Organic Food Health Benefits Have Been Hard To Assess, But That Could Change

Often, new medical and health knowledge comes from carefully designed clinical trials, but no such trial has been conducted for organic food.Anyaivanova/Shutterstock.com

BY CYNTHIA CURL

“Organic” is more than just a passing fad. Organic food sales totaled a record US$45.2 billion in 2017, making it one of the fastest-growing segments of American agriculture. While a small number of studies have shown associations between organic food consumption and decreased incidence of disease, no studies to date have been designed to answer the question of whether organic food consumption causes an improvement in health.

I’m an environmental health scientist who has spent over 20 years studying pesticide exposures in human populations. Last month, my research group published a small studythat I believe suggests a path forward to answering the question of whether eating organic food actually improves health.

What we don’t know

According to the USDA, the organic label does not imply anything about health. In 2015, Miles McEvoy, then chief of the National Organic Program for USDA, refused to speculateabout any health benefits of organic food, saying the question wasn’t “relevant” to the National Organic Program. Instead, the USDA’s definition of organic is intended to indicate production methods that “foster cycling of resources, promote ecological balance, and conserve biodiversity.”

While some organic consumers may base their purchasing decisions on factors like resource cycling and biodiversity, most report choosing organic because they think it’s healthier.

Sixteen years ago, I was part of the first study to look at the potential for an organic diet to reduce pesticide exposure. This study focused on a group of pesticides called organophosphates, which have consistently been associated with negative effects on children’s brain development. We found that children who ate conventional diets had nine times higher exposure to these pesticides than children who ate organic diets.

Our study got a lot of attention. But while our results were novel, they didn’t answer the big question. As I told The New York Times in 2003, “People want to know, what does this really mean in terms of the safety of my kid? But we don’t know. Nobody does.” Maybe not my most elegant quote, but it was true then, and it’s still true now.

Studies only hint at potential health benefits

Since 2003, several researchers have looked at whether a short-term switch from a conventional to an organic diet affects pesticide exposure. These studies have lasted one to two weeks and have repeatedly shown that “going organic” can quickly lead to dramatic reductions in exposure to several different classes of pesticides.

Still, scientists can’t directly translate these lower exposures to meaningful conclusions about health. The dose makes the poison, and organic diet intervention studies to date have not looked at health outcomes. The same is true for the other purported benefits of organic food. Organic milk has higher levels of healthy omega fatty acids and organic crops have higher antioxidant activity than conventional crops. But are these differences substantial enough to meaningfully impact health? We don’t know. Nobody does.

Some epidemiologic research has been directed at this question. Epidemiology is the study of the causes of health and disease in human populations, as opposed to in specific people. Most epidemiologic studies are observational, meaning that researchers look at a group of people with a certain characteristic or behavior, and compare their health to that of a group without that characteristic or behavior. In the case of organic food, that means comparing the health of people who choose to eat organic to those who do not.

Several observational studies have shown that people who eat organic food are healthier than those who eat conventional diets. A recent French study followed 70,000 adults for five years and found that those who frequently ate organic developed 25% fewer cancers than those who never ate organic. Other observational studies have shown organic food consumption to be associated with lower risk of diabetes, metabolic syndrome, pre-eclampsia and genital birth defects.

The problem with drawing firm conclusions from these studies is something epidemiologists call “uncontrolled confounding.” This is the idea that there may be differences between groups that researchers cannot account for. In this case, people who eat organic food are more highly educated, less likely to be overweight or obese, and eat overall healthier diets than conventional consumers. While good observational studies take into account things like education and diet quality, there remains the possibility that some other uncaptured difference between the two groups – beyond the decision to consume organic food – may be responsible for any health differences observed.

What next?

When clinical researchers want to figure out whether a drug works, they don’t do observational studies. They conduct randomized trials, where they randomly assign some people to take the drug and others to receive placebos or standard care. By randomly assigning people to groups, there’s less potential for uncontrolled confounding.

