Germany’s new health minister continues “profits before lives” policies

Marianne Arens

Last week the new German government was installed and Germany’s Chancellor Olaf Scholz (SPD) presented his party’s future ministers to the press. The Social Democratic Party is filling seven ministerial posts in the new cabinet, in addition to the Chancellery. In view of the escalation of the coronavirus pandemic, the name of the health minister was a source of considerable public and media interest.

Scholz introduces Lauterbach as minister (Photo: SPD/Twitter)

Scholz has chosen the SPD deputy and health expert Karl Lauterbach as the government’s new health minister. Lauterbach is a trained doctor, expert in epidemiology and a professor of health economics, and has gained a certain amount of popularity after warning in many public appearances of the devastating consequences of the pandemic—warnings that have usually proved true.

With his appointment, which remained controversial for some time, Scholz has apparently reacted to growing pressure from the German population. In particular amongst nursing staff, parents and teachers, there is growing anger about the existing official policy that subordinates the lives and health of the population to the interests and profits of the economy. With this nomination of Lauterbach as health minister, the future chancellor clearly hopes to be able to dampen popular anger, without changing his pro-business policies.

Scholz introduced Lauterbach as follows: “I’m sure most of citizens of this country have wished that the next health minister is a specialist, that he really knows his business—and that his name is Karl Lauterbach.” Kevin Kühnert, the SPD general secretary, wrote on Twitter: “Christmas-time is when wishes are granted. You wanted him - you’ve got him.”

The new health minister popped from the wings during the SPD press conference and immediately made several promises. In the next few weeks, he said, the focus will be on lowering the COVID-19 caseload, “to the point where we can recommend travel without putting people at risk.” He further promised, “We will strengthen the health system (...) With us, there will be no more cuts in health care services.”

Anyone who knows Lauterbach somewhat better knows how little justified such trust is. The traffic light coalition (a coalition of the SPD, the Greens and the neoliberal Free Democratic Party, FDP) needs him as a fig leaf for policies that will have even more deadly consequences than that of the outgoing government.

As minister, Lauterbach is subject to cabinet discipline, and the latter has already shown where it stands on the pandemic crisis. The first decision of the traffic light majority in the new Bundestag was to suspend the country’s “ national epidemic emergency status.”

Lauterbach also voted for the decision, justifying it with the argument that it was “legally required.” Marco Buschmann (FDP), the future Minister of Justice, cheered the decision to end the epidemic emergency status, saying that henceforth school closures and lockdowns would no longer be possible.

Crucially, the budget of the coming government is in the hands of the FDP. FDP leader Christian Lindner will be able to exercise control over the budget as the country’s next finance minister and ensure that no additional money flows into the health sector. In their coalition agreement, the traffic light coalition partners have committed themselves to reactivating the debt brake, which was suspended at the start of the pandemic in order to keep businesses open and profits flowing.

Lauterbach is a right-wing social democrat who has consistently prioritised the profits of big business and the banks over his scientific expertise. He only joined the SPD in 2001, after quitting the Christian Democratic Union. He continues to maintain close relations with his former political allies and is on friendly terms, for example, with the CDU right-winger Wolfgang Bosbach.

Among the first well-wishers after his appointment was Markus Söder, the premier of the state of Bavaria and leader of the Christian Social Union. He wrote on Twitter, “This is a good choice. Congratulations #Karl Lauterbach! Looking forward to good cooperation in serious times.” The evening before, Söder already declared on the TV programme “Anne Will” that Lauterbach would make a good health minister and often shared his own standpoint. The outgoing health minister, Jens Spahn (CDU), also immediately congratulated him. Spahn has been in regular contact with Lauterbach for months.

During the period of the former SPD-Green coalition government (1998-2003) and since, Lauterbach played an important role in dismantling the country’s social system—based on equivalent payments to social funds by the employer and employee—and helped privatise parts of the health system. He was a member of the Council of Experts for the Assessment of Developments in the Health Care System and the so-called Rürup Commission (Commission to Investigate Sustainability in the Financing of Social Security Systems), which advised several federal governments. In the process, he was involved in the development of the fee-per-case system, which has contributed significantly to the decline of the country’s hospitals.

Far from being an opponent of two-class medicine, Lauterbach encouraged such a system in his role on the supervisory board of Rhön-Klinikum AG from 2001 to 2013. When the media revealed that employees of the Rhön Group were paid miserable wages and subject to extreme exploitation, Lauterbach kept silent. The listed company, comprising 54 hospitals and 35 medical care centres, generated a turnover of 2.32 billion euros in 2009.

Two years ago, when the Bertelsmann Foundation called for half of all clinics in Germany to be closed, Lauterbach supported the demand. On June 4, 2019, he tweeted, “Everyone knows that we should close at least one third, or even one half of all clinics in Germany.”

Lauterbach has also noticeably toned down his criticism of the government’s pandemic policy since the SPD emerged as the party with the most votes in September’s general election. A key experience for parents and teachers was his advocacy of open schools after the autumn break. In mid-November, when schools across the country were opened at the request of the business community and infection figures shot up, he announced, “We will manage to keep the schools open,” thereby sabotaging parents’ initiatives and teachers seeking to combat the pandemic.

