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Category: Health

  • MIL-OSI New Zealand: Decision to increase medicines access

    Source: New Zealand Government

    Associate Health Minister with responsibility for Pharmac David Seymour, and Health Minister Simeon Brown welcome Pharmac’s decision to widen access to four medicines, for a further six health conditions, including cancers, from 1 May 2025.
    “Pharmac operates independently, but it must work within the budget constraints set by the government,” Mr Seymour says.   
    “Today represents another step forward for cancer patients as the $604 million uplift from the government continues to facilitate access to new treatments.   
    “Pharmac continues to show what it is capable of when given the support it needs.  
    The medicines Pharmac is widening access to are:

    venetoclax (brand name Venclexta) in combination with azacitidine or cytarabine for a type of blood cancer called acute myeloid leukaemia
    azacitidine (brand name Azacitidine Dr Reddy’s) widened access for acute myeloid leukaemia
    ibrutinib (brand name Imbruvica) widened access for chronic lymphocytic leukaemia
    upadacitinib (brand name Rinvoq) for atopic dermatitis (eczema), ulcerative colitis, Crohn’s disease, and rheumatoid arthritis.

    “The early signs of Pharmac’s redirection remain positive, as expanding opportunities and access for patients and their families continue to be prioritised,” Mr Seymour says.  
    “Pharmac received significant feedback during the consultation phase of this funding decision. Several changes were made to eligibility criteria as a result of feedback – the list of changes are available in the supporting PDF. 
    Mr Brown says delivering better and faster access to cancer care in New Zealand has been a focus of this Government, which is why it is one of our five key health targets, and is able to deliver because of the Government’s $604 million investment in new cancer medicines. 
    “As Minister of Health, I am focused on ensuring better access to more cancer medicines, better cancer management driven by our faster cancer treatment target, and earlier detection of cancers through screening programmes,” Mr Brown says. 
    “It is encouraging to see continued improvement in our efforts to provide faster cancer treatment, with more patients receiving their first treatment within 31 days in the first financial quarter than in the previous quarter and more cancer treatments available.” 
    “I’m pleased to see Pharmac’s responsiveness to the voices of patients and their families by expanding access to more medicines for more groups. This decision reflects our commitment to a more adaptable and patient-centered approach,” Mr Seymour says.

    MIL OSI New Zealand News –

    April 10, 2025
  • MIL-OSI USA: Directing the Repeal of Unlawful Regulations

    US Senate News:

    Source: The White House
    MEMORANDUM FOR THE HEADS OF EXECUTIVE DEPARTMENTS AND AGENCIES
    SUBJECT:       DIRECTING THE REPEAL OF UNLAWFUL REGULATIONS
    Promoting economic growth and American innovation are top priorities of this Administration.  Unlawful, unnecessary, and onerous regulations impede these objectives and impose massive costs on American consumers and American businesses.  In recent years, the Supreme Court has issued a series of decisions that recognize appropriate constitutional boundaries on the power of unelected bureaucrats and that restore checks on unlawful agency actions.  Yet, despite these critical course corrections, unlawful regulations — often promulgated in reliance on now-superseded Supreme Court decisions — remain on the books.
    Consistent with these priorities and with my commitment to restore fidelity to the Constitution, on February 19, 2025, I issued Executive Order 14219 (Ensuring Lawful Governance and Implementing the President’s “Department of Government Efficiency” Deregulatory Initiative).  It directed the heads of all executive departments and agencies to identify certain categories of unlawful and potentially unlawful regulations within 60 days and begin plans to repeal them.  This review-and-repeal effort shall prioritize, in particular, evaluating each existing regulation’s lawfulness under the following United States Supreme Court decisions: 
    Loper Bright Enterprises v. Raimondo, 603 U.S. 369 (2024);
    West Virginia v. EPA, 597 U.S. 697 (2022);
    SEC v. Jarkesy, 603 U.S. 109 (2024);
    Michigan v. EPA, 576 U.S. 743 (2015);
    Sackett v. EPA, 598 U.S. 651 (2023);
    Ohio v. EPA, 603 U.S. 279 (2024);
    Cedar Point Nursery v. Hassid, 594 U.S. 139 (2021);
    Students for Fair Admissions v. Harvard, 600 U.S. 181 (2023);
    Carson v. Makin, 596 U.S. 767 (2022); and
    Roman Cath. Diocese of Brooklyn v. Cuomo, 592 U.S. 14 (2020).
    In effectuating repeals of facially unlawful regulations, agency heads shall finalize rules without notice and comment, where doing so is consistent with the “good cause” exception in the Administrative Procedure Act.  That exception allows agencies to dispense with notice-and-comment rulemaking when that process would be “impracticable, unnecessary, or contrary to the public interest.”  Retaining and enforcing facially unlawful regulations is clearly contrary to the public interest.  Furthermore, notice-and-comment proceedings are “unnecessary” where repeal is required as a matter of law to ensure consistency with a ruling of the United States Supreme Court.  Agencies thus have ample cause and the legal authority to immediately repeal unlawful regulations.
    Accordingly, I hereby direct:
    Following the 60-day review period ordered in Executive Order 14219 to identify unlawful and potentially unlawful regulations, agencies shall immediately take steps to effectuate the repeal of any regulation, or the portion of any regulation, that clearly exceeds the agency’s statutory authority or is otherwise unlawful.  Agencies should give priority to the regulations in conflict with the United States Supreme Court decisions listed earlier in this memorandum.  The repeal of each unlawful regulation shall be accompanied by a brief statement of the reasons that the “good cause” exception applies.
    Within 30 days of the conclusion of the review period directed in Executive Order 14219 to identify unlawful and potentially unlawful regulations, agencies shall submit to the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs a one-page summary of each regulation that was initially identified as falling within one of the categories specified in section 2(a) of that Executive Order, but which has not been targeted for repeal, explaining the basis for the decision not to repeal that regulation.

    MIL OSI USA News –

    April 10, 2025
  • MIL-OSI USA: Pressley Joins Neal, Massachusetts Delegation Demanding Answers on Sudden Closure of HHS Regional Office in Boston

    Source: United States House of Representatives – Congresswoman Ayanna Pressley (MA-07)

    Text of Letter (PDF)

    WASHINGTON – Today, Congresswoman Ayanna Pressley (MA-07) joined Congressman Richard E. Neal, Ranking Member of the House Ways and Means Committee, and the entire Massachusetts Congressional delegation – Senator Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), Senator Edward J. Markey (D-Mass.), and Representatives Jim McGovern (MA-02), Lori Trahan (MA-03), Jake Auchincloss (MA-04), Katherine Clark (MA-05), Seth Moulton (MA-06), Stephen Lynch (MA-08), and Bill Keating (MA-09) – in demanding answers from the Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS) Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. after the abrupt shuttering of the entire HHS Regional Office (RO) in Boston, Massachusetts, on April 1, 2025.

    In the letter, the lawmakers write, “It is impossible to overstate the lasting consequences this reckless action will have on every single person in this region—whether the families who rely on Region 1 employees dutifully overseeing child care licensing systems to ensure they deliver quality care to our children, or the coordination these civil servants conduct with state survey agencies to make sure all our nursing homes meet federal safety standards. Through steadfast commitment to the programs they oversee, employees of ROs provide a service to all of us whether we know it or not.”

    The HHS Boston RO employs hundreds of workers who serve Americans from Maine to Connecticut. As the economic catastrophe caused by Trump’s Tariff Tax devastates communities and businesses across the country, the administration continues to make senseless layoffs, adding even more individuals to the ranks of the unemployed. These job losses will have trickle-down effects on other businesses in the area during an already challenging time.

    The Boston RO specializes in health care innovation, partnering with drug companies, biotech groups, and other innovators to ensure gaps in research are being filled and the cures of tomorrow come to fruition. Eliminating the Boston RO will both deny the people of New England access to public health officials with expertise in our local communities and halt innovation in its tracks, with ramifications felt by the whole country for generations to come.

    The ROs are also on the front lines of fighting fraud, waste, and abuse alongside local law enforcement, as well as the vanguard coordinating responses against disease and outbreaks. Its closure will leave our communities and our programs less safe.

    The lawmakers continue, “It could open our region to massive risks of fraud and abuse of our vital federal programs. And it could provide the pathway for another pernicious disease to sweep the nation, absent vital on-the-ground detection and coordination among public health experts. We do not take lightly this attack on the health of our constituents and the unceremonious termination of thousands of experts living in our communities who make us all safer.”

    The Boston Regional Office property is desirable real estate and appeared on an early list of properties Elon Musk and his Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) group wished to “auction off”, raising questions about whether this action has ulterior motives – enabling Trump acolytes to cash in on real estate deals while ordinary Americans suffer from loss of services. The Trump Administration has shown a complete disregard for Americans’ needs, closing Social Security offices and curtailing customer service. This RO closure is just another effort to make it more difficult for our constituents to access the health and safety protections they count on the federal government to provide.

    The lawmakers are demanding detailed answers as to the basis of this decision, its effect on constituent health, and how HHS will continue serving individuals in the region. They request answers to the following questions by April 18:

    • Please provide a list of each division within the Boston RO that was eliminated, a description of its core functions, a summary of staff expertise, program staff caseloads for each overseen program at the time of closing, and all documentation justifying the Department’s decision to close each division within the RO.
    • Please provide the Department’s analysis of the impact this regional closure will have on costs and health outcomes for the 15 million residents of New England, as well as the local economy.
    • Please provide a detailed analysis of how the remaining five ROs will take over the responsibilities of the Boston RO, including total caseloads, in beneficiaries served and dollars managed, for the staff taking over New England responsibilities, and any anticipated hirings or training to offset the caseload inundation and loss of regional expertise.
    • Please provide a detailed analysis of anyways responsibilities of the Boston RO which will be absorbed by HHS headquarters, including the current and new responsibilities of any headquarters staff assuming responsibilities and any anticipated hirings to offset the caseload inundation and loss of regional expertise.
    • Please provide a detailed analysis of the anticipated additional wait times for services previously provided by staff at the Region 1 RO, such as the approval of Medicaid State Plan Amendments, enrollments of new providers into Medicare, surveys of nursing homes, child care licensing inspections, state plan approvals, and cost allocation agreements.
    • Please explain the Administration’s plan for the now-vacant real estate that previously housed the Boston RO.

    Congresswoman Pressley has been a leading voice in Congress speaking out against Elon Musk and Donald Trump’s unprecedented assault on our democracy and federal agencies, and she has been a steadfast advocate for protecting the essential services that federal workers and agencies provide.

    • On April 9, 2025, Rep. Pressley led lawmakers in sending a letter to Trump’s trade official demanding he resign from holding multiple positions with clear conflicts of interest that would further harm federal workers.
    • On March 28, 2025, Rep. Pressley issued a statement slamming Trump’s executive order to end collective bargaining rights for hundreds of thousands of federal employees.
    • On March 21, 2025, Rep. Pressley led Massachusetts lawmakers in a letter to the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) sharply criticizing and demanding answers about the impact of the Musk-Trump Administration’s mass firings of federal workers in Massachusetts.
    • On March 11, 2025, Rep. Pressley spoke out against the U.S. Department of Education’s mass layoffs of over 1,300 workers, which effectively guts the agency.
    • On March 11, 2025, Rep. Pressley voted against Republicans’ shameful government budget bill, which would harm vulnerable families and provide a blank check for Elon Musk and Donald Trump to continue their unprecedented assault on our democracy. She later issued a statement condemning its final passage in the Senate.
    • On March 11, 2025, Rep. Pressley joined 13 of her colleagues on a letter to the Department of Homeland Security demanding answers and the immediate release of Columbia student Mahmoud Khalil, whose illegal abduction is an attack on his constitutional right to free speech and due process.
    • On March 4, 2025, Rep. Pressley walked out of the House chamber in protest during Donald Trump’s presidential joint address to Congress.
    • On March 4, 2025, Rep. Pressley welcomed Claire Bergstresser, an Everett constituent, dedicated public servant, AFGE union member, and former HUD worker who was unjustly terminated as part of Musk and Trump’s assault on federal agencies as her guest to the presidential joint address to Congress.
    • On February 28, 2025, Rep. Pressley led 85 lawmakers in a letter urging the Office of Special Counsel to immediate reinstate and expand protections for all unfairly fired federal workers.
    • On February 28, 2025, Rep. Pressley joined over 200 Democrats in filing an amicus brief defending the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau before a U.S. District Court.
    • On February 26, 2025, in a House Oversight Committee hearing, Rep. Pressley discussed what true government efficiency looks like and denounced Elon Musk and Donald Trump for utilizing DOGE to gut the essential services that keep people safe, fed, and housed.
    • On February 25, 2025, in a House Oversight Committee hearing, Rep. Pressley condemned Elon Musk’s abuse of government efficiency through the fraudulent Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE).
    • On February 25, 2025, Rep. Pressley delivered a floor speech in which she railed against Republicans’ cruel budget resolution that would slash Medicaid by nearly $1 trillion.
    • On February 20, 2025, Rep. Pressley and her Haiti Caucus Co-Chairs issued a statement condemning the Trump Administration’s decision to end Temporary Protected Status (TPS) for Haiti.
    • On February 13, 2025, in a House Financial Services Committee hearing, Rep. Pressley emphasized the critical role of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) in safeguarding consumers and sharply criticized Donald Trump and Elon Musk for halting the critical work of the agency.
    • On February 10, 2025, Rep. Pressley rallied with Senator Elizabeth Warren, Ranking Member Maxine Waters, and advocates to protest Donald Trump and Elon Musk’s unlawful takeover of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB)
    • On February 11, 2025, in a House Financial Services Committee hearing, Rep. Pressley criticized the Trump-Musk administration for halting the critical work of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) with crypto scams on the rise.
    • On February 10, 2025, Rep. Pressley issued a statement slamming the Trump Administration’s harmful cuts to National Institutes of Health (NIH) funding to support hospitals, universities, and research institutions conducting lifesaving research.
    • On February 10, 2025, as Trump and Musk threaten to dismantle the essential work of the U.S. Department of Education, Rep.  Pressley delivered a powerful floor speech to affirm the role of public education in American democracy.
    • On February 6, 2025, in a House Oversight Committee hearing, Rep. Pressley delivered a powerful rebuke of Republicans’ efforts to gut diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) initiatives and eliminate essential services for vulnerable communities.
    • On February 5, 2025, Rep. Pressley rallied outside the U.S. Department of Treasury to protest Elon Musk’s unlawful assault on federal agencies and our democracy.
    • On January 30, 2025, Rep. Pressley slammed Donald Trump for blaming the tragic plane crash at Reagan National Airport, which killed over 60 people, including some families from Massachusetts, on diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives.
    • In January 2025, Rep. Pressley issued a statement slamming Trump’s illegal freeze on federal grants and loans and its harmful impact on vulnerable communities.
    • On January 23, 2025, Rep. Pressley delivered an impassioned floor speech condemning Republicans’ cruel anti-abortion bill that criminalizes providers and denies families care.
    • On January 23, 2025, Rep. Pressley joined her colleagues to reintroduce the Neighbors Not Enemies Act, a bill to repeal an outdated law that has been used to target innocent immigrants without due process rights.
    • On January 22, 2025, Rep. Pressley issued a statement condemning the Trump Administration’s harmful executive actions on diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI).

    ###

    MIL OSI USA News –

    April 10, 2025
  • MIL-OSI USA: Luján, Senate Democrats Release Report Highlighting DOGE’s Deep Cuts to Veterans Benefits

    US Senate News:

    Source: US Senator for New Mexico Ben Ray Luján

    Washington, D.C. – U.S. Senator Ben Ray Luján (D-N.M.), along with Senate Democrats, released the following report on how President Trump, Elon Musk and DOGE are gutting the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) and undermining benefits for New Mexico veterans:

    The so-called Department of Government Efficiency has slashed the federal workforce, firing up to 6,000 veteran workers and decimating staff at the Department of Veterans Affairs. Over 2,400 VA staffers have been fired and DOGE announced plans to terminate 80,000 more. That’s one in five staffers that serve our nation’s heroes by getting them to appointments, providing lifesaving care, and helping them receive the benefits they’ve earned. The Veterans Health Administration serves over 9 million veterans annually in 1,380 VA health care facilities, making it the largest U.S. health care system. Any staffing reduction will adversely affect the timeliness and quality of care these service members receive.

    “President Trump and Elon Musk are abandoning the brave men and women who serve our country – a profound betrayal of our nation’s heroes. I stand with Senate Democrats in demanding that the administration reverse course from gutting essential services and staff, and prioritize the well-being of our veterans and their families who depend on the VA,” said Senator Luján. “These heroes have sacrificed for our freedom and deserve far better care and respect. It’s our duty and honor to ensure that they receive the support and recognition they have rightfully earned.”  

    In March, Senator Luján joined Senate Democrats in calling on the Trump administration to reverse its cancellation of 585 contracts with the Department of Veterans Affairs, including those that help veterans exposed to burn pits and other toxins access lifesaving health care. In February, Senator Luján joinedSenate Democrats in urging VA Secretary Doug Collins to immediately reinstate the more than 1,000 VA employees terminated last week who serve veterans and their families nationwide, including critical employees combatting veteran suicide working at the Veterans Crisis Line.

    The report can be seen HERE. 

    MIL OSI USA News –

    April 10, 2025
  • MIL-OSI New Zealand: Expanded emergency department at Auckland City Hospital will see capacity increase

    Source: New Zealand Government

    Health Minister Simeon Brown has today officially opened Auckland City Hospital’s newly refurbished adult emergency department.

    “This ED is one of the busiest in the country, seeing around 80,000 adult patients per year,” Mr Brown says.

    “Having a functional, fit-for-purpose emergency department is essential for any hospital, particularly one that experiences such high demand.

    “Prior to expansion, Auckland City Hospital’s ED was cramped and outdated, with no additional space to create new rooms. Lack of clinical space, and a waiting area that was too small to accommodate the high volumes of patients, was contributing to an environment that was not optimal for those needing emergency care.  

    “The upgraded ED will feature a new reception, waiting area, clinical triage, consult rooms, and staff base, as well as improved designated drop off and parking areas and a new ambulance entry. This includes improved access to the adjacent Starship Children’s ED.

    “More seating with better spacing and the ability to triage in a dedicated space will reduce queues in waiting rooms.

    “Alongside the enhanced experience the expanded ED will bring to patients, it aims to improve patient flow, which is key to achieving the Government’s health target for shorter stays in emergency departments. 

    “Improving health infrastructure is a priority for the Government to ensure patients have access to timely, quality healthcare.

    “That’s why projects like this are so important, enabling better flow so patients can leave ED faster, while expanding Auckland City Hospital’s capacity to meet increasing demand from a growing population in the future,” Mr Brown says.

    The redevelopment is one of a number of emergency department redevelopment projects underway, including Nelson Hospital’s ED expansion, Taranaki Base Hospital’s Project Maunga, and early design work on Wellington Hospital’s ED. 

    MIL OSI New Zealand News –

    April 10, 2025
  • MIL-OSI USA: Schatz, Senators Demand HHS Restore Title X Family Planning Funding Immediately To Protect Health Care Services For Millions

    US Senate News:

    Source: United States Senator for Hawaii Brian Schatz

    WASHINGTON – U.S. Senator Brian Schatz (D-Hawai‘i), along with U.S. Senators Tina Smith (D-Minn.), Adam Schiff (D-Calif.), and Mazie K. Hirono (D-Hawai‘i), led a group of 29 senators urging the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) to immediately reinstate Title X family planning funding in 23 states, including Hawai‘i, after the agency began withholding grants that support basic health care for approximately one million people.