My research group’s recently published study shows how we could feasibly use randomized trial methods to investigate the potential for organic food consumption to affect health.

We recruited a small group of pregnant women during their first trimesters. We randomly assigned them to receive weekly deliveries of either organic or conventional produce throughout their second and third trimesters. We then collected a series of urine samples to assess pesticide exposure. We found that those women who received organic produce had significantly lower exposure to certain pesticides (specifically, pyrethroid insecticides) than those who received conventional produce.

On the surface, this seems like old news but this study was different in three important ways. First, to our knowledge, it was the longest organic diet intervention to date – by far. It was also the first to occur in pregnant women. Fetal development is potentially the most sensitive period for exposures to neurotoxic agents like pesticides. Finally, in previous organic diet intervention studies, researchers typically changed participants’ entire diets – swapping a fully conventional diet for a fully organic one. In our study, we asked participants to supplement their existing diets with either organic or conventional produce. This is more consistent with the actual dietary habits of most people who eat organic food – occasionally, but not always.

Even with just a partial dietary change, we observed a significant difference in pesticide exposure between the two groups. We believe that this study shows that a long-term organic diet intervention can be executed in a way that is effective, realistic and feasible.

The next step is to do this same study but in a larger population. We would then want to assess whether there were any resulting differences in the health of the children as they grew older, by measuring neurological outcomes like IQ, memory and incidence of attention-deficit disorders. By randomly assigning women to the organic and conventional groups, we could be sure any differences observed in their children’s health really were due to diet, rather than other factors common among people who consume organic food.

The public is sufficiently interested in this question, the organic market is large enough, and the observational studies suggestive enough to justify such a study. Right now, we don’t know if an organic diet improves health, but based on our recent research, I believe we can find out.

SOURCE: THE CONVERSATION

The Test That Could Save The Life Of A Long-Time Smoker You Know

A type of lung cancer cell reflective of adenocarcinoma, one of many types of lung cancer cells. David Litman/Shutterstock.com via The Conversation.

BY RICHARD GUNDERMAN


A test called CT lung cancer screening could save the lives of tens of thousands of American smokers and former smokers every year, but only only 4% of those eligible are getting it.

One such patient, a 58-year-old woman I’ll call Marie, battled cigarette smoking for over three decades before finally quitting on her 50th birthday. A few years later, Marie had the test, and the radiologist found an 8 millimeter nodule in her right lung, which proved to be a small cancer. She had the tumor removed, and now she is five years out from surgery, with no signs of cancer. In two months, she will welcome her first grandchild.

Marie’s story is not unusual. While U.S. smoking rates have fallen to a historic low, 38 million Americans still smoke. Men who currently smoke have a risk of lung cancer about 23 times that of nonsmokers, while the risk for women is about 13 times higher. Naturally, the best thing smokers can do to lower their risk of lung cancer is to quit, but the increased risk of cancer does not disappear immediately. It gradually declines over decades.

Battling lung cancer matters, because it is the number one cancer killer in the U.S., causing an estimated 154,000 deaths a year – more than all colon, breast and prostate cancer deaths combined. The American Lung Association estimates that 234,000 Americans will be diagnosed with lung cancer this year, 85% of whom will have been cigarette smokers.
Five-year survival rates are about 19%, which is relatively poor compared to most other cancers, such as breast and prostate. Until recently, this has meant that the only highly effective means of combating mortality is smoking avoidance. But now there is a new tool for reducing death rates even among smokers.

CT screening

As a radiologist, I am familiar with CT lung cancer screening. CT stands for computed tomography, a sophisticated type of X-ray imaging. When lung cancer is diagnosed at an early stage, long-term survival is 70%, compared to only 5% when it has spread to other parts of the body. Its value was established in the National Lung Screening Trial, a US$300 million National Cancer Institute study launched in 2002 that followed 53,000 current or former smokers for five years. Investigators found a 20% mortality reduction among those screened by CT. A more recent Japanese study showed a 51% reduction in mortality.

