YCLOAK

The U.S. national emergency to respond to the COVID-19 pandemic ended Monday as President Joe Biden signed a bipartisan congressional resolution to bring it to a close after three years — weeks before it was set to expire alongside a separate public health emergency. 

The national emergency allowed the government to take sweeping steps to respond to the virus and support the country’s economic, health and welfare systems. Some of the emergency measures have already been successfully wound down, while others are still being phased out. The public health emergency — it underpins tough immigration restrictions at the U.S.-Mexico border — is set to expire on May 11. 

The White House issued a one-line statement Monday saying Biden had signed the measure behind closed doors, after having publicly opposed the resolution though not to the point of issuing a veto. More than 197 Democrats in the House voted against it when the GOP-controlled chamber passed it in February. Last month, as the measure passed the Senate by a 68-23 vote, Biden let lawmakers know he would sign it. 

The administration said once it became clear that Congress was moving to speed up the end of the national emergency it worked to expedite agency preparations for a return to normal procedures. Among the changes: The Department of Housing and Urban Development’s COVID-19 mortgage forbearance program is set to end at the end of May, and the Department of Veterans Affairs is now returning to a requirement for in-home visits to determine eligibility for caregiver assistance. 

Legislators last year extended for another two years telehealth flexibilities that were introduced as COVID-19 hit, leading health care systems around the country to regularly deliver care by smartphone or computer. 

More than 1.13 million people in the U.S. have died from COVID-19 over the past three years, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, including 1,773 people in the week ending April 5. 

Then-President Donald Trump’s Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar first declared a public health emergency on January 31, 2020, and Trump declared the COVID-19 pandemic a national emergency that March. The emergencies have been repeatedly extended by Biden since he took office in January 2021, and he broadened the use of emergency powers after entering the White House. 
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An international team of scientists is rushing to save West Africa’s Atlantic humpback dolphin, which environmental groups say has been pushed to the brink of extinction. In 1987, Senegal banned nylon monofilament fishing nets that threaten dolphins and other marine life, but critics say the government has failed to enforce the law. Annika Hammerschlag reports from Senegal’s Sine Saloum Delta.
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The Iowa Attorney General’s Office has paused its practice of paying for emergency contraception — and in rare cases, abortions — for victims of sexual assault, a move that drew criticism from some victim advocates.

Federal regulations and state law require Iowa to pay many of the expenses for sexual assault victims who seek medical help, such as the costs of forensic exams and treatment for sexually transmitted infections. Under the previous attorney general, Democrat Tom Miller, Iowa’s victim compensation fund also paid for Plan B, the so-called morning after pill, as well as other treatments to prevent pregnancy.

A spokeswoman for Republican Attorney General Brenna Bird, who defeated Miller’s bid for an 11th term in November, told the Des Moines Register that those payments are now on hold as part of a review of victim services.

“As a part of her top-down, bottom-up audit of victim assistance, Attorney General Bird is carefully evaluating whether this is an appropriate use of public funds,” Bird Press Secretary Alyssa Brouillet said in a statement. “Until that review is complete, payment of these pending claims will be delayed.”

 

Victim advocates were caught off guard by the pause. Ruth Richardson, CEO of Planned Parenthood North Central States, said in a statement that the move was “deplorable and reprehensible.”

Bird’s decision comes as access to the most commonly used method of abortion in the U.S. plunged into uncertainty following conflicting court rulings on Friday over the legality of the abortion medication mifepristone. For now, the drug the Food and Drug Administration approved in 2000 appeared to remain at least immediately available in the wake of separate rulings issued in quick succession.

U.S. District Judge Matthew Kacsmaryk in Texas, an appointee of former President Donald Trump, ordered a hold on federal approval of mifepristone. But that decision came at nearly the same time that U.S. District Judge Thomas O. Rice in Washington state, an appointee of former President Barack Obama, essentially ordered the opposite.

The extraordinary timing of the competing orders revealed the high stakes surrounding the drug nearly a year after the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade and curtailed access to abortion across the country. President Joe Biden said his administration would fight the Texas ruling.

In Iowa, money for the victim compensation fund comes from fines and penalties paid by convicted criminals. For sexual assault victims, state law requires that the fund pay “the cost of a medical examination of a victim for the purpose of gathering evidence and the cost of treatment of a victim for the purpose of preventing venereal disease,” but makes no mention of contraception or pregnancy risk.

Sandi Tibbetts Murphy, who served as director of the victim assistance division under Miller, said the longtime policy for Iowa has been to include the cost of emergency contraception in the expenses covered by the fund. She said that in rare cases, the fund paid for abortions for rape victims.

“My concern is for the victims of sexual assault, who, with no real notice, are now finding themselves either unable to access needed treatment and services, or are now being forced to pay out of their own pocket for those services, when this was done at no fault of their own,” she said.
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Climate change, deforestation, and urbanization are some of the major risk factors behind the increasing number of outbreaks of viruses such as dengue, Zika, and chikungunya around the world, warns a study by the World Health Organization. 

