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Month: September 2020

Nuclear technology to boost early cancer detection

by: Stephanie Horsman
29/09/2020

The Princess Grace Hospital has unveiled its new €8.2 million Nuclear Medicine Department, housing the latest equipment to treat a wider number of pathologies faster and earlier.

After three years of building works, the Princess Grace Hospital Centre has opened the doors to its new Nuclear Medicine Department. Headed up by Professor Marc Farragi, the centre had its formal inauguration ceremony on Monday with many Monaco officials in attendance including Minister of State Pierre Dartout and the President of the National Council Stéphane Valeri.

This high-performance wing will be able to give patients the most recent generation of detection equipment, allowing for more ailments to be detected at earlier stages using devices that offer higher resolutions. The machines are all completely digital and include a nuclear cardiology unit and two PET (Positron Emission Tomography) scanners which have incredibly high-resolution imaging capabilities.

The cardio unit also boasts a new CZT gamma camera, doubling the number of patients the hospital can see and giving doctors a better idea of what is happening in the heart and surrounding arteries. This means the chance of identifying problems early on is now far greater.

Equally, two radio-pharmacists have been brought onboard who are using new radiopharmaceutical equipment to help in the detection and treatment of certain cancers with greater accuracy, thus expanding the hospitals ability to work more on-site and getting faster results.

The total investment came in at €8.2 million and was built with the help of the Monegasque government, as well as through private funding offered by the Foundation des Amis du CHPG and the Tabor Foundation.

 

Photo © Direction de la Communication / Stéphane Danna

 
 

World leaders pledge to reverse biodiversity loss

by: Stephanie Horsman
29/09/2020

Prince Albert II is among 64 world leaders who have promised to put the environment at the top of the post-Covid economic recovery list, joining the Leaders Pledge for Nature ahead of the United Nations Summit on Biodiversity.
Prince Albert joins the likes of Emmanuel Macron, Angela Merkel, Justin Trudeau, Jacinda Ardern and Boris Johnson in his commitment for “meaningful action” to halt the rampant destruction of life-sustaining ecosystems.
The Leaders Pledge for Nature includes a10-point programme that is aimed at fighting pollution, countering biodiversity loss, restoring ecosystems and adopting sustainable economic practices. It was launched virtually in New York on Monday, ahead of the United Nations Summit on Biodiversity, which will also be held virtually, on Wednesday.
In the Prince’s videotaped message shared on social media, he states: “Biodiversity loss is an urgent threat to health, food supplies and livelihoods across the globe, as well as cultural and spiritual benefits. Unless we take greater action to protect and restore nature, all of us will face significant declines in the vital services that it provides to us every day.”
“Oceans and seas continue to be in great danger and do not receive the attention they deserve. Together, we can set nature on the path to recovery by 2030 and transition to a nature-positive world that safe-guards human health and livelihoods in both the short and long term,” he added in a nod to his passion for ocean protection.

Participants in the Leaders Pledge for Nature are calling for “a transformative change”, noting that things cannot continue the way they are. The game plan is to combine strong political will with actual accountability as well as legal, economic and financial backing to provide incentives to make the necessary changes in attitudes toward environmental management.
The leaders describe the pledge as a “turning point” by which future generations will judge their willingness to act on environmental destruction.
 
Photo: At the Drina River, which flows between Montenegro, Serbia and Bosnia, tons of garbage is stuck near a key hydroelectric power plant, forming huge garbage islands that float on the surface.
 
 

Breast Cancer Awareness Month: Get the word out 

by: Cassandra Tanti
29/09/2020

Faced with a “significant drop” in mammograms this year due to Covid-testing, Pink Ribbon Monaco is embarking on a new awareness campaign that will coincide with International Breast Cancer Awareness Month this October.
For the 10th consecutive year, Monaco’s most important monuments will be bathed in pink on Friday 2nd October, joining 200 of the largest cities in the world. The Prince’s Palace, the Monaco Conseil National, Hotel Metropole Monte-Carlo, the Tour Odéon, the Yacht Club of Monaco, Hotel Columbus, The Monte-Carlo Casino, the Oceanographic Museum, and the Grimaldi Forum will join together in promoting breast cancer awareness and early detection.
This year’s awareness campaign is even more important given the fact that life-saving cancer testing has been interrupted because of the Covid health crisis.
“One of the consequences of the global pandemic we are living is a massive influx of Covid-19 testing, to the detriment of breast cancer screening,” said Natasha Frost-Savio, President and Founder of Pink Ribbon Monaco. “The Princess Grace Hospital Centre has alerted us to the significant drop in mammograms in the past months. This drop in testing prevents early diagnosis, with serious health consequences. We need to redouble our attention to the first signs of the disease and encourage women to get tested, more than ever.”
As a result, Pink Ribbon Monaco is creating a light-hearted short film based on interviews with men and women in the Principality to hit home the importance of screenings, as well as highlighting the “power and help of our community in the face of all diseases”.
The second annual Pink Ribbon Awards and a 10th anniversary celebratory have been postponed until next year.
Breast cancer is the most common form of cancer in women worldwide, with over two million new cases being logged each year.
 
 

Leclerc escapes penalty in Russian Grand Prix

by: Stephanie Horsman
28/09/2020

After a few dismal showings, Charles Leclerc clawed his way to a sixth place finish at the Russian Grand Prix, but the race was not without controversy.

Racing Point pilot Lance Stroll was clearly irritated that Charles Leclerc escaped penalty for clipping him and putting him out of the race in the opening lap at the Russian Grand Prix on Sunday.

In an interview with Formula1.com, The Canadian pilot said rather churlishly, “Very sloppy from his part and I gave him all the room. I’m quite surprised that he didn’t get a penalty. I gave him plenty of room, I did the whole corner on the outside and he just tagged my right rear.”
“He could have avoided it. He didn’t have to run so wide into me, so I think it’s kind of ridiculous that he didn’t get a penalty,” he added.
Leclerc slid down the inside on the fourth turn and clipped Stroll’s right rear upon exiting the corner. This caused Stroll to spin out into the wall, ending his race before it had hardly begun. 
For Leclerc’s part, he went on to have one of his best races of late, bringing his Ferrari in at sixth place. The Monegasque didn’t seem fazed by the incident, posting on his Twitter account that he was, “Back in the points today, P6. Some positive signs for the future.”
Meanwhile, the wacky weekend continued as Lewis Hamilton accused F1 bosses of giving him two-five second penalties because they are “out to get him”, thus denying him a record-tying all-time win tally. The win, which would have been his 91st – equalling the record set by racing legend Michael Schumacher, was handed instead to his Mercedes teammate Valtteri Bottas who came in 7.7 seconds before Red Bull’s Max Verstappen.

 

Monaco's football club puts historic shirts up for auction

by: Stephanie Horsman
28/09/2020

AS Monaco is set to auction signed versions of the “Merci” jerseys dedicated to health care workers and worn during their historic 1,000th victory game against Nantes.

The special jerseys are being auctioned from this Thursday, 1st September on the site MatchWornShirt.

The shirts, emblazoned with “Merci” across the chest, will be signed by players and will be doubly exceptional to fans as they were also worn on the night of the team’s 1,000th Ligue 1 win. The bidding starts at €89 and all proceeds will go to the club’s charity programme, AS Monacœur.  

The “Merci” match saw volunteers from the Monaco red Cross and employees from the Princess Grace Hospital invited to attend at the behest of the AS Monacœur programme.  

AS Monacœur was launched in 2017 to support the Monegasque association Les Enfants de Frankie. The club has dedicated itself to giving underprivileged and sick kids chances they might otherwise not enjoy. Some of the programme’s initiatives include visiting children in hospital, creating fan experiences, interaction with regional football clubs and supporting local foundations, to name a few.

The shirts will have been disinfected using a UV-C light to remove all DNA, bacteria and viruses, thus eliminating any health risks.  

Bids can be placed on the MatchWornShirt website starting at 8:pm on Thursday, 1st October and will continue until midnight Sunday, 4th October. Visit the website here: https://matchwornshirt.com/club/asmonaco.

 
Photo by AS Monaco
 
 

1st quarter results show 74% loss in turnover

by: Cassandra Tanti
28/09/2020

The health crisis is thwarting the recovery efforts of Monaco’s largest employer, SBM, which saw profits plummet this summer ahead of a “very difficult” winter.
It was difficult to celebrate the Société des Bains de Mer’s (SBM) record financial year on Friday at the shareholder’s meeting. General Manager Jean-Claude Biamonti had the unenviable task of following the impressive figures with the disastrous position that the SBM finds itself in this year.
“We were on the road to recovery, we were almost there,” Mr Biamonti told the press during a debrief at the Hermitage Hotel.
After years of sitting in the red, the company in charge of managing Monaco’s main hotels and casinos achieved record profits for the second year in a row, bringing in €619.9 million against €526.5 million the previous financial year – an increase of 18%. Growth was seen in all sectors, particularly rental, where the leasing of new commercial spaces at the Hôtel de Paris and in the One Monte-Carlo complex, and the letting of residential apartments at One Monte-Carlo, led to an increase in operating income of €34 million.
“The last month of the fiscal year, however, was strongly impacted by the consequences of the Covid-19 epidemic,” said Mr Biamonti.
Due to the closure of all of its casinos, restaurants, and hotels – with the exception of the Hôtel de Paris and the Monte-Carlo Bay Hotel and Resort – SBM lost around €15 million in turnover.
It is a trend that continued well into summer.
During the first quarter of this financial year, from 1st April to 30th June, SBM’s financial activity dropped by 74% compared to the same period last year.
The gaming sector was hardest hit during the summer with turnover down 63%, partly due to the lack of international customers, particularly for private table games.
Two of SBM’s casinos – Sun Casino and the Monte-Carlo Bay Casino, were never reopened after the initial closure, and they are unlikely to reopen in the foreseeable future, according to the general manager.
After this “mediocre” summer, SBM is now heading into a “very difficult” winter, said Mr Biamonti, and he expects there to be a “significant impact” on the 2020/2021 financial year.
As a result, SBM has ceased almost all of its investment activity and staff have been redeployed as much as possible to avoid resorting to the government’s partial unemployment system, which in itself is costly for the State.
“I cannot guarantee that there will be no economic measures in the weeks and months to come,” conceded the general manager.
 
Related stories: 

SBM continues upwards trend in 2019-20 fiscal report

 
Photo: SBM General Manager Jean-Luc Biamonti, by Monaco Life