Big pharma, la salud pública y la ecología

Ayer, Mike Davis publicó en The Guardian un interesante análisis sobre las causas de la probable pandemia de influenza porcina. Davis señala tres variables en la configuración del problema: el deterioro de la salud pública mundial, el control de los medicamentos de valor estratégico por parte de las grandes farmaceúticas (big pharma), la catástrofe ecológica creada por la industria de la producción ganadera globalizada. Davis es autor de un libro sobre la amenaza de la influenza aviaria: The Monster at Our Door: The Global Threat of Avian Flu.

The Guardian incluye, además, un artículo acerca de una versión que circula en México y que investigan sus autoridades federales en el sentido de que el foco de la infección ha sido una instalación de Smithfield Farms en Veracruz. Smithfield es la productora de carne de cerdo más grande del planeta y opera las Granjas Carrol en el poblado La Gloria de Perote donde se informa que el 60% de la población enfermó en febrero con síntomas de influenza. Esta versión es examinada en otros medios como el Huffpost y el Telegraph de UK. Biosurveillance ha publicado una cronología del brote que incluye este evento.

Hace poco más de un mes la farmaceútica francesa Sanofi Aventis anunció en México su sociedad con la mexicana Birmex para la producción de vacunas contra influenzas pandémicas. El anuncio se hizo en ceremonia con el presidente mexicano Felipe Calderón y el presidente frances Nicolás Sarkosy.

De otra parte el manejo errático de material viral de animales y humanos de parte de laboratorios globalizados es una preocupación que expresan expertos en bioseguridad. La combinación de estos materiales se tiene como un evento prácticamente imposible si se observan las reglas de manejo en espacios contenidos. Según un informe del CDC, este virus de influenza porcina de México es una extraña combinación de viruses porcinos de Norte América, Asia y Europa con virus aviario de Norte América y virus de influenza humana.

Los medios han informado que los medicamentos aleopáticos más efectivos son el Tamiflu y el Relenza, antivirales que bloquean la capacidad del virus para replicarse. Hay que administrarlos durante los dos días de aparecer los síntomas. Las vacunas regulares contra el flu sólo reducen los síntomas de esta influenza, pero no parecen detener el virus. Las medidas de precaución: mantenerse lejos de hospitales y gente enferma, evitar entrar en contacto con el aliento de otra persona (besos, apretones de mano, etc.), lavarse las manos a menudo, limpiar el ambiente y, si está contagiado) usar máscaras protectoreas N-95.

En el 2005 CNN Money informó que Tamiflu, manufacturado por el gigante farmaceútico suizo Roche, era distribuido en EEUU por Gilead Sciences, cuya junta fue presidida desde 1997 por el secretario de Defensa, Donald Rumsfeld. Rumsfeld renunció al ingresar al gabinete de Bush, pero no vendió su participación en la corporación. Eran también accionistas de Gilead el ex-secre de Estado, George Schulz y la esposa del ex gobernador de California, Pete Wilson. A la fecha del artículo el gobierno de EEUU, incluyendo el Pentágono, se había convertido en el cliente principal de Tamiflu. Yo por mi parte voy a sacar de nuestro botiquín los aceites esenciales de orégano, clavo y canela que tenemos para estas situaciones.

De todas las coberturas sobre el asunto, la de Lou Dobbs (CNN) anoche me pareció la más llamativa. En entrevistas al Dr. Zanjai Gupta que reportaba desde México, con la Dra. Schuchat del Centro de Control de Enfermedades en Atlanta y con con el Dr. Martin Blaser del New York School of Medicina, Dobbs insistió en el envío de Tamiflu a México como un deber de buen vecino de parte de EEUU. Doubbs no recibió una respuesta satisfactoria.

Este es parte del intercambio entre Dobbs y el Dr. Gupta:

DOBBS: Absolutely, 149 fatalities, just about 2,000 people estimated to have been infected. Nearly everyone suspects the number is far larger than that. Let me ask you Sanjay, with Mexico is our near neighbor. It is obviously in need of assistance. We have TAMIFLU in our public health system. We have masks. Why are we not doing both the neighborly thing and the intelligent thing which is to help out our neighbors and send TAMIFLU and send those masks to the government of Mexico?


