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Tuesday, March 10, 2020
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Monday, March 9, 2020
你好，親愛的 [Hi dear] UK680L
[English version below]
你好親愛的，
我的名字是K Genzo小姐，我是一個18歲的女孩，我寫信給你是為了讓你知道我是一個孤兒，我是我父母唯一的孩子。我通過互聯網搜索從在線電子郵件數據庫目錄中搜索您的電子郵件地址，我想與您溝通我為了安全而重新安置到您所在國家/地區的興趣計劃。
我是華裔美國人。我的父親幾個月前因心髒病去世，我現在真誠地需要你的幫助，因為我的生命處於危險之中。我想與您討論並處理一項非常重要的業務。收到你的回復後，我會給你寫更多業務細節。
請立即回复我的個人電子郵件地址: kige032767@hotmail.com
我等你的下一個回复。
謝謝。
愛，
Genzo。
---
免責聲明：此電子郵件（包括附件）僅發送給目標收件人，可能包含特權和機密信息。如果您不是預期的收件人，則不得使用，保留，披露，複製，打印，傳播或分發此電子郵件的任何部分。如果您錯誤地收到了此電子郵件，請從您的系統中刪除此電子郵件（包括附件），並通過回复此電子郵件立即通知發件人。電子郵件傳輸無法保證及時，安全，錯誤或無病毒。對於因電子郵件傳輸而導致的任何損失，錯誤，遺漏或損害，發件人不承擔任何責任。
Hello dear,
My Name is Miss Kira Genzo, I am a 18 years old girl, I am writing you to let you know that I'm an orphan, I am the only child of my parents. I search your email address from the online e-mail Database Directory through the Internet search, I would like to communicate with you about my interest plan in relocating to your country for my safety.
I am a Chinese American. My father has died of a heart attack months ago and I sincerely need your help now because my life is in Danger. I want to discuss and handle a very important business with you. I will write you more details of the business when I receive your reply.
Please reply immediately to my personal email address: kige032767@hotmail.com
I wait for your next reply.
Thank you.
Love,
Genzo.
---
DISCLAIMER: This email (including attachments) is addressed to the intended recipient only and may contain information that is privileged and confidential. If you are not the intended recipient, you must not use, retain, disclose, copy, print, disseminate or distribute any part of this email. If you have received this email in error, please delete this email (including attachments) from your system and notify the sender immediately by replying to this email. Email transmission cannot be guaranteed to be timely, secure, error or virus-free. The sender accepts no liability for any loss, error, omissions or damage arising as a result of email transmission.
你好親愛的，
我的名字是K Genzo小姐，我是一個18歲的女孩，我寫信給你是為了讓你知道我是一個孤兒，我是我父母唯一的孩子。我通過互聯網搜索從在線電子郵件數據庫目錄中搜索您的電子郵件地址，我想與您溝通我為了安全而重新安置到您所在國家/地區的興趣計劃。
我是華裔美國人。我的父親幾個月前因心髒病去世，我現在真誠地需要你的幫助，因為我的生命處於危險之中。我想與您討論並處理一項非常重要的業務。收到你的回復後，我會給你寫更多業務細節。
請立即回复我的個人電子郵件地址: kige032767@hotmail.com
我等你的下一個回复。
謝謝。
愛，
Genzo。
---
免責聲明：此電子郵件（包括附件）僅發送給目標收件人，可能包含特權和機密信息。如果您不是預期的收件人，則不得使用，保留，披露，複製，打印，傳播或分發此電子郵件的任何部分。如果您錯誤地收到了此電子郵件，請從您的系統中刪除此電子郵件（包括附件），並通過回复此電子郵件立即通知發件人。電子郵件傳輸無法保證及時，安全，錯誤或無病毒。對於因電子郵件傳輸而導致的任何損失，錯誤，遺漏或損害，發件人不承擔任何責任。
Hello dear,
My Name is Miss Kira Genzo, I am a 18 years old girl, I am writing you to let you know that I'm an orphan, I am the only child of my parents. I search your email address from the online e-mail Database Directory through the Internet search, I would like to communicate with you about my interest plan in relocating to your country for my safety.