The study says the incidence of infections caused by these mosquito-borne illnesses, which thrive in tropical and subtropical climates, have grown dramatically in recent decades.  The report says cases of dengue have increased from just over half a million globally in 2000 to 5.2 million in 2019. 

And the trend continues.  The latest data show about half of the world’s population now is at risk of dengue, the most common viral infection that spreads from mosquitoes to people, with an estimated 100 to 400 million infections occurring every year. 

“Right now, around 129 countries are at risk of dengue, and it is endemic in over 100 countries,” said Raman Velayudhan, unit head of WHOs global program on control of neglected tropical diseases coordinating dengue and arbovirus initiative.  

He said dengue in South America alone is moving further south to countries such as Bolivia, Peru, and Paraguay. 

Climate change gives rise to increased precipitation, higher temperatures and higher humidity, conditions under which mosquitos thrive and multiply.  There is new research, which shows that even dry weather enables mosquitos to breed.  Scientists say dry weather makes mosquitos thirsty and when they become dehydrated, they want to feed on blood more often. 

“This is really worrying because this shows that climate change has played a key role in facilitating the spread of the vector mosquitoes down south.  And then when people travel, naturally the virus goes along with them,” he said.   “And this trend is likely to continue for the rest of the world. 

“We have already got reports from Sudan, which has recorded a quite high increase in dengue cases, over 8,000 cases and 45 deaths since July.”   

WHO officials note that cases of dengue in Asia have increased in Cambodia, Vietnam, Laos, the Philippines, Malaysia, and Singapore.   

Dengue is a mild disease, in most cases.  While most people will not have symptoms, some might experience high fever, headache, body aches, nausea, and rash.  Most people will recover in a couple of weeks, but dengue could be fatal for those who develop severe cases. 

“This is a big threat to the world because most of the countries now have all the four related dengue viruses in circulation,” Velayudhan said.  “Dengue unfortunately does not have a treatment and even vaccines are just emerging in the market right now,” he said.  

He noted that one vaccine, found to be effective in people who have had dengue once, is licensed in about 20 countries, two other vaccines are in the pipeline, and two drugs are under development. 

Chikungunya and Zika 

The Chikungunya virus is spread by Aedes mosquitoes and is found on nearly all continents.  To date, about 115 countries have reported cases. The disease can cause chronic disabilities in some people and severely impact their quality of life.   

Diana Rojas Alvarez, WHO technical lead for Zika and chikungunya and co-lead of the global arbovirus initiative said that cases of chikungunya in the Americas have increased from 50,000 in 2022 to 135,000 this year.   She said the virus was circulating out of the usual endemic areas inside South America and was spreading into other regions. 

Arboviruses are spread by arthropods – which include mosquitos, ticks, centipedes and millipedes and spiders. 

“Now we are seeing transmission where we did not see it before.  The countries where the mosquito has been introduced is increasing and where the mosquito is established is alarming,” she said. 

“We should be prepared to detect some cases during spring and summer in Europe and in the northern hemisphere, also in southeast Asia because the arbovirus season starts later there.  It is usually when the summer season starts,” Rojas Alvarez said.  

Like dengue and chikungunya, the Zika virus is spread by the Aedes mosquitoes, which mostly bite during the day.  However, unlike the other two viruses, Zika also can be transmitted sexually between people and from mother to child during pregnancy. 

Between October 2015 and January 2016, Brazil reported 1.5 million people were infected with the Zika virus and more than 3,500 babies were born with smaller heads than normal—a condition known as microcephaly.  

The epidemic spread to other parts of South and North America and several islands in the Pacific.  The WHO declared Zika a Public Health Emergency of International Concern in February 2016. 

“Zika is still circulating,” said Rojas Alvarez.   “Of course, we went from millions of cases in 2015 and 2016 and since 2017 the cases are going down, but we still have about 30 to 40,000 cases reported every year, mostly in the Americas.” 

She added that 89 countries and territories have reported cases of Zika virus transmission.  

Last year, WHO launched the Global Arbovirus Initiative to tackle emerging and re-emerging arboviruses with epidemic and pandemic potential.  The plan focuses on preparedness, early detection, and response to outbreaks, as well as the development of new drugs and vaccines.   

While these strategies take shape, health officials are urging communities to eliminate mosquito breeding sites in and around homes and use mosquito repellent to protect themselves against the potentially fatal diseases.
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A 17-meter-long said Sunday, making it the third whale that beached itself on the Indonesian island in just a little over a week. 

The male sperm whale was found stranded on Yeh Leh beach in west Bali’s Jembrana district Saturday afternoon. 

“We are currently trying to pull the carcass to the shore to make it easier for the necropsy test and we will bury it after the test is concluded,” Permana Yudiarso, a local marine and fisheries official, told AFP Sunday. 

This is the third whale that has beached itself in Bali, a popular tourist destination for, in April alone. 

On Wednesday, an 18-meter-long male sperm whale was stranded in Klungkung district, on Bali’s eastern coast. 

