World of Media … and the power of it!

The following post can be found on the official LIVESTRONG blog. The post comments on the work done at the Center of Panagia Philanthropini in Ormylia.

...proudly supports!

At the LIVESTRONG Global Cancer Summit in 2009 we initiated a global call for Commitments in the fight against cancer. Nearly 300 organizations, individuals, leaders and corporations made formal Commitments. As a way of highlighting their immense efforts in battling this disease, we will feature a different organization each week, sharing stories of progress and success from around the globe.

This week takes us to Chalkidike, Northern Greece where The Ormylia Foundation’s Panagia Philanthropini Center is making a profound difference in the lives of many underprivileged women living in remote communities in the area. Much of northern Greece is made up of hard-to-reach seaside and mountain villages where residents had no access to organized cancer screenings before the center’s creation. In response to this severe lack of access to care, the Center began providing free screenings to underprivileged women in 1991 and has since then also begun educational outreach.

In response to LIVESTRONG’s call for Global Commitments in the fight against cancer, the Ormylia Foundation formally committed to scaling up their outreach to groups that are acutely underprivileged- primarily Muslim religious groups (Pomaks, Romas and other Turkish speaking communities) from the former Soviet Union, the Middle East, Africa and Asia. Ormylia’s initiative is uniquely holistic, focusing on not only keeping women healthy, but advocating for their quality of life: “By detecting early-stage breast and cervical cancer, and subsequently employing less invasive treatment, this program will prevent the deterioration of the social web of these fragile populations, keeping women healthy and productive with a high quality of life.”

With a goal of scaling up their annual screenings to reach 35,000 women in the next five years, and with a 95% survival rate for women diagnosed, Ormylia is making an incredible impact on the lives of women who need their care.

LIVESTRONG proudly supports the Ormylia Foundation’s efforts, and we look forward to sharing their continued success.

Blog by LIVESTRONG staffer Rebekkah Schear and intern Lance Pyburn.

To have the Shot or Not … part 2

As a response to my previous post I am posting an email that I received from a friend who  is a pathologist in an American Clinic.

flu vaccine

I asked him about the vaccine and any known unwanted reactions to the patients etc.

here is his reply

I am certainly not an expert in vaccine design.
However, my understanding is:

(1) The H1N1 vaccine differs from the conventional,
seasonal flu vaccine only in that it includes epitopes
for H1N1. These were not known, or at least not considered
serious enough to include, at the time this year’s vaccine
was designed. Hence the need for a separate vaccine.
So, in that sense, this is the same vaccine that has been in use for
years (with epitopes changing each year), and would be expected
to be as safe as the usual, seasonal vaccine.
The FDA has frequently asked questions on the H1N1 vaccine here

(2) I’ll agree that companies making the vaccine probably
did so in eggs all this time because they saw no reason to
invest in another method. That said, the intra-nasal mist
for children is new(er).
There are cell culture production methods in development.
I’m not sure what clinical trials would have to be done
to validate a new production method (as opposed to a
differently designed vaccine).
I suppose it would depend on the method and degree of
purification, but possibly this would be more than for
the conventional vaccine from eggs.

(3) Vaccines prepared in eggs are contra-indicated for
individuals with egg allergies (there are strategies to
overcome this in patients at risk with severe asthma
who happen to be allergic to eggs). At vaccination,
we would also defer those who have fever or colds,
but I believe that this is because the vaccine may be
less effective in that circumstance. Individuals who
have had previous reactions to flu vaccine (beyond the
usual minor side effects) would be deferred, as would
those who have had Guillan-Barré syndrome (though this
reflects a complication associated with the 1976 swine
flu vaccine, rather than the vaccines now in use).

(4) There is a list of FDA-approved manufacturers
(with links to package inserts) at
the fda site
I see Sanofi and Novartis among those listed, but
not Aventis or GSK as such. Of course, it may be that
they have no problem selling their stocks in their
existing markets, but, for what it’s worth, the FDA
does not list them for use here.

There is actually a lot of information at the FDA site,
the main entry portal being here:

http://www.flu.gov/

There is also a lot of information available from CDC,
with more on the status of the epidemic, personal
protection, and treatments. I’ll note that there is
one apparently well-documented case of a pediatrician
in Virginia having been infected twice with H1N1 that
has been recently reported, but it is not discussed at
the CDC site. The overall significance of this is not
clear. The CDC web pages can be entered here:
http://www.cdc.gov/h1n1flu/

Best regards,
J.G

Always a very thorough view of the question!!!

