THE Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) said on Monday it had instructed monkeypox vaccine manufacturer Bavarian Nordic to deliver an additional 36,000 doses this week as part of a drawdown from a US vaccine stockpile.
In a statement, HHS said the doses will be added to the existing 36,000 in the US Strategic National Stockpile.
Bavarian Nordic’s vaccine, called Jynneos, is approved to treat both monkeypox and smallpox.
The Danish company, which developed the vaccine with the support of HHS’ Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority, still has more than 1 million government-owned doses of the vaccine on hand. Another 16.4 million doses of vaccine could be finished if needed, HHS said.
During a news briefing last week, HHS official Dawn O’Connell said Bavarian Nordic can store the vaccine at a lower temperature than is possible once in the stockpile, extending the vaccine’s shelf life by about two years.
In addition to the Bavarian Nordic vaccine, the United States has more than 100 million doses of ACAM2000, a smallpox vaccine from Emergent BioSolutions, Inc., that is also effective against monkeypox.
As of June 3, the government has delivered about 1,200 vaccines and 100 courses of treatment within the United States.
The United States has so far 25 confirmed cases of monkeypox, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The agency on Friday urged US doctors to test for monkeypox if they suspect cases, saying there may be community-level spread but that the overall public health risk remained low.
Around 30 countries where monkeypox is not endemic have reported outbreaks of the viral disease, with more than 911 confirmed or suspected cases mostly in Europe, according to the World Health Organization, Reuters reporting and local data. — Reuters
REPUBLIC Glass Holdings Corp. has increased its stake in Science Park of the Philippines, Inc. (SPPI) to 12.88% after it acquired around 3.8 million shares in the industrial estate developer.
“The acquisition is expected to expand the profitability of the Company,” the listed company firm said on Tuesday.
It placed the purchase price at around P23.4 million, which was arrived on a negotiated basis. The transaction, forged on June 7, is between the company and two individual shareholders.
“The consideration for the acquisition was funded entirely from internally generated funds. The percentage of equity associated with shares purchased today are the equivalent to 0.61% of SPPI,” it said.
Republic Glass currently holds about 12.27% in equity holdings of SPPI. After the additional purchase, its holdings will increase to approximately 12.88%.
Established in 1989, SPPI has gained through the years “the reputation of being a cutting-edge developer of industrial estates through its Light Industry & Science Park projects,” Republic Glass said.
It described SPPI as one of the pioneers and leaders in private industrial estate development in the country. It said the developer “has the largest hectarage of industrial estates developed and being developed with almost 800 hectares of aggregate area.”
FILIPINO-American ace guard Caelum Harris spearheads a new batch of Gilas Pilipinas youth squad raring to test its mettle in the 2022 FIBA Under 16 (U16) Asian Championship on June 12-19 in Doha, Qatar.
Mr. Harris, the 16-year-old wunderkind from Nashville, Tennessee, is on top of the 12-man roster from the previous 18-strong pool announced by the Samahang Basketbol ng Pilipinas before the team’s departure last night.
Ateneo’s Lebron Nieto and Jared Bahay are also in the fray as captains of the squad that will slug it out against Japan and Kuwait in Pool C.
The first International Basketball Federation (FIBA) U16 event amid the pandemic is a qualifier to the 2022 FIBA U17 Basketball World Cup next month in Malaga, Spain.
Completing the squad are Jacob Bayla, Apl Mcandrei Gemao, Jayden Jones, Kristian Porter, Sebastian Reyes, Mikhail Romero, Zain Mahmood, Alexander Konov and Lorenzo Competente.
Joseph Pangilinan, Elijah Yusi and Francis Veejay Pre are listed as reserves for the Gilas youth under the watch of returning mentor Josh Reyes.
The new crop of Filipino teens faces a tall order of following up the success of the Gilas youth’s golden era led by the triple tower combo of Kai Sotto, AJ Edu and Carl Tamayo.
Behind the troika, Gilas youth soared to new heights highlighted by multiple FIBA Asia podium finishes and World Cup appearances. — John Bryan Ulanday
IS A revamp looming over the horizon for the national men’s and women’s volleyball teams that failed to take home a medal in the Hanoi Southeast Asian Games last month?
Expect the Philippine National Volleyball Federation (PNVF) to lean towards this direction next month as it hopes to strengthen the team that painfully crashed out of medal contention in Hanoi.
The country wound up fourth of five teams in the women’s division and fifth of seventh in the men’s side.
But first, the Nationals will play a couple of exhibition games against Thailand on Saturday and Japan the next day for the women’s team and Japan on June 16 and Germany on June 27 for the men’s squad at the Filoil Flying V Arena.
