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Top of the Morning: Bad News on Bird Flu; Good News on World Malaria Day

April 25, 2013 by Mark Leon Goldberg

Top stories from DAWNS Digest

Bad News on Bird Flu

The virus has now infected someone in Taiwan, the first time that its off mainland China. “A new strain of bird flu that emerged in China over the past month is one of the “most lethal” flu viruses so far, worrying health officials because it can jump more easily from birds to humans than the one that started killing people a decade ago, World Health Organization officials said Wednesday. Scientists are watching the virus closely to see if it could spark a global pandemic but say there is little evidence so far that it can spread easily from human to human.” (Yahoo! http://yhoo.it/Zla2MY)

Good News on World Malaria Day

April 25 is world Malaria Day. Here is a potentially significant technology that can detect counterfeit malaria drugs and help reduce resistant strains from emerging. “The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has developed a hand-held device capable of identifying counterfeit or substandard malaria drugs and has signed a letter of intent with Corning Inc. to manufacture the product. The device, known as CD-3, is a battery-operated tool that uses different wavelengths of light to compare an authentic malaria drug with a potentially fake product, the FDA said on Wednesday.” (Christian Science Monitor http://bit.ly/10B1vIG)

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La Cumbre Sobre Vacunas Aspira a Salvar 20 Millones de Vidas para 2020

April 24, 2013 by Mark Leon Goldberg

Para la versión en inglés, hacer clic aquí.

Puede decirse que el evento más importante que está teniendo lugar en  el mundo hoy, es un gran encuentro de legisladores, filántropos, agencias de las Naciones Unidas, corporaciones y ONGs, reunidos en Abu Dabi para celebrar una cumbre acerca de la ampliación del acceso de la infancia a las vacunas, en los países en vías de desarrollo.

La Fundación Gates es la fuerza conductora detrás de esta reunión, y Bill Gates tiene muy bien fijados sus objetivos hacia la erradicación total de la polio en los próximos cinco años.

 “Durante la cumbre, donantes, líderes globales y socios, demostrarán su apoyo a la Iniciativa de Erradicación Global de la Polio y el Plan Estratégico Final 2013 – 2018, primer plan abarcador que establece todos los elementos críticos necesarios para lograr la erradicación. Acabar con la polio es un hito primario en la hoja de ruta global para salvar más de 20 millones de vidas para 2020.”

“Gracias al enorme progreso en 2012, tenemos ahora una singular ventana de oportunidad para cambiar la historia y acabar con la polio,” dijo Bill Gates, copresidente de la Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. “Debemos invertir ahora, para asegurar que fuertes sistemas de inmunización protejan nuestros logros en contra de la polio y nos ayuden a llegar a madres e hijos con otras vacunas salvadoras de vidas, y con servicios de salud adicionales.”

Lo que hay que destacar de estos objetivos, es que son alcanzables de inmediato. Acabar con la polio para siempre, y salvar 20 millones de vidas de niños mediante programas de vacunación extendida, no requiere milagros médicos ni tecnologías avanzadas. Estamos tan cerca de la línea de meta en la polio – con sólo unos pocos cientos de nuevas infecciones el pasado año, confinados en sólo tres países endémicos. Desde un punto de vista técnico, tenemos todo lo que necesitamos para acabar con la polio, así como con enfermedades evitables mediante la vacunación de los niños. Las vacunas de rotavirus, meningitis, polio, neumocócica y otras vacunas infantiles están ya en el mercado, ensayadas y testadas como vacunas efectivas.

Lo que necesitamos ahora es el compromiso político y la financiación para llevar estas vacunas a cada niño, en cualquier lugar. Hacer esto puede salvar más de 20 millones de vidas y evitar cerca de mil millones de enfermedades hacia 2020. Esto no es barato, pero tampoco es exactamente algo que arrase el presupuesto. Estamos hablando de una inversión de cerca de $30 por niño, lo cual los estudios han demostrado que puede ahorrar $12 mil millones solo en costos de tratamiento, y $800 mil millones netos en productividad económica, que de otra forma se perderían a causa de enfermedad o muerte.

