Babies wanted: Nordic countries crying for kids

Yahoo – AFP, Pierre-Henry DESHAYES with the AFP bureaux in the Nordic region, 17 January 2019

Norway's prime minister has underscored a growing concern: fewer and
fewer babies are being born in Northern Europe

"Norway needs more children! I don't think I need to tell anyone how this is done," Norway's prime minister said cheekily, but she was raising a real concern.

Too few babies are being born in the Nordic region.

The Nordic countries were long a bastion of strong fertility rates on an Old Continent that is rapidly getting older.

But they are now experiencing a decline that threatens their cherished welfare model, which is funded by taxpayers.

"In the coming decades, we will encounter problems with this model," Prime Minister Erna Solberg warned Norwegians in her New Year's speech.

"There will be fewer young people to bear the increasingly heavy burden of the welfare state."

In Norway, Finland and Iceland, birth rates dropped to historic lows in 2017, with 1.49 to 1.71 children born per woman. Just a few years earlier, their birth rates hovered close to the 2.1 level required for their populations to remain stable.

"In all of the Nordic countries, birth rates started dropping in the years after the 2008 financial crisis," University of Oslo sociologist Trude Lappegard told AFP.

"The crisis is over now but it's still falling."

From Copenhagen to the North Cape, from Helsinki to Reykjavik, demographics across the Nordics reveal two things: there are fewer large families, and women are waiting longer before having their first child.

There's no single explanation, but financial uncertainty and a sharp rise in housing costs are seen as likely factors.

An economist in Norway has suggested that women be given 500,000 kroner

(50,000 euros, $58,550) in pension savings for each child born

In the long term, this means there will be fewer people of working age to pay taxes that fund the generous state welfare systems.

These systems pay for, among other things, lengthy parental leaves, which in Sweden can last up to 480 days.

Paying for pregnancies

Experts present differing diagnoses and prescriptions to remedy the situation.

In Norway, one economist concerned about the effect the slowing demographics will have on economic growth has suggested giving women 500,000 kroner (50,000 euros, $58,550) in pension savings for each child born.

Another has suggested that, on the contrary, women in Norway who reach the age of 50 without having had a child should be paid one million kroner, since children also cost society a lot.

Finnish municipalities have already decided to loosen their purse strings to encourage locals to get busy under the covers.

The town of Miehikkala, home to 2,000 people, is offering 10,000 euros for each baby born and raised in the municipality.

"The number of childless individuals is growing rapidly, and the number of women having three or more children is going down. This kind of fall is unheard of in modern times in Finland," said Anna Rotkirch, a family sociologist at the umbrella organisation Finnish Family Federation.

In Denmark, Copenhagen has meanwhile turned its attention to men, who are in less of a hurry to become parents than women, with a campaign aimed at raising awareness about how sperm quality declines with age.

Syrian refugees Walaa Al Hodl,(L), and Kahled Al Hodl applied 

for asylum in Sweden with their six-month-old girl Nour in 2013

Immigration boost

The Nordic region already boasts a wealth of family-friendly initiatives, such as flexible working hours, a vast network of affordable daycares and generous parental leave systems.

But when all that is still not enough to encourage people to have more children, immigration can be a lifeline -- or a threat, depending on the point of view.

Sweden may have a falling birth rate, but it still comes in second in the EU behind France with 1.85 children born per woman in 2016.

That is largely due to Sweden's decades-long history of immigration: immigrant women tend to have more children than the average Swede.

With 2.6 children per woman in recent years, the town of Aneby in southern Sweden has one of the highest rates in the country, a phenomenon attributed to the fact that it opened its doors to immigrants two decades ago.

"Aneby welcomed around 225 Eritreans in the early 1990s and just after that (it took in) refugees from the Balkans. 1994 was a demographic record for the town," local official Ola Gustafsson told AFP.

But population growth among minorities has also fuelled fears.

A former justice minister in Norway, Per-Willy Amundsen of the populist far-right, made headlines when he called for family allowances to be reduced after a third child.

His stated goal was to stop Somalis who, he said, had a higher "birth production" rate than "ethnic Norwegians".