    “We are alarmed at the Trump administration’s attacks against providers that enable access to health care for low-income and uninsured people,” the senators wrote in a letter to HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. “We urge you to swiftly reinstate funding to avoid extended gaps in service for vulnerable communities who rely on Title X funded health centers and programs.”

    Title X is the nation’s only dedicated source of federal funding for family planning. In 2023, the program supported health care services for 2.8 million people at nearly 4,000 clinics across all 50 states and U.S. territories. These clinics provide cancer screenings, sexually transmitted infections testing and treatment, contraception, and pregnancy-related care—regardless of a patient’s ability to pay.

    On April 1, the Trump administration began withholding all, most, or a substantial portion of Title X funds across 23 states, including all funds to Hawai‘i. The move threatens 23 percent of the entire Title X network.

    “These interruptions will be widely felt in our communities and exacerbate the country’s maternal health crisis,” the senators wrote. “By withholding critical appropriated funds, you are impeding access to essential health care services in rural and underserved areas, risking providers closing their doors, and jeopardizing working families’ lives and livelihoods.”

    California, Hawai‘i, Maine, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, and Utah are currently receiving no family planning dollars; while Alaska, Connecticut, Idaho, Indiana, Kentucky, Minnesota, New Hampshire, North Carolina, Ohio, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Virginia, and West Virginia are experiencing reduced access to Title X-funded services.

    In protest of this lawless Trump administration policy and many more like it, Schatz has placed a hold on the confirmation of more than 300 Trump nominees, including the nominee for HHS Assistant Secretary for Health, Brian Christine, who would oversee Title X.

    In addition to Schatz, Smith, Schiff, and Hirono the letter was also signed by Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) and U.S. Senators Angus King (I-Maine), Alex Padilla (D-Calif.), Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.), Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.), Jeanne Shaheen (D-N.H.), Maggie Hassan (D-N.H.), Mark Warner (D-Va.), Tim Kaine (D-Va.), Maria Cantwell (D-Wash.), Patty Murray (D-Wash.), Tammy Baldwin (D-Wis.), Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), Dick Durbin (D-Ill.), Tammy Duckworth (D-Ill.), Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.), Cory Booker (D-N.J.), Jack Reed (D-R.I.), Ron Wyden (D-Ore.), Andy Kim (D-N.J.), Mark Kelly (D-Ariz.), Angela Alsobrooks (D-Md.), Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.), Ruben Gallego (D-Ariz.), and Ben Ray Luján (D-N.M.).

    The full text of the letter can be found below and is available here.

    Dear Secretary Kennedy:

    We write with great concern regarding the withholding of Title X family planning funding, impacting approximately one million patients in 23 states. We are alarmed at the Trump administration’s attacks against providers that enable access to health care for low-income and uninsured people. We urge you to swiftly reinstate funding to avoid extended gaps in service for vulnerable communities who rely on Title X funded health centers and programs.

    For the past 55 years, Title X has served as the nation’s only dedicated, federally-funded family planning program. It provides lifelines to essential health care, including cancer screenings, testing and treatment for sexually transmitted infections, contraceptive services and supplies, pregnancy testing, and more. Importantly, Title X providers offer care to all people, regardless of their ability to pay. In fact, 60 percent of patients seeking care at Title X funded health centers have incomes below 101 percent of the federal poverty level and receive care at no cost. Altogether, in 2023, Title X supported health care services for 2.8 million patients at 3,853 health centers across all 50 states, the District of Columbia, and U.S. territories. Freezing Title X funds puts millions at risk of losing basic health services and screenings.  A 2024 report from the HHS Office of Population Affairs determined that there “remains a significant need for publicly funded programs to provide free or subsidized sexual and reproductive health [SRH] services.”

    Despite its vast impact, on April 1, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services began withholding all, most, or a substantial portion of Title X funding in 23 states, and all other grantees received partial awards. These states span from coast to coast and the non-contiguous states, covering nearly a quarter of the nation’s Title X network. You have entirely cut access to Title X family planning services for California, Hawaii, Maine, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, and Utah; and your agency is making significant cuts to Title-X funded services in Alaska, Connecticut, Idaho, Indiana, Kentucky, Minnesota, New Hampshire, North Carolina, Ohio, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Virginia, and West Virginia. All other grantees have received partial funding which significantly constrains planned staffing and service delivery this performance year.

    The notifications were premised on specious arguments and contain unreasonable deadlines given the hundreds of health centers that must be surveyed in order to respond to this politically motivated inquiry. Though the administration has explicitly targeted specific providers like Planned Parenthood affiliates, it also included a varied group of nonprofit state and regional grantees.

    These interruptions will be widely felt in our communities and exacerbate the country’s maternal health crisis, particularly in the context of health center closures and restrictive state policies that impact access to reproductive care. By withholding critical appropriated funds, you are impeding access to essential health care services in rural and underserved areas, risking providers closing their doors, and jeopardizing working families’ lives and livelihoods. We request that you expeditiously release funding to Title X grantees in the 23 impacted states before you cause irreparable harm.

    Sincerely,

    MIL OSI USA News –

    April 10, 2025
  • MIL-OSI New Zealand: Auckland University of Technology to offer new psychology training

    Source: New Zealand Government

    Mental Health Minister Matt Doocey says that the government’s work to strengthen New Zealand’s mental health and addiction workforce continues to build momentum, announcing today that the Auckland University of Technology (AUT) is joining the work to develop the training for the new associate psychologist role.
    “Demand for mental health and addiction services continues to grow. Unfortunately, despite this demand, we have many psychology students graduating each year with undergraduate degrees that are unable to progress to work in mental health, due to limited intake into training programmes that lead to registered psychology roles,” says Mr Doocey.
    “I’m delighted that AUT will be helping to develop training for a role that will offer many more psychology students the opportunity to go on to build careers in mental health and support more people to receive timely support.
    “I’m committed to growing our mental health and addiction workforce so more New Zealanders receive the support they need, when they need it. This Government is doing that by investing in a range of initiatives that will enable us to continue to build our workforce, expand capacity, and ensure we have a training pipeline.
    “Since announcing the role, there has been some misconceptions and concerns that are necessary to clear up.
    “Psychologists will continue to play a vital part in this workforce. We have been hard at work to support universities to grow psychologist numbers by investing to increase the number of new psychology internships from 40 to 80 per year by 2027.
    “The creation of the new associate psychologist role is designed to support, not replace the existing psychology workforce. They will work under supervision of a psychologist, within mental health or addiction services.
    “Working with aspects of care that have been defined as less complex within a multi-disciplinary team, this will allow existing registered psychologists to focus on the more complex work they’re trained for.
    “Undergraduate students who have already completed a major in psychology may be eligible to go on to complete a one-year postgraduate diploma to become a qualified associate psychologist. This offers psychology students a new pathway option that will see more people gaining the qualifications they need to and retain more people in the mental health and addiction workforce.”
    Last month Minister Doocey announced that the University of Canterbury were the first to be selected to develop the Government’s new associate psychologist training programme.
    “Together, the two universities are working to prepare a curriculum to train the first intake of students in 2026. It will be exciting to see the first graduates joining the workforce in 2027,” Mr Doocey says.
    “Last year I announced New Zealand’s first targets for mental health and addiction, including the target to train 500 new mental health and addiction health professionals every year. The mental health and addiction workforce plan aims to deliver on that target through a broad range of initiatives, including better utilisation of the Peer Support workforce and increasing the number of psychology internships. The creation of innovative new roles such as associate psychologists is another way we are strengthening the mental health and addiction support available.”
    Note for editors:

    AUT will be working alongside the University of Canterbury to develop the training programme for the qualification, with guidance from Health New Zealand | Te Whatu Ora and the New Zealand Psychologists Board (NZPB) who are developing the scope of practice, competencies and accreditation process for the role.
    NZPB will also advise on a final title for the role, so the name “associate psychologist” is being used as a placeholder.

    MIL OSI New Zealand News –

    April 10, 2025
  • MIL-OSI United Nations: Remarks by Dr. Natalia Kanem, UNFPA Executive Director at the PMNCH High-Level Panel – SRHR as a Catalyst for Social and Economic Rights: Advancing Health, Equity, and Development

    Source: United Nations Population Fund

    Your Excellencies, 
    Dear Rajat, 
    Esteemed partners and friends, 
    Dear young people,

    My greetings are of peace – now so needed and the fervent wish of the women, girls and young people UNFPA, the United Nations sexual and reproductive health agency, serves in over 150 countries. In these times, the United Nations’ mission: peace, human rights and development, is more precious now than ever before.

    Since 1994 and the Cairo International Conference on Population and Development (ICPD), Principle 1 of the Programme of Action affirming that all human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights. This has been underscored in the UN Charter itself. 

    So we thank our friends at the Partnership for Maternal, Newborn and Child Health (PMNCH) for organizing this event with a focus on sexual and reproductive health and rights – an intrinsic part of the right to health and development. UNFPA will continue to be your best ally on the frontlines of the fight for sexual and reproductive health and rights.

    Let me go further and commend you, the stalwarts of the sexual and reproductive health and rights movement – a movement that connects us all around the world. 

    We must face the reality that the pushback is intensifying and that progress is slowing. Once again, it is poor marginalized women and girls being left behind – who have the least access to health services and are bearing the greatest burden of ill health and preventable deaths. 

    Who is listening to them? Because they are being denied their fundamental rights and choices every day.

    Right now, the world over, human rights are being threatened. Let me tell you, there are two areas in particular that have me up at night:

    1) Population crusaders

    Some are currently taking the view that you should have 10- or 20 children because it’s what’s best for society. The right to bodily autonomy asserts that no woman anywhere should ever be told how many children to have, to be denied contraception of her choosing, or to be coerced into sterilization. It is women without a social safety net who fall victim to unsafe abortion and will be particularly harmed by these types of ideas.

    The right to bodily autonomy should not be up for debate. It should not be a toxic, third rail issue. Yet even in parts of Europe, women face difficulties accessing contraception and young women are being encouraged to pursue motherhood only, not a career.

    2) Online violence

    Online violence is terrorizing women, girls, and people of diverse sexual identities. If we do not act, if we do not listen, the average 10-year-old girl will not be able to go online without being bullied or shamed.

    The increasing prevalence of shocking disrespect and technology-facilitated gender-based violence threatens the safety and wellbeing of women and girls. Two in five women say they have experienced online violence. It’s even higher for women at the intersection of multiple forms of discrimination, including racism.

    Every day, UNFPA valiantly serves women and girls who have experienced life-altering violence; and women and girls who lack access to the essential sexual and reproductive health care that is their right.

    Let me remind us that a woman living in a country with a fragile health system is 135 times more likely to die from pregnancy complications than one in a country with accessible emergency care. This disparity is further compounded for women of African descent and Indigenous women, who face alarmingly high mortality rates due to inadequate care.

    Women and girls caught up in a humanitarian crisis have to contend with even more dire conditions. 

    In Myanmar, where the earthquake recently struck, it didn’t just shake the ground; it shook the very foundations of women’s access to life-saving care. In Gaza, pregnant women are giving birth amid chaos and without the essential maternal health care and medicines they desperately need. 

    And in conflicts everywhere, women and girls are singled out for abuse. Rape and assault as a tactic of war aims to terrorize and displace populations. I can imagine no worse violation of the dignity and rights of a human being.

    People who have been victimized tell us that justice is very important to them – it is part of the healing that they seek. But again, is anyone listening?

    I can assure you that UNFPA, PMNCH and all of us in this room are listening and are determined to speak up for her. I am certainly determined to defend the rights and choices of women, girls and young people everywhere.

    It is not something that goes in and out of fashion. It is not something that any one Member State can dictate. These are values that must not be compromised. 

    The enjoyment of sexual and reproductive health and rights generates a multitude of socioeconomic benefits, ranging from reductions in maternal and child mortality to higher education levels and greater productivity — building blocks for stronger, healthier communities.

    It is one of the best investments possible.

    I learned this week about a study in South Africa that has shown that at the age of 14-16 years, something dramatic happens in the life of an adolescent girl. Prior to that age, boys and girls enjoy the same freedoms when it comes to accessing social and economic opportunities. But with the onset on puberty, the girl diverges from the boy, her potential curtailed.

    Meeting the needs of young people has to be a priority, and solutions have to be co-created with them. 

    I hope we will take inspiration from CPD week and be humble enough to explain our positions, which are based on data and evidence, but also be adamant about our values proposition, as proclaimed in Principle 3 of the ICPD Programme of Action:

    The right to development is a universal and inalienable right and an integral part of fundamental human rights, and the human person is the central subject of development. 

    Thank you again. I encourage and urge you to continue to be vocal and to be visible, not just here in New York during this time, but everywhere where you sit. As you go back home, know that we wish the best for you as defenders of the rights and choices women and girls. 

    Please continue to wave the flag of the ICPD up high.

    MIL OSI United Nations News –

    April 10, 2025
  • MIL-OSI United Nations: 9 April 2025 Departmental update Global Sepsis Alliance hosts annual World Sepsis Congress

    Source: World Health Organisation

    This year’s congress featured over 90 expert speakers, including leading clinicians, scientists, policymakers, sepsis survivors and representatives from patient advocacy groups. With more than 15 000 participants from over 180 countries, the event was a significant gathering dedicated to addressing the key issues surrounding sepsis. 

    Several WHO staff members, including WHO Chief Scientist, Dr Jeremy Farrar; WHO Assistant Director-General for Access to Medicines and Health Products, Dr Yukiko Nakatani; and technical leads from various departments, were present at the congress. The WHO’s involvement underscores the importance of global collaboration in the fight against sepsis. 

    During the Congress, the delegates discussed issues such as integrated emergency, critical and operative care, research agenda for antimicrobial resistance and sepsis, potential of AI in the global sepsis response, and sepsis in emergencies and humanitarian crisis, among others. 
     
    Dr Teri Reynolds, Unit Head for WHO Clinical Services and Systems, said, “The World Sepsis Congress gathers global stakeholders to share knowledge aimed at preventing death and disability from sepsis, with WHO emphasizing the importance of prevention and people-centred care pathways to improve early recognition and optimize health system navigation for timely care. We look forward to continued collaboration with the Global Sepsis Alliance, a key partner in our Acute Care Action Network.” 

    In response to the growing global burden of sepsis, the WHO adopted Resolution WHA70.7 in May 2017, focusing on improving the prevention, diagnosis and clinical management of sepsis. The resolution’s key pillars include developing clinical management guidelines, estimating the global burden of sepsis, supporting member states in implementing standards, and enhancing sepsis treatment and infection prevention. 

    The World Sepsis Congress serves as a critical platform for updating current research, discussing new innovations and advancing clinical, political and financial support to reduce sepsis mortality and its associated sequelae. By bringing together a diverse group of stakeholders, the congress aims to address the global burden of sepsis and improve outcomes for patients and their families.

    “,”datePublished”:”2025-04-09T05:00:00.0000000+00:00″,”image”:”https://cdn.who.int/media/images/default-source/ihs/ipc/sepsis/sepsis_activities.jpg?sfvrsn=4f22efce_1″,”publisher”:{“@type”:”Organization”,”name”:”World Health Organization: WHO”,”logo”:{“@type”:”ImageObject”,”url”:”https://www.who.int/Images/SchemaOrg/schemaOrgLogo.jpg”,”width”:250,”height”:60}},”dateModified”:”2025-04-09T05:00:00.0000000+00:00″,”mainEntityOfPage”:”https://www.who.int/news/item/09-04-2025-global-sepsis-alliance-hosts-annual-world-sepsis-congress”,”@context”:”http://schema.org”,”@type”:”NewsArticle”};
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    MIL OSI United Nations News –

    April 10, 2025
  • MIL-OSI USA: Sen. Markey Joins Sen. Hirono, Rep. Norcross in Introducing Legislation to Strengthen Rights of Public Sector Workers to join Unions, Bargain Collectively

    US Senate News:

    Source: United States Senator for Massachusetts Ed Markey
    Washington (April 8, 2025) – Senator Edward J. Markey (D-Mass.), a member of the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP) Committee today joined Senator Mazie K. Hirono (D-Hawaii) and Representative Donald Norcross (D-NJ) in reintroducing the Public Service Freedom to Negotiate Act, bicameral legislation to guarantee the right of public sector employees to organize, act concertedly, and bargain collectively in states that currently do not afford these basic protections. This comes at a critical time, after President Trump’s recent executive order ended collective bargaining for over a million federal workers.
    “Donald Trump and Elon Musk are doing everything in their power to kill public sector unions and deny public servants their fundamental right to organize and collectively bargain. Their union busting is disgusting,” said Senator Markey. “Congress must pass the Public Service Freedom to Negotiate Act to guarantee public service workers their rights and empower them to fight for better wages and working conditions. Public servants deliver for the American people every day, and we must deliver for them.”
    “Public sector workers teach our children, protect our safety, and keep our communities moving forward—they deserve the right to organize,” said Senator Hirono. “The Public Service Freedom to Negotiate Act will help ensure that that millions of public sector workers across our country have the federal protections they deserve as they fight for fair wages, benefits, and improved working conditions. Private sector workers are already guaranteed the right to organize under federal law, it should be common sense that public sector workers are afforded those same rights. As President Trump works to gut our public sector workforce, this bill is crucial to protect workers’ freedom to organize and bargain collectively. I’m proud to lead this important legislation with Representative Norcross to help ensure that every public employee has their voice heard in the workplace.”
    “I know the power of collective bargaining because I’ve lived it,” said Congressman Norcross, a former union electrician, member of the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers (IBEW), and co-chair of the Congressional Labor Caucus. “I spent decades at the negotiating table standing up for working families—fighting for fair pay, safer jobs, and better benefits like health care and retirement. This bill ensures public-sector workers across the country have that same right to a voice on the job and a seat at the table.” 
    The Public Service Freedom to Negotiate Act would establish baseline federal protections to ensure all public service workers can join a union and negotiate workplace conditions—regardless of state law. Unlike private sector workers, there is currently no federal law protecting the freedom of public sector workers to join a union and collectively bargain for fair wages, benefits, and improved working conditions.
    “Unions built the middle class,” said Senator Alsobrooks. “At a time when our President has unleashed brazenly illegal attacks on unions, we need legislation to protect our public service employees – those who keep us safe, who ensure our communities can function, and who are teaching our next generation. They deserve fair benefits and wages, safe working conditions, and the right to organize – and we won’t stop fighting until they get it.”
    “The Public Service Freedom to Negotiate Act ensures that teachers, nurses, child welfare workers, firefighters, and so many others who serve our communities are afforded the same right to join a union as workers in the private sector,” said Senator Blumenthal. “All workers deserve the free and unhindered opportunity to organize and collectively bargain for better pay, benefits, and working conditions.”
    “As the granddaughter of union steelworkers and Delaware’s former Secretary of Labor, I know the power workers have when they stand together,” said Senator Blunt Rochester, member of the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee. “At a moment when the Trump administration is indiscriminately firing federal employees across government, it is past civil servants have the protections and benefits that private sector workers do: the right to organize. I look forward to working with Senator Hirono and Congressman to get the bicameral Public Service Freedom to Negotiate Act across the finish line. We are standing up for public servants across the nation.”
    “Public sector workers bear a huge responsibility within our communities, whether it’s teaching our children, responding to emergencies, or providing vital services that keep our society running,” said Senator Booker. “Public servants should have the same right to advocate for higher pay or safer working conditions as everyone else in America. The Public Service Freedom to Negotiate Act will ensure all workers have the opportunity organize, collectively bargain, and thrive in our economy.”
    “Public servants ask nothing more than the chance to serve our communities and our nation. They are our neighbors and often our heroes: teachers and 911 operators and police officers,” said Senator Coons. “This legislation protects their right to unionize so they can seek fair salaries and safe workplaces, just like everyone else. When public servants join together and elect a path forward, we ought to respect that choice. I’m proud that the bill we put forward today will do just that while creating better opportunities for public servants and their families in Delaware and across the country.”
    “Our public sector workers deserve the same right to organize as private sector workers, to work in a safe job that pays a livable wage and to be able to save for a secure retirement,” said Senator Duckworth. “As Donald Trump works to hollow out the backbone of our public sector, I’m proud to help Senator Hirono and my colleagues introduce this legislation that would protect these hardworking Americans by finally enshrining their right to unionize into law and enabling them to advocate for the wages and working conditions they rightfully deserve.”
    “Public sector workers – our teachers, firefighters, nurses – keep our communities safe, healthy, and educated.  They deserve the same freedom to organize and collectively bargain as those who work in the private sector,” said Senator Durbin.  “I am cosponsoring the Public Service Freedom to Negotiate Act to ensure that those who serve our communities are not denied basic labor rights.”
    “From the firefighters and police officers who keep us safe to the educators who teach our kids, public sectors employees serve Arizonans every day. They deserve our support in return,” said Senator Gallego. “I’m proud to back this bill to ensure that public sector employees have the same rights and protections as any other worker.”
    “Public sector workers are the backbone of our communities, ensuring that essential services are provided with dedication and care,” said Senator Gillibrand. “Unionization and collective bargaining are not just rights—they are a recognition of the value of these critical public servants. The Public Service Freedom to Negotiate Act would help ensure that millions of public sector workers have a voice in their working conditions, pay, and benefits, giving them the same federal rights as their private sector counterparts. I am proud to cosponsor this legislation so that every worker can organize and fight for fair treatment.”
    “Unions, including public-sector unions, have provided critical advocacy and support for many workers,” said Senator Kaine. “I am proud to cosponsor this crucial legislation to protect millions of American workers’ right to unionize and bargain for better wages and working conditions.”
    “All workers deserve the right to collectively bargain and have their voices fully heard on the job,” said Senator Kim. “As President Trump continues to vilify public service and go after workers’ rights, it is as important as ever that congress pass legislation like this to defend them, empower their voice, and have their backs as they simply demand the fair pay and benefits working families across our country deserve.”
    “Every worker in this country should have the opportunity to speak up for themselves on the job. This includes the teachers shaping our kids’ futures, the first responders keeping us safe, and the healthcare and social workers who are there for us when we need them most,” said Senator Luján. “I’m proud to introduce legislation that ensures the folks essential to our communities have the right to organize and fight for fair wages, good benefits, and safe working conditions.”
    “As the son of a union mechanic, I know unions make a difference in standing up for workers and their families by ensuring they have a safe workplace and good pay for their work,” Senator Merkley said. “While the Trump Administration threatens the rights of America’s public sector workers to organize and receive fair treatment in the workplace, we’re pushing to make sure these workers receive just treatment and fair pay for a hard day’s work.”
    “Trump has already stripped hundreds of thousands of federal workers of their collective bargaining rights, and even more public sector workers could be next. Unions built the middle class, and they’re still the best tool for workers to fight for better pay and fair treatment. This legislation would make sure our teachers, firefighters, and more than a million Americans who serve their communities have a seat at the negotiating table,” said Senator Murphy.
    “The nearly 20 million public sector workers across our nation deserve the fundamental right to organize and fight for a fair contract and better working conditions. Yet, the Trump Administration has repeatedly tried to strip away this right and attack public service workers’ ability to unionize,” said Senator Padilla. “From public school teachers who educate our children to first responders on the frontlines of emergencies in our communities, we must guarantee the right for workers to join a union and collectively bargain nationwide.”
    “Working men and women deserve the freedom to negotiate for fair wages and improved working conditions in the communities they serve.  This bill is about basic fairness,” said Senator Reed.
    “Nevada’s police officers, teachers, firefighters, and other public servants work tirelessly to serve our communities, and they absolutely deserve the right to bargain for better wages and working conditions,” said Senator Rosen. “That’s why I’m proud to help introduce a bill to protect their right to join a union and collectively bargain amid attacks from the Trump Administration. I’ll always stand up for Nevada’s public servants.”
    “Donald Trump is dead set on illegally dismantling workers’ rights to organize and advocate for higher pay, benefits, and workplace safety,” said Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer. “Public employees dedicate themselves to serving their communities each and every day, and they deserve the opportunity to join a union. Democrats stand with working Americans and will continue to fight until the right to organize is fully protected.”
    “Americans have a fundamental right to come together to bargain with their employer for fair wages and better working conditions,” said Senator Smith. “By protecting the rights of public employees to organize and advocate for themselves, we will put the power back in the hands of workers and strengthen the middle class.”
    “American workers’ right to organize is ingrained in our democratic principles, but for state and local government employees, this right is not a given. These public servants deliver vital services for our communities – and we’re fighting to ensure they have the freedom to organize and be treated fairly, no matter where they live,” said Senator Van Hollen.
    “Our hardworking civil servants dedicate their careers to teaching our kids, making sure our buses run on time, protecting our communities, and so much more. They should have the freedom to collectively organize and fight for good pay and working conditions,” said Senator Warren. “This bill protects the rights of these workers in every state to unionize and fight for what they deserve.”
    “Public servants are at the heart of our country and are essential to the functioning of our communities. The work of public employees–from our teachers to health care professionals to firefighters–is invaluable, and they deserve fair wages that reflect the important work they do every day,” said Senator Welch. “This bill will ensure that public sector employees have federal protections to form a union and collectively bargain in their efforts to secure better pay and safer working conditions for their essential work. In the wake of Elon Musk’s DOGE and Trump’s attacks on the federal workforce, it’s never been so important to protect workers.”
    Specifically, this bill would set a minimum nationwide standard of collective bargaining rights that states must provide, including allowing public service workers to join together and have a voice on the job to improve both working conditions and the communities in which they live and work. The legislation gives public service workers the freedom to:
    Join together in a union selected by a majority of employees; 
    Collectively bargain over wages, hours and terms and conditions of employment; 
    Access dispute resolution mechanisms; 
    Use voluntary payroll deduction for union dues; 
    Engage in concerted activities related to collective bargaining and mutual aid; 
    Have their union be free from requirements to hold rigged recertification elections; and 
    File suit in court to enforce their labor rights. 
    “Passing this legislation has never been more urgent — especially now, as federal workers face unprecedented attacks on their collective bargaining rights,” said AFSCME President Lee Saunders. “We believe, as most Americans do, that every worker deserves a union — no matter who they work for.  This bill is about something fundamental: respect. Respect for the public service workers who’ve devoted their careers to serving their communities. And respect means the freedom to negotiate.”
    “When workers stand together in a union, their jobs and lives improve. But in half of the country, the people who keep our cities and towns running are banned from collectively bargaining for a good union contract. Every day, the attacks on the fundamental freedoms of workers who keep our streets and water clean, our public transportation moving, and our children learning are increasing from the highest level of government,” said AFL-CIO President, Liz Shuler. “We need federal law to protect their rights to form a union and negotiate fair contracts that allow them to continue to do the work that is so essential to our communities. We call on every member of Congress to stand with working people and support the Public Service Freedom to Negotiate Act.”
    “For years now, the rights of workers like nurses, librarians, educators, and all our essential public servants who dedicate themselves to our communities have been chipped away at, despite their dedication and selfless service to their communities,” said Claude Cummings Jr., president of the Communications Workers of America. “That’s why the Public Service Freedom to Negotiate Act is so vital. It protects public sector workers’ fundamental right to join together, bargain for fair pay, and stand up for decent working conditions. Congress needs to step up and pass this now and push back against efforts trying to undermine these essential rights.”
    “As education, healthcare and public service workers, our members make a difference in the lives of others every day. But too many states don’t allow the people who do the work to have a voice,” said Randi Weingarten, President of AFT. “The Public Service Freedom to Negotiate Act would change that, ensuring public servants, no matter where they reside, have a means to influence their own lives. Whether it’s higher wages, safer working conditions, or a secure retirement, the ability to organize a union and bargain collectively lifts working families, students, patients, and entire communities up. That’s why we enthusiastically support this legislation and are committed to moving it forward.”
    This legislation is cosponsored in the Senate by U.S. Senators Angela Alsobrooks (D-MD), Tammy Baldwin (D-WI), Richard Blumenthal (D-CT), Lisa Blunt Rochester (D-DE), Cory Booker (D-NJ), Maria Cantwell (D-WA), Chris Coons (D-DE), Tammy Duckworth (D-IL), Dick Durbin (D-IL), John Fetterman (D-PA), Ruben Gallego (D-AZ), Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY), Martin Heinrich (D-NM), Tim Kaine (D-VA), Andy Kim (D-NJ), Amy Klobuchar (D-MN), Ben Ray Luján (D-NM), Jeff Merkley (D-OR), Chris Murphy (D-CT), Patty Murray (D-WA), Alex Padilla (D-CA), Gary Peters (D-MI), Jack Reed (D-RI), Jacky Rosen (D-NV), Bernie Sanders (I-VT), Brian Schatz (D-HI), Adam Schiff (D-CA), Chuck Schumer (D-NY), Elissa Slotkin (D-MI), Tina Smith (D-MN), Chris Van Hollen (D-MD), Elizabeth Warren (D-MA), Peter Welch (D-VT), Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI), and Ron Wyden (D-OR).
    The Public Service Freedom to Negotiate Act is endorsed by the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees (AFSCME); the Communications Workers of America (CWA); American Federation of Teachers (AFT); AFL-CIO; Amalgamated Transit Union (ATU); Department for Professional Employees, AFL-CIO (DPE); International Brotherhood of Teamsters; International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers (IAM); International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees (IATSE); International Federation of Professional and Technical Engineers (IFPTE); International Union of Police Associations (IUPA); International Union of Painters & Allied Trades (IUPAT); Laborer’s International Union of North America (LiUNA); National Education Association (NEA); National Nurses United; Service Employees International Union (SEIU); Transport Workers Union of America (TWU); UNITE HERE!; United Autoworkers; United Steelworkers (USW).
    The full text of the legislation is available here.

    MIL OSI USA News –

    April 10, 2025
  • MIL-OSI USA: Fact Sheet: President Donald J. Trump Directs Repeal of Regulations That Are Unlawful Under 10 Recent Supreme Court Decisions

    US Senate News:

    Source: The White House
    REPEALING UNLAWFUL REGULATIONS: Today, President Donald J. Trump signed a Presidential Memorandum requiring agencies to rescind regulations that are unlawful under 10 recent landmark Supreme Court decisions.
    This memorandum implements President Trump’s Executive Order 14219, Ensuring Lawful Governance and Implementing the President’s “Department Of Government Efficiency” Deregulatory Initiative (February 19, 2025).
    EO 14219 ordered agencies to review and identify their unlawful regulations.  Now, President Trump is directing agencies to prioritize that review under 10 recent watershed Supreme Court cases, and to repeal regulations that are unlawful under those cases.
    IMPLEMENTING THE LAW FROM RECENT SUPREME COURT DECISIONS:  President Trump’s memorandum directs departments and agencies to review rules for legality under ten recent watershed Supreme Court decisions:
    Loper Bright Enterprises v. Raimondo, 603 U.S. 369 (2024) overturned the Chevron doctrine.  Accordingly, agencies are to repeal any regulation that is not consonant with the “single, best meaning” of the statute authorizing it.   Agencies are also to repeal any regulation that was promulgated in reliance on the Chevron doctrine and that could be defended only by relying on Chevron deference.
    West Virginia v. EPA, 597 U.S. 697 (2022) was a landmark ruling applying the Major Questions Doctrine, i.e., the principle that an agency cannot claim to discover vast delegations of power on an important issue in a statutory text that doesn’t clearly provide such authority. (Agencies cannot “seek to hide ‘elephants in mouseholes.’”)  Accordingly, agencies must repeal any regulation promulgated in violation of the Major Questions Doctrine. 
    SEC v. Jarkesy, 603 U.S. 109 (2024) held that it violates the Seventh Amendment for agencies to adjudicate common-law claims in their in-house courts.  Agencies accordingly must repeal any regulation authorizing enforcement proceedings that enable the agency’s courts to impose judgments or penalties that can only be obtained via jury trial in Article III Courts.
    Michigan v. EPA, 576 U.S. 743 (2015) held that it violates the Administrative Procedure Act for an agency to promulgate regulations without properly considering the cost as well as the benefits.  Agencies accordingly must repeal any regulation where the costs imposed are not justified by the public benefits, or where such an analysis was never conducted to begin with.
    Sackett v. EPA, 598 U.S. 651 (2023) ended a twenty-year attempt by the EPA to enforce the Clean Water Act against landowners whose property was near a ditch that fed into a creek, which fed into a navigable, intrastate lake.  Agencies accordingly must repeal any regulation inconsistent with a properly bounded interpretation of “waters of the United States.”
    Ohio v. EPA, 603 U.S. 279 (2024) struck down an EPA plan under the Clean Air Act that the EPA had adopted after the scientific and policy premises undergirding it had been shown to be wrong.  Agencies accordingly must repeal any regulation that does not sufficiently account for the costs it imposes, or for which foundational assumptions have changed and are no longer defensible.
    Cedar Point Nursery v. Hassid, 594 U.S. 139 (2021) held that a law that forced landowners to admit union organizers onto their property violated the Takings Clause. Agencies accordingly must repeal any regulation inconsistent with a proper understanding of the Takings Clause, which protects far more than just real estate from being taken by the government without compensation.
    Students for Fair Admissions, Inc. v. President and Fellows of Harvard College, 600 U.S. 181 (2023) held that “affirmative action” admission programs violate the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment.  Agencies accordingly must repeal any regulation that imposes racially discriminatory rules or preferences.  As the Court said, “[e]liminating racial discrimination means eliminating all of it.” 
    Carson v. Makin, 596 U.S. 767 (2022) held that a law excluding religious schools from participating in Maine’s school-voucher program violated the Free Exercise Clause.  Agencies accordingly must review their regulations to ensure equal treatment of religious institutions vis-à-vis secular institutions for purposes of funding and access to public benefits.
    Roman Cath. Diocese of Brooklyn v. Cuomo, 592 U.S. 14 (2020) struck down New York’s Covid-era occupancy restrictions on churches and synagogues because they were uniquely harsher than those that applied to “essential” businesses—such as acupuncture facilities.  Each agency should review its regulations to ensure at least equal treatment of religious institutions vis-à-vis secular institutions for regulatory purposes. 
    AVOIDING CUMBERSOME AND UNNECESSARY PROCEDURES:  President Trump’s memorandum directs agencies to revoke these unlawful regulations expeditiously, using the Administrative Procedure Act’s (“APA”) “good cause” exception where appropriate.  Agencies must move quickly to delete illegal regulations from imposing further burdens on the American people. 

    MIL OSI USA News –

    April 10, 2025
  • MIL-OSI United Kingdom: New measures to put neighbourhood bobbies back on beat

    Source: United Kingdom – Executive Government & Departments

    Press release

    New measures to put neighbourhood bobbies back on beat

    Communities will be safer and trust in local policing will be restored under plans to put police officers back in our neighbourhoods.

    • Prime Minister unveils plan to restore confidence in policing and deliver security for working people
    • New measures mean named and contactable officers for every neighbourhood and guaranteed police patrols in busy areas at peak times, such as town centres, ending years of postcode lottery
    • For the first time in fifteen years, working people across the country will be entitled to the same standards from the police, no matter where they live 
    • This forms part of the government’s Plan for Change and Neighbourhood Policing Guarantee, putting 13,000 more neighbourhood officers on our streets, up more than 50% across the country

    Communities will be safer and trust in local policing will be restored under plans to put police officers back in our neighbourhoods, announced by the Prime Minister today, as he delivers manifesto pledge to roll out the Neighbourhood Policing Guarantee.

    New measures will ensure every community will have dedicated and specialist neighbourhood policing teams, ending the postcode lottery on law and order.

    Announcing the plan, the Prime Minister will make clear that security is the bedrock on which working families build their lives, but that in recent years visible policing has fallen dramatically, with the number of people who regularly see officers patrolling in their local area halving in the past decade. 90% of crime has been left unsolved and there were one million incidents of antisocial behaviour last year alone, including big increases in street crime.

    The measures will put prevention at the heart of policing. Under the government’s Neighbourhood Policing Guarantee, crimes like vandalism or antisocial behaviour will be less likely to turn into more serious and violent offences, boosting confidence and security in local communities across Britain. 

    The Neighbourhood Policing Guarantee will put 13,000 more officers into neighbourhood policing roles by 2029, an increase of more than 50%. The early focus of the plan will be to establish named local officers, target town centre crime and build back neighbourhood policing, meaning hard working people can feel safer and more secure in their daily lives.

    The measures, announced today, will transform communities across Britain and will deliver the security communities deserve:

    •                 Each neighbourhood will have named, contactable officers to tackle the issues facing their communities, helping to restore trust that policing is working to keep people safe and meaning no community feels ignored when they need help. 

    •                 Every neighbourhood in England and Wales will have dedicated teams who will spend their time on the beat with guaranteed police patrols in town centres and other hotspot areas at peak times such as Friday and Saturday nights.  

    •                 There will be a dedicated antisocial behaviour lead in every force, working with residents and businesses to develop tailored action plans to tackle record levels of antisocial behaviour, which is blighting communities.

    Under these plans, communities across the country will, for the first time in 15 years, be able to hold forces to account and expect a minimum standard of policing in their area.

    The government’s new Police Standards and Performance Improvement Unit will ensure police performance is consistently and accurately measured, so the government can narrow the gap between the best and worst performing forces. 

    This will make clear that everyone across the country, no matter where they live, can expect the same standards from the police,  with a new online tool so the public are able to check how their local force is performing and hold forces to account.

    Prime Minister Keir Starmer said: 

    Everyone deserves to feel safe and secure on the streets they call home. It is just about the most basic right that anyone would expect. Yet for years crimes such as shoplifting and antisocial behaviour have wreaked havoc on our neighbourhoods. Policing has become reactive, picking up the pieces after crimes have occurred.

    Britain deserves better. It should not matter where you live – everyone deserves local, visible policing they can trust, and with our Neighbourhood Policing Guarantee we will end this postcode lottery, putting prevention back at the heart of policing and ensuring police are back on the streets.

    That’s why our Plan for Change is delivering security for working people in their communities with a return to neighbourhood policing, putting thousands of bobbies back on the beat and keeping people safe.

    Home Secretary Yvette Cooper said:

    The heartbeat of our Great British policing tradition is seeing bobbies on the beat, but for too long, too many communities have been feeling abandoned as crime soared and neighbourhood police disappeared, even when local crimes like shop theft, street theft or blatant drug dealing rose sharply.

    That’s why this government is determined to get police back on the beat and into our town centres. 

