Archive for July 31st, 2009
Friday, July 31st, 2009
Costa Ricans may be one of the first to try the vaccine being developed to combat the AH1N1 flu virus. A group of 784 Ticos will form part of a world study, which will be under the charge of the Instituto de Atención Pediátrica (IPED) headed by infectologist Adriano Arguedas Mohs.
The IPED was chosen by the Swiss pharmaceutical Novartis to conduct a study of the various vaccines being developed around the world.
At least five laboratories are working on a vaccine which is expected to be approved either in September and October for mass distribution.
Arguedas said that the prototype vaccine, which we will be studied in Costa Rica will also be tested in the United States and Mexico.
Person between the age of 3 and 64 from all over Costa Rica will participate in the study, according to Arguedas, after receiving accreditation from the science and ethic committee of the Universidad de Ciencias Médicas (Ucimed) in San José and the Consejo Nacional de Investigación en Salud (Conis) of the Ministerio de Salud.
The viceministra de Salud, Ana Morice, said that the choice of Costa Rica is a recognition of the highest level of research in the country.
Morice was emphatic that the government will not negotiate with Novartis for the purchase of the vaccine, which purchase will be negotiated by the World Health Organization and all purchases made by way of the Organización Panamericana de la Salud, which will negotiate the best price for Latin American countries from the vaccine manufacturers.
The IPED will in the coming days offer an invitation to Costa Ricans to participate in the study.
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Friday, July 31st, 2009
The long drawn out Caja-Fichel trial could enter its final phase today with the Fiscalía asking the judges of the Tribunal Penal de Goicoechea the sanctions for the accused, if found guilty.
In total eight people, including former president, Rafael Ángel Calderón, who is also a candidate for the 2010 presidential elections, accused of corruption and embezzlement related to the million dollar purchase of medical equipment for the Caja Costarricesence de Seguro Social (CCSS), using a loan from the government of Finland.
The group is accused of dividing up and pocketing large commissions on the purchase that was made by was of the Corporacion Fischel (Costa Rica’s largest pharmacy chain), to the detriment of the social security system.
Juan Carlos Cubillo, the fiscal (prosecutor) for the Ministerio Público asked the court on Thursday to begin the process of beginning closing arguments and setting out the sanctions in the case.
Cubillo explained that the court will be presented some 80 slides and estimates that it will take about two and a half hours to present the legal basis and the penalty. (more…)
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Friday, July 31st, 2009
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) said Thursday that it is offering necessary assistance to two Taiwanese nationals detained in Mexico and Costa Rica, respectively, for alleged involvement with Chinese stowaways.
According to Joseph Kuo, director-general of the MOFA’s Department of Central and South American Affairs, Taiwan’s representative office in Mexico was informed on June 10 by a court in Mexico City that a Taiwanese national named Lee Min-huei has been detained for helping Chinese stowaways in the region and is waiting for his verdict.
Officials from the MOFA’s representative office in Mexico have paid regular visits to Lee, bought him daily necessities and contacted his family, Kuo said, adding that the foreign ministry will continue to pay attention to the developments in Lee’s case.
The other case involved a Taiwanese national named Shih Chia-rei, who was detained by Costa Rican immigration in April also for allegedly helping Chinese stowaways, according to Kuo.
Shih, who went to Costa Rica as a tourist, called Taiwan’s embassy in Panama on July 17, asking it to help him leave Costa Rica because he had run out of money.
Shih said that he was detained by the Costa Rican immigration in early April for allegedly assisting three Chinese stowaways, but stressed that he had been cleared of the charge.
Taiwan’s embassy officials in Panama called the detention center in Costa Rica and confirmed Shih had been detained, according to Kuo, but Kuo did not explain why Shih still remains in the center.
He, however, noted that Shih is on a wanted list in Taiwan for a previous violation of the passport statue of the Republic of China and for helping Chinese stowaways, and that the foreign ministry has alerted Taiwan’s immigration and judicial agencies to look into his case.
As to what more Taiwanese diplomats can do for these two individuals or others in similar situations, Kuo said: “When our citizens are detained or treated unfairly, the foreign ministry is obliged to offer concern and necessary assistance to them, but we will not interfere in each country’s judicial process.”
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Friday, July 31st, 2009
Mexico and Costa Rica reached an agreement on cooperation on Thursday, according to a statement by Mexico’s president’s office.
The agreement, that covers cooperation in such fields as education, science and tourism, was signed by Mexico’s President Felipe Calderon and his Costa Rican counterpart Oscar Arias in San Jose, Costa Rica’s capital.
“It gives me great pleasure that we have managed to achieve this agreement during this state visit,” Calderon said. “With it, we can broaden and deepen dialogue and cooperation.”
Calderon also reiterated his support for Arias’s mediation between the post-coup interim government of Honduras and representatives of the deposed Honduran President Manuel Zelaya.
Arias said the people of Costa Rica see Mexico as a good friend that has offered Costa Rica great help.
The two leaders also exchanged views on such issues as A/H1N1 flu, climate change, the fight against organized crime and admitting new members to the Rio Group during the organization’s 2010 Mexico City meeting.
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