The Ministry of Health (MOH) on Tuesday confirmed that an outbreak of chicken pox at the Lusignan Prison has afflicted 53 prisoners at that East Coast Demerara penal institution, but denied claims by the opposition coalition that nothing was being done to prevent the disease from spreading. The Health Ministry, in confirming that there were ...

View the full post Tim Harris visits Grenada for World Down Syndrome Day on NOW Grenada.

“You are at risk of developing chronic kidney disease if you suffer from Type1 or Type2 diabetes”

View the full post Kidney Disease and Diabetes on NOW Grenada.

According to the president of the Barbados Association of Retired Persons (BARP), Marilyn Rice-Bowen, a canvas of their membership has highlighted concerns about insufficient pension funds for many retirees, with some receiving less than $1 000 per month as inflation eats into their pensions.

“And what a lot, quite a few seniors always say to us [is] if they only knew… and then there were situations where people would say to us that they didn’t expect to live to 60, 65. When they were 26 and 28, they didn’t expect to live to 60 and 65, so they never planned. In addition to that, there are people who just simply didn’t plan for retirement,” she said over the weekend at the launch of BARP’s Towards 2050 conference which will be held on April 6.

Rice-Bowen said many seniors had not adequately prepared for retirement, leading to financial strain in their later years.

“As we speak now of the 40s, the 40s to 59s, that’s why it’s so important that we are driving them. We’re not going to bully but we are going to drive them, we’re going to encourage them to plan. That’s why it’s so important they plan because if they do not plan, they’re going to find themselves in a really strange and very uncomfortable space when they reach our age, my age.”

Her comments were supported by Elder Affairs Minister Kirk Humphrey, who underscored the importance of incentivising retirement planning but emphasised the need for individual responsibility.

“But I do think that the whole planning process requires everybody. I think people need to plan individually. And I do think it makes sense to incentivise, from the public sector standpoint, persons to be able to do it. It just makes sense,” he said. “I think you have to find a way to balance what you can afford financially and what society needs to be able to afford. But I anticipate and I look forward to the day when we’re in a position to do something like that again.”

Rice-Bowen stressed the importance of planning and urged individuals to attend seminars and seek guidance on retirement planning, emphasising the need for proactive financial management.

“So, rather than say, ‘we can wait to see if the government gives me a tax incentive for the rebate on pension plans’, if it’s not happening, go ahead, and put your money in your pension plan because you will be the beneficiary. If it does happen along the way, well, it’s gravy. But do not sit and wait for the frills. Get involved and do it yourself,” she urged.

Meanwhile, Humphrey said the social services in Barbados have had to evolve as a result of the challenges posed by an ageing population.

According to him, Barbados has been witnessing a notable increase in the number of older individuals seeking support from welfare services, adding that his Ministry of People’s Empowerment and Elder Affairs, which is responsible for social services on the island, is aware of the need for proactive measures to address this trend.

“The shifting, the transition in society is impacting all the delivery of social services. I think the other thing that we have to be mindful of in social services is that the cost of caring for a child is not the same as the cost of caring for an older person,” he said.

“If you’re caring for a senior person, it costs maybe two or three times as much. We’re going to anticipate that even our budget has to increase because caring for older persons is a lot more expensive. The capacity to care is going to shift.”

(RG)

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Santo Domingo.- To propel holistic growth in nursing, the Diabetes, Obesity, and Specialties Medical Center (CEMDOE) has launched a training initiative. This program focuses on bolstering competencies, spanning technical proficiency and interpersonal abilities, in line with its recently introduced Nursing Management Model.

Comprising eight core pillars, the program features five modules dedicated to fostering these competencies, ensuring that CEMDOE’s nursing personnel maintain a standard of excellence in care provision. This initiative adheres to the benchmarks set by the Joint Commission International, underscoring the medical center’s commitment to upholding international standards of quality and patient safety.

The conceptualization and design of this program were spearheaded by Dr. Berniza Calderón, Senior Research Manager; Damaris Durán, Nursing Manager; Gricely Pozo, Medical Director; Maril Núñez, Director of Human Management and Transformation; and Nilaine Alejo, Senior Human Management Manager.

“This launch signifies a significant stride in our continuous mission to enhance the healthcare experience, acknowledging wholeheartedly the pivotal role that nurses play in attending to the needs of our patients and their families,” elucidated Dr. Calderón.