    It should not matter where you live – everyone deserves local, visible policing they can trust, and with our Plan for Change and Neighbourhood Policing Guarantee we will tackle this postcode lottery and restore policing to our communities.

    Today’s announcement is just one part of the government’s commitment to keep communities safe.

    Through the Crime and Policing Bill, new powers will be given to police so they can better tackle crimes that matter most to communities. This includes bringing in Respect Orders to clamp down on persistent antisocial behaviour and giving police the power to seize vehicles that cause havoc to communities. The Bill will also scrap the effective immunity of theft of goods below £200 and help police go after phone thieves by removing the warrant to search properties where stolen items have been electronically geolocated.

    Through the Plan for Change and mission to keep our streets safe, this government will restore confidence in local policing and making towns and communities safer places to live, work and visit.

    Chief Constable Sir Andy Marsh, CEO of the College of Policing, said:  

    We welcome the government’s Neighbourhood Policing Guarantee, which builds on the bedrock of British policing. Our evidence shows that good neighbourhood policing reduces crime and builds trust with communities, and it remains a top priority for the College. 

    We also know how important neighbourhood policing is to the public. That’s why, this June, we’ll be rolling out the Neighbourhood Policing Pathway training for neighbourhood officers and staff in police forces right across the country. Our training will ensure these teams have the specialised knowledge and skills to tackle anti-social behaviour, engage with communities and build relationships that support intelligence gathering and crime reduction. 

    We will also continue to use our position as a national source of best practice to help forces to constantly improve how they approach neighbourhood policing. Through our Practice Bank and Smarter Practice examples, the College will continue to evaluate and share initiatives and interventions to help police forces provide the best possible service for their communities.

    Emily Spurrell, Chair of the Association of Police and Crime Commissioners and PCC for Merseyside, said:

    Neighbourhood policing is vital for building trust, preventing crime and fostering community engagement. It ensures that local officers, with their unique knowledge, can swiftly address the specific needs of their communities, creating safer and more connected neighbourhoods. Residents and businesses have made it clear, time and again, that they want an accessible local policing team, with local knowledge, dealing with the unique problems in their communities.

    Police and Crime Commissioners and Deputy Mayors have echoed their communities’ voices in setting the priorities for their Chief Constables and made neighbourhood policing a priority in their Police and Crime Plans. The Neighbourhood Policing Guarantee is an opportunity to reconnect policing with the communities they serve, helping to restore the trust and confidence that is vital if we are to continue policing by consent.

    The APCC welcomed the additional neighbourhood policing funding announced in January by the government, to enhance policing’s ability to deliver with additional officers and Police Community Support Officers. However, there remains significant pressure on police budgets and we will continue to work with the government to ensure policing has the resources it needs to effectively deliver neighbourhood policing for the public.

    Kurtis Christoforides, Chief Executive Officer of Police Now, said: 

    Police Now was founded to help transform communities through outstanding neighbourhood policing and brilliant public sector leadership, so it’s tremendously exciting to be working even more closely with government and police forces to do just that.

    The Victims’ Commissioner for England and Wales, Baroness Newlove, said:

    I welcome the return of dedicated neighbourhood policing and the introduction of named ASB leads in each area. Persistent anti-social behaviour blights lives and communities, and these new roles will be vital in ensuring victims’ concerns are taken seriously by officers they know and trust.

    Some of the most harmful and enduring anti-social behaviour takes place in residential communities – away from the town centres and out of sight. The Neighbourhood Policing Guarantee has real potential, but its impact will depend on trained officers who have the support and skills to be able to respond to every report – whether from a busy high street or a quiet cul-de-sac.

    Matt Hood, Co-op Managing Director said:

    Creating healthy, safer high streets within resilient and durable communities is absolutely essential. We have effective partnerships with local police in several communities across the UK and we see first-hand the benefits of working together to target high impact offenders. At Co-op we have recently seen an encouraging improvement in police response and attendance, however the offenders keep coming and as retailers, we do all we can to prevent crime in our shops, but along with our communities, we need this support from the police to make it count.  We welcome this new Government commitment on increasing neighbourhood policing and our store colleagues will definitely be pleased to see a higher police presence.

    Kate Nicholls, Chief Executive of UKHospitality, said: 

    It cannot be overstated how important it is for businesses and communities to feel confident in their own safety on the streets, and knowing their neighbourhood police officers engenders that confidence. Utilising local knowledge and relationships is critical to providing safe high streets. 

    Hospitality and our high streets are critical for driving economic growth and regenerating our towns and cities, and we want them to be thriving hubs of activity. The government’s Neighbourhood Policing Guarantee is an important way of ensuring that.

    John Hayward-Cripps, Chief Executive of Neighbourhood Watch said: 

    The advantage of having a named officer is that it humanises the relationship between the police and the community. People report greater trust and confidence in the police when they can reach out to an officer who knows their area, and the communities who live there. Evidence suggests that patrols alone don’t make a significant difference to cutting crime, what is effective is combining them with community engagement. 

    Our members regularly work with the police, partners and the local people to adopt a problem-solving approach to crime and antisocial behaviour. And yet, nearly a third of people who responded to our community survey told us they lack a feeling of safety. It is especially important for younger people; they are the age group least likely to feel safe in their neighbourhoods.

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    Published 9 April 2025

    MIL OSI United Kingdom –

    April 10, 2025
  • MIL-OSI United Nations: Population and Development Commission Continues General Discussion, Holds Panel on ‘Ensuring Healthy Lives and Promoting Well-Being for All at All Ages’

    Source: United Nations General Assembly and Security Council

    Following the continuation of its general discussion in the morning, this afternoon, the Commission on Population and Development heard from Deus Mubangizi, Director of the Health Products Policy and Standards Department and Director ad interim of Innovation and Emerging Technologies Department of the World Health Organization (WHO), and Werner Obermayer, Director of WHO New York Office.

    Their presentations were followed by a multi-stakeholder panel Moderated by Pascale Allotey, Director of the WHO Department of Sexual and Reproductive Health and Research.  The panel featured the following pannelists:  James Sailer, Vice-President and Executive Director, Biomedical Research Center, Population Council; Gloria Langat, Head of Ageing and Development, African Population Health and Research Center; Hugo López-Gatell Ramírez, Professor of Medical Sciences, National Autonomous University of Mexico; Ashley Ambrose, Deputy Director, Health Equity, Clinton Global Initiative; and Hanna Mulugeta, Youth Country Coordinator, RHRN2 Programme Ethiopia, Development Expertise Center.

    The Commission’s fifty-eighth session, held this week from 7 to 11 April, is focusing on the theme “ensuring healthy lives and promoting well-being for all at all ages”.

    …

    __________

    * Owing to the liquidity crisis facing our Organization, the 4th through 6th Meetings were not covered.

    MIL OSI United Nations News –

    April 10, 2025
  • MIL-OSI USA: Congressman Ruiz Demands a Meeting with Secretary Robert Kennedy Jr.

    Source: United States House of Representatives – Congressman Raul Ruiz (36th District of California)

    Washington, D.C. – Today, Congressman Dr. Raul Ruiz joined Ranking Member Diana DeGette and fellow members of the Energy and Commerce Health Subcommittee in demanding a meeting with Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., amid growing concerns over his DOGE-directed staff cuts and the escalating bird flu and measles outbreaks.

    For more than two months, the Energy and Commerce Committee has requested a meeting or hearing with Secretary Kennedy’s office—requests that have gone entirely unanswered.

    This morning, the members arrived at the Department of Health and Human Services headquarters seeking a long-overdue conversation. They were met by two security officers who allowed them entry but offered no further communication. No Assistant Secretary, Under Secretary, or representative from Secretary Kennedy’s office came to the lobby to acknowledge or respond to the delegation.

    After waiting for over 30 minutes without any engagement from the Department, Congressman Ruiz and the Subcommittee members stepped outside to hold a press conference highlighting the continued lack of transparency and responsiveness from Secretary Kennedy’s team.

    A small portion of the Congressman’s remarks are quoted below, and the full video can be found at the bottom of this press release: 

    “We want to know why in the middle of a measles outbreak, with over 640 cases, 3 deaths. Why are they cutting the [HHS] staff who are keeping us safe, to do the research, to help us administer the vaccines in the communities?

    “One out of four people have been fired from Health and Human Services. In addition to that, they have cut nearly 12 billion dollars in funding that help promote the vaccine throughout our country and this is despicable, when we know that the most effective way of preventing measles is the MMR vaccine.”

    For pictures of the press conference click here.

    For video of the press conference click here.

    MIL OSI USA News –

    April 10, 2025
  • MIL-OSI USA: Kamlager-Dove, Ossoff Reintroduce Bipartisan, Bicameral Bill to Notify Loved Ones When Inmates Suffer Health Complications or Pass Away in Custody

    Source: United States House of Representatives – Congresswoman Sydney Kamlager California (37th District)

    Legislation will ensure families receive timely notifications should an incarcerated family member pass away or suffer health complications while in prison

    Washington, D.C. — Rep. Sydney Kamlager-Dove (CA-37) and U.S. Senator Jon Ossoff (D-GA) led Senator Kennedy (R-LA) and Reps. John Rutherford (FL-05), Barry Moore (AL-01), and Glenn Ivey (MD-04) in reintroducing a bipartisan bill to help notify family members in a timely and compassionate manner in the event of a death, serious illness or injury of a loved one in custody.  

    The Family Notification of Death, Injury, or Illness in Custody Act would require the U.S. Department of Justice to implement policies and procedures for family notification by issuing central guidance to the Federal Bureau of Prisons. The bill would also direct the Attorney General to develop and distribute model notification policies and procedures to state and local detention agencies.

    “In 2016, when Wakiesha Wilson tragically died while incarcerated, her family members–my constituents–were never directly informed of her passing. It took 18 days for Wakiesha to be reunited with her family, compounding their agony of experiencing the death of a loved one. No one should have to go through that pain,” said Congresswoman Kamlager-Dove. “It is shameful that our correctional facilities are not required to notify the families of incarcerated people if their loved ones are seriously ill, injured, or deceased. I’m proud to introduce this legislation to change that.”

    “Too often, the families of those incarcerated never find out about a serious illness, a life-threatening injury, or even the death of a loved one behind bars. That’s why Senator Kennedy and I are introducing this bipartisan reform legislation,” Sen. Ossoff said.  

    “Every family member deserves to be notified if their loved one has passed away, is injured, or becomes ill,” said Rep. Rutherford. “As a former sheriff, I understand the importance of notifying families about the health challenges their loved ones are facing while in custody. No parent, spouse, or child should be left in the dark. That’s why I am proud to join my colleagues in the House and Senate to introduce bipartisan legislation to ensure compassionate notification of a detainee’s health status to their family members.” 

    “Families deserve to be informed when their loved one has died, has a serious illness, or sustains an injury while in custody. In FY21 alone, the Department of Justice failed to identify at least 990 prison and arrest related deaths,” said Moore. “This legislation requiring the Department of Justice and Bureau of Prisons to implement clear procedures for notifying families if these events occur is a step toward transparency and accountability that ensures no family is left in the dark.”

    “This bipartisan bill would ensure that the Department of Justice develops policies to notify family members about the well-being of their loved ones in custody,” said Rep. Glenn Ivey. “I am proud to partner with my House and Senate colleagues in introducing this important legislation.” 

    In 2016, Los Angeles’ resident Wakiesha Wilson was found deceased inside her prison cell at the LAPD Metropolitan Detention Center. Wakiesha’s family was never directly contacted regarding her death, sending them on an agonizing journey to discover information about her whereabouts. It wasn’t until 18 days later that Wakiesha’s family was finally able to see her at the L.A. morgue. On March 28, Rep. Kamlager-Dove participated in a press conference to mark nine years since Wakiesha’s tragic death.

    “We worked hard for many years on this with BLMLA support and are encouraged to see it finally re-introduced. Wakiesha’s Law will help to ensure that no other family has to endure the agony our family did,” said Lisa and Sheila Hines, mother and aunt of Wakiesha Wilson.  

    “Across the United States, deaths in prisons and jails are an unacceptable crisis. When someone in custody dies or is seriously ill, their family has a right to know what has happened in a timely and compassionate manner. Incarcerated people’s lives matter, and they should be treated with the utmost care and respect,” said the Prison Policy Initiative.

    Click here to read the Family Notification of Death, Injury, or Illness in Custody Act. 

    # # #

    MIL OSI USA News –

    April 10, 2025
  • MIL-OSI United Kingdom: expert reaction to the BARCODE1 trial assessing the use of a polygenic risk score in screening for prostate cancer

    Source: United Kingdom – Executive Government & Departments

    April 9, 2025

    The results of the BARCODE1 trial, published by The New England Journal of Medicine assesses the use of a polygenic risk score in screening for prostate cancer.

    Prof Michael Inouye, Professor of Systems Genomics & Population Health, University of Cambridge, said:

    “This study is the strongest evidence to date on the clinical utility of a polygenic score for prostate cancer screening. It shows that a polygenic score can improve early detection of clinically significant prostate cancer, including those warranting radical treatment. A large proportion of prostate cancer cases detected using a polygenic score would not have been detected using the current diagnostic pathway. The authors appropriately discuss the study’s limitations and further research required (e.g. cost effectiveness). Taken together, I suspect we will look back on this as a landmark study that really made the clinical case for polygenic scores as a new tool that moved health systems from disease management to early detection and prevention.”

    When asked how long it would take to know if this could be used clinically?

    “This is a big step along the path to clinical implementation, but it is still a long road. Realistically, it will likely be years for the NHS to use polygenic scores routinely. It will require investment in infrastructure, generation of genomic data, training for healthcare practicians and potentially access to counselling for patients. There are more targeted ways to use polygenic scores clinically which may make for good next steps. To me, the study really makes me start to believe that these investments are worth it.”

     

    Mr Ben Lamb, Consultant Urological and Robotic Surgeon, Barts Health and UCLH NHS Trusts, and Clinical Senior Lecturer, Barts Cancer Institute, Queen Mary University of London (QMUL), said:

    “This is a very interesting study that assesses the utility of polygenic risk score in the detection of prostate cancer. The population may not be representative of those most at risk of prostate cancer, or of poorer health outcomes in general (e.g. black men, men in areas of deprivation), and further research is needed to test the results in these populations. Further research is also needed to understand longitudinal risk for men with a higher polygenic risk score i.e. their risk of developing cancer over time.

    “Interestingly, the best rate of detection of significant prostate cancer arose when the saliva test, PSA test and MRI tests were all positive. The saliva test may help to direct resources to those men most likely to have significant prostate cancer, but at present it does not replace these investigations, which we know are powerful tools in reassuring some men and recommending biopsy (and performing a better biopsy) in others.

    “The saliva test is less invasive than a blood test, or an MRI, and may be more acceptable for larger populations.”

    Dr Oliver Pain, Sir Henry Wellcome Postdoctoral Research Fellow, Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology & Neuroscience (IoPPN), King’s College London, said:

    “This study uses solid data and analyses and its findings fit nicely with the previous literature suggesting that polygenic scores can improve estimation of prostate cancer risk. It goes a step further than previous research in this area by providing a direct comparison with the current diagnostic pathway, showing that stratifying individuals by their polygenic score helped to identify people with clinically significant prostate cancer who would have otherwise been missed. As stated by the authors, the main limitation of this study is that it is restricted to individuals of European ancestry. Previous research has shown that the polygenic score they have used performs worse in non-European individuals, limiting the generalisability of this study’s conclusions. However, this is a common limitation of the field, not just this study, and there is progress being made with polygenic scores performing better across ancestral populations as the training data (GWAS) becomes more ancestrally diverse and polygenic scoring methods develop to improve their ability to be transferred across populations. There is evidence that progress is being made in this area for prostate cancer specifically, although there is a lot more work to be done (https://elifesciences.org/articles/78304, https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pcbi.1011990).

    “In general, this study fits with others coming out for other diseases, and it is great step forward, but I would say we need research demonstrating the predictive utility of polygenic scores for prostate cancer in a more representative sample before we can start implementing them in the clinical setting.”

    Dr Chantal Babb de Villiiers, Senior Policy Analyst at PHG Foundation, said:

    “The BARCODE study results contribute valuable insights into the use of polygenic scores for risk stratification of prostate cancer, and how they can supplement risk prediction with known risk factors. The follow-up of the entire cohort will provide crucial data for evaluating the clinical and economic impact of using polygenic scores. Whilst some polygenic scores are showing promise in very specific scenarios, it is important to approach their implementation with caution and ensure thorough validation. We need further research to determine the best combination of these risk factors as well as how to effectively implement stratified screening.”

    Professor Rhian Gabe, Professor of Biostatistics and Clinical Trials, Queen Mary University of London (QMUL), said:

    “The test evaluated in this high quality study has exciting results in terms of detection, the hopes for an optimal future prostate cancer screening strategy and deserves larger-scale evaluation. Excitingly, this will happen in the TRANSFORM trial of prostate cancer screening where the test will also be evaluated in terms of acceptance, impact on prostate cancer deaths and incidence by comparing it with other promising strategies involving PSA testing and MRI.”

    Dr Samuel Lambert, Assistant Professor of Health Data Science, University of Cambridge, said:

    “The results of the BARCODE1 study are a major achievement, clearly illustrating the value of targeting prostate cancer screening to individuals defined as high-risk using a polygenic risk score. Targeting screening to the high-polygenic score population identified significant cancers that would not have been detected using existing thresholds, a comparable rate to previous trials targeting screening to individuals with pathogenic BRCA1/2 variants.

    “A current limitation is that the polygenic risk score in this study could only be used in individuals of European ancestry due to limitations in the diversity of available genome-wide association study data. This limitation is likely to be overcome in the long term, with data from new studies like Our Future Health in the UK that have prioritised diversity in their recruitment and linked health records to genetics data. Diverse studies like Our Future Health will allow researchers to better identify the variants associated with disease in all ancestries.”

     

    Prof Dusko Ilic, Professor of Stem Cell Sciences, King’s College London (KCL), said:

    “Polygenic risk scores (PRS) offer moderate discriminatory power when used alone. The study used a score based on 130 SNPs and showed that men in the top 10% of the PRS distribution had significantly higher risk. However, when added to established factors like age, PSA level, and MRI findings, the predicting clinically significant prostate cancer improved only modestly. Notably, further stratification within the top decile (e.g., 90th vs. 99th percentile) did not significantly improve predictive accuracy, suggesting diminishing returns at extreme PRS levels.

    “Furthermore, there is no direct evidence yet that using PRS improves long-term outcomes such as mortality or quality-adjusted life years. Modelling suggests benefit, but empirical confirmation is needed.

    “While the results are promising, especially in identifying significant cancers that would otherwise be missed, major caveats remain:

    • Population limitations: The cohort was self-selected, highly educated, and entirely of European ancestry.
    • Unclear generalizability: The PRS used was only validated in men of European descent.
    • No mortality data: The study doesn’t demonstrate reduced prostate cancer mortality or improved overall survival.
    • Cost-effectiveness: Not yet fully evaluated.

    “So, while PRS could supplement existing screening in high-risk individuals, the evidence is insufficient to recommend a standalone screening program based solely on PRS at this time.”

     

    Dr Britta Stordal, Associate Professor in Cancer Research, Middlesex University, said:

    “McHugh et al show that through the use of their BARCODE1 genetic risk score they are able to identify men who are at a higher risk of prostate cancer. 74 men had their prostate cancer diagnosed as a result of participating in this clinical trial that would not have been detected with current standard care on the NHS. This work is possible due to extensive previous research into genetic risk for prostate cancer in European populations. A similar risk score for men of Black African or Caribbean ancestry is urgently needed as we know that these men have a much higher prostate cancer risk than those of European ancestry.”

