News (Updated September 23,
2007)
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(Xinhua)
Updated: 2007-09-20 20:30
The Beijing municipal government registered 563 new cases of HIV/AIDS in
the first half of this year, up 50 percent from the same period last year, a
health official said on Thursday.
Among the new cases were 11 foreigners, 120 Beijing residents and 432
migrant Chinese from outside the city, said Zhao Tao, head of the disease
control and prevention section of the Beijing Municipal Health Bureau.
The majority of the new cases were young and middle-aged people, and men
outnumbered women, said Zhao.
The city had registered 4,253 HIV/AIDS cases since 1985 by June, including
164 foreigners and 885 Beijing residents.
Needle sharing by drug takers and sex were the main transmission routes of
the disease, accounting for 68.1 percent of the infections.
Beijing has been backing campaigns to educate citizens on preventing
infections.
In addition, compulsory urine tests are expected to be adopted to keep drug
addicts clean, which is a part of a campaign, running till the end of the
year, to stop the spread of illicit drugs in the city.
The municipal drug control committee has announced that those who test
positive will be ordered to seek treatment at community-based rehabilitation
centers, and assigned to a social worker who will monitor their progress in
kicking their habits.
China reported 18,543 new cases of HIV carriers and 4,314 cases of AIDS
patients in the first half of this year, bringing the accumulated cases of the
disease to 214,300 by late July, Han Mengjie, an official with AIDS Control
Work Committee of the State Council, said earlier this month.
He warned that the virus was seemingly spreading from high-risk groups to
the general public because of factors such as unsafe sex and the migration of
people infected with the virus.
By Shan Juan (China Daily)
Updated: 2007-09-21 07:21
Drug-makers must recover dangerous or deadly medication from end-users
within 24 hours of a recall order under a draft regulation by China's top drug
watchdog.
The 24-hour rule will take effect during a Class 1 recall under a new
three-tier recall system devised by the State Food and Drug Administration (SFDA).
The draft is based on international practices.
In response to a question about the feasibility of the one-day recall, the
administration's spokes-woman, Yan Jiangying, told China Daily: "Because
the people who buy medication are scattered across the country and are hard to
keep track of, companies probably will face difficulties recovering their
drugs."
"The regulation is still in draft form, and we are soliciting feedback
from stakeholders, including drug companies," Yan said. "The final
version will be released and implemented on October 8."
According to the draft, a Class 2 recall involves a situation in which the
use of or exposure to a problem product could cause temporary or medically
reversible adverse health consequences, or in which the probability of serious
adverse health consequences is remote. A Class 3 recall takes place when the
use of an unsafe product is not likely to cause adverse health consequences.
"The system will be applied to recalls that are either conducted under
a firm's own initiative or by order of the SFDA," Yan said.
The top drug watchdog and its provincial branches will order recalls if
companies fail to do so, according to the draft.
In such situations, the companies will also face fines of up to three times
the value of the drugs involved and a possible revocation of their licenses.
"The regulation is intended to strengthen the accountability of
pharmaceutical companies in case of health scares triggered by problematic
drugs," Yan said, urging drug makers to both work with the recall system
and self-regulate.
Drug-makers will have to shoulder any expenses incurred during recalls, the
draft said.
Under the existing system, the authorities rely on administrative measures
such as seizures and the destruction of problem drugs while handling recalls.
Retailers and hospitals that uncover problems with drugs must immediately
stop selling and prescribing them, inform the makers and distributors and
submit a report to quality supervision authorities, said the draft.
If they fail to do so, they face fines ranging from 1,000 ($132) to 50,000
yuan, or a revocation of their licenses in serious cases.
On Tuesday, the Shanghai drug watchdog ordered the recall of tainted
leukemia drugs that had been blamed for causing leg pains and other problems.
GUANGZHOU: A new treatment center for young people addicted to drugs, the
Internet, gambling, cigarettes or sex opened on Wednesday at the Division
Hospital of the Guangdong Armed Police.
Previously, such units existed only within drug rehabilitation centers and
psychiatric hospitals.
The center's director, He Rihui, believes it can play a major role in helping
youngsters deal with a range of psychological problems.
"Even though young people are aware of the dangers of addiction, many
simply cannot control themselves."
Many people do not realize that being addicted to the Internet, or shopping,
or gambling is a psychological problem, which can be cured with the right
treatment, He said.
As well as providing therapy for its resident, the new center will educate
them on how to avoid and prevent addiction.
(China Daily 09/21/2007 page5)
The supervisor of a
major HIV vaccine trial in South Africa voiced "huge
disappointment" Saturday after testing was halted in the wake of poor
results from sister trials in Australia and the United States.