CT scanning is not new. It was invented in the 1960s by a British engineer, Godfrey Hounsfield, who shared the 1979 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for it. Unlike standard X-ray imaging, which sends X-rays through the patient in only one direction, CT transmits and detects X-rays in many different directions, dramatically improving imaging of the body’s interior.

Like any cancer, lung cancer consists of abnormal cells that proliferate in an uncontrolled fashion, do not obey normal signals to die and cannot repair their DNA. Normal lung cells become cancerous through exposure to tobacco smoke, radon gas, asbestos or airborne pollutants.

In recent years, low-dose CT has begun to be used to screen for lung cancer. Regular chest X-rays detect lung cancers only when they measure centimeters in diameter – the size of a penny or bigger – but CT can find them much earlier, when they are only millimeters wide. As with any cancer, early detection is key to improved survival. Unfortunately, once lung cancer causes symptoms – such as persistent cough, coughing up blood, and weight loss – it has already reached an advanced stage. These newer CT scans also use a lower dosage of X-rays, lowering the risk of causing other health problems.

Saving lives
The U.S. Preventive Services Task Force recommends annual low-dose CT screening in adults between the ages of 55 and 80 who have a 30 pack-year smoking history – meaning that they have smoked the equivalent of one pack a day for 30 years, two packs per day for 15 years, and so on. This includes current smokers and those who have quit within the past 15 years.

The benefits of CT lung cancer screening depend on the population in question. There appears to be no benefit to screening people who do not have an increased lung cancer risk, such as nonsmokers. On the other hand, the benefits of screening appear to be highest in those at highest risk for lung cancer – in other words, those who have smoked the most cigarettes. With more research, it is possible that these screening guidelines will be modified.

So why are only 4% of patients being screened? One barrier is cost: Some patients lack insurance, and others may face high deductibles and copayments. Depending on location, costs can range from hundreds of dollars to a few thousand dollars. Another factor is the anxiety associated with a positive result. Yet another is education – many patients and even some physicians simply don’t know about the test, and even patients who do may decline to undergo it.

By spreading the word about CT lung cancer screening, my colleagues and I hope to save many more lives like Marie’s. By and large, lung cancer is only curable when detected early. Current and former smokers wondering if this test is right for them should talk with their doctor.

SOURCE: THE CONVERSATION

Burkina Faso Court Jails Two Generals Over 2015 Coup

Burkina Faso's former foreign minister Djibril Basole (R) was jailed for 10 years, and former head of the presidential security, General Gilbert Diendere, was given a 20-year sentence. Image: Ahmed Quoba/AFP

BY ARMEL BAILY, DAVID ESNAULT

OUAGADOUGOU (AFP) - A military court in Burkina Faso on Monday convicted and jailed two generals on charges of masterminding a coup in the fragile Sahel state in 2015.

General Gilbert Diendere was convicted on charges of murder and harming state security and handed a 20-year prison term, while General Djibrill Bassole, accused of treason, was ordered jailed for 10 years.

The coup, carried out by troops loyal to ousted president Blaise Compaore, was thwarted by public protest but at the cost of 14 lives and 270 wounded.

The two generals were the leading figures in a 19-month trial of 84 people accused of the attempted overthrow of Burkina's transitional government.

The coup was mounted by an elite unit of the army, the Presidential Security Regiment (RSP), on September 16 2015, less than a month before scheduled general elections.

It fizzled out within a week after army-backed street protestors attacked the rebels' barracks.

Compaore had fled to Ivory Coast in October 2014 after 27 years in office marked by assassinations and mounting public unrest.

He was forced out by a revolt sparked by his attempts to extend his grip on power, and a transitional government took the helm.

- Compaore's man -

Diendere, 60, had been Compaore's right-hand man and a former head of the RSP. He is rumoured to have taken part in the assassination in 1987 of Burkina's charismatic Marxist leader, Thomas Sankara -- the killing that brought Compaore to power.

