EMEKA AKAMIKE
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EDITORIAL: THE FIRST LADY OF IMO STATE SHOULD FLAG-OFF AND SPEARHEAD THE FIGHT AGAINST OBESITY IN IMO STATE. MOST MEN AND WOMEN ARE OBESE AND UNHEALTHY. THEY COVER UP THEIR OBESITY WITH THEIR UNIFORM (AGBADA). LOOK AT THEIR STOMACHS!!!! ALL OVER THE WORLD PEOPLE ARE FIGHTING THE "BULGE". ALSO, ATTENTION AND MASS EDUCATION SHOULD BE DIRECTED TO GOOD NUTRITION.
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West Africa: Ebola - WHO Okays Vaccine Trial At Lausanne University Hospital
By Ejikeme Omenazu
Lagos — The World Health Organisation (WHO) has welcomed the approval by Swissmedic for a trial with an experimental Ebola vaccine at the Lausanne University Hospital (CHUV).
The United Nations Information Centre (UNIC) said in Lagos, Tuesday, the development marked the latest step towards bringing safe and effective Ebola vaccines for testing and implementation as quickly as possible.
It quoted Marie-Paule Kieny, Assistant Director General for Health Systems and Innovation at WHO, as saying that the approval meant that the vaccine could be used on approximately 120 individuals in Lausanne.
The trial, which is receiving support from WHO, Kieny stressed, was the latest in a series of trials going on in Mali, the United Kingdom, and the United States.
Kieny said: "The vaccine is based on a genetically modified chimpanzee adenovirus ("ChAd-Ebola"; Chimpanzee-Adenovirus chAD3-ZEBOV).
"The trial will test the safety of the vaccine and its capacity to induce an immune response.
"Results from the CHUV trial will, together with the results of other centres involved, provide the basis for planning subsequent trials involving several thousand participants, and for choosing vaccine dose-level for efficacy trials," she said.
Developed by the US National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) and a pharmaceutical company, GlaxoSmithKline, the UN agency revealed that "the vaccine consists of a virus that is rendered harmless and used as genetic carrier for one Ebola protein.
"The application, submitted at the end of September 2014, was handled as a priority, given the dimensions of the Ebola epidemic in West Africa.
"The trial is one of two in Switzerland coordinated by WHO. A second vaccine, rVSV-ZEBOV, is to be tested at the Geneva University Hospitals, concurrent to the Lausanne trial.
"These are dosing and safety trials being held in advance of to Phase II and III trials currently scheduled for late 2014-early 2015," said Kieny.
Kieny added: "If shown to be safe and effective, either of the vaccines could be scaled up for production during the first quarter of next year, with millions of doses produced for wide distribution in high-risk countries."
Trials in Lausanne will begin this week, with first results expected in December 2014.
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Ebola: Mapping the outbreakLatest
The Ebola outbreak in West Africa was first reported in March 2014, and has rapidly become the deadliest occurrence of the disease since its discovery in 1976.
In fact, the current epidemic sweeping across the region has now killed more than all other known Ebola outbreaks combined.
Up to 19 October, 4,877 people had been reported as having died from the disease in five countries; Liberia, Guinea, Sierra Leone, Nigeria and the United States. The total number of reported cases is in excess of 9,900.
The World Health Organization (WHO) admits the figures are underestimates and warns there could be as many as 20,000 cases by November if efforts to tackle the outbreak are not stepped up.
Ebola deaths in West Africa
Up to 23 October
4,922
Deaths - probable, confirmed and suspected
(Includes one death in US and one in Mali)
2,705 Liberia
926 Guinea
1,281 Sierra Leone
8 Nigeria
Source: WHOGettyEmergency declared
In August, the United Nations health agency declared an "international public health emergency", saying that a co-ordinated response was essential to halt the spread of the virus.
By September, WHO director general Margaret Chan said that the "number of patients is moving far faster than the capacity to manage them".
Director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) in the US, Thomas Frieden, said in October that the Ebola outbreak in West Africa is unlike anything since the emergence of HIV/Aids.
Despite attempts to deploy more health workers and open new Ebola treatment centres in the worst-affected countries, the WHO said that there was still a significant lack of beds in Sierra Leone and Liberia, with more than 3,000 needed.
Country Existing bed capacity Total beds needed Extra beds still required
Source: WHO, 12 October 2014
Guinea
160
260
100
Liberia
620
2,930
2,310
Sierra Leone
346
1,198
852
The WHO has declared the outbreaks in Nigeria and Senegal officially over, as there have been no new cases reported since 5 September.
The same cannot be said for Guinea, Sierra Leone and Liberia.
Transmission is continuing in urban areas, with the surge in Liberia driven mainly by a sharp increase in the number of cases reported in the capital, Monrovia.
The situation in Sierra Leone also continues to deteriorate with a sharp increase in the number of newly-reported cases in the capital, Freetown, and its neighbouring districts of Port Loko, Bombali, and Moyamba, which were placed under quarantine on 25 September.
That means that five of Sierra Leone's 15 districts are on lockdown, with more than a third of the population of six million no longer able to move freely.
Current outbreak
Figures accurate from 4-6 October, depending on country. Death toll in Liberia includes probable, suspect and confirmed cases, while in Sierra Leone and Guinea only confirmed cases are shown
Researchers from the New England Journal of Medicine have traced the outbreak to a two-year-old toddler, who died on 6 December 2013 in Meliandou, a small village in south-eastern Guinea.
In March, hospital staff alerted Guinea's Ministry of Health and then the charity Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF). They reported a mysterious disease in the south-eastern regions of Gueckedou, Macenta, Nzerekore, and Kissidougou.
It caused fever, diarrhoea and vomiting. It also had a high death rate. Of the first 86 cases, 59 people died.
The WHO later confirmed the disease as Ebola.
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Nigerian ambassador, 3 ECOWAS staff, 55 others had contact with Lagos Ebola victim — Idris
on July 29, 2014
By Chioma Obinna, Olasunkanmi Akoni, Lawani Mikairu & Daniel Eteghe
The Lagos State Government disclosed, yesterday, that the Nigerian Ambassador to Liberia, Chigozie Obi Nnadozie, three staff of the Economic Community of West African States, ECOWAS, and 55 others had contact with the victim of Ebola Virus Disease, EVD, Patrick Sawyer, who died in Lagos, last Thursday.
Medics in full gear to avoid contracting the virus
Medics in full gear to avoid contracting the virus
The Joint Federal and State Team in collaboration with other health organisations on prevention of Ebola outbreak in Lagos, has begun monitoring of the 59 persons that had contact with the victim, who died of Ebola Virus Disease, EVD, in a private hospital in Lagos, last week.
Addressing a joint press briefing, yesterday, on the update of the Ebola virus disease, Director National Centre for Disease Control, NCDC, Professor Abdulsalim Nasidi, and Lagos State Commissioner for Health, Dr. Jide Idris, explained that out of the 59 persons that had contact with the Sawyer in Lagos, 44 were hospital contacts (38 healthcare workers and six laboratory staff) and 15 airport contacts comprising three ECOWAS staff – driver, liaison and protocol officer, Nigerian Ambassador to Monrovia, two nursing staff and five airport passenger handlers.
Appeal for calm
Idris, who appealed for calm, said right now, 20 contacts had been physically screened. “The airline manifest has not been provided by the airline at the time of this report and therefore, the precise number of passenger contacts is yet to be ascertained, especially as two flights were involved Monrovia – Lome and Lome – Lagos. There was no report of medical incident filed and the General Declaration report of the flight.”
Idris who stated categorically that only one case of imported Ebola and one death has been recorded in Lagos, said: “No Nigerian is infected, but all contacts are being actively followed. We call on all Nigerians to be calm and not panic and I do hereby assure them that both the state and Federal governments are up in arms to ensure that the virus did not escape and that no Nigeria is infected with this virus,” he stressed.
Preliminary investigation
It was further disclosed that preliminary laboratory investigation conducted by the NCDC AI virology laboratory of the Lagos University Teaching Hospital, LASUTH, and the Redeemers’ University’s World-Bank Funded African Centre of Excellence for Genomics of Infectious Diseases (ACEGID) detected viral DNA and in both blood and urine samples obtained from the patient were positive for the Pan Filo virus analysis and Ebola Zaire MGB virus strain – specific analysis. Samples were also collected for further confirmation at the WHO, collaborating laboratory for Ebola in Dakar.
Meanwhile, an isolation ward has been designated by the Lagos State Ministry of Health at the Infectious Disease Hospital, Yaba for case management. The designation of three other health facilities was said to be under way.
Idris explained that adhering strictly to WHO guidelines, the body of the deceased patient was decontaminated using 10 per cent sodium hypochlorite and cremated, with the permission of the government of Liberia. “A cremation report has been prepared for dispatch to the family. The vehicle that conveyed the remains was also fully decontaminated.”
Nasidi, who allayed fears that EVD cannot be acquired through mere coming into contact with the EVD patient, disclosed that effort to send the packaged sample of the decease to Dakar failed as the courier company turned it down.
“We were disappointed that the courier rejected the sample. That is why we immediately sought the second opinion of World Health Organisation, WHO, recommended laboratory which is International Centre for Genomics. We are still going to dispatch it to Dakar, most likely first thing today but the WHO has accepted this result.”
Nasidi explained further that even dead bodies of EVD could be more dangerous in terms of transmission.
Case management
To ensure appropriate case management and infection prevention and control, he explained that an isolation ward has been designated by the Lagos State Ministry of Health at the Infectious Disease Hospital, Yaba for case management, adding that the designation of three other health facilities is under way.
Further, he disclosed that a total of 100 Personal Protective Equipment, PPEs, have been procured by the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control, NCDC, and Federal Ministry of Health, FMOH and distributed to the private hospital and the state Ministry of Health and WHO also donated 250 PPEs to the NCDC/FMOH.
On how the corpse was decomposed, the Commissioner said the state adhered strictly to WHO guidelines, the body of the deceased patient was de-contaminated, using 10 per cent sodium hypochlorite and cremated, with the permission of the government of Liberia. “A cremation report has been prepared for dispatch to the family. The vehicle that conveyed the remains was also fully decontaminated,” he added.
Recognising the importance of involving the community early in the response, he stated that already the various communities, traditional and religious leaders have been alerted about the disease and urged to report promptly to healthcare workers of any suspected case.
Categories of EVD
Explaining categories of Ebola Virus Disease, EVD, spread, he explained that “those who come in direct contact of excretions of the dead are primary high risk group; the second group are those that come in contact with facilities used to actually treat or handle these patients; the third category are those who come in contact with those who came in very closed contact with the victim or the dead body. However, the fourth category is those who are within the areas of active transmission of the virus.
“It is also important we clarify a question of whether any of the contacts has been tested - the two laboratories are on standby for 24 hours and we have the APIN and the laboratory committee on the group screening one on one, and taking temperature of the contacts twice a day – morning and evening. We are following WHO criteria and the special protocol that you screen only the blood of only those contacts that start developing symptoms. We are going to identify few of them that we’d already known that came directly in contact with the blood of the deceased while managing him,” he added.
Warning communities that eat bats, he said this is the time for them to desist from consuming it. Similarly, he noted that some communities that worship bats and keep them in their houses should be very careful and stop the act.
Burials
On burial ceremonies of people who died from EVD, he said it had been shown that 40 per cent of the cases of Ebola virus spread was from the mishandling of the burial of the dead bodies. He warned that in case of any Ebola death, people should not just go and bury but contact public health officials.
Preventive tips
President of the Nigerian Academy of Science, Professor Oyewale Tomori, who commended the state government for its prompt response, harped on the rules of hand washing and infection control. “There is no need for panic if we follow the rules of hand washing and infection control. There is need for Nigerians to be at alert as it is happening within the West African countries. There is absolutely no need to panic, he insisted.
“Where it has spread, it is because people have abandoned the rules of hand washing and infection control; we shouldn’t have diseases like Ebola if we maintain the rules of hand washing. Where people have followed the rules of hand washing, we must be at alert; we are not out of the wood yet. We must continue to be at alert. We need to be washing our hands but no reason to panic.” He explained that domestic animals are not carriers of Ebola virus and people who are rearing domestic animals such as pig should not be afraid.
Also speaking, the Special Adviser to the Governor on Public Health, Dr. Yewande Adeshina urged residents and health officials in the state to report any suspected case of Ebola virus immediately. Adeshina appealed to residents to reduce the risk of contracting the disease by observing high standard of hygiene through washing of hands often with soap and water.
“Avoid close contact with anyone who is sick and ensure that objects used by the sick are decontaminated and properly disposed because fluids from an infected person are extremely dangerous,” Adeshina urged residents.
NCAA suspends A_SKY Airline operations to Nigeria
Meanwhile, the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority, NCAA, yesterday, said it has suspended all A_SKY Airline operations to Nigeria with immediate effect. The airline flew the Liberian infected with the Ebola virus into Lagos, which has created panic and diverted world attention to Nigeria.
- See more at: http://www.vanguardngr.com/2014/07/nigerian-ambassador-3-ecowas-staff-55-others-contact-lagos-ebola-victim-idris/#sthash.ernCDTg6.dpuf
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West Africa: Ebola in West Africa - EU Increases Its Immediate Health Assistance to €1.1 Million
11 APRIL 2014
PRESS RELEASE
Brussels — The European Union is stepping up its efforts to contain the spread of the Ebola outbreak in West Africa and assist those affected by the deadly virus.
The Commission has increased its funding for immediate health operations, experts and risk assessments to €1.1 million, and is contributing with medical equipment to help accelerate diagnosis.
"Acting rapidly is crucial. We are reinforcing our support to partner organisations in Guinea and neighbouring countries to ensure urgently needed healthcare to those hit by the epidemic and to stop it from further expanding," said Kristalina Georgieva, EU Commissioner for International Cooperation, Humanitarian Aid and Crisis Response.
EU Commissioner for Development, Andris Piebalgs, commented: "The European Commission has been mobilising experts and equipment at short notice to provide quick help on the ground.
Good coordination is key in the international response to this outbreak and this is why we are also setting up a network of EU and African health institutes to exchange know-how in tackling this terrible disease."
Following a commitment of €500 000 from last week, the Commission has increased its assistance to help the affected communities in Guinea and neighbouring countries to €1.1 million.
These new funds will allow Médecins Sans Frontières to scale up the on-going interventions in the field of clinical management (such as the isolation of patients and psychosocial support), the tracing of suspected cases and the training and supply of personal protective equipment for health workers.
Furthermore, the new funds will support the World Health Organization (WHO) in ensuring the epidemiological surveillance and providing medical supplies, equipment, transport logistics and health personnel.
Three humanitarian experts from the Commission have been sent to Conakry and Monrovia to monitor the situation on the ground and liaise with local authorities and partners.
Moreover, on 26 March six European specialists of the European Mobile Lab project (EMLab) for dangerous infectious diseases arrived in Gueckedou, Guinea, with a mobile laboratory unit. This consists of easily transportable equipment for high security virus manipulation packed in boxes.
It will substantially enhance the available capacity for rapid analyses of samples and confirmation of Ebola cases, reducing the number of un-diagnosed cases and preventing the further spread of the disease.
The EU is closely following the latest developments with its Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC). This has just issued a second Rapid Risk Assessment stating that the risk for EU citizens travelling or living in the affected countries remains "low", and giving a series of recommendations on prevention.
Background
This is the first Ebola virus outbreak registered in the region. It was publicly announced by the Guinean Government on 22 March, following French Institut Pasteur's confirmed identification of Ebola virus in samples of cases initially thought to be Lassa fever, which is endemic to the region.
To date, 157 suspected cases including 101 deaths have been reported in Guinea and 21 suspected cases in Liberia, out of which 10 resulted lethal.
First discovered in DR Congo and Sudan in 1976, several outbreaks of this viral haemorrhagic fever have been reported in East and Central Africa, but not in West Africa.
Highly contagious, human to human transmission of Ebola occurs by simple contact with blood and body fluids. No vaccine or treatment is yet available for this pathogen, one of the world's most lethal with a case fatality rate of up to 90% depending on the strain.
The EMLab project is an initiative funded by the European Commission. It includes partners from Germany, Italy, France, Hungary, Switzerland, Slovenia and the United Kingdom.
As part of the international response to the current Ebola outbreak in Guinea, WHO and its Global Outbreak Alert and Response Network (GOARN) requested lab experts of the EMLab project to support the Ministry of Health of Guinea in viral haemorrhagic fever diagnostics.
The team of experts is composed of scientists from the Bernhard-Nocht-Institute for Tropical Medicine (Germany), the Bundeswehr Institute of Microbiology (Germany), the Istituto Nazionale per le Malattie Infettive L. Spallanzani (Italy) and the Laboratoire P4 - INSERM Jean Merieux (France).
They will be joined by four experts from Germany, France and Hungary on 15 April; another team will take over four weeks later.
For more information
The European Commission's humanitarian aid and civil protection:
http://ec.europa.eu/echo/index_en.htm
Commissioner Georgieva's website:
http://ec.europa.eu/commission_2010-2014/georgieva/index_en.htm
The European Commission's development and cooperation:
http://ec.europa.eu/europeaid/index_en.htm
Commissioner Piebalgs' website:
http://ec.europa.eu/commission_2010-2014/piebalgs/index_en.htm
Contacts:
Alexandre Polack (+32 2 299 06 77)
Maria Sanchez Aponte (+32 2 298 10 35)
David Sharrock (+32 2 296 89 09)
Irina Novakova (+32 2 295 75 17)
For the public: Europe Direct by phone 00 800 6 7 8 9 10 11 or by e-mail
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Nigeria: Cholera Ravages Nigeria
12 APRIL 2014
Abuja, Jos, Sokoto, Gusau and Bauchi — ... kills over 100 since January
A new wave of cholera epidemic blowing across the country may have claimed hundreds of lives since January and does not seem to be abating anytime soon with the onset of the rainy season, Weekly Trust findings reveal.
The Nigerian Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) has confirmed an outbreak of the infectious disease in 14 states, where it said 9,006 cases were reported, with 106 deaths in the first quarter of 2014, adding that the situation was not this critical last year.
But state health officials say the casualty figures for the last three months could be much higher as some deaths that happened outside health facilities, which are many, are not officially reported, while many others do not even know the cause of death.
Cholera, according to experts, is an acute infectious disease caused by a bacterium, Vibrio cholerae (V. cholerae) which results in painless diarrhea (the main symptoms are watery stool and vomiting); and infection in most cases comes primarily from drinking water or eating food that has been contaminated by the faeces of an infected person, including one with no apparent symptoms.
The NCDC report shows that Bauchi, where 6,910 cases were reported with 48 deaths, is the worst hit of the 14 states; Kano had 1,270 cases with 16 deaths, while three of the 28 cases in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) ended in fatalities.
In Kaduna State, 350 cases were recorded with 19 deaths, while four died from the 97 cases reported in Benue, six died in Taraba from the 190 cases reported and six again in Ebonyi from 16 recorded cases.
The NCDC report said the lot of the country turned for the worst in the 12th week. Between weeks 1 and 12 of 2014, 9,006 cholera cases with 81 lab-confirmed and 106 deaths from 58 local government areas (13 States and FCT) were reported.
But Bauchi State Commissioner for health, Dr. Abubakar Sani Malami, told a news brief on Thrusday that 59 people died of cholera in the state in the last three months. He said 54 of them died in their homes and five in hospital.
"The state recorded a high casualty figure because some of the victims were treating themselves at home," he said.
Local health workers and Medicine San-Frontiers (MSF) told Weekly Trust in Zamfara that over 1,117 cholera cases were reported in at least five local government areas of the state within two weeks. These are Gusau, Durumi, Gukkuyum, Sakura and Maradu.
At least 72 of the victims died of the infection, not including those who gave up the ghost before they could get medical help, local officials said. But reports by MSF indicate that the death toll from the epidemic could be as high as 350 people in Zamfara alone.
Hospital sources said about 90 fresh cases were reported at the Shagari Primary Health Care Center among other health facilities in the state this week alone. Many more are being expected.
Balira Bello, who is receiving treatment at the Shagari facility, blamed her infection on the unavailability of clean drinking water to the people in the Birnin Ruwa area of Gusau, the state capital.
Two other residents, Balkisu Mamman and Shafa'atu Garba, said they fetch their drinking water from broken pipes which usually pass through unsanitary environments.
One of the worst hit communities in Plateau State is Anguwan Yashi, in Namu area of Qua'an Pan Local Government Area, which recently saw the influx of thousands of refugees from neighbouring Nasarawa State fleeing from communal crisis, putting pressure on the only source of drinking water and other facilities in the village.
The Plateau State government has confirmed that 11 people died of cholera while the community puts the casualty figure at more than 30. None could, however, dispute that over 100 people had been infected and treated from the disease.
The district head of Namu, Alhaji Abubakar Sadiq, said mortality numbers have been down-played, adding that most of those killed by the scourge were women nursing their children.
"Both indigenes of the village and the displaced have been affected because we now live together. And I can count over 10 of the indigenes that have died from this disease, including my brother's wife, my neighbour and her daughter," said Alhaji Abubakar Sadiq, the district head of Namu.
Others like 21-year-old Jane Botof in Rukuba, Bassa local government area were luckier. She suddenly took ill; vomiting and stooling. "What could this be?" her mother, Lilian Bot, wondered aloud; and driven by a growing panic, bundled her daughter into a commercial tricycle and was off to the nearest clinic. Thus, Jane's was one of the 28 reported cases in the area last week. Three of the victims, one of them a pregnant woman, died chiefly because they got to the hospital late.
Cholera outbreaks were reported in several other parts of the state with no official records of cases, sometimes due to the remote nature of such locations or just because of the lackadaisical attitude of the people to health issues.
At least two local areas of Sokoto State have experienced an outbreak of cholera this year, Tambuwal and kebbe, where scores of people have died of infection, investigations by Weekly Trust revealed. But the state government said only 13 out of the 152 cases reported there ended in fatalities.
In Barkeji alone, a village located along Sokoto-Jega road in Tambuwal local government area where the disease was said to have first surfaced, 31 cases and five deaths were recorded between October 10 and October 21, officials said.
In kebbe local government area, about 20 kilometres from Tambuwal, the disease resurfaced in six riverine communites, including Bakin Dutse, Tuna, 'Yar-Romo, Nabasa, Fakku and Bashi, with eight deaths out of 121 cases reported.
Scores of people in Kano metropolis are now bedridden and agonizing as a result of the sudden outbreak of cholera in some parts of the state. The cholera epidemic struck the communities 10 days ago and has so far claimed the lives of over 12 persons.
In Lagos state cholera outbreak in five local government areas has so far claimed at least three persons, while scores of victims were treated and discharged, state commissioner for health, Dr. Jide Idris, said.
"Although, many of the cases have been treated and discharged in several health facilities, three have been confirmed dead. Most of the suspected cases are from Ajeromi, Apapa, Lagos Island, Oshodi_Isolo and Surulere local government areas," Idris said.
Health officials say cholera can be easily prevented by washing of hands frequently with soap and water for at least 15 seconds especially before handling food and after using the toilet; drinking and cooking with safe water that has been boiled and disinfected and avoiding eating raw food, taking food that is completely cooked and hot and avoiding improperly cooked seafood or meat, among other measures.
"Especially in this period of the early onset of rain, a clean environment and lifestyle is key against cholera infection," Plateau state epidemiologist, Dr. Raymond Juryit advised, adding that when cholera occurs, what determines safety of life is not seeking treatment in the wrong quarters, such as a chemist or arriving hospital late, but arriving hospital as quickly as when its symptoms manifest.
NCDC project manager, Prof. Abdulsalami Nasidi, said the federal government has deployed Rapid Response Teams to affected states to help contain the outbreak.
He explained that drugs are being distributed to states to cushion the effects of the disease while chlorine powder has been also distributed to treat well water.
Ruby Leo, Lami Sadiq, Onimi Alao, Abubakar Auwal, Isa Liman, Ahmed Mohammed
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Nigeria: Government Raises Alert On Ebola Virus
BY TALATU USMAN, 9 APRIL 2014
The Ebola Virus Disease, which has caused the death of scores of people in Central and West Africa may be heading towards Nigeria, the Federal Government has said.
Over 100 people have died from the disease in Guinea, while about 10 deaths have also been recorded in Liberia. Mali, Ghana, and other West African countries have also reported cases of the disease. The disease is believed to be spread through physical contact or contact with fluid of infected persons.
The World Health Organisation said on Tuesday that it expects the disease to continue in West Africa for the next few months.
Speaking to journalists after the weekly meeting of the Executive Council of the Federation, FEC, on Wednesday, the Minister of Health, Onyebuchi Chukwu, however, said no case of the disease has been reported in Nigeria.
"Like you pointed out, Ebola has been moving eastward towards Nigeria. We are already facing danger from Central African Republic, even with what is happening in Congo; people are also migrating to Chad and Cameroon are also in our borders.
"So Nigeria is in danger," the minister said.
Mr. Chukwu said the federal government will now do more to educate Nigerians on the Ebola virus.
"We have recently said that in addition to the leaflets that we are producing for Lassa and other hemorrhagic fever, we will now emphasis Ebola fever.
"As I speak to you, we have already approved for jingles to be produced in various languages; produced for Nigerian Centre for Disease Control to be aired on Radio, TV and newspaper adverts.
"Then we are working with all groups, just like we are doing for polio, religious bodies, communities, traditional rulers and the media, which is most important in this venture. You (media) will help us to play your role by educating Nigerians," he said.
The Health Minister also said there is no vaccine for the disease yet and "so it's not a question of government has not produced vaccines for Ebola or Lassa fever.
"If there were vaccines, government will certainly buy a stock and keep. There is no specific treatment."
Mr. Chukwu explained that both Ebola and Lassa fever could be spread through animals.
"We know what spreads infection for Lassa is a special type of rat in Nigeria; the ones for Ebola are bats that even some Nigerians see it as bush meat.
"And bats eat fruits as well and so sometimes if you go and pluck fruits that they have contaminated with the virus so someone can get infected."
The minister advised Nigerians to take their personal hygiene seriously.
"So all the things we said still apply. Personal hygiene: make sure that after every ceremony you wash your hands.
"The first thing I do after returning from work is to wash my hands before hugging my children or anybody; it is very important. The second thing is that before you eat wash your hands again, the fruits must be washed, those things we eat from must be washed.
"When people have fever, we will soon review our adverts for things like anti-malaria because they still say if you have fever take this for three days if you don't improve go and see your doctor but we are changing all that because now if you wait three days for Ebola you are dead.
"So all of them will continue and we will produce a specific one for Ebola".
The health minister said though Ebola virus had become a threat in West Africa, it is not the only threat.
"Yes, Ebola is a real threat. It is true that as at today we have not been able to report a single case of Ebola.
"But mind you, Ebola is not the only threat, it is an added threat because West Africa never had a single case of Ebola until this year, it was more in Central Africa.
"But now we have added it to the ones that are even more native to West Africa which is Lassa fever.
"Some of these viruses belonging to a group that causes similar diseases like yellow fever, which for 18 years now we have not had a single case; but 18 years ago it devastated Nigeria. It is also the cause of what is called hemorrhagic fever" he said.
He said Lassa fever is more common in Nigeria, particularly in northern part of Edo State.
"They record a case every week and it is very deadly," Mr. Chukwu said.
Plateau State on Wednesday said one person may have died from Lassa fever in the state.
The Plateau State epidemiologist, Raymond Juriet, said three other cases of the same disease are under laboratory examination.
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Nigeria: Shocking Truths About Ebola Virus Disease
BY GARBA SHEHU, 9 APRIL 2014
Nigeria with her population of 160 million-plus is at the door-step of a major disaster-the Ebola Virus Disease (EVD) - unless by some miracle it steers away its course or we take deliberate policies and actions that shut our door against it.
Ebola is a cruel disease. It kills easily but painfully. It also spreads easily. One person infected by the virus can infect the entire passengers in a bus or a passenger aircraft.
What is the Ebola Virus Disease?
The World Health Organisation, WHO, describes it as a "severe acute viral illness often characterized by the sudden onset of fever, intense weakness, muscle pain, headache and sore throat. This is followed by vomiting, diarrhoea, rash, impaired kidney and liver function, and in some cases, both internal and external bleeding. Laboratory findings include low white blood cell and platelet counts and elevated liver enzymes."
As of April 5, the World Health Organisation, WHO, reported 127 cases of Ebola, of whom 86 people have died in Guinea. The current wave of outbreak is believed to have originated from that country. As of this date, Liberia has reported six suspected cases, two confirmed deaths. On April 3, Mali reported three suspected cases. Sierra Leone has equally reported possible cases although WHO has reported no confirmations.
In reaction to these incidents, many countries have taken various measures to shield their populations from the EVD attacks.
Saudi Arabia has taken their preventive measures by blocking visas for Guinea and Liberia.
Morocco early last week announced extra health screening measures at entry points to the country, in particular Casablanca airport. Senegal has closed its border with Guinea.
Also last week, participants at the 16th International Congress on Infectious Diseases called for joint efforts by West African Governments to contain the spread of the disease.
So far, our government in Nigeria has been giving assurances that there are no reported cases. No alarm has been raised, which is good because while there is need for measures in place to avert the EVD spread, governments have a responsibility to ensure that they don't create panic situations. This then calls for carefully designed strategies to mobilize the population in a way that is effective. You also have to deal with the problem of the credibility of the informant.
In this country, as in many others, it has become fashionable for health authorities and multilateral agencies to issue frequent warnings about this or that outbreak of disease or some so-called research such that it has become impossible to take them seriously. Too much of such warnings have left the population generally confused. Crying wolf too often ensures that there will be little or no vigilance when the actual threat comes. This is the unfortunate situation our authorities must take into cognizance in dealing with the work of public enlightenment concerning the EVD spread.
Although we are fortunate to not have recorded a single case so far, we still need to be aware and steadfast.
Information is power. Once government provides the necessary awareness, it will trigger efforts among the population to protect themselves.
WHO encourages countries to strengthen surveillance, "including surveillance for illness compatible with EVD, and to carefully review any unusual patterns, in order to ensure identification and reporting of human infections under IHR (2005), and encourages countries to continue national health preparedness actions."
The WHO requests these critical practices in outbreak communication: Build trust: Build positive public perceptions of the motives, honesty, and competence of authorities.
Announce Early: Early announcement contributes to early containment and transparency.
Be transparent: Foster communication that is candid, easily understood, complete and accurate.
Respect public concerns: Effective risk communication is a dialogue between technical experts and public; do not describe how the public "should react."
Plan in advance: Outbreak communication must be part of outbreak management planning from the onset.
The Ebola virus, according to medical authorities, is spread through contact with body fluids, such as the sweat, blood, and saliva of an infected person or animal. Doctors say the only way to contain the outbreak is to stop further infections.
And to avoid infection, people are generally advised to avoid handshakes, bush meat, travel to areas with suspected outbreaks and to avoid contacts with people who have the infection.
Nigeria must in addition step up surveillance at all points of entry. So far, those countries affected have, with international help, managed their crises fairly well. A country with our type of near-absence of public order would have witnessed a reign of chaos.
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Nigeria: People Living With HIV/Aids Protest in Taraba
BY ITODO DANIEL SULE, 10 APRIL 2014
Jalingo — People Living With HIV/AIDS (PLWHA) in Taraba State yesterday staged a peaceful protest over their inability to access Anti Retroviral (ARV) drugs due to the ongoing strike by doctors at the Federal Medical Centre, Jalingo.
State Co-ordinator of PLWHA, Johnson Abraham, who led his members to protest at the premises of the Federal Medical Centre Jalingo, said the facility where they usually access their drugs at the centre has been closed down due to the ongoing strike by doctors.
He lamented that the lukewarm attitude of the Taraba State government towards the plight of Persons Living With HIV/AIDS was the major reason for the spread of the disease.
He said the prevalence rate which used to be 5.8 per cent has increased to 10.5 per cent, adding that the situation will get out of hand if drastic steps are not taken by the relevant authority.
"The Taraba State government should be blamed for the increase in prevalence rate in the state; the issue of clients suffering from taking the refill of their ARV cuts across all facilities in the state. Government is not contributing anything to HIV/AIDS in the state. Advocacy carried out to sensitize the public has become a mirage. We have done advocacy and advocacy has failed", he said.
He appealed to the management of the Federal Medical Center to as a matter of urgency resolve their internal crisis so as to allow PLWHA access their drugs, adding that "Persons taking the drugs are not supposed to default."
But the state government through the Chief Press Secretary to the acting governor of Taraba State, Mr. Kefas Sule, denied the allegations, saying, "It is not true because only a few months ago, the state government approved the take off of Taraba Agency for the Control of Aids (TACA)."
He said the committee inaugurated by the government to tackle the HIV/AIDS pandemic in the state has commenced work.
On the strike by doctors at FMC, Kefas said though it is a federal institution, the acting governor has waded into the impasse to ensure that all lingering issues are resolved.
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Nigeria Ranks 11th Among Countries With High Burden of Tuberculosis
BY PAUL OBI AND KASIM SUMAINA IN ABUJA, 10 APRIL 2014
It has emerged that Nigeria ranks 11th among countries with high cases of tuberculosis in the world. This was made known recently during the 2014 World TB Day.
World TB Day is a day designed to raise awareness on this disease of public health importance and also, a moment for countries to reflect on how far they have gone in the fight against TB.
In his address at the event in Abuja recently, Minister of State for Health, Dr. Khaliru Alhassan said, "Tuberculosis today, remains an epidemic in most parts of the world, causing the deaths of nearly one-and-a- half million people each year, mostly in developing countries. Nigeria ranks 11th among the 22 high burden countries that account for 80% of the Global TB burden, the World Health Organisation (WHO) in the 2013 Global TB Report estimated that a total of 180,000 TB cases occur annually in the country. However, the recently concluded National TB prevalence survey has revealed that the actual burden of TB in the country is about three times higher than the current WHO estimates and 5 times more than what is being notified by the programme."
According to the minister, the burden of the disease in Nigeria is further made worse by the negative effects of the interactions between TB and HIV. TB is the most common life-threatening disease and the number one killer among people living with HIV (PLHIV).
In his view, "the Federal Ministry of Health as part of our efforts in addressing these deadly interactions have provided leadership in strengthening collaboration and effective provision of TB/HIV services across the country. Added to that, this has resulted in an increase in the proportion of TB patients screened for HIV over the years from 10% in 2006 to 89% in 2013, with concomitant increase in the number of co-infected patients accessing Cotrimoxazole Preventive Therapy (CPT) from 30% in 2008 to 87% in 2013 and Anti-Retroviral Therapy (ART) from 17% in 2008 to 76% in 2013. Our target is to ensure universal access to joint TB/HIV services across the country."
Speaking further, Khaliru said, "The emergence of drug resistant TB currently impacts on the TB control efforts in the country. At the 62nd World Health Assembly in May 2009, member states committed to achieve universal access to diagnosis and treatment of Drug resistant TB (DR-TB) by 2015. In response to this, the FMoH has established 10 reference laboratories in the Rapidly Scale Up the number of sites with GeneXpert technology from 9 in 2011 to 52 in 2013 to enhance diagnosis of drug susceptible and drug resistant TB. Commenced community-based programmatic management of drug resistance TB to further increase access to DR-TB treatment in a patient-centred manner. A total of 533 DR-TB patients have been enrolled on treatment from 2010 to 2013. Ambulatory management of DR-TB will provide further access to all those requiring treatment in the coming months and years.
"It is worthy to note that children also bear the brunt of this disease; TB is a major threat to the rights of the child, adolescents and their families. Its potential negative impact on the survival, growth and development of our children is, without question, extremely grave. In spite of this, childhood tuberculosis is most seriously neglected, under diagnosed and poorly managed. To address this unacceptable marginalization of the children in National TB control efforts, the programme has established task team on childhood TB which supports the development of the road map that is currently being implemented by the programme,"
Country Representative of the World Health Organization (WHO), Mr. Andrew Mbewe while responding said, "Because TB is an opportunistic infection to HIV, there is a greater need to be more committed in the common fight against it." He said this while donating six Tuberculosis Monocular Rapid Machine to the federal government through the ministry of health.
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Nigeria: '23 Million Nigerians Live With Hepatitis'
BY ADIBE EMENYONU, 10 APRIL 2014
Benin City — The growing rate of Hepatitis among Nigerians has aroused the attention of a non-governmental organisation in Edo State, the Clem Agba Foundation (TCAF), which noted that not less than 23 million Nigerians live with the dreaded disease.
Besides, it said that majority of the 23 million Nigerians are not aware of their status as regards the ailment that is said to have become more deadly than HIV/AIDS. To this end, the foundation has lamented the rising rate of the scourge and the alarming low level of awareness and therefore, urged relevant government agencies and departments to do more in the area of awareness creation.
Founder of the foundation, Mr. Clem Agba made the disclosure when he formally launched the foundation to mark his 50th birthday. Speaking at the ceremony, Agba, who is also the Edo State Commissioner for the Environment said he decided to set up the foundation with special focus on Hepatitis largely because he lost two close persons, his mother, Mrs Philomena Agba and a brother-in-law, Victor Okpako who he said both succumbed to cancer which was caused by Hepatitis C and B respectively.
He said his mission transcends political, ethnic, religious and other differences. "It is about creating awareness about the neglected killer - hepatitis and the institution of a foundation to engage in public awareness campaigns, evidence-based data for action, prevention of the causative virus' transmission, as well as screening, counselling, care and providing further treatment. Hepatitis is a silent global epidemic that has infected 370 million people and responsible for almost a million deaths annually. "Recent statistics indicate that not less than 23 million Nigerians are estimated to be infected with the Hepatitis B virus (HBV), making Nigeria one of the countries with the highest incidence of HBV infection in the world.
