Federal Unity Colleges: 2021 National Common Entrance Examination Rescheduled To 5th June

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May 19, 2021

The National Examinations Council of Nigeria, NECO, has rescheduled the 2021 National Common Entrance Examination (NCEE) into Federal Unity Colleges to Saturday 5th June 2021.

this was disclosed in a statement by the examination’s Body Information Officer, Abdulazeez Sani, while adding that this was approved by the Federal Ministry of Education.

Sani said the examination initially scheduled for Saturday 29th May 2021, was postponed to give states with low registration of candidates the opportunity to register more candidates for the examination.

He added that “All candidates, parents, guardians and relevant stakeholders are therefore enjoined to take note of the new date for the examination.”

The registration of candidates according to the statement will continue till the new date of the examination.

Candidates, parents and guardians are advised to download the new Examination Time Table from the Council’s website: www.neco.gov.ng

Women are prone to Insomnia twice as Men are

By

Olasunbo Okoromi

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May 19, 2021

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Insomnia is one of the most usually reported sleep problems. One in four women have insomnia symptoms, such as trouble falling asleep, trouble staying asleep, or both. About one in seven adults has chronic (long-term) insomnia. Chronic insomnia can affect your ability to do daily tasks like working, going to school, or caring for yourself. Insomnia is more common in women, especially older women, than in men.

Insomnia is a common sleep disorder. It is defined as an inability to go to sleep, waking up too early, or feeling unrested after sleep for at least three nights a week for at least three months. Most adult women need to get seven or more hours of sleep a night to feel rested.

Chronic or long-term insomnia makes it difficult to accomplish routine tasks like going to work or school and taking care of themselves. Insomnia can lead to or contribute to the development of other health problems, such as depression, heart disease, and stroke.

There are different types of insomnia which are:

Primary insomnia

Primary insomnia is a disorder. It is not a symptom or a side effect of another medical condition. Your doctor may diagnose your sleeplessness as primary insomnia after ruling out other medical conditions as a cause.

Secondary insomnia

Secondary insomnia is caused by or happens alongside other health conditions or as a side effect of prescribed medicines. It can be acute (short-term) or chronic (long-term). Most people with chronic insomnia have secondary insomnia.

Causes of primary insomnia

The exact cause of primary insomnia is unknown. It may be lifelong, or it can happen because of changes in your routine during travel or stressful life events.

Causes of secondary insomnia

Conditions that may trigger or happen at the same time as secondary insomnia include:

Mental health conditions, such as depression, anxiety, or post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD)

Traumatic brain injury (TBI)

Neurological (brain) disorders, such as Alzheimer’s disease or Parkinson’s disease

Conditions that cause chronic pain, such as arthritis

Conditions that make it hard to breathe, such as asthma and sleep apnea

Trouble with hormones, including thyroid problems

Gastrointestinal disorders, such as heartburn

Stroke

Other sleep disorders, such as restless leg syndrome (RLS)

Menopause symptoms, such as hot flashes

Cancer

Side effects of medicines, like those to treat cancer, asthma, heart disease, allergies, and colds

Other things that can keep you from getting enough sleep include:

Caffeine, tobacco, and alcohol

Caffeine and nicotine in tobacco products can disrupt sleep, especially if taken within several hours of going to bed. Alcohol may make it easier to fall asleep at first, but it can cause you to wake up too early and not be able to fall back asleep.

A traumatic event

People who witness or experience a traumatic event, such as an accident, natural disaster, physical attack, or war, can have trouble falling and staying asleep. Getting treatment for symptoms of anxiety or PTSD as a result of the trauma can help insomnia get better.

A bad sleep environment

Having a bed or place to sleep that is uncomfortable, unsafe, noisy, or too bright can make it difficult to fall asleep.

A partner with sleep problems

If you sleep with a partner who snores or has sleep apnea, your sleep may be more restless and interrupted. Snoring and sleep apnea can be treated.

