Category: health

in defense of dr. ona (updated)

poor dr. ona! indeed.  it would seem that the health secretary has been prejudged over his decision to procure the cheaper of two pneumonia vaccines when, as boo chanco explains, it was apparently a professional decision grounded on what makes the most sense, given cost and need.  dr. ona deserves a fair hearing.  the same is true with regard to the use of malaria herbal meds as treatment for dengue.

Dengue, Deaths, Drugs and Politics
By Godofredo U. Stuart M.D.

ActRx TriAct®—an herbal based treatment that combines artemether and artesunate, both used to treat malaria, and promoted as a new breakthrough treatment for Dengue— should be most welcome news, especially as a painless two-day regimen sprayed under the tongue.

Instead of celebrating a potentially life-saving treatment—for a disease that has, to date, no specific drug therapy available—Health Secretary Ona is under scrutiny for authorizing the breakthrough drug for use in dengue.

WHO Dr. Julie Hall warned the DOH against using the Artemisinin combination treatment—mainstay treatment for falcifarum malaria saving thousands of lives each year—for fear of development of resistant falcifarum malaria. She’s also concerned dengue and malaria are coendemic in some areas, and use of artemisinin in those areas could cause an emergence of malaria resistance.

Here are some numbers. In 2012, there were 187,031 cases with 921 deaths. In 2013, 204,906 cases with 660 deaths. This year, “some 24,900 cases have resulted in (at least) 100 deaths, or a ration of one fatality for every 249 cases,” Ona said. 

Malaria, on the other hand, has significantly declined since the mid-2000s, with an 83% reduction from 2005 to 2013. and deaths down from 150 in 2005 to 12 last year. A DOH report reassuringly headlines: The Philippines is on the verge of attaining malaria-free status.

And as important, of 53 known provinces endemic for the disease, 27 have already been declared malaria-free (Cavite Batangas, Marinduque, Catanduanes, Albay, Masbate, Sorsogon, Camarines Sur, Iloilo, Aklan, Capiz, Guimaras, Bohol, Cebu, Siquijor, Western Samar, Eastern Samar, Northern Samar, Northern and Southern Leyte, Biliran, Camiguin, Surigao del Norte, Benguet, Romblon, Batanes, and Dinagat Islands)—while dengue is earning epidemic status.

In 2012, in a regional surveillance report by the DOH, Cebu City topped the list with 3,081 cases of dengue with 12 deaths. Cebu is one of the 27 provinces that has been declared malaria-free. Iloilo, also designated malaria-free, reported a 71% surge in dengue cases. Aklan, also malaria-free, has seen an increase of 75%, up 1,340 cases compared to 763 last year. There are deaths buried in those numbers. Davao, although not Malaria-free (3 cases in 2013), reported 39 dengue deaths. These are compelling numbers.

I hope it’s real clinical concern that’s putting the ActRx TriAct on hold—that it’s not being stonewalled by ego and politics. Infectious disease experts should do a think-tank on the dengue health issue, devise appropriate treatment protocols. Judiciously using the treatment only for severe and lab-diagnosed cases should help avoid the emergence of resistance.

And why look to the WHO for advisement? While it suggests no specific drug therapy, it has listed dengue fever as a “neglected disease” and estimates that there may be 50 to a 100 million dengue infections worldwide each year. Rather, while others concern themselves with vector control and other public health measures, our medical community can take the initiative and embark on a pioneering treatment program that may eventually prove useful in the dengue pandemic. And if need be, until the warring factions settle their issues, the drug should be placed on “compassionate use” status.

There have been many pharmaceutical breakthroughs—studies finding new uses for old drugs. That a drug that saved lives from malaria can now be used to prevent deaths from dengue is one such breakthrough. A godsend. . . a eureka moment.

The Phase III clinical trial has concluded that ActRx TriAct is a highly efficient and successful treatment for dengue. Unless or until that is proven otherwise, if ActRx TriAct can prevent hundreds of dengue deaths a year. . . it would be medically unethical not to use it. Perhaps, criminal.

