domingo, 31 de julio de 2016
viernes, 24 de junio de 2016
Vida cotidiana y situación de calle 2 (aportes de Paula Gonzalez)
Larrea y Berutti
Larrea y Santa Fe
jueves, 23 de junio de 2016
miércoles, 22 de junio de 2016
Cobertura de masacres escolares
- Published: July 2, 2015
- http://dx.doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0117259
Los niños pagan el precio más alto en la crisis de refugiadosChildren Pay the Highest Price in Refugee Crisis
http://www.theepochtimes.com/n3/2096175-children-pay-the-highest-price-in-refugee-crisis/
Children Pay the Highest Price in Refugee Crisis
The world is witness to a rapid increase in the
number of people forced to flee from wars, conflict, and persecution in
countries such as Syria, Iraq, and Afghanistan. It is estimated that
approximately half of the 19.5 million registered refugees at a global level
are children and youth. They are the most vulnerable victims of these
conflicts.
The case of Syria is paradigmatic. Three
years of conflict have turned Syria into one of the most dangerous places to be
a child, according to UNICEF. Out of a population of 21.9 million, more than 9
million are under 18. It is estimated that 5.5 million children are affected by
the conflict, a number that is almost double from the year before. More than
4.29 million children inside Syria are poor, displaced or caught in the line of
fire.
International aid organizations have been
doing a remarkable job helping the population of countries affected by wars.
However, only in Syria, one million children are living in areas that aid
workers cannot reach regularly, thus depriving them of vital support. More than
a third of Syrian families are no longer living in their own homes or
communities, seriously affecting their health and quality of life.
As a result of the fall in immunization
rates—from 99 percent before the war to less than 50 percent now—polio has
reemerged in Syria, after a 14-year absence. At the same time, doctors report
an increase in the number and severity of cases of measles, pneumonia, and
diarrhea. In response to the polio outbreak, UNICEF, the World Health
Organization (WHO), and health ministries in the region have launched the
largest immunization campaign in the region’s history, targeting more than 25
million children.
The capacity of the country’s health care
system to provide assistance to the population has been seriously affected.
Many doctors and health personnel have either been killed or have left the
country. 60 percent of the public hospitals have been damaged or are out of
service.
Many times, militants bomb health care
facilities, wait for first-responders and emergency crews to come in and then
strike again, thus maximizing the impact of their attacks. On April 27, 2016,
the Al Quds field hospital in Aleppo was hit by an airstrike. It killed 30
people, including 2 health workers, and injured 60 people, completely
destroying the facility.
Dr. Abdo El Ezz, an Aleppo physician says,
“The war in Syria has violated and destroyed anything called ‘agreements’ or
‘an agreement’ or ‘human rights’ or anything humanitarian… Hospitals are
looking for coffins because people are pouring in, some are completely burned
and soon die. We need to bury them… Some people wish to die so they can finally
rest and not live in constant terror and see constant destruction.”
An estimated
37,000 children have been born as refugees and over 83,000 Syrian pregnant
women are living as refugees in Lebanon and Jordan, placing a heavy burden on
those countries health and social systems. For example, Lebanon is planning for
600,000 schoolchildren this year—twice the number currently enrolled.
Syrian children refugees are at very high
risk for mental illness and have poor access to education. In the Za’atari
refugee camp in Jordan, for example, one third of all children displayed aggressive
and self-harm behaviors. According to Europol, Europe’s policy agency, more
than 10,000 thousand unaccompanied refugee and migrant children have
disappeared, raising fears they are being exploited and used for sex.
The Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD)
rate among Syrian refugee children is comparable to that observed among other
children who experienced war. A study by the Migration Policy Institute shows
that refugee children who are not formally educated are more likely to feel
marginalized and hopeless, making them probable targets for radicalization.
What is experienced by Syrian children is
also experienced by refugee children coming from other countries such as
Afghanistan and Iraq. Few people have expressed as poignantly as James Fenton
the tragic fate of these children. In his
poem “Children in Exile,” Fenton writes,
“What I am is not important,
whether I live or die –
It is the same for me, the same for you.
What we do is important. This is what I have learnt.
It is not what we are but what we do,
It is the same for me, the same for you.
What we do is important. This is what I have learnt.