VOLLEYBALL NATIONS LEAGUE The PNVF is taking advantage of the presence of these foreign teams, who were among the top nations scheduled to play in the two Volleyball Nations League (VNL) the country will host this month.
The first one is the second week of the VNL women’s preliminary round set on June 14 to 19 at the Smart-Araneta Coliseum, and the other is the men’s pool matches slated for June 21 to 26 also at the Big Dome.
Tokyo Olympics gold medalist and three-time VNL champion United States, Asian titlist Japan, Thailand, China, Bulgaria, Poland and Canada will comprise the women’s meet while France, Japan, Slovenia, Argentina. Germany, Italy, the Netherlands and China will see action in the men’s section.
Quezon City Vice-Mayor Gian Sotto was thankful to the PNVF for bringing the VNL to their city that he thinks will create volleyball awareness especially to the youth and boost their sports programs. — Joey Villar
LENDERS left the rediscount facility of the central bank untouched in May as there was ample liquidity in the financial system.
The Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) said on Tuesday that its peso rediscount window was untapped anew last month following the P4.08-billion availment by a universal bank in April.
In 2021, banks only tapped the facility in June, July, and September. These peso rediscount loans amounted to P6.12 million.
The Exporters’ Dollar and Yen Rediscount Facility (EDYRF) was also untouched in May. The last time an availment was made under the EDYRF was a dollar rediscounting loan in 2016.
The BSP’s rediscount window gives banks access to additional money supply by posting their collectibles from clients as collateral.
In turn, banks may use the cash — denominated in peso, dollar or yen — to extend more loans to their corporate or retail clients and service unexpected withdrawals.
Rizal Commercial Banking Corp. Chief Economist Michael L. Ricafort said there were no rediscount loans last month amid “continued excess liquidity in the financial system as the banks have other alternative sources of funding, such as the interbank market and through capital markets.”
Bank lending jumped by 10% in April, reflecting the rebound in economic activity as restrictions were eased alongside the steady decline in coronavirus cases.
This was the fastest loan growth seen in 23 months or since the 11.2% in May 2020.
Preliminary data from central bank showed outstanding loans of big banks expanded by 10.1% to P9.9 trillion in April from P8.99 trillion in the same month of 2021.
As lending increased, M3, which is considered as the broadest measure of liquidity in an economy, grew by 7.3% to P15.3 trillion in April year on year.
The declining trend in banks’ nonperforming loan (NPL) ratio also reduced the need for lenders to tap the BSP rediscounting facility, Mr. Ricafort said.
The banking industry’s gross NPL ratio went down to 4.08% in March from 4.21% a year ago. It is also lower than the 4.24% seen in February.
The March ratio is the lowest since the 4.1% logged in December.
JUNE RATES For June, the applicable rate for peso rediscount loans will remain at 2.75%, regardless of maturity.
Meanwhile, dollar and yen-dominated borrowings will be priced at 3.61071% and 1.98246%, respectively. — K.B. Ta-asan
KEVIN SPACEY in a scene from the drama series House of Cards. — NETFLIX/IMDB.COM
NEW YORK — A federal judge on Monday rejected Kevin Spacey’s bid to dismiss a civil lawsuit in which fellow actor Anthony Rapp accused the Oscar winner of making an unwanted sexual advance during a party at Spacey’s Manhattan home in 1986, when Mr. Rapp was 14.
US District Judge Lewis Kaplan in Manhattan said there was a genuine factual dispute about whether the now 62-year-old Mr. Spacey forcibly touched Mr. Rapp’s “intimate parts” to gratify his own sexual desire.
Mr. Kaplan said Mr. Rapp, 50, who is seeking compensatory and punitive damages, can pursue claims of battery and intentional infliction of emotional distress. The judge dismissed an assault claim because Mr. Rapp brought it too late.
A lawyer for Mr. Spacey did not immediately respond to requests for comment. Mr. Spacey has in court papers “categorically” denied Mr. Rapp’s accusations.
Mr. Rapp’s lawyer Peter Saghir declined to comment.
Once among Hollywood’s biggest stars, Mr. Spacey fell from grace after Mr. Rapp accused him of misconduct in October 2017, and more accusers came forward.
Last month, British authorities authorized criminal charges against Mr. Spacey for alleged sexual assaults against three men between 2005 and 2013. Mr. Spacey could formally face the charges if he entered England or Wales.
The actor’s awards have included Oscars in 2000 for best actor in American Beauty and in 1996 for best supporting actor in The Usual Suspects. He also won a Tony in 1991 for best featured actor in a play in Neil Simon’s Lost in Yonkers.
