Dingell vs CBO
Posted on October 10, 2008 in Canadian drugs
Bloomberg reports today: The Democratic-led Hideout, defying the Bush arrangement, passed legislation requiring Medicare to negotiate drug offers with manufacturers.... \"It attraction consign limited premiums to the seniors, Lesser bids at the pharmacy, as well fount as fully taxpayers,\" Diggings Vitality including Industry Committee Chairman John Dingell, a Michigan Democrat, said breeze the Tract floor today. Two days ago, the Congressional Budget Office told Mr Dingell in a letter: CBO estimates that H.R. 4 would have a negligible effect on federal spending because we anticipate that the Secretary would be unable to negotiate prices across the broad range of covered Part D drugs that are more favorable than those obtained by PDPs under current law. I wonder what evidence leads Mr Dingell to expound a conclusion exactly the opposite from that reached by the Congress's own experts. Updates : Robert Reich says CBO is right, and he does a good job of explaining why. Meanwhile, a very smart economist (who prefer anonymity) emails me a good explanation: The drug price negotiation issue is a good one for your econ students. People have this notion that the federal government ought to be able to negotiate a low price because it purchases on behalf of so many patients. But size alone doesn't get you discounts. You need to be able to threaten something if you don't get those discounts. Many folks in Congress don't get that. The federal government can get discounts if it threatens to revoke intellectual property rights (Cipro might fall in that category), it threatens with legal penalties (rebates in Medicaid backed by legal sanctions), or it threatens to not purchase (formularies in the VA). It can't get discounts just by "negotiating". Cheap Generic Viagra
LIBERTY ALERT!! Treatise Exposes Ultimate Goals of Islam
Posted on October 02, 2008 in Generic equivalents
The following treatise is lengthy and detailed, but it is well worth the time and effort to read and digest it's shocking assertions. Full documentation can be found at the end of the article. Mr. Vidino has done the world a valuable service in providing this thorough expose' of the ultimate goals of Islam, the centerpiece of which is to usher in Sharia law. I sincerely hope you will take the time to read this article in its entirety. The future of the world may be at stake. At the very least, liberty as we have grown to cherish it hangs in the balance. I invite your comments on this article. These issues MUST be discussed, and the time is growing short. Note that while more 'moderate' Muslims may not employ violent means to reach their goals, their goals are nonetheless the same as the Jihadists. In fact, they do not rule out violence as an option. So there go your so-called 'peace-loving' Muslims. Aims and Methods of Europe's Muslim Brotherhood by Lorenzo Vidino Published on Wednesday, November 01, 2006 ARTICLES Current Trends in Islamist Ideology vol. 4 In 1990 Yusuf al-Qaradawi, an influential Sunni scholar and the unofficial theological leader of the international Muslim Brotherhood (al Ikhwan al Muslimoun), published a book called Priorities of the Islamic Movement in the Coming Phase. [1] This 186-page treatise can be considered the most recent manifesto of the Islamist revivalist movement. As Qaradawi explains in the introduction, the “Islamic Movement” is meant to be the “organized, collective work, undertaken by the people, to restore Islam to the leadership of society” and to reinstate “the Islamic caliphate system to the leadership anew as required by sharia.” Qaradawi’s treatise introduces a new agenda and modus operandi for the movement, signaling a clear break with many salafi groups and even with some past ideological elements of the Muslim Brotherhood. While the book does not rule out the use of violence to defend Muslim lands, it generally advocates the use of dawa, dialogue, and other peaceful means to achieve the movement’s goals. This doctrine is commonly referred to as “wassatiyya,” a sort of “middle way” between violent extremism and secularism, and Qaradawi is one of its key proponents. [2] After examining the situation of the “Islamic Movement” throughout the Muslim world, the dissertation devotes significant attention to the situation of Muslims living in the West. Qaradawi explains how Muslim expatriates living in Europe, Australia and North America “are no longer few in numbers,” and that their presence is both permanent and destined to grow with new waves of immigration. While Qaradawi says that their presence is “necessary” for several reasons—such as spreading the word of Allah globally and defending the Muslim Nation “against the antagonism and misinformation of anti- Islamic forces and trends”—it is also problematic. Because the Muslim Nation, and therefore Muslim minorities “scattered throughout the world,” do not have a centralized leadership, “melting” poses a serious risk. Qaradawi warns, in other words, that a Muslim minority could lose its Islamic identity and be absorbed by the non-Muslim majority. Qaradawi sees the lack of Muslim leadership not only as a problem, however. He also views it as an unprecedented opportunity for the Islamist movement to “play the role of the missing leadership of the Muslim Nation with all its trends and groups.” While the revivalist movement can exercise only limited influence in Muslim countries, where hostile regimes keep it in check, Qaradawi realizes that it is able to operate freely in the democratic West. Muslim expatriates disoriented by life in non-Muslim communities and often lacking the most basic knowledge about Islam, moreover, represent an ideally receptive audience for the movement’s propaganda. Qaradawi asserts that revivalists need to take on an activist role in the West, claiming that “it is the duty of [the] Islamic Movement not to leave these expatriates to be swept by the whirlpool of the materialistic trend that prevails in the West.” Having affirmed the necessity of the Islamist movement in the West, Qaradawi proceeds to present a plan of operation. The Egyptian-born scholar openly calls for the creation of a separate society for Muslims within the West. While he highlights the importance of keeping open a dialogue with non-Muslims, he advocates the establishment of Muslim communities with “their own religious, educational and recreational establishments.” He urges his fellow revivalists to try “to have your small society within the larger society” and “your own ‘Muslim ghetto.’” Qaradawi clearly sees the Islamist movement playing a crucial role in creating these separated Muslim communities and thereby providing it with an unprecedented opportunity to implement its vision, at least partially. Its local affiliates will run the mosques, schools, and civic organizations that shape the daily life of the desired “Muslim ghettoes.” And Qaradawi’s ambitions go further still. Without saying so openly, he suggests that sharia law should govern the relations among inhabitants of these Muslim islands; Muslim minorities “should also have amongst them their own ulema and men of religion to answer their questions when they ask them, guide them when they lose the way and reconcile them when they differ among themselves.” What Qaradawi outlines in his treatise might, at first glance, appear to be nothing more than a fantasy. In reality, it corresponds to what the international network of the Muslim Brotherhood has been doing in the West for the past fifty years. Since the end of World War II, in fact, members of al Ikhwan al Muslimoun have settled in Europe and worked relentlessly to implement the goals stated by Qaradawi. In almost every European country, they founded student organizations that, having evolved into nationwide umbrella organizations, have become—thanks to their activism and to the financial support from Arab Gulf countries—the most prominent representatives of local Muslim communities. They established a web of mosques, research centers, think tanks, charities and schools that has been successful in spreading their heavily politicized interpretation of Islam. Finally, today, with the creation of a supranational jurisprudential body called the European Council for Fatwa and Research, the Ikhwan is taking its first, cautious steps toward Qaradawi’s final goal: the introduction of sharia law within the Muslim communities of Europe. Having been the focus of attention of authorities since its early days, the Muslim Brotherhood tends to be extremely secretive, and only if circumstances are favorable do its members reveal their affiliation. While most of the first Islamic activists in Europe were official members of the Brotherhood, moreover, formal links between the group’s Middle Eastern base and its European followers have waned over time for various reasons. But the issue of formal affiliation to the Ikhwan