News? What ‘news’?

 

So there was no national blackout yesterday evening. Phew. Anyway, England won and the front pages this morning are competing for who produced the most silly headline. Oh – and there’s apparently a cure for Alzheimer’s, or rather: a drug slowing the progress of that dreadful disease. China protests are no longer front page material. Here’s the compilation if you want to check things out.

Let’s look at the reports about the new Alzheimer’s drug. The Times published theirs at 12.01am, so let’s quote them in the first place:

“The new treatment reverses pathological changes in the brain, finding and removing a toxic protein called amyloid that builds up in people with Alzheimer’s disease. The “momentous and historic” study was presented last night at a packed conference of the world’s leading scientists and doctors in San Francisco. Experts said that it was the biggest breakthrough in a generation, marking the “beginning of the end” of Alzheimer’s and offering “real optimism that dementia can be beaten and one day even cured”.” (link, paywalled)

It’s interesting that the ‘health correspondent’ never says clearly with the statement that this drug is not a cure. She only hints at it, for example here:

“While lecanemab slows the disease, rather than halting it, it is the first drug to provide a treatment option. Scientists say that the discovery paves the way for a new era of treatments that will ultimately lead to a cure.” (link, paywalled)

Meanwhile the ‘science correspondent’ in the DT is equally cautious but does point out that this drug isn’t ‘a cure’ (my emphasis):

“Lecanemab is a drug given every two weeks as an intravenous infusion and data published on Wednesday confirms it slows cognitive decline by 27 per cent in sufferers. The findings of the phase-three clinical trial are the first to ever show a drug can slow Alzheimer’s. Experts are hopeful the drug, made by Tokyo-based pharmaceutical company Eisai which has partnered with US biotech firm Biogen, will be available by the end of 2023. Lecanemab is not a cure, experts stress, but an antibody treatment that has been found to slow down how quickly the symptoms worsened over 18 months.” (paywalled link)

So far we don’t know how much this treatment will cost. However, the fact that this treatment involves an intravenous infusion, applied every two weeks, which presumably can only be done in a hospital setting, supervised by a medic, I do have my doubts if ‘Our NHS’ will be able to pay for this drug.

I’ll refrain from pointing out that generally Big Pharma is keen to develop and promote drugs which give some relief but make the patient drug-dependent for the rest of their lives rather than develop a cure. Still, it is good that some relief can be provided, be it for Alzheimer’s, be it for some forms of cancer. Big Pharma, after all, needs to polish their halo after the covid vaccine, with more and more horror news coming out, finally, about the side effects.

Another ‘NHS’ report caught my eye. No – not about the nurses’ strike. The DT reports:

“Almost as many overseas nurses are coming to work in the UK compared with the number trained here, new figures show. An influx of workers from India, the Philippines and Nigeria mean the number registering from overseas has quadrupled in the last four years, the Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC) said. In total, 11,496 nurses, midwives and nursing associates who were trained abroad joined the NMC in the six months to September, the data show. The figure almost matches the 12,102 UK-trained joiners, with a fall seen in the last year. Over the last four years, the number joining the NMC register went from 3,208 to 11,496.” (paywalled link)

It would of course be deeply racist to ask if those foreign nurses have the same academic qualifications demanded of British nurses. It would be a sign of ‘white patriarchal supremacy’ to ask why we cannot educate our own nurses instead of off-shoring that education to countries such as India or Nigeria. Of course I won’t ask if it isn’t a sign of colonial imperialism that “we” import nurses from those countries.

Also, let’s not ask if perhaps places at Unis, for nurses and for doctors, have been reduced over the years because they’re ‘too expensive’ to run. After all, degrees in ‘something with media’ or for a ‘beauty therapist’ degree are much cheaper and are really needed …

I won’t even ask if our own school leavers, our own population, has become so dumb that there are only about 10.000 of them capable of getting their academic nursing degree. We might surmise the answer to that question but let’s better not ask – it might inconvenience previous Labour and Tory governments 

There’s one piece of news which ought to salve the hurty feelz of the Welsh who were beaten by the English ‘dragon slayers’ at yon footie world cup. See this (my emphasis):

“Patriotic Welshmen have been attached to leeks — and leeks often attached to them — for centuries but now their link to the principality is being officially recognised. The UK government has announced that Welsh leeks are the latest addition to the geographical indication scheme, which protects the name, authenticity and characteristics of regional products. The decision means that shoppers will see a logo on the labels of leeks grown in Wales that proves they are buying the real thing. The announcement, which came on the day Wales met England in the World Cup, brings leeks into line with other protected British products such as Cornish clotted cream and Scotch whisky.” (link, paywalled)

Those Welsh leeks are not a different species, and ‘this is not thought to be a pressing problem in the industry’, but it’s nice of the government to give a little sop to the Welsh, innit like, boyos! And the announcement is so well-timed! I wonder if yon Welsh tinpot dictator, Dripford, will claim this decision as proof that he’s been ’fighting for Wales’ in Westminster. 

It’s unclear how many of us taxpaying serfs watched the footie, imbibing expensive drinks. I think though that at least the editors, correspondents, authors and commentarists populating our esteemed Westminster MSM must have watched yon footie match yesterday, succumbing to too much alcohol while celebrating the slaying of yon Welsh Dragon.

That’s the only explanation I have for today’s lack of headlines and reports about China or possible black-outs. Meanwhile, have a nice day and buy some Welsh leeks.



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