Day: July 26, 2022

The World Health Organization is urging people who may have been exposed to or at risk of monkeypox to get vaccinated against the disease as a preventive measure.

Since it declared monkeypox a global health threat last week, the WHO says the disease has continued to spread around the world, with cases topping 16,000 in at least 75 countries.

The WHO says the outbreak is mainly concentrated among men who have sex with men, especially those with multiple sexual partners. It warns against stigmatizing a whole group of people, as this could cause the outbreak to accelerate exponentially by driving the disease underground.

The WHO technical leader on monkeypox, Rosamund Lewis, says the outbreak can be stopped with the right strategies in the right groups. She says mass vaccination is not required, but the WHO recommends vaccination for those who have been exposed or are at risk.

“When someone is vaccinated, it takes several weeks for the immune response to be generated by the body. So, it is not something you can be vaccinated one day and be protected the next. You need to give it some time,” Lewis said. “So, the folks we are recommending to be vaccinated right now are anyone who has exposure, a contact with someone who may have been confirmed to have monkeypox. And so, that could be family members. It could be other close contacts.”

She says even children are not immune from getting the disease. Between 80 and 90 cases of monkeypox in children have been reported in several countries, mostly in households where someone was infected.

The monkeypox virus is spread from person to person through close bodily contact. It can cause a range of symptoms, including painful sores. Those at higher risk for the disease or complications include women who are pregnant, children and people who are immunocompromised.

European countries have the highest number of confirmed cases. Although monkeypox is endemic in Africa, where it has been present since 1970, the reported caseload is relatively low. For example, Nigeria reports 101 cases, and the Democratic Republic of Congo has confirmed 163 cases out of more than 2,000 suspected cases.

Lewis says the number of suspected cases in the DRC is high because the country’s ability to confirm cases through laboratory testing is limited. She says testing needs to be supported and ramped up.

“Suspected cases may be other things. They may even be measles. They may be chickenpox. There is no vaccine for chickenpox being used in that environment. So, it is critically important to support countries to access testing. That is one of the most important things that WHO is trying to do right now,” she said. “At the same time, in the global reports, what we are reporting are confirmed and probable cases.”

For now, no travel-related monkeypox restrictions are in place. However, the WHO recommends anyone with signs or symptoms compatible with the monkeypox virus should avoid travel and isolate for the duration of the illness.

Source: Voice of America

On the 32nd anniversary of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), the U.S. remains one of a handful of countries that have not ratified the 2006 United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD) — an international treaty the U.S. legislation inspired.

The ADA, signed into law by President George H.W. Bush on July 26, 1990, prohibits discrimination based on disability in public accommodations, employment, transportation and community living, and provides recourse for people with disabilities who faced discrimination.

“It’s hard for the newer generation to imagine the injustices suffered before the ADA,” President Joe Biden said Tuesday in a House Bipartisan Disabilities Caucus event to celebrate the ADA’s anniversary. Biden, who is still in isolation from his COVID-19 diagnosis, delivered his remarks virtually.

“If you’re disabled, stores can turn you away, and employers can refuse to hire you. If you use a wheelchair, there was no accommodation to take the bus or train to school or to work. America simply wasn’t built for all Americans,” Biden said.

The administration on Tuesday announced $1.75 billion to make it easier for people with disabilities to get on board the nation’s public transportation systems, including $343 million to help agencies retrofit train and subway stations built prior to the disabilities act.

During the caucus event, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said Democrats will not give up trying to ratify the CRPD. A National Security Council spokesperson told VOA the administration “would certainly support its ratification.”

However, with only 48 Democrats and two independents in the 100-seat U.S. Senate, and an urgent legislative agenda in the pipeline, it is unlikely that the Biden White House will take up the matter anytime soon.

Global disability movement

Since its passing, the ADA has inspired disability laws in various countries and sparked a movement for disability rights around the world that culminated in the CPRD. The U.S. also provided technical assistance during the convention’s negotiation and drafting process.

The CPRD came into force in 2008 and was signed by President Barack Obama in 2009. But in 2012, it fell five votes short of the two-thirds majority required for the U.S. Senate to adopt it, largely due to a reluctance to submit to international law on a domestic policy matter.

Out of 193 U.N. member countries, 185 have ratified the CRPD that aims to promote, protect and ensure full and equal enjoyment of all human rights for persons with disabilities.

“We’re always very much open and honest in recognizing we haven’t ratified the CRPD,” Sara Minkara, special adviser on international disability rights, told VOA.

Minkara, who is legally blind, leads the Office of International Disability Rights at the U.S. Department of State, which promotes the rights of persons with disabilities around the world through American diplomacy and development aid. The position was created under the Obama administration, and her office was made permanent by the Biden administration last November.

In various countries, views on people with disabilities often fall between pity or inspiration from their suffering, Minkara said, and those extreme narratives contribute to societies leaving people with disabilities behind.

“We need to normalize disability. We need to change how we look at the word disability. We need to change how we look at disabilities and identities, not from a pity lens but from a strength and value-based lens.”

The administration says it supports “disability-inclusive development and humanitarian action” around the world.

However, there is no mechanism to ensure full disability inclusion in U.S. foreign assistance, said Eric Rosenthal, executive director of the advocacy group Disability Rights International.

“You can offer your assistance and say our assistance is available to all people, but the truth is, people with disabilities have a hard time finding the aid,” Rosenthal told VOA. “There has to be more active outreach efforts.”

People with intellectual disabilities, psychiatric and psychosocial disabilities are particularly vulnerable, Rosenthal said. In many places, they are often stripped of legal rights and put away in institutions.

“There are very serious human rights violations against them in most countries, and the advocacy movements are usually way behind the advocacy movements for other disability groups,” Rosenthal said. “So, that’s an example of a very at-risk group that needs to be targeted for more attention.”

Disability Rights International and other groups have endorsed a concept for a U.S. bill to support the efforts of disability advocates worldwide to stop children with disabilities from being institutionalized, where they often face serious neglect and abuse.

Source: Voice of America