     

    ‘Assessment of a Polygenic Risk Score in Screening for Prostate Cancer’ by J.K. McHugh et al. was published in The New England Journal of Medicine at 22:00 UK time Wednesday 9 April 2025. 

    DOI: 10.1056/NEJMoa2407934

    Declared interests

    Prof Michael Inouye: Trustee of the Public Health Genomics (PHG) Foundation, Scientific Advisory Board of Open Targets, and research collaborations with AstraZeneca, Nightingale Health, and Pfizer. All of these are not related to the study. It’s also worth noting that, while the study is obviously driven by the Institute of Cancer Research in London, one of the coauthors (Pashayan) is a colleague at Cambridge.

    Prof Dusko Ilic: I declare no interest.

    Prof Rhian Gabe: I am Co-Lead of the TRANSFORM trial of prostate cancer screening, we are collaborating with Professor Eles to evaluate her PRS test.

    Dr Samuel Lambert: No conflicts of interest to disclose.

    Dr Britta Stordal: No conflicts of interest to declare.

    For all other experts, no reply to our request for DOIs was received.

    MIL OSI United Kingdom –

    April 10, 2025
  • MIL-OSI USA: ICYMI: House Democrats Kept in the Dark as RFK Jr. Fails to Engage

    Source: United States House of Representatives – Congresswoman Diana DeGette (First District of Colorado)

    Led by Rep. DeGette, House Democrats marched to HHS seeking answers, but were met with silence from the Secretary & his staff

    WASHINGTON, D.C. — Today, Congresswoman Diana DeGette (CO-01) led members of Congress to the Department of Health and Human Services to demand a meeting with Secretary Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. The group left without being able to speak to Secretary Kennedy or a member of his team. This comes after repeated calls, including a letter sent in February, demanding the Secretary meet with the Health Subcommittee by March 10th. 

    “The start of Secretary Kennedy’s tenure has been a complete and utter disaster, and today, we were denied the ability to even speak to a member of his team, let alone with the Secretary himself. He is failing to meet the moment as our country is experiencing multiple public health crises. Instead, he is pushing unproven conspiracy theories over tried-and-true treatments and cures. He is slashing the HHS workforce, canceling vital grants, and setting back biomedical research a generation.

    “Our demands are simple: Secretary Kennedy must meet with us in person, and he must testify before the Energy & Commerce Committee to explain his reckless and illegal cuts and how he is going to ensure that we are prepared to tackle the health challenges our nation is facing.”

    Rep. DeGette is the top Democrat on the Energy & Commerce Health Subcommittee. She was joined by Reps. Raul Ruiz, Marc Veasey, Robin Kelly, Lori Trahan, Lizzie Fletcher, Troy Carter, Nannette Barragán, Kathy Castor, and Maxine Dexter.

    The full event can be viewed by clicking here. 

    ### 

    MIL OSI USA News –

    April 10, 2025
  • MIL-OSI Security: Puerto Rico U.S. Attorney’s Office Honors Crime Victims and Survivors during 2025 National Crime Victims’ Rights Week

    Source: Office of United States Attorneys

    SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico – The United States Attorney’s Office for the District of Puerto Rico will be commemorating National Crime Victims’ Rights Week (NCVRW) from April 6–12, 2025, by hosting trainings of court personnel, continuing to educate our federal law enforcement agents on their role as victim advocates, and fomenting a law enforcement effort guided by awareness of the humanity and needs of crime victims.

    NCVRW began in 1981 to honor victims and survivors of crime, raise awareness of victims’ rights and services and recognize the dedication of those who work with crime victims.

    This year’s NCVRW theme—Connecting <KINSHIP> Healing—recognizes that our shared humanity drives vital connections to services, rights, and healing. This annual observance challenges us to build a world where connections built through KINSHIP — between survivors, advocates, and communities — hold the potential to heal. It asks us to ensure that resources are available to all survivors and that we show up for one another with empathy and intention. KINSHIP is where victim advocacy and healing begin.

    “The District of Puerto Rico has taken important steps to protect those who need it most, and we will continue to do so in the future. We affirm our unwavering commitment to supporting victims of crime in their hour of need,” said U.S. Attorney Muldrow. “We also commend our victim advocates who work tirelessly to secure victims’ rights and support survivors. Their work in support of our prosecution efforts allows us to bring justice to our community.”

    For additional information on supporting crime victims, visit OVC’s website at www.ovc.gov.

    MIL Security OSI –

    April 10, 2025
  • MIL-Evening Report: 1 in 10 tunnel workers could develop silicosis, our new research shows

    Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Kate Cole, Occupational Hygienist, PhD Candidate, University of Sydney

    Around 10% of underground tunnel workers in Queensland could develop silicosis, our new study has found.

    Silicosis is a serious, incurable lung disease caused by inhaling small particles of silica dust. You might have heard about it in people who work with engineered stone. But silica is more widespread.

    Silica is found in rocks and concrete, so workers in industries such as construction, mining and tunnelling are at high risk if proper safety measures aren’t in place.

    When silica dust is breathed in, it gets trapped in the lungs, causing inflammation and scarring. Over time, this scarring makes it harder to breathe and can be fatal.

    As symptoms of silicosis can take decades to appear, workers may not realise they’re sick until long after they’ve started working, or even after they stop.

    But silicosis is preventable.

    When silica dust is breathed in, it gets trapped in the lungs in tiny air sacs (the alveoli), causing inflammation and scarring.
    Pikovit/Shutterstock

    How does silicosis affect tunnel workers?

    Thousands of people are involved in tunnelling projects in Australia.

    Tunnelling involves breaking up large amounts of silica-containing rock with heavy machinery.

    Tunnel workers rely on advanced ventilation systems to provide fresh air underground, water systems to keep the rocks wet and suppress dust, and they wear respirators on their face to keep the air they breathe clean. But some people have raised concerns these measures do not always work properly.

    There are also national legal limits in place for silica dust exposure, currently 0.05 milligrams per cubic metre over an eight-hour work day.

    However, a media investigation last November revealed one-third of air monitoring tests from a Sydney tunnel project were above legal limits.

    While air monitoring tests are required by law, the results of routine air monitoring tests are often not made public.

    An expert taskforce has recently been set up in New South Wales to address the silica-related health risks for tunnel workers, promising to make high silica results above legal limits publicly available.

    But while attention has been focused on tunnel workers in Sydney, the problem of lung disease in underground workers is more widespread.

    Our Queensland study

    The results of air monitoring tests are important because they show whether legal silica dust limits are being adhered to.

    Another valuable use of this data is it can help us predict future disease risk. Instead of waiting to see how many workers develop silica-related diseases such as silicosis and lung cancer, this data can be used to estimate cases in advance.

    In 2017, a Queensland parliamentary inquiry raised concerns about the health of Brisbane’s tunnel workers, particularly regarding the harmful effects of exposure to silica dust.

    We worked through the parliamentary inquiry documents to uncover the results of hundreds of individual air monitoring tests conducted on three major Queensland tunnel projects between 2007 and 2013.

    We analysed this data to estimate how many workers were exposed to silica dust and at what levels. We then modelled how many cases of silicosis and lung cancer would occur over the workers’ lifetimes.

    We estimated that in a group of around 2,000 workers involved in these Queensland tunnel projects, 200 to 300 would develop silicosis over their lifetime as a result of silica dust exposure (roughly one in every ten workers).

    We also estimated between 20 to 30 workers would develop lung cancer due to their exposure.

    We had limited information on workplace conditions in the specific projects, so we made a number of assumptions based on publicly available information and our own experience. These included assumptions around the use and protective nature of masks. The fact we had to make some assumptions could be a limitation of our study. Due to the lack of data transparency we don’t know if these figures apply more broadly to tunnel workers throughout Australia.

    Silicosis can appear decades after occupational exposure.
    Marco Di Stefano/Shutterstock

    Our projected rate of silicosis, 10%, is the same as the rate of silicosis recorded by a government inquiry in 1924 which investigated silicosis among workers who built Sydney’s sewers.

    So it doesn’t seem things are any better in terms of silicosis risk in underground work than a century ago.

    We need to do more to protect tunnel workers

    Continued secrecy around silica dust data reduces our ability to understand the scale of the problem and respond effectively. Nonetheless, the small amount of data that has been made available supports the need for urgent action.

    With Australia’s ongoing infrastructure expansion, policymakers must act now. This should include enforcing stricter legal limits for silica dust exposure. There is concern among health experts that current limits don’t sufficiently protect workers’ health.

    Policymakers should also ensure protective measures such as advanced ventilation and dust suppression systems are in place for all tunnel projects, set up national tunnel worker health surveillance, and make exposure data available to workers and the public.

    There are several examples where things are done better. Internationally, Norway and Switzerland have strong systems to protect tunnel workers’ health such as air and health monitoring being conducted by an independent government agency. In Switzerland, this agency also insures the project. Noncompliance results in higher insurance premiums or, in some cases, the withdrawal of insurance, effectively stopping the project.

    Nationally, Australia’s mining industry is more heavily regulated than tunnelling, with stricter enforcement of compliance.

    Without immediate intervention, thousands of tunnel workers will continue to face serious health risks and Australia will face a growing wave of preventable occupational diseases.

    Kate Cole receives higher degree by research funding from The University of Sydney; is a member of the Asbestos and Silica Safety Eradication Council; the NSW Dust Diseases Board; the Chair of the External Affairs Committee for the Australian Institute of Occupational Hygienists; and acts as an expert witness for law firms concerning silica-related diseases in tunnel workers.

    Renee Carey has previously received funding from the Australian Council of Trade Unions. She is a member of the Occupational Lung Disease Network Steering Committee formed by Lung Foundation Australia.

    Tim Driscoll has acted as an expert witness, and written government reports, in relation to silica exposure but not specifically connected to tunnelling. He chairs the Occupational and Environmental Cancer Committee of Cancer Council Australia and chairs the Occupational Lung Disease Network Steering Committee of Lung Foundation Australia.

    – ref. 1 in 10 tunnel workers could develop silicosis, our new research shows – https://theconversation.com/1-in-10-tunnel-workers-could-develop-silicosis-our-new-research-shows-252186

    MIL OSI Analysis – EveningReport.nz –

    April 10, 2025
  • MIL-OSI USA: Hoyle, Jayapal, Khanna Demand Answers Over Unauthorized Military Strikes in Yemen by Trump Administration

    Source: US Representative Val Hoyle (OR-04)

    April 09, 2025

    For Immediate Release: April 9, 2025

    WASHINGTON, D.C. — U.S. Representatives Val Hoyle (OR-04), Pramila Jayapal (WA-07), and Ro Khanna (CA-17), are expressing major concerns over the lack of Congressional approval for U.S. military strikes in Yemen. 

    “The U.S. Constitution is clear: Congress holds the sole power to authorize offensive military action,” wrote the Members. “While we share concerns about maritime security in the Red Sea, we call on your Administration to immediately cease unauthorized use of military force and instead seek specific statutory authorization from Congress before involving the U.S. in an unconstitutional conflict in the Middle East, which risks endangering U.S. military personnel in the region and escalating into a regime-change war.”

    Section 2(c) of the War Powers Resolution of 1973 states that the President can only introduce U.S. forces into hostilities after a declaration of war or specific statutory authorization from Congress, or in a national emergency when the U.S. is under attack. Presently, no congressional authorization of military force exists for the recent hostilities carried out in Yemen, nor is there a declared national emergency. Senior Trump Administration officials even commented, in a non-secure Signal chat, that these strikes could have waited “a few weeks or a month,” making clear there was ample time to consult with Congress and obtain the necessary authorization before initiating these attacks.

    “Congress must have the opportunity to engage in a robust debate on the rationale for offensive force and vote on its merits before U.S. servicemembers are placed in harm’s way and additional taxpayer dollars are spent on yet another Middle East war,” continued the Members. “No president has the constitutional authority to bypass Congress on matters of war.”

    The Administration should be aware of its lack of authority in this matter, as the War Powers Resolution was used in 2019 to compel them to suspend midair refueling for Saudi airstrikes over Yemen. 

    “President Trump’s reckless strikes in Yemen are illegal, counterproductive and dangerous,” said Cavan Kharrazian, Senior Policy Advisor for Demand Progress. “We’re grateful to Representatives Jayapal, Khanna and Hoyle for once again leading the charge to reassert Congress’s war powers—just as they did during the Biden administration. What is clear: Trump must come to Congress for a debate and vote before engaging in further hostilities. This unauthorized military action is killing civilians, costing nearly $1 billion in taxpayer money, emboldening the Houthis and is threatening to create a ground war in a country already shattered by conflict and humanitarian crisis. Upholding congressional authority over matters of war is not a partisan issue; it’s a constitutional imperative and one of the most critical checks on executive power.”

    “Presidents have spent decades undermining Congress’s constitutional authority to declare or otherwise authorize wars, but with President Trump’s authoritarian approach to governance, the stakes are higher than ever,” said Jon Rainwater, Executive Director of Peace Action. “We applaud the members of Congress who signed this critical letter. Their leadership is essential in reining in this open-ended military adventure in Yemen, which is exacerbating one of the world’s worst humanitarian crises. Congress must step up and reassert its oversight over the use of U.S. military before the president engages in even more reckless military adventurism abroad — or potentially even repression at home.”

    “The U.S. airstrikes on Yemen are making a humanitarian crisis worse,” said Isaac Evans-Frantz, Director of Action Corps. “Congress never authorized these attacks, and members of Congress should use their power to stop them.”

    “The U.S. bombing of Yemen contributes to the destruction of civilian infrastructure, the loss of innocent lives, and the deepening of one of the world’s worst humanitarian crises—all without congressional authorization,” said Aisha Jumaan, President, Yemen Relief and Reconstruction Foundation. “I urge Congress to support the War Powers Resolution to end any unauthorized U.S. military involvement in Yemen. It is time for the United States to support accountability, prioritize diplomacy, and play a constructive role in ending the suffering of the Yemeni people.”

    The full text of the letter can be read here. 

    The letter has been signed by Becca Balint (VT-AL), Donald S. Beyer (VA-08), Greg Casar (TX-35), Joaquin Castro (TX-20), Gerald E. Connolly (VA-11), Mark DeSaulnier (CA-10), Lloyd Doggett (TX-37), Dwight Evans (PA-03), Jonathan L. Jackson (IL-01), Sara Jacobs (CA-51), Henry C. “Hank” Johnson (GA-04), Jesús G. “Chuy” García (IL-04), Summer L. Lee (PA-12), Zoe Lofgren (CA-18), Jennifer L. McClellan (VA-04), James P. McGovern (MA-02), Eleanor Holmes Norton (DC-AL), Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (NY-14), Ilhan Omar (MN-05), Chellie Pingree (ME-01), Mark Pocan (WI-02), Ayanna Pressley (MA-07), Delia C. Ramirez (IL-03), Linda T. Sánchez (CA-38), Janice D. Schakowsky (IL-09), Bennie G. Thompson (MS-02), Paul Tonko (NY-20), Nydia M. Velázquez (NY-07), Maxine Waters (CA-43), and Bonnie Watson Coleman (NJ-12).

    It is also endorsed by Action Corps, American Friends Service Committee, Antiwar.com, Baltimore Nonviolence Center, Brooklyn For Peace, Center for International Policy Advocacy, DAWN, Demand Progress, Emgage Action, Friends Committee on National Legislation, Health Advocacy International, Historians for Peace and Democracy, Just Foreign Policy, L.I. Alliance for Peaceful Alternatives, Massachusetts Peace Action, MPower Change Action Fund, National Iranian American Council, NorCal Sabeel, North Country Peace Group, Peace Action, Peace Action New York State, Peace, Justice, Sustainability, NOW!, Quincy Institute for Responsible Statecraft, The Libertarian Institute, United for Peace and Justice, WESPAC Foundation, Inc., Western New York Peace Center, Win Without War, Yemen Relief and Reconstruction Foundation, and Yemeni Alliance Committee.

    ###

    MIL OSI USA News –

    April 10, 2025
  • MIL-OSI United Nations: World News in Brief: East Jerusalem schools told to close, Guterres saddened by Santo Domingo deaths, DR Congo and Haiti updates

    Source: United Nations MIL OSI b

    9 April 2025 Peace and Security

    Six schools run by the UN Palestine refugee agency (UNRWA) in East Jerusalem have been issued “illegal closure orders” after being forcibly entered by Israeli security forces, according to the agency’s head Philippe Lazzarini.

    The schools were told they must close within 30 days.

    Mr. Lazzarini said that some 800 boys and girls are directly impacted by these closure orders and are likely to miss finishing their school year.

    He noted that UNRWA schools are protected by the “privileges and immunities” of the United Nations. These illegal closure orders come in the wake of Knesset [parliament of Israel] legislation seeking to curtail UNRWA operations.

    Aid access blocked

    UN Spokesperson Stéphane Dujarric told reporters in New York that since Tuesday, the Israeli authorities have denied eight of 14 attempts by aid workers to coordinate access to people needing urgent assistance.

    Since the Israel-Hamas ceasefire fell apart and hostilities recommenced on 18 March, the authorities have denied 68 per cent of the 170 attempts by UN aid workers to coordinate access.

    “They also continue to reject all attempts to pick up supplies that were brought into Gaza and dropped at the crossings prior to the decision to shut those crossings on 2 March.”

    Despite the increasingly challenging conditions, humanitarian partners have resumed services in northern Gaza, focusing on urgent case management, psychological first aid, and psychosocial support.

    Dominican Republic: Secretary-General ‘deeply saddened’ by Santo Domingo deaths

    UN Secretary-General António Guterres said on Wednesday he was “deeply saddened” by the collapse of a building in the capital of the Dominican Republic, Santo Domingo, in which more than 120 died, according to news reports.

    Many others were injured when the roof of a popular nightclub collapsed during a concert featuring the renowned merengue singer Rubby Pérez, who has been confirmed as among the dead.

    Heartfelt condolences

    It is estimated that between 500 and 1,000 people were inside the venue. Hundreds of rescuers are continuing to search for survivors and the cause of the disaster has yet to be determined.

    Mr. Guterres expressed “his heartfelt condolences to the families of the victims and the people and the government of the Dominican Republic.”

    ‘Persistent violence’ driving displacement and disease outbreaks in DR Congo

    The displacement of people and the outbreak of disease in the eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) is being driven by “persistent violence” according to the UN humanitarian coordination office, OCHA.

    Fresh clashes between armed groups near the town of Masisi in North Kivu province on Tuesday displaced more than 45,000 people, local humanitarian partners said.

    In a separate incident in Walikale territory, local sources said armed men raided two critical health facilities on 5 April.

    Medicines and other medical supplies were looted from Kibua Hospital and Kitshanga health centre, hindering access to healthcare for around 120,000 people.

    Cholera spread

    Meanwhile, OCHA has warned that cholera continues to spread in the east of the country, with outbreaks now declared in four provinces: North Kivu, South Kivu, Tanganyika and Maniema.

    UN Spokesperson Stéphane Dujarric said concern was mounting after at least eight cases were confirmed in the Mulongwe refugee camp, in South Kivu’s Fizi territory.

