KISS NEWS

Uganda Police has arrested several residents of Namungoona in Uganda who have today took to streets to riot for delayed COVID-19 food, below is Police statement;

“Our security team has this afternoon arrested two people for staging an illegal demonstration at Namugoona, a Kampala suburb.
The duo was part of a group of people that blocked the road demanding for relief food that is being distributed by the government. In their unlawful protest, the group claimed that they were hungry.
Our officers have identified the suspects in custody as Wasswa Eria and Mukwaya Farouk, all residents of Namugoona, Rubaga Division, Kampala.
We have been informed that the group was mobilised by a politician who is intending to contest for Parliamentary elections for Rubaga North.
These youths were mobilised by the politician to demonstrate to show that the government has not provided them with food and yet the distribution exercise is still going on.
According to Government plan all the vulnerable people will benefit from the relief food distribution.
We appeal to members of the public to remain calm because the team supplying food will reach them at any time.
We discourage the youth and other people to avoid being used to hold unlawful protests as this exposes their life to Covid19 as you all know crowds are one the avenues in which the diseases quickly spread.”

Afande Patrick Onyango

BOBI WINE MOVES TO EVACUATE UGANDANS

Kyadondo East legislator has written a fierce letter to Uganda’s premier Dr.Ruhakana Rugunda in a bid to evacuate Ugandans stuck in China and other countries.
According to Bobi,he plans to use a private plane (Quantum) to airlift Ugandans and other African countries.
Many Ugandans/Africans have been segregated by Chinese and other countries.

“We’re also thinking of taking Africans to any country in Africa that is ready to receive them” Bobi Wine has said
The Ghetto Gladiator says that the only incumbrance to this cause are Ugandan government officials that have turned it into politics.

BOBI REFUSES TO RECEIVE 20M

The Ghetto Gladiator has also written a letter to the parliament of Uganda refusing to receive 20,000,000 Ug.Shs.The money is said to have been deposited to the accounts of all members of parliament in Uganda to ‘avocate’ for coronavirus, something that has caused anger among millions of Ugandans.They urge that such monies should have been put to meaningful use to avenues such as hospitals and the needy.

Azziad Nasenya, KENYA’S TIKTOK QUEEN is trending on social media,the blonde beautiful ever smiling babe is credited for her waist moves that saw over 30,000 men inbox her to get a grasp of her yoyo!

Nasenya took to social media site #TikTok and recorded a challenge of #Utawezana song that has seen the 19 year old babe move places.

The Research Brief is a short take about interesting academic work.

The big idea

We are both biotechnology researchers and are currently seeking to repurpose an existing medical manufacturing platform to quickly develop a vaccine candidate for COVID-19.

This process is used for the treatment of blood products such as plasma, platelets and whole blood to prevent disease transmission when people receive transfused blood. It utilizes a common food ingredient, vitamin B2, or riboflavin, which is a light-sensitive chemical. When used in combination with ultraviolet light of specific wavelengths, B2 can alter genetic material, whether RNA or DNA, of infectious pathogens in the blood, making them unable to transmit disease.

Those genetic changes prevent pathogens, such as viral, bacterial and parasitic contaminants, in blood from replicating. By stopping the replication process, the method protects people from disease they could acquire through a blood transfusion.

Here’s how we believe this technology can be applied to COVID-19 virus: When creating a vaccine candidate, the goal is to destroy the replication potential of the virus while preserving its proteins and antigens, the substances in the virus that prompt the body to produce antibodies. The presence of those proteins and antigens allows the body to recognize the virus as foreign and mount an immune response against it.

When this method is applied to a pure virus grown in cell culture, the B2 damages the virus’s genetic material and thus blocks it from replicating. But the B2 treatment leaves the rest of the virus – notably the viral proteins – undamaged. That is important because the vaccine needs to contain proteins that appear on an infecting virus in order for a person to produce effective antibodies and protect against the disease.

