Group

Meeting of the Medicine Shortages Single Point of Contact (SPOC) Working Party, Online, from 22 January 2024, 10:00 (CET) to 22 January 2024, 13:30 (CET)

Retrieved on: 
Wednesday, January 24, 2024

Meeting of the Medicine Shortages Single Point of Contact (SPOC) Working Party

Key Points: 
  • Meeting of the Medicine Shortages Single Point of Contact (SPOC) Working Party
    EventHumanMedicine shortages
    Date
    Location
    The European Medicines Agency (EMA) established the Medicine Shortages Single Point of Contact (SPOC) Working Party under Regulation (EU) 2022/123 on EMA's reinforced role in crisis preparedness and management for medicinal products and medical devices.
  • The SPOC Working Party is responsible for monitoring and reporting events that could affect the supply of medicines in the European Union (EU).

Why the UK census should not be replaced with alternative sources of data

Retrieved on: 
Monday, January 8, 2024

Scholars have expressed concern that the government intends to scrap the census altogether, in favour of using other, administrative sources of population data.

Key Points: 
  • Scholars have expressed concern that the government intends to scrap the census altogether, in favour of using other, administrative sources of population data.
  • The issue is not whether administrative data can supplement census data – it undoubtedly can.
  • They argue that using only alternative sources of information without the census to compare them against could ultimately lead to inaccuracies.

An unparalleled resource

  • It is this ambition to collect data about the complete population that makes the census so unique, unparalleled by much smaller social surveys.
  • The data collected in this way is crucial to understanding the changing social and demographic geographies of the UK.
  • As well as the finances, there are also questions around the survey’s efficacy, when multiple organisations already gather citizen data as a matter of routine.

Alternative sources

  • Most of the data is now collected and disseminated electronically rather than on paper.
  • There are also ever more ways to freely explore and visualise the data.
  • The ONS’s consultation document, entitled “The future of population and migration statistics in England and Wales”, suggests that various sources of administrative data can be linked and collated to create what is, in effect, a pseudo-census.

Potential for inaccuracy

  • A lot of effort has been made by the ONS to explore what it terms “census alternatives” and to understand their potential advantages and disadvantages.
  • Imagine, for example, that we used the national pupil database to estimate the ethnic composition of neighbourhoods.
  • Generally, however, the more we zoom into such smaller data-sets, to explore neighbourhood-level patterns and differences, the more the possibility for inaccuracy increases.
  • It provides a lot of geographically detailed data about people and places, but that information is updated infrequently.
  • As a geographer, interested in detailed understandings of where people live, that is my preference.
  • I agree with the signatories of the open letter that the government has not convincingly argued for scrapping the census.


Richard Harris had received funding from various organisations, including ESRC-UKRI, to develop research that uses census data.

Latest news - 8-12 January: Committees and Political Groups

Retrieved on: 
Friday, January 5, 2024

8-12 January: Committees and Political Groups

Key Points: 
  • 8-12 January: Committees and Political Groups
    In the week of 8 January, Members' work is split between meetings in Parliamentary Committees and political groups.
  • Several committee meetings are scheduled, the highlight of the week being the exchange of views with Executive Vice-President Dombrovskis and Commissioner Gentiloni in the Committee on Economic and Monetary Affairs.
  • Follow the link below for more information.

How the Iowa caucuses became the first major challenge of US presidential campaigns

Retrieved on: 
Thursday, January 4, 2024

The first and most visible test of Republican candidate support in the 2024 presidential election is the Iowa caucuses, which take place on Jan. 15, 2024.

Key Points: 
  • The first and most visible test of Republican candidate support in the 2024 presidential election is the Iowa caucuses, which take place on Jan. 15, 2024.
  • While Iowa does not control who becomes the candidate of each party, Iowans’ choices almost always end up matching the rest of the nation.
  • One of the architects of the modern Iowa caucuses, which began in 1972, wrote that the significance of the caucus was unanticipated.
  • Seagrave said that it wasn’t political calculation that led to the choice to run the caucuses early in the election year.

Why a caucus?


Before the modern system for choosing presidential candidates was invented, the mechanism since 1832 for nominating presidential candidates had been a national political convention of each party. Voters in each state convention elected delegates to the national convention. A caucus is one way state party leaders picked whom to send and whom those delegates should support.

  • Bosses offered aid – housing, medical care, food, clothing – to people before government services became common.
  • The 1968 Democratic National Convention took place in Chicago, a city tightly controlled by Daley.
  • Daley then bullied delegates to nominate his favored candidate, Vice President Hubert Humphrey, even though Humphrey didn’t win a single primary election.

