A Spanish man know for now as, 'Oscar' who disfigured his face after accidentally shooting himself five years ago, has appeared before TV cameras as the first person in the world to have a full-face transplant.

Oscar is a farmer who was unable to breathe or eat on his own after the accident, but following a 24-hour full-face transplant carried out by a 30-member medical team led by the Spanish doctor Joan Barret, the man is now able to drink liquids and eat soft foods, and has been able to speak for the past two months. During the 24-hour surgery, doctors lifted an entire face, including jaw, nose, cheekbones, muscles, teeth and eyelids from one person and placed it, mask-like, onto Oscar.

He has now been discharged from hospital and will need between 12 and 18 months of physical therapy. H e is expected to regain up to 90% of his facial functions, said the head of the surgical team, Dr. Joan Pere Barret. He has regained the feeling in most of his face and is partly recovering movement of his muscles.

But this reconstructive surgery was not without some hurdles. Oscar had suffered two acute rejections - once four weeks after the surgery and again between the second and third months. Both times, the new face was saved with medication, a hospital statement said.

His sister, who has not been identified to protect the family's privacy, said her brother looks forward to leading a normal life. He is eager to enjoy "little things, like walking down the street without anyone looking at him, or sitting down for a meal with his family. Doing things that all of us do on a normal day", she said.

The world's first partial face transplant was carried out in France in 2005 on a woman, Isabelle Dioire who was disfigured by her Labrador dog.

Wiki mbili hizi zimetawaliwa na simanzi baada ya kuwapoteza Wadau wa TEKNOHAMA nchini Tanzania.

Tanzia ya kwanza ilikuwa la Bi. Hilda Mtenzi aliyekuwa mwandishi wa Habari wa kituo cha televisheni cha Taifa, TBC, ambaye alifariki katika hospitali ya Dk. Khan akiwa katika matibabu kufuatia maumivu ya ghafla ya kichwa. Bi. Mtenzi alikuwa akiiripotia TBC katika kituo cha Tanga, alikuwa mwenyeji wa Mbeya.

Tanzia ya pili ni ya Bi. Primitiva Pankrasi, aliyekuwa mwandishi wa Habari wa gazeti la Mwananchi, ambaye amefariki katika hospitali ya Lugalo alikokuwa amefika kwa ajili ya uchunguzi wa kawaida wa afya 'general check up' ambapo alipatwa na shinikizo la juu la damu 'high blood pressure' la ghafla na kufariki.

Mungu azipumzishe pema roho za marehemu hawa na awape faraja wote walioguswa na misiba hii. AMEN.

photo credits: Jane John na Muhidin Sufiani

Namala Mkopi is a Pediatrician at Muhimbili National Hospital, who has mastered a face of reassurance as he caters for the most special of patients: children.

How did you get to be a Pediatrician?
I first pursued a Bachelors degree in Medicine and graduated in 2004 at Muhimbili University College. Then my passion to work with children drove me to study for a Master's of Medicine in Pediatrics and Child Health.

What are your expectations on a regular day?
I see out-patients, do ward rounds, supervise registrars and interns and teach undergraduate and postgraduate medical students. I also in collaboration with the university engage in research as well as consult with other medical bodies such as AMREF.

What do you like most about your job?
The gratification that comes with giving children a chance to experience life.

Do you experience any challenges?
Of course, like lack of diagnostic facilities. This is a challenge in most of our hospitals. Medical laboratories need to be well equipped for patients to receive timely prognosis and cure. We also do not have many specialists who have concentrated on any given medical field yet this is the way to improved and efficient medical care. Being a national hospital, the number of patients visiting Muhimbili can also be overwhelming.

Are you satisfied with your job?
Yes. It gives me great joy to be of service to my country.

Credit & Copyright: Q&A session with Namala Mkopi by Hellen Wanjiku/TheCitizen.

Written by Bart Knols, Medical Entomologist (Dodewaard, Netherlands) the Managing Director of MalariaWorld:

No, no, it’s not that white stuff. It’s that other white powder. The one that makes some of us go mad with anger, whilst others relentlessly defend its use. That some claim will give you breast cancer, whilst others say you can drink and inhale it without any harm. That some claim will destroy our environment, whilst others oppose by saying it will save millions of lives.

