2019: the year gene therapy came of age

Yahoo – AFP, Ivan Couronne, December 26, 2019

Victoria Gray's blood was drawn so that doctors could get to the cause of her illness
-- stem cells from her bone marrow that were making deformed red blood cells (AFP Photo)

Washington (AFP) - In the summer, a mother in Nashville with a seemingly incurable genetic disorder finally found an end to her suffering -- by editing her genome.

Victoria Gray's recovery from sickle cell disease, which had caused her painful seizures, came in a year of breakthroughs in one of the hottest areas of medical research -- gene therapy.

"I have hoped for a cure since I was about 11," the 34-year-old told AFP in an email.

"Since I received the new cells, I have been able to enjoy more time with my family without worrying about pain or an out-of-the-blue emergency."

Over several weeks, Gray's blood was drawn so doctors could get to the cause of her illness -- stem cells from her bone marrow that were making deformed red blood cells.

The stem cells were sent to a Scottish laboratory, where their DNA was modified using Crispr/Cas9 -- pronounced "Crisper" -- a new tool informally known as molecular "scissors."

The genetically edited cells were transfused back into Gray's veins and bone marrow. A month later, she was producing normal blood cells.

DNA from Gray's stem cells was modified at a Scottish laboratory, using Crispr/Cas9 -- 

pronounced "Crisper" -- a new tool informally known as molecular "scissors" (AFP 

Photo/GERARD JULIEN)

Medics warn that caution is necessary but, theoretically, she has been cured.

"This is one patient. This is early results. We need to see how it works out in other patients," said her doctor, Haydar Frangoul, at the Sarah Cannon Research Institute in Nashville.

"But these results are really exciting."

In Germany, a 19-year-old woman was treated with a similar method for a different blood disease, beta thalassemia. She had previously needed 16 blood transfusions per year.

Nine months later, she is completely free of that burden.

For decades, the DNA of living organisms such as corn and salmon has been modified.

But Crispr, invented in 2012, made gene editing more widely accessible. It is much simpler than preceding technology, cheaper and easy to use in small labs.

The technique has given new impetus to the perennial debate over the wisdom of humanity manipulating life itself.

Crispr made gene editing more widely accessible - but has given new impetus to the 

perennial debate over the wisdom of humanity manipulating life (AFP Photo/ERIC 

PIERMONT)

"It's all developing very quickly," said French geneticist Emmanuelle Charpentier, one of Crispr's inventors and the cofounder of Crispr Therapeutics, the biotech company conducting the clinical trials involving Gray and the German patient.

Cures

Crispr is the latest breakthrough in a year of great strides in gene therapy, a medical adventure started three decades ago, when the first TV telethons were raising money for children with muscular dystrophy.

Scientists practising the technique insert a normal gene into cells containing a defective gene.

It does the work the original could not -- such as making normal red blood cells, in Victoria's case, or making tumor-killing super white blood cells for a cancer patient.

Crispr goes even further: instead of adding a gene, the tool edits the genome itself.

After decades of research and clinical trials on a genetic fix to genetic disorders, 2019 saw a historic milestone: approval to bring to market the first gene therapies for a neuromuscular disease in the US and a blood disease in the European Union.

They join several other gene therapies -- bringing the total to eight -- approved in recent years to treat certain cancers and an inherited blindness.

Scientific director of the Telethon Serge Braun poses for a photograph after a press 

conference to present the Telethon 2018, the annual fundraising for medical research, 

at the Myology Institute in Paris on December 3, 2018 (AFP Photo)

Serge Braun, the scientific director of the French Muscular Dystrophy Association, sees 2019 as a turning point that will lead to a medical revolution.

"Twenty-five, 30 years, that's the time it had to take," he told AFP from Paris.

"It took a generation for gene therapy to become a reality. Now, it's only going to go faster."

Just outside Washington, at the National Institutes of Health (NIH), researchers are also celebrating a "breakthrough period."

"We have hit an inflection point," said Carrie Wolinetz, NIH's associate director for science policy.

