A member of a support group for women living with HIV shares her story with UNITAID Chair Philippe Douste-Blazy. (This is not Beatrice).

Beatrice didn’t want us to take her picture. Neither did she want me to use her real name. Most of her friends and family don’t even know she’s HIV positive — the stigma here against people living with HIV is strong. Still, she was brave enough to tell her story to a room of journalists and health officials, including the chair of UNITAID, Philippe Douste-Blazy.

Beatrice is 30 years old and the proud mother of a 13-year-old and devastatingly cute 16-month-old baby. In 2002, Beatrice was diagnosed HIV-positive. She quickly went on anti-retroviral treatments, which for her meant taking two pills once a day. Every month, she would travel to the local health center to pick up the medicines. She stuck with that routine for eight years. But after she delivered her second baby — who was healthy and HIV-negative — she decided to stop her treatment. As she tells it, she was feeling perfectly fine and didn’t see the need to keep up with her routine.

That turned out to be a very big mistake.

Two months after she quit her treatment, she fell very ill. Skipping two months of ARV treatments raises the possibility that the virus may develop a resistance to the medicine. That is exactly what happened to Beatrice. Her doctor told her that if she wanted to live, she would need to go on so-called “second-line” ARVs.

She was able to get on the second line drugs, and after one month she began feeling better. But instead of taking two pills a day, she now has to take six. If she develops resistance to the second line, the results could be catastrophic. Third-line drugs, while they do exist, are not available in Cameroon. If for some reason she misses a month or two of treatment, the virus could become effectively untreatable.

Beatrice is committed to her second-line drug regimen, but circumstances outside her control could interrupt her treatments. In Cameroon, “stock outs” of drug supplies are an ever present threat. Beatrice lives with the stress that she may miss a treatment through no fault of her own. She fears what that might mean for her children.

Beatrice’s story is moving on a personal level. But as a public health challenge, her circumstance illustrates a huge gap in the way governments and donors have historically approached people living with HIV. The second-line drugs that Beatrice takes daily are several orders of magnitude more expensive than traditional, first-line ARV treatments. The problem is that as more people access first-line treatment, there will be more opportunities for people to develop resistance to that first line. Donors and governments in the developing world simply can’t afford that kind of outlay.

It costs about $70 to $100 dollars per patient per year for first-line ARV treatment in the developing world, but $700 to $1,000 per patient per year for second-line treatment. For resource-poor countries, the costs of expensive, second-line drugs is a huge barrier to providing care. Here in Cameroon, there are about 95,000 people on ARVs, about 5 percent of whom are on second-line treatment.

The government estimates that there is a further 150,000 people who could be on treatment but are not because they do not know their HIV status. As the government and NGOs get better at reaching HIV-positive people with treatment, the number of people who will require second- and third-line treatments may sharply increase. If you count on a first-line treatment failure rate of about 5 percent, that means the sum that government and donors would have to set aside for second-line treatment would be impossibly high.

UNITAID Chair Philippe Douste-Blazy at a drug warehouse in Yaounde, Cameroon

This is where UNITAID comes in.
One of the reasons that the costs of second- and third-line treatments are so high is that the drug manufactures hold expensive patents on the drugs. On the one hand, this is reasonable enough: drug manufacturers invest a great deal into R&D and deserve a decent return on their investment. On the other hand, if costs don’t come down, several thousand people living with HIV who require second-line treatment will not be able to access it.

UNITAID’s brand new “patent pool” seeks to bridge the moral imperative to provide low-cost drugs to patients and drug companies’ need to see a return on their investments. Drug companies who participate in the patent pool hand over their patents to UNITAID, which makes those patents available to generic drug manufacturers. Part of the deal is that the generic drugs can only be sold in lower-income countries, which helps to preserve the value of the patent. UNITAID then pays a modest royalty to the original patent holders. The fees that the patent holder receives are smaller than what they would otherwise earn on the sale of their drugs in rich countries, but the patent pool opens markets for their drugs where it would otherwise not exist. The difference is between receiving a small royalty or simply being priced out of the market entirely.