"Most of the people who are infected are unaware of their infection and this has resulted in the silent hepatitis infection becoming one of the biggest threats to the health of the world. HBV is about 10 times more prevalent than HIV infection worldwide and the general perception is that HIV virus is very infectious and contagious. However, Hepatitis B Virus is 100 times more infectious than HIV," he said.
He added that the loss of his loved ones sparked his interest in the disease and the idea of the foundation to create the awareness "and do all we can to eliminate this disease." According to him, the Foundation would help to fill in the gap for those who may not be able to assess government provisions in the health sector and also be used to train professionals and undertake research on hepatitis.
"We will also seek ways to collaborate and synergize with like-minded organisations and individuals to help in the advocacy, treatment and alternative medicine approach to put a permanent end to this scourge that is ravaging not only Nigeria and sub-Saharan Africa, but several other places around the world," Agba stated.
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Nigeria: 'Use of Chloroquine Complicates Malaria Treatment'
By Judd-Leonard Okafor, 21 March 2014
Three years after Chloroquine was banned, many health facilities still administer it as first-line drug in treatment of malaria, thereby complicating treatment of the disease, an expert, Dr Godwin Ntadom, has said.
Head of case management of the National Malaria Eradication Programme Dr Godwin Ntadom said a recent assessment showed that health centres still used Chloroquine.
"We were reliably informed that they were procured by their state governments," in partnership with the NMEP's Roll Back Malaria programme, he said.
But partners have claimed Chloroquine was being prescribed for conditions as gout and arthritis, not for malaria.
This comes as agencies involved in malaria management assess whether eradication efforts are sustainable amidst on going revision of national malaria policy to cover the next six years.
Guidelines since the adoption stipulate definitive diagnosis of malaria before anti-malarias are administered, but personnel and funding shortages still plague eradication efforts among states.
Along with mass diagnosis, the programme continues to push use of sleeping nets treated with long-lasting insecticide. Some 60 million nets are to be distributed to replace worn out ones in 16 states up till middle of next year, health minister Onyebuchi Chukwu has said.
But he insisted Nigeria would have to seriously consider surer and more controversial control methods as indoor residual spray, if it is to eradicate malaria.
Speaking at the meeting in Abuja, he said the fight against malaria "will not be won with nets. I'm yet to see one country that eliminated malaria from nets alone."
Latest demographic surveys show malaria is still responsible for two out of 10 deaths among children less than age five, he said.
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HIV/AID: 700,000 Infected In Benue
23 Nov 2013
Over 700,000 people have been confirmed to have been infected with the HIV/AID virus in Benue State even as the state government has complained that despite its continuous campaign several people in the state were still living with the virus Of the number, only 50,000 people living with the virus have already registered with the Benue Network of People Living with HIV/AIDS disease in the state. The Benue State coordinator for People Li
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Nigeria: '300,000 Nigerians Die Annually of HIV/Aids
By Hope Abah, 19 September 2013 AIDS
Makurdi — At least 300,000 Nigerians die annually from HIV/AIDS while more than 1.5 million children are reportedly orphaned yearly by the virus, Executive Director of the National Primary Healthcare Development Agency (NPHDA) Dr. Ado Mohammad said.
Mohammed, who spoke in Makurdi yesterday said the statistics is worrisome, and that steps must be taken to stem the tide.
The director spoke at the opening ceremony of Integrated Service Delivery Training for com-munity health workers, organized by the Program for HIV/AIDS Integration and Decentralization (PHAID) in Makurdi.
"HIV/AIDS continues to be a major burden in our country, with well over 1.5million children orphaned annually by the virus which also claims over 300,000 Nigerian lives yearly," he said.
Represented by Dr. Bakunawa Bello, the NPHDA executive director added, "The devastation and danger posed by the virus in our country calls for concerted efforts by all Nigerians including health workers".
He said the inherent challenge in combating the scourge informed the various strategic trainings and programmes initiated by the NPHDA in states across the country.
Earlier, the PHAID project training officer in the state Hyeladzirah Shalangwa noted that the training programme which is in five phases is intended to further equip healthcare providers with the wherewithal to provide one stop shop services to victims of HIV/AIDS in all parts of Benue State.
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Anti-AIDS wonder drug underway
Written by Friday, 27 December 2013 00:00 RESEARCH led by scientists at the Gladstone Institutes, San Fransisco, United States has identified the precise chain of molecular events in the human body that drives the death of most of the immune system’s CD4 T cells as an HIV infection leads to AIDS. Further, they have identified an existing anti-inflammatory drug that in laboratory tests blocks the death of these cells — and now are planning a Phase 2 clinical trial to determine if this drug or a similar drug can prevent HIV-infected people from developing AIDS and related conditions.
Two separate journal articles, published simultaneously in Nature and Science, detail the research from the laboratory of Warner C. Greene, MD, PhD, who directs virology and immunology research at Gladstone, an independent biomedical-research non-profit. His laboratory’s science paper reveals how, during an HIV infection, a protein known as IFI16 senses fragments of HIV DNA in abortively infected immune cells. This triggers the activation of the human enzyme caspase-1 and leads to pyroptosis, a fiery and highly inflammatory form of cell death. As revealed in the Nature paper, this repetitive cycle of abortive infection, cell death, inflammation and recruitment of additional CD4 T cells to the infection “hot zone” ultimately destroys the immune system and causes AIDS. The Nature paper further describes laboratory tests in which an existing anti-inflammatory inhibits caspase-1, thereby preventing pyroptosis and breaking the cycle of cell death and inflammation.
ADVERTISEMENT“Gladstone has made two important discoveries, first by showing how the body’s own immune response to HIV causes CD4 T cell death via a pathway triggering inflammation, and secondly by identifying the host DNA sensor that detects the viral DNA and triggers this death response,” said Robert F. Siliciano, MD, PhD, a professor of Medicine at Johns Hopkins University, and a Howard Hughes Medical Institute investigator. “This one-two punch of discoveries underscores the critical value of basic science — by uncovering the major cause of CD4 T cell depletion in AIDS. Dr Greene’s laboratory has been able to identify a potential new therapy for blocking the disease’s progression and improving on current antiretroviral medications.”
The research comes at a critical time, as so-called AIDS fatigue leads many to think that HIV/AIDS is solved. In fact, HIV infected an additional 2.3 million people last year, according to UNAIDS estimates, bringing the global total of HIV-positive people to 35.3 million. Antiretroviral medications (ARVs) can prevent HIV infections from causing AIDS, but they do not cure AIDS. Further, those taking ARVs risk both a latent version of the virus, which can rebound if ARVs are discontinued, and the premature onset of diseases that normally occur in aging populations. Plus, some 16 million people who carry the virus do not have access to ARVs, according to World Health Organization estimates.
Seeking solutions for all these challenges, the new Gladstone discovery builds on earlier research from Dr. Greene’s lab, published in Cell in 2010. This study showed how HIV attempts, but fails, to productively infect most of the immune system’s CD4 T cells. In an attempt to protect the body from the spreading virus, these immune cells then commit “cellular suicide,” leading to the collapse of the immune system — and AIDS.
After that research, the Gladstone scientists began to look for ways to prevent this process by studying exactly how the suicidal response is initiated. Working in the laboratory with human spleen and tonsil tissue, as well as lymph-node tissue from HIV-infected patients, the researchers found that these so-called abortive infections leave fragments of HIV’s DNA in the immune cells. As described in Nature, pyroptosis ensues as immune cells rupture and release inflammatory signals that attract still more cells to repeat the death cycle.
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Nigeria: Reject Antimalarials, Antibiotics Without MAS Technology - NAFDAC DG
By Sola Ogundipe, 10 September 2013 Related Topics
Nigeria
AS the SEPTEMBER 1, 2013 deadline elapsed for pharmaceutical companies to fully comply with utilisation of the Mobile Authentication Service, MAS, technology on their regulated products, the National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control, NAFDAC, has urged Nigerians not to accept antimalarials and antibiotics without the MAS code on their packs.
Making the call in Lagos during the official launch of the MAS-embedded Postinor 2 - the foremost brand of Emergency Contraceptives, ECs, in Nigeria, Director General, NAFDAC, Dr. Paul Orhii, said the Agency has commenced enforcement of the mandatory use of the coding technology.
He noted that it was in the bid to checkmate the antics of counterfeiters and producers of fake Postinor 2 that NAFDAC, in collaboration with the Society for Family Health, SFH, Nigeria, have embedded the product with the MAS coding.
"The health system is compromised by fake drugs with low active ingredients. With this MAS we have put power of detection into the hand of more than 80 million Nigerians who use cell phones. It has been tested and there is proof it works," said Orhii, with a warning there would be no further extension of the deadline in order to effectively counter activities of fakers of regulated drug products in the country.
"From this September, we are requiring that every antimalarial and antibiotic drugs that are being used in Nigeria must carry the MAS coding technology. Nigerians must go ahead and reject every antimalarial and antibioltic that does not have this technology on it right now.
"We have given enough time. Initially we said the deadline was January 1, 2013, but moved the date because the companies pleaded for more time, but now we cannot move any longer. From now on we will start enforcement activities and wipe out every antimalarial and antibiotic that is not MAS-enabled off the shelves," he asserted.
It will be recalled that NAFDAC first introduced the MAS in 2011. It is a technology that enables consumers in Nigeria to confirm the authenticity of a drug through a mobile phone by typing a unique 10-digit number hidden under a scratch off panel that comes with the pack of every MAS-enabled drug product and sending as SMS to 38353.
In a few seconds the consumer receives an SMS confirming whether the drug has been approved by NAFDAC. It also confirms the NAFDAC registration number on the product, the manufacturing company and its address, the batch number, date of expiry and a number to call to report any problem.
Orhii, who lamented that in recent times, Postinor 2 had fallen victim to the malicious pranks of counterfeiters of pharmaceutical products causing adverse effects, putting lives at risk and discrediting the product, said the UN identifies Emergency Contraceptives as one of the 13 affordable and effective life-saving commodities under reproductive health. They assist women who may have had unprotected sex to prevent unplanned pregnancy.
"Soon after the launch of the 'Saving One Million Lives' initiative by President Goodluck Jonathan in Abuja in 2012, there was a surge in the faking of this product, Postinor2. We arrested many of the perpetrators who were trying to manufacture it locally, but they switched to bringing in the packaging materials, knowing that NAFDAC does not regulate packaging materials. This is the new trend."
The DG, however, said NAFDAC came up with the MAS as a way of stopping the ugly trend. "If a user scratches and is inable to authenticate the product, immediately we would know something is wrong. Now anyone can report and we would know exactly where the problem is.
Lamenting the challenge of tackling the new trend of drug faking and counterfeiting in the country, Orhii said NAFDAC has been continuously looking for ways of stopping the trend.
Describing counterfeiting as a global problem, he said globally there are no laws and restrictions to punish offenders. Nigeria is one of the few countries that have secured prosecution.
Speaking on introduction of the MAS coding for Postinor 2, Enterprise Funds Manager, SFH, Mr. Obinna Nwogu, said the company has gone ahead to ensure that Postinor II has a MAS code so that end users will scratch the product and send a free SMS to the number, whereupon a response is received to verify whether the product is real or fake.
In his view, Managing Director, SFH, Nigeria, Mr Bright Ekweremadu described MAS coding for Postinor 2 as "a giant step in strengthening trust and a great show of positive consideration to all users of the product."
Emergency contraceptives assist women who may not have used a contraceptive during sex to prevent unplanned pregnancy. It is also very important in cases of rape and in conflict prone situations where regular contraceptives are unavailable or inaccessible.
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Nigerian Medical Experts Applaud Investigational Malaria Vaccine
By Sola Ogundipe and Chioma Obinna, 13 August 2013 Related Topics
Nigeria
NIGERIAN medical professionals have applauded the early-stage clinical evaluation of an investigational malaria vaccine known as the PfSPZ Vaccine, conducted by researchers at the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, NIAID, part of the National Institutes of Health.
In a report published last week in Science - a scientific journal, announcing the phase 1 trial of the vaccine, researchers observed that from preliminary studies, the vaccine had been found to be safe, to generate an immune system response, and to offer protection against malaria infection in healthy adults.
An additional tool
Reacting to the development, National Coordinator, National Malaria Control Programme, NMCP, Dr Nnenna Ezeigwe, described it as a welcome development.
"The news is welcome as are other vaccine projects that are going on at various stages of trial. The process for this one is just starting and if it is to be pursued, will take 8-10 years for it to come to be.
"The first in line and closest at hand known as RTS,S is at the final stage of testing and if everything goes right, that one should be able to come into use in 2015. That one is undergoing the last stage of trial which is the phase 3. Nigeria is one of the countries where the final stages of the trial are being carried out. The centres are in Jos and Enugu."
She said:"If the results of the trial for RTS,S continue to show green light, if things continue the way we are expecting, by 2015, that vaccine should be recommended for use by the World Health Organization, WHO.
"The new product that we are talking about has simply shown some promise worth exploring further and would take a long time to come into fruition if all continue to go well. However when this or other vaccine comes into effect, we are going to use it in addition to what we are already doing in malaria control.
Further, she said: "This is just the beginning for the new product as far as the process for a vaccine is concerned. If at the third stage it is proven to be 100 percent protective, other issues may have to be considered such as costs and other things. Based on several considerations a decision has to be made whether we can use the vaccine or stick to other measures. But the important thing is that we have an additional tool to our arsenal.
"We would not stop doing what we are doing currently to prevent malaria, including use of long lasting insecticide treated bed nets, prompt diagnosis and appropriate treatment, intermittent prevention in pregnant women, environmental and other measures.
"That is the message to take from this. Everyone is excited, I am excited too because there are already 20 vaccines in line, including this one. If the ones we think would be successful prove not to be so, we would be hopeful that the others might be okay, knowing that we have others to assess. It is something to be happy about, I am happy about it but it does not mean we should go to sleep.
Invest in indigenous vaccines
Applauding the feat with a commendation of the team of researchers from the NIAID, President of the Nigerian Medical Association, NMA, Dr. Osahon Enebulele, called for more research into development of indigenous vaccines.
"We strongly call on Nigerian governments at all levels, to invest more in the search for an indigenous malaria vaccine in Nigeria that can protect against other strains of the malaria parasite, besides Plasmodium falciparum.
"We also urge scientists and researchers in Africa, and Nigeria in particular to advance the study by replicating it in the various scientific research institutes in Nigeria."
Enebulele, who is also Vice President of the Commonwealth Medical Association, observed that the NMA is particularly excited by the outcome of the Phase 1 clinical trial on account of the fact that it offers great hope to the African region where malaria is pre-eminently endemic.
"As we await the outcome of further clinical trials of the vaccine candidate, the NMA strongly advises great caution in the interpretation of the research finding as more field studies using a larger number of study subjects need to be conducted in order to validate the effectiveness of the vaccine and the duration of the malaria protective period.
"Similarly, we advise that other on-going research efforts to develop other vaccine candidates (about 20 vaccine candidates at various clinical trial stages) should be stepped up.
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Nigeria: EU Donates 14.25m Euros for Water, Sanitation in Nigeria - UNICEF Official
8 August 2013 Related Topics
Nigeria
The European Union (EU) has allocated 14.25 million euros to the a Water, Sanitation and Hygiene sector in Nigeria through UNICEF for the improvement of the sector, a UNICEF official has said.
Mr Kanan Nadar, the UNICEF Water, Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH) Chief made this known in an interview withe the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Thursday in Abuja.
Nadar said that the amount was allocated to the sector as part of the EU support to improve sanitation in the country.
He said that the money would be used to execute projects in three states -- Plateau, Adamawa and Ekiti -- because they were rated lower than 30 per cent in sanitation coverage.
"14.25 million euro was the specific allocation for the WASH sector and looking at three states which are Plateau, Ekiti and Adamawa.
"The EU support to the Nigeria WASH sector had always been there for sometime and some of these states like Plateau, Ekiti and Adamawa have been part of the support.
"If you look at Plateau and Ekiti, their coverage for water and sanitation together is less than 20 per cent; for Adamawa it's about 27.2 per cent.
"If you look at sanitation, except for Adamawa which is 36 per cent, others are less hitting 26.9 per cent, which is less than the average of 31 per cent."
According to him, the project is at the inception stage currently, which is establishing baseline and assisting local government areas in the states to double their investment plan.
He noted that the present stage would take about one year, adding that the project would run for five years for the desired goal to be achieved.
Nadar told NAN that the aim of the project was to achieve complete Open Defecation Free status in these states and to provide adequate access to water supply.
He said that the EU was also supporting 14 other states in the country through UNICEF, to ensure total sanitation coverage and adequate access to good water supply.
The WASH chief noted that Nigeria accounted for a significant portion the high mortality rate of children under the age of five in Africa.
He identified the major cause of the high mortality rate as inadequate hygiene management and the lack of access to potable water, resulting to water-borne diseases.
"In Africa, mortality rate of children under the age of five is significantly high unlike in Asia, where it has drastically reduced since 1990.
"And Nigeria is a big contributor to this burden; So for us at UNICEF, it is a burden because WASH is one of the underlining causes for this high under five mortality rate."
He added that the absence of Water Sanitation and Hygiene Departments in many local government areas in the country constituted a major challenge to UNICEF's work.
NAN
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Nigeria: African Countries Adopt Controversial Deadly Chemical, DDT, for Malaria Treatment
By Tobore Ovuorie, 17 July 2013 Related Topics
Nigeria
"Exposure to DDT at amounts that would be needed in malaria control might cause preterm birth and early weaning... "
Amidst staggering mortality and morbidity rates due to malaria in the African continent, African Heads of State and Government have adopted the use of dichlorodiphenyltrichloroethane (DDT), a controversial chemical, as the means of eradicating malaria in the continent, This came after several debates which commenced Wednesday July 10 at a meeting of Health Ministers of various African countries; and continued at meetings of Ambassadors and members of the Permanent Representative Council of the African Union on July 12.
The final decision for DDT adoption was arrived at after another round of debate on Tuesday July 16, during a meeting of the African heads of state and government, which ended same day. However, long before its adoption by African leaders, concerns have been raised about the negative impact of the chemical on the health of humans.
DDT is a tasteless, colourless chemical that was successfully used in the second half of World War II to control malaria among civilians and troops. It was then regarded as a contact poison against several arthropods; hence, was also used as an agricultural insecticide, while its production and use skyrocketed.
The use of the chemical was first questioned by an American biologist, Rachel Carson, who wrote about the environmental impacts of the indiscriminate spraying of DDT in the United States and questioned the logic of releasing large amounts of chemicals into the environment without fully understanding their effects on ecology or human health.
The book, Silent Spring, published in 1962, suggested that DDT and other pesticides may cause cancer and that their agricultural use was a threat to wildlife and plants. Its publication birthed the environmental movement, and resulted in a large public outcry which
eventually led to DDT being banned for agricultural use in the U.S. in 1972. More than 600,000 tonnes were applied in the U.S. before the 1972 ban.
The chemical was subsequently banned for agricultural use worldwide under the Stockholm Convention, but its limited use in disease vector control continues till date, but remains controversial.
Notwithstanding the controversies, 3314 tonnes were produced in 2009 for the control of malaria.
In humans, medical researchers say it may affect health through genotoxicity or endocrine disruption. Genotoxicity involves the damage of the genetic information within a cell which then causes mutations, and which could lead to cancer. Further study results say it affects future generations of the primary affected person.
Endocrine disruption on the other hand involves negative interference of the hormone system in humans. These disruptions, results of medical researches state, can cause cancerous tumors, birth defects, and other developmental disorders. This specifically, could lead to learning disabilities, severe attention deficit disorder, cognitive and brain development problems; deformations of the body (including limbs); breast cancer, prostate cancer, thyroid and other cancers; sexual development problems.
Several African countries including Nigeria, however, argued that there were benefits in the use of the chemical.
Nigeria, South Africa others approve
Nigeria's Minister of Health, Prof. Onyebuchi Chukwu, during the Abuja meeting, emphasized that the World Health Organization has cleared use of DDT in countries where mosquitoes are resistant to other insecticide, noting that the manner of usage is what matters.
"Some countries are using them. In the health sector, it's to be used indoors, not outdoors. It is the Agricultural sector that doesn't need DDT. We are not here for rhetorics but to seek the way forward and the summit and African Union is primarily for that purpose," he stated.
Also, the South African representative reiterated that it is important for all African leaders to eliminate malaria in Africa, thus, queried
why DDT comes under attack annually whenever it is raised as a means of eradicating malaria.
"If we stop using it, we are sentencing our people to death. Every other continent used DDT to eradicate malaria, so why is our turn
different in Africa?"
He said that within five years, South African had a 600 per cent increase in malaria rate from 1996 when the country stopped using DDT.
"We had no choice but revert to it. DDT must remain here until a more effective chemical is discovered. We want to emphasize that it must not be removed from our agreed agenda on how to eradicate malaria in Africa," he said.
The Commissioner, Social Affairs of the African Union Commission, Mustapha Kaloko, called for the inclusion of DDT as the means of
eradicating malaria in the region. He however noted that it is not to be generally used while food items must be covered and kept away and "only walls and ceilings are to be sprayed".
"DDT will remain in the agenda as the major means for the eradication of malaria in the continent," he said.
Consequently, all African leaders except Central African Republic which sent no delegate adopted the inclusion of DDT as the chemical to be used in eradicating malaria in the region.
Though DDT has been adopted by the African leaders as the key to eradicating malaria in the continent, fear still lingers even in
Nigeria as well as other African countries over its usage. Delegates who are against its usage were however scared of having their names in print when PREMIUM TIMES spoke to them.
One of the Nigerian delegates, who was against DDT being adopted, told PREMIUM TIMES that "I want malaria eradicated but I am really scared about the negative impact this would have on the health of Africans.
DDT is a renowned controversial chemical with grieve impact on health of mammals; and humans are at the worst receiving end."
Other delegates from countries like the Republic of Chad and Mozambique equally shared same views as their Nigerian counterpart.
Effects of DDT on human health
Studies from the United States, Canada, and Sweden link DDT to diabetes; while the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency states that
DDT exposure damages the reproductive system and reduces reproductive success in humans. These effects, the agency says, may cause developmental and reproductive toxicity.
"Research has shown that exposure to DDT at amounts that would be needed in malaria control might cause preterm birth and early weaning ... toxicological evidence shows endocrine-disrupting properties; human data also indicate possible disruption in semen quality, menstruation, gestational length, and duration of lactation" The Lancet- a science journal also states.
According to epidemiological studies on humans, exposure to DDT could also lead to premature birth and low birth weight, and may even harm a mother's ability to breast feed.
Recently, other researchers from the United States, Canada, and Australia argued that these effects may increase infant deaths, thus, offsetting any anti-malarial benefits.
A study carried out at the University of California, Berkeley, in 2006 indicated that children exposed while in the womb have a greater
chance of development problems, while other studies have discovered that even low levels of DDT at birth are associated with decreased attention at infancy as well as decreased cognitive skills.
In other related researches from around the globe, it was discovered that daughters of highly exposed women to this chemical may have more difficulty getting pregnant. This is called increased time to pregnancy, TTP, in medical parlance. Similarly, women who are exposed to the chemical in their first trimester of pregnancy (first three months) may have babies with retarded psychomotor development, while those who are unlucky could have a type of miscarriage called early pregnancy loss.
Also, occupational exposure in agriculture and malaria control have also has been linked to neurological problems such as Parkinsons and asthma.
More recent evidence from epidemiological studies, that is studies in human populations, indicate that DDT causes cancers of the liver,
pancreas and breast, while contributing to leukemia, lymphoma and testicular cancer.
DDT in the fight against malaria
Amidst latest progress reports that malaria incidence has reduced by one-third in Africa, the preventable but killer disease remains a major public health challenge confronting the continent. As a result of this, public health officials rely on DDT to fight the disease due to its 'wonder working power'.
In the 1950s and 1960s, WHO's anti-malaria campaign relied heavily on DDT and the results were promising, though temporary. Reviewing what went wrong, experts tied the resurgence of the disease to poor leadership, management and funding of malaria control programs; poverty; civil unrest; and increased irrigation.
Like Nigeria's Minister of Health stated, the WHO in 2006, reversed a longstanding policy against DDT by recommending that it be used as an indoor pesticide in regions where malaria is a major problem. As of 2008, only 12 countries used DDT, including India and some Southern African states, as well as Namibia. With the African governments' adoption of the chemical on Tuesday in Abuja, the number is expected to rise.
Effectiveness of DDT against malaria
When it was first introduced in World War II, DDT was very effective in reducing malaria morbidity and mortality. The WHO's anti-malaria campaign, which consisted mostly of spraying DDT, was initially very successful as well. For example, in Sri Lanka, the program reduced cases from about three million per year before spraying to just 18 in 1963 and 29 in 1964. Thereafter, the program was halted to save money and malaria rebounded to 600,000 cases in 1968 and the first quarter of 1969. The country resumed DDT vector control but the mosquitoes had acquired resistance in the interim, hence, the country switching to malathion, which though more expensive, proved effective.
Today, DDT remains on the WHO's list of pesticides. The world health body's policy has shifted from recommending it only in areas of seasonal or episodic transmission of malaria, to also advocating it in areas of continuous, intense transmission.
South Africa is one country that continues to use DDT under WHO guidelines. In 1996, the country switched to alternative insecticides and malaria incidence increased dramatically. Returning to DDT and introducing new drugs brought malaria back under control.
Making a case for the pesticide, Namibia's Minister of Health, Richard Kamwir, told PREMIUM TIMES that "DDT is effective against resistant mosquitoes. Mosquitoes avoid DDT-sprayed walls and this is what we used in my country. DDT is the best pesticide for malaria control as resistant mosquitoes avoid treated houses".
He further argued that for the pesticide to be effective, at least 80 percent of houses in any vicinity must be sprayed if not, its effectiveness would be jeopardized.
"People don't like DDT because of the lingering smell and stains on the walls, but I can confidently tell you that it worked for us" he added.
When to use DDT
Many global research experts however urge that alternatives be used instead of DDT.
An epidemiologist, Brenda Eskenazi, said "We know DDT can save lives by repelling and killing disease-spreading mosquitoes. But evidence suggests that people living in areas where DDT is used are exposed to very high levels of the pesticide. The only published studies on health effects conducted in these populations have shown profound effects on male fertility. Clearly, more research is needed on the health of populations where indoor residual spraying is occurring, but in the meantime, DDT should really be the last resort against malaria rather than the first line of defense."
Donor agencies against DDT usage
At the moment, the African continent is largely dependent on donor agencies for most of her programmes, including malaria control. As a result of this, there are fears that the decision to use DDT may witness some challenges.
It has been alleged that donor governments and agencies shy from funding DDT spraying, or make aid contingent upon not using DDT.
According to a report in the British Medical Journal, use of DDT in Mozambique "was stopped several decades ago, because 80 percent of the country's health budget came from donor funds, and donors refused to allow the use of DDT."
Before now, many countries had been under pressure from international health and environment agencies to give up DDT or face losing aid grants. Belize and Bolivia admitted to have given in to pressure on this issue from United States Agency for International Development, USAID.
The USAID has been the focus of much criticism. But the agency is currently funding the use of DDT in some African countries, though it did not in the past.
The Agency's website states that "USAID has never had a 'policy' as such either 'for' or 'against' DDT for IRS. The real change in the past two years (2006/07) has been a new interest and emphasis on the use of IRS in general - with DDT or any other insecticide - as an effective malaria prevention strategy in tropical Africa."
The website further explains that in many cases, alternative malaria control measures were judged to be more cost-effective that DDT spraying, and so were funded instead.
The way forward
A WHO study released in January 2008 found that mass distribution of insecticide-treated mosquito nets and artemisinin-based drugs cut malaria deaths in half in Rwanda and Ethiopia- two countries with high malaria burdens. DDT, the study states, did not play an important role in mortality reduction in these countries.
Vietnam as well has enjoyed declining malaria cases and a 97 percent mortality reduction after switching in 1991 from a poorly funded
DDT-based campaign, to a program based on prompt treatment, bed nets, and pyrethroid group insecticides.
A review of 14 studies on the subject in sub-Saharan Africa, covering insecticide-treated nets, residual spraying, chemoprophylaxis for children, chemoprophylaxis or intermittent treatment for pregnant women, a hypothetical vaccine, and changing front-line drug treatment, found decision making limited by the gross lack of information on the costs and effects of many interventions, the very small number of cost-effectiveness analyses available, the lack of evidence on the costs and effects of packages of measures, and the problems in generalizing or comparing studies that relate to specific settings and use different methodologies and outcome measures. The two cost-effectiveness estimates of DDT residual spraying examined were not found to provide an accurate estimate of the cost-effectiveness of DDT spraying; furthermore, the resulting estimates may not be good predictors of cost-effectiveness in current programs.
However, a study in Thailand found the cost per malaria case prevented of DDT spraying ($1.87 US) to be 21 per cent greater than the cost per case prevented of lambda-cyhalothrin-treated nets ($1.54 US). Thus, casting some doubt on the unexamined assumption that DDT was the most cost-effective measure to use in all cases. The director of Mexico's malaria control program found similar results, declaring that it is 25 percent cheaper for Mexico to spray a house with synthetic pyrethroids than with DDT. However, another study in South Africa found generally lower costs for DDT spraying than for nets.
A comparison of four successful programs against malaria in Brazil, India, Eritrea, and Vietnam does not endorse any single strategy but instead states, "Common success factors included conducive country conditions, a targeted technical approach using a package of effective tools, data-driven decision-making, active leadership at all levels of government, involvement of communities, decentralized implementation and control of finances, skilled technical and managerial capacity at national and sub-national levels, hands-on technical and programmatic support from partner agencies, and sufficient and flexible financing.
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We Want To Test 40m Nigerians For HIV – Idoko
By: Winifred Ogbebo on June 20, 2013
The Director-General, National Agency f or the Control of AIDS (NACA), Prof John Idoko, in this interview with WINIFRED OGBEBO, speaks on his vision to expand the number of Nigerians tested for HIV, as well as eliminate transmission of the virus from mother to child, among other issues.
There is a recent report that the world is witnessing an increase in HIV infections, including Russia; why is this so?
I think the problem is as a result of some of the things that have happened. There was a lot of support round the world. What I mean is that the funding for HIV went up dramatically from 2,000 to 2007 and that helped to ensure that programmes were implemented round the world. There were a few places where HIV was coming up, like Russia. In Russia, for example, there are a lot of IVUs. Russia was like an emerging place and I think what is happening now is that the attention that HIV used to have seems to be dying down even though the disease is still very much with us. That is number one. The second thing is that there is an issue about the funding.
The funding, if anything, is declining and that is a major cause for worry. You know that up until now, there is a group that is engaging the US Congress to see how they can continue to support HIV funding. The US is the largest supporter and there are signals that the amount of funding is coming down or it’s going to go down. So I think that is a big issue. If you bring that to Africa, you know that in many of our countries, we haven’t met the universal access target.
For example, we need to be able to get information to the population, particularly the young people. We need to be able to give correct information to 80 per cent of the young people in this country like many other countries. There are few countries that have achieved this. The correct information about HIV in this country is still very low. It’s hovering around 30 per cent. That is number one.
The second thing is treatment, which is a key issue now; apart from giving life,it is also responsible for interrupting transmission. We know that the studies of pre-exposure prophylaxis and treatment and prevention have clearly demonstrated that if you treat people with a benefit to the population because the viral load, the viral burden in them goes down so low - they don’t transmit to other people, i.e. their sex partners. Now, you can imagine if the situation is such that we cannot expand our treatment.
In this country for example, out of 1.5 million people who require treatment, we are only able to treat 500,000. That is a big gap; two thirds of the population require treatment that we not able to reach. If we are able to reach them, then we can cut their own transmission to other people. Then there is a big issue. Very many people don’t know their status. In this country, it is estimated that 40 per cent of the people who are HIV positive don’t know their status. And if we are not able to test and treat and put people on treatment, they will continue to spread it.
So the issue of funding, the issue of various programmes, particularly the prevention and the treatment programmes have certainly come to bear and I think that it is a signal for us since we don’t have a cure for this disease. Then there’s another issue in this country. Our population is expanding so rapidly. So every year, we’re getting a large section of young people who are moving from no sex to sexual debut, and then sexual activities. That is a huge population - potential population that can be affected. So that may drive our new infection if we don’t aggressively step up or strengthen our prevention efforts.
How are we addressing our pregnantmother-to-child transmission (PMTCT) challenge given the fact that Nigeria has the greatest burden in the world, with about 70,000 HIV annual births?
You’re right. One of our biggest challenges is mother-to-child transmission of HIV. I also say that it is the lowest hanging fruit for saving lives because as you know, almost 60,000-70,000 HIV positive children are born in this country. We actually have the technology now to completely interrupt it, just like giving drugs to the women through pregnancy and breast feeding. How do we intend to do that or how are we addressing it? We are addressing that through several fronts. The first and most important thing is, in order to address it, we must get more women to attend ante natal care because it’s only when they do that they can be screened to find out whether or not they are HIV positive.
So one big thing we have done now (in the past, a lot of our services were in the towns), we are moving the services to the rural areas, particularly using primary health care centres. So one of the things we have done, in the last two years, is to renovate, equip and help the state and local government and other partners to staff almost over 600 primary health care centres across the country. I must also add that we also have to give compliments to the federal government for the Midwifery Service Scheme (MSS) because it has also helped to staff many of those primary health care centres. So you can imagine.
That is the first thing; drive the services to where the people live. Most of our people live in the rural areas. We need to ensure that they avail themselves of our health services.
Another is strengthening the health system. We are also doing the same thing for general hospitals. We are strengthening the communities and non-governmental organisations (NGOs). Very soon, we are going to give NGOs money so that they can address some of the communities’ issues by mobilizing the communities to upscale services, including ante natal care. That is the first.
The second and very critical issue is that we are being strategic. What do I mean? In this country, every year, about six million women are pregnant. Out of these six million pregnancies, there are 230,000 women who are HIV positive and who are pregnant. If we don’t do anything, these women will transmit HIV to their children; maybe like one- third or one-quarter of the children born will be HIV positive.
But we have also, looking at the prevalence from the evidence before us, that almost 70 per cent of these women come from the 12 states and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT). Those 12 states include two large states - Lagos and Kano. So if we take the whole 36 states and FCT, 12 states are responsible for 70 per cent of this transmission. So it makes a lot of sense for us to focus on those states. That’s where most of the women who are going to transmit HIV to their children live.
We will work in the whole of Nigeria but we will give more funding and more attention and more work in these 12 states and FCT. We are doing that now with all our partners. Every partner of ours has bought that idea. It makes more sense. There are more returns on investment and more value for the money that we put in. So we have also engaged the federal government through the MDGs fund. The Global Fund has even given special funds for those 12 plus one states. PEPFAR is also concentrating on those 12 plus one states as well but we are not forgetting the other parts of the country.
What is the latest HIV prevalence rate in the country?
It is not yet out. They are still working on it. So, presently, we still quote 4.1 per cent for the national prevalence.
You just got a new tenure for another four years in office. Now, what were you able to achieve during your first tenure?
As far as I am concerned, the institution I came to meet in NACA was extremely weak. It couldn’t do anything. It was my coming here that started bringing NACA together. The system is much stronger. Every department here is properly well-populated by good and smart people. Now, we have people who can really man the Global Fund. The programmes department is well-populated.
We started a new department of resource mobilization; thinking ahead to when money is going to come down. We have the partnership department. Everything is expanded, including the media unit. So NACA has expanded. It’s much stronger and partners are extremely confident in us. In fact, we are even attracting staff from international NGOs.
Then what about money? Before I came here, NACA was only struggling with Round 5 of the Global Fund but since I came here, we’ve had Round 8, Round 9 and the money has been consolidated. We now have interim fund and they have told us that we should prepare, in two years time, they are going to give us more money. So, as I speak, since my coming here, over $400 million of Global Fund has come into HIV. What about the World Bank? I went to negotiate with the World Bank; it was very difficult but it is working now.
The World Bank is helping us to get to the states. We are also having some other funds, which you do not know. When I came here, there was nothing like research. We brought research into this place. We have a research unit and because of that research unit, Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation has given us a grant of over $230,000 to work on pre-exposure prophylaxis. That is just small. They have asked us to put in for another grant that is like $3 million.
What about the issue of HIV vaccines that you recently flagged off?
Vaccine is also an issue that was almost dead but we’ve awoken it. You know that we’ve done the vaccine plan. We have 12 next steps and we are taking three of them this year based on the funding. Unfortunately, vaccine doesn’t attract the kind of money that pre-exposure prophylaxis prevention treatment does. But we recommend that to be the ultimate and it helps us in other areas of prevention treatment and care and support. So we are now looking for funding from the federal government or partners to see how we can now start addressing the next steps. That is a big issue for us.
But vaccine should not be taken out of context with all these new technology. We call them new prevention treatment technology. As I told you, we already got funds to start both the formative studies for the pre-exposure prophylaxis. The money has been given to us. The formative study is just to go round the country, look at stakeholders, call consultative meetings, do telephone interviews to find out whether or not this is something agreeable to the country. But the real big study, we have also submitted the proposal. We are ahead of five countries.
Let’s go to universal access to treatment. There are certain key indicators that we normally like to talk about. Let’s go to the PMTCT, when I came here in 2009, the coverage was hovering between 5 and 11 percent in the whole country. At the end of 2012, it was 32 per cent. To me, that was a big leap.
We also strengthened the health system. I am not talking about HIV because when you go and renovate the general hospital and the primary health care, you’re not doing it alone for HIV, you’re doing it for health as a whole. So we did this for over 600 primary health care centres and that, for me, is a big, big deal and we are going to do more.
