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| Hope in South Africa |
FOR years, South Africa was an international laughing stock
for its tragically absurd approach to the deadly AIDS epidemic.
Now, that national nightmare may be ending. The new government
of President Jacob Zuma seems to have a clearer-eyed view of
the problem, its remedies and the need to improve the health
care system overall than its predecessor did. Fixing what´s
broken will not be easy, but we are encouraged by signs of a
commitment to do so. To see how far South Africa´s leaders
have come, one needs to recall where it was. The former president,
Thabo Mbeki, compiled a record that is still hard to fathom...
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| Surgery Better Than Angioplasty |
 THE
latest results from the longest-running study yet confirm that
surgery is better than artery-opening angioplasty in preventing
strokes caused by blockage of the carotid artery, the largest
vessel carrying blood to the brain. "In contrast with endovascular
treatment (angioplasty), surgical patients had about half the
rate of strokes in long-term follow-up," said Dr Martin
M Brown, a professor of stroke medicine at University College
London Institute of Neurology, and a senior author of two reports
in the October issue of the Lancet Neurology. Brown is a leader
of the s o - c a l l e d C A V A T A S study, which has followed... |
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NATO commander for Afghan strategy review
AFP
KABUL The head of US and NATO troops in Afghanistan on Monday called for a revised strategy to turn around the war against the Taliban, describing the situation as serious but putting success within reach.
General Stanley McChrystal’s war review, compiled since he took up command in mid-June, has been widely anticipated since US President Barack Obama put a sweeping new strategy in Afghanistan at the heart of his foreign policy.
The United States has for months called for new thinking in Afghanistan to counter record numbers of attacks since the 2001 US-led invasion ousted the Taliban regime and the Pentagon dismissed McChrystal’s predecessor last May.
McChrystal sent his strategic assessment to the head of US Central Command General David Petraeus for comment en route to the US Defence Secretary Robert Gates and NATO Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen, the military said.
“The situation in Afghanistan is serious, but success is achievable and demands a revised implementation strategy, commitment and resolve, and increased unity of effort,” said McChrystal in a statement.
It said his assessment seeks to implement Obama’s strategy “to reduce the capability and will of the insurgents, Al Qaeda and transnational extremists” as well as develop Afghan forces, improve governance and development.
Already 2009 has become the deadliest year for foreign troops in Afghanistan since the 2001 invasion, and August has become the deadliest month for US troops in the country.
McChrystal is not expected to call for more troops in this review, but is ultimately expected to recommend increased troop numbers.
US military commanders in Afghanistan reportedly told the US envoy for Afghanistan and Pakistan, Richard Holbrooke, this month that they did not have enough troops to do their job.
Obama ordered an extra 21,000 troops to Afghanistan earlier this year and there are around 62,000 American forces now in the country.
Last week, McChrystal ordered the more than 100,000 Western troops under his command to change their mindset in a new set of guidelines designed to win the fight against an insurgency now at its deadliest.
Presidential elections held in Afghanistan on August 20 as part of Western-led efforts to put the war-torn, impoverished, illiterate and corrupt country on the path to democracy were overshadowed by poor turnout and fraud.
“Get rid of the conventional mindset.
Focus on the people, not the militants,” wrote McChrystal.
McChrystal’s predecessor, General David McKiernan, was removed after less than a year on the job in the wake of deeply controversial air strikes that killed dozens of civilians in western Afghanistan.
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