Day: September 2, 2022

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Laos, Bangladesh, Nepal conclude Exchange on Preparing Smooth Transition Strategies: Graduating Cohort of 2021

From Aug 23 to 25, more than 90 Government officials and representatives from private sector, academia, research institutes and civil society from the Lao PDR, Bangladesh and Nepal met in Bangkok, Thailand, joined by the United Nationsand external experts, to discuss and exchange views on challenges, opportunities, and preparations for graduation from Least Developed Country (LDC) status as the three countries recommended for graduation in 2021.

Organised by the United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs (UN DESA) through its Sustainable Graduation Support Facility in partnership with the Committee for Development Policy (CDP), the United Nations Office of the High Representative for the Least Developed Countries, Landlocked Developing Countries and Small Island Developing States (OHRLLS), and Offices of the UN Resident Coordinator from the three countries, the South-South Exchange on Preparing Smooth Transition Strategies (STS) for LDC Graduation is part of the on-going support by the UN Development System to facilitate asmooth transition, sustainable and irreversible graduation.

Addressing the Opening session, Ms. Rabab Fatima, Under Secretary General and High Representative for the Least Developed Countries, Landlocked Developing Countries and Small Island Developing States noted the importance of this enhanced support given the challenging context faced by all countries.

She said, “The compounded impact of multiple crises – such as COVID-19, growing food and commodity prices and the climate emergency – put development progress in the Least Developed Countries at risk. We are coming together to provide a better coordinated United Nations support. Our aim is to lessen the burden on each government’s capacity and catalyse sustainable progress”.

Underlining the importance of more effective support, Mr. Roland Mollerus, CDP Secretary and Chief Development Policy Branch, UNDESA highlighted the importance of this first country-led South-South exchange on preparing for smooth transition, bringing the three graduating countries together “thanks to the key coordination role of the three RCOs in collaboration with DESA, ESCAP and OHRLLS”. On the same note, Ms. Sara Sekkenes, UN Resident Coordinator in the Lao PDR emphasized that “the South-South Exchange is a truly collaborative effort that allows us to exchange views and capture the broad perspective offered from the delegations on graduation related challenges, options, and recommendations on how to overcome them in their respective country contexts” and added that: “I hope that the interactive deliberations at the Exchange canencourage and stimulate further discussion on the STS at country-level and I look forward to seeing the three Smooth transition Strategies published recognizing many of the elements discussed here today”.

Mr. Daovy Vongxay, Head of the Lao delegation, Director-General of the Department of International Organisations, Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Lao PDR said “Graduating from LDC has been an ambitious development goal of the Government of the Lao PDR since 1996. The 2021 Triennial Review by the CDP was indeed an important milestone for the Lao PDR being recommended for graduation in 2026. The important next step is to safeguard this hard-gained achievement and continue the momentum towards a smooth and sustainable graduation pathway ahead”.

Leading the Lao delegation Mr. Daovy highlighted the common need of the Lao PDR, Bangladesh and Nepal for consistent and coherent support from the UN Development System and development partners in line with the recently adopted Doha Programme of Action.

He said: “We should be mindful that graduation from LDC status is not an end goal, but an important milestone in the countries’development trajectory. Continued and consistent support from the UN system and development partners must be ensured so that the graduating country do not slip back after graduation”.

Over the course of three days, the Lao delegation, together with Bangladesh and Nepal, hada frank exchange of views and mutual learning on a broad range of topics in the LDC graduation context, including on trade, inclusive and human development and ensure climate action. The Exchange also offered opportunities for the three countries to hold in-depth discussions with the experts from the UN Development System, multilateral organisations, and peer countries from the region including the Republic of Korea and Vietnam–two countries that demonstrate successful development pathways, to better understand how to develop and what actions to promote in the STSs to ensure a sustainable and irreversible LDC graduation.

Key takeaway and priorities for the STS

The Exchange highlighted the need to formulate an inclusive, country-driven, country-tailored, focused STS that responds to national development needs and priorities. The ongoing impact of COVID-19 and the more recent global crisis on fuel, food, fertilisers and finance has underlined the importance of a practical, flexible, and adaptable STS that offers an inclusive platform to discuss and identify concrete steps to ensure greater policy coherence, also as the situation changes over time.

Participants emphasised safeguarding investment in human capitalas a precondition for the sustainability of graduation. Even amid severely constrained fiscal space, investment needs in social sectors, particularly in health and education, and the expansion of a resilient social protection scheme to ensure high-quality human resources as the labour force expands were considered a key driver for sustainable and inclusive economic growth. To that end, ongoing efforts to mobilise and align public and private finance for the implementation of national development priorities, were noted be all three countries.

On trade-related issues, the importance of coordination across line ministries and enhancing the engagement of the private sector in the graduation process, was also underscored.

Participants discussed approaches to mainstreaming climate actionand environmental protection, including through disaster risk reduction, into the STS to ensure the flow of green, sustainable, and high-quality foreign direct investments. The Lao Government clearly flagged needs for more technical and financial assistance to facilitate access to climate financing to accelerate the transition to climate-resilient development.

Drawing from the rich discussions on common challenges and opportunities through-out the Exchange, the Lao delegation suggested the three countries strengthen their collaborative advocacy efforts committing to using the momentum of graduation to lead policies and strategies for accelerated development progress and leaving no one behind.