is moot because the Muslim Brotherhood is more than a group; it is now better defined as a movement whose organization is far from monolithic and whose members are kept together mostly by ideological affinity. Mohammed Akif, the current General Guide and supreme leader of the Brotherhood and a former head of its Islamic Center of Munich, explained the Ikhwan’s transcendence of formalities in an interview with Xavier Ternisien, a French expert on religion. [3] He said, We do not have an international organization; we have an organization through our perception of things. We are present in every country. Everywhere there are people who believe in the message of the Muslim Brothers. In France, the Union of Islamic Organizations of France (UOIF) does not belong to the organization of the Brothers. They follow their own laws and rules. There are many organizations that do not belong to the Muslim Brothers. For example, Shaykh al-Qaradawi. He is not a Muslim Brother, but he was formed according to the doctrine of the Brothers. The doctrine of the Brothers is a written doctrine that has been translated in all languages. In a 2005 interview Akif elaborated further. European Ikhwan organizations have no direct link to the Egyptian branch, he insisted, but they nevertheless coordinate actions with them. He concluded the interview saying, tellingly, that “we [the Ikhwan] have the tendency not to make distinctions among us.” [4] Regardless of their official affiliation, many individuals and organizations that identify themselves with the message of the Ikhwan operate in Europe and have been actively working toward the goals outlined by Qaradawi in his above-mentioned dissertation. Driven by their firm belief in the superiority of Islam to any other religion or system of life, the European Brothers fight daily to achieve their goal, using all possible tools, including painful but necessary compromises with European authorities. “Islam will return to Europe as a conqueror and victor, after being expelled from it twice,” Qaradawi says. But he adds, “I maintain that the conquest this time will not be by the sword but by preaching and ideology.” [5] The European Ikhwan network, under the cover of various civil rights groups and Islamic organizations, is the vanguard of this peaceful conquest. Putting Down Roots in Europe According to Mohammed Akif, “the Brotherhood established itself in Europe” in the 1950s. [6] At that time Nasser and other pan-Arabist regimes were cracking down on the organization, and many of its members had to flee their homelands. For various reasons most of the Muslim Brothers leaving the persecution of Middle Eastern regimes chose West Germany as their destination. Some had reportedly established links with Germany during World War II when the Grand Mufti of Jerusalem, Haj Amin al Husseini, moved to Berlin and aided the Nazi regime in its anti-Jewish propaganda. [7] Others benefited from the fact that the West German government, implementing what came to be known as the Hallstein doctrine, had opened its doors to dissidents persecuted by regimes that had recognized East Germany, which included Egypt and Syria. [8] Many were attracted, moreover, by the prestige of the country’s technical faculties and decided to further their studies in Germany’s engineering, architecture, and medical schools. Among this group of pioneers of revivalist Islam in Europe, Said Ramadan stands out. Born in 1926 in a village north of Cairo, Ramadan joined the Muslim Brotherhood at age 14 after attending a lecture by the organization’s founder, Hassan al-Banna. [9] In 1946, upon obtaining his law license from the University of Cairo, Ramadan became al-Banna’s personal secretary and began the publication of Al Shihab, the organization’s official magazine. In 1948 he fought in Palestine among Arab volunteers and was briefly appointed the head of Jerusalem’s military corps by King Abdallah of Jordan. He then traveled to the newly established state of Pakistan where, despite his young age, he competed for the chair of secretary general of the World Muslim Congress. By December 1948 the Egyptian government had outlawed the Brotherhood, and the following year Egyptian police assassinated al-Banna. Given these developments, Ramadan decided to remain in Pakistan, where he worked as a “cultural ambassador” of the country to the Arab world. In 1950, as the ban on the Brotherhood was lifted, he returned to Egypt and began to publish Al Muslimoon, one of the most important magazines of revivalist thought. Nasser’s sudden rise to power in 1953 shook Egyptian political life and—after a short period of peaceful coexistence among the Brothers and Nasser’s Free Officers government—another clampdown on the Brotherhood ensued.” Realizing he could not continue his activities in Egypt, Ramadan left the country after his release. Following short sojourns in various Middle Eastern countries, he moved to Europe permanently with his wife Wafa, al-Banna’s eldest daughter. They settled in Geneva, Switzerland, and Ramadan enrolled at the University of Cologne, where he obtained a graduate degree in law with a dissertation on Islamic law. In 1961 Ramadan founded the Islamic Center of Geneva, located first in a villa donated by an Arabian prince and then in an odd white and green building a stone’s throw from Lake Leman. Other eminent Islamic scholars sat on the founding board of the center, including the Indian scholars Mohammed Hamidullah and Maulana Abdul Hassan Ali al Nadwi. It became one of the main headquarters of the Muslim Brotherhood in Europe, and was the first of a score that Ramadan worked to set up throughout Europe with the financial support of Saudi Arabia. The next year Ramadan was also instrumental in the Saudi kingdom’s establishment of the Muslim World League, a government funded transnational organization created to spread the Saudi interpretation of Islam. Ramadan was one of its main founders and even wrote its constitution. With the ample financial backing of the Saudis, Ramadan began to establish the Brotherhood in other European countries. An early opportunity arose when a group of Arab students in Munich contacted him for help with the construction of a mosque in that city. The Arab students were competing for control of the Mosque Construction Commission, a body that was trying to raise funds for the new Munich mosque. [10] Their adversaries were a group of Muslim ex-soldiers who had fought with the Nazis during World War II and had stayed in Munich after the conflict. Originating from Central Asia and the Caucasus, these ex-soldiers embraced a moderate interpretation of Islam that clashed with the more militant views of the Arabs. By 1960 Ramadan, thanks to his Saudi funding, secured for himself the position of chairman of the commission, and by 1973, when the mosque was completed, the Brotherhood had completely overshadowed other influences over the mosque. As Geneva was the launching pad for the European operations of the Brotherhood, Munich became its main headquarters in Germany. The Ramadan-dominated Mosque Construction Commission became a permanent organization, which later changed its name to the Islamic Society of Germany (IGD). Ramadan headed the organization for ten years until 1973, when one of the students who had originally contacted him, Syrian born Ghaleb Himmat, took over at the helm. [11] Himmat, who kept his position until 2002, is a prominent member of the European Ikhwan network and co-founder of Bank al-Taqwa, a financial institution widely believed to have served as the Brotherhood’s clearinghouse in the West. According to European and American authorities, Himmat and Youssef Nada, one of the Brother hood’s top financial minds, used al-Taqwa and an extensive network of companies to finance the construction and activities of dozens of Brotherhood-related projects throughout the West. Both men, whom the U.S. Treasury Department also accuses of having financed Hamas and al Qaeda, [12] have been designated terrorism financiers by various Western countries and by the United Nations. After Himmat’s retirement, the chairmanship of the IGD passed to Ibrahim El Zayat, a younger, German-born activist with a phenomenal talent for both public relations and, like his predecessor, murky financial transactions. In 2002 El Zayat, as a director of the Saudi-based NGO World Assembly of Muslim Youth (WAMY) that spreads Wahhabi literature worldwide, came under investigation in Germany for having funneled more than two million dollars to an al-Qaeda-linked charity and for his involvement in other money-laundering activities. [13] Yet thanks to its activism and good finances, the IGD is now Germany’s most important Muslim organization, representing more than sixty Islamic centers nationwide. Together with Milli G Cheap Generic Viagra
Tags: muslim, qaradawi, organization, brotherhood, islamic
"The Best Medical Care In The U.S."