Before that, a Bryde’s whale weighing more than two tons and at least 11 meters long was found stranded on a beach in Tabanan on April 1 — its carcass already rotted when discovered by locals.  

Yudiarso told AFP that their initial suspicion is that the sperm whale found Saturday also died of sickness, “just like the whale found stranded a few days ago.” 

“The body looked skinny and sickly,” he said. 

Yudiarso said it would take at least three weeks for the necropsy test to be concluded but forensic experts found some bleeding in the whale’s lungs and its colon was filled with fluids. 

Police have cordoned off the location to prevent people from stealing the mammal’s meat or body parts. 

In 2018, a sperm whale was found dead in Indonesia with more than 100 plastic cups and 25 plastic bags in its stomach, raising concerns about the Southeast Asian archipelago’s massive marine rubbish problem. 

Indonesia is the world’s second-biggest contributor to marine debris after China.
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Qamar Ali Haji has been using skin-lightening products for four years. Initially she liked the change in her appearance but now the exposure to the chemicals in the products is taking a toll. She says she regrets it.

“I can’t sit too long in the school, I cannot bear the heat, my cheeks turn red, and I cannot go into the kitchen,” Haji said. “I cannot bear the slightest heat, I become boiled, there are ulcers on my legs, redness all over.”

The 19-year-old student is one of a growing number of women in Somalia who use the skin-lightening products.

Locally known as “qasqas” or “mixture,” the term reflects the combination of various skin-whitening products. Health advocates say using these products can cause dangerous side effects and lead to physical and mental health problems.

Somali officials and activists said the country’s political upheavals and the war on the al-Shabab militant group are overshadowing socially driven health dangers like skin-whitening. Due to a lack of awareness, some people don’t realize how dangerous these products can be.

The issue has attracted the attention of Amira Adawe, a leading activist with a master’s degree in public health from Minnesota. Adawe has traveled to the Horn of Africa region multiple times in recent years as part of her research into the practice of skin-whitening.

She is the founder of Beautywell, an organization that has been addressing this issue in the United States.

Adawe said the skin-lightening products from Kenya and Somalia that she tested contained high levels of toxic chemicals like mercury, hydroquinone and lead.

Mercury, hydroquinone, steroids and lead are the four main chemicals found in skin-whitening products, according to Adawe. Mercury is a toxic heavy metal. Women who use skin-lightning products that contain mercury, can suffer neurological side effects, and develop depression and anxiety, Adawe added.

“We had a Somali woman in the state of Minnesota who actually lost her vision because of (the) neurological impact that came from the use of skin-lighting products containing mercury,” she told Women’s Square, a new VOA Somali program.

“Some people also develop diabetics because medically, skin-lightning products impact hormones … which impacts the insulin in our body,” she said.

Other health risks include hypertension, kidney problems, skin sensitivity and skin cancer as product users cannot tolerate any sunlight, Adawe said.

“Steroids can give them a lot of skin tenderness,” she added.

There’s also the possibility of a mother passing the toxicity to her baby if she is breastfeeding.

Skin-whitening is multibillion-dollar industry that targets women around the globe. Adawe says the practice is especially high in countries where regulations on toxic products are weak or nonexistent, like Somalia.

According to Adawe many people in Somalia are using skin-whitening products.

“I have done several focus group sessions, key informant interviews and surveyed two universities,” she said. “In all these more than 140 women, girls and some men participated, and all of the women and girls were using. Some of the men were using.”

The focus groups and interviews took place in Mogadishu and Hargeisa.

“Women that I interviewed … in Somalia had kidney problems and other health issues like very (a) bad smell of fish odor, skin redness, skin ulcers, blue skin pigmentation, headache, severe wound healing problems and endocrinological problems,” she said.

“All of these (health issues) are associated with the use of mercury, hydroquinone and steroids in skin-lightening products.”

Adawe shared her work with Somali officials and explained the health issues associated with exposure to the toxic ingredients in skin-lightening products.

In Mogadishu she met female parliamentarians who promised to support legislation to regulate skin-lightening products with toxic chemicals. She also has been communicating with the Somali ministry of health to increase awareness of the problem and find strategies for regulating the toxic products.

Interim manager of the National Medicine Regulatory Authority at the Ministry of Health, Dr. Farah Mohamed Sharawe was one of the officials who met Adawe last month. He admits the government has not researched skin-whitening products.

“The first action of my office is to register the importation of these medications, find out who is bringing [them] in, and give them license. The other action is widespread awareness about the harmful impacts of these medications. [To] prevent expanding of skin-whitening problems,” he said.

Sharawe said the ministry agreed with Adawe on the need for research about the cosmetics coming into Somali and the amount of toxicity, if any, the products may contain.

“Conduct research into the compounds, check the level of mercury and other harmful elements, and then share … [the] data with the public,” he said. “This needs legislation, the Medicine and Food Safety Bill, which the Cabinet has passed. That legislation is important.”

While the Medicine and Food Safety Bill has Cabinet approval, it won’t become law until Parliament approves it.

Dr. Mamunur Rahman Malik, the World Health Organization representative for Somalia, also met Adawe.