Here’s the story of DDT: Mankind’s most controversial chemical ever. Discovered in 1874 by a chemistry student named Otmar Zeidler. Found to be a superb bug killing chemical in the late 1930s by Swiss chemist Paul Muller. For which he got a Nobel Prize in 1948.

Lies, scare mongering, and environmentalist lobbying

According to Prof. Don Roberts and co-authors, who recently published the book ‘The Excellent Powder: DDT’s political and scientific history’, we were all fooled by a bunch of liars, including Carson. Roberts goes as far as accusing the greens for deliberately forcing the ban on DDT so that developing countries could not be protected from malaria and thus avoid an unbridled population explosion. Saving Africans from malaria would merely result in a population explosion. Better get rid of DDT.

The net result: The disease that no longer bears on us is killing a million kids in Africa each year. And that’s our fault, thanks to the greenies, says Roberts.

Well, if interested, this is just part of the article, read it all here (click) and enjoy the comments there too!

Kila mmoja wetu atakubali kuwa tukiwa watoto wadogo bado twaenda shuleni, ifikapo saa nne au saa sita kila mmoja alikuwa akijongelea 'deli' la 'Kaka Mkude' ili apate 'barafu' au 'aisikrimu' za aidha ukwaju au ubuyu.
Kwa siye ambao sehemu ya maisha yetu tumekulia mashambani, tulikuwa tukihakisha kuwa popote penye ukwaju panageuka kijia cha msimu, walao hadi msimu wa ukwaju upite, alimradi tudokoe ukwaju.

Tunapokuwa 'wakubwa' hupenda kuona baadhi ya vyakula na matunda kama vile 'ya kitoto' na hivyo kuachana navyo, pasipo kufahamu kuwa tunakosa virutubisho vingi ambavyo ni chanzo kikuu cha afya bora.

Zifuatazo basi ni faida za ukwaju ambazo zitakushawishi siku nyingine kuagiza glasi ya juisi ya ukwaju, na kama ni 'waziri wa mambo ya ndani' ya nyumba, au una fahamiana na 'waziri husika' basi agiza aendapo gulioni asiache kuchukua fungu la ukwaju wa kutosha walao wiki kama si mwezi mzima.

Faida 10 za ukwaju:

1. Chanzo kizuri cha viuasumu mwilini 'antioxidants' ambavyo huzuia Saratani (cancer)
2. Chanzo cha Vitamini B na C vile vile "carotentes"
3. Hushusha joto la mwili na kuondosha homa, hasa homa ya malaria na homa ya matumbo
4. Huulinda mwili dhidi ya mafua na kero za mafua kooni
5. Husaidia myeyusho na mmengenyo wa chakula na kuondosha kuvimbiwa
6. Husaidia kutibu matatizo ya nyongo (bile disorders)
7. Husaidia kurahisisha choo (laxative)
8. Husaidia kupunguza wingi wa lehemu (cholesterol) na hivyo kuimarisha moyo
9. Husaidia ngozi kuwa nyororo, vile vile husaidia ngozi inayopona baada ya kuungua au yenye vidonda
10. Husaidia kuua minyoo tumboni (kwa watoto wadogo)

NB: Ikiwa ukwaju na asali havikudhuru, basi changanya hivyo viwili ili kupata faida maradufu!

Huwa tunajiuliza ni kwa nini magonjwa ya mlipuko hayaishi jijini Dar na kwingineko mikoani. Watu wanaoishi maeneo kama yanayoonekana pichani huwa na kingamwili -immunity- ya hali ya juu dhidi ya magonjwa, ila miongoni mwao wapo 'carriers', yaani wale wanaobeba vimelea vya magonjwa mwilini mwao bila wao wenyewe kudhurika, lakini huwa chanzo cha kusambaza magonjwa na kuwaambukiza wasiokuwa na kinga na kusababisha kuugua. Hata hivyo, si magonjwa yote hujenga kingamwili. Njia pekee ya kujiepusha na magonjwa ni kwa kuzingatia misingi ya afya bora, ambapo msingi mkuu wa afya ni USAFI.