When he now promises to allow “no more cuts in the health care sector,” even the fulfilment of this promise—unlikely as it is—would be completely unacceptable. The country is already in a state of emergency, intensive care units are overflowing and the spectre of triage is a deadly reality. In this situation, maintaining the status quo means unprecedented levels of dead.

Despite the appointment of Lauterbach the new government, will quickly come into conflict with broad layers of the population. In his first speeches and interviews after his appointment, Lauterbach insisted that schools will remain open despite the horrific toll of the pandemic.

Indonesian government scraps planned COVID-19 restrictions despite risk of Omicron spread

Owen Howell

As the new Omicron variant spreads through the Asia-Pacific region, Indonesia is proceeding with its pro-corporate reopening agenda and rapidly dispensing with any public health measures to control the virus.

Last Monday, President Joko Widodo’s government reversed its previous decision to impose more stringent “Level 3” social restrictions over the year-end holiday period. The plans were originally prompted by concerns that the variant may have already arrived, and that increased travel would cause an infection spike of the Delta variant, which is still circulating throughout the archipelago.

UNICEF aid workers in Indonesia (Credit: UNICEF)

Chief Investment Minister Luhut Pandjaitan, who oversees the country’s coronavirus taskforce, announced that the limited “Level 2” measures currently in place will continue over the holidays, only to be removed at the earliest possible date. Introduced on November 29, after the emergence of Omicron was publicised, they include minimal mobility restrictions on shopping centres, restaurants, parks, and public transport.

The holidays are expected to see tens of millions of Indonesians travelling from major cities to their hometowns. Movement on important toll roads will be limited, although domestic flights have opened for the vaccinated. Non-essential workplaces and schools will remain open.

Travel bans were initially imposed for anyone travelling from 10 southern African countries—where the Omicron variant was first discovered—over the past two weeks. However, the variant has since been detected in countries in the region, including Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand, Australia, South Korea, Hong Kong, and Japan.

Under pressure from medical experts, the quarantine period for international arrivals was extended from 3 to 7 days, and then to 10 days. Minister Luhut informed a press conference that Widodo ordered this extension, adding that it “will be evaluated every now and then as we understand and continue digging more information about this new variant.”

Senior ministers further confirmed that all public health measures in place will be reviewed every two weeks from now, according to Reuters.

In another reversal, the government junked its earlier calls for schools to cancel their year-end break and for workers not to take leave from December 24 to January 2. It is also allowing Indonesians to travel to Saudi Arabia later this month for umrah, a religious pilgrimage, even though Omicron has been detected in the gulf country.

Any remaining nationwide movement restrictions were also ended last Monday, while those affecting Java and Bali had ended a week earlier. Meanwhile, Indonesia has commenced a policy of quarantine-free “vaccinated travel lanes” aimed at restarting flights with neighbouring countries, such as Malaysia and Singapore.

As the government pursues its strategy of “living with the virus,” officials are falsely claiming that the inadequate mitigation measures are sufficient to deal with a potential Omicron outbreak.

Health Minister Budi Gunadi Sadikin said authorities were working to enhance their COVID-19 surveillance to detect and contain Omicron early on. At a press conference on the resumption of air travel, Novie Riyanto from the Transportation Ministry remarked, “We have to prevent the third wave.”

The government’s reckless moves are part of a global drive by financial elites to resume full economic activity, whatever the cost in lives. In reality, the decision to relax restrictions contradicts advice from medical experts on the highly infectious Omicron strain.

The World Health Organisation (WHO) has classified the highly-mutated Omicron a “high risk,” warning on Wednesday that it “could have a major impact on the course of the pandemic.”

While the Indonesian financial press reiterates the unsubstantiated and reckless claims of ruling classes everywhere that Omicron is “milder” than Delta, epidemiologists have urged world governments to take drastic preventative measures. Maria Van Kerkhove, the WHO’s technical lead on COVID-19, emphasised this week that it is “too early to conclude” that Omicron is less lethal.

So far only 37 percent of Indonesia’s 273 million population is fully vaccinated, with just 53 percent of the elderly having received one dose alone. The country’s chaotic and delayed vaccine rollout has been further undermined by the spread of misinformation and quack cures by government, media, and religious figures throughout the pandemic, generating much confusion and distrust.

Economic Affairs Minister Airlangga Hartarto has asked regional authorities to accelerate the vaccination program, so as to vaccinate 70 percent of the population by the end of this year. The target was quickly condemned as unrealistic by health experts. Indonesia began mass vaccinations in January this year.

Testing rates remain extremely low (208,581 tests per million people), placing it at 146th in the world. Additionally, the alarming lack of whole-genome sequencing (WGS)—a crucial tool in tracking COVID-19’s mutation development—makes it possible for Omicron to spread undetected. Indonesia has gathered a meagre 8,906 WGS samples, whereas South Africa, for example, has taken 23,000 samples out of its much smaller 60 million population.

The chronically underfunded and understaffed health care system remains as unprepared now as during previous surges. The WHO said hospitals still lacked critical resources like isolation rooms, oxygen supplies, medical and personal protective equipment, as well as mobile field hospitals and body bags.

