Prakanong

It's another sad day for the Thai.

Although I don't agree with walking off the pitch, this can be avoided by having a european or non asian referee. Take away their excuses by not having an Asian referee.

Sorry but <deleted> about the nationality of the referee

Thailand are a disgrace and and should be banned from even trying for international competitions (as though they could even qualify)

In their own country they are bullies - outside wimpy cowards

He has not got enough money to play the markets like that

Very rich man but others who do it ie Buffet are followed by institutional billions - tThaksin would be alone

I live in Singapore but wanted Thasiland to win

Now I hope they get their <deleted> smacked.

Thailand - run by children

A country going down the drain and being left behind - I love the place but its just getting worse.

The discussion has now reached a point where i am completely out of my depth.

But keep it up please, i follow it with high interest.

Some people regurgitate Fox News without being or knowing the industry - armachair pundits

They can sing all they like about Asians and their education while all the time they are slipping past them up the ladder.

I have worked all over the world and I know now who i see as the most dedicated and (I do not know the word to use) clever people I work with. Like I said last night to my pal a consukltant neuro-radiologist - "Working with these people brings your own game up" - He totally agreed

Nick2K

Do you know anything at all about the pharma industry except for the medication you take?

Took their ops off shore????

Most of the R&D is still done in the USA and Western Europe including the UK - it is this imbalance that need re-dressing my friend - you think we have the monopoly on excellent researchers???

You think those excellent scientists in say China and India should all have to relocate to the USA and Europe to work?

I see these people at work all over the region every day and I can tell you from experience - on quality and work rate they slaughter the USA set up in their equivalent - it will come in research too in the not too distant future

Yes we have sites in India and are looking to China as well as having large sites in Singapore - nothing was moved offshore. Its there because of the quality of the workers plus pharma is a worldwide business and these markets are growing massively.

You honestly do not know what you are talking about here - your little America rant is quite amusing if not so sad in a way.

Have to agree with Nick here. The R&D groups in other countries are well beneath the standards of the west. Creativity is the key. Asian education doesn't promote any.

Those who can hang move along to western companies. Better pay. You're right, they don't have to. But the incentive is there. It's called the brain-drain.

Speaking from experience.

I am speaking from current experience -are you?

Who says they are not working for western company's - I know I am alongside them.

The fact is my argument stands -and Nicks does not. I said most R&D is still done in the west - there are research places opening up by western company's in the likes of India and China (and eastern) though

Oh - and of course a lot of clinical trials move to where its cheaper to do them like the Asia and eastern europe - to expensive in western Europe and America

PS: think you are greatly under-estimating the education some of these people have. - i bet you said that about their computer guys 15 years ago before all the white collar jobs flew the nest!!!

This vaccine and the other to follow protect mainly against type 16 and 18 HPV which cause 70% of Cervical Cancer

They may protect against some other sub-types too

Just out of interest; this vaccine, does it also work curative, eg after infection?

No - its a prohylactic vaccine and not therapeutic

There are therapeutic vaccines on trial and moving to the next stage ie certain small cell lung cancers and certain breast cancers

Just spoke to a Dr who works in vaccine about the need for a booster

The answer is nobody can know yet as its so new and the immunogenicity has not been tested long enough.

Its possible it may but the general feeling is no?

Does anyone know if MERCK'S CERVICAL CANCER VACCINE, GARDASIL is available in Thailand?

It's for women between the ages of 9 and 26.

If so I'll definetly get it for my daughter when she's older and If it's here now my wife is just at the upper limit of being able to receive it.

The last I heard it was not but it is imminent (it may be by now) - this was from a Dr working for their rival ;-)

The GSK one - Cervarix they are hoping for later this year.

It is going head to head in a clinical trial with the Merck Gardasil one to see which has the best immunogenicity - This is most unusual but GSK must be confident as its a big prize they are playing for - 3-5 Billion USD a year in sales

Normally each would be happy with market share but???????

If I was you I would wait to see which was the best for your daughter but get your wife who is at the exteme end of the age group vaccinated.

Did she not also walk away with a couple of million USD advance she got off Sony or BMG when they did not take out an option on her in the USA???

Nick2K

Do you know anything at all about the pharma industry except for the medication you take?

Took their ops off shore????

Most of the R&D is still done in the USA and Western Europe including the UK - it is this imbalance that need re-dressing my friend - you think we have the monopoly on excellent researchers???

You think those excellent scientists in say China and India should all have to relocate to the USA and Europe to work?

I see these people at work all over the region every day and I can tell you from experience - on quality and work rate they slaughter the USA set up in their equivalent - it will come in research too in the not too distant future

Yes we have sites in India and are looking to China as well as having large sites in Singapore - nothing was moved offshore. Its there because of the quality of the workers plus pharma is a worldwide business and these markets are growing massively.

