AFSM Quarterly News July 2021 QNT 124 The magazine of the Association of Former WHO Staff Members (AFSM) Supporting former staff and helping them to stay in touch and informed In full bloom! The avenue of Japanese flowering cherry trees in front of the main building Photos of the new building, now completed, on the back covers 1 AFSM Quarterly News July 2021 QNT 124 “Give a breath for health” On 7 April a fundraising campaign was launched by Brazilian goalkeeper Alisson Becker, WHO Goodwill Ambassador for health promotion See News from WHO, selected and edited by Sue Block Tyrrell, on page 7 Champion goalkeeper Alisson Becker, World Health Organization Goodwill ambassador for health promotion, is kickstarting a new global fundraising campaign, titled “Give a Breath for Health,” driven by the WHO Foundation and WHO. The initiative aims to support the delivery of oxygen and other life-saving supplies to health facilities around the world treating patients with Covid-19. Photo: © Alisson Becker 2 AFSM Quarterly News July 2021 QNT 124 CONTENTS EDITORIAL Our Health – Long Covid 4 We hope that our readers are staying safe and well. AFSM during the pandemic 6 Each year retirees must sign and return the Certificate of Entitlement News from WHO 7 (CE) to the Pension Fund, to confirm their continued right to the Pension Fund: Certificate of pension. You should soon receive by post the form for 2021. Entitlement 2020 11 Readers’ Recipes 13 Unfortunately, every year some of the forms do not arrive at the New AFSM members 13 retiree’s address, or do not arrive back at the Pension Fund. In 2020, News from around the world 14 those of 582 WHO pensioners went astray. The Fund provided AFSM In Memoriam 19 with a list of their names and limited contact information. Book Review: Alien Aloft 25 Our committee members Sue Block Tyrrell and Barbara Fontaine Readers’ Letters 26 painstakingly checked the list and identified those they would try to Astronomy: July-Dec 2021 27 Health and the Arts 28 contact. The other names were provided to the Regional AFSMs and Corrigendum: Directory 2021 30 Jean-Paul Menu contacted their focal points. Strenuous efforts were The new WHO building 31 made to trace and advise the retirees concerned, whether members or not, of the urgent need to contact the Pension Fund. See page 11 We should all be grateful for their dedication – whose CE might go astray next time? Keith Wynn EDITORIAL BOARD IMPORTANT CONTACTS Keith Wynn, Editor-in-Chief and layout, AFSM: Office 4141, WHO, CH-1211 Geneva, Switzerland. Tel.: +41 (0) 22 791 3192 Yves Beigbeder, Sue Block Tyrrell, or e-mail: [email protected] or [email protected]. The AFSM office is covered on Laura Ciaffei, David Cohen, Tuesdays from 9:30 to 12:00. Alternatively, please leave a message and someone Maria Dweggah, Lindsay Martinez, will call you back. Website: https://who.int/formerstaff/en/. Resources for Jean-Paul Menu, Dev Ray, retirement: visit the site, https://www.who.int/formerstaff/issues/retirement/en/. Rosemary Villars. Formalities in case of death of a former WHO staff member: visit the AFSM website, https://www.who.int/formerstaff/about/en/ The translation of all articles is Health Insurance (SHI): Tel.: +41 (0) 22 791 18 18; in case of absence please leave a undertaken by the Editorial Board and message, someone will call you back, or send an e-mail to: [email protected]. The HQ SHI Helpdesk in office 2140 is open as follows: Monday: 1–3pm / Tuesday: 9–11am Catherine d’Arcangues, Michèle Evans and 1–3pm / Wednesday: Closed / Thursday: 9–11am and 1–3pm / Friday: 9–11am. and Anne Yamada. Pensions (UNJSPF): Contact by e-mail is no longer possible. Visitors between 09.00 The opinions expressed in this and 17.00 Monday to Friday except Thursday, at the Geneva office, Du Pont de Nemours Building, Chemin du Pavillon 2, 1218 Grand-Saconnex, at the New York newsletter are those of the authors and office, 4th floor, 1 Dag Hammarskjöld Plaza (DHP), Corner of 48th Street and 2nd not necessarily those of the Editorial Avenue, New York, NY 10017. Write via the “Contact us” link on the Fund’s website: Board. https://www.unjspf.org. Documents for NY by post, address to: United Nations Joint Staff Pension Fund, c/o United Nations, P.O. Box 5036, New York, NY 10163- Please send your contributions for 5036, USA. Documents for NY by courier (DHL, etc.) or registered mail, address to: publication in QNT to: Keith Wynn United Nations Joint Staff Pension Fund, 4th floor, 1 DHP, 885 Second Avenue, New [email protected] York, NY 10017, USA. Documents for Geneva, address to: UNJSPF, c/o Palais des Nations, CH-1211 Geneva 10, Switzerland. Telephone: Geneva: +41 (0) 22 928 88 00 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS or New York: +1 212 963 6931. See also the list of Toll-Free and local numbers at https://www.unjspf.org/toll-free-numbers/. In the case of non-receipt of the We very gratefully acknowledge the monthly benefit or the death of a beneficiary, visit the website: invaluable support of the Printing, https://www.unjspf.org/emergency/ for instructions. Distribution, and Mailing Services. Remember to always have your Unique ID number handy when contacting UNJSPF. 