1968 provokes reforms

  • The Democratic Party created the McGovern–Fraser Commission in 1968 in response to the events in Chicago.
  • It was these reforms that launched Iowa’s caucuses in 1972.
  • In 1976, the Iowa Republican Party followed the Democrats and began holding caucuses on the same early date.
  • That increased the visibility of the Iowa caucuses out of proportion to their actual numeric influence in the nominating convention.

How they do it

  • In 2020, Democrats also had satellite caucuses, with some even held overseas.
  • Once the viable groups have been declared, a complex mathematical calculation determines how many delegates are allocated to each surviving candidate.

The Iowa caucuses become a tradition

  • The Iowa caucuses have become a political tradition because the media devotes so much attention to the candidates’ activities in Iowa and then to how they perform on caucus night.
  • There is also a concern that caucuses are difficult events to participate in because voters must attend personally and at night.
  • Caucuses are now generally in disfavor, with many states moving to primaries.


Steffen W. Schmidt does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.

School uniforms may trigger sensory overload in kids who are sensitive to fabrics – our research can help

Retrieved on: 
Wednesday, January 3, 2024

Those with this condition experience an over-reaction to sensory stimuli, such as touch.

Key Points: 
  • Those with this condition experience an over-reaction to sensory stimuli, such as touch.
  • When overstimulated, the brain triggers a fight-or-flight response, which can lead to irritability, withdrawing from people, and temper tantrums.
  • Clothing plays a role in worsening these sensory issues because it remains in constant contact with the skin, providing sensory input.

Our study

  • The team’s first study focused on school uniforms.
  • The main reason for this is that they feel restricted and that the clothes are in very close contact with the skin.
  • Parents also mentioned that children often preferred second-hand school uniforms, which they experienced as softer and more tolerable than new items.
  • Apart from providing rich data about clothing and textiles, the study revealed the effect of the clothing on the participation of a child in their daily activities (such as education).

Simple interventions help

  • The good news is that simple interventions can make a substantial, positive difference.
  • Awareness of these realities should be highlighted and interventions should focus on improving outcomes not just for the child but for their entire family.

More to come

  • We are also conducting a separate analysis on the tactile properties of various textiles used in children’s wear.
  • The school uniform study was co-authored by Masters student Wenette Jordaan and Leoné Gouws, also a Masters student, is a co-author of the underwear study.


The work is based on the research supported wholly/ in part by the National Research Foundation of South Africa (Grant Number: 129842). Karin van Niekerk does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.

Human medicines European public assessment report (EPAR): Nuvaxovid, COVID-19 Vaccine (recombinant, adjuvanted), Date of authorisation: 20/12/2021, Revision: 11, Status: Authorised

Retrieved on: 
Tuesday, January 2, 2024

Human medicines European public assessment report (EPAR): Nuvaxovid, COVID-19 Vaccine (recombinant, adjuvanted), Date of authorisation: 20/12/2021, Revision: 11, Status: Authorised

Key Points: 


Human medicines European public assessment report (EPAR): Nuvaxovid, COVID-19 Vaccine (recombinant, adjuvanted), Date of authorisation: 20/12/2021, Revision: 11, Status: Authorised

Human medicines European public assessment report (EPAR): Spikevax (previously COVID-19 Vaccine Moderna), COVID-19 mRNA vaccine,elasomeran,elasomeran / imelasomeran,elasomeran / davesomeran,andusomeran, Date of authorisation: 06/01/2021, Revision: 41[...]

Retrieved on: 
Tuesday, January 2, 2024

Human medicines European public assessment report (EPAR): Spikevax (previously COVID-19 Vaccine Moderna), COVID-19 mRNA vaccine,elasomeran,elasomeran / imelasomeran,elasomeran / davesomeran,andusomeran, Date of authorisation: 06/01/2021, Revision: 41, Status: Authorised

Key Points: 


Human medicines European public assessment report (EPAR): Spikevax (previously COVID-19 Vaccine Moderna), COVID-19 mRNA vaccine,elasomeran,elasomeran / imelasomeran,elasomeran / davesomeran,andusomeran, Date of authorisation: 06/01/2021, Revision: 41, Status: Authorised

Coca-Cola in Africa: a long history full of unexpected twists and turns

Retrieved on: 
Tuesday, January 2, 2024

A new book called Bottled: How Coca-Cola Became African tells the story of how the world’s most famous carbonated drink conquered the continent.