You honestly do not know what you are talking about here - your little America rant is quite amusing if not so sad in a way.

Yeah - if your manufacturing standards and practices are <deleted> plus you use second rate ingredients they may well do more harm than good as they may not have the efficacy of the real thing.

Even coatings on drugs can increase or decrease efficacy in certain cases.

Not all generics are created equal!

Hi Tim

Good luck with the treament.

Very good advice too about check ups - so many of my pals have never had it done - luckily mine is funded yearly by the company but would still go now myself.

In the UK GBH with INTENT can get up to life

but is more likely to get an asbo and 20 minutes community service.

only motoring offences and non payment of library fines by pensioners get custodial sentences these days

We now have more in custody than ever before though!

Really though I would have thought GBH with Intent would get a straight up custodial - it certainly did 20 years ago unless there were extremely mitigating circumstances

As I was asaying about an effective vaccine - hot of a news release issued to the press Monday 29th Jan

"GlaxoSmithKline Files Its New Pre-Pandemic Influenza Vaccine In Europe

GlaxoSmithKline (GSK plc) today announced that its new generation H5N1 split antigen pre-pandemic influenza vaccine has been accepted for review by the Committee for Medicinal Products for Human Use (CHMP) in Europe. This innovative vaccine utilises GSK’s novel proprietary adjuvant system technology which allows a very low amount of antigen (3.8µg) to be used to elicit a strong seroprotective response – the so-called ‘antigen-sparing’ effect.

In a recent pivotal clinical trial carried out in Belgium1 involving the new generation H5N1 influenza vaccine, it was shown that two very low doses of antigen (3.8µg), given 21 days apart, combined with the novel adjuvant system enabled over 80% of individuals to produce a high seroprotective response, a level which exceeds target criteria set by regulatory authorities for registration of influenza vaccines. This ‘antigen-sparing’ phenomenon permits a large number of vaccine doses to be produced for mass vaccination ensuring protection for more people. Furthermore, the magnitude of the immune response to the antigen, in the presence of the novel adjuvant system, is also expected to give protection against ‘drifted’ variants of the H5N1 virus. The vaccine also had an acceptable safety and reactogenicity profile.1

Jean Stéphenne, President of GSK Biologicals, the vaccine division of GSK, commented: “Today’s filing of our new generation pre-pandemic influenza vaccine marks another important milestone in our pandemic preparedness vaccine development programme. I believe the rapidity with which immunogenicity and safety data has been generated resulting in this filing, pays tribute to our ongoing commitment to provide, in as short a timeframe as possible, credible options against the threat of an influenza pandemic.”

“As our new generation pre-pandemic influenza vaccine is also believed to have the potential to offer a cross-protective response the vaccine could be used as part of a proactive pre-pandemic vaccination campaign, giving governments and health authorities the option to initiate vaccination before or at the onset of a pandemic and potentially offering a degree of early protection against the pandemic influenza virus,” added Jean Stéphenne.

GSK are also planning to file the pre-pandemic vaccine in other countries around the world. This new generation vaccine could also be adapted for pandemic use once the causative influenza pandemic strain is identified. Indeed, GSK has already entered into active negotiations with various governments to supply pre-pandemic and/or pandemic influenza vaccines. GSK are also planning to file the pre-pandemic vaccine in other countries around the world subsequently."

There is an effective vaccine for H5N1 - its been tested and it works.

Obviously not licenced yet as further testing in later phases is required - these will start very soon.

The documents for licensing have already been submitted without the data I beleive to ensure a quick licensing can take place if the larger scale trials prove successful

As for who gets it first - its up to the country who buys it I suppose but essential services would be first on te list in most ie health, fire, security.

Cheers Lopburi

I will give it a go tinight when I explain the different vaccine TLR's

Here I am in a senior IT position in the region and can not do some basic IT stuff ;-))))

Well I am not here for my PC skills ;-)

Hi

I now have the full listing in an excel file

The top bit is those reccomended by the Thai Ministry of Public Health

The second level is optional vaccinations reccomended by the Thai Paediatrics Society

I will need to do a bit of work on it and put a key on the file as its all in acronyms ie DTP, RV1, HBV etc unless you know what they all mean but this file is meant for mainly clinicians.

PM me and I will email you as I do not know how to post files ;-))

Moderators - this file might be useful for other members - how would i post it?

It takes some vicious bastard to do that. A punch in a rage maybe but the leg over the kerb - it was pre-meditated.

In the UK GBH with INTENT can get up to life

If it was another guy sending money he had probably been watching them from somewhere else in that party building up his fury - lock him up for 5 years.

If so the girl could finger him though could she not - probably together as I type with the other new customer lying in hospital and that would not be the first or last that has happened.

To add a bit of counter balance from Business Week this week

Impressive article.

