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Hanoi, Apr 27 (Prensa Latina) The Pharmaceutical Biological Laboratory
(LABIOFAM) presented in this capital new highly-effective medical
products from banana peel that stirred up interest and admiration among
Vietnamese scientists and researchers.
LABIOFAM executives Jorge Luis Martinez and Yudit Rodriguez
presented the products to the Vietnamese pharmaceutical industry at the
Institute of Medicinal Materials.
After a meticulous process of lab study, tests of medicinal properties
and health registration strictly according to international
regulations, those products have already been on the market, Rodriguez
stated.
This is the case, for example, of ASMACAN, a bronchodilator and
expectorant, which is very effective for ambulatory asthma patients, as
systematic inquiries have demonstrated among patients in Cuba.
Another medicine is NUTRISOL, a nutritional, restorative supplement
used in the treatment of anemia, anorexia and convalescence.
Other medicines to treat specific types of anemia are FERRICAL and
ACITAN. They provide a missing dietetic-fiber supplement, encourage
more healthy processes, and are an effective protector of the gastric
mucus.
Another medicine is PROPOLINA, a restorer for immunological disorders,
rapid cicatrization, anti-parasite, anti-inflammatory, analgesic and
anti-bacterial, all at once.
LABIOFARM has also fostered a line of products obtained from mango
peel, known as VIMANG, for many physical uses, among them as a
nutritional supplement for people subdued to high tensions such as
pilots, high-performance athletes and divers, among others.
By Stephen Rickerl
MARION – When troopers from the Illinois State Police knocked on the door of Lisa Lindsay’s Herrin home last spring, she immediately thought something had happened to one of her children. Police departments generally do not deliver good news at 11 p.m.
Lindsay, a breast cancer survivor, quickly learned the troopers were there to take her to jail because of an unpaid medical bill.
On limited income, Lindsay said she was having difficulty paying off her $280 medical bill. She even took a second job to help pay it, but the creditor filed a complaint and she was given notice to appear in court.
Although Lindsay appeared for the hearing, the creditor’s attorney did not and the hearing was rescheduled. Lindsay didn’t know she missed the rescheduled hearing until state troopers showed up at her door.
“I see a lot of crime happen all the time. You see a lot things happen. And you’re always wondering if everything is justified,” she said. “Then you get arrested for a medical bill, for having cancer and you go to jail. It’s just crazy. In this day and age and in this state and county, I don’t think that should happen.”
‘Debtors’ prison’
Lindsay’s case is not unique, a resurgence of so-called “debtors’ prison” has become such an alarming trend that it has grabbed the attention of some of the state’s top officials.
The Illinois Department of Financial and Professional Regulation conducted a hearing Wednesday in Marion to examine the issue and take testimony from members of the public, such as Lindsay, who have been affected by aggressive debt collection practices.
During an interview Wednesday with The Southern Illinoisan’s editorial board, Brent E. Adams, secretary of the Illinois Department of Financial and Professional Regulation, said consumers are being sued for debt owed to creditors and finding themselves in county jails on the basis of failure to appear in court.
Often, Adams said, those debtors are not even aware they are being sued.
In some cases public resources, which cost taxpayer money, are being used to the creditors’ advantage to collect their private debt.
Several people testified the amount of their bond matched their debt, and that the bond amounts were forfeited to the creditor, neatly solving the problem in favor of the creditor.
Adams said the department began examining the issue in October when it met with lenders and creditors. The department will take testimony from Wednesday’s hearing, and a similar hearing Monday in Alton, to work on possible legislation to find a balance for creditors and debtors. Officials hope to have a first draft of legislation by the end of the month.
Safeguards needed
Sandi Gordon, senior staff attorney at Land of Lincoln Legal Assistance Foundation in Carbondale, said her office serves 23 counties in Southern Illinois. She said one of the biggest issues she sees with debtors’ prison is that people don’t understand their rights and get pressured into agreements they can’t afford.
“Procedural safeguards need to be in place to protect these debtors,” she said.
Gordon said about 30 to 40 percent of the debt that people go to jail for is less than $1,000 and the least amount she’s seen someone go to jail for is $210.
