01 October 2007
USA - Screening Leads to Unnecessary Abortions
With fresh discoveries of disease genes announced almost weekly, more and more doctors are offering parents the possibility of having an abortion to prevent affected children from being born. However, an article in the Journal of the American Medical Association questions whether screening is appropriate for treatable, or non-fatal diseases. Researchers in Israel who studied Gaucher disease, a condition whose symptoms range from severe to unnoticeable, found that 25% of couples aborted babies with the bad gene - even though the abnormality would not have resulted in a serious health problem. ...[more]
Slovakia - Health Ministry Drops Effort to Abolish Conscience Clause
Slovakia's Ministry of Health has decided against abolishing a "conscience clause" that allows physicians and health care workers to object to performing abortions and other procedures that conflict with their religious beliefs. Slovakia was urged to ratify a treaty that includes an expanded conscience clause that would allow citizens to "refuse to act in [a] way that his or her conscience thinks is contrary" to their belief. Critics say the clause would allow doctors to object to performing abortions, or employees to refuse to work on Sunday. ...[more]
Zambia - 'State Will Let People Debate on Abortion Before It Acts'
The government will only recommend whether or not to fully legalise abortion, as demanded by some health experts, after the issue is exhaustively debated by members of the public. Chief Government spokesperson, Mike Mulongoti said that the government would not rush into taking a position on the highly controversial issue because the matter was still being debated. "We cannot make any recommendations on abortion now since medical and ethical experts are still debating.” He said the Government would have to go back to Parliament to amend the existing Act on abortion if members of the public strongly felt that there was need to fully legalise abortion. He stated that Zambia had strict laws, which were still in force and could not be thrown out without following the right procedure. ...[more]
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USA - Judge Keeps Stem-Cell Plan on Ballot
Superior Court Judge, Neil Shuster, ruled against New Jersey Right to Life (NJRTL) saying a controversial proposal to allow taxpayers to fund embryonic stem-cell research and human cloning will stay on the November ballot. The referendum asks voters to approve borrowing $450 million over 10 years for research on stem cells. NJRTL sued, calling the ballot language deceptive because it does not disclose plans for human cloning and does not explain that the money could come from property taxes. According to The New York Times, Shuster "left open the possibility" that pro-life groups could appeal or challenge the results if the proposal is approved. ...[more]
.....another article
United Kingdom - Stem Cell Therapy to Slow Down Liver Damage
Scientists have developed a new way to treat liver failure by dampening the immune response, using adult stem cells taken from the bone marrow. So far the technique has only been tested in animals, but if it works in humans, a patient could be kept alive longer until a donor organ is found - and the liver would be given the maximum chance to repair itself. Usually, the organ cannot cope with the extensive damage inflicted by diseases like chronic hepatitis, or excessive long-term alcohol consumption. Cycling the blood of rats with liver failure through an external bioreactor containing mesenchymal stem cells, greatly reduced signs of liver failure in the animals, and boosted survival rates from 14% to 71%. ...[more]
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Italy - Was Pope John Paul II Euthanised?
Sensationalist headlines claiming that Pope John Paul II was euthanised have circulated Italian media and even made their way to Time magazine. While the deaths of popes have inspired endless conspiracy theories, this latest one seems to be demanding political attention as Italy is in the midst of a euthanasia debate. An anesthetist at the University of Ferrara says that the Pope refused to have a feeding tube until a few days before his death and this ultimately killed him. Time suggests that if the allegations are true, the Pope or his minders may have been guilty of euthanasia -- an assertion that has been called ‘stupid, simplistic and misleading’. Dr Renato Buzzonetti, doctor to both John Paul II and his successor, waved away the allegations. “His treatment was never interrupted. Anyone who says otherwise is mistaken. A feeding tube was inserted three days before the Pope's death, when he could finally no longer ingest food or liquids.” ...[more]
.....another article
USA – Hemlock’s Suicide Hotline
A service has been opened in Sacramento, California – a hotline not to prevent suicide, but a do-it-yourself ‘counselling’ service provided by Compassion & Choice (formerly known as the Hemlock Society) on how to do the deed. They officially are ‘consultants to aid the terminally ill’ with the specific offer to ‘identify a path to a peaceful death’. Furthermore, they can even provide volunteers for those who would like someone to be present when committing suicide. This move is an official response by the organisation after their defeat in passing an assisted-suicide bill in California earlier this year. ...[more]
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USA - Crimes against Homosexuals are Tantamount to Terrorism?