Diendere, who was educated at the French military school of Saint-Cyr, gained high marks within the French intelligence service for his "professionalism and expertise" during the Compaore years, a source said.

This included contacts with Sahel jihadists that deterred them from operating in Burkina Faso, it said.

During the 2015 coup, Diendere took the helm of the putschists' governing body, the so-called National Council for Democracy.

Bassole, 62, was a foreign minister under Compaore and was one of the regime's most visible figures. He gained prominence in Arab and African countries as a mediator for the UN in the Darfur crisis.

Both had denied the charges against them, and Bassole's lawyers argued for him to be sent to France for cancer treatment.

But the prosecution, which had sought life sentences, said the pair had been instrumental in events.

Diendere was "the main instigator in the coup" and Bassole "helped to prepare (it)," said military prosecutor Pascaline Zoungrana.

The pair have two weeks in which to appeal.

Among 10 rebel troops who arrested members of the transitional government, a sentence of 19 years was handed down against a non-commissioned officer, Eloi Badiel, and 17 years against another NCO, Moussa Nebie, nicknamed Rambo. The others in this group were given 15 years.


Lieutenant-Colonel Mamadou Bamba, who had read the coup leaders' statement on television, was given 10 years, five of them suspended.

- Traumatic -

Although the would-be putsch was quickly quelled, it had traumatic consequences for Burkina Faso, one of the world's poorest countries with a history of chronic instability.

It dug a deep rift in the armed forces, weakening their ability to cope with mounting jihadist attacks that have now claimed more than 500 lives, analysts say.

Many in Burkina have been hoping that the end of the trial will shed light on what happened and usher in reconciliation.

Guy-Herve Kam, a lawyer representing civilian plaintiffs, said the trial had served the purposes of transparency.

"Today, we know who did what and, especially, why."

"For the Burkinabe people, this is a historic day," said fellow attorney Prosper Farama, paying tribute to a "fair and transparent trial" and "a victory for the state of law."

Paul Ouangrawa, secretary of an association of wounded victims, also said he was satisfied with the outcome.

"We are now waiting to see what happens next, especially about compensation, because there are dead and wounded."

But Serge Bayala, a member of a citizens' campaign group called Balai, said he was disappointed. Many of the prison terms were below what prosecutors had demanded.

"The level of punishment is not equal to even a third of the damage inflicted to lives and property," he argued.

Nigerian Insecurity Requires Urgent Attention, U.N. Rapporteur Warns

Agnes Callamard, U.N. special rapporteur on extrajudicial executions takes part in a UN side event in Geneva

ABUJA (REUTERS) - Nigeria's multiple security problems have created a crisis that requires urgent attention and could lead to instability in other African countries if it is not addressed, a United Nations rapporteur said on Monday.

Security forces in Africa's most populous country are trying to tackle a decade-long Islamist insurgency in the northeast, banditry in the northwest and bloody clashes between nomadic herdsmen and farming communities over dwindling arable land in central states.

Agnes Callamard, the U.N. special rapporteur on extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary executions, said Nigeria was a "pressure cooker of internal conflict".

"The overall situation I have found is one of extreme concern," she told a news conference in the capital, Abuja, where she presented her preliminary findings following a 12-day visit to the country.

Callamard said the police and military had shown an excessive use of lethal force across the West African country which, combined with a lack of effective investigations and meaningful prosecution, caused a lack of accountability.

She said the country required changes in the judiciary, police and military to stop people resorting to violence in the absence of justice.

"The lack of accountability is on such a scale that pretending this is nothing short of a crisis will be a major mistake. If ignored, its ripple effect will spread in the sub-region given the country's important role in the continent," she said.

Spokesman for the ministries of justice, military and police did not respond to a Reuters request for comment on Callamard's findings.

The Islamist insurgency waged by Boko Haram began in northeast Nigeria in 2009 but has spread to parts of neighboring Cameroon, Chad and Niger where members of the group and militants allied to Islamic State carry out attacks.