What about treatment?
When I came in here, we were treating around 230,000 people in this country, but the progress has not been great as I think it should be, but we are now at 492,000, which is almost 500,000. So we have almost doubled the number of people on treatment. So HCT is an area I think we should have done more but we haven’t done so well. But those lessons have been learnt.
How many HIV persons are dying annually from HIV?
The estimate for Nigeria now is 217,000. It’s much because Nigeria is a big country. What you and I should do is if we can get more people to access drugs, that will come down.
What are your projections for your present tenure?
Our plan is to double the number of people on drugs right now in the next two years to about one million, test at least four million youths. Young people are of concern because almost 60 per cent of new infections are from them, same too with women. Young people are the future of the country so we really need to work hard. Overall, we want to test 40 million Nigerians. We want to reach 500,000 most-at-risk persons. Most-at-risk persons include sex workers, men having sex with men (MSM), intravenous drug users (IDUs), truck drivers, etc. We want to intervene in 80,000 of PMTCT cases and that will reduce transmission among children to almost 13,000 and it will cut the number of deaths.
The president is engaging us but we don’t know how much he’s giving us. We want to be sure that 80,000 women in the next two years get treatment or interventions so that they don’t transmit HIV. If we are able to do what we want to do, it will prevent 105,000 new infections and save more than 46,000 lives.
What are the challenges?
The big challenge is ownership. You and I are in Abuja but all these things are happening in local governments, states and communities. The communities are struggling to accept the issue. We want states to put in money, energy and vision.
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Bottled water may be unsafe, after all
June 10, 2013 by Solaade Ayo-Aderele
Bottled water
Tap water is a rarity in Nigeria, forget whatever promises the Minister for Water Resources may have made about making potable water available by whichever magic year.
Again, simply look away whenever expensive vehicles bearing the logo of a so-called water corporation drives by, because it is obvious that the authorities do everything with taxpayers’ funds except fulfilling one of the reasons for which people pay tax — provision of potable water.
Since the government has failed woefully to provide drinkable water to the people midway into the second decade of the 21st century, Nigerians are faced with two dismal options: sink private boreholes — with the attendant environmental implications; or rely on water supplies whose sources are dubious.
If any industry thrives in Nigeria despite the gloomy outlook of the economy, it is water-bottling firms. No wonder they are not thinking of relocating to neighbouring countries despite the moribund performance of another government agency, the Power Holding Corporation of Nigeria.
And with all sorts of water available in all forms — bottled or packed in mini cellophane bags — water consumers have never felt torn between choices.
Physicians agree that certain categories of people are more vulnerable to getting sick from contaminants in drinking water. These include people undergoing chemotherapy, those living with HIV/AIDS or patients who have received organ transplantation.
They also say pregnant women, the elderly and children may also be at greater risk. They therefore urge this group of people to seek physician’s advice about whether they should take additional precautions, such as boiling their water or drinking bottled water
People choose bottled water for a variety of reasons, including aesthetics, health concerns, or as a substitute for other beverages. But then, how far can you entrust the state of your health to daily or regular consumption of bottled- or, worse still, ‘pure,’ water?
A nutritionist, Dr. Kemi Elumoye, argues that bottled water is not just expensive, she also considers money spent on buying it wasteful. Worse, she says, “contrary to popular belief, the average bottled water is not any healthier for consumption than tap or deep well water.”
Indeed, the World Health Organisation’s Guidelines for drinking-water quality state that substances like lead, arsenic and fluoride may be more readily controlled in bottled water than in tap water. Yet, the guidelines also state that some substances are more difficult to manage in bottled water than in tap water.
This is because, as the WHO notes, bottled water is stored for longer periods and at higher temperatures than tap water, allowing some microorganisms to grow to higher levels. The global health body therefore cautions that because bottled water is not sterile, infants, pregnant women and immuno-compromised individuals may be vulnerable to water contaminants.
Elumoye says of utmost importance is the source of the water. “I challenge bottled water consumers to examine closely the labels on the water bottle if they would ever see where the water they drink comes from. What this translates to, in essence, is that bottled water companies also drill boreholes from which they source the water, and then take the water through certain processes that may be inimical to health when used regularly.”
She also notes that in a country like Nigeria where regulations are sometimes observed in the breach, bottled water may not be safe enough for consumption, as the bottles may leak certain chemicals into the water, especially after the water may have been exposed to the elements, like when left in the sun all day in the course of displaying them on the shelf.
As for mothers who feed their babies with bottled water or use it to mix infant formula, Elumoye warns that the probable high mineral content of some bottled water “makes them unsuitable for feeding babies and young children.”
Talking about the process of bottled water manufacture, the International Bottled Water Association discloses that each bottle of water passes through processing such as reverse osmosis, deionisation, activated carbon filtration and other approved treatment procedures.
In tearing down the façade of healthiness of bottled water processing, an industrial chemist, Mr. Tunde George, says through reverse osmosis, water is forced through a semi-permeable membrane, which filters out a select number of contaminants, depending on the size of the contaminants.
He notes that if the contaminants are larger in size than water molecules, they will be filtered out, but if they are smaller in size, they will remain in the drinking water.
Elumoye argues that reverse osmosis de-mineralises water. She says, “Most mineral particles such as sodium, calcium, magnesium, magnesium, and iron are larger than water molecules; they are therefore removed by the semi-permeable membrane of the reverse osmosis system.
“By so doing, the naturally occurring minerals in water would have been removed, leaving the water tasteless. This also makes the water acidic (often well below 7.0 pH); and when taken regularly, it can make it impossible for the consumer to maintain a healthy pH balance in the blood, which should be slightly alkaline.”
Again, medical researchers warn that drinking (such) acidic water (and other acidic beverages) will often cause a leaking of essential minerals, such as calcium and magnesium, from the body, especially from the bones and teeth, as the body tries to neutralise the acidity.
George explains that during deonisation, the mineral ions (salts) in water are removed. “These mineral ions include sodium, calcium, iron, copper, chloride, and bromide. Deionised water is created by taking conventional water and exposing it to electrically charged resins that attract and bind to the salts, removing them from the water. Because most of the impurities in water are mineral salts, deionised water is mostly pure, but it does still contain numerous bacteria and viruses, which have no charge and therefore are not attracted to the electrified resins.”
Elumoye says many of the mineral salts taken out during deionisation are essential nutrients that the body needs.
As for activated carbon filtration of water, scientists at North Carolina State University say though the process is good for removing organic compounds that make water taste and smell bad, the downside is that it does not filter out heavy metals, fluoride, bacteria or microorganisms that may be in the water.
The researchers also warn that if the carbon filter is not replaced often enough, bacteria can build up on the surface of the carbon and fill the entire surface. “When water is poured through the saturated filter, it will not filter effectively and some of the bacteria can contaminate the water,” the scientists say. This is not your idea of potable water, is it?
In sum, Elumoye advises people to boil their water and filter it if they think it is not pure enough.
“And after boiling, you may just pour it into a large container where everybody can have access to it, rather than bottling it. Again, unused water must be discarded by the following day and a new one boiled for use. That way, you are sure of what you are drinking,’ Elumoye counsels.
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NPHCDA, NMA partner to boost healthcare delivery in rural areas .
Tuesday, 30 April 2013 00:00 By Chukwuma Muanya Appointments - Appointments
.AS part of efforts to boost health care delivery in the country, the National Primary Health Care Development Agency (NPHCDA) and the Nigerian Medical Association (NMA) have joined forces to take efficient health services to the rural areas.
The Executive Director/Chief Executive Officer, NPHCDA, Dr. Ado J. G. Muhammad, at a recent visit of top NMA executives, called on the association to bring to bear its professional expertise in improving primary health care services in the country.
Muhammad, according to a press statement signed by the Asst. Director Public Relations Unit of NPHCDA, Abubakar M. Musa, said the services of top professionals such as the NMA is best required in the rural areas where most Nigerians do not have basic access to efficient health services.
In appreciating the cordial relationship existing between the agency and association, the executive director, emphasized that such partnership would enhance PHC services to the people, thereby reducing the incidence of maternal mortality in the country. He said: “There is no business as usual in the health sector again as all hands are on deck to realize Mr. President’s transformation agenda in the health sector.”
The President of NMA, Dr. Osahon Enabulele, promised robust and collaborative efforts between NPHCDA and his association towards providing improved and sustained health care service delivery to all Nigerians.
He further stressed that with the challenge of inadequate human resources in our health centres, his association is willing to assist the agency in whatever capacity the intervention of the NMA is required.
Enabulele also used the occasion to call on the National Assembly to enhance the passage of the National Health Bill, as the bill is crucial in addressing the health concerns of Nigerians, especially at the grassroots level.
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WHO, Global Fund, foundation urge more support against malaria .
Wednesday, 24 April 2013 00:00 From Chukwuma Muanya, Anthony Chidubem Nwachukwu (Lagos) and Emeka Anuforo (Abuja)
.AS part of efforts to mark this year’s World Malaria Day today, the World Health Organisation (WHO), the Global Fund and the Better Society Foundation (TBSF) have urged greater global devotion to end the scourge.
Moreover, the WHO alerted on growing threat of emerging resistant strains of the malaria parasite, Plasmodium falciparum, and the vector, female anopheles mosquito, which make treatment and control difficult.
WHO will Thursday launch an emergency response to artemisinin resistance in the Greater Mekong sub-region at an event hosted in Phnom Penh by the Cambodian Minister of Health.
Also, the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria Thursday warned that a resurgence of malaria might occur unless increased funding is provided to expand efforts to control the disease.
Experts warned that a decline in anti-malarial efforts could quickly allow a return to pre-2000 levels of mortality, when 1.2 million people died from malaria.
In the same vein, the Better Society Foundation (TBSF) has called on governments, particularly of disease-prevalent countries, to show more financial commitment to global efforts at controlling malaria in order to bring it to an end.
According to the WHO, the framework identifies four priority areas where action is needed in the coming years to contain artemisinin resistance and move towards elimination of malaria: reach all at-risk groups with full coverage of quality interventions in priority areas; achieve tighter coordination and management of field operations; better information for artemisinin resistance containment; and strengthen regional oversight and support.
Global Fund said that new advances in science and implementation have given the global community the opportunity to control malaria and remove it as a threat to global health.
It noted that despite promising advances in recent years, such as declining AIDS and TB mortality and a sharp increase in the use of insecticide-treated nets, Nigeria faces serious health challenges. Over the last 12 months, Nigeria and the Global Fund signed agreements worth a total of US$ 560 million (N92.4 billion) to support programmes that will help significantly expand prevention, diagnosis and treatment of the three diseases.
Speaking yesterday, the Executive Director of the Global Fund, Mark Dybul, said that commitment is needed by all partners in the fight against malaria to expand and intensify efforts, so it can be transformed from a worldwide killer into a manageable and treatable disease.
Dybul added: “We can defeat malaria if we work together. We have a chance to control it and sharply reduce the number of children who die from it each year. If we don’t act decisively, we will be counting the cost for generations.”
The TBSF is collaborating in the Invest in the future; Defeat Malaria theme for this year.
According to the Executive Director of the non-governmental, TBSF, Ade Dare, partners have chosen the next three years “to draw attention to the big push required to achieve the 2015 Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) and defeat malaria in the future.”
However: “Today’s gains against malaria are increasingly threatened by a shortfall in funding. It is critically important that we stay on course. Malaria resurgence will remain a persistent threat until the disease is eradicated altogether. We need to keep up the momentum but more importantly, hold the gains.”
According to a statement made available to The Guardian, “$4.4 billion has been mobilised from international partners and African governments to make vital interventions such as mosquito nets, rapid diagnostic tests and medicines available in Africa over the next three years.
The World Malaria Day was instituted by WHO member-states during the 2007 World Health Assembly and is held every year on April 25. This year, WHO highlights the need for continued investment and sustained political commitment for global malaria prevention and control.
Huge progress has been made against malaria over the past decade, driven by simple scientific advances like mosquito nets treated with insecticide, quicker diagnostic tests and more effective antimalarial drugs. Better implementation, in programmes supported by the Global Fund, has led to the distribution of more than 310 million nets, far broader access to rapid diagnostic tests and treatment with artemisinin-based combination therapy.
Earlier this month, the Global Fund announced a target of raising US$15 billion for the 2014 to 2016 period. When combined with other sources of funding, that will enable global partners to have a transformative effect on AIDS, TB and malaria.
For malaria, resources would be targeted to achieve universal coverage of insecticide-treated nets and access to effective treatment in the 18 highest-burden countries, where most malaria deaths occur.
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Author of this article: From Chukwuma Muanya, Anthony Chidubem Nwachukwu (Lagos) and Emeka Anuforo (Abuja)..
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Nigeria gets N136.7b to fight AIDS, TB, malaria .
Tuesday, 23 April 2013 00:00 By Chukwuma Muanya, Lagos, Emeka Anuforo, Abuja and Anietie Akpan, Calabar News - National
.Experts urge National Assembly to approve more funds
AHEAD of the World Malaria Day (WMD) Thursday, Nigeria has so far through the funding of public health programmes and institutions as well as non-governmental and civil society organisations’ health programmes, received a total of about $829 million (N136.7 billion) from the Global Fund on AIDS, TB and Malaria (GFATM) to fight the three killer diseases out of a total approved funding of $1.4 billion (N231 billion).
Also, the World Health Organisation (WHO) in a statement yesterday ahead of the WMD said 50 of the 99 countries with ongoing transmission are now on track to meet the 2015 World Health Assembly (WHA) target of reducing incidence rates by more than 75 per cent with malaria mortality rates having fallen by more than 25 per cent since 2000.
The global theme for the WMD for 2013 and the coming years is “Invest in the future. Defeat malaria.”
Executive Director of the Fund, Dr. Mark Dybul, during a courtesy call to the office of Minister of Health, Prof. Onyebuchi Chukwu, yesterday in Abuja said that the purpose of his visit was to know how countries supported by the Fund were faring, the value of money the Fund is investing in Africa and Nigeria in particular on the three diseases, and to also look at the proportion of Global Fund’s contributions to the control of Human Immuno-deficiency Virus (HIV)/Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome (AIDS), tuberculosis (TB) and malaria in the country.
Dybul recalled that the GFATM was created to complement government resources to fight HIV/AIDS, TB and malaria, three of the world’s most devastating diseases, and to direct those resources to areas of greatest need.
“To date, through funding of public health programmes and institutions as well as non-governmental and civil society organisations’ health programmes, Nigeria has received a total of about $829 million from the Fund out of a total approved funding of $1.4 billion,” he said.
In another forum the Federal Government is said to be losing about N132 billion yearly on malaria management alone even as experts have called on the National Assembly to come out with legislation on more funding for malaria control in Nigeria.
These positions were made known yesterday in Calabar, Cross River State at an event to begin this year’s World Malaria day.
The Special Adviser to the Governor on Community Health in Cross River State, Dr. Iyam Ugot said that the Federal Government loses an estimated N132 billion yearly on malaria alone “in terms of malaria treatment, control, prevention and absenteeism form work in totality”.
In Cross River alone, Ugot said that the Roll Back Malaria office in the state had distributed over 1.4 million Long Lasting Mosquito Insecticide Treated Nets (LLIN).
Prof. Martin Meremikwu of Department of Pediatrics, University of Calabar said National Assembly’s legislation on more funding to reduce Malaria scourge in the country would go a long way in checking the scourge.
Meremikwu said, “Cross River is doing very much in the control, treatment and control of malaria in the state. But there was the need for the National Assembly to legislate on more funding for malaria treatment, prevention and control in Nigeria”.
He said that lack of funds was partly responsible for low level of research in the area of malaria prevention, control and treatment in the country and “for us to succeed in the fight against malaria scourge in the country, there is the need to get the politicians to do what they are suppose to do”.
Chukwu, however, assured the GFATM of the Federal Government’s commitment to the fight against HIV/ AIDS, TB and malaria.
According to the WHO, a major scale-up of vector control interventions, together with increased access to diagnostic testing and quality-assured treatment, has been key to this progress.
WHO said: “We are not there yet. Malaria still kills an estimated 660, 000 people worldwide, mainly children under five years of age in sub-Saharan Africa. Every year, more than 200 million cases occur; most of these cases are never tested or registered. A decline of international funding has slowed down progress, and emerging drug and insecticide resistance threaten to reverse recent gains.”
The WHO said that if the world is to maintain and accelerate progress against malaria, in line with Millennium Development Goal (MDG) 6, and to ensure attainment of MDGs 4 and 5, more funds are urgently required.
WMD was instituted by WHO Member States during the 2007 World Health Assembly (WHA). It is an occasion to highlight the need for continued investment and sustained political commitment for malaria prevention and control. It is also an opportunity for new donors to join the global malaria partnership, and for research and academic institutions to showcase their scientific work.
Dybul further explained that the Global Fund in any country is implemented by institutions or organisations called Principal Recipients of the Fund, adding that some of the Principal Recipients in Nigeria are the National Agency for the Control of AIDS (NACA), the National Malaria Control Programme (NMCP) and non-governmental organisations such as the Association for Reproductive and Family Health (ARFH), Society for Family Health (SFH) and Institute of Human Virology, Nigeria (IHVN).
Chukwu said that the Federal Government has intensified the fight against the scourges of HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria, adding that efforts in this regard are already yielding positive results.
The minister added that government is using the National Strategic Health Development Plan (NSHDP) as the policy framework for strengthening the Nigerian health system.
He said that the government has procured second line drugs for the treatment of tuberculosis and has also trained health personnel to build more capacity to tackle the disease.
On malaria, the health minister said that the government has distributed over 52 million insecticide-treated nets to all the 36 states of the federation and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), adding that other methods of malaria control such as indoor residual spraying and larval source management should be supported.
The minister said that the Federal Ministry of Health is facing a major challenge with the supply chain management of commodities for the three diseases and called for the inclusion of operational costs in the procurement of the commodities.
Minister of State for Health, Dr. Muhammad Ali Pate, pointed out the issue of ensuring that our local pharmaceutical industries are supported to ensure that they have WHO pre-qualification to enable them compete in the procurement of Global Fund commodities.
As the scourge of malaria hits hard in Nigeria, the Federal Government is said to be losing about N132 billion yearly on malaria management alone just as experts have called on the National Assembly to come out with legislation on more funding for malaria control in Nigeria.
These positions were made known yesterday in Calabar, Cross River State at an event to begin this year’s World Malaria day.
The Special Adviser to the Governor on Community Health in Cross River State, Dr. Iyam Ugot said that the Federal Government loses an estimated N132 billion yearly on malaria alone “in terms of malaria treatment, control, prevention and absenteeism form work in totality”.
In Cross River alone, Ugot said that the Roll Back Malaria office in the state had distributed over 1.4 million Long Lasting Mosquito Insecticide Treated Nets (LLIN).
While advising people to ignore any misconception about the use of LLIN, he identified lack of proper awareness as one of the problems militating against the eradication of malaria in the state, saying, “we are working on the area of creating more awareness on the proper use of LLIN”.
Prof. Martin Meremikwu of Department of Pediatrics, University of Calabar, yesterday said the National Assembly’s legislation on more funding to reduce Malaria scourge in the Country would go a long way in checking the scourge.
Meremikwu said, “Cross River is doing very much in the control, treatment and control of malaria in the state. But there was the need for the National Assembly to legislate on more funding for malaria treatment, prevention and control in Nigeria”.
He noted that the politicians should be properly guided on the need to make an effective legislation to achieve an effective result against malaria scourge.
He said that lack of funds was partly responsible for low level of research in the area of malaria prevention, control and treatment in the country and “for us to succeed in the fight against malaria scourge in the country, there is the need to get the politicians to do what they are suppose to do”.
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Why Malaria Is Prevalent, By Senators, NIMR .
Friday, 19 April 2013 19:15 By Joseph Okoghenun News - National
.SENATE Committee on Health blamed what its called “ economics of malaria control”- a euphemism for international politics for economic reason- as one reason why malaria is still persistent in Nigeria, in spite of billions of naira being spent by the Federal Government to arrest the situation.
The committee, which made the observation in Lagos yesterday during its oversight visit to the Nigerian Institute of Medical Research (NIMR), said it was not convinced that the long-lasting insecticide-treated nets (LLINs) programme being bankrolled by the Federal Government was the solution to the incessant case of malaria infection in the country.
Chairman of the committee, Dr. Ifeanyi Okowa, wondered why Nigeria would still continue to cling to the strategy, which he said was not working, when country like Senegal that has manufacturing plants for LLINs was using other effective means to tackle malaria.
Okowa said he was going to speak up on the matter when he return to Abuja as his past attempts to speak on it had met deaf ears.
While the Minister of State for Health, Dr.Muhammad Ali Pate, said in January that the ministry proposed N1.8 billion for the procurement of LLINs for additional three states, a World Health Organisation (WHO)’s report shows that Nigeria would need one billion dollars (N158 billion) to stave off backsliding and resurgences of malaria in 2013 and 2014.
Malaria still remains one of the most dangerous diseases in Nigeria, contributing to high level of Under-5 and maternal deaths. Distribution of LLINs has been government’s retrogressive intervention mechanism to reduce burden.
NIMR Director-General,Prof. Innocent Ujah, said research had shown that some Nigerians, especially from the Eastern part of the country, do not use LLINs for cultural reasons, thereby rendering the strategy ineffective.
Ujah, who was specifically asked by the committee to access the strategy, said LLINs are not the best for the country as other countries that have eradicated malaria had used indoor residual spray.
Ujah, who regretted that research was not being given prominent place in national development, called on government to establish National Health Research Fund to fund research appropriately.
NIMR Head of Public Health and Malaria Programme, Dr. Samson Awolola, said “we have shown that best method of tackling malaria is indoor residual spray”, adding that LLINs were supposed to be palliative mechanism to tackle malaria menace.
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NAFDAC nabs fake drugs, alcoholic wines syndicate .
Thursday, 11 April 2013 00:00 By Chukwuma Muanya with agency reports Features - Science
• Parades alleged fake pharmacist for forgery
• Links rising kidney problems to indiscriminate
use of chemicals
• Wants life jail, confiscation of properties for offenders
• Claims 59 per cent reduction in fake drugs
THE National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC) has busted a fake drugs and alcoholic wines syndicates across the country worth over N1 billion that specialises in illegal importation of fake regulated products, local manufacture and importation of counterfeit medicines, importation of unregistered food products, illegal importation of saccharin with forged NAFDAC stamp, illegal manufacture of fake Red Label whiskey and Carlo Rossi red wine; and a pharmacist for alleged forgery.
Director General of NAFDAC, Dr. Paul Orhii, while parading the suspects in Lagos recently, said the suspects have been interrogated and products taken for laboratory analysis, and will be prosecuted as soon as investigation is concluded.
Orhii said the agency is currently reviewing its law to ensure that offenders get life jail term and their property confiscated and part of it used to compensate their victims. This is against the current NAFDAC law that allows maximum of 15 years imprisonment and N500,000 fine for offenders.
The NAFDAC DG also said the agency has been able to reduce the prevalence of fake drugs and substandard products in the country from about 64 per cent in 2008 to less than five per cent in 2012 due collaborative efforts with governmental and non governmental agencies such as the Nigerian police, Customs Service, Department of Security Services, the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA), Nigeria Ports Authority, the media, among others; and using Truscan and other anti-faking devices introduced by the agency.
Orhii, however, dismissed suggestions that the rising cases of kidney problems in the country was due to fake and adulterated/ substandard products but rather blamed the situation on indiscriminate use of chemicals such as insecticides and pesticides.
He said Nigerians have right to good, safe, effective and wholesome regulated products and NAFDAC is there to ensure that citizens enjoy this right. Orhii appealed to members of the public to report any suspicious activity relating to NAFDAC regulated products around their community to the nearest NAFDAC office for immediate action and see it as part of their contribution in the fight against counterfeit and fake products.
The paraded nabbed syndicates include Mr. Tochukwu Eze of No 5 Oworeaya Street Obosi, Anambra State for smuggling fake regulated Gino Tomato paste and Ejulo Investment Limited Railway, Iddo Terminus Lagos for smuggling fake Mcdowell Reserved Whiskey; Mr. Nne Ikenna for illegal manufacture of medicines such as Zentel tablets, Lincocin capsules and Postinor tablets; Mrs. Awoyinka Mary, a Superintendent pharmacist at Uchest Pharmaceutical Limited at 9 Ekwulummiri Street, Iyiowa Odekpe layout and Block 237 Niger Head Bridge market Onitsha for alleged use of forged Pharmacists Council yearly licence to practice and retention of premises certificate to import one 20 feet containers of pharmaceuticals.
The other syndicates busted by NAFDAC are: Mr. Maduabuchi Abuzu of 21 Ashogbon Street Idumota Lagos, alleged member of a syndicate in China that specialises in importing counterfeit medicines to Nigeria, for importation and sales of suspected fake medicines including Coartem tablets, Amalar tablets, Maloxine tablets for the treatment of malaria; Divine Chris Link Communication for importation of three 20 feet container of unregistered Mama Stars De Tomato paste through APMoller Terminal Apapa Port, Lagos; Mr. Chukwudi representing Vyn Trade 102 Faulks Road Aba, Abia State for illegally importing one 20 feet container of saccharin with forged NAFDAC stamps; and Mr. Kingsley Okoro and Mr. Fred Nwafor for illegal manufacture of fake Red Label whiskey, Johnny Walker whiskey, and Carlo Rossi red wine at their residence at N 7 Afolabi Close Ojo, Lagos.
On the reduction in fake drugs and substandard products prevalence, Orhii said: “The determination was by the World Health Organisation (WHO) when it did a study on anti-malaria drugs, which are the most often counterfeited drugs, and found that Nigeria has the worst case with more than 64 per cent fake drugs. In 2012, the WHO did another study that showed the level of anti-malaria drug faking has reduced to less than 20 per cent. A study by NAFDAC last year using Truscan that detects fake drugs on the spot showed only 6.2 per cent of the drugs sampled were fake. Another independent study by a United States researcher showed it has gone down to less than five per cent.
“However, the prevalence of fake drugs is a little higher in the rural areas. We can say NAFDAC is winning the war: from 64 per cent to 20 per cent then 6.2 per cent then five. We believe it is going to drop further when we start enforcing the mandatory Text Message System (TMS) on all anti-malaria and antibiotic drugs marketed in Nigeria.”
On the review of punishment for offenders, Orhii said: “Now we have more than 100 cases and we have got some convictions, and the highest punishment we got for an offender is three years jail term. We are presently reviewing the law. It is a very lengthy and slow process. We have a very strong legal team made up of Senior Advocates (SAN) and professors of Law from the Federal Ministry of Health (FMOH) and others.
“I wanted a death penalty for fake drugs peddlers because they are worst than armed robbers. But I have to come to terms with civil rights activists who are opposed to that. Now we want lifetime jail term and confiscation of all their assets, and when proven that the fake drugs caused death or bodily harm, some of the assets can be used to compensate the victim. We also want the offence to be non-bailable to ensure speedy trial. We want the new law to enable us reward people who come forward with information. If you bring us information that is credible we will reward you.”
On the link between fake drugs and food products to rising cases of kidney failure, Orhii said: “There are so many things that can cause kidney problems. I disagree with the suggestion that fake drugs are to be blamed. Indiscriminate use of chemicals is a major factor. The chemicals/pesticides we use to store beans, the insecticides we use at our homes and indiscriminate use of fertilisers.”
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Nigeria: National Health Bill - Delayed, Disputed and Desperately Needed
By Lagun Akinloye, 3 April 2013
Nigeria
The National Health Bill will see an increased proportion of the national budget spent on health. However, it also contains some dangerous clauses.
Nigeria's National Health Bill (NHB) - seen by many as urgent and necessary to rejuvenate the country's ailing health sector - has been a long-time coming. It was first presented to the National Assembly in 2006 and, having made its way through various bureaucratic bottlenecks, was passed by the House of Representatives and the Senate in May 2011.
However, following disagreements, disputes and political stalling, President Goodluck Jonathan declined to sign it into law and it was returned to the National Assembly once again last year.
As Nigeria's healthcare sector continues to struggle, many decry these delays. "For each day the NHB is delayed", Osahon Enabulele, president of the Nigerian Medical Association, told Think Africa Press, "there is a worsening of access to healthcare services (particularly primary healthcare) and quality of healthcare services - all of which negatively impact on Nigeria's health status indicators as well as the overall health of Nigerians."
What's in the bill?
Recent statistics from the World Health Organisation (WHO) regarding Nigerian health make for sobering reading. The average life expectancy at 54 is well below the global average and especially worrying for a middle-income country.
Maternal mortality is 608 per 100 000 live births - twice as high as South Africa's 300 per 100,000 and almost ten times Egypt's 66 per 100,000. And only 3% of HIV-positive mothers receive antiretroviral treatment.
In a bid to turn all this around, Nigeria's National Health Bill pledges a budget of N60 billion ($380 million) for primary healthcare each year, and promises to ensure the provision of free medical care for the most vulnerable.
The bill is said to establish minimum guarantees of basic healthcare services for select groups - such as children below the age of five, pregnant women, adults above the age of 65 and people with disabilities - and help extend primary healthcare to 60% of Nigerians living in hard-to-reach rural communities.
"The Bill also removes barriers to access emergency healthcare as it instructs medics to treat any emergency first before asking for money or police report", Tonte Ibraye, National Coordinator, White Ribbon Alliance for Safe Motherhood, told Think Africa Press.
"And the health bill formally recognises the establishment of Village Health Committees which gives room for community participation and ownership of the health centres". The bill further seeks to reform the recruitment, training, and professional development of health sector workers.
These changes would be facilitated by the creation of a National Primary Healthcare Development Fund (NPHDF), which would be funded by Nigeria's consolidated revenue fund. 50% of NPHDF would be spent on the basic provision of health services; 25% on the procurement of drugs and equipment; 15% on the provision and maintenance of facilities, equipment and transportation; and 10% on upgrading workers' skills in the primary healthcare sector.
Disputes and disagreements
To the annoyance of many, however, bureaucratic bottlenecks and in-fighting between the various health sector stakeholders discouraged President Jonathan from signing the bill into law last year, and he instead returned it to the National Assembly for further discussion.
Whilst no specific reasons were given, there have been disputes over matters in the bill such as the perceived increased of power awarded to the health minister, the favourable position given to doctors over other health workers, and the funding of the bill.
Some have also claimed that vague language in section 51 of the bill - regarding the donation of embryos and other genetic material - offers insufficient protection against the trade of such material and ethically-contentious issues such as cloning and research, and leaves too many important decisions to the health minister.
Nduka Ugwu of the Private Medical Practitioners of Nigeria told Think Africa Press: "Introducing section 51 through the back door is treacherous and lacking in respect for the life of Nigerians and human society.
This enigmatic clause is an affront on the dignity of man. The merchandising and trafficking on human gametes, zygotes, embryos or human cloning should be banned outright and not left to the whims and caprices of the Minister of Health."
Another area of weakness in the bill lies in the relations between different levels of government. While the bill may recognise community involvement, for example, the interaction between local, state and federal is not specified clearly enough.
Ironing out this issue will be important as the practice of shifting blame between authorities blights the current system.
Imperfect but urgent
In its basic form, Nigeria's proposed health bill encapsulates many reforms that will be crucial - such as access to services, accountability and restructuring. But it also continues to contain a number of uncertainties which have led to disagreements and delays to the process.
Many stakeholders insist that these details and specifics must be ironed out before any further progress, but Osahon Enabulele, president of the Nigerian Medical Association, perhaps best captured the overriding popular attitude when he commented:
"Although the National Health Bill may not solve all the problems and challenges of Nigeria's health system, in many ways the NHB signifies an important and bold step to positively turn around the fortunes of Nigeria's health system."
It may not be perfect, but until it is passed and Nigeria can go about reforming the ailing sector, it will be ordinary Nigerians lacking in the most basic requirements necessary for good health that will be suffering as they wait.
Lagun Akinloye, a British Nigerian, studied Sociology and Social Policy at the University of Leeds. He is particularly interested in the history and politics of West Africa, specifically Nigeria.
Email: lagun.akinloye@thinkafricapress.com. Follow him on twitter @L_Akinloye.
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One million people HIV-positive in Benue –Govt
Written by Johnson Babajide - Makurdi Saturday, 16 March 2013 00:00
THE Benue State government has disclosed that over one million out of the 4.5 million population in the state have been infected with the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV).
This was made known at the training of media professional on HIV/AIDS held at the Conference Hall, Ministry of Information, Markurdi, Benue State, on Thursday.
The Executive Secretary, Benue State Action on Control of AIDS (BESACA), Mrs. Grace Wende, in a paper entitled “Basic facts on HIV/AIDS,” said that about 400,000 children living with the virus have been placed on antiretroviral drugs (ARV), adding that 708,640 adults are living with the disease.
Based on the statistics, about two out of five people in the state are carriers of the disease, with women having it more than men.
According to Mrs. Wende, the children carriers of the disease, who have the highest infection rate, were born with the disease. These children, according to her, got the disease from mothers who failed to go for ante-natal care at government-owned hospitals where their status could have been detected earlier.
“In Benue State, the number of adults infected with HIV/AIDS was 708,640, out of which 21,259 were new infections in 2011. In the same year, 17,139 women were found positive. The number of children requiring ARV was 398,888,” she said.
Mrs Wende cited the attitude of the people of the state to unprotected sex and the rising number of youths becoming homosexuals as factors responsible for the rise in the scourge.
Speaking further, Mrs. Wende noted that many men who flock around ladies and engage in unprotected sex also transmit the virus to their unsuspecting wives.
At the moment, according to her, the state has 40 treatment centres where the free antiretroviral drugs are provided to those living with the virus, adding that the state has enough drugs in stock till 2015.
The Commissioner for Information, Mr. Comrad Wegba, regretted that despite the huge amount of funds the state had committed into the fight against the scourge, the disease was still spreading.
He blamed the practise of unprotected sex and the deliberate spreading of the disease by carriers as the major sources of the spread of the disease in the state.
“The former governor of the state, Chief George Akume, visited Angola to see the havoc the disease wreaked on the land and ways to reduce the scourge. Unfortunately, while the prevalence of the disease has reduced in other parts of the country, Benue is getting worse by the day and this is as a result of our attitude to unprotected sex as well as deliberate move by the carriers to spread the disease,” Wegba said.
Together with Mrs. Wende, the commissioner called for behavioural change among the people, urging them to stick to a partner and use condom.
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Onitsha traders, FG battle malaria
February 7, 2013 by Emmanuel Obe
A mosquito sucking blood
Patent medicine dealers in Onitsha, Anambra State have joined forces with the Federal Government and Roll Back Malaria Partners to campaign against malaria in the state.
The President-General of Nigeria Association of Patent and Proprietary Medicine Dealers, Mr. Amechi Ozobia, told reporters on Wednesday that the dealers had reached an arrangement with government and other stakeholders to win the battle against malaria.
The pact was reached during a seminar on malaria prevention entitled, “Together We Can Win the Fight Against Malaria,” at Aguleri near Onitsha.
He noted that government and other stakeholders had agreed that the only way to win the battle against malaria was for people to have easy access to anti-malaria ACT drugs (Artemether-Lumefantrine or Artesunate-Amodiaquine) within 48 hours of onset of illness.
He said it had been noted that malaria vulnerable groups–children below the age of five, pregnant mothers and the aged above 60 years, were likely to die of malaria illness within 48 hours without medical attention.
He, however, warned that people have to be cautious on the way they administer malaria drugs on themselves.
He said, “We believe that once your temperature just goes up we assume it is fever. But even gonorrhea can make someone’s temperature to go up.
“So in that very situation; today we discussed it; we deliberated a lot about it and we accepted to go back to all the nooks and crannies of the state and sensitise our members.
“So there is nothing like chloroquine any more or mixing of tablets; what we need is that ACT. They have ACT 1, 2, 3 and 4 depends on the age.
Ozobia said stakeholders had provided them with Rapid Diagnostic Test kits to help the fight against malaria in rural areas to be effective.
He noted that the stakeholders and the World Bank, the major financial donor on the Roll Back Malaria Project, also directed its members to do note-keeping so that feedback can be received from localities on ACT reactions and new changes of plasmodium parasite that cause malaria.
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How generator fumes raise cancer, sudden death risk, others, by experts .
Wednesday, 13 February 2013 00:00 By Chukwuma Muanya News - National
.AS electricity generating sets become must-have household items in most Nigerian homes due to epileptic power supply, their use, sometimes round-the-clock with the attendant noise and air pollution, has been associated with the growing cases of cancers, premature birth, low weight babies and childbirth complications such as neo-natal jaundice and cerebral palsy.
Newborn jaundice is when a baby has high levels of bilirubin in the blood. Bilirubin is a yellow substance that the body creates when it replaces old red blood cells. The liver helps break down the substance so it can be removed from the body in the stool.
High levels of bilirubin make the baby’s skin and whites of the eyes look yellow. This is called jaundice. High levels of bilirubin - usually above 25 mg - can cause deafness, cerebral palsy, or other forms of brain damage in some babies.
Cerebral palsy is a group of disorders that can involve brain and nervous system functions, such as movement, learning, hearing, seeing and thinking.
A recent study by Nigerian researchers at the University of Lagos (UNILAG) concluded: “The data available from this study shows that generator fumes contribute significantly to the atmospheric level of Polynuclear Aromatic Hydrocarbons (PAHs) and that the level is dependent on the distance from the point of generation. This suggests significant risk of cancer to the population in an environment where the use of generator is commonplace. Considering the lipophilicity of PAHs, small concentrations can accumulate over a long period of time.
“…The control group had no 1-hydroxypyrene in their blood. After the period of exposure, percentage of death correlated with the distance from the source of exposure. Percentage of death ranged from 56 per cent to zero depending on the proximity to source of pollution.”