The pool was officially launched last month when Gilead Sciences turned four HIV drug patents over to UNITAID. They need other major drug manufacturers like GlaxoSmithKline and Johnson and Johnson to get on board if it is going to really work.

This is a tall order, but it could mean the difference of several thousand lives that would otherwise be needlessly wasted.

Mark Leon Goldberg | August 31, 2011 | Writer for UN Dispatch

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Michèle Akono went to the blood bank and she was handed a tube: “We need a blood sample from the patient to run tests”, the nurses said. The results showed that the patient’s blood group was O+. The nurse then explained the procedure: 500ml of blood require at least two donors and the costs are 15,000 CFA francs. “We don’t sell blood”, she added. “The money is for the chemical agents used in testing the blood. Before the transfusion, we need to check that donors are compatible and healthy.” These tests are even subsidised by the state, otherwise they would could more than 50,000 CFA francs.

There wasn’t not enough blood available and Michèle Akono had to look for other potential donors. She donated her own blood to a patient and called the patient’s father. Almost five hours later, Michèle finally acquired the blood and returned to the hospital.

Not enough donors

Although Michèle Akono managed to save her niece, a nurse from the hospital’s emergency services explains that many other patients, “especially accident victims”, die in Cameroon due to the lack of blood. She adds: “We don’t always have the contact details of family members and there is no blood reserve”.

Doctor Thérèse Nkoa, Head of Transfusion Safety at the Ministry of Public Health, reveals that Cameroon does not have a blood reserve because there are no voluntary donors. “Cameroonians do not have the culture of donating blood“, she says.

Rosine Medjo, who has been working as a nurse at the blood bank for four years, shares this experience. “When people come to donate blood, they want some financial compensation in return”. The nurse adds that she has seen many patients refusing to receive a blood transfusion from a stranger. Added to this, is that the frequent power cuts make the conservation of blood difficult.

During World blood donation day some organisations have launched sensitisation and blood collection campaigns, but mindsets are slow to change.

RNW | 19 June 2011 | Radio Netherlands Worldwide (Hilversum)|

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A research study of more than 1,700 at-risk couples has found that people with HIV who start taking antiretroviral drugs early can dramatically reduce the danger of passing the virus on to their partners.

This report comes two days after a study was published on an experimental vaccine which has controlled the AIDS infection in monkeys for over a year.

The study could contribute to an AIDS vaccine for humans.

Video:

Khadija Magardie | Friday, 13 May 2011 | Al Jazeera |

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I’ll cover the most common causes of hair loss in black women. And I will discuss treatment methods. In all cases, you should make sure you that you’re getting the proper nutrients for healthy hair in the form of vitamins and supplements (last page). And in some cases of hair loss you will have to see a doctor from prescription medication so that your condition doesn’t worsen or become permanent.

The thing to remember is that if you’re a black woman experiencing thinning hair or hair loss, you should take the time to read up on this information, and start taking the necessary steps now to restore your hair back to its full and healthy state. Here is the black woman’s guide to hair loss:

Traction Alopecia

This type of hair loss is seen around the hairline, especially around the temples and above the ears. How does it happen? It is the result of tight hairstyles- i.e. tight weaves, braids and ponytails. How is it treated? Fortunately, this type of hair loss is reversible in the initial stages. And treatments include: refraining from the same hairstyles that caused the hair loss, as well as over the counter supplements (vitamin b complex, biotin, vitamin c, e and zinc) and topical minoxidil (Rogaine).

Central Centrifugal Cicatricial Alopecia (CCCA)

This type of hair loss was once called “hot-comb alopecia,” and most women with this condition will initially notice hair thinning at the  “crown” of the head that eventually spreads. How does it happen? It is most often the result of excessive heat styling and chemical processing (i.e. relaxers). How is it treated? CCCA is an inflammatory-like condition, so the best treatments are medical. In addition to taking vitamins, you will have to see a doctor who will most likely prescribe anti-inflammatories (i.e. prescription strength cortisone) and other medications to be applied topically or injected directly into the scalp.

Androgenetic Alopecia

This type of hair loss is often called “female-pattern baldness” where women will also notice thinning at the “crown” of the head with the rest of the hair spared. How does it happen? It is a hereditary condition. How is it treated? You will have to see your doctor for effective treatments which may include prescription level medications, which may also include hormonal therapy. This type of hair loss is also treated with over the counter medications like topical minoxidil (Rogaine).

