The International Centre for Diarrhoeal Disease Research, Bangladesh (icddr,b) has laid off over 1,000 employees after the United States government decided to halt funding for foreign programs. AKM Tariful Islam Khan, senior manager of communications at icddr,b, confirmed the layoffs on Friday, stating that the affected employees were working on various research projects funded by the US Agency for International ...
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Farmers in bird flu ‘panic’ call for UK vaccine plan
Poultry farmers are appealing to the government to let them vaccinate their flocks against the “devastating” bird flu virus spreading across the UK. Vaccinating poultry against avian influenza is currently not allowed in the UK. The government says that strong biosecurity measures and culling are the most effective ways of fighting it. Meanwhile, there are concerns that poultry vaccinations might ...
Read More »DoE suggests city dwellers wearing masks outside home
Department of Environment (DoE) on Wednesday floated two directions including wearing face masks outside home as the city’s air quality index (AQI) reached very unhealthy level. As the AQI here reaches over 250 this morning, the DoE suggests the city dwellers wearing face masks while going outside, an official release said. Simultaneously, the sensitive people, such as the ailing, elderly, ...
Read More »CIA now says COVID-19 ‘more likely’ to have come from lab
The Central Intelligence Agency has assessed that the COVID-19 pandemic is “more likely” to have emerged from a lab rather than from nature, an agency spokesperson said on Saturday, reports AP. The agency had for years said it could not conclude whether COVID-19 was the result of a lab incident or it originated in nature. But in the final weeks ...
Read More »CIA says Covid ‘more likely’ to have leaked from lab
The Central Intelligence Agency has shifted its official stance on the origin of Covid-19, saying Saturday that the virus was “more likely” leaked from a Chinese lab than transmitted by animals. The new assessment came after John Ratcliffe was confirmed Thursday as the CIA director under the second White House administration of Donald Trump. Ratcliffe, who served as the director ...
Read More »WHO chief to cut costs, reset priorities after US exit, document shows
The World Health Organization will cut costs and review which health programs to prioritize after President Donald Trump announced he was withdrawing the US from the agency, the WHO’s chief told staff in an internal memo seen by Reuters. Trump made the move on the first day of his second term in office on Monday, accusing the UN health agency ...
Read More »Dancing can help ease depression in Parkinson’s patients
A recent study shows that dancing can reduce depression in people with Parkinson’s disease. This approach is fun, affordable, and doesn’t involve medication. Joseph DeSouza, a professor at York University, has been studying the impact of dance on people with Parkinson’s since 2013. He says dancing makes patients feel happy and energized. The research was mainly focused on how dance ...
Read More »Treat eating disorders as an emergency, MPs urge
Lives are being lost and families torn apart because of “woefully inadequate care” for people with eating disorders, according to a group of MPs. The “alarming” rise in disorders such as anorexia and bulimia, over the past decade, has now become an “emergency”, the All-Party Parliamentary Group on Eating Disorders says in a report. And greater awareness about different types ...
Read More »Expats protest outside Square Hospital over vaccine shortage
Middle East-bound expatriates are staging demonstration, blocking road in the capital’s Panthapath area due to the shortage of vaccines. Around 300 expatriates gathered near Square Hospital at about 10:30AM on TuesdayAccording to police sources, many of the protesters are expats, from Saudi Arabia, and some are Umrah pilgrims waiting for vaccinations. They were scheduled to take vaccines from different hospitals ...
Read More »Cervical screening knowledge gap ‘costing lives’
A knowledge gap around cervical screenings is currently “costing lives”, a cancer charity says. The Eve Appeal says more women need to know they can ask for adjustments to their cervical screenings, which can be painful, uncomfortable or distressing for some. The test is thought to save about 5,000 lives every year in the UK, but many women do not ...
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