Netflix dropped Mr. Spacey from his starring role in House of Cards after accusations began surfacing, and the series finished without him.
In the alleged 1986 encounter, Mr. Spacey grabbed Mr. Rapp’s buttocks, lifted him onto a bed and laid on him before Mr. Rapp “wriggled out,” court papers say.
Mr. Rapp has said under oath there was no kissing, undressing, reaching under clothes, sexualized statements or innuendo, and the encounter lasted no more than two minutes.
He sued Mr. Spacey in September 2020 and invoked the Child Victims Act, a New York law giving accusers a since-expired window to sue over abuses from decades earlier. — Reuters
Cervical cancer is the second leading cause of cancer death among women in the Philippines. The Department of Health (DoH) estimates almost 7,300 new cases of cervical cancer and 3,800 deaths due to the disease occur in the country every year.
Globally, cervical cancer is the fourth most common cancer among women, said the World Health Organization (WHO).
Signs and symptoms of cervical cancer include blood spots or light bleeding between or following periods; menstrual bleeding that is longer and heavier than usual; bleeding after intercourse, douching, or a pelvic examination; increased vaginal discharge; pain during sexual intercourse; bleeding after menopause; and unexplained, persistent pelvic and/or back pain.
The main cause of cervical cancer is persistent infection with high-risk types of human papillomavirus (HPV), an extremely common family of viruses that are transmitted through sexual contact, according to the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC).
The WHO added that two HPV types (16 and 18) account for close to half of high grade cervical precancers.
Other risk factors include becoming sexually active at a young age (especially younger than 18 years old), having many sexual partners, smoking, having a weakened immune system, chlamydia infection, long-term use of oral contraceptives, low socioeconomic status, having multiple full-term pregnancies, young age at first full-term pregnancy, and a diet low in fruits and vegetables, said the American Cancer Society.
Vaccines are available that protect against high-risk HPV types, and screening programs can detect signs of disease at an early stage, allowing for effective treatment and management.
“This means that cervical cancer should be one of the most preventable and treatable forms of cancer,” the IARC said.
According to a study by Samantha Carr and Charlotte Hespe, risk factors for cervical cancer are more prevalent among Filipino women than the global community. These include young age at first intercourse, low socioeconomic status, multiple full-term pregnancies, smoking, use of oral contraception and risky sexual behaviors.
They noted that the main barrier to Pap smear screening in low-resource countries is the lack of pathology services, infrastructure or trained practitioners. The authors cited a cost-utility analysis of different methods for cervical cancer screening and prevention in the Philippines.
The analysis found that screening women aged 35 to 45 every five years using visual inspection with acetic acid (VIA) was the most cost-effective strategy.
The DoH currently recommends that cervical cancer screening targets women aged 25 to 55 years every five to seven years using the VIA method.
HPV vaccination of girls at age 11 would also be cost-effective if there was high coverage (more than 80%) and providing the vaccine resulted in lifelong immunity.
The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) said that HPV vaccines are safe and work well. They have the potential to prevent more than 90% of HPV-attributable cancers, and that the protection they give last a long time. The CDC added that the HPV vaccine is recommended earlier as it could protect children before they have contact with the virus.
While some parents may be hesitant to have their child vaccinated, the CDC said that it is important to note that HPV is a common infection and that nearly everyone will get HPV in their lives.
The CDC added that studies have shown that getting vaccinated does not make teens think to start having sex. The HPV vaccination is given earlier to protect a child before they are exposed to an infection.
Vaccinations can be likened to wearing a helmet for protection. A helmet protects a person wearing it, and does not increase the likelihood of an accident.
To eliminate cervical cancer as a public health problem, the WHO Global Strategy to Eliminate Cervical Cancer recommends that all countries must reach and maintain an incidence rate of fewer than four new cases of cervical cancer per 100,000 women per year.
Achieving that goal rests on three key pillars and their corresponding targets: 90% of girls should be fully vaccinated with the HPV vaccine by the age of 15 years; 70% of women should be screened using a high-performance test by the age of 35 years, and again by the age of 45 years; and 90% of women with precancer should be treated and 90% of women with invasive cancer managed.
Each country should meet the 90-70-90 targets by 2030 to get on the path towards eliminating cervical cancer by the end of this century, the WHO said.
The WHO emphasized that cervical cancer can be cured if diagnosed at an early stage and treated immediately.
Teodoro B. Padilla is the executive director of Pharmaceutical and Healthcare Association of the Philippines (PHAP), which represents the biopharmaceutical medicines and vaccines industry in the country. Its members are at the forefront of research and development efforts for COVID-19 and other diseases that affect Filipinos.
