Global Voices » Health

Jamaica: Journalist “Mutty” Perkins Dies

Janine Mendes-Franco — Fri, 10 Feb 2012 19:52:26 +0000

Girl With a Purpose mourns the death of controversial Jamaican journalist and radio talk show host, Wilmott ‘Mutty' Perkins, who passed away this morning, saying: “We hope, ‘Mutty', that Jamaicans will truly be free to understand that Jamaica is for Jamaicans and those who love her and not for those who would abuse politics to destroy her.”

Russia: New .Ru Domain Registration Rules Allow Easy Domain Seizure

Alexey Sidorenko — Wed, 08 Feb 2012 17:07:47 +0000

Andrey Rylkov Foundation writes about the first case of enforcement of the domain seizure rules in the “.ru” and “.рф” domain zones. The rules [ru] (Article 5, point 5.5) , updated on November 11, 2011 allow any law enforcement agency (like police, Federal Security Service, Prosecutor's office or Federal Drug Control Services (FDCS)) to request domain seizure without a court order. On February 3, 2012 FDCS successfully seized the domain of rylkov-fond.ru, a website of Rylkov Foundation that had severely criticized situation with drug trafficking.

Pakistan: Deadly Pills

Rezwan — Tue, 07 Feb 2012 22:31:55 +0000

Talha Bin Ayub at Teeth Maestro takes a look into the sordid state of health care delivery systems in Pakistan.

Guyana: Send in the Clowns

Janine Mendes-Franco — Mon, 06 Feb 2012 19:32:35 +0000

“Every morning then, without fail, the clown put on she joie de vivre and tumble out”: Guyana-Gyal tries to keep a smile on her face despite her mother's diagnosis.

Cuba: U.S. Citizen Held During Trip “Home”

Janine Mendes-Franco — Wed, 01 Feb 2012 18:58:42 +0000

Capitol Hill Cubans reports on an incident in which a “Cuban-American and family man is wrongly accused and detained” while on a visit to Cuba.

India: New Challenges to Fight Tuberculosis Worldwide

Christine Mehta — Sun, 29 Jan 2012 19:59:52 +0000

This page is part of our special coverage Global Development.

The Indian media and blogosphere have been locked in fierce battle over two words: “extensively,” and “totally.” If you’ve been following Indian news at all, you know that it is about the global health community’s tuberculosis debate.

India’s media sphere exploded last week with reports from Mumbai of a tuberculosis strain completely resistant to all known treatment. The Indian newspapers coined it “totally drug-resistant tuberculosis” or TDR-TB. But just a few days later the Government of India released a statement refuting the term TDR-TB, saying that the World Health Organization has no clear definition for TDR-TB, and that the TB emerging in Mumbai, India is merely another strain of extremely drug-resistant TB (XDR-TB). They’re now calling it XXDR-TB, or “extensively drug-resistant TB.”

Electron microscope image of mycobacterium tuberculosis, responsible for tuberculosis. Image by Flickr user Sanofi Pasteur (CC BY-NC-ND).

The blogosphere and headlines erupted with experts and Indian citizens wondering why the Government of India and the big players in TB treatment were arguing over what to call it, rather than what to do about it.

Bharati Ghanashyam, a blogger for Journalists Against TB, summed up the outrage that erupted in the global health blogosphere following the Indian Ministry of Health's statement, “Call it any name but banish it.”

Ghanashyam commented that the TDR-TB fiasco arose on the heels of the news that India had been declared polio-free for an entire year. His question: how could India achieve such a milestone but drop the ball so badly with TB? He then noted that there was “considerable debate, denial and discussion on whether this new form can be termed TDR-TB.”

As per a report in the Indian Express, “The doctors from Hinduja have unnecessarily raised a panic alarm. The term TDR is not recognized by the WHO or the Revised National Tuberculosis Control Programme (RNTCP). As of now, they are only slotted as XDR-TB cases,” said an official from the Directorate of Health Services.”

Twitter user TBVI_EU agreed with Ghanashyam:

@TBVI_EU: “So true! @bghanashyam It makes little difference what we call different forms of TB. What matters is people are dying,”

Blogger Alanna Shaikh, an expert in health consulting, got some attention from the development community for her blog post on End the Neglect: and calling the new form “TDR-TB.”

TDR-TB is exactly what it sounds like. Doctors have not yet been able to identify a treatment for this TB that will work,” she wrote. “This is a bad, bad development for global health.

The WHO claims on their website, that there is no way to determine whether strains of TB that appear resistant to drugs in the laboratory, are actually resistant to the drugs in the patient. This may seem counter-intuitive since the 12 patients suffering from a particularly virulent form of tuberculosis in Mumbai have obviously show they are not susceptible to the available drugs, the WHO is simply attempting to state that it lacks a standardized test to determine just how effective different combination of the drugs are in the laboratory vs. treating real patients.

