Espanya són els campions d’Europa! (Spain are the champions of Europe!)

Espanya batia Alemanya 1-0 a la final de l’Euro 2008! Els espanyols prenen a casa el trofeu després d’un buit llarg de 44 anys. Fernando Torres marcava l’únic gol del llumí en la primera part. Era un joc bonic! L’equip que jugava un joc bonic vencia! Felicitacions, Espanya! Gràcies molt per a la diversió!

Els campions d’Europa! . . . (The champions of Europe! . . . )

Imatge (Image): Getty Images – Alex Livesey

(Spain beat Germany 1-0 in the final of Euro 2008! The Spaniards take the trophy home after a long gap of 44 years. Fernando Torres scored the only goal of the match in the first half. It was a beautiful game! The team that played a beautiful game won! Congratulations, Spain! Thanks a lot for the entertainment!)

Patents versus Patients! (Part 2)

I am writing the second part of one of my previous posts titled Patents versus Patients! after a long time. The Indian courtrooms are witnessing a series of battles that are going to determine the fate of millions of Earthlings around the world. It is a war between those who want to kill millions of people by denying them life-saving medicines and those who want to save millions of lives. It is a war between the greed of a few and the lives of millions of Earthlings. In short, it is a war between evil and good! Let there be no doubt in anyone’s mind about which side I support in this war that may lead to more deaths than the Second World War if the killers win.

The right to life is a fundamental Human Right . . . so is the right to access life-saving medicines . . .

Image: www.sciencemuseum.org.uk

First, I shall include a press release from the team of noble international life-savers, Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF or Doctors without Borders) below:

The Indian Network of People Living with HIV/AIDS (INP+), the Manipur Network of Positive People (MNP+), and the Lawyers’ Collective HIV/AIDS Unit officially submitted their opposition to a patent application filed in the Kolkata patent office by Glaxo Group Limited for Combivir, a fixed-dose combination of two AIDS drugs (zidovudine/lamivudine, or AZT/3TC). The opposition is based on technical and health grounds. If India grants a patent on this AIDS drug, it will set a precedent that will hamper access to affordable AIDS medicines worldwide.

“Affordable generic AIDS medicines have been one of the cornerstones of our ability to keep more people alive, including here in India where we began treating people with AIDS this year,” said Dr. Pehrolov Pehrson, of MSF’s treatment project in Manipur, where all patients on antiretrovirals receive generics produced in India. “Without a reliable supply of low cost AIDS drugs – made possible because medicines patents did not exist in India for many years – national governments and treatment providers alike will be faced with an uphill battle, and patients risk having vital treatment interrupted or priced out of their reach.”

Of the over 60,000 patients in nearly 30 countries in MSF projects, 84% receive generic AIDS medicines made in India. Over 90% of all patients using AZT/3TC in MSF projects are on generic versions of the drug. National treatment programmes in India, Burkina Faso, Mongolia, Central African Republic, Malawi, Peru, the Republic of Kyrgizstan, Cambodia, Ukraine and Swaziland heavily rely on generic AZT/3TC. The availability of affordable quality generic versions of Combivir (AZT/3TC) and other anti-retroviral medicines has allowed developing countries to put more people on treatment and thus extend their lives.

The Indian groups opposing the patent are arguing that Glaxo’s Combivir (AZT/3TC) is not a new invention but simply the combination of two existing drugs. They say the granting of such a patent risks increasing the cost of anti-retroviral treatment for many people living with HIV/AIDS, thereby further increasing the burden on developing countries already struggling to treat patients.

“Universal Access to AIDS medicines will remain an elusive goal if there isn’t a steady supply of affordable medicines. Decisions made by Indian patent offices are a question of life or death for people living with HIV/AIDS worldwide who rely on the availability of these drugs made in India,” said Ellen ‘t Hoen, Director of Policy Advocacy at MSF’s Campaign for Access to Essential Medicines.

Last year, India changed its patent law to comply with the World Trade Organization’s patent rules. Three weeks ago, India granted its first ever patent to Roche for a hepatitis C treatment.