Indonesia’s Delta outbreak from July to September saw the country become the word’s COVID-19 epicentre. The catastrophic surge was facilitated by government efforts to reopen even as the Delta variant ravaged the population. Epidemiologist Dr. Pandu Riono said at the time, “The decision doesn’t seem to be related to the pandemic, but to economics.”

At the peak of the outbreak, over 700 children died at a rate of 100 per week, with children accounting for one in eight infections. Shockingly, over 150 children died during the week of July 12 alone, with half of these under the age of five.

It took 14 months for Indonesia to exceed the 50,000-death mark at the end of May, and only nine weeks to reach 100,000. Daily cases averaged at 40,000 in July, but had dropped to 400 by December—a fact authorities used to declare the pandemic over.

In total, official figures stand at over 4.2 million cases and 143,929 deaths, although these are considered vast underestimates. According to LaporCOVID-19, a virus data group, during the first two months of the Delta outbreak, nearly 3,000 deaths occurred in homes, some of which were counted in official figures while others were not.

The social consequences of the pandemic have devastated large sections of Indonesia’s working class. About 30 percent of the population are officially regarded as living in poverty, soaring from less than 10 percent in 2019.

The Widodo government’s pandemic response is characterised by an ever-greater desperation to restart international tourism, a substantial part of Indonesia’s GDP. In 2019, the tourism sector attracted $US63.6 billion. From November 2, tax incentives have been provided to tourism-related corporations and businesses whose revenues were impacted by travel restrictions.

As with other countries in Southeast Asia, Indonesia is now facing enormous pressure from the imperialist powers and manufacturing conglomerates to follow their lead, reopen borders, and repair global supply chains heading into 2022, regardless of the dangers posed by Omicron.

Papua New Guinea: Ongoing catastrophe amid third wave of Delta virus

John Braddock

Driven by widespread community transmission of the Delta virus, Papua New Guinea’s (PNG) biggest urban centres and major provinces have been grappling with a third wave of the COVID-19 pandemic for nearly three months.

According to the World Health Organisation, PNG has had 35,835 confirmed cases of COVID-19 and 573 deaths. Between November 25 and December 8, 995 cases were recorded with a 7-day average of 66 cases. However, with testing largely scaled back, many more cases and deaths are going unreported.

Medical staff of Papua New Guinea’s Defense Force received hands-on training on COVID-19 response. (WHO/ Papua New Guinea)

The majority of cases and deaths are in the National Capital District, centred in the shanty towns of Port Moresby, followed by Western province, Western Highlands, Morobe, Eastern Highlands and East New Britain.

At the Port Moresby General Hospital there were 40-50 COVID deaths a day in November, dropping recently to around 10 as people have simply stopped presenting. Already high maternal mortality rates escalated five-fold as the virus has struck pregnant women.

Young people are also dying. Obstetrician Prof Glen Mola told the Conversation: “I am 50 years into medical practice… but watching young people die from severe COVID disease had a very big impact on me. They literally die from laboured breathing respiratory failure: they just do not have the strength to take another breath.”

In August 2020, Prime Minister James Marape ended national lockdowns, instead implementing soft social distancing restrictions allowing markets, schools and restaurants to reopen.

Capital District Governor Powes Parkop recently refused to implement a lockdown of Port Moresby despite the surge in cases. While some regions have re-imposed partial lockdowns, Radio NZ reported in October that the virus has largely been left to “fester and spread.”

The country’s vaccination rate remains abysmally low. According to the National Control Centre, only 1.7 percent of PNG’s population of 8.9 million is fully-vaccinated. Social tensions are escalating over vaccinations, as people working to curb the spread of the virus face mob attacks.

The government does not reveal the number of doses available, but vaccine supply appears not to be the main issue. Three different vaccines are available: AstraZeneca, Sinopharm, and Janssen. Following deliveries from the COVAX vaccine initiative, and donations from Australia and New Zealand, it was reported in June that there were sufficient doses to vaccinate 50 percent of the eligible population.

In September, however, the abject failure of the vaccine roll-out was underscored when the government transferred 30,000 doses from New Zealand on to Vietnam to avoid them being thrown out at their expiry date.

There are considerable logistical difficulties delivering vaccines across the country’s mountainous terrain and to remote coastal villages. Hospitals and aid posts in rural areas, home to 80 percent of the population, do not have the resources to carry out vaccination programs or treat those with COVID-19 infections. Outside Port Moresby, Western Province currently has the highest vaccination rate due to more effective community engagement.

Clement Malau, a public health specialist and former secretary of the PNG health department, has criticised “crippling failures” in the government’s pandemic response. Malau told the Guardian that failure to tailor pandemic campaigns to local conditions risked “a disaster if we don’t manage it properly.” He warned against being “bulldozed down the track of just vaccine alone.”

The doctor’s comments were made in response to widespread “vaccine hesitancy” and misinformation among the general population which is contributing to the extremely low testing and vaccination rates and growing discontent.

The government and media commentary has placed the blame primarily on ordinary people, highlighting the prevalence of religious beliefs and superstition. In an outburst in parliament Marape claimed that instructions had gone out regarding workplace testing for COVID, but people “choose not to believe that.” East Sepik Governor Allan Bird flatly declared that “Papua New Guineans are resistant against all vaccines, not just COVID-19 vaccines.'