Source: Lao News Agency

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Treatment Improves Cognition in Down Syndrome Patients

A new hormone treatment improved the cognitive function of six men with Down syndrome by 10% to 30%, scientists said this week, adding the “promising” results may raise hopes of improving patients’ quality of life.

However, the scientists emphasized the small study did not point toward a cure for the cognitive disorders of people with Down syndrome and that far more research is needed.

“The experiment is very satisfactory, even if we remain cautious,” Nelly Pitteloud of Switzerland’s Lausanne University Hospital, co-author of a new study in the journal Science, said Thursday.

Down syndrome is the most common genetic form of intellectual disability, occurring in about one in 1,000 people, according to the World Health Organization.

Yet previous research has failed to significantly improve cognition when applied to people with the condition, which is why the latest findings are “particularly important,” the study said.

Recent discoveries have suggested that how the gonadotropin-releasing hormone (GnRH) is produced in the brain can affect cognitive functioning such as memory, language and learning.

GnRH hormones regulate how much testosterone and estrogen are produced, and increased levels of it help spur puberty.

“We wondered if this hormone could play any role in establishing the symptoms of people with Down syndrome,” said Vincent Prevot, study co-author and head of neuroscience research at France’s INSERM institute.

Research on mice

The team first established that five strands of microRNA regulating the production of GnRH were dysfunctional in mice specifically engineered for Down syndrome research.

They then demonstrated that cognitive deficiencies — as well as loss of smell, a common symptom of Down syndrome — were linked to dysfunctioning GnRH secretion in the mice.

The team then gave the mice a GnRH medication used to treat low testosterone and delayed puberty in humans, finding that it restored some cognitive function and sense of smell.

A pilot study was conducted in Switzerland involving seven men with Down syndrome aged 20 to 50.

They each received the treatment through their arm every two hours over a period of six months, with the drug delivered in pulses to mimic the hormone’s frequency in people without Down syndrome.

Cognition and smell tests were carried out during the treatment, as were MRI scans.

Six of the seven men showed improvement in cognition with no significant side effects, and none showed a change in sense of smell.

“We have seen an improvement of between 10% to 30% in cognitive functions, in particular with visuospatial function, three-dimensional representation, understanding of instructions as well as attention,” Pitteloud said.

The patients were asked to draw a simple 3D bed at several stages throughout the therapy. Many struggled at the beginning but by the end the efforts were noticeably better.

‘Improve quality of life’

The authors acknowledged some limitations of the study, including its size and that the choice of patients was “pushed by their parents.”

“The clinical trial only focused on seven male patients — we still have a lot of work to do to prove the effectiveness of GnRH treatment for Down syndrome,” Pitteloud said.

A larger study involving a placebo and 50 to 60 patients, a third of them women, is expected to begin in the coming months.

“We are not going to cure the cognitive disorders of people with Down syndrome, but the improvement seen in our results already seems fundamental enough to hope to improve their quality of life,” Pitteloud said.

Fabian Fernandez, an expert in cognition and Down syndrome at the University of Arizona who was not involved in the research, hailed the “tour de force study.”

He told AFP that while it is “difficult to envision” how such an intensive treatment could be used for young people, it might be better suited to delay the Alzheimer’s disease-related dementia suffered by many adults with Down syndrome.

It was also difficult to predict how such an improvement could impact the lives of people with the condition, he said.

“For some, it could be significant, however, as it would enable them to be more independent with daily living activities such as maintaining and enjoying hobbies, finding belongings, using appliances in the home and traveling alone.”

Source: Voice of America

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WHO Monitors Pneumonia Cases of Unknown Origin in Argentina

The World Health Organization is monitoring a cluster of 10 cases of pneumonia from an unknown cause in an outbreak in Argentina that so far has included three deaths.

The cases are linked to a single private clinic in the city of San Miguel de Tucumán, located in the northwest part of the country, according to the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO), the regional office of the WHO.

An initial report Tuesday included five health care workers and a patient who was treated in the intensive care ward of the clinic, with symptoms emerging Aug. 18-22.

On Thursday, local health officials reported another three cases, bringing the total to nine, including three deaths. All three people who died had other health conditions.

On Friday, Argentina reported an additional case.

Symptoms have included fever, muscle and abdominal pain and shortness of breath. Several patients had pneumonia in both lungs.

Tests for known respiratory viruses and other viral, bacterial and fungal agents were all negative, PAHO said. Biological samples have been sent to Argentina’s National Administration of Laboratories and Health Institutes for additional testing, which will include an analysis for the presence of toxins.

Dr. Michael Osterholm, an infectious disease expert at the University of Minnesota, said given that the lungs are heavily involved, the cause is likely something the patients inhaled.

He first suspected Legionnaires’ disease, which is caused by inhaling droplets of water containing Legionella bacteria, but tests have ruled that out.

PAHO and the WHO are monitoring the outbreak and assisting local health officials with the investigation.

Osterholm said “mystery illnesses” do sometimes happen, and most often they can be explained by some local outbreak that does not have pandemic implications.

Osterholm said he expects more definitive information from Argentine health officials in the next five to seven days.

Source: Voice of America