#Ebola: Looking beyond tobacco prejudice

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Policyng.com September 8, 2014

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#Ebola: Looking beyond the tobacco prejudice

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The involvement of this tobacco titan in the Ebola breakthrough will no doubt upset the campaign of anti-tobacco groups

As the hemorrhagic fever disease Ebola continues its rampage in West Africa, the world health organization (WHO) has endorsed the use of experimental treatments as ethical. This includes ZMapp, the controversial drug used in the treatment of American doctor Kent Brantly and missionary nurse Nancy Writebol both of whom contracted Ebola while treating infected Liberian patients. Although the detailed clinical impact of the treatment have not been fully verified on humans, there is however no doubt that ZMapp played a role in the successful recovery of these two patients from the virus.

This experimental drug credited with saving the lives of Brantly and Writebol is so far the only successful effort for the post exposure treatment for Ebola virus. However, the manufacture of this rather ingenious solution to a rampant disease opens up a quite sensitive topic for public health advocates particularly the anti-tobacco groups. Yes – ZMapp consists of proteins called monoclonal antibodies that bind to and inactivate the Ebola virus but, tobacco is optimal for the development of these disease fighting antibodies.

The process involves infecting tobacco plants with disease specific hybridomas which are produced from the combination of antibodies harvested from ‘Ebola infected’ mice with B-cells and cancer cell lines. The tobacco plants acts as factories and photocopiers for the production of the antibodies which are then extracted and purified resulting in the serum known as ZMapp. The strain of tobacco plant (Nicotiana benthamiana) used to produce this drug is not the type found on commercial fields. Rather, it is one that is easily manipulated with recombinant DNA techniques and amenable to automated greenhouse conditions. In other words it is a highly genetically modified strain of tobacco grown by Kentucky Bioprocessing (KBP), a research, development and protein Production Company recently acquired by Reynolds American Inc., the parent company of R.J. Reynolds Tobacco (the second largest tobacco company in the United States). The involvement of this tobacco titan in the Ebola breakthrough will no doubt upset the campaign of anti-tobacco groups as well as the general perception of tobacco as villain. Tobacco has long been tagged as the villain responsible for the deaths of approximately 6 million people per year. According to the World Health Organization, deaths due to direct tobacco use is around 5 million people globally while 1 million die due to exposure to second hand smoke.

The big picture for these anti-tobacco groups have always been tobacco consumption in one form (i.e. smoking), but their mode of delivery has over time built a prejudice against other utilization of the tobacco plant particularly from a scientific perspective.

Given the statistics and health risks associated with tobacco consumption, anti-tobacco groups may be justified in advocating for a safe distance from the nicotine bearing plant. But as lethal as tobacco is, it has presented quite a breakthrough in a serious and deadly outbreak. Maybe now is the time to draw a fine line between social concerns and scientific possibilities.

“ZMapp consists of proteins called monoclonal antibodies that bind to and inactivate the Ebola virus but, tobacco is optimal for the development of these

disease fighting antibodies.”

As the Ebola outbreak rages on in West Africa, with new cases reported in Nigeria and a reported death of over 900, discussions on the development of a vaccine and treatment seems to strongly accompany all containment efforts. The disease is not airborne and so far has only affected Africa, however the recent infection of a couple of foreign health care workers and their subsequent evacuation to their home country (the United States), appears to have prompted the western media in really discussing the hesitation and non-commitment of large pharmaceutical companies and foreign governments to the development of vaccine and treatment for the Ebola virus disease.

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#1 Looking beyond the tobacco prejudice

#2 The politics of finding Ebola vaccine

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50 years of freedom, arguments and economic excuses holds Obama’s Africa... stop looking somewhere else for solution.

According to Heinz Feldmann of the US national institute of allergy and infection diseases, a vaccine could be ready in as little as two years if only the disease could generate as much funding and political will as it does panic.

Compared to drugs firms’ response to the AIDS epidemic which killed people for years in Africa before treatments were developed once it spread to the west, international response to Ebola virus disease is quite disappointing. Although, some scientists and relatively smaller pharmaceutical companies have been at work in the past few years on an Ebola treatment and with a good measure of success on animals, the vaccines however were never tested in human clinical trials. The major factor preventing such trials in humans has been cost, because pharmaceutical companies typically fund the human clinical trials to take a drug or vaccine to market. Finding money to back an investment in Ebola treatment has been difficult and getting approval from the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has also been a huge hurdle.