Vaccination is not mandatory, but protests over limited COVID protocols and vaccination requirements have escalated in PNG’s two biggest cities, Port Moresby and Lae, in defiance of rules disallowing gatherings of more than 20 people.

Port Moresby market vendors held a large rally last month to demand an end to municipal rules restricting access for the unvaccinated. In the second largest city, Lae, clinics were forced to close indefinitely following attacks on health workers who have been subject to stone throwing, verbal abuse and threats. Morobe province has withdrawn mobile clinics conducting vaccination and awareness programs because of attacks.

Opposition to vaccination is widespread among the population, but the causes are rooted in longstanding social and economic crises which have produced a plethora of medical conditions associated with poverty, including polio, tuberculosis and HIV. Illiteracy is a major barrier to scientific understanding. Just 11.7 percent of the population over the age of 25 has some secondary schooling.

Social support has been extremely limited. Tens of thousands of workers, estimated by the World Bank to be as high as 25 percent of the workforce, have lost their jobs. The government has put the onus on individual employers to make decisions about laying off unvaccinated workers. Many families have been left without income earners. The average worker has about six dependents. Meagre government relief measures such as tax deferrals and loan repayment holidays have been woefully insufficient.

Trust in the ruling elite has disintegrated following decades of social deprivation and growing wealth inequality, buttressed by authoritarian military-police measures. Health authorities have consistently ignored warnings about the need to act fast and distribute accessible information to curb falsehoods. There has been no effort to put out messages in the widely spoken Tok Pisin and Motu, or any of the 800-plus local languages.

Anthropologist Fiona Hukula told the Guardian on December 2 that the “fear of this vaccine is real.” But, in the absence of clear, strategic information, dangerous rumours have run wild. According to Hukula, while social media has “supercharged” fears, it has been made worse by the absence of accurate information by the government.

Other unsuccessful aspects of the government’s response, according to Hukula, include the use of centralised vaccine hubs where people wait many hours and which are not practical for the vulnerable. Fearful people want the reassurance of familiar health workers from their local clinics. “They should have gone out to the markets, to explain to people clearly that this is a vaccine that’s going to help,” she said.

Australian epidemiologist Stefanie Vaccher warned in the Age last week that simply sending vaccines is insufficient. Millions in funding and support are needed for “a large-scale behavioural change campaign.” Mass vaccination campaigns, such as in Samoa and Fiji, are “resource intensive,” and require close local organization. Omicron, she declared is “a clarion call for Australia to do much, much more to help vaccinate the people of PNG.”

G7 foreign ministers summit in Liverpool threatens Russia, China

Alex Lantier

A foreign ministers summit of the G7 imperialist powers in Liverpool, Britain, ended yesterday with the issuing of a bellicose communiqué threatening both Russia and China. The foreign ministers of the United States, Germany, Japan, Britain, France, Italy and Canada denounced Russia, warning it of “massive consequences” for allegedly preparing to invade Ukraine.

“Russia should be in no doubt that further military aggression against Ukraine would have massive consequences and severe cost,” the summit communiqué said. It added, “We reaffirm our unwavering commitment to Ukraine’s sovereignty and territorial integrity, as well as the right of any sovereign state to determine its own future.”

Britain's Foreign Secretary Liz Truss, center left, hosts a plenary session of the G7 summit of foreign and development ministers in Liverpool, England Sunday, Dec. 12, 2021. (Olivier Douliery/Pool via AP)

The communiqué also denounced China, declaring: “On China, we discussed a range of issues and challenges, such as the situations in Hong Kong and Xinjiang, in the East and South China Seas and the importance of peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait. … We also expressed our concern about coercive economic policies.”

The communiqué is a reckless political provocation amounting to a barely veiled threat of war against Russia and China, which are both major nuclear-armed powers. Over the last weeks, US intelligence agencies have issued wildly varying claims, ranging from 94,000 to 175,000 for the number of troops Russia is supposedly amassing near the Ukrainian border. At the same time, it is arming Ukraine with a large arsenal of missiles that can easily reach Moscow and planning to also admit Ukraine into the NATO alliance.

The G7’s posturing as a defender of peace and democracy against Russia is a fraud. Whatever troops Russia is deploying are within its borders, while Washington and its allies are marching a powerful arsenal up to Russia’s very doorstep that could unleash a devastating attack on Moscow.

As for China, it faces a media slander campaign accusing it of lying about the origins of COVID-19 and carrying out a genocide of Uighurs in Xinjiang while supposedly threatening free navigation of US and allied warships off China’s coasts. These are, again, politically motivated lies.

China has sought to implement a policy of eliminating the circulation of COVID-19 which has limited the pandemic to 100,000 cases and less than 5,000 deaths. The G7 countries, in contrast, implemented a policy of “living with the virus” that has led to over 85 million cases and just under 1.4 million deaths of COVID-19. Had the Chinese regime wanted to commit a genocide of the Uighurs, it could have simply used in Xinjiang the policies the G7 countries have implemented, with flagrant contempt for human life, against their own populations.