Incidentally, India’s Ministry of Health issued a report on January 20, 2012, stating that nine out of the twelve reported patients were stable on their current treatment while three had died, confirming that the strain is susceptible to some antibiotic treatment.

One thing remains certain, the #tuberculosis Twitter stream and TB online advocacy community are adamant that tuberculosis needs to remain a high-priority for donor governments and international donor organizations like the Global Fund and the United Nations.

This page is part of our special coverage Global Development.

China: US60,000 Per Month Postpartum Recovery Service

Oiwan Lam — Sat, 28 Jan 2012 03:56:00 +0000

Jing Gao from Ministry of Tofu translated a local report and netizen reactions on Shanghai's postpartum recovery service which costs around US60,000 per month.

Brazil: Indigenous Leader Criticizes “Developmentism” Policies

Raphael Tsavkko Garcia — Fri, 27 Jan 2012 18:35:59 +0000

Brazilian blogger Julio Carignano, from the blog Sítio Coletivo, interviewed [pt] a former indigenous Guarani chief, Teodoro Tupã, who criticizes the policies of progress and “developmentism” towards indigenous peoples - particularly on issues concerned with health and land.

Trinidad & Tobago: Sympathy for Manning

Janine Mendes-Franco — Wed, 25 Jan 2012 14:52:31 +0000

Trinidad and Tobago News Blog posts a round-up of stories about the former Prime Minister's stroke, while Guanaguanare wishes Mr. Manning “peace and love as [he] recover[s].”

Trinidad & Tobago: Manning Has Stroke

Janine Mendes-Franco — Tue, 24 Jan 2012 18:00:39 +0000

Trinidad and Tobago News Blog reports that the former Prime Minister, Patrick Manning, has suffered a stroke.

Cuba: More on Wilman Villar Mendoza

Janine Mendes-Franco — Mon, 23 Jan 2012 15:19:42 +0000

Bloggers continue to share their thoughts on the death of Cuban dissident and hunger striker Wilman Villar Mendoza.

Cuba: “Intolerance for Dissent”

Janine Mendes-Franco — Mon, 23 Jan 2012 15:13:51 +0000

Cuban bloggers draw attention to Amnesty International's stand on the recent death of prisoner of conscience Wilman Villar Mendoza.

Cuba: The Loss of a Decent Man

Janine Mendes-Franco — Mon, 23 Jan 2012 14:59:44 +0000

“We are 11 million common criminals, whose misdeeds range from buying milk on the black market to having a satellite dish”: Generation Y says that “now, with the death of Wilman Villar Mendoza, once again the old system of State insult repeats itself…[because] it would be very dangerous if people started to believe that a regime opponent would sacrifice his life for a cause, to be a good patriot and even a decent man.”

Brunei: Support Group for Individuals with Autism

Mong Palatino — Mon, 23 Jan 2012 10:15:42 +0000

The Society for the Management of Autism Related issues in Training, Education and Resources - Brunei Darussalam or Smarter Brunei is a family support group and association which was established to protect every individual member with Autism Spectrum Disorder and their family members.

Cuba: Bloggers React to Death of Hunger Striker

Janine Mendes-Franco — Fri, 20 Jan 2012 20:15:43 +0000

Wilman Villar Mendoza

It has been a sad day for the Cuban blogosphere, as netizens received news of the death [es] of political prisoner Wilman Villar Mendoza, who had been on a hunger strike since last November. Many bloggers likened his situation to that of the late prisoner of conscience Orlando Zapata Tamayo, who died in 2010, the first Cuban political prisoner to die on hunger strike since 1972.

Diaspora blogger Uncommon Sense made the link very clear:

Like Orlando Zapata and Juan Soto, his blood is on the hands of the Castro dictatorship.

And like those martyrs, he will never be forgotten.

He also linked to a statement from The Coalition of Cuban American Women, detailing “the death of political prisoner Wilman Villar Mendoza and how the dictatorship has responded with more repression.”

Several bloggers at babalu also commented on Mendoza's death. Val Prieto made the point that the dissident's death “wasn't solely about the usurption [sic] of his rights and freedoms…about the injustice and indignity unleashed upon him”:

Wilmar Villar Mendoza…on hunger strike for 50 days protesting his incarceration and the abject violation of his basic rights and freedoms, died yesterday at the hands of the Cuban government. He was 31 years of age.

Wilmar Villar Mendoza died a hero, not only because of his courage to stand against the Goliath of the castro regime for his convictions, but because of the steadfast dignity of his sacrifice.