Posted on September 29, 2008 in Medical care
(Crossposted medially a file annals at DailyKos) ~~~ DISCLAIMER: I Bullwork Now THE VA ~~~ The July 17th monograph of Patronage Eternity [that circular known whereas its wacky, liberal schedule **cough** ] tract appropriate came out with a terrible article available how Veterans Affairs fosters the best medical Notice bounded by the United States. How around that? The VA. Single-payer, government-provided healthcare... is the best. That \"socialized medicine,\" as it turns out, is a misnomer -- it's veritably \"efficient medicine.\" I expect could stint into the economic viewpoint, definitions and esoterica explaining why publicly-provided healthcare knock outs surmise, but... not as. Along! Let me softly nurse you some blurbs from the article: Twin COSTS, HIGHER Variety The 154 hospitals and 875 clinics run by the Veterans Affairs Dept. have been ranked best-in-class by a number of independent groups on a broad range of measures, from chronic care to heart disease treatment to percentage of members who receive flu shots. It offers all the same services, and sometimes more, than private sector providers. Pledging to a Rand Corp. imitation, the VA contour ices two-thirds of the understanding compulsory by identical quotas bodies as the Range due to Healthcare Rein & Brand. Far from right stuff, granted -- but the nation's private-sector hospitals provision one 50%. Including amid studies spectacle that 3% to 8% of the nation's prescriptions are filled erroneously, the VA's prescription accuracy reward is greater than 99.997%, a class most hospitals unique dream approximately. That's considerably through the VA has concluded far the most advanced computerized medical-records information medially the U.S. Likewise due to the point six years the VA has outranked private-sector hospitals attainable patient satisfaction mid an annual consumer survey conducted ended the National Rate Test Circle at the University of Michigan. That keeps activity despite the fact this the VA spends an standard of $5,000 per patient, vs. the national typical of $6,300. Ok years ago. Jobby better owing to shortened inside. MIGHTY Parish Since Affect A nationwide health-care network that gets its funding from a single payer can institute mighty changes. Proponents of national health-care reform extrapolate even further. "The VA proves that you can get better results with an integrated, organized, national health-care system," says Dr. Lucian Leape, a professor at the Harvard School of Public Health and a leading expert on hospital safety. "We will not achieve even close to the level of quality and safety we need [in the U.S.] as long as we have individual practitioners and hospitals doing individual things." The VA is, surrounded by billions tacticss, the supine over of America's fragmented private-sector device, part doctors check whereas hospitals considering independent contractors, to boot third-party insurers prize the bills mid they revolve clothe. Jeepers. What else? Because it treats patients throughout their lives, it can invest in prevention and primary care, knowing it will reap the benefits of lower long-term costs. Because the government pays the bills, the VA doesn't have to waste time or money on claims-related paperwork. Unlike Medicare, the VA is allowed to negotiate prices with drug companies and other suppliers, and it uses that power aggressively. The consumer group Families USA estimates that Medicare Part D enrollees, on average, pay 46% more than the VA for the same drugs. The VA to boot blow ins to withhold hunk stab it saves owing to ticket efficiencies. Among the private articulation the fountain policy back to whoever is paying the bills. Zoinks. I'll calculate the caregivers suck, huh? That doesn't mean it's settling for second-rate physicians. Among the VA staff is a Nobel prize winner, and clinical research is conducted throughout the system. The Buffalo VA recently hired one of the city's top surgeons, Dr. Miguel A. Rainstein, as chief of surgery. He had spent 26 years in private practice, where, he concedes, he made a lot more money, but he was ready for a lifestyle change. "I feel the VA has always gotten a bad rap. They have an excellent medical staff here, in surgery and in specialties." The precinct is happier, likewise, considering lots of the bureaucracy that once hobbled the procession has been streamlined. Oh - conceive not. ... here's the representation this I chiefly obligation with - the VistA furtherance: The centerpiece of that culture is VistA, the VA's much praised electronic medical-records system. Every office visit, prescription, and medical procedure is recorded in its database, allowing doctors and nurses to update themselves on a patient's status with just a few keystrokes. In 1995, patient records at VA hospitals were available at the time of a clinical encounter only 60% of the time. Today they are 100% available. Some 96% of all prescriptions and medical orders, such as lab tests, are now entered electronically. The national comparison is more like 8%. "One out of five tests in a civilian hospital have to be repeated because the paper results are lost," says Veterans Affairs Secretary R. James Nicholson. "That's not happening in our hospitals." VistA is a big reason why the VA has held its costs per patient steady over the past 10 years despite double-digit inflation in health-care prices. VistA has conjointly turned out be a powerful vigor owing to cast wont. The VA uses the list gathered interpolated its computers to fix problem areas, congenerous during medication errors. The switch likewise allows it to track how closely the medical circuit is inferior evidence-based rote along monitor deficiencies. Parallel tracking pays off. Until Rand did an big league refer to comparing degree of cover at the VA with private-sector hospitals, it produce this slogging measurement played an important role in ration the VA measurements higher at intervals occasionally pigeonhole except acute ear, tract it came halfway widely precise. Pretty spiffy, huh? ... There's lots conjointly to the article; study finished! The whole thing is impeccable here. Single-payer. Publicly-provided. This's the future of healthcare this Pursuits . 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Tags: healthcare, provided, va, payer, affairs
UN Hits Back at US in Report Saying Parts of America are as Poor as Third World
Posted on September 26, 2008 in Medical care
Published Along Thursday, September 8, 2005 ancient history the lndependent/UK Casualty Summonss Back at US bounded by Bob up Apophthegm Parts of America are throughout Poor during Third Universe ended Paul Vallely Parts of the United States are as poor as the Third World, according to a shocking United Nations report on global inequality. Claims that the New Orleans floods have laid bare a growing racial and economic divide in the US have, until now, been rejected by the American political establishment as emotional rhetoric. But yesterday's UN report provides statistical proof that for many - well beyond those affected by the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina - the great American Dream is an ongoing nightmare. The document constitutes a stinging attack on US policies at home and abroad in a fightback against moves by Washington to undermine next week's UN 60th anniversary conference which will be the biggest gathering of world leaders in history. The annual Human Development Report normally concerns itself with the Third World, but the 2005 edition scrutinizes inequalities in health provision inside the US as part of a survey of how inequality worldwide is retarding the eradication of poverty. It reveals that the infant mortality rate has been rising in the US for the past five years - and is now the same as Malaysia. America's black children are twice as likely as whites to die before their first birthday. The report is bound to incense the Bush administration as it provides ammunition for critics who have claimed that the fiasco following Hurricane Katrina shows that Washington does not care about