I spoke to one of the Al Jazeera producers for this segment when the story was being developed. They were originally intending to go to Africa, and maybe even Uganda, where I conducted research, but instead went to India. The stories told about trials in India in the segment are similar to stories I wrote about and researched while in Africa.

It’s worth a look if you’re interested in what is an emerging healthcare crisis and a fascinating topic.

watch?v=g_p0kmrFi_o

Along the way she started a community-based development model and program in Senegal called Tostan. “Tostan means ‘breakthrough’ in the West African language of Wolof,” according to the Tostan website. “Since 1991, Tostan has brought its holistic 30-month education program to thousands of communities in ten African countries: Burkina Faso, Djibouti, The Gambia, Guinea, Guinea Bissau, Mali, Mauritania, Senegal, Somalia, and Sudan. and Western Africa.”

According to the Skoll Foundation which honored Melching and is founded by Jeff Skoll, the first president of eBay and the creator of Participant Media, “Abandonment of female genital cutting has been a cornerstone of the [Tostan] program and a symbol of its success. Over 4,500 communities, comprising more than 3 million people, have publicly declared abandonment of female genital cutting in Senegal, Guinea, Burkina Faso, The Gambia and Somalia. Over 4,000 communities have abandoned child marriages.”

As a journalist and writer who has worked in Africa, Melchng’s work—and the Skoll Foundation‘s recognition of it—is particularly moving. I know the difficulties one can encounter in Africa. But I also know how rewarding it is to form a bond and a kinship with people who are so deserving of assistance so they can take charge of their own lives. The way Tostan is empowering others is the real beauty and inspiration, for me, of Melching’s work and is a reason to have hope for a better world — for people living in Africa, and for all of us.

Dinavance Kamukama, 28, front right, with her cousins in Kampala, Uganda. She is on a waiting list for AIDS medication.

From the Wall Street Journal (subscription):

FDA Warns Pfizer On Clinical Study Of Antipsychotic Geodo

From Bloomberg/Business Week:

Pfizer’s Geodon Trial Had ‘Significant Violations’ (Update2)

The Courier Post:

Pfizer not fixing test problems, FDA says

Having travelled to and spent time in eastern Africa to research Chasing Medical Miracles, I cannon overstate the thorough and heart-wrenching devastation left by AIDS/HIV in poorer countries. There is also a measure of shame to be shared by developed countries in the way we have relentlessly pursued cures and vaccine trials in Africa and other underdeveloped nations. While TB and malaria have throughout history and today killed and harmed more people Africa than has AIDS/HIV, trials to treat and cure those conditions are much more rare than for AIDS/HIV. The reason? TB and malaria and rare in western countries so there is no motivation to conduct trials for drugs for which there is no market. If AIDS/HIV were not prevalent in the western, developed world, you can bet few trials to seek a vaccine or cure would be taking place in the under developed world.

In other recent news… one reports says there have been no serious side effects in trials on an H1H1 vaccine while a German man (in a story on a site that is not as reputable as say, the New York Times but is worthwhile to have a quick look at) claims the experimental H1N1 vaccine dose made him seriously sick. Hmmm … clinical trials registries, which are now mandatory, rarely report results from trials, which kind of misses the point of the entire idea, huh? …  and the FDA gives the go ahead to stem cell trial to treat Lou Gehrig’s disease, a positive and potentially groundbreaking decision on moving ahead with an entirely new category of treatments and cures for hundreds of debilitating conditions.

H1N1 Vaccine Clinical Trials in Adults Free of Serious Adverse Events – Zikkir World (blog) – No serious adverse events have been reported during the first two weeks of clinical trials involving vaccine against the novel influenza A (H1N1) virus … See all stories on this topic

H1N1 Swine Flu Vaccine Makes German Man Extremely Sick During … Prison Planet.com – And now a German man who participated in H1N1 Swine Flu Vaccine clinical trials has said that he became seriously ill as a consequence of theH1N1 Swine Flu … See all stories on this topic

Clinical Trial Registry Includes Few Results – FDA news (subscription) – Nearly 80000 clinical trials have been registered with the NIH website ClinicalTrials.gov in the two years since the FDA Amendments Act made registration … See all stories on this topic

