02 October 2006
South Africa - Fresh TB cases raise fears of wider outbreak
New cases of tuberculosis found in South Africa stoked concerns that extremely drug resistant tuberculosis, or XDR-TB, may be spreading, complicating efforts to contain the deadly march of AIDS. It also raised fears that there could be multiple versions of a highly drug resistant strain that threatens to spread across a region ravaged by AIDS. Tuberculosis is the main direct cause of death for people with AIDS in South Africa . Health officials said that five new cases were discovered in Gauteng , South Africa ’s premier economic region, which includes Johannesburg and Pretoria . Officials said the strain of TB found in Gauteng this week did not immediately match the one that has killed 62 HIV-positive patients in eastern KwaZulu-Natal province over the past month. ...[more]
India – HIV/AIDS Advocates Say Homosexual Law Hinders HIV Prevention
International human rights groups and gay rights advocates in India called on the government in an open letter to repeal its law criminalizing homosexuality, saying the law is affecting the fight against HIV/AIDS. The law makes it illegal to distribute condoms to gay men and men in prison. According to the Times, the law -- which seldom is used to prosecute gay adults in consensual relationships -- is most often used to arrest offenders in cases of sexual abuse of children. Some people warn that if the law is repealed, efforts to prosecute people who commit sexual abuses against children could be negatively affected. The statute is being challenged under a 2001 lawsuit brought by the Naz Foundation India Trust. The Delhi High Court initially threw out the case, but the Supreme Court of India earlier this year instructed the high court to review the case again. ...[more]
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Switzerland - Dignitas expanding its ideas and borders
The Swiss death-clinic, Dignitas, run by Ludwig Minelli, who now has ties with Britain ’s Liberal Democratic Party and hopes to extend its services to the depressed and mentally ill. MP’s from Britain held a fringe meeting with Minelli to argue for a change in the law which currently prevents terminally ill patients from being helped to die. Of the 620 people who have died at the Dignitas clinic, 55 were Britons.
The Swiss Supreme Court is to hear a case of a patient with bipolar disorder who wishes to die at the clinic. Mr Minelli told the fringe meeting of the Liberal Democrat conference in Brighton that he wanted all people, including the mentally ill or depressed, to be given the "marvellous opportunity" to end their lives if they wanted. Both pro- and anti-euthanasia groups reacted with horror. A spokesperson from “Care, not Killing” noted, "We would soon have our own Dr Minellis, encouraging sick and vulnerable people to end their own lives, if only to avoid becoming a burden on their families or the NHS. Assisted dying is a slippery slope to all the horrors of legalised killing and must be resisted at all costs." Deborah Annetts of the pro-euthanasia group, Dignity in Dying said, "Any law in the UK must be based on choice for competent adults who are terminally ill. This is a fundamental safeguard. We are totally opposed to allowing people with chronic depression have help to die." ...[more]
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USA – Authors of Key Homosexuality Studies Say There is No Proof of Genetic Link
While many still believe that there is a “gay gene”, studies attempting to establish this genetic causation for homosexuality have not proven to be valid or replicable. Author of the 1993 “X-Chromosome Study”, Dean Hamer, (who is homosexual) said, "…environmental factors play a role. There is not a single “master gene” that makes people gay. I don't think we will ever be able to predict who will be gay." Similarly, Simon LeVay, author of the 1991 Hypothalamus Study, who is also homosexual, said, "It's important to stress what I didn't find. I did not prove that homosexuality is genetic, or find a genetic cause for being gay. I didn't show that gay men are born that way, the most common mistake people make in interpreting my work." Pro-gay ally Dr. Robert Spitzer of Columbia University says some homosexuals have successfully changed their sexual orientation. Current scientific consensus is that a person’s sexual orientation is caused by a complex interaction of biological, psychological and social/environmental factors. ...[more]
South Africa - Zuma Earns Wrath of Gays and Lesbians
Speaking at Heritage Day celebrations in KwaDukuza on Sunday, Jacob Zuma said, "When I was growing up, an ungqingili [a homosexual] would not have stood in front of me. I would knock him out." The Sowetan quoted Zuma as saying that same-sex marriages were "a disgrace to the nation and to God". The Joint Working Group (JWG), representing the gay community, said in a statement released on Tuesday that while Zuma was entitled to his personal opinion, his public statement at KwaDukuza during Heritage Day celebrations "was a form of hate speech" and demanded an apology. ...[more]
