As one of the main ingredients in cigarettes, tobacco certainly gets a bad rap.
But the tobacco plant has been used to develop a new vaccine to thwart the dreaded norovirus – an illness that has been know to wreak havoc on cruise ships sickening passengers (sometimes hundreds of passengers) with diarrhea and vomiting.
The vaccine is unique in its origin as it was made in a tobacco plant using an engineered plant virus. Researchers are using plants in the battle against norovirus, swine flu, bird flu, and other infectious diseases, said Dr. Charles Arntzen, speaking Tuesday at the 238th National Meeting of the American Chemical Society.
The norovirus, like the flu virus, is constantly changing, which has made creating a vaccine for it challenging for pharmaceutical companies, Arntzen said.
“The recent outbreak of H1N1 influenza virus has once again reminded us of the ability of disease-causing agents to mutate into new and dangerous forms,” he said in a news release.
The norovirus will continue to evolve into new strains, so Arntzen’s team designed a vaccine manufacturing process quick enough to keep up with it and other shape-shifting viruses, he said.
“We think we have a major advantage in using engineered plant viruses to scale-up vaccine manufacture within weeks instead of months,” he said.
While not as dangerous as the flu, norovirus spreads rapidly and can sicken people with diarrhea and vomiting for up to three days.
“It essentially closes down wings of hospitals, schools, day care centers and homes for the elderly. In the case of the military, it can shut down an entire ship and delay military operations while there is a cleanup in process. Because the disease spreads so rapidly, the major economic consequences are caused by the disruption of normal daily life and commerce,” Arntzen said.
To battle each new strain of the norovirus and to keep full resistance to older strains, Arntzen says the vaccine could be administered as a booster every 12 to 18 months. After successful experiments in mice, his team is developing a nasal delivery system for the virus-like particles. Arntzen expects to start clinical trials in late 2009 or early 2010.
Monday, August 31, 2009
Wednesday, August 26, 2009
Tobacco Maker Names Chairman
British American Tobacco PLC on Wednesday tapped former Bank of Ireland PLC Governor Richard Burrows as its new chairman.
Mr. Burrows will take over from Jan du Plessis, who will become chairman of Rio Tinto PLC, on Nov. 1.
Mr. Burrows resigned from the Bank of Ireland in May, following a troubled fiscal year in which the bank's net profit dropped to €69 million ($97.5 million) from €1.7 billion a year earlier and had to seek €3.5 billion in financial assistance from the Irish government. Mr. Burrows apologized to investors at the time for the loss of shareholder value and the cancellation of the company's dividend.
BAT, meanwhile, demonstrated the resilience of the tobacco industry last month when it posted a 16% rise in first-half net profit to £1.45 billion ($2.4 billion).
Sales of cigarettes are continuing to hold up pretty well in the recession because smokers are reluctant to give up tobacco. Also, any dropoff in volume can be offset with price increases. The company's shares have risen 3.4% in the past year.
Analysts weren't concerned by Mr. Burrows's Bank of Ireland record, concentrating instead on his highly successful career in the fast-moving consumer-goods industry.
He was chief executive of Irish Distillers from 1978 until its takeover by Pernod Ricard SA in 1988. He continued to work within the French drinks company and eventually served as co-chief executive of Pernod Ricard from 2000 to 2005.
The BAT chair is a nonexecutive position, but a higher-profile role than at other similarly sized companies. During his five years in the job, Mr. du Plessis took responsibility for commenting on any political issues -- such as antismoking legislation -- leaving Chief Executive Paul Adams to concentrate on operational matters.
Mr. Burrows will be paid an annual salary of £525,000 and will work a two-day week for BAT. The salary is below the £686,000 Mr. du Plessis received to reflect the short working week, the company said.
Thursday, August 13, 2009
Tobacco farming killing food production in West Nile
During the recent Jinja Agricultural Trade Show, I went to the World Food Programme (WFP) stall to find out if our small farmer groups in West Nile can benefit from P4P initiative supported by Bill Gates and Melinda, unaware of the fact that the region is not a beneficiary because of her inability to produce, even feed her own people.
While Food and Agriculture Organisation’s latest estimates put the number of chronically hungry people at 1.02b, up from 915m in 2008, Uganda’s West Nile region isn’t exempt from these global figures save for reasons that force people to go hungry. In an earlier article, I stressed the need for tobacco firms to be socially responsible, well aware of colossal cost we could one day pay for sticking to this cash crop.