Hormonal Hair Loss

As we age, it’s natural for our hair to experience changes like increased shedding and slow growth. But in women, some hormonal changes that can trigger unhealthy hair loss include: menopause, thyroid conditions, and pregnancy. How is this treated? Depending on the cause, this type of hair loss can be treated with estrogen therapy, thyroid medication, and/or vitamins and nutritional supplements. So make sure you always get regular medical checkups to fully assess your overall health. This way, if your hair loss is the result of a hormonal imbalance, you can have the issue addressed right away.

Are you a woman currently experiencing or who has experienced hair loss due to any of the above reasons?

What treatment(s) did you use, and did it work?
Dr Phoenix| Friday, May 13, 2011| MN|

Liked this article and want to know more about our writer Dr. Phoenyx Austin? Well show her some love on her Facebook fan page. Known for her gorgeous natural tresses and flawless skin, Dr. Phoenyx is a physician, writer, and media personality who offers information on hair and skin care. She has been featured in Essence and encourages all women to embrace and showcase their natural beauty.

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Only around two per cent of all research articles produced by the United States, the biggest producer of HIV/AIDS studies, are about HIV/AIDS, according to the study in Scientometrics. Such studies take up less than two per cent of the total publication output of most European countries, and just 0.5 per cent of Japan’s output.

By contrast, 5.5 per cent of South Africa’s research effort goes towards HIV/AIDS – mainly clinical medicine and social studies. This is six times as much as expected given its size, but still only around three per cent of the global total.

Globally HIV/AIDS research was on the rise until 1995, and has since levelled out at around 8,000 articles per year. This compares, for example, with 30,000 papers on cancer research.

At the AIDS Vaccine 2010 conference in the United States last month (28 September-1 October), Alan Berstein, executive director of the Global HIV Vaccine Enterprise, said the money going into HIV/AIDS research had decreased because of the economic downturn and competing global health priorities.

Anastassios Pouris, director of the Institute for Technological Innovation at the University of Pretoria and co-author of the study, told SciDev.Net that the levelling out of HIV/AIDS publications started in 1996 when highly active antiretroviral therapies (HAART) reduced death rates in developed countries.

But while South African HIV/AIDS research output is on the rise, there is “no way” South African researchers can resolve the HIV/AIDS issue on their own, Pouris said. HIV/AIDS has to an extent become mainly a developing world concern, he said, calling on South Africa to involve the rest of the world in researching the disease.

“The emphasis [in South Africa] is on social sciences because the pandemic creates social concerns,” Pouris said. “However, it will be hard science that provides the solution.” Hard sciences, such as biochemistry and pharmacology, are under-emphasised in South African HIV/AIDS research, he said.

Mitchell Warren, executive director of the AIDS Vaccine Advocacy Coalition in New York, said: “Compared to 20 years ago much more money is being invested in AIDS vaccine research.” But he added that “maybe some countries have been less supportive than they could have been.”

“What is needed from the international donor community now is sustained funding,” said Warren. “Otherwise good work that has taken years to build will be lost.”

A funding conference in New York this month (5 October) failed to raise the US$20 billion estimated by the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria to be needed to stop the spread of HIV/AIDS by 2015.

Carol Campbell | 31 October 2010|SciDev.Net (London)

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• Global HIV/AIDS Testing Market to Exceed US$3.5 Billion by 2015, According to a New Report by Global Industry Analysts, Inc. (prweb.com)

]]> http://cameroonwebnews.com/2010/10/31/africa-hiv-research-on-the-rise/feed/ 0 http://cameroonwebnews.com/2010/10/16/top-10-thoughts-a-woman-has-when-she%e2%80%99s-pregnant/ http://cameroonwebnews.com/2010/10/16/top-10-thoughts-a-woman-has-when-she%e2%80%99s-pregnant/#comments Sat, 16 Oct 2010 15:55:46 +0000 admin http://cameroonwebnews.com/?p=32158 Maybe you bought that pregnancy test (or maybe 3 or 4), and with much trepidation, you wait those excruciating 10 minutes to see if your morning pee will bring forth the “yeahgirlyoupregnant” sign in the result window.

