EPN - Ecumenical Pharmaceutical Network

• News
  • UN Condemns Attack on ARV Therapy
  • Faith May Improve Health
  • Advocating Access to Medicines
  • Paracetamol Use Raises Risk of Lung Disease
  • Herbal Remedies and Arthritis Medication
  • Pharmaceutical Tariffs
  • Pills Profit Protest
  • HIV/AIDS
  • TB
  • Malaria
• Resources
  • WHO HIV/AIDS, TB and Malaria Newsletter
  • Millennium Development Report on Access to Essential Medicines
• Courses
  • Rational Drug Policy and Management Course

NEWS

UN Condemns Attack on ARV Therapy
A recent advertising campaign is touting the benefits of vitamin therapy and claiming that ARV therapy is toxic.  These advertisements, placed in the international press, are wrong and misleading, reiterated the WHO, UNICEF and the Joint United Nations Programme on HIV and AIDS (UNAIDS).  WHO, UNICEF and UNAIDS have condemned the irresponsible linking of their names to claims that vitamins and nutrition therapy alone can prevent AIDS deaths.
http://www.who.int/3by5/mediacentre/fsFood/en/

Faith may improve health
A belief in God may improve a person’s physical health, according to University of Chicago researchers who are launching the first comprehensive study to examine the relationship between religious attitudes and health.  Among the researchers’ initial discoveries is that African Americans who say they have a strong relationship with God were significantly less likely to report depressive symptoms than those who did not. http://www.mydna.com/resources/news/200504/news_20050413_godhea.html

Advocating Access to Essential Medicines
During the Global Week of Action on Trade held in April, the Ecumenical Advocacy
Alliance encouraged links to the issues of patents and access to generic
medicines for anti-retroviral treatments. Different national campaigns
focus on access to affordable treatment by addressing government,
pharmaceutical companies, and the church.  Suggested approaches from Switzerland, India and U.S.A can be viewed on: http://www.e-alliance.ch/media/media-5741.pdf#6

Paracetamol use raises risk of lung disease
According to a study published in the American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care and Medicine, May 2005, regular paracetamol use increases the risk of asthma and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD).
http://www.news-medical.net/?id=9739

Herbal remedies and arthritis medication
Herbal remedies and arthritis drugs can be a potentially dangerous mix, but it's not only patients who are ill informed about the risks, healthcare professionals are too.  Doctors may not recognise the potential adverse effects associated with herbal remedies, and patients may be reluctant to report either the use of herbal remedies or adverse effects.  Rheumatology outpatients may be at particularly high risk of interactions with conventional drugs, because they are likely to be taking several drugs at the same time and to have other ailments.
http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/medicalnews.php?newsid=22806

Pharmaceutical Tariffs
A study to examine tariffs levied on medicines has been conducted by Muge Olcay, (Secretariat for the Commission on Intellectual Property Rights, Innovation and Public Health) and Richard Laing, (World Health Organization).  The paper provides data on the tariff rates levied and revenue generated by over 150 countries around the world on different categories of pharmaceutical products. These categories include active pharmaceutical ingredients, finished products and vaccines for human medicines. The URL for the paper is
http://www.who.int/intectualproperty/studies/tariffs/en/ with data tables available at
http://www.who.int/intellectualproperty/studies/tariffs_data/en/ . To give any feedback, send an e-mail to:
laingr@who.int

Pills Profits Protest
Pills Profits Protest: Chronicle of the Global Aids Movement is a highly acclaimed documentary about AIDS treatment activism.   This documentary looks at the struggle for access to HIV treatment for poor and marginalized countries and individuals.  This struggle is in the midst of powerful countries, corporate bodies and a drug industry that is motivated by profit.  At the heart of this documentary are the questions: Can the world afford universal HIV treatment? At what cost? What will be the global cost if we fail to treat and save 40 million people now?  To order the film or for additional information please visit: www.outcast-films.com

HIV/AIDS

ART safe in Pregnancy
Pregnant women with HIV can safely receive antiretroviral therapy (ART), a new study has found.  Research published in the Journal of Acquired Deficiency Syndromes Volume 38: Issue No. 4, April 1, 2005, page 449-473 indicates that ART during pregnancy is associated with improved obstetric outcome and little maternal toxicity.  The authors analysed data on ART use during pregnancy in more than 2,500 HIV-infected women.
http://www.jaids.com/pt/re/jaids/toc.00126334-200504010-00000.htm;jsession

ART for 10,000!
Ten thousand children suffering from AIDS will receive ART treatment from the William J. Clinton’s Foundation HIV/AIDS Initiative.  This approximately doubles the number of children on ART in the developing world outside Brazil and Thailand. To make this possible, the William J. Clinton Foundation has worked with a major pharmaceutical company to reduce the price of paediatric medicines by more than 50 percent. These medicines are normally four to five times as expensive as adult HIV/AIDS medicines.
http://www.clintonfoundation.org/041105-nr-cf-hs-ai-pr-treatment-for-ten-thous
and-children.htm

PEPFAR/Global Fund To Help Countries Maintain Programs
PEPFAR is working with the Global Fund to better fight HIV/AIDS in countries receiving money from the Fund, says a report from the second annual meeting of field workers for PEPFAR held in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.  As part of the coordination effort, PEPFAR will offer technical and organizational assistance to countries that are having difficulty spending their Global Fund aid money, which puts them at risk of losing the money.
http://www.kaisernetwork.org/daily_reports/rep_hiv.cfm#30308

TB

TB and HIV/AIDS Programs
Due to the HIV epidemic, many countries in sub-Saharan Africa are experiencing a marked increase in TB cases. Some of these countries report that up to 75% of TB patients are co-infected with HIV. In an effort to combat the TB/HIV/AIDS link, collaborative efforts are being put in place to dramatically improve patient care, control these diseases, and minimize the impact of this dual epidemic on patients, families, and communities.  http://www.msh.org/what_MSH_does/tb/tb_hiv.html

MALARIA

Vaccine
An effective vaccine against malaria has been developed and could be licensed by 2010. Many other vaccines are in development, but experts say trial results of this one, are the most promising yet.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/health/3742876.stm

RESOURCES

WHO HIV/AIDS, TB and Malaria Newsletter
HIV/AIDS, TB and Malaria are the 3 major global health pandemics today.  WHO has developed a newsletter exclusively with information on these 3 diseases. More information can be viewed on http://www.who.int/3by5/en/newsletterHTM.pdfresource.org

Millennium Development report on Access to Essential Medicines
The United Nations has released the Millennium Project Task Force report on Access to Essential Medicines.  It gives detailed analysis and recommendations for ways to increase access to medicines. http://www.unmillenniumproject.org/reports/reports2.htm#08

COURSES

Rational Drug Policy and Management Course
Rational Drug Policy and Management – The challenge of disease of poverty – Advanced Training Course
September 26 – October 7 2005
Ifakara Training Center, Ifakara, Tanzania

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