Hot day today. Just had to sit there and sun myself on my decking. I have been looking at ways to set up some support wire for my vine. The fences my neighbours have put up are concrete posts. I was thinking of using some L-shaped brackets to fix a wood block to the post, until somebody suggested gorilla glue. Quite impressed with a test block. I’ll give it a stress test tomorrow.
Good news – somebody has managed to get me some Marmite! I can keep making soup. Phew!
So today is the third UN SDG – Good Health. Not an easy one in current circumstances.
Interesting set of targets:
- By 2030, reduce the global maternal mortality ratio to less than 70 per 100,000 live births
- By 2030, end preventable deaths of newborns and children under 5 years of age, with all countries aiming to reduce neonatal mortality to at least as low as 12 per 1,000 live births and under-5 mortality to at least as low as 25 per 1,000 live births
- By 2030, end the epidemics of AIDS, tuberculosis, malaria and neglected tropical diseases and combat hepatitis, water-borne diseases and other communicable diseases
- By 2030, reduce by one third premature mortality from non-communicable diseases through prevention and treatment and promote mental health and well-being
- Strengthen the prevention and treatment of substance abuse, including narcotic drug abuse and harmful use of alcohol
- By 2020, halve the number of global deaths and injuries from road traffic accidents
- By 2030, ensure universal access to sexual and reproductive health-care services, including for family planning, information and education, and the integration of reproductive health into national strategies and programmes
- Achieve universal health coverage, including financial risk protection, access to quality essential health-care services and access to safe, effective, quality and affordable essential medicines and vaccines for all
- By 2030, substantially reduce the number of deaths and illnesses from hazardous chemicals and air, water and soil pollution and contamination
- Strengthen the implementation of the World Health Organization Framework Convention on Tobacco Control in all countries, as appropriate
- Support the research and development of vaccines and medicines for the communicable and noncommunicable diseases that primarily affect developing countries, provide access to affordable essential medicines and vaccines, in accordance with the Doha Declaration on the TRIPS Agreement and Public Health, which affirms the right of developing countries to use to the full the provisions in the Agreement on Trade Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights regarding flexibilities to protect public health, and, in particular, provide access to medicines for all
- Substantially increase health financing and the recruitment, development, training and retention of the health workforce in developing countries, especially in least developed countries and small island developing States
- Strengthen the capacity of all countries, in particular developing countries, for early warning, risk reduction and management of national and global health risks
Strange to look at a health list these days without seeing COVID at the top. But consider this, COVID has killed about half a million people – air pollution kills about the same number in a month.
One of the success stories of recent years has been the global vaccination programme. Between 2000 and 2017 this has led to an 80% reduction in measles deaths. However there are problems.
Vaccines are not perfect. They occasionally cause harm – we have a compensation system that pays out regularly because of this. But make no mistake – the diseases they protect against are much worse.
There are also some positive side effects of vaccines, some can improve the bodies immune system generally. There has been some talk of the effect of BCG on survival rates from COVID. What can seriously be said is that BCG protects people from TB, and diverting a BCG vaccine to rich countries from places where it is really needed is selfish.
There also continues to be a group of people that tell people they should not get vaccinated. This is so strong that around a quarter of people in the USA have said they will not use a COVID vaccine. Some people call them idiots, I call them child killers.
This week the UN are putting out a set of communications about vaccines. If you want to read more then join in the verified service.
And we must not forget the abdication of responsibility of the USA in relation to the WHO. If you want to step up and help fill the gap you can donate here.
And here is a list of things the WHO have supported:
