Day: July 7, 2004

Study Reports Rise in Number of Elective Cesarean Sections

A study by Health Grades Inc. reports that the number of elective cesarean sections increased by 25 percent from 2000 to 2002, and that as many as 1 in 50 live births in the United States are now performed by elective cesarian sections.

The study examined births at 1,684 hospitals and found that 2.21 percent of live births during the study period were performed by elective cesarian sections.

There are also preliminary indications that elective cesarean section births may be more cost effective and have fewer complications than vaginal births. The Health Grades Inc. study found that there were complications in 8.4 percent of elective cesareans as compared to complications in 12 percent of vaginal births.

That figure is in line with a University of Texas study that found elective cesarean births were more cost effective over the long term than vaginal births. Elective cesareans cost $920 compared to only $780 for vaginal births, but the costs of treating complications from vaginal births more than outweighed the slightly higher costs for the cesarean.

Sources:

Study finds Caesarean births more popular. Austin Business Journal, June 28, 2004.

Number of ‘Patient Choice’ C-Sections Rises by 25 Percent, HealthGrades Study Finds. Press Release, Health Grades Inc., June 29, 2004.

New Rotavirus Vaccine Could Be Released Later This Year

Reuters reports that GlaxoSmithKline has submitted its oral rotavirus vaccine for approval in Mexico, and that such approval could be forthcoming later this year.

Rotavirus causes severe vomiting and diarrhea leading to dehydration that kills an estimated 400,000-600,000 children annually, almost all of them in the developing world.

A vaccine for rotavirus was offered in the United States by Wyeth in 1998, but had to be withdrawn over fears that it might increase the risk of a deadly bowl obstruction. That, unfortunately, led the vaccine to be rejected throughout the world where it would have almost certainly saved tens of thousands of lives.

Source:

New rotavirus vaccine close to launch in Mexico. Lorraine Orlandi, Reuters, July 5, 2004.

WHO Investigating Possible Polio Outbreak in Nigeria

The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs reports that the World Health Organization is investigating a possible outbreak of polio in the northern Nigerian state of Kano.

Kano officials suspended polio vaccination efforts in 2003 over concerns that the vaccine was a plot against Nigerian Muslims.

Now, 20-30 suspected cases of polio have been reported in the town of Rogo. Meanwhile polio cases also appear to be spreading out from Nigeria into surrounding African nations — a total of 10 African countries that had been certified polio-free have reported at least 1 case of polio in the last 12 months.

All of the latest and best medicine available is still of little avail when met with irrationality and unreason.

Source:

WHO investigates suspected polio outbreak in Kano. United Nations Integrated Regional Information Networks, July 6, 2004.

Zimbabwe: We Don’t Need Food Aid . . . Oops, Hold On A Second, Yes We Do

In May of this year, Zimbabwe’s corrupt president Robert Mugabe made a grand show of refusing food aid. He told Sky News TV,

Why foist this food [aid] upon us? We don’t want to be choked, we have enough.

But in early July, Zimbabwe was making backdoor appeals tot he World Bank for millions in aid, especially to its agricultural sector. Zimbabwe’s agricultural output all but collapsed after Mugabe forcefully displaced the nation’s white farm owners.

The World Bank refused Zimbabwe’s request, saying that it would only consider aiding Zimbabwe when that country takes care of servicing its outstanding $280 million World Bank debt.

Source:

Government secretly pleads with World Bank. Savious Kwinika, Zimbabwe Standard (Harare), July 4, 2004.

Singapore Turns to Reality TV to Increase Birth Rates

Birth rates in Singapore have fallen so low that a television network in that country has turned to a reality show to try to help increase birth rates.

“Here’s Looking at You, Babe!” follows a couple from the beginnings of pregnancy to birth of the child. The father featured in the series, Allan Li, told Channel NewsAsia, “The government wants Singaporeans to have more kids and we are stepping in.”

Singapore’s total fertility rate currently stands at a record low of just 1.26 births per woman — far below the 2.1 rate need for a population to remain stable.

According to the Associated Press, the incoming Singaporean Prime Minister recently said that his top priority will be reversing the birth dearth in that country.

Source:

Singapore TV Show Encourages Baby-Making. Jake Lloyd-Smith, Associated Press, July 4, 2004.

Majority of AIDS Victims in Africa Are Women

Unlike the West, where most victims of AIDS are men, in Africa the pattern is exactly the opposite — the majority of those infected are women and young girls.

According to the latest figures in the UN’s 2004 Global Report on AIDS, 57 percent of adults infected with HIV are women, and 75 percent of young people infected with the disease are female.

In some countries the breakdown by sex is even starker. In Kenya and Mali, for example, 45 women are infected for every 10 men.

Source:

Women hardest hit by AIDS in Africa. Agence-France Presse, July 6, 2004.