Solidarity with the Uprising of the Bahraini People

Solidarity with the Uprising of the Bahraini People

The last few days witnessed a wide movement of protest and demonstration in Bahrain

demanding for democratic political reform towards a constitutional democratic state. This has

been a historical demand for the progressive forces of Bahrain and now many people are

rallying around it.

Tens of thousands went into the streets demanding for their inalienable political, rights which

is very significant in a country of a population of half-million. The movement appears to be

united and strong giving hopes for possible successes in favor of the people.

However, the regime of the king is resorting to its traditional criminal tools of repression

including the direct shooting of several demonstrators and following others back to their

houses and arresting their families. The regime is also trying to fuel sectarian divisions in a

country of religious diversity in order to divide the movement. The acts of the police are

being very brutal and this led to at least 7 martyrs among the demonstrators and hundreds of

injured people.

In this regard, we find important and urgent that we express our solidarity with the youth and

people of Bahrain and ask for pressure on their regime through statements and letters

addressed to their embassies and consulates abroad condemning the practices of oppression

and repression in the country, in addition to protests wherever it is possible in front of the

diplomatic missions of Bahrain to ask them to listen to the people’s voice and demands.

WFDY praises the progressive movement of Bahrain and ask for deeper solidarity with it and

strongly condemns the practices of the regime. WFDY also expresses its worries for the

safety and for the lives of the demonstrators.

Long Live the progressive movement of Bahrain

Long live the struggle

Budapest

17-2-2011

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50 YEARS OF IMMUNIZATION IN CUBA

A revolution in health
• Tens of thousands of lives saved and disabilities avoided as a result of vaccination programs and campaigns

JOSÉ A. DE LA OSA

• HOW may lives have been saved, and aftereffects of illnesses avoided in these last 50 years as a result of Cuba’s mass immunization programs, today standing at 11 vaccines providing protection against 13 diseases which, together with other preventive programs have made our country at present free of 15 contagious diseases?

"Tens of thousands!" was the response to Granma’s question put to specialists Marlén Valcárcel and Miguel Angel Galindo at a meeting of Health, Epidemiology, and Microbiology professionals headed by Deputy Health Minister Luis Estruch Rancaño. As officials in the Ministry of Public Health (MINSAP), they are responsible for the design, control and development of vaccination programs, undertaken by the Revolution as long ago as February 26, 1962.

That day saw the initiation, with popular support, of the first Anti-Polio Vaccine Campaign, which protected more than 2.2 million minors under the age of 15, equivalent to 30% of the country’s total population at that time. Some 70,000 members of the neighborhood-based Committees for the Defense of the Revolution, 1,000-plus Cubans within the National Association of Small Farmers and several thousand members of the Federation of Cuban Women.

The results were quickly visible: three months after the completion of the campaign, the last case of polio was reported in May 1962.

That same year saw a vaccination program against five other diseases: diphtheria, tetanus, whooping cough, typhoid fever, and serious forms of tuberculosis.

The issue of immunization was of such magnitude to the Revolution when it triumphed on January 1, 1959, that Fidel, speaking at the inauguration of Havana’s Victoria de Girón Institute of Basic and Preclinical Science in 1962, stated: "How can the Revolution attack diseases? By preventing them through immunization against the types of disease that can be prevented via vaccination. And in this way we will set about fighting disease by disease, thus diminishing the number of epidemics, the number of victims. That will be fulfilling the larger objective of moving from therapeutic medicine to preventive medicine. In other words, avoiding citizens falling sick."

A brief synthesis (see Complete Chronology) demonstrates the colossal effort of a society that has struggled and is struggling for true social justice for its citizens. At the beginning of the 1970s measles became of part of the *immunization program: in 1982, German measles; in 1986, the triple viral against measles, German measles, and mumps; in 1988, meningococcal meningitis B and C; in the 1990s, the hepatitis B vaccine; and in 2000, immunization against type B influenza (an aggressive bacteria that can lead to death or consequences like as mental retardation and deafness in the early years of life) was included in the immunization program.

The Ministry of Public Health also administers other vaccines to groups potentially exposed to leptospirosis; influenza; rabies, both canine and human; and yellow fever, given to Cubans serving on international missions in regions where this disease is endemic.

At present nine of the 15 vaccines used within the immunization program are produced in Cuba, and the remaining six are acquired from pharmaceutical companies abroad.

The Cuban state directs $50 million per year into manufacturing, importing, and acquiring supplies to support the program, which is undertaken via 700 immunization centers throughout the country. •

Vaccination Chronology: 1960-2010

1960s

1962: Vaccination against polio and the triple bacterial vaccine (tetanus, diphtheria and whooping cough)

1964: Vaccination centers established in polyclinics for the regular immunization of the population. Immunization levels rise to average of 60%.

1968-69: Immunization campaign against diphtheria, tetanus, and whooping cough; campaigns against tuberculosis and smallpox for minors up to 15 years in rural areas.

