Africa CDC declares mpox public health emergency of continental security

China

Africa CDC declares mpox public health emergency of continental security

2024-08-14 12:27 Last Updated At：19:17

The Africa Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC) on Tuesday declared the ongoing mpox outbreak in Africa as a Public Health Emergency of Continental Security (PHECS).

Africa CDC Director-General Jean Kaseya, while addressing a special online media briefing on the multi-country mpox outbreak in Africa, made the declaration of PHECS, and expressed concern over the rapid spread of the disease, mainly from the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) to its neighboring countries.

In recent weeks, health experts have also expressed concern as the new and more deadly strain of the mpox virus spread from the DRC to 15 other countries.

Burundi, Kenya, Rwanda and Uganda are among countries that have reported mpox cases for the first time.

According to Africa CDC data, there have been over 17,500 cases of infections of mpox and more than 500 deaths on the continent this year.

The declaration is a call to leaders to make resources available to help fight the outbreak.

The continent's top public health body said Africa needs 10 million mpox vaccine doses but currently has access to only 200,000.

The World Health Organization (WHO) said on Aug. 8 that the African region is experiencing a record increase in mpox cases since the start of 2024, with more countries previously unaffected by the disease reporting cases in an expanding spread of the virus.

The WHO has since elevated the mpox outbreak response to the highest level, requiring organization-wide mobilization and scale-up.

China's major cities see falling new home prices in August

2024-09-14 15:58 Last Updated At：16:07

The first-tier cities across China in August witnessed falling new home prices which dropped by 0.3 percent compared to July, with a 0.2 percentage points slower decline than the previous month.

Among them, Beijing, Guangzhou, and Shenzhen recorded decreases of 0.5, 0.5, and 0.8 percent, respectively, while Shanghai saw an increase of 0.6 percent.

In the second- and third-tier cities, new home prices fell by 0.7 and 0.8 percent, respectively, in August, with both figures representing a 0.1 percentage point expansion in the decline from July.

Prices for second-hand homes in the first-tier cities reduced by 0.9 percent in August, widening by 0.4 percentage points from the previous month. While in the second- and the third-tier cities, second-hand home prices fell by 1.0 and 0.9 percent.

Compared to August 2023, new home prices in the first-tier cities dropped by 4.2 percent in August, maintaining the same rate of decline as in July. In the second- and the third-tier cities, new home prices fell by 5.3 and 6.2 percent, respectively, in August, both representing larger year-on-year declines than the previous month.

In the second-hand housing market, the first-tier cities saw a 9.4 percent year-on-year price drop in August, widening by 0.6 percentage points compared to July. In the second- and the third-tier cities, second-hand home prices fell by 8.6 percent and 8.5 percent, respectively, with both showing a 0.4 percentage point increase in the rate of decline.