Pulse.Assent

Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson will deliver a keynote speech at a conference of an international partnership to fight against impunity for the use of chemical weapons in Paris today (May 18), hosted by French Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian. The conference will bring together 33 like-minded countries, who are determined to preserve and strengthen the global ban on chemical weapons, including through strengthening the role of the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW).

Ahead of the meeting, the Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson said:

We have to confront the reality that chemical weapons have been used numerous times in recent years, in defiance of the 1997 Chemical Weapons Convention. Asad’s brutality in Syria, and the attempted murders in Salisbury pose a grave threat to the Chemical Weapons Convention and to the rules based order that keeps us all safe.

We join our partners today in calling for a special session of Conference of States Parties to the Chemical Weapons Convention in June to agree action to support the Convention and its implementing body, the OPCW. Together, we will ensure that the global ban on chemical weapons and their use is upheld and enforced.

A Special Conference of the Parties to the Chemical Weapons Convention in June would consider the very serious compliance challenges the convention currently faces. This Conference will send a clear signal of the global commitment to uphold the ban on the use of chemical weapons and consider what more can be done to strengthen the norm against chemical weapons use. It will also be an opportunity to look at ways of strengthening the OPCW.

Notes for Editors:

• To hold a Conference of States Parties requires the support of at least 64 States Parties

Further information

• Follow the Foreign Secretary on Twitter @BorisJohnson and Facebook
• Follow the Foreign Office on Twitter @foreignoffice and Facebook
• Follow the Foreign Office on Instagram, YouTube and LinkedIn

People with diabetes are advised to stop using and return specific lots of Accu-Chek Aviva and Accu-Chek Performa test strips following a recent recall by the manufacturer.

Accu-Chek Inform II test strips have also been recalled but are supplied in the UK by Roche for professional use only.

The test strips, commonly used by diabetics for blood glucose testing, may give increased strip error messages prior to dosing with blood and in some cases may give falsely high or low readings which may be hard to detect.

The Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) are urging users to check the lot numbers of their test strips against the lot numbers listed in the table below. More information can be found in this field safety notice. It is estimated that more than 260,000 packs have been affected.

If anyone finds they have test strips from the affected lots, they are advised to seek alternative testing methods and return affected lots to their pharmacy or shop where they will be offered a replacement.

It is also advised anyone with concerns about their blood glucose readings should discuss this with a healthcare professional.

Affected products

ACCU-CHEK AVIVA STRIPS (50s)

• 497392
• 497391
• 496915
• 496809
• 496802
• 496807

ACCU-CHEK AVIVA STRIPS (10s)

• 497344
• 497392

ACCU-CHEK PERFORMA STRIPS (10s)

• 476597
• 476646

Accu-Chek Inform II strips (professional use only)

• 476614

Accu-Chek Performa Nano mmol Kit

(Please note the FSN only applies to the pack of Performa 10 test strips contained within the kit)

• 10153116
• 10153114
• 10153115
• 10153112
• 10153111

John Wilkinson, MHRA’s Director of Medical Devices said:

It is important people check their test strips and if necessary seek alternatives as soon as possible.

If people have any questions about their blood glucose readings when using these test strips and meters they should speak with their doctor or pharmacist.

We continue to encourage people to report any issues involving medical devices to MHRA via our Yellow Card Scheme.

Dan Howarth, Head of Care at Diabetes UK said:

It is incredibly important that people living with diabetes are able to rely on the technology that is designed to help them manage their blood sugar, so we’d strongly recommend that anyone using these test strips check their batch numbers and get replacement strips accordingly.

Inaccurate readings could mean you over- or under-dose with insulin, which in the short term can cause problems with hyper and hypoglycaemia. If you’re worried about your readings, we’d recommend speaking to your GP or a pharmacist as soon as possible.

On 8 May 2018, the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) Government declared a new outbreak of Ebola Virus Disease (EVD), the country’s ninth outbreak. The latest situation report can be found on the WHO website.

The UK Public Health Rapid Support Team (UK-PHRST) has the capability to rapidly deploy public health experts at 48 hours’ notice in order to strengthen the in-country response, curtail the spread of disease, and ultimately save lives.

The deployment is in response to a call from the World Health Organisation’s Global Outbreak Alert and Response Network (GOARN). The GOARN team, which the members of the UK-PHRST will be part of, is working closely with the government of the DRC to rapidly scale up its operations in response to the current outbreak.

The 3 UK-PHRST team members deploying include 2 experts in tracking outbreaks (epidemiologists) and a data scientist. The team is expected to remain in the DRC for around 6 weeks, during which time they will help track the spread of the outbreak, and will also support in establishing robust data systems that will help align crucial information gathering. The UK-PHRST also has expertise in various other key areas for Ebola response, such as laboratory diagnostics, that can be deployed should they be needed.

The public health risk to the UK regarding the current Ebola outbreak is very low.

As the UK-PHRST’s deployment progresses, it will continue to provide support and share expertise with partners in DRC to strengthen the health system beyond the immediate response.