The rapporteur also condemned what she said was the "arbitrary deprivation of life" and the excessive use of lethal force in the case of processions held by banned Shi'ite Muslim group the Islamic Movement in Nigeria.

Callamard said the move to ban the group appeared be based on what the authorities thought IMN could become rather than its actions. She said she had not been presented with any evidence to suggest the group was weaponized and posed a threat to the country.

(Reporting by Alexis Akwagyiram and Camillus Eboh; Editing by Peter Cooney)

Haunting Echoes Of A Commemoration

Chinua Achebe. Image: Leonardo Cendamo/Getty


BY OKECHUKWU UWAEZUOKE


A group exhibition, whose theme revolves around the 60th anniversary celebration of Chinua Achebe’s iconic debut novel Things Fall Apart, concluded its three-city tour of Nigeria in Lagos, after previously holding in Awka and Abuja, Okechukwu Uwaezuoke reports

First, there was a caveat. And it was offered shortly before the Lagos leg of the exhibition was officially opened at the Thought Pyramid Art Centre along Norman Williams Street in South-west Ikoyi that Saturday, August 24 evening. At a cosy end of the gallery’s upper floor, where a roundtable discussion was in full swing, its resilient curator, Chuu Krydz Ikwuemesi, had reminded the discussants that – though the exhibition, And the Centre Refuses to Hold: Homage to Things Fall Apart @60, was based on Chinua Achebe’s debut novel, Things Fall Apart – it was not really concerned about the illustration of the novel’s content.

Among the leading art personalities present at that session, by the way, were the Obi of Onitsha, Nnaeneka Achebe; the renowned art collector, Omooba Yemisi Shyllon; the cultural activist and former newspaper editor, Jahman Anikulapo as well as the Arthouse Contemporary Limited’s founder, Kavita Chellaram. Also sitting among several others at the roundtable were two of the exhibiting artists – Tobenna Okwuosa and Akeem Muraina.

Indeed, Ikwuemesi was only re-echoing what the literary luminary and Nobel laureate, Professor Wole Soyinka, had written in his preface to the exhibition catalogue. Soyinka had explained that this endeavour was a continuation of the original “dialogue between image and word”, which began when his African publishers, Bookcraft, launched an outsize edition of Achebe’s iconic novel. This edition, it would be recalled, had featured contributions by a coterie of leading contemporary Nigerian artists. But, this exhibition, Soyinka reminded its audience, had set out “as original artistic tributes, for which the literary work maintains a ‘low profile’ as inspirational resource, leaving the artists to their own re-creative devices.” It is for this reason, he added, that it “should therefore be encountered as products in the vein of association of ideas, set as images, and not literal interpretations of the originating narrative.”

Featured at the exhibition, which ended yesterday, were works produced in diverse media by the following artists: Chuu Krydz Ikwuemesi, Tobenna Okwuosa, Ato Arinze, George Odoh, Tony Nsofor, Anthony Polo, Akeem Muraina, Ato Arinze, Chinyere Odinukwe, Nnaemezie Asogwa, Benjamin Akachukwu, Obi Nwaegbe, Iyke Okenyi, Jerry Buhari, Chris Echeta, Blaise Gundu Gbaden, Rita Doris Ubah, Doofan Kwaghhool and Abigail Nnaji.

Expectedly, the artists’ diverse backgrounds, experiences and idiosyncrasies gleamed through the works, among which were photographs, drawings, paintings, sculptures, installations and mixed media. These babel of expressions swirl around the trending issues in post-colonial Africa, through which the exhibition gropes for a unifying theme.

Take Akeem Muraina, the Lagos-based sculptor, for instance. Among the four works he contributed to the exhibition, two were metal sculptures while the remaining two were charcoal drawings. One of the metal sculptures, titled “Aremo” (Yoruba for step-father) depicts a bull and a young antelope co-joined in a prancing stance. The idea is to reflect the distinctions in class and status as well as a mutual affectionate bonding.