There is hope.

There is also a list of countries where some HIV drugs are made available at pennies a day but the GDP per capita has to be quite low.

I know this as I tried to get them for an AIDS Orphanage in Thailand but could not - if it was Laos or Burma then OK.

Which is sensible.

One big obstacle with countries such as Burma is that anti-retros need a proper network and control for successful distribution. These drugs cannot be given away as candy. Otherwise you will have the same happening as with antibiotics and malaria, though with much more fatal consequences - rapid resistence would make the few available drugs ineffective before new drugs can be made available.

Exactly - we could air drop tonnes a day into many places but it would do more harm than good.

You need a health care delivery system and infrastructure or its no use having the drugs in the first place if they can not get to the people who need them and those people do not remain compliant to the drug regimen.

I just missed 4 days hypertension tablets while travelling as the country I was in did not have my particular type - I am usually 100% compliant and know the importance more than most so you can see how many in the underdeveloped world miss their's.

Under World Trade Organization rules, a government is allowed to declare a "national emergency" and license the production or sale of a patented drug without the permission of the foreign patent owner.

With AIDS they definately do have a case in declaring 'national emergency'. And in this regard it is the right decision. But the specific drugs have to be named.

But including medicine for heart deseases they don't have a case, and they will face justified criticism that will weaken their very strong case with AIDS drugs.

This could be handled far better.

Exactly right on the money there and I know you do not like Big Pharma.

AIDS drugs OK - the rest take them to the WTO and rip them a new ###### with sanctions or fine as

It's just a question of being reasonable. I may not like the pharma companies (or any sort of corporation), but by being a fanatic nothing will improve. Anybody reasonable, and reasonably familiar with AIDS, will understand that there is a strong case here that over-rules pure profiteering. Even the WTO, not exactly known for its anti-corporation view , has therefore made this provision.

But with drugs against heart deseases, even though it might nice to have all humanity supplied with medicine for free one day, they just do not have a case along present regulations. And that is what counts, present regulations, and not what i believe should be right. It does nobody any service if regulations are abused, it just weakens the cause and obfuscates the issue.

Should we not be providing free food to the starving before we supply free drugs for mainly developed country diseases like heart disease??????????

In the race to slag big pharma some on here lose the polt (not you)

These same people are hardly socialists themselves and often cite their big business credentials and how well they do in Thailand ;-))))

Can you elaborate on the "Aids drug-yes, Heart disease drug-no" stance?

Heart attacks kill many Thais, same as Aids and the medications used to treat the disease are prohibitively expensive for the average Thai.

Making them generic would have a big impact on Thailand, just in terms of numbers provided with life-sustaining medications.

My own stance would be to say "yes" to both.

OK but under the TRIPS agreement - WTO - countries can break patent laws in the case of a public health emergency

USA threatened Bayer with this and Brazil did in the case of HIV drugs

Now if Thailand were to declare a public health emergency for heart disease and be able to defend it go ahead

Should then the UK and USA declare a diabetes public health emergency?

What next?

I know its a subtle argument but there has to be patent protection except where there is a true emergency ie AIDS / Bird Flu Mutations etc etc

There will also be others that you can get privately as they might not be on the Thai list yet

Is Rotarix on it?

I can find this out for you but it may be the day after tomorrow - our Dr's are at a H5N1 meeting but I am talking paediatric specialists from a vaccine company here who work very closely with the Thai bodies putting these vaccines on the list plus will know what is available privately..

PM me and I will send you an email address to contact me if required - I should be logging on tomorrow night

Helping out a friend with TB here on Phuket I was alerted to a ward of (30+ women, in a one-month period) with the disease.

TB is rampant in Thailand - and across the world- but receives very little media. Why????

I can assure you it gets lots of media - I have seen articles on CNN about the USA etc and remember loads in the British press.

The company i am at is working on a new vaccine as the demand will be so high for it - drug resistant strain

myself and my girlfriend in thailand have decided to get a blood test for any stds for obvious reasons.

I was just wondering how long it would take for our results to come through after having the test done.

Greatfully appriciate if anyone could help me out

I had the HIV and Hep A/B/C at Bumrungrad in July - results for HIV in an hour and Hep in about 4 but I went back next day - all clear or I would not have my Visa ;-)

Just had the lot again at Raffles in Singapore - all clear plus I had Syphylis tests etc in Singapore

Cost about 2200THB at Bumrungrad but there are much cheaper places

Raffles was part of a 1000 dollar health screening

To add a bit of counter balance from Business Week this week

Impressive article.

There is hope.

There is also a list of countries where some HIV drugs are made available at pennies a day but the GDP per capita has to be quite low.

I know this as I tried to get them for an AIDS Orphanage in Thailand but could not - if it was Laos or Burma then OK.