Related Article:

"Recalibration of Free Choice"–  Mar 3, 2012 (Kryon Channelling by Lee Carroll) - (Subjects: (Old) Souls, Midpoint on 21-12-2012, Shift of Human Consciousness, Black & White vs. Color, 1 - Spirituality (Religions) shifting, Loose a Pope “soon”, 2 - Humans will change react to drama, 3 - Civilizations/Population on Earth,  4 - Alternate energy sources (Geothermal, Tidal (Paddle wheels), Wind), 5 – Financials Institutes/concepts will change (Integrity – Ethical) , 6 - News/Media/TV to change, 7 – Big Pharmaceutical company will collapse “soon”, (Keep people sick), (Integrity – Ethical)  8 – Wars will be over on Earth, Global Unity, … etc.) - (Text version)

“…  3 - Longer Life is Going to Happen, But…

Here is one that is a review. We keep bringing it up because Humans don't believe it. If you're going to start living longer, there are those who are frightened that there will be overpopulation. You've seen the way it is so far, and the geometric progression of mathematics is absolute and you cannot change it. So if you look at the population of the earth and how much it has shifted in the last two decades, it's frightening to you. What would change that progression?

The answer is simple, but requires a change in thinking. The answer is a civilization on the planet who understands a new survival scenario. Instead of a basic population who has been told to have a lot of children to enhance the race [old survival], they begin to understand the logic of a new scenario. The Akashic wisdom of the ages will start to creep in with a basic survival scenario shift. Not every single woman will look at herself and say, "The clock is ticking," but instead can say, "I have been a mother 14 times in a row. I'm going to sit this one out." It's a woman who understands that there is no loss or guilt in this, and actually feels that the new survival attribute is to keep the family small or not at all! Also, as we have said before, even those who are currently ignorant of population control will figure out what is causing babies to be born [Kryon joke].

Part of the new Africa will be education and healing, and eventually a zero population growth, just like some of the first-world nations currently have. Those who are currently tied to a spiritual doctrine will actually have that doctrine changed (watch for it) regarding Human birth. Then they will be able to make free choice that is appropriate even within the establishment of organized religion. You see, things are going to change where common sense will say, "Perhaps it would help the planet if I didn't have children or perhaps just one child." Then the obvious, "Perhaps I can exist economically better and be wiser with just one. It will help the one!" Watch for these changes. For those of you who are steeped in the tradition of the doctrines and would say that sounds outrageously impossible, I give you the new coming pope [Kryon smile]. For those of you who feel that uncontrolled procreation is inevitable, I encourage you to see statistics you haven't seen or didn't care to look at yet about what first-world countries have already accomplished on their own, without any mandates. It's already happening. That was number three.….”

Minister to ‘talk to Novartis’ after five-fold cancer drug price hike

DutchNews, January 10, 2019 - By Robin Pascoe

Photo: Depositphotos.com

Health minister Bruno Bruins is planning to talk to Swiss pharmaceuticals giant Novartis this week about the five-fold hike in the price of a drug to treat a rare form of cancer. 

Bruins told a television talk show on Wednesday evening that the decision to put up the price of a year’s supply to €90,000 is an ‘example of how not to behave’. ‘These are outrageous sums,’ Bruins said. ‘And I am not done with this yet.’ 

The drug, lutetium-octreotaat, was developed in the mid 1980s by researchers at Rotterdam’s Erasmus Medical Centre but the company which makes it is now owned by Novartis following a string of takeovers. 

Novartis then registered the drug as an orphan treatment with the European patent office, according to research by Dutch medical journal Nederlands Tijdschrift voorGeneeskunde. 

Bruins told the Jinek talk show that the EU rules on orphan drugs are meant to stimulate the development of new medicines and says he plans to raise this abuse of the system within Europe. 

‘This expensive medicine is covered in the basic health insurance package so patients will continue to be treated,’ he said. ‘But we are having to deal with so many other really expensive drugs that we really do have to tackle this.’ 

Several Dutch hospitals make their own version of lutetium-octreotaat at a cost of some €4,000 per drip. A full treatment session comprises four drips. Apple chief Steve Jobs was among the patients who were treated using the medicine in Rotterdam. 

Meeting

A spokeswoman for Novartis told DutchNews.nl that the company is ‘willing to discusses this topic with all stakeholders including the government’. 

