WHO raises global alert for swine flu outbreak

Dr. Margaret Chan, WHO’s Director-General, yesterday raised the current level of influenza pandemic alert from phase 4 to 5, warning that a pandemic is likely imminent.
Listen to the Audio statement by WHO Director-General, Dr Margaret Chan – 29 April 2009 
Swine flu is suspected of killing 160 people in Mexico and making about 2,500 ill.  The [...]

Explosion in drug websites puts patients at risk

An investigation by the Telegraph (London, UK) revealed that hundreds of websites, many based in Britain, are selling dangerous drugs which should only be prescribed by doctors.
The Telegraph’s investigation revealed websites selling dangerous drugs with few or no checks.
The law states that patients buying drugs over the internet must first undergo a full online “consultation”.  [...]

World IP Day 2009

As designated by the World Intellectual Property Organization, April 26th is World IP Day…  Each year, WIPO and its Member States celebrate World Intellectual Property Day with activities geared towards increasing public understanding of what IP really means, and to demonstrate how the IP system fosters not only music, arts and entertainments, but also all the [...]

World Malaria Day – recognizing health progress and ongoing challenges

 World Malaria Day  (April 25) is a day of unified commemoration of the global effort to provide effective control of malaria around the world.  This year’s World Malaria Day marks a critical moment in time.  The international malaria community has merely two years to meet the 2010 targets of delivering effective and affordable protection and treatment [...]

GPs warn on internet drug sales

BBC News reported that  one in four general practitioners in Britain said they had treated patients for adverse reactions to medicines bought online.  A further 8% suspected they had treated side-effects of internet-bought drugs, the snapshot survey of 420 doctors carried out by GP magazine found.
Dr Sarah Jarvis, a GP in west London and spokeswoman [...]

New Partnership aims to deliver affordable, effective malaria drugs to the poor

A new international partnership, backed by the United Nations, hopes to put affordable malaria drugs within reach of millions of people, especially children, in sub-Saharan Africa and Asia.
The rationale behind The Affordable Medicines Facility for malaria, as the new initiative is known, will be to reduce the price of effective new therapies (artemisinin combination therapies [...]

China to strengthen protection of intellectual property rights

Protection of intellectual property rights is necessary not only for economic development and country-to-country exchanges, but is also a matter of respecting the value of people’s work, stated Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao.
Wen was speaking yesterday in a meeting with Francis Gurry, director-general of the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO).  Premier Wen also said his government [...]