The Liverpool summit communiqué served to align the G7 on the violent war propaganda coming from Washington and the NATO alliance, especially against Russia. As COVID-19 deaths mount in the G7 countries, currently running at around 2,500 each day, the denunciations of Russia and China become ever more hysterical and unhinged.

Last week, US Senator Roger Wicker insisted that the United States must be prepared to launch a nuclear war with Russia and a ground assault. “Military action could mean that we stand off with our ships in the Black Sea, and we rain destruction on Russian military capability,” he said, adding: “It could mean that we participate, and I would not rule that out, I would not rule out American troops on the ground. We don’t rule out first-use nuclear action.”

He added that US troops from the states of California and Mississippi are already in Ukraine.

On Saturday, President Joe Biden said that in a phone call last week, he had “made it absolutely clear to [Russian President Vladimir] Putin … that if he moves on Ukraine, the economic consequences for his economy are going to be devastating, devastating.” This followed Biden’s pledge last week to deploy US troops to NATO countries in Eastern Europe if Russia carries out what Washington declares to be hostile action against Ukraine.

In Liverpool Sunday, UK Foreign Secretary Liz Truss boasted that the G7 was united around such threats against Russia. “What we have shown this weekend is that the world’s largest economies are united,” she said. “We have sent a powerful signal to our adversaries and our allies. We have been clear that any incursion by Russia into Ukraine would have massive consequences for which there would be a severe cost.”

Truss also warned Iran that talks in Vienna are its “last chance to come to the negotiating table with a serious resolution,” after the Trump administration unilaterally scrapped the 2015 Iranian nuclear treaty negotiated with Washington, the European powers, Russia and China.

Denouncing China’s allegedly “coercive economic policies” in Africa and the Middle East, Truss announced a “Build Back Better World” investment initiative to compete with Chinese trade there. “And what we want to do is build the investment, reach the economic trade reach of like-minded, freedom-loving democracies,” Truss said. “That is why we are stepping up our investment into low- and middle-income countries.”

In reality, the conflict over Ukraine is bound up with the deepening crisis both of the G7 powers’ COVID-19 policies and of their decades-long wars across the Middle East. Chinese trade plays an increasingly central role in the economies of countries including Iraq, Afghanistan and Syria that have been devastated and lost millions of lives in US-led wars. It was after Russia intervened alongside Iran to block US military action to topple Syrian President Bashar al-Assad in 2013 that Washington backed the February 2014 coup in Ukraine.

This coup toppled pro-Russian Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovich, bringing to power a far-right regime including the Svoboda Party, which the European Union condemned in 2012 for racist and anti-Semitic views. It pledged to ban the Russian language and murder ethnic Russians. As far-right militias launched raids into Russian-speaking areas of eastern Ukraine, like the Donbass and the Crimea, these regions voted to secede.

As COVID-19 deaths mount across Eastern Europe and in the imperialist powers themselves, the G7 countries are giving a green light to the far-right regime in Ukraine to mount more aggressive action and stoke an explosive political crisis with Russia.

Last month, Kremlin spokesman Dmitri Peskov categorically denied NATO allegations that Russia is planning a land invasion of Ukraine. “Russia doesn’t threaten anyone. The movement of troops on our territory shouldn’t be a cause for anyone’s concern,” Peskov said. “We take measures to ensure our security when our opponents take defiant action near our borders.”

At the same time, the Russian defense ministry accused Washington of encouraging the far-right regime in Kiev to again attack eastern Ukraine. Calling US military activity in the Black Sea region around Ukraine a “threat to regional security and strategic stability,” i.e., actions that could provoke war, it said: “The real goal behind the US activities in the Black Sea region is exploring the theater of operations in case Kiev attempts to settle the conflict in the southeast by force.”

Urgent warnings are in order. Amid a new surge of COVID-19, after the entire NATO alliance has suffered nearly 2 million COVID-19 deaths, the NATO powers are pressing ahead with a murderous policy to “live with the virus.” Deeply destabilized, they are at the same time looking for external targets against which to lash out, hoping to turn them into targets of mounting anger.

Islamic Development Bank (IsDB) Scholarships 2022/2023

Application Deadline: 28th February 2022

About the Award: The Islamic Development Bank funds and implements its scholarship programmes as part of its overall efforts to develop the human resources of its member countries and those of the Muslim communities in non-member countries.

1. Undergraduate
2. Master’s
3. PhD and Post-Doctoral Research Programme
4. IsDB-ISFD for Technical Vocational Education & Training (TVET) for 21 Least Developed Member Countries (LDMCs):  Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Benin, Burkina Faso, Chad, Comoros, Djibouti, The Gambia, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Mali, Mauritania, Mozambique, Niger, Senegal, Sierra Leone, Somali, Sudan, Togo, Uganda and Yemen
5. IsDB-ISFD Bachelor studies for 21 LDMCs as mentioned in No. 4 above
6. IsDB-The World Academy of Science (TWAS) Joint Programme for Capacity Building and Technology Transfer

Objectives: The Programmes are important parts of the developmental initiatives led by the Bank since 1983 to foster technology and knowledge sharing among its member countries and Muslim communities in non-member countries. They are designed to attract talented male and female students and in order to build the right competencies required with a special focus on sustainability sciences to empower communities and to assist them in achieving their national and global development plans including the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).  The motto is to develop the students/researchers as Good Citizens & Competent Professionals (GCCPs).