Key Points: 
  • A new book called Bottled: How Coca-Cola Became African tells the story of how the world’s most famous carbonated drink conquered the continent.
  • We asked her some questions about the book.

What do you hope readers will take away?

  • The first is that while Africa is largely absent from books on Coca-Cola, the company’s imprint on the continent is enormous.
  • Most estimates put Coke as one of the largest private employers in Africa, if not the largest.
  • Arriving in Africa in the early 1900s, it’s a story that is deeply and, often surprisingly, entangled with key moments in African history.
  • Its ubiquity thus tells us something about African engagement with a consumer product as well as the many ways in which ordinary people wield power.

How did Coca-Cola first arrive in Africa?

  • It sells a concentrate, which comes from a handful of locations around the globe, including Egypt and Eswatini.
  • This concentrate is sold to licensed bottlers who then mix it with local forms of sugar and water before carbonating and bottling or canning it.
  • Coca-Cola lore says that the company first secured local bottlers for its concentrate in South Africa in 1928, its first stop on the African continent.

What role did it play in apartheid South Africa?

  • Coca-Cola was entrenched in South Africa before the advent of the racist, white minority apartheid state in 1948.
  • While the company largely attempted to stay out of politics in South Africa, much as it did elsewhere in the world, it resisted certain “petty apartheid” rules.
  • For example, the washrooms and lunchrooms in its plants were open to all ethnic groups, unlike the “whites only” facilities established under apartheid.
  • It then moved its concentrate plant to neighbouring Eswatini, leaving Coca-Cola with no assets or employees in South Africa.


Sara Byala does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.

Will the world see more wars or unrest in 2024? Here are 5 hotspots to watch

Retrieved on: 
Saturday, December 30, 2023

Some of these nations have been dealing with simmering unrest, however, which could erupt in 2024 and seize the global spotlight.

Key Points: 
  • Some of these nations have been dealing with simmering unrest, however, which could erupt in 2024 and seize the global spotlight.
  • Here are five places where I believe civil conflicts or unrest could worsen and potentially lead to violence.

Myanmar

  • Myanmar descended into chaos in 2021 when a military coup overthrew the democratically elected government led by Aung San Suu Kyi and sparked widespread civil protests that eventually morphed into an armed resistance.
  • The country, home to 135 ethnic groups, has rarely known peace.
  • This exploded after the coup as ethnic militia groups joined forces with pro-democracy fighters from the Bamar majority protesting the junta.

Mali

  • In Mali, a nation in the turbulent Sahel region of Africa, tensions escalated throughout 2023 and now threaten to erupt into full-scale civil war.
  • A United Nations peacekeeping mission was established in 2013 to bring stability to Mali.
  • Then, in 2015, key rebel groups signed a peace agreement with the Mali government.
  • Read more:
    Mali crisis: UN peacekeepers are leaving after 10 years – what's needed for a smooth transition

    After two more coups in 2020 and 2021, military officers consolidated their power and said they would restore the state’s full territorial control over all of Mali.

Lebanon

  • In 2019, widespread civil protest broke out in Lebanon against leaders who were perceived not to be addressing the day-to-day needs of the population.
  • The International Monetary Fund criticised Lebanon in September for a lack of economic reform.
  • Most recently, the war between Israel and Hamas has threatened to spill over to Lebanon, home to the Hezbollah militant group, which claims to have an army of 100,000 fighters.

Pakistan

  • Pakistan also faces spillover from instability in neighbouring Afghanistan and increased terror attacks.
  • Pakistan is expected to hold parliamentary elections in February 2024, after which the current military caretaker government is expected to transfer power back to civilian rule.
  • Read more:
    How Imran Khan's populism has divided Pakistan and put it on a knife's edge

Sri Lanka

  • Sri Lanka faced a debilitating economic crisis in 2022 that led to critical fuel, food and medical shortages.
  • Stability returned in 2023 as Sri Lanka began implementing economic reforms as part of a bailout agreement with the International Monetary Fund.
  • Elections are also due in Sri Lanka by late 2024.


Jessica Genauer does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.

John Edwards speaks at TechUK Digital Ethics Summit 2023

Retrieved on: 
Friday, December 29, 2023

Kia ora, good morning and welcome to TechUK’s annual Digital Ethics summit. I’m happy to be here talking to you all, a roomful of people who care as much as I do about protecting people’s fundamental privacy rights.

Key Points: 


Kia ora, good morning and welcome to TechUK’s annual Digital Ethics summit. I’m happy to be here talking to you all, a roomful of people who care as much as I do about protecting people’s fundamental privacy rights.