Pregnancy

During pregnancy, especially in the third trimester, you may wake up more often than usual because of discomfort, leg cramps, or needing to use the bathroom.

Having a new baby

Changing hormone levels after childbirth can disrupt your sleep. Very young babies do not usually sleep longer than a few hours at a time and need to be fed every few hours.

Who is likely to get insomnia

Anyone can get insomnia, but it affects more women than men. More than one in four women in the United States experience insomnia, compared with fewer than one in five men. In one study, women of all ages reported worse sleep quality than men, including taking longer to fall asleep, sleeping for shorter periods of time, and feeling sleepier when awake.

Older women are at a higher risk of insomnia. Other people at risk for insomnia include those who experience a lot of stress, those who have depression or other mental health conditions, those who work nights or have an irregular sleep schedule, such as shift workers, people who travel long distances with time changes, such as air travelers and those who have certain medical conditions, like sleep apnea, asthma, and fibromyalgia.

Why do more women have insomnia than men

Women may be more likely to have insomnia than men because women experience unique hormonal changes that can cause insomnia symptoms. These include hormonal changes during:

The menstrual cycle:

On days leading up to their period, many women report problems going to sleep and staying asleep. This is especially common in women who have premenstrual dysphoric disorder (PMDD), a more severe type of premenstrual syndrome (PMS).

Pregnancy:

When pregnant, especially in the third trimester, Women may wake up often because of discomfort, leg cramps, or needing to use the bathroom.

Perimenopause and menopause:

During menopause, hot flashes and night sweats can disturb sleep.

Some health problems that can cause secondary insomnia are more common in women than in men which include:

Depression and anxiety: People with insomnia are 10 times more likely to have depression, and 17 times more likely to have anxiety. Researchers aren’t sure if mental health conditions lead to insomnia or if insomnia leads to mental health conditions. But not getting enough sleep may make mental health conditions worse.

Fibromyalgia: The pain experienced with fibromyalgia can make it difficult to fall asleep and stay asleep.

How does insomnia affect women’s health

Insomnia can cause you to feel tired, anxious, or irritable in the short term. Over time, lack of sleep may increase your risk for more serious problems, including:

Accidents

Health problems, including diabetes and high blood pressure

Increased risk for falls, especially in older women

Women who have long-term insomnia may be more at risk than men with long-term insomnia for mood problems, heart disease and stroke, and obesity.

How to treat insomnia

If your insomnia is caused by a short-term change in your sleep/wake schedule, such as with jet lag, your sleep schedule will probably return to normal on its own.

Chronic or long-term insomnia can be treated with steps you can try at home to sleep better, cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) and prescription medicines.

If insomnia is a symptom or side effect of another health problem, your doctor may recommend treating the other health problem at the same time. When the other health problem is treated, secondary insomnia often goes away on its own. For example, if menopause symptoms, such as hot flashes, are keeping you awake, your doctor might try treating the hot flashes first. Research suggests that older women who use hormone replacement therapy, eat healthy foods based on a Mediterranean diet, and limit how much caffeine and alcohol they drink may have fewer sleep problems than women who did not do the same

Talk to your doctor or nurse if you have symptoms of insomnia, and ask about the best ways to treat insomnia.

The importance of Sleep

Sleep is essential for good health. During sleep, our bodies and brains repair themselves. Some research suggests our brains use the time during sleep to clear away toxins that build up during the day. Sleep is also important to our ability to learn and form memories. Not getting enough sleep puts people at risk of health problems.

Tips to get better sleep better

It can be difficult to change everyday habits, but if you can stick with some of these changes, you might be able to improve your sleep. You may need to try these tips for several days in a row to improve sleep.

Try to go to sleep at the same time each night or when you get sleepy.

Try to get up at the same time each morning, regardless of how well you slept.

Do not nap longer than 30 minutes or anytime between 3 p.m. and bedtime.