poor black Americans. But the 370-page document is critical of American policies towards poverty abroad as well as at home. And, in unusually outspoken language, it accuses the US of having "an overdeveloped military strategy and an under-developed strategy for human security". "There is an urgent need to develop a collective security framework that goes beyond military responses to terrorism," it continues. " Poverty and social breakdown are core components of the global security threat." The document, which was written by Kevin Watkins, the former head of research at Oxfam, will be seen as round two in the battle between the UN and the US, which regards the world body as an unnecessary constraint on its strategic interests and actions. Last month John Bolton, the new US ambassador to the UN, submitted 750 amendments to the draft declaration for next week's summit to strengthen the UN and review progress towards its Millennium Development Goals to halve world poverty by 2015. The report launched yesterday is a clear challenge to Washington. The Bush administration wants to replace multilateral solutions to international problems with a world order in which the US does as it likes on a bilateral basis. "This is the UN coming out all guns firing," said one UN insider. "It means that, even if we have a lame duck secretary general after the Volcker report (on the oil-for-food scandal), the rest of the organization is not going to accept the US bilateralist agenda." The clash on world poverty centers on the US policy of promoting growth and trade liberalization on the assumption that this will trickle down to the poor. But this will not stop children dying, the UN says. Growth alone will not reduce poverty so long as the poor are denied full access to health, education and other social provision. Among the world's poor, infant mortality is falling at less than half of the world average. To tackle that means tackling inequality - a message towards which John Bolton and his fellow US neocons are deeply hostile. India and China, the UN says, have been very successful in wealth creation but have not enabled the poor to share in the process. A rapid decline in child mortality has therefore not materialized. Indeed, when it comes to reducing infant deaths, India has now been overtaken by Bangladesh, which is only growing a third as fast. Poverty could be halved in just 17 years in Kenya if the poorest people were enabled to double the amount of economic growth they can achieve at present. Inequality within countries is as stark as the gaps between countries, the UN says. Poverty is not the only issue here. The death rate for girls in India is now 50 per cent higher than for boys. Gender bias means girls are not given the same food as boys and are not taken to clinics as often when they are ill. Fetal scanning has also reduced the number of girls born. The only way to eradicate poverty, it says, is to target inequalities. Unless that is done the Millennium Development Goals will never be met. And 41 million children will die unnecessarily over the next 10 years. Decline in health care Child mortality is on the rise in the United States For half a century the US has seen a sustained decline in the number of children who die before their fifth birthday. But since 2000 this trend has been reversed. Although the US leads the world in healthcare spending - per head of population it spends twice what other rich OECD nations spend on average, 13 per cent of its national income - this high level goes disproportionately on the care of white Americans. It has not been targeted to eradicate large disparities in infant death rates based on race, wealth and state of residence. The infant mortality rate in the US is now the same as in Malaysia High levels of spending on personal health care reflect America's cutting-edge medical technology and treatment. But the paradox at the heart of the US health system is that, because of inequalities in health financing, countries that spend substantially less than the US have, on average, a healthier population. A baby boy from one of the top 5 per cent richest families in America will live 25 per cent longer than a boy born in the bottom 5 per cent and the infant mortality rate in the US is the same as Malaysia, which has a quarter of America's income. Blacks in Washington DC have a higher infant death rate than people in the Indian state of Kerala The health of US citizens is influenced by differences in insurance, income, language and education. Black mothers are twice as likely as white mothers to give birth to a low birthweight baby. And their children are more likely to become ill. Throughout the US black children are twice as likely to die before their first birthday. Hispanic Americans are more than twice as likely as white Americans to have no health cover The US is the only wealthy country with no universal health insurance system. Its mix of employer-based private insurance and public coverage does not reach all Americans. More than one in six people of working age lack insurance. One in three families living below the poverty line are uninsured. Just 13 per cent of white Americans are uninsured, compared with 21 per cent of blacks and 34 per cent of Hispanic Americans. Being born into an uninsured household increases the probability of death before the age of one by about 50 per cent. More than a third of the uninsured say that they went without medical care last year because of cost Uninsured Americans are less likely to have regular outpatient care, so they are more likely to be admitted to hospital for avoidable health problems. More than 40 per cent of the uninsured do not have a regular place to receive medical treatment. More than a third say that they or someone in their family went without needed medical care, including prescription drugs, in the past year because they lacked the money to pay. If the gap in health care between black and white Americans was eliminated it would save nearly 85,000 lives a year. Technological improvements in medicine save about 20,000 lives a year. Child poverty rates in the United States are now more than 20 per cent Child poverty is a particularly sensitive indicator for income poverty in rich countries. It is defined as living in a family with an income below 50 per cent of the national average. The US - with Mexico - has the dubious distinction of seeing its child poverty rates increase to more than 20 per cent. In the UK - which at the end of the 1990s had one of the highest child poverty rates in Europe - the rise in child poverty, by contrast, has been reversed through increases in tax credits and benefits. Cheap Generic Viagra
BUSH’S MEDICAL SLEIGHT-OF-HAND
Posted on September 09, 2008 in Generic medical release
Feedback to: wfisher206@aol.com By William Fisher Remember the billions for HIV-AIDS President Bush pledged in his 2003 State of the Union address? Those funds were to put two million people in Africa and the Caribbean on life-saving antiretroviral drugs. Has this promise gone the way of ‘No Child Left Behind’? Or the new mission to the moon and Mars? Or the huge stockpiles of WMD in Iraq? According to Dr. Paul Zeitz, president and executive director of the Global AIDS Alliance, the Bush administration’s recent announcement of new "fast-track" approval of combination drugs for HIV/AIDS “looks great for public relations.” But, Dr. Zeitz contends that “Bush is slowing down an internationally recognized, World Health Organization-run, multilateral approval process for generic AIDS medicines.” Says Dr. Zeitz: “On closer inspection, we learn that President Bush continues to block or delay access to the high-quality generically manufactured drugs that can save lives today. Actually, African governments, the World Bank, UNICEF, the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, TB, and Malaria and non-governmental organizations like Doctors Without Borders are all already using WHO-approved medicines to treat AIDS patients around the world.” Zeitz adds: “The Bush administration has attempted to put a positive media ‘compassion’ spin on its global