But, specifically, it metaphorically alludes to the relationship between the novel’s main character Okonkwo and his foster son Ikemefuna. Understandably, the old rugged bull, which symbolises Okonkwo’s bellicose disposition, finds its contrast in the antelope (a metaphorical depiction of the youth Ikemefuna), which exposes the soft underbelly of his fatherly love. The work, also a call to true humanity, urges affectionate bonding across artificial class distinctions. This is in reference to the love Okonkwo, a respected figure of Umuofia, had for a slave boy Ikemefuna, which he did not show to his own biological son, Nwoye.

Conversely, the photographer, Emezie Asogwa, with his body of works, titled “Wet Dreams”, makes no obvious reference to the novel. Rather, he expresses his thoughts about the power of the mind. Through blurry images hinting at motion, he tells the story of his dreams and the intrinsic energies of what he calls a “conscious unconsciousness” in a suite of miniature photographs. Thus, he guides the audience beyond the carnal imagery of his bodily experience and urges them to consider wet dreams as expressions of mental images in dense gross-materiality.

In the same vein, Obi Nwaegbe only tangentially references the novel in his acrylic on paper work, “The Protest”, but extends his musings beyond the obvious with his other similarly-rendered works: “Hangout at the Lounge”, “Women on a March”, “The Essence of Friendship” and “The Hawkers”. The Abuja-based artist seems rather more concerned about keeping a visual diary of the contemporary realities of his environment.

Similarly, Iyke Okenyi’s wooden sculptural offerings – “Dancer”, “Group Photograph”, “Heavy Rain”, and “Before I Die” – make no obvious references to the novel’s content. Yet, it leaves so much to the viewers’ conjectures.

This was not so the case with Tobenna Okwuosa’s paintings. For the Niger Delta University lecturer’s three oil on canvas works seem to be patently tied to the novel’s content. Yet, he lashes out through them at the mental slavery of the post-colonial African (in “Black Man, White Mask”); places the novel on a pedestal not just for its entertainment value, but also its possible use as a guide and text for mental liberation of the African (in “The Beginning of a Great Narrative”); and romanticises the heroism of its protagonist in the tradition of the Negritude writers (“Okonkwo”).

Nonetheless, not even the exhibition’s eclectic and impersonal attributes could have diminished its synergistic visual harmony. Hats off, therefore, to Ikwuemesi’s curatorial dexterity for the unobtrusive blending of the forms and the media.

Previously, the travelling exhibition – which featured a maximum of five works from each of the participating artists – had first held in October last year in the Anambra State capital Awka. This was before it held, more recently, in Abuja this year. And the Centre Refuses to Hold…,as a title, lends wings to the artists’ musings. It evokes a Tower of Babel scenario, in reference to the economic, political and social crises, which continually plague the continent. Thus, the novel’s account of the cultural conflicts between the colonial masters and their colonised subjects in the late 19th century echoes with relevance in the present. Beaming the spotlight on Unoka (Okonkwo’s father in the novel), it drew parallels between this character and the artist in the context of the contemporary Nigerian society.

SOURCE: THIS DAY

Pope Names 13 New Cardinals, Including 2 Who Help Migrants

Pope Francis arrives to recites the Angelus noon prayer from the window of his studio overlooking St.Peter's Square, at the Vatican, Sunday, Sept. 1, 2019. Pope Francis says he was stuck for 25 minutes in a Vatican elevator and had to be rescued by firefighters. Francis apologized to faithful in St. Peter's Square Sunday for showing up seven minutes late for his traditional noon appointment with the public. (AP Photo/Alessandra Tarantino)

BY FRANCES D'EMILIO

VATICAN CITY (AP) — Pope Francis on Sunday said he’s giving the Catholic church 13 new cardinals, including two churchmen who have worked to help migrants and several others who toil in poor countries or nations where Christians are a minority.