“These are poisons which should never be allowed to come in. She is using science to understand the scope of this problem and address these problems which are harmful to public health. She is doing it without any fear,” he said.

Malik said WHO is planning to set up a laboratory for the Ministry of Climate Change and Environment to test and identify contaminated products.

“Within (the) next few months we will help them to have the ability to test these cosmetic products, food and any other imported products which pose (a) risk to (the) health of the population,” he said.

Personal mission

The practice of whitening skin is personal to Adawe. She has faced discrimination because of her own dark skin color.

“At a very young age I had a little experience of colorism; as you know colorism, it’s a cultural thing that happens all over the world because of skin color discrimination especially in countries that went through colonization and slavery,” Adawe said.

“So at very young age I remember people always commenting on my skin color and so that stayed with me but also I have seen when I was growing up in Somalia and also growing up in the United States especially in Minnesota, many individuals that are using these products, whether it’s relatives or friends or people that I came to know using these products and externally I could see how it was impacting their skin color.”

She said she hopes to see the Somali government ban the toxic ingredients like mercury, lead and other chemicals found in some skin-lightening products and establish a regulatory system for the drugs and cosmetics.

Harun Maruf contributed to this report.
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During the coronavirus pandemic, telemedicine became a virtual phenomenon. As people remained in their homes during the pandemic, they began chatting with their doctors over the phone or video platforms on subjects such as chronic disease management, ongoing medical support, mental health issues and specialty care.

To reach their patients, many health professionals had to figure out quickly how to set up their first online systems for telemedicine, also known as telehealth.

“Doctors hadn’t provided it as an option previously because the infrastructure and technology wasn’t widely available,” said Dr. Shira Fischer, a physician policy researcher at the RAND Corp., which has conducted surveys asking Americans whether they use telehealth.

Fisher noted that in a February 2019 survey, less than 4% of the respondents said they used video telehealth. But two years later during the pandemic, that number had skyrocketed to 45%.

“I think telehealth is great,” said Michael Wu, a restaurant manager who lives in Alexandria, Virginia. “When I have a cold or the flu, I don’t have to take time off work to go to the doctor’s office for an exam, and maybe to get medication. It’s easier for me to have a video appointment with my doctor using my cellphone.”

Here to stay

Many health professionals think telemedicine is here to stay.

“Telehealth can be really useful,” Dr. Jack Resneck Jr., president of the American Medical Association, told VOA. “If you’re talking to a patient with diabetes, for instance, and you ask them about their diet, they can point their camera phone at the food in their refrigerator and show you what they eat.”

According to a 2021 AMA survey of doctors, a majority of physicians enthusiastically embraced telehealth and expected to use it more often. Some 85% of them said they were using telehealth to care for their patients.

Over the last two years, “we have seen telemedicine has seamlessly integrated into health care,” said Resneck.

This also includes private health insurance companies and Medicare (a U.S. government national insurance program) “suddenly covering the cost of telehealth,” which hadn’t been the case before, he said.

Patients, providers save time

Nevertheless, some patients remain reluctant to give up the person-to-person contact that comes with a traditional visit to a doctor’s office.

“I’m not opposed to it, but I’m wary about using it for my child,” said Erin Thompson, a stay-at-home mom who lives in Gaithersburg, Maryland.

“When my daughter is sick, I feel more comfortable bringing her to see the doctor in person, instead of her talking to him on a video screen.”

Despite such reservations, telehealth offers a host of benefits, such as increasing patients’ access to health care and helping health care providers determine whether a patient needs additional treatment in person. Telehealth can also help reduce expensive and unnecessary trips to the emergency room.

“Telehealth is definitely gaining traction in Lubbock, Texas,” said Dr. Ariel Santos, director of the telemedicine program at Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center. “Because of the coronavirus pandemic, there has been a more than a 200% increase in telemedicine within our organization.”

Santos, who is also the vice chair of the department of surgery at the Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center, thinks telehealth is a win-win for doctors and their patients.

“Many follow-up appointments with patients after surgery could be done through a video conference rather than an office visit,” he told VOA, adding that “telemedicine also reduces unnecessary travel for both the health provider and patient and improves access to health care, especially in rural areas.”

Dr. Karen Rheuban, a pediatric cardiologist and pioneer in the telehealth field, agrees. She is the director of the Karen S. Rheuban Center for Telehealth at the University of Virginia, which was named after her in 2016 for her significant contributions to the field of telemedicine. They include telehealth services in rural and underserved areas of Virginia and lifesaving care for stroke victims.

“Patients love telemedicine,” she said, “and it’s convenient for them to receive care in their homes.”

Rheuban said whether it’s enabling physicians to provide an emergency service, such as prescribing clot-busting medication for a stroke, or helping patients manage a chronic condition such as heart disease, telemedicine has grown and can save lives around the world.

Telemedicine has also revolutionized behavioral health.

“It is an incredibly useful tool,” said Terry Rabinowitz, medical director of the psychiatric consultation service at the University of Vermont Medical Center.