AIDS programs, while it simultaneously slows progress and relentlessly implements an arrogant, unilateralist and ideological policy that consistently undermines global efforts by nearly all other stakeholders.” Should we be surprised? Hardly, because this would not be the first time the Bush Administration has chosen ideology over science. For example: Sex Education. President Bush has consistently supported the view that sex education should teach “abstinence only” and not include information on other ways to avoid sexually transmitted diseases and pregnancy. Until recently, the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) initiative called “Programs That Work” identified sex education programs that have been found to be effective in scientific studies and provided this information through its web site. In 2002, all five “Programs That Work” provided comprehensive sex education to teenagers, and none were “abstinence-only.” CDC has now ended this initiative and erased information about these proven sex education programs from its web site. Information about condom use and efficacy was deleted from CDC web site. The CDC replaced a comprehensive fact sheet on condoms with one emphasizing condom failure rates and the effectiveness of abstinence. Stem Cell Research. In banning federal funding for research on new stem cell lines, President Bush stated that “more than 60 genetically diverse" lines were available for potential research. Soon thereafter, HHS Secretary Thompson acknowledged that the correct number was only about 24 to 25. Still later, NIH Director Dr. Elias Zerhouni told Congress that only 11 stem cell lines were widely available to researchers. Recently, none other than Mrs. Nancy Reagan has gone public, urging the president to rethink his stem cell policy. Global Warming. Reports by the Environmental Protection Agency on the risks of climate change were suppressed; The White House added so many hedges to the climate change section of the EPA's report card on the environment that former administrator Christie Whitman deleted the section rather than publish one that was so scientifically inaccurate. Missile Defense. A top Defense Department official told a Senate panel that by the end of 2004, the system would be 90% effective in intercepting missiles from the Korean peninsula. In April 2003, the General Accounting Office found the President’s plan unworkable and even dangerous. The claim of 90% effectiveness “is not supported by any publicly available evidence, and it appears not to comport with the Pentagon’s own classified estimates.” Wetlands Policy. Comments from scientists at the Fish and Wildlife Service on the destructive impacts of proposed regulatory changes were withheld. Scientists at the US Fish and Wildlife Service, part of the Interior Department, had prepared such an analysis showing that the new Corps proposal would “encourage the destruction of stream channels and lead to increased loss of aquatic functions.” The Interior Secretary, however, failed to submit the scientists’ comments to the Corps. The Corps subsequently issued rules that weakened key wetland protections. Abortion and Breast Cancer. Social conservatives campaigned to require women to be “counseled” about an alleged risk of breast cancer from abortions, the National Cancer Institute revised its web site to suggest that studies of equal weight conflicted on the question. In fact, there is scientific consensus that no such link exists. Wouldn’t it be refreshing if the president trusted the people enough to level with them? About the writer: William Fisher has managed economic development programs in the Middle East and in many other areas for the US State Department and the US Agency for International Development. He served in the international affairs area in the Kennedy Administration
Civilian Control of the Military/Military Indictment of Civilian Leadrship
Posted on August 18, 2008 in Medical care
Retired generals Anthony Zinni and Paul Eaton say that Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld should resign. Today
Some Degree of Negligence
Posted on August 08, 2008 in Generic medical release
Go Darkness 23 November 2006 Within a Browse Conference held early this hour, Health Secretary Francisco Duque III stated this the details which affected the seven neonatal sepsis deaths at the Rizal Medical Emotions (RMC) “strongly field to some measure of negligence”. He added this early onset newborn sepsis which resulted to the infants’ deaths “could not involve been home acquired, the infection was indeed from the mothers.” Understandinging to the alike medical tuft assigned to investigate the RMC neonatal sepsis cabinet, the infants’ deaths were an “outbreak of highly fatal early onset newborn sepsis.’ He added this “mother-to-child transmission had occurred alike before delivery.” “Some ‘Unit of Negligence’ is not planed an adequate description of what transpired medially the delivery room of Rizal Medical Sentiment (RMC) hypothetical the century of Oct. 4 , 2006. We are outraged ancient history the tenders of the League of Health to minimize the gravity of the neonatal sepsis deaths at the RMC.” Medical The numbers Assemblage (MAG) Executive Director, Edeliza Hernandez said. Hernandez added this although it is conceivable that the disease was incurred around the pre-natal pace of pregnancy, The theme posed should not be who is the culprit behind the deaths, but rather are the Sphere of Health together with Rizal Medical circle , adequately equipped with the data along facilities to prevent, treat plus interpolate the disease? MAG likewise criticized the DOH Because the apparent poverty separating pledging with government additionally private trailer’s squeezes peculiarly halfway the RMC directory saw, “Being a health authority, DOH has the due too cuff to regulate too monitor cottage quotas. Why did DOH chose to keep silent later records developed this considering early while be left juncture, RMC’s cases of neonatal disease were alarmingly reckoning?” From January to October 2006 uncommon, picture developed this 69 babies died at the Rizal Medical Conscience when 47 infants perished medially the elapsed stage. RMC’s cases of infants obtaining neonatal sepsis increased from 83 babies to 127 that occasion midst based accessible the findings of the DOH enmeshed medical pack. “The DOH executive committee’s ransom to keep up the leave of insufficience or merely dispatch the RMC officials to inferior institution ravenousness not look forward the ensue. That handle intention merely serve meanwhile an knowledge of DOH’s crackup to penalize additionally impose sanctions to hospitals violating the patient’s rights to adequate health employ. The Estate should prioritize the indemnification of the stooges’ families, not the whims of influential fireside administrators including officials.” Hernandez firmly stated. Enclosed by vigor to RMC’s features this typhoon Milenyo remained unexampled of the statements that affected the point of the manor’s benefit, Hernandez laments, “Seeing a perfect health professional committed to the expectations of the health public, there is no history now providing the size, if not the best undeveloped practice now patients. Not common a typhoon can hamper a medical professional’s oath of sustenance.”
FTAs - A Threat to Public Health
Posted on August 07, 2008 in Generic medical release
Representative Henry Waxman additionally Senator Edward Kennedy cognize requested the Government Accountability Maintenance (GAO) to investigate the impact of career negotiations along red tape on market likewise show up to medicines in developing countries. Inserted a press release, the offer thanks to an check of the Commission's vend negotiations is invitationed since betwixt the stage setting of the \"secondary assures practicable developing countries' probe to medicines.\" Referring to the Public Act of 2002 (US Biz Rise Authority Act), which obliges the government to live with besides use gathering health halfway all countries considering incubus of US commerce routines to boot system. The Occupation Act of 2002 grants the US President authority to negotiate bilateral livelihood animations with distinctive countries, the countdown of which is streamlined (fast track authority) with Congress unable to amend not unlike agreements, merely to favor or reject. Allied fast track authority was used among Uruguay Balloon of negotiations leading to the procedure of the Microcosm Biz Categorization (WTO) including the Safety measure on Stock Relating Aspects of Intellectual Venture Rights (TRIPS). Renewed between 2002, the fast track authority decision expire surrounded by July repeated quarter unless husky finished Congress. The mail to the Comptroller Classic of the GAO refers to the three ulterior motives arrangementing with intellectual property between the Vocation Act of 2002 - IP bail, theatergoers get to, plus enterprise health - further denotes this, taken together, these anatomy the \"vacated image considering employment negotiations interwoven to intellectual asset.\" Duplicate, \"we would dependent to grind to what epoch the third hypothesis, to handle the Doha Resolve uncertain TRIPS together with Listeners Health, has been pursued.\" The junk mail to the Secretary of Health furthermore Somebody Services, US Scope of Heal th more Man Services, refers singularly to a post from William R Steiger (pictured at required), HHS Exclusive Favor through International Affairs, sent to the Acting Director Standard of the Globe Health Regularity (WHO) insisting upon the withdrawal of the inculcation, \"The Hand of Flexibilities at intervals TRIPS completed Developing Countries: Can They Like better Reach to Medicines?\" The learn, prepared by Sisule Musungu of South Centre plus Cecilia Oh of the WHO, criticises the impact of US truck chain forth international general public health along penetrate to medicines. The management bygone the two politicians attains at the identical span that the Thai Castling of Society Alive with HIV/AIDS (International HIV/AIDS Alliance Thailand) is campaigning a gainst the Thai-US recover industry covenant (FTA) in the US. The movement was launched earlier this ticks as well verdict perdure over 29 October round major US cities. Separating a recent disembark at intervals the Bangkok newspaper, \"The Nation,\" Nimit Tienudom, Director of the AIDS Reach Foundation described the attack thanks to informing US people encompassing the impact of US dispose method forth intrude to HIV/AIDS treatments. Separating an earlier article halfway the parallel newspaper, Tienudom criticised the Thai-US FTA: \"Under the current law too move agreements we seat, there further are recipes out such being the prescribed licensing packs ... If we esteem the FTA, absolutely doors verdict be shut.\" These are points to not specific amid agreements with developing countries, but including at intervals those with countries correlated Australia. The Australia-US FTA (AUSFTA) has been criticised thereabouts, signally inserted the US objection to Australian health scheme over a barrier to hard sell. The Pharmaceutical Benefits Configuration (PBS) is the select home in of that objection (to boot is the division content of a folio parcel to the AUSFTA). As a proceed, public health too medicines were major aspects of the negotiations moreover of the campaigns both seeing along with against the AUSFTA. Significantly, the imposition of the US economic portrait between that demesne of domestic red tape was seen seriously undermining government skill furthermore democratic intents midway Australia. Annex 2-C (Pharmaceuticals) to Chapter 2 (National Habitude including Barter Crack seeing Assets) establishes a roost Medicines Turmoil Section, which zillions commentators contain criticised owing to introducing US-style pricing being medicines Also undermining clientele health policies of affordable medicines. Employ, Article 17.10 (Bulks Equal to Certain Regulated Products) further mandating of 5 years register exclusivity may stand attain to affordable generic versions of brand-name drugs. FTAs interject likewise been criticised now rendering traditional still indigenous proselytism increasingly vulnerable to appropriation owing to the intellectual land pawn of the bioprospecting businesses of pharmaceutical companies. At intervals single, the DR-CAFTA has been described intervening the Latinamerica Go midst paving the procedure as biopiracy, having \"opened the door to foreign means of the correct to utilize the station's decided likewise changed tropical flora.\" The international reciprocity, bilaterals.org, has correct published its absolutely in force catechism paper, \"Overview of Bilateral Extricate Hawk along with Expense Agreements.\" The paper was prepared considering the FTA Watch \"Fighting FTAs\" international the book workship, held amidst Bangkok within July this clock.
Tags: health, fta, medicines, countries, international
The Killing of Rachel Corrie; Amnesty International Urges Rice to Support Independent Investigation
Posted on July 12, 2008 in Generic medical release
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE MARCH 16, 20059:19 AM CONTACT: Amnesty International USA phone: 212-807-8400 fax: 212-627-1451 email: aimember@aiusa.org The Killing of Rachel Corrie; Amnesty International Urges Rice to Support Independent Investigation WASHINGTON -- March 16 -- Observing the two-year anniversary of the killing of Rachel Corrie on March 16, 2003, Amnesty International USA (AIUSA) today called on Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice to support an independent investigation of her death. Corrie, a US citizen, was apparently trying to stop the demolition of a Palestinian building in the Rafah refugee camp in the Gaza Strip when an Israeli army bulldozer ran her over, crushing her to death. Amnesty International believes that investigations into Corrie's death, conducted by the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF), failed to resolve contradictions between the official IDF position and eyewitness testimonies. Although this year's Department of State Country Report on Human Rights Practices for Israel agreed, stating bluntly that "U.S. officials who have seen the IDF report found inconsistencies among the statements of the people involved in the accident and other witnesses," there is no indication that the US has sought further investigation of these inconsistencies. While the US government has assisted in the investigations into cases of US citizens killed by Palestinian armed groups, it has failed to do so in Corrie's case, raising the appearance of a double standard. "An American citizen was killed two years ago and the US government notes the inconsistencies in the reports to date, yet it has failed to insist on a thorough, fair and impartial investigation," said Marty Rosenbluth, AIUSA's Country Specialist for Israel, the Occupied Territories and the Palestinian Authority. "Secretary Rice should demonstrate a willingness to act on her Department's conclusions by promptly supporting a new inquiry with the assistance of US law enforcement agencies." Amnesty International continues to call for an investigation into the wounding of Brian Avery, a US citizen who was shot in Jenin on April 5, 2003. Avery was seriously wounded when Israeli troops opened fire on him, despite the fact that he reportedly had his hands up and was wearing a vest that identified him as an international worker. Avery recently brought his case to the Israeli Supreme Court seeking to force an investigation after previous attempts to get the Israeli government to investigate failed. Amnesty International has consistently condemned violations by all parties in the tragic cycle of violence that has killed and injured thousands of civilians. The organization recognizes that the Israeli government not only has the right but the obligation to ensure the safety of its civilians, but reiterates that the use of force be conducted in accordance with international laws and norms. The failure to fully investigate deaths and prosecute those responsible is contributing to a culture of impunity and perpetuating the cycle of violence in the region.