Go outside every day for at least 15 to 20 minutes. The natural light will help you get into a natural pattern of sleeping.

Before bedtime, try to avoid bright, artificial light from computer screens, mobile phones, or televisions. Do not allow electronic devices in the bedroom.

Follow a regular, relaxing routine at the same time each night when you get ready for bed.

Go to bed only after winding down and when you are ready to sleep. Do not read in bed, listen to music, or do other activities that engage your mind and can keep you awake.

Keep your bedroom dark, quiet, and cool for sleeping. Use a sleep mask or light-blocking curtains. Use earplugs, a fan, or a white noise machine or app on your phone to block out sounds.

Do not drink alcohol or caffeine or use nicotine for at least five hours before bedtime.

Get regular physical activity during the daytime. Exercise or physical activity close to bedtime, or anytime in the five or six hours before sleeping, can make it harder to fall asleep.

Do not eat heavy meals or drink a lot of liquids two to three hours before bed.

If you still cannot sleep after about 15 minutes of getting into bed and turning out the light, get out of bed and do something relaxing until you feel sleepy.

See your doctor or a sleep specialist if you think that you have insomnia or another sleep problem.

Research consistently finds that women around the world are more likely to struggle with sleep than men are. However, it is good to remember that prioritizing sleep is important, no matter your gender.

New virtual network saves global milk banks

By

Cleopatra Okohai

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May 19, 2021

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COVID-19 pandemic which presented unprecedented challenges for the global milk banking movement has also boosted collaboration between milk banks from around the world that previously worked in silos.

The challenges which are partly driven by early uncertainty over whether the coronavirus could be transmitted through breast milk.

Human milk banks saw increased demand and decreased donations, due to reasons ranging from lockdowns to some women’s fears of leaving their houses to donate. Challenges continue in places such as India, where one factor driving the demand for donor milk is new mothers dying of the coronavirus, experts told Devex.

But COVID-19 also boosted collaboration between milk banks from around the world that previously worked in silos, despite their many shared challenges.

In the early days of the pandemic, dozens of milk banks and associations came together in a WhatsApp group to help each other navigate the rapidly changing information landscape.

COVID-19 created major setbacks on progress around initiating early breastfeeding, keeping mothers and babies together after delivery, and ensuring donor milk is available when needed. That made a virtual collaborative network more critical than ever.

Now these groups are working to formalize the Global Alliance of Milk Banks and Associations, or GAMBA, which aims to bring together milk banks from across the globe to share information, discuss evidence, and develop consensus around best practices in milk banking in the context of the pandemic and beyond.

Most of GAMBA’s members are milk banks and associations, though several NGOs are also involved, including the Seattle-based global health organization PATH and the global nutrition initiative Alive & Thrive.

“The entire field needs innovations [including] developing guidance and standards, advocacy, generating evidence.”

Evidence increasingly shows that providing donor breast milk to premature, vulnerable, or low birth weight infants who cannot access their mothers’ milk leads to better outcomes compared with formula.

The milk often comes from milk banks, which recruit donors, collect their milk, and process, screen, and store it before distributing it to infants in need — with the goal of providing a bridge to breastfeeding.

There is inequity in the milk banking system, particularly in low- and middle-income countries and regions such as sub-Saharan Africa, where demand outweighs supply and newborns are 10 times more likely to die compared with infants in high-income countries.

PATH has worked on technology solutions to solve these inequities. For example, it has developed an app to guide flash-heat pasteurization, a simple method of manually killing bacteria in breast milk.

More recently, the NGO has been developing a digital tool to support data-driven decision-making related to lactation and breastfeeding, infant feeding and diet, and the use of donor milk.

But over time, leaders at PATH realized that the barriers to scaling up safe milk banking in low- and middle-income countries extended far beyond technology.

