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Panic to paranoia: One year on, mental health crisis still unfolding across India

“Unless mental health is treated as a core element in our response to the pandemic, the long term social and economic costs will be severe,” Vikram Thaploo, CEO of Apollo TeleHealth in Hyderabad. noted.Of the 3,000 odd mental health consultations over the past year till February 2021, about 65 per cent related to anxiety and depression and most people were in their 20s and 30s.

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Companies need to prepare for more political disturbances and violence ahead: Allianz

Causing physical damage, business interruption or loss of revenues, civil unrest incidents are becoming a more significant risk for companies in the current environment, as reflected in the findings of the Allianz Risk Barometer 2021.”Civil unrest has soared, driven by protests on issues ranging from economic hardship to police brutality which have affected citizens around the world. And the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic is making things worse – with little sign of an end to the economic downturn in sight, the number of protests is likely to continue climbing.”

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Women ‘systematically excluded’ from COVID response, despite being worst affected

The data reveals that of 225 COVID-19 task forces up and running across 137 countries, only 24 per cent of members were women.

“Women have been on the frontlines of the COVID-19 response…however, they have been systematically excluded from the decision-making processes on how to address the impacts of the pandemic”, said UNDP chief Achim Steiner

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Prepare for the next pandemic, says WHO scientist

“We’ve seen time and time again that products developed in high income countries take decades to find their way to low income countries. This has happened with influenza pandemics, with HIV, and with hepatitis B vaccines.

It took 30 years for hepatitis B vaccines to get to developing countries and that’s exactly the reason why COVAX [the UN-led scheme to distribute two billion COVID-19 vaccines to mostly poorer countries] was set up, to make sure that as vaccines get developed, that there’s also equity in access.

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Swiss Re announces ambitious climate targets; accelerates race to net zero

Swiss Re’s Group Chief Executive Officer Christian Mumenthaler said: “Climate change remains the biggest challenge we face as a society. The stakes are high and require immediate attention. Signing up to net-zero emissions by 2050 and setting concrete climate targets are important first steps. What needs to follow now is action. We are moving ahead in all areas of our business to accelerate the transition towards net zero.“

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