    “The camp, which is hosting nearly 15,000 refugees from Burundi, faces acute risks due to poor hygiene, limited access to clean water and inadequate sanitation. Response efforts are hindered by strained healthcare capacity and logistical challenges.”

    In South Kivu’s Kalehe territory, particularly in the Minova area, cholera cases surged to 77 between 31 March and 6 April, just a few days ago.

    “That is nearly five times the epidemic threshold that should trigger emergency response,” Mr. Dujarric said.

    Humanitarian organizations are working alongside local authorities to contain the spread, but the situation remains critical.

    © IOM/Antoine Lemonnier

    Haitians displaced by violence find refuge on the streets of the capital, Port-au-Prince. (file)

    Haiti: Rising violence and cholera threat deepen crisis

    The United Nations on Wednesday raised alarm over renewed violence and worsening conditions in Haiti, particularly in the Centre and Ouest regions, where the capital Port-au-Prince is located.

    Recent armed attacks in Saut d’Eau and Mirebalais in the Centre Department have displaced over 30,000 people, according to the UN International Organization for Migration (IOM).

    “The vast majority of them have remained in the department. Our humanitarian colleagues, along with partners, are providing assistance, including food, hygiene kits, safe water and psychosocial support,” UN Spokesperson Stéphane Dujarric told journalists at the regular news briefing in New York.

    Meanwhile, the cholera outbreak continues to spread.

    As of 29 March, nearly 1,300 suspected cases have been reported, including nine confirmed cases and 19 deaths, according to the World Health Organization (WHO).

    “Significant increases in suspected cases have been reported in Cité Soleil in Port-au-Prince and in the town of Arcahaie, which included displacement sites where living conditions, as you can imagine, are very precarious,” Mr. Dujarric said.

    The cholera response is being led by Haiti’s Ministry of Public Health.

    “We and our partners are continuing to provide assistance – including surveillance, laboratory support, case management, risk communication, vaccination, water and sanitation services, and infection prevention and control,” Mr. Dujarric said.

    However, response operations remain severely hindered by insecurity, restricted access, and critical funding shortages.

    Coordination office, OCHA, has called for urgent support to scale up aid and prevent the crisis from deteriorating further.

    MIL OSI United Nations News –

    April 10, 2025
  • MIL-OSI Security: Springfield Man Sentenced to 30 Years for Fentanyl Conspiracy

    Source: Office of United States Attorneys

    SPRINGFIELD, Mo. – A Springfield, Mo. man was sentenced in federal court today for his leadership role in a large-scale drug-trafficking organization in southwest Missouri that resulted in the overdose deaths of at least two people.

    Delante Leon Worsham, 40, was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Roseann A. Ketchmark to 30 years in federal prison without parole.

    On Jan. 29, 2024, Worsham pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to distribute fentanyl. Worsham admitted that he participated in a conspiracy to distribute fentanyl in Christian and Greene counties from Sept. 23, 2018 to Nov. 14, 2019.

    During a Sept. 23, 2018, traffic stop in Springfield, Mo., law enforcement officers located 21.50 grams of fentanyl in Worsham’s vehicle. On Nov. 15, 2019, Worsham was arrested in Springfield with approximately $2,390 in cash and a golf-ball sized bag containing smaller bags of fentanyl totaling 30 grams. Worsham admitted that he intended to distribute the fentanyl from both incidents and that the money was proceeds from a drug-trafficking conspiracy. Worsham further admitted to “cutting” fentanyl with heroin and powdered sugar in order to maximize his profit.

    According to court documents, statistics from the Centers for Disease Control indicate that Missouri was one of only nine states west of the Mississippi River with an age-adjusted rate of drug overdose deaths of more than 21.1 per 100,000 in 2020. Court documents also cite a widely reported analysis of CDC data by Families Against Fentanyl that fentanyl overdoses are now the leading cause of death among adults between ages 18 and 45 in the United States.

    Worsham is the eleventh defendant to be sentenced in this case, among 14 defendants who have pleaded guilty.

    This case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Jessica R. Eatmon and Cameron A. Beaver. It was investigated by the Drug Enforcement Administration, the Springfield, Mo., Police Department, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, the Missouri State Highway Patrol, the Bourbon, Mo., Police Department, and the Phelps County, Mo., Sheriff’s Department.

    Organized Crime and Drug Enforcement Task Force

    This case is part of an Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Forces (OCDETF) operation. OCDETF identifies, disrupts, and dismantles the highest-level criminal organizations that threaten the United States using a prosecutor-led, intelligence-driven, multi-agency approach. Additional information about the OCDETF Program can be found at https://www.justice.gov/OCDETF.

    MIL Security OSI –

    April 10, 2025
  • MIL-OSI NGOs: MSF steps up Myanmar earthquake response story Apr 09, 2025

    Source: Doctors Without Borders –

    On March 28, a powerful 7.7-magnitude earthquake struck central Myanmar, devastating the regions of Mandalay, Naypyidaw, Sagaing, and Shan state. In the immediate aftermath, Doctors Without Borders/Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) reaffirmed its commitment and capacity to deliver large-scale emergency medical assistance across all impacted areas. 

    MSF has prioritized responding in the hardest-hit and currently accessible cities of Mandalay and Naypyidaw, while serious concerns persist for people living in more remote and less accessible areas such as Sagaing.

    As of April 8, over 3,600 deaths have been reported, more than 5,000 people injured, and an estimated 17 million individuals affected—many severely. Key infrastructure sustained significant damage, including hospitals, roads, and water systems, while ongoing telecommunication disruptions continue to hamper relief efforts.    

    The earthquake struck a country already gripped by several health crises and conflict, compounding the challenges communities face. Limited resources, staff, and supplies have left some facilities overburdened and struggling to respond to the growing health needs.

    While local communities are demonstrating remarkable solidarity, our staff have reported extensive destruction. Many residents remain outdoors for fear of aftershocks, while monasteries have opened their doors to host displaced families. 

    View of the Naypyidaw Hospital after the March 28 earthquake. | Myanmar 2025 © MSF

    Damaged infrastructure compromises health care

    In the hardest-hit cities, damage to infrastructure has severely impacted hospitals’ ability to function. Due to fears of further building collapse, structural damage has forced medical staff to treat patients outside in some cases. 

    In Naypyidaw and Mandalay, where hospital systems were particularly damaged, MSF carried out assessments, delivered medical supplies, and initiated discussions with key stakeholders, including the Ministry of Health.

    In Mandalay, our teams are working to improve water, sanitation, and hygiene conditions in damaged hospitals by installing water tanks and additional handwashing basins. Teams are reinforcing waste management with dozens of bins and helping patients cope with extreme heat –often reaching 104°F –while awaiting treatment outside damaged facilities by setting up fans.

    At the same time, mobile medical teams began providing consultations in makeshift shelters including monasteries, treating a range of conditions from common illnesses to chronic diseases such as diabetes and hypertension. In southern Myanmar, mobile teams also distributed essential non-food items, restored clean water sources, and continued assessments in affected and displaced communities.

    MSF teams install and fix a water tank at the Mandalay General Hospital. | Myanmar 2025 © MSF

    Psychological impact of the earthquake

    A key priority for our response is mental health. In Mandalay, teams composed of trained staff and student volunteers have been visiting patients in surgical, orthopedic, and trauma wards at local hospitals to provide psychological first aid. In a context where survivors face high levels of psychological stress, these efforts are essential. The disaster and the fear of aftershocks, which continue to be recorded, in addition to the consequences of the ongoing conflict ravaging many parts of the country, contribute to this stress.

    A view of damage to the Thapyay Kone Market in Naypyidaw after the earthquake.

    Major concerns over expected environmental impact

    With the rainy season approaching, floods and landslides could exacerbate existing access challenges, particularly in remote areas. The rainy season also significantly heightens the likelihood of public health threats associated with outbreaks of waterborne disease such as cholera, and vector-borne diseases like malaria or dengue fever. This is due to the potential flood-related contamination of the already reduced number of safe water sources. Immediate actions like scaled up provision of clean water, safe sanitation facilities, distribution of mosquito nets, and hygiene promotion are essential to mitigate the additional threads.

    We speak out. Get updates.

    What needs to happen now?

    In order to address the immense needs, it is crucial for humanitarian aid to reach all affected areas, including hard-to-reach locations, unhindered. To avoid longer-term harmful consequences for people grappling with the aftermath of this earthquake, a further significant scale-up of aid and assurance of access to health care in all affected areas is urgently needed. 

    As part of MSF’s long-standing presence in Myanmar since its first intervention in 1992, we reaffirm our readiness to provide emergency medical humanitarian assistance wherever needed, as we continue to support communities affected by conflict, disease, and now, one of the worst earthquakes to strike the region in recent history.

    MIL OSI NGO –

    April 10, 2025
  • MIL-OSI USA: UConn Health Expands Comprehensive Concussion Care

    Source: US State of Connecticut

    A neurosurgeon with specialized training is leading a new concussion clinic at UConn Health.

    Dr. Brian Kelley, in the roles of neurosurgeon and neurointensivist, seeks to offer an outpatient setting where those who’ve suffered a traumatic brain injury (TBI) can progress with their recovery following their initial acute care.

    Dr. Bryan Kelley is a UConn Health neurosurgeon with specialty training in neurotrauma and neurocritical care. (Tina Encarnacion/UConn Health photo)

    “There are ongoing processes inside your head that are not necessarily surgical problems, but still very much contribute to the overall pathology,” Kelley says. “There are several aspects related to traumatic brain injury that deal not only with surgical issues, but also with what are called secondary mechanisms of injury. These are processes like hypoxia, free radical formation, or pathologic enzyme activity that happen in a delayed fashion.”

    Free radicals are unstable molecules that can harm cells. Hypoxia refers to when the body’s oxygen levels are low.

    Kelley joined UConn Health in 2022, after completing a fellowship in neurocritical care at the University of Pennsylvania that followed his neurosurgical training. In addition to treating brain-injured patients surgically, he’s interested in coordinating services to help patients transition into longer-term care needs.

    “TBI patients often have long-term neurologic issues, be it cognitive or motor function, and they need resources and a place to go where someone with expertise in the field may not be able to necessarily fix everything but can steer them in the proper direction,” Kelley says. “The ultimate goal of the concussion clinic is to integrate neurotrauma care with physical, occupational, and speech therapies, as well as cognitive treatment down the line. That’s in addition to dealing with any potential surgical or postoperative issues.”

    Kelley envisions a comprehensive model for patients to access interdisciplinary care unique to their needs. His concussion clinic opened March 30 at the Brain and Spine Institute at UConn Health, just off its main campus in Farmington at 5 Munson Road.

    “The concussion clinic is born out of building an academic practice focused on head trauma,” he says. “Post-concussive syndrome can be a little bit of a nebulous diagnosis. Not everybody fits nicely into a box, but if you can drill down on a patient’s chief complaint, then at the very least, we can make sure they’re seeing the right groups of people.”

    Of note, Kelley’s clinic is separate and distinct from Neurosport, which is part of UConn Health’s orthopedics and sports medicine practice and provides comprehensive care for athletes who suffer head injuries.

    To start, Kelley expects most of his referrals to come from the UConn John Dempsey Hospital Emergency Department, with an eye toward cultivating the clinic’s reputation as a resource for community physicians to send their patients who may be struggling with the aftereffects of brain injury.

    “There are patients who suffer what you might think is a fairly innocuous event, but they’re left with fairly significant neurologic issues and kind of stuck,” he says. “They’re not sick enough to be in the hospital, but they can’t go back to work or they’re not enjoying the quality of life they want. The idea is to perform a neurologic exam, provide them with a head-to-toe assessment of what’s going on, and give them the resources to help mitigate some of the ongoing TBI effects.”

    Dr. Ketan Bulsara, chair of UConn Health’s Department of Neurosurgery, says, “Dr. Kelley’s training and expertise uniquely position him to provide a great service to help a large group of post-concussive patients. Combined with his research interest in understanding the pathophysiology of brain trauma, he is also uniquely positioned to help advance treatments for this group of patients.”

    Learn more about UConn Health’s Department of Neurosurgery, or call 860-679-8080 to schedule a consultation.

    Learn more about the Brain and Spine Institute at UConn Health.

    MIL OSI USA News –

    April 10, 2025
  • MIL-OSI USA: Jayapal, Khanna, Hoyle Demand Answers Over Unauthorized Military Strikes in Yemen by Trump Administration

    Source: United States House of Representatives – Congresswoman Pramila Jayapal (7th District of Washington)

    WASHINGTON, DC — U.S. Representatives Pramila Jayapal (WA-07), Ro Khanna (CA-17), and Val Hoyle (OR-04) are expressing major concerns over the lack of Congressional approval for U.S. military strikes in Yemen. 

    “The U.S. Constitution is clear: Congress holds the sole power to authorize offensive military action,” wrote the Members. “While we share concerns about maritime security in the Red Sea, we call on your

    Administration to immediately cease unauthorized use of military force and instead seek specific statutory authorization from Congress before involving the U.S. in an unconstitutional conflict in the Middle East, which risks endangering U.S. military personnel in the region and escalating into a regime-change war.”

    Section 2(c) of the War Powers Resolution of 1973 states that the President can only introduce U.S. forces into hostilities after a declaration of war or specific statutory authorization from Congress, or in a national emergency when the U.S. is under attack. Presently, no congressional authorization of military force exists for the recent hostilities carried out in Yemen, nor is there a declared national emergency. Senior Trump Administration officials even commented, in a non-secure Signal chat, that these strikes could have waited “a few weeks or a month,” making clear there was ample time to consult with Congress and obtain the necessary authorization before initiating these attacks.

    “Congress must have the opportunity to engage in a robust debate on the rationale for offensive force and vote on its merits before U.S. servicemembers are placed in harm’s way and additional taxpayer dollars are spent on yet another Middle East war,” continued the Members. “No president has the constitutional authority to bypass Congress on matters of war.”

    The Administration should be aware of its lack of authority in this matter, as the War Powers Resolution was used in 2019 to compel them to suspend midair refueling for Saudi airstrikes over Yemen. 

    “President Trump’s reckless strikes in Yemen are illegal, counterproductive and dangerous,” said Cavan Kharrazian, Senior Policy Advisor for Demand Progress. “We’re grateful to Representatives Jayapal, Khanna and Hoyle for once again leading the charge to reassert Congress’s war powers—just as they did during the Biden administration. What is clear: Trump must come to Congress for a debate and vote before engaging in further hostilities. This unauthorized military action is killing civilians, costing nearly $1 billion in taxpayer money, emboldening the Houthis and is threatening to create a ground war in a country already shattered by conflict and humanitarian crisis. Upholding congressional authority over matters of war is not a partisan issue; it’s a constitutional imperative and one of the most critical checks on executive power.”

    “Presidents have spent decades undermining Congress’s constitutional authority to declare or otherwise authorize wars, but with President Trump’s authoritarian approach to governance, the stakes are higher than ever,” said Jon Rainwater, Executive Director of Peace Action. “We applaud the members of Congress who signed this critical letter. Their leadership is essential in reining in this open-ended military adventure in Yemen, which is exacerbating one of the world’s worst humanitarian crises. Congress must step up and reassert its oversight over the use of U.S. military before the president engages in even more reckless military adventurism abroad — or potentially even repression at home.”

    “The U.S. airstrikes on Yemen are making a humanitarian crisis worse,” said Isaac Evans-Frantz, Director of Action Corps. “Congress never authorized these attacks, and members of Congress should use their power to stop them.”

    “The U.S. bombing of Yemen contributes to the destruction of civilian infrastructure, the loss of innocent lives, and the deepening of one of the world’s worst humanitarian crises—all without congressional authorization,” said Aisha Jumaan, President, Yemen Relief and Reconstruction Foundation. “I urge Congress to support the War Powers Resolution to end any unauthorized U.S. military involvement in Yemen. It is time for the United States to support accountability, prioritize diplomacy, and play a constructive role in ending the suffering of the Yemeni people.”

    The full text of the letter can be read here. 

    The letter has been signed by Becca Balint (VT-AL), Donald S. Beyer (VA-08), Greg Casar (TX-35), Joaquin Castro (TX-20), Gerald E. Connolly (VA-11), Mark DeSaulnier (CA-10), Lloyd Doggett (TX-37), Dwight Evans (PA-03), Jonathan L. Jackson (IL-01), Sara Jacobs (CA-51), Henry C. “Hank” Johnson (GA-04), Jesús G. “Chuy” García (IL-04), Summer L. Lee (PA-12), Zoe Lofgren (CA-18), Jennifer L. McClellan (VA-04), James P. McGovern (MA-02), Eleanor Holmes Norton (DC-AL), Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (NY-14), Ilhan Omar (MN-05), Chellie Pingree (ME-01), Mark Pocan (WI-02), Ayanna Pressley (MA-07), Delia C. Ramirez (IL-03), Linda T. Sánchez (CA-38), Janice D. Schakowsky (IL-09), Bennie G. Thompson (MS-02), Paul Tonko (NY-20), Nydia M. Velázquez (NY-07), Maxine Waters (CA-43), and Bonnie Watson Coleman (NJ-12).

    It is also endorsed by Action Corps, American Friends Service Committee, Antiwar.com, Baltimore Nonviolence Center, Brooklyn For Peace, Center for International Policy Advocacy, DAWN, Demand Progress, Emgage Action, Friends Committee on National Legislation, Health Advocacy International, Historians for Peace and Democracy, Just Foreign Policy, L.I. Alliance for Peaceful Alternatives, Massachusetts Peace Action, MPower Change Action Fund, National Iranian American Council, NorCal Sabeel, North Country Peace Group, Peace Action, Peace Action New York State, Peace, Justice, Sustainability, NOW!, Quincy Institute for Responsible Statecraft, The Libertarian Institute, United for Peace and Justice, WESPAC Foundation, Inc., Western New York Peace Center, Win Without War, Yemen Relief and Reconstruction Foundation, and Yemeni Alliance Committee.

    Issues: Foreign Affairs & National Security

    MIL OSI USA News –

    April 10, 2025
  • MIL-OSI USA: Pressley, Velázquez, and Brown Call on Trump Admin to Finalize Formaldehyde Ban in Hair Products

    Source: United States House of Representatives – Congresswoman Ayanna Pressley (MA-07)

    Formaldehyde Ban in Hair Relaxing Products Delayed Three Times Since Initial Action Following Pressley-Brown Inquiry

    In a Hearing Today, Pressley Underscored Urgent Need for Formaldehyde Ban to Protect Public Health, Advance Racial Justice

    Text of Letter (PDF) | Hearing Video (YouTube)

    WASHINGTON – Today, Congresswomen Ayanna Pressley (MA-07), Nydia M. Velázquez (NY-07), and Shontel Brown (OH-11) sent a letter to the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) requesting answers on the continued delay in implementing a ban on formaldehyde in hair products.

    The FDA issued the proposed rule in October 2023 following a March letter from Reps. Pressley and Brown calling for an investigation into the health risks posed by chemical hair straighteners. The agency set an April 2024 implementation timeline but missed its own deadline. Although the proposed rule was added to the OMB Unified Agenda last fall, the target action date of March 2025 has passed with no further progress.

    “Since Fall 2024, there has been no further movement or concrete next steps regarding the implementation of the ban” wrote the lawmakers.

    Formaldehyde is a known carcinogen found in hair relaxers, keratin treatments, and other chemical straighteners. Its use has been linked to cancer, respiratory illness, and adverse reproductive outcomes. The letter notes that women of color are disproportionately at risk.

