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Business Upturn
21-07-2025
- Business
- Business Upturn
Francesco Arezzo Takes Office as President of Rotary International
Francesco Arezzo, member of the Rotary Club of Ragusa, Italy, has officially begun his term as President of Rotary International for 2025–26. Subsequently, from India, K.P. Nagesh, Rotary Club of Bangalore Highgrounds, Karnataka, and M. Muruganandam, Rotary Club of Bhel City Tiruchirapalli, Tamil Nadu, have been appointed as RI Directors for a two-year term (2025-27). Business Wire India Francesco Arezzo, member of the Rotary Club of Ragusa, Italy, has officially begun his term as President of Rotary International for 2025–26. Subsequently, from India, K.P. Nagesh, Rotary Club of Bangalore Highgrounds, Karnataka, and M. Muruganandam, Rotary Club of Bhel City Tiruchirapalli, Tamil Nadu, have been appointed as RI Directors for a two-year term (2025-27). Arezzo, a Rotary member for more than 30 years, will be the third Italian and the first from southern Italy to lead the global membership organization. During his term, Arezzo will focus on advancing Rotary's mission of unity and inclusion under the banner of 'Unite for Good', recognizing its profound relevance in today's world. 'Rotary's greatest strength lies in its ability to unite people of all cultures and generations through a shared commitment to doing good,' said Arezzo. 'As we look ahead, I am committed to building on this legacy – working together to advance peace, understanding, and opportunity around the world.' As head of Rotary's global network of 46,000 clubs, Arezzo will also oversee Rotary's top goal of eradicating polio. Alongside its Global Polio Eradication Initiative partners, Rotary has achieved a 99.9% reduction in polio cases, and contributed more than US$2.6 billion and countless volunteer hours to protect nearly 3 billion children from this paralyzing disease. Flt. Lt. K.P. Nagesh is a decorated Indian Air Force veteran, successful entrepreneur, and social changemaker. He joined Rotary as a member of his club in 1995. A trailblazing Rotarian and past District Governor, he is known for record-breaking membership growth and impactful service projects. In 2015–16, while serving as a district Governor, he led transformative initiatives that resulted in the addition of over 2,000 new members and the chartering of 52 new clubs, with a notable rise in women's participation. 'India is one of the strongest pillars of Rotary's global vision. From $6 million in fundraising a decade ago to $33 million in 2024 and growing, India is the second-largest global contributor. Our membership in India has more than doubled over the last decade, and we are on track to lead the world in numbers. Rotary's first Peace Center coming up at Symbiosis Pune is a powerful milestone—proof that India doesn't just contribute to global peace, we now host and shape it. Our focus for India is clear: scale our service projects, build trust with CSR partners, and transform underserved communities through health, education, water, environment, livelihoods, and peace. This is India's Rotary moment—and we are ready to lead with purpose, transparency, and trust,' said, K.P Nagesh, Rotary International Director (India), 2025–27 M Murganandam's Rotary journey began at just 16, when he joined Rotaract and participated in polio immunization drives in remote communities. A first-generation entrepreneur, educator, and social leader from Tamil Nadu, he has championed youth empowerment, skill development, and inclusive service across India. He went on to become one of the youngest district governors in 2016-17, leading record-setting initiatives recognized by Guinness World Records. His leadership has been marked by a strong focus on youth empowerment, literacy, health care, and women's safety. 'From leading one of the world's greatest public health victories—bringing polio to the brink of eradication—to now confronting climate challenges, education gaps, and rising inequity, our commitment remains the same: to serve, to uplift, and to unite. Unite for Good is not just a theme—it's a timely reminder that humanity is strongest when we act together. My vision is to make Rotary irresistible to the next generation by saying YES to youth leadership, YES to women at the forefront, and YES to safe, inclusive spaces for service. With India's unmatched energy and our 1:2:3 strategy for membership growth, we're poised to become Rotary's global heartbeat—bolder, kinder, and built to last,' said M. Muruganandam. Rotary members—including those in nearly 4600 clubs in India, as well as throughout the world–develop and implement sustainable, community-driven projects that fight disease, promote peace, provide clean water, support education, save mothers and children, grow local economies, and protect the environment. More than US$5.5 billion has been awarded through The Rotary Foundation – Rotary's charitable arm that helps clubs work together to perform meaningful, impactful service—to support these initiatives over the last 100 years. Disclaimer: The above press release comes to you under an arrangement with Business Wire India. Business Upturn take no editorial responsibility for the same. Ahmedabad Plane Crash
Telegraph
01-07-2025
- Health
- Telegraph
Three-year-old paralysed by polio as Myanmar's health system crumbles