Concept:

The IsDB Scholarship Programme is more than just a scholarship programme in the traditional sense of a straight financial assistance to the outstanding and qualified students. It is also a tool for the improvement of the socio-economic conditions of the Member Countries and Muslim communities.It is basically a scholarship programme and a development programme at the same time, since the scholarship is given as an interest-free-loan (Qard Hasan) to the students and as a grant to their communities /countries to which they belong.

The students are required to fulfil the obligations detailed, under each programme, after graduation and gainful employment. Besides, the students are also required to take part in the development of their communities/countries, through their respective professions. The repaid fund will be used to provide scholarships to other students from the same community/country to complement the IsDB Programme and to ensure its continuity in the long run, while the community development services rendered by the students and graduates will contribute to the overall development of the community/country.

Type: Undergraduate, Masters, PhD, Postdoc

Eligibility:

Undergraduate

The Programme is open for academically meritorious students with strong desire to engage in social services and community development after graduation. Candidates MUST ensure that they meet all the criteria of the programme listed hereunder, failing which the Application will not be considered:

• Must be a citizen of any of the IsDB member countries or Muslim communities in non-member countries.
• Candidate from non-member countries must be a Muslim.
• Must have obtained a high school diploma or registered in one of the top 10 public/government universities in his/her own country.
• Must have minimum of 70% in his/her high school final GPA.
• Must choose a field of study listed among the approved disciplines of the programme.
• Must provide evidence of language proficiency in university medium of instruction as relevant. The language proficiency must be supported by a document or certificate, e.g., for English, by a recognized language certificate such as TOEFL, IELTS or passed required level test conducted such as by British Council or equivalent system in French or other language).
• Must provide certified English or French translation of all documents in case if they are initially in other languages.
• Must not be in receipt of any other scholarship at the time of application and during study.
• Must be medically fit and willing to undergo medical tests after selection.

Apply Now for the IsDB Undergraduate Scholarship Programme

Masters:

The Programme is open for academically meritorious students and mid-career professionals from member countries and Muslim Communities in non-member countries. Candidates MUST ensure that they meet all the criteria of the programme listed hereunder, failing which the Application will not be considered:

• Must be a citizen of any of the IsDB member countries or Muslim communities in non-member countries.
• Candidate from non-member countries must be a Muslim.
• Must have minimum of 70% in his/her Bachelor studies’ GPA.
• Must choose a field of study listed among the approved disciplines of the programme.
• Must provide certified English or French translation of all documents in case if they are initially in other languages.
• Must provide evidence of language proficiency in university medium of instruction as relevant. The language proficiency must be supported by a document or certificate, e.g., for English, by a recognized language certificate such as TOEFL, IELTS or passed required level test conducted such as by British Council or equivalent system in French or other languages).
• Must not be in receipt of any other scholarship at the time of application and during study.
• Must be medically fit and willing to undergo medical tests after selection.

Apply Now for the IsDB Master Scholarship

PhD and Post-Doctoral Research Programme:

The Programme is designed to help promising and outstanding scholars from member countries and Muslim communities in non-member countries who meet the following criteria:

1. PhD study

• Have Master’s degree in one of the fields of study of the programme.
• Have minimum (“Very Good”) academic standing;
• Preferably have work and/or research experience.
• Have a research proposal in one of the fields of study of the programme stating its scientific and development relevance to the community / country.
• Be medically fit and be willing to undergo medical tests after selection.

2. Post-doctoral research

• Have PhD degree in one of approved fields of the programme.
• Have minimum (“Very Good”) academic standing.
• Have not less than two (2) years of experience in the field of research.
• Must have a record of publications/research in the same field.
• Have a research proposal in one of the fields of study of the programme stating its scientific and development relevance to the community / country.
• Be medically fit and be willing to undergo medical tests after selection

Apply Now for the IsDB PhD and Post-Doctoral Research Programme

Eligible Countries: Muslim communities

Number of Awards: Numerous

Value of Award:

Undergraduate & Masters:

The programme covers the following items:

• Monthly stipend commensurate with the cost of living of the country of study.
• Tuition fees, if any, subject to IsDB’s approval.
• Cost of medical treatment at university/government hospital.
• Economy class return air tickets (once at the time of joining and on completion of study) and installation and equipment allowance for the students selected to study abroad at partnered universities/countries.

PhD study

The programme covers the following items:

• Monthly stipend commensurate with the cost of living of the country of study;
• Tuition fees, if any, subject to IsDB’s approval;
• Cost of medical treatment at university/government hospital.
• Economy class return air tickets (once at the time of joining and on completion of study) and installation and equipment allowance for the students selected to study abroad at partnered universities/countries.
• Thesis preparation allowance
• Scientific papers’ preparation allowance

Post-doctoral research

The programme covers the following items:

• Monthly stipend commensurate with the cost of living of the country of study;
• Cost of medical treatment at university/government hospital.
• Economy class return air tickets (once at the time of joining and on completion of study) and installation and equipment allowance for the students selected to study abroad at partnered universities/countries.
• Scientific papers’ preparation allowance

How to Apply: Apply below

• It is important to go through all application requirements in the Award Webpage (see Link below) before applying.

