Women plead for basic rights in Afghanistan .

Afghan women's rights defenders and civil activists protest to call on the Taliban for the preservation of their achievements and education, in front of the presidential palace in Kabul, Afghanistan

 

As the Taliban increasingly excludes women from public life in Afghanistan, some are determined to speak out despite the threat of retribution from the hardline Islamist group.

The Taliban were notorious for their brutally oppressive rule from 1996 to 2001, when women were banned from going to school or work and only allowed to leave the house with a male chaperone.

They have promised to change, saying they would respect women’s rights within the framework of Islamic sharia law, but many remain sceptical.

In Kabul—the city that has seen the most change over the past 20 years—some young women, such as activist Shaqaiq Hakimi, refuse to be forced into exile by a return to Taliban rule.

“I want to fight and regain the rights that they took from us. We don’t need to go to another country. This is our homeland,” she told AFP.

“If we are not forced to leave, then we won’t go anywhere.”

The Taliban claim that blocks on women returning to work or girls going to secondary school will be lifted once new systems are established.

But this is an echo of the early days of the last regime, which never allowed women to return.

NGO worker Farkhunda Zahidbaig, 21, described how Taliban fighters entered her office to tell management that women employees should leave.

“After this, our boss made the decision that the rest of us shouldn’t come to the office,” she said.

“Women want to have a profession, but... they can’t continue in their jobs. The Taliban have taken away their freedom to work.”

‘We’re afraid’

Shabana, who asked to not be identified, is fearful she will never find a job again.

This would leave the 26-year-old unable to provide for loved ones.

“I am very worried because I was the sole breadwinner of the family,” said the former employee of a Swedish organisation.

Gains for women under the Western-backed government were largely confined to cities in the conservative country, but the Taliban have faced international censure for incrementally stripping them away.

Their all-male government has also shut down the former administration’s ministry of women’s affairs and replaced it with one that earned notoriety during their first stint in power for enforcing religious doctrine.

On top of the pressures of unemployment, women now fear going outside alone.

“We’re afraid that if we go out the Taliban might whip us or hit us,” said Shabana, who was travelling around Kabul with her father.

“We can’t even go to the bazaar alone.”

Hakimi said she would wait to see if the Taliban fulfil their promise to allow all Afghans to go back to work or school. Source : AFP

 

 

 

 

UK NHS commences Galleri blood test to detect 50 cancer types .

The National Health Service (NHS) in the UK has commenced the largest clinical trial for assessing healthcare company Grail’s Galleri blood test, which can identify more than 50 cancer types before symptoms emerge. 

The Galleri test can potentially detect chemical changes in fragments of genetic code-cell-free deoxyribonucleic acid (cfDNA) that leak from tumours into the bloodstream. 

The simple blood test can check for the initial signs of cancer in the blood, the NHS noted. 

The randomised control trial will be conducted by The Cancer Research UK and King’s College London Cancer Prevention Trials Unit, along with the NHS and Grail.

A first of its kind study, the NHS-Galleri trial plans to enrol 140,000 subjects in eight regions across England to assess the efficacy of the test for use in the NHS.

The blood samples from the first subjects in the trial will be obtained at mobile testing clinics in retail parks, as well as at various convenient community locations. 

The trial’s participants must not have had a cancer diagnosis in the last three years.  

“The Galleri blood test, if successful, could play a major part in achieving our NHS Long Term Plan ambition to catch three-quarters of cancers at an early stage, when they are easier to treat.”

According to research so far, the test was demonstrated to be effective at finding cancers that are usually difficult to detect in the early stages, such as head and neck, bowel, lung, pancreatic and throat cancers.

Grail Europe president Harpal Kumar said: “The Galleri test can not only detect a wide range of cancer types but can also predict where the cancer is in the body with a high degree of accuracy.

“The test is particularly strong at detecting deadly cancers and has a very low rate of false positives.” 

Patients whose cancer is detected in the early stages – either one or two – usually have a wider range of therapy options available, which can be curative and are less aggressive.

Preliminary results from the trial are anticipated to be reported in 2023. The NHS intends to expand the rollout to one million individuals in 2024 and 2025.