“The entire field needs innovations,” said Kiersten Israel-Ballard, who leads the human milk initiative at PATH, adding that this includes “developing guidance and standards, advocacy, generating evidence.”

PATH has been involved in efforts to share best practices in milk banking from place to place. For example, it organized a learning exchange in 2015 that brought technical experts from India to Brazil. The exchange was one factor in the eventual formation of an association for India’s milk banks.

Malawi burns 20,000 expired AstraZeneca vaccine

By

Cleopatra Okohai

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May 19, 2021

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Nearly 20,000 doses of AstraZeneca vaccine has been set ablaze in Malawi due to expiration.

The government incinerated 19,610 doses of the vaccine at Kamuzu Central Hospital in the capital Lilongwe on Wednesday morning.

The vaccines were the remainder of 102,000 doses that arrived in Malawi on March 26 with just 18 days until they expired on April 13, according to Health Secretary Charles Mwansambo.

All other doses of the shipment, donated by the African Union, were successfully administered, he said.

Malawi’s burning of the vaccines negate calls to not do so by the World Health Organization and the Africa Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Last month, WHO urged African countries not to destroy COVID-19 vaccines that passed their expiration dates, saying they were still safe to use.

But the calls came too late for Malawi, a small southern African country of about 20 million people, ministry of health spokesman Joshua Malango told The Associated Press.

“We had stopped observation of proper storage mechanisms and the vaccines would have still been damaged in one way or the other,” he said.

The destruction of the vaccines was witnessed by several top officials from the auditor-general’s office, the treasury, and the anti-corruption bureau “in order to enhance transparency,” health official Mwansambo said.

Malawi will still have adequate stocks of COVID-19 vaccines in both public and private health facilities, he said.

Malawi’s got its first consignment of 360,000 AstraZeneca doses in early March from the U.N.-backed COVAX initiative which is providing vaccines to low- and middle-income countries.

The country received another batch of 50,000 AstraZeneca doses from the Indian government. With the AU donation, Malawi had a total of 512,000 AstraZeneca doses.

So far 212,615 doses have been given in Malawi. 34,216 confirmed cases, including 1,153 deaths, according to the Africa CDC.

Malawi, like many other African countries, has relied on the AstraZeneca vaccine that has been distributed by COVAX and the African Union.

But now supplies of the vaccine have become more scarce because India, the main supplier of vaccines to COVAX, has stopped exports until it has adequately vaccinated large numbers of its population of 1.4 billion people.

The Serum Institute of India says it hopes to start delivering coronavirus vaccines to COVAX and to other countries by the end of the year.

India’s Serum Institute is the world’s biggest vaccine-maker. The company said in March that it was postponing all exports of coronavirus vaccines to deal with the explosive surge of cases on the subcontinent.

At the time, the World Health Organization said it expected COVID-19 vaccine deliveries from India to resume by June and the interruption would affect about 90 million doses.

Emefiele foresees production boost with CBN Ekiti rice pyramid programme

By

Cleopatra Okohai

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May 19, 2021

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Over 12,000 farmers are to benefit as the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), yesterday, flagged off the rice pyramid programme in Ekiti State, with a vision to finance over three million rice farmers nationwide to boost production and improve the agriculture value-chain.

This came as Governors of Ekiti State, Dr. Kayode Fayemi, Rotimi Akeredolu (Ondo), Atiku Bagudu (Kebbi), Mohammed Badaru Abubakar (Jigawa) and Gboyega Oyetola (Osun), described the programme as a good scheme that would reduce import and make Nigeria fully independent in food production.

Dr. Kayode Fayemi, Rotimi Akeredolu (Ondo), Atiku Bagudu (Kebbi), Mohammed Badaru Abubakar (Jigawa) and Gboyega Oyetola (Osun), described the programme as a good scheme that would reduce import and make Nigeria fully independent in food production.