These therapies are exorbitantly expensive, however, costing up to $2 million -- meaning patients face grueling negotiations with their insurance companies.

They also involve a complex regimen of procedures that are only available in wealthy countries.

Gray spent months in hospital getting blood drawn, undergoing chemotherapy, having edited stem cells reintroduced via transfusion -- and fighting a general infection.

"You cannot do this in a community hospital close to home," said her doctor.

French geneticist Emmanuelle Charpentier, one of Crispr's inventors, doesn't believe 

in the more dystopian scenarios that have been predicted for gene therapy (AFP Photo/

ANDER GILLENEA)

However, the number of approved gene therapies will increase to about 40 by 2022, according to MIT researchers.

They will mostly target cancers and diseases that affect muscles, the eyes and the nervous system.

Bioterrorism

Another problem with Crispr is that its relative simplicity has triggered the imaginations of rogue practitioners who don't necessarily share the medical ethics of Western medicine.

Last year in China, scientist He Jiankui triggered an international scandal -- and his excommunication from the scientific community -- when he used Crispr to create what he called the first gene-edited humans.

The biophysicist said he had altered the DNA of human embryos that became twin girls Lulu and Nana.

His goal was to create a mutation that would prevent the girls from contracting HIV, even though there was no specific reason to put them through the process.

Chinese scientist He Jiankui, pictured in 2018, used Crispr to create what he called 

the first gene-edited humans (AFP Photo/Anthony WALLACE)

"That technology is not safe," said Kiran Musunuru, a genetics professor at the University of Pennsylvania, explaining that the Crispr "scissors" often cut next to the targeted gene, causing unexpected mutations.

"It's very easy to do if you don't care about the consequences," Musunuru added.

Despite the ethical pitfalls, restraint seems mainly to have prevailed so far.

The community is keeping a close eye on Russia, where biologist Denis Rebrikov has said he wants to use Crispr to help deaf parents have children without the disability.

There is also the temptation to genetically edit entire animal species -- malaria-causing mosquitoes in Burkina Faso or mice hosting ticks that carry Lyme disease in the US.

The researchers in charge of those projects are advancing carefully, however, fully aware of the unpredictability of chain reactions on the ecosystem.

A picture taken at the French National Institute of Agricultural Research (INRA) in 

Maison-Alfort, on July 20, 2016 shows a tick, whose bite can transmit the Lyme 

disease (AFP Photo/BERTRAND GUAY)

Charpentier doesn't believe in the more dystopian scenarios predicted for gene therapy, including American "biohackers" injecting themselves with Crispr technology bought online.

"Not everyone is a biologist or scientist," she said.

And the possibility of military hijacking to create soldier-killing viruses or bacteria that would ravage enemies' crops?

Charpentier thinks that technology generally tends to be used for the better.

"I'm a bacteriologist -- we've been talking about bioterrorism for years," she said. "Nothing has ever happened."

Virtual reality: Dutch firm wins prize for gaming pain away

DutchNews, December 19, 2019

Photo: Depositphotos.com

 A Frisian company which has developed a virtual reality headset to combat chronic pain has won the prestigious UN World SummitAward. 

Exactly how many people are suffering from chronic pain in the Netherlands is not known but their number runs into the thousands, medical experts say. Often the pain has no clear cause. The conventional treatment is painkillers but these are costly and don’t always work. 

The VR treatment tackles the pain by training the brain, psychologist Louis Zantema, who founded Reducept, told broadcaster NOS. 

‘People with chronic pain are oversensitive to the pain signal sent by the body to the brain. The therapy helps the nervous system because the brain believes healing is taking place,’ he said. 

Shooting down the pain 

‘When you put on the VR headset you travel into in your own nervous system. The painful spots show up as small red dots which you shoot at, as if you were playing a game,’ Zantema explained. 

After ‘shooting down’ the pain the next step is a mindfulness exercise focusing on the spinal cord. ‘There we are using a psychological trick which also works for people suffering from trauma. The patient does a complicated exercise which is alternated with an intensive focusing on the pain.’ 

