Archive
International News Services archives articles supplied to clients one year or more after initial publication. These articles are protected by a password and not made available to readers without permission from clients. They are used as a background resource by agency journalists. Upon client requests, International News Services will remove such articles from the archive or not upload them in the first place. They are included to demonstrate the breadth of topics undertaken by the agency and also to help promote clients’ coverage.
TRADE UNION INVESTMENT
BY RICHARD HURST
THE INVSTMENT arm of South Africa’s Chemical, Energy, Paper, Printing, Wood and Allied Worker’s Union has announced that it is to acquire a 7.24 per cent stake in Aspen Pharmacare, the country’s largest pharmaceutical group, for Rand 150 million.…
RIVERBLINDNESS
BY KEITH NUTHALL
THE GLOBAL Partnership to Eliminate Riverblindness has announced that US$39 million has been pledged by its members to wipe out Onchocerciasis, (Riverblindness), in the whole of Africa by 2010. The group includes the World Bank, the World Health Organisation, the Food and Agriculture Organisation, the US Agency for International Development and 30 African countries, along with private pharmaceutical companies, (including Merck).…
TRADITIONAL HERBAL MEDICINES
BY KEITH NUTHALL
THE EUROPEAN Commission has proposed a new directive on the authorisation of traditional herbal medicines, providing a simplified registration procedure for products in use for at least 30 years. Although the quality thresholds match those for standard medicines, the usual compulsory tests on safety and efficacy can be replaced by an assessment of information about their use in the past three decades, even if some data was gathered outside the European Union.…
EMEA
BY KEITH NUTHALL
THE EUROPEAN Medicines Evaluation Agency has publicised a warning made by German pharmaceuticals company Boehringer Ingelheim International GmbH that users of its product Metalyse have been incorrectly using the vial and pre-filled syringe used to administer the medicine.…
REMICADE
BY KEITH NUTHALL
DOCTORS treating Chron’s disease and rheumatoid arthritis with the drug Remicade must ensure that their patients have tuberculosis, (including latent TB), or other severe infections including sepsis, abscesses or “opportunistic infections,” the European Agency for the Evaluation of Medicinal Products, (EMEA), has said.…
GLOBAL FUND
BY KEITH NUTHALL
THE UNITED Nation’s Global Fund to fight HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria in developing countries has financial commitments from the private and public sector of US$1.5 billion, the World Health Organisation has claimed. The first meeting of the fund’s board was to have taken place on January 28.…
BIOTERRORISM ADVICE
BY KEITH NUTHALL
THE EUROPEAN Medicines Evaluation Agency has released comprehensive guidance on the treatment and prevention of potentially devastating diseases which could be released by a major bio-terrorist attack; anthrax, the plague, tularemia, small pox, viral haemmorhagic fever and botulism.…
E COMMERCE DIRECTIVE
BY KEITH NUTHALL
THE EUROPEAN Commission may threaten legal action against national governments in the European Union, after 12 out of 16 Member States failed to meet the January 16 deadline for implementing the EU e-commerce directive. A statement from Brussels has revealed that only Luxembourg, Austria and Germany approved laws based on the directive by that date.…
BELGIUM ECJ
BY ALAN OSBORN
THE EUROPEAN Commission has formally called on Belgium to bring into its national law a decree ensuring that authors and other copyright holders are paid when their works are provided for lending to the public. Since 1994, Belgium has failed to make any payments, nor has it proposed any alternative compensation, and “damage has been suffered by right-holders of every nationality,” in breach of EU law, the Commission claimed.…
LUXEMBOURG ECJ
BY ALAN OSBORN
THE EUROPEAN Commission has ruled that Luxembourg’s mandatory no-claims bonus system for third party motor insurance is in breach of the EU’s third non-life insurance directive and has called on the country to withdraw the legislation. Motor insurance premiums in Luxembourg relating to the damage caused by drivers are not calculated freely but have to comply with detailed, mandatory criteria laid down by law.…