Ni jukumu la Wananchi kuyafanyia usafi maeneo wanamoishi na kuzingatia kutotupa taka ovyo mitaani na barabarani, vile vile ni jukumu la viongozi wa Mtaa ambao ni wawakilishi wa Serikali ya nchi, kusimamia usafi wa mazingira na kuchukua hatua stahiki pale zinapokiukwa.

Picha zinazoonekana hapa zimenaswa na kamera ya Francis Godwin alipokuwa akizuru jiji la Dar Es Salaam, Julai 2010.

Findings from a study carried out by World Bank in Tanzania and Malawi says, there was a decrease in the number of sexually transmitted infections (STIs) in girls who were given small amount of money as incentives.

According to a research report to be released on Monday, a total of 2,399 men and women between the ages of 18 and 30 in rural Tanzania, were paid $20 every four months if they tested negative for a series of diseases cut infections by one quarter. The girls also received counselling on safe sex and condom use. A second study that paid 3,796 Malawian girls $4 to $10 a month if they remained in school – rather than dropping out for reasons including pregnancy – cut HIV by 60 per cent over 18 months to 1.2 per cent, compared with 3 per cent in those not paid.

Poverty is an underlying factor in the spread of HIV in the developing world. Girls are the group most at risk of the virus. Some form relationships with older men – more likely to be infected with HIV than boys of their own age – for financial support. At the start of the study, 25% of sexually active girls said they started relationships because they needed or wanted money. Thus, giving these girls in poor countries regular cash payments can help them avoid inappropriate sexual relationships with older and wealthier men, a new approach that could see a decrease in the rate of HIV/AIDS infections.

This conditional cash transfer in line with different social policies, is expected to change human behavior and help in preventing the spread of HIV and other STIs.

David Wilson, the director of the bank's global HIV/Aids programme, said financial incentives may offer a way to help young people help themselves. "These two studies show the potential for using cash payments to prevent people, especially women and girls, from engaging in unsafe sex while also ensuring that they stay in school and get the full benefits of an education," he said.

Michel Kazatchkine, head of the Global Fund to fight Aids, TB and malaria, which channels donor money around the world, said it would require at least $17bn in the next three years to maintain targets to eliminate malaria deaths and to save millions of people in need of HIV treatment and tens of millions from infection with prevention programmes.

References/Credit for this article: Financial Times and The Guardian

The Vienna Declaration is a statement seeking to improve community health and safety by calling for the incorporation of scientific evidence into illicit drug policies. We are inviting scientists, health practitioners and the public to endorse this document in order to bring these issues to the attention of governments and international agencies, and to illustrate that drug policy reform is a matter of urgent international significance. We also welcome organizational endorsements. 

The criminalisation of illicit drug users is fuelling the HIV epidemic and has resulted in
overwhelmingly negative health and social consequences. A full policy reorientation is needed.

website: www.viennadeclaration.com

Safari bado ni ndefu.

Shamrashamra nyingi tulizisikia hivi karibuni pale watafiti wa NIH nchini Marekani walipotoa ripoti ambayo ni habari njema katika vita dhidi ya UKIMWI. Watafiti hawa wameeleza kuwa wamegundua chembechembe yaani antibodies, zenye uwezo mkubwa wa kuzuia virusi wa UKIMWI (HIV) kuingia kwenye seli nyeupe za damu — kwa 90% — na hivyo kusitisha mazaliano ya HIV.

Pamoja na shamrashamra hizi, wengi wetu tukaanza kusikia habari potofu zikisambazwa na wanahabari Tanzania kuwa ‘Dawa ya UKIMWI yapatakana‘, na kusikia vijana wakianza kuongelea (labda kushangilia) ngono isiyo salama, πβ%ϕЖ&!!

Ukweli ni kwamba ‘dawa ya UKIMWI´ haijagunduliwa - bali huu ni mwanzo tu wa safari ndeeefu ya kufikia nia hiyo. Mwaka jana kulikuwa na mlipuko wa habari kama huu kuhusiana na chanjo ya HIV – ila angalau ile ilikuwa tayari katika utafiti wa clinical trial!

‘Twisheni’ Bofya hapa kusoma 'twisheni'...


