Eight US States Investigate TikTok's Impact on Children

san francisco — 

A consortium of U.S. states announced on Wednesday a joint investigation into TikTok’s possible harm to young users of the platform, which has boomed in popularity, especially among children.

Officials across the United States have launched their own investigations and lawsuits against Big Tech giants as new national regulations have failed to pass, partly because of partisan gridlock in Congress.

The consortium of eight states will look into the harm TikTok can cause to its young users and what the company knew about such possible harm, California Attorney General Rob Bonta said a statement.

Leading the investigation is a coalition of attorneys general from California, Florida, Kentucky, Massachusetts, Nebraska, New Jersey, Tennessee and Vermont.

The investigation will focus, among other things, on TikTok’s techniques to boost young user engagement, including efforts to increase the frequency and duration of children’s use.

“We don’t know what social media companies knew about these harms and when,” Bonta said in a statement.

“Our nationwide investigation will allow us to get much-needed answers and determine if TikTok is violating the law in promoting its platform to young Californians,” he added.

TikTok’s short-form videos have boomed in popularity with the youngest users, prompting growing concern from parents over the potential that their children could develop unhealthy use habits or be exposed to harmful content.

TikTok welcomes investigation

The platform welcomed the investigation as a chance to provide information on its efforts to protect users.

“We care deeply about building an experience that helps to protect and support the well-being of our community,” TikTok’s statement said.

“We look forward to providing information on the many safety and privacy protections we have for teens,” it added.

Social media’s impact on young users came under renewed scrutiny last year when Facebook whistleblower Frances Haugen leaked a trove of internal company documents raising questions over whether it had prioritized growth over users’ safety.

The documents were given to lawmakers, a consortium of journalists and U.S. regulators by Haugen, who has become a figurehead of criticism of the leading social media platform.

Despite media attention on the issue and hearings before U.S. lawmakers, no new rules have gotten close to being enacted on the national level.

States have instead proceeded with their own efforts to look into Big Tech companies.

For example, a consortium of U.S. states announced a joint probe in November of Instagram’s parent company, Meta, for promoting the app to children despite allegedly knowing its potential for harm. The consortium of attorneys general, states’ top law enforcers and legal advisers, included some of the same states as Wednesday’s probe, like California and Florida.

Instagram sparked fierce criticism for its plans to make a version of the photo-sharing app for younger users. It later halted development.

Twenty experts analyze the strong impact of environmental pollution on health

Health, environment and air quality are strongly connected and related. The air we breathe is essential for health, well-being and quality of life. In the document “Air quality and health prevention”, twenty experts analyze ambient air from three angles: in the community, in the workplace and in the hospital environment

In this reflection document, promoted by the Health Sciences Foundation, specialists in infectious diseases, epidemiologists, microbiologists, pulmonologists and experts in preventive medicine, the environment, pharmacy and occupational safety and hygiene have collaborated.

Through questions to specialists, the report offers a panoramic view of the interrelationship between air quality and health care and protection.

The work, presented this week in a webinar, has been coordinated by Professor Emilio Bouza, patron of the Health Sciences Foundation, Professor of Medicine at the Complutense University and former head of the Microbiology and Infectious Diseases Service of the General University Hospital Gregorio Maranon of Madrid.

Among the experts is Professor Diego Gracia, president of the Health Sciences Foundation and professor emeritus of the Faculty of Medicine of the Complutense University, who offers a conclusion.

Professor Diego Gracia (d) during one of the Foundation’s conferences. On the left, Professor Emilio Bouza/Photo provided by the Health Sciences Foundation

Environmental pollution and health

“Environmental pollution is a global threat that has a high impact on human health and ecosystems, with emissions and concentrations that have been progressively increasing in recent years throughout the world,” says the report.

Atmospheric pollution, highlights the document, is currently considered the most important environmental risk factor for human health, being a leading cause of premature death and disease.

For experts, in Europe, “air quality remains below the level considered optimal in many areas, despite efforts to reduce emissions and air pollutants.”

What are the effects of environmental pollution on human health?

According to the WHO, currently 90 percent of the planet’s population lives in areas where acceptable levels of environmental pollution for health protection are exceeded.

The report makes explicit due to the effect of environmental pollution premature deaths from cardiovascular disease, among which are ischemic heart disease and cerebrovascular disease, followed by deaths due to respiratory disease and lung cancer.

