LATEST NEWS
(Last update was: Thursday, January 29, 2004 08:51:16 AM )

HEADLINES

Articles:

Light to Prevent Cancer WASHINGTON (Ivanhoe Newswire) - Each year in the United States, 1 million cases of skin cancer are diagnosed. More than 7,000 people die. Now, doctors are using a new therapy to keep the cancer from developing in some patients.

Al lot of sun can damage your skin, e.g. your legs - causing a skin condition called actinic keratoses. These thick and crusty lesions are a precursor to skin cancer.

“This is an actinic keratosis that eventually transformed into a squamous cell skin cancer,” says dermatologist Lisa Kauffman, M.D., of Georgetown University Hospital in Washington.

In studies, all patients had more than 85 percent of their lesions clear. But it’s not a cure. Sun exposure will mean more lesions and more needed treatment.

More than 5 million people in the United States are living with actinic keratoses. Doctors say it’s important to seek treatment, because nearly half of squamous cell cancers start as one of these spots.

Click here to read more:

Article Source & Reference: Ivanhoe -  http://www.ivanhoe.com/channels/p_channelstory.cfm?storyid=7841, 2004/01/29

[Back to Headlines]

Unprecedented spread of avian influenza requires broad collaboration GENEVA/ ROME/PARIS - FAO/OIE/WHO call for international assistance.  The spread of highly pathogenic avian influenza in several areas in Asia is a threat to human health and a disaster for agricultural production, the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), the World Organisation for Animal Health (OIE) and the World Health Organization (WHO) said in a joint statement yesterday.

Although it has not happened yet, the so-called “bird flu” presents a risk of evolving into an efficient and dangerous human pathogen, the three agencies warned.

The possible widespread occurrence of avian flu in animals in developing countries represents a significant control challenge. FAO, OIE and WHO appealed to donors to address the global threat from avian flu and to provide funds and technical assistance to countries to help eliminate this threat.

The threat from avian influenza is well understood. Unlike SARS, diagnostic tests already exist, as do effective, although costly, antivirals for humans. While it is challenging, research is already well underway on the development of a human vaccine against this strain.

“This is a serious global threat to human health,” said Dr. Lee Jong-wook. “But we have faced several emerging infectious diseases in the past. This time, we face something we can possibly control before it reaches global proportions if we work cooperatively and share needed resources. We must begin this hard, costly work now.”

Click here to read more:

Article Source & Reference: World Health Organization - http://www.who.int/mediacentre/releases/2004/pr7/en/, 2004/01/28

[Back to Headlines]

Better Prevention Against Another Cardiovascular Event (Ivanhoe Newswire) - An anti-clotting drug may be more effective than aspirin to prevent a third stroke or heart attack. A new study shows people who survive more than one heart attack or stroke caused by a blood clot have a lower risk of another event if they are treated with the blood-thinning drug clopidogrel instead of aspirin.

Researchers studied 4,496 participants from the CAPRIE (Clopidogrel vs. Aspirin in Patients at Risk of Ischemic Events) trial who had a history of heart attack or stroke. Physicians randomized patients to receive either clopidogrel or aspirin after a cardiovascular event. In the overall CAPRIE study, clopidogrel-treated participants had an 8.7-percent lower relative risk of a cardiovascular event compared to the aspirin-takers. In the specific study of high-risk patients, the clopidogrel group had a 14.9-percent lower relative risk than the aspirin group.

Click here to read more:

Article Source & Reference: Ivanhoe - http://www.ivanhoe.com/channels/p_channelstory.cfm?storyid=7879, 2004/01/27

[Back to Headlines]

DA proposes a ministry of Aids - If the Democratic Alliance (DA) were to be voted into power it would shut down the sports ministry and replace it with one for HIV/Aids.

This emerged yesterday at a press conference at Parliament when DA spokesperson on Aids, Mike Waters, was asked where money for a new ministry of HIV/Aids would come from.

In other news, The CEO of MSD – the holder of exclusive rights to market and distribute Efavirenz, a tablet used in the treatment of HIV infection in children – said yesterday that there was no longer a shortage of the drug.

Chirfi Guindo said, "…we have replenished material in the supply chain and as we speak there is no shortage. We took immediate action and remain committed to making sure patients get an uninterrupted supply."

Sources: The Citizen, Pretoria News

Click here to read more:

Article Source & Reference: SA Medical Association - http://www.samedical.org/, 2004/01/26

[Back to Headlines]

Lawyers warn on drugs pricing - One of the country's leading law firms has warned that government's draft regulations on the pricing of medicines could be unconstitutional, opening the way to legal challenge if they were implemented in their current form.

The draft regulations propose the introduction of caps on the markups levied by wholesalers, distributors and pharmacists.

"We have been approached by clients who are concerned about the legality (of the regulations)," said Webber Wentzel Bowens' partner specialising in public law, Glenn Penfold.

Penfold said the draft regulations also appeared to infringe on an individual's constitutional right to freedom of trade.

In other news, it has come to the attention of the Treatment Action Campaign (TAC) that MSD, the holder of exclusive rights to market and distribute Efavirenz in South Africa, has run out of stock of the tablet used in the treatment of HIV infection in children over the age of three years.

Sources: Business Day & Citizen

Click here to read more:

Article Source & Reference: SA Medical Association - http://www.samedical.org/, 2004/01/23

[Back to Headlines]