ROXAS Holdings, Inc. (RHI) said on Tuesday that the merger among entities within the company had been approved by the Securities and Exchange Commission.
The merger involved Central Azucarera Don Pedro, Inc. (CADPI) and the other wholly owned RHI subsidiaries, namely: Central Azucarera De La Carlota, Inc., Roxol Bioenergy Corp., RHI Agri-Business Development Corp., and Roxas Pacific Bioenergy Corp.
CADPI is the surviving corporation, the listed sugar and ethanol producer said.
“The merger is expected to provide better operational and fiscal management across the other remaining entities in operation under the Issuer,” the company said.
It added that since all entitles involved in the merger are existing subsidiaries of RHI, there will be no material impact to the parent company or issuer’s financial position or business post-merger.
RHI said that as a consequence of the merger, the remaining operating entities under the Issuer will be CADPI and San Carlos Bioenergy, Inc.
Last month, RHI reported that its net loss for the six months ending March 31, 2022 was trimmed to P496 million from P574 million previously.
RHI Chairman Pedro E. Roxas said that while the group’s revenues were higher last year, these gains were adversely affected by the contracted milling operations in CADPI, resulting in lower tons of canes milled, and the “significantly higher” fuel costs for refinery operations.
CADPI’s milling operations were significantly hampered by the decline in the supply of sugarcanes, particularly in the Batangas area, RHI said.
SYDNEY Sy Tancontian needed just less than a month to snare the Southeast Asian Games silver medal in kurash and the Asian champion in sambo.
The 22-year-old Ms. Tancontian made it a reality after ruling the 2022 Asian Sambo Championships held at the Bouddha Sports Center in Jouneih, Lebanon over the weekend.
The Davao City lass turned back an old, familiar foe in Arailyn Abenova of Kazakhstan with a one-sided 5-0 victory to capture the women’s +80-kilogram mint.
It was sweet revenge for Ms. Tancontian after she lost to the same opponent in the round-of-16 of the World Championship in Tashkent, Uzbekistan.
The recent feat came after she copped a silver in Hanoi a month back.
Ms. Tancontian, a five-time World Sambo Championship bronze medal winner, has been competing not just in sambo and kurash but also in judo as well being a varsity of University of Santo Tomas.
Her father, Pilipinas Sambo president Paolo Tancontian, later thanked the Philippine Sports Commission and Philippine Olympic Committee for their support. — Joey Villar
INFLATION QUICKENED in May to its highest level in three and a half years, fueled by soaring food and transport costs, the statistics agency said on Tuesday. Read the full story.
THE PESO dropped versus the dollar on Tuesday as headline inflation surged above 5% in May and amid high global oil prices.
The local unit closed at P52.95 on Tuesday, shedding nine centavos from its P52.86 finish on Monday, Bankers Association of the Philippines data showed.
The peso opened Tuesday’s session at P52.90 against the dollar. Its weakest showing was at P52.975, while its intraday best was at P52.87 versus the greenback.
Dollars exchanged decreased to $745.120 million on Tuesday from $1.07 billion on Monday.
The peso weakened after the latest headline inflation from the Philippine Statistics Authority, Rizal Commercial Banking Corp. Chief Economist Michael L. Ricafort said.
“The peso weakened, tracking the increase in international oil prices from global demand optimism after Beijing loosened major coronavirus lockdown restrictions,” a trader said in an e-mail.
Inflation quickened to its fastest pace in over three years in May due to higher food and transport costs, preliminary data from the Philippine Statistics Authority released on Tuesday showed.
Headline inflation in May surged by 5.4% year on year from 4.9% in April and 4.1% a year ago. This matched the 5.4% median estimate in a BusinessWorld poll conducted late last week, which was the midpoint of the 5-5.8% outlook range given by the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas for that month.
May’s headline print was also the fastest since the 6.1% seen in November 2018.
Year to date, inflation has averaged 4.1%. This is lower than the central bank’s 4.6% forecast but above its 2-4% target for the year.
Meanwhile, oil prices inched higher as demand for fuel increased and supplies tightened amid relaxed mobility restrictions in China, Reuters reported.
Brent crude futures were up 28 cents or 0.2% at $119.79 barrel at 0601 GMT.
US West Texas Intermediate crude futures were up 31 cents or 0.3% at $118.81 a barrel.
Beijing and Shanghai have been returning to normal in recent days after two months of lockdowns to curb the surge of the Omicron variant.
Traffic bans were lifted and restaurants were opened for dine-in service on Monday in most parts of Beijing.
For Wednesday, Mr. Ricafort and the trader expect the peso to move between P52.80 and P53 against the dollar. — Keisha B. Ta-asan with Reuters