The study published in Biomarkers in Cancer is titled “1-Hydroxypyrene Levels in Blood samples of Rats After exposure to Generator Fumes.”
The researchers from departments of pharmaceutical chemistry and biochemistry were led by Dr. Chimezie Anyakora. The other researchers include: Clinton Ifegwu, Miriam Igwo-ezikpe, Akinniyi Osuntoki, Kafayat A. Oseni and Eragbae O. Alao.
PAHs are a major component of fuel generator fumes. Carcinogenicity of these compounds has long been established.
The researchers exposed 37 Swiss albino rats to generator fumes at varied distances for eight hours per day for a period of 42 days and the level of 1-hydroxypyrene in their blood was evaluated. The study also correlated the level of blood 1-hyroxypyrene with the distance from the source of pollution.
Also, researchers have warned that exposure to air pollution could trigger potentially fatal pre-eclampsia in pregnant women.
According to a new study published in BMJ Open, women with asthma are particularly vulnerable to the condition - marked by high blood pressure and fluid retention. It blamed one in every 20 cases of pre-eclampsia on higher levels of ozone pollution in the air during the first three months of pregnancy, as well as an increase in premature births.
The only treatment is to deliver the baby early with an emergency Caesarean.
The new study adds to evidence of a link between air pollution and premature birth, with international research earlier this week showing higher pollution levels raised the risk of low birth weight.
Another study found that heavy traffic fumes could increase risk of having a small baby and that particles that are affecting pregnant mothers mainly come from the burning of fossil fuels.
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Scientists find cure for Type 1 diabetes .
Thursday, 14 February 2013 00:00 CHUKWUMA MUANYA Features - Science
.Old drug provides new treatments for Type 2 diabetes, obesity
Diabetes and obesity have been on the prowl. They are associated with the rising cases of kidney failures, erectile dysfunction, strokes, blindness, limb amputation and sudden death. But two new major scientific advances have provided solutions to the chronic diseases.
CHUKWUMA MUANYA writes with agency reports.
UNTIL now, there was no cure for Type 1 and Type 2 diabetes. Type 1 diabetes (genetic/inherited) has been managed by injecting the patient with insulin, while Type 2 diabetes (caused largely by sedentary lifestyle and obesity) is being addressed with drugs and lifestyle changes such as increased physical activity and “dieting.” Diabetes is usually a lifelong (chronic) disease in which there are high levels of sugar in the blood. It is associated with too little insulin, resistance to insulin, or both.
Insulin is a hormone produced by the pancreas to control blood sugar.
But researchers from the Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona (UAB), Spain, led by Fàtima Bosch, have shown for the first time that it is possible to cure diabetes in large animals with a single session of gene therapy.
According to the study published this week in Diabetes, the principal journal for research on the disease, after a single gene therapy session, the dogs recover their health and no longer show symptoms of the disease. In some cases, monitoring continued for over four years, with no recurrence of symptoms.
The therapy is minimally invasive. It consists of a single session of various injections in the animal’s rear legs using simple needles that are commonly used in cosmetic treatments. These injections introduce gene therapy vectors, with a dual objective: to express the insulin gene, on the one hand, and that of glucokinase, on the other.
Glucokinase is an enzyme that regulates the uptake of glucose from the blood. When both genes act simultaneously they function as a “glucose sensor,” which automatically regulates the uptake of glucose from the blood, thus reducing diabetic hyperglycemia (the excess of blood sugar associated with the disease).
Also, researchers at the University of Michigan’s Life Sciences Institute, United States, have found that amlexanox, an off-patent drug currently prescribed for the treatment of asthma and other uses, also reverses obesity, diabetes and fatty liver in mice.
The findings from the laboratory of Alan Saltiel, the Mary Sue Coleman director of the Life Sciences Institute, are scheduled to be published online Feb. 10 in the journal Nature Medicine.
Saltiel said: “One of the reasons that diets are so ineffective in producing weight loss for some people is that their bodies adjust to the reduced calories by also reducing their metabolism, so that they are “defending” their body weight. Amlexanox seems to tweak the metabolic response to excessive calorie storage in mice.”
Different formulations of amlexanox are currently being prescribed to treat asthma in Japan and canker sores in the United States. Saltiel is teaming up with clinical-trial specialists at U-M to test whether amlexanox will be useful for treating obesity and diabetes in humans. He is also working with medicinal chemists at U-M to develop a new compound based on the drug that optimizes its formula.
The study appears to confirm and extend the notion that the genes IKKE and TBK1 play a crucial role for maintaining metabolic balance, a discovery published by the Saltiel lab in 2009 in the journal Cell.
“Amlexanox appears to work in mice by inhibiting two genes -IKKE and TBK1 - that we think together act as a sort of brake on metabolism,” Saltiel said. “By releasing the brake, amlexanox seems to free the metabolic system to burn more, and possibly store less, energy.”
Meanwhile, Fàtima Bosch, the head researcher at UAB, points out, “this study is the first to demonstrate a long-term cure for diabetes in a large animal model using gene therapy.”
This same research group had already tested this type of therapy on mice, but the excellent results obtained for the first time with large animals lays the foundations for the clinical translation of this gene therapy approach to veterinary medicine and eventually to diabetic patients.
The study provides ample data showing the safety of gene therapy mediated by adeno-associated vectors (AAV) in diabetic dogs. The therapy has proved to be safe and efficacious: it is based on the transfer of two genes to the muscle of adult animals using a new generation of very safe vectors known as adeno-associated vectors. These vectors, derived from non-pathogenic viruses, are widely used in gene therapy and have been successful in treating several diseases.
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Jonathan summons govs over HIV/AIDS
Written by Leon Usigbe - Abuja Friday, 01 February 2013 03:18
APPARENTLY worried by the high prevalence of
HIV/AIDS in some states, as well as the rating of the country as second in Africa with the prevalence of the virus, President Goodluck Jonathan, on Thursday, summoned governors of some of the worse-hit states, to discuss strategies to halt the trend.
Governors at the meeting were Gabriel Suswam (Benue) and Peter Obi (Anambra), with Mukhtar Shagari, Olufunmilayo Olayinka, Nsima Ekere and Ignatius Longjan, deputy governors of Sokoto, Ekiti, Akwa Ibom and Plateau states respectively also in attendance.
Also at the meeting, which took place at the State House, Abuja, were the leadership of the National Action Committee (NACA), donor agencies and other stakeholders.
Speaking to State House correspondents after the meeting, Governor Suswam said the president was worried about the social, economic and security implications of the disease, as well as the way forward.
Noting that the main challenge had to do with funding and the sexual behaviour of people, Suswam said the country’s present rating on the continent was capable of depleting its workforce.
Meanwhile, the fight against polio in the country has recorded a major breakthrough, as no new case of the disease has been reported in the country in the last two months.
The Director-General of the National Primary Health Care Development Agency, Dr Ado Mohammed, said efforts had been intensified to achieve total eradication of polio in the country in the next two years.
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We’re not aware of AIDS cure breakthrough – UNIBEN
January 10, 2013 by Bisi Deji-Folutile and James Azania
University of Benin on Wednesday distanced itself from Prof. Isaiah Ibeh’s claim that he had found a possible cure for AIDS.
Reports on Wednesday quoted Ibeh, who is UNIBEN’s Dean of Basic Medical Sciences, as saying he had developed a herbal drug capable of curing AIDS.
He told the News Agency of Nigeria in Benin on Tuesday that the new drug had undergone “a series of successful tests”.
But speaking with our correspondent in his office on Tuesday, Provost, College of Medical Sciences, UNIBEN, Prof. Vincent Iyawe, said the university was unaware of the breakthrough, and would therefore not substantiate it until procedures for verifying such were concluded.
Iyawe said, “The school will like to take credit for a breakthrough, but the school cannot align with the breakthrough because the university college was not consulted and the university was not consulted. He didn’t carry anybody along, so, this is the issue. There are protocols and procedures, stage by stage procedures
“We are going to take it (drug) to the clinical laboratory, we are going to take it to the Federal Ministry of Health because they have a procedure there.
“We’ll probably take it to NAFDAC because it is a unit or department of the ministry. We’ll take it for clinical trial, and many things we’ll have to do before we can announce that we discovered something.
“In fact, we have to take it to the World Health Organisation. So these are the things we are discussing.”
Asked whether Ibeh was unaware of such procedures before going public, Iyawe said, “I don’t know. He can answer that question, but we are not granting a press interview. I said after we have finished, we can still call you people (media). All we are doing is to protect him.”
However, the provost was not sure of how long it could take the university to verify Ibeh’s claim.
Iyawe said, “It depends on what we are dealing with; it depends on the virus or bacteria you are dealing with. It could take years, it’s not something you expect an answer to in two weeks or one month’s time. Don’t drag me into this.”
Ibeh, who was present, said, “I will naturally maintain studied silence.
“I align myself with the voice of the Provost. Please don’t drag him at all in troubled waters. I am sure he has my best interest because we are not just friends, he is my boss and he will certainly look out for my interest.”
Meanwhile, Ibeh said the unwillingness of big hospitals to provide a larger sampling population for the new research may hinder further research works and progress.
In a telephone interview with one of our correspondents, he said there were still questions to be answered about the product and other procedures to be followed to ensure the authentication of his claim.
Ibeh said, “There are no hospitals willing to cooperate with us, this is a challenge. We need a larger population size for this study. In every research, there are three types of individual. They are all important for us to make authentic scientific conclusions. We have the hyper, normal and hypo individuals, a bigger sampling size will enable us to examine the impact of the drug on all these groups.”
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Iwu, others record breakthrough in HIV/AIDS treatment .
Sunday, 06 January 2013 20:01 By Wole Oyebade (with agency reports) News -
National
.FORMER Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Prof. Maurice Iwu, and a team of other scientists have recorded a major breakthrough in the treatment of Human Immunodeficiency Virus/Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome (HIV/AIDS).
Their pioneering research, which was carried out in the United States (U.S.), discovered Crofelemer, the first drug to be approved in the U.S., to treat HIV-associated diarrhoAea.
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) recently announced its approval of Crofelemer - marking the second time a botanical, and the first time an orally administered botanical has received drug approval from the agency.
The first botanical drug to be approved in the U.S. was a tropical green tea extract, Veregen, in 2006. Both botanical drugs meet all U.S. pharmaceutical requirements and can be dispensed only by prescription.
Iwu, an acclaimed pharmacologist and tropical medicine expert, and his team derived Crofelemer from the latex of the South American sangre de drago tree (dragon’s blood, Croton lechleri). A red, blood-resembling latex leaks from the tree when its bark is cut, and it is this substance that contains the novel polymolecular structure, Crofelemer, originally developed and standardised by Shaman Pharmaceuticals.
Confirming the approval, FDA’s statement read: “The safety and efficacy of Fulyzaq were established in a clinical trial of 374 HIV-positive patients on stable antiretroviral therapy (ART) with a history of diarrhoea lasting one month or longer.
“Results showed that 17.6 per cent of patients taking Fulyzaq experienced clinical response compared with eight per cent taking placebo. In some patients, a persistent anti-diarrheal effect was seen for 20 weeks.”
The herbal medicine and pharmaceutical communities have been expressing satisfaction with FDA’s decision. Salix, which owns the license for Crofelemer’s development and submitted the product’s New Drug Application (NDA) for review, called the approval a “significant step forward in addressing the unmet medical need of people with HIV/AIDS on ART, who experience non-infectious diarrhoea.”
Diarrhoea is experienced by many HIV/AIDS patients and is a common reason patients discontinue or switch their antiretroviral therapies. Fulyzaq is intended to be used by HIV/AIDS patients, whose diarrhoea is not caused by an infection from a virus, bacteria, or parasite.
Patients take Fulyzaq two times a day to manage watery diarrhoea due to the secretion of electrolytes and water in the gastrointestinal tract.
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FOOD DAY: GOV. OKOROCHA TASKS IMOLITES TO EMBRACE AGRICULTURECategory:
Special Announcements | Visit: 284 | Date Added: 2012-11-22 04:57:38
OWELLE FLANKED BY FIRSTLADY AND DEPUTY GOV AT THE EVENT Imo State governor, Owelle Rochas Okorocha, has renewed his appeal to Imo indigenes to encourage agricultural practices in order to ensure sufficient food production and creation of employment opportunities in the State.
Speaking during the 2012 World Food Day celebration held at the Heroes Square Owerri on Tuesday, with the theme “Agricultural Co-operative; Key to Feed the World,” Governor Okorocha described agriculture as a key to survival in the nation and appealed to the Igbos to take farming as a serious business.
Describing farmers in the State as great partners of the ‘Rescue Mission,’ Governor Okorocha directed the State Commissioner for Agriculture and Natural Resources, Hon. Mrs. Adaora Ijezie to reorganize farmers’ clubs in the State.
Speaking further at the occasion, Governor Okorocha urged Imolites to support the ‘Back to Land’ programme of his administration which is aimed at planting palm seedlings in commercial quantities in all the Communities in the State.
Earlier in an address, the Commissioner for Agriculture and Natural Resources, Mrs. Adaora Ijezie said that the day’s event is aimed at boosting the activities and programmes of Imo State government towards increased food production.
She described the ‘world Food Day’ as a harvest period when farmers sit back to take stock of different activities they have engaged in over the year. Highlights of the occasion included the inspection of farm produce from the 27 Local Government Areas in the State by His Excellency, Governor Rochas Okorocha and other top government officials.
Dignitaries present at the occasion include, the wife of the Imo State Governor, Nneoma Nkechi Okorocha, the Deputy Governor of the State, Sir Jude Agbaso, members of the State Expanded Exco amongst others.
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Govt plans mass treatment of people with HIV/AIDS .
Thursday, 29 November 2012 00:00 By Chukwuma Muanya Features - Science
• To include HIV/AIDS care in national health insurance cover
DETERMINED to increased the number of persons living with Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV)/Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome (AIDS), receiving free treatment with antiretroviral drugs (ARVs) and to stop new infections, the Federal Government through the National Agency for the Control of AIDS (NACA) is considering mass treatment.
NACA also plans to integrate HIV/AIDS testing, care and treatment into the National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS).
Director General of the National Agency for the Control of AIDS (NACA), Prof. John Idoko, in an exclusive interview with The Guardian said the country is presently treating about 500,000 persons with HIV/AIDS (PWA) out of the 850,000 that are in dire need of drugs. He, however, said that a new World Health Organisation (WHO) guideline has shot up the number of PWA who should be on treatment from 850,000 to 1.3 million.
On the plan for mass treatment for PWA, Idoko said: “There was plan before on issue of mass treatment as prevention, it is still in the pipeline. We have submitted a concept proposal to Centre for Disease Control (CDC) and what we are looking at is that they are three possibilities. One, there are some states in the country that have very high prevalence like Benue, Akwa Ibom, the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), one thing is the concept, we are going to discuss it we have three ideas should we go and treat everybody in those states because when you treat everybody in that state it means that you interrupt their ability to transmit to other people in the community. That is one concept but the question is that ‘do we have money to sustain it?’ You need to start thinking that way.
“The second concept is that if you look around all these state the prevalence is high above the national average you may find some communities where it is exceedingly high. One thing that can be done is to say I will go to that community which is not as large as this state let me treat everybody and really crash down the prevalence because that will help to ensure that we interrupt transmission in that place.
“The third concept which to me is even more attractive is to say well I don’t have money since I may not be able to sustain treating everybody in the state or in the community what about the women who are pregnant. Every woman who is pregnant, I will treat for life.
“We have submitted the concept with CDC. But we are already moving with Pre Exposure Prophylaxis (PEP) and that is the opposite of what we discussed. Instead I will give the drug to somebody who is negative so that when he/she has sexual relationship with somebody who is positive he/she does not get it, the virus cannot attack the person just like you will do for malaria, you know we give Sunday-Sunday medicine to people so that when the mosquitoes bite them and inject the parasite they do not develop malaria.”
On the planned integration of HIV/AIDS into NHIS, Idoko said: “Yes but in three states where it is happening, HIV/AIDS is part of it. It happening in Kwara State, Lagos and only recently either Ogun State or Cross River. It is only testing for HIV but this can be expanded. We are engaging the NHIS to see how we can include HIV into the NHIS.”
Idoko further explained: “We have made some progressed and I think also that one of the thing that has happening now is that there is room for improvement we just attracted a new phase two of the Global Fund which is going to put like 50,000 people or more on drugs in the next year or two. We are working with United States President Emergency Fund for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR) and they are likely in the next two and half years to put another 150,000 to 200,000 on treatment. That number is likely to increase we are working to see how the funds that government uses and even increase the number of people who are on drugs, and that is very critical because drugs give life’s to the individual, to the family and its gives life to the community.
“But even more importantly in the last two to four years we have had evidence to show that drugs are a very important tool for prevention through the studies that where done on PEP and treatment as prevention. We need to really push drugs because we don’t have vaccine now it is very bad now because if we treat people, we can treat the whole community, it we reduce the transmission rate in these individuals and then their ability to pass it on to others is interrupted.”
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Novel Anti-Malarial Drug Target Identified
This is an illustration of Anopheles darlingi. (Credit: UC San Diego School of Medicine)ScienceDaily (July 19, 2012) — An international team of scientists, led by researchers from the Department of Pediatrics at the University of California, San Diego School of Medicine, have identified the first reported inhibitors of a key enzyme involved in survival of the parasite responsible for malaria.
Their findings, which may provide the basis for anti-malarial drug development, are currently published in the online version of the Journal of Medicinal Chemistry.
Tropical malaria is responsible for more than 1.2 million deaths annually. Severe forms of the disease are mainly caused by the parasite Plasmodium falciparum, transmitted to humans by female Anopheles mosquitoes. Malaria eradication has not been possible due to the lack of vaccines and the parasite's ability to develop resistance to most drugs.
The researchers conducted high-throughput screening of nearly 350,000 compounds in the National Institutes of Health's Molecular Libraries Small Molecule Repository (MLSMR) to identify compounds that inhibit an enzyme which plays an important role in parasite development: Plasmodium falciparum glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase (PfG6PD) is essential for proliferating and propagating P. falciparum.
"The enzyme G6PD catalyzes an initial step in a process that protects the malaria parasite from oxidative stress in red blood cells, creating an environment in which the parasite survives," said senior author Lars Bode, PhD, assistant professor in the UCSD Department of Pediatrics, Division of Neonatology and the Division of Gastroenterology, Hepatology and Nutrition. People with a natural deficiency in this enzyme are protected from malaria and its deadly symptoms, an observation that triggered the reported research.
The parasitic form of the enzyme (PfG6PD) is what contributes the majority of G6PD activity in infected red blood cells. Because the parasite lives in the blood of a malaria-infected person, the scientists aimed at identifying compounds that inhibit the parasitic form but not the human form of the enzyme. "We didn't want to interfere with the human form of the enzyme and risk potential side effects," Bode explained.
Scientific testing had previously been limited by a lack of recombinant PfG6PD. Team members in the lab of Katja Becker, PhD, at the Interdisciplinary Research Center at Justus-Liebig-University in Giessen, Germany produced the first complete and functional recombinant PfG6PD, and researchers led by Anthony Pinkerton, PhD, at Sanford-Burnham Medical Research Institute used it to identify the lead compound resulting from their efforts, ML276.
ML276 represents the first reported selective PfG6PD inhibitor, which stops the growth of malaria parasites in cultured red blood cells -- even those parasites that developed resistance to currently available drugs. "ML276 is a very promising basis for future drug design of new anti-malarial therapeutics," said Bode.
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New Malaria Drug Requires Just One Dose and Appears Twice as Effective as Existing Regimen
ScienceDaily (Oct. 17, 2012) — Scientists are reporting development of a new malaria drug that, in laboratory tests, has been twice as effective as the best current medicine against this global scourge and may fight off the disease with one dose, instead of the multiple doses that people often fail to take.
A report on the drug appears in ACS' Journal of Medicinal Chemistry.
Gary Posner and colleagues explain that malaria continues to kill almost 1 million people annually. The best existing treatment is so-called artemisinin combination therapy (ACT). It requires patients to take pills every day for several days, and many patients fail to complete the regimen. As a result, these patients don't get better, and it opens the door for malaria parasites to develop resistance to ACT. To stop that from happening, the researchers developed a new type of ACT that could stop malaria in a single dose.
They describe a series of new compounds they developed that, given once, are more effective than traditional artemisinin-derived substances. One of the new compounds, when combined with mefloquine, killed off all of the parasites in some mice with just a single oral dose and allowed those mice to live almost twice as long as those treated with conventional ACT.
The authors acknowledge funding from the National Institutes of Health, the Johns Hopkins Malaria Research Institute and the Bloomberg Family Foundation.
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Chloroquine Makes Comeback to Combat Malaria
— Malaria-drug monitoring over the past 30 years has shown that malaria parasites develop resistance to medicine, and the first signs of resistance to the newest drugs have just been observed. At the same time, resistance monitoring at the University of Copenhagen shows that the previously efficacious drug chloroquine is once again beginning to work against malaria. In time that will ensure cheaper treatment for the world's poor.
Scientists and healthcare personnel the world over fear that the malaria parasite will develop resistance to the current frontline treatment against malaria, Artemisinin-based Combination Therapies (ACTs). Therefore, it is especially good news that resistance monitoring at the University of Copenhagen shows that in several African countries, malaria parasites are succumbing to the formerly used drug chloroquine. The results have just been published in the American Journal of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene.
"70% of the malaria parasites we found in Senegal are reacting once again to chloroquine. This is a trend we have also seen in Tanzania and Mozambique, and which other researchers have shown in Malawi. Our choice of drugs against malaria is limited and related, so when the malaria parasite once again reacts to a substance, it influences several treatment methods," explains Michael Alifrangis, associate professor at the Center for Medical Parasitology at the University of Copenhagen. He and Magatte Ndiaye, PhD student at Université Cheikh Anta Diop in Senegal, are keeping an eye on the malaria parasite's sensitivity to drugs by analyzing the parasites' DNA.
Cheaper treatment for the poor in Africa
If healthcare personnel in developing countries can begin using chloroquine again, it will open up some promising perspectives. It will be possible to protect the currently used medicine and delay the reappearance of resistance, and it will also give a large group of patients access to cheaper treatment.
"Chloroquine costs only 25 US cents for a four-day cure, while the current and corresponding ACTs cost two dollars. Chloroquine was a fantastic malaria drug that lasted for 50 years. However, it was misused for malaria prevention and ordinary fever, and even mixed with cooking salt, so it can come as no surprise that the malaria parasite became resistant to the active ingredient," explains Professor Ib Bygbjerg, M.D. He also points out that reuse will require correct drug use and the training of healthcare personnel to make more accurate diagnoses.
Correct use of drugs paralyzes the development of resistance
According to Professor Ib Bygbjerg, three factors determine the extent to which a malaria drug will work: 1) the size of the dose, 2) how sensitive the parasite is to the drug, and 3) the extent to which the patient has developed a natural immunity to malaria.
"In the near future, chloroquine and other malaria drugs not currently on the market will presumably be able to be used again, if we use them correctly. This means that the drug must be given in combination with other medicine and only to patients who have already developed a certain immunity to malaria and are therefore not at high risk. At the same time, we must reserve ACTs for the most exposed non-immune groups such as children. Chloroquine is one of the few drugs that can be given to pregnant women at the beginning of their pregnancy," points out Ib Bygbjerg, adding that the patient can be treated with a high dose for a short period, another benefit.
In order to maintain the positive development with chloroquine, it is therefore also important that -- with the exception of pregnant women -- travellers to malaria areas refrain from taking the drug. Otherwise the parasites will quickly develop resistance once again.
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Scientists Identify Potential Malaria Drug Candidates
ScienceDaily (Nov. 17, 2011) — Researchers have discovered a group of chemical compounds that might one day be developed into drugs that can treat malaria infection in both the liver and the bloodstream. The study, which appears in the Nov. 18 issue of Science, was led by Elizabeth A. Winzeler, Ph.D., of the Scripps Research Institute in La Jolla, Calif., and was partially funded by the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), part of the National Institutes of Health.
Caused by four related parasites in the genus Plasmodium, malaria is transmitted to humans via the bite of an infected mosquito. Once the bite occurs, the parasites travel to the liver, where they usually multiply rapidly for about a week without causing symptoms. Symptoms begin when the parasites spread from the liver to the rest of the body through the bloodstream. However, the parasites can lay dormant in the liver for periods ranging from several months to years before an infected person demonstrates symptoms.
Most of the malaria drugs currently in development target the symptomatic, blood stage of infection. To help achieve malaria eradication, however, a drug would ideally treat infection during both the liver and blood stages. Currently, the World Health Organization recommends only one treatment, primaquine, for the initial, liver stage of certain types of malaria infection; however, primaquine and related drugs can cause a dangerous blood disorder among patients with a genetic condition that is common in malaria-endemic regions of the world. Additionally, drug resistance has been reported, which amplifies the need to find new treatment alternatives.
By screening more than 4,000 chemical compounds that had previously shown activity against blood-stage Plasmodium, the investigators searched for a compound that would also inhibit liver-stage parasites and whose protein structure would allow the modification necessary for future drug development. They found that a group of three related compounds, known collectively as the imidazolopiperazine (IP) cluster, fit these criteria. In addition, strains of Plasmodium that had acquired resistance to other malaria drugs were susceptible to the IP cluster.
Using the IP cluster as a foundation, the researchers designed a drug candidate, GNF179, that reduced levels of one Plasmodium species by 99.7 percent and extended survival by an average of 19 days when tested in malaria-infected mice. By examining infected cells, the researchers confirmed that GNF179 was active in the liver stage of infection. The researchers note that while additional studies will be needed to fully understand the drug's mechanism of action and its specific targets within the liver, this study provides a potential starting point for developing new dual-stage antimalarial drugs.
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New Class of Antimalarial Compounds Discovered
Mosquito. Scientists have discovered a family of chemical compounds that could lead to a new generation of antimalarial drugs capable of not only alleviating symptoms but also preventing the deadly disease. (Credit: © demarfa / Fotolia)ScienceDaily (Nov. 17, 2011) — A international team led by scientists from the Genomics Institute of the Novartis Research Foundation (GNF) and The Scripps Research Institute has discovered a family of chemical compounds that could lead to a new generation of antimalarial drugs capable of not only alleviating symptoms but also preventing the deadly disease.
In a study published November 17, 2011, in Science Express, the advance online publication of the journal Science, Elizabeth Winzeler, PhD, a Scripps Research associate professor and member of the GNF, and colleagues demonstrated that the class of compounds was more effective against malaria than some commercially available drugs.
Most antimalarial drugs are only effective during the blood stage, and those that do work in the liver have notable side effects. However, the new class of compounds identified by the team is highly effective against the parasite in both the blood and the liver.
"Because the parasite blood stages are more amenable to high-throughput screening, much research has focused on that area," said Stephan Meister, PhD, a research associate in the Winzeler lab and first author of the new paper. "We're excited to have found a class of compounds that appears to target a novel gene and is highly active against the liver stage parasites in mice. This compound class provided us with a lead for the development of novel anti-malaria drugs."
A Complicated Lifecycle
Despite long-standing efforts to control malaria globally, the disease remains endemic in many parts of the world. According to the World Health Organization, malaria affected about 225 million people in 2009, and killed nearly 800,000. The disease, which tends to strike the poorest and most vulnerable populations in Asia, Africa, and the Americas, is caused by Plasmodium parasites transmitted through the bites of infected mosquitoes.
The Plasmodium parasite has a complicated lifecycle in two hosts -- mosquitoes and humans (or other vertebrate). When a malaria-infected mosquito feeds on a person, the parasite enters the human body. Within 30 minutes, the parasite has infected liver cells, where it develops for about eight days without causing noticeable symptoms. In some cases it can even go into hiding in the liver and persist for several months to years.
When this period is over, however, the parasite (now in a different form) leaves the liver and enters red blood cells, where it grows and multiplies. When the infected red blood cells eventually burst, the parasite and Plasmodium toxins are released into the bloodstream, and the person feels sick. Symptoms include fever, chills, headache, and other flulike symptoms; in severe cases, patients can experience convulsions, coma, and liver and kidney failure, which can be fatal.
If a mosquito bites the infected person at this point, the parasite will enter the mosquito, where it will continue the cycle by maturing into a form that can infect the next human host.
Mining the Data
To find compounds to act against the parasite in more than one stage of its lifecycle, the team screened thousands of candidates that were already known to act against malaria parasites in the blood. Only 15 percent looked as if they might also work in the liver -- a strong indication, Winzeler said, that "a lot of compounds that are active against blood stages probably aren't going to do anything about eliminating malaria."
The group then identified the strongest candidates for drug development by mining the data for groups of related compounds that all showed activity in the liver. In the end, they settled on a cluster related to the chemical imidazolopiperazine. "When we analyzed all of the data, we saw that multiple members of this imidazolopiperazine family were active in blood and liver stages," Winzeler said.
The imidazolopiperazine family of compounds was especially attractive because it was chemically unrelated to existing antimalarial drugs, and therefore less likely to run into problems with existing resistance. "I wouldn't want to base a multimillion dollar clinical trial on compounds for which there may be pre-existing resistance," said Winzeler. "Ultimately, we want to have something that will still be effective in 10 years."
The group used an automated system of their own design to see how these new compounds fared against malaria parasites incubated in liver cells in the lab. An imaging apparatus took multiple images of each collection of cells over time, and a computer script analyzed those images to see how well the various compounds inhibited the growth of the parasites.
In the end, the team was able to develop compounds that could be taken orally and would stay in the blood long enough to be a viable candidate for drug development. When it was given to mice, the compound provided complete protection against the parasite in the liver, and worked better in the blood than some commercially available drugs.
Spurring Drug Discovery
To better understand how the compound works, the team exposed successive generations of infected mosquitoes to low levels of the compound to produce resistant strains of parasites. They then sequenced the parasites' whole genomes and looked for genetic changes. "Every [resistant] strain we looked at had a mutation in the same gene," she said.
By offering a target for other new antimalarial drugs that can act in both the liver and the blood, that gene will provide other researchers fresh ammunition in the fight to eradicate the disease. So, too, will the decision by the team to make all of their data available online.
"We have been making all of our data available to the community to spur drug development," Winzeler said. "The data on all of the compounds that were tested will eventually be released, and this will allow people at universities and research institutes around the world to mine this data, and to use it to guide their own drug discovery efforts."
In addition to Winzeler and Meister, the authors of the Science paper, titled "Exploring Plasmodium Hepatic Stages to Find Next Generation Antimalarial Drugs," include Selina E Bopp, A. Taylor Bright, and Neekesh V. Dharia, of Scripps Research; David M Plouffe, Kelli L Kuhen, Ghislain MC Bonamy, and S.Whitney Barnes, of the Genomics Institute of the Novartis Research Foundation; and researchers at Columbia University Medical Center, UC San Diego, the Novartis Institute for Tropical Diseases and the Swiss Tropical and Public Health Institute.
Support for the study came from the Wellcome Trust, the Medicines for Malaria Venture, the Genomics Institute of the Novartis Research Foundation, the Swiss Tropical and Public Health Institute, and the Novartis Institute for Tropical Diseases.
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Dual-Acting Class of Antimalarial Compounds Discovered With Potential to Prevent and Treat Malaria
ScienceDaily (Nov. 17, 2011) — The discovery of a new class of dual-acting antimalarial compounds -- the imidazolopiperazines (IZPs) -- was published in the journal Science online, at the Science Express website today1. The findings report on compounds that target both liver and blood infections, attacking the Plasmodium parasite at both stages in its reproduction cycle.
The findings describe how scientists developed a novel assay to determine liver stage activity of candidate small molecules, then used the assay and other tools to identify and optimize a chemical scaffold with activity on both blood- and liver-stage parasites in malaria mouse models. Several other compound classes, also with dual activity, are described and released by Novartis through ChEMBL -- Neglected Tropical Disease.
"These new findings further demonstrate our innovative and sustainable research commitment in this important area, which has become integral to our corporate strategy for social responsibility," commented Mr. Jimenez.
Scientists from the Novartis Institutes for BioMedical Research (NIBR), through the Genomics Institute of the Novartis Research Foundation (GNF) and the Novartis Institute for Tropical Diseases (NITD), collaborated with the Scripps Research Institute and Swiss Tropical and Public Health Institute. Research was supported by the Wellcome Trust, Singapore Economic Development Board, and Medicines for Malaria Venture. This is the second new class of antimalarials discovered by the same group in the last two years and holds promise as a next-generation treatment for malaria if confirmed.
"Novartis is committed to the elimination of malaria. Programs with our current anti-malarial treatment have helped save more than one million lives2 to date, but there remains much to be done," said Mark Fishman, M.D., NIBR President. "Concerns of potential future resistance to current medicines, and the need to treat liver forms of malaria, propel our scientists to devise new medicines. The chemical data from this successful study, and the methods of chemical analysis, have all been released to the public domain. Hopefully, such sharing will facilitate broad-based discovery efforts across the globe towards elimination of this disease."
Researchers believe that future antimalarials will need to work against both blood and liver stages to bring us closer to the goal of eliminating malaria globally. The malaria parasite first infects the liver before moving to red blood cells and causing symptoms. However, after clearance in the blood, reservoirs of parasites can linger in the liver causing relapse and hampering efforts toward complete elimination of the disease. Each year there are about 250 million cases of malaria and nearly one million deaths -- mostly among children living in Africa3.
It is important to develop new classes of treatment that are one step ahead of the parasite should parasite resistance to current therapies occur, according to researchers. In collaboration with research partners, NIBR is working on developing a pipeline of potential new treatment candidates for drug-resistant malaria. Last year's development of the spiroindolone class, represented by NITD6094, is now in Phase I human clinical trials, with Phase II expected to commence in early 2012.
"Compounds with dual activity are rare among current antimalarials," said Martin Seidel, GNF Institute Director. "The activity of the IZP compound class on liver-stage parasites, if it can be confirmed in clinical trials, gives promise to this class as a first-line therapy for the prevention and treatment of malaria."
According to Elizabeth Winzeler, GNF Department Head and lead investigator, "Little was known about malaria liver stages when we started this work and as a consequence, we didn't have a good idea about how to approach the problem. Eventually we decided to develop an automated microscopy method to look for compounds that would alter the appearance of the developing liver stages. We are excited that by publishing the full set of compounds active in both blood and liver stages, new targets might be identified."
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The Star (Nairobi)
Kenya: Screening Camp Set Up in Busia As Ebola Fears Rise
By Hilton Otenyo, 1 August 2012 Comment
Public Health Minister Beth Mugo has moved to assure the nation that so far there has been no confirmed case of Ebola in the country even as a ... ( Resource: Kenyan Govt Dismisses Ebola Claims THE government has set up a surveillance camp in Busia county to screen people at the Kenya-Uganda border over fears of an outbreak of Ebola.
"We have set up a camp in Busia and the frontier health officers are there to be able to pick any suspicion of the disease," said Western provincial public health director Quinto Ahindukha.
Ahindukha said hospitals in Busia and Bungoma counties have set aside isolation wards for suspected cases though none had been detected so far. He said the Kenya Medical Research Institute is testing blood specimens from suspicious cases. "Our field staff have already been informed on how to transport specimens for testing," said Ahindukha, who briefed the media in his office yesterday. "All the hospitals have been put in high alert to report any cases that may present signs similar to Ebola fever since it presents signs similar to those of malaria," he said.
Ahindukha said health officials from Kenya and Tanzania will meet and discuss the matter. "The meeting will discuss the best ways of curtailing the spread of the disease across the border points," said Ahindukha. "All disease surveillance teams in the province have been activated and asked to ensure their officers have a high index of suspicion. There is, however, no cause to worry at the moment," he said.
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He, however, said referral hospitals in the region are ill-equipped to deal with Ebola cases. "The government is in the process of supplying the gears to the hospitals in Busia and Bungoma counties," said Ahindukha. An outbreak of Ebola, an haemorrhagic fever, reported in Uganda at the weekend has killed 14 people, 12 from one family. Ugandan authorities on Monday reported the disease to have reached Kampala, the capital city.
Ebola fever is a viral infection transmitted by the direct contact with blood, secretions, organs or other body fluids of infected persons. Burial ceremonies where mourners have direct contact with the body of the deceased persons can play a significant role in the transmission of the fever. Signs of the attack include sudden onset of fever, intense weakness, muscles pain, headache and sore throat which are followed by abdominal pain, vomiting, diarrhea, rashes, impaired kidney and liver function and in some cases internal and external bleeding.
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Akpabio to sign HIV/AIDS control agency bill into law
Written by Udeme Utip
Friday, 03 August 2012
ShareGovernor of Akwa Ibom State, Chief Godswill Akpabio, said the bill establishing the state’s HIV/AIDS control agency would be passed into law without further delay.
The governor announced this at the annual general meeting and scientific conference of the Akwa Ibom State branch of the Nigeria Medical Association (NMA).
Represented on the occasion by his deputy, Mr Nsima Ekere, Akpabio stated that the bill, which was recently passed by the state House of Assembly, would not only be passed into law, but that the agency would be well-funded to enable it meet its obligations.
He called for concerted efforts in the fight against HIV/AIDS, particularly in the mother-to-child transmission of the pandemic, urging the NMA in the state to monitor development in the renewed international research for a cure for HIV/AIDS to ensure that the Akwa Ibom people will be among the first to benefit from a potential cure.
Akpabio disclosed that the state government has put together strong policies and programmes to strengthen the health care sector, give free medical treatment to pregnant women, children below the age of five and the aged, as well as the massive rehabilitation of health institutions across the state, in addition to the building of five new cottage hospitals.