NYONGEZA
Mmiliki wa wavuti.com anakubaliana na kuafiki yaliyoandikwa na Joji/vijana.fm hapo juu kuwa, yali SAHIHI.

Aina ya 'dawa' inayozungumziwa hapa ni antibodi ambayo watafiti waliipata kutoka kwa  Mwanaume shoga mmoja Mmarekani-Mwafrika  (African American gay man) ambayo ina uwezo wa kufisha ama kudhoofisha (neutralize) VVU (Virusi Vya UKIMWI). Watafiti hao walifanikiwa kupata antibodi ambazo walizipa majina ya VRC01 na VRC02. Antibodi hizi zimeweza kutumiwa katika maabara ya utafiti tu, (siyo katika mwili wa binadamu) ambapo zimeweza kufisha asilimia 91% ya aina mbalimbali ya virusi (neutralize 190 known HIV strains), huko nyuma, tafiti za awali zilishawahi kupata chanjo ambazo hazikuweza kufisha VVU kwa zaidi ya asilimia 40% ya "virus strains". Antibodi hizo huua VVU kwa kujishikiza katika sehemu kwenye mwili wa virusi na kuvizuia visibadilike hadi kufa (kwani kwa kawaida, virusi wa UKIMWI tabia yao ni kubadilika badilika na ndipo wakazaa "strains" tafauti).

"The antibodies attach to a virtually unchanging part of the virus, and this explains why they can neutralize such an extraordinary range of HIV strains," Dr. John Mascola, one of the study's researchers said.

Mtafiti husika na aliyehojiwa na kituo cha televisheni cha ABC (tizama video hapo chini) anasema, "bado itachukua MIAKA KADHAA kwa chanjo hii kutumika kwa wagonjwa wa UKIMWI na watu wanaoishi na VVU".

"It's an important step in the right direction of adding a degree of precision to vaccine development," Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, told ABC News. "But there's no way to tell when a vaccine could happen."

"We're going to be at this for a while," Gary Nabel, director of the center and a leader on this research, told The Wall Street Journal.

Duniani hapa haijawahi kugundulika "DAWA" ya aina yoyote ile ya kuua Virusi  moja kwa moja vikishakuwa katika mwili wa mwanadamu, isipokuwa, imewezekana kutengeneza chanjo dhidi ya Virusi wa magonjwa, kama vile chanjo za mafua, kupooza, kifaduro, dondakuu, nk. na kuwafisha au kuwadhoofisha virusi hao.

Hadi sasa, tafiti za kisayansi zinasema UKIMWI-VVU husababishwa na Virusi. UKIMWI waweza kuababishwa pia na saratani, ujauzito, unyafuzi, kwashakoo nk, lakini uliosambaa ni UKIMWI utokanao na VVU (Virusi Vya UKIMWI), hivyo basi, ikiwa sayansi hii itaendelea kuwa sahihi, basi tutarajie kuwa kitakachopatikana kama 'dawa' ya UKIMWI kitakuwa katika orodha ya chanjo na si 'dawa'.

Ufafanuzi wa neno 'dawa'
Dawa ni neno linalobeba maana mbili au zaidi.

Mosi, dawa kwa maana ya aina ya tembe au majimaji au ungaunga nk ambayo yaweza kutumika kuwaua vimelea vya magonjwa moja kwa moja; angalabu, huweza kutumika kuwafisha nguvu vimelea wa magonjwa kwa kuzuia uwezo wao wa kufanya kazi au kuzaliana.

Pili, dawa kwa maana ya suluhisho la tatizo linalomkabili mtu au jamii. Kwa mfano, mtu anapokumbwa na tatizo akalitatua na kuweza kulipatia ufumbuzi, basi husema nimepata 'dawa' yake.