Visit Award Webpage for Details

WE-STAR Fellowships PhD and Postdoctoral mobility scheme 2022

Application Deadline:

28th January 2022.

Tell Me About WE-STAR Fellowships:

The Italian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation (MAECI) and the International Centre for Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology (ICGEB) have partnered to offer early-career female scientists from the African Continent, mobility fellowships of 6 to 12 months at the ICGEB laboratories in Trieste (Italy), New Delhi (India) and Cape Town (South Africa), to perform research work on biotechnology and related fields, including Health (Infectious Diseases and Non-Communicable Diseases), Sustainable and Effective Agriculture, Industrial Biotechnology and Renewable Energy. 

This new programme promotes and supports success stories of women scientists from Africa. Five (5) PhD and five (5) postdoc fellowships of 6-12 months duration will be awarded to early-career women researchers from ICGEB Member States in Africa*to perform their research at the ICGEB Components in Trieste, Cape Town or New Delhi.

What Type of Scholarship is this?

Fellowship

Who can apply for WE-STAR Fellowships?

• – Applicants must be nationals of ICGEB Member States in the African Continent*
• – Applicants may not apply for fellowships to be undertaken in their country of origin unless working abroad at the time of application
• – Pre-docs having completed their university degree and enrolled in a PhD course, as well as postdoctoral researchers having completed their PhD or equivalent may apply. Tentatively, 5 – Pre-doc and 5 post-doc fellowships will be awarded.
• – No age limit applies, but preference will be given to candidates below the age of 45
• – Good working knowledge of English is mandatory

How are Applicants Selected?

• The ICGEB Fellowships Selection Committee will evaluate complete applications received by the closing date. The candidates will be notified of the outcome by e-mail as soon as possible following the closing date for applications.
• The main criteria for selection include the scientific excellence of the project, the qualities of the candidate’s CV, and the potential benefit in terms of mentoring and acquisition of new expertise.

Which Countries are Eligible?

Algeria, Angola, Burkina Faso, Burundi, Cameroon, Cote d’Ivoire, Egypt, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Kenya, Liberia, Libya, Mauritius, Morocco, Namibia, Nigeria, Senegal, South Africa, Sudan, Tunisia, United Republic of Tanzania, Zimbabwe.

Where will Award be Taken?

Trieste (Italy), New Delhi (India) and Cape Town (South Africa)

How Many Fellowships will be Given?

Five (5) PhD and five (5) postdoc fellowships

What is the Benefit of WE-STAR Fellowships?

• Monthly stipend: Euro 1300 for PhD students and Euro 2000 for postdoctoral fellows, or equivalent.
• A bench fee allowance of Euro 500/month or equivalent will be paid as a contribution to the receiving laboratory to cover the purchase of laboratory consumables that are directly related to the WE-STAR Fellow’s research activities.
• Travel: the fellowship includes provision for travel expenses from the participant’s home country to the host lab at the beginning of the fellowship and a return travel provision upon completion of the fellowship. Medical health insurance coverage is provided for the duration of the fellowship.
• Visa/permit of stay application and renewal costs are reimbursed.
• ICGEB makes no financial provision, nor can it provide administrative support for family members of participants in the programme.

How Long will the Program Last?

6-12 months

How to Apply for WE-STAR Fellowships:

Please complete this application online. You will be allowed to complete a portion of the application form and return later to finish the rest. Before starting the application online, kindly carefully read the call guidelines and FAQ. 

Visit Award Webpage for Details

Youth mental health issues in the US have skyrocketed during pandemic

Genevieve Leigh

(Source: Unsplash / Joice Kelly)

The United States Surgeon General warned on Tuesday that young people are facing a “devastating” mental health crisis that has been vastly exacerbated by the conditions created by the COVID-19 pandemic.

According to the report, since the pandemic began in early 2020, rates of “psychological distress” among young people, including symptoms of anxiety, depression, and other mental health disorders, have increased dramatically. The Surgeon General’s report is based on recent research covering 80,000 youth globally. The findings reveal that symptoms of depression and anxiety have doubled during the pandemic, with 25 percent of youth experiencing depressive symptoms and 20 percent experiencing anxiety symptoms.

The report also notes other disturbing signs of distress among youth. In early 2021, emergency department visits in the United States for suspected suicide attempts were a staggering 51 percent higher for adolescent girls and 4 percent higher for adolescent boys compared to the same time period in early 2019. Early estimates that suggest more than 6,600 deaths by suicide occurred among the 10-24 age group in 2020.

To the extent that the mainstream media has responded to these shocking figures, it has been to downplay their severity and the broader social context. In an article in the New York Times by Matt Ritchel, “Surgeon General Warns of Youth Mental Health Crisis,” for example, the author barely refers to the on-going COVID-19 pandemic. The author, rather, spends most of the article quibbling over minor factors such as too much “screen time” and “online interactions.”