    “Of particular concern is the heightened health risk to Black women, who are more likely to receive or provide formaldehyde-based hair treatments, which has a disparate impact on both workers and their customers,” the lawmakers continued.

    The letter follows previous outreach from Reps. Pressley, Velázquez, and Brown in August 2024, when they again urged the FDA to finalize the proposed rule.

    In the letter, the lawmakers call on the FDA to finalize the proposed rule and ask for answers to the following questions:

    • Given the delay, what steps have been taken since our last inquiry to advance the formaldehyde ban?
    • Are there any current or upcoming changes to federal regulations that would impact the finalization of the proposed rule?
    • How is the FDA prioritizing this issue relative to other regulatory efforts? Are there specific challenges delaying the finalization of the rule?
    • Beyond formaldehyde, does the FDA plan to examine other hazardous chemicals commonly found in personal care products, particularly those disproportionately affecting women and communities of color? If so, what substances are under consideration?

    “It is essential to continue to highlight the gravity of formaldehyde exposure, as evidenced by both epidemiological data and laboratory research,” the letter concludes. “Ensuring that regulatory actions align with the best interests of public health remains the goal and we encourage promptly finalizing a proposed rule.”

    A copy of the letter is available here.

    Congresswoman Pressley has been steadfast in her advocacy for Black women’s health, ending race-based hair discrimination, and introducing policies that affirm the right of Black women to show up in the world as their full, authentic selves.

    • Rep. Pressley is a lead co-sponsor of the Creating a Respectful and Open World for Natural Hair (CROWN) Act, legislation with Reps. Bonnie Watson Coleman (NJ-12), Gwen Moore (WI-04), Barbara Lee (CA-13) and Ilhan Omar (MN-05) that would ban discrimination based on hair textures and hairstyles that are commonly associated with a particular race or national origin.
    • In August 2024, Reps. Pressley, Nydia M. Velázquez (D-NY) and Shontel Brown (D-OH) sent a letter to the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) requesting an update on delays in implementation of a rule to ban formaldehyde and other formaldehyde-releasing chemicals in hair products.
    • In June 2024, Rep. Pressley and Rep. Jim McGovern (MA-02) led their colleagues in re-introducing the Wigs as Durable Medical Equipment Act, legislation to help individuals affected by Alopecia Areata and patients with cancer who are undergoing chemotherapy by allowing medical wigs and other head coverings to be covered under the Medicare program.
    • In May 2024, Rep. Pressley, Rep. Bonnie Watson Coleman (NJ-12), and Rep. Jennifer McClellan (VA-04) introduced the Recognition of Traction Alopecia in Service Women Act of 2023 to support servicemembers with traction alopecia.
    • In April 2024, Rep. Pressley reintroduced the Anti-Racism in Public Health Act, a bicameral bill to declare structural racism a public health crisis and confront its public health impacts through two bold new programs within the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Rep. Pressley originally introduced the bill in September 2020.
    • In 2020, the House passed an amendment introduced by Congresswoman Pressley to provide $5 million dollars for the National Institutes of Health’s National Institute of Arthritis and Musculoskeletal and Skin Diseases to fund research on the causes, impacts, and possible treatments of Alopecia areata.
    • In December 2019, Rep. Pressley and her colleagues sent a letter to Johnson & Johnson Chairman and CEO Alex Gorsky seeking information on the targeted marketing and sale of the company’s talc-based baby powder and its potential to cause harm, particularly to women, teenage girls, and people of color, due to asbestos contamination. 

    ###

    MIL OSI USA News –

    April 10, 2025
  • MIL-OSI USA: Wyden, Merkley Slam OPM for Failing to Provide Health Care Benefits to Reinstated Federal Workers

    US Senate News:

    Source: United States Senator Ron Wyden (D-Ore)

    April 09, 2025

    Senators: “This situation is not only unjust but represents a fundamental failure to uphold the obligations owed to the dedicated public servants who serve their country with integrity.”

    Washington D.C.—U.S. Senators Ron Wyden and Jeff Merkley today demanded the U.S. Office of Personnel Management (OPM) address its ongoing failure to provide federal health benefits to reinstated federal employees, despite continued paycheck deductions toward insurance premiums.  

    In a letter to OPM Acting Director Charles Ezell, the senators wrote, “This issue has directly impacted Oregonians working at government agencies such as the Internal Revenue Service, Bureau of Land Management, and the VA Health System – individuals who committed their careers to public service. We have heard from constituents who, during this lapse in coverage, required life-saving surgeries for serious illnesses such as cancer but were left without the health insurance necessary to afford those procedures.”

    “Many of these employees, after being wrongfully terminated, have now returned to their positions only to find that they cannot access the health coverage they have paid for,” the lawmakers continued. “To reinstate these employees without providing access to the health care they’ve earned is misleading, and detrimental to the health of these employees and their families. Some have already incurred significant out-of-pocket medical expenses—amounting to hundreds, if not thousands, of dollars—due to a lapse in coverage that should never have occurred. This undue financial and emotional strain is entirely preventable and must be rectified without delay.”

    The full letter is here.



    MIL OSI USA News –

    April 10, 2025
  • MIL-OSI USA: Murray, Senate Democratic Caucus Send Letter Demanding Trump Rescind Illegal Executive Order Threatening Federal Employee Collective Bargaining Agreements

    US Senate News:

    Source: United States Senator for Washington State Patty Murray

    Washington, D.C. — U.S. Senator Patty Murray (D-WA), Vice Chair of the Senate Appropriations Committee, joined Senators Chris Van Hollen (D-MD), Alsobrooks, Schumer, Kaine, and Warner and the entire Senate Democratic Caucus this week in urging President Trump to rescind his March 27 executive order to end collective bargaining agreements between public employee unions and dozens of federal agencies and bureaus. In their letter, the senators blasted the move as a “gross overreach” of presidential authority, asserting that the executive order is a clear attempt to gut the federal merit-based civil service and implement a system of political cronyism. They stressed that the order poses a grave threat to the ability of over 1 million federal workers to carry out their missions and deliver important services for the American people—and should be rescinded immediately.

    “We write today in outrage over your recent executive order entitled Exclusions from Federal Labor-Management Relations Programs… This order is an insult to the hardworking public servants who go to work on behalf of the American people,” the senators began.

    “The executive order effectively classifies two thirds of the federal workforce as having national security missions, a blatant misuse of a limited authority intended to provide operational flexibility to address legitimate security needs,” they continued. “There is no evidence that the long-standing collective bargaining agreements at these agencies have jeopardized our nation’s security in any way; to the contrary, the protection collective bargaining has provided for employees allows them to conduct their work on behalf of the American people—including blowing the whistle on fraud or abuse—without political interference.”

    “This Administration clearly does not have even a basic understanding of the legally binding nature of federal collective bargaining agreements and is actively trying to bend the law to undermine protections for federal civil servants. We urge you to immediately rescind this illegal executive order so that our dedicated public servants can continue to work on behalf of the American public without fear for their job or political retribution,” the senators concluded.

    The senators’ letter is endorsed by the American Federation of Labor and Congress of Industrial Organizations (AFL-CIO), American Federation of Government Employees (AFGE), National Treasury Employees Union (NTEU), International Federation of Professional and Technical Engineers (IFPTE), and Service Employees International Union (SEIU).

    A copy of the letter is available here and below.

    Dear President Trump: 

    We write today in outrage over your recent executive order entitled Exclusions from Federal Labor-Management Relations Programs, a gross overreach of the authority granted in the Civil Service Reform Act of 1978 (CSRA). 

    This order is an insult to the hardworking public servants who go to work on behalf of the American people. They care for our veterans, deliver disaster assistance, prevent wildfires, help farmers improve crop yields, manage health benefits for 9/11 first responders, research treatments and cures for diseases, keep air travel safe, process tax returns, staff our national parks and much, much more. Nearly one third of these dedicated civil servants are veterans seeking to continue their service to our country out of uniform.  

    The executive order effectively classifies two thirds of the federal workforce as having national security missions, a blatant misuse of a limited authority intended to provide operational flexibility to address legitimate security needs. The national security exemption has existed for nearly 50 years and has been used only sparingly by Republican and Democratic Administrations—including during your first term—to exclude federal offices with an unquestionable core function in intelligence, counterintelligence, or national security. There is no evidence that the long-standing collective bargaining agreements at these agencies have jeopardized our nation’s security in any way; to the contrary, the protection collective bargaining has provided for employees allows them to conduct their work on behalf of the American people—including blowing the whistle on fraud or abuse—without political interference. 

    Federal employees’ collective bargaining agreements are critical to ensuring they continue to serve the American people with the peace of mind that comes with being protected from unfair labor practices. Unlike in the private sector, federal employee unions in most cases cannot negotiate pay or benefits, which are set by Congress, and they are legally prohibited from striking. The federal collective bargaining agreements do, however, protect federal employees from illegal firings, retaliation, and discrimination. They also promote resources for whistleblowers and veterans. These federal union contracts give employees in the civil service protections from retaliation so they can serve the American people fairly and effectively without partisan political interference.  

    This executive order, which ruthlessly strips collective bargaining agreements for over one million federal workers, is the most recent attack your Administration has levied against our merit-based civil service in the effort to cut the workforce and replace them with political cronies. While the CSRA does give the president the authority to limit collective bargaining agreements due to national security concerns, the executive order’s direction to terminate mass swaths of federal employee collective bargaining agreements is clearly intended to broadly dismantle the CSRA, which is specifically designed to grant federal employees the right to collective bargaining as a means to resolve workplace issues while maintaining the smooth functioning of government operations.  

    When the Secretary of Labor testified in February in front of the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee, Members of Congress asked her both in-person and through questions for the record whether she and the Administration would commit to honoring all legally binding collective bargaining agreements signed by federal agencies and labor unions, and whether federal employees have the right to organize and collectively bargain without fear of retaliation. The Secretary answered, “if confirmed, I will follow the law and work with the experts at the Department to understand the collective bargaining process at the Department and the terms and conditions of the collective bargaining agreements in place.” This Administration clearly does not have even a basic understanding of the legally binding nature of federal collective bargaining agreements and is actively trying to bend the law to undermine protections for federal civil servants.  

    We urge you to immediately rescind this illegal executive order so that our dedicated public servants can continue to work on behalf of the American public without fear for their job or political retribution.

    MIL OSI USA News –

    April 10, 2025
  • MIL-OSI United Nations: March proves deadly month for civilians in Ukraine

    Source: United Nations 4

    9 April 2025 Human Rights

    More than three years on from the full-scale Russian invasion of Ukraine, Ukrainian civilians continue to face the devastating consequences of war, with March 2025 proving to be another deadly month.

    “The near daily barrage of long-range drones killed and injured scores of civilians across the country last month, and disrupted life for millions more,” said the head of the UN Human Rights Monitoring Mission in Ukraine (HRMMU), Danielle Bell, in the independent human rights team’s latest monthly update.  

    The mission was mandated by the UN human rights chief at the invitation of the Ukrainian Government in 2014, to help safeguard rights during the escalating conflict.  

    With at least 164 Ukrainians killed and 910 injured, March 2025 saw a 50 per cent spike in civilian casualties from the previous month. These numbers represent a 71 per cent increase in civilian casualties compared with March last year, says the latest HRMMU Protection of Civilians Report.

    Russian attacks on cities such as Dnipro, Kharkiv, and Sumy, combined with multiple munitions strikes on Dobropillia, exacerbated the high number of casualties in March.  

    Kryvyi Rih, located around 65 kilometers from the frontline, was one of the places most heavily affected, suffering five waves of Russian attacks which killed at least six civilians and injured 66.  

    Civilian buildings in the city – home town of Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy – including two hotels and a restaurant, were amongst the sites hit.  

    Some 29 medical and 50 educational facilities were damaged by Russian armed forces during last month, while two medical centres and six educational facilities were totally destroyed.  

    “Hospitals enjoy special protection under international humanitarian law and should not be subjected to attack,” Ms. Bell said.

    Indiscriminate attacks are prohibited under international humanitarian law, said UN human rights chief, Volker Türk, emphasising that parties to a conflict ought to differentiate military from civilian infrastructures.  

    Hostilities continue  

    UN Human Rights in Ukraine noted that deadly attacks by Russian armed forces continued into April. “It’s an unimaginable horror,” said Mr. Türk, referring to an April 4 attack where a ballistic missile detonated over a playground, killing 19 civilians, including nine children.  

    Another wave of attacks in Eastern Ukraine caused damage to residential buildings and injured scores of civilians on Wednesday. Aid workers are currently on the ground assessing the needs of the affected population.  

    “Ukrainians deserve to live a normal life, free from violence,” said UN aid coordination office, OCHA, in Ukraine.

    MIL OSI United Nations News –

    April 10, 2025
  • MIL-OSI United Nations: Experts of the Committee against Torture Commend Monaco’s Ratification of International Human Rights Treaties, Ask about Efforts to Revise Torture Laws and the Transfer of Prisoners to France

    Source: United Nations – Geneva

    The Committee against Torture today concluded its consideration of the seventh periodic report of Monaco under the Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment, with Committee Experts praising Monaco’s ratification of United Nations and European human rights treaties, while raising questions about efforts to bring legislation on torture in line with the Convention and the transfer of prisoners to France.

    Abderrazak Rouwane, Committee Vice-Chair and Country Co-Rapporteur, congratulated Monaco on having ratified a significant number of United Nations and Council of Europe human rights instruments. Why had the State party decided not to ratify the Optional Protocol to the Convention against Torture?

    Mr. Rouwane asked about measures the State party had taken to harmonise national legislation on torture with the Convention.  The Committee was concerned about the statute of limitations on torture crimes, the lack of specific provisions in the Criminal Code imposing an absolute prohibition of torture, and the lack of clear mechanisms protecting subordinates from being forced to carry out unlawful orders.

    Erdogan Iscan, Committee Vice-Chair and Country Co-Rapporteur, said some inmates in Monaco continued to be transferred to French prisons, and the State 

    party lacked oversight of places of deprivation of liberty in France.  Would a formal legal procedure for recording prisoners’ consent to transfers be created?  Which State was responsible for ensuring legal safeguards for these prisoners?

    Introducing the report, Samuel Vuelta Simon, Secretary of State for Justice of Monaco, Director of Judicial Services and head of the delegation, said Monaco ensured that its legal framework was fully in line with its international commitments and that its texts were regularly adapted to better meet the requirements of the fight against torture and inhuman treatment.

    Mr. Vuelta Simon said the Criminal Code and the Code of Criminal Procedure allowed for severe punishment for any act resembling torture or inhuman treatment.  Also, a legislative proposal currently being prepared would ensure that the crime of torture was imprescriptible and would also ensure the unenforceability of any hierarchical order invoked to justify it.

    The delegation said the Convention against Torture had been rendered executory by a sovereign ordinance.  It took precedence over domestic legislation. The State party was also considering domestic legislation that would define torture in line with the Convention.

    The delegation said an impact study on the Optional Protocol to the Convention had been carried out, and the State party was not closing the door on ratification.  However, it attached greater importance to the main international human rights instruments.  There was only one detention facility in Monaco, which was already reviewed by international monitoring mechanisms.

    The delegation also said that Monaco’s territory was only two square kilometres.  Its small size made it necessary to turn to France for assistance in managing prisoners.  Transfer requests to French prisons were made by detainees who were French citizens. The State party would consider formalising this procedure.  French authorities cooperated with transfer procedures and guaranteed detainees’ rights. There was no transfer of citizens of Monaco to foreign prisons.

    In closing remarks, Claude Heller, Committee Chair, said that the dialogue had been fruitful and frank.  The Committee would develop concluding observations based on the dialogue, which would aid the State in the implementation of the Convention.

    In his concluding remarks, Mr. Vuelta Simon said that Monaco was a small State that tried to do things properly, on the same level as larger countries.  Some issues had been raised in the dialogue that the State party could make rapid progress on to promote the well-being of human beings, including detainees.  Monaco hoped to demonstrate this progress in its next review with the Committee.

    The delegation of Monaco consisted of representatives from the Directorate of Public Safety; Department of External Relations and Cooperation; Directorate of Legal Affairs; Directorate of Judicial Services; and the Permanent Mission of Monaco to the United Nations Office at Geneva.

    The Committee will issue concluding observations on the report of Monaco at the end of its eighty-second session on 2 May.  Those, and other documents relating to the Committee’s work, including reports submitted by States parties, will be available on the session’s webpage.  Summaries of the public meetings of the Committee can be found here, and webcasts of the public meetings can be found here.

    The Committee will next meet in public on Thursday, 10 April at 3 p.m. to continue its examination of the fifth periodic report of Mauritius (CAT/C/MUS/5).

    Report

    The Committee has before it the seventh periodic report of Monaco (CAT/C/MCO/7).

    Presentation of Report

    SAMUEL VUELTA SIMON, Secretary of State for Justice, Director of Judicial Services of Mexico and head of the delegation, said human dignity was an absolute value that the Principality of Monaco was committed to protecting with determination. Monaco was committed to constantly improving its mechanisms for preventing and protecting against torture and inhuman treatment.  Since the submission of its first report in 1994, Monaco had continued its efforts to strengthen its legal and institutional framework, which had led to significant progress, both in terms of legislation and the implementation of concrete measures to guarantee ever more effective protection against all forms of violence.

    Monaco ensured that the legal framework was fully in line with its international commitments and that its texts were regularly adapted to better meet the requirements of the fight against torture and inhuman treatment.  The Constitution explicitly guaranteed respect for human dignity and prohibited any cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment.  This absolute prohibition was reinforced by several provisions of the Criminal Code and the Code of Criminal Procedure, which allowed for severe punishment for any act resembling torture or inhuman treatment. 

    The Principality had begun an in-depth study to incorporate into its domestic law a definition of torture that was fully in line with article one of the Convention. A legislative proposal currently being prepared would ensure that the crime of torture was imprescriptible.  It would also ensure the unenforceability of any hierarchical order invoked to justify it, and the absolute inadmissibility of evidence obtained under duress.  These measures would complement an already strict legal arsenal which severely punished acts of violence, especially when committed by a public official.

    Monaco also attached particular importance to supporting and providing reparation to victims. In 2023, it adopted an unprecedented compensation scheme for victims of serious crimes, including domestic violence and misdemeanours and crimes against minors, guaranteeing rapid and effective compensation to victims when the perpetrators were insolvent.  Courts had an obligation to inform victims of this possibility.

    In recent years, significant improvements had been made to Monaco’s prison to provide a more suitable living environment for inmates.  The renovation of the cells had made it possible to bring in more natural light, while a new exercise yard and an activity room had been set up.  A body scanner had recently been introduced to limit the use of body searches.  The visiting regime had been significantly improved, allowing inmates to benefit from three 90-minute visits per week, in addition to two daily 45-minute visits.

    The incarceration of minors remained an exceptional measure in Monaco.  Recent reforms had strengthened the juvenile justice system to promote the reintegration and well-being of young people in conflict with the law.  Anyone in police custody had the immediate right to information and the assistance of a lawyer, permanent judicial supervision, and audio-visual recording of interrogations, thus ensuring the transparency of proceedings.  Since 2022, the right to the assistance of a lawyer had been strengthened in the event of an extension of police custody. 

    The Monegasque Institute for the Training of the Judicial Professions, in collaboration with other specialised institutions, provided regular training to public security forces on international standards for the respect of fundamental rights. The public security forces were thus regularly made aware of good practices, particularly regarding the treatment of persons deprived of their liberty.