A three-year-old girl has been paralysed after contracting vaccine-derived polio in Myanmar, the Telegraph has learned. Doctors said the polio case, which was detected in Myanmar's northeastern Shan state, is a clear sign of the damage done to the country's healthcare system in four years of civil war and reveals gaping holes in vaccination coverage. Concerns about polio were first raised on April 29 when a young girl in a village in Tangayan township – an area controlled by a powerful ethnic armed group close to the border with China – was diagnosed with acute flaccid paralysis, a tell-tale symptom. A stool sample was then sent to Thailand, where laboratory analysis confirmed on May 29 that the case was vaccine-derived polio (VDP) type 1, according to a letter notifying the World Health Organization (WHO). The correspondence, seen by the Telegraph, is signed by an assistant secretary in the Myanmar regime's Ministry of Health and dated May 30. A spokesperson for the Global Polio Eradication Initiative (GPEI) confirmed the infection, noting that 'only a single isolate was confirmed, and at this time there is no evidence of circulation'. It is the first known polio case in Myanmar since 2019. But those on the ground said the protracted conflict may make it difficult to trace the virus, and that other cases, particularly asymptomatic ones, may be going undetected. 'The probability is [that there are] other incidents, but with current communication disconnection, these may fly under the radar,' said one doctor in northeastern Myanmar, who asked to remain anonymous due to security concerns. 'The worst part of the situation is that these are absolutely vaccine preventable.' Since the military seized power in a coup in February 2021, the healthcare system has splintered: junta-controlled areas face major staffing shortages due to an ongoing doctors strike protesting against the regime; while the military often attacks hospitals and clinics in airstrikes on opposition-held territory, where it has cut off supply of key medicines. Figures shared by a doctor in southern Myanmar – which were originally published on the Ministry of Health's website but have since been removed – demonstrate the reduction in access. In 2019, 13.5 million out-patients and 1.68m in-patients were treated; by 2022, these figures stood at just 4.7m and 382,000 – a fall of 63 per cent and 77 per cent, respectively. At the same time, Insecurity Insight has tracked more than 1,600 incidents of violence against healthcare since the coup – 152 healthcare workers have died, 35 have been kidnapped, and 395 health facilities damaged or destroyed. The result has been a surge in disease and mortality, with the poor hit hardest. For instance, WHO figures suggest tuberculosis deaths jumped from 21,000 in 2020, to 49,900 in 2022. Vaccination rates have also been affected. Unicef estimated in a situation report in December 2024 that 1.2 million children in Myanmar have not received a single shot for any childhood illness, putting them 'at high risk of catching-vaccine preventable diseases'. Virus 'circulating for quite a while' For some, the emergence of VDP, which surfaces when immunisation rates are low, felt almost inevitable. While wild polio was last recorded in Myanmar in 2007 and the southeast Asian country was declared polio-free in 2014, there have since been sporadic outbreaks of VDP – most recently in a child in the eastern Kayin state in 2019. These cases emerge because the oral polio vaccine contains a weakened version of the live virus that does not cause paralysis, but replicates in the gut and provokes the body to build up immunity. The weakened virus can also pass via poor sanitation to other children who have not been vaccinated, where it can help build up their immunity too. But in areas where vaccination coverage is low and routine surveillance limited, the weakened virus can also pick up mutations as it continues to spread and replicate. Eventually, often over the course of about 12 to 18 months, it can change back to a harmful form and cause paralysis. '[According to the letter], they've looked at the sequences and found several mutations. We can't say with certainty, but this is an indication it may have been circulating for quite a while,' said Prof David Heymann, an infectious disease epidemiologist and a former assistant director-general for health security and environment at the WHO. While a newer vaccine has been developed that's less likely to trigger mutations, VDP has complicated a 30-year eradication programme that's pushed the disease to the brink of extinction. Pakistan and Afghanistan are the only remaining strongholds of wild polio, but some 20 countries have reported VDP in the last 12 months – the majority in sub-Saharan Africa. 'The wild virus infects maybe 500 children for every cause of paralysis,' said Prof Heymann. 'VDP is still polio – there's no reason to think that [this ratio] is any different, but I don't think there's evidence to confirm it.' He added that the type of VDP detected in Myanmar – type 1 – is more virulent than VDP type 2, which is the strain most commonly spreading in Africa. He said the gold-standard response to all forms of polio, vaccine derived or wild, is the same: to ramp up surveillance and boost vaccinations to break chains of transmission. But in Myanmar, the conflict has already wrought severe damage to the healthcare system, which is now run by a patchwork of groups at war with each other. In one assessment of dozens of townships in Myanmar shared with the Telegraph – which does not cover the entire country, but gives a sense of the issue – 40 per cent of hospitals were found to have closed, 75 per cent rural health centres shuttered and 80 per cent of doctors no longer working. 