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Doctors For Life International
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| 21 August 2006 Articles in this issue are:
HIV / AIDS [Budapest - Anti-AIDS patch offers hope] - Patches have been used for years to help smokers kick the habit. Now a team of Hungarian and US researchers is looking to use the same technology to deliver a vaccine against HIV/AIDS by as early as 2009. Genetic Immunity, the company developing the vaccine, has just completed the first safety trials on humans in Budapest, clearing the way for more clinical trials on the actual efficiency of the vaccine. "The first trial was carried out on nine people," the CEO of Genetic Immunity's Hungarian arm, Zsolt Lisziewicz, said. "The goal was to check the safety and toxicity of the vaccine. We didn't find any side effects." ...[more] [United Kingdom - Cannabis Use Leads to Psychotic Relapse] - A ground breaking study, published in the August issue of the British Journal of Psychiatry, found that more frequent cannabis use was associated with a higher risk of psychotic relapse as well as more severe psychotic symptoms. It is the first prospective study to systematically explore the relationship between cannabis use and psychotic symptoms and relapse, relative to other risk factors. It was conducted over a 6-month period using highly sensitive measures and frequent follow-up. ...[more] [South Africa - Dagga Smoking: A Private Matter?] - A teenage mother was high on dagga when she squeezed the life out of her two-year-old daughter because “the devil was trying to take her away”. She has been given a suspended three-year prison sentence. Este Mitchell said in her plea that she had tightened her grip all the more when Bianca's struggles intensified. “She stopped moving and I realised I had squeezed too hard and she was dead.” Mitchell had her daughter wrapped in a blanket on her lap while she sat on the lawn outside her home as dawn broke on August 20, last year, listening to Gospel music and “waiting for the Lord to fetch (us) both”. ...[more] [ England - Right to Live] - A terminally-ill man has lost his legal battle to ensure that he will receive nutrition and water when he is close to death. Leslie Burke, 46, has a degenerative brain condition and fears that he will be refused artificial nutrition and hydration when his condition worsens. The Court of Appeal in London ruled against him last year, and now the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg has also declined his appeal. The Court said that it interpreted the UK law as being in favour of prolonging life whenever possible. ...[more] [England - Channel 5 Suicide Pact] - Jenni Murray, the BBC presenter for Woman's Hour, spoke her defeatist mind on a Channel 5 documentary, Don't Get Me Started! She denounced the British law against assisted suicide, sealeding a pact with two friends that they will assist each other to die if any of them is diagnosed with a debilitating and incurable illness. Methods they might use include injections or smothering with a pillow. The network said: "Jenni is angry that, having fought so hard to become liberated and independent, women are now being trapped into caring for dependent parents." ...[more] [USA - Massachusetts: the Last, Lonely Haven for Gay Marriage] - When Massachusetts started marrying gays and lesbians in 2004, activists giddily predicted the narrow court victory would speed same-sex nuptials nationwide, with state after state jumping on the gay wedding bandwagon. More than two years later -- and after recent court setbacks in New York and Washington state -- Massachusetts remains the nation's sole gay marriage safe haven. The twin rulings were dispiriting blows for activists who hoped the states could provide a new bulwark for same-sex marriage. Opponents of gay marriage said the decision is further proof that Massachusetts is out of step with the nation. ...[more] [Australia - MP's Debating Stem Cell Vote] - “Government MPs are still debating how best to bring forward a parliamentary vote on embryonic stem cell research”, said Australian Prime Minister, John Howard. He bowed to backbench pressure and promised his MPs a conscience-vote, should any legislation come to parliament. An independent committee has recommended the Government allow scientists to harvest embryos for the purpose of producing stem cells, replacing current laws that restrict research to spare IVF embryos. Cabinet decided in June to maintain a ban on therapeutic cloning for stem cell research. ...[more] [ Japan - Scientists Turn Adult Stem Cells Into Embryonic Cells] - Japanese scientists may be on the track of one of the great dreams of regenerative medicine: making an adult cell revert into an embryonic stem cell. Shinya Yamanaka and Kazutoshi Takahashi of Kyoto University , found that four factors, or genes, turned the adult cells into cells which behave like embryonic stem cells. These passed the basic ID test: when injected under the skin of healthy mice, they formed teratomas, or tumours from the three germ layers of the body. Until now it has been thought impossible to create an embryonic stem cell without resorting to cloning. ...