I am a Chinese American. My father has died of a heart attack months ago and I sincerely need your help now because my life is in Danger. I want to discuss and handle a very important business with you. I will write you more details of the business when I receive your reply.
Please reply immediately to my personal email address: kige032767@hotmail.com
I wait for your next reply.
Thank you.
Love,
Genzo.
---
DISCLAIMER: This email (including attachments) is addressed to the intended recipient only and may contain information that is privileged and confidential. If you are not the intended recipient, you must not use, retain, disclose, copy, print, disseminate or distribute any part of this email. If you have received this email in error, please delete this email (including attachments) from your system and notify the sender immediately by replying to this email. Email transmission cannot be guaranteed to be timely, secure, error or virus-free. The sender accepts no liability for any loss, error, omissions or damage arising as a result of email transmission.
Call for Papers on Science Technology Innovation and Development in Africa in a special issue of JSCIRES
Call for Papers in a special issue of the Journal of Scientometric Research
Special issue on: Science Technology Innovation and Development in Africa
Background
The African Union (AU previously OAU) has developed a science, technology and innovation strategy for African sustainable development. There are many strategies adopted from time to time. For example, in 1979 Africa adopted the Monrovia Strategy; in 1980 adopted the Lagos Plan of Action. In 2013, the AU has produced "Agenda 2063 to realize fully the African unity by integrating the economy with science, technology and innovation. The Africa Union has NEPAD, Peer Review Mechanism, Peace and Security, the African Parliament, STISA 2024 and Agenda 2063. The AU is good at producing protocols to generate the "Africa We Want" to transform Africa "into the global powerhouse of the future". This agenda 2063 has also included science, technology and innovation (STI) for Africa's overall integrated and sustainable development by aligning with the STISA 2024 that has been declared a year after agenda 2063. In 2014, the AU created a specific sectoral strategy on science, technology and innovation by adopting a 10-year Science, Technology and Innovation Strategy for Africa (STISA-2024). The strategy aims to address the pressing challenges through skill development, capacity building, entrepreneurship development, intellectual property generation and protection.
The strategies are well articulated; but the implementation is challenging. There are a few countries like South Africa, Rwanda, Kenya and the Northern African countries which are quite well performing while some other countries are lagging behind. Some research output shows that there is a significant increase in the number of scientific publications and patents from Africa. However, the publications and patents from Africa are attributed to only a few countries for example South Africa from South and Egypt from the North. There is a need to cover as many parts of Africa as possible to discover the research publications and patents generated in all parts of Africa.
This special issue of Journal of Scientometric Research (JSCIRes) calls for papers on various Science and Technology issues of African Continent to comprehend the breadth and depth of the scientific publications and patents, innovation hubs and industrial parks from Africa. Papers for the special issue are called for in any of the following Science, Technology and Innovation thematic areas:
- ST&I indicators with special reference in the African context.
- Country specific case study including the S, T & I policy perspectives.
- Science and technology measurements from the regional perspective for example S&T development in Arab Maghreb Union (AMU), Southern African Development Community (SADAC), The Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD), Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) and in specific manufacturing, agricultural and service sectors.
- The digital and knowledge economy with Science, Technology and Innovation for African Sustainable Development.
- Intra and Inter African Scientific collaborations.
- Open science and its relevance in developing countries particularly in African context.
Submission Guidelines
To submit the full manuscript, authors should read carefully the journal instructions and requirements in terms of length, reference style. Submissions can be made using the following links: https://www.journalonweb.com/jscires/
Full manuscript to be considered for publication in the Special issue of "Science Technology Innovation and Development in Africa". Submission of a full manuscript does not indicate automatic acceptance for the present special issue.
All full manuscripts to be considered for the special issue must be submitted through the online submission system and subjected to double blind peer review and inclusion in the Special Issue will be determined on a final acceptance decision by the Editor-in-Chief the basis of peer reviews and recommendations made by the Guest Editors.