However, the Indian Patent law allows oppositions to a patent application before it is granted. Indian cancer patients and generic drug manufacturers recently opposed a Novartis patent application for Gleevec (Imatinib Mesylate), an anti-cancer drug, on the grounds that the application claimed a new form of an old drug. The patent was subsequently rejected by the patent office. Petitioners are now demanding that the Combivir patent application be rejected on similar grounds.

Here is a part of another press release that shows how people are being blinded by denying them access to affordable medicines:

Many patients with advanced HIV/AIDS can fall prey to the infection, cytomegalovirus (CMV) which will if untreated, lead to total and irreversible blindness in a very short space of time – sometimes just weeks.Blindness caused by CMV is preventable, but the most available treatments are invasive and far from ideal – injections directly into the affected eye or intravenous, twice-daily treatment requiring a long stay in hospital.There is a better medicine available – an oral medication, valganciclovir, produced by Roche. This drug is patented in China and the company charges US$ 10,000 for a four-month supply – simply too expensive for the vast majority of people most at risk of going blind. It’s a similar situation in both India and Thailand – both middle- income countries where the product is patented. While the manufacturer offers discounts to the poorest countries – mainly in sub-Saharan Africa – middle-income countries including China are offered no such discount and are charged the same as wealthy countries.Dr. Peter Saranchuk has worked in China in both of MSF’s HIV projects – in Nanning and the recently closed XiangFan project treating patients with HIV/AIDS. He describes his experiences in treating CMV and the frustration of seeing patients suffer because the best medicines are unaffordable.

My previous post Patients versus Patients! focussed on one Swiss company Novartis. Here is another Swiss company, F Hoffman-La Roche that seems to have been involved in a shady deal to obtain a patent in India. A case is going to be filed in the Madras(Chennai) High Court against the violation of fundamental rights as well as the weakened patent law.

Here is the link to another battle that is taking place in the Indian courtrooms, this time between the Brazilian AIDS advocacy group ABIA (Brazilian Interdisciplinary AIDS Association) and the Indian NGO SAHARA (Centre for Residential Care & Rehabilitation) on one side and the American firm Gilead Sciences on the other.

Also, take a look at this link to an interesting discussion from the XVI International AIDS Conference.

It is clear from all these links that the Indian courts have become the battleground in a war which will determine the fate of millions of humans around the world. The evil forces will use the dirtiest tricks to succeed in their nefarious designs of killing people by denying them access to life-saving medicines and deriving pleasure in watching them suffer and die. They are true sadists! Shame on them!

(To be continued)

Related post:

Patents versus Patients! (Part 1)

Can animals warn us of an impending earthquake?

Three undersea earthquakes shook the Andaman Islands yesterday and the tremors were also felt in Chennai. Click on this link for news reports about the tremors.

The behaviour of animals can be used for predicting earthquakes . . .

Image: WallpaperNow.net

I confess that neither I nor the others present in our home about that time could feel the tremors. Folks in some areas of the city were able to feel it more than those in other localities, though the power failed several times after the tremors occurred. On two previous occasions when tremors were felt in Chennai – just before the killer Indian Ocean Tsunami and another time two or three years before that, we could feel the tremors. On the first occasion, things shook violently for four or five seconds and we rushed out of the house as did all our neighbours. I was sleeping when the earthquake that caused the Indian Ocean Tsunami occurred and I was woken up by others who felt the tremors.

However, a guy in our home seems to have known that an earthquake was about to occur yesterday. I am talking about our cat. The little fellow behaved strangely for a few hours. He normally welcomes the fellow inhabitants of his home (unlike pet dogs that get attached to people – wild canines are pack animals, cats generally get attached to places – wild felines, with the exception of lions, are territorial animals) as well as guests by rushing out to meet them at the door, meowing and brushing against their legs. Yesterday, when I came home, he did not greet me at the door and I could not find him in his favourite places. He behaved even more strangely after that. There was a steady drizzle yesterday evening after a short burst of sharp showers. I found the furry fellow in an open place that offered little shelter from the drizzle. Cats generally hate getting wet and avoid the rain. His behaviour completely baffled me yesterday until I watched the news and discovered that tremors were felt in the city.