US pharmaceutical giant Merck announced on Friday that it had halted the
trials of its V520 vaccine after a study found it to be ineffective.
"It is a huge disappointment because this vaccine has shown promise
all the way through, but it's only when you get in on these big trials that
you start to see how the vaccine behaves," South Africa trials
supervisor Glenda Gray told AFP.
South Africa is home to nearly 5.5 million HIV-positive people.
"Although in earlier studies we saw beautiful immune responses, it
doesn't look like this immune response translates into something that could
protect people against HIV infection," Gray added.
The prototype had been tested on 700 HIV-negative people since February
in five South African hospitals.
"It is devastating for us, to say the least, but we have to keep
going ... we need something that can prevent infection," said Gray, who
also heads AIDS research at the Chris Hani Hospital in Soweto, southwest
Johannesburg.
She stressed that the prototype did not have any consequence on the
health of those who participated in the study.
"It is sad and... it is a huge disappointment because it is about
life and prevention of new infection," said Treatment Action Campaign (TAC)
president Zachie Achmat, the main organisation that helps people living with
AIDS in South Africa.
"But it shows that there is proper control on human trials and when
something is not effective it can be stopped," said Achmat, adding,
"we want to encourage them to maintain hope."
By Reuters
Wednesday September 19, 01:08 AM
LAGOS (Reuters) - A tripling of the number of Nigerian HIV treatment
centres in a year has enabled 135,000 infected people to get free
life-saving drugs, up from 40,000 a year ago, Nigeria's AIDS control agency
said on Tuesday.
But the country's ambitious plan to tackle HIV/AIDS failed to meet its
targets last year, and the global voluntary group ActionAid has said that
only 10 percent of Nigerians needing treatment are getting it.
Around 3 million of Nigeria's 140 million people live with the deadly
virus, giving the country the world's third highest number of HIV/AIDS
sufferers after India and South Africa.
"As at the end of June, we had 210 free ARV (antiretroviral)
treatment centres, and we had 135,837 people on treatment across the
country," Babatunde Osotimehin, director-general of the National Action
Committee on AIDS, told Reuters.
The number of centres, up from 74 a year ago, includes those run by
Nigeria's development partners, he said.
A failure to meet targets, and resulting funding problems, hit Nigeria's
ambitious AIDS control plan to provide therapy for around 250,000 infected
people by end-2006.
The failure to meet targets on drugs access and transparency in handling
donations prompted one major donor, the Global Fund to fight AIDS,
Tuberculosis and Malaria, to suspend two 5-year grants worth about $50
million. The suspension was later lifted.
In May, the World Bank approved $50 million in additional funding for
Africa's most populous nation to combat the spread of the deadly virus.
The funding, part of an original $90 million credit approved in 2001, was
to help expand access to treatment, care, prevention and support for
infected Nigerians.
Nigeria has also signed a deal with former U.S. President Bill Clinton's
AIDS charity to make cheap life-saving ARV drugs to fight the scourge.
But it is still in the process of passing a law that will allow local
drugmakers to produce the medicines to fight HIV/AIDS, and malaria, another
killer.
ActionAid said in May that the world would fall short of the target of
providing universal access to HIV therapy by 2010, and that India, South
Africa and Nigeria were high in the "AIDS league of shame."
Only 10 percent of Nigerian HIV sufferers needing treatment were getting
it, the group said.
17 Sep 2007 15:20:35 GMT
Mabvuto Banda
LILONGWE, Sept 17 (Reuters) - The United Nations World Food Programme will
nearly double food handouts for HIV/AIDS sufferers in Malawi largely due to a
donation from the southern African nation's government, the WFP said on Monday.
Buoyed by bumper harvests, Malawi donated 10,425 tonnes of maize to the U.N.
agency last week.
The WFP was providing monthly food assistance to more than 110,000 HIV/AIDS
patients in the impoverished country before the donation. It was also feeding an
additional 1,500 malnourished mothers and children in feeding centers around the
country.
In a statement it said it would now be able to help feed a peak of 203,000
people in November and December.
"Food is absolutely crucial to the fight against HIV/AIDS, and people
affected by the pandemic are already starting to benefit from this latest
donation by the Malawian government and thousands more will now receive vital
food assistance in the coming months," Dom Scalpelli, WFP's country
director for Malawi, said.
An estimated 14 percent of Malawi's 12 million people are infected with HIV
or AIDS, with about 240 people dying of the disease each day. More than a
million children have been orphaned by the epidemic.