Wilmar Villar Mendoza sacrificed and died so that 11 million of his fellow Cubans could be free of the very tyranny that killed him.

Alberto de la Cruz shared “a brief moment of clarity” about the hunger striker's death:

As it happened upon the murders of Zapata Tamayo, Soto, and Pollan, for a brief moment, the assassination of Wilmar Villar Mendoza tore down the facade and the lies of the Castro dictatorship that has as acted as their shield for so many decades.

It may not last long — perhaps hours, maybe days — but for the moment, the Castro dictatorship is exposed.

Perhaps as early as tomorrow, this moment of clarity will dissolve and the lies will return to subjugate the truth. Not because this clarity is too weak or a fleeting moment, but because the world will close its eyes and turn away from the unpleasant truth.

Nevertheless, for now, Wilmar Villar Mendoza's death is not in vain: for a brief moment, there is clarity in Cuba.

The blog went on to detail reports of “how peaceful human rights activists on the island took to the streets to honor Wilmar's ultimate sacrifice for freedom and liberty in Cuba”, adding: “These protestors were immediately met by Castro State Security who violently attacked and arrested several of them.”

Pedazos de la Isla explained why Wilman Villar Mendoza must not be forgotten:

I have heard various people say that a hunger strike is a form of suicide, but I do not believe that. The only one at fault for his death is the dictatorship. It was that same dictatorship which arrested Mendoza during November of 2011 when he, along with other activists, peacefully marched down the streets of Contramaestre demanding freedom. And it was that same dictatorship which paid no attention to Wilman’s just demands to be liberated, which led to his hunger strike.

I did not know Wilman Villar Mendoza personally, but when a person puts their own life at risk for the well being of others, and in this case, for the freedom of an entire nation, then that says a lot about a person. The young Cuban, who leaves behind a wife and two young children, joins the list of so many executed, tortured, and beaten men and women, and also of many who have lost their lives on hunger strike as well. He is another Orlando Zapata Tamayo, another Pedro Luis Boitel- two Cubans who, although living in different generations, fought for the same exact cause and died the same way, in horrid conditions but with honor.

Bloggers were also outraged by the manner in which Mendoza's family was being treated. Pedazos de la Isla noted that “his wife has not even been able to see his body as of Thursday night”, and @Yoani Sanchez posted on Twitter [es] that:

#cuba Hable con Maritza esposa de Wilmar Villar y confirma su muerte. No le han dejado ver el cuerpo. Mas info al +5353842338

#cuba I spoke with Maritza Wilmar Villar's wife and she confirms his death. They have not let her see the body. More info at +5353842338

Notes from the Cuban Exile Quarter said:

Tonight two little girls lost their father; a young wife her husband; and a mother her son. Wilmar Villar Mendoza died tonight after his kidneys and other organs failed. He died the result of a prolonged hunger strike provoked by outrage over a profound injustice committed against him by the Castro regime.

The blog also made the point that:

There was little press coverage or official protests regarding his plight until his death appeared imminent.

Ladies in White and other opposition activists marched and demonstrated on his behalf suffering brutal beatings and detentions but the international press remained silent. Now that he has died, as was done in the case of Orlando Zapata Tamayo in 2010, the international media is reporting it. Too little and too late for Wilmar Villar Mendoza. Bloggers and activists on twitter had alerted the world early on about his plight. Pedazos de la Isla, Uncommon Sense, Babalu, and Capitol Hill Cubans deserve special mention for getting the word out on their respective blogs.

When confronting a brutal totalitarian dictatorship there is a very simple equation:
silence = violence = death.
International official protests and heightened press scrutiny on behalf of brutalized dissidents means less bloodshed. Silence means that Maritza Pelegrino Cabrera, Wilman's wife, is now a widow and his two young daughters ages 5 and 6 will not get to grow up having a father.

babalu published and translated a powerful statement on Mendoza's death from one of Cuba's most high-profile bloggers, Yoani Sanchez:

I want to denounce that in my country, people have to use their bodies, their intestines, their stomachs as a battlefield, as as a way to mount a civic protest. It is very lamentable that an entire population — 11-million Cubans on this island — has had all their rights as citizens taken away or limited. The civic, electoral, and judicial avenues for citizens to seek change, to demand a transformation, to demand the end of the status quo in our country has been blocked. What do we have left? Well, the people then must use hunger strikes as a way to express their nonconformity. It is very sad what has happened today, the death of Wilmar Villar.

That is the denouncement I wanted to make. Perhaps it is just like a bottle thrown into the sea, something that falls into an abyss, but…I want to leave constancy of this. Please, we do not want to continue utilizing our skin, our bones, as a way to show our outrage. We have to have the right to do it without repression.