To have the Shot or not … ?

during the past year the numbers of the infected with the H1N1 human form of the swine Flu (for which they change the name into Flu A, or Novel Flu etc instead of the piggy one, for the obvious financial reasons) have being spiraling up week by week. And governments around the globe stated the world in a state of emergency…which could be relieved by mass vaccination of certain groups of people ( vulnerable groups of individuals at first and health care workers, kids  etc).

poor things

I do not like talking about conspiracies and other theories… but:

Baxter Pharmaceuticals is the only company which had “envisioned” (???) the H1N1 “pandemic” and patented the vaccine for the new Flu…on Aug. 28 back in 2008 according to this source.

And instead of dropping the patent for the vaccine and the tamiflu antiviral the governments urges us to get the shot… the shot of a vaccine which we don’t know its consequences and the full-scale of its side-effects.

is it the real cure... ?

The pharmaceutical companies should give more thought into the vaccine production and less into their finances.

unfortunately that is how things are…

everyone spins around (not the sun, but) the Dollar/Euro/Yuan etc…

H1N1 flu strain and vaccine…

WHO has almost achieved to produce the vaccine for the H1N1 flu, for a number of countries…

many of the countries rethink their vaccination policies after a (small) number of studies…

how safe is the H1N1 vaccine ?

Switzerland for instance, restricts the use of the vaccine and excludes pregnant women, children under 18s and adults over 60s… feed

How are we sure about the vaccine? Is it safe? Have the pharmaceutical companies completed the clinical trials, and if so, are these trials enough for a substantial number of people around the globe get vaccinated?

who (or even WHO) should answer these questions… ?

All pharmaceutical companies work round the clock to produce the amounts of the vaccine countries have ordered and prepaid… but do we really know that the vaccine works?

I am a bit sceptical about the H1N1 flu story and its vaccine…

It worries me a lot… but I feel powerless.

dress up with warm clothes, eat your fruits and vegs and wash your hands regularly…

WHO advice

USA gov advice

cnn advice

HCIDC (ΚΕΛΠΝΟ) advice

 

 

 

 

My swine flu misery

Sara Vine, a  writer at The Times,  describes how her body has been racked with tonsillitis, fever, nausea and sickness – and Tamiflu made it worse…

bless ya!!

“…As I write, my brain feels as if it’s rotating very gently, floating uncertainly inside the cavity of my skull. In my left ear, I can hear the faint, rhythmic rush of my pulse. My right ear is a blur of inflammation, the remnants of tonsillitis only just under control. When I swallow, pain catches in my throat, and I am still grinding my penicillin to stop the bitter pills from getting trapped in the doughy mass of inflamed tissue at the back of my mouth. Every now and again my heart does a little, inexplicable, fillip in my chest, and if I walk upstairs I become unpleasantly warm and clammy.

And yet, compared with how I felt this time last week, I am in rude health. What’s a little dizziness compared with the thumping pain of a headache that made even the softest pillow feel like a rough stone; or a bit of ear-fuzz after a throat so inflamed that swallowing water felt like imbibing shards of glass? No, I feel positively perky, not to mention extremely lucky that the virus that has gripped me for the past seven days appears, finally, to be subsiding.

Like most people, when it came to the swine flu hysteria, I was very much of the Keep Calm and Carry On school of thought. Probably won’t get it, but if I do, it will be, as per the press release, “mild”. I envisioned myself wrapped in a blanket, watching TCM and sipping healing hot drinks. At no point did I see myself struggling with the impossible dilemma, given my body’s simultaneous need for both, of whether to use the toilet in the conventional manner — or as a vomitorium.

