News: Africa
» 2009
December 11, 2010
Venezuela's Chavez to move into Gaddafi tent
Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez says he is going to govern temporarily from a tent so that families made homeless by recent floods can take refuge in his office. Mr Chavez said he would have a Bedouin tent given to him by the Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi put up in the garden of the presidential palace.
Read article on the BBC News website (UK)
December 5, 2010
Unearthing the 1996 Pfizer tragedy
The global outrage triggered by the 1996 trovafloxacin clinical trial tragedy, which resulted in the untimely demise of 11 voiceless children in kano at the hands of the researchers of the pharmaceutical giant Pfizer Incorporated is still raising more questions than answers. At the heart of the matter is government’s criminal neglect of its citizens and the ensuing inability to protect their lives and guarantee their welfare. This is reflected in the secrecy which surrounds the process through which the Federal Government has chosen to withdraw the $6billion (dollars) suit and charges initially filed against the company. As the soap-opera of a scam unfolds the arrowhead of the deal, Michael Aondoakaa, Nigeria’s erstwhile Attorney General and Minister of Justice is attempting to wash his hands, Herod-like off the money surreptitiously collected from Pfizer. Instead, he argues that the counsels who represented the Federal Government being more acquainted with the case are better placed to enlighten the public. However, on their part, both the counsels and officials of Pfizer have refused to disclose details of the deal. The terms of the settlement, they insist was covered by a ‘standard confidentiality clause.’ This, to us is reprehensible.
Read article in the Daily Independent (Nigeria)
September 20, 2010
"Manufacturing Dissent": the Anti-globalization Movement is Funded by the Corporate Elites
Under contemporary capitalism, the illusion of democracy must prevail. It is in the interest of the corporate elites to accept dissent and protest as a feature of the system inasmuch as they do not threaten the established social order. The purpose is not to repress dissent, but, on the contrary, to shape and mould the protest movement, to set the outer limits of dissent. To maintain their legitimacy, the economic elites favor limited and controlled forms of opposition, with a view to preventing the development of radical forms of protest, which might shake the very foundations and institutions of global capitalism. In other words, "manufacturing dissent" acts as a "safety valve", which protects and sustains the New World Order. To be effective, however, the process of "manufacturing dissent" must be carefully regulated and monitored by those who are the object of the protest movement.
Read article by Michel Chossudovsky on the Centre for Research on Globalization website
August 16, 2010
Mankind is using up global resources faster than ever
The growing world population and increasing consumption has pushed the world into ‘eco-debt’ a month earlier this year, according to the latest statistics on global resources. Think tank the New Economics Foundation (NEF) look at how much food, fuel and other resources are consumed by humans every year. They then compare it to how much the world can provide without threatening the ability of important ecosystems like oceans and rainforests to recover. This year the moment we start eating into nature's capital or ‘Earth Overshoot Day’ will fall on 21st August, a full month earlier than last year, when resources were used up by 23rd September.
Read article in the Daily Telegraph (UK)
August 6, 2010
Google accused of betraying internet golden rule in net neutrality row
Google, the internet giant, has been accused of betraying one of the most widely accepted "laws" of the internet called net neutrality; the principle that everyone has equal access. The firm has admitted that it has been in talks with the US communications provider Verizon and even agreed an outline plan on how internet traffic should be carried over networks. However, many have already voiced fears that if the plan becomes public, it could serve as a blueprint for how to carve up the internet and sell the best performance to the highest bidder.
Read article in the Daily Telegraph (UK)
Comment: Internet freedom advocates have described this plan as the "doomsday scenario" that "marks the beginning of the end of the internet as you know it". In short, the Google/Verizon pact potentially sets the stage for a corporate takeover of the Internet that could, in future, restrict your freedom to learn about cutting-edge research in natural health, the pharmaceutical business with disease and the Nazi roots of the Brussels EU. To learn about the campaign to protect internet freedom and net neutrality, click here.
July 20, 2010
Nigeria: Trovan Case - New Victims Sue Pfizer for U.S.$384 Billion
Abuja — Victims of the 1996 Pfizer meningitis trovan vaccine test which caused over 200 deaths and several others permanent disability have again sued the drugs manufacturing giant for a whopping sum of $384 billion. The victims, numbering 192, who have just surfaced, are claiming the colossal sum as damages from Pfizer Incorporated and Pfizer Specialities for the injuries they were made to suffer by the negative effect of the untested vaccines administered on them.
Read article at allafrica.com
May 14, 2010
SA 'dumps GM maize around Africa'
Johannesburg - South Africa has dumped genetically modified (GM) maize on African markets, the African Centre for Biosafety (ACB) alleged on Friday. "In the last four months, South Africa has dumped almost 300 000 metric tons of GM maize on to Kenya, Mozambique and Swaziland," it said in a statement. This was revealed in its study, "Good neighbour? South Africa forcing GM maize onto African markets and policy makers", ACB said.
Read article at news24.com (South Africa)
Comment: To download the African Centre for Biosafety study, click here.
March 9, 2010
80,000 Children May Die of Vitamin A Deficiency
No fewer than 80,000 Nigerian children are prone to die annually from Vitamin A deficiency related ailments if concerted efforts are not made to control and prevent the deficiency amongst growing children in the country. Country Director of Helen Keller International, HKI, Dr. Omo Ohiokpehai, who said this in Makurdi during an advocacy visit on the Benue State Ministry of Health and Human Services noted that the World Health Organisation, WHO, had identified Nigeria as one of the Category One countries with the highest risk of Vitamin A deficiency in the world.
Read article at allafrica.com
Comment: Only around $300 million would be needed to eliminate vitamin A deficiency in the developing world. Vitamin A is essential for immune system function and can be provided by micronutrient supplementation or the enrichment of food. The cost of this project would represent a small fraction of the world pharma market – which in 2008 was worth $773 billion. Much of this money was made by selling ineffective drugs to poor nations whose people are suffering mostly from malnutrition and vitamin deficiencies. As such, the fact that the pharma industry does not act to eliminate vitamin A deficiency in the developing world tells us all we need to know about its motives.
January 25, 2010
Pfizer Compensates Trovan Victims With N26 Million Each
Pfizer has agreed to pay N26 million to each family of the victims of its Trovan vaccine trials in Kano in 2006, provided there is proof of death or permanent incapacitation. About 200 people took part in the trials which resulted in the death of some patients and the permanent incapacitation of others. The Meningitis Trust Fund (MTF), a body set up to pay the compensation on behalf of Pfizer, said it has received over 600 applications from those who claimed they participated in the tests and want to be compensated.
Read article at allafrica.com
January 5, 2010
Zambians fume over failed AIDS trial
A Zambian traditional leader has fumed over reports that a number of his female subjects who underwent a microbicide gel clinical trials have contracted HIV, the virus that cause AIDS. Close to a quarter of volunteers that took part in a microbicide gel clinical trials in Southern Zambia contracted HIV, 12 months after the commencement of the trial. Zambian authorities have remained mute over the development while officials from the Microbicide Development Programme in Zambia and United Kingdom have pains to explain what went wrong during the clinical trials. Chief Mwanachingwala who presides over the affected site in Mazabuka of southern Zambia has expressed regret at the leaked results of the trials. The traditional leader has claimed that the Microbicide Development Programme enrolled illiterate and uneducated women who did not understand the nature of the clinical trials and its consequences.
Read article at africanews.com