It is estimated that around 500,000 deaths from lung cancer and 1.6 million deaths from COPD (Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease) in the world can be attributed to air pollution.

Both short-term and long-term exposure to environmental pollution can lead to reduced lung function, increased individual susceptibility to respiratory infections and aggravation of bronchial asthma, it is claimed.

The document also states that exposure to environmental pollutants is associated with negative impacts on fertility, pregnancy, newborns and children.

In 2013, the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) classified air pollution as a first-order carcinogen and in 2018 a review study was published with data from different cohorts in Europe that related air pollution to breast cancer.

Other studies point to the existence of a link between the concentrations of suspended particles and mortality from cancer of any origin, especially in the upper tract of the digestive system.

Pollution is also related to diabetes and metabolic dysfunctions and, at the behavioral level, with the risk of anxiety and depression, as well as with cognitive capacity in adults.

Especially important, the document points out, is the impact of air pollution on children’s health.

Some data

The most recent data available for Spain indicate that 15.3% of the urban population is exposed to ozone levels above the standard recommended by the EU and 3.6% to levels above the recommended standard for nitrogen dioxide. .

The report values ​​that the exposure of these environmental contaminants has suffered a progressive decrease in the last decade thanks to the efforts of the different governments, but specifies that there is still much work to be done.

According to data from 2018, the estimate in Spain of deaths attributable to environmental pollution in one year rises to 31,600 people.

Estimates at the European level indicate an excess mortality attributed to air pollution of 790,000 deaths per year.

The latest study on “The global burden of disease”, published in The Lancet, indicates that exposure to polluted air is the fourth risk factor for mortality on a global scale, behind high blood pressure, tobacco and improper diet.

This impact also has an associated economic effect that is estimated at an expense of 4% of global GDP, according to the World Bank.

The impact that environmental contamination has on the spread and prognosis of COVID-19 has yet to be elucidated, the document points out.

Culture of respect for nature and its balance

In his final conclusion, Professor Diego Gracia points out that “the current health crisis is not a mere fortuitous event, but a consequence of the way in which human beings are preying on nature and altering its balance”.

“In the face of a predatory culture, it is necessary to promote another based on respect for nature and the maintenance of its balance. If this is not done, this pandemic will have been nothing more than a first warning, after which others will come, probably more serious”, predicts the president of the Health Sciences Foundation.

EPA/JULIAN STRATENSCHULTE

Catastrophic impact of the pandemic on cancer patients

The impact of the coronavirus on the health system has had a “catastrophic” effect on cancer patients and, in some countries, up to 50% of diagnostic, review and treatment services have been affected, the regional office has warned. WHO European

X-ray of a lung with cancer

The director of WHO-Europe, Hans Kluge, has lamented the “deadly interaction” created by the covid-19 pandemic and has highlighted that 44% of countries worldwide reported an increase in delays in cancer-related services. in the second half of 2021.

During the start of the pandemic, diagnoses of invasive tumors fell, for example, by 44% in Belgium; Colorectal cancer screenings fell by 46% in Italy and the number of cancers diagnosed in Spain in 2020 was 34% lower than expected.

The global situation regarding cancer health care has improved in the last months of the pandemic, but the chain reaction caused by these alterations will be felt “for years,” Kluge stressed.

The director of WHO-Europe admitted that health personnel are “overwhelmed” and “exhausted” after two years of the pandemic, but at the same time emphasized the importance of redirecting an “unprecedented” situation.

“Any respite from the broad immunity provided by vaccination and the less severe omicron variant, coupled with the arrival of spring and summer, should be used immediately to allow health workers to return to other important roles and reduce delays in chronic ailment services,” he claimed.

Cancer is one of the main causes of mortality and disease in the European region and accounts for 20% of all deaths registered in it, although between 30 and 40% of those registered are preventable, the WHO pointed out on the eve of the World Cancer Day, which is commemorated on February 4.

One million undiagnosed cases of cancer due to the pandemic

One million cases of cancer were not diagnosed in Europe due to the pandemic, which prevented 100 million screening tests for a disease that is the second leading cause of death on the continent and the first in children over one year of age, according to a report from the European Parliament.