“Some patients have a lot easier time showing up for telemedicine encounters,” said Rabinowitz, who has been doing telepsychiatry for 20 years. “It’s very useful for patients with psychiatric illnesses like depression, schizophrenia and autism spectrum disorders because they may be averse to seeing someone face-to-face or even putting on their clothes to come for a visit.”

Accessibility, privacy concerns

Telehealth can have its challenges, however.

“Some people don’t have good internet access or don’t know how to use it. And some people are worried about their privacy,” said Fischer at the RAND Corp. Rabinowitz said broadband internet needs to be increased in underserved and rural areas.

Santos at Texas Tech said while some doctors and patients may be hesitant to use telehealth, it can “make it quicker and easier for patients to be seen by a physician.”

Telehealth won’t completely take over in-office visits, Santos said.

“Obviously, some health issues require the patient to be seen in person by a doctor,” he said. “And sometimes it may be difficult for me to express my empathy and concern through an online connection.”

Still, he said, telehealth will become more prominent in the future, and “there could even be public libraries with telemedicine kiosks.”
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With the whir of a mower under a clear blue sky, Senegalese researchers have begun harvesting a crop of experimental homegrown wheat, the latest step in a yearslong effort to reduce reliance on imports.

The second-most consumed cereal after rice, wheat is an important staple in the bread-loving West African nation.

But Senegal, like many of its neighbors, depends entirely on foreign supplies.

It imports 800,000 metric tons of the grain per year.

Its tropical climate is not naturally suited to wheat, but domestic trials have been underway for years.

Supply chain problems, rising grain prices and inflation caused by the war in Ukraine have added urgency to the country’s efforts to achieve self-sufficiency.

Four varieties

Since late last week, researchers from the Senegalese Institute for Agricultural Research, a public research institute, have been harvesting four varieties of wheat on a demonstration plot in Sangalkam, 35 kilometers from the capital Dakar.

Three of the varieties are Egyptian and the fourth was developed by the institute.

It operates five demonstration plots in total, two near Dakar and three in the Senegal River Valley, and has tested hundreds of wheat varieties, Amadou Tidiane Sall, one of the researchers, told AFP.

Not all thrive

Many have proved unsuitable.

The Sangalkam crop, one of several successful experiments by the institute, was sown in early January and matured in three months during Senegal’s cold season.

Agriculture Minister Aly Ngouille Ndiaye visited the plot earlier this month.

He said he had requested Egyptian seeds on a visit to the North African country for the United Nations’ COP27 climate conference in November.

“We have significant potential,” the minister said during his visit, promising the government would work with the private sector to expand trial plots.

He acknowledged that a lack of adequate water for irrigation posed a significant challenge.

Not everyone is convinced that wheat can be grown at scale in Senegal.

Amadou Gaye, the president of the National Federation of Bakers of Senegal, who represents about 2,500 bakeries across the country, told AFP he would prefer to see resources dedicated to producing local cereals such as millet, maize and sorghum.
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A growing number of state legislatures are considering bans on cosmetics and other consumer products that contain a group of synthetic, potentially harmful chemicals known as PFAS.

In Vermont, the state Senate gave final approval this week to legislation that would prohibit manufacturers and suppliers from selling or distributing any cosmetics or menstrual products in the state that have perfluoroalkyl and polyfluoroalkyl substances, as well as a number of other chemicals.

The products include shampoo, makeup, deodorant, sunscreen, hair dyes and more, said state Sen. Terry Williams, a Republican, and member of the Senate Committee on Health and Welfare.

“Many known toxic chemicals are used in or found as contaminants in personal care products, including PFAS, lead and formaldehyde,” Williams said in reporting the bill to Senate colleagues.

California, Colorado and Maryland passed similar restrictions on cosmetics that go into effect in 2025. Other proposals are under consideration in Washington and Oregon while bills have also been introduced in Illinois, Rhode Island and Georgia.

According to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, studies have linked PFAS exposure to increased cancer risk, developmental delays in children, damage to organs such as the liver and thyroid, increased cholesterol levels and reduced immune functions, especially among young children.

Like in Colorado and California, the proposed Vermont crackdown on PFAS — known as “forever chemicals” for their persistence in the environment — goes beyond cosmetics. The bill, which now must be considered by the Vermont House, would extend the ban to apparel, including outdoor apparel for severe wet conditions, athletic turf, clothing, ski wax and textiles, including upholstery, draperies, towels and bedding that intentionally contain PFAS. The bill has been referred to a House committee and the chairwoman said Friday that she’s not sure if the panel will get to it this session. The legislation gives various timelines for the phaseouts.

“We must stop importing dangerous chemicals like PFAS into our state so we can prevent the harms they are causing up and down the supply chain — from their production and use to their disposal,” Lauren Hierl, executive director of Vermont Conservation Voters, said in a statement.

In March, the Environmental Protection Agency proposed the first federal limits on the chemicals in drinking water, saying the protection will save thousands of lives and prevent serious illnesses, including cancer. The chemicals had been used since the 1940s in consumer products and industry, including in nonstick pans, food packaging and firefighting foam. Their use is now mostly phased out in the U.S., but some still remain. Pressure is also growing to remove PFAS from food packaging.