Francis made the surprise announcement from his studio window overlooking St. Peter’s Square.

Several of his picks come from developing countries, like Cuba, Congo and Guatemala. Two are based in predominantly Muslim countries: Morocco and Indonesia.

“Their provenance expresses the missionary vocation of the Church to continue to announce the merciful love of God to all men on Earth,” the pope said before reading aloud a list of their names.


Ten of the men are under 80 and eligible to vote in any conclave to elect a new pontiff.

The ceremony to formally give the churchmen the red cardinal hat will be held on Oct. 5 at the Vatican.

With Francis’ papacy heavily focused on the needs of those living on society’s margins, including migrants, he chose two men whose clerical careers reflect concerns about immigrations.

One of them is Bologna Archbishop Matteo Zuppi, an Italian who for some 30 years guided the Roman basilica of Santa Maria in Trastevere, whose doors literally have been opened to let the homeless sleep inside on cold winter nights. The basilica is the focal point for a Catholic charity, Sant’Egidio, which runs programs including language instruction for newly arrived migrants, and distributes hot meals and clothing to them.

The other is the Rev. Michael Czerny, a Jesuit like the pope, who is an official who was named in 2016 by Francis to help lead a Vatican office concerned with refugees and migrants. He is a native of what was then Czechoslovakia.

Among the Vatican officials chosen to be cardinals is Bishop Miguel Angel Ayuso Guixot, a Spaniard who is president of the Pontifical Council for Interreligious Dialogue. His resume includes teaching Islamic studies in Khartoum, Sudan, Cairo, Egypt and then at the Pontifical Institute of Arabic and Islamic Studies.

US To Use Fake Social Media To Check People Entering Country

In this Aug. 16, 2019, file photo a citizen candidate holds an American flag and the words to The Star-Spangled Banner before the start of a naturalization ceremony at the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services Miami field office in Miami. U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services officers can now create fictitious social media accounts to monitor information on foreigners seeking visas, green cards and citizenship.(AP Photo/Wilfredo Lee)

BY TAMY ABDOLLAH

WASHINGTON (AP) — U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services officers can now create fictitious social media accounts to monitor social media information on foreigners seeking visas, green cards and citizenship.

An updated Homeland Security Department review of potential privacy issues dated July 2019 that was posted online on Friday essentially reversed a prior ban on officers creating fake profiles.

A USCIS statement explaining the change says fake accounts and identities will make it easier for investigators to search for potential evidence of fraud or security concerns as they decide whether to allow someone entry into the U.S.

The change in policy was preceded by other steps taken by the State Department, which began requiring applicants for U.S. visas to submit their social media usernames this past June, a vast expansion of the Trump administration’s enhanced screening of potential immigrants and visitors.

It’s unclear exactly how the creation of fake social media accounts would work given policies of platforms like Facebook and Twitter, which both specifically state that impersonation — pretending to be someone other than yourself — violates their terms of use.

Twitter and Facebook recently shut down numerous accounts believed to be operated by the Chinese government using their platforms under false identities for information operations.

“It is against our policies to use fake personae and to use Twitter data for persistent surveillance of individuals. We look forward to understanding USCIS’s proposed practices to determine whether they are consistent with our terms of service,” according to a Twitter statement. Facebook did not immediately provide comment.

Such a review of social media would be conducted by officers in the agency’s Fraud Detection and National Security Directorate on cases flagged as requiring more investigation. The privacy assessment notes that officers can only review publicly available social media available to all users on the platform — they cannot “friend” or “follow” an individual — and must undergo annual training.

The officers are also not allowed to interact with users on the social media sites and can only passively review information, according to the DHS document.

While lots of social media activity can be viewed without an account, many platforms limit access without one.

Dave Maass, senior investigative researcher for the civil liberties advocacy group Electronic Frontier Foundation, said such use of fake accounts “undermines our trust in social media companies and our ability to communicate and organize and stay in touch with people.”