Así que: 20 millones de vidas infantiles salvadas para 2020, a un costo de alrededor de $30/niño, por una ganancia neta de $812 mil millones. No se necesita mucho cerebro. Esperemos que de esta cumbre resulten compromisos concretos de todos los inversores para que estas enfermedades, perfectamente evitables, sean relegadas al cajón del olvido de la  historia.

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Special Rapporteur on torture Juan E. Méndez. UN Photo/Jean-Marc Ferré

Bahrain Blocks UN Human Rights Investigator

by Mark Leon Goldberg

So this happened:

An independent United Nations expert today urged the Government of Bahrain to honour its international commitments and allow him in to assess whether torture and ill-treatment are taking place in the country, after repeated postponements of planned visits.

“This is the second time that my visit has been postponed, at very short notice. It is effectively a cancellation as no alternative dates were proposed nor is there a future road map to discuss,” UN Special Rapporteur on torture, Juan E. Méndez stressed in a news release.

Mr. Méndez added that he is “deeply disappointed” with the decision to cancel the 8 to 15 May trip which was organized “in the spirit of cooperation” and expressed his compassion with the people of Bahrain who had expected the visit.

The Government’s decision comes after yet another week of continued clashes between demonstrators and security forces and the release of several reports criticizing what they call Bahrain’s failure to hold senior officials accountable for torture since 2011.

In a letter handed to the Special Rapporteur on 22 April, during a meeting in Washington DC, the Government said that the ongoing National Dialogue has unexpectedly taken much longer than envisaged and that a visit could be immensely damaging to the chances of the Dialogue’s success.

Meanwhile, in a statement issued to the media, the Government claimed that Mr. Méndez “put off” the visit.

In response, Mr. Méndez said that the decision to postpone the visit was solely that of the Government, “this was a unilateral decision by the authorities. Unfortunately, it is not the first time the Government has tried to avoid responsibility for the postponement of my visit, which was originally supposed to take place over a year ago.”

UN “Special Rapporteurs” can’t just helicopter into a country and conduct an investigation. Rather, they require some degree of cooperation from the host country to do their work.  This could be as simple as issuing a visa, or the cooperation can be more robust.

Regardless, it is a kind of peer pressure that ultimately gives these investigators access to countries. Most governments — even those with questionable human rights records —  want to at least appear to be pro-human rights and therefore are generally cooperative. Only truly rogue countries are completely obstinate–indeed, being obstinate can be a manifestation of a government’s rogueness.

Governments that simply don’t care about how other countries view them are the the ones to worry about. Robert Mugabe, for example, blocked Mendez’s predecessor from leaving the airport in Harare back in 2010. 

It seems that Bahrain is well on its way of becoming the Zimbabwe of the Gulf: increasingly brutal to dissenters at home, and increasingly unconcerned about its image abroad.

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vaccwork

Vaccine Summit Aims to Save 20 Million Lives by 2020

by Mark Leon Goldberg

Arguably the most important thing happening in the world today is a major meeting of policymakers, philanthropies, UN agencies, corporations and NGOs gathered in Abu Dhabi for a summit on scaling up access to childhood vaccines in the developing world.

The Gates Foundation is the driving force behind this meeting, and Bill Gates very much has his sights set on total polio eradication in the next five years.

“At the summit, donors, global leaders and partners will demonstrate their support for the Global Polio Eradication Initiative’s Eradication and Endgame Strategic Plan 2013-2018, the first comprehensive plan to lay out all the critical elements needed to achieve eradication.  Ending polio is an early milestone in the global roadmap to save more than 20 million lives by 2020.
“Thanks to tremendous progress in 2012, we now have a unique window of opportunity to change history and end polio,” said Bill Gates, co-chair of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. “We must invest now to ensure strong immunization systems will protect our gains against polio and help us reach mothers and children with other life-saving vaccines and additional health services.”