Important dates
- Abstract submission deadline: 31st March 2020 (to be sent to the Guest Editors )
- Full paper submission deadline: 30th June 2020 (should be submitted to the online journal submission system)
- Publication of the issues: October/ November 2020
Guest Editors:
- Swapan Kumar Patra (skpatra[@]gmail.com, PatraSK[@]tut.ac.za)
- Mammo Muchie (Mammo.muchie[@]gmail.com; muchiem[@]tut.ac.za)
Thursday, March 5, 2020
New Report "Medicines in India: Accessibility, Affordability and Quality"
Medicines in India: Accessibility, Affordability and Quality
by Prachi Singh, Shamika Ravi, and David DamTuesday; March 2020, The Brookings India
While access to affordable medicines is important, the quality of medicines is essential to achieve desired curative outcomes. This report examines how price regulation, the policy instrument used to address the affordability of medicines in India, has evolved over the last four decades.
Healthcare expenditure is financed through various sources in a country. It can be financed by the government (state or union), insurance schemes (public or private) or borne by households directly in the form of out-of-pocket expenditures (OOPE). More financing by the government implies less financial burden on households in the form of huge out-of-pocket expenses. The World Health Organization's (WHO) data on global health expenditures reveals that when it comes to out-of-pocket expenditure as a proportion of current health expenditure, India does much worse in comparison to the world average (65% for India versus world average of around 20% in 2016). A comparison with other Asian countries also reveals a similar scenario. Thailand and China have reduced the proportion of out-of-pocket expenditure over time, while Sri Lanka and Bangladesh witnessed an increase over time.
The state-level scenario is not very different from the national picture which reveals that the burden of health expenses falls mostly on households. In the state of Bihar, out-of-pocket expenses are a whopping 80% of the total health expenditure. In Uttar Pradesh, India's most populous state, OOPE forms three-fourth of the total health expenditure. Some states do relatively better, such as Karnataka, Himachal Pradesh, and Gujarat, but even in these states, households bear almost half of the total health expenditure as OOPE.
OOPE warrants special attention as it leads to impoverishment, with 7% of the households falling below the poverty line on account of health expenses. OOPE has increased in both rural and urban areas with the expenditure attributable to medicines forming the single largest category. Medicines are an integral part of any medical treatment and the expenditure incurred on them is quite substantial. The share of medicines in OOPE was around 51% in 2013-14, this figure reduced to 43% in 2015-16, but still remained the biggest contributor to the OOPE incurred by households. Lastly, out of the total pharmaceutical expenditure incurred by households, 18% is for in-patient treatment while 82% is for out-patient care. These figures suggest that the cost of pharmaceuticals is an important area for policy intervention.
In this report, we focus on three important aspects of medicines in India – accessibility, quality, and affordability of drugs. The first part analyses access to drugs from two main perspectives – the accessibility of medicines via Jan Aushadhi (JA) stores and e-pharmacies. With branded generic drugs priced far higher than their unbranded generic counterparts, access to reasonably-priced drugs is limited in India. To address this, the Jan Aushadhi scheme was launched in 2008 to increase access to affordable and quality medicines. The key features of this scheme included setting up pharmaceutical stores with government support and making cheaper drugs available to consumers. Using district-level demographic and economic characteristics, we find that more JA stores are found in districts with larger proportions of urban population, higher literacy rates and a greater level of development. Despite the incentive-based nature of the scheme, which rewards store owners for the volume of business, some districts in the Northeast and Central India failed to attract any JA entrepreneurs. Lastly, with the proliferation of the internet in urban cities, we have witnessed the growth of e-pharmacies. The market share of this segment is currently small but the convenience and price discounts offered by startups in this domain are set to propel the e-pharmacy sector in the coming years. In this relatively new, innovative space, business growth has to be balanced against important regulatory needs. Without an accurate prescription validation mechanism, we could witness a rise in antibiotic resistance over time or overuse and habit formation for opioids.