The lack of funding is largely due to a lack of interest shown by pharmaceutical companies who view the Ebola virus disease as a rural, relatively low-kill African disease that presents no lucrative market and holds little or no appeal to their stakeholders. They have justified their unwillingness by arguing that investing in research on Ebola treatment and vaccines has little guarantees for profit and the possibility of new strains of the virus means the drugs might not even be used in the long run. Even in the area where there was a little hope for treatment, the US Food and Drug Administration have put quite a damp on it.

The work on an Ebola treatment by the Canadian company Tekmira pharmaceuticals Cooperation is among the most advanced attempts at a drug that could be protect against and treat the disease, but it was recently dealt a setback when the Food and Drug Administration halted further testing and trials of the drug.

Aside from funding and approval obstacles, foreign governments have shown much media concern with little commitments to back it up. For instance, the United States government’s interest in vaccinating against Ebola is largely rooted in preventing bio terror attacks where the disease could be used as a weapon. This suggests that so long as there is no imminent threat of outbreak in the west, then the tardiness of international response and the bias of western media will continue, meaning the governments of the affected region will just have to settle for containment measures while we all wait and pray that this epidemic just burns out on its own.

Africa (both the governments and the people) have a lesson to learn from this, if we don’t invest in research and develop sensitive sectors like the health care system, then when the next outbreak occurs we will once again be at the mercy of the west.

#3 #YALI: 50 years of freedom, arguments and economic excuses holds Obama’s Africa

President Obama’s comment on Africa’s development or rather the lack of it at the Washington Fellowship for Young African Leaders earlier this week was perceived by many as a pinch on the continent’s poor and malnourished skin.


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50 years of freedom, arguments and economic excuses holds Obama’s Africa... stop looking somewhere else for solution.

In response to a question on Africa’s debt and prospect for debt forgiveness, Mr. Obama said, “I will challenge the notion that the primary reason that there has been a failure of service delivery is because of onerous debts imposed by the west…there is no doubt that dating back to the colonial era…there are all kinds of legitimate arguments you can look at in terms of history that impeded African development…but as powerful as history is…let’s make sure that we’re not making excuses for not going forward…The truth is that there’s not a single country in Africa that with the resources it had could not be doing better.” Obama’s comment brings to mind a much more general observation: why is Africa still struggling to develop despite its abundant natural resources and will more money solve Africa’s development problems?

In many quarters, blame for the continent’s development woes have been assigned to the impact of colonial history. Of a truth, colonialism did have a profound impact on Africa as did neo colonial activities that former colonial powers engaged in after independence, but Obama’s comment holds a relevant fact – after fifty years of self-government the discussion of colonial legacy as an impediment to African development has significantly lost its fervency because five decades of independence should have greatly reduced if not eliminated, the effect of the colonial system. As such, colonialism can no longer be an excuse for Africa’s bad governance and development situation.

And when it comes to money, the problem in Africa has never been about lack of funds or resources. For a continent with enormous capital in the form of natural resources that include oil, hydroelectric power, diamonds, uranium, gold, cobalt, 70%of the world’s Coltan and 30% of its Cassiterite (both used In the production of cell phones, laptops and other portable electronic products), Africa has no business being poor or under developed. Indeed this fact justifies president Obama’s stern talk for the continent’s leaders to stop making “economic excuse” for lack of progress.

The root of Africa’s multifaceted development challenges actually lies within and money alone cannot solve these problems, proven by the fact that many of Africa’s natural resource-rich countries score very low on human development indicators. This is indicative of a damaged trust between African governments and their citizens due to decades of defective political and economic governance, and the failure by early post-independence governments to deliver the promise of independence.

While colonial history still looms large as well as the pernicious effect of historical institutional (political and economic) dynamics, corruption and abuse of power by African governments remains the major impediment to development on the continent.


#4 Emerging markets and the exit of hot money

When the global economy took a hit in 2007 with the recession and financial crises in Europe, the United States and other large economies pursued loose monetary policy. Developing economies were both recipients and beneficiaries of the massive cash inflows that flowed in courtesy of the United States Federal Reserve and other central banks. A huge percentage of the trillions of dollars released into the financial system over the past several years flowed into the emerging markets. This injection of cheap cash coupled with the in flock of investors (seeking out bigger returns) from countries hard pressed by the global economic situation boosted the economy of emerging markets. But as the global economy regains its health, the actions of the Federal Reserve during the economic crisis is rippling through and mounting pressure on the currencies of emerging markets. Tapering measures adopted by the Federal Reserve has spooked investors causing them to pull their cash out of emerging economies and bring it back to more stable markets like the United States. This hurts the developing nations because emerging markets need the hot, cheap cash that is currently exiting their countries; without it, currencies and bonds will plunge leading to higher interest rates and increased credit risks. Despite internal efforts at economic reform in affected countries like Turkey, Argentina, Indonesia, Mexico and Brazil, the currency of most emerging markets continue to decline because the flow of capital into and out of such markets has more to do with events beyond their borders. Once-booming countries are now experiencing currency crises with their local currency declining more than 20 per cent against the dollar... Read the full article on blog.policyng.com