    Monaco ensured that respect for fundamental rights within its prison system was monitored. The Office of the High Commissioner for the Protection of Rights, Freedoms and Mediation played a key role in this system by providing detainees with direct access to report any allegations of ill-treatment.  Since the last review, a new right had been introduced allowing detainees to call the Office of the High Commissioner directly once a day, including when they were in a disciplinary cell.

    Monaco reaffirmed its total commitment to the fight against torture and inhuman or degrading treatment.  While there was still room for improvement, the legislative, judicial and institutional advances put in place in recent years had made it possible to considerably strengthen the prevention, control and punishment of abuses.  Monaco would continue its efforts with determination to ensure that respect for human dignity was never compromised.

    Questions by Committee Experts

    ABDERRAZAK ROUWANE, Committee Vice-Chair and Country Co-Rapporteur, expressed regret regarding the absence of civil society participants in the dialogue.  Why were they absent?  What measures had the State party taken to harmonise national legislation on torture with the Convention?  The Committee had called on the State party to do so in each of its last six reviews. Could the delegation give some examples of court cases that had referenced the Convention or other United Nations human rights treaties?  The Committee was concerned about the statute of limitations on torture crimes, the lack of specific provisions in the Criminal Code imposing an absolute prohibition of torture, and the lack of clear mechanisms protecting subordinates from being forced to carry out unlawful orders.

    What measures had been taken to ensure that detainees enjoyed all basic legal rights from the outset of deprivation of liberty?  The Committee had called on the State party to amend legislation that allowed police officers to prevent detainees from contacting a family member if such communication was considered detrimental to investigations.  Had this been done?  Did victims benefit from legal aid in cases involving allegations of torture or ill-treatment?

    What steps had been taken to promote the accreditation of the Office of the High Commissioner for the Protection of Rights, Freedoms and Mediation under the Paris Principles?  The Office did not have a specific mandate to protect against human rights violations, including torture and ill-treatment, and it did not have the competence to conduct investigations, publish studies or formulate opinions on draft legislation on its own initiative.  Could the delegation comment on this?  Why had the State party decided not to ratify the Optional Protocol and set up a national preventive mechanism against torture?

    The Committee congratulated Monaco on having ratified a significant number of human rights instruments within the framework of the United Nations system and the Council of Europe.  Would it ratify the International Convention for the Protection of All Persons from Enforced Disappearance and the Convention for the Protection of All Migrant Workers and Members of their Families?

    The Committee noted positive amendments to the law on the status of the judiciary to strengthen the Supreme Council of the Judiciary, which had enabled the Council to take up disciplinary matters on its own.  However, the Council’s role in appointing judges had not been increased and its activity report was not made public.  The Director of Judicial Services, part of the executive, chaired the High Council and could appoint and suspend judges and magistrates directly.  The Prosecutor General and the magistrates of the Public Prosecutor’s Office were also under the direct authority of the Director. Was this not interference by the executive in the affairs of justice?  How would the State party ensure the full independence of the judiciary, including in matters related to appointment and disciplinary measures?

    Could the State party provide updated data on extraditions, asylum applications, and the number of appeals against asylum decisions?  The Committee noted that refugees enjoyed the rights provided for in the 1951 Convention on the Status of Refugees.  However, there was a lack of clarity regarding the asylum process and safeguards offered, and uncertainty surrounding the procedure for cooperation between the State party and the French Office for the Protection of Refugees and Stateless Persons.  Would the State party implement a mechanism to follow up on asylum seekers’ cases with the Office?  What measures were in place to domesticate an asylum assessment procedure?  Could the State party provide information on extradition cases and requests made for mutual legal assistance related to international cases involving torture?

    A large number of foreigners living in neighbouring countries were working informally in Monaco and were at risk of trafficking.  How was the State party combatting trafficking in persons, raising awareness of the issue, and training the judiciary on it?  What measures were in place to strengthen the identification of trafficking victims?  What tools were available to public officials to guide the identification of child victims of trafficking?

    The Committee had previously called for the strengthening of training for the judiciary and prison officials on the Convention and the revised Istanbul Protocol of 2022.  What measures would the State party take to train officials who were in contact with persons deprived of liberty on the absolute prohibition of torture?  Were there any monitoring mechanisms in places of deprivation of liberty?

    ERDOGAN ISCAN, Committee Vice-Chair and Country Co-Rapporteur, commended the recent progress by the State presented in the opening statement.  The Committee noted that the remand prison of Monaco had recently been extended, its facilities upgraded, and the visit regime improved.  However, there were limits to the extent to which the prison could be expanded due to its location, and the prison reportedly remained unsuitable for prolonged detention due to its limited natural light and lack of space for activities.  What further steps would be taken to improve prison conditions?

    Some inmates continued to be transferred to French prisons, and the State party lacked oversight of places of deprivation of liberty in France.  There was no formalised legal procedure for recording prisoners’ consent and requests regarding transfers.  Would one be created?  How many Monegasque prisoners were currently serving sentences in French prisons? Which State was responsible for ensuring legal safeguards for these prisoners?  Did they have access to lawyers and could they maintain social connections in Monaco?  How would the State party ensure this right?  Which State conducted investigations in cases of complaints by these prisoners?  Had the State party considered expanding the capacity of its prison system to allow inmates to remain in Monaco?

    Did current legislation prohibit corporal punishment in all settings, including homes and educational institutions? Were awareness raising campaigns or training programmes on corporal punishment for parents and childcare professionals planned?  Minors under age 13 could not be detained but could be held in police custody for up to 24 hours in criminal cases.  Could the delegation provide data on minors in police custody?  Would the State party consider revising legislation to raise the minimum age of criminal responsibility to at least 14 years of age?

    Had the State party made progress in adopting legislation that provided full redress to victims of torture? Would it consider scaling up its support to the United Nations Voluntary Fund for Victims of Torture, and had it updated legislation to ensure that statements obtained through torture were made null and void?

    The Committee noted with satisfaction measures taken by the State party to prevent and combat violence against women, including revision of the Criminal Code and awareness raising campaigns. What protection measures were in place for foreign women who were victims of violence, and what resources were devoted to programmes and measures to combat violence against women?

    Reportedly, conditions in closed psychiatric units in the Princess Grace Hospital were good, but improvements were needed regarding prolonged hospitalisation and treatment of minors and detainees requiring psychiatric care.  Was the State party addressing this?

    Another Committee Expert asked whether the Convention was directly applicable in Monaco.  How were potential conflicts between the Convention and domestic legislation resolved?

    One Committee Expert asked how many prisoners were serving in Monaco.  What happened to prisoners who did not consent to being transferred to French prisons?  Could the delegation clarify whether consent was needed to conduct transfers?

    A Committee Expert said domestic law on trafficking was sound, but the State party needed to strengthen the training of law enforcement officials, social workers, medical staff and the public on identifying victims of trafficking.

    Responses by the Delegation

    The delegation said the Director of Judicial Services was also the Secretary of State for Justice, which, as a member of the judiciary, was not part of the executive branch of Government but fell under the authority of the Prince.  The judiciary was guaranteed security of tenure and independence.  The Secretary of State for Justice gave generalised guidance to the judiciary that was consistent with State policies, but prosecutors were free to speak independently in carrying out their work.

    Monaco’s territory was only two square kilometres.  Its small size made it necessary to turn to France for assistance for managing prisoners. There were only six prosecutors and 22 jurists who worked with legislators to develop legal texts.  Some 39,000 people lived in Monaco but only 9,000 had citizenship.

    The Supreme Council of the Judiciary was made up of two elected judges and five judges appointed by the Council itself.  Both the Secretary of State for Justice and the Supreme Council could take up cases of discipline of judges.  The Supreme Council selected candidates for judicial posts and had a special budget guaranteeing its independence.  Training was provided to newly appointed judges and prosecutors through French institutions; approximately two-thirds of judges had been seconded from France.  A draft law had been developed that would create a reserve pool of judges to strengthen the domestic availability of judges.

    Monaco had a dualist system.  The Prince signed and ratified international treaties, with authorisation by the National Council.  Sovereign ordinances were used to allow for international treaties to be directly invoked before national courts.  There were cases in which the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and the European Convention of Human Rights had been invoked. The Constitution had the highest status in the domestic legal order, followed by international treaties, which took precedence over domestic legislation.

    The Constitution expressly prohibited torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment.  Acts of torture committed in offences of sexual aggression, terrorism and abduction were considered to be aggravated crimes. Monaco’s judicial services had limited capacity, but aimed to establish a stand-alone offence of torture in line with article one of the Convention through a draft law that was currently before the legislature.  Serious crimes committed against minors had a statute of limitations of 30 years, which started when the victim reached the age of majority.  Monaco’s law imposed an absolute prohibition of torture; it was impossible to justify acts of torture in any circumstances.  Hierarchical superiors were held accountable for illegal orders to carry out acts of torture, as were agents who carried out such orders.  Subordinates who refused to obey illegal orders were not disciplined or considered to have committed a crime.

    There was one case of trafficking against a minor in which the court had referenced the United Nations Convention against Transnational Organized Crime in its ruling.  The scope of the criminalisation of trafficking had been broadened to address domestic trafficking cases that did not involve organised crime.  Trafficking that endangered victims’ lives, trafficking of minors, and trafficking by public officials or members of organised criminal groups were considered aggravating circumstances.

    Police custody was always recorded and was subject to court oversight; examining magistrates could end police custody at any point.  All persons in police custody were informed of the reasons of their detention and their rights, including the right to access a lawyer from the beginning of custody. All persons who earned less than 20,000 euros per year were entitled to free legal aid.  Detainees could request a medical examination at any point.  The State party intended to regulate the grounds under which the Prosecutor General could restrict detainees’ right to contact a relative.  Hearings were filmed and could be conducted in the presence of a legal counsel. Criminal investigative officers needed to record the time of detention and other details relating to the detention, including reasons for refusals of detainees’ rights.

    Minors under 13 could not be placed in police custody unless they committed an offence that carried a five-year prison sentence.  Hearings of minors needed to be conducted with a lawyer present.  Police custody of minors was typically 12 hours but could be extended to 24 hours in criminal cases with the permission of a judge.

    Legislation on the High Commissioner for the Protection of Rights and Mediation had been revised to bring the institution in line with the Paris Principles.  The law allowed the High Commissioner to carry out surveys and provide recommendations related to combatting discrimination, protecting human rights, and implementing international conventions.  It also strengthened the High Commissioner’s investigative powers and gave the body powers to defend the rights of the child. Steps had been taken to promote registration of the institution by the Global Alliance of National Human Rights Institutions.  Since 2022, detainees were able to contact the High Commissioner directly by telephone, in addition to through written communications.  Monaco had installed a body scanning machine in its prison after detainees’ complaints to the High Commissioner regarding body searches.

    Civil society in Monaco was very active. As there had been no demonstrated cases of torture in the State for almost a century, there were no non-governmental organizations working on the issue.  The High Commissioner’s mandate had recently been expanded and it was now recruiting staff to address its new functions.  In future, the High Commissioner could be able to participate in reviews by the Committee.

    Ratifying the International Convention on the Protection of the Rights of All Migrant Workers and Members of their Families and the International Convention for the Protection of All Persons from Enforced Disappearance was not a priority for the State.  The State party tried to align its legislation with international instruments before ratifying them, which caused delays in ratification.  There were no cases of enforced disappearance in Monaco. 

    An impact study on the Optional Protocol to the Convention against Torture had been carried out.  There was only one detention facility in Monaco, which was already reviewed by international monitoring mechanisms. There had been no complaints regarding ill-treatment or poor conditions.  Ratifying the Optional Protocol was not a top priority for the Government but could be done in future.  Monaco made voluntary contributions to the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, but did not envisage providing contributions to the Voluntary Fund for the Victims of Torture.

    Refugees fell under ordinary law for entry and stay in Monaco.  They received 10-year residence permits.  The State currently hosted 23 refugees.  Monaco respected the principle of non-refoulement.  Asylum seekers whose claims were rejected were not immediately removed, unless they posed a threat to public safety.  The Government called on the relevant French authority to assess asylum claims.  Refusals of asylum claims were always explained and could be appealed before the relevant court.  The overseas diplomatic presence of Monaco in countries of origin for asylum seekers was limited.

    When the Ukraine conflict began in 2022, Monaco established a system providing temporary protection for Ukrainian citizens who had lived in Monaco prior to the establishment of the system. Currently, around 50 Ukrainians held the temporary protection permit, which allowed them to access health, education and other social services.  Many holders of this permit had since gained residency permits.

    The State party had not received any requests for mutual legal assistance or handled any international cases involving torture.  It had received one extradition request, which Monaco’s court of appeal rejected due to concerns about human rights protections.

    In 2020, two people were transferred to French prisons, while one person was transferred in 2023 and another in 2024; there were two requests in 2025 that were being assessed.  Transfer requests to France were typically made by French citizens.  All requests for prison transfers were made in writing by the detainees themselves. The State party would consider formalising this procedure.  There were no difficulties in transfers to France; French authorities cooperated with transfer procedures and guaranteed detainees’ rights.  Requests for transfers to other countries were considered based on respect for detainees’ rights.

    The national human rights institution received and investigated written complaints from detainees.  There was also an internal oversight body within the police force that could be called on by the judiciary to investigate police officers accused of human rights violations.  Complaints made to the Prosecutor-General triggered judicial proceedings.  Legal assistance was available for persons who filed for civil damages.  A compensation mechanism had been set up for victims of serious offences who could not be compensated by the perpetrator. Compensation covered damages and court costs.  State compensation could also be provided to persons who were placed in pre-trial detention before being released or acquitted.

    The State party had adopted a law on school bullying and harassment, and the Criminal Code prohibited and punished corporal punishment, including in school and family settings.  Teaching staff and other school staff underwent annual training on identifying and addressing harassment of children. Schools needed to implement awareness raising initiatives to combat harassment and bullying.

    Incarceration and pre-trial detention of children were last resort measures.  Judges could determine alternatives to prosecution of minor offenders, including provisional releases, reparation for victims, community service, and training within social health institutions.  Judges could also order minors to be placed in the Foyer d’Enfance, from which they were free to come and go.  In 2020, five minors were charged, of whom none were detained; in 2021, seven minors were charged and only one was placed in pre-trial detention for one month and 20 days; and in 2022, out of the 15 minors who were charged, only two were placed in pre-trial detention.

    The age of criminal responsibility in Monaco was 13 years.  None of the 15 minor offenders in 2022 were aged 13.  The State party would consider raising the age threshold and revising the legal status of minors in the country.

    Considerable progress had been made since 2020 in improving the detention facility.  The State had installed cells with better access to natural light, a games room, a new exercise yard, and air conditioning and heating facilities within cells.  Exercise and folding laundry were no longer mandatory, televisions did not need to be switched off at certain times, and the State no longer imposed solitary confinement on detainees.

    Women and child victims of violence were supported by the Directorate for Social Assistance.  A protocol for care of victims of domestic violence had been established.  Health care professionals were trained in caring for victims and managing perpetrators when they accompanied them.  Victims were provided with shelter in emergencies when they could not stay with friends or family.  They were entitled to medical care, psychological assistance, and legal advice.

    The employment service verified working conditions for migrant workers and the labour inspectorate carried out numerous checks to ensure that workers’ rights were being respected.  Officials held interviews with applicants for residence and work permits to detect risks of trafficking.  To date, 96 public officials had received training on identifying and treating victims of trafficking.

    Members of the judiciary were obliged to attend at least five days of training per year either locally or in France, which addressed human rights and international and European norms.  The State sought to ensure that the decisions of the European Court of Human Rights were incorporated in domestic legislation as soon as possible.

    Training of police officers lasted 10 months.  It stressed the rights of apprehended persons, including the right to be protected from violence, inhumane and degrading treatment.  All police officers had to abide by the code of professional ethnics and respect the dignity of persons.  They were trained on ethical means of restraint, bodily searches, the use of reasonable force, and the prohibition of torture.

    Questions by Committee Experts

    ABDERRAZAK ROUWANE, Committee Vice-Chair and Country Co-Rapporteur, said the Committee welcomed that there were no cases of torture in Monaco, but this could not be used as an excuse for not ratifying the Optional Protocol to the Convention.  Crimes needed to be legislated for regardless of their prevalence. A national preventive mechanism would be mandated to investigate all places of deprivation of liberty, including the psychiatric hospital and airports.  It would be fantastic if a European country could ratify the International Convention on the Protection of the Rights of All Migrant Workers and Members of their Families.  Many of the 63,000 workers in Monaco were migrant workers who needed legal protection.

    Could detainees from Monaco be transferred to French prisons?  When there were criminal prosecutions of perpetrators, were alleged victims entitled to legal assistance?  Did the State party intend to provide the Supreme Council of the Judiciary with further independence?

    ERDOGAN ISCAN, Committee Vice-Chair and Country Co-Rapporteur, said the dialogue had been constructive. Even if there was limited scope for implementing the Optional Protocol, ratification would set a positive example for other States.  Some 42 of the 46 members of the Council of Europe had ratified the Optional Protocol. Did the State party plan to remove its reservation to article 30 of the Convention.  Member States needed to continue to support the treaty body system in a sustainable manner.  What was Monaco’s position on this?

    Another Committee Expert asked whether Monaco had adopted measures addressing trade in equipment used to inflict pain and suffering.

    Responses by the Delegation

    The delegation said the State party was not closing the door on ratifying the Optional Protocol; it was still considering the option.  However, it attached greater importance to the main international human rights instruments.  Impact assessment studies on these instruments took time due to the State’s limited resources.

    There were around 60,000 cross-border workers travelling from France or Italy to Monaco every day.  They were entitled to the rights embodied by Monaco’s labour laws.

    The Convention against Torture had been rendered executory by a sovereign ordinance.  It took precedence over domestic legislation.  The State party was also considering domestic legislation that would define torture in line with the Convention.

    Legal aid lasted from the beginning to the end of legal proceedings.

    There was no transfer of Monaco citizens to foreign prisons.  Transfers were only for foreign detainees who had requested a transfer back to their country of origin; such transfers were essentially humanitarian.

    The Supreme Council of the Judiciary promoted the independence of the judiciary.  It drew mostly on the French model.  The Secretary of State for Justice was responsible for appointing and promoting judges, but the Supreme Council approved appointments and promotions and could take up disciplinary cases on its own initiative.

    Concluding Remarks

    CLAUDE HELLER, Committee Chair, said that the dialogue had been fruitful and frank.  The Committee would develop concluding observations based on the dialogue, which would aid the State in the implementation of the Convention. The Committee did not judge States based on their size; it treated them all equally.

    SAMUEL VUELTA SIMON, Secretary of State for Justice of Monaco, Director of Judicial Services and head of the delegation, thanked the Committee for the dialogue.  Monaco was a small State that tried to do things properly, on the same level as larger countries, though staff numbers made this difficult.  The State tried to respond as best it could to its realities.  Monaco welcomed the Committee’s advice and relevant questions. Some issues had been raised that the State party could make rapid progress on to promote the well-being of human beings, including detainees.  Monaco hoped to demonstrate this progress in its next review with the Committee.

    ___________

    Produced by the United Nations Information Service in Geneva for use of the media; 
    not an official record. English and French versions of our releases are different as they are the product of two separate coverage teams that work independently.

     

    CAT25.002E

    MIL OSI United Nations News –

    April 10, 2025
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