Tobacco growing has partly contributed to the famine in West Nile. First and fore most, tobacco growing has led to destruction of forests and fruit trees to the point that the region now faces drought, reduced honey production and general environmental degradation-- a typical example of collapse Jared Diamond talked about in his book ‘Collapse: how Societies choose to Succeed and Fail’ in which he referred to Haitain society that ended up in cannibalism after destroying the vegetation on which their survival depended.
Because tobacco production also requires dedicating labour, land and other resources at the expense of growing subsistence crops, the potential for hunger and starvation is imminent. My estimation is that over one million people are engaged in tobacco value chain in Uganda. According to BAT, there are 17,500 registered tobacco farmers in West Nile. With such a high number of people engaged in tobacco and neglecting food production, what do we expect?
The health effects of tobacco production such as nicotine poisoning, pesticide exposure, respiratory effects, musculoskeletal and other injuries have consumed parts of the household incomes that would have gone to food production and purchase. Planting of eucalyptus with very high transpiration rate has drained a lot of water from the soils. Just imagine how much water has been drained from West Nile soils since the introduction of tobacco in the 1930s if over 100,000 combined farmers plant 100 eucalyptus seedlings each year with each tree sucking about 5 litre a day?
According a study by Prof. Zake of Makerere University, Ugandan soils have lost Nitrogen, Potassium and Calcium minerals. In tobacco growing areas, because of high population pressure, land is never allowed to rest to regain fertility. Remedial-yearly-application of fertilizers to increase tobacco yields seemed to have changed the soil PH, water retention and other properties of the soils thus contributing to the infertility.
In this catastrophe where governments and aid agencies strive to help the starving population, promoters of tobacco have done nothing to rescue their farmers? I thought the dramatic camping of two women with children at Arua Police Station could have sharpened their zeal to help but did it?
Above all, in West Nile, tobacco is grown by the poor, sold at throwaway prices determined by tobacco companies, processed by low-paid workers, sold to the poor and used by the poor, the majority of whom starve, stay poor, get sick while generating wealth for multinationals. With most profits going to middle men (tobacco buyers) and multinationals, farmers are left with no option but starvation after failure to raise enough money to buy food whose production is often ignored.
Sudan now offered unprecedented market and production stimulus for West Nile but this largely remained untapped because farmers opted for tobacco, insisting there is ready market.
The government should inform of seed inputs and subsidies support shift from tobacco to cultivation of other alternative crops with less requirements than tobacco. I also request WFP, as part of P4P initiative, to support tobacco farmers so as to increase food production in Maracha and Terego.
While Food and Agriculture Organisation’s latest estimates put the number of chronically hungry people at 1.02b, up from 915m in 2008, Uganda’s West Nile region isn’t exempt from these global figures save for reasons that force people to go hungry. In an earlier article, I stressed the need for tobacco firms to be socially responsible, well aware of colossal cost we could one day pay for sticking to this cash crop.
Tobacco growing has partly contributed to the famine in West Nile. First and fore most, tobacco growing has led to destruction of forests and fruit trees to the point that the region now faces drought, reduced honey production and general environmental degradation-- a typical example of collapse Jared Diamond talked about in his book ‘Collapse: how Societies choose to Succeed and Fail’ in which he referred to Haitain society that ended up in cannibalism after destroying the vegetation on which their survival depended.
Because tobacco production also requires dedicating labour, land and other resources at the expense of growing subsistence crops, the potential for hunger and starvation is imminent. My estimation is that over one million people are engaged in tobacco value chain in Uganda. According to BAT, there are 17,500 registered tobacco farmers in West Nile. With such a high number of people engaged in tobacco and neglecting food production, what do we expect?
The health effects of tobacco production such as nicotine poisoning, pesticide exposure, respiratory effects, musculoskeletal and other injuries have consumed parts of the household incomes that would have gone to food production and purchase. Planting of eucalyptus with very high transpiration rate has drained a lot of water from the soils. Just imagine how much water has been drained from West Nile soils since the introduction of tobacco in the 1930s if over 100,000 combined farmers plant 100 eucalyptus seedlings each year with each tree sucking about 5 litre a day?
According a study by Prof. Zake of Makerere University, Ugandan soils have lost Nitrogen, Potassium and Calcium minerals. In tobacco growing areas, because of high population pressure, land is never allowed to rest to regain fertility. Remedial-yearly-application of fertilizers to increase tobacco yields seemed to have changed the soil PH, water retention and other properties of the soils thus contributing to the infertility.
In this catastrophe where governments and aid agencies strive to help the starving population, promoters of tobacco have done nothing to rescue their farmers? I thought the dramatic camping of two women with children at Arua Police Station could have sharpened their zeal to help but did it?