Animals (cats, dogs, birds and almost every other higher animal on our planet) are much more sensitive to the forces of Mother Nature than humans. Dogs are said to behave very strangely when earthquakes are about to occur. Cats sometimes run away from homes if they feel they are not safe. Burrowing animals come out of their burrows. Other mammals are also known to behave very strangely.

Scientific instruments cannot predict earthquakes accurately. But our fellow Earthlings can! Humans may be “intelligent” enough to try and get the better of the forces of Nature but we simply cannot match the instincts of the fellow inhabitants of our planet. So the next time you see animals behaving strangely, do not ignore it. I think it is Mother Nature’s way of warning us of an unpleasant or even a deadly dangerous natural event. But foolish and greedy humans destroy the wonderful diversity on our planet and we end up paying the price by earning the wrath of Mother Nature!

சென்னையின் சாலைகளில் . . .

(On the roads of Chennai . . . )

Chennai faces more than its share of traffic congestion . . . this photo was taken at a gridlocked junction . . .

Most of the roads now have central medians . . . these medians have definitely helped in reducing the number of road accidents in the city . . .

Waiting for the green signal . . .

The renowned Anna University (அண்ணா பல்கலைக்கழகம்) is a very old engineering university that also acts as an affiliating university for other engineering and technological institutions across the state of Tamil Nadu now . . .

Chennai has a national park within the city limits . . . wild animals are found at the Guindy National Park . . .

Deer are said to have freely roamed across this stretch of road when the traffic was sparse a long time ago . . . if they step on this road now, the magnificient creatures would probably be killed by speeding vehicles . . .

Chennai is home to several automobile factories . . . all Hyundais are made in Chennai, as are all Mitsubishis, Fords and BMWs, Ashok Leyland buses and Royal Enfield motorcycles . . . while Renault and Nissan cars will be made here as well . . . (the Standard Motors factory closed down a long time ago)

The automobile industries require vendors of auto components . . . there is a big presence of automobile component manufacturers as well, like Lucas TVS . . .

Autorickshaws (autos in Chennai Tamil) can be found in every corner of the city . . .

The traffic police have begun enforcing the rule specifying the compulsory wearing of helmets . . . this has helped in bringing down the number of serious head injury cases in hospitals . . . but it looks like more men follow this rule when compared to women . . .

Waiting in line behind a black car to fill up the tank at the fuel pump . . . with the notorious international killer corporate oil mafia determined to rob Earthlings of our hard-earned money, we have to visit the fuel pump more often than before . . .

The buses of Chennai

மாநகரப்பேருந்து சென்னை (The Metropolitan Transport Corporation of Chennai- MTC) operates Chennai’s buses . . . they have introduced more comfortable buses like this one with a pneumatic suspension and ventilators on the roof . . .

. . . and this one with doors operated by the driver to prevent travelling on the foot-boards . . .

Destination Thailand in Chennai? The MTC rents out advertising space on the buses . . .

This one is a தொடர் பேருந்து (thodar perunthu) or a vestibule bus! The citizens of Chennai don’t like to cut down trees to pave the way for double-decker buses, so we have these long vestibule buses that can carry the same number of passengers as double-decker buses! . . .

This is Chennai’s inter-city bus terminus . . .

. . . intra-city buses pick up passengers from inter-city buses in a separate terminus for MTC buses within the main terminus . . .

Cars and motorcycles and scooters parked at the inter-city bus terminus . . .

The MTC buses are the lifeline of Chennai city . . . the buses are used non-stop during the day . . . this leads to older buses breaking down . . .

The MTC also operates a few late night services for the convenience of those who travel at unearthly hours . . .

The terminus is ISO 9001 certified . . . Chennai speaks தமிழ் (Tamil), one of four languages in India that are classified as national, official and classical . . .

All photographs were taken by me on the roads of Chennai. They are copylefted! You can use them, but providing an acknowledgement and a link to this blog would be considered as civilised behaviour!