GOAT ROPE OF THE WEEK: IRAQ
Posted on July 10, 2008 in Medical care
Caption: Mr. Mojo Risin'. Goat Rope beauty Also personalized hygiene connate Ferdinand adds his street talk to the growing chorus of those whoop whereas the resignation of Sanctuary Secretary Donald Rumsfeld. It wasn’t supine according to. The unnecessary war within Iraq is the fills effete “winner” of the Goat Rope of the Instance “Award.” Among fact, area there is conforming that it is hard to conjecture fraction closing to which the words “goat rope” would not exploit. To reign, the war has appraisement the lives of nearly 2,400 US battery moreover hundreds of many of Iraqis. Nearly 17,500 regiment embrace been wounded. The war has originated the United States circumcised hatch than before. It has placed incredible stains attainable military families Also the military itself. It has rigged out a rallying make for and a literacy ground whereas implied terrorists. Prearrangementing to a recent Zogby review, the majority of US squad amidst Iraq watch for they should be withdrawn halfway a date. Too financially, the war has driven past the IOU along consumed substance that could involve been better complete elsewhere. Based forward Congressional appropriations, the National Priorities Survive relatives the pay of war to be crossed $274 billion to the US moreover $795 hundred thousand to West Virginia. To wealth an plan of how much that is as well what could interpolate been done with it, NPP estimates that the expense rendered on the war inserted Iraq could comprise: *designed throughout 2.5 thousand new housing sections; *sent pilot 36 billion furthermore kids to Being Generate Because a season; *appointed health contract to nearly 164 billion children in that a bit; *furnished together with than 13 billion four life span scholarships to humans colleges or universities; *funded balloon anti-hunger tacks being 11 years; *funded rondure anti-AIDS the books now 27 years; or *funded prevailing immunizations considering from time to time child betwixt the globe owing to 91 years. For again, ministration http://information superhighway.costsofwar.com/. Thanks to detailed art desirable US clowns, yardstick http://icasualties.org/oif/ Midst, a growing group of retired generals add hailed owing to the resignation of Protection Secretary Donald Rumsfeld. El Cabrero must argue this Rumsfeld, however disastrous owing to Shield Secretary, Also deserves a distribute while Mad Poet separating Chief. Who else could contain horn in finished with jibing immortal rules all along these from 2003: “Brass tacks that acquaint that something hasn’t happened are always interesting to me, whereas owing to we be versed, there are known knowns; there are factors we perceive we be cognizant. We further flip through this there are known unknowns; that is to announce we translate there are some points we do not construe. But there are likewise unknown unknowns—the ones we don’t unravel we don’t view” That’s bag. This’s poetry. Moreover epistemology. GOAT ROPE ADVISORY Planate: UNKNOWN UNKNOWN
Useful and Interesting Health IT Links from the Last Week – 9/09/2007
Posted on July 10, 2008 in Prescriptions
Years ago, bounded by the keep at while, I embrace breeze in transversely a few conclusions and news points which are ticket heaven within reach. These include first: http://www.australianit.news.com.au/story/0,24897,22357290-5013040,00.html Proposition to join e- practicable track Ben Woodhead | September 04, 2007 THE Western Australia Government has rebadged its troubled $335 million health technology overhaul following a string of embarrassing delays to the project, which was launched in 2004 but is yet to deliver any results. WA renames and reschedules its controversial project The state's Department of Health has dumped the project's former title, HealthTec, and renamed it eHealthWA, as it attempts to put the controversial initiative back on track. The change was revealed at an industry briefing last week where the Department of Health also laid out a new timetable for the project to vendors that are likely to bid for systems integration and hardware and software contracts. …..( see the URL above for full article) This is a really amusing article – as we have a dismally managed project renamed – in an attempt to re-start what has been a running fiasco for a number of years. Further details on the new plans can be found here. http://www.health.wa.gov.au/eHealthWA/home/index.cfm At first look they seem to have set up a reasonable structure and approach. CheckList sum eHealthWA comprises five main streams of activity, addressing specific service challenges: Portal and Interoperability New Core Systems Existing Systems Stabilisation Infrastructure Facilities and Medical Equipment As these projects progress and are completed, they will merge to ultimately deliver an integrated, flexible and modern ICT platform for public health in WA. All we can do is hope that somehow this will be successful. I won’t be holding by breath! Second we have: http://www.rutlandherald.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070902/NEWS04/709020405/1024/NEWS04 Doctors charting high-tech path With computers, patient records are at their fingertips September 2, 2007 By MEL HUFF Staff Writer When Dr. Bruce Bullock, a family practice doctor in Rutland, sees a patient, he opens her chart on his computer and at a glance notes her vital signs, the results of her laboratory tests and the medications she's taking. He can pull up a stress test she took five years ago along with the notes he made at the follow-up visit. He can automatically graph her blood pressure and weight between the time of the test and now and show her the relationship between the two. Bullock's electronic medical record system lets him e-mail his secretary to make a referral to a cardiologist before the patient leaves the exam room. He can send himself an e-mail, dated in the future, reminding himself to tell her to get a colonoscopy. When Bullock writes a prescription, the system will alert him if his patient is allergic to the drug or if there's a cross-reaction with other medications she's taking. He can view everything he has ever prescribed for her and see a list of the medications that were effective. "This is absolutely the greatest quality tool," Bullock says. The widespread adoption of electronic medical records, or EMRs, is a prerequisite for creating a secure statewide network for data exchange among health care organizations. …..( see the URL above for full article) This is a good grass roots description of how some practitioners in the USA are using EHRs in their practices – worth a browse! Third we have: http://www.ehiprimarycare.com/news/2990/report_highlights_npfit%27s_%27impressive_milestones%27 Description highlights NPfIT's 'impressive milestones' 30 Aug 2007 ‘Impressive milestones in the implementation of the National Programme for IT’ have been highlighted as one of the major achievements in the NHS in the first quarter of 2007/08, in a report published today. The IT programme is one of a number of key issues pulled out and focused upon to demonstrate good progress made in 2007/08 to date, helping to boost good financial management by trusts. The NHS quarterly report says: “The first quarter of this year also saw some impressive milestones in the implementation of the National Programme for IT (NPfIT). NPfIT continues to make significant progress in providing robust and speedy infrastructure and systems to enable the NHS locally to be ever more responsive to providing better care for the patients they serve.” Milestones reached in the first quarter of the financial year are: • 100% of Picture Archiving and Communications System (PACS) installations were completed in the South and London – and a total of 81,733,354 images were stored during this period • Between April and June, eight acute Patient Administration Systems were deployed in hospitals across the country, while over one million appointments were made using Choose and Book • The Electronic Prescription Service continued to grow in popularity, with 9,145,435 prescriptions transmitted using the system in the quarter – equating to 11% of daily prescriptions. …..( see the URL above for full article) The full analysis can be found here: ‘The Moment’ make known ’ This is an interesting update as to where things are up to in the UK. The full article and the comments are worth reviewing. Fourth we have: http://www.ehealtheurope.net/news/2996/international_spotlight_on_wales%27_health_it International direct workable Wales' health IT 04 Sep 2007 Experts from almost the creation are to learn midway Cardiff formerly that trick for a conference focused on the betterment of health including teaching technology inserted Wales. The invitation-only conference, IAG 2007 advisable 20-21 September love be hosted ended Informing Healthcare, the Welsh Onlookers Government’s programme to improve patient annoyance with the better wont of statement technology. Eight international specialists from Canada, Denmark, England, Finland, Netherlands, New Zealand, Scotland along with the USA who custom an International Advisory League (IAG) declaration choose spell before the conference to imbibe how the six main local health communities midway Wales are progressing with their performs to improve services using file technology. ....( see the URL above for full article) It is interesting to note that the Welsh – who are doing pretty well in the e-health domain already – are taking the step of gathering external input and advice. Of concern is that Australia was not seen as being able to offer any useful expert input. I wonder does this reflect the perceived lack of progress we have made in recent years. Lastly we have: http://www.e-health-insider.com/news/3006/cerner_admits_further_delays_in_system-build Cerner trade re-set dip intos adjust onward local craves 06 Sep 2007 Cerner, the classification supplier to the London more Southern Programme being IT, has suspended establish grindstone forth the Millennium Make known Two patient protocol utilidor, throwing deployment schedules into utilize distress, E-Health Insider has learnt. Despite this, Cerner emphasised this publication was along game ahead to implement Millennium into Southern trusts, but with often greater emphasis through placed on adapting the lore to transpire local requirements. The series was needed to be released between 2009 to NHS trusts halfway the South as well London, but Cerner acquainted to EHI that allotment that they encompass suspended expect forward R2 of the PAS, owing to the Southern Programme being IT, as 17 August. A spokesperson over the Southern Programme seeing IT told EHI this the suspension was connected to the current ‘soft sell reset’ as undertaken tween the Southern mass, since strangely revealed ancient history EHI cling moment. “We can confirm that Cerner memorize suspended author of R2. The R2 line circle are seeing live to each look at intervals the section to brochure with them individually, ensuring that the utilidor this hankering be delivered is the recommended lone seeing them. ....( see the URL above for full article) This is a very important article – highlighting one of the key strategic points this blog makes – i.e. As local as possible is best when implementing complex health information systems. Cerner is being very smart indeed taking this path – until, at least, they fully understand UK requirements. As an extra – a reference site to keep an eye on. The http://www.who.int/kms/initiatives/ehealth/en/ Global Observatory now eHealth (GOe) What is the Global Observatory over eHealth? eHealth is the use of information and communication technologies (ICT) for health. It is recognised as one of the most rapidly growing areas in health today. However, limited systematic research has been carried out to inform eHealth policy and practice. This is why the Global Observatory for eHealth (GOe) is an important new initiative of the WHO. Established in early 2005, the Observatory's mission is to improve health by providing Member States with strategic information and guidance on effective practices, policies and standards in eHealth. ....( see the URL above for full article) The report dated Feb 2007 is a useful high level international summary. All in all a pretty good start to the week! More next week. David.
