Salon.com News | Big Pharma's free ride

An interesting article on the difficulties third world countries have in terms of producing generic drugs... (subscription required)

Salon.com News | Big Pharma's free ride: "Aug. 12, 2005 | In November 2004, Guatemala's Congress repealed a law that gave brand-name prescription drugs protection from generic competition. The law had allowed brand-name companies to conceal data that generic companies would use to bring their own versions to market, and public health activists hailed the move as a step toward greater access to essential medicines. But four months later, legislators reversed themselves and put those protections back in place. The protests that followed led to many injuries and one death. Why did this small nation, where cheap generic drugs have been key to treating one of Latin America's largest HIV-positive populations, change course?

In a word: CAFTA. Guatemala changed its laws in order to become part of the Central American Free Trade Agreement, which encompasses five Central American countries and the Dominican Republic. CAFTA, which President Bush signed last week after coaxing it through Congress, requires its members to adopt strict rules on intellectual property rights, including those protecting prescription drugs. These drugs cost up to 22 times what Doctors Without Borders, which runs several AIDS clinics in Guatemala, pays for generic equivalents. Some economists say similarly high drug costs would cause the unique universal healthcare system of nearby Costa Rica to collapse.

Though protections for the environment and workers' rights are often the most contentious issues surrounding trade deals such as CAFTA and NAFTA, pharmaceutical giants, aided by the U.S. government, are increasingly using these pacts to assert their power over markets in developing countries. Activists and public-health groups working on the ground say these companies put profits above public health by keeping generic medicines off the shelves, which keeps prices high and drugs out of reach to all but the most wealthy. These deals apply to all prescription drugs, but generics have been particularly effective at driving down the prices of drugs used to treat AIDS -- in some cases by 98 percent -- even as AIDS rates have skyrocketed. CAFTA is signed and delivered, and the United States is now preparing trade pacts with Thailand, South America and other parts of the developing world."...

In Saudi Arabia, a high-tech way to flirt - Middle East and North Africa - MSNBC.com

Harold "Bluetooth" Blaatand, the ancient Danish King must be chuckling in his grave, as the technology named after him is being used to get by the Muttawas (Saudi religious police)...

In Saudi Arabia, a high-tech way to flirt - Middle East and North Africa - MSNBC.com: "RIYADH, Saudi Arabia - The restaurant, like all Riyadh eateries, has taken precautions to prevent its male and female diners from seeing or contacting each other.

Circular white walls surround each table in the family section, open only to women alone or women accompanied by close male relatives. Other male diners are on lower floors.

Yet despite the barriers, the men and women flirt and exchange phone numbers, photos and kisses."

They elude the mores imposed by the kingdom’s puritanical Wahhabi version of Islam — formulated in the 18th century — by using a 21st century device in their mobile phones: the wireless Bluetooth technology that permits users to connect without going through the phone company....

The phenomenon has started to receive attention in the media, especially after stories appeared saying women were photographing female guests in revealing evening gowns at weddings — which are segregated — and circulating them to friends by Bluetooth.

That created some panic among those who feared pictures of their mothers, sisters or daughters would be seen by men. Some families hired female guards to confiscate camera-equipped mobile phones from wedding guests.

There is little the government can do to control Bluetooth use. Last year, it banned camera-equipped phones but backed off because cameras have become a feature in most phones.

Abdul-Aziz al-Aseeri, a 25-year-old computer science teacher, said he tells his students that Bluetooth technology can be misused. “I warn them of the dangers of having pictures of their mothers and sisters ending up in the phones of their classmates,” he said. ...

Abdul-Aziz al-Aseeri, a 25-year-old computer science teacher, said he tells his students that Bluetooth technology can be misused. “I warn them of the dangers of having pictures of their mothers and sisters ending up in the phones of their classmates,” he said.

BBC NEWS | Africa | How many dying babies make a famine?

BBC NEWS | Africa | How many dying babies make a famine?: "Famine is a troublesome word with a very specific meaning to the professional aid community."....

Its analysis concludes: "Although the willingness of much of the world to address these 'famine' conditions in Niger is appropriate and welcome, without a similar commitment and prolonged attention to addressing the chronic issues that are at the heart of the current localised crises, the same problems will re-occur again soon."

It may not be a famine, but it is an ongoing development crisis, with the need for sustained attention, even when the cameras move on somewhere else.

In another careful analysis, the Overseas Development Institute says:

"For those who are dying from acute malnutrition and related diseases, the debate about whether there have been enough deaths to justify the famine label, and the extent to which this exceeds the normal hungry season mortality rate is not helpful.

"Avoiding the famine label has often been convenient for those seeking to justify slow or failed responses."

Wanted: A Famine Fund

Arguments in favor of a global famine fund from the Washington Post...

Wanted: A Famine Fund: "HUMANITARIAN crises are seldom just humanitarian: Almost always, the malnutrition and the misery have political causes. The brutal wars in Sudan and Congo account for those countries' appalling civilian death tolls. Political repression explains the hunger in North Korea and Zimbabwe. Even the HIV pandemic reflects the failure of politicians to challenge gender inequality and sexual taboos."...

Usually, natural disasters attract a generous response. The tsunami last Christmas was a prime example, and earthquakes and hurricanes generally prompt individuals and their governments to open their wallets -- or at least to pledge generously, even if they don't always deliver. But Niger has not even been that fortunate. As early as last November, the government and the U.N. World Food Program appealed for emergency food aid and money; only Luxembourg responded. The United Nations followed up with a second appeal in March and a third in May. Only recently has the money begun to come...

If Niger's largely unpolitical emergency cannot trigger prompt sympathy, it's time to rethink the way relief is organized. The world depends on an ad hoc, pass-the-hat system; there's no standing ability to respond quickly when the first signs of disaster appear. This raises the cost of action...

U.N. Secretary General Kofi Annan has proposed an emergency fund of $500 million from which to finance rapid response to future famines. In the wake of the oil-for-food scandal, the onus is on the United Nations to show that it can manage that sort of money without corruption; perhaps it cannot. But whichever institutional home one favors for it, the idea of a global famine fund makes sense.

Optic nerve regeneration: Is it possible? - American Academy of Ophthalmology

Optic nerve regeneration: Is it possible? - American Academy of Ophthalmology: "A recent study by Cho et al suggests that a better understanding of factors inhibiting retinal ganglion cell axonal growth may ultimately lead to successful restoration of the regenerative potential of the optic nerve.

In a mouse optic nerve injury model, Cho et al demonstrated that a change in expression of Bcl-2 (an anti-apoptotic gene) and inhibition of astrocyte scar tissue formation led to rapid axonal regeneration over long distances and to reinnervation of the brain targets by a majority of the severed optic nerve fibers. They plan further study to learn whether the newly regenerated axons are physiologically intact and capable of transmitting visual information.

The findings suggest future possible mechanisms by which to reverse the loss of vision and visual field due to optic nerve damage from trauma or ischemia.

REFERENCE

Cho KS, Yang L, Lu B, et al. Re-establishing the regenerative potential of central nervous system axons in postnatal mice. J Cell Sci. 2005;118:863–872."

ReliefWeb » Document Preview » MSF appeals to doctors to volunteer for Niger crisis

ReliefWeb » Document Preview » MSF appeals to doctors to volunteer for Niger crisis: "MSF appeals to doctors to volunteer for Niger crisis

GENEVA, Aug 11 (AFP) - The Swiss branch of the medical charity Medecins Sans Frontieres made an urgent appeal Thursday for doctors and nurses to volunteer for aid work in Niger amid signs that malnutrition there is worsening.

MSF (Doctors Without Borders) Switzerland said its doctors in the vast northwest African country were overburdened, with more than 1,000 severely malnourished children found in the past three weeks around the country's second largest town, Zinder.

'According to the teams, the situation they are facing is only the tip of the iceberg,' MSF Switzerland said in a statement."

M.B.A. Students Bypassing Wall Street for a Summer in India - New York Times

"I can't help but feel that I am witnessing the creation of a new global economic order, a new reality that most people back home don't realize is coming,"

M.B.A. Students Bypassing Wall Street for a Summer in India - New York Times: "Mr. Maldonado and Mr. Simonsen, of Riverside, Calif., are part of a virtual invasion of India by American students. Graduate students from top schools in the United States, most from master of business administration programs, are vying for internships at India's biggest private companies. For many, outsourcing companies are the destinations of choice.

India is not just a line on an American student's résumé, said Kiran Karnik, president of the outsourcing industry trade body, Nasscom, 'but also culturally fulfilling.' Many students travel while in India, giving them a view of the country and its long history, he said."...

"No longer is India thought of as a land of snake charmers and bride burnings," he said. "Now India means the world's best software services, and increasingly, pharmaceuticals and auto parts."...

"I thought the stipend was the down side," said Mr. Anders, "but coming here is a priceless experience."

Entrenched Epidemic: Wife-Beatings in Africa - New York Times

This article illustrates the necessity of empowering women in developing countries...

Entrenched Epidemic: Wife-Beatings in Africa - New York Times: "Women suffer from violence in every society. In few places, however, is the abuse more entrenched, and accepted, than in sub-Saharan Africa. One in three Nigerian women reported having been physically abused by a male partner, according to the latest study, conducted in 1993. The wife of the deputy governor of a northern Nigerian province told reporters last year that her husband beat her incessantly, in part because she watched television movies. One of President Olusegun Obasanjo's appointees to a national anticorruption commission was allegedly killed by her husband in 2000, two days after she asked the state police commissioner to protect her.

'It is like it is a normal thing for women to be treated by their husbands as punching bags,'"...

In Zambia, nearly half of women surveyed said a male partner had beaten them, according to a 2004 study financed by the United States - the highest percentage of nine developing nations surveyed on three continents.

In South Africa, researchers for the Medical Research Council estimated last year that a male partner kills a girlfriend or spouse every six hours - the highest mortality rate from domestic violence ever reported, they say. In Harare, Zimbabwe's capital, domestic violence accounts for more than 6 in 10 murder cases in court, a United Nations report concluded last year....

To Kenny Adebayo, a 30-year-old driver in Lagos, the issue is clear-cut. "If you tell your wife she puts too much salt in the dinner, and every day, every day, every day there is too much salt, one day you will get emotional and hurt her," he said. "We men in Africa hate disrespect."..

BBC NEWS | World | Africa | Niger leader denies hunger claims

BBC NEWS | World | Africa | Niger leader denies hunger claims: "Niger President Mamadou Tanja has dismissed reports that his country is experiencing a famine.

'The people of Niger look well-fed, as you can see,' he told the BBC.

He accepted there were food shortages in some areas after poor rains and locust invasions but said this was not unusual for his country.

Mr Tanja said the idea of a famine was being exploited for political and economic gain by opposition parties and United Nations aid agencies.


The World Food Programme denied that the scale of the problems had been exaggerated.

'We have not spoken about famine but about pockets of severe malnutrition,' WFP spokesman Greg Barrow told the BBC."...

The UN estimates that up to three million of Niger's 12 million population are suffering food shortages.

It says 32,000 children with severe malnutrition could face death without the necessary food and medical treatment.

Aid agencies report that hunger is killing children every day.

Mr Tanja said his government had responded to the crisis by subsidising the price of food since last year.

BBC NEWS | World | Africa | Food crisis 'runs across Africa'

BBC NEWS | World | Africa | Food crisis 'runs across Africa': "With attention on food shortages in Niger, aid agencies say a vast 'hunger belt' is stretching across Africa.

People across Africa are affected, from Niger in central Africa to Somalia on the Indian Ocean seaboard.

Latest reports from the Famine Early Warning Systems Network say over 20m people are at risk from food shortages.

The broad cross-section of international aid agencies says that urgent action is required in seven countries across Africa.

The dramatic TV pictures from Niger may have pricked the conscience of some donor countries, but a broader look at the continent shows much wider need.

The Famine Early Warning network, made up of a variety of aid agencies including the aid arm of the US government, USAid, says no fewer than seven African states are facing food emergencies.

These are mostly on the fringes of the Sahara desert and stretch from Niger, through Chad and Sudan, to Ethiopia, Eritrea and Somalia.

Rain crucial

One factor unites most of the people at risk across Africa.

They rely overwhelmingly on rain-fed or flood-plain agriculture rather than having access to irrigated fields.



West Africa hunger map
Famine or food crisis?
When rains are erratic or fail it is a disaster."

Discovery Channel :: News :: Egyptologist Discovers Ancient Gossip

Discovery Channel :: News :: Egyptologist Discovers Ancient Gossip: "Aug. 8, 2005 — Ancient Egyptians gossiped about a bald queen, royals who had affairs, missing bodies, homosexuality, harem intrigue and more, according to a noted Egyptologist."

3 Missions Warn Citizens to Be Cautious

3 Missions Warn Citizens to Be Cautious: "RIYADH, 9 August 2005 — Following the security warning issued by the US Embassy in Riyadh yesterday, three more foreign missions have alerted their respective communities in the Kingdom to be cautious. Diplomats at the British, Australian and Canadian missions in Riyadh said they had requested their citizens to take precautionary measures in the light of the announcement made by the US Embassy."

Local Faith-Based Groups Act on Darfur Crisis

A compelling interview with the leader of savedarfur.org from the Washington Post--highly recommended...

Local Faith-Based Groups Act on Darfur Crisis: "David Rubenstein: A more complete answer to why our nation is not responding more aggressively and what people of faith can do:

The issue of genocide - which is what we are facing now in Darfur - should be one which calls out to the consciences of all people. However, it can be difficult to engage people when Darfur can feel so far away. One of the best ways to encourage action from your church and your pastor is to show them humanity of the people of Darfur, through testimonials, pictures, and documentaries. There are many compelling photo-essays on the internet, as well as an excellent multi-media presentation discussing why we should care about Darfur - links are available at www.SaveDarfur.org. Furthermore, protecting civilian lives against genocidal forces is a bi-partisan issue, evidenced by the collaboration of Senators Sam Brownback (R-KS) and Jon Corzine (D-NJ)."...

Washington, D.C.: I see a lot of "raise awareness" in your responses and I feel compelled to ask - what happens after awareness? Buildilng awareness while important doesn't concretely do anything to acutally assist or change that situation. So let's talk beyond raising awareness to concerte steps force action, which likely would occur at a government to government level and our government has a long history of ignoring atrocities in Africa. With all due respect we need to be holding out elected leaders feet alot closer to the fire and we as a public have not yet done that...isn't that the call to action here that should be made?

David Rubenstein: Thanks for this great question and answer rolled into one.

Please excuse my volume here:

WE HAVE TO DO MORE. INDIVIDUALS MUST TAKE RESPONSIBILITY FOR MOVING THE WORLD. IF YOU ARE READING THIS, YOU MUST DO MORE. TODAY.

Call the president. Call Congress. Tell your friends. Wear a green wristband. Put "Save Darfur" in your email signature. Call the president.

Your neighbor's house is burning. Take action. Today, and tomorrow. Tell people what is happening, and help them take action themselves...

David Rubenstein: Addressing the issue of legislation - as I mentioned before, the U.S. Congress has been very active in helping the people of Darfur because they understand that the American public cares about their neighbors there.

Members of the Senate and the House have proposed a number of bills calling for increased aid to Darfur, no-fly zones, sanctions, and support for the African Union. A number of these provisions have passed as attachments to other bills, and the emphasis they gave to the concern of the American public probably led to increased action by the US Administration and State Department, such as the appointment of Roger Winters as envoy to Sudan.

In addition, to keep Darfur in the news and the minds of the American people, Senators and Representatives proposed and passed S.R. 186 and H.R. 333, calling for a National Weekend of Prayer and Reflection for Darfur. Because of this, on July 15-17, 2005, churches, synagogues, mosques and other places of worship across the US prayed for Darfur, learned more about the crisis, and raised funds for awareness and humanitarian relief.

Currently in the House and Senate are H.R.3127 and S.1462, the Darfur Peace and Accountability Acts. Most importantly, these bills call for multilateral efforts to help the African Union protect the civilians of Darfur.

Wired News: Hearing Aids for the Unimpaired

Wired News: Hearing Aids for the Unimpaired: "LONDON -- Hearing aids are not just for deaf people. The much-maligned ear implants also hold the key to a new era in personal audio technology, designers say -- if only they can make them as fashionable as spectacles.

HearWear - The Future of Hearing, a new exhibition at London's Victoria and Albert Museum, shows off trendy deaf-tech prototypes like gadgets that can filter out annoying noises and memory glasses that replay the last few seconds of conversation -- handy for wearers who might have missed someone's name"

One of the exhibits, called surround-sound eyewear, uses four microphones built into a pair of glasses to amplify sound depending on which direction the wearer is facing.

"The result is a type of three-dimensional superhuman hearing similar to that found in certain animals such as coyotes," said designer Sam Hecht of London's Industrial Facility. The company harnessed a theory known as "superdirectivity beamforming" to build the specs, projected for release in 2007.

Another concept, the Goldfish, named for its short-term memory, is a set of earphones that would repeat the previous 10 seconds of conversation in case the wearer missed a snippet.

From the same design team, an earphone-linked remote control that can mute sounds coming from whatever it is pointing at could also be just a couple of years away. ..

Salon.com News | What Michael Moore (and the neocons) don't know about Saudi Arabia

Juan Cole's analysis of the Saudi leadership transition...

Salon.com News | What Michael Moore (and the neocons) don't know about Saudi Arabia: "Aug. 5, 2005 | The late King Fahd of Saudi Arabia, who died on Aug. 1, should have been nicknamed 'King Blowback.' Along with his ideological soul mate, Ronald Reagan, who shared his long twilight, Fahd played a key, if inadvertent, role in nurturing Islamist extremism. Together, Reagan and Fahd -- one using proxy armies and arms, the other petrodollars -- launched a worldwide crusade against what they saw as the radical specters of communism and Khomeinism. To fight this battle, they gave massive support to Sunni Muslim fundamentalists as well as Saddam Hussein's Stalinist Baath Party. The rash decisions taken by the two leaders are in large part responsible for the crisis the world faces today.

The good news is that Fahd's successor, King Abdullah, is a far more cautious man, not given to his half-brother's dangerous adventurism. His ascension -- in fact, he has held power for a long time -- gives the United States an opportunity to improve relations with Saudi Arabia. As America faces the long, daunting task of recovering from George W. Bush's catastrophic foreign-policy blunders, solidifying relations with this key, if problematic, ally is high on the list of priorities."

CNN.com - Special Reports - World in 360

Anderson Cooper provides a first-hand look in to what is happening in Niger...very compelling footage...

CNN.com - Special Reports - World in 360: "MARADI, Niger: 'Hungry season' prays on youngest | Niger | Watch
MARADI, Niger: Sense of helplessness in Niger | Gallery | Watch
ARCHIVE: Watch and read more 'World in 360�' stories"

MIT engineers an anti-cancer smart bomb - MIT News Office

This seems a novel and exciting approach to treating cancer...

MIT engineers an anti-cancer smart bomb - MIT News Office: "magine a cancer drug that can burrow into a tumor, seal the exits and detonate a lethal dose of anti-cancer toxins, all while leaving healthy cells unscathed.

MIT researchers have designed a nanoparticle to do just that.

The dual-chamber, double-acting, drug-packing 'nanocell' proved effective and safe, with prolonged survival, against two distinct forms of cancers-melanoma and Lewis lung cancer-in mice."

The Globe and Mail: Saudis jail, deport foreigners with HIV

Get your HIV test before you go to Saudi...

The Globe and Mail: Saudis jail, deport foreigners with HIV: "Mohammed spends his days in a crowded cage, dying of a treatable disease for which the richest country in the Middle East won't provide medicines.

The Palestinian is HIV positive and has been kept in a cell at the King Saud Hospital for Infectious Diseases for three months, along with two roommates who also are infected with the virus. They live behind a brown steel door with barred windows, victims of a closed society that would rather deport people, such as Mohammed, than talk about sex, drug use or AIDS."...

"We are prisoners here. They treat us like animals," Mohammed said during a short discussion of his circumstances through the bars of his cage before hospital security guards arrived and ended the interview....

The country views AIDS as an imported phenomenon, and in a 2004 report the Ministry of Health said Saudi Arabia's policy for dealing with foreigners with AIDS is to treat them until they are stable enough to be deported.

The low number of AIDS cases in the country is frequently attributed to the kingdom's strict Islamic laws, which prohibit premarital sex, relations outside marriage and homosexuality. Penalties for adultery and drug use include imprisonment, public stoning or beheading...

Many of those who end up at the King Saud hospital work in the country for years beforehand and only discover they have AIDS when they're brought to hospital after a workplace or traffic accident. There, they receive a mandatory HIV test. After that, they're forcibly taken to hospital and confined there to await deportation or death, whichever comes first...

Indo-Asian News Service -> Pakistan-Politics/Society-Polls -> Pakistani man swaps daughter to win polls

Indo-Asian News Service -> Pakistan-Politics/Society-Polls -> Pakistani man swaps daughter to win polls: "Islamabad, Aug 7 (DPA) A candidate in Pakistan's Northwestern Frontier Province gave away his 11-year-old daughter to his opponent in exchange for latter's withdrawal from next week' local elections, a news report said Sunday."

Saudis alerted Britain to looming London attacks: Sunday papers - Yahoo! News

Saudis alerted Britain to looming London attacks: Sunday papers - Yahoo! News: "LONDON (AFP) - Saudi officials alerted Britain several weeks before the deadly July 7 bombings in London that a terror attack was being planned, two Sunday newspapers reported"