FDA green lights stem-cell clinical trial for Lou Gehrig’s disease – Nature.com (subscription) – Other companies using neural cells include ReNeuron, which received permission from UK authorities this January to start clinical trials for stroke … See all stories on this topic

Little kids to need 2 shots for swine flu – Baltimore Sun – In the clinical trials, the swine flu vaccine produced a strong immune response in children 10 to 17 years old in just 10 days; younger children generally … See all stories on this topic

Why Patients Turn Down Clinical Trials – New York Times – I read with interest your article about the chilling effect that low recruitment for clinical trials has had on the search for meaningful treatments … See all stories on this topic

Clinical trial app choices: Expensive, for charity or in-the-making – mobihealthnews – The market for clinical trials-focused mobile applications just got competitive and complicated. During the past week two new contenders announced … See all stories on this topic

Big drugmakers start trials of swine flu vaccines – Reuters – The launch of clinical trials is a key part of a widening program of work being undertaken by big pharmaceutical companies as they prepare for mass … See all stories on this topic

Swine Flu Spreading; Drug Makers Begin Clinical Trials – DOTmed.com (press release) – Approximately 6000 people of all ages in the US, UK and Germany are being tested and the trial is expected to last for one year. Novartis said the vaccine … See all stories on this topic

The Good News: The first clinical trial for healing an injured heart by using a subject’s own  stem cells is underway. Pfizer proactively and voluntarily halted a trial after results showed it was to likely to be successful.

The Bad News: The validity of clinical trials conducted China is under scrutiny because of too many positive results. A columnist says some trials may be rushed and done poorly to get drugs to market quickly.

All in all, another normal day of mixed news about whether trials are mostly helping or harming. Here’s to hoping that on this July 4 eve we start moving in a direction where there’s more good news than bad news for the American people and the global community.

Doubts Cast On Credibility Of Some Published Clinical Trials – Science Daily (press release) – USA- However, all RCTs of pre-market drug clinical trial were authentic, and RCTs conducted at hospitals affiliated with medical universities were more likely to … See all stories on this topic

Some clinical trials found to be biased – Examiner.com - USA – Recently there have been numerous reports suggesting that in the rush to get these drugs to the public, clinical trials may not only be poorly executed … See all stories on this topic

First Clinical Trials Completed of Adult Cardiac Stem Cell Repair – Lifesite – Pittsburgh, PA, USA – Milles is part of a 24-patient clinical trial that is the first test in using adult stem cells from a patient’s own heart to attempt to heal injured heart … See all stories on this topic

Clinical Trials Update – U.S. News & World Report – Washington, DC, USA – If your child (boys aged five to eight and girls aged five to seven) has had allergy symptoms for at least one year, he or she may qualify for this study … See all stories on this topic

Study of Sepracor’s Depression Drug Has Investors Gloomy – Inside Futures – Chicago, IL, USA – As if that disappointment was not bad enough, Sepracor received additional news about clinical trials of the pediatric Lunesta. Lunesta is the company’s … See all stories on this topic

FDA Approves Sanofi Heart Treatment – New York Times – United States – He called for more clinical trials. Stock analysts expect slow adoption of the drug, because of the cautions about its use, but ultimately consider it a … See all stories on this topic

Life Science Leader Magazine – Trials Or Tribulations: Does Patient Recruitment Offer Acceptable ROI? – Life Science Leader Magazine – Erie, PA, USA – Delays in meeting enrollment objectives for clinical trials are clearly a challenge that clinical teams will continue to face in the future … See all stories on this topic

Policy Shift On Stem Cell Research May Produce Effect Overseas – Life Science Leader Magazine – Erie, PA, USA – A total of 2147 clinical trials (Phase I-IV) for stem cell therapies overall were listed, as of June, on NIH’s website: www.ClinicalTrials.gov … See all stories on this topic

Life Science Leader Magazine – Bring Your Oncology Drug To Market Quicker: Think Patients First – Life Science Leader Magazine – Erie, PA, USA – Why is oncology clinical trial enrollment so difficult? The supply of adult cancer patients willing to participate in clinical trials remains stagnant at 3% … See all stories on this topic

