Health trends
Published:Wednesday | November 9, 2011 | 12:00 AM
Common-painkiller review launched
Europe's drugs regulator is launching a new review of the safety of common painkillers in the light of fresh evidence about possible risks they may pose to heart health.
Five years ago, the European Medicines Agency concluded that the overall benefit-risk balance of non-selective non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) remained positive.
Since then, however, a number of new cardiovascular safety studies have been published, and the agency said on Friday its experts would weigh all the evidence once again "to clarify whether there is any need to update the opinion issued in 2006."
Increased heart risks from using selective COX-2 inhibitor Vioxx led to its withdrawal from the market in 2004 — but there are also worries about the potential risks of non-selective drugs like ibuprofen, naproxen or aspirin.
- Source: Reuters (London)
Food For The Poor is No. 1
Food For The Poor has risen again to the number-one spot as the largest international relief and development organisation in the United States, according to the Chronicle of Philanthropy's list of the top 400 charities. The charity last received the number-one international ranking in 2008.
The Christian ministry, which works to end the suffering of the poor across Latin America and the Caribbean, ranked sixth overall of the 400 charities in the United States that raise the most from private sources. Food For The Poor's rankings can be attributed to faithful donors and the charity's consistently high efficiency ratio. In 2010, more than 96 per cent of all donations went directly to programmes that helped the poor.
"In February 2012, Food For The Poor will celebrate its 30th anniversary. To be able to say that we now are the largest international charity in the United States is an additional blessing," said Robin Mahfood, president/CEO of Food For The Poor. "So many lives have been touched, so many people depend on Food For The Poor for their livelihood, but most important, this is God's work. Our donors are working with us in His vineyard, and with God in our lives and our work, we will never fail and all good things will be possible."
- Source: Food For the Poor