Detained Iranian AIDS doctors’ verdict postponed

Reports have come in that the fate of two Iranian Aids Doctors on trial for treason still hangs in balance after the verdict was postponed due to an Iranian holiday.  According to the Boston based organization, Physicians for Human Rights, the charges on the doctors were completely fabricated, politically motivated, based on their attendance at international AIDS conferences. Doctors Kamiar and Arash Alaei are brothers and are said to have been instrumental in orchestrating some of Iran’s first AIDS treatment programs.  

An international campaign spearheaded by Physicians for Human Rights, calling for the immediate release of the doctors who were arrested in June 2008. More than 4,000 people from 85 countries have signed a petition calling for the doctors’ release. One of the campaign’s slogans is “Treating AIDS is not a crime”.

“Third-hand smoke”

A new term “third-hand smoke” has been coined by researchers from MassGeneral Hospital for Children in Boston, in a study published in the January 2009 issue of Pediatrics Journal. The journal article entitled, ‘Beliefs About the Health Effects of “Thirdhand” Smoke and Home Smoking Bans’ defines thirdhand smoke as residual tobacco smoke contamination that remains after the cigarette is extinguished.

The researchers emphasize that there is no safe level of exposure to tobacco smoke and warn that children are uniquely susceptible to third-hand smoke exposure.

According to the study conclusion:

“This study demonstrated that beliefs about the health effects of thirdhand smoke are independently associated with home smoking bans. Emphasizing that thirdhand smoke harms the health of children may be an important element in encouraging home smoking bans. Health messages about thirdhand smoke contamination could be easily incorporated into current tobacco control campaigns, programs, and routine clinical practice.”

Lancet editorial:America’s commitment to global health

The latest issue of the Lancet (Volume 373, Issue 9657, Page 2, 3 January 2009 ) gives a close look at America’s commitment to global health.

“Over the past decade, the US Government has spent record amounts on global health: in 2008 spending peaked at US$7·5 billion. Still, the share of the country’s gross national income allocated to development aid is only about one-third of the target set by the UN’s Millennium Development Goals. More than 70% of this money is aimed at AIDS programmes, even though chronic and non-communicable diseases account for more than half of all deaths in low-income and middle-income countries …”