The company said the until its approval by the European Medicines Agency, the drug, formally known as Lutathera, ‘was only available as an experimental treatment at centers with the facilities and capabilities to manage the compounding of a radioactive product.’ 

The drug has now undergone major clinical trials and is available as a targeted therapy to patients in Europe and the US, Novartis said. 

After its approval in 2018, ‘the price of Lutathera was carefully considered and based on the relative benefit it provides to patients’, the company said. 

Price

Last year, the Dutch healthcare institute Zorginstituut Nederland said insurers should stop paying for expensive drugs if pharmaceutical companies continue to refuse to say how they arrive at the price.

And in November, Amsterdam’s AMC teaching hospital was given the green light by health ministry inspectors to make its own version of a licenced drug to treat a rare metabolic disorder. 

The hospital began making its own version of the drug after manufacturer Leadiant ramped up the price by around 500% to €200,000 per patient per year. 

The drug has been available since the 1970s but Leadiant only registered it as an orphan medicine with the European medicines agency in 2017. 

Orphan status, given to drugs which are used to treat very specific and rare illnesses, means a drug cannot be copied commercially for a 10-year period.

Related Article:

Dutch hospital can make cheaper version of drug, health inspector say

Eli Lilly to acquire Loxo Oncology for $8 billion

Yahoo – AFP, January 7, 2019

An employee works in an unit dedicated to the production of insulin pens at the
factory run by pharmaceutical company Eli Lilly in Fegersheim, eastern France,
on October 12, 2015

Washington (AFP) - Pharmaceutical giant Eli Lilly will acquire cancer treatment specialist Loxo Oncology in a cash deal valued at around $8 billion, the companies said on Monday.

The firms "announced a definitive agreement for Lilly to acquire Loxo Oncology for $235.00 per share in cash, or approximately $8.0 billion," a statement said.

The deal -- which represents a premium of some 68 percent over Loxo Oncology's closing share price on Friday -- is expected to close by the end of the first quarter, the statement said.

The announcement is the latest in a series of major pharmaceutical deals: last week, Bristol-Myers Squibb said it would buy biotech firm Celgene in a $74 billion cash-and-stock agreement, creating a rival to the world's largest drug makers.

Other recent large pharma deals include French company Sanofi's purchase of US hemophilia group Bioverativ for $11.6 billion and Novartis' $8.7 billion acquisition of rare-disease treatment company AveXis.

Bristol-Myers to face suit over US syphilis experiment in Guatemala

Yahoo – AFP, January 5, 2019

Bristol-Myers Squibb is among those ordered by a US judge to face a $1 billion
lawsuit launched in 2015 by 774 Guatemalan victims and relatives over an expriment
in 1940s which aimed to find out if penicillin could be used to prevent STDs (AFP
Photo/GEORGES GOBET)

Washington (AFP) - A US federal judge has ruled pharmaceutical company Bristol-Myers Squibb, Johns Hopkins University and the Rockefeller Foundation must face a $1 billion lawsuit over their roles in a 1940s medical experiment that saw hundreds of Guatemalans infected with syphilis.

774 Guatemalan victims and relatives in 2015 launched a civil suit over the US-led experiment, which aimed to find out if penicillin could be used to prevent sexually transmitted diseases.

They claimed the experiment "subjected them or their family members to medical experiments in Guatemala without their knowledge or consent during the 1940s and 1950s."

US District Judge Theodore Chuang rejected arguments from the defense that a recent Supreme Court decision protecting foreign companies from US lawsuits over human rights abuses abroad also applied to domestic firms.

The judge said allowing the case to move forward would "promote harmony" by giving the foreign plaintiffs the opportunity to seek justice in US courts.

The unethical experiment was revealed by Doctor Susan Reverby, a professor at Wellesley College in the US.

She came across the work while researching notes left by John Charles Cutler, a public health services sexual disease specialist who headed up the experiment, following his death in 2003.

Cutler and his fellow researchers enrolled soldiers, mental patients, prostitutes, convicts and others in Guatemala for the study.

Former US president Barack Obama apologized for the experiments in 2010, while his Secretary of State Hillary Clinton described the experiments as "clearly unethical."

People with Down ‘never stop learning’, US-Dutch research shows

DutchNews, January 4, 2019

Photo: Depositphotos.com

People with Down syndrome never stop learning and continue to acquire functional skills well into adulthood, according to a new mass study by US and Dutch researchers. 

The research is based on the experiences of more than 2,600 families in the US and the Netherlands and coordinated by researchers from the Dutch Down Syndrome Foundation and the Massachussetts General Hospital. 

‘Contrary to some public beliefs, people with Down syndrome never stop learning, and functional skills can still be attained and improved well into adulthood,’ director of the programme Brian Skotko told the Harvard Gazette. 

The results in both the US – based on questionnaires in 2008 and 2009 – and the Netherlands (questionnaire in 2016) were broadly similar. They indicated that most people with Down syndrome could walk by 25 months of age, speak reasonably well by age 12, maintain personal hygiene by 13, and work independently by 20. 

By the age of 31, 49% were reading reasonably well, 46%  could write reasonably well, 34% were living independently, and around 30% could travel independently. 

‘Now we have guideposts — based on the responses of thousands of parents — that can help clinicians know when children may be falling behind their peers with Down syndrome and, when necessary, refer parents to additional supports, resources, and therapies,’ Skotko said.

Irish woman who fought Dutch hospital secrecy dies of cancer

DutchNews, January 1, 2019

Adrienne Cullen, the Irish woman who campaigned for transparency in hospital care after she was left with terminal cervical cancer thanks to a Dutch medical error has died at the age of 58. 

Her husband Peter Cluskey issued a statement on Twitter saying that his wife had been ‘appallingly treated’ and that this had made her a ‘formidable warrior’. 

@AdrienneCullen died at the Netherlands Cancer Institute @hetAVL at 10.15 am today. To those who have been so loyal and generous - particularly @UCC and @osheaucc for her honorary doctorate - a million thanks. She was appallingly treated +and it made her a formidable warrior. RIP pic.twitter.com/Fv0vKiMtMI

— Peter Cluskey (@petercluskey) December 31, 2018

Adrienne first underwent tests in the Netherlands in 2011 but it was not until two years later that a review of old pathology results showed that she had cancer. By 2015 her cancer had spread and, because of the delays, was classed terminal. 

She was offered €500,000 compensation by Utrecht’s UMCU teaching hospital on condition she sign a gagging order, which she refused to do, and began campaigning for more transparency about medical errors. 

The hospital eventually settled with Adrienne and her husband for €545,000, the highest medical negligence award ever made in the Netherlands. 

Lecture

In April this year, she was able to give a lecture at the hospital calling for the victims of medical errors to be heard, alongside the doctor responsible for her misdiagnosis. An Adrienne Cullen lecture is now part of the university calendar. 

Early in December she was given an honorary doctorate by the University of Cork. Her book about her experiences ‘Deny, Dismiss, Dehumanize : What Happened When I went to Hospital’ will be published shortly. Adrienne’s impact was such in the Netherlands that public broadcaster NOS and the NRC newspaper are among the media outlets to carry an obituary.

'Staying silent was not an Option for Adrienne Cullen' 1960-2018
NRC obituary by Frederiek Weeda:https://t.co/Nq7dulOvbE

— Peter Cluskey (@petercluskey) December 31, 2018

Thai farmers giddy over new medical marijuana law

Yahoo - AFP, 26 December, 2018

Thailand's National Assembly legalised the use of marijuana and kratom, a
traditional herb, for research and medical use (AFP Photo/Don MacKinnon)

Bangkok (AFP) - Thai farmers welcomed a new law allowing cultivation and use of marijuana for medical purposes Wednesday, in an Asian first that promises an economic bonanza but also fears that foreign companies could reap the rewards.

Thailand's National Assembly passed a bill Tuesday legalising the use of marijuana and kratom -- a traditional herb -- for research and medical use.

The move is a significant step for a region that levies harsh sentences for drug violations. It would also allow for the production, import and export of marijuana.

The bill, which still outlaws recreational use and has strict limits on the amount an individual can carry, requires royal assent to come into law, said National Assembly member Jet Sirathronont.

The National Farmers Council of Thailand praised the law as providing a "new economic crop" to help farmers diversify their production.

"I expect Thailand can make 100 billion baht a year (US$3.07 billion) from growing cannabis and selling the raw material and cannabis oil," chairman Prapat Panyachartrak told AFP.