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28 July 2012
Outbreak of Ebola in Uganda kills 13 Up to 90% of those who contract Ebola die from the virus
Progress towards Ebola vaccine
Mystery Ugandan illness kills 38
Scientists 'closer to Ebola drug'
An outbreak of the deadly Ebola virus has killed at least 13 people and infected a further seven in Uganda.
The health ministry says emergency measures are in place to deal with the outbreak, which began in late June but has only just been confirmed as Ebola.
The cases have been reported in Kibaale district, about 170km (100 miles) to the west of the capital Kampala.
Officials say most are linked to one family, who may have contracted the virus while attending a funeral.
Another suspected infection, at Kampala's Mulago hospital, is also being investigated by doctors, says the BBC's Catherine Byaruhanga in the capital.
Ebola is one of the most virulent diseases in the world. It is spread by close personal contact, and kills up to 90% of those who become infected.
There is no vaccine for the virus. Symptoms include sudden onset of fever, weakness, headache, vomiting and impaired kidneys.
The first victim of this outbreak was a pregnant woman.
More than 1,200 deaths from the virus have been recorded since it was discovered in 1976.
Uganda has seen three major outbreaks over the past 12 years.
The deadliest was in 2000 when 425 people were infected, more than half of them died.
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350,000 cancer cases diagnosed in Nigeria annually —NAFDAC
Written by Johnson Babajide, Makurdi
Tuesday, 19 June 2012
THE Director-General (DG) of the National Agency for Food and Drugs Administration Control (NAFDAC), Dr Paul Orhii, has said no fewer than 350,000 cases of cancer is now being diagnosed annually in the country.
The NAFDAC boss, who spoke at an interactive session with the academic staff of the University of Agriculture, Makurdi, on Monday, noted that the dreaded diseases was spreading fast, due to chemicals in food intake.
He regretted that some of the foods people took contained some chemicals that were dangerous to human health and noted that the agency was not resting on its oars to ensure the control of packaged foods in the country, particularly imported foods.
Orhii advocated locally-made food items, such as wheat and rice, which, he said, could be produced in abundance locally and described as better than imported foods.
He specifically mentioned that Benue State at present had a comparative advantage of rice production over other countries, regretting the huge amount being spent on the importation of rice and wheat annually by Nigerians.
The NAFDAC boss promised that the agency would be working closely with farmers to monitor the indiscriminate use of chemicals through enlightenment campaigns, so as to halt the rate of death associated with foods.
He also canvassed for the use and consumption of cassava bread in the country, stressing that no major havoc had ever been recorded from casava intake, apart from the unhygenic situations, adding that some countries in Europe were already yearning for cassava products.
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A long wait for the National Health Bill
MONDAY, 11 JUNE 2012 00:00 BY CHIJIOKE IREMEKA FEATURES - FOCUS
With the 2015 Millenium Development Goal (MDG) around the corner, stakeholders are earnestly calling for the president to assent the national health bill, which has been fraught with a lot of controversies
SIGNING the country’s National Health Bill (NHB) into law has become an exercise trailed with so many controversies, especially within the populace. Mixed feelings have continued to trail the non-assent of the bill by President Goodluck Jonathan over one year of its passage by the National Assembly (NASS).
To health professions and other professional groups, non-validation of the National Health Bill (NHB) has been considered one of the major causes of health woes plaguing the country. They also said it is the reason for the country’s high maternal and child mortality rate.
The World Health Organisation (WHO) rated Nigeria the second highest country in the world with high maternal mortality. According to WHO, motherhood appeared a death sentence for 59,000 Nigerian women yearly from preventable deaths: “50,000 women plus 9,000 still die during pregnancy and childbirth,” said the body.
“One in 18 pregnant women dies from avoidable causes during or after childbirth in Nigeria as compared to the United States where only one in 4,800 obtains. In Sweden, zero deaths were reported between 2006 and 2011,” said Senior Lecturer, Lagos State University College of Medicine (LASUCOM), Dr. Simbiat Elias.
Experts noted that these disparities are mind-boggling and one wonders why it seems like rocket science for the Nigerian health system to create an environment where mothers are not sentenced to death just because they are charged with the responsibility of ensuring that human species does not go into extinction.
According to WHO, paucity of maternal care is also a major cause of infant deaths and disabilities in Nigeria. “All over the world, over 133 million babies are born annually, 90 per cent in low and middle income countries and the death of their mothers reduce their chances of survival.”
The report also has it that three million babies are stillborn annually and almost one quarter of them die during birth. The causes of the deaths are similar to the causes of maternal death. Poorly treated maternal health and disease during pregnancy is contributive to intrapartum death as well as other babies born preterm and with low birth weight.
Furthermore, among the 133 million babies who are born alive each year, 2.8 million die in the first week of life and slightly less than one million in the preceding three weeks and for Nigeria to achieve an accelerated success in improving maternal and child health, quality health system and barriers to access health services have to be identified and tackled at all levels, even down to the grassroots, which is being advocated by the proposed NHB.
It should be noted that one of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) is to improve maternal and child health care. This was adopted by the international community at the United Nations Millennium Summit in 2000 with the aim of achieving 75 per cent drop in the level of maternal and child mortality in the year 2015.
As part of the approaches to solving these problems, NHB has been drafted and passed by the National Assembly (NASS) for presidential assent but yet to receive presidential nod, due to a number of squabbles, controversies and infighting among the different professional groups within the health sector, who are neck-deep involved in the implementation of the bill.
Though the bill has the potentiality of turning Nigeria’s medical sector into Africa’s medical hub and medical tourist centre in the continent, it experienced a harvest of criticisms due to the tone of certain sections, which could be considered religious, professional and political, and as a result, some of these grey areas are required to be addressed before signing the bill into law by the president.
For instance, Part VI of the proposed bill, which says, “No person shall import or export human zygotes or embryos without the prior written approval of the Minister on the recommendation of National Ethics Research Committee” is viewed by religious groups and medical moralists as a slave trade in disguise. They said this clause introduces aggressive exportation of human zygotes to the western world for alteration and does not safeguard women’s health in the country, especially that of younger generations.
Section 8(1) of the bill, which deals with establishment and membership of National Tertiary Hospital Commission (NTHC) has also generated heated argument among the health professionals, pharmacists, doctors, nurses, lab technicians among other professions, who called on the President not to assent the bill until issues on the membership of the Commission are logically addressed.
However, the benefits of the proposed bill, especially in the efforts to save the lives of Nigerian women and those at high risk and those with limited resources for alternative health care services are enormous. Many Nigerians and Civil Society Groups, among others, have called on the president to sign the bill into law for the sake of mother and child survival.
The bill was passed for presidential assent since May 19, 2011 by NASS but till date, the President has not commented on the bill neither has he signed it. This has renewed calls on NASS to re-visit the bill, adjust certain issues and possibly veto it into law in line with constitutional provision.
An Abuja-based legal luminary, Charles Ndukwe in the chambers of Charles Ndukwe and Co., said when a bill is passed by NASS and sent for presidential assent under 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, and the President refuses or delays to sign it into law for a period exceeding 30 days, the NASS is, therefore, empowered by the constitution of the land to veto it into law by two-third majority of the House.
This is the position of Nigerians as regards non-signing of the bill by Mr. President to ensure that the poor masses, especially the most vulnerable groups would enjoy their right to life as enshrined in the constitution.
The NHB, if signed into law, would develop a national health policy, including annual N60 billion devoted to Primary Health Care (PHC) and committed to provision of essential drugs, comprehensive vaccination for pregnant women and children younger than five years.
“The urgent need for signing of NHB into law to increase the life expectancy of Nigerians comes on the heels of the passage of the Freedom of Information (FOI) bill, which makes access to information easier for Nigerians on government policies and activities,” said United Nations Children Emergency Fund’s (UNICEF) communications specialist, Geoffrey Njoku.
He noted that the bill might not provide all that the sector needed to make Nigeria Africa’s medical hub, but a giant stride by Nigeria to improve her healthcare delivery and foster healthy competition with the rest of the world by making Nigeria a medical tourist centre, as it pertains to mother and child’s well-being and survival.
A Senior Lecturer in the Department of Mass Communications, University of Lagos, Dr. Abigail Ogwezzy-Ndisika said that NHB stipulates the need for measures of accountability and country’s performance as well as the conditions of citizens’ health to be assessed by independent authorities and government as well as the ability to turn around the health service delivery in Nigeria, especially for the socially excluded.
Ogwezzy-Ndisika noted that NHB is a bold step in the right direction to ensure that modicum of infrastructure needed for improved health financing better health services in Nigeria are put in place to douse the effects of poor medical delivery on the voiceless children and mothers, who do not have resources to access alternative services.
“Innocent children and mothers are those paying heavily with their lives for non-signing of the bill. Despite attempts made by governments to address high mortality in Nigeria, daily morbidity and mortality rates remained high, due to lack of basic life-saving facilities,” she noted.
Experts argued that lack of validation of Clause III of the proposed bill has escalated the problem of patients’ rejection during emergencies and subsequent death, arguing that the provision of Clause III (Section 1) of NHB, which prohibits a healthcare provider or health establishment from refusing a person’s emergency medical treatment, would have addressed the issue if put in place.
Experts believe that Clause III of NHB, which reads in part: “No healthcare provider, health worker or health establishment shall refuse a person emergency medical treatment for any reason. Any person who contravenes this section is guilty of an offence and is liable on conviction to a fine of N10, 000.00 or to imprisonment for a period not exceeding three months or to both fine and imprisonment,” would stampede delay, which accounts for two per cent causes of maternal deaths in the country and increase access to medical emergency treatment of patients.
Tackling the issue of poor financing of the sector, which has left the country’s health sector in a comatose condition for years, Deputy Director, National Primary Health Care Development Agency (NPHCDA), Dr. Olalekan Olubajo said health financing is needed to turn the sector around as provided by Section 10 of the bill.
“Several studies, including DHS 2008 indicate that financial access is a major constraint to utilisation of health services by a large number of people in Nigeria, especially the lower income groups and major drivers of the inequalities observed among the various groups in Nigeria,” he said.
He noted that the provision of two per cent of the consolidated revenue of the federation- one per cent for health insurance, covering a minimum package of care and the remaining one per cent for the development of PHC would substantially reduce the level of financial access, hence the need for increased funding of the sector by the governments at all level as proposed in section 10 of the bill.
For many women, as stated by Olubajo, financial and physical barriers hinder access to health services with about 38 per cent of the highest quintile and 72 per cent of the lowest quintile lacking financial access. “The situation is worsened by limited coverage of insurance and prepayment schemes.”
He pointed out that gross inequities in health outcomes and access to preventive health services, which exist across socio-economic groups and geographic locations, including skilled birth attendants, Antenatal Care (ANC) visits, immunization, treatment of common ailments and nutritional status among others are the major problems NHB is poised to address, adding that there is an urgent need for healthcare financing to enable the socially-excluded persons access quality health service delivery in the country.
Meanwhile, as a way of achieving the desired goals in the country’s health sector, Nigerians across the country have recommended sustained advocacy for the presidential assent of the health bill, awareness creation to the Nigerian populace on the benefits of the health bill, inclusion of health on the concurrent list during the proposed constitutional review by the National Assembly (NASS), routine resource tracking of all health sector funds, establishment of guidance on fund utilisation based on evidence.
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Furore over cassava flour, diabetes link .
Thursday, 07 June 2012 00:00 CHUKWUMA MUANYA Features - Natural Health
.Can eating bread made with cassava flour cause diabetes? Nutritionists, experts and research findings provide answers. CHUKWUMA MUANYA writes.
IN recent times there have been claims and counter claims on the health effect or rather consequences of replacing wheat flour with cassava flour in Nigeria.
In fact, two print media reported recently that the House of Representatives rejected a bill on mandatory inclusion of 40 per cent cassava flour in bread because it was alleged to be responsible for rising cases of diabetes in the country.
A school of thought says cassava flour has low glycaemic index (GI), is high in calorie and starch and thereby predisposes the consumer to obesity and diabetes.
They say cassava can be harmful if it not properly prepared to remove a toxic compound called hydrogen cyanide. Some researchers believe that the cyanide in cassava could cause diabetes, or that it could worsen the health of people who already suffer from diabetes.
Another school of thought says that if cassava is not properly prepared, it contains toxic compounds that may increase one’s risk of developing diabetes. However, they say cassava may be a healthier choice for diabetics than some other starches because of its relatively low GI.
They say one can minimise the risk of toxicity by choosing a sweet-tasting variety of cassava, and cyanide levels can also be greatly reduced through soaking and other processing techniques.
The GI is a rating system that can help diabetics predict how different foods will affect their blood sugar levels.
According to the Nutrition Society of Nigeria (NSN), cassava has a low GI of 46, which means that it is less likely than some foods to cause a rapid rise in blood glucose levels.
President NSN, Prof. Ignatius Onimawo said: “If you are diabetic, cassava could be a healthier choice than wheat and white potatoes, which have high GIs of 70 and 85 respectively.”
Onimawo said adding cassava flour would not increase the GI of bread. “It will not aggravate diabetes. In fact, it may lower it. The GI of wheat flour is higher than that of cassava. It is only whole wheat bread, that is wheat flour with bran intact; that has lower GI,” he said.
The nutritionist explained: “Now foods with low GI are foods that diabetics are advised to consume and cassava is not among the high GI foods. In fact, wheat flour has high GI from between 70 to 72 while cassava has a GI between 46 and 60.That is the range for cassava. Having that at the back of our minds, it then means that when you mix cassava flour with low GI with wheat flour that has high GI the blend that will come with the GI will come down.”
To the Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development, Dr. Akinwumi Adesina, the way to measure what can increase blood sugar or not is what is called the GI. He explained: “The index tells you how much and how quickly sugar is released into the body from consuming any food item. The higher the level of the GI, the higher is the likely effect of the food item in affecting sugar levels, as it means that the item will release sugar much faster into the blood system.”
“The higher the GI, the higher your pancreas has to work to produce insulin to process that sugar into what is called triglycerides. When you have too much sugar in your system, a situation called hyperglycaemia, your pancreas overworks itself and may give up. When it does, you have what is called diabetes.
“Scientifically, when glycemic index is lower than 55, it is considered low; when it is between 55 and 69 it is considered medium; and when it is greater than 70, it is considered in the high range.”
Researchers from the Departments of Physiology and Medicine College of Medicine University of Ibadan in a study titled ‘Glycemic indices of selected Nigerian flour meal products in male type 2 diabetic subjects’ published in Diabetologia Croastica compared cassava flour with yam flour, maize flour and wheat flour among diabetic patients.
The glycemic indices are: yam flour, 49.81; cassava flour, 59.34; maize flour: 54.83; wheat flour, 70.10.
The Minister argued that his shows clearly that cassava flour has much lower GI than wheat flour. “Yam flour has the lowest GI. Wheat flour, which is what we are being told to consume, has high GI. So, which one is good for you: cassava flour or wheat flour? It is clear, it is cassava flour,” Adesina said.
The minister further explained: “Now, let me compare the GIs for some of the exotic foods that are being promoted for Nigerians. Let us start with the French bread, popularly called ‘baguette’. The GI for French bread is 95, which puts it in the very high range for diabetes. White wheat flour has GI of 71, which is in the high range for diabetes. Take the foods eaten by the British, the popular English muffins. They have GI of 77, in the high range for diabetes. Now take whole-wheat flour bread, it has GI of 71, again on the high side.”
“You all eat corn flakes every day, right? The GI of corn flakes is 82, which is very high. Only 100 per cent whole wheat bread (that is the one in which the husk and the bran are intact) has a glycemic index of 51, which is close to that of cassava in Nigeria at 59.”
Adesina said what this means is that cassava is better than wheat flour, French bread, English muffins and cornflakes! “Indeed, yam has the lowest of all, with glycemic index of 49, which is lower than even 100 per cent whole wheat bread,” he said.
Onimawo further explained: “So in essence, if we are going to attack diabetes, then the mix of cassava flour and wheat flour is even the right step to start with because by the time you combine cassava flour with that wheat flour, the GI of the overall product will come down because that of white bread is 70 as at now. So when you bring cassava flour into it, it may bring it down to about 60 or 60 point something thereby giving a better product that will now fall within the range of medium GI food. Right now, bread as it is, is in high GI group.
“So with the coming of cassava flour, you can bring it down to a medium GI food. So I don’ t know where the person got his information from. There was a survey that was conducted in Kenya and in that survey they found that out of over 1,380 people that were surveyed, they got their energy or calorie intake from cassava. About 86 per cent of that number got their calorie intake from cassava and none of them was diabetic.
“In the same survey, those who were diabetic in that community, they found that they rarely took cassava. They were eating other sorts of food. So cassava is not implicated as such anywhere as the causative effects for diabetes, that is the point I am making.”
Meanwhile, a study of 110 non-insulin dependent diabetics and 110 controls, published in Tropical and Geographical Medicine, failed to find evidence that chronic consumption of cassava flour containing significant amounts of cyanide, predisposes to diabetes mellitus.
Other studies have supported the use of cassava flour to prevent diabetes. A 1994 article published in the journal Acta Horticulturae, noted that cassava has been suspected of causing diabetes. However, several studies have shown a low incidence of diabetes in Africans who eat cassava regularly.
In one study published in the December 2006 issue of Fundamental & Clinical Pharmacology, none of the 1,381 subjects had diabetes, even though cassava accounted for a full 84 percent of their caloric intake. A second study, published in the October 1992 issue of Diabetes Care, noted that Tanzanians who ate cassava regularly had a lower incidence of diabetes than those who rarely ate it.
According to Wikipedia, “cassava root is essentially a carbohydrate source. Its composition shows 60-65 per cent moisture, 20 to 31 per cent carbohydrate, 1 to 2 per cent crude protein and a comparatively low content of vitamins and minerals. However, the roots are rich in calcium and vitamin C and contain a nutritionally significant quantity of thiamine, riboflavin and nicotinic acid. Cassava starch contains 70 per cent amylopectin and 20 per cent amylose.
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Author of this article: CHUKWUMA MUANYA
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Garlic shows promise against antibiotic resistant diseases
THURSDAY, 31 MAY 2012 00:00 CHUKWUMA MUANYA FEATURES - NATURAL HEALTH
Recent studies indicate that extracts of garlic could be used to beat multi-drug resistant (MDR) and extremely drug resistant (XDR) tuberculosis and other antibiotic resistant diseases like cystic fibrosis. CHUKWUMA MUANYA writes.
RESEARCHERS have confirmed that garlic could be used to treat multi-drug resistant (MDR) and extremely drug resistant (XDR) tuberculosis and other antibiotic resistant diseases like cystic fibrosis (a disease passed down through families that causes thick, sticky mucus to build up in the lungs, digestive tract, and other areas of the body).
Saudi and Pakistani researchers in a study titled: “Anti-mycobacterial activity of garlic (Allium sativum) against multi-drug resistant and non-multi-drug resistant Mycobacterium tuberculosis (MTB)” concluded, “this study demonstrated that the garlic extract has showed its effectiveness against clinical isolates of MDR M. tuberculosis. It is worthwhile to utilise garlic as natural supplement with other standard anti tuberculosis treatment (ATT). It is corresponding that substitute medicines practices with plant extracts including garlic as a means of decreasing the burden of drug resistance and reducing the cost of management of diseases would be of public health importance.”
The researchers in the study Pakistan Journal of Pharmaceutical Science investigated a total of 20 clinical isolates of MTB including 15 MDR and five non-MDR strains. Ethanolic extract of garlic was prepared by maceration method. Minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) was performed by using 7H9 middle brook broth dilution technique. MIC of garlic extract was ranged from one to three mg/ml, showing inhibitory effects of garlic against both non-MDR and MDR M tuberculosis isolates.
According to the researchers, “alternate medicine practices with plant extracts including garlic should be considered to decrease the burden of drug resistance and cost in the management of diseases. The use of garlic against MDR-TB may be of great importance regarding public health.”
In another study published in The Internet Journal of Infectious Diseases, antibacterial activity of A. sativum was tested against gram-positive and gram-negative bacterial isolates from Urinary Tract of Indian patients, which were confirmed for resistant against commonly used antibiotics for urinary tract infections.
In present study titled: “Antibacterial activity of allicin from Allium sativum against antibiotic resistant uropathogens,” only five quantities (10, 20, 30, 40 and 50µg) of aqueous allicin from A. sativum cloves and leaves were used, which has antibacterial activity against test isolates by disc diffusion method. The maximum inhibitory activity of allicin against all test isolates was observed at 40µg and the quantity was found statistically significant for antibacterial activity of allicin extracted from A. sativum cloves and leaves against Urino-genital Tract (UT) bacterial isolates.
Meanwhile, Danish researchers and collaborators have pinpointed a constituent of garlic that attacks a key step in development of biofilms, in an effort they hope may offer help in particular for patients with cystic fibrosis.
A biofilm is a complex aggregation of microorganisms growing on a solid substrate. Bacterial biofilms are far more resistant than individual bacteria to the armories of antibiotics that have devised to combat them.
The research is published in the May 2012 issue of Antimicrobial Agents and Chemotherapy.
In earlier work, Givskov and his colleagues showed that “crude extracts of garlic inhibit the expression of a large number of genes that are controlled by bacterial quorum sensing (communication among bacterial cells involved in biofilm development), and that extracts promote a rapid clearing of pulmonary Pseudomonas aeruginosa infection in mice.” “These findings encouraged us to identify and assess the efficacy of the pure active compound,” he said.
Jakobsen said that compound turned out to be ajoene, the major constituent of a multitude of sulphur-containing compounds produced when garlic is crushed. The team then showed in P. aeruginosa that ajoene inhibits expression of 11 genes that are controlled by quorum sensing. “These key genes are regarded as crucial for the ability of P. aeruginosa to cause disease,” he said.
Pseudomonas aeruginosa is a common bacterium that can cause disease in animals, including humans. Jakobsen further explained, “we also found ajoene to reduce the production of rhamnolipid, a compound that shields the biofilm bacteria from the white blood cells that otherwise would destroy bacteria, and that by combining ajoene with the antibiotic tobramycin, it was possible to kill over 90 per cent of bacteria living in a biofilm.
“Our study is part of a series of comprehensive investigations of natural compounds targeting bacterial quorum sensing systems, and it further strengthens previous proof of concept research we conducted on the potential of compounds which block communication among pathogen cells in contrast to simply killing bacteria, as conventional antibiotics do,” says Jakobsen. Such alternative approaches “may postpone or minimise development of antibiotic resistance.”
Author of this article: CHUKWUMA MUANYA
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Calcium Supplement Linked to Higher Heart Attack Risk
By Lisa Collier Cool
May 24, 2012
Health Topics »
Calcium supplements can double heart attack risk and should be taken “with caution,” only for medical reasons, European researchers warn. A new study of 24,000 people adds to mounting evidence linking calcium supplements—taken with or without vitamin D—to greater danger of heart attacks, strokes, and other cardiovascular events.
Not only is the safety of calcium supplements coming under increased scientific scrutiny, but the new study is the first to define the exact daily dose that’s the danger zone for higher heart attack risk. The findings are important—and concerning—for the millions of Americans, particularly postmenopausal women, who routinely pop calcium supplements to prevent or treat brittle bones (osteoporosis).
To learn more about what the scary findings mean, as well as the best ways to protect your heart and bone health, I talked to Bradley Bale, MD, medical director of the Heart Health Program for the Grace Clinic in Lubbock, Texas, a leading specialist in heart attack prevention.
5 Heart Attack Signs All Women Should Look For
Should You Stop Taking Calcium Supplements?
The research doesn’t prove that supplements actually cause heart attacks, just that there’s a link to significantly higher risk, says Dr. Bale, who advised his patients to stop taking calcium pills last year.
His recommendation was prompted by a 2011 analysis of earlier studies, including the Women’s Health Initiative (WHI) involving about 30,000 women, which found an association between using calcium supplements and raised risk for heart attacks, strokes and other cardiovascular events, with relatively little bone health benefit.
“In that analysis, for every 1,000 women who took calcium supplements—with or without vitamin D—there were six additional heart attacks or strokes, while only three bone fractures were prevented,” says Dr. Bale. “We tell our patients to get their calcium through a healthy diet, rather than a supplement.”
Surprising Causes of Erectile Dysfunction
How Much Do Supplements Raise Risk?
In the new study, participants who were 35 to 64 when they joined the study between 1994 and 1998 were quizzed about their usual diet during the prior 12 months and whether they regularly took vitamin or mineral supplements. They were then tracked for 11 years, during which 354 heart attacks, 260 strokes, and 267 related deaths occurred.
When the researchers analyzed vitamin/mineral supplement use, they found:
•Participants who took supplements that included calcium were 86 percent more likely to have a heart attack, compared to people who didn’t take any supplements.
•Participants who only took calcium pills were more than twice as likely to have a heart attack.
Learn More about Heart Attack Warning Signs
The Calcium Danger Zone
After taking other factors that could influence risk into account, the researchers found that heart attack risk was highest in people who consumed more than 1,100 mg of calcium daily.
In the earlier WHI study, a seven-year randomized clinical trial, postmenopausal women were randomly assigned to either take 1 g of calcium and 400 iu of vitamin D daily, or a placebo. The hope was to show that supplements lowered heart attack and stroke risk, as was widely believed in the past.
Instead, calcium, with or without vitamin D raised heart attack risk by 24 percent.
The Optimal Daily Dietary Dose of Calcium
The study also found that people who consume a moderate amount of calcium in their diet—820 mg daily—had a 31 percent lower risk of heart attacks than those who consumed the least calcium.
Confused? “What this study is telling patients is that too little or too much calcium are both bad for your heart,” says Dr. Bale. “By suggesting getting 820 mg through healthy food choices seems to be the sweet spot for heart attack prevention, the study adds to medical knowledge by identifying what may be the best daily dietary ‘dose’ of this mineral, which is also crucial for bone health.
10 Tips for Increasing Bone Strength
Keeping Your Heart and Bones Healthy
Calcium is a major building block of bones, with our skeleton storing 99 percent of the body’s calcium. Among the best sources are dairy products, canned fish with edible bones (such as sardines or salmon), green vegetables like broccoli, kale, and bok choy, nuts (especially almonds and Brazil nuts), and certain fruits, including oranges, apricots and dried figs, the International Osteoporosis Foundation reports.
Here are more ways to protect your bone and heart health:
•Avoid smoking and secondhand smoke, advises Dr. Bale. Both are major risk factors for heart attack, stroke and osteoporosis.
•Be sure to get enough vitamin D: deficiency also boosts the threat of both conditions. The IOF advises 800 to 1,000 iu of D daily for middle-aged or older people, about double the daily intake recommended in most countries.
•Don’t be a lazybones. Regular weight-bearing exercise, including walking, jogging, dancing, and skipping, reduce risk for fractures later in life. A scary fact: Older women who sit 9 or more hours a day have a 50 percent higher risk for hip fracture than those who sit fewer than six hours a day.
•Limit TV time: A 2011 study found that people who devoted four or more hours a daily to screen-based leisure time entertainment—mainly watching TV—had double the risk of a major cardiac event resulting in hospitalization, death or both, compared to people who spent less than 2 hours glued to the tube.
Are Vitamins and Supplements Healthy?
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IMO GOVT. BANS OPEN DISPLAY AND TRANSPORTATION OF MEAT
Posted: 10-Apr-2012 [15:29:59] by Online Unit
Gov Rochas Anayo Okorocha inspecting a truck conveying meat in one of the markets in Owerri recently.
The Imo State Government led by His Excellency, Owelle Rochas Okorocha has banned the open display and transportation of meat in the State.
Speaking after an unscheduled inspection of vans used by butchers to convey meat to the market places in Owerri, the governor said that the health of the people of Imo State is a priority to the government. Therefore, reasonable efforts will be made to out-law all unhealthy practices so as to improve the health of the people. In his words,"The government will no longer tolerate a situation where meat for human consumption is exposed to diseases”.
Speaking further during the inspection, Governor Okorocha said that his administration prefers preventive rather than curative health strategies and warned that any factor militating against the achievement of the State government’s objectives will not be tolerated.
He maintained that a healthy State is a wealthy State and assured that his administration’s establishment of twenty-seven (27) General Hospitals in all the Local Government Areas in Imo State remains on course. In his words, “There is no going back on our resolve to give Imo the best health care facility in the country through the Health-At Your Door-Step initiative".
He called on butchers to maintain the highest health standards when preparing meat for public consumption and appealed to all Imolites to join his government in working towards a healthy State where people take personal responsibility for their health.
Earlier in an Easter message, the governor called on Nigerians to imbibe the spirit of love, tolerance and patriotism, adding that love for one another, forgiveness and a renewed commitment to the survival of the nation were the requirements for a more equitable and stable society.
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Nigeria records 281,000 case of HIV annually – FG
February 14, 2012 by Friday Olokor Leave a Comment
The Federal Government on Monday in Abuja expressed appreciation on the significant progress made in the fight against HIV/AIDS, but declared that the country records 281,000 new infections yearly.
According to the Federal Government, only 400,000 persons living with the disease are receiving drugs out of the 3 million people currently affected. About 1.5 million people are required to be on life saving anti-retroviral drugs.
The Director-General of the National Action Committee on AIDS, Prof. John Idoko, stated this at the zonal consultations on ownership for sustainable HIV response where he also attributed the irregular funding of NACA by donor agencies to global meltdown in the past three years.
He said, “We have seen very significant progress in the fight against HIV and AIDS in Nigeria – more than 25 per cent HIV decline between 2001 and 2009. However, we still have very significant gaps.
“Nigeria has the largest burden of transmission of mother child of HIV in the world – 30 per cent with about 70,000 children born every year with HIV. These children hardly live to see their third birthday without treatment.”
Idoko said much remained to be accomplished if future generations were to live in a world in which the threat of AIDS had been overcome.
He said, “If we are to transform the landscape of AIDS, it must remain high on the national and global agenda.
“We must move to a response that is long-term and sustainable-one that makes full use of the knowledge and resources developed over the past three decades, yet continues and respond to a changing world that is constantly influencing the future of AIDS.”
The NACA boss also called on donor agencies to ensure regular funding of the agency.
He said, “Funding remains largely externally driven and this is unsustainable. Over 80 per cent of our funding for the AIDS response is from donors.”
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Nigeria has technology that can remove tumours without open surgery – Surgeon
ON FEBRUARY 13, 2012 • IN HEALTH
Abuja – Dr Celsius Undie, a Consultant Urological surgeon, has said that the technology that can remove cancer tumours without cutting open a patient, is available in Nigeria .
Undie, who disclosed this in Abuja on Monday, decried a situation where Nigerians spent huge sums going abroad for surgery.
He explained that in the past three years, Kelina Hospital, Abuja, had hosted a team of international surgeons who were in Nigeria to perform surgeries for free and to teach Nigerian surgeons.
The urologist said that the Surgical Aid Foundation (SAF), an NGO, and other stakeholders help subsidize the cost of these surgeries for patients.
“We invited a team from the Société Internationale d’Urologie (SIU) and the president himself will be coming to work with our Nigerian surgeons in a week long endeavour in March.”
Undie stated that they would not be carrying out any surgeries outside the field of urology because of the type of equipment available and the specialty of the visiting surgeons.
“The people who are coming are also urological surgeon and we will do minimal access surgeries with urological equipment from this hospital.”
“We are going to do only minimal access surgery; there is no point in doing open surgery. Open surgery means cutting the body open, which is what everybody is doing in the country now.
“we have acquired a lot of equipment which some other hospitals do not have and we want to show people that we can do these surgeries.
“They don’t need to travel to Europe or North America or India to get these surgeries done; they can have them done in the country.
“We are bringing a team that has been doing these surgeries for a very long time, to expose ourselves so they can see what we are doing and see if we are doing it the way it supposed to be done, so that we don’t begin to think that we know everything.”
Undies stated that one of the reasons for not carrying out open surgery was to prove to Nigerians that they did not need to travel abroad to get such services.
He said that the time and money sick people wasted on getting visas and traveling abroad should go into improving the Nigerian health industry instead.
He said that endoscopic and laparoscopic surgical services, now available in the country, were not adequately covered by the National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS).
Undie explained that as a result, such surgeries had remained expensive for people who did not qualify for the surgical outreach.
According to him, the cost can be compared to the amount of time and money that goes into traveling abroad for treatment or time wasted recovering from open surgery.
“What we mean by there’ll be no open surgery is that all the surgeries will be done endoscopically, laparoscopically. They will not cut the body open; we go through natural orifices in the body to get surgeries done inside the body, without cutting the body open.
“That is minimal access surgery; we are following the tract, where the urine passes to come out of the body to go into the prostate and remove it without a wound outside.
“We can go into the bladder and remove cancer from the bladder without any external wound; we can go into the urethra – urethra is a small tube that joins the kidney to the bladder and there may be stones there.
“We could use lasers or some other technology to break up the stones without cutting the body open. We could do all these surgeries without cutting open the body and the next day the patient is gone.”
Undie said that with such services, patients could be sure of speedier recovery.
He added that Kelina Hospital might consider doing another batch of surgeries later in the year depending on the outcome of the surgeries in March. (NAN)
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Scientists ‘cure’ breast cancer, malaria in mice
THURSDAY, 15 DECEMBER 2011 00:00 EDITOR FEATURES - SCIENCE
RESEARCHERS from the University of Georgia and the Mayo Clinic in Arizona (UGA) have developed a vaccine that dramatically reduces tumors in a mouse model that mimics 90 per cent of human breast and pancreatic cancer cases-including those resistant to common treatments.
The vaccine breakthrough, published this week in the early edition of the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, reveals a promising new strategy for treating cancers that share the same distinct carbohydrate signature, including ovarian and colorectal cancers.
Also, University of Iowa, United States researchers and colleagues have discovered how malaria manipulates the immune system to allow the parasite to persist in the bloodstream. By rescuing this immune system pathway, the research team was able to cure mice of bloodstream malaria infections. .
The findings, which was published December 11 in the Advance Online Publication of the journal Nature Immunology, could point the way to a new approach for treating malaria that does not rely on vaccination and is not susceptible to the parasite’s notorious ability to develop drug resistance. .
Study co-senior author Geert-Jan Boons, Franklin Professor of Chemistry and a researcher in the UGA Cancer Center and its Complex Carbohydrate Research Center said: “This vaccine elicits a very strong immune response. It activates all three components of the immune system to reduce tumor size by an average of 80 percent.”
When cells become cancerous, the sugars on their surface proteins undergo distinct changes that set them apart from healthy cells. For decades, scientists have tried to enable the immune system to recognize those differences to destroy cancer cells rather than normal cells. But since cancer cells originate within the body, the immune system generally doesn’t recognize them as foreign and therefore doesn’t mount an attack.
The researchers used unique mice developed by Sandra Gendler, Grohne Professor of Therapeutics for Cancer Research at the Mayo Clinic and co-senior author on the study. Like humans, the mice develop tumors that overexpress a protein known as MUC1 on the surface of their cells. The tumor-associated MUC1 protein is adorned with a distinctive, shorter set of carbohydrates that set it apart from healthy cells.
Gendler said: “This is the first time that a vaccine has been developed that trains the immune system to distinguish and kill cancer cells based on their different sugar structures on proteins such as MUC1. We are especially excited about the fact that MUC1 was recently recognized by the National Cancer Institute as one of the three most important tumor proteins for vaccine development.”
Gendler pointed out that MUC1 is found on more than 70 percent of all cancers that kill. Many cancers, such as breast, pancreatic, ovarian and multiple myeloma, express MUC1 with the shorter carbohydrate in more than 90 percent of cases. .
She explained that when cancer occurs, the architecture of the cell changes and MUC1 is produced at high levels, promoting tumor formation. A vaccine directed against MUC1 has tremendous potential, Gendler said, as a preventative for recurrence or as a prophylactic in patients at high risk for particular cancers. A vaccine also can be used together with standard therapy such as chemotherapy in cancers that cannot be cured by surgery, such as pancreatic cancer.
UI postdoctoral research scholar and lead study author, Dr. Noah Butler, said: “Malaria is chronic, prolonged infection and the host immune defense has a tough time clearing it and sometimes it never clears it. We’ve determined that this prolonged infection actually drives dysfunction of the immune cells that are supposed to be fighting the infection, which in essence allows further persistence of the parasite infection.”
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Breast cancer patients 'stop drugs' due to side-effects
Hot flushes were one of the symptoms experienced
• Gene link to 70% of breast cancer
• Drugs 'can prevent breast cancer'
About a third of breast cancer patients stop taking medication because side-effects are more severe than they expect, US researchers suggest.
The Northwestern University team questioned 686 women who were taking aromatase inhibitors as treatment for oestrogen-sensitive breast cancer.
It found 36% stopped their medication because of symptoms such as joint pain, hot flushes, weight gain and nausea.
A UK charity said it was aware some women stopped their treatment early.
Aromatase inhibitors are given to postmenopausal breast cancer patients to reduce the level of oestrogen in those whose tumours were fuelled by the hormone.
About two-thirds of breast cancers are oestrogen-sensitive, and aromatase inhibitors have been shown to reduce the risk of cancer recurring.
Information gap
Patients in the Northwestern University study filled out a 46-question survey rating their quality of life and symptoms associated with breast cancer and treatment.
“Start Quote
We are aware some patients in the UK do stop treatments early and the reasons behind this need further investigation”
End Quote Dr Susie Jennings, Breakthrough Breast Cancer
They were asked about their symptoms before treatment and at three, six, 12 and 24 months after starting treatment.
After three months, a third of women had severe joint pain, 28% had hot flushes and 24% had decreased libido among a range of symptoms.
The longer women were being treated, the more reported side-effects.
Those at highest risk of stopping before the recommended five years were those still experiencing side-effects from chemo or radiotherapy.
