Economy in Latin America, physical exercise, cholera vaccines… Wednesday’s news

Strong economic slowdown in Latin America and the Caribbean by 2023

The Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean forecasts economic growth for this year of 3.2%, a higher figure than forecast last August, but predicts a slowdown in the regional economy in 2023 that would only increase by 1, 4%.

The organization highlights that next year the countries of the region will again face an unfavorable international context, “in which a slowdown in both growth and global trade, higher interest rates and less global liquidity is expected.”

The slowdown in 2023 would affect all subregions, with South America growing only 1.2%, the group formed by Central America and Mexico with 1.7% and the increase in the Caribbean would be 3.1%, excluding Guyanese.

In South America, some countries are particularly affected by the low dynamism of China, which is an important market for their goods exports. As an example of Chile, Brazil, Peru and Uruguay allocate more than 30% of their merchandise exports to China.

For the economies of Central America and Mexico, the low dynamism of the United States, the main trading partner and main source of remittances for their countries, would affect both the external sector and private consumption.

If we don’t exercise more, 500 million people will suffer from chronic diseases

If governments do not take urgent action to encourage physical activity among their populations, some 500 million people will suffer from heart disease, obesity, diabetes or other non-communicable diseases attributable to physical inactivity between 2020 and 2030, costing $27,000. million dollars annually.

A new report from the World Health Organization with data from 194 countries shows that progress is slow and that countries need to accelerate the development and implementation of policies to increase levels of physical activity and thus prevent disease and reduce the burden of health systems, already overloaded.

The Director General of the Organization highlighted the need for more countries to increase the implementation of policies that help people increase physical activity, whether walking or practicing any type of sport.

“The benefits are enormous, not only for people’s physical and mental health, but also for societies, environments and economies,” said Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus.

The world faces a lack of cholera vaccines

And the World Health Organization also warned today that cholera vaccine shortages around the world have forced the body that manages emergency vaccine supplies, the International Coordinating Group, to temporarily suspend the standard cholera vaccination program. two doses in response campaigns to disease outbreaks, and to use a single dose system instead.

The change in strategy will allow the doses to be used in more countries, at a time of an unprecedented increase in cholera outbreaks around the world, including those reported in Haiti, Malawi and Syria.

The one-dose strategy proved to be an effective response to outbreaks, although evidence on the exact duration of protection is limited, and protection appears to be much less in children. With a two-dose schedule, immunity against infection lasts for three years.

Although the temporary interruption of the two-dose strategy will cause a decrease in immunity, this decision will allow more people to be vaccinated and protect them in the short term, in case the global cholera situation continues to deteriorate.

The current supply of cholera vaccines is extremely limited. Of the total of 36 million doses expected to be produced in 2022, 24 million have already been sent for the preventive (17%) and reactive (83%) campaigns, and the International Collaboration Group approved an additional eight million doses for the second round of emergency vaccination in four countries, illustrating the serious shortage of the vaccine.

Israel must free Franco-Palestinian lawyer Salah Hammouri

A group of independent UN experts today called on Israel to immediately release Salah Hammouri, a Franco-Palestinian lawyer and human rights defender, who has just ended a 19-day hunger strike in protest at the usual detention policy. administration of the Israeli authorities.

“The detention practices to which Hammouri is being subjected are not only illegal, they are sadistic,” they said in a statement.

The specialists indicated that during the last 20 years Hammouri suffered harassment, arrests, arbitrary imprisonment and other forms of abuse, by the Israeli authorities.

The lawyer’s last administrative detention occurred on March 7 based on “secret information” and without any charges or trial date.

The experts called on Israel to immediately and unconditionally release Hammouri and the others held in administrative detention, and to maintain permanent residence in his hometown of Jerusalem, where he has the right to live freely with his family.

Furthermore, they note with concern that Israel is holding 798 people in administrative detention without charge, the highest number in more than a decade, according to the latest official statistics from the Israeli Prison Service.