Kwa hivyo, inapoandikwa 'dawa' ya UKIMWI, yawapasa watu wafahamu kuwa 'dawa' inayozungumziwa hapa ni mafanikio ya chanjo. Tusijisahaulishe kuwa mara zote tumekuwa tukiambiwa kuwa dawa ya UKIMWI tayari ipo, na nitairejea, 'Dawa ya UKIMWI ni kutokufanya tendo la ndoa', 'kuwa mwaminifu kwa mwenzi/mpenzi mmoja tu', 'wahudumu wa afya kuhakikisha wanachunguza vyema damu zinazoongezwa kwa wagonjwa ili kuwaepusha na damu zisizo salama', 'kuzingatia kanuni za kutokufanya yale yote yanayoweza kusababisha damu au majimaji ya mwilini ya mwenye VVU kukutana na damu au majimaji ya mwilini ya mtu mwingine', na njia kadha wa kadha. Natoa pole ya kipekee kwa makundi ya watu wanaoishi na VVU-UKIMWI waliopata kutoka kwa wazazi wao, waliobakwa, waliopata wakati wakitoa huduma kwa watu wenye VVU-UKIMWI kwa kujua ama kutokujua na makundi mengineyo.

Sijatamka matumizi ya condom kwa kuwa hiyo siyo 'dawa' ya UKIMWI bali njia ya kusaidia kupunguza uwezekano wa kuupata maambukizi ya VVU kwa asilimia kubwa ikiwa itatumika inavyoelekezwa, nasisitiza kuwa 'dawa' pekee ni kwa kutokutumia condom kwa kufuata kanuni ya kwanza 'usijamiiane' hasa kwa wasio kwenye ndoa. Ikiwa ni lazima ujamiiane, basi uwe tayari kukubaliana na matokeo ya kujamiiana huko. (it is as simple as that). Kwa waliopo ndani ya ndoa, kuwa mwaminifu na acha kuwaka tamaa.

Hakuna maneno ya kuremba wala haipo sababu ya kuuma uma kauli. Tatizo lililopo, 'hawataki kuambiwa ukweli ulio uchi' na wakiachwa bila kuambiwa, hulalamika 'kwa nini hamkutuambia' (damn if you do and damn if you don't). Taarifa utapewa, uamuzi utafanya mwenyewe, ili upate kukabiliana na matokeo ya maamuzi yako. Kisingizio cha 'sikufahamu' hakipo.

Kwa wale Wakristo mtakumbuka maneno ya Mtume Yakobo katika kitabu chake sura 1:15, "tamaa ikichukua mimba, huzaa dhambi, halafu ile dhambi ikisha kukomaa, huzaa mauti'..., ndugu, utavuna upandacho!, lakini inavyoelekea, wanapanda wasipotegemea kisha wakati wa mavuno huduwaa na kuyakataa. Hiki si kipindi cha kuambiana maneno 'matamu' au 'yasiyo na uchungu' kwa kuwa VVU-UKIMWI hauzungumzi maneno matamu bali kuleta uchungu wa familia kufarakana, watu kuugua na kufa na kuacha utegemezi.

...na mavuno ya uzinzi, uasherati na ngono zembe ni mengi, yahitaji kurasa kadhaa kuyaorodhesha!

References and more info:

1. www.NIAID.nih.gov
2. www.sciencemag.org
   
3. www.WSJ.com
4. www.AOLNews.com

Scientists and Researchers at the University of Arizona say they've genetically engineered a "malaria-proof" mosquito that would not spread the deadly disease.

The researchers at the U-of-A introduced a gene into mosquitoes that affected the insect's gut, meaning the malaria parasite could not develop.

They report the advance, which also reduced the insects' lifespan, in the journal PLoS Pathogens.

They say that the ultimate goal is to introduce malaria-resistant mosquitoes into the environment.

In the study the researchers altered a gene that codes for a "signalling molecule". This molecule, a protein, enables the mosquito's cells to communicate with each other, and is crucial for parasite development inside the mosquito. The genetic tweak artificially increased its production, disrupting the whole process, and also shortened the insect's lifespan. The team was able to add a fluorescent tag to the gene, to ensure that it had been successfully "expressed" by the mosquito larvae. 

"They have tested it on the most harmful of the malaria parasites, Plasmodium falciparum," he told BBC News. "It is another step on the journey towards potentially assisting malaria control through GM mosquito release."

But one Doctor pointed out that the this work had not been carried out specifically on the Anopheles gambiae mosquito. "That is the major vector of malaria in Africa where the disease is most prevalent," he explained.

(Continue reading this at  The BBC)