CBN Governor, Dr. Godwin Emefiele, who spoke while unveiling the first rice pyramid in the South-West in Ado-Ekiti, the state capital, said the anchor borrowers’ programme had expanded agriculture production for 21 crops across Nigeria.

He said that over three million farmers were being financed in the production of a variety of Agric products that can improve the economy, provide jobs and increase Nigeria’s imports for foreign exchange earnings.

Emefiele said some governors had accessed N1.5 billion each to undertake such policy in their states.

The CBN governor, who debunked the widespread rumour that some of the agriculture boosting programmes of President Muhammadu Buhari was concentrated in a section of the country, said that out of N700 billion earmarked for the Anchor Borrowers Programme, more than N300 billion had been disbursed in the southern part of the country for the expansion of food production.

Emefiele, who said the bank’s programmes to boost agriculture were spread over all parts of the country, stated that over N300bn out of the N700bn earmarked for the ABP had been disbursed in the southern part of the country for food production.

While speaking on the rice pyramid project, which is the first in the South-West, he said, “The pyramid unveiling moment for the 2021 wet season started in Niger State, moved to Kebbi, touched Gombe, and now, we are in Ekiti State and we want it to touch all states in the coming months.

“We strongly believe that this event will generate the required momentum to catalyse rice cultivation in the region and provide a sustainable source of paddy for the numerous rice mills springing up in the South-West and its environs.”

Fayemi said Buhari had demonstrated the capacity to tackle poverty and reduce dependence on foreign food by many of his initiatives in the agriculture sector, adding that rice clearing, production of seedlings and farm implements at low interest would enhance rice value-chain from primary producers to processors.

Akeredolu, in his remarks, said Ekiti had always been known for rice production, saying this programme would return the lost glory and redirect the state to the right path of economic greatness.

In the same vein, Bagudu said the success of rice production was due to strong collaboration between the Federal Government, especially CBN and the governors.

Meanwhile, speaking about the importance of agriculture, the Jigawa State governor said that for Nigeria to progress, it must produce to substitute import.

Governor Gboyega Oyetola said the programme would enhance food sufficiency, diversification programme of the government and good security status.

Oyetola appealed to Nigerians to patronise local foods to serve as a morale booster to farmers to be able to produce more.

Nasdaq Finish Down 0.6%, with Apple, Amazon and Facebook Losing More Than 1%

By

Angel Gimalo

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May 18, 2021

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Wall Street stocks finished firmly lower Tuesday after a tech sector rally faded in the latter portion of the session, even as Walmart and other retailers reported strong results.

Investors have been awaiting a bounce in the tech-rich Nasdaq following a period of weakness, but a late-session dive pushed it lower, along with the Dow and S&P 500.

“Unfortunately, dip-buyers were flaky today, thereby keeping a lid on risk sentiment and keeping the S&P 500 within a consolidation trend,” said Briefing.com.

The Nasdaq finished down 0.6 percent, with Apple, Amazon and Facebook all losing more than one percent.

Earlier, European bourses closed little moved after earlier flurries of post-coronavirus optimism, while oil prices fell and the dollar steadied.

US stocks have been choppy the last few weeks as investors weigh signs of rising inflation against hopes for strengthening economic growth in the second half of 2021.

Data Tuesday showed new home construction in the United States dropped in April, falling 9.5 percent after the prior month saw strong growth.

The report comes ahead of Wednesday’s release of Federal Reserve meeting minutes. The central bank has repeatedly emphasized it will maintain its easy-money posture, but volatility in markets show investors remain skeptical of those assurances.

An exception on Wall Street was Walmart, which gained 2.2 percent after reporting earnings that topped analysts’ expectations by a wide margin, even as sales growth slowed from the peak of the pandemic.

Elsewhere, London, Frankfurt and the Euro Stoxx index were all close to flat, while Paris fell slightly.

Economic data showing a 1.3 percent first-quarter contraction in Japan didn’t hold Tokyo’s stock market back from leading Asian gains, while Taiwan and Singapore defied fears of spreading coronavirus variants to close higher.

