and Welfare Acts

There is little privacy in these public latrines in Kroo Bay, Freetown, Sierra Leone. There is also a security issue, especially for women needing to go to the toilet at night, according to a report by Amnesty International. Photo: Anna Jefferys/IRIN.

Network of suppliers

A poster illustrates the business venture between UMAWA and its customers in a pit-latrine-emptying venture in Kigamboni district, Dar es Salaam, Tanzania. Photo: WaterAid/Christina Chacha.

They Can’t Wait!

A huge inflatable toilet was installed outside United Nations (UN) headquarters in New York, United States, to mark World Toilet Day 2014. Photo: Jewel Samad/AFP/Getty Images.

En busca del paraíso

Mexico City’s lavatories may not cope with its creaking sewage system, but what they lack in efficiency they make up for in creative design. “Incredible improvisation... Unlike most European and U.S. cities, Mexico has no rules to dictate public sanitation design”, says Kurt Hollander, who must also be credited for the above picture.

The Importance of Not Being Arcovazzi

“Sanitation is more important than independence” Sanitation has a strong connection not only with personal hygiene but also with human dignity and well-being, public health, nutrition and even education. There must be total sanitation for all. Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi

“Everyone must be his own scavenger” – Mahatma Gandhi. Photo courtesy of mkgandhi.org.