Professor Harry van Goor tested the VR headset on 40 people all of whom experienced a reduction in pain symptoms. He says the treatment offers hope to many while saving money at the same time. 

‘Chronic pain is causing depression and is putting a lot of pressure on the health system. The medication either doesn’t help or is addictive and waiting lists for the specialist pain clinics are very long,’ he told NOS. 

The treatment is available at over 50 healthcare institutions but is not covered by health insurers. A session costs €15 apart from the cost of buying a VR headset.

Related Article:

Science & Spiritually Conference 2018, BC – Canada (4), June 16-17, 2018 (Kryon Channelling by Lee Carroll) (Text version “Predictions”)

“….Let me close with this: I'm going to give you the same concept that I gave those few on their way to the beautiful garden a few days ago [channelling on the way to Butchart Gardens in Vancouver Island]. There are things in your field for you that will save your life unless you look back and say, "Impossible!" Some of you have an old habit where you look at your life and say, "Well, for others, but not for me." Sometimes you pull on your old logic and further say, "Well, it's never happened before, so why should it happen now?" Dear ones, that exactly reflects the earlier teaching of the day. Don't let the past predict your future. If you do, then you are actually creating your own demise.

What is in the field for you? What is it you can see and imagine? Have you heard this question from the scientists this week - not a channeller, but the scientists? Did you hear that the visualization of your health from your consciousness goes inside and is seen by your own cellular structure? Does this science sound like Kryon? Did you hear that the field is there to push it forward? Do you believe in homeopathy? Do you see how it works? For example, you have a tincture that is too small to be recognized by any part of the body as a chemical change, yet the body sees the signal from the tincture and corrects the issue! Dear one, homeopathy is not something unknown on the planet. It's everywhere! So understand this: The principles of homeopathy are NOT homeopathic principles. They are Universal principles of the field.

So, how about consciousness homeopathy? What's the difference between putting a tincture together to create a signal for healing and life extension or putting strong consciousness together that does the same? This is here and already has been proven. It's just means changing the mechanics a little. With the new energy that I have told you is here, and the amount of love that is pouring to you that is greater than ever before because of what you're doing, old soul, this is doable for you. More than doable. It awaits manifestation. ..…”

Germany moves to ban gay 'conversion therapy'

Yahoo – AFP, December 18, 2019

The German government has introduced legislation that would see "conversion
 therapy" made punishable with up to a year in prison and fines of up to
30,000 euros ($33,000) (AFP Photo/JOHN MACDOUGALL)

Berlin (AFP) - The German government on Wednesday signed off on a new law banning "conversion therapies" designed to force heterosexuality on homosexuals.

The legislation, set to be introduced next year, would see the practice made punishable with up to a year in prison and fines of up to 30,000 euros ($33,000).

"Homosexuality is not an illness, so the word 'therapy' is misleading," said health minister Jens Spahn, the architect of the law.

Once it is approved, Germany -- where there are an estimated 1,000 attempts a year to "re-educate" gay people -- would be only the second European country with such a ban after Malta passed similar legislation in 2016.

Spahn said that he wanted the ban to be as far-reaching as possible, adding that the so-called therapies often caused "severe physical and psychological damage".

"A ban is also an important sign for all those struggling with their sexuality: it is ok to be as you are," said the health minister.

Aside from prison sentences for practitioners, the new law will impose fines for those offering or advertising "conversion" practices.

It could also potentially make parents and teachers liable if they are ruled to have neglected their duty of care.

So-called conversion therapies for minors will be outlawed entirely, while those for adults will be illegal if carried out against the will of the subject, for example with the use of force or threats.

Medical experts consider psychological or spiritual interventions to change someone's sexual orientation pseudo-scientific, ineffective and often harmful.

The most controversial techniques involve administering electric shocks as subjects view images of homosexual acts or injections of the male hormone testosterone.

In March 2018, the European parliament passed a resolution condemning the practice and urging member states to ban it.