The expansionist meme

Axinia tagged me for this meme. I don’t like doing memes, but I have decided to do it as I don’t want to disappoint her. I’m not tagging anyone, though.

One religious work from a non-familiar tradition you’ll read:

I have almost no interest in organised religions. I have a few religious books belonging to different religions with me but I have not read them. Philosophy does interest me though and I have read the Dhammapada and திருக்குறள் (Thirukkural) but I don’t consider them as religious works. I would like to take a look at the Avesta as I am not familiar with it.

One music video-that you like-from your “least likely to listen to” genre:

I don’t know

A book from a genre you almost never read, that you have read, or you will read (promise!):

Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice. Jane Austen is a great writer and I mean no disrespect to her but I would never have read that book. I was forced to read it only because it was a part of my curriculum in high school. The curriculum had some fabulous books but I don’t quite understand why they included Pride and Prejudice

Somewhere you’d never thought to go on holiday/vacation, and why it might be fun to go there?

Any remote and uninhabited island. I would like to escape from the crowds, the noise and the pollution for a few days.

A specific food you’ve never tried, but will because of this meme, honest!:

Raw tomatoes

A sport or game you really hate, or haven’t tried yet, but are willing to give one more go:

I am a sports fan and I like all sports and games. I haven’t tried winter sports as I live in a hot tropical city. I would like to try out downhill skiing or ice-skating or even curling if I get a chance.

A style of dance you probably won’t try (we won’t make you promise on this one):

Kathakali

A career job you don’t feel you’re suited for, and why:

Surgery . . . I hated dissecting (dead) cockroaches and frogs in my high school biology practical class.

An item that’s “thinking out of the box” for this meme that hadn’t been included:

Who would you like to be born as if you were to be born again?

If there’s one thing in life you wanted to do, and will do because of this meme, what will it be?

Learn to read and write my father tongue, Telugu, as it is one of India’s national and official languages and is also called “the Italian of the East” as every word in Telugu ends in a vowel sound.

Croatia stun Germany and Austria salvage a draw against Poland

Finally, I managed to watch two complete Euro 2008 games yesterday. I could not post this after the matches got over as it was too late. It’s too late to write match reviews now, so I’ll just write a summary.

The Croatians stunned Germany 2-1 to advance to the quaterfinals of Euro 2008. It was a lively game till the very end. Croatia scored first and never let Germany back into the game though the Germans tried very hard.

German coach Joachim Löw brings on Kevin Kuranyi towards the end of the game . . .

The second game, also in Group B featured the Poles against the co-hosts. Austria had more chances in the first half, but the Poles were the first to score. It looked as if Poland would win the game, but a late penalty in the second half enabled the Austrians to salvage a 1-1 draw.

One simply cannot keep the Brazilians out of the beautiful game – Roger Guerreiro, born in Brazil, scored Poland’s goal . . .

Euzebiusz Smolarek of Poland makes a dash for the ball . . .

Austrian goalie Jürgen Macho made some macho saves . . .

Today’s Group C matches feature the world champions, Italy against Romania while France take on the Netherlands.

[Photos are of a poor quality as they were taken off the live footage on television (ESPN) ]

May the cheer come back into her life!

After nine months in pain,
She got her bundle of joy, her gain,

The little girl was pale blue,
As in a baby born blue,

She was filled with terrible pain,
To feel the little one’s heart strain,

She thought hard about it,
And then decided to do it,

With her eyes in unimaginable terror,
She switched off the incubator,

Her heart almost shuddered to a standstill,
Her mind became number still,

Did she do the right thing by that?
There is neither right nor wrong in that!

Let her not mind those who call her names,
For they know not the true meaning of those names,

Let her not fear the law,
For it is an ass – the law,

Let her not fear Judgement Day,
For the Prophets would speak her way,

Let her not worry about her little one’s fate,
For her little one would have no hate,

With neither hatred nor sorrow nor pain,
The little one’s soul would accept the end to the physical pain,

May the cheer come back into her life,
For it would help save many a life,

May her sorrow be turned into happiness and thence grow a thousandfold,
For her heart is worth its weight in gold!