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Ona in trouble over use of malaria-dengue drug
Ona’s fate hangs as PNoy reads report on vaccines
Was Secretary Ona let go because Usec Janet Garin, former staunch RH advocate in the House, would be more determined to push the RH Law into full implementation?

cancer & laetrile

G. Edward Griffin marshals the evidence that – like scurvy or pellagra – aggravated by the lack of an essential food compound in modern man’s diet. That substance is vitamin B17. In its purified form developed for cancer therapy, it is known as Laetrile.

the good news is, laetrile is available in the philippines.

surviving cancer, no chemotherapy

check out nancy’s niche, my sister’s new blog.   nancy is the nurse of the family and she’s been an advocate of a natural nontoxic therapy for cancer ever since our mom survived stage IV breast cancer back in the 70s.   of course medical skeptics say it was a fluke.   the religious think it was a miracle, nadaan sa dasal.   like nancy i believe it was (1) the change in diet, (2) the meds that included laetrile (vitamin b17), and also (3) the stress relief — my older sibs started helping deal with the family’s agrarian concerns, and mama went back to playing the piano.

cheap meds – gma vs. mar

ano ba talaga?   kahapon ito ang balita:  Arroyo to sign cheap meds EO

MANILA, Philippines-President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo will finally sign next week the executive order placing a price ceiling on 22 essential drugs sold in the country.

Malacañang made the announcement Tuesday amid allegations that Pfizer Phil. had tried to bribe the President with some P100 million worth of discount cards for distribution to indigent patients around the country.

pero today iba na:  Palace backtracks on issuing cheap meds EO!

Malacañang on Wednesday said President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo would first take into account keeping foreign investors and ensuring public access to cheaper drugs before ordering a price ceiling for essential medicines.

“Theimplications for economic health go beyond just the issue of cheaper medicines at hand,” Gary Olivar, deputy presidential spokesperson, told reporters Wednesday.

The Palace was apparently backtracking on its tough position on Tuesday that Ms Arroyo was set to sign the executive order imposing maximum retail prices (MRP) by next week.

ano ba ‘yan?   what implications for “economic health”???    it won’t be healthy for the economy if the president signs the e.o. because it might drive away foreign investors, such as multinational drug companies who are making a killing, selling us meds at three times the price in other countries???    come on!   does she really think these drug companies will stop selling us their drugs if she signs the e.o.?    in the end, they will settle for a small cut in profits dahil hefty pa rin surely, than no profits at all.

so why really is gloria making urong-sulong when signing the e.o. would be very good if not for the books then for her public image and approval rating, lalo na’t swak ang timing for the SONA?   aha.   kung si ellen tordesillas ang tatanungin, it’s pure and simple inggit.   inggit si gloria kay senator mar roxas because roxas, who steered the law through congress, will get the credit for it and might even get elected president in 2010 because of it.

Ang ugat ng kontrobersya sa executive order na magpapatupad ng Maximum Retail Price (MRP) na nakasaad sa 2008 Cheaper Medicines Act ay inggit. Inggit ni Gloria Arroyo na makalamang si Senador Mar Roxas sa isyung ito.

Sabi ng isang source namin sa Malacañang inis raw si Arroyo na ang pipirmahan niyang executive order ay magagamit ni Roxas sa kanyang kampanya para presidente sa 2010. Kaya pinulong niya ang mga hepe ng pharmaceuticals nuong Hulyo 8 at sinabing ibaba nila ang presyon ng 50 na gamot para siya ang sikat at masasabi niya na mas magaling siya kasi 22 lang ang gamot na nasa listahan ng MRP.

Ang kapalit siyempre ng kooperasyon ng mga pharmaceutical firms ay hindi pipirmahan ang MRP.

hm, naisip ko rin yan, but not in terms of inggit, rather of just not doing the presidentiable senator any favors. i’m still hoping that gma would could be big enough to allow credit where credit is due, never mind the politics of it.   after all cheaper meds would mean more money to spend, more money going around, for other essential goods and services, which would be very good for the economy’s ever failing health di ba?

as for the criticism laid at mar roxas’ door that the power to implement the cheaper meds law should have been given not to the president but to a price regulatory board, hmm, i tend to agree with mar:

(mar) said it is difficult to pinpoint responsibility in a board that he predicted to be the dumping ground of “election losers and relatives of powerful politicians…”

sa totoo lang, i like it that the cheaper meds law puts the president on a spot.   it’s time she showed some real statesmanship.   something we can remember her fondly for, unlike the “hello garci” tapes, and the infamous if unfortunate boob job (ang dagdag ang dagdag)!