30032019 - Appointments‘ll be on merits, national spread — Buhari

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28—SATURDAY Vanguard, MARCH 30, 2019 By Sola Ogundipe/08056180112/solazed@live.com Scientists plan human head transplant Professor Sergio Canavero of Italy, and Xiaoping Ren, of China, published two studies in which they claim to cure ‘irreversible’ spinal cord injuries in monkeys and dogs. The papers were published in the peer-reviewed US journal Surgical Neurology International Describing their findings as ‘unprecedented’, Canavero and Ren say this shows they are ready to conduct human trials The two surgeons aspiring to perform the world’s first human head transplant claim they have made indisputable progress towards their controversial goal. According to the papers, published in the peer-reviewed US journal Surgical Neurology International, the animals were able to walk again after their spinal cords were severed then successfully repaired. Describing their findings as ‘unprecedented’, Canavero and Ren say this shows they are ready to conduct human trials. Canavero, based in Turin, said his studies ‘completely reject’ the view that ‘a severed spinal cord cannot <strong>be</strong> mended in any way, a mantra uncritically repeated over and over.’ Their recent animal studies were done in China, at Harbin Medical University, where researchers across the country have <strong>be</strong>en pushing the envelope scientifically and ethically, sending pulses racing across the world. Until 2018, they had a candidate - 33-year-old Russian computer science student Valery Spiridonov, who has a fatal muscle-wasting disease. But Spiridonov dropped out <strong>be</strong>cause his new wife gave birth to their ‘miracle son’, which gave him pause. Canavero, widely regarded as a rogue in the Western medical community, has accused his European and US peers of ‘patronizing’ China. ‘Western bioethicists needed to stop patronizing the world,’ he told the South China Morning Post. ‘Chinese President Xi Jinping wants to restore China to greatness.’ Biomedical ethicists point out that there are ‘a num<strong>be</strong>r of problems’ with their venture. One pertinent one: they will likely need to obtain the patient’s consent to <strong>be</strong> killed, which could <strong>be</strong> drafted •Sergio Canavero and Xiaoping Ren in a similar way as ‘patient assisted death’ (PAD), or euthanasia - though that is illegal in China. But researchers are concerned that the law won’t get in the way. There is strong evidence that Chinese prisoners have <strong>be</strong>en forced to donate organs. Writing for the British Medical Journal, bioethicist Michael S Dau<strong>be</strong>r said: ‘While these are certainly serious issues, the real problem with this picture is with international regulations: none of the laws and policies designed to protect patients and human research subjects have <strong>be</strong>en able to stop them Canavero and Ren, nor are they likely to do so.’ Contraceptive jewelry adapts transdermal patch amily planning for women Fmight one day <strong>be</strong> as simple as putting on an earring according to a report published in the Journal of Controlled Release that descri<strong>be</strong>s a technique for administering contraceptive hormones through special backings on jewelry such as earrings, wristwatches, rings or necklaces. The contraceptive hormones are contained in patches applied to portions of the jewelry in contact with the skin, allowing the drugs to <strong>be</strong> absor<strong>be</strong>d into the body. Initial testing suggests the contraceptive jewelry may deliver sufficient amounts of hormone to provide contraception, though no human testing has <strong>be</strong>en done yet. A goal for the new technique is to improve user compliance with drug regimens that require regular dosages. Beyond contraceptives, the jewelry-based technique might also <strong>be</strong> used for delivering other drugs through the skin. Contraceptive jewelry adapts transdermal patch technology that is already used to administer drugs that prevent motion sickness, support smoking cessation, and control the symptoms of menopause, but have never <strong>be</strong>en incorporated into jewelry <strong>be</strong>fore. Contraceptive patches are also already available, but pairing them with jewelry may prove attractive to some women — and allow more discreet use of the drug delivery technology. Researchers tested the concept on animal models, first on ears from pigs. Test patches mounted on earring backs and containing the hormone levonorgestrel were also applied to the skin of hairless rats. To simulate removal of the earrings during sleep, the researchers applied the patches for 16 hours, then removed them for eight hours. Testing suggested that even though levels dropped while the earrings were removed, the patch could produce necessary amounts of the hormone in the bloodstream. If the technique ultimately is used for contraception in humans, the earring back would need to <strong>be</strong> changed periodically, likely on a weekly basis. The contraceptive jewelry was originally designed for use in developing countries where access to health care services may limit access to long-acting contraceptives such as injectables, implants and IUDs. Contraceptive jewelry could <strong>be</strong> appealing and helpful to women all around the world. The advantage of incorporating contraceptive hormone into a universal earring back is that it can <strong>be</strong> paired with many different earrings. A woman could acquire these drugloaded