As a result of the side effects, 10% of the women had stopped taking the drug within two years. A further 26% had stopped by four years.
The researchers say there is a big gap between what women tell their doctors about side-effects and what they actually experience.
Dr Lynne Wagner led the study, which is being presented to the Annual San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium.
She said: "Clinicians consistently underestimate the side-effects associated with treatment.
"They give patients a drug they hope will help them, so they have a motivation to underrate the negative effects.
"Patients don't want to be complainers and don't want their doctor to discontinue treatment. So no-one knew how bad it really was for patients."
Dr Wagner added: "This is a wake-up call to physicians that says if your patient is feeling really beaten up by treatment, the risk of her quitting early is high.
"We need to be better at managing the symptoms of our patients to improve their quality of life."
Dr Susie Jennings, senior policy officer at Breakthrough Breast Cancer, said: "It is worrying if breast cancer patients are stopping lifesaving treatment early without consulting their doctor.
"We are aware some patients in the UK do stop treatments early and the reasons behind this need further investigation.
"The patient information leaflets do warn women of all the side effects, but it is important there is a continued discussion throughout treatment between patient and doctor.
"If any women are considering stopping treatment we would urge them to speak with their doctor."
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Breast cancer prevention drugs 'should be prescribed'
Breast density could be a risk factor of breast cancer
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• Third of breast cancer 'harmless'
• 'One in eight' breast cancer risk
Women at high risk of developing breast cancer should be given preventative drugs, according to an international panel of cancer experts.
Writing in the Lancet Oncology, they said drugs such as tamoxifen could reduce the chances of developing breast cancer.
Such a policy would be similar to prescribing statins to patients at risk of heart disease, they suggest.
However, tamoxifen has been linked with womb cancer, blood clots and stroke.
In the UK, 46,000 women are diagnosed with breast cancer each year.
Two drugs, tamoxifen and raloxifene, have been approved in the US for the prevention of breast cancer. However, they are not available as a preventative measure in the UK.
Professor Jack Cuzick, who chaired the panel and is an epidemiologist at Queen Mary, University of London, told the BBC: "The two drugs should be approved in the UK. The evidence for them is overwhelming."
He estimates that for every 1000 women given tamoxifen there would be 20 fewer breast cancers, but there would also be three more womb cancers and six more cases of deep vein thrombosis.
To balance the risks, the panel agreed that women who had a greater than 4% chance of developing breast cancer in the next 10 years should be offered preventative therapy.
Predicting risk
In heart disease, there are well-known risk factors such as blood pressure and cholesterol, which can inform treatment.
The challenge for any preventative breast cancer treatment would be identifying similar "markers" of risk.
The panel suggests breast density. They say patients with more than 75% "dense breast tissue" had at least four times the risk of developing breast cancer than patients with mainly non-dense tissue.
Professor Cuzick said: "Increased breast density is one of the leading risk factors for breast cancer and early trial results suggest that where tamoxifen is shown to decrease density, the risk of cancer decreases.
"If this is confirmed in long-term studies, breast density could become a powerful way to identify high-risk women who could benefit from preventive treatments."
He suggests the risk of getting breast cancer should be determined during cancer screening.
Dr Lesley Walker, from Cancer Research UK, said: "Our scientists were behind some of the first trials showing the long term benefits of tamoxifen for preventing breast cancer in women with a greater than average risk of the disease.
"Being able to accurately predict breast cancer risk and who will respond to preventative drugs like these is a crucial step in ensuring women get the most suitable treatment."
Meg McArthur, senior policy officer at Breakthrough Breast Cancer said: "It is vital that we find effective ways to prevent breast cancer, especially in women with a high risk. However, as preventative therapy may have negative side effects it would not be appropriate for everyone.
"We welcome studies investigating the best treatments to be used for breast cancer prevention. It's also crucial to identify those at high-risk who would benefit the most from this form of therapy."
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Article written by Fergus Wsh Medical correspondent
• More from Fergus
Global malaria death toll falling
Anopheles mosquitoes spread malaria
Related Stories
• Malaria parasites 'resist drugs'
• Malaria vaccine trial raises hope
We all like reports of dramatic medical and scientific breakthroughs but the reality is that most developments are incremental. As a result, important issues can get overlooked.
Take malaria. Deaths from the parasitic infection - which is spread by the bites of infected mosquitoes - have been falling steadily since around 2004. Only a few years ago it was said that the disease killed one child every 30 seconds. I remember using this figure on a trip to Ghana in 2006. By 2009 the estimate was down to one child dying every 45 seconds.
"It is now more likely that malaria kills a child every sixty seconds," according to Dr Richard Cibulskis, the lead author of the World Malaria Report.
He explained some statistical factors are at work here - in part the fall is due to a downward revision in overall global childhood mortality.
Updates in surveillance numbers in recent years has also led to a fall in the global estimate of cases. Assessing the burden of malaria is not straightforward. Many Africa countries do not have strong disease surveillance systems so cause of death data is not always well recorded. This means that surveys and what are called 'verbal autopsies' - descriptions of symptoms given by parents - are sometimes used.
Progress
Despite difficulties in compiling the statistics, there is a clear, and welcome, downward trend in deaths. It is estimated that malaria killed 655,000 people in 2010, compared to 800,000 in 2004.
“Start Quote
When I began working in the malaria field in Africa we were fighting a losing battle. Now all that has changed.”
End Quote
Dr Richard Cibulskis World Health Organization
"It is remarkable progress," said Dr Cibulskis. "When I began working in the malaria field in Africa we were fighting a losing battle. Now all that has changed and the risk of dying from malaria has fallen by a third in a decade."
The improvement is down to several factors. A total of 145 million long-lasting insecticide-treated nets were delivered to sub-Saharan Africa last year, a huge increase on 2009. Spraying the walls of homes with insecticide is another effective means of reducing malaria.
Once infected, it is vital that treatment begins quickly. Rapid diagnostic tests are being increasingly used. These detect the presence of malaria parasites in the blood, often via a simple finger-prick test.
The use of artemisinin-based combination therapies has transformed the treatment of the disease in the past decade.
Children who are seriously ill can make a dramatic and rapid recovery after just a couple of days of taking the drug.
Drug-resistance
There continue to be worrying signs of drug resistance, first confirmed on the Cambodia-Thailand border in 2009 and now suspected in Burma and Vietnam.
To reduce the chances of drug resistance spreading it is vital that artemisinin-based treatments are giving in combination, and yet 25 countries - most in Africa - still allow the marketing of monotherapies. The WHO says most of the manufacturers are in India.
There are promising indications from trials of a vaccine against malaria, but this will be only part of the solution to tackling this preventable infection.
There are concerns about the global funding of malaria control which is expected to peak at $2bn this year and fall to $1.5bn in 2015. The UK government is notable among donors in that its support is pledged to increase in the coming years.
Malaria remains a major public health threat. Nine out of 10 deaths are in Africa and the vast majority are children under five.
Four countries - Armenia, the United Arab Emirates, Morocco and Turkmenistan - have been certified free of malaria since 2007. But around more than three billion people in around 100 countries remain at risk. The battle against malaria has a long way to go.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------br /> 14 December 2011 Last updated at 23:27 ET
Test 'improves cancer screening'
HPV is now known to cause the vast majority of cervical cancers in the developed world.
Smear tests designed to cut deaths from cervical cancer could be improved by adding a further test looking for signs of a virus which causes it.
When smears from thousands of Dutch women were also checked for the human papillomavirus (HPV) doctors were able to find more cancers at an early stage.
The authors of the Lancet Oncology study are now calling for the test to be included for all women.
Experts said the findings were encouraging.
The UK currently invites women aged between 25 and 65 for smear tests every three to five years.
The test is based on "cytology" - a sample of cells from the neck of the womb is examined under the microscope for subtle changes which may lead to cancer.
HPV, a sexually-transmitted virus, is now known to cause the vast majority of cervical cancers in the developed world.
More work needed
In the UK, many teenage girls are now vaccinated against the strains most strongly linked to the disease.
However, this leaves the majority of adult women unprotected from the virus, and HPV testing during screening has been suggested as a way of detecting those most at risk.
HPV testing was introduced earlier this year in the UK for women who have "borderline" results under the microscope to avoid the need for extra, invasive checks.
“Start Quote
These results add to previous evidence showing that HPV testing is an effective way of picking up pre-cancerous cervical changes in women over 30”
End Quote
Jessica Harris Cancer Research UK
However, the Dutch study examined the principle of checking every sample, with those testing positive for high-risk strains invited for additional smear tests.
Analysis of the 45,000 women in the study suggested this tactic prevented an additional 10 cancers per 100,000 women screened compared with conventional screening, and revealed a higher number of pre-cancerous growths which could be treated.
The researchers said their findings suggested that HPV testing should be introduced in cervical screening programmes for women aged 30 and above.
If it were, in theory the need for three-yearly smears in some women might be reduced, they concluded, with a five-year interval equally safe.
This was supported by US cancer specialists who reviewed the results for the journal.
They wrote: "We expect that almost every women who tests negative for HPV, irrespective of country or screening protocol, has an extremely low risk of cancer over three or five years.
Jessica Harris, from Cancer Research UK, said: "These results add to previous evidence showing that HPV testing is an effective way of picking up pre-cancerous cervical changes in women over 30.
"But it's important to answer some outstanding questions about how HPV screening could work in the real world, including how best to manage women who receive a positive HPV test result, and what to do for younger women."
Professor Julietta Patnick, director of the NHS Cancer Screening Programme, said the results suggested that more work should be undertaken to examine the role of HPV testing in the UK.
She said: "The relationship between HPV and cervical cancer is well established and we are beginning to incorporate testing for it into our current cytology based Programme. This study shows that HPV testing potentially offers greater benefits for women than cytology alone."
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US commits N225bn to combat HIV/AIDS in Nigeria
Written by Clement Idoko, Abuja
Friday, 02 December 2011
THE United States of America (USA) has supported Nigeria with the sum of $2.5 billion (about N225 billion) to combat HIV/AIDS pandemic in the country.
This is just as the Federal Government disclosed that the country had recorded about 25 per cent steady decline in the HIV prevalence since it adopted multi-sectoral approach in fighting the scourge from 2001 to 2009.
U.S Ambassador to Nigeria, Terrence McCulley, who spoke during the agreement signing ceremony of the HIV/AIDS Partnership Framework Implementation plan for 2010 to 2015 between Nigeria and US governments, assured that the US government would continue to support Nigeria.
Mr McCulley signed for the US government, while the Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF), Senator Anyim Pius Anyim, signed for Nigeria.
The SGF had earlier disclosed that the HIV epidemic in Nigeria had been on the decline of about 25 per cent since the national multi-sectoral approach earnestly began between 2001 and 2009.
Senator Anyim further revealed that the data from the National HIV Response, corroborated by the United Nations Joint Programme on AIDS, indicated that HIV prevalence had stabilised in Nigeria.
He added that according to the report, HIV/AIDS prevalence might continue to be on the decline with the current prevalence rate at 4.1 per cent.
He noted that the United States President’s Emergency Programme for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR), under which the implementation agreement was signed, had been the largest bilateral donor to Nigeria’s health sector, “having provided over $400 million by 2010 in support of HIV/AIDS prevention, care and treatment.”
While commending the U.S government for the partnership, the SGF said the government had remained committed to the trend reversal of the HIV scourge.
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AIDS: Break culture of silence on sex, religious leaders told
Written by Sade Oguntola Yinka Oladoyinbo, Adelowo Oladipo, and Soji Ajibola
Friday, 02 December 2011
As the world marks the World AIDS Day 2011, the chairman of the Ondo State Action Committee on AIDS, Dr Aderotimi Adelola, on Thursday, tasked religious leaders to break the culture of silence on sex in order to prevent the spread of HIV/AIDS.
He said the church and mosque would make great impact in the efforts at reducing the spread of the disease if they mainstreamed HIV/AIDS in their messages from the pulpit and in the print and electronic media.
Adelola, who is also the Secretary to the State Government (SSG) said this in a lecture entitled: “The Role of the Church/Mosque and Traditional Institutions in State HIV/AIDS Response” he delivered as part of activities marking the World AIDS Day in Akure.
He said the situation at hand in the country needed the church and mosque to shift from the policy of abstinence that it had upheld for many years as an acceptable strategy for preventing the spread of HIV among unmarried persons.
He expressed concern that the position had not made an impact on the prevention of HIV transmission in Nigeria and Africa, saying the development called for a review of the approach.
The SSG, however, said the state government had developed a multi-sectoral response to the AIDS epidemic, noting that the role of religious institutions and leaders in influencing behaviour related to HIV prevention and AIDS care could not be overlooked.
In a related development, the Niger State government has announced that it had so far spent about N60 million on the purchase of HIV/AIDS testing kits and Anti-Retroviral Therapy drugs in its bid to reduce the prevalence of the scourge in the state.
The state Commissioner for Health, Mallam Yahaya Dan-Sallau, made the disclosure during a briefing on the activities of the ministry on HIV/AIDS control in the state, as part of activities lined up to mark the HIV/AIDS Day.
He added that the state government provided the drugs free of charge to the infected persons at its health facilities across the state.
In another development, the chairman, Oyo State Agency for Control of AIDS (OYSACA), Chief Mrs Florence Ajimobi said given the untold human suffering and hardship the AIDS had wreaked in the community, the state government was committed to doing everything possible to ensure the stoppage of new HIV infection, stigmatisation of people with HIV as well as AIDS-related deaths.
Speaking through Mrs Oluwakemi Obisesan at the kick off of a mass rally in commemoration of the World AIDS Day in Ibadan, on Thursday, Chief Ajimobi described HIV as the singular agent of global human destruction that must be collectively stopped both by the government and individuals.
Meanwhile, over 55,000 persons including adult and children living with HIV/AIDS nationwide are being provided with Anti-Retroviral drugs by the Federal Government and the Association of Prevention Initiatives in Nigeria (APIN).
Also, care and support services are being provided for more than 65,000 People Living With HIV (PLWHIV) while 100,000 women have benefited from the prevention of mother to child transmission with support services to many orphans and vulnerable children.
Disclosing this on Thursday, the Clinical Director, APIN, Dr Ernest Ekong, said the organisation had contributed immensely to the prevention and spread of the virus through enlightenment campaigns.
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Thursday, 01 December 2011 00:37
S’South, N’East, N’Central most HIV endemic areas –Expert Featured
Written by Jude Owuamanam, Jos
Executive Director, Plateau State AIDS Control Agency, Dr. Francis Magaji NAN
Executive Director of Plateau State AIDS Control Agency, Dr. Francis Magaji, has described the South-South, North-East and North-Central as the most HIV endemic areas in the country.
He attributed the trend to the persistent ethno-religious crises in the areas. The director said however that the prevalence rate was not the same in some states in the three regions.
Magaji, who spoke on Wednesday at a workshop in Jos, Plateau State capital lamented that the state capital had continued to witness increasing number of people living with the virus because of the persistent crises, which appeared to have defied solution in the state.
He said, “The HIV scourge is stabilising nationally, but across the states is a mix bag. Whereas in some states it is reducing, in some others, it is rising. For others it has also been stabilising just as it is at the national level.
“The three geo-political zones in the country that are worst hit are the North-East, North-Central and South-South. This is because the three geo-political zones have been worst hit with conflicts in the past five years and this has a link with HIV/AIDS.”
He lamented the sudden rise in the number of people living with the disease in Plateau from 2.6 per cent in 2008 to 7.7 per cent in 2010 making it the sixth state in the country with people living with the dreaded disease.
Magaji said, “The last HIV zero-prevalence survey showed that Plateau State has prevalence of 7.7 per cent and the sixth out of 36 states and FCT with the highest HIV burden in Nigeria. Though it is unfortunate that the states with the highest rates are Benue (12.7 per cent); Akwa–Ibom (10.9 per cent); Bayelsa (9.1 per cent); Anambra (8.7 per cent); and FCT (8.6 per cent), this is based on statistics published and it is indeed very sad that the effort put in curbing the spread has been in the reverse.”
Executive Chairman of Civil Society, Dr. John Junung, represented by Rev. Lesmond Ezekiel, said the task of combating the HIV scourge in the country was a collective one irrespective of religion, ethnicity and political affiliation.
He added that the sudden rise in the number of people living with the disease, particularly in Plateau State as a result of persistent violence was a cause for concern.
Junung urged people to work together for the maintenance of peace in the state.
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The New England Journal of Medicine
ORIGINAL ARTICLE
First Results of Phase 3 Trial of RTS,S/AS01 Malaria Vaccine in African Children
The RTS,S Clinical Trials Partnership
October 18, 2011 (10.1056/NEJMoa1102287)
Abstract
Article
Enrollment of First 6000 Children in Older Age Category (5–17 Months).Enrollment of All Children through May 31, 2011, or Receipt of Booster Dose.Each year, malaria occurs in approximately 225 million persons worldwide, and 781,000 persons, mostly African children, die from the disease.1 During the past decade, the scale-up of malaria-control interventions has resulted in considerable reductions in morbidity and mortality associated with malaria in parts of Africa.2,3 However, malaria continues to pose a major public health threat. A malaria vaccine, deployed in combination with current malaria-control tools, could play an important role in future control and eventual elimination of malaria in Africa.4
The RTS,S vaccine that targets the circumsporozoite protein and is given with an adjuvant system (AS01 or AS02) has consistently shown protection against Plasmodium falciparum malaria in children and infants in phase 2 trials.5-10 The vaccine had an acceptable side-effect profile and was immunogenic in children who were 6 weeks of age or older. In addition, the vaccine could be administered safely with other childhood vaccines8,11 and provided protection against severe malaria.5 Here, we report the initial results of an ongoing phase 3 trial being conducted at 11 centers in 7 African countries (Figure 1 in the Supplementary Appendix, available with the full text of this article at NEJM.org).
DISCUSSION
The RTS,S/AS01 candidate malaria vaccine reduced clinical episodes of malaria and severe malaria by approximately half during the 12 months after vaccination in children 5 to 17 months of age. These findings are robust, with narrow confidence limits and similar results in the per-protocol and intention-to-treat populations and in the adjusted and unadjusted analyses. These efficacy results are consistent with those from phase 2 trials.5,6
The level of protection provided by the RTS,S/AS01 vaccine to the 6000 children 5 to 17 months of age was lower at the end of the 12-month surveillance period than shortly after vaccination. The body of data from phase 2 studies of RTS,S/AS01 suggests a persistence in vaccine efficacy. However, varying study designs and statistical methods have led to different interpretations of the dynamics of efficacy over time, with some studies suggesting persistent protection and others suggesting waning protection.7,21-25 Decreasing protection over time could reflect waning immunity, acquisition of natural immunity in the control group, or heterogeneity of exposure.26 Further follow-up and evaluation of the effect of a booster dose will provide a better understanding of the relative contribution of these factors.
Vaccine efficacy against severe malaria in the pooled age categories showed a lower estimate than was seen in the first 6000 children in the older age category who were followed for 12 months (Table 2). Although the confidence limits on these estimates overlap, we have considered reasons that might explain the differing estimates. Immunity against severe malaria may have waned beyond the 12-month follow-up period in the older age category. Alternatively, vaccine efficacy may have been lower in the younger age category for a number of possible reasons. However, the latter supposition is not supported by phase 2 data, which have shown similar efficacy against clinical malaria in younger and older children.6,7 The questions raised by these different efficacy estimates should be answered by continuation of follow-up of children in the trial. In 1 year, we will report vaccine efficacy against clinical and severe malaria in the younger age category, and at study end, we will report the duration of efficacy in each age category.
Despite the relatively high vaccine efficacy against severe malaria, we did not observe a reduction in the rate of death from malaria or from any cause in the RTS,S/AS01 group. Malaria-specific mortality was very low in the trial, representing only 10 of the 151 reported deaths (6.6%). Seven of these deaths were confirmed to have been caused by malaria on blood smears. Since the rate of death from malaria was low, we would not expect to be able to detect a reduction in the rate of death from any cause unless RTS,S/AS01 also provided protection against coexisting illnesses and the associated deaths. We attribute the very low malaria-specific mortality in this trial to the high level of access to high-quality care provided at study facilities. The low malaria-specific mortality is unlikely to be due to misclassification of moderate malaria as severe malaria. Children who were classified as having severe malaria had objective clinical markers of severe disease, and nearly half had two or more markers. Approximately 3% of children with clinical malaria and 35% of those who were hospitalized with malaria were classified as having severe malaria, consistent with reported estimates.27 At the end of the study, a formal analysis of vaccine efficacy against death will be conducted.
In the older age category, RTS,S/AS01 was more reactogenic than rabies vaccine in terms both of systemic and local effects. However, few reactions were severe. Generalized convulsive seizures in the 7 days after RTS,S/AS01 vaccination occurred at a rate of approximately 1 per 1000 vaccine doses, a higher rate than that seen with the comparator rabies vaccine. All cases were associated with a history of fever, and all children recovered from the acute event. The increase in the rate of meningitis in the RTS,S/AS01 group is being monitored. Additional data from ongoing follow-up will clarify the relationship with the study intervention. However, the lack of a temporal association with vaccination and low biologic plausibility suggest that these events are unlikely to be related to the vaccine.
The trial was conducted with rigorous standardization among centers and provided a high standard of clinical care.12 Participants from one center were excluded from the per-protocol analyses because vaccines at that center were exposed to temperatures outside the recommended range. However, participants at this center were included in the intention-to-treat analyses, with similar results to those in the per-protocol analyses.
Our initial results show that the RTS,S/AS01 vaccine reduced malaria by half in children 5 to 17 months of age during the 12 months after vaccination and that the vaccine has the potential to have an important effect on the burden of malaria in young African children. Additional information on vaccine efficacy among young infants and the duration of protection will be critical to determining how this vaccine could be used most effectively to control malaria.
Supported by GlaxoSmithKline Biologicals (GSK) and the PATH Malaria Vaccine Initiative, which received a grant from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation.
This article (10.1056/NEJMoa1102287) was published on October 18, 2011, at NEJM.org.
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NEJM - THE NEW ENGLAND JOURNAL OF MEDICINE:
PERSPECTIVE
The Shortage of Essential Chemotherapy Drugs in the United States
Mandy L. Gatesman, Pharm.D., and Thomas J. Smith, M.D.
N Engl J Med 2011; 365:1653-1655November 3, 2011
Article
For the first time in the United States, some essential chemotherapy drugs are in short supply. Most are generic drugs that have been used for years in childhood leukemia and curable cancers — vincristine, methotrexate, leucovorin, cytarabine, doxorubicin, bleomycin, and paclitaxel.1 The shortages have caused serious concerns about safety, cost, and availability of lifesaving treatments. In a survey from the Institute for Safe Medication Practices, 25% of clinicians indicated that an error had occurred at their site because of drug shortages. Many of these errors were attributed to inexperience with alternative products — for instance, incorrect administration of levoleucovorin (Fusilev) when used as a substitute for leucovorin or use of a 1000-mg vial of cytarabine instead of the usual 500-mg one, resulting in an overdose. Most cancer centers quadruple-check drugs for accuracy, and we're unaware of any documented death of a patient with cancer such as the nine deaths in Alabama attributable to the use of locally compounded liquid nutrition because the sterile product was not available. However, it is only a matter of time.
These shortages have increased the already escalating costs of cancer care. Brand-name substitutes for generic drugs can add substantial cost. For instance, Abraxane, a protein-bound version of paclitaxel, costs 19 times as much as equally effective generic paclitaxel (see table Average Wholesale Prices (AWPs) of Selected Oncology Drugs in Short Supply and Their Potential Alternatives.). Since 2010, health care labor costs in the United States have increased by about $216 million because of the increased time and work required to manage drug shortages.2 A gray market for essential drugs — an unofficial alternative market of drugs obtained by vendors outside the usual distribution networks — has grown rapidly, with unregulated vendors charging markups of up to 3000% for cancer drugs.
The main cause of drug shortages is economic. If manufacturers don't make enough profit, they won't make generic drugs. There have been some manufacturing problems, but manufacturers are not required to report any reasons or timetable for discontinuing a product. Contamination and shortages of raw materials probably account for less than 10% of the shortages. In addition, if a brand-name drug with a higher profit margin is available, a manufacturer may stop producing its generic. For instance, leucovorin has been available from several manufacturers since 1952. In 2008, levoleucovorin, the active l-isomer of leucovorin, was approved by the Food and Drug Administration. It was reportedly no more effective than leucovorin and 58 times as expensive, but its use grew rapidly. Eight months later, a widespread shortage of leucovorin was reported.
The second economic cause of shortages is that oncologists have less incentive to administer generics than brand-name drugs. Unlike other drugs, chemotherapeutics are bought and sold in the doctor's office — a practice that originated 40 years ago, when only oncologists would handle such toxic substances and the drugs were relatively cheap. A business model evolved in which oncologists bought low and sold high to support their practice and maximize financial margins. Oncologists buy drugs from wholesalers, mark them up, and sell them to patients (or insurers) in the office. Since medical oncology is a cognitive specialty lacking associated procedures, without drug sales, oncologists' salaries would be lower than geriatricians'. In recent decades, oncology-drug prices have skyrocketed, and today more than half the revenue of an oncology office may come from chemotherapy sales, which boost oncologists' salaries and support expanding hospital cancer centers.
Before 2003, Medicare reimbursed 95% of the average wholesale price — an unregulated price set by manufacturers — whereas oncologists paid 66 to 88% of that price and thus received $1.6 billion annually in overpayments.3 To blunt unsustainable cost increases, the Medicare Modernization Act mandated that the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) set reimbursement at the average sales price plus a 6% markup to cover practice costs. This policy has reduced not only drug payments but also demand for generics. In some cases, the reimbursement is less than the cost of administration. For instance, the price of a vial of carboplatin has fallen from $125 to $3.50, making the 6% payment trivial. So some oncologists switched to higher-margin brand-name drugs.4 Why use paclitaxel (and receive 6% of $312) when you can use Abraxane (for 6% of $5,824)?
Now practices are struggling to treat their patients because of the unavailability of drugs. Short-term solutions include gray-market purchases, which more than half of surveyed hospitals say they've made, but that option introduces safety and quality-control issues. Pharmacists are intensively managing inventories and alerting prescribers to developing shortages and potential alternatives. Some centers now have a red–yellow–green system for quickly recognizing developing shortages and determining which patients get priority (usually those with curable cancers) when supply is limited.
Long-term, non–market-based solutions have been elusive. Proposed legislation would require manufacturers to give 3 to 6 months' notice before discontinuing a drug in order to allow others to pick up production. However, it is likely that gray-market vendors would buy the remaining inventory of such drugs and charge huge markups. Creating a national stockpile is impractical: Do we stockpile the drugs and then waste whatever is not used or stockpile the ingredients and make new batches as needed? A national health care plan with a single formulary and a central pharmacy stockpile is possible for Medicare or Veterans Affairs but unrealistic given oncologists' dependence on drug income and difficulties with timely, safe distribution.
Market solutions take one of two approaches: let the market work and accept short-term uncertainties or regulate the market more tightly. For instance, the CMS could reimburse at the average sales price plus 30%, but that wouldn't help if the drug price has fallen from $125 to $3.50 per vial. The government could set a floor for average sales prices to encourage the production of generic drugs, but that would increase the total cost of cancer drugs unless brand-name prices were reduced. Europe has fewer shortages for that reason: prices are set higher for generics so that companies will make them, but prices of brand-name drugs are often much lower than U.S. prices.
More far-reaching reforms of oncology practices and reimbursement are necessary if there is no national intervention or federal market regulation. One solution is adopting clinical pathways for which practices are paid disease-management fees that are not based on chemotherapy sales. For instance, one large oncology group has developed care pathways specifying preferred drug combinations and sequences — for example, allowing only a few first-line, mostly generic regimens for patients with non–small-cell lung cancer, as compared with the 16 possible drugs and many more combinations included in National Comprehensive Cancer Network pathways. This approach has been shown to result in equal or better survival, less use of chemotherapy near the end of life, and 35% lower costs than usual care.5 Another solution is to pay physicians salaries, as Kaiser Permanente, Veterans Affairs, and most academic centers do, but that would reduce oncologists' earnings at a time when a 40% workforce shortage is predicted, so the effect must be monitored.
To ensure a predictable supply of generic cancer drugs, manufacturers need reasonable markets and profits, and oncologists need incentives to use generics. Standardized clinical pathways with drug choices based only on effectiveness will enable the prediction of drug needs, practices for effective management of inventory, and planning by manufacturers for adequate production. Such pathways, disease-management fees, and physician salaries would dramatically change oncologic practice, but since drug costs will increase by 4 to 6% this year alone, they are necessary. The current system not only is unsustainable but also puts oncologists in potential ethical conflict with patients, since it hides revenue information that might influence drug choices and thus affects costs and patients' copayments.
The only good news is that the drug shortages may catalyze a shift from a mostly market-based system to one that rewards the provision of high-quality cancer care at an affordable cost.
Disclosure forms provided by the authors are available with the full text of this article at NEJM.org.
This article (10.1056/NEJMp1109772) was published on October 31, 2011, and updated on November 2, 2011, at NEJM.org.
From the Virginia Commonwealth University Health System, Richmond (M.L.G.); and the Sidney Kimmel Comprehensive Cancer Center, Johns Hopkins Medicine, Baltimore (T.J.S.).
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Genetic Profiling Adds New Dimension to Breast Cancer Treatment
By
By Dennis Thompson
HealthDay Reporter | HealthDay – Fri, Oct 14, 2011
FRIDAY, Oct. 14 (HealthDay News) -- Treatment for breast cancer has advanced in recent years by becoming more and more personalized.
Not personalized to the patient, mind you, but to the particular tumors and cancer cells inside that patient.
New tests are allowing doctors to figure out what genetic or biological factors are driving each individual woman's type of cancer, and new therapies are being targeted to directly attack those specific factors.
"When it comes to treating breast cancer, we used to throw the book at everyone," said Dr. Christy A. Russell, a board member of the American Cancer Society's California division and an associate professor at the University of Southern California Keck School of Medicine. "Now it's much more targeted."
That's a message worth sharing during October, Breast Cancer Awareness Month.
The same five treatment options are still available to women with breast cancer: surgery, chemotherapy, radiation therapy, hormone therapy and targeted therapy. But researchers are honing and improving each option, either to better target the cancer cells or to provide women with a wider range of treatment choices.
"Within each of those types of treatment modalities, we are refining how the treatment is delivered or how we choose which treatment is appropriate for each patient," said Susan Brown, a registered nurse and director of health education for Susan G. Komen for the Cure, a nonprofit group focused on fighting breast cancer.
For example, there have been few advances in creating new chemotherapy drugs to battle breast cancer, Russell said. "What has changed is trying to figure out who will benefit from chemotherapy," she said. "We are taking the cancers and having them evaluated genetically, to give us some genetic signatures to tell us if those cancers would shrink if they got chemotherapy."
This "genomic profiling" of a woman's specific cancer has "reduced the number of women with early breast cancer who are having to be treated with chemotherapy," Russell said.
One new test in particular, Oncotype DX, is being used to help women who would most likely benefit from hormone therapy because their cancer is spurred by estrogen or other female hormones.
Oncotype DX analyzes the genetic makeup of breast cancer cells to determine the likelihood that a woman's particular cancer will recur after hormone therapy treatment. If the likelihood is high, doctors will recommend that the woman undergo both hormone therapy and chemotherapy, Brown said.
"This information can help doctors decide whether to add chemotherapy to a treatment regimen that already includes hormone therapy," she said.
Doctors also have learned to analyze cancers for specific factors that, if blocked, can make chemotherapy more effective in killing the cancer cells.
About one-fourth of all breast cancer patients have cancer cells containing mutated forms of HER2neu, a gene that promotes the creation of a growth factor protein.
"In some breast cancers, instead of the cancer cells having two copies of the gene, the cells have 10 or 20 or more copies of the gene," Russell said. "The gene is producing a protein that causes the cell to grow much more rapidly and uncontrollably."
Treatment with a drug called trastuzumab (Herceptin) can block the growth signals transmitted by the gene, slowing the progress of the cancer and making it more susceptible to chemotherapy, Russell said.
"Most of the research going on now is trying to figure out how to combine these new targeted agents with chemotherapy so we can focus in on the specific gene abnormalities that are going on in the cells," she said.
This type of research also is combating the ability of cancer to grow resistant to chemotherapy and hormone therapy.
Researchers have learned that a growth factor protein known as mTOR promotes the spread of cancer cells and can bolster their resistance to hormone therapy, Russell said.
"Medications that act as mTOR inhibitors appear to be able to make some cancer cells that have become resistant to hormone therapy become sensitive to the therapy again," Russell said. "There are many pathways we are aware of that cancer cells are able [to use] to overcome their ability to be killed by chemotherapy. All of these different gene pathways are becoming known, and, as they are becoming known, they are developing drugs that are targeting those pathways. That's where the majority of the clinical trials are occurring."
Which means it is essential for women with breast cancer to participate in clinical trials, Brown said.
"Currently, fewer than 5 percent of patients enroll in clinical trials," she said. "The only way we're going to know more is if we are able to translate what we think we've learned in a lab into a clinical situation," Brown explained.
"Everything we know about breast cancer now is because of the very courageous women who came before us and enrolled in clinical trials," Brown added.
More information
The American Cancer Society has a detailed guide to breast cancer.
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Not All Women at Higher Risk in Families Carrying Breast Cancer Gene
By Kathleen Doheny
HealthDay Reporter | HealthDay – Mon, Oct 31, 2011
MONDAY, Oct. 31 (HealthDay News) -- Women who have a relative with breast cancer linked to the high-risk BRCA genetic mutation understandably worry about their own risk.
Now, a new study suggests that women who don't test positive for the mutations are not at an extremely high risk of getting breast cancer, even if they have a relative with BRCA-related breast cancer.
Their risk is similar to that of women with relatives with non-BRCA-related cancers, the new research indicates.
This refutes a finding from a 2007 study, which found a two- to five-times higher risk for these women, even if they tested negative for the mutations, said senior study author Dr. Alice S. Whittemore, a professor of health research and policy at Stanford University School of Medicine.
Based on the new research, she said, the bottom line is this: "If you are in a family where there is a BRCA mutation and you do not have that mutation, your risk of breast cancer is no greater than anyone with a family history of [other types of] breast cancer."
According to the American Cancer Society, having one first-degree relative, such as a mother, sister or daughter, with breast cancer doubles a woman's risk of getting it. Having two close relatives increases the risk about threefold.
Whittemore calls the new finding "very, very reassuring" because it suggests that having a family history of the BRCA mutation, by itself, is not a risk factor, she said.
The study is published online Oct. 31 in the Journal of Clinical Oncology.
Women with a BRCA1 or BRCA 2 gene mutation have a 5- to 20-fold higher risk of getting breast or ovarian cancer, the Stanford researchers wrote. That means a lifetime probability of up to 65 percent for breast cancer, and up to 40 percent for ovarian cancer.
Women who have the BRCA1 and BRCA2 mutations and are cancer-free are urged to step up their screening and to begin it early, by age 25, among other measures. They may also consider a preventive mastectomy or ovary removal after childbearing is done.
However, the 2007 study, Whittemore said, "sent an alarm signal to the medical community" as it suggested a high risk even in BRCA-negative relatives.
After the study was published, she and her colleagues took a closer look. "What we thought to be the flaw was that they were comparing these relatives of women with breast cancer to the general population. A better comparison group would have been women who have relatives with breast cancer but no mutation," Whittemore said. "That's what we did."
The new study looked at 3,047 families from the United States, Australia and Canada. It included 160 families with BRCA1 and 132 with BRCA 2. The researchers compared cancer risk in women who tested negative but had relatives with BRCA-related breast cancer with a group of cancer-free women who had relatives with cancer that wasn't BRCA-related.
They found no increased risk for the women who were BRCA-negative and had close relatives with BRCA-related cancer.
In other words, Whittemore said, their risk is "no greater than anybody with a family history."
Besides BRCA1 and BRCA2 mutations, other risk factors, not totally understood, that can run in families also drive breast cancer risk, experts say. One example is drinking habits.
The findings suggest that BRCA-negative women can follow the same breast cancer screening routine as the general population, if they have no other strong risk factors, Whittemore said.
The findings should be reassuring to women without the mutation, agreed Dr. Patricia Ganz, director of cancer prevention and control research at the University of California's Jonsson Comprehensive Cancer Center.
The results do suggest that women in a family where BRCA-related breast cancer had occurred who themselves are negative for BRCA mutation may have a slightly increased risk "because there are other things that influence getting breast cancer besides having the gene mutation," she said.
"The main message," she said, "is that these women [without the mutation] don't need all that extra surveillance."
Testing for BRCA mutations requires a sample of blood or cells be taken from the mouth, said Rebecca Chambers, a spokeswoman for Myriad Genetics, which provides the test.
The samples can be collected at any lab and mailed in for analysis. The test costs $3,340, she said, but the average out-of -pocket cost is $100 after insurance coverage.
More information
For more on BRCA mutations, go to U.S. National Cancer Institute.
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Light drinking linked to slight breast cancer risk
By LINDSEY TANNER - AP Medical Writer | AP – 8 hrs ago
Sun, Oct 16, 2011
CHICAGO (AP) — Whether sipping beer, wine or whiskey, women who drink just three alcoholic beverages a week face slightly higher chances for developing breast cancer compared with teetotalers, a study of more than 100,000 U.S. nurses found.
The link between alcohol and breast cancer isn't new, but most previous studies found no increased risk for breast cancer among light drinkers. The new research provides compelling evidence because it followed so many women for up to almost 30 years, experts said.