So… yeah girl, you’re pregnant.

Now what?

Kat Gordon, creative director for Maternal Instinct, a company that specializes in marketing to moms, says that a woman’s use of online search (i.e. Google) DOUBLES when she becomes pregnant. Makes sense, because a woman’s body changes more dramatically than Obama’s poll numbers over the course of the nine months it takes to create that little bundle of joy.

Here’s some of the most common questions and concerns women have before the pee pee dries on the EPT:
“I did the math, and I conceived on that night I went on a wild drinking binge. Will my baby have two heads?”

Short answer: Probably not, but you better stop now.

“Should I tell people?”

It’s best to wait to tell everyone the news until the 12th week of pregnancy, because the risks of miscarriage decrease dramatically from that point on.

“Am I going to lose my body?”

Well, kinda.  You can forget about that hourglass waistline for the next 40 weeks.  Hourglasses ain’t gonna happen; sorry.

“Should I buy maternity clothes?”

In this economy?  Best to wait until your jeans don’t fit (around four months preggers) and shop the sale at the posh maternity stores. Remember, pregnancy is, by design, a temporary situation.

” Should I tell my boss?”

Not before you do your research and know your rights.  What’s your job’s policy on maternity leave?  What health procedures related to pregnancy are covered via your employer’s health insurance?  Better find out tout suite.

“Can I exercise?”

You’d better!  Studies show exercise makes delivery of that eight-pound hamhock a lot easier.  But if you haven’t been training for a marathon before you were pregnant, don’t start now.  Best to start with a walk around the block and build up from there.

“Will sex hurt the baby?”

I don’t care how “well-endowed” you partner is, your baby runs little risk of brain damage from “poking.”

Christelyn Karazin| October 16th, 2010| MN|

Christelyn D. Karazin founder and organizer of “No Wedding, No Womb,” an initiative to find solutions to the 72 percent out-of-wedlock rate in the black community. She is the co-author of Swirling: How to Date, Mate and Relate Mixing Race Culture and Creed and runs a blog, www.beyondblackwhite.com, dedicated to women of color who are interested and or involved in interracial and intercultural relationships.

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]]> http://cameroonwebnews.com/2010/10/16/top-10-thoughts-a-woman-has-when-she%e2%80%99s-pregnant/feed/ 0 http://cameroonwebnews.com/2010/10/10/mammograms-before-50-worth-it/ http://cameroonwebnews.com/2010/10/10/mammograms-before-50-worth-it/#comments Sun, 10 Oct 2010 13:30:59 +0000 admin http://cameroonwebnews.com/?p=31806 You might expect that a new study out of Sweden of roughly a million women, suggesting a 26 percent mortality reduction with routine mammography in women in their 40s, would resolve long-standing controversy about the practice. But even with these new data, routine mammograms before 50 are, in essence, a 50/50 proposition: a toss-up. Let’s take a look at both sides of this flip-of-the-coin, and see which way it faces for you.

First, some context for the new study. Approximately a year ago, the United States Preventive Services Task Force examined all of the evidence then available, and reached the controversial conclusion that routine breast cancer screening should begin at 50, not 40.

This recommendation — from a group that directly influences national policy — did not refute that mammography before age 50 can save lives — everyone knows it can, and has. It simply compared the potential individual benefit to the costs borne by the whole population.

What costs? You might think dollars, but that issue was not even considered by the Task Force, which should relieve anyone who thinks their recommendation carried the taint of “rationing.” Not so; economic analysis is conducted separately from the Task Force evidence reviews.

The relevant costs were tallied as harms, and missed benefits. In terms of missed benefits, mammograms are harder to interpret in pre-menopausal women because of breast density and breast cancer, when it does occur before menopause, often progresses faster than it does later in life. The result is that even with screening, a significant proportion of pre-menopausal breast cancers will elude detection until they are somewhat advanced.