Oil fell back, in part due to reports of progress on talks in Vienna to bring the United States and Iran back into the 2015 nuclear deal.

And the dollar slid versus its main rivals.

BK Asset Management’s Kathy Lien attributed the greenback’s drop to disappointing US housing data, which followed the lackluster April jobs report.

“It was only a matter of time before the dollar sold off across the board as these reports reinforce the Federal Reserve’s reluctance to respond to rising price pressures,” Lien said.

“At a time when the global recovery is gaining momentum, the dollar should underperform.”

Key figures around 2040 GMT –
New York – Dow: DOWN 0.9 percent at 34,060.66 (close)

New York – S&P 500: DOWN 0.9 percent at 4,127.83 (close)

New York – Nasdaq: DOWN 0.6 percent at 13,303.64 (close)

London – FTSE 100: FLAT at 7,034.24 (close)

Frankfurt – DAX 30: DOWN 0.1 percent at 15,386.58 (close)

Paris – CAC 40: DOWN 0.2 percent at 6,353.67 (close)

EURO STOXX 50: DOWN less than 0.1 percent at 4,005.34 (close)

Tokyo – Nikkei 225: UP 2.1 percent at 28,406.84 (close)

Hong Kong – Hang Seng Index: UP 1.4 percent at 28,593.81 (close)

Shanghai – Composite: UP 0.3 percent at 3,529.01 (close)

Euro/dollar: UP at $1.2226 from $1.2152 at 2100 GMT on Monday

Pound/dollar: UP at $1.4186 from $1.4134

Euro/pound: DOWN at 86.17 pence from 85.98 pence

Dollar/yen: DOWN at 108.91 yen from 109.21 yen

Brent North Sea crude: DOWN 1.1 percent at $68.71 per barrel

West Texas Intermediate: DOWN 1.2 percent at $65.49 per barrel

Over 50 Missing After Migrant Boat From Libya Sinks

By

Angel Gimalo

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May 18, 2021

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More than 50 people went missing after a migrant boat headed from Libya to Europe sank off Tunisia, the defence ministry said Tuesday.

Defence ministry spokesman Mohamed Zikri said 32 survivors of the shipwreck were picked up after clinging to an oil platform off the southern coast of Tunisia.

All of those rescued are from Bangladesh, he added.

Flavio Di Giacomo, a spokesman for the International Organization for Migration, told AFP, “We don’t know the nationality of the more than 50 who are missing”.

The boat, crammed with around 90 passengers, left the Libyan port of Zuwara on Sunday.

It was not immediately clear what caused the boat to sink, but vessels leaving the North African coast for Europe are often heavily overloaded makeshift crafts, departing at night even in rough weather to avoid detection by the coastguard.

Tunisian rescuers were bringing the survivors to the port of Zarzis, some 100 kilometres (70 miles) northwest of Zuwara.

Departures from Libya, a key gateway for Europe-bound migrants, have increased since the start of the year.

There were 11,000 departures between January and April, 73 percent more than the same period last year, due in particular to the “deterioration” of the situation for foreigners in the country, according to the UN refugee agency, UNHCR.

Neighbouring Tunisia regularly provides assistance to migrants in difficulty in the central Mediterranean, one of the deadliest migration routes, according to the United Nations.

President Marcelo Acknowledges Portugal’s Colonial Past

By

Angel Gimalo

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May 18, 2021

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Portugal’s President Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa on Tuesday acknowledged his country’s not always positive colonial past, during a visit to the former colony of Guinea-Bissau.

Making the first visit to the country by a Portuguese head of state for 31 years, Rebelo de Sousa said Portugal “fully acknowledges” its colonial past “including those aspects which were not positive”.

The West African nation of Guinea-Bissau fought a war of independence and became a sovereign state in 1974.

