HOT GOSSIP

Rabu, 29 Februari 2012

Efforts to Improve Research on Kids' Drugs Paying Off: Report (2/29/2012)

Efforts to Improve Research on Kids' Drugs Paying Off: Report

But information still limited on long-term safety, efficacy, especially for infants.
WEDNESDAY, Feb. 29 (HealthDay News) -- Federal laws requiring medical companies to conduct pediatric drug studies have helped provide guidance on whether it's safe or effective for children to use certain medications, a new U.S. report finds.

The Institute of Medicine (IOM) report noted, however, that there's still not enough data on the use of drugs in newborns or the long-term effects of drugs on kids generally. The IOM, part of the National Academies, is an independent, nonprofit organization that provides advice to U.S. policymakers, health professionals, industry and the public.

Congress has attempted to increase the number of pediatric studies of medications with the passage of two laws: the Best Pharmaceuticals for Children Act, which offers companies financial incentives to conduct the studies; and the Pediatric Research Equity Act, which requires pediatric studies in specific situations.

In reviewing these laws, which are due for reauthorization this year, the IOM committee found that both laws have had a positive effect on the use of drugs in children. The committee noted, however, that the laws could be more effective if the U.S. Food and Drug Administration used its authority to require that drug makers undertake long-term follow-up studies after products have been approved for sale.

Long-term studies are especially important for young patients because children's bodies and minds are not fully developed and they could be taking medications for chronic conditions over the course of many years, the report stated. The IOM committee added that newborns are also more vulnerable to the side effects of medications.

The report, released Feb. 29, concluded that Congress and the FDA could step in to improve research in these areas and force drug manufacturers to conduct timely long-term studies on the risk of medications among children or face penalties. This may be necessary, the report authors suggested in a news release from the National Academy of Sciences, because conducting research on children is more difficult and often yields less lucrative results than studies involving adults.

Source: http://www.womenshealt.gov/new/news/headlines/662238.cfm/

Rabu, 11 Januari 2012

HOSTAGE TO HER BELIEFSBy Diana Plater

-->

I read recently that the daughter of Iran's former president, Ali Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani, had been sentenced to six months in prison for spreading "propaganda against the Islamic system".

The sentencing of Faezeh Hashemi Rafsanjani, a former member of parliament turned political activist, was the latest move to stamp out potential dissent ahead of elections in March, the report said.

I remember meeting Ms Hashemi in 2000 several months before the Sydney Olympics. She and a colleague were sitting at the back of the audience of an international sports and human rights conference held in Bondi.

They stood out there because they were covered from head to foot in black chadors.

I waited that whole day to interview her for WIN (Women's International Net Magazine), for whom I was Australian correspondent, believing she would have an interesting story to tell.

At the time she was the member for Parliament for Tehran, having received 800,000 votes in 1996. She had also founded the women's newspaper, Zan.

"(My father's) fame and also his name somehow was influential," Ms Hashemi told me at the time. "(But) I personally was well known because of my previous social activities, especially for focussing on women's issues, youth, and also on sport. Most people know me well from this."

She was then the Vice Chairperson of the Iranian National Olympic Committee and Chairperson of the Council for Female Sports of the Islamic Countries and during our interview I learnt she had spent many years pushing for Muslim women to become more involved in sport, both in her native Iran and outside.

She was here in Sydney partly to convince the International Olympic Committee (IOC) organisers to allow Islamic dress during competition, in order to pave the way for Muslim women's participation in the 2000 Olympics.

She believed the role of sport in Muslim women's lives was not just a matter of personal choice but a fundamental human right.

And for this reason she had been lobbying the International Olympic Committee (IOC) to respect the dress codes of Islamic society.

Source: http://id.she.yahoo.com/new/http://thehoopla.com.au/woman//