Professor Daniel Bausch, Director of the UK-PHRST said:

Unfortunately Ebola has again re-emerged in the DRC.

We are all aware of the potential devastation Ebola can cause, so it’s essential that we respond rapidly to stop the outbreak in its tracks.

Fortunately, we are seeing a rapid response both in the DRC and from international partners, and the UK-PHRST is proud to be part of that, providing specialist support that can benefit the country, not only for this outbreak but for the long-term.

The UK-PHRST, funded by the UK Aid, is a partnership between Public Health England (PHE) and the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine. The team also works with the University of Oxford and King’s College London as academic partners. It continually monitors infectious diseases and other hazards globally, identifying situations where the deployment of specialist expertise could prevent these threats from turning into a global outbreak.

Public Health Minister Steve Brine MP, said:

The Ebola virus is absolutely devastating and it is critical to get it under control as quickly as possible to halt the spread.

Our expert UK Public Health Rapid Support Team will be on the ground to help the people and government in DRC to respond and recover and grow their ability to protect against disease into the future.

The UK was central to international efforts to bring this deadly virus under control in 2014, and it is only right that we continue to show global leadership.

Background

For information on the latest number of cases, please visit the WHO website.

UK-PHRST

UK-PHRST consists of public health experts, scientists, academics and clinicians ready to respond to urgent requests from countries around the world within 48 hours to support them in preventing local disease outbreaks from becoming global epidemics.

Informed by surveillance data, the UK-PHRST deploys on behalf of UK government in response to requests from low- and middle-income countries, as well as with the WHO and the Global Outbreak Alert and Response Network (GOARN).

The UK-PHRST has previously deployed members to outbreaks in Ethiopia (acute watery diarrhoea), Nigeria (meningitis), Sierra Leone (water-borne disease/cholera risk), Madagascar (plague), Bangladesh (diphtheria) and Nigeria (Lassa fever).

The core team consists of:

• epidemiologists (experts in tracking and understanding disease transmission)
• microbiologists (diagnosing the cause of an outbreak)
• clinical researchers (developing the best patient management practices)
• social scientists (community engagement during outbreaks)
• data scientists (managing data and modelling outbreak trajectories)
• infection prevention and control experts (advising on preventing transmission)
• logisticians

The UK-PHRST consortium of research institutions includes the University of Oxford and King’s College London as academic partners.

About Public Health England

Public Health England exists to protect and improve the nation’s health and wellbeing, and reduce health inequalities. It does this through world-leading science, knowledge and intelligence, advocacy, partnerships and the delivery of specialist public health services. PHE is an operationally autonomous executive agency of the Department of Health. www.gov.uk/phe

About the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine

The London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine (LSHTM) is a world-leading centre for research, postgraduate studies and continuing education in public and global health. LSHTM has a strong international presence with more than 1,300 staff and 4,000 students, and an annual research income of more than £124 million. LSHTM is one of the highest-rated research institutions in the UK, is partnered with two MRC University Units in The Gambia and Uganda and was named University of the Year in the Times Higher Education Awards 2016. Our mission is to improve health and health equity in the UK and worldwide; working in partnership to achieve excellence in public and global health research, education and translation of knowledge into policy and practice. www.lshtm.ac.uk

About Oxford University’s Medical Sciences Division

The Division is one of the largest biomedical research centres in Europe, with over 2,500 people involved in research and more than 2,800 students. The University is rated the best in the world for medicine, and it is home to the UK’s top-ranked medical school. From the genetic and molecular basis of disease to the latest advances in neuroscience, Oxford is at the forefront of medical research. It has one of the largest clinical trial portfolios in the UK and great expertise in taking discoveries from the lab into the clinic. Partnerships with the local NHS Trusts enable patients to benefit from close links between medical research and healthcare delivery. A great strength of Oxford medicine is its long-standing network of clinical research units in Asia and Africa, enabling world-leading research on the most pressing global health challenges such as malaria, TB, HIV/AIDS and flu. Oxford is also renowned for its large-scale studies which examine the role of factors such as smoking, alcohol and diet on cancer, heart disease and other conditions. www.medsci.ox.ac.uk

About King’s College London

King’s College London is one of the top 25 universities in the world (2016/17 QS World University Rankings) and among the oldest in England. King’s has more than 26,500 students (of whom nearly 10,400 are graduate students) from some 150 countries worldwide, and nearly 6,900 staff. The university is in the second phase of a £1 billion redevelopment programme which is transforming its estate.

King’s has an outstanding reputation for world-class teaching and cutting-edge research. In the 2014 Research Excellence Framework (REF) King’s was ranked 6th nationally in the ‘power’ ranking, which takes into account both the quality and quantity of research activity and 7th for quality according to Times Higher Education rankings. Eighty-four percent of research at King’s was deemed ‘world-leading’ or ‘internationally excellent’ (3* and 4*). The university is in the top 7 UK universities for research earnings and has an overall annual income of more than £600 million. www.kcl.ac.uk