He added: “It can’t be this double standard where police can do it, but members of the general public can’t.”

Mike German, a retired FBI agent and a fellow in the Brennan Center for Justice’s Liberty and National Security program said it’s important for strong guidelines to be in place and for lawmakers to ask lots of questions to ensure there are no abuses.

“It’s easy to conjure up a use where the use is appropriate and entirely necessary, but also where it could be abused,” German said. “It should only be used in cases where absolutely necessary.”

In January 2017, former Homeland Security Department Secretary Jeh Johnson issued a privacy impact update giving authority to USCIS to “conduct law enforcement activities including but not limited to accessing internet and publicly available social media content using a fictitious account or identity.”

But a privacy impact assessment was required to be completed first.

Reached by phone on Friday, Johnson declined to comment.

Bipartisan support for additional background checks involving social media was initially spurred by the fallout of the 2015 San Bernardino attack, which resulted in 14 people’s deaths.

In that case, the shooter Syed Rizwan Farook’s wife Tashfeen Malik gained entry to the U.S. on a fiancée visa — a process that did not involve a social media check.

The day after the attack, Facebook found a post on a page maintained by Malik pledging her and Farook’s allegiance to the leader of the Islamic State group. The page was under an alias. Authorities have said Malik and Farook exchanged messages about jihad and martyrdom online before they were married and while she was living in Pakistan.

The two ultimately died in a gun battle with police.

AP Writer Elliot Spagat in San Diego contributed to this report. Follow Tami Abdollah on Twitter at https://twitter.com/latams

Osadebe Fest: Preserving The Legacy Of A Highlife Legend

L-R: Son of the Late Sir Stephen Osita Osadebe, Onyeka Osadebe, Convener, Osadebe Fest, Afam Dozie, HRH Igwe John C. Nwosu, Ezechimeleze the Eze Ndigbo of Mushin Lagos, Steve Onu, and Oranu Hillary Ikechukwu at the brand unveiling of the Osadebe Fest in Lagos recently

THIS DAY
A group of young men from the Igbo stock recently came together to bring back the life and times of a legendary icon, late Chief Stephen Osita Osadebe, one of Nigeria’s Highlife pioneers. MARY NNAH reports that they intend to go back to their roots to expound the culture and tradition which the late music icon propagated and stood for, believing this would help to project the Igbo culture and race globally

Chief Stephen Osita Osadebe, simply known as Osadebe, a Nigerian highlife musician from Atani, Anambra State is one of the best known Igbo highlife musicians in Nigeria and globally.

Born in March 1936, Osadebe’s career, according to the Wikipedia, spanned over 40 years. He was best known for his 1984 hit song, “Osondi Owendi”, literally meaning, “One man’ meat is another man’s poison”, which established him as a leader in the highlife genre and was one of Nigeria’s most popular records ever.

Yet, after his demise at the age of 73 on May 11, 2007 at Saint Mary’s Hospital, Waterbury, Connecticut, United States, nothing worthwhile has been done to preserve the legacy of a man described as the “doyen of highlife” in Nigeria.

Conversely, a group of young men, just recently, decided to come together and do something extraordinary by coming up with an innovative idea to bring to life Osadebe’s life and times, through an initiative tagged the “Osadebe Fest.”

The brand unveiling of, “Osadebe Fest tagged “Celebrating a Legend: In memory of Chief Stephen Osita Osadebe (The Highlife Music Icon)”, held in Lagos, which had in attendance the team behind the project, made up of the Convener, Afam Dozie, Oranu Hillary Ikechukwu; OAP and entertainer, Steve Onu popularly known as Yaw amongst others.

Dozie, an indigene of Otolo Nnewi in Anambra State, said Osadebe Fest is not just about celebration but to impact on the young people who didn’t meet Osadebe as a person or didn’t know what his songs stood for.

“We were fortunate enough to grow up with parents as typical Igbos who played Osadebe songs every morning as we listened. The kind of advice Osadