Category Archives: healthcare

AKA: No profit/no life! Without Lucrative Market, Potential Ebola Vaccine Was Shelved for Years – NYTimes.com

Almost a decade ago, scientists from Canada and the United States reported that they had created a vaccine that was 100 percent effective in protecting monkeys against the Ebola virus. The results were published in a respected journal, and health officials called them exciting. The researchers said tests in people might start within two years, and a product could potentially be ready for licensing by 2010 or 2011.

It never happened. The vaccine sat on a shelf. Only now, with nearly 5,000 people dead from Ebola and an epidemic raging out of control in West Africa, is the vaccine undergoing the most basic safety tests in humans.

Its development stalled in part because Ebola was rare, and until now outbreaks had infected only a few hundred people at a time. But experts also acknowledge that the lack of follow-up on such a promising candidate reflects a broader failure to produce medicines and vaccines for diseases that afflict poor countries. Most drug companies have resisted spending the enormous sums needed to to develop products useful mostly to poor countries with little ability to pay for them.

via Without Lucrative Market, Potential Ebola Vaccine Was Shelved for Years – NYTimes.com.

allAfrica.com: Nigeria: Poor Sanitation – 150,000 Children Die Annually in Nigeria – -Unicef

And world media and conspiracy nuts going on and on about controllable Ebola as if the end of world was coming!

UNICEF Water, Sanitation and Hygiene Chief in Nigeria, Mr. Kanaan Nadar, disclosed this on the occasion of the 2014 global hand washing day celebration in Abuja.

UNICEF Water, Sanitation and Hygiene Chief in Nigeria, Mr. Kanaan Nadar, disclosed this on the occasion of the 2014 global hand washing day celebration in Abuja.

UNICEF Water, Sanitation and Hygiene Chief in Nigeria, Mr. Kanaan Nadar, disclosed this on the occasion of the 2014 global hand washing day celebration in Abuja.

Nadar called on parents to make their children see the need to always wash their hands and maintain safe hygiene at all times as this would reduce deaths caused by diarrhea by almost 50 per cent.

Nadar, said: “In Nigeria every year, we have about 150,000 children that die largely due to diarrhea mostly associated with unsafe water sanitation and hygiene.

via allAfrica.com: Nigeria: Poor Sanitation – 150,000 Children Die Annually in Nigeria – -Unicef.

Sierra Leone now but where next? Law in a time of Ebola — New Internationalist

Just this week, a woman was arrested for failure to wash her hands. There are chlorinated hand-washing buckets across Freetown these days and it is common to have to wash your hands several times a day before you enter any premises. This woman refused to wash her hands as she said she had just done so and was afraid of the effect of the chlorine. Not everyone is aware of how much chlorine to add to the water; some hand-washing points can make your hands burn or smell of chlorine all day. The woman said she was afraid of developing cancer from all the chlorine – a common fear. Our paralegal was able to advise her at the police station and contacted the woman’s family, who assisted with paying her fine.

It is a difficult time for Sierra Leone. These laws are put in place to try to halt this tragic epidemic as quickly as possible. We recognize and value this, but also want to make sure that we play a role in monitoring the current State of Emergency and ensuring that it is enforced in a proportionate way that respects people’s rights. It is easy for law-enforcement officers to assume that rights are done away with and that anything can be done just because we are under a State of Emergency.

The Ebola epidemic has impacted all areas of life in Sierra Leone and has had a significant impact on the justice system. The courts have scaled down the number of hearings per day and adjournments can be lengthy. Many magistrates and lawyers have left the country. Others cannot return from abroad due to flight cancellations caused by the epidemic. Still others cannot attend court because of the quarantines. So women may spend much longer in pre-trial detention than usual, which negatively impacts on their families: women are the main caregivers and often the main income-earners. Many women have young children in prison with them. So we try very hard to ensure our clients get bail.

via Law in a time of Ebola — New Internationalist.

Eurosurveillance – CONCURRENT OUTBREAKS OF DENGUE, CHIKUNGUNYA AND ZIKA VIRUS INFECTIONS

CONCURRENT OUTBREAKS OF DENGUE, CHIKUNGUNYA AND ZIKA VIRUS INFECTIONS – AN UNPRECEDENTED EPIDEMIC WAVE OF MOSQUITO-BORNE VIRUSES IN THE PACIFIC 2012–2014

A Roth ()1, A Mercier1, C Lepers1, D Hoy1, S Duituturaga1, E Benyon1, L Guillaumot2, Y Souarès1

Secretariat of the Pacific Community, New Caledonia

Institut Pasteur de Nouvelle-Caledonie, Noumea, New Caledonia

Citation style for this article: Roth A, Mercier A, Lepers C, Hoy D, Duituturaga S, Benyon E, Guillaumot L, Souarès Y. Concurrent outbreaks of dengue, chikungunya and Zika virus infections – an unprecedented epidemic wave of mosquito-borne viruses in the Pacific 2012–2014. Euro Surveill. 2014;19(41):pii=20929. Available online: http://www.eurosurveillance.org/ViewArticle.aspx?ArticleId=20929

Date of submission: 26 September 2014

Since January 2012, the Pacific Region has experienced 28 new documented outbreaks and circulation of dengue, chikungunya and Zika virus. These mosquito-borne disease epidemics seem to become more frequent and diverse, and it is likely that this is only the early stages of a wave that will continue for several years. Improved surveillance and response measures are needed to mitigate the already heavy burden on island health systems and limit further spread to other parts of the world.

via Eurosurveillance – View Article.

Where’s Monty Hall when we need him? SoCal Researcher Launches Crowdfunded Effort To Find Cure For Ebola: LAist

{Is the race to find a vaccine or cure for ebola – which had more or less been ignored for 30 some years globally for lack of profit – becoming the new “Let’s Make a Deal!” for researchers and drug firms? The first to find a real advance will be able to trade on that for investments and support for other more profitable efforts in the future!}

Professor Saphire is leading the charge at Scripps to find a cure for Ebola, having already led in the development of the experimental ZMapp serum has cured five patients this past summer of the virus. In order to find the antibodies that will fight the virus effectively, her work requires samples being shipped in from around the globe. Unfortunately, her lab is limited in resources, and has started a CrowdRise fundraiser in order to get the money for personnel and equipment. So far, we’re at $14,000 of her $100,000 goal.

Saphire was on KPCC’s Take Two this morning to talk about her efforts, and addressed the concerns that research for a cure isn’t what the current epidemic needs right at this moment:

It’s true that none of these experimental therapies are going to be available in enough doses to treat everybody; it’s just not possible. To contain this outbreak the focus really needs to be on medical supplies and medical care. We just can’t have people dying in the streets and infecting their families at home. They need to be cared for by doctors and nurses that have supplies to protect themselves, but the contain and control isn’t enough. One of the things about crowdfunding is it gives people the control. They can choose what they want to invest in and maybe they want to put some of their resources toward supplies like medical gloves and bleach and maybe they want to put some of their resources toward getting a cure ready to treat this thing.

via SoCal Researcher Launches Crowdfunded Effort To Find Cure For Ebola: LAist.

Race for Status May or May Not Help Stop Ebola… Chinese firm pushes Ebola drug it says can cure deadly virus | South China Morning Post

{Russia says it has a cure, Canada and US have a cure, UK has a treatment, India and Japan will be next to claim they are working on a cure and/or vaccine – and those dying of Ebola are really not as important as status to be won in eyes of world – and hoped for profit in other drugs later}

A Chinese drug maker with close military ties is seeking fast-track approval for a drug that it says can cure Ebola, as China joins the race to help treat a deadly outbreak of a disease that has spread from Africa to the United States and Europe.

Sihuan Pharmaceutical has signed a tie-up with China’s Academy of Military Medical Sciences (AMMS) last week to help push the drug called JK-05 through the approval process in China and bring it to market. The drug, developed by the academy, is currently approved for emergency military use only.

“We believe that we can file to the Chinese Food and Drug Administration (CFDA) before the end of the year,” Sihuan’s chairman Che Fengsheng said during an investor call last week.

“They are looking at this very seriously … and we could get on the ‘green light’ track,” he added.

Sihuan’s drug is only one contender among a number of experimental cures worldwide to treat Ebola, although if successful it would be a huge boon for China’s developing pharmaceutical sector and the country’s soft power in Africa, an increasingly important partner for the world’s No.2 economy.

via Chinese firm pushes Ebola drug it says can cure deadly virus | South China Morning Post.

Got Insurance? Companies still say: “Screw you for being ill!” You Still May Pay A Steep Price For Prescriptions – Kaiser Health News

Sandra Grooms recently got a call from her oncologist’s office. The chemotherapy drugs he wanted to use on her metastatic breast cancer were covered by her health plan, with one catch: Her share of the cost would be $976 for each 14-day supply of the two pills. {14+ years of exclusive sales and gouging all the way for people trying to stay alive}

“I said, ‘I can’t afford it,’” said Grooms, 52, who is insured through her job as a general manager at a janitorial supply company in Augusta, Ga. “I was very upset.”

Even with insurance, some patients are struggling to pay for prescription drugs for conditions such as cancer, arthritis, multiple sclerosis or HIV/AIDS, as insurers and employers shift more of the cost of high-priced pharmaceuticals to the patients who take them.

via Got Insurance? You Still May Pay A Steep Price For Prescriptions – Kaiser Health News.

In Madagascar, a Once-Feared Disease Is No More | UNICEF USA

Since ancient times, mothers in Madagascar have feared tetanus, an excruciating disease that kills one newborn every nine minutes around the world.  Today, however, they can finally be free of that fear. Madagascar is the latest country—there have been 35 since 1999—where UNICEF and its partners have helped to eliminate maternal and neonatal tetanus.

via In Madagascar, a Once-Feared Disease Is No More | UNICEF USA.

CDC – Whooping Cough Cases on the Rise | Latina Lista

Whooping cough used to be thought of as a disease of the past, but it’s making a comeback – and 2014 is on track to be a busy year!

There are many factors contributing to the current resurgence of whooping cough. The best protection is to get vaccinated against it. While offering protection, the whooping cough vaccines used now do not protect people for as long as healthcare professionals would like. Additionally, doctors are more aware that whooping cough is still around and affecting communities. This raised awareness, along with better tests to diagnose patients, has contributed to an increase in the number of whooping cough cases being diagnosed and reported.

via CDC – Whooping Cough Cases on the Rise | Latina Lista.

Liars for profit! Not the nurses but the headline writers! U.S. Nurses Say They Are Unprepared To Handle Ebola Patients

{Really!?! – all the nurses in the United States told “un-news” reporters that they are unprepared! Bull! But meant to sell ads, scare people and shame on them for such lies! There are 2,724,570 Registered Nurses in US and they all said this? Not! http://kff.org/other/state-indicator/total-registered-nurses/}

Nurses, the frontline care providers in U.S. hospitals, say they are untrained and unprepared to handle patients arriving in their hospital emergency departments infected with Ebola.

via U.S. Nurses Say They Are Unprepared To Handle Ebola Patients.