Gordon recommended a number of solutions, including the personal service of all citations to ensure that a debtor receives notice and plain language in citations to ensure a debtor understands their obligations and rights.
The sole representative of the credit industry, Bill Bartmann delivered eye-opening testimony that provided insight into an industry that would send a breast cancer survivor to jail over $280.
Debt collector speaks
Bartmann is CEO and President of CFS II, his company buys and collects consumer debt.
Bartmann said his company’s policies specifically do not include use of the threat of jail as a collection mechanism. He said his business actually is more profitable if he is nice to people.
He brought 216 signatures from other debt collectors who disagreed with jailing as a method of collection.
Manuel Flores, director of banking with Professional Regulation, asked Bartmann whether creditors exploit the court system to collect debt.
“Absolutely,” Bartmann replied.
Bartmann disclosed an industry fact the state of a debtors residence will help determine the price a creditor pay when purchasing the debt from another creditor.
There is little difference in the debt or the people when you cross the Mississippi River from Illinois to Iowa, Bartmann said. But a creditor will pay more to purchase the debt of an Illinoisan because the creditor selling the debt knows it is more likely to be collected due to laws and courts that will send police to the doors of debtors.
In essence, Bartmann said, debt collectors do not need a payroll to conduct their business when the state will provide their employees.
stephen.rickerl@thesouthern.com
618-351-5823
(Published in Nameh Mardom, The Central Organ of the Tudeh Party of Iran, Issue No. 889on 26th February 2012)
The developments in Syria have picked up pace in recent months. With the hesitation of the Syrian regime in rendering fundamental and real reforms, the initiative of the democratic, progressive and patriotic forces has been restricted increasingly. On the other hand, the pro-imperialism and reactionary forces in the region are preparing for a “regime changeâ€. The imperialism-backed forces that are already creeping into Syria through the borders with Turkey and Jordan enjoy tens of millions of dollars of financial support from Saudi Arabia and Qatar and the most advanced weapons provided by the imperialist states. These forces persistently encourage armed conflicts, sabotage the infrastructure of the country, and infiltrate mercenaries and smuggle weapons into the country, attempting to destabilize the country and prepare the ground to justify foreign intervention, and to repeat what we witnessed happen in Libya.
After failing to get the resolution to rationalize foreign intervention in Syria ratified in the Security Council of the UN, due the veto by China and Russia, the imperialist states and the reactionary regimes in the region have intensified their efforts to fan the flames of the civil war in Syria by blatant and formal support of pro-West reactionary forces like the “Muslim Brotherhood†and “Salafi†circles. On the other hand, the United States, Britain and reactionary Sheikdoms organized the conference of “Friends of Syria†to turn the Syrian crisis into an international crisis. A wide range of peace-loving, progressive forces and advocates of Syria’s sovereignty, both inside and outside of thatcountry, have supported the just and legitimate demands of the people, and at the same time have resolutely condemned the interventions of the reactionary forces and imperialism.
Tudeh Party of Iran supports the noble slogans of the struggle of the Syrian people for democratic changes and fundamental reforms in the interest of the people and the power of the working people, and condemns any foreign intervention in the developments of this country. Tudeh Party of Iran is of the belief that the United States and its NATO allies are advancing their “Great Middle East†plan, whose objective is to control the rich sources of energy of the region, domination over the market and raw material resources of the countries of the region, and to maintain their political and economic hegemony in the Middle East.
Tudeh Party of Iran expresses it support for the strategy of the Syrian Communist Party (United) in relentless opposition to domestic, regional and international plots against the people of Syria, in condemning and rejecting the interfering policies and actions of foreign powers and lackeys of imperialism and reaction, and their efforts to fan the flames of a full-scale civil war. As in the case of Libya, the outcome of such interventions would be the rule of dark-minded and reactionary forces and dominance of imperialism over Syria. While maintaining this position, Tudeh Party of Iran also expresses its support for the demand of the communists and democratic forces of Syria for “the urgent need to expedite the social and political reforms†and to utilize “the means for more democratic and comprehensive reforms†in Syria in order to ensure a democratic, progressive and peaceful future for that country.