But some fear foreign companies and pharmaceutical giants are in pole position to scoop up valuable patents to produce the medical cannabis and extracts.

Those holding the patents could stop Thai universities and government agencies from conducting research, warned Witoon Liamchamroon, director of BioThai, a network of agricultural activists, farmers and academics.

The Commerce Ministry had promised to "revoke" the petitions of foreign companies, he said, "but so far, we checked and there is no revocation."

Long time cannabis activist Buntoon Niyamabhra called on the government to cancel patent applications from foreign multinationals.

"Otherwise Thai people will not get any benefits... as the patent law is retroactive once the new law takes effect," he told AFP.

Thailand has a long history with cannabis.

Marijuana was once classified as a traditional herb before it was re-categorised as a narcotic in the 1970s -- which prohibited its production, consumption, sale and possession.

It remains readily available despite high penalties for those caught smoking it.

But Buntoon, who founded the Network of Cannabis Users in Thailand in 2013, said marijuana was once used in more than 100 formulas of Thai traditional medicine.

"I have used cannabis for more than 50 years," he told AFP. "Cigarettes and whisky are more harmful to your health."

Several nations have embraced the use of medicinal cannabis, including Canada, Australia, Israel, and more than half the states in the US.

US-based Grand View Research has estimated the global market for medical marijuana could reach $55.8 billion by 2025.

Indonesian third-grader's 'school crawl' becomes sensation

Yahoo – AFP, December 20, 2018

Mukhlis Abdul Holik's heartwarming story has become a sensation across
Indonesia (AFP Photo/CANTIGIE NUR FERDINAND)

Sukabumi (Indonesia) (AFP) - Indonesian third-grader Mukhlis Abdul Holik begins the long haul to school with a knapsack strapped to his back and hands stuffed into a pair of sandals -- to guard against road burn.

It is no ordinary trip for the eight-year-old. He has severely deformed feet and legs so tiny that he only reaches up to his classmates' waists when standing.

With his mom in tow, the gap-toothed pupil crawls from his West Java village across rocky paths and an old wooden bridge that he navigates on his hands alone, as his sneakers dangle in the air.

Holik crawls from his West Java village across rocky paths and an old wooden 

bridge that he navigates on his hands alone, as his sneakers dangle in the air 

(AFP Photo/CANTIGIE NUR FERDINAND)

Holik's heartwarming story has become a sensation across the country of 260 million, and earned him a meeting with Indonesian president Joko Widodo, after media covered his trip to school and back -- a distance of nearly six kilometres.

"The road is steep but he crawls every day," said Holik's mother Pipin, who like many Indonesians goes by one name.

"If we've got money, then he can take a motorcycle taxi but if things are tight, he's got to crawl. He never complains.... rain or shine, he always goes to school."

Holik declared himself "very happy" after meeting Indonesian President 

Joko Widodo (AFP Photo/CANTIGIE NUR FERDINAND)

Holik met the country's leader on December 3 -- the UN's International Day of Persons with Disabilities.

"I asked Abdul when we met if he wanted anything from me," Widodo said in a statement.

"I thought he'd want me to give him a present. But he didn't want anything. He just said he wanted to go to university."

The pupil declared himself "very happy" for meeting his idol Widodo, who got a full report on Holik's ambitious future plans.

"I want to be a firefighter, a doctor and an astronaut," he told AFP.

Drone delivers vaccines in key Vanuatu trial

Yahoo – AFP, 18 December 2018

A key requirement for vaccine deliveries, including by drone, is maintaining
the temperature

A one-month-old on a remote island in the Pacific archipelago of Vanuatu became the first child to be immunised in a commercial trial of drone-delivered vaccines, the UN children's fund UNICEF said Tuesday.

Aid agencies hope the successful run in the country, where one in five children is not fully immunised, could eventually help governments and organisations reach others in far-flung places around the world.

"Today's small flight by drone is a big leap for global health," UNICEF executive director Henrietta Fore said in a statement.

"With the world still struggling to immunise the hardest to reach children, drone technologies can be a game changer for bridging that last mile to reach every child."

While this is not the first time that drones have been used to deliver vaccines, it is the first time such a method has been deployed in Vanuatu, which has 83 islands, most only accessible by boat.