As for harms, we have long known that for every breast cancer found in women under 50, well over 10 times as many women will have false positive results. Quite a few of these women will have biopsies. There are, of course, potential complications of the biopsies. In addition, the scar tissue left behind makes future mammograms harder still to interpret, increasing the risks of missing a cancer when there actually is one. And though small, the dose of radiation from routine mammograms can actually contribute, slightly, to breast cancer risk over time.

The new study, which ostensibly revisits the controversy, certainly seems compelling at first, as much for its size as its findings. Researchers took advantage of a natural experiment in Sweden: some counties offered mammograms routinely over a 20-year span, others did not. Populations were compared among the counties, and mortality was 26 percent less overall in those counties that screened.

But the study limitations become pretty salient on closer scrutiny. First, you should immediately think to ask: 26 percent lower than what? There were roughly 1,200 breast cancer deaths in a half-million women followed for a decade or more without screening; and just over 800 deaths in a comparable group that was screened. Well over 1,000 women under 40 needed to be screened for 10 years before screening saved one life.

Second, the Swedish study reported the mortality benefit of screening, but did not look at its harms. We must presume the usual high volume of false positive tests and biopsies.

Third, we don’t know from the Swedish study what else may have differed between counties that did and counties that didn’t screen. Maybe those that did screen also provided better care and the apparent survival benefit was more about treatment than screening. Maybe the populations differed in other important ways. And lastly, even with screening, 74 percent of the breast cancer deaths that would have occurred without it, occurred anyway.

The official recommendation in the U.S. before this study was neither for, nor against, routine mammography in women under 40; rather, it was for individualized decision making because the risk/benefit trade-off is still like calling a coin toss.

The definitive solution to the dilemma of a toss-up is, of course, a third choice. In this case, that would be better screening that does not involve radiation; that is based on a personal risk profile; that reliably finds cancer at its earliest stages when present; that reliably rules out cancer when it is absent; and that distinguishes between cancer that requires treatment and cancer that might go away on its own. By combining genomic advances with advances in imaging, and housing them together in comprehensive breast care centers, we will get there. But we’re not there yet.

While waiting, there is no “right” answer for all women in their 40s. But all you really need is an answer that’s right for you, and that’s what good clinical care is all about. Confer with your doctor; consider pros and cons; your risk factors and preferences. And together, make either heads, or tails, of this particular toss-up.

David Katz, M.D.|10/10/10|Huffpo|
Dr. Katz is the Director of Yale University’s Prevention Research Center
Dr. David L. Katz; www.davidkatzmd.com
www.turnthetidefoundation.org

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]]> http://cameroonwebnews.com/2010/10/10/mammograms-before-50-worth-it/feed/ 0 http://cameroonwebnews.com/2010/10/08/curvy-women-live-longer/ http://cameroonwebnews.com/2010/10/08/curvy-women-live-longer/#comments Fri, 08 Oct 2010 14:31:36 +0000 admin http://cameroonwebnews.com/?p=31741 A heavy rear can guarantee your chances of living longer, says a new study.

This means that Jennifer Lopez, Nigella Lawson and Beyonce as well as other curvy women are in great shape to live longer thanks to their well-rounded -figures.

Scientists have found that having a big bottom and thighs could help prevent metabolic disorders like heart disease, strokes and -diabetes.he study found that fat apparently grows differently in the upper and lower parts of the adult body, rather than remaining stable in both areas.

Almost 30 men and women in the study were encouraged to gorge on ice-cream, chocolate, sugary drinks and other highly fattening food for eight weeks.

Researchers measured body fat and fat cell size before and after the unhealthy diet regime.

They found that on average the participants put on 5.5lb (2.5 kilos) of upper body fat and 3.3lb (1.5 -kilos) of lower body fat.

But there was a striking difference in that fat cells around the stomach and heart grew in size – but not number – by producing more fat synthesising proteins. The reverse was true for thigh fat cells in the lower part of the body which increased in number, but did not get bigger.

Dr Michael Jensen, research leader at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota, said the findings challenge the concept that the number of fat cells doesn’t vary between the upper and lower body.

It also supports the idea that increased capacity to produce lower-body fat cells creates some form of protection to the upper body and potentially helps to prevent -serious metabolic diseases.