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Spain - Scientists Create Stem Cell Line from Dead Embryo
A leading stem cell researcher working in Spain has claimed that embryonic stem cells can be garnered from dead embryos. Writing in the journal Stem Cells, Miodrag Stojkovic, of the Prince Felipe Research Center in Spain , says that he managed to create a stem cell line from an embryo which had stopped growing. His interpretation of the results was criticised by both sides of the debate. “How can we know if the embryo was dead if it produced live stem cells?” asked Rev Tad Pacholczyk, of the National Catholic Bioethics Center . And Dr George Daley, of the Harvard Stem Cell Center, says that a genetic defect in the cells may have caused its death, making it useless for therapeutic purposes. ...[more]
England – SPUC Condemns Blair’s Endorsement
Pro-life charity, the Society for the Protection of Unborn Children (SPUC) has condemned Tony Blair's endorsement of embryonic stem cell research in his farewell speech to the Labour party conference. Mr Blair welcomed the study of embryonic stem cell research. He said: " America does not want stem cell research, we do; we welcome it here." Anthony Ozimic, SPUC political secretary said, “Adult stem cell research is already benefiting human patients in over 70 conditions, whereas embryonic stem cell research has delivered no benefits. Embryonic stem cell research receives substantial financial backing from Labour party donors. ...[more]
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USA - New Website Details Thousands of Violent Crimes by Abortion Supporters
Human Life International--the world’s largest pro-life, pro-family civil rights organization with over 90 affiliates in 75 countries around the world -- announced the launch of its newest web-based informational resource: ProchoiceViolence.com. “This website exposes the pro-choice movement as the most violent political movement in United States history. In fact, we have documented over 7,000 acts of violence and illegal activities by those who support or practice abortion,” stated Brian Clowes, Ph. D., senior analyst for HLI. “We have launched this site to expose this troubling truth and to draw attention to the fact that this violence is escalating at a very disturbing rate. Since 2000, there have been an astonishing 269 homicides and other killings committed by the pro-abortion movement.” ...[more]
Scotland - Abortion Rates Continue to Climb, Despite Increasing Emergency Contraception Use
Anna Glasier, director of the Lothian primary care NHS trust in Edinburgh , said several studies, including one she directed, have shown that easy access to emergency contraception has failed to have an impact. In fact pregnancy and abortion rates continue to rise in the UK , which has the highest rate of teen pregnancy in Europe . Teenage pregnancy rates in Britain reached 41.5 per 1,000 girls age 15-17 in 2004. Of those pregnancies, 46 percent ended in abortion. Britain has seen a recent push to make the morning after pill accessible to girls as young as 12 in over the counter sales, as well as a government decision to reduce sales tax on the drug. “Emergency contraception increases the number of unrecorded abortions taking place,” Mary Ellen Douglas, for Campaign Life Coalition told LifeSiteNews.com. Sweden ’s rates show the same pattern of climbing rates. ...[more]
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France - Anti-prostitution spots to be aired by Air France
In an effort to curb sex tourism involving minors, Air France will show a graphic video on child prostitution on all its long-haul flights starting in October. The 90-second video shows young girls in discos, on streets and in hotel bedrooms, with graphics displaying their ages: "13 years," "16 years." To the sound of handcuffs clicking shut, the video then shows a middle- aged man with a censor bar across his eyes reading "10 years." About one million children are sexually exploited every year in the multibillion-dollar sex industry. ...[more]
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USA - Students Fault Safety of Santa Letter Program
A student group at Brien McMahon High School says that the nationwide Dear Santa program, though well-intentioned, exposes children to danger. In a recently released report on background checks called "I Thought Emily Was Safe," the Senators Community Foundation, a member group of the Center for Youth Leadership, said the letters provide information that allows strangers to contact children. The report states that there should be an intermediary between the child and the donor. "We walked into three post offices in Fairfield County in 2005, pulled several letters from the Dear Santa box and discovered that each letter included a child's name, street address and phone number," the report stated. "This is a paedophile's dream -- easy access to information about children." ...[more]