A study by University of Notre Dame researchers released in 2021 found that more than half the cosmetics sold in the United States and Canada were awash with a toxic industrial compound associated with serious health conditions.

Researchers tested more than 230 commonly used cosmetics and found that 56% of foundations and eye products, 48% of lip products and 47% of mascaras contained fluorine — an indicator of PFAS.

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration says on its website that there have been few studies of the presence of PFAS in cosmetics, and the ones published found the concentration is at very low levels.

The Personal Care Products Council, which represents the cosmetics industry, says in 2020 it supported California legislation to phase out certain ingredients, including 13 PFAS in cosmetics, and identical legislative language in Maryland the following year. The group called for states to pass uniform laws to avoid confusion.

As for bans on apparel containing the chemicals, the American Apparel & Footwear Association supports the bill passed unanimously in the Vermont Senate and appreciates that amendments were made to align with phase-out timelines in existing PFAS restrictions in California and New York, said Chelsea Murtha, AAFA’s director of sustainability, in a statement.

The Outdoor Industry Association, based on Colorado, said overall it supports the Vermont bill, also noted the current version more closely matches the timeline for compliance with California’s.

“We are also appreciative of the exemption for outdoor apparel severe wet conditions until 2028, as our industry is diligently working to move toward non-regrettable alternatives that will not compromise consumer safety or the quality of the product,” said association President Kent Ebersole in a statement.
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Dust off your eclipse glasses: It’s only a year until a total solar eclipse sweeps across North America. 

On April 8, 2024, the moon will cast its shadow across a stretch of the U.S., Mexico and Canada, plunging millions of people into midday darkness. 

It’s been less than six years since a total solar eclipse cut across the U.S., from coast to coast. That was on August 21, 2017. 

If you miss next year’s spectacle, you’ll have to wait 20 years until the next one hits the U.S. But that total eclipse will be visible only in Montana and the Dakotas. 

Here’s what to know to get ready for the 2024 show: 

Where can I see it? 

Next year’s eclipse will slice a diagonal line across North America on April 8, which falls on a Monday. 

It will start in the Pacific and first reach land over Mexico around 11:07 a.m. local time, NASA predicts. Then, it’ll cross over into Texas and move across parts of the Midwest and Northeast in the afternoon. 

All in all, it will hit parts of 13 U.S. states: Texas, Oklahoma, Arkansas, Missouri, Illinois, Kentucky, Indiana, Ohio, Pennsylvania, New York, Vermont, New Hampshire and Maine. Cities in its path include Dallas; Little Rock, Arkansas; Indianapolis; Cleveland and Buffalo, New York. 

Parts of Canada, including Quebec and Newfoundland, will also get a glimpse before the eclipse heads out to sea in the early evening. 

A total eclipse will be visible within a 115-mile-wide swath — the path of totality. Outside that path, you can still see a partial solar eclipse, where the moon takes a bite out of the sun and turns it into a crescent shape. 

Total eclipses happen about every 18 months, but a lot of times they cross over remote areas where few people see them. 

What happens during an eclipse? 

Solar eclipses occur when the moon passes between the Earth and the sun, blocking the sun’s light from reaching us. 

Even though the moon is about 400 times smaller than the sun, it’s also about 400 times closer to Earth, said University of Colorado astronomer Doug Duncan. So when the orbits line up just right, the little moon can block out the whole sun. Those who are standing in the right spots will experience totality: when the moon casts its shadow over the landscape. 

“In just seconds, you go from bright, bright daylight to like the middle of the night,” said Debby Brown, who saw her first total eclipse in 2017 with Duncan in Grand Teton National Park in Wyoming. 

“The stars are out. All of a sudden, all the animals are quiet,” said Brown, of Arlington, Virginia. 

During the 2024 eclipse, totality will stretch to around four and a half minutes — almost twice as long as in 2017.

What’s the best spot? 

To catch the full eclipse experience, planning ahead is key, Duncan said. Weather could be a big factor since the eclipse is coming in the spring, when conditions are unpredictable. That’s why Duncan selected Texas for his eclipse tour next year, where the odds of clear skies are better. 

Your choice also depends on what kind of experience you’re looking for, said Bob Baer, who’s coordinating eclipse plans at Southern Illinois University in Carbondale. 

Carbondale — in the crossroads of both the 2017 and 2024 eclipse paths — will hold a viewing event at the school’s stadium again. It’s a big group experience, Baer said: “The last 20 minutes before totality, the stadium gets as loud as a football game.” 

But you can find events of all different flavors planned along the eclipse path: luxury cruises in Mexico, music festivals in Texas, farm camping in Arkansas, planetarium visits in upstate New York. 

“The goal, at the end of the day, is to get as many people outside as possible, looking up during totality,” said Dan Schneiderman, who is helping the Rochester Museum and Science Center plan events.  