'For me, the bigger picture is that polio is a symptom of a very serious disease,' said the doctor from southern Myanmar. 'That disease is a strike that has killed hundreds of people. 'Healthcare has been drawn into the conflict by all parties, and that is a huge crime. The military has done that – it is bombing clinics – but so has [the opposition]. I have never heard of a medical strike that's lasted four years. And it means everything has gone down – emergency surgery, deliveries, vaccinations, treatments. Everything. 'There should be enormous pressure to end the politicisation of health, and get the healthcare system out of the conflict,' the doctor said. When the military seized power in February 2021, it triggered a wave of peaceful protests and mass strikes from civil servants, known as the Civil Disobedience Movement. Healthcare workers were a key part of this, and thousands fled after doctors were arrested or targeted by the military during a violent crackdown on dissent. The latest case of VDP is in Tangyan township – close to the hotly contested town Lashio, a town which has seen frequent fighting. The region is currently under the control of the United Wa State Army, a powerful ethnic armed group. The military regime hinted that it had not been able to access the area in its letter to the WHO, which was signed by Dr Ye Min Htwe, an Assistant Secretary in the International Relations Division. The secretary said that 'because of the security issue, healthcare and immunisation services are inaccessible'. But he went on to say that, on April 30, 45 children under the age of 15 went to the nearby Monghsu township to have the first round of oral polio vaccine. The letter added that it is coordinating with the WHO and Unicef to screen to respond. Neither the military's Ministry of Health nor the exiled shadow government, the National Unity Government, responded to questions from The Telegraph. A GPEI spokesperson said: 'The Ministry of Health is leading an epidemiological investigation as well as surveillance strengthening activities supported by WHO Country Office and WHO Southeast Asia Regional office - including conducting active search for AFP [acute flaccid paralysis] cases. 'Children in and around the village received an additional dose of bOPV [the polio vaccine], in response to detection of this case. Outcomes of the epidemiological investigation will guide further course of action. He added: 'Whether wild or vaccine-derived, both are polio outbreaks with the capacity to paralyse children, and you need to do an outbreak response in order to stop those outbreaks.'
Scoop
09-06-2025
- Health
- Scoop
Polio Vaccines Set To Arrive In PNG Next Week, Says Health Minister
Article – RNZ The World Health Organisation declared an outbreak of the disease in PNG last month. Papua New Guinea's health minister, Elias Kapavore, says polio vaccines are set to arrive in the country next week. The World Health Organisation declared an outbreak of the disease in PNG last month. The Post Courier reported that as of 6 June, 48 cases of acute flaccid paralysis – a condition characterized by rapid onset of muscle weakness or paralysis, but not a disease in itself – had been reported across 11 provinces. Of these, 20 tested negatives for poliovirus, and 28 remain under investigation. Kapavore said the primary objective is to protect children from paralysis and prevent further virus transmission. Kapavore said vaccines are scheduled to arrive between 16 and 20 June. The estimated cost for two rounds of the vaccination campaign is 88 million kina (US$21.4m). So far, 74 million kina has been secured through the PNG and Australian governments and from the Global Polio Eradication Initiative, as well as technical and logistical support from WHO and UNICEF, including the full cost of the nOPV2 vaccine supply. During the recent World Health Assembly in Geneva, Kapavore presented PNG's national statement, reaffirming its commitment to the Global Polio Eradication Initiative and advocating for cross-border coordination, especially with Indonesia. 'The genetic link to the Indonesian strain [of polio] highlights the urgency of strengthening biosecurity capacity at the Papua New Guinea-Indonesia border,' he said. 'We must scale up surveillance and immunisation at these points of entry through coordinated efforts by the Departments of Health, Agriculture, Defence, Immigrations and Border Security, to prevent future cross-border transmission of polio and other infectious diseases.' He called upon every MP to actively support vaccination and awareness efforts in their constituencies. Meanwhile, the World Health Organisation has raised concern about comebacks of vaccine-preventable disease in east Asia and the Pacific. In the first months of 2025, countries like Cambodia, Mongolia, the Philippines and Vietnam have reported a sharp rise in measles cases compared with the same period last year. UNICEF regional director for East Asia and the Pacific, June Kunugi, said measles and polio are highly infectious. 'And children are paying the price for gaps in coverage, delayed care, and misinformation. No child should suffer or die from a disease we know how to prevent.'