Related Articles:

White House calls for end to psychiatric therapies seeking to change sexual orientation

'Praying the gay away': Trauma survivors crusade to ban conversion therapy

China court raps clinic over 'gay conversion' therapy

China court hears first gay 'conversion therapy' case

Gay Pride & Gay Rights in China: a Dutch Perspective (Liveblog)

Gay conversion therapy should have no place in NHS, says health minister

‘Pray away the gay’ therapies quickly losing ground in the United States

‘Gay cure’ no longer reimbursed: Dutch health minister

(Photo: Alexandria)

"The Akashic Circle" – Jul 17, 2011 (Kryon channelled by Lee Carroll) - (Subjects: Religion, The Humanization of God, Benevolent Design, DNA, Akashic Circle, (Old) Souls, Gaia, Indigenous People, Talents, Reincarnation, Genders, Gender Switches, In “between” Gender Change, Gender Confusion, Shift of Human Consciousness, Global Unity,..... etc.)  - (Text version)

“… Gender Switching

Old souls, let me tell you something. If you are old enough, and many of you are, you have been everything. Do you hear me? All of you. You have been both genders. All of you have been what I will call between genders, and that means that all of you have had gender switches. Do you know what happens when it's time for you to switch a gender? We have discussed it before. You'll have dozens of lifetimes as the same gender. You're used to it. It's comfortable. You cannot conceive of being anything else, yet now it's time to change. It takes approximately three lifetimes for you to get used to it, and in those three lifetimes, you will have what I call "gender confusion."

It isn't confusion at all. It's absolutely normal, yet society often will see it as abnormal. I'm sitting here telling you you've all been through it. All of you. That's what old souls do. It's part of the system. …”

Trump says Greta Thunberg should 'chill,' go to movies

Yahoo – AFP, Chris STEIN, December 12, 2019

Swedish climate activist Greta Thunberg has become known for her fiery
speeches to world leaders (AFP Photo/NICHOLAS KAMM)

Washington (AFP) - US President Donald Trump on Thursday slammed Time magazine's naming of Greta Thunberg as 2019 Person of the Year, saying the Swedish teen climate activist should "chill" and go see a movie.

"So ridiculous. Greta must work on her Anger Management problem, then go to a good old fashioned movie with a friend! Chill Greta, Chill!" he tweeted.

Thunberg's reply came minutes later, when she changed the bio of her Twitter account to: "A teenager working on her anger management problem. Currently chilling and watching a good old fashioned movie with a friend."

The exchange came after Time on Wednesday the 16-year-old, who last year launched the "Fridays For Future," protest against global warming that has since grown into a worldwide movement and seen her tipped as a potential Nobel laureate.

The backlash on social media was swift, with numerous critics assailing Trump for what they saw as bullying, although some high profile tweeters came to the president's defense.

"There's a reason we don't let people run for president until age 35. Greta is a good example," said Scott Adams, the creator of the Dilbert comic strip.

Thunberg has become known for her fiery speeches to world leaders, and was that day in Madrid, where she accused rich countries of "misleading" people into thinking they are taking meaningful action against climate change.

In perhaps her most iconic appearance, she laid in to world leaders at another UN climate summit in New York September, thundering "How dare you?" in accusation of their failure to take action to stop runaway global warming.

'So extreme'

She had arrived in the US at the end of a two-week journey on a sailboat -- refusing to fly because of the carbon emissions caused by planes.

Her rhetoric, youth and diagnosis of Asperger's syndrome, a mild form of autism, have made her a frequent target of critics.

Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro dismissed her as a "brat," and following her September speech in New York, Trump quipped that she is a "very happy young girl looking forward to a bright and wonderful future."

Thunberg's struggle began quietly in August 2018 when she skipped school for the first three weeks, and then on Fridays spent the day outside Sweden's parliament with a sign labeled "School strike for climate."

In a November interview with AFP on the eve of her departure from North America, where she had spent almost three months, Thunberg said Trump's climate change denialism had helped galvanize her movement.