3 AFSM Quarterly News July 2021 QNT 124 OUR HEALTH Long Covid, the physical and mental sequelae of Covid-19 Covid-19 (Coronavirus disease-2019), a condition caused by the SARS-Cov-2 virus, can give rise to physical and/or mental symptoms several weeks or even months after its onset: this form of Covid-19, referred to as Long Covid (1), is characterized by intense fatigue, shortness of breath, headaches, insomnia, loss of smell or taste, neuromuscular disorders, problems of balance, concentration or vision, and also mental disorders, such as anxiety or depression. As they become identified, these various sequelae tiredness, loss of smell and taste, or shortness of – the pandemic is barely more than a year old and breath and cough. we are still far from fully understanding it – are the subject of several international studies. On 9 People aged 35–49 most likely to report symptoms of long February WHO organized a virtual international Covid seminar (2) specifically devoted to this question, Percentage of people reporting a symptom at least five weeks from assumed date of infection thus recognizing the existence of this entity. This Long Covid must "be considered of the utmost importance" for health authorities, said the WHO Regional Director for Europe. A study published in The Lancet, involving more than 1,700 hospital patients in China, found that six months later, 63% of them still complained of fatigue, 26% of difficulty sleeping and 23% of depression or anxiety. This post-Covid syndrome also affects previously healthy people who have not suffered from a severe form of the disease. Both charts were prepared by the UK Office for National Statistics (ONS). Coronavirus Infection Survey, 26 April 2020 to 6 March 2021. Fatigue most common Covid-19 symptom after five weeks 1. It should be noted however, that the relatively low percentage of Estimated five-week prevalence of symptoms Long Covid among those over 70 is due to the higher mortality in this age group, which consequently lowers the percentage. 2. Other statistics give shortness of breath as one of the most common symptoms, just after fatigue. However, overall, all the studies point in the same direction. The consequences of the disease are not only physical: a British study from the University of Oxford involving 62,000 people with Covid-19 (4), shows that 20% of patients displayed psychiatric disorders within 90 days following infection: problems adapting, anxiety, insomnia, post- traumatic stress, depression, and even dementia in These results emerge most notably from the some rare cases. follow-up carried out since March 2020 by the Another study – the largest to date with 236,000 Geneva University Hospitals (3) studying 700 patients – reviewing the mental assessment of people, 25% of whom were health professionals. former Covid-19 patients, indicated that one in The average age was 43 years and nearly 70% three people who have overcome the disease have displayed no underlying health problems. Six weeks been diagnosed with neurological or psychiatric after the diagnosis, 33% of them still suffered from 4 AFSM Quarterly News July 2021 QNT 124 disorders within six months of infection, (The However, the scale of the confinement Lancet psychiatry) (5). implemented during the pandemic is Anxiety (17%) and mood disorders (14%) were the unprecedented. The consequences of isolation are: most common diagnoses. The incidence of boredom, social isolation, stress, lack of sleep, neurological damage such as cerebral haemorrhage anxiety, post-traumatic stress, depression and (0.6%), stroke (2.1%), and dementia (0.7%) was suicidal thoughts, addictive behaviour, overall lower, but the risk was higher among hallucinations, and also over-eating and obesity. patients who had been severely ill. Domestic violence also increases, brought on by round-the-clock idleness and living in too close While the risk to an individual of most of these proximity. neurological and psychiatric disorders is low, the effect on health systems could be "considerable" We can add to this the decline in birth rates that due to the scale of the pandemic, notes Professor has occurred throughout the world – a cause of Paul Harrison (University of Oxford, UK), lead concern for the future. Conversely, an increase in author of the study. Especially since many of these unwanted pregnancies has been observed. disorders are "chronic", requiring health systems to As it can be seen, we are still far from fully be equipped "to meet these needs".