In today’s edition of Squirrel News, we’re talking about South Africa developing their own mRNA vaccine, the United Arab Emirates ending censorship of films, and a network of tweeting trees spreading the word about climate change.
South Africa produces own mRNA vaccine against Covid-19
As a first for the continent, Afrigen Biologics and partners are in the process of developing an mRNA vaccine against COVID-19 and plan to bring the first home-grown products to market in the next three years.
United Arab Emirates brings an end to cinema censorship
The UAE announced that it will no longer edit or cut scenes from international movies released in cinemas, keeping up with the growing diversity of the population.
Researchers hooked up 21 trees in five countries to sensors while an algorithm converts the sense data into live tweets. This way they aim to create an internet of trees, helping to reduce carbon emissions globally.
Uganda trials drones to hasten HIV medicine delivery
In a pilot programme in Uganda, drones are being used to deliver HIV drugs from hospitals to rural Kalangala to speed up healthcare delivery and relieve
under-staffing and supply shortages.
In several US states, initiatives are tackling pandemic-related childhood adversity, by introducing new legislature, educating clinicians and raising awareness.
How an NGO that helped Haiti and West-Africa is aiding the US
Partners in Health, well-known for its efforts against HIV in Haiti and Ebola in West Africa, turned its efforts to respond to unequal healthcare access and politization of healthcare information in the US, stressing the importance of community health care workers.
This Nigerian NGO is preventing ex-offenders from relapsing into crime
Dream Again has helped over 2000 ex-convicts in prisons across Nigeria, by offering extensive rehabilitation programmes and continual support outside of prison.
Restorative justice in schools to reform Philadelphia’s juvenile system
Philadelphia schools’ Relationships First program practices restorative justice to transform discipline in schools. As a result, Oakland expulsions, suspensions and racial inequalities are reduced.
The 2017 song titled “1-800-273-8255,” from U.S. artist Logic, lead to a significant increase in the volume of calls to the National Suicide Hotline, which correlated with a decrease in the number of suicides, researchers found.
