Howard No HIVpositive immigrants
Fri, 13 Apr 2007 17:43:25 GMT
By ROHAN SULLIVAN, Associated Press Writer
MELBOURNE, Australia - Prime Minister John Howard said Friday that Australia should bar immigrants with
HIV, and his government was examining ways to make its tough restrictions even stronger.
HIV-
AIDS workers accused Howard of xenophobia and promoting the racist belief that immigrants — particularly Africans — were responsible for bringing the disease to Australia. Advocates also said they were puzzled by the idea of tightening laws when the vast majority of HIV-positive prospective migrants and refugees were rejected under the current rules.
Howard was asked in a radio interview in Melbourne, the capital of Victoria state, if he thought people with HIV should be allowed into Australia as migrants or refugees.
Howard replied that while he wanted more advice on the issue, "my initial reaction is, no."
"There may be some humanitarian considerations that could temper that in certain cases, but prima facie — no," he told Southern Cross Broadcasting. "I think we should have the most stringent possible conditions in relation to that."
He said Health Minister Tony Abbott was "examining ways of tightening things up."
Many countries, including the United States, restrict immigration and visa approvals for people with HIV, though there are often exceptions. Australia has long had rules that can be used to block people with communicable diseases such as tuberculosis from entering.
Exceptions can be made in some circumstances, such as when an HIV-positive prospective migrant is related to an Australian citizen. AIDS activists say there are few countries, such as Qatar, Russia and the United Arab Emirates, that impose outright bans on immigration by HIV-positive people.
Don Baxter, of the non-governmental group the Australian Federation of AIDS Organizations, said prospective immigrants are given HIV tests and most HIV-positive applicants were rejected on the grounds that they could place an unfair burden on the public health system.
"It's very tight already," Baxter told Australian Broadcasting Corp. radio.
Chris Lemoh, an infectious disease specialist who is researching HIV-AIDS among African immigrants in Victoria, said a ban on people with HIV would be a "hysterical overreaction."
"It mixes racism with a phobia about infectious disease," he said. "To not allow people to come on the basis of any health condition is immoral, it's unethical and it's impractical to enforce."
Pamela Curr, an advocate at the Asylum Seeker Resource Center, said Howard's comments promoted an "untruth" that foreigners — particularly Africans — were to blame for the HIV problem in Australia.
"The mud is thrown, so everyone thinks, 'those filthy refugees,' particularly 'those black refugees,'" said Curr.
The Victoria state health minister said this week that 70 of the 334 new HIV infection cases reported in Victoria in 2006 were among immigrants who had arrived in the country with the virus.
The National Center for HIV Epidemiology and Clinical Research said in an October 2006 update that since HIV was first detected in Australia in 1982, 25,703 infections had been reported, of which 9,827 had developed into full-blown AIDS and 6,621 people had died.
Court ruling OKs mercury fillings
Fri, 13 Apr 2007 14:46:33 GMT
WASHINGTON - A federal appeals court said Friday it could not force the
Food and Drug Administration to tighten restrictions on dental fillings containing mercury.
Advocacy groups sought to ban the use of such fillings and to force the FDA to classify them as risky, subjecting them to tougher regulations.
The groups say the fillings pose health risks to patients who inhale mercury vapors and dental office employees who handle the materials.
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit unanimously ruled that, while certain FDA actions can be appealed, the court has no jurisdiction to review agency inaction.
The mercury mixture has stirred controversy since dentists began using it to fill cavities in the 1800s. Significant levels of mercury exposure can cause permanent damage to the brain and kidneys, but the FDA has said for years that mercury fillings don't harm patients, except in rare cases when they have allergic reactions.
Amalgam fillings are about 50 percent mercury, joined with silver, copper and tin. Tens of millions of Americans receive mercury fillings each year. Many doctors have begun switching to resin composite fillings that blend better with the natural coloring of teeth.
Federal health officials began a new review of the safety of the fillings last year.
Baby born from frozen sperm frozen egg
Fri, 13 Apr 2007 16:51:25 GMT
MISSION VIEJO, Calif. - A woman gave birth Wednesday to the first baby conceived in the U.S. by means of frozen sperm and a frozen egg, according to the fertility firm that sponsored the study in which she took part.
Adrienne Domasin, 36, decided to participate in the study by Extend Fertility after being told two years ago her fallopian tubes were blocked.
Domasin, who is single, was unable to afford in vitro fertilization but was determined to have a baby.
"When they told me my tubes were blocked, I was naturally devastated," she said. "Here I was, ready to finally have the baby of my dreams and I couldn't."
Egg freezing traditionally has been reserved for women who suffered from illnesses that might leave them infertile and has a low success rate. But there has been recent demand for the procedure by women in their 30s who want to have children in the future but are afraid they will be too old to conceive the traditional way, said Dr. Jane Frederick, who oversaw Domasin's fertility treatment.
The low viability of frozen eggs is due, in part, to ice crystals that can damage the egg's structure, though freezing sperm has been done for decades, said Richard Paulson, a professor of reproductive medicine at USC.
There have been about 200 documented births from frozen eggs worldwide, Paulson said. But he had not heard of other cases of frozen egg/frozen sperm conceptions. The Journal of Assisted Reproduction and Genetics reported one case last year in Australia.
During the study, Domasin received shots and pills to stimulate egg production. Fertility personnel harvested the eggs, froze them, and after four months, injected them with thawed donor sperm. A fertilized egg was then placed insider her.
Domasin's son, Noah Peter Domasin, was born at Saddleback Memorial Medical Center in Laguna Hills weighing 8 pounds, 4 ounces.
"I kept waking up in the middle of the night and I would glance over at him," Domasin said. "I just kept saying to myself 'he's my son.'"
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Information from: Los Angeles Times, http://www.latimes.com