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Ogwu Iba has been an age long method for controlling and most times chasing away flu and fever... It is pretty very simple to make.

On becoming a Foodie… by Nana Nwachukwu Food is a basic essential of every living thing. Asides from eating to be alive, food is beautiful.

Have you ever wondered about food presentation? For some people, the urge of eating food comes from thinking about it meaning they already have an idea what it should taste like and look like.

Creating your own food eye candy is very easy. Your food can actually taste and look good despite your diet restrictions. It takes very little effort and a whole lot of imagination.

For me, colour is very important in food. Having realized this, I stick to multi-coloured or plain white plates. The multi-coloured jazz up dull food and the white brings out the colour in the food.

Many times, I have heard people murmur that arranging food tastefully removes the African nature of the food and I am always shocked. Africa is a continent of colour, beautiful colours. I simply believe we have been given better technology and ideas to limitless possibilities in food creation.

Today I will be presenting my Mum’s favourite ‘ọgwu iba’ and a dish of Grilled plantains with Tomato sauce.

Grilled Plantains with Fish in Tomato Sauce.

Ingredients;

1. 3 Medium sized Unripe Plantains

2. 8 tablespoons of Palmoil

3. 4 large Ripe tomatoes

4. 3 large pieces of Scotch Bonnet Pepper

5. 1 Medium sized Onions

6. ½ teaspoons

7. 3 chunk cuts of your choice Fish. (We shall be using Salmon.)

8. 6 pieces African Curry Leaves

9. ¼ Cup of water

10. ½ teaspoon of salt

Preparation time: 8 minutes

Cooking time: 45 minutes

“Ogwu Iba has been an age long method for controlling and most times chasing away flu and fever.”

@FoodieAfrican /08074945367


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Africa is a continent of colour, beautiful colours... better technology and ideas to limitless possibilities in food creation


Photo credit: Nana Nwachukwu

“Having realized this, I stick to multi-coloured or plain white plates. The multi-coloured jazz up dull food and the white

brings out the colour in the food”

Preparation;

1. Heat the Oven at 200~ for 10 minutes

2. Wash and peel the Plantains using either your hand or a knife.

3. Rub the plantain with Palm oil and place inside on the Oven grill

4. Reduce heat to 100~ and set time for 25 minutes.

5. Chop the tomatoes, pepper, Onions and curry leaves

6. Clean fish and wash. Rub salt on it and set aside.

7. Heat Palm oil in a skillet for 2 minutes add the chopped mixture.

8. Cook for 4 minutes and add the Fish and salt to taste.

9. Cover Skillet and steam for 10 minutes.

10. Turn carefully not to break the Fish and put down

11. Check on the Plantain and turn.

12. Increase the oven heat to 140~ and set for another 10 minutes.

13. Check the plantain after 10 minutes and stick a fork into it to test for doneness.

14. Serve with the Plantains with the Sauce

Ogwu Iba has been an age long method for controlling and most times chasing away flu and fever. It consists of boiling some herbs and making the sick person inhale the content while incubated with a thick cloth like a blanket.

I remember when I was a kid and I got this treatment. I screamed for my life and struggled to escape. but immediately after, I sweated and felt very ok.

It is pretty very simple to make.

There is no defined quantity of items so I believe all contents should be sufficient to fill a medium-sized pot.

Ingredients;

Lemon grass leaves

Pawpaw leaves

Unripe water melon

Unripe Pawpaw.

Avocado Bark

Preparation;

1. Boil in a medium sized pot for 30 minutes.

2. Place the patient on a low stool.

3. Remove the pot from the fire and place directly in front of the patient really closely.

4. Cover instantly with a large thick cloth, blanket or towel but ensuring that it envelopes both the pot and the patient.

“Africa is a continent of colour, beautiful colours. I simply believe we have been given

better technology and ideas to limitless possibilities in food creation”

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#Ebola: Looking beyond tobacco prejudice