1970s

1971: Vaccination against measles for children from 6 months to 5 years.

1974: Community Polyclinics created and immunization levels increase to 75-80%.

1975: first National Immunization Campaign against tetanus for homemakers, covering 98%.

1976: Second tetanus dose for homemakers.

1979: In reaction to an increase of Meningitis A and C, three million persons immunized.

1980s

1980: Vaccination in schools against typhoid fever, diphtheria, tetanus, whooping cough, and serious forms of tuberculosis.

1982: Long-term strategy for protecting girls against congenital rubella (German measles) implemented. (The response to serious epidemics of German measles in 7-year cycles: 1967, 1974, and 1981). Girls aged 12, 13, and 14 vaccinated against German measles during the school year.

1982-83. In subsequent school years: 1983-84, 1984-85, and 1985-86, girls aged 12 immunized, so that by 1986 all females aged 12-17 protected, a total of 50,000-plus by 1986.

1984-85: Anti-tetanus vaccination campaign for the elderly. Third- and fourth-year medical students in a work-study program immunized 200,000 persons aged 60-plus.

1985: Tetanus booster for homemakers and senior citizens, 10 years after the 1975 vaccination program.

1986: As part of the strategy for eliminating the congenital rubella syndrome, an immunization campaign against German measles was carried out, reaching 600,000 women of fertile age (from 18 to 30 years), for a coverage of 75%. At the same time, vaccination of the entire population of less than 15 years with the triple viral vaccine (measles, German measles, and mumps) reaches more than two million people, with 96% coverage.

1988-90: The entire Cuban population under 20 years (close to 3 million) vaccinated against meningococcal meningitis B, the only such program in the world.

1990s

1990: Field tests for Hepatitis B vaccine begin.

1991: Meningococcal meningitis B vaccine included in immunization program.

1992: Hepatitis B vaccine included in the immunization program. More than 12 million doses administered. By 2010, the entire population under 31 years protected, as well as other high-risk groups.

1999: Vaccination campaign against Haemophilus influenzae B, for all children born since January 1998, plus those born in 1999.

2000-2010

2000: Vaccine against Haemophilus influenzae B included in the immunization program.

2004: Second dose of triple vaccine against mumps, German measles and measles for children in first grade.

2005: Tetravalent vaccine for protection against diphtheria, tetanus, whooping cough, and Hepatitis B incorporated in the immunization program for infants up to 12 months.

2006: Incorporation of pentavalent vaccine into the program, providing single-injection vaccination against five diseases, now includingHaemophilus influenzae B.

2007: Campaign against measles, German measles, and mumps in the population aged 12-24 years, thus protecting one million-plus persons in that age group.

2010: Vaccination against pandemic influenza A (H1N1), during which more than one million persons in high-risk categories related to complications were immunized. •

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Venezuela and Bolivia Hail Egyptian revolution

Venezuelan Foreign Relations Ministry
Official Statement

The president and commander-in-chief of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela, Hugo Chavez, in the name of the Venezuelan people, applauds the genuine lesson of political and democratic maturity that the courageous Egyptian people have brought before the eyes of the world.

The Bolivarian government has paid close attention to the development of the people’s movement that is underway in the fraternal Arab Republic of Egypt, and, in light of the events that took place on Friday, February 11^th, joins in the Egyptian people’s jubilation in this moment of peaceful triumph, trusting that, as the sole master of their destiny, the people will continue to consolidate this emancipatory political process.

The Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela will act in solidarity with the Egyptian people in the actions and decisions that they take while using their sovereign and inalienable prerogative as the dignified heirs to the legacy of the historic leader, Gamal Abdel Nasser.

Egypt can count on the fraternal willingness of Bolivarian Venezuela to construct a pluri-polar world of equality and justice on the basis of an authentic relationship of friendship and cooperation.
Caracas, February 11, 2011
http://venezuelanalysis.com/news/5993

Statement of Evo Morales
Addressing the World Social Forum taking place in Dakar, Senegal, February - 11, Bolivian President Evo Morales said that to save life and humanity it is necessary “to identify internal and external enemies and to fight imperialism and its main financial instrument that dominates the world’s population - capitalism.”

Morales also declared that “while there is injustice in different continents and while there is capitalist oppression or repression of the people, they will continue to rebel.”

With regards to the recent protests in Egypt and Tunisia, he believes that “the rebellion of the Arab population is against U.S.

He stated that “the people’s struggles will be unstoppable, even though the U.S. government has provided funds of millions and millions to stop such movements.”

Finally, the Bolivian president suggested that “capitalism is suffering throughout the world, due to the rebellion of the people.”

-Excerpted from http://www.argentinaindependent.com/currentaffairs/newsfromlatinamerica/bolivia-morales-calls-to-save-mother-earth-at-world-social-forum-//

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