It is also the first time a commercial contract is being used for routine immunisations, UNICEF said.

A key requirement for the deliveries is maintaining the temperatures at which the vaccines are carried.

In warmer places such as Vanuatu, transportation across limited roads has its challenges.

In the trial, the drone travelled across almost 40 kilometres (25 miles) of rough and mountainous terrain from the west of the southern island of Erromango to its east, arriving at the remote Cook's Bay.

The vaccines were kept in styrofoam boxes that carried ice-packs and a temperature sensor that would be triggered if it exceeded the required range. A total of 13 children and five pregnant women were vaccinated by a registered nurse, UNICEF added.

"As the journey is often long and difficult, I can only go there once a month to vaccinate children. But now, with these drones, we can hope to reach many more children in the remotest areas of the island," the nurse, Miriam Nampil, told UNICEF.

The agency said Vanuatu's government was considering incorporating drone deliveries of vaccines into their national immunisation programme, and with the supply of other health aids.

US Congress legalizes industrial hemp cultivation

Yahoo – AFP, December 13, 2018

A measure to legalize large-scale hemp cultivation in the US was supported
by both Republicans and Democrats (AFP Photo/ROMAIN LAFABREGUE)

Washington (AFP) - The US Congress on Wednesday approved the legalization of large-scale hemp cultivation and its removal from a list of controlled substances.

"This is the culmination of a lot of work by a number of us here in Washington but really the victory is for the growers, processors, manufacturers and consumers who stand to benefit from this growing market place," Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell said.

The measure was supported by both Republicans and Democrats who argued it was an opportunity for American farmers.

It appears in a major law on agriculture that was adopted by a clear majority in the House of Representatives (369-47) after comfortably passing the Senate (87-13) the day before.

The law has not yet been signed by President Donald Trump.

"I'll be happy to loan him my hemp pen for the occasion," joked McConnell, a conservative from the state of Kentucky who had vigorously defended the measure after already pushing for the authorization of pilot programs in 2014.

The measure "legalizes hemp as an agricultural commodity" and removes it from the controlled substances list, while allowing researchers to apply for federal grants and makes hemp eligible for crop insurance, McConnell said.

This "will encourage new opportunities for struggling farmers and their families, news products... and new jobs," he said.

Related Article:

S.Africa eyes green shoots in local cannabis industry

Cash for kids: S. Korea seeks to raise falling birthrate

Yahoo – AFP, 7 December 2018

With a declining fertility rate, the population of South Korea, currently 51 million,
is expected to start falling in 2028

South Korea issued a raft of measures Friday to try to reverse one of the world's lowest birth rates, offering potential parents increased benefits as it faces a looming population decline.

The country's fertility rate -- the number of children a woman is expected to have in her lifetime -- fell to 0.95 in the third quarter, the first time it has dropped below 1 and far short of the 2.1 needed to maintain stability.

As a result the population of the world's 11th largest economy, currently 51 million, is expected to start falling in 2028.

There are multiple causes, including the expense of child-rearing, long working hours, limited daycare, and career setbacks for working mothers, who bear a double burden of carrying out the brunt of household chores.

The government has spent a whopping 136 trillion won ($121 billion) since 2005 to try to boost the birth rate, without success.

In its latest attempt to reverse the decline, Seoul said Friday it would expand child subsidies -- of up to 300,000 won ($270) a month -- to the richest 10 percent of families, who are currently excluded.

From late next year, parents with children younger than eight will be able to work one hour less each day to take care of their offspring, while paid paternity leave entitlements will rise from three days to 10.

But only 13 percent of South Korean men take up the entitlement, with many more fearing that doing so would raise questions about their commitment to their employers.

The ministry also said it would build more daycare centres and kindergartens with the goal of enabling 40 percent of children to use them.

"This package is to focus on giving hope to people aged in their 20s to their 40s and to make certain that their quality of life does not deteriorate when opting for marriage and childbirth," said Kim Sang-hee, vice chairwoman of a presidential taskforce to tackle the low birth rate.