After years of food shortages caused by drought, Malawi has enjoyed two
consecutive good harvests. The country harvested 3.4 million tonnes of maize
last year, 1.3 million tonnes more than it needed.
The rising production has prompted Malawi to sell some 400,000 tonnes of
excess maize to Zimbabwe, which is mired in a deep economic crisis marked by
chronic shortages of food, inflation over 7,600 percent and high unemployment
and poverty.
More than 4 million Zimbabweans are expected to need food assistance by early
next year, according to the WFP.
Malawi also has pledged to donate 10,000 tonnes of maize to Lesotho and
Swaziland, two impoverished southern African nations that have seen their
harvests decimated by extensive droughts.
17 Sep 2007 12:37:40 GMT
BAGHDAD, 17 September 2007 (IRIN) - Youssef Ahmed (not his real name), aged
27, says he was ostracised by his family after they discovered he was
HIV-positive.
Unemployed and forced to leave his family home, Ahmed could not find anywhere
to stay so lived on the streets for months, always fearful of being attacked in
the night by militias or insurgents.
"I discovered I was carrying the HI virus in October 2006 after donating
blood. A doctor in the centre called me and asked me to visit him and I was
given the sad news I was living with HIV.
"I didn't know exactly what I was carrying and when I got home I told my
family, but then I discovered they knew more about it than I did.
"My father started to beat me, telling me I was a homosexual and that I
got a 'dirty disease' from a man. My sister, who is a pharmacist, started
shouting at me and warned my father to stop beating me because, she said, he too
would be infected.
"On that day I discovered how people discriminate against those living
with HIV: I saw my father take all my personal belongings, including my clothes
and engineering books, drop them in the street, douse them with petrol and set
fire to them 'to kill any HIV virus remaining'.
"I never entered my family home again. I tried to stay in a friend's
house but my sister alerted them to my condition and they didn't even bother to
open the door to say 'No' to me.
"I believe I caught the virus when I slept with a sex worker without a
condom a couple of years ago because I heard she died after a year from an
unknown illness. Maybe it was AIDS.
"Last month, I went to a centre which helps people with HIV. They gave
me some food, medicines for my condition and referred me to a local
non-governmental organisation that helps those living with HIV.
"That was the only day I found respect in my life since discovering that
I had the virus. They treated me like a normal person and gave me love and
tenderness. They gave me blankets and a mattress and allowed me to stay until
they found a job for me and a place to stay.
"Now I understand how hard life is for all who live with HIV… If my
sister who is a pharmacist could say that touching, or eating with, someone with
the HI virus might transmit it, you can imagine how those who are not educated
think about HIV."
LAHORE, 17 September 2007 (IRIN) - Holding a chunk of ice wrapped in a
handkerchief firmly to his right cheek, Saleem Jawad, 34, looks rather pleased
with himself. From time to time he turns away to spit out a stream of red blood,
before sipping from a glass of cold water beside him.
Saleem, a car mechanic, has just had a molar removed in Lahore, capital of
Pakistan's eastern Sindh Province. The roadside dentist, Siraj Saeed, who
performed the task, has the extracted tooth in a steel bowl next to an array of
instruments spread out on a small, stained mat where he receives and treats his
patients.
"The problem has gone now. I will be able to sleep properly and eat
again in a few hours," Jawad told IRIN.
But while the roadside tooth removal - carried out without anesthetic and
with only the most primitive, unsterilised tools - was obviously painful, there
could be dire consequences for those who use the services of roadside dentists.
Recent studies in Pakistan have shown that roadside barbers, dentists and
doctors are responsible for the rapid spread of diseases such as hepatitis, as
well as HIV/AIDS.
"When the same instruments are used on one patient after another, and
only dipped in a pail of water to clean them, there is an immense danger of
passing on all kinds of disease, including HIV," said Fahd Anwar, a
Pakistani dentist based in the USA.
Dr Anwar, who is considering moving back to Pakistan, cited an acute shortage
of qualified practitioners - effectively encouraging such practices to thrive.
Shortage of qualified dentists
According to Pakistan government figures for 2006, there were 6,761 dentists
in the country for a population of at least 155 million - roughly one dentist
for every 23,000 patients.
This ratio had improved somewhat over the past decade, but the number of
qualified practitioners remained dismally low.
This also means fees charged by trained dentists at private clinics tend to
be high, while government medical facilities are often poor and involve long
waiting periods.
"I know people say one can get sick by visiting roadside dentists. I
have seen a programme on TV about this, and something about boiling
instruments," said Jawad.