Above all, in West Nile, tobacco is grown by the poor, sold at throwaway prices determined by tobacco companies, processed by low-paid workers, sold to the poor and used by the poor, the majority of whom starve, stay poor, get sick while generating wealth for multinationals. With most profits going to middle men (tobacco buyers) and multinationals, farmers are left with no option but starvation after failure to raise enough money to buy food whose production is often ignored.
Sudan now offered unprecedented market and production stimulus for West Nile but this largely remained untapped because farmers opted for tobacco, insisting there is ready market.
The government should inform of seed inputs and subsidies support shift from tobacco to cultivation of other alternative crops with less requirements than tobacco. I also request WFP, as part of P4P initiative, to support tobacco farmers so as to increase food production in Maracha and Terego.
Tuesday, August 11, 2009
Raising cigarette tax may backfire
Raising Michigan's $2-a-pack cigarette tax another 25 cents -- an idea floated by Gov. Jennifer Granholm -- would generate minimal revenue and encourage more smuggling from other states with lower cigarette taxes, according to a new study.
The report by three economists was commissioned by a lobby group for gas station convenience stores, which plans a news conference today. The study concludes that a 25-cent tax cigarette tax hike -- a 12.5% increase -- would produce 8.5% more in tobacco tax revenue.
The report says the 25-cent tax increase would cost convenience stores a combined $6.5 million because smokers, who buy other things at the stores, would buy fewer cigarettes or shop elsewhere, such as Ohio and Indiana, where tobacco taxes are lower.
State senators' spat won't require discipline
A state Senate investigation into a heated exchange between two members in a Capitol elevator June 17 found insufficient evidence of behavior that would require disciplinary action, Majority Leader Mike Bishop, R-Rochester, announced Monday.
Bishop, in a letter sent to Sen. Irma Clark-Coleman, D-Detroit, said he would not take any formal action against Sen. Roger Kahn, R-Saginaw, whom Clark-Coleman had accused of acting in a threatening manner during an argument over state spending.
The investigation by Senate staff concluded that there was little evidence beyond Clark-Coleman's assertion.
The report by three economists was commissioned by a lobby group for gas station convenience stores, which plans a news conference today. The study concludes that a 25-cent tax cigarette tax hike -- a 12.5% increase -- would produce 8.5% more in tobacco tax revenue.
The report says the 25-cent tax increase would cost convenience stores a combined $6.5 million because smokers, who buy other things at the stores, would buy fewer cigarettes or shop elsewhere, such as Ohio and Indiana, where tobacco taxes are lower.
State senators' spat won't require discipline
A state Senate investigation into a heated exchange between two members in a Capitol elevator June 17 found insufficient evidence of behavior that would require disciplinary action, Majority Leader Mike Bishop, R-Rochester, announced Monday.
Bishop, in a letter sent to Sen. Irma Clark-Coleman, D-Detroit, said he would not take any formal action against Sen. Roger Kahn, R-Saginaw, whom Clark-Coleman had accused of acting in a threatening manner during an argument over state spending.
The investigation by Senate staff concluded that there was little evidence beyond Clark-Coleman's assertion.
Wednesday, August 5, 2009
Shands Healthcare plan to go tobacco-free
Patients, visitors and employees at the University of Florida Health Science Center campus and Shands HealthCare facilities throughout north central Florida are going Tobacco-Free Together, officials announced today (Aug. 4).
As of Nov. 1, the use of cigarettes or other tobacco products in any of the Health Science Center, Shands or UF Physicians buildings and parking lots, or in vehicles in these areas, will not be permitted. UF plans to implement the policy on its main campus in July 2010.
“Going tobacco-free on our health-care campuses is the right thing to do for our patients and visitors — and for each other,” said Dr. David S. Guzick, UF’s senior vice president for health affairs and president of the UF&Shands Health System. “Coinciding with Tobacco-Free Together will be the opening of the Shands Cancer Hospital at UF, which reflects our commitment to the prevention and treatment of cancer.”
The new rule mainly affects a few designated outdoor smoking and tobacco-use areas and the properties surrounding Health Science Center and Shands HealthCare facilities. Smoking and tobacco use are already prohibited indoors.
“The decision to have tobacco-free campuses systemwide supports our commitment to providing a healthy environment for our patients and to improving health in our communities,” said Tim Goldfarb, chief executive officer of Shands HealthCare. “We not only provide outstanding medical treatment and patient care, but also work hard to promote wellness and disease prevention.”