Related Article:

"Recalibration of Free Choice"–  Mar 3, 2012 (Kryon Channelling by Lee Carroll) - (Subjects: (Old) Souls, Midpoint on 21-12-2012, Shift of Human Consciousness, Black & White vs. Color, 1 - Spirituality (Religions) shifting, Loose a Pope “soon”, 2 - Humans will change react to drama, 3 - Civilizations/Population on Earth,  4 - Alternate energy sources (Geothermal, Tidal (Paddle wheels), Wind), 5 – Financials Institutes/concepts will change (Integrity – Ethical) , 6 - News/Media/TV to change, 7 – Big Pharmaceutical company will collapse “soon”, (Keep people sick), (Integrity – Ethical)  8 – Wars will be over on Earth, Global Unity, … etc.) - (Text version)

“…  3 - Longer Life is Going to Happen, But…

Here is one that is a review. We keep bringing it up because Humans don't believe it. If you're going to start living longer, there are those who are frightened that there will be overpopulation. You've seen the way it is so far, and the geometric progression of mathematics is absolute and you cannot change it. So if you look at the population of the earth and how much it has shifted in the last two decades, it's frightening to you. What would change that progression?

The answer is simple, but requires a change in thinking. The answer is a civilization on the planet who understands a new survival scenario. Instead of a basic population who has been told to have a lot of children to enhance the race [old survival], they begin to understand the logic of a new scenario. The Akashic wisdom of the ages will start to creep in with a basic survival scenario shift. Not every single woman will look at herself and say, "The clock is ticking," but instead can say, "I have been a mother 14 times in a row. I'm going to sit this one out." It's a woman who understands that there is no loss or guilt in this, and actually feels that the new survival attribute is to keep the family small or not at all! Also, as we have said before, even those who are currently ignorant of population control will figure out what is causing babies to be born [Kryon joke].

Part of the new Africa will be education and healing, and eventually a zero population growth, just like some of the first-world nations currently have. Those who are currently tied to a spiritual doctrine will actually have that doctrine changed (watch for it) regarding Human birth. Then they will be able to make free choice that is appropriate even within the establishment of organized religion. You see, things are going to change where common sense will say, "Perhaps it would help the planet if I didn't have children or perhaps just one child." Then the obvious, "Perhaps I can exist economically better and be wiser with just one. It will help the one!" Watch for these changes. For those of you who are steeped in the tradition of the doctrines and would say that sounds outrageously impossible, I give you the new coming pope [Kryon smile]. For those of you who feel that uncontrolled procreation is inevitable, I encourage you to see statistics you haven't seen or didn't care to look at yet about what first-world countries have already accomplished on their own, without any mandates. It's already happening. That was number three.….”

Big tobacco court case won’t happen; no grounds for prosecution

DutchNews, December 6, 2018 

The lawsuit against tobacco firms initiated by anti-smoking campaigners and health groups will not go ahead now the appeal court has said there are no grounds for prosecution. 

The public prosecution department said in February that it would not prosecute the case and on Thursday the appeal court too ruled that the tobacco companies are not doing anything wrong and there is no case to answer. 

‘The complainants in this case are at the wrong address,’ the court said in its ruling. Instead they should be pressuring the government to change the laws, the court said. 

The case, supported by Dutch hospitals, cancer charities and healthcare groups, was launched in 2016 by lung cancer patient Anne Marie van Veen and lawyer Bénédicte Ficq. 

They accuse the tobacco firms – Philip Morris International, British American Tobacco, Japan Tobacco International and Imperial Tobacco Benelux – of doing ‘deliberate damage to public health’ and ‘forgery of documents’. 

Attempted murder 

The case describes the ‘crimes’ committed by the tobacco firms as ‘attempted murder, alternatively attempted manslaughter and/or attempted severe and premeditated physical abuse and/or attempted deliberate and premeditated injuring of health.’ 

In addition, they argue the big tobacco firms are guilty of ‘forgery since the tobacco manufacturers have for years declared emission levels of tar, nicotine and carbon monoxide on the packages of their tobacco products which were lower than the actual emission levels.’ 

A spokesman for Philip Morris told broadcaster NOS that the ruling recognises the fact that tobacco is a ‘strictly regulated product’ and that the risks have been known for decades.

First baby born via uterus transplanted from dead donor

Yahoo – AFP, Marlowe HOOD, 5 December 2018

Infertility affects 10 to 15 percent of couples

In a medical first, a mother who received a uterus transplant from a dead donor gave birth to a healthy baby, researchers reported Wednesday.