Why it matters

Vaccines require an inactive form of a virus that cannot cause disease to stimulate the immune system. In 2009, during the H1N1 influenza outbreak, the U.S. experienced shortages in the manufacturing of needed vaccines, as the need to grow the virus was in high demand and the manufacturing plants that required the use of eggs to grow the virus were insufficient.

This resulted in the expansion of new ways to manufacture vaccines, some of which are now in use. Yet, there is still a lag time in the production of needed vaccines for the current coronavirus outbreak.

Most methods that are used today to prepare inactivated viruses employ chemicals that are both toxic and in some cases even pose explosion risk, meaning that facilities have to be constructed and operated in ways that protect workers and the public from their use and exposure.

Riboflavin is a compound that is generally recognized as safe because of its low toxicity in humans and animals and its presence in common products people routinely ingest. Using this approach can make this step in virus production much easier and applicable for use in appropriate biological containment facilities.

What other research is being done

Over the last decade, there have been advances in manufacturing and in strategies to rapidly produce a vaccine.

Our work has been made possible by the investments made in the U.S. research infrastructure through the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases in order to expand research and manufacturing capacity and to address concerns over the potential threat of bioterrorism. It led to the construction of a manufacturing plant and research labs which are currently used by industry, government and academic partners pursuing manufacturing and process development for vaccines, therapeutics and diagnostic reagents.

Although the threat from bioterrorism never materialized to the extent that was initially envisioned, there is a need for rapid vaccine development to address emerging pathogens that threaten human health on a global basis, such as Zika.

What’s next

Our vaccine construct, which we call SolaVAX, is undergoing animal testing and further laboratory characterization, such as studying the nature of the damage to the viral RNA that this process induces and its immunological effect when given to animals. We began our initial vaccine challenge studies earlier this month. These tests will determine if we can protect animals that are vaccinated with SolaVAX from developing the disease when they are later exposed to the live virus. This work is a first step on the path to human clinical evaluation. We also possess the nonprofit BioMARC manufacturing operation at Colorado State University, where testing and development of this inactivation method for vaccine production can be piloted.

If initial results in animal testing and pilot production of the vaccine are positive, the next steps into human clinical testing and evaluation and ultimate regulatory approvals represent the next major hurdle.

Police in Wandegeya have arrested a suspect for being in possession of Government Stores.

By Ronald Kisekka

The suspect was arrested on Wednesday at a check point while police was enforcing Presidential directives intended to curb the spread of COVID19.

It is alleged that on 15/4/2020 at around 1500hrs, D/CPL AMANYA BRUCE while at Wandegeya Traffic Lights check point stopped a motor vehicle Reg. No. UEB 038V Toyota Wish with a view of establishing if the driver had a sticker allowing him to drive since use of private vehicles was banned.

Cpl Amanya searched the vehicle and found the driver in possession of a toy gun (pistol) black in colour and other stickers belonging to peoples’ government.

The suspect is called Kyambadde Kasiryo Haruna, a resident of Lugala Masanafu, Rubaga Division, Kampala.
The suspect claimed he was heading to give relief to the National Task Force insisting that he should be allowed to proceed to Prime Minister’s office.

The suspect also had a UPDF identity card and tear gas Carnister.

This made the detectives to interrogate him further and a team of detectives proceeded with the suspect up to his residence.

A lawful search was conducted where other items such a uniform similar to that of the UPDF (army green in colour) and Breaking implements were recovered.

The suspect is currently detained at Wandegeya Police Station.

He is charged with two counts being in possession of Goverment stores and possession of breaking implements.

The file is being processed and he will appear in court any time.

SP Patrick Onyango
KMP PRO
16/4/2020

US President Donald Trump has announced the US is cutting its funding to the World Health Organisation (WHO) – a decision that will have major implications for the global health response to the coronavirus pandemic.

The US contributes more than US$400 million to the WHO per year, though it is already US$200 million in arrears. It is the organisation’s largest donor and gives about 10 times what China does per year.

Trump has accused the organisation of mishandling and covering up the initial spread of COVID-19 in China, and of generally failing to take a harsher stance toward China.

What will Trump’s decision to cut funding mean for the organisation?

Who are members of the WHO?
The WHO was established in 1948 to serve as the directing and coordinating authority in international health. It was created with a mandate to improve the health of the world’s population, and defined health as

a state of complete physical, mental and social well-being, and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity.

While various civil society, industry and faith-based organisations can observe WHO meetings, only countries are allowed to become members. Every May, member states attend the World Health Assembly in Geneva to set the WHO’s policy direction, approve the budget and review the organisation’s work.

Currently, there are 194 WHO member states, which means the organisation has one more member state than the United Nations.

The WHO headquarters in Geneva. SALVATORE DI NOLFI/EPA
How is the WHO funded?
The WHO receives the majority of its funding from two primary sources. The first is membership dues from countries, which are described as “assessed contributions”.

Assessed contributions are calculated based on the gross domestic product and size of population, but they have not increased in real terms since the level of payments was frozen in the 1980s.

The second source of funding is voluntary contributions. These contributions, provided by governments, philanthropic organisations and private donations, are usually earmarked for specific projects or initiatives, meaning the WHO has less ability to reallocate them in the event of an emergency such as the COVID-19 pandemic.

Have countries pulled funding before?
Over more than 70 years of operations, a number of countries have failed to pay their membership dues on time.

At one point the former Soviet Union announced it was withdrawing from the WHO and refused to pay its membership fees for several years. When it then rejoined in 1955, it argued for a reduction in its back dues, which was approved.

As a result of nonpayment of assessed contributions, we have seen several instances where the WHO has been on the verge of bankruptcy. Fortunately, governments have usually acted responsibly and eventually paid back their fees.

Has there been political criticism of the WHO before?
Yes. In 2009, the WHO was accused of acting too early in declaring swine flu a pandemic, in part over concerns it had been pressured by pharmaceutical companies.

Five years later, the organisation was accused of acting too late in declaring the West African Ebola outbreak a public health emergency.

Trump has criticised the WHO for not acting quickly enough in sending its experts to assess China’s efforts to contain COVID-19 and call out China’s lack of transparency over its handling of the initial stage of the crisis.

But these criticisms ignore China’s sovereignty. The WHO does not have the power to force member states to accept a team of WHO experts to conduct an assessment. The country must request WHO assistance.

Nor does the organisation have the power to force a country to share any information. It can only request.

Of course, Trump’s comments also ignore the fact the WHO did eventually send a team of experts to conduct an assessment in mid-February after finally obtaining Chinese approval. The results from this investigation provided important information about the virus and China’s efforts to halt its spread.

Does China have increasing influence over the WHO?
Understandably China has grown in power and economic influence since 2003, when then-Director General Gro Harlem Brundtland publicly criticised it for trying to hide the spread of the SARS virus.

China has also been criticised for blocking Taiwan’s bid to join the organisation. Taiwan has had one of the most robust responses to the COVID-19 crisis.

But China is ultimately just one of the WHO’s 194 member states. And one of the great ironies of Trump’s criticism is that the organisation has been criticised by other member states for decades for being influenced too heavily by the United States.

What happens if the US cuts funding?
If enacted, these funding cuts may cause the WHO to go bankrupt in the middle of a pandemic. That might mean the WHO has to fire staff, even as they are trying to help low- and middle-income countries save lives.

It will also mean the WHO is less able to coordinate international efforts around issues like vaccine research, procurement of personal protective equipment for health workers and providing technical assistance and experts to help countries fight the pandemic.

Trump has long been disdainful of multilateral organisations. Stefani Reynolds / POOL /EPA
More broadly, if the US extends these cuts for other global health initiatives coordinated by the WHO, it will likely cause people in low income countries to lose access to vital medicines and health services. Lives will be lost.

There will also be a cost to the United States’ long-term strategic interests.

For decades, the world has looked to the US to provide leadership on global health issues. Due to Trump’s attempt to shift blame from his administration’s failures to prepare the US for the arrival of COVID-19, he has now signalled the US is no longer prepared to provide that leadership role.