"He's so extreme and he says so extreme things, so I think people wake up by that in a way," she said.

Thunberg and Trump were briefly in the same small room as they arrived for the New York summit, with video showing the teen glowering at the president as he passed by with his entourage.

"I thought when he got elected, now people will finally, now people must finally wake up," Thunberg told AFP.

"Because it feels like if we just continue like now, nothing's going to happen. So maybe he is helping."

Related Articles:

Climate activist Greta Thunberg is Time' 2019 person of the year

"Common Questions from Non-Lightworkers" - Feb 2012 (Kryon Channelling by Lee Carroll) 

"... Question Three: Is there life on other planets?

... I will tell you, as long as you stay in 3D, you'll still be getting in little metal cans and air suits and going to planets. As soon as you begin the quantum age, however, you will simply wish yourself there, because you will be entangled with everything and can go with intent. If you don't believe this now, you will later, for what I give you is true. It may be lifetimes and lifetimes from now, but the group that is before me is the group that is going to come back over and over. The difference is that you're done coming back in an old energy. This is a new energy.

When you come back, dear one, everything you know will be in your DNA and be on top [available]. You're not going to have to go through what you did before. As soon as you decide to look around and open the door [metaphor for free choice to awaken], everything you've learned this time around will be right there.

This is the attribute of what you would call "a child of new consciousness," which you have labeled with a color - indigo. The child remembers who they are. They are conceptual, and you believe they have to be taught from scratch! Hardly! They remember! Do you understand what is taking place? We told you this last time, but we want to review something with you: The animal on the prairie drops its calf and within hours, the calf is up, running with the herd. Did you know that the calf instantly knows who its enemies are, what water to drink that doesn't smell right, and what berries to eat that are not poison? Where did that come from? How did that infant animal know these things? The answer is that this information was biologically inherited. You call it instinct. But when you have a Human baby - nothing! It doesn't know anything but that it's hungry. It requires 20 years of teaching! Aren't you tired of that? Did you ever think about why the animals have so much knowledge to begin with and you have so little? Does that seem correct for the top of the evolutionary ladder? It's time for that to change.

You're starting to see it, even with the indigos. They come in knowing. That's why they're so impatient. You're trying to teach them things they already know instinctively. Just like the calf on the prairie, they come in knowing. Some of them try to teach you. That doesn't always go well. That was question three...."

Nepal makes first arrest over 'menstruation huts' after woman dies

Yahoo – AFP, December 6, 2019

Many communities in Nepal view menstruating women as impure and in some
remote areas they are forced to sleep in a hut away from the home, following a
centuries-old tradition known as "chhaupadi" (AFP Photo/PRAKASH MATHEMA)

Nepali police have detained the brother-in-law of a woman who died in a 'menstruation hut' in what is believed to be the first arrest over the outlawed tradition, officials said Friday.

Many communities in Nepal view menstruating women as impure and in some remote areas they are forced to sleep in a hut away from the home, following a centuries-old tradition known as "chhaupadi".

The practice leads to the death of women every year due to smoke inhalation, snake bites and even attack by animals.

Parbati Buda Rawat, 21, was found dead on Sunday morning in the western Accham district in a smoke-filled hut because of a fire she had lit to keep warm.

"We arrested the brother-in law of the victim yesterday for investigation after suspecting his involvement in forcing the deceased to stay in chhaupadi shed," local police official Janak Bahadur Shahi told AFP.

"I believe this is the first arrest in such a case."

If convicted, the man will serve a three-month jail sentence and be fined 3,000 rupees ($27) under a law introduced last year against anyone caught imposing chhaupadi.

"It is positive to see the police act proactively and it will help discourage people from following the tradition. But there is a long way to go to end it," said Radha Poudel, an activist working against chhaupadi.

Rawat's death is at least the third this year. Two more women have died of smoke inhalation in menstruation huts in neighbouring districts.

However, Poudel said that many deaths go unreported and authorities often sympathise with family members in reported cases.