What’s remarkable about these goals is that they are readily achievable. Ending polio forever, and saving 20 million children’s lives through expanded vaccination programs does not require any medical miracles or breakthrough technologies. We are so very near the finish line on polio — only a few hundred new infections last year, confined to just three endemic countries. From a technical standpoint, we have everything we need to end polio and end vaccine preventable childhood illness. Rotovirus, meningitis, polio, pneumcoccal and other childhood vaccines are already on the market, tested and proven to be effective.

What we now need is the political commitment and funding to bring these vaccines to every child, everywhere. Doing so can save more than 20 million lives and prevent nearly one billion illnesses by 2020. This is not cheap, but it’s not exactly a budget buster. We are talking of an investment of about $30 per child, which studies have shown can  save $12 billion in treatment costs alone, and net $800 billion in economic productivity that would have otherwise been lost to sickness or death.

So: 20 million children’s lives saved by 2020, at a cost of about $30/child for a net gain of $812 billion. It’s a no-brainer. Let’s hope that this summit results in concrete commitments from all stakeholders so that these perfectly preventable illnesses are relegated to history’s dustbin.

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Top of the Morning: Bombing of French Embassy in Libya Smacks of Mali Retribution; Vaccine Summit in Abu Dhabi

by Mark Leon Goldberg

Top stories from DAWNS Digest

Bombing of French Embassy in Libya Smacks of Mali Retribution

No one was killed in an early morning attack on the French Embassy early yesterday morning, and no group has claimed responsibility. But…”Scrutiny now falls on militant Islamist groups active in Libya who are furious about France’s war against their comrades in Mali and the Sahel. ‘None of the recent attacks in Libya were major,’ said Rami El-Obeidi, former intelligence chief for the Libyan rebels, by phone from Tripoli. ‘The militants don’t want Libyan casualties because they fear a backlash. The only thing that comes to mind is that this is retaliation for Mali. It’s a very clear message to Hollande.’” (Time http://ti.me/ZnMyb8)

Gates-Backed “Vaccine Summit” Kicks off in Abu Dhabi

A first-ever major meeting of key stakeholders and donors supporting the scaling up of childhood vaccination programs is launching in UAE today. “Summit attendees, including ministers of health, front-line health care workers, international non-governmental organizations and donors, will discuss how the global community can ensure that children everywhere have access to vaccines, how the roadmap to polio eradication works, and the opportunities afforded by new vaccine and delivery innovations. The full agenda for the Summit is available here.” (Gates Foundation http://bit.ly/ZnLeow)

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On Richard Falk

April 23, 2013 by Mark Leon Goldberg

This is not the first time that Richard Falk has said something dumb. But the timing of his latest missive is deeply unfortunate, and it is getting picked up on various outlets–mostly on the right side of the spectrum.

You can read his diatribe here. Short version is that he spins the Boston Marathon bombings as retribution for American global domination. Or something. Read it for yourself to see if you can figure out his point.

Falk is a longtime Princeton professor. Since March 2008, he has served as the “UN Human Rights Council Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in the Palestinian territories occupied since 1967.” He has one year left of his six year term.  And if this latest episode tells us anything, it’s that he is living proof of the Bush administration’s failed policy of hostile indifference to the UN Human Rights Council. 

At the time of his election, the USA was not a member of the Council. The Bush administration voted against creating it in 2005, and once it was operational, the Bush administration preferred to criticize it from the sidelines (mostly for being anti-Israel) rather than trying to shape its decisions. Falk’s election serves as a perfect example of the extent to which the Bush administration’s approach became a self-fulfilling prophecy.

The Obama administration made joining the Human Rights Council one of its centerpieces of its new policy of engagement. It ran for a seat and won election to the Council five months after taking office. Since then, the United States has used its unique position of influence to shape the outcomes of events at the Human Rights Council in ways it sees as advancing American interests and human rights. Had the Bush administration taken such an approach, chances are Richard Falk would never have been elected to this post in the first place.

L’affair Richard Falk should teach us that engagement works helps make make institutions like the Human Rights Council better, while a policy of blanket hostility backfires.

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