Portugal is a bridge between cultures and “it has been throughout its history, not always well, often badly,” said the Portuguese leader, who arrived in Bissau Monday for a 24-hour visit after a stay in Cape Verde.

Rebelo de Sousa held talks with his Guinean counterpart Umaro Sissoco Embalo.

He visited a cemetery where hundreds of Portuguese soldiers who died during the independence war are buried.

Rebelo de Sousa also laid a wreath at the tomb of Amilcal Cabral, the Guinea-Bissau independence leader killed in Conakry in 1973.

Over 50 Missing After Migrant Boat From Libya Sinks

By

Angel Gimalo

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May 18, 2021

0

More than 50 people went missing after a migrant boat headed from Libya to Europe sank off Tunisia, the defence ministry said Tuesday.

Defence ministry spokesman Mohamed Zikri said 32 survivors of the shipwreck were picked up after clinging to an oil platform off the southern coast of Tunisia.

All of those rescued are from Bangladesh, he added.

Flavio Di Giacomo, a spokesman for the International Organization for Migration, told AFP, “We don’t know the nationality of the more than 50 who are missing”.

The boat, crammed with around 90 passengers, left the Libyan port of Zuwara on Sunday.

It was not immediately clear what caused the boat to sink, but vessels leaving the North African coast for Europe are often heavily overloaded makeshift crafts, departing at night even in rough weather to avoid detection by the coastguard.

Tunisian rescuers were bringing the survivors to the port of Zarzis, some 100 kilometres (70 miles) northwest of Zuwara.

Departures from Libya, a key gateway for Europe-bound migrants, have increased since the start of the year.

There were 11,000 departures between January and April, 73 percent more than the same period last year, due in particular to the “deterioration” of the situation for foreigners in the country, according to the UN refugee agency, UNHCR.

Neighbouring Tunisia regularly provides assistance to migrants in difficulty in the central Mediterranean, one of the deadliest migration routes, according to the United Nations.

Argentine Meat Producers Announce Strike Over Exports Ban

By

Angel Gimalo

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May 18, 2021

0

Argentine Meat Producers announced on Tuesday they would stop selling beef and veal for one week in response to a month-long government suspension on exports due to rising prices.

The Liaison Commission for Agricultural Entities, which represents agricultural producers and businesses, declared a “cessation of all categories of cattle trade” from Thursday to May 28.

On Monday night, the government announced a suspension on foreign meat sales to “get the sector in order, restrict speculative practices and avoid tax evasion in foreign trade.”

Earlier on Tuesday, President Alberto Fernandez insisted that Argentina could not accept the recent rise in meat prices in a country already reeling from three years of recession and the adverse economic impact of the coronavirus pandemic.

“The meat issue has got out of hand. The price is rising every month without justification. We need to get it under control,” Fernandez told Radio 10.

The government took the decision due to the strong impact that price rises have on Argentina’s inflation, already one of the highest in the world and which increased by 17.6 percent during the first four months of the year, according to the INDEC statistics institute.

The cost of living has soared 46.3 percent in the last 12 months but beef prices in April were 65.3 percent higher than the same month in 2020, the Argentine Institute of Beef Promotion (IPCVA) said.

Argentines ate 38 kilograms (84 pounds) of beef and veal per head in 2019 — the most among Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development countries (OECD), and about 12 kilograms per head more than the United States.

Argentina is also the fourth largest exporter of beef in the world, the revenues from which are vital to the country’s economy.

In 2020, Argentina exported $3.37 billion worth of beef and cow leather — a 16.5 percent drop compared with 2019 — primarily to China, Germany and Israel, according to INDEC.

But poverty affects 42 percent of Argentines, and Fernandez is trying to reduce the cost of living by implementing price controls through agreements with business sectors.

Meat processing plants offer certain cuts of meat at reduced prices but Fernandez said it’s “a crumb of 8,000 tons of meat when here we eat 200,000 tons a month.”