It is not what we are but what we do,
Says a child in exile, one of a
family
Once happy in its size. Now there are four
Students of calamity, graduates of famine,
Those whom geography condemns to war…”
Once happy in its size. Now there are four
Students of calamity, graduates of famine,
Those whom geography condemns to war…”
César Chelala, M.D., Ph.D., is a global
public health consultant for several U.N. and other international agencies. He
has carried out health-related missions in 50 countries worldwide. He lives in
New York and writes extensively on human rights and foreign policy issues, and is
the recipient of awards from Overseas Press Club of America, ADEPA, and Chaski,
and recently received the Cedar of Lebanon Gold Medal. He is also the author of
several U.N. official publications on health issues.
martes, 21 de junio de 2016
Documental : Entre tú y yo, la empatía
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3ay73NkR0sA
En este link se puede ver el documental completo de la RTVE que se estrenó hoy.
En este link se puede ver el documental completo de la RTVE que se estrenó hoy.
Los niños pagan el precio más alto en la crisis de refugiados
Artículo de Cesar Chelala
http://www.theepochtimes.com/n3/2096175-children-pay-the-highest-price-in-refugee-crisis/
http://www.theepochtimes.com/n3/2096175-children-pay-the-highest-price-in-refugee-crisis/
domingo, 5 de junio de 2016
domingo, 29 de mayo de 2016
lunes, 16 de mayo de 2016
lunes, 4 de abril de 2016
jueves, 24 de marzo de 2016
domingo, 13 de marzo de 2016
viernes, 4 de marzo de 2016
En Yemen se necesita con urgencia una pausa humanitaria
(De nuestro colega y corresponsal en New York)
In Yemen, a Humanitarian Pause is Urgently Needed
1 Comments
(Photo: Reuters/Khaled Abdullah)
As war continues to rage uninterrupted in Yemen, a humanitarian pause is badly needed as the country spirals down to chaos, leaving the majority of the population in urgent need of medical care. Restrictions on access to medical supplies and care are key impediments in improving the situation of people in need. A five day humanitarian pause would allow supplies and care to reach those people and relieve their dire health situation.
At the same time, attacks on health facilities continue. Last October, the World Health Organization (WHO) condemned the bombing of a Medécins Sans Frontières’ (MSF) supported hospital in Saada province in northern Yemen. MSF believes that as a consequence 200.000 people were left without medical care. That attack, that violated International Humanitarian Law, was the second one on an MSF-run facility in a month.
Since the beginning of Saudi Arabia’s attacks on Yemen, conducted with U.S. support, more than 5,700 have died (almost half of them civilians) -including hundreds of women and children- and 28.753 injuries have been reported. Several health workers have also been killed and 47 health facilities in 11 governorates have been damaged or closed as a result of the continuous violence.
Health care services in all public hospitals have been reduced, especially operating theaters and intensive care units. At the same time, disrupted immunization activities have increased the risks for measles and poliomyelitis, even though Yemen is presently free of polio. The breakdown of the water supply and sanitation systems has facilitated the spread of diseases such as malaria and dengue fever, as well acute diarrheal diseases, particularly affecting children. Also, because of limited communication possibilities, the early warning alert system for diseases has been seriously affected.
The country has one of the highest rates of chronic malnutrition in the world. According to UNICEF, 1.3 million Yemeni children younger than five years now suffer from acute malnutrition, compared to 850.000 before the war started. 320.000 are severely malnourished, twice the amount before the crisis. The little cash people have is to pay for food and gas –at greatly increased prices- leaving no money to afford health care.
The Lancet reports that approximately a quarter of the country’s health care facilities are no longer functional. To make matters worse, as Ronald Kremer, from MSF says, "People do not dare to go to hospitals because they are afraid that they are targeted and, even if they want to go they may not have the means –even where public transport does exist, it is very expensive because of the fuel problems."
Fuel problems have increased the problems in obtaining clean water. Lack of a proper water supply and the dire sanitation and hygiene situation has led to outbreaks of dengue and malaria. Because many Yemenis store water in open containers, that becomes an ideal breeding ground for disease-transmitting mosquitoes.
So far, there are more than 2.5 million people who have become internally displaced persons (IDPs). To compound an already difficult situation, disrupted immunization campaigns have led to increasing number of children affected with measles and rubella, particularly among IDPs living in overcrowded conditions As a result of the conflict, many hospitals, laboratories, health warehouses and administrative offices have closed. Primary care facilities have minimum access to medicines, supplies and equipment. Fuel shortage has affected the proper operations of ambulances.