You’ll want to grab eclipse glasses to see the partial phases before and after totality, Schneiderman added. Looking at the partially covered sun without protection can cause serious eye damage. 

Brown and her husband are planning to join Duncan’s eclipse tour in Austin. Her first eclipse experience flew by. 

“I’m looking forward to being able to enjoy this even longer,” Brown said. “To be able to just lean into the moment.” 

What other eclipses are coming up?

The U.S. will get some eclipse action ahead of the big event in 2024. There will be an annular eclipse — when the sun isn’t completely covered but appears like a ring of fire in the sky — later this year, on October 14. 

The path of that eclipse will cross from Oregon down through California, Nevada, Utah, Arizona, New Mexico and Texas. 

Later this month, there will be a rare hybrid eclipse, which switches between a total and an annular eclipse at different points along its path. But few people will see it. The April 20 eclipse is mostly over the Indian Ocean and crosses over only a few slivers of Australia and Southeast Asia. 

With a 20-year gap until the next total solar eclipse in the U.S., Duncan says it will be worth it to be in the path of totality next year. He’s witnessed 12 total eclipses so far. 

Seeing a partial eclipse — even if it’s 90% covered — means “you missed all the good stuff,” he said.
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Changes in air patterns as the world warms will likely push more and nastier hurricanes up against the United States’ East and Gulf coasts, especially in Florida, a new study said.

While other studies have projected how human-caused climate change will probably alter the frequency, strength and moisture of tropical storms, the study in Friday’s journal Science Advances focuses on where hurricanes are going.

It’s all about projected changes in steering currents, said study lead author Karthik Balaguru, a Pacific Northwest National Laboratory climate scientist.

“Along every coast they’re kind of pushing the storms closer to the U.S.,” Balaguru said. The steering currents move from south to north along the Gulf of Mexico; on the East Coast, the normal west-to-east steering is lessened considerably and can be more east-to-west, he said.

Overall, in a worst-case warming scenario, the number of times a storm hits parts of the U.S. coast in general will probably increase by one-third by the end of the century, the study said, based on sophisticated climate and hurricane simulations, including a system researchers developed.

The central and southern Florida Peninsula, which juts into the Atlantic, is projected to get even more of an increase in hurricanes hitting the coast, the study said.

Climate scientists disagree on how useful it is to focus on the worst-case scenario as the new study does, because many calculations show the world has slowed its increase in carbon pollution. Balaguru said because his study looks more at steering changes than strength, the levels of warming aren’t as big a factor.

The study projects changes in air currents traced to warming in the equatorial eastern Pacific Ocean, just off the coast of South America. Climate change is warming different parts of the world at different rates, and models show the eastern Pacific area warming more quickly, Balaguru said.

According to the study, that extra warming sets things in motion through Rossby waves — atmospheric waves that move west to east and are connected to changes in temperature or pressure, like the jet stream or polar vortex events.

“I like to explain it to my students like a rock being dropped in a smooth pond,” said University of Albany atmospheric scientist Kristen Corbosiero, who wasn’t part of the study. “The heating is the rock and Rossby waves are the waves radiating away from the heating which disturbs the atmosphere’s balance.”

The wave ripples trigger a counterclockwise circulation in the Gulf of Mexico, which bring winds blowing from east to west in the eastern Atlantic and south to north in the Gulf of Mexico, Corbosiero and Balaguru said.

It also reduces wind shear — which is the difference in speed and direction of winds at high and low altitudes — the study said. Wind shear often decapitates hurricanes and makes it harder for nascent storms to develop.

Less wind shear means stronger storms, Balaguru said.

Overall, the steering current and wind shear changes increase the risk to the United States, Corbosiero said in an email.
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India’s federal government asked states to identify emergency hotspots and ramp up testing for COVID-19 after the country recorded its highest daily case count since September, a Reuters tally showed on Friday.

There were 6,050 new cases of COVID-19 in the past 24 hours, the federal Health Ministry said on Friday, continuing a sharp upward trend since a lull last year.

At a meeting to review the degree to which the states are prepared, Health Minister Mansukh Mandaviya asked them to ramp up genome testing and conduct mock drills in hospitals, a government statement said.

Daily new cases have nearly tripled from around 2,000 at the end of March.

The prevalence of XBB.1.16, classified as a variant of interest by the World Health Organization, increased from 21.6% in February to 35.8% in March, the Health Ministry said, adding there that was no evidence of an increase in hospitalizations or deaths.

Active cases totaled more than 28,300 with 14 deaths during the last 24 hours, taking the country’s official death toll from the disease to 530,943.

India has recorded more than 44.7 million confirmed cases of COVID-19 since the start of the pandemic three years ago, the third-highest tally after the United States and China.
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Health care workers in Zimbabwe have condemned the government’s plan to criminalize their recruitment to work in other countries as part of efforts to reduce a medical brain drain.  Zimbabwe’s vice president and health minister, Constantino Chiwenga, said the country will introduce a law to make it illegal for foreign nations to hire their health care workers. 

