Dana Malcolm 

Staff Writer 

#UnitedKingdom, September 29, 2023 – Regulating the use of Artificial Intelligence (AI) is an extremely high priority in the United Kingdom, this year the country devoted the majority of its speech at the 78th UN General Assembly to the issue.

“It’s going to change everything we do education, business, healthcare, defense, it is going to change the way we live and it is going to change governments, and relations between nations, fundamentally,” Oliver Dowden, UK Deputy Prime Minister said.

The General Assembly gathers country leaders from around the world at its New York City headquarters and gives them a chance to debate topical issues that affect the global population.  The majority of the UK’s 19 minutes was spent warning the leaders about the need to create laws governing AI now.

Describing it as the biggest change the world has ever known, the Minister called on countries to follow up and deal swiftly with the emerging technology, as the incorporation of AI in every facet of living is developing, practically overnight.

“At this frontier, we must accept the fact that we simply don’t know the bounds and possibilities— in AI time, years are days— In fact, every single problem discussed at this year’s General Assembly could be improved or even solved by AI.”

Despite this potential for good, he maintains that it also has the potential for great evil, necessitating regulation.  The UK is holding an AI Summit in November to tackle the issue.

“We cannot afford to become trapped in debates about whether AI is a tool for good or ill.  It will be a tool for both. We must prepare for both and ensure against the latter.”

Migration and climate change were mentioned in passing as well. Both are issues which affect British overseas territory, the Turks and Caicos Islands.

Dowden also spoke on food shortages caused by the Russia invasion of Ukraine.

“Those hit by food shortages, particularly in developing countries, are Putin’s victims too,” he stressed.

The 78th UN General Assembly ended on September 22nd

Dana Malcolm

Staff Writer 

September 29, 2023 – COVID-19 is no longer a Public Health Emergency of International Concern, but the disease is still present and can still affect the population including children.

Cough fever and difficulty breathing are only some of the symptoms that young children and babies might experience when infected with the viral illness, according to a report from Johns Hopkins Medicine.

Other symptoms include muscle or body aches; sore throat; loss of taste or smell; diarrhea; headache; fatigue; nausea or vomiting; congestion or runny nose.

Children may not be eloquent enough to properly convey their illness so parents are advised to pay close attention to their complaints and visible symptoms.

Though COVID-19 can be a mild disease for most, there are some cases that warrant immediate emergency medical attention the hospital says. These include:

• Difficulty breathing or catching his or her breath
• Inability to keep down any liquids
• confusion or inability to awaken
• Bluish lips

Both COVID and the flu tend to spike during the winter flu season so parents are advised to take precautions against them including mask wearing in high risk areas and frequent hand washing.

Dana Malcolm

Staff Writer 

#TurksandCaicos, September 29, 2023 – Hypertension affects 1 in 3 adults worldwide, and if countries do not scale up coverage tens of millions of people will die.  That’s according to a first-of-its-kind report on the global effects of hypertension from the World Health Organization.

The September 19th report indicated that the number of people living with hypertension has doubled in less than 30 years, between 1990 and 2019, from 650 million to 1.3 billion and nearly half of the affected are unaware.

The WHO is now calling on all countries including the Turks and Caicos to invest in the prevention, detection and management of hypertension as a matter of urgency.

The organization crunched the numbers to show countries what more focused programs could do.

“An increase in the number of patients effectively treated for hypertension to levels observed in high-performing countries could prevent 76 million deaths, 120 million strokes, 79 million heart attacks, and 17 million cases of heart failure between now and 2050,” it said.

Along with saving lives, the WHO says it can also decrease spending on health.  Health is usually the largest portion of the TCI budget.  The cost of preventing and managing the disease versus treating its effects is massive.

“The prevention, early detection and effective management of hypertension are among the most cost-effective interventions in health care and should be prioritized by countries as part of their national health benefit package offered at a primary care level.  The economic benefits of improved hypertension treatment programs outweigh the costs by about 18 to 1.”