In this situation, a humanitarian pause is urgently needed. A five day pause, as proposed by the World Health Organization, would allow humanitarian organizations to respond to some of the most life-threatening needs of the people, particularly women and children caught in the middle of the conflict. An MSF doctor taking care of a badly hurt child in Syria realized that the child was desperately trying to tell him something. When he asked his translator what the child was saying, the translator responded, “Don’t they realize that we are children?” A similar question could be asked in Yemen today.
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 License
lunes, 1 de febrero de 2016
sábado, 30 de enero de 2016
Investigaciones científicas y muerte
http://www.elespectador.com/opinion/morir-el-intento
26 de enero de 2016
Morir en el intento
La investigación científica en salud está expuesta a graves riesgos y a poderosos intereses.
Saul Franco
La reciente muerte en Francia de un hombre que hacía parte de un grupo con el que se ponía a prueba un medicamento revive debates de fondo acerca de la ética, los métodos y límites de la investigación en seres humanos, y las tensiones entre avances científicos e intereses económicos, y entre riesgos y logros de las distintas actividades humanas. El grave acontecimiento permite reconocer actores, revisar normas y antecedentes y plantear interrogantes. La información y los comentarios siguientes son provisionales, dado que falta mucho por conocerse y los hechos son todavía objeto de investigaciones.
En la ciudad de Rennes, Francia, un laboratorio de la multinacional Biotrial, con base en ese país y sedes en Inglaterra y Estados Unidos, estaba realizando un ensayo clínico Fase I en la investigación de una molécula –BIA 10-2474–. Dicho medicamento, propiedad de la farmacéutica Bial, fundada en Portugal en 1924, venía siendo probado desde 2009 por su posible acción inhibidora de una enzima específica, mecanismo que permitiría efectos analgésicos, antiinflamatorios y de reducción de la ansiedad y de dificultades del movimiento relacionados con enfermedades neurodegenerativas como el párkinson. Hubo información inicial de que la molécula contenía un derivado de la marihuana, pero Bial lo negó en su comunicado del pasado 19 de enero. En junio de 2015 obtuvieron la aprobación, por parte de las autoridades sanitarias y del Comité de Ética Francés, de la Fase I de investigación en voluntarios humanos sanos. Dicha fase tiene como objetivo probar la seguridad y toxicidad del medicamento en estudio. Desde entonces, unas 84 personas de entre 29 y 48 años habían recibido el medicamento vía oral, al parecer sin efectos negativos considerables. Un grupo de seis voluntarios recibió el pasado siete de enero una dosis mayor y dos recibieron un placebo. Pocos días después, cinco de los seis presentaron alteraciones neurológicas graves. Uno de ellos entró en coma y murió el domingo 17 en el hospital universitario de Rennes. Los cuatro restantes continúan hospitalizados. La investigación fue suspendida.
En el último cuarto del siglo pasado sólo se registraron dos muertes en voluntarios de ensayos clínicos en Fase I (se han definido cuatro fases en dichos ensayos). Los riesgos son mayores en las fases siguientes, en las cuales se valoran la eficacia, los efectos adversos, la dosificación, y se compara con otras sustancias. Tanto Bial (propietaria de la droga) como Biotrial manifestaron que se han ceñido a todos los requerimientos científicos y éticos y han calificado lo sucedido como “un grave accidente”. Pero ahí empiezan los interrogantes. ¿Es sólo un accidente? Si se estaba apenas en Fase I, ¿por qué se dio placebo a algunos de los voluntarios? ¿Se estaban respetando las distintas fases o se quería quemar etapas y hacer de una vez lo que debería hacerse sucesivamente? Y, el más grave: ¿terminarían una vez más por anteponerse las urgencias del mercado y los intereses económicos a la rigurosidad metodológica y la salvaguarda de los principios éticos en la investigación en seres humanos?
La investigación científica es necesaria y toda actividad humana conlleva riesgos. Ante los riesgos de la investigación en seres vivos, en especial humanos, y las aberraciones cometidas al respecto durante las guerras o con actitudes colonialistas y mercantiles, se han venido definiendo principios, normas y procedimientos que orienten y regulen la investigación. La Declaración de Helsinki, aprobada por la Asamblea Médica Mundial en 1964, y la Declaración Universal sobre Bioética y Derechos Humanos, aprobada por la Unesco en 2005, constituyen dos pilares fundamentales. Exigir y garantizar su plena vigencia debe contribuir a evitar que otras personas sigan muriendo en el intento de lograr nuevos y mejores medicamentos. Pero, si se llegara a probar que el interés principal no era la salud sino tratar de ganar más rápido mucho más dinero, estaríamos en territorios delictivos que requerirían otras acciones y graves sanciones.
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