While access to affordable medicines is important, the quality of medicines is essential to achieve desired curative outcomes. In the second chapter, we look at drug-testing capabilities and bottlenecks such as the shortage of manpower needed for inspections. We draw upon publicly available information from the Central Drugs Standard Control Organisation (CDSCO), Lok Sabha questions, and notifications related to substandard and spurious drugs released by individual state regulatory bodies. Based on CDSCO data, we find that the overall percentage of substandard and spurious drugs in India is around 3-4% for the years 2014-16. Data from six individual states show that most notifications related to substandard drugs originate from manufacturing units within the same state. However, a substantial proportion of these alerts are ascribed to drugs originating from other states such as Himachal Pradesh and Uttarakhand. The state regulatory machinery is powerless when it comes to punitive actions against manufacturing units located outside the state's administrative boundaries.
In the final chapter, we focus on past policies that have struck a balance between providing affordable and reasonably priced medicines to consumers and enabling the pharmaceutical industry to grow with sufficient profit margins. Price regulation of pharmaceutical products is the policy instrument that has been used to address the affordability of medicines in India. It is implemented by the Department of Pharmaceuticals under the Ministry of Chemicals and Fertilisers via Drug Price Control Orders (DPCOs), with the National Pharmaceutical Pricing Authority acting as the executing body.
The recent drug price regulation extended price control to 347 drugs (with over 800 formulations) that are on the National Essential List of Medicines. The ambit of regulation increased from just 74 drugs being regulated between 1995 and 2012 to 347 drugs post-2013. This report aims to examine how drug price regulation has evolved over the last four decades during which three-drug price control orders were executed. We also analyse how this regulation has kept pace with the changing disease burden in the country during the same time period. Though the scale of the regulation has increased over time, there was a brief period of deregulation as a result of DPCO 1995. We observe that recent orders have increased drugs under regulation in all therapeutic classes, especially drugs used to treat cardiovascular and respiratory diseases, which have witnessed an increase in disease burden as well.
It is important to consider all aspects of drug accessibility – affordable medicines will lessen the financial burden on households; easy availability of generics would mean less reliance on expensive alternatives, and good-quality of drugs is the minimum requirement for effective treatment. Through our analyses in each of these three chapters, we put forth recommendations aimed at addressing issues in the quality of medicines, increasing the availability of medicines and the structure of price control in our country.
by Prachi Singh, Shamika Ravi, and David DamTuesday; March 2020, The Brookings India
While access to affordable medicines is important, the quality of medicines is essential to achieve desired curative outcomes. This report examines how price regulation, the policy instrument used to address the affordability of medicines in India, has evolved over the last four decades.
Healthcare expenditure is financed through various sources in a country. It can be financed by the government (state or union), insurance schemes (public or private) or borne by households directly in the form of out-of-pocket expenditures (OOPE). More financing by the government implies less financial burden on households in the form of huge out-of-pocket expenses. The World Health Organization's (WHO) data on global health expenditures reveals that when it comes to out-of-pocket expenditure as a proportion of current health expenditure, India does much worse in comparison to the world average (65% for India versus world average of around 20% in 2016). A comparison with other Asian countries also reveals a similar scenario. Thailand and China have reduced the proportion of out-of-pocket expenditure over time, while Sri Lanka and Bangladesh witnessed an increase over time.
The state-level scenario is not very different from the national picture which reveals that the burden of health expenses falls mostly on households. In the state of Bihar, out-of-pocket expenses are a whopping 80% of the total health expenditure. In Uttar Pradesh, India's most populous state, OOPE forms three-fourth of the total health expenditure. Some states do relatively better, such as Karnataka, Himachal Pradesh, and Gujarat, but even in these states, households bear almost half of the total health expenditure as OOPE.
OOPE warrants special attention as it leads to impoverishment, with 7% of the households falling below the poverty line on account of health expenses. OOPE has increased in both rural and urban areas with the expenditure attributable to medicines forming the single largest category. Medicines are an integral part of any medical treatment and the expenditure incurred on them is quite substantial. The share of medicines in OOPE was around 51% in 2013-14, this figure reduced to 43% in 2015-16, but still remained the biggest contributor to the OOPE incurred by households. Lastly, out of the total pharmaceutical expenditure incurred by households, 18% is for in-patient treatment while 82% is for out-patient care. These figures suggest that the cost of pharmaceuticals is an important area for policy intervention.