Chhaupadi was outlawed in 2005 but is still enforced in parts of Nepal, particularly in remote and conservative western regions.

It is linked to Hinduism and considers women untouchable during menstruation and after childbirth.

Women are banished from the home, barred from touching food, religious icons, cattle and men, and forced to sleep in basic huts known as chhau goth.

Tobacco firms who bribe retailers can expect hefty fines

DutchNews, December 6, 2019 

Photo: DutchNews.nl

Product safety board NVWA is going to clamp down on tobacco manufacturers who are bribing tobacconists to sell more cigarettes, the Telegraaf reports. 

The illegal bonuses can go up to as much as €3,000 a year if tobacconists manage to sell a previously agreed number of cigarettes, the paper said. 

The practice is illegal, the NVWA said, because it contravenes the advertising ban on cigarettes. The watchdog found out about the illegal payments last year when journalists queried tobacconists in Nijmegen and Amsterdam about the practice. 

Tobacco firms can expect an initial fine of €45,000 and repeat offenders can be fined up to €450,000. The NVWA will also be looking possible illegal deals with petrol stations and supermarkets, the organisation said in a statement. 

Junior health minister Paul Blokhuis said the practice is ‘worrying as it is aimed at keeping smokers addicted’. He said  he is happy the NVWA is giving off a clear signal that the illegal contracts between retailers and manufacturers will not be tolerated. 

Of the ten tobacconists involved in the scheme, most were franchises of big chains, which, apart from bonuses to the shopkeeper, were given an additional payment in the form of free cigarettes. They will escape a fine, however, because the initiative came from the manufacturers, the paper said. 

Teenagers 

The NVWA does have the tobacconists in its sights for selling cigarettes to people under the age of 18, however, and is planning to continue to use mystery guests to check if retailers stick to the rules. 

Earlier experiments showed that 17-year-olds, despite showing an ID, were sold cigarettes in 35% of cases. Tobacconists who transgress can expect fines from January 1 2020, the NVWA said. 

The Dutch government is trying to discourage smoking and among the measures in the prevention programme Preventieakkoord is the closure of designated smoking spaces in public buildings and companies, which will come into effect in 2021 and 2022 respectively.

UN says online anti-vaxxers fuelling Samoa measles deaths

Yahoo – AFP, December 5, 2019

The measles outbreak in Samoa has claimed 62 lives since mid-October
(AFP Photo/ALLAN STEPHEN)

Social media giants must crack down on anti-vaccination posts that are fuelling Samoa's deadly measles epidemic from afar, UNICEF's Pacific islands chief said Thursday.

Sheldon Yett, the regional representative for the UN children's agency, said "incredibly irresponsible" online material on platforms such as Twitter, Facebook and Instagram had exacerbated the Samoa measles outbreak -- which has claimed 62 lives since mid-October -- by discouraging immunisation.

"It's quite clear that they have a corporate responsibility to step up to the plate and make sure that populations, particularly vulnerable populations, get accurate information that's going to keep children alive," Yett told AFP.

Immunisation rates in Samoa dropped to just over 30 percent before the outbreak, well below accepted best practice of around 90 percent, making the island nation extremely vulnerable to infection.

The World Health Organisation blamed an anti-vaccine messaging campaign, which Yett said was carried out largely online by overseas-based activists.

"It's quite obvious that there are very loud people on social media making very false claims about vaccines," he said.

"Unfortunately it's found a ready audience in Samoa, where some people are suspicious about the quality of healthcare and may have issues with local (vaccine) providers."

Immunisation rates in Samoa dropped to just over 30 percent before the outbreak, 

well below accepted best practice of around 90 percent, making the island nation 

extremely vulnerable to infection (AFP Photo/ALLAN STEPHEN)

He said activists posting anti-vaccine material from wealthy developed countries such as the United States and Australia needed to realise the impact of their actions in developing nations.

"It's devastating, it can be a death sentence for a child here where there's low immunisation and possibly other health issues going on in the background," he said from the capital Apia.

