Number 314, July 30, 1998.
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Our principal topics this week are:
INDIGENOUS ISSUES:
* UPDATE: - Road continues to put Indians at risk
HEALTH:
* UPDATE: - False medications
* UPDATE: - How to prevent falsification of medicines
- National investigation into milk program
- Stolen medicines
- Investigation of illegal transplants
- AIDS in Mato Grosso
LAND ISSUES:
- Landless people rob seven trucks of food
ENVIRONMENT:
- Oil spill covers beaches in Santos
INDIGENOUS ISSUES:
Update: - Road continues to put Indians at risk
The construction of a road to connect to towns in the North of Mato Grosso - Sapezal and Juina continues to go ahead. The building of the road has already taken over 50 kilometers of the Indigenous land belonging to the Enawene-nawe Indians. The road is being built by "Group Magi", that largest producer of Soya in the country. The construction of this road is putting the physical and cultural lives of the Enawene-nawe at risk.
The construction of the illegal road was already denounced and is being denounced again by CIMI (Missionary Indigenous group), OPAN (Native Amazon Operation), along with the Mato Grosso Environment Protection group. If the road is completed it will cause irreversible harm to the Enawene-nawe. They have a pollution of 300 people and belong to a group called the Aruak, who were first contacted in 1974. The Indigenous land is legally registered and owned by the Indians.
Source - Instituto Centro de Vida, July 1998
HEALTH:
- National investigation into milk program.
The National Association for Medical Auditors for the Minister of Health requested that the Federal Public Ministry investigate the national milk program. The auditors requested the investigation after a number of municipalities complained that the tons of milk they were supposed to get never arrived. Tons of powered milk has disappeared, fraud relating to the milk and the huge demands for milk made the auditors request a full national inquiry.
In Recife more than R$2,5 million reais worth the milk had gone missing. The National Health Fund demanded R$1,0 million reais for breech of a government contract in relation to the milk. The city defended itself saying that the culprits "internal enemies" within the National Health Union. The auditors within the National Health Union approved the irregularities.
Source - Folha de Sao Paulo 28,07.1989
- False medications
Seven of the many ways used in the falsification of medicines
1. Clandestine laboratories manufacturing false medicines in their back gardens, and is sold under the name of a non existing company.
2. Medicines that should have been destroyed are distributed and sold to pharmacies.
3. Medicines that should be distributed by certain authorities are redistributed and sold to pharmacies.
4. Medicines that have expired are repackaged and are sold..
5. Medicines distributed as "free samples" are packaged and sold.
6. Medicines that are for sale are stored in places that destroy there effectiveness.
7. Thieves steel authentic medicines and are used in exchange for other medicines.
- How to prevent falsification of medicines
Medicine factories need to adopt modifications in the commercialization of their products in order to evict falsification according to the Union for the Pharmaceutical Industry.
One of the modifications has to be the abolishing of the sale of drugs from one distributor to another. Medicines should have the name of the distributor on its packaging as well as the name of the laboratory where it was originally purchased and what hospital or pharmacy where it is being sold. Only registered Laboratories will have the permission to package their products in the above way. A list of all the registered laboratories should be distributed to all pharmacies and hospitals.
The manner in how the above modifications are to be implemented are to be discussed tomorrow between lawyers and representatives of the pharmaceutical industry.
- Stolen medicines
The Sao Paulo police caught five men transporting a huge quantity of stolen medicines, in the western zone of the city yesterday evening. The five men were caught while transferring the stolen material into a waiting truck. The medicines had been stolen on May 13, from the pharmaceutical factory Asta Medica. The stolen medicines were valued at R$2 million reais.
- Investigation of illegal transplants
The district federal governor of Brasilia is calling for a full investigation into clandestine transplants after the discovery of an illegal transplant of a cornea at the Hospital de Base de Brasilia. According to the Federal District Minister for Health, thirty six year old Edgemir Menezes de Araujo died on July 22, his corneas were removed without consultation or permission from his family.
