Ranjit Devraj
NEW DELHI, Aug 15 2009 (IPS) – While the swine flu pandemic has not hit India too hard, it has sorely tested the country s ailing health delivery system and its plans to remedy the situation through private-public partnerships.
Much of the drama is playing out in the western Indian city of Pune where the death of a 14-year-old schoolgirl, on Aug. 3, following misdiagnosis at a private hospital where she was being treated, has led to charges in the media that the government was not doing enough contain the spread of the A(H1N1) virus.
Health authorities reacted to the death of the schoolgirl, Reeda Shaikh, by asking people who develop flu-like symptoms to report to designated government facilities for testing. That quickly resulted in panic and chaos wit…
VIENTIANE, Sep 21 2009 (IPS) – Ki is seven years old but looks more like three. His legs are bowed and skull misshapen. He looked at me with a blank stare. The health worker, Kheo, suggests rickets.
50 percent of Lao children are undersized Credit: Donna Kelly/IPS
Rickets and beri beri or thiamine (B1) deficiency are still far too common 19th century diseases in 21st century Laos.
The boy gets enough sun. It s the other nutrients, calcium, phosphorus and dietary oils that are lacking. He is the worst effected of 93 other kids in his v…
Wambi Michael
KAMPALA, Nov 6 2009 (IPS) – Uganda is considering an anti-counterfeit bill which analysts say will impair the country s ability to import and export cheap but effective generic medicines. Activists fear that the bill, once enacted, will deny Ugandans access to safe, effective, quality and affordable generic medication which currently forms the bulk of Uganda s medicine imports.
The Counterfeit Goods Bill seeks to prohibit trade in goods that ostensibly infringe intellectual property rights. The bill, which was tabled by Uganda s trade ministry, will empower the commissioner of customs to seize suspected counterfeit goods.
The bill defines counterfeiting as manufacturing, producing, packaging, re-packaging, labelling or making, whether in Uganda or outsid…
Patricia Grogg
HAVANA, Dec 1 2009 (IPS) – Cuban biotechnology and pharmaceutical products are already among the country s major exports, and the industry is on course to continue developing while maintaining a firm focus on making a real difference to the health of all Cubans and of people in the numerous countries where Cuba provides medical assistance.
The existence of market forces is a reality that has to be reckoned with because of production costs, but health decisions cannot be governed by business considerations alone, said Agustín Lage, head of the Centre for Molecular Immunology (CIM), whose anti-cancer product Nimotuzumab is currently undergoing clinical trials in the United States.
Lage and other Cuban scientists presented the strategy and results obtaine…
Diana Mendoza interviews BIENVENIDO OPLAS, JR., small government advocate
MANILA, Jan 12 2010 (IPS) – As president of an independent think tank advocating minimal government, Bienvenido Oplas, Jr. believes that a society will be more peaceful and dynamic if people will assume more individual and voluntary responsibilities over their lives, their families and their communities.
This, according to Oplas, is the essence of ‘civil society and what the Minimal Government (MG) Thinkers, Inc. stands for.
People who are afraid of responsibilities are afraid of freedom itself, he says on his organisation s website. It is big and intrusive government that often rewards individual irresponsibility with subsidies and welfare.
Composed of a group of professionals and s…