'No easy fix'

Yett said suspicion of vaccines in Samoa stemmed from a case last year when two babies died after receiving measles shots, leading to an eight-month suspension of the country's immunisation programme.

Subsequent investigations found there was no problem with the vaccine itself, but the nurses administering it accidentally mixed it with anaesthetic, instead of water.

However, trust in the immunisation programme was dented and anti-vaxxers stepped up efforts to push their agenda online, creating what Yett described as "a perfect formula" for an uncontrollable epidemic.

The activists have also hindered efforts to control the outbreak, with one prominent Australian-based blogger last week comparing compulsory vaccinations to Nazi Germany and saying "fascism is well and truly alive in Samoa".

Yett said health authorities' focus at the moment was containing an epidemic 

that was still raging (AFP Photo/ALLAN STEPHEN)

Others have promoted quick remedies such as "kangen water", an alkaline water which supporters say can cure measles, despite no scientific evidence.

Yett said health authorities' focus at the moment was containing an epidemic that was still raging, resulting in fresh infections and child deaths every day.

But he said once it was over there had to be discussion with platforms such as Facebook, Twitter and Instagram about their approach to anti-vaccine material.

He said informed debate was important but it was wrong to allow online activists to question the effectiveness of vaccines, which the WHO estimates have saved the lives of 21 million children over the past 20 years.

"It's not easy, nobody wants to be a censor," he said.

"Companies have a responsibility to do it, but we also have to be honest and say there's no easy fix where they can flick a switch."

He conceded the clicks generated by heated online debate about vaccines could prevent the platforms from wanting to take swift action on the issue.

"We shouldn't be naive, there are many counter incentives here for social media giants as well," he said.

Related Articles:

New York mandates vaccine to contain Brooklyn measles outbreak

Kryon Q&A

Question (2003): Dear Kryon, I have a new grandson. He's going for his first vaccination in the next few weeks. If we're beginning to transmute toxins with reconnections to our endocrine system through our DNA, then what happens to our babies, who by law have to be vaccinated? What are your thoughts on this subject?

Answer: First, know that vaccinations are a God-given science that humanity earned. They're a tried and proven homeopathic method that have been with you for years. You were probably vaccinated yourself, and it worked.

We have three answers: (1) God is not in a vacuum. Even the vaccinated Human Being who's older can modify and rework their DNA. So there's no time limit, and there are no rules that say "Once vaccinated, you're ruined." (2) The Human who is of the age of awareness can say, even as they are vaccinated, "Let nothing inappropriate enter my chemistry." This is a conscious instruction given to your "intelligent cellular structure" (the same one responsible for kinesiology and homeopathic results). This will result in your cells only using what they need and casting away everything else. (3) Finally, about babies: There has been a push by your science lately to vaccinate against many things at the same time. You'd be advised to seek out a doctor who will only vaccinate your child for only the basic diseases that have been known in the last 40 years. Eliminate the vaccinations for the new ones. This leaves you with approximately seven or eight - the very ones that have been used for years. What your science is not appreciating yet is the results of combining all the vaccination substances together. There's a problem that will show itself in time. Stick with the basic ones.

Babies born on floor as Zimbabwe's health system totters

Yahoo – AFP, Ish MAFUNDIKWA, with Zinyange AUNTONY in Bulawayo, December 4, 2019

Where a child is born: Esther Gwena, 69, who acts as a midwife but has no
training, lays down sheets in her rundown apartment -- a makeshift maternity
unit (AFP Photo/Jekesai NJIKIZANA)

Harare (AFP) - The floor is dusty, the walls filthy and the furniture decrepit, but for two weeks last month a tiny flat in a Harare township was transformed into a maternity clinic where scores of babies were born.

Its owner, 69-year-old Esther Gwena, says she helped to deliver 250 infants as Zimbabwe's health sector tottered -- a feat that earned comparisons to Florence Nightingale, the pioneer of modern nursing.