Still, the study only shows an association between alcohol and breast cancer; it doesn't prove that drinking causes the disease. There could be some other reason light drinkers appeared to be at higher risk — maybe they were less active than nondrinkers or had unhealthy diets, said Dr. Susan Love, a breast cancer expert and author who runs a Santa Monica, Calif.-based research foundation.
Women in the study who averaged three to six drinks a week throughout the study had a 15 percent higher chance of developing breast cancer than nondrinkers. That risk means, for example, that among women in their 50s, who on average face a 2.38 percent risk for breast cancer, light drinking would result in 4 additional cases of breast cancer per 1,000 women
Risks increased by 10 percent for every 10 grams of alcohol consumed daily. That's equal to a little less than one 12-ounce bottle of beer, a 4-ounce glass of wine or a shot of whiskey. The increasingly elevated risks were a little higher than seen in other research. It made no difference whether the women drank liquor, beer and wine.
Given research suggesting that drinking moderate amounts of alcohol including red wine may protect against heart disease, deciding whether to avoid alcohol is a personal choice that should be based on a woman's other risks for breast cancer and heart disease, the researchers said.
The study appears in Wednesday's Journal of the American Medical Association. It began in 1980, asking healthy, mostly white nurses aged 30 to 55 to fill out periodic questionnaires about lifestyle and risk factors for cancer and heart disease. Follow-up ended in 2008 or when women died or were diagnosed with cancer.
The researchers took into account other cancer risk factors, including age of menstruation and menopause, family history, weight and smoking, and still found a link with alcohol.
The strongest risks were seen with cumulative consistent alcohol use throughout the study. Increased risks also were seen in binge drinkers — women who consumed at least three drinks daily in a typical month. The results do not apply to women who may have partied hard during week-long vacations but otherwise rarely drank, said lead author Dr. Wendy Chen, a researcher at Brigham and Women's Hospital and Dana-Farber Cancer Institute and an assistant professor at Harvard Medical School.
"No one should feel guilty about one particular week or two," Chen said.
The results don't mean women can avoid breast cancer by not drinking, and they don't answer whether women can lower their risk if they stop drinking, said breast cancer specialist Dr. David Winchester, chief of surgical oncology with NorthShore University HealthSystem in Evanston, Ill.
Drinking alcohol "is definitely not one of the leading explanations" for why breast cancer develops, he said. "It's one of many contributing factors."
Cancer researcher Jo Freudenheim noted that the risks linked with alcohol, shown in this study and others, are much lower than those associated with smoking and lung cancer.
The study "doesn't change the picture; it just brings it into a little sharper focus," said Freudenheim, head of social and preventive medicine at the University at Buffalo.
___
Online:
JAMA: http://www.jama.ama-assn.org
National Cancer Institute: http://1.usa.gov/gy2JSo
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Experts identify lapses in health care delivery in Nigeria
Written by Biola Azeez, Ilorin Friday, 14 October 2011
Chairman, Pain and Palliative Care Committee of the University of Ilorin Teaching Hospital (UITH), Dr Israel Kolawole, has criticised the nation’s health care system, saying the relief of suffering as a goal of medical care has been subjugated or lost.
He said Nigeria medical setting only emphasised quest to achieve cure and/or prolongation of life at all cost, adding that “our healthcare package does not fully address the emotional, spiritual and psychology suffering faced by patients with life-threatening illnesses”.
Speaking at the 2011 World Hospice and Palliative Care Day, with the theme: Many diseases, many lives, many voices-palliative care for non-communicable conditions, in Ilorin recently, Dr Kolawole, said cancer, HIV/AIDS and other advanced progressive life-threatening diseases pose enormous psychological, physical, emotional, and spiritual challenges that can be met most effectively by health care workers who have practical knowledge and skills.
He said a dedicated day care hospice, as practised in other parts of the world, would enable the patients receive attention in all aspects of their illness and suffering, and provide a forum for them to meet with others in similar situations to themselves in a friendly social/non-clinical environment.
He, therefore, called for donations to help build a hospice that is planned for the hospital.
Also speaking, the wife of the Kwara State governor, Mrs Omolewa Ahmed, promised to be at fore fore-front of advocacy for the people that need palliative care to overcome depression among other sufferings.
Represented at the occasion by the Special Assistant On Special Duties, Hajia Amina Kannike, Mrs Ahmed said the health condition could happen to anyone, adding that there is need for one to be sensitive and care for such people in our midst.
She said her pet project called LEAH Charity Foundation would do more to give financial assistance and drugs to those in need, calling on well-to-do Nigerians to help in the building of the hospice in the hospital.
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Adequate intake of Codfish protects against cancer, weight gain
ON OCTOBER 10, 2011 • IN HEALTH
By Ebele Onuorah
Mere mention of Cod fish,popularly known as stock fish in this part of the world brings good memories in the minds of those who could no longer afford it. Cod fish is one of the exotic food items commonly sold in major markets across the country.
This exotic delicacy is consumed more in Nigeria by the Igbos than any other ethnic group in the country. Cod fish, most widely used in soups has been found to have many nutritional values. Unfortunately, despite the many nutritional values of Cod fish many people are still ignorant of the benefits of consuming enough quantities of cod fish. It is so rich in protein that it should be used in preparing most dishes.
This fish called okporoko by the Igbo speaking part of the country and panla by the Yorubas, is not just rich protein but also comes without the enormous amount of calories and fat in other meats.
It is naturally high in numerous vitamins and minerals such as vitamin B-6, B-12, vitamin D, phosphorus, potassium and selenium which assist with all the body’s functions promote growth and prevent disease. Studies have shown that Cod stock fish protects you from colon cancer and other forms of cancer.
Metastasis, one of the big concerns in cancer treatment, is increased by a high intake of omega-6 fatty acids (i.e., corn oil), but is inhibited by fish oil.
Researchers have found that feeding a high fish oil diet (23 per cent) could significantly reduce human breast cancer cell metastasises to the regional lymph nodes and lungs thereby indicating the significant beneficial effects of cod fish oil supplementation in cancer treatment.
In one of the studies, it was discovered that over 40 per cent of cancer patients died from cachexia, not from cancer itself. Cachexia is the malnutrition and wasting away caused by cancer. Cachectic patients are characterized by extreme weakness and emaciation.
If we can overcome this cancer – induced malnutrition, we can potentially save or prolong the life of over 40 per cent of cancer patients. But thanks to the fact that England researchers have found that fish oil could significantly prevent cachexia in an experimental model.
Feeding the animals a high fish oil diet (compared to either a low fat diet or a high corn oil diet), significantly decreased the loss of body weight caused by cachexia, and at the same time, muscle mass was significantly increased.
Cod fish oil supplements provide a three pronged attack on cancer
Additionally, fish oil showed a dramatic anti-cancer effect which was as effective as some chemotherapy drugs. The researchers concluded that cod stock fish oil could significantly prevent the cachexia caused by cancer, and at the same time, provide potent anti – cancer action.
The researchers also declared that cod stock fish oil supplementation will provide a three pronged attack on cancer. This low-fat protein food high in the “good” HDL cholesterol, contains lots of omega-3 fatty acids that protects the heart muscles and people who eat cod stock fish regularly from the risk of heart disease and heart attacks than those who don’t.
Its omega-3 fatty acids also have anti-inflammatory qualities that can improve cognitive functions such as memory and concentration.
More surprising is the fact that eating cod stock fish four or five times a week in combination with a low-calorie diet may help you lose weight. Studies have also revealed that Cod stock fish keeps one full while helping to limit the calorie intake for better weight management.
To keep cod low in calories and fat, grills, poach or bake the fish rather than frying. Also, eating cod stock fish helps to provide a healthy alternative to salted fish. Cod stock fish has an advantage of not being smoked because eating smoked fish is the leading cause of stomach cancer.
Nutritionists have advised that you substitute stock fish in place of smoked fish in your diet.
Omega 3 Fish Oil Benefits
Omega 3 fish oil benefits are believed to be unlimited and thus people use it these days at an increasing rate. However, it is essential to understand the supplement better prior to use especially for those who are doubtful and are novice consumers.
Omega 3 fish oil benefits are believed to be unlimited and thus people use it these days at an increasing rate. However, it is essential to understand the supplement better prior to use especially for those who are doubtful and are novice consumers.
The fish oil is named such because of the presence of enough quantity of Omega-3 fatty acids – eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA) and docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) respectively. These are the essentials for every human being as proved through many different scientific researches.
Human body does not produce these important fatty acids and therefore, the only way to get them in our physical system is to obtain them either directly via the fatty fishes like salmon, bluefish, menhaden, etc., or via supplement products. Out of these, the former method is not recommended because of the presence of toxins and other contaminations in the fishes. Hence, the second one is more beneficial as they do not possess any form of contaminates, comes in the molecularly distilled form and ignores the most common fish oil issue – “fishy taste”.
Now it is time to look at the various Omega 3 fish oil benefits that we can achieve through the supplements:-
• The foremost advantage that one can obtain from the use of Omega-3 fish oil is that it helps in the reduction of triglycerides level in the body, and this is an important condition to curb heart disease as well diabetes chances. Considering this benefit even the FDA approved one such fish oil supplement named Lovaza, which can reduce the level of triglycerides up to 50%.
• Fish oil according to some researchers, good for lowering the risk of heart attacks. Not only this, but many believe it to be better than the contemporary drugs meant for controlling higher cholesterol level.
• The EPA and DHA in fish oil can increase both male and female fertility. Fish oil balances hormones, improves hormonal levels and increases blood flow to the uterus. The omega-3 fatty acids found in fish oil can also contribute to improved male fertility. Omega-3s are abundant in the sperm and DHA is especially prevalent in the sperm tail and may play a role in sperm motility.
• Another benefit of Omega-3 fish oil is that it can reduce the high-blood pressure in a person quite effectively because of its ability to expand the blood vessels.
• Many people with depression and other mental health problems have been found to have lower levels of essential fatty acids found in fish oil in their blood. Studies show that fish oil may be beneficial in the treatment of depression.
• One of the well-known Omega-3 fish oil benefits are its ability to deal with the ADHD (attention deficit hyperactivity disorder) problem in children during their schooling ages. Parents often tend to employ the fish oil supplements in order to raise the attention and consciousness in their kids.
• Prevention of stroke possibility is another significant benefit of fish oil. However, few researchers disagree with this in the sense that high consumption of fatty fishes or supplements may actually increase the risk of strokes!
• Decreases pain and inflammation. Fish oil moderately decreases exercise-related inflammation in fit men, says a study by R.J. Bloomer et al., at the Department of Health and Sport Sciences, The University of Memphis. Omega 3 fatty acids, particularly EPA, have a very positive effect on your inflammatory response.
• Studies suggest that the fatty acids found in some fish promote ideal brain function. Increasing the amount of omega-3s you consume may improve ones memory and general IQ.
• There would appear to be a growing body of evidence to the effect that omega-3 fatty acids can help prevent the promotion and progression of certain cancers. They stop the alteration from a normal healthy cell to a cancerous mass, inhibiting unwanted cellular growth and causing apoptosis, or cellular death, of cancer cells.
• It is believed to be beneficial for treating rheumatoid arthritis in some people.
• Moreover, fish oil can slow down or reverse the process of atherosclerotic plaques.
Lets look at some opinions on DHA Omega 3 fish oil benefits from important and valuable sources from professionals in the nutrition field:
“Coronary heart disease is a significant health problem that causes 500,000 deaths annually in the United States,” said Dr. Lester M. Crawford, Acting FDA Commissioner. “This new qualified health claim for omega-3 fatty acids should help consumers as they work to improve their health by identifying foods that contain these important compounds.”
- FDA Announces Qualified Health Claims for Omega-3 Fatty Acids, September 8, 2004
“Omega-3 fatty acids are beneficial because they provide fluidity to cell membranes and improve communication between brain cells. Omega-3s also reduce the clotting ability of platelets, thus potentially decreasing the incidence of heart attacks and strokes.
Two very important omega-3 fatty acids are eicosapentanoic acid (EPA) and docosahexanoic acid (DHA). They are found in seafood, especially mackerel, salmon, striped bass, rainbow trout, halibut, tuna, and sardines. In the body, DHA is found mostly in the brain, retina, and in sperm. DHA plays an important role in vision. B) Omega-6 fatty acids are made from linoleic acid, a fatty acid found in vegetable oils such as corn, safflower, cottonseed, and sunflower.
Mayonnaise and salad oils normally contain a great amount of omega-6 fatty acids. Unlike omega-3s, which are concentrated in the brain, omega-6s are found in most tissues in the body. The double bond of an omega-6 fatty acid starts six carbons from the left. Most Americans generally have a much higher intake of the omega-6s than the omega-3s.”
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Malaria: Free nets for all?
ON OCTOBER 10, 2011 • IN HEALTH
By Olayinka Latona
Towards curbing the menace of malaria infection in Lagos, about 4.1 million Long-Lasting Insecticide Nets LLINs obtained by the state government through the Global Fund to fight Tuberculosis, AIDS, and Malaria (GFTAM) were distributed to residents.
The four-day exercise, they said which entailed distribution of two mosquito nets to each family was carried out in different distribution zones in the state.
Some of the recipients who were mostly women, turned up at the crack of dawn on each day and not even the scorching sun, or the Saturday morning sanitation exercise could dissuade them
The nets, they said, would go a long way in curbing the menace of malariabut several others called for extension of the distribution.
Baale of Papa-Ajao, Chief Lawal Arowoye who called for proper training of government officials in charge of the distribution appreciated effort of the state government but pointed out lapses which denied some of the residents access to the nets. He said many of them were not able to benefit from the exercise because some government officials in charge of distribution of tickets for the nets did ndo so in all the houses.
A child displaying Insecticide Treated Net.
His words: “My observation is that there are some people who are not able to get this mosquito nets especially those living in Olakunle street and also in some areas some of them have come here to complain but there is nothing I can do about it since I don’t have the ticket. In future this should be corrected because this people think they have been marginalised.
They are disenfranchised, government should please address the issue. Also I am appealing that government should continue with the exercise as this will enable those who are unable to get to have their own nets.”
At a distribution point in Ilasamaja, there was delay in distribution and the number of nets were inadequate, and residents who had queued up for hours complained of the inadequacies.
According to Mrs. Foluke Odunsola in Iyana-Itire area, “Some people had more than one ticket and I don’t know how they did it. We came with our tickets on time but the distributors arrived very late and the people are not even patient at all.” Others are still lamenting their failure to register when officials of the Ministry of Health went round to create awareness on the distribution exercise.
---------------------------------
Doctor urges women with fibroid to volunteer themselves for research
ON OCTOBER 11, 2011 • IN HEALTH
Abuja – Dr Augustine Umezulike, a Gynaecologist at the National Hospital Abuja, has urged women with fibroids to volunteer themselves for research in order to find the causes.
Umezulike in Abuja on Tuesday said that “there are no known causes of the fibroid tumour, so women who have fibroids should volunteer themselves to doctors who are doing research in order to find out the cause.
“We the doctors can only treat fibroid; unless the causes are known, you can’t know how to prevent it.”
According to Umezulike, the commonest symptom of a fibroid is a swelling or growth which a woman might notice in her abdomen.
He suggested that if such a woman also noticed a boost in the quantity of her urine and an increase in her regular menstrual flow, she should see a doctor immediately.
“She should not just do a scan or an ultrasound; instead she should see a doctor for a proper examination and advice.”
The gynaecologist explained that fibroids were an abnormal mass of tissues resulting from excessive and uncontrolled cell division in the womb, though non-cancerous.
He said that black women, particularly those menstruating but were not yet pregnant, were most prone to it and noted that about 25 per cent of the womenfolk had fibroids growing inside them.
“It is common among the black women, but it differs in size, shape and the accompanying problems.”
Umezulike said that since the womb was designed to carry something, preferably a baby, it might as well carry a fibroid where there was nothing to store.
He added that fibroid could also affect parts of the large intestine and the bladder by putting pressure on them, resulting in frequent urination.
The doctor explained that depending on the location and size of the fibroid, it could interfere with fertility and possibly cause miscarriage and premature birth.
“If it is close to the mucous membrane that is essential for maintaining pregnancy and conception, it can cause an abortion.”
Umezulike said fibroids could be shrunk using certain drugs but advised that the best treatment was to operate on and remove them if they were causing severe pains.
He, however, noted that fibroids which had been shrunk using drugs could resurface when medication stopped. (NAN)
----------------------
UK doctors advised gonorrhoea has turned drug resistant
By Michelle Roberts Health reporter, BBC News
UK gonorrhoea rates had been declining in recent years until a slight increase in 2010
UK doctors are being told the antibiotic normally used to treat gonorrhoea is no longer effective because the sexually transmitted disease is now largely resistant to it.
The Health Protection Agency says we may be heading to a point when the disease is incurable unless new treatments can be found.
For now, doctors must stop using the usual treatment cefixime and instead use two more powerful antibiotics.
One is a pill and the other a jab.
The HPA say the change is necessary because of increasing resistance.
Untreatable strains
Tests on samples taken from patients and grown in the laboratory showed reduced susceptibility to the usual antibiotic cefixime in nearly 20% of cases in 2010, compared with just 10% of cases in 2009.
“Start Quote
This presents the very real threat of untreatable gonorrhoea in the future”
End Quote Prof Cathy Ison HPA
As recently as 2005, no gonorrhoea bacteria with reduced susceptibility to cefixime could be found in the UK.
The bacterium that causes the infection - Neisseria gonorrhoeae - has an unusual ability to adapt itself and has gained resistance, or reduced susceptibility, to a growing list of antibiotics - first penicillin itself, then tetracyclines, ciprofloxacin and now cefixime.
The World Health Organization recommends that the first-line antibiotic used is changed when treatment failure in patients reaches 5%.
But for cefixime, the change is being made pre-emptively, owing to the alarming rise in resistance that is emerging.
Prof Cathy Ison, a gonorrhoea expert at England's HPA, said: "Our lab tests have shown a dramatic reduction in the sensitivity of the drug we were using as the main treatment for gonorrhoea. This presents the very real threat of untreatable gonorrhoea in the future.
"We were so worried by the results we were seeing that we recommended that guidelines on the treatment of gonorrhoea were revised in May this year, to recommend a more effective drug.
"But this won't solve the problem, as history tells us that resistance to this therapy will develop too. In the absence of any new alternative treatments for when this happens, we will face a situation where gonorrhoea cannot be cured."
She said patients who refuse the jab will be offered oral antibiotics instead.
She added: "This highlights the importance of practising safe sex, as, if new antibiotic treatments can't be found, this will be only way of controlling this infection in the future."
After genital chlamydia, gonorrhoea is the second most common bacterial sexually transmitted infection in the UK.
According to HPA figures, there were 16,145 new diagnoses of gonorrhoea in 2010, a 3% increase on 2009 when there were 15,606.
11 July 2011 Last updated at 00:19 ET
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Gonorrhoea strain found to be 'resistant to antibiotics'
Experts analysed the neisseria gonorrhoea bacteria
A new strain of the sexually transmitted disease gonorrhoea has become resistant to antibiotics, international research shows.
Analysis of the bacterium that causes gonorrhoea found a new variant which is very effective at mutating.
Scientists from the Swedish Reference Laboratory warn that the infection could now become a global threat to public health.
New drugs to delay the spread of the infection are needed, experts say.
The first case of antibiotic-resistant gonorrhoea was found in Japan.
By analysing this new strain of neisseria gonorrhoea, called H041, researchers identified the genetic mutations responsible for the new strain's extreme resistance to all cephalosporin-class antibiotics.
Cephalosporins are used to treat a wide variety of bacterial infections. They are also closely related to the penicillins.
“Start Quote
This new strain may spread rapidly unless new drugs and effective treatment programs are developed.”
End Quote Dr Magnus Unemo
A team of researchers will present its findings at a conference run by the International Society for Sexually Transmitted Disease Research in Canada.
Dr Magnus Unemo, from the Swedish Research Laboratory for Pathogenic Neisseria, said it was an alarming and predictable discovery.
"Since antibiotics became the standard treatment for gonorrhoea in the 1940s, this bacterium has shown a remarkable capacity to develop resistance mechanisms to all drugs introduced to control it.
"While it is still too early to assess if this new strain has become widespread, the history of newly emergent resistance in the bacterium suggests that it may spread rapidly unless new drugs and effective treatment programs are developed."
Prevention not cure
Rebecca Findlay, from the Family Planning Association, said it was a worrying sign.
“Start Quote
Prevention is better than cure, especially as cure becomes harder”
End Quote Dr David Livermore Health Protection Agency
"Prevention becomes more important because we know antibiotics won't always work. Gonorrhoea can affect people of all ages and everyone should be now focusing on looking after their sexual health."
Dr David Livermore, director of the antibiotic resistance monitoring laboratory at the Health Protection Agency, said that the cephalosporin antibiotics used in the UK are still effective for treating gonorrhoea.
"But our lab tests show that the bacteria are becoming less sensitive to these cephalosporins, with a few treatment failures reported. This means that we are having to change the type of cephalosporin that is used and to increase the dosage.
"The worry is that we will see gonorrhoea becoming a much more difficult-to-treat infection to treat over the next five years.
"Prevention is better than cure, especially as cure becomes harder, and the most reliable way to protect against STIs - including resistant gonorrhoea - is to use a condom with all new and casual partners."
Gonorrhoea is one of the most common sexually transmitted diseases in the world.
Some 50% of women infected with gonorrhoea have no symptoms. The same is true of 2-5% of men.
When symptomatic, gonorrhoea is characterised by a burning sensation when urinating and can cause discharge from the genitals.
If left untreated, gonorrhoea can lead to serious and irreversible health complications in both women and men.
--------------------------
Gonorrhoea down as herpes rises
The number of gonorrhoea and syphilis infections has fallen, latest figures for the UK show, although diagnoses of genital warts and herpes are up.
Statistics from the Health Protection Agency (HPA) showed the number of new gonorrhoea infections was the lowest in nearly a decade.
Overall sexually transmitted infections was up last year by 0.5%, mostly due to the increase in herpes and warts.
Those aged between 16 to 24 are still disproportionately affected by STIs.
While just 12% of the UK population falls into this age group, they account for more than half of all new STIs diagnosed in the UK.
They saw 65% of new diagnoses of chlamydia, which remains the most common STI - with a total of 123,018 cases.
However the rise in the number of infections with this disease, which can cause infertility if not treated, has slowed markedly.
'More' condoms
The HPA suggested the significant rise in the number of herpes and warps diagnoses was probably down to the the greater use of more sensitive tests.
"Early detection is vital for both men and women as some infections, particularly chlamydia, gonorrhoea and genital herpes, can often have no symptoms. This means people may be unaware that they are infected and can pass the infection on to others," the HPA said in a statement.
"We need to continue to encourage safer sex, including condom use, to help reduce the spread of STIs. We also recommend that anyone with a new or casual sexual partner gets tested regularly at a GUM clinic or through the National Chlamydia Screening Programme."
To coincide with the publication of the latest figures, Unicef has released a study looking at young people's attitudes to sexual health.
It found fear of pregnancy was a much greater concern for young people than STIs, which means they may stop using condoms once they start using the most effective forms of contraception.
Story from BBC NEWS:
Published: 2009/07/24 10:01:25 GMT
-------------------------------
Rise in sex infections continues
The number of sexually transmitted infections (STIs) continues to rise, latest figures suggest.
Diagnoses of new sex infections rose by 2% to 376,508 from 2005 to 2006, largely among young people and gay men, the Health Protection Agency found.
The biggest rise was seen in genital herpes, up 9% to 21,698. Among girls aged 16-19 the rise was 16%.
But experts said there were encouraging early signs of reversing trends - gonorrhoea and syphilis dropped by 1%.
“ Some infections now appear to be slowing down. But there is no room for complacency ”
Professor Pat Troop, chief executive of the Health Protection Agency
Sexual infection diagnoses have been almost continually rising since the 1990s, with the highest increases in recent years being seen in the 16 to 24 age group.
The HPA said part of the rise in the number of people being diagnosed was due to more people coming forward for testing.
During 2006, nearly 1 million people were screened for an STI at a genitourinary medicine (GUM) clinic.
Mixed picture
Professor Pat Troop, chief executive of the Health Protection Agency, said: "There is mixed news in these figures.
"Some infections now appear to be slowing down. But there is no room for complacency.
"The picture for young people remains particularly worrying."
Dr Gwenda Hughes, head of the STI section at the HPA, said higher STI rates were found in young people because they were more sexually active.
Multiple partners, changing partners and failing to wear condoms all contributed to higher rates in this group, she said.
STIs in 2006
• Genital herpes up 9% to 21,698
• Chlamydia up 4% to 113,585
• Genital warts up 3% to 83,745
• Syphilis down 1% to 2,766
• Gonorrhoea down 1% to 19,007
Another group at higher risk is gay men, according to the HPA.
"It's crucial that we reach these groups with messages about safe sex, including condom wearing, and the importance of getting tested if they feel they've put themselves at risk of contracting an STI," said Dr Hughes.
Lisa Power of the Terrence Higgins Trust said: "Many STIs show continued increases, particularly amongst young people and gay men. We have to reverse this trend.
"Quality sex and relationships education - not just biology lessons - has been shown to decrease risky behaviour in teens. We also need to stop the decline in health promotion work for gay men at a local level."
About the rise in genital herpes, she said: "We need to get the message across that this is a lifelong and unpleasant condition which will require ongoing treatment, and not something to be taken lightly."
Anne Weyman of the Family Planning Association said it was important for people to realise that they could catch genital herpes from oral sex as well as unprotected intercourse.
A spokesman for the Department of Health said improving sexual health remained a priority for the NHS.
He added: "And we aim to carry on our excellent progress towards all patients being offered a GUM appointment within 48 hours by March 2008.
"The latest data shows that 85% of patients were offered an appointment within 48 hours in May 2007."
Story from BBC NEWS:
Published: 2007/07/20 12:05:59 GMT
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11 October 2011 Last updated at 19:09 ET
Raw vegetables and fruit 'counteract heart risk genes'
By Michelle Roberts Health reporter, BBC News
Experts already recommend eating at least five portions of fruit and veg a day for good health
People who are genetically susceptible to heart disease can lower their risk by eating plenty of fruit and raw vegetables, a study suggests.
It says five or more daily portions should be enough to counteract culprit versions of a gene on chromosome 9, thought to be possessed by a fifth of people of European ancestry.
Healthy diets appeared to weaken its effect.
The US researchers investigated more than 27,000 people for their work.
The findings were published in Plos Medicine journal.
These participants came from from around the globe, including Europe, China and Latin America.
The results suggest that individuals with high risk 9p21 gene versions who consumed a diet packed with raw vegetables, fruits and berries had a similar risk of heart attack as those with a low-risk variant of the same gene.
Five a day
Foods that count:
• Fresh fruit and vegetables
• Frozen fruit and vegetables
• Dried fruit, such as currants, dates, sultanas and figs
• Tinned or canned fruit and vegetables
• Fruit and vegetables cooked in dishes such as soups, stews or pasta dishes
• A glass (150ml) of unsweetened 100% fruit or vegetable juice
• Smoothies
• Beans and pulses; these only count as one portion a day, no matter how many you eat
Researcher Prof Sonia Anand, of McMaster University, said: "Our results support the public health recommendation to consume more than five servings of fruits or vegetables as a way to promote good health."
The scientists, who also included staff from McGill University, say they now need to do more work to establish how diet might have this effect on genes.
Judy O'Sullivan of the British Heart Foundation said the findings should serve as a reminder that while lifestyle and genes could increase heart risk, the way the two interacted with each other was also very important.
"The relationship between the two is often very complicated and we don't yet have all the answers, but the message appears to be very simple - eating lots of fruit and vegetables is great news for our heart health."
------------------------------------------
Juice cocktail 'good for heart'
Cranberry juice is in the blend
A blend of fruit juices, including grape, cranberry and blackcurrant, may have benefits for the heart, research suggests.
French scientists tested the blend on pig arteries in the lab, and found it caused artery walls to relax.
It remains to be seen whether fruit juices can improve vascular health, they report in a scientific journal.
The study adds weight to evidence fruit and veg reduces heart disease risk, says the British Heart Foundation.
The researchers looked for a chemical called polyphenol in fruit and berries.
They found the most active fruits included blackcurrant, blueberry, aronia (choke berries), cranberry, lingonberry and grape.
Commenting on the study, Tracy Parker, heart health dietitian at the British Heart Foundation, said: "This research adds more weight to evidence that eating fruit and vegetables is good for us in terms of reducing our risk for heart disease.
"However, we still don't fully understand why, or whether certain fruits and vegetables are better than others. Even this study acknowledges that scientists can't yet explain any link.
"What we do know is that we should all eat a wide range of fruit and veg as part of a balanced diet, and fruit juice is a tasty and handy way of doing this.
"Don't forget though, juice contains less fibre and more sugar than the original fruit so it only counts as one of our five-a-day."
The research was published in the Royal Society of Chemistry journal, Food and Function
------------------------------------
15 December 2010 Last updated at 19:02 ET
Five-a-day of fruit and vegetables 'saves lives'
By Helen Briggs Health reporter, BBC News
Fruit: We don't eat enough
Around 33,000 lives a year could be saved if everyone in the UK followed dietary guidelines, research suggests.
Eating five portions of fruit and veg a day has the biggest effect, say experts at Oxford University.
Only a third of Britons consume enough fruit and veg, with the worst results in Scotland and Northern Ireland.
The UK daily guidelines are to eat five portions of fruit and veg, no more than 6g of salt, and keep saturated fat to 10% of total energy intake.
The research, published in the Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health, was based on a computer model linking food consumption with mortality from heart disease, stroke and cancer.
Public health experts at the University of Oxford used it to analyse data for 2005 to 2007 from a variety of studies in the UK looking at links between diet and deaths.
They used the model to predict how levels of heart disease, stroke and cancer would fall if everyone followed recommended dietary advice.
Data analysis
• Eating five portions of fruit and veg a day would save 15,000 lives, including 7,000 from heart disease, almost 5,000 from cancer and around 3,000 from stroke
• Another 4,000 deaths would be prevented by sticking to dietary recommendations on fibre; around 7,000 from watching fat intake and 7,500 by reducing salt
Dr Peter Scarborough, from Oxford University, who led the research, said: "Meeting dietary recommendations would have a massive effect on the health of the nation.
"According to our model, the biggest impact would be eating more fruit and veg. But this doesn't mean you should just stop at five - the more the better."
Dr Scarborough said very few people in the UK achieved all of the dietary recommendations.
But he said helping people to make simple choices about a healthy diet could have a major impact on disease.
“Start Quote
This research highlights that well worn dietary messages - like eating five portions of fruit and veg a day - shouldn't be overlooked, because they could have a huge impact on our health”
End Quote Victoria Taylor British Heart Foundation
He told the BBC: "If we have a food environment that is better set up to encourage healthy eating we could have a big impact on health outcomes in the long term.
"It's encouraging people to make healthier choices by making healthier choices easier."
The study was co-funded by the British Heart Foundation.
Senior dietician, Victoria Taylor, said: "This research highlights that well worn dietary messages - like eating five portions of fruit and veg a day - shouldn't be overlooked, because they could have a huge impact on our health."
Her comments were echoed by Dr Rachel Thompson of the World Cancer Research Fund.
She said: "This study highlights the important role fruits and vegetables play in cancer prevention and this is why we recommend people eat at least five portions a day of a variety of fruits and vegetables.
"There is strong evidence they reduce risk of several types of cancer, including cancers of the oesophagus and the stomach.
"Also, as well as directly reducing our cancer risk, eating plenty of fruits and vegetables can help us maintain a healthy weight.
"This is important because we estimate that about 19,000 cancer cases in the UK are diagnosed every year that are linked to weight."
Five-a-day 'will not cut cancer'
By Clare Murphy
Health reporter, BBC News
Eating more fruit and vegetables has only a modest effect on protecting against cancer, a study into the link between diet and disease has found.
The study of 500,000 Europeans joins a growing body of evidence undermining the high hopes that pushing "five-a-day" might slash Western cancer rates.
The international team of researchers estimates only around 2.5% of cancers could be averted by increasing intake.
But experts stress eating fruit and vegetables is still key to good health.
In 1990, the World Health Organization recommended that everyone consume at least five portions of fruit and vegetables a day to prevent cancer and other chronic diseases.
The advice has formed a central plank of public health campaigns in many developed countries. It has been promoted in the UK since 2003 and in the US for nearly two decades.
But research has failed to substantiate the suggestion that as many as 50% of cancers could be prevented by boosting the public's consumption of fruit and vegetables.
“ It's still a good idea to eat your five-a-day but remember that fruits and vegetables are pieces in a much larger lifestyle jigsaw ”
Yinka Ebo Cancer Research UK
This latest study, which analysed recruits from 10 countries to the highly-regarded European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition, confirms that the association between fruit and vegetable intake and reduced cancer risk is indeed weak.
The team, led by researchers from the Mount Sinai School of Medicine, in New York, took into account lifestyle factors such as smoking and exercise when drawing their conclusions.
But writing in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute, they said they could not rule out that even the small reduction in cancer risk seen was down to the fact that the kind of people who ate more fruit and vegetables lived healthier lives in many other respects too.
Broccoli not biscuits
In the best case scenario, an extra two portions of fruit and vegetables each day could prevent 2.6% of cancers in men and 2.3% of cases in women, the study concluded.
“ Research should focus more sharply on specific fruits and vegetables and their constituents ”
Walter Willett Harvard School of Public Health
Vegetables, which tend to be richer in nutrients, appeared to be more beneficial than fruits, while heavy drinkers seemed to gain the most from a higher intake of both when it came to protection from cancers caused by alcohol and smoking.
In an accompanying editorial, Professor Walter Willet of Harvard University said the research strongly confirmed the findings of other studies, showing "that any association of intake and fruits and vegetables with risk of cancer is weak at best".
But he stressed specific substances contained in certain fruit and vegetables, if harnessed, could still have an important, protective effect.
Substantial evidence suggests lycopene from tomatoes, for instance, may reduce the risk of prostate cancer, while chemicals in broccoli are thought to stimulate a gene which protects against bowel cancer.
And data still suggests fruit and vegetables may provide protection against cardiovascular disease, one of the major killers in the developed world - although this too has yet to be proven categorically.
Keeping lean
But while the links between diet and cancer remain unclear, obesity is now seen as an established risk factor.
Fruit and vegetables could therefore be beneficial just by virtue of taking the place of more calorific fare, health experts say.
In any event, a reduced risk of 2.5% should not be dismissed out of hand, the World Cancer Research Fund argues.
"For the UK, this works out as about 7,000 cases a year, which is a significant number," says Dr Rachel Thompson from the charity, which in a major 1997 report said there was "convincing evidence" of the protective effect of fruit and vegetables.
Yinka Ebo of Cancer Research UK said: "It's still a good idea to eat your five-a-day but remember that fruits and vegetables are pieces in a much larger lifestyle jigsaw.
"There are many things we can do to lower our chances of developing cancer such as not smoking, keeping a healthy weight, cutting down on alcohol, eating a healthy balanced diet, being physically active and staying safe in the sun."
Story from BBC NEWS:
Published: 2010/04/07 00:31:56 GMT
----------------------
Kidney transplants in Nigeria
7
October 2011 Last updated at 06:03 ET Help
Kidney disease is on the increase in Nigeria.
There is a chronic shortage of trained health workers and the equipment needed to deal with this disease. People cannot afford the dialysis treatment and only a fortunate few receive kidney transplants.
The challenge, therefore, is to minimise the need for surgery and switch the focus to prevention.
The Health Show is broadcast on BBC World News on Saturdays at 1010 and 2010 GMT and on Sundays at 0710 and 2310 GMT. The programme is supported by the Gates Foundation.
--------------------
7 October 2011 Last updated at 06:03 ET Help
Kidney disease is on the increase in Nigeria.
There is a chronic shortage of trained health workers and the equipment needed to deal with this disease. People cannot afford the dialysis treatment and only a fortunate few receive kidney transplants.
The challenge, therefore, is to minimise the need for surgery and switch the focus to prevention.
The Health Show is broadcast on BBC World News on Saturdays at 1010 and 2010 GMT and on Sundays at 0710 and 2310 GMT. The programme is supported by the Gates Foundation.
---------------------
Nigerian wins U.S. award with fast DNA sequencing for medical tests
THURSDAY, 20 OCTOBER 2011 00:00 EDITOR FEATURES - SCIENCE
A NIGERIAN scientist, Mr. Yemi Adesokan, has been recognised by the Technology Review magazine as one of the TR35 Honouree Award recipients for 2011.
Technology Review is an independent media company owned by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), United States.
The TR35 recognises the world’s top innovators under the age of 35, spanning energy, medicine, computing, communications, nanotechnology and other emerging fields.
Thirty-four-year-old Adesokan, who is also the founder of Pathogenica Inc., was selected as a member of the TR35 class of 2011 by a panel of expert judges and the editorial staff of Technology Review, who evaluated more than 300 nominations.
He is being honoured for his work in the application of next generation sequencing to clinical diagnostics. He joined other TR35 honourees in discussing their achievements at the Emtech MIT 2011 conference, which took place at the MIT Media Lab in Cambridge on Tuesday October 18 to 19, 2011.
It is believed that the diagnostic tests being developed by Adesokan and his company could let physicians quickly and cheaply pinpoint features of a patient’s infection, such as whether it is resistant to certain antibiotics and prescribe the most effective treatment.
In 2009, as a postdoctoral researcher at Harvard, Adesokan cofounded a startup called Pathogenica with the goal of developing commercial applications of DNA-sequencing technologies.
Adesokan, the CEO, expects to create a market for tests that use sequencing to detect the microbes behind infections. To identify these pathogens today, scientists must use expensive DNA tests or grow the microbes from a sample—a slow process that doesn’t work for many bacteria. And both methods often fail to detect small differences in DNA that can have a huge impact on the organism’s virulence and resistance to drugs.