Randomized trials published in some Chinese journals: how many are ... 7thSpace Interactive (press release) – New York, NY, USA – We investigated the adequacy of randomization of clinical trials published in recent years in China to determine how many of them met acceptable standards … See all stories on this topic

Pfizer’s Sutent fails in colon cancer, trial halted – Reuters – USA – Pfizer said it would continue to study Sutent in late-stage trials as a potential treatment for various other types of cancer and work to develop other … See all stories on this topic

India has taken a big step toward making their clinical trials more public and open… also an interesting story out of Australia regarding microbicide trials for an HIV vaccine – the kind conducted in Uganda… plus the book Chasing Medical Miracles is out in wide distribution so go buy a copy! Also, for comprehensive information on trials for pay, please visit Paul Clough’s excellent and popular site Just another Lab Rat at http://www.jalr.org.   

Now, all human clinical trials to be registered – Times of India – India – BANGALORE: In a significant move aimed at making clinical trials on human beings more ethical and transparent, the Drugs Controller of India has ruled for … See all stories on this topic

Recent releases: HIV prevention; clinical trials debate … News-Medical.net -Sydney, Australia – This month’s PLoS Medicine Debate addresses global health research in light of three large vaginal microbicide clinical trials that have recently failed. … See all stories on this topic

Clinical trials are starting on a malaria vaccine. The importance of this research cannot be overstated. More than perhaps any other disease in human history, malaria has killed millions – including one million just last year — decimated millions of other lives, and hampered the full development of Africa. This is a great step in a new direction to eradicating this killer. Let’s see what happens as things progress…

African Clinical Trial Begins for Malaria Vaccine – DOTmed.com (press release) – New York, NY, USA – Researchers have started a major clinical trial in Africa of what is hoped to be the world’s first vaccine against malaria. … See all stories on this topic

Cancer treatment impaired by lack of female clinical trial … Private Healthcare UK – UK - Cancer treatment is being hampered by a deficiency in the number of women participating in cancer clinical trials. This is the finding of a recent study due … See all stories on this topic

Juvista European Phase 2 clinical trial – PharmaLive.com (press release) – Newtown, PA, USA – In this trial Juvista was given once at the time of surgery. Other clinical trials (particularly 0036 & 0050) have demonstrated that Juvista’s efficacy can … See all stories on this topic

New back pain treatment technology to get trials at Long Beach … Long Beach Press-Telegram – Long Beach, CA, USA – A new technology that hopes to streamline the treatment of neck and back pain will be tested in clinical trials at the hospital beginning in late July or … See all stories on this topic

New ‘BrainGate2′ trial recruiting volunteers – Boston Globe – United States - More information is available at the government’s web site where clinical trials are listed or from Mass. General at 617-726-4218 – See all stories on this topic

Clinical Trials Have a Role in Comparative Effectiveness Research – Thompson.com – Washington, DC, USA – Although traditional clinical trials will still be important, Tunis noted that “it will be necessary to go beyond the current approaches to conducting … See all stories on this topic

Examiner.com – Initial results from clinical trials of a DNA vaccine for type I … He recently presented interim clinical trial data at the American Diabetes Association 69th Scientific Session in New Orleans. Type I diabetes patients who … See all stories on this topic

Clinipace Turns to Crossroads Public Relations to Promote … dBusinessNews Triangle (press release) – Raleigh, NC, USA – Clinipace, an experienced digital clinical research organization (dCRO), provides on-demand software and clinical services for phase I-IV clinical trials … See all stories on this topic

Impact Medical Solutions, Inc. (dba iTech Medical) Expands … Business Wire (press release) – San Francisco, CA, USA – Impact Medical Solutions, Inc. (dba iTech Medical) (OTCBB: IMSU) announces MPR clinical trials at the Long Beach Memorial Hospital campus with the … See all stories on this topic

Biotech Calendar: Key Clinical Trial Dates – TheStreet.com – USA – On the heels of the drug approval decision calendar, I’ve compiled a new list of clinical trial results expected before the end of the year. … See all stories on this topic