In an open letter to the U.S. Congress, 400 organizations demand greater transparency on the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP). TPP consists of 11 countries that are pushing to enhance patent and data protections for pharmaceutical companies. Doing so would obstruct price-lowering generic competition for medicines, and turn back years of fighting for universal access to medicines.
Learn more about the TPP and what it means for the international community.
(via doctorswithoutborders)Options people, options. Since the pharmaceuticals won’t give them the government will because uncontrolled disease erodes the societal base that pharmaceuticals build their wealth on.
Michelle Childs, Director of Policy Advocacy for the MSF Access Campaign.
On 3 September, the Government of Indonesia issued a ‘government use’ decree - a type of compulsory licence that lifts a patent restriction on generic production - on seven drugs used to treat HIV and Hepatitis B. The drugs which are subject to the orders include efavirenz, abacavir, tenofovir, lopinavir/ritonavir, didanosine, and fixed-dose combinations tenofovir/emtricitabine and tenofovir/emtricitabine/efavirenz.
The Presidential decree, if implemented fully, will allow for local generic production of the medicines - which will open up competition, and could significantly reduce prices - while each of the innovator companies will be paid a royalty of half a percent. There are 310,000 people living with HIV in Indonesia.
“Indonesia has set an important precedent, not just for the people living with HIV within its country, who have been campaigning for this, but also for other developing countries”, said Ms. Childs. “This is one of the widest licences issued by a government and rightly reflects the reality that a range of treatment options are needed.”
“As medicines for HIV and Hepatitis B are increasingly under patent in developing counties, Indonesia has shown that countries can and should take action to enable the production of low-cost versions of essential life-saving medicines for their citizens. The next step is full implementation of the decree. Other countries faced with blocks on access to generic medicines should consider following Indonesia’s lead”, Ms. Childs added.
(via doctorswithoutborders)
An important POV on pain, pain killers, and chronic or debilitating conditions from someone keeping her head up in tough situation.
By now you’ve seen at least one installment of my Common Searches That Lead to Chronic Curve series. It’s hilarious, weird, strange, but sometimes it’s incredibly sad.
I see some of the same disheartening searches over and over again from all over the world and now, it is time to address some…
I love how she describes how acupuncture needles are the counterweight to hypodermic needles and fertility meds.
My daily existence at present revolves around needles.
Needles at the doc’s office to draw my blood for stimulation monitoring, the needles my husband and I use at home every day to inject me with fertility medications (Gonal F, Menopur), and the acupuncture needles used twice a week to optimize…
REMEMBER everyone: just because it’s good doesn’t necessarily mean you NEED it! Coconut water anyone?
Indigenous superfoods such as the Sacha Inchi plant (above) can be found all over Peru.Peru is one of the most geographically diverse countries in the world and it contains within its borders 82 micro-climates out of the 104 available in the world. This incredible variety of regions and micro-regions supports an amazingly rich flora and fauna and provides an ideal host for today’s most popular superfoods.
a several-thousand-year-old practice, deeply rooted in chinese medicine and scientifically proven to be an effective remedy for all manner of ailments, acupuncture seemed a fine first choice in my crusade against evil, evil stress.
so yesterday, i made an appointment to see my new acupuncturist….
A company in Bangalore, India is doing the lab research to identify, standardize, and apply Ayurvedic remedies in a more scientifically based way. I’m curious what the direction and results of their research are since the article doesn’t go into details.
The Japanese national health insurance covers a set list of 148 herbal remedies (kanpo) that are prescribed by MDs and herbalists. Additionally, their MDs are receiving more training/exposure to kanpo while in training, making them more open to their use. This is one of the solutions I’ve seen for governing/covering herbal remedies. The unapproved remedies are still available but are not covered by the government insurance. Plus, the way the approved remedies are applied is according to biomedical symptoms, not the traditional kanpo diagnostics.
I got a call from a potential patient who after a brief discussion about what his issue was, proceeded to engage me in a discussion about acupuncture’s effectiveness in light of all the scientific evidence showing otherwise. He prefaced his comments with the question “Do you reject MDs and pharmaceuticals on principle?” (I don’t). I get the impression he was trying to determine if I believed in acupuncture on faith or because I saw results. (I see results.) In the end all I could offer him was the comment “I’m aware of the scientific evidence against acupuncture based on studies. I’m aware of the blogs against acupuncture based on the discussion of these studies as well as the many biases (confirmational, recall, etc) that accompany our thinking. But I see my patients do well with acupuncture and that’s all I can respond to that.” Maybe he’ll come to the office. He liked how affordable the treatments were. But right now I doubt he’s interested enough to get over his doubts.
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