By Barbara Yaffe, Vancouver Sun May 22, 2012 What's in a name? A great deal, in the opinion of Taiwan, fighting this week for a rightful place at World Health Organization meetings in Geneva. Taiwan has been newly relegated to the status of "a province of China" at the sessions, instead of its traditional and more respectful designation, "Chinese Taipei." Canada has long supported the island nation's participation at international assemblies, recognizing that Taiwan — the world's 18th largest economy and a democracy — has much to offer the global community. Canada also has robust Taiwanese communities in Vancouver and Toronto, totalling some 160,000 people. But in Geneva, where the World Health Assembly is meeting until Saturday, a tussle continues to play out between China, which claims Taiwan is an integral part of its territory, and Taiwan itself, which has existed separate and apart from the mainland since 1949. The WHA is the governing body of the UN's World Health Organization. Taiwan, which runs its own affairs and collects taxes from its citizens, wishes to remain separate from China. Indeed, many Taiwanese want their lush, tropical island of 23 million — known for its exquisite bird life and bountiful orchid crop — to be a fully independent country. But the government, quite legitimately, fears a backlash from China should it advance that cause. And so Taipei has been pragmatic, lying low and seeking to content itself with observer status at global gatherings such as the WHA. "Chinese Taipei" has sat in on WHA meetings as an observer since 2009, during which time relations with China have improved. The recently reelected government of Ma Ying-jeou in Taipei is continuing to foster greater economic ties with the mainland. But this week, Taiwan's Health Minister Chiu Wen-ta expressed "grave concern" over his country's new designation, which clearly serves to advance the concept of Taiwan's subservience to China. "Taiwan," he declared, "does not need to go through China when it needs to make contact with the World Health Organization." Chiu also expressed concern that in the past year Taiwan has been blocked from participating in nine of 21 WHO working panels. Canada finds itself in an awkward place between China and Taiwan. While this country has often espoused the right of self-determination, certainly in relation to Quebec, and has generally supported Taiwanese aspirations, ministers in the Harper government have been reluctant to speak on Taiwan's behalf because China has become so important economically to Canada. The fuss over Taiwan's name at the WHA is ironic because the small country has become a beacon in the field of health care. It set up a universal single-payer health care system nearly 20 years ago, with 99 per cent of citizens fully covered for everything from home care to rehabilitation services to dental care. Yet, Taiwan spends just 6.9 per cent of its GDP on health care — compared to 11.6 per cent spent last year in Canada. Taiwan is a medical technology leader. "We have developed world-class expertise in biochips, biomedical materials, biomedical informatics and both medical and pharmaceutical engineering," says a Taiwanese health department document. Taiwan is a specialist in electronic medical record management and distance health care. "Taiwan's participation in global health affairs will benefit people in Taiwan and around the world," asserts Osman Chia, a Taiwanese diplomat in Vancouver. The latest WHA kerfuffle points to a much larger challenge for Taiwan — how such a small and worthy democracy can garner necessary support for its cause from other nations when those other nations are so fearful of damaging trade relations with the Chinese behemoth.
Wednesday, May 23, 2012
Folic acid tied to lower child cancer risks
Tuesday, May 22, 2012 By Amy Norton NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - Rates of two rare childhood cancers declined after the U.S. began requiring grain products to be fortified with the B vitamin folic acid, a new study finds. Reported in the journal Pediatrics, the study does not prove that folic acid deserves the credit. But researchers say the findings at least offer reassurance that folic-acid fortification has not led to an increase in children's cancers -- which has been a theoretical concern. "The good news is that there doesn't seem to have been an increased risk of childhood cancer," said lead researcher Amy M. Linabery, of the University of Minnesota in Minneapolis. In 1996, the U.S. mandated that enriched flours, breads, pastas and other grain products be fortified with folic acid, the synthetic version of the B vitamin folate. The goal was to help reduce rates of neural tube defects, severe birth defects of the brain and spine. They include spina bifida, when the spine fails to close during early fetal development, and anencephaly -- usually fatal -- when much of the brain never forms. Experts advise women of childbearing age to get 400 micrograms of folic acid per day, and urge them to establish that level of intake before conception, since neural tube defects take shape very early, before many women know they are pregnant. Some other countries, though, are still debating whether to add folic acid to the grain supply. One concern has been the vitamin's potential to contribute to cancer; some research has linked folic-acid fortification to an increased rate of colon cancer in adults. But no one knows if folic acid is to blame. In fact, other research has tied higher intakes of folate from food to a lower risk of colon cancer. Since women should already be getting folate and folic acid to curb the risk of birth defects, these latest findings should offer them some reassurance that it's safe as far as their future children's cancer risk, according to Linabery. For their study, Linabery and her colleagues used government data on cancer rates among children younger than five between 1986 and 2008. Over those years, 8,829 children were diagnosed with cancer. Overall, cancer rates were similar before and after mandatory folic-acid fortification. But for two cancers, the rates dipped in the folic-acid era, compared with the decade before. Wilms tumor, a type of kidney cancer, dipped from about 18 cases for every one million children each year, to just under 15 cases per million. The other cancer, known as a primary neuroectodermal tumor, declined from roughly four cases per one million each year, to just over two cases per million. Both cancers are quite rare, and no one is suggesting that women take folic acid to prevent the diseases in their children. "But we already believe that women should be getting folic acid for the proven benefit of preventing neural tube defects," Linabery said. The study has limitations. It looked at overall national patterns -- and not the relationship between a woman's actual folic acid intake and her child's individual risk of cancer. Still, Linabery said, "taking folic acid during the childbearing years is important." And these findings, she added, offer reassurance that fortification has not led to any increases in childhood cancer in the U.S.
SOURCE: http://bit.ly/K66UN8 Pediatrics, online May 21, 2012..jpg)
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