Hi Greg, all,
I know I posted a link to the Chronicle aritcle before the holidays, but the link was to the first of a series of three articles, so at the risk of overloading the thread, I now post a link to the three with an excerpt from the last of the three:
sfgate.com
For private use;
DEADLY NEEDLES
Epidemic's Devastating Toll
Reynolds Holding, William Carlsen, Chronicle Staff Writers
Thursday, October 29, 1998
For Peter Evans and other WHO officials, the news
was bad and getting worse.
In 1994, surveys showed that each year in the
developing world, up to a third of the 1 billion
immunizations -- and half of the other 9 billion
injections -- were unsterile.
And using a mathematical model created two years
earlier, researchers calculated the risks of reusing
contaminated syringes. The initial findings, though
incomplete, were ''alarming,'' the researchers said.
The new information put Evans, a WHO
immunization expert, and his colleagues in a bind.
Publicizing the dangers of unsafe injections could
undermine the agency's immunization programs by
deterring parents from having their children
vaccinated against such deadly diseases as
tuberculosis, diphtheria and tetanus.
But failing to alert the public could unnecessarily
expose millions of people to HIV, hepatitis and other
lethal viruses.
One high-level WHO official called it a
''schizophrenic'' situation akin to ''walking on a
minefield.''
In the end, Evans said, he and his colleagues would
''low key'' the crisis
--and protect the immunization programs to which
they had devoted their lives.
..................
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later, art |