What is needed in Syria is serious, responsible and accountable talks and negotiations between the government and pro-reform, pro-democracy forces. This is the only way to prevent continuing bloodshed in that country. Tudeh Party of Iran supports the proposal of the Syrian Communist Party (United), the democratic and progressive forces of Syria, and the international peace advocates for resuming talks between the parties and making efforts to find ways to advance the reforms through negotiations.
Published in Nameh Mardom, The Central Organ of the Tudeh Party of Iran, Issue No. 889 on 26th February 2012
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Tudeh Party of Iran – Canada Organization
Øزب تودهٔ ایران – واØد کانادا
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by TreeHugger
April 23, 2012
2:30 pm
Written by Rachel Cernansky
Cuba gets a lot of attention for sustainable practices it has adopted over the last few decades, but they’re often framed as accidental choices—that embargo restrictions have made it difficult to get things like pesticides and traditional building materials and so has ended up with sustainable architecture and agriculture because it had no other choice.
Although that’s true to some degree, it’s an unfair generalization in many ways.
Cuba is home to the Caribbean’s largest and best-preserved wetland area, the Cienaga de Zapata Biosphere Reserve, and some statistics show that Cuba’s protected lands overall have grown by 43 percent since 1986.
A bicycle culture has taken hold, and whether or not that started accidentally, Havana officials have worked to make the streets safer for cyclists by adding bike lanes and offering a bus to take cyclists to and from the center of downtown so that they don’t have to ride along cars and trucks on busy roads.
And while deforestation is said to be Cuba’s most pressing environmental problem, there have been some impressive reforestation efforts, including one in a low-income neighborhood in Havana that “used to be a garbage dump†and is now an extensive woodland area.
Writing the Environment Into the Laws
These are individual examples of specific efforts—but the government deserves credit for integrating sustainability, very intentionally, into policy initiatives.
GreenLeft summarizes the policies and initiatives that unfolded after 1992, when Fidel Castro delivered a strongly pro-environment speech to the Earth Summit in Rio:
Between 1992 and 1998, the National Assembly of People’s Power amended the Cuban constitution to entrench the concept of sustainable development; the National Environment and Development Program was developed (outlining the path Cuba would take to fulfil its obligations under the Rio summit’s Agenda 21); CITMA was established; an overarching environment law passed; and a national environment strategy was launched.
Other major initiatives included a national strategy for environmental education; a national program of environment and development; projects for food production via sustainable methods and biotechnological and sustainable animal food, as well as a national scientific technical program for mountain zones and a national energy sources development program. Each of these program are composed of smaller projects and initiatives, involving local communities, People’s Power bodies, universities, schools and mass organisations.
Authors Daniel Whittle and Orlando Rey Santos explain in a research paper on Cuba’s environment that CITMA, the Ministry of Science, Technology, and Environment, became the first cabinet-level agency devoted to the environment when it was established in 1994—and that it almost immediately began assessing Cuba’s air and water quality, land degradation, biodiversity resources, and human settlements, among others.
The paper continues that the National Assembly formally approved in 1997 the Law of the Environment (Law 81), which would affirm CITMA’s role as the lead environmental agency:
Among the six stated objectives in Law 81, there are two that expressly provide for a new and meaningful role for the general public in environmental decision making. The law tracks Principle 10 of the Rio Declaration by establishing the public’s legal right to access to information, access to participation, and access to justice. If faithfully implemented, these provisions promise an unprecedented role for nongovernmental organizations, trade associations, and the general public in the realm of policymaking and decision making on particular projects and activities of government agencies, state-owned entities, and foreign investors.
Cuba is also home to a 2010 Goldman Prize winner, a biodiversity researcher whose work with farmers has helped to increase crop diversity and ultimately encourage Cuba’s agricultural shift away from a dependency on chemicals and toward sustainability.
This post was originally published by TreeHugger.
Read more: http://www.care2.com/causes/why-cubas-sustainability-is-not-an-accident.html#ixzz1syXmZ4AY
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