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USA - Major Closedown of Child Porn Sites Planned
As part of the battle against the spread of child pornography on the Internet, an initiative has begun allowing for the shutdown or blocking of sites offering illicit images of minors, even in cases where no criminal investigation is being conducted. A similar project led to a major decline in the percentage of child pornography sites based in Britain ; from it’s 18% in 1997, to 0.2 percent this. ...[more]
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Australia - Peter Singer Draws a Line in the Sand
Bioethicist Peter Singer expresses his misgivings about the growing practice of genetic selection of children. This has become more widespread with the expansion of the range and quality of genetic tests. He says it offers "perils as well as blessings". The perils have nothing to do with destroying embryos or foetuses, but with “social inequity”. The most alarming implication of this mode of genetic selection, however, is that only the rich will be able to afford it. The gap between rich and poor, already a challenge to our ideas of social justice, will become a chasm that mere equality of opportunity will be powerless to bridge. That is not a future that any of us should approve." Singer has no answer. Banning genetic selection, in his eyes, smacks of totalitarian coercion. Permitting it will require enormously expensive subsidies to poor parents. Singer is head of Bioethics at Princeton University and has been so influential that he has been asked to write the section on bio-ethics for the Encyclopaedia Britannica. ...[more]
United States - More Single Males Who Want Children Turn to Surrogacy
When Chuck Stroebel reached his late 30's, he felt that his alarm to have a child had gone off. Being homosexual, he found his answer through surrogacy, he was paired with a woman in her mid-30s living in Ohio . She met his requirements: a nonsmoker and nondrinker, someone of proper age in overall good health who had done surrogacy before. And to cut down on the cost, Stroebel's surrogate partner was also the egg donor. Stroebel is part of a growing number of single males using surrogates to have children. The number of single surrogate fathers in the United States has increased by 20 percent the past two years. About half these cases are gay men. Steven Snyder, director of the International Assisted Reproduction Centre said, "Surrogacy is becoming a much more visible and socially accepted practice, and surrogacy among single men has increased 50 to 75 percent over the past couple of years." Stroebel's surrogacy totalled about $50, 000. ...[more]
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South Africa – Justice Done in “Muthi-Murder” Case
A high-profile ritual murder trial finally came to an end when the acting judge, Ephraim Makgoba passed down harsh sentences in the Thohoyandou High Court on Monday. The joint-sentence of the four traditional healers amounted to three-life sentences and 70 years imprisonment, while Bishop Ramafamba was acquitted in all charges. All four of the convicts also received additional sentences for trading with the murdered victims' body parts. Makgona added, “What you have done is cannibalism at its worst and none of you showed any remorse during the trial. Your sentences should serve as a strong warning to other would-be ritual killers that the law will not tolerate the maiming of innocent people for your own selfish reasons.” ...[more]
Swaziland – Drug Shortage Brings Resurgence of Folk Remedies
The Jack of pharmaceutical drugs is forcing Swazis to turn to traditional remedies to alleviate their ailments. The government, which created the shortages by its failure to issue drug tenders to companies supplying clinics and hospitals, is publicising traditional and herbal treatments as a remedy for its negligence. "The inability of people to purchase even the simplest drugs, like over-the-counter painkillers, has made us examine the traditional ways," said Nellie Dlamini, a health worker in the central commercial town, Manzini. Gogo Shongwe, a traditional healer who has been prescribing indigenous roots and garden herbs for two decades, is encouraged by the official approval of traditional remedies to augment treatments available at clinics and government hospitals, although she has no objection to "Western" medicine and is herself dependent on pharmaceutical. This appears to be part of a growing world wide phenomenon that countries are reverting back to traditional medicines because of inability to finance scientifically proven effective medicines. ...[more]
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