earring backs and then use them with various earrings she might want to wear. Though transdermal drug-delivery patches have <strong>be</strong>en available since 1979, testing would <strong>be</strong> required to determine whether the earring patch is safe and effective and to determine whether the concept would <strong>be</strong> attractive to women in different cultures. The earring patch is designed to add another contraceptive option for women to make taking contraceptives more appealing, hence easier to remem<strong>be</strong>r to use it. MURDER OF THE DAUGHTER OF ONDO EX-DEPUTY GOVERNOR: I own no grudge, its her fate to die that way — Victim’s father •Says verdict rekindles hope in judiciary By Dayo Johnson Akure ONDO state former deputy governor, Alhaji Lasisi Oluboyo yesterday descri<strong>be</strong>d the gruesome murder of his daughter, Khadijat by her boyfriend Seidu Adeyemi as her fate. Oluboyo however said that the death sentence by hanging passed on the killer by the court” has rekindled his hope and that of his family mem<strong>be</strong>rs in the nation’s judiciary. Recall that an Akure High Court had sentenced to death by hanging, Adeyemi Seidu for the murder of Khadijat, the first daughter of former Deputy Governor Khadijat, a final year student of Adekunle Ajasin University in Akungba Akoko (AAUA) was strangled to death by her boyfriend who buried her remains in a shallow grave in his room in Okearo area of Akure, the State capital, covered it with rug and slept on the grave for five days. Her decomposing body was later found in his room with her hair and that of the pubic area shaved off for rituals. Reacting for the first to the court verdict, Oluboyo said in Akure that he bore no grudge over his daughter’s murder. “ I have accepted my fate since the incident occurred and had left everything to God <strong>be</strong>lieving that the girl was destined to die the way she died. I <strong>be</strong>lieve that it is God that giveth and it is God that taketh so whatever happens to human <strong>be</strong>ings is destined”, he said. Oluboyo equally descri<strong>be</strong>d the death sentence passed on the killer of his daughter as his own destiny too and prayed that God will forgive him. He however noted that the death sentence would serve as deterrent to other young men who are looking for money through dubious means. Oluboyo who was not present during the trial of Adeyemi however said “the verdict gladdens my heart as the killer did not go scot-free after he killed Khadijat for money making rituals. “The judgement rekindles the confidence of the masses that there is judiciary in the country. I made a pronouncement that what has happened has happened. I said I did not have interest in the prosecution. Despite the fact that I did not participate in the trial, the judiciary still did its job as expected. “This judgement will serve as deterrent to others. You cannot kill somebody and just go away free like that. The boy thought he would go away with the murder and that was the reason he did everything to cover his track. “This will teach our ladies the lesson that whenever they are going out, they should let people know. It was <strong>be</strong>cause we knew on time the whereabout of Khadijat that we were able to get her killer. “Parents should monitor their children. If we had not monitored the movement of Khadijat, the boy would have gone away with the murder. Khadijat left school on Thursday, I was able to know that she was not in the school on Friday. “I sent money to her account and she did not call to thank me as usual. That was how I <strong>be</strong>came suspicious. The guy knew that we were able to trace Khadijat to him and he <strong>be</strong>came restless after we asked him about the movement of Khadijat. He told us that he saw Khadijat but that she has gone to Lagos. “Khadijat was not a wayward girl, we knew of her relationship with Adeyemi. It was <strong>be</strong>cause of this that led to his arrest and eventual conviction. “I appreciate the journalists for the role they played in unravelling they death of Khadijat.” Meanwhile, the State Attorney- General and Commissioner for Justice, Adekola Olawoye, SAN has assured that the state would implement the sentence as the State has no plan to abolish death sentence. Reacting to the court verdict, Olawoye said that Governor Rotimi Akeredolu would soon sign the death warrant of those who have <strong>be</strong>en sentenced to death in the state. According to him, “it is very imperative for law to take its course, and that anybody who kills should also <strong>be</strong> killed. Life is not a property of anybody, nobody has the right to take the life of fellow men, except as allowed and permitted by the law. “Even in advanced countries where they advocate abolition of death penalty, they still kill people found guilty of murder. Like the judgment we heard that somebody killed his girlfriend, removed her body parts and buried her in his room. How do you expect us to abolish death sentence with that? This is the rule of law; no sentiment about it. The International Federation of Women Lawyers FIDA in reaction to the court verdict called on the state government to start assenting to death penalties that had <strong>be</strong>en passed on convicted persons during criminal trials. Its Chairperson in the state, Bola Joel Ogundadeg<strong>be</strong> who said that the verdict would serve as deterrent to others asked Governor Akerefolu to borrow a leaf from the former Edo state governor Adams Oshiomole who signed the execution order of death penalties.