[more] [South Africa - Legislation declared invalid by ConCourt.] - By a majority of 8 to 3, the Constitutional Court upheld Doctors for Life's application alleging that the NCOP and the Nine Provinces had failed to provide "a meaningful opportunity" for the public to participate in the Democratic Process of passing the Abortion Amendment Act and the Traditional Health Practitioners Act. This is the first time that DFL has succeeded in a case brought in their own name before the Courts of South Africa. They are particularly gratified that the Court upheld the right to apply directly to the Constitutional Court and agreed with their submissions that Parliament had been in breach of the constitutional obligation to facilitate public involvement in the legislative process. The Public will have 18 months to voice their opinions and concerns on the proposed bill. ...[more] [USA - Survey Reveals Extent of Teen Prostitution] - About 650,000 American teenagers have traded sex for money or drugs. Boys were more likely to have prostituted themselves than girls, according to the only survey ever committed to the subject, published 9 August 2006, in the Journal of Sexually Transmitted Infections. Close to 4 percent of more than 13,000 U.S. teens in grades 7-12 reported having exchanged sex for drugs or money. However, when the survey was done, the number of times that teens reported exchanging sex for money or drugs was just one. Jessica Edwards, lead researcher at the Pacific Institute for Research and Evaluation in Chapel Hill, N.C. said that it probably indicates the teens aren't using prostitution to support themselves but rather to get something they want but don't really need....[more] [South Africa - More Restrictions on Porn] - The Department of Home Affairs is currently drafting and proposing an amendment to the Film and Publications Act apparently aimed at the protection of children from harmful material such as pornography. This is met with fierce opposition from the media who view it as censorship and a breach of freedom of the press. According to the proposed amendment, print and broadcast media will effectively be under the control of the Film and Publications Board. ...[more] [England - IVF's Death in Women] - Fertility experts sought to reassure women after a patient died after a routine IVF procedure at a hospital in Leicester. “It is an extremely rare occurrence. A woman is more likely to die in childbirth than through IVF,” said Richard Kennedy, a spokesman for the British Fertility Society. The patient, who has not been named, died on Monday at Leicester Royal Infirmary after an operation last week to harvest eggs from her ovaries. The cause of death has yet to be established. If a link with the treatment is confirmed, the case would be one of the first British fatalities associated with IVF. More than 10,000 children are born using it each year. ...[more] [ Canada - Experts debate possible paedophilia defence] - Experts in both law and psychology are expressing skepticism that accused sex offender Peter Whitmore could successfully use paedophilia as a defence. Whitmore, who is charged with sexual assault, kidnapping and abduction, with the victims, a 10- and 14-year-old boy from Manitoba , appeared briefly in court on Thursday. His lawyer, Daniel Brodsky, said paedophilia is clearly a mental disorder and it would be irresponsible to put a mentally ill person in prison. The insanity plea argues that Whitmore is not criminally responsible because he doesn't know the difference between right and wrong. ...[more] [Uganda - Fake traditional healers on increase] - The Ugandan district director of health services, Dr Dan Kyamanywa, says that the number of fake traditional healers in the district has increased to worrying levels, adding that these bogus healers are extorting large sums of money from the people, promising them heaven on earth. He says the quacks are deceiving the locals. They apparently come from the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), Tanzania and different parts of Uganda. ...[more] [Canada, South Africa - Manto Should Resign] - "The Minister of Health Manto Tshabalala-Msimang, should resign over her lack of leadership on HIV/AIDS", the AIDS Law Project told the International AIDS conference in Toronto, Canada, on Thursday. They said the high HIV prevalence and AIDS deaths in South Africa are the consequences of inept political leadership. "If there isn't a government at the centre encouraging leadership, then you have got a problem, and that's what you see in South Africa." ...[more] [Canada, South Africa - Minister Condemns 'Veggie-Vandals'] - Health Minister Manto Tshabalala-Msimang has condemned the vandalising of the garlic-, lemon- and beetroot-stocked South African exhibit at the International AIDS Conference in Toronto, Canada. A group of Treatment Action Campaign (TAC) activists occupied the stall, with some lying on the ground to symbolise the dead. "Fire Manto now!" they chanted. "How many lemons are you going to eat when your CD4 count drops below 200?" shouted a woman. ...[more] |
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'Doctors for Life International' represents more than 1400 medical doctors and specialists, three-quarters of who practice in South Africa. Since 1991 DFL has been actively promoting health care that is safe and efficient for all South Africans. DFL was founded as a South African organization in 1991 and has spread across the globe. DFL is involved in several community projects including orphan care, the care of terminal AIDS patients, malaria prevention and the care of abused women.