and
primaquine.
The
consequences
of
using
artemether
and
artesunate
without
lumifantrine
and
primaquine
(known
as
artemisinmonotherapy) may be
disastrous in places where both
dengue and malaria are rampant.
In a position statement
released by the Philippine
College of Physicians (PCP),
together with the Philippine
Society for Microbiology and
Infectious Diseases (PSMID), the
PCP and PSMID called for urgent
research on dengue treatments
but
expressed
its
stern
disapproval of the ActRXTriAct
clinical trials, stating that the
only basis for recommending the
triple-drug combination was a
badly designed and poorly
analyzed study on 290 dengue
patients in one hospital.
So how could Ona have
allowed this to happen? The
medical travesty is yet to unravel.
True, Onas resignation is
a case of politickingbut it is not
just that. It may yet prove to be
part of the story of how a
racketeering drug company and
a conniving (or perhaps wellmeaning but sorely misguided)
government
official
are
endangering national health.
Christa Bucao is a senior Applied
Physics / Material
Science
Engineering major at the Ateneo
de Manila University.
References:
https://anc.yahoo.com/news/onaaghast-garin-stopped-antidengue-herbal-treatment045436956.html
http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/6457
14/breakthrough-seen-in-denguetreatment
http://www.rappler.com/nation/7
6669-doh-dangers-actrxtriact#cxrecs_s
http://www.rappler.com/nation/7
6373-palace-enrique-ona
http://www.rappler.com/thoughtleaders/76598-anti-dengue-drugmedical-mystery
http://www.rappler.com/thoughtleaders/78054-medical-horrorstory
http://www.rappler.com/thoughtleaders/78685-medical-ethics-doh
http://www.rappler.com/thoughtleaders/80464-sue-ona
http://www.pcp.org.ph/index.php
/announcement/494-positionstatement-on-the-urgent-needfor-good-research-on-newdengue-treatments
http://politics.com.ph/post/onaim-not-a-politician
http://www.gmanetwork.com/ne
ws/story/400692/news/nation/tria
l-sought-for-proponents-ofcontroversial-anti-dengue-drug
shouldered
fighting?
the
bulk
of
the
ow might we characterize
campus politics in the
Ateneo? A couple of years ago,
the Ateneo Assembly published
an editorial cartoon depicting the
dead unicorn of Atenean
politics. For the Sanggu apologist,
the accusation would have been a
case of double jeopardy. Campus
politics, like a unicorn, doesnt
exist. Or if it did, its dead.
Several
failures
of
elections later, perhaps theres
some truth to this dead unicorn.
After all, platform and partybased
electoral
competition
remains unconsolidated in our
political culture. Candidates
repeat the same hackneyed (and
inane) platforms every campaign
season. Many Ateneans remain as
uninformed and as apathetic as
ever with regard to on- and offcampus political issues. We know
that the dead unicorn haunts us
when the burning question
during every election is not
whether
this
or
that
person/policy proposition will
win, but whether elections will
reach quota at all. For a
university with a rich history of
political participation and which
consciously trains its students to
be men and women for others
conceptualizing
orgs
as
authoritative groups may allow
us to correctly say that COA is
more powerful than Sanggu.
Moreover, students do not go to
Sanggu
when
they
have
advocacies
not
currently
represented in COA orgs. They
form their own groups. We have
A-FARM for agrarian reform and
GES for gender equality. We even
have Agila for animal rights. I
think Sanggus refusal to exercise
its power in order to fight for
such advocacies has led to the
opening of these other centers of
authority. Thus if we want to
characterize how student politics
operates in Ateneo, we should
not simply refer to our student
government but also to this
constellation of other groups that
participate
in
student
governance.
Of course, I do not mean
to say that we ought to abolish
Sanggu for being so powerless.
Nor do I rejoice over Ateneans
refusal to vote. But the desire for
change necessitates first an
understanding of the current
state of affairs. If Atenean politics
is just like how I described it, the
challenge now is to ask new
questions and try out new
solutions. After all, the dead
unicorn may actually be alive.
And it may seem strange, but its
very real.
Leo Abot is a senior History major
at the Ateneo de Manila
University.