The News Diet
The News Diet
President Biden's East Asia trip, the rise in monkeypox cases, and the infant formula shortage
President Biden's East Asia trip, the rise in monkeypox cases, and the infant formula shortage. Let's be informed so we can get on with our day.
It’s Monday, May 23. Welcome to The News Diet, a healthier alternative for staying informed. I’m your host, Michele Carroll.
Today I’m going to talk about President Biden’s East Asia trip, the rise in monkeypox cases, and more on the infant formula shortage.
Let’s be informed so we can get on with our day.
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On Friday President Biden began his five day trip to South Korea and Japan, where he’s looking to strengthen economic relations in the region where China has greatly expanded its influence.
Today, Biden is expected to pitch a new trade partnership, called the Indo-Pacific Economic Framework. This agreement would focus on policies regarding supply chains, the digital economy, infrastructure, and clean energy.
Nations in that region already have a trade agreement called the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership. This was created after President Trump withdrew the US from another trade agreement that was in the process of being made official when he pulled out. So one of the hurdles Biden will have to face now, is convincing Asian countries on why they should join his framework, instead of the US just rejoining their existing agreement. After all, some nations might be skeptical to join if it requires stricter regulation on labor and environmental standards.
President Biden is expected to unveil more details on the agreement today.
https://www.nytimes.com/2022/05/20/world/asia/samsung-biden-asia-economy.html
https://www.cfr.org/backgrounder/what-trans-pacific-partnership-tpp
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trans-Pacific_Partnership
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The World Health Organization has said it’s currently tracking over a 100 possible cases across 11 countries for what’s called Monkeypox, a rare virus that’s mostly been reserved to central and western African countries.
The disease was first discovered in a colony of monkeys in the 1950s, and the first recorded human case was in 1970. According to the CDC, monkeypox is contracted by coming into close contact with an infected person or animal.
Symptoms off the virus are described as a milder smallpox and can begin with fever, headaches, muscles aches, backaches, swollen lymph nodes, chill and exhaustion, to then be followed by a rash potentially all over the body, overall typically lasting 2-4 weeks. According to the CDC, in Africa, the disease has been shown to cause death in as many as 1 in 10 people infected.
The World Health Organization says current cases have been detected in the US, Canada, and Europe. The White House national security advisor, Jake Sullivan, said that the US does have vaccines ready to go that would be relevant to the disease.
https://www.cdc.gov/poxvirus/monkeypox/index.html
https://www.cdc.gov/poxvirus/monkeypox/about.html
https://www.cdc.gov/poxvirus/monkeypox/symptoms.html
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The Biden administration and Congress are looking for ways to help alleviate the baby formula shortage affecting thousands of babies and parents around the country. The shortage is largely tied to the closing of the nation’s largest domestic manufacturing plant back in February, after two babies died from bacteria infections suspected to be from formula made there. The facility that closed was that of Abbott Nutrition, and they’ve denied any wrongdoing.
So now, months later, and the supply of baby formula products has dropped drastically, forcing stores to limit how many items customers can buy and leaving parents to search for products on classified ad websites, or having loved ones ship them from around the country when available. Well this past week, The White House and Congress have made some moves to help end the crisis.
President Biden has authorized the use of US military aircrafts to import formula from abroad, which saw its first shipment arrive yesterday in Indianapolis from Europe. The shipment carried 78,000 pounds of formula, which is estimated to cover about a half a million bottles worth. There are also plans to receive more formula in upcoming days, estimated to to cover about a million and a half bottles. The President also invoked the Defense Production Act, which compels suppliers to prioritize formula production.
And then in Congress, the House passed two bills last week.
The first, expands how much and what brands of formula can be purchased by recipients of WIC, a nutrition program for poor women, infants, and children. It also requires formula manufactures to have contingency plans should their plants shut down like they did in this case. This bill passed the House almost unanimously, at 414 for and only 9 against.
The second bill would provide $28 million to the FDA to help fund the inspection efforts for fraudulent products. This bill did pass the House but not as easily, with all but 12 Republicans voting against it. Some voiced their opposition publicly, saying that the bill does not address the shortage happening now, and that the issue isn’t a money problem, but rather a leadership problem in how the plant closure was handled to begin with.
Both bills are now off to the Senate for their vote.
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/baby-formula-shortage-house-passes-bills/
https://apnews.com/article/biden-health-indianapolis-00f39fd46778ecdd543c22f3630d79ba
https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/congress/house-vote-bills-combating-baby-formula-shortage-rcna29497
https://abbottnutrition.com/about-us
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It’s Monday, May 23. And you’ve just been informed. Now it’s time to get on with your day. I’m Michele Carroll. Thanks so much for listening.
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