In this report, we focus on three important aspects of medicines in India – accessibility, quality, and affordability of drugs. The first part analyses access to drugs from two main perspectives – the accessibility of medicines via Jan Aushadhi (JA) stores and e-pharmacies. With branded generic drugs priced far higher than their unbranded generic counterparts, access to reasonably-priced drugs is limited in India. To address this, the Jan Aushadhi scheme was launched in 2008 to increase access to affordable and quality medicines. The key features of this scheme included setting up pharmaceutical stores with government support and making cheaper drugs available to consumers. Using district-level demographic and economic characteristics, we find that more JA stores are found in districts with larger proportions of urban population, higher literacy rates and a greater level of development. Despite the incentive-based nature of the scheme, which rewards store owners for the volume of business, some districts in the Northeast and Central India failed to attract any JA entrepreneurs. Lastly, with the proliferation of the internet in urban cities, we have witnessed the growth of e-pharmacies. The market share of this segment is currently small but the convenience and price discounts offered by startups in this domain are set to propel the e-pharmacy sector in the coming years. In this relatively new, innovative space, business growth has to be balanced against important regulatory needs. Without an accurate prescription validation mechanism, we could witness a rise in antibiotic resistance over time or overuse and habit formation for opioids.
While access to affordable medicines is important, the quality of medicines is essential to achieve desired curative outcomes. In the second chapter, we look at drug-testing capabilities and bottlenecks such as the shortage of manpower needed for inspections. We draw upon publicly available information from the Central Drugs Standard Control Organisation (CDSCO), Lok Sabha questions, and notifications related to substandard and spurious drugs released by individual state regulatory bodies. Based on CDSCO data, we find that the overall percentage of substandard and spurious drugs in India is around 3-4% for the years 2014-16. Data from six individual states show that most notifications related to substandard drugs originate from manufacturing units within the same state. However, a substantial proportion of these alerts are ascribed to drugs originating from other states such as Himachal Pradesh and Uttarakhand. The state regulatory machinery is powerless when it comes to punitive actions against manufacturing units located outside the state's administrative boundaries.
In the final chapter, we focus on past policies that have struck a balance between providing affordable and reasonably priced medicines to consumers and enabling the pharmaceutical industry to grow with sufficient profit margins. Price regulation of pharmaceutical products is the policy instrument that has been used to address the affordability of medicines in India. It is implemented by the Department of Pharmaceuticals under the Ministry of Chemicals and Fertilisers via Drug Price Control Orders (DPCOs), with the National Pharmaceutical Pricing Authority acting as the executing body.
The recent drug price regulation extended price control to 347 drugs (with over 800 formulations) that are on the National Essential List of Medicines. The ambit of regulation increased from just 74 drugs being regulated between 1995 and 2012 to 347 drugs post-2013. This report aims to examine how drug price regulation has evolved over the last four decades during which three-drug price control orders were executed. We also analyse how this regulation has kept pace with the changing disease burden in the country during the same time period. Though the scale of the regulation has increased over time, there was a brief period of deregulation as a result of DPCO 1995. We observe that recent orders have increased drugs under regulation in all therapeutic classes, especially drugs used to treat cardiovascular and respiratory diseases, which have witnessed an increase in disease burden as well.
It is important to consider all aspects of drug accessibility – affordable medicines will lessen the financial burden on households; easy availability of generics would mean less reliance on expensive alternatives, and good-quality of drugs is the minimum requirement for effective treatment. Through our analyses in each of these three chapters, we put forth recommendations aimed at addressing issues in the quality of medicines, increasing the availability of medicines and the structure of price control in our country.
National Conference on "Information Transformation and Informatics: Opportunities and Challenges" | 12-13 March, New Delhi
National Conference on "Information Transformation and Informatics: Opportunities and Challenges"
12-13 March 2020
at NAAS Lecture Hall, NASC Complex, Pusa, New Delhi
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