But he, and Siraj Saeed's next patient, Umar Gul, from Pakistan's North West
Frontier Province, both agree: "People like us cannot afford to go to the
fancy clinics where qualified doctors work".
Roadside dentists charge between eight US cents and $3 for their services,
while a visit to a private dentist will cost more than $8. Even treatment at
public sector facilities often incurs larger costs.
Such costs are beyond the means of many people in Pakistan who earn less than
$100 a month.
As a result, thousands of people each year visit roadside practitioners, who
usually depend on lessons passed on from elders or simply first-hand experience,
for their expertise. Moreover, most have little or no awareness about the need
for hygiene, let alone sterilisation or the dangers of HIV/AIDS.
"These things are in Allah's hands; we do what we can," says Saeed.
"I wash my tools with soap each evening."
Hepatitis, HIV/AIDS
But with the prevalence rates for hepatitis stated by the Pakistan Medical
Association to be at least 11 percent and rising, such practices also play an
inevitable role in the spread of the disease, which claims hundreds of lives
each year, as well as HIV, say specialists.
Pakistan is now ranked in the "concentrated epidemic" stage of
HIV/AIDS, according to the World Health Organization (WHO). Pakistan's National
AIDS Control Programme (NACP) officially confirms only 3,198 HIV/AIDS cases
across the country, but NACP experts concede the "number of sufferers could
be higher".
Speaking to IRIN, Naveeda Shabbir at the NACP said prevalence among the
general population was below 0.1 percent, but added there was a higher
prevalence among specific populations, most prominently injecting drug users (IDUs).
According to WHO, the number of HIV-infected persons in Pakistan could be as
high as 85,000.
Epidemics have been reported among IDUs in the town of Larkana in Sindh
Province and also in other major cities. The high prevalence of sexually
transmitted diseases, the large number of female and male sex workers,
inadequate checks on blood transfusions and high levels of illiteracy and lack
of awareness about AIDS also place Pakistan at high risk.
Following a month-long anti-AIDS campaign, the NACP country director, Asma
Bokhari, said that in several Punjab districts, the re-use of syringes was found
to be a major cause of the spread of AIDS, and that "unsafe medical
practices" posed a grave risk.
Yet despite this, across Lahore, and other major cities in Pakistan, dentists
- as well as barbers who traditionally also lance boils, ear doctors and other
quacks - continue to carry on their unsafe practices.
Their numbers are unknown but it is estimated to be in the tens of thousands.
To date, campaigns to tackle such unsafe practices have failed to achieve any
results, despite the obvious risks.
The top drug authority is set to approve imports of a hemophilia treatment to
help make up for a shortfall that has deprived some patients of the medication
they need.
The recombinant-clotting factor produced by the German pharmaceutical company
Bayer Healthcare will be on the market soon, according to an announcement on the
State Food and Drug Administration (SFDA) website.
"This does not mean that we are easing the two-decade ban on imported
blood and plasma-derived products of all kinds," SFDA spokeswoman Yan
Jiangying said yesterday.
The authorities imposed the ban in 1986, in response to a case of HIV
infection caused by imported factor VIII that was detected around 1983.
The German-made treatment does not fall into the categroy of products that
are subject to the embargo because it is not made from human plasma, said Yin
Hongzhang, a division director with the SFDA's department of drug registration.
However, the recombinant-clotting factor has the same medical effect as
plasma-derived factor VIII. It is widely used to treat hemophiliacs in China.
Many clinicians believe such treatments pose little risk of transmitting an
infectious disease.
Larry Zhang, regional head for Asia Pacific of Bayer Healthcare, said the
treatment would be made available at a lower price in China than in other
countries because of the financial difficulties that many patients here face and
the lack of a comprehensive health insurance scheme.
Recombinant-clotting factor will cost no more than 5 yuan (65 cents) in
China, Zhang said. The average international price is 30 yuan.
A unit of factor VIII currently costs more than 1 yuan in China. In case of a
hemorrhage, 1,000 units are required to stop a potentially fatal bout of
bleeding.
Chu Yuguang, a Beijing-based hemophiliac and the director of the Hemophilia
Home of China, a volunteer group of more than 3,000 patients, applauded the plan
to import recombinant-clotting factor, describing it as as a timely measure by
the government.
"However, many patients cannot even afford locally made factor VIII, let
alone the much more expensive import," Chu said.
In another development, recombinant-clotting factor donated by Bayer
Healthcare, enough for roughly 650 patients, is on its way from the US to China
and should arrive at six Chinese hospitals next week, Zhang said.
(China Daily 09/20/2007 page3)
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