Scoop
09-06-2025
- Health
- Scoop
Polio Vaccines Set To Arrive In PNG Next Week, Says Health Minister
The World Health Organisation declared an outbreak of the disease in PNG last month. Papua New Guinea's health minister, Elias Kapavore, says polio vaccines are set to arrive in the country next week. The World Health Organisation declared an outbreak of the disease in PNG last month. The Post Courier reported that as of 6 June, 48 cases of acute flaccid paralysis – a condition characterized by rapid onset of muscle weakness or paralysis, but not a disease in itself – had been reported across 11 provinces. Of these, 20 tested negatives for poliovirus, and 28 remain under investigation. Kapavore said the primary objective is to protect children from paralysis and prevent further virus transmission. Kapavore said vaccines are scheduled to arrive between 16 and 20 June. The estimated cost for two rounds of the vaccination campaign is 88 million kina (US$21.4m). So far, 74 million kina has been secured through the PNG and Australian governments and from the Global Polio Eradication Initiative, as well as technical and logistical support from WHO and UNICEF, including the full cost of the nOPV2 vaccine supply. During the recent World Health Assembly in Geneva, Kapavore presented PNG's national statement, reaffirming its commitment to the Global Polio Eradication Initiative and advocating for cross-border coordination, especially with Indonesia. 'The genetic link to the Indonesian strain [of polio] highlights the urgency of strengthening biosecurity capacity at the Papua New Guinea-Indonesia border,' he said. 'We must scale up surveillance and immunisation at these points of entry through coordinated efforts by the Departments of Health, Agriculture, Defence, Immigrations and Border Security, to prevent future cross-border transmission of polio and other infectious diseases.' He called upon every MP to actively support vaccination and awareness efforts in their constituencies. Meanwhile, the World Health Organisation has raised concern about comebacks of vaccine-preventable disease in east Asia and the Pacific. In the first months of 2025, countries like Cambodia, Mongolia, the Philippines and Vietnam have reported a sharp rise in measles cases compared with the same period last year. UNICEF regional director for East Asia and the Pacific, June Kunugi, said measles and polio are highly infectious. 'And children are paying the price for gaps in coverage, delayed care, and misinformation. No child should suffer or die from a disease we know how to prevent.'
Scoop
09-06-2025
- Health
- Scoop
Polio Vaccines Set To Arrive In PNG Next Week, Says Health Minister
Papua New Guinea's health minister, Elias Kapavore, says polio vaccines are set to arrive in the country next week. The World Health Organisation declared an outbreak of the disease in PNG last month. The Post Courier reported that as of 6 June, 48 cases of acute flaccid paralysis - a condition characterized by rapid onset of muscle weakness or paralysis, but not a disease in itself - had been reported across 11 provinces. Of these, 20 tested negatives for poliovirus, and 28 remain under investigation. Kapavore said the primary objective is to protect children from paralysis and prevent further virus transmission. Kapavore said vaccines are scheduled to arrive between 16 and 20 June. The estimated cost for two rounds of the vaccination campaign is 88 million kina (US$21.4m). So far, 74 million kina has been secured through the PNG and Australian governments and from the Global Polio Eradication Initiative, as well as technical and logistical support from WHO and UNICEF, including the full cost of the nOPV2 vaccine supply. During the recent World Health Assembly in Geneva, Kapavore presented PNG's national statement, reaffirming its commitment to the Global Polio Eradication Initiative and advocating for cross-border coordination, especially with Indonesia. "The genetic link to the Indonesian strain [of polio] highlights the urgency of strengthening biosecurity capacity at the Papua New Guinea-Indonesia border," he said. "We must scale up surveillance and immunisation at these points of entry through coordinated efforts by the Departments of Health, Agriculture, Defence, Immigrations and Border Security, to prevent future cross-border transmission of polio and other infectious diseases." He called upon every MP to actively support vaccination and awareness efforts in their constituencies. Meanwhile, the World Health Organisation has raised concern about comebacks of vaccine-preventable disease in east Asia and the Pacific. In the first months of 2025, countries like Cambodia, Mongolia, the Philippines and Vietnam have reported a sharp rise in measles cases compared with the same period last year. UNICEF regional director for East Asia and the Pacific, June Kunugi, said measles and polio are highly infectious. "And children are paying the price for gaps in coverage, delayed care, and misinformation. No child should suffer or die from a disease we know how to prevent."