The version given yesterday by the secretary for the Eye Bank, which is an non government organization said the corneas were taken from the Central Bank Transplants. The law permits the removal of organs, the only orientation is to simply ask. Francisco Silvino de Brito, president of the Eye Bank, said that they had the authorization of a brother in law of the deceased. Moises Garcia Fmadi who is a first cousin of the deceased said the papers which were signed were for the release of the body for burial. The family are brining a case against the hospital,
The removed corneas are always sent to the Hospital de Base where they are stored, responsible for this is Dr. Flavio Roberto who is also director of the Eye Bank.
Dr. Francisco Silvino de Brito president of the Eye Bank said " that until last week it was never communicated to him that only the Central Bank Organs for the District Federal could remove and transplant corneas and that the Eye Bank could no longer function. It has functioned for 14 years. During that time there have been over 700 cornea transplants and we were never accused of anything. The people who work in the Eye Bank are volunteers and receive nothing for this service. I have never received any money for this work". said Silvio. He went on to say that "many times he went out at night to do an emergency removal and transplant of organs. At the end of the year when the doctors are on holidays I have done many of the transplants because there were not enough hospital personnel to do it. We have received corneas even from the USA, which the Hospital de Base used. We had to pay R$210 reais to store the corneas. When the director of the hospital was asked to pay he refused. I had to pay the money out of my own pocket. I have never charged patients for this. Last week I had a confrontation with the director of the hospital for removing the corneas from Edgemir Menezes de Araujo. I am with a clear conscience. I have never received any notification saying that the Eye Bank cannot do transplants. If they want to close down the Eye Bank they can, I just wonder how they will function without it".
According to Silvio all corneas removed by the Eye Bank are listed with the receivers name, time at which the transplant occurred etc.,
Source - Folha de Sao Paulo 29,07,1998
- AIDS in Mato Grosso
In Mato Grosso more than 1944 people are HIV positive. Cuiaba has the largest number of AIDS patients in the State totaling 793 cases. In Brasil over the past three years 17,000 new cases were registered yearly. This figure is a result of various NGO organizations along with a National Program researching into the AIDS question in Brasil.
AIDS continues to increase among the youth. between the ages of 20 - 25 years.
The poor are more at risk with more women being affected than men in the small
country towns. In Mato Grosso during the month of May of this year one woman to
every four men was infected, now it is one women to every three men.
One reason for the increase in AIDS patients is due to the fact that the
population is becoming more aware of the illness and many people attending the
local health clinic. AIDS testing is done free of charge giving many people the
opportunity to get tested.
Source - Instituto Centro de Vida
LAND ISSUES:
- Landless people rob seven trucks of food.
Farmers along with the Landless people hijacked seven trucks of food yesterday in Pernambuco and two other cities. They also took over two municipal headquarters. All this happened yesterday morning, there was no violence used and nobody was imprisoned.
This is the largest operation which the landless people and the farmers have done together in the state, since the drought began in May. According to the leaders of the Landless Movement more than a 1,000 people participated in the taking of the food. The taking of the food and occupying the city-hall in two cities has taken place just four days before the arrival of President Fernando Henrique Cardoso to Pernambuco.
According to the coordinator of the state for the landless people, Jaime Amorim, "there was no other alternative to taking the food, no help of any kind has come from city, state or federal government, with 76 groups of landless people they had no choice but take the food".
Source - Folha de Sao Paulo 28,07,’98
ENVIRONMENT:
- Oil spill covers beaches in Santos
An oil spill in the early hours of Sunday last from the Smyrni Limassol ship arrived on the beaches of Santos in the State of Sao Paulo yesterday. A layer of thick and sticky oil covered the beach in Santos. At least a hundred tons of oil fell into the sea after the tank in the ship burst.
The spill occurred when the ship Elisabeth Rickmers hit Smyrni Limassol while trying to moor in the port of Santos. The impact tore the side of the Smyrni , causing the tank to leak which led to the oil spill.
The largest oil spill ever, occurred in 1984 when 420 tons of oil spilled into the sea in Baixada Santista.
Source - O Sao Paulo 29,07, 1989
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