It came on very suddenly. I had gone to bed feeling oddly thirsty, in the way that you do when you’re getting a cold, and woke up with a sore throat. The headache that had been with me for about a week had intensified. I downed a couple of Neurofen, rang the office to say I would be working from home and sat down at my desk as usual. I felt bad, but OK. Just after lunch came the first bout of diarrhoea, along with a nasty sicky feeling. By teatime, as I sat watching Dumbo with the children, I realised that I couldn’t really lift my head. Shooting pains were assailing my arms and chest, and the muscles in my legs were joining in. And I was hot, really hot. Except actually I was cold, really cold. Brrr, shivery cold. Or was I hot? I had absolutely no idea. (…) “

read some more here

Greece Race For the Cure Photos

Last Weekend I was in Athens taking part in several events one of which was the Sunday Race for the Cure at Zappion. Susan G. Komen and Alma Zois they organised a great event with music, free coffee and snacks, water and juices… Information Kiosks of Alma Zois and Sponsor’s kiosk of Energiser and Samsung together with others sponsors -that I can’t remember- were very helpfull towards the runner or the strollers.

I would like to thank in person Hala Moddelmog, President and CEO of Susan G. Komen for the Cure, and Mrs Dorothy  Paterson, Komen International Race Ambassador for the lively talks we had during the race.

The NGO that I work for,  Ormylia Foundation, “Panagia Philanthropini” Center For Social Advancement,Disease Prevention and Medical Research.

is a partner of Komen since 2006 and have some very  special ties with it.

some photos of the race

Attican Sky before the race, Zappion on my right

# # A surprise visit of G.Papandreou who showed his knowledge on the problems that women with Breast Cancer try to overcome...

Actor Marianna Toumasatou was the presenter of the event...

Let the race begin...

during the race... yes, I was walking and not running

I wasn’t running… too much alcohol the previous 48 hrs to be running round Syntagma… At least I could walk .  Another reason was the quality of the photos…

Mrs Moddelmog and the Director of "Panagia Philanthropini" Mr Antoniou while walking towards the finishing line...

Include Cancer

Cancer will soon be the leading killer of women and men worldwide. Already, cancer kills more people annually than malaria, tuberculosis and HIV/AIDs combined.

Last year, 7.6 million people died from cancer. By 2020 that number will double, and by 2030 cancer will account for over 17 million deaths – mostly in poor and developing countries. This is a global tragedy requiring a global response from governments and world leaders. Remarkably, the United Nations Millennium Development Goals make no mention of cancer.

Excluding cancer from these goals has made it harder for governments to make cancer a national priority, even while cancer caseloads and deaths rise higher and higher. Ambassador Nancy G. Brinker, founding chair of Susan G. Komen for the Cure® and the World Health Organization’s Goodwill Ambassador for Cancer Control, has called on the world’s governments to make cancer a global priority.

For the United Nations to achieve its targets in the Millennium Development Goals, particularly those that promote maternal health and empower women, cancer cannot be neglected and must be included. Read Ambassador Brinker’s speech to the Global Health Ministers, challenging them to “include cancer” at the top of their health agendas. Please help us to mobilize global action in the fight against cancer. Sign this petition today, and encourage your friends and relatives to sign it as well.

Make your voice heard in our global fight!

Sign the petition

Greece race for the Cure Athens 2009

This weekend Susan G.Komen for the Cure NGO is sponsoring several events downtown Athens, with night out and breakfast (Hard Rock Cafe Athens),Breast cancer education material etc…

On Sunday morning we are running a small marathon , or walking it, depending on the mood, the weather or the shoes…!

map of the race

Mafia goes Toxic !!!

photos of toxic waste on a Somalia beach (archive photos)

archive photos

archive photos

The Cunsky is one of 32 vessels carrying toxic material that has been sunk by the mafia in the Mediterranean, according to the prosecutor’s office in Reggio Calabria. Italian authorities have discovered a ship that was sunk by the mafia off the coast of southern Italy with 120 barrels of radioactive waste on board, a local prosecutor said Monday. The 110-metre (360-feet) long ship was found on Saturday 500 metres (1,640 feet) under water and around 28 kilometres (17 miles) from the coast of Calabria, Paola city prosecutor Bruno Giordano told AFP. “For the moment, we do not know the origin of the waste, but it is probably from abroad. It is a first lead,” he said. The Cunsky is one of 32 vessels carrying toxic material that has been sunk by the mafia in the Mediterranean, according to the prosecutor’s office in Reggio Calabria.

story taken from here

first death of virus A H1N1 in Greece…

A French tourist who got infected with the virus A,  died today in an Athens Hospital after pneumonia complications. The man on his late 20′s,  who was on holidays in Greece, had no history of medical problems.

Patients with the virus A who died in Greece previously had other medical problems ( heart problems etc).