SATURDAY Vanguard, MARCH 30, 2019—29 World’s first living HIV-positive donor gives kidney for transplant Surgeons in Baltimore have performed what’s thought to <strong>be</strong> the world’s first kidney transplant from a living donor with HIV, a milestone for patients with the AIDS virus who need a new organ. If other donors with HIV come forward, it could free up space on the transplant waiting list for everyone. Martinez, whose HIV is suppressed by drugs to an undetectable level, first started exploring donation so she could give her kidney to an HIV-positive friend who needed one. Her friend died <strong>be</strong>fore tests were through, but Martinez decided to honor him by donating it to a stranger, who is also HIVpositive. On Monday March 25, she traveled from her home in Atlanta to Johns Hopkins University for the operation. “Don’t call me a hero, call me the first. I want to see who comes next,’ Martinez said She told the Associated Press she ‘wanted to make a difference in somebody else’s life’ and counter the stigma that too often still surrounds HIV infection. Many people think ‘somebody with HIV is supposed to look sick,’ Martinez, 35, told The Associated Press <strong>be</strong>fore the operation. ‘It’s a powerful statement to show somebody like myself who’s healthy enough to <strong>be</strong> a living organ donor.’ Hopkins said both Martinez and the recipient of her kidney, who chose to remain anonymous, are recovering well. ‘Here’s a disease that in the past was a death sentence and now has <strong>be</strong>en so well controlled that it offers people with that disease an opportunity to save somebody else,’ said Dr Dorry Segev, a Hopkins surgeon who pushed for the HIV Organ Policy Equity, or HOPE, Act that lifted a 25-year US ban on transplants <strong>be</strong>tween people with HIV. Surgeons planning world’s first HEAD transplant claim they repaired ‘irreversible’ spinal cord injuries in monkeys and dogs— which they say is proof they can start human trials. There’s no count of how many HIV-positive patients are among the 113,000 people on the nation’s waiting list for an organ transplant. HIV-positive patients can receive transplants from HIVnegative donors just like anyone else. Only in the last few years, spurred by some pioneering operations in South Africa, have doctors <strong>be</strong>gun transplanting organs from deceased donors with HIV into patients who also have the virus, organs that once would have <strong>be</strong>en thrown away. Since 2016, 116 such kidney and liver transplants have <strong>be</strong>en performed in the U.S. as part of a research study, according to the United Network for Organ Sharing, or UNOS, which oversees the transplant system. One question is whether receiving an organ from someone with a different strain of HIV than their own poses any risks, but so far there have <strong>be</strong>en no safety problems, said UNOS chief medical officer Dr. David Klassen. Hopkins’ Segev said Monday’s kidney transplant was a world first. Doctors had hesitated to allow people still living with HIV to donate <strong>be</strong>cause of concern that their remaining kidney would <strong>be</strong> at risk of damage from the virus or older medications used to treat it Ḃut newer anti-HIV medications are safer and more effective, Segev said. His team recently studied the kidney health of 40,000 HIV-positive people and concluded that those with wellcontrolled HIV and no other kidneyharming ailments like high blood pressure should face the same risks from living donation as someone without HIV. Martinez, a public health consultant, <strong>be</strong>came interested in living donation even <strong>be</strong>fore HIV-to-HIV transplants She told the Associated Press she ‘wanted to make a difference in somebody else’s life’ and counter the stigma that too often still surrounds HIV infection •Nina Martinez, 35, (pictured) got HIV from a blood transfusion at six weeks old in 1983 <strong>be</strong>fore blood banks screened for HIV. Fortunately, she lived to 13, when viralsuppressing drugs were released. She has donated a kidney in a world first <strong>be</strong>gan. Then last summer she learned that an HIV-positive friend needed a transplant and she started actively pursuing it ‘There are potentially tens of thousands of people living with HIV right now who could <strong>be</strong> living kidney donors,’ said Segev, who has advised some other hospitals considering the approach. Generally, kidneys from living donors last longer, added Dr Niraj Desai, the Hopkins surgeon caring for the recipient. And if more people living with HIV wind up donating, it helps more than HIV-positive patients who need a kidney. ‘That’s one less person waiting for a limited resource,’ Desai said. ‘That helps everybody on the list.’ HIV is spread in certain body fluids from a person who has HIV. These fluids are blood, semen, pre-seminal fluids, rectal fluids, vaginal fluids, and breast milk. HIV is spread mainly by having sex or sharing injection drug equipment, such as needles, with someone who has HIV. To reduce risk of HIV infection, use of condoms correctly every time during sex is recommended. Don’t inject drugs. If you don’t have HIV, but are at high risk of <strong>be</strong>coming infected with HIV, talk to your health care provider about pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP). PrEP involves taking a specific HIV medicine every day to reduce the risk of HIV infection. According to the Baltimore Sun, a num<strong>be</strong>r of medical breakthroughs have <strong>be</strong>en performed at the Johns Hopkins. In 2018, a Johns Hopkins surgery team of nine plastic surgeons and two urological surgeons performed the first total penis and scrotum transplant and part of an abdominal wall on a wounded soldier. The most common procedures are kidney and liver transplants, followed by heart transplants. However, doctors in Baltimore and elsewhere have successfully transplanted other body parts from deceased donors to living candidates. In 2013, the Hopkins team performed a double arm transplant on Brendan Marrocco, who lost both of his arms, as well as his legs, in the Iraq war when the armoured vehicle he was driving ran over a bomb in 2009. Jerome Hamon received his first face transplant in 2010, but it needed, to <strong>be</strong> removed last year after he <strong>be</strong>came ill. Hamon’s first face was donated by a 60- year-old. With his second transplanted face— from a 22 year-old donor—Hamon, 43, joked that he managed to drop a few decades. France was also the first country to <strong>be</strong> site of a face transplant. The procedure has since <strong>be</strong>en performed several times in Baltimore. In 2012, doctors at the University of Maryland performed the most extensive face transplant at the time on a Virginia man named Richard Lee Norris, who received donor skin from his scalp to his neck, as well as a new jaw, teeth, tongue and the underlying muscle and tissue. In addition to matching his blood type, doctors had to match his skin color and bone structure to a donor. The University of Maryland has pioneered other transplant surgeries as well. In 2016, doctors at the University of Maryland Medical Centre were able to perform a kidney transplant on a patient with no need for dialysis—a feat they said was the first type of procedure in the country. Also in 2016, Hopkins doctors performed the nation’s first liver and kidney transplants from a donor infected with HIV to recipients also infected with the virus. It was a triumph for one of the transplant surgeons, Dorry L. Segev, who fought for six years for federal approval of the lifesaving surgery. In July 2015, an 8-year-old boy from Owings Mills <strong>be</strong>came the first child to receive a bilateral hand transplant. Doctors at Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia meticulously took the hands and forearms from the donor and attached them to the limbs of Zion Harvey, connecting bone, blood vessels, nerves, muscles, tendons and skin. Some territory remains uncharted in the field of organ transplantation. Italian Dr. Sergio Canavero visited Annapolis in 2015, to speak about his ambition to conduct the world’s first head transplant. The controversial surgeon suggested that, contrary to accepted modern medicine, it’s possible to repair a severed spine. Some weren’t so sure. “There was not much science in his talk,” said Dr. Dinesh Ranjan, a transplant surgeon from Lexington, Ky. “This is something that may happen, but not by him.”
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