“Pathogenica’s technology can pick out specific regions of a pathogen’s genome, such as the genes involved in its ability to infect its host, and sequence many of these regions simultaneously. It minimises the amount of sequencing, so Pathogenica’s approach will be cheaper, faster and more precise than existing tests,” says Adesokan.
Pathogenica’s initial efforts have focused on detecting the microbes that cause urinary-tract infections. Its researchers are also developing tests to analyse how microbe populations change when someone is treated with new antibiotics or antivirals. Because the technology can detect small changes in DNA, it may be able to reveal early on if a population of microbes is developing resistance to a drug.
DNA sequenced of woman who lived to 115
By Helen Briggs Health editor, BBC News website
The woman had some rare genetic changes
The entire DNA sequence of a woman who lived to 115 has been pieced together by scientists.
The woman, who was the oldest in the world at the time of her death, had the mind of someone decades younger and no signs of dementia, say Dutch experts.
The study, reported at a scientific conference in Canada, suggests she had genes that protected against dementia.
Further work could give clues to why some people are born with genes for a long life, says a UK scientist.
It is more than 10 years since the first draft of the human genetic code was revealed.
“Start Quote
Sequencing the genome of the world's oldest woman is an important starting point ”
End Quote Dr Jeffrey Barrett Sanger Centre
Since then, perhaps a few hundred individuals have had their genes mapped in full, as the technology to "read" DNA gets better and cheaper.
The woman, whose identity is being kept secret, and is known only as W115, is the oldest person to have her genes mapped.
She donated her body to medical science, allowing doctors to study her brain and other organs, as well as her entire genetic code.
Dr Henne Holstege, of the Department of Clinical Genetics at the VU University Medical Center in Amsterdam, says she appeared to have some rare genetic changes in her DNA.
It is not yet clear what role they carry out, but it appears there is something in her genes that protects against dementia and other diseases of later life.
Dr Holstege told the BBC: "We know that she's special, we know that her brain had absolutely no signs of Alzheimer's.
"There must be something in her body that is protective against dementia.
"We think that there are genes that may ensure a long life and be protective against Alzheimer's."
Proof of principle
W115 was born prematurely and was not expected to survive.
But she lived a long and healthy life, and entered a care home at the age of 105.
She eventually died from a stomach tumour, having been treated for breast cancer at the age of 100.
A test of her mental skills at the age of 113 showed she had the performance of a woman aged 60-75 years.
At post-mortem examination, doctors found no evidence of dementia or the furring of the arteries seen in heart disease.
They are making her gene sequence available to other researchers, to further the cause of science.
The work, which has yet to be published, was presented at the American Society of Human Genetics annual meeting in Montreal, Canada.
Commenting on the study, Dr Jeffrey Barrett, of the Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute in Cambridge, UK, said it was an important proof of principle.
He told the BBC: "Sequencing the genome of the world's oldest woman is an important starting point to understand how DNA variation relates to the process of having a long, healthy life.
"But in order to really understand the underlying biology of living a long, healthy life, we will need to look at the DNA sequence of hundreds or thousands of people."
Malaria deaths fall over 20% worldwide in last decade
Malaria accounts for 20% of childhood deaths in Africa.
There has been a fall of just over 20% in the number of deaths from malaria worldwide in the past decade, the World Health Organization says.
A new report said that one-third of the 108 countries where malaria was endemic were on course to eradicate the disease within 10 years.
Experts said if targets continued to be met, a further three million lives could be saved by 2015.
Malaria is one of the deadliest global diseases, particularly in Africa.
In 2009, 781,000 people died from malaria. The mosquito-borne disease is most prevalent in sub-Saharan Africa, where 85% of deaths occurred, most of them children under five.
An earlier report here incorrectly referred to a 40% drop in deaths.
It has been eradicated from three countries since 2007 - Morocco, Turkmenistan and Armenia.
The Roll Back Malaria Partnership aims to eliminate malaria in another eight to 10 countries by the end of 2015, including the entire WHO European Region.
Malaria Factfile
• 2000: 233 million cases, 985,000 deaths
• 2009: 225 million cases, 781,000 deaths
• Malaria present in 108 countries and territories
• 1.3% GDP reduction in heavily-infected countries
• 'Eliminating Malaria' report (PDF 3.4mb)
• WHO World Malaria report 2010 (PDF 7.3mb)
Robert Newman, director of the WHO's Global Malaria Programme, said "remarkable progress" had been made.
"Better diagnostic testing and surveillance has provided a clearer picture of where we are on the ground - and has shown that there are countries eliminating malaria in all endemic regions of the world," he told an international Malaria Forum conference in Seattle.
"We know that we can save lives with today's tools."
Global eradication
A global malaria eradication campaign, launched by WHO in 1955, succeeded in eliminating the disease in 16 countries and territories.
But after less than two decades, the WHO decided to concentrate instead on the less ambitious goal of malaria control.
However, another eight nations were declared malaria-free up until 1987, when certification was abandoned for 20 years.
In recent years, interest in malaria eradication as a long-term goal has re-emerged.
The WHO estimates that malaria causes significant economic losses, and can decrease gross domestic product (GDP) by as much as 1.3% in countries with high levels of transmission.
In the worst-affected countries, the disease accounts for: Up to 40% of public health expenditures; 30% to 50% of inpatient hospital admissions; and up to 60% of outpatient health clinic visits.
Malaria: a major global killer
Anopheles mosquitoes spread malaria
Malaria kills around 800,000 people a year and is second only to tuberculosis in its impact on world health.
The parasitic disease is present in 90 countries and infects one in 10 of the world's population - mainly people living in Africa, India, Brazil, Sri Lanka, Vietnam, Colombia and the Solomon Islands. There are four main types of malaria, all spread via mosquitoes.
Ninety per cent of all malaria cases are in sub-Saharan Africa where it is the main cause of death and a major threat to child health. Worldwide, a child dies of malaria every 30 seconds. Pregnant women are also particularly vulnerable to the disease, which is curable if diagnosed early.
The economic impact of the disease is immense, causing many lost days of work and loss of tourism and investment.
Around 2,000 people a year in the UK get infected with malaria when abroad.
But it is preventable and curable.
What are the symptoms?
Most people survive a bout of malaria after a 10-20 day illness, but it is important to spot the symptoms early. The first symptoms include a headache, aching muscles and weakness or a lack of energy. This means it can be confused for other conditions like exhaustion or flu.
The classic sign of the infection is a high fever, followed a few hours later by chills. Two to four days later, this cycle is repeated.
Symptoms can appear any time from six days after being bitten by a mosquito carrying the malaria parasite. The time it takes symptoms to appear - the incubation period - can vary with the type of parasite that the mosquito was carrying.
The type of parasite will also determine whether the disease will be mild or severe.
Anyone can catch malaria and even the young and fit can die from a serious infection.
The most serious forms of the disease can affect the kidneys and brain and can cause anaemia, coma and death.
How many cases of malaria are there?
According to the latest progress report from the World Health Organization (WHO), malaria killed 781,000 people in 2009, and there were 225 million cases.
This compares with 233 million cases, and 985,000 deaths in 2000.
Seven countries are now free of malaria, said the WHO.
Efforts to eradicate malaria was first attempted on a large scale from 1955 to 1972.
During that time 20 countries were declared free of malaria by the WHO.
However, there was a resurgence of malaria in the 80s and 90s, and the number dropped to only four countries.
How can malaria be contained?
A great deal has been spent on malaria research. The main thrust of study is towards developing a cheap vaccine.
None has yet been developed which is approved for general use.
“Start Quote
When I mentioned the Solomon Islands, it was a Eureka moment. As someone who had spent a number of years in Africa, she spotted the malarial signs”
End Quote Katie Fraser BBC News
• Anti-malarial pills didn't stop me getting the disease
The spread of the disease can be reduced by cutting down the mosquito population, for example by filling ditches where mosquitoes breed.
Early diagnosis can lead to successful treatment so education in spotting the symptoms of malaria is important. The spread of the disease can also be tracked and preparations made.
Bednets coated in insecticide have also reduced the incidence of the disease by up to 35%, according to the World Health Organization.
Malaria vaccine trial raises hope
By Matt McGrath Science reporter, BBC World Service
Trials are beginning on two potential malaria vaccines
Researchers are to expand a clinical trial of a new malaria vaccine after promising results in a preliminary study in Burkina Faso.
The trial was designed to test safety, but researchers found that vaccinated children had high levels of protection.
Described as a "most encouraging" result, a larger study involving 800 children is now to take place in Mali.
The scientists involved say they are hopeful that the vaccine will ultimately be very cheap to produce.
Around a hundred different malaria vaccine candidates have been developed to date but the MSP3 vaccine tested in Burkina Faso is only the second one to show a substantial level of protection against the illness.
“Start Quote
There have been too many claims of effective vaccines so we have to remain very cautious.”
End Quote Dr Pierre Druilhe Pasteur Institute, Paris
The randomised, double blind study involved 45 children. It set out to test the safety of the vaccine but this follow up study found that children who received it had an incidence of the disease three to four times lower than children who did not.
Initially the children were split into three groups, with two of them receiving the experimental malaria vaccine developed by Dr Pierre Druilhe at the Pasteur Institute in Paris.
"Those two groups had very similar types of immune response, elicited by the vaccine, and the protection is almost identical, so it reinforces the confidence despite the fact that we are still dealing with a small group," he said.
The vaccine is based on the fact that some adults in Africa acquire immunity because they are constantly exposed to the disease.
Early days
Dr Druilhe and his team discovered a key protein, MSP3, which provokes the body into producing antibodies that kill the parasite.
He said the protein is unique as it does not change much between different strains of the plasmodium parasite that causes malaria. This is believed to be a critical factor in developing an efficient vaccine.
He added: "We performed a large number of epidemiological studies that confirm that there was an association between that vaccine candidate and acquired protection, so when you immunise with this molecule you indeed induce protection."
Another scientist involved with the Burkina Faso study was Dr Louis Miller, the former head of the Malaria Vaccine Branch of the US National Institutes of Health.
He said: "I was always in favour of this approach as it offered a chance in a field with few successes. I found the results of this preliminary study in Burkina Faso to be most encouraging."
High transmission
Encouraged by the early results, Dr Druilhe said the trial has now been expanded to 800 children in Mali. But he remains cautious.
"There have been too many claims of effective vaccines so we have to remain very cautious. It has to be confirmed and we have started on work to do that confirmation. Essentially the trial in Mali is about 20 times larger, in extremely high transmission conditions, so it should yield very clear cut results - this will be black and white."
The other vaccine candidate that has shown success against malaria is called RTS, S. It has been funded by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation and is set to go into production with pharmaceutical giant, GlaxoSmithKline.
But there are concerns that it could be expensive, especially for people in Africa and other regions affected by the disease.
Dr Druilhe says his vaccine could be a lot cheaper - perhaps half a dollar or less a bottle.
The results of the Burkina Faso trial were published in The New England Journal of Medicine
--------------
BPA tied to behavior problems in girls: study
NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - In a new study of Cincinnati-area kids, girls exposed to higher levels of bisphenol A before birth had more behavioral problems and were more anxious and over-active than those only exposed to small amounts of the chemical.
The finding doesn't prove that moms who have more contact with BPA, which is used to make plastics and found in some food packaging and canned goods, are putting their daughters at risk.
Additionally, there was no link between the amount of BPA measured in pregnant women's urine and boys' later behavioral problems -- or between levels of the chemical in kids themselves and their behavior.
Although almost all women and kids had traces of BPA in their urine, "The vast majority of our children were typically-developing children and didn't meet any clinical criteria for behavioral problems," said study author Joe Braun, from the Harvard School of Public Health in Boston.
"PRELIMINARY" ASSOCIATION
One researcher not involved in the study called the link between BPA and girls' behavior "very preliminary."
"Other groups are going to have to replicate these findings to be able to strengthen the implications of this particular study," said Dr. Amir Miodovnik, who studies children's environmental health at The Mount Sinai Medical Center in New York.
Braun and his colleagues took urine samples from 244 pregnant women living in and around Cincinnati twice during their pregnancies, and again right after they gave birth, and measured BPA concentrations.
After that, the researchers measured BPA levels in the children each year. At age three, parents filled out a survey on kids' anxiety, depression, aggression and hyperactivity, as well as any behavioral problems or trouble controlling their emotions.
Almost all women had BPA in their urine, at an average concentration of two micrograms per liter. For every 10-fold increase in that concentration during pregnancy, girls -- but not boys -- had significantly higher scores on tests of anxiety and depression and had worse behavioral and emotional control.
On the surveys, where a score of 50 represents an average kid, those increases were between nine and 12 points, "a fairly sizable effect" that parents would probably be able to notice, Braun said.
That was after the researchers took into account whether moms were depressed during pregnancy, as well as their race, income, education and marital status.
Miodovnik estimated that a score of about 65 on the tests "would be in the concerning range."
A higher BPA concentration in kids' urine at ages one, two and three wasn't linked to behavioral or emotional problems, the researchers reported in Pediatrics.
IS IT CAUSE-AND-EFFECT?
The findings don't prove that BPA exposure in the womb causes behavioral problems, Braun said.
"It might be that women who are consuming more processed and packaged foods and more canned foods are also consuming less nutrients that are important for brain development," for example, he told Reuters Health.
Still, "There's a growing body of evidence... that really seems to suggest what you're exposed to and what happens during gestation can set you up on your life course," Braun said.
"The brain begins developing from very, very early in pregnancy. Disruption in development could have lasting effects across childhood and the lifetime."
BPA is thought to be an "endocrine disruptor," a chemical that mimics or interferes with naturally occurring hormones in the body. Canada and the European Union ban its use in baby bottles.
Braun thinks the effect seen in the study was limited to girls because BPA may interfere with only certain hormones, and boys and girls get exposed to different levels of hormones as they're developing in-utero.
MORE STUDIES NEEDED
Recent research has linked high BPA levels in the urine of adults with a greater risk for diabetes (see Reuters Health story of October 19, 2011), but questions remain about the cause-and-effect nature of all BPA-related findings in humans.
Most studies about BPA's effect on behavior in particular have been done in animals, Miodovnik said.
In the current report, he added, the researchers "still haven't explained why they would see these particular (areas) affected, how it works... there's no real explanation. It's suggestive, and all it's really saying is, we need to do more studies."
Although the researchers agree that more work is necessary to confirm any effects of low levels of BPA exposure, Braun said there are some steps that pregnant women can take in the meantime if they're worried about potential harms.
"For concerned parents, they can reduce their exposure by reducing or eliminating consumption of canned and packaged foods, while at the same time maintaining a healthy and balanced diet," he said.
Still, "It's difficult to avoid all the sources of exposure," Miodovnik said.
"While we know that some sources are canned foods and packaged foods, there might be sources we don't know about out there, so it's difficult to give clear advice other than, 'Sure, try to avoid canned foods.'"
--------------------------
Mammograms don't save as many lives as women think
By Julie Steenhuysen | Reuters – 13 hrs ago
•
A doctor exams mammograms, a special type of X-ray of the breasts, which is used …
CHICAGO (Reuters) - Many women who have survived breast cancer often say it was a mammogram that "saved their life," a powerful testimonial that can encourage other women to get regular breast cancer screening tests.
But what are the chances that the test actually saved a woman's life? Not that great, according to a new analysis published in the Archives of Internal Medicine on Monday.
"The numbers suggest that at most, 13 percent of those diagnosed with breast cancer have been helped. That means the other 87 percent have not been helped," Dr. Gilbert Welch of Dartmouth College, who led the study, said in a telephone interview.
"That is important when we keep hearing these stories from breast cancer survivors," he said.
Welch said women who tell their stories about surviving breast cancer can be a powerful inducement for other women to get tested for breast cancer, and as mammogram technology has improved, the chances are even greater that doctors will find something suspicious.
But early detection for some women may not be much of a benefit, especially if a cancer is slow growing, Welch and colleagues say. And many women may be diagnosed and treated for a cancer growing so slowly it might never have caused any symptoms or threatened their lives.
The findings add new fodder to the simmering debate over the benefits of screening healthy people for cancer. Earlier this month, the government-backed U.S. Preventive Services Task Force recommended that healthy men not get a common blood test for prostate cancer, causing an uproar among cancer specialists who fear more men will die from prostate cancer.
And in 2009, the same group recommended that women under 40 not get a mammogram and that women 50 and older get the test only every other year, rather than yearly, causing an outcry from breast cancer advocacy groups.
But screening tests have both benefits and risks, says Welch, who views the current debate as positive for patients who are starting to think more about the risks of screening.
An earlier study by Welch found that routine screening for prostate cancer has resulted in as many as 1 million American men being diagnosed with tumors who might otherwise have suffered no ill effects from them.
In the latest study, Welch and colleagues looked to see how much mammography reduces deaths from breast cancer.
They found that for 50-year-old women whose breast cancers were diagnosed by a mammogram, there was a 13 percent chance that the screening test saved her life.
The question, then, becomes how to preserve the benefit of mammogram without exposing so many women to the harms of overdiagnosis -- which include being treated for cancers that might not cause harm, Welch said.
He said breast cancer screening technology has become better and better at spotting tiny cancers on the assumption that the earlier a cancer is detected, the better the chances of cancer survival.
But Welch said as treatments for breast cancer get better, the need for very early diagnosis is less great.
"For years we've been looking harder and harder for cancer. I think the time has come to ask the question, 'What if we looked a little less hard?'"
Dr. Timothy Wilt of the Minneapolis Veterans Administration in Minneapolis, who wrote a commentary on the findings in the same journal, said the study gives doctors science-based information to share with patients, who are often influenced by anecdotes.
"Because survivor stories are often so powerful, but inaccurate, they can result in people making healthcare decisions that are not science based and may be wrong," he said.
(Editing by Cynthia Osterman)
------------------------
Femara May Beat Tamoxifen at Preventing Breast Cancer's Return
By By Denise Mann HealthDay Reporter |
FRIDAY, Oct. 21 (HealthDay News) -- The breast cancer drug letrozole, marketed as Femara, may be more effective than tamoxifen at preventing the return of breast cancer and improving survival among older women with hormone-sensitive breast cancers, a new study reports.
In the study, published online Oct. 21 in The Lancet Oncology, the researchers updated data from an ongoing study of about 8,000 women, which compares the two drugs alone as well as the use of both Femara and tamoxifen sequentially.
Femara outperformed tamoxifen in terms of breast cancer recurrence and survival, the study found. Moreover, giving Femara alone to women was more effective than giving it sequentially following tamoxifen. The new study was partially funded by Novartis, the drug company that makes Femara.
The hormone estrogen feeds hormone-sensitive cancers, and blocking it may help stave off a recurrence. Femara is part of a class of breast cancer drugs known as aromatase inhibitors. These drugs block the body's production of estrogen via the enzyme aromatase. Tamoxifen is a selective estrogen receptor modulator, which means that it acts like estrogen in certain tissues, but not in others, namely the breast. Aromatase inhibitors are given alone or in combination with tamoxifen.
After an average eight years of follow-up, the team of researchers from the United States, Europe and Australia found that women who took Femara for five years after breast cancer treatment had a "20 percent reduced risk of their breast cancer coming back and were 21 percent less likely to die, compared with women given tamoxifen alone," one of the lead authors of the study, Meredith Regan of the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute in Boston, explained in a journal news release.
Neither sequential treatment of tamoxifen followed by Femara, or in the reverse order, significantly decreased the likelihood of relapse or death compared to Femara alone, the team reported.
"Femara alone is the best way to go," said Dr. Stephanie Bernik, chief of surgical oncology at Lenox Hill Hospital in New York City. "The hope was that the combination would improve survival, but this was not the case," said Bernik, who was not involved with the study.
Breast cancer survivors who are being treated with tamoxifen should discuss their options with their doctor. "Talk to your doctor about switching to an aromatase inhibitor," Bernik said. "Tamoxifen is still an excellent drug, but the aromatase inhibitors are better. If the plan was to switch drugs, you may want to talk to [your] doctor about going straight to the aromatase inhibitor," she added.
Dr. Hannah Linden, a medical oncologist at the Seattle Cancer Care Alliance, said that many women don't want to take these drugs because of a fear of side effects or the desire to put breast cancer behind them. "The study stresses the importance of taking these medications," she said. This is not to say they don't have their share of side effects; they do, she noted.
Serious side effects seen with Femara include bone fractures and increases in cholesterol levels. Some research has suggested that aromatase inhibitors may also increase the risk for heart disease. Tamoxifen side effects may include blood clots, strokes, uterine cancer and cataracts.
Dr. Maura N. Dickler, a breast cancer medical oncologist at the Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center in New York City, said that aromatase inhibitors have been her go-to drugs for women with estrogen-positive breast cancers for a while.
Some women report joint pain and other nuisance side effects from aromatase inhibitors and have to go back to tamoxifen, Dickler said. "In these cases, getting in an aromatase inhibitor for some time is beneficial," she noted. "We can individualize treatment based on the side effects and the tolerability for each woman."
Cost may be an issue for some women, but the gap in price between the two drugs is narrowing, Dickler added. Femara is now available as a generic, which helps reduce its costs, but tamoxifen is still probably less expensive, she said.
Overall, "this is an exciting update with longer follow-up," Dickler said of the study. Since last results were reported in 2005, there was a 32 percent increase in the number of women who had a relapse. "These women can do well for a long time and still relapse many years later," she said. "It just reminds us that women relapse during year five through 10 as much as zero through five. Breast cancer is an indolent disease and you can remain disease free for a long time, but relapse can still happen."
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Immune system defect may cause ME
By James Gallagher Health reporter, BBC News
Chronic fatigue syndrome may be due to the immune system, researchers think.
Researchers in Norway believe Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (CFS), also known as ME, may be caused by a wayward immune system attacking the body.
The illness, the cause of which is uncertain and has no known cure, has attracted significant controversy.
A small study, reported in PLoS One, showed a cancer drug, which inhibited the immune system, relieved symptoms in some patients.
The ME Association said the findings were "very encouraging news".
Doctors in Norway stumbled across their first clue in 2004 when treating a patient with both Hodgkin's lymphoma, a cancer of the white blood cells, and CFS.
When she received cancer treatment, her fatigue symptoms improved for five months.
'Dramatic'
The latest study, carried out at the Haukeland University Hospital in Bergen, built on the previous discovery by testing 30 patients with CFS.
“Start Quote
Their life was turned completely around very dramatically”
End Quote Øystein Fluge Consultant oncologist
Half were given two doses of Rituximab, a cancer drug which eliminates a type of white blood cell, while the other half were given a fake treatment.
In those patients receiving the drug, 67% reported an improvement in a score of their fatigue levels. Just 13% showed any improvement in the sham group.
Øystein Fluge, an oncology consultant at the hospital, told the BBC: "There was a varied response: none, moderate, dramatic relief of all symptoms.
"Two had no recurrence [of their symptoms], their life was turned completely around very dramatically."
Their theory is that a type of white blood cell, B lymphocytes, are producing an antibody which attacks the body.
The drug wipes out the lymphocytes which in some cases may "reset the immune system", however, in other patients the fatigue symptoms would return when more B lymphocytes were made.
Caution
Chronic Fatigue Syndrome
• The disease is thought to affect some 250,000 people in the UK
• Symptoms include extreme tiredness, problems with memory and concentration, sleep disturbances and mood swings
• There is currently no accepted cure and no universally effective treatment
• The cause is not clear either, with many doctors thinking the term CFS/ME is being used for several different diseases.
• Some patients have sent death threats to researchers after disagreements over a cause or cure
• What causes Chronic Fatigue Syndrome?
Mr Fluge said: "I think the fact that patients responded to treatment, improved cognitive function, fatigue and pain makes us believe we're touching one of the central mechanisms.
"But we're scratching at the surface, I would not characterise this as a major breakthrough."
The researchers are now investigating the effect of giving more doses over a longer period of time.
If their hunch is right it will throw up more questions, such as what is the immune system actually attacking and whether or not an actual test for CFS/ME be developed.
Dr Charles Shepherd, the UK ME Association's medical adviser, said: "The results of this clinical trial are very encouraging news for people with ME.
"Firstly, they help to confirm that there is a significant abnormality in immune system function in this disease.
"Secondly, they indicate that altering the immune system response in ME could be an effective form of treatment for at least a subset of patients.
"We now need further clinical trials of such anti-cancer agents to see if other research groups can replicate these findings."
----------------
Health
Daily aspirin 'blocks bowel cancer'
By James Gallagher
Health reporter, BBC News Does an aspirin a day keep the cancer surgeon away?
Daily aspirin 'cuts cancer risk'Aspirin: What are pros and cons?
Aspirin cuts stomach cancer risk
A daily dose of aspirin should be given to people at high risk of bowel cancer, say scientists.
Two pills a day for two years reduced the incidence of bowel cancer by 63% in a group of 861 at-risk patients, a study reported in The Lancet said.
Newcastle University's Prof Sir John Burn, who led the study, said the evidence "seems overwhelmingly strong".
Other experts said the findings added to a growing body of proof that aspirin could be used in the fight with cancer.
The study was conducted on 861 patients with Lynch syndrome, which affects one in every 1,000 people.
They struggle to detect and repair damaged DNA which means they are more likely to develop a range of cancers including those of the bowel, womb and stomach.
'Good deal'
When looking at all patients in the trial, those in the group given 600 milligrams of aspirin every day developed 19 tumours compared to 34 tumours in the other "control" group, a reduction of 44%.
When the researchers looked at just those patients who took the medication for at least two years the reduction was 63%.
There was also an effect on other cancers linked to Lynch syndrome, which fell by half in the treatment group.
Prof Sir John Burn, from Newcastle University, said there were 30,000 adults in the UK with Lynch syndrome.
If all were given the treatment he said it would prevent 10,000 cancers over 30 years and he speculated that this could possibly prevent 1,000 deaths from the disease.
However, there would also be side effects.
"If we can prevent 10,000 cancers in return for 1,000 ulcers and 100 strokes, in most people's minds that's a good deal," he said.
"People who've got a clear family history of, particularly, bowel cancer should seriously consider adding low dose aspirin to their routine and particularly those people who've got a genetic predisposition."
Aspirin is already well known to reduce the risk of heart attack and stroke in high risk patients.
Continue reading the main story Audrey Francis: walking time bomb Audrey Francis describes herself as "a bit of a walking time bomb".
There is a history of cancer in her family and she has been diagnosed with Lynch syndrome.
Seventeen years ago she had a hysterectomy. That was when doctors discovered she had not one but two cancers - in the womb and the ovaries.
Tests showed she had a chunk of DNA missing which was causing the cancers: "I actually had the inability to stop the cancers developing," she said.
She took part in the trial and has since decided to self medicate with aspirin: "I've got my fingers crossed and I'm hoping it'll do the trick for me."
Other studies over the past two decades have suggested the pain killer reduced cancer risk, but this was the first randomised control trial, specifically for aspirin in cancer, to prove it.
In 2010, a study suggested patients given aspirin had a 25% lower risk of death during that trial.
Prof Peter Rothwell, from Oxford University, who conducted that study said the latest research "certainly helps to build a consistent picture, all pointing in the same direction that there is a link with cancer".
Cancer Research UK's Prof Chris Paraskeva said: "This adds to the growing body of evidence showing the importance of aspirin, and aspirin-like drugs, in the fight against cancer."
'Balanced argument'
One of the questions asked by the research into aspirin was whether healthy people with no family risks should take the drug.
The lower the risk of heart attack or cancer, the lower the benefit of taking aspirin, yet there are still potentially deadly side effects.
Sir John said that it was a "finely balanced argument" and that he decided the risks were worth it for him.
"I think where we're headed for is people that are in their 50s and 60s would look very seriously at adding a low dose aspirin to their daily routine because it's giving protection against cancer, heart attack and stroke.
"But if they do that they've got to have their eyes wide open. They will increase their risk of ulcers and gastrointestinal bleeds and very rarely they will have a stroke caused by the aspirin."
-------------------------------------
Small daily aspirin dose 'cuts cancer risk'
By Fergus Walsh
Medical correspondent, BBC News AdvertisementProf Peter Rothwell explains why taking aspirin reduces the risk of dying from cancer
Aspirin: a personal decisionAspirin: What are pros and cons?Aspirin 'cuts bowel cancer cases'
A small daily dose of aspirin - 75mg - substantially reduces death rates from a range of common cancers, a study suggests.
Research at Oxford University and other centres found that it cut overall cancer deaths by at least a fifth.
The study, published in the Lancet, covered some 25,000 patients, mostly from the UK.
Experts say the findings show aspirin's benefits often outweighed its associated risk of causing bleeding.
Aspirin is already known to cut the risk of heart attack and stroke among those at increased risk. But the protective effects against cardiovascular disease are thought to be small for healthy adults, and aspirin increases the risks of stomach and gut bleeds.
However, this latest research shows that when weighing up the risks and benefits of taking aspirin, experts should also consider its protective effect against cancer.
Those patients who were given aspirin had a 25% lower risk of death from cancer during the trial period and a 10% reduction in death from any cause compared to patients who were not given the drug.
Lasting protection
The treatment with aspirin lasted for between four and eight years, but long term-follow-up of around 12,500 patients showed the protective effect continued for 20 years in both men and women.
“Start Quote
We encourage anyone interested in taking aspirin on a regular basis to talk to their GP first”
End Quote
Ed Young Cancer Research UK
Lead researcher Professor Peter Rothwell said the findings might well underestimate the reduction in deaths that would result from longer-term treatment with aspirin.
The risk of cancer death was reduced by 20% over 20 years. For individual cancers the reduction was about 40% for bowel cancer, 30% for lung cancer, 10% for prostate cancer and 60% for oesophageal cancer.
The reductions in pancreas, stomach and brain cancers were difficult to quantify because of smaller numbers of deaths.
There was also not enough data to show an effect on breast or ovarian cancer and the authors suggest this is because there were not enough women in the trials. Large-scale studies investigating the effects on these cancers are under way.
Professor Rothwell said he was not urging healthy middle-aged adults to immediately start taking aspirin, but said the evidence on cancer "tips things towards it being well worth it". The benefit in cancer reduction were found from a low daily dose of 75mg.
Professor Rothwell said the annual risk of major internal bleeding was about 1 in 1,000 and aspirin roughly doubled that risk. But he said the danger of major bleeding was "very low" in middle age but increased dramatically after 75.
“Start Quote
Aspirin should be thought of in the same context as lifestyle changes such as diet and exercise which can help to preserve health”
End Quote
Professor Peter Elwood Cardiff University Aspirin: a personal choice for all
A sensible time to consider starting daily aspirin use would be between 45-50, continuing for around 25 years, he said.
Cancer Research UK described the results as "promising". But Ed Yong, head of health information and evidence, said: "We encourage anyone interested in taking aspirin on a regular basis to talk to their GP first."
Professor Peter Elwood, an epidemiologist from Cardiff University, who carried out some of the first studies into the effects of aspirin on health, said individuals should make up their own minds:
"Aspirin should be thought of in the same context as lifestyle changes such as diet and exercise which can help to preserve health."
Professor Elwood said taking aspirin at night and with calcium seemed to enhance its effects. He suggested taking it with a glass of milk as this could also reduce stomach irritation.
-----------------------
7 December 2010 Last updated at 08:07 ET
Aspirin: What are the risks and benefits?
Aspirin: A wonder drug?
Daily aspirin 'cuts cancer risk'
Taking a small dose of aspirin every day has been linked to a reduced risk of cancer. So what is aspirin and what are the risks and benefits?
What is aspirin?
Aspirin (acetylsalicylic acid) is a drug that has been used for many years as a painkiller. It has an anti-inflammatory action, and is used to relieve headache, menstrual pain and muscle aches. It costs 1p a tablet.
How does it work?
It works by helping to prevent blood clots forming in the blood vessels, by stopping cells in the blood known as platelets from sticking together and clogging an artery.
How can it prevent disease?
Aspirin lowers the risk of a blood clot forming in the arteries of the heart or brain, thereby reducing the risk of having a heart attack or stroke.
What is the evidence that it can prevent cancer?
There is considerable evidence suggesting aspirin can reduce the risk of getting or dying from many different types of cancer. Early studies suggested the benefits come from taking high doses of aspirin.
The latest work suggests even small doses - 75mg - can reduce the risk of cancer when taken for at least five years.
Who should take aspirin?
Anyone considering taking aspirin is advised to talk to their doctor first as aspirin can affect health in other ways, such as increasing the chances of bleeding from the gut.
Source: Patient UK/Cancer Research UK
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25 October 2011 Last updated at 19:02 ET
Pill 'lowers ovarian cancer risk'
By Helen Briggs
Health editor, BBC News website The study looked at the combined oral contraceptive pill
Early blood clue to ovary cancer
Women who take the Pill for 10 years almost halve their risk of ovarian cancer, according to a study.
But experts say this must be balanced against the risk of breast cancer, which is higher in women on the Pill.
For every 100,000 women on the Pill for 10 years there are 50 extra breast cancers and 12 fewer ovarian cancers, data shows.
The study is published in the British Journal of Cancer.
It adds weight to previous research suggesting factors like the Pill and pregnancy can impact on cancer risk by changing the level of hormones in the body.
Dr Richard Edmondson of the Northern Institute for Cancer Research at the University of Newcastle, said: "Women may be reassured to know that the oral contraceptive is not only an effective contraceptive but can have the added benefit of reducing their risk of ovarian cancer.
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These results are important because most women don't know that taking the Pill or getting pregnant can help reduce their risk of ovarian cancer later on in life”
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Naomi Allen University of Oxford
"This is however balanced against a slightly increased risk of developing breast cancer.
"To put this in context, it is estimated that if 100,000 women use the Pill for 10 years or more, there will be 50 more breast cancers than would have otherwise occurred, but 12 fewer ovarian cancers.
"This may be particularly important for women with an increased risk of ovarian cancer in their family."
Large study
The study followed more than 300,000 women enrolled in a large European study known as EPIC (European Prospective Investigation of Cancer).
The women were taking the combined oral contraceptive pill, which contains two hormones, an oestrogen and a progestogen.
Researchers say they found evidence that taking the Pill for 10 years reduced the risk of ovarian cancer by almost half, compared with women who had used the contraceptive for a year or less.
Continue reading the main story The dataThere were about 28 ovarian cancer cases per 100,000 women who used the Pill for a year or lessThere were about 15 ovarian cancer cases per 100,000 women who took the Pill for at least 10 yearsAmong women who have never been pregnant, there were 34 ovarian cancer cases per 100,000 womenAmong women who have gone through pregnancy at least once there were 24 ovarian cancer cases per 100,000 women
The team also say it found evidence that having a baby reduced the risk of ovarian cancer; the more children a woman had, the bigger the protection.
However, they add that their research did not find evidence of a link between breastfeeding and protection against ovarian cancer, which has been found in some other studies.
Ovarian cancer is the fifth most common cancer in women in the UK, with more than 6,500 cases diagnosed each year. Several factors are known to play a role including age, faults in certain genes, obesity and smoking.
Danger signs
Naomi Allen is an epidemiologist for Cancer Research UK at the University of Oxford who works on the EPIC study.
She said: "Ovarian cancer is difficult to detect and so prevention is key to saving women suffering from this disease.
"These results are important because most women don't know that taking the Pill or getting pregnant can help reduce their risk of ovarian cancer later on in life."
Sara Hiom, director of health information at Cancer Research UK, added: "Treatment for ovarian cancer is better if the disease is caught as early as possible.
"So all women should be aware of the signs of ovarian cancer like pain in the lower tummy, bloating, increased tummy size, difficulty eating or feeling full.
"If these symptoms are new and happen on most days then it's worth getting checked out by your doctor without delay."
Meanwhile a separate study, published in the British Medical Journal, appears to confirm earlier research that suggested that some newer types of contraceptive pill are more likely to cause blood clots.
Researchers at the University of Copenhagen, Denmark, said women on pills containing drospirenone, desogestrel or gestodene had double the risk of clots compared with an older drug, levonorgestrel.
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26 October 2011 Last updated at 11:34 ET
Warning over HIV home test kits
Home HIV testing kits have been illegal in the UK since 1992
Concern at self-test health kitsHome 'cervical cancer' test hope
Illegal home testing kits for HIV are giving people incorrect results, the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) has warned.
It said there were issues with other tests for sexually transmitted diseases which were legal but might also be inaccurate.
The body is investigating a UK website which is selling the tests.
The Health Protection Agency has written to some of those affected to say the tests are unreliable.
Sales records gathered during the investigation showed that about 500 tests for sexually transmitted diseases - such as HIV, chlamydia and syphilis - had been sold.
It warned that as well as home HIV tests being against the law, the other tests did not meet European regulations.
Concern
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These kits may be unreliable and there is a significant risk they could be providing the user with a false result”
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Susanne Ludgate MHRA
Susanne Ludgate, MHRA clinical director of devices, said: "We're concerned that there may be a number of self-test kits being sold online that may not be compliant with the relevant piece of legislation and we're urging people not to consider the internet as a method of anonymous testing.
"These kits may be unreliable and there is a significant risk they could be providing the user with a false result.
"The instructions for use might also be incorrect or confusing and not adequate for someone trying to use the kit in their home."
She said people should check for the "CE mark", which shows the tests have been approved.
The Health Protection Agency has contacted those known to have ordered the kits.
Dr Fortune Ncube, from the HPA's blood borne viruses department, said: "If anybody feels they have put themselves at risk they should contact their local GP or go to their most convenient GUM clinic, where they can receive a full screen for all STIs, including HIV.
"Rapid and confidential tests, as well as sexual health advice, are available through the NHS without charge."
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