Near the end of the article when the pandemic is finally mentioned, Ritchel writes that the pandemic intensified stress on young people, “in part by isolating them during a period of their lives when social connection is vital for healthy development.” While there is no doubt that the social isolation caused by the pandemic has had an impact on youth, the argument made by the Times is done in bad faith.

Since the start of the pandemic, the mainstream press and politicians on both sides of the aisle have sought to weaponize the mental health crisis to justify the reopening of schools despite the enormous health risks involved for young people, teachers and staff and the community at large. These politicians—many of whom have spent their careers overseeing the destruction of social services, the starving of funds for education, and the exorbitant funding of militarism abroad and at home—expect the public to believe that they are deeply concerned about the crisis of mental health among youth.

The reality is that the political establishment has a material interest in sending kids back to school. The reopening of schools has always been a prerequisite to getting workers back to work in order to maintain the flow of corporate profits. What impact this has had and continues to have on children is really of no concern to these figures. As for the Times, Ritchel concludes his piece by casting doubt on the validity of the statistics themselves, arguing that it could be the case that youth are simply more comfortable reporting mental health issues than in previous generations.

Who could believe such nonsense? It is notable that the Times does not mention another staggering statistic from the report: it is estimated that as of June 2021, more than 140,000 children in the US had lost a parent or grandparent caregiver to COVID-19. That is, nearly one in four of the 621,656 deaths from COVID-19 as of June 30, nearly 6 months ago, were those of parents or caregivers to children. Added to this is number of children who have experienced the loss a dear teacher or school staff member to the disease, a the figure which remains uncounted despite the broad impact.

One may also add that in addition to losing their loved ones and educators to COVID-19, at least one in seven infected children and potentially one third of infected adults will suffer from Long COVID, defined as persistent symptoms lasting more than four weeks after infection.

Others still have been thrown into dire poverty: Fifteen percent of US families reported high food insecurity prior to the pandemic, increasing to 26.8 percent in the past year. Food insecurity for low income families rose from 29.2 percent pre-pandemic to a staggering 45.4 percent today.

These are only the most tangible indices of the immense level of trauma inflicted on an entire generation of young people.

The youthful years of human development are meant to be a time filled with hope, optimism and idealism. For those coming of age in the early 2020s, this time presents itself instead as a nightmare. A teenager today will have spent the last two years watching the death toll from the virus climb each day, in disbelief, as it now surpasses at least 800,000 people.

No doubt they have heard stories, or know first-hand, of the social misery taking place—people dying alone in hospital beds without a loved one allowed in the room to say goodbye. Millions more may have themselves waited with their parents in the food lines, lost their homes and watched their parents struggle to provide for their families while risking infection with a deadly virus. All the while, a very slim section of the world’s richest people continues to make record profits. The world’s billionaires added $3.6 trillion to their net worth in 2020, while 100 million were driven into extreme poverty.

The figures outlined in the report are truly devastating. The callous and indifferent response of the entire ruling class to the pandemic over the past two years has created a catastrophe for the working class, and the youth have no doubt been severely impacted.

However, the report also correctly notes that while the pandemic has accelerated the mental health crisis among youth, it certainly did not create it. Over the past two decades in particular, mental health issues have skyrocketed among young people.

In 2019, for example, one in three high school students and half of female students reported persistent feelings of sadness or hopelessness, an overall increase of 40 percent from 2009. The report notes that the percentage of youth ages 12 to 17 who had a major depressive episode in the past year, for instance, increased from an estimated 8 percent in 2010 to 15.7 percent in 2019, according to data from the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration.

The percentage of high school students who seriously contemplated suicide increased from 13.8 percent in 2009 to 18.8 percent in 2019, according to an October 2020 Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) report.

Youth depression, anxiety, and suicide in particular, are among the most tragic symptoms of a diseased and terminally decayed social order. The staggering mental health crisis that workers and young people face today is a byproduct of an entire social system that is predicated on sacrificing lives for the sake of private profit and wealth. The pandemic has only revealed reality of capitalism in the most open and naked form.

No faction of the ruling class has anything close to an answer for such problems. The real answer, however, is emerging more openly and more forcefully every day.

The same conditions which give rise to the litany of mental health disorders among the young also gives rise to social opposition. Workers all over the world are beginning to fight back.

The past several months has seen a series of major strikes here in the United States: Volvo Trucks workers in Dublin, Virginia; distillery workers in Kentucky; hospital workers in Buffalo, New York; Warrior Met coal miners in northern Alabama; Frontier telecom workers in California; and many more. Just yesterday, more than 1,400 Kellogg’s cereal workers in Michigan, Nebraska, Pennsylvania and Tennessee voted overwhelmingly to reject a union-backed contract after two months on strike.

This week, teachers and support staff at The School at Marygrove, a public school in Detroit, Michigan, launched a wildcat sickout to demand improved safety measures after the Oxford school shooting, and virtual-only classes to protect educators, 330 students and their families from COVID-19.

The protest in Detroit is part of the growing resistance of educators in the US and internationally, including a one-day strike by 50,000 New South Wales teachers in Australia on Monday.

While the unions are trying to do everything they can to smother opposition, there is an objective movement that is developing. The sheer scale of contract rejections by workers—often by more than 90 percent—is an expression of a powerful and growing mood of social resistance.