Hundreds of junior medics at state hospitals began a strike three months ago because their salaries -- less than $200 a month -- are not enough to live on in a country gripped by 500 percent inflation.

Nurses are only working two days a week.

Those who can't afford private care -- the majority of the 14 million people reeling under an economic crisis compounded by acute food shortages -- suffer at home or seek help from people like Gwena.

Senior doctors, in a letter last week, said state hospitals had become a "death trap" and warned of a "slow genocide".

Gwena, a widow and member of the local Apostolic Faith sect, is a self-taught midwife.

When the health services strike peaked last month, she came to the rescue.

In need: Monica Bepu, 33, heavily pregnant with her second 

child, sits on a bench in the passage outside Esther Gwena's 

two-room flat in Harare (AFP Photo/Jekesai NJIKIZANA)

'I had to do something'

"A man came to me and said there were two women in advanced labour at (a nearby clinic) but the place was closed because the nurses were on strike," she told AFP in her two-room flat in Mbare township.

She rushed there and found that one of the women had a baby which had died.

"I took the other one to my place, where I helped her. The baby survived. From that time, I knew I had to do something," she said.

Word that she was helping deliver babies for free spread quickly.

The state-owned television ZBC described her as "a modern Zimbabwean version of Florence Nightingale" and First Lady Auxillia Mnangagwa visited Gwena and donated food, detergents and blankets.

A funeral services company chipped in with a mobile water tank and pitched a tent outside to serve as a waiting room for women before they went into advanced labour.

"I helped to deliver 250 babies ... (they) are alive and kicking and at home with their mothers," Gwena said.

Two weeks later, the government asked her to stop after a nearby maternity clinic reopened.

Winnie Denhere, 35, cradled her two-day-old baby boy outside the clinic, where she had taken him for an immunisation injection.

"Everything went very well, she didn't ask us for money," she said, speaking of Gwena, who brought her child into the world.

A moment for prayer: Gwena belongs to an Apostolic religious sect where she 

says she got her calling to take up midwifery. She says she has delivered as 

many as 250 children (AFP Photo/Jekesai NJIKIZANA)

'People dying'

But while some laud Gwena as a selfless do-gooder, doctors worry that she exposed herself, the mothers, the babies to infection.

"We need to do something about our facilities so no one goes to her," Harare's director of medical services Prosper Chonzi, said.

Medicines have been in short supply and broken machines go unrepaired.

The government has fired 448 junior doctors for striking.

Senior doctors last week also stopped work in protest over the sacking of junior colleagues. Dozens marched in Harare on Monday.

"People dying has become the order of the day in our hospitals," said the vice-president of the Senior Hospital Doctors Association Raphael Magota.

He told AFP machines were breaking down and that intensive care units were only able to treat two or three people "due to lack of equipment".

A senior doctor, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the situation has become untenable.

Gwena collects water in a bucket as she prepares for a long day (AFP Photo/

Jekesai NJIKIZANA)

"There is no public health in Zimbabwe at the moment; everything has come to a standstill," he said.

Even the scarce equipment is often not right.

"One needs gloves that fit just right when performing delicate operations, but we get old gloves that are too big," said another doctor.

A UN special rapporteur on food security, Hilal Elver, last week spoke of "disturbing information" that public hospitals had exhausted food stocks, forcing them to seek humanitarian aid and that medical equipment in some cases was "no longer operational".

In the second largest city of Bulawayo, Zimbabweans living abroad are helping in a small way by crowdfunding and sending money back home to offer health care for the vulnerable.

One such initiative is Citizwean Clinic, which opened its doors last month and attended to hundreds of patients in the first five days -- providing free consultation and drugs.

"We go to the hospital these days it's bad, there are no doctors. We heard that there were doctors here," said hypertensive patient Elina Dzingire, 63.

"We've really been helped here," she told AFP from the clinic in the city's Cowdray Park township.

Health Minister Obadiah Moyo admitted the situation in hospitals is constrained but says the government will soon advertise the posts left vacant by the sacked doctors.