The U.S. Senate is set to vote on two key amendments to a Defense-spending bill, including one that would enshrine homosexuality in federal law. The hate-crimes amendment would create a new federal class of crime based on "actual or perceived sexual orientation or gender identity," but the underlying goal is to grant federal civil-rights status to homosexuality. "This amendment will strengthen the Defense Authorization Act by protecting those who volunteer to serve in the military," Kennedy said. "The vast majority of our soldiers serve with honor and distinction… but sadly, our military bases are not immune from the violence that comes with hatred." Ashley Horne, federal policy analyst for Focus on the Family Action, said: "Senator Kennedy’s hate-crimes amendment doesn’t belong in the Defense spending bill, and it doesn’t belong in law, period." ...[more]
USA - Church Halts Homosexual Ordinations
The American Episcopal Church has agreed to halt ordination of homosexual bishops and the blessing of same-sex unions, straining in an attempt to prevent a painful split in the global Anglican Communion. The church leaders who bowed to international pressure on those issues, however, also vowed to continue to fight for the recognition of the civil rights of homosexuals. "I have no doubt that the General Convention (in 2009) will revisit these issues," said Presiding Bishop, Katherine Jefferts Schori. The more liberal stance of the Episcopalian leadership has divided congregations within the United States and threatened a split within the 77 million-member worldwide communion. ...[more]
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Canada - STD Rates Double
The number of British Columbia residents testing positive for sexually transmitted diseases, such as chlamydia and gonorrhea, has more than doubled in the past decade. According to the BC Centre for Disease Control, there were about 9,100 new cases of chlamydia last year, compared to 4,100 reported cases in 1997. Reported cases of gonorrhea - which health officials once predicted would be eliminated by the year 2010 - climbed above 1,000 last year, compared to 455 cases 10 years ago. In 1997 the rates for syphilis were at their lowest level since the 1920s, when they were first reported, but are nine times higher, a decade later. ...[more]
South Africa - HIV Vaccine Study Shows Early Promise
South African researchers said they were encouraged by results from two HIV studies, indicating that vaccines might one day be effective in controlling viral levels and even preventing infections. Preliminary data from a clinical trial involving 480 uninfected people, half of them in South Africa, found that the majority of participants experienced a positive immune response after being given the HVTN 204 vaccine. Dr. Eftyhia Vardas, the principal investigator for the Finnish vaccine trial in South Africa, said the vaccine helped patients maintain low viral loads and steady CD4 cell counts, both key to keeping HIV from progressing into full-blown AIDS. ...[more]
USA - Merck Halts Experimental AIDS Vaccine Trial
Merck has halted its experimental AIDS vaccine trial after it was found to be ineffective at preventing HIV infections. Out of 741 participants who received the vaccine, 24 became infected with HIV. In the placebo group, 21 people became infected out of 762 participants. All of the volunteers were HIV free at the beginning of the study, but were considered high risk. Researchers say the vaccine had been designed to make the body produce more immune system cells. ...[more]
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Hungary – Prostitutes Granted Permits
In an effort to bring prostitutes into the legal economy, officials said that Hungary will allow sex workers to apply for an entrepreneur's permit. This allow prostitutes to give receipts to customers and become part of the legal economy by paying taxes and making social security contributions, said Agnes Foldi, head of the Hungarian Prostitutes' Interest Protection Association. "Our aim is to make sex work become accepted as any other job," Foldi said. Janice Raymond of the U.S.-based Coalition Against Trafficking in Women said that by issuing entrepreneurial permits to prostitutes, Hungary is violating its international treaty obligations under the U.N. convention. ...[more]
Netherlands – One-Third Red Light Windows Close
A non-profit corporation has purchased a large number of the buildings where prostitutes pose in windows in Amsterdam's Red Light district in a deal that may lead to a third of the windows being shuttered. The move is intended to break a logjam in a multi-year effort by the city to cut back on the windows, which it says are a magnet for crime and money-laundering. "What we do want is to get rid of the underlying criminality," Amsterdam’s Mayor, Job Cohen told local television station AT5. Public housing corporation, NV Stadsgoed, purchased 18 buildings with 51 windows for $35 million. ...[more]
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United Kingdom - Alcoholism and Jump-in-Breast-Cancer, Linked?
Kaiser Permanente research on more than 70,000 women, found that those who belted back three or more drinks daily, share the same breast cancer risk as a pack-a-day smoker. "We found that no matter what the drink type, it's the alcohol itself and the amount of alcohol that contributes to breast cancer," said Dr. Yan Li, one of the researchers involved in the Kaiser study. However, a leading researcher disputed the significance of the findings, particularly since the link between breast cancer and alcohol consumption is considered minor compared with risk factors like a family history of breast cancer. ...[more]
Scotland - Beer Leads to 4-Week Hangover
A 37-year old man walked into a hospital emergency room in Glasgow, Scotland, last October, complaining of "wavy" vision and a non-stop headache that had lasted four weeks. This had the doctors stumped, but when an eye specialist was called in, the fog began to clear, at least for the doctors. The patient had swollen optical discs, greatly enlarged blind spots and what eye doctors call "flame haemorrhages", or bleeding nerve fibres. That is when the man revealed he had consumed some 60 pints - roughly 35 litres - of beer over a four day period, following a domestic crisis. Severe dehydration caused by the alcohol, the doctors guessed, had led to a rare condition called cerebral venous sinus thrombosis (CVST). It took more than six months of long-term blood-thinning treatment to restore the man's vision to normal - and to get rid of the headache. ...[more]
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