“The cellular mechanisms are different. The accumulation of abdominal fat happens largely by individual cells expanding in size – while with fat gain in the femoral or lower body it is the number of fat cells that increases. So, different mechanism, different impact,” the Daily Express quoted Jensen as saying.

In -future, drugs that alter the way fat is stored around the body could be used to combat -diseases.

The study is published in US journal -Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. (ANI) |London, Oct 8 (ANI)|

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]]> http://cameroonwebnews.com/2010/10/08/curvy-women-live-longer/feed/ 0 http://cameroonwebnews.com/2010/10/05/africa-modified-bananas-could-reduce-maternal-and-child-mortality/ http://cameroonwebnews.com/2010/10/05/africa-modified-bananas-could-reduce-maternal-and-child-mortality/#comments Tue, 05 Oct 2010 21:24:37 +0000 admin http://cameroonwebnews.com/?p=31592 Kampala — Africa’s high rates of maternal and child mortality could be solved through the development of a bio-fortified genetically modified banana as preliminary results of a joint research project between Ugandan and Australian scientists have proved positive.

High rates of chronic malnutrition and micronutrient deficiencies of Vitamin A and iron among women and children remain Uganda’s most common malnutrition problems, suffocating efforts to reduce child and maternal mortality. But an edible banana could solve this problem.

“To address the vitamin problem, we are getting the genes that increase vitamins from other plants which produce more vitamins, and genes of iron from plants that produce more iron and putting them in bananas,” says Professor Wilberforce Tushemereirwe, Programme Leader National Banana Research Programme at the National Agricultural Research Organisation (NARO).

The soybean gene, ferritin, has been inserted in banana cells to make a protein that enhances the iron storage in banana fruit pulp. Other genes inserted are from plants rich in provitamin A, yellow maize and the non-edible banana, Asupina. The resultant modified bananas are currently growing on half an acre of land at the Kawanda Agricultural Research Institute, north of the capital Kampala.

“We are at a stage where we are about to prove that the concept works; that when you put these genes in a banana plant, the plant will express and produce provitamin A and will accumulate the iron. That is what we want to first demonstrate. If successful, the new variety will contain four times the content of Vitamin A that it currently does,” Tushemereire says. This is the first time that a genetically modified crop is being developed on African soil but it may be another eight years of research before the improved banana cultivars are ready for commercial planting, Tushemereirwe says.

Now in its fifth year, the research is being jointly conducted by researchers from Uganda’s NARO and Australia’s Queensland University of Technology.

“What I consider our biggest success is that the genes we have put in these bananas are working very well in Australia. They are now being evaluated in an Australian banana where they have managed to increase provitamin A by four times. So we are waiting to see whether we shall get the fourfold increase here. Our success is, so far, indirect,” Tushmereirwe says.

The genetically modified bananas will be appropriate for Ugandan consumers, he says. Seventy three percent of children under five and 49 percent of women of child-bearing age in the country are anaemic. Vitamin A deficiency also affects 20 percent of women and children, according to the Uganda Demographic Health Survey 2006.

In addition, malnutrition in Uganda affects over two million children under five. Estimated projections suggest that over 520,000 children will die as a consequence of undernourishment alone between 2006 and 2015 if the status quo is maintained. Also, approximately 24 percent of maternal mortality is associated with iron deficiency, and estimated projections suggest that the current levels of anaemia among women of reproductive age will result in the deaths of 15,000 mothers between 2006 and 2015, according to the ‘The Analysis of the Nutrition situation in Uganda’ published by USAID and Food and Nutrition Technical Assistance.

In light of this, it is no wonder that Uganda’s ministry of health has embraced the development of the modified banana as one strategy to fight malnutrition. “The advantage of (the) bio diversification of crops is that it is affordable by the community and they can be trained to grow it. It becomes much cheaper because people believe fortified products bought off the shelf may have cost implications,” Dr. Elizabeth Madraa, Head of Nutrition at the ministry of health told IPS.

Nutritionists agree. “I think it’s a really brilliant idea. Vitamin A deficiency takes a good percentage of deficiencies in Uganda, especially among women of child-bearing age and their newborn babies,” says Sarah Muitta Magoola, a nutritionist at International Hospital Kampala.