GUPTA: It is the intelligent thing because in the end it benefits really everybody. The public health goal in situations like this, containment, you want to try and contain this thing before it starts spreading around the world, which as you know it's already doing, but to still try and lessen those numbers. I don't know. I'm not sure exactly how those decisions are made. I sat down, I talked to the mayor of Mexico City. He said he would under any circumstances accept help from other places including the United States should that help be needed. For the time being, they say that they sort of have things under control. But being here for a couple of days now, it's controlled chaos. That's what it is, Lou, so I think the request for that help may be coming.


[Dobbs le hace la misma pregunta a la Dra. Schuschat del CDD.]


DOBBS: Obviously this originated in Mexico where it continues to worsen and the health minister there saying they expect this to be nowhere near the peak of the outbreak. Dr. Sanjay Gupta has just reported on a shortage of flu shots available, tamiflu, would it not be both compassionate, intelligent and reasonable for the united states, the centers for disease control, whatever agency is relevant here to provide additional flu shots to the folks in Mexico, they're our neighbor, they're also in proximity to the united states and to provide more masks and support?


SCHUCHAT: Let me clarify a few things.


DOBBS: Sure.


[Schuchat responde con una evasiva]
SCHUCHAT: The vaccine that we have right now, the seasonal flu vaccine, we don't think that will be effective against this particular swine flu virus. [ Dobbs no preguntó sobre la vacuna, sino sobre el medicamento antiviral.] We are taking steps to grow the virus here up into a vaccine seed strain that can be handed off to industry should we need to produce a vaccine in large quantities. So seasonal flu vaccine is a great idea, I hope you get one every year and it's a great way to protect yourself against regular flu, but we don't think it will prevent the swine flu that we're seeing right now. On the other hand you asked about assistance for the people of Mexico who are having a difficult time and we're all thinking about them right now particularly with the earthquake they just experienced. The world health organization and the global community have been working together for the past several years to look into issues like stockpiling materials that could be available to countries in need and the U.S. government as well has designated a portion of our own assets for potential international use. So I think all eyes are on Mexico now hoping that -- hoping that things get better and trying to learn more about what's going on.


[Dobbs insiste]
DOBBS: I suppose I have got to be a little more direct, what I'm really saying here, admiral, these are our neighbors, these people need some help and while it's very nice of the world health organization to study issues and to be somewhat abstract about it, I'm talking about more specific and more immediate help for the folks in particularly Mexico city who are short of masks and Tamiflu and we have supplies of both, should we not be responding on a humanitarian basis.


[y otra evasiva]
SCHUCHAT: I know that there are discussions ongoing about that. We have teams in Mexico working in a tri-national effort with Canada, the U.S. and Mexico. We have sent epidemiologists, we have sent lab specialists and we're working closely with them to ensure that we can assist.

Con el Dr. Blaser del NYSM:
DR. MARTIN BLASER, NYU SCHOOL OF MEDICINE: Well, I think that Dr. Schuchat is correct, we're early in an epidemic. There's been an epidemic that's been going on in Mexico for probably a couple of months.

DOBBS: That long.

DOBBS: I have said it makes no sense to me. I called for straightforwardly the United States government to send masks and to send tamiflu to Mexico City. They're operating with too few masks, too few of just about everything necessary in Mexico City but importantly tamiflu and other anti-virals. Why would we not do that? First out of compassion and then because they're our neighbors, it is the intelligent thing to do.

BLASER: I agree with you. I awe should give tamiflu. I don't know how many doses will be need. We have a big stockpile. We are at the beginning of the outbreak with warm weather coming so we could -- we could easily afford to give them tamiflu.

DOBBS: Does it surprise you that we have not already taken steps to do is that that?

BLASER: I'm not sure what's done or not...

La transcripción completa del programa de L. Doubbs de anoche, aquí.