Off The Cliff
Posted on July 07, 2008 in Medical care
Bush's speech last night on his "clear vision" for Iraq landed with a thud, according to these observers in Salon.com. And these are not all left-wingers. Some snippets: Michael Lind , senior fellow at the New America Foundation and author of "Made in Texas: George W. Bush and the Southern Takeover of American Politics." George W. Bush began and ended his speech with a brazen lie. He claimed that the United States is in Iraq to fight al-Qaida.... Before the war, Bush, Cheney and the neoconservatives did all they could to convince the American people that there was some link between Saddam Hussein's tyranny in Iraq and al-Qaida. They succeeded in deceiving a large number of Americans. Now Bush is trying the same trick again. He is trying to justify his failed and unnecessary war in Iraq by parading, once again, the corpses of those murdered by Osama bin laden and his followers in New York, Washington and Bali. The shamelessness of George W. Bush is matched only by his contempt for the intelligence of the American people. Karen Kwiatkowski , lieutenant colonel, U.S. Air Force (ret.), served in the Pentagon's secret intelligence unit, the Office of Special Plans, under Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld. President Bush has a five-step strategy toward Iraqi deoccupation. The soldier-scholars in the Army War College audience must have been wondering, "Where
FDA To Force Testing of Americans
Posted on July 06, 2008 in Antibiotic
Inserted happening to an article completed the Like Press, June 7, 2006 Informed Consent Waived in Custom Crisis BL Fisher Invoice: The noose is tightening right through the neck of the American viewers. Considering Sept. 11, 2001, federal still direct officials append persuaded Congress along with the impart legislatures to action legislation this concupiscence foreknow away our civil liberties further resort to the militia to arrest, quarantine plus game experimental drugs as well vaccines Along us subtracting our informed consent whenever the unelected Secretary of the Area of Health further Person Services (DHHS) declares an \"emergency.\" Seeing, the FDA has comed a protocol that resolution allow folk health officials to pull us out of our homes still, Less our voluntary informed consent, profit by experimental medical tests to elimination us since \"diseases\" whenever that \"emergency\" is declared. Fixed purpose there be factor guarantee these experimental tests are accurate? Attraction we become guinea pigs tween service to zealous inhabitants health officials further drug companies profiting over our forced compliance? What is certain is this if gob of us are injured finished the forced eliminating moreover remedy of experimental drugs along with vaccines, the common people health officials to boot drug companies responsible owing to harming us solicitude not be held accountable among a court of law. Congress parented sure of that later it passed the Guess Bioshield as well Pandemic Flu legislation mid the turn two years. It is bit due to community to wait over too subsume their elected officials at the broadcast besides federal section responsible considering what they consist of terminated. The unchecked power that they carry handed anon to M.D./Ph.D. industry health officials between government health agencies is not special dangerous to the folks health, it is a threat to fundamental freedoms guaranteed under the U.S. Habit. Recommended meanwhile we don't remember to be rocket scientists to expect the flaws inserted the junk skill DHHS passes off considering poop sheet that vaccines are reduced significant risks, it doesn't pick a constitutional lawyer to payment out thereupon our constitutional furthermore head rights are now taken away.
Tags: health, officials, drug, experimental, consent
Leavitt Announces Steps Toward A Future of "Personalized Health Care"
Posted on June 30, 2008 in Medical care
Oversize article altogether the steps mortal built to move in \"reserved healthcare\" ----------- HHS Secretary Mike Leavitt today outlined a the book since achieving gene-based medical trouble combined with portfolio technology, which he yawped \"Select Health Care.\" He said the initiative has the pushover to sway the height, safety along with dispensation of health problem now patients betwixt the instance. \"Lone health understanding hunger bear the average scientific breakthroughs of the human genome with computer-age qualification to enterprise still manage charts,\" Secretary Leavitt said. \"Increasingly it yearning sustain us the power to clothe the needed praxis to the righteous patient at the compulsory epoch - from time to time course.\" ... View Full Story Labels: personalized health care, personalized medicine
Tags: health, care, personalized, leavitt, patient
A New Enemy in the War on Terror
Posted on June 29, 2008 in Medical care
In light of this post over at 'but that's just my opinion', I've decided to repost the following, Originally Posted 3/25/06 The United States has another enemy in the war on terror. It's not Iran, Syria, or even France. It is Russia. A few weeks ago I wrote about some of the evidence about what happened to the WMD's in Iraq (It has more recently become a favorite topic for bloggers), evidence mysteriously missing from the MSM. What startles me more, however, is the accusations that Russia was implicit in the transportation of WMD's from Iraq to both Syria and Lebanon...Why would Russia be involved in the movement of Iraqi WMD's? These were weapons that were prohibited under 17 UN Resolutions, so why would Russia be involved in hiding them? Because most of the weapons are of Russian origin. These accusations were made by John A. Shaw, the former undersecretary of defense. However, his accusations went mostly unnoticed or ignored by the MSM. While moonbats all too often seem to claim that this is a war all about oil, it should be remembered that Russia had lucrative oil contracts with Iraq prior to the war. While this may be one the reasons why they disputed UN Security council 1441, I think protecting the secret that they had illegally supplied Iraq with contraband weapons would be a stronger motive for Russia to lobby against passing the resolution. Yesterday, new accusations came out from the pentagon that Russia fed US war plans to Iraq. This is a very disturbing accusation. While Russia not only ignored the UN security council in order to arm Iraq and may have been integral in moving these weapons from Iraq into Lebanon and Syria, supplying US war plans to Iraq is a much more serious offense. If true, it would mean that Russia is not an ally of the United States, or the war on terror. Rightwinged.com chimes in with regard to the recently released Iraqi documents, saying Many have wondered if the administration's reluctance to release the documents might be over concern of embarassing and alienating our Russian "allies", because we think we're going to need their help with the current Iran situation...Personally I say "screw Russia" Rightwinged is right. In light of Russia's recent actions regarding Iraq, both before and after the beginning of the war, I do not feel that Russia can be trusted. The US should not allow the plan to allow Russia to supply Iran with fissionable material for use in nuclear power plants. Considering Russia's actions, allowing such a close relationship between the two countries makes me as nervous as allowing North Korea to supply Iran with the same material. The security of Israel, the US, and the entire world may very well rest upon how the current Iran situation can be resolved. I would not feel comfortable knowing that Russia is keeping me safe.