Additionally, the specialist underscored that in the Dominican Republic, the ratio stands at fewer than 4 nurses for every 10,000 inhabitants, with only 30% of those employed in the healthcare sector possessing a university degree.

As for the supplementary workshops integrated into the program, they encompass a diverse array of topics, including care plan design, the significance of reporting and analyzing patient safety incidents, tools for patient and family education, evidence-based nursing practices, and the provision of compassionate care.

CEMDOE undertakes this endeavor with the overarching objective of elevating the quality of care received by its patients throughout the entirety of their healthcare journey, recognizing the indispensable role that nursing staff play in facilitating this process.

The pop star, 34, is currently taking a break from the international leg of her sold-out tour and has been pictured enjoying a romantic getaway with boyfriend Travis Kelce in the Bahamas.

The trials are carried out by Bharat Biotech in close collaboration with Biofabri.
Trials to evaluate the safety and immunogenicity of MTBVAC have started with a
pivotal safety, immunogenicity and efficacy trial planned to start in 2025.

After more than three decades of research, Esteban Rodriguez, CEO of Biofabri
says, "It is a giant step to test in adults and adolescents in the country where
28% of the world’s TB cases accumulate and concludes that more effort and
funding is needed to combat TB, which remains one of the world’s leading
infectious causes of death, especially in India."

Dr. Krishna Ella, Executive Chairman Bharat Biotech added, “Our quest for a
more effective vaccine against Tuberculosis received a big boost, with
clinical trials in India. Our goal to develop TB vaccines to prevent disease in adults
and adolescents has taken a big step. We are honoured to partner with
BioFabri, Dr. Esteban Rodriguez and Dr. Carlos Martin in this noble effort to
reinvent TB vaccines.”

As per the release, the MTBVAC vaccine has passed several milestones before entering clinical
trials in India. The first is that after the recent completion of a Phase2 dose finding trial, a
double-blind, controlled Phase3 clinical trial in newborns has started in 2023,
comparing the vaccine with the current BCG vaccine. 7,000 newborns from South
Africa, 60 from Madagascar and 60 from Senegal will be vaccinated. To date,
more than 1,900 babies have been vaccinated. The aim is to assess the immunogenicity and efficacy of MTBVAC which is
administered intradermally to infants on the first day of life.

Vaccination began at a time of setback in the global fight against TB. Health
restrictions imposed during the COVID-19 pandemic led to an increase in
infections and a decrease in diagnosis and treatment. As a result, annual TB
deaths have risen to over 1.6 million.

This Phase3 neonatal project, partially funded by the European Union through its
EDCTP (European & Development Countries Clinical Trial Partnership)
programme, is being coordinated by Biofabri, as part of a consortium that also
includes the University of Zaragoza (Unizar), TuBerculosis Vaccine Initiative
(TBVI), The University of Cape Town (UCT)/SATVI, Wits VIDA Health Consortium
(WHC), Stellenbosch University (SUN-FAMCRU), Enhancing Care Foundation
(ECF), Center de Recherche Biomedicale Espoir Pour La Santé (CRB-EPLS,
Senegal) and Institut Pasteur de Madagascar (IPM).

"Another important milestone is that after completing a dose escalation trial in HIV
uninfected adults, a Phase2 study in HIV infected adults has started in 2024 to
determine whether MTBVAC is safe in this population. This ongoing trial at 16
sites in South Africa – involving the vaccination of 276 adults – is evaluating safety and immunogenicity in HIV-negative and HIV-positive adults and adolescents
vaccinated with MTBVAC," the release stated.

A Phase2b efficacy study in adolescents and adults is planned to start in the
second half of 2024 in Sub-Saharan Africa.

The studies in adolescents and adults in Sub-Saharan African are led by the
American institution IAVI. The Phase2 HIV safety study is carried out by HIV
Vaccine Trials Network (HVTN) and is funded by the Division of AIDS (DAIDS),
National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), National Institutes
of Health (NIH), Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS). The
Phase2b efficacy study will be carried out by IAVI and will be funded by BMGF
and Open Philanthropy.

This vaccine was developed in the laboratory of the University of
Zaragoza, which has been part of CIBERES since its creation, in collaboration
with Dr Brigitte Gicquel of the Pasteur Institute in Paris. The University of
Zaragoza has the Spanish biotechnology company BIOFABRI as an industrial
partner.

Read also: Bharat Biotech Gets CDSCO Panel Nod To Manufacture Rotavirus Vaccine Live Attenuated, Oral

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