While controversies about genetically modified foods may exist, with some questioning its safety, Tushemereirwe says the development is in the best interest of Uganda’s nutrition requirements. “It’s not the need for GM bananas per se. What we need is bananas that address the problems of consumers here. We are unable to get those bananas using the conventional means.”

“We are also trying the GM approach to see whether we can get something better We are interested in bananas that have traits and characteristics that address the problems of our consumers and our farmers we are using the safest technologies,” he says.

Mass sensitisation of consumers about the genetically modified banana as well as the importance of Vitamin A is important, Magoola says. “If the new crop is going to be put on the market, farmers should know why they are planting that banana and how it will help them. The people who are suffering (from deficiencies) are not the middle class or the rich but the poor people at the grassroots.”

There is also need to sensitise people more about the dangers of Vitamin A deficiency and which foods they can get it in. “Some people think because blindness comes at a later stage while others just attach blindness with many other things like witchcraft. (But upon investigation) you find that many of the (blind) people were deficient of Vitamin A,” Magoola says.

But Tushemereirwe says his organisation has a communication plan which will inform stakeholders about the modified banana.

What do you think? Should Cameroon or/and Africa adopt genetically modified bananas?

Evelyn Matsamura Kiapi| 5 October 2010|IPS|

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]]> http://cameroonwebnews.com/2010/10/05/africa-modified-bananas-could-reduce-maternal-and-child-mortality/feed/ 0 http://cameroonwebnews.com/2010/10/05/nobel-awarded-to-british-scientist-for-in-vitro-fertilization/ http://cameroonwebnews.com/2010/10/05/nobel-awarded-to-british-scientist-for-in-vitro-fertilization/#comments Tue, 05 Oct 2010 17:08:48 +0000 admin http://cameroonwebnews.com/?p=31563 The Nobel prize for medicine was awarded to the British scientist who pioneered in-vitro fertilization, a procedure that has helped in the conception and birth of four million people around the world since the first test-tube baby Louise Brown in 1978.

The 85-year-old winner, a Manchester-born physiologist, received the prize in an announcement Monday by the Nobel Assembly’s Göran Hansson at the Karolinska Institute in Stockholm.  “The Nobel Assembly at Karolinska Institute has today decided to award the Nobel Prize in physiology or medicine 2010 to Robert Edwards for the development of in-vitro fertilization,” Hansson said.

Edwards started working on in-vitro fertilization as early as the 1950s. He developed the technique, in which eggs are removed from a woman, fertilized outside her body and then implanted into the womb, together with British surgeon Patrick Steptoe, who died in 1988.

In July 1978, Louise Brown in Britain became the first baby born through the groundbreaking procedure. Since her birth, some four million children have been born worldwide as a result of the procedure.

The work by Edwards and Steptoe stirred an ethical debate, with the Vatican,  other religious leaders and some scientists demanding the project be stopped.

The Vatican is opposed to IVF because it involves separating conception from the “conjugal act,” sexual intercourse between a husband and wife, and often results in the destruction of eggs that are taken from a woman but not used.

The controversy over IVF continues with debate now centering on who should be able to use the technology. Some experts have questioned whether an age limit should be set on would-be parents, whether women and men who donate their eggs and sperm should be paid, and if gay couples should be eligible.

In France lesbians are not allowed to use donor sperm. In Britain, women cannot be paid more than $384.00 for donating their eggs. Germany and Italy both forbid the freezing of embryos.

After the announcement, Christer Höög, a member of the Nobel medicine prize committee alluded, to the decades-old controversy. “It is a safe and effective therapy. It is regulated through strict ethical guidelines and long-term studies have established that IVF children are as healthy as other children,” Höög said.

The medicine award was the first of the 2010 Nobel prizes to be announced. It will be followed by physics on Tuesday, chemistry on Wednesday, literature on Thursday, the Nobel Peace Prize on Friday and economics on Monday Oct. 11.

Kevin Billinghurst | Stockholm|5 October 2010|VOA|

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• Test tube victory: In vitro fertilization pioneer nabs Nobel Prize (shortformblog.com)

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