Another of the conclusions of the report, presented this Thursday in Madrid by three Spanish MEPs who are members of the European Parliament commission that prepared it, is that one in five cancer patients did not receive the surgical or chemotherapy treatment they needed on time during the health emergency.

The special commission for the Fight against Cancer (BECA, in English), which includes MEPs Nicolás González Casares (PSOE), Dolors Montserrat (PP) and Margarita de la Pisa (Vox), approved the report on the 9th of December and its vote in the plenary session of the European Parliament (EP) will take place the week of February 14.

The director of WHO-Europe, Hans Kluge, in a file image. EFE/EPA/IDA GULDBAEK ARENTSEN

Antioquia: this will be the impact of having the vaccine plant in Rionegro - Medellín - Colombia

More employment and the consolidation of a science and technology hub are part of the implications for Antioquia the beginning of the construction of a plant in the municipality of Rionegro, that will make Colombia return to its own production of vaccines, after more than 20 years.

The first stone was symbolically laid this Wednesday by President Iván Duque and other regional and national authorities, completing a puzzle with the logo of VaxThera, the Sura Group company that will carry out this project.

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Although that was the way to start the construction of the plant, a permit is pending to start building the infrastructure, which in its first phase includes 10,000 square meters, in a lot of more than 35,000.

Jorge Emilio Osorio, president of VaxThera explained that this first phase will last until June 2023 and it is estimated that 100 million doses of vaccines will be produced per year.

We have already filed all the documents in the Mayor’s Office of Rionegro to start construction. We are simply waiting for approval so we can start immediately

“We have already filed all the documents with the Rionegro mayor’s office to start construction. We are simply waiting for approval to start immediately,” said Osorio.

After that phase, in the next phase it is estimated that there will be a production of between 200 and 250 million doses per year, which will generate between 500 and 1,000 jobs annually in this municipality in Eastern Antioquia.

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“Rionegro celebrates it for the opportunity it has in terms of job creation, but also because this is the gateway to that technological hub of scientific development, innovation and creativity that we can have in our territory,” said Rodrigo Hernández Alzate , mayor of Rionegro.

The president indicated that the Rionegro Council approved tax relief for industry and commerce and property tax so that this Sura group company could have incentives and make the decision to build the plant in this municipality in the East and not in Valle del Cauca. or Cundinamarca, which were other options.

“That tax incentive that we gave precisely seeks to encourage the generation of employment, of those jobs a large majority are with people from here in Rionegro. We have to continue advancing in the training of more professionals from this territory, from the entire department,” he explained. Hernandez.

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The construction license was filed with the Rionegro Urban Curator, so a prompt approval response is expected. In turn, the Planning Office of said municipality evaluated this request, taking into account the Land Use Plan and determined that it was consistent with the use of the land.

The airport

For Aníbal Gaviria, governor of Antioquia, having this plant in the department also means giving continuity to projects in Rionegro, where the José María Córdova international airport is located.

What is going to be done is to consolidate that hub and many other industries with high added value, and that requires the expansion of the José María Córdova airport and the second runway there.

“What is happening here is the seed for the beginning of a hub for science, technology, health, a hub for life. Let us remember that here we already have the San Vicente Hospital and that what is going to be done is to consolidate that hub and many other industries with high added value and that requires the expansion of the José María Córdova airport and the second runway there,” explained the president.

Gaviria mentioned that one of the most important aspects is the alliance between the University of Wisconsin, the National University and the Sura Group.with the support of local and national governments, to train more professionals in the scientific aspect.

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For now, The company Vaxthera is developing a vaccine against covid-19 called UNIVAXwhich is designed to combat the different variants of the SARS-CoV-2 virus and has shown positive results in preclinical studies.

“This will be an excellent booster vaccine and we hope to be in phase 1 and 2 clinical studies after the second half of the year.”Osorio said.

Once it is approved for use in humans, this would be a positive aspect so that there is no shortage of vaccines in Antioquia, just as it has occurred in other departments of the country.

“Not only are they going to produce vaccines for covid, but also vaccines for the Immunized Vaccination Plan, which is also very important. This will allow us not only to have enough vaccines to comply with the vaccination plans, but also to be able to comply for Latin America , which is also the goal of VaxThera,” said Lina Bustamente, Secretary of Health of Antioquia.

MELISSA ALVAREZ CORREA
TIME CORRESPONDENT