Tobacco dependence is the nation’s most preventable cause of death and disease, including cancer, heart disease and stroke. Nationally, tobacco use is responsible for nearly one in five deaths or an estimated 440,000 deaths per year, according to the Florida Hospital Association. That’s approximately 1,200 people each day — more than deaths caused by alcohol, cocaine, crack, heroin, homicide, suicide, car crashes, fires and AIDS combined. Currently, one out of every seven adults hospitalized at Shands at UF is treated for cancer or cancer-related illnesses.
Throughout Florida, more than 70 hospitals support the Florida Department of Health’s “Tobacco Free Florida” campaign and have tobacco-free campuses. Shands Jacksonville and the UF Health Science Center-Jacksonville went completely tobacco-free last November.
The Health Science Center and Shands HealthCare are providing information and resources to assist employees, patients and visitors who would like to break the habit. A wide selection of counseling services, self-help materials and medicines are available to help smokers and tobacco-users quit successfully. More information is available at www.tobaccofree.health.ufl.edu.
The University of Florida Health Science Center — the most comprehensive academic health center in the Southeast — is dedicated to high-quality programs of education, research, patient care and public service. The Health Science Center encompasses the colleges of Dentistry, Public Health and Health Professions, Medicine, Nursing, Pharmacy and Veterinary Medicine, as well as the Veterinary Medical Teaching Hospital and an academic campus in Jacksonville offering graduate education programs in dentistry, medicine, nursing and pharmacy. Patient care activities, under the banner UF&Shands, are provided through teaching hospitals and a network of clinics in Gainesville and Jacksonville. The Health Science Center also has a statewide presence through satellite medical, dental and nursing clinics staffed by UF health professionals; and affiliations with community-based health-care facilities stretching from Hialeah and Miami to the Florida Panhandle.
As of Nov. 1, the use of cigarettes or other tobacco products in any of the Health Science Center, Shands or UF Physicians buildings and parking lots, or in vehicles in these areas, will not be permitted. UF plans to implement the policy on its main campus in July 2010.
“Going tobacco-free on our health-care campuses is the right thing to do for our patients and visitors — and for each other,” said Dr. David S. Guzick, UF’s senior vice president for health affairs and president of the UF&Shands Health System. “Coinciding with Tobacco-Free Together will be the opening of the Shands Cancer Hospital at UF, which reflects our commitment to the prevention and treatment of cancer.”
The new rule mainly affects a few designated outdoor smoking and tobacco-use areas and the properties surrounding Health Science Center and Shands HealthCare facilities. Smoking and tobacco use are already prohibited indoors.
“The decision to have tobacco-free campuses systemwide supports our commitment to providing a healthy environment for our patients and to improving health in our communities,” said Tim Goldfarb, chief executive officer of Shands HealthCare. “We not only provide outstanding medical treatment and patient care, but also work hard to promote wellness and disease prevention.”
Tobacco dependence is the nation’s most preventable cause of death and disease, including cancer, heart disease and stroke. Nationally, tobacco use is responsible for nearly one in five deaths or an estimated 440,000 deaths per year, according to the Florida Hospital Association. That’s approximately 1,200 people each day — more than deaths caused by alcohol, cocaine, crack, heroin, homicide, suicide, car crashes, fires and AIDS combined. Currently, one out of every seven adults hospitalized at Shands at UF is treated for cancer or cancer-related illnesses.
Throughout Florida, more than 70 hospitals support the Florida Department of Health’s “Tobacco Free Florida” campaign and have tobacco-free campuses. Shands Jacksonville and the UF Health Science Center-Jacksonville went completely tobacco-free last November.
The Health Science Center and Shands HealthCare are providing information and resources to assist employees, patients and visitors who would like to break the habit. A wide selection of counseling services, self-help materials and medicines are available to help smokers and tobacco-users quit successfully. More information is available at www.tobaccofree.health.ufl.edu.
The University of Florida Health Science Center — the most comprehensive academic health center in the Southeast — is dedicated to high-quality programs of education, research, patient care and public service. The Health Science Center encompasses the colleges of Dentistry, Public Health and Health Professions, Medicine, Nursing, Pharmacy and Veterinary Medicine, as well as the Veterinary Medical Teaching Hospital and an academic campus in Jacksonville offering graduate education programs in dentistry, medicine, nursing and pharmacy. Patient care activities, under the banner UF&Shands, are provided through teaching hospitals and a network of clinics in Gainesville and Jacksonville. The Health Science Center also has a statewide presence through satellite medical, dental and nursing clinics staffed by UF health professionals; and affiliations with community-based health-care facilities stretching from Hialeah and Miami to the Florida Panhandle.
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