Zimbabwe’s Association of Doctors for Human Rights says any attempt to prevent health care workers from leaving the country for better jobs would be illegal.

The head of the association, Dr. Norman Matara, told VOA Friday the government’s plan to criminalize foreign recruitment of health care workers was shocking. 

“Also in our constitution, the Zimbabwe constitution, it guarantees citizens have the right to move freely within the country or leave the country,” Matara said. “We don’t know why those comments were made by the honorable minister of health. The government continue to use scare tactics and command approach to solving health care problems.” 

Matara was responding to comments Wednesday by Zimbabwe’s vice president, Constantino Chiwenga.

Chiwenga, who doubles as health minister, said the government would introduce a law against foreign recruiting of its health care workers to address a medical brain drain. 

“If one deliberately recruits and make the country suffer because it lacks the required professionals, that’s a crime against humanity,” Chiwenga said. “If people die in hospitals because there are no nurses and doctors and somebody who has been so irresponsible of not training their nationals but wanting poor countries to train for them it’s a crime. That must be taken seriously.” 

Matara stressed that Zimbabwe’s health care workers are choosing to leave.

“The government should note that health workers are not being pulled away from the country but pushed away from the country by the meager salaries they are getting,” Matara said. “They are being pushed by the worsening economic crisis in the country. They are being pushed by poor working conditions: lack of equipment, lack of sundries, lack of medicines in the hospitals that they work in. We urge the government to improve working conditions, pay a living wage, you will find that people will not leave the country.”     

Eustina Shava, a nurse who is leaving Zimbabwe in May for better work in Canada, said leaving her home country is not her preference.   

“If we were being given enough money, I don’t think anybody would love to leave their families, their relatives and work abroad,” Shava said. “But at the end of the day, we all want to achieve good things in life. We all want to buy houses, we all want to buy cars and we all want to send our children to good schools.

“That’s the reason we are reaching to recruiters. They have done nothing wrong. They are actually helping us to achieve certain things in life.” 

Zimbabwe’s Health Services Board said in November more than 4,000 nurses have left the country since 2021.

The Zimbabwe Medical Association says the country has only 3,500 doctors for a population of almost 16 million people.

Health care workers regularly go on strike over poor pay and working conditions.

Zimbabwe’s government said it doesn’t have enough funds for raises or better equipment and in January made it illegal for health care workers to strike for more than three days.

Reuters contributed to this report.
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Celebrations marking World Health Day are taking place in the shadow of the coronavirus that has sickened more than 762 million people around the world and killed more than 6.8 million. 

“For the past three years, [the World Health Organization] has coordinated the global response to the COVID-19 pandemic, the most severe health crisis in a century,” said Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, WHO director-general. “And as COVID-19 has exposed so brutally, there remain serious gaps in the world’s defenses against epidemics and pandemics. 

“For all these reasons and more, the world needs WHO now more than ever,” he said. 

This year’s World Health Day coincides with the 75th anniversary of the founding of the WHO, which emerged from the ashes of World War II to create a healthier world in the aftermath of what is recognized as the deadliest and most destructive war in human history. 

The vision of attaining a higher standard of health and protecting people from diseases, in many ways, has been achieved. 

Tedros notes that “life expectancy globally, for both sexes, has increased from 46 to 73 years, with the biggest gains in the poorest countries.” 

“Smallpox has been eradicated and polio is on the brink,” he said. 

However, many challenges remain, especially with the emergence of new diseases and deadly pathogens, including Ebola, Marburg, SARS and COVID-19. 

“The world is at increasing risk of new pandemics emerging,” said Bruce Aylward, senior adviser to the director-general and assistant director-general ad interim for external relations and governance. 

Last month, the WHO’s 194 member states began negotiations on a global accord to prevent and prepare for future pandemic emergencies. Aylward said it was important to reach an agreement as rapidly as possible.

“We hope not just for future generations but today’s generation,” he said. “There is quite a high risk of another pandemic and we want to make sure that we are much, much better prepared for that than we were for this,” he said. 

“And we can be with an accord like the one under negotiation,” Aylward added. 

Maria Van Kerkhove, technical lead on COVID-19, stressed the need to find the origins of the coronavirus. She said a study published by China this week offers some clues as to how infected wild animals at the wet market in Wuhan, China, may have infected humans with the deadly virus, triggering the pandemic. 

“But it does not give us concrete answers,” she said. “There is more information that is out there and we need scientists, public health professionals, governments, to share this information.

“We need answers to understand how this pandemic began because we will get better at preventing the next one,” Van Kerkhove said. 

WHO chief Tedros said he has been pressing China to share information about the origins of COVID-19 because “without full access to the information that China has, you cannot say this or that.” 

“All hypotheses are on the table,” he said. “That is WHO’s position and that is why we have been asking China to be cooperative on this.”

Tedros noted that countries will continue to negotiate the pandemic accord over the next year in preparation for the World Health Assembly in 2024, where it will be presented for adoption.

“No nation can protect itself against future epidemics and pandemics without the engagement and cooperation of all nations,” he added. 
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