The breakthrough operation, performed in September 2016 in Sao Paulo, Brazil, shows that such transplants are feasible and could help thousands of women unable to have children due to uterine problems, according to a study published in The Lancet.

The baby girl was born in December 2017, the medical journal added.

Until recently, the only options available to women with so-called uterine infertility were adoption or the services of a surrogate mother.

The first successful childbirth following uterine transplant from a living donor took place in 2014 in Sweden, and there have been 10 others since then.

But there are far more women in need of transplants than there are potential live donors, so doctors wanted to find out if the procedure could work using the uterus of a woman who had died.

Ten attempts were made -- in the United States, the Czech Republic, and Turkey -- before the success reported Wednesday.

Infertility affects 10 to 15 percent of couples.

Of this group, one in 500 women have problems with their uterus -- due, for example, to a malformation, hysterectomy, or infection -- that prevent them from becoming pregnant and carrying a child to term.

"Our results provide a proof-of-concept for a new option for women with uterine infertility," said Dani Ejzenberg, a doctor at the teaching hospital of the University of Sao Paulo.

He described the procedure as a "medical milestone".

"The number of people willing and committed to donate organs upon their own death are far larger than those of live donors, offering a much wider potential donor population," he said in a statement.

The 32-year-old recipient was born without a uterus as a result of a rare syndrome.

Four months before the transplant, she had in-vitro fertilisation resulting in eight fertilised eggs, which were preserved through freezing.

The donor was a 45-year-old woman who died from a stroke.

Her uterus was removed and transplanted in surgery that lasted more than ten hours.

Proof of concept

The surgical team had to connect the donor's uterus with the veins, arteries, ligaments, and vaginal canal of the recipient.

To prevent her body from rejecting the new organ, the woman was given five different drugs, along with antimicrobials, anti-blood clotting treatments, and aspirin.

After five months, the uterus showed no sign of rejection, ultrasound scans were normal, and the woman was menstruating regularly.

The fertilised eggs were implanted after seven months. Ten days later, doctors delivered the good news: she was pregnant.

Besides a minor kidney infection -- treated with antibiotics -- during the 32nd week, the pregnancy was normal. After nearly 36 weeks a baby girl weighing 2.5 kilograms (about six pounds) was delivered via caesarean section.

Mother and baby left the hospital three days later.

The transplanted uterus was removed during the C-section, allowing the woman to stop taking the immunosuppressive drugs.

At age seven months and 12 days -- when the manuscript reporting the findings was submitted for publication -- the baby was breastfeeding and weighed 7.2 kilograms.

"We must congratulate the authors," commented Dr. Srdjan Saso, an honorary clinical lecturer in obstetrics and gynaecology at Imperial College London, describing the findings as "extremely exciting".

Richard Kennedy, president of the International Federation of Fertility Societies, also welcomed the announcement but sounded a note of caution.

"Uterine transplant is a novel technique and should be regarded as experimental," he said.

FDA follows European Medicines Agency to Amsterdam

DutchNews, December 3, 2018

Photo: Depositphotos.com

The American Food and Drug Administration is following the European Medicines Agency and moving from London to Amsterdam, the FDA said on its website. 

The FDA is an American government agency which controls the safety of food and medicines. It currently has two offices in Europe – one in Brussels and one in London. 

The EMA will move to the Dutch capital next year, once Britain starts the withdrawal process from the European Union. 

The FDA is not the first company to follow EMA to Amsterdam. Pharmaceuticals firm Novartis said earlier this year it is moving its Dutch offices from Arnhem to Amsterdam in 2019. 

Lobby 

Amsterdam is actively lobbying to attract British companies post-Brexit. The Dutch central bank told the Parool that dozens of financial institutions, including insurance companies, banks and investment funds, have had talks about setting up a Dutch entity. 

In August, British online sports channel DAZN said it is creating 300 jobs in Amsterdam as it looks to protect its European business from the impact of Britain’s withdrawal from the EU. 

Japanese electronics company Panasonic is moving its headquarters from London to Amsterdam and big Japanese bank Mitsubishi UFG has also decided to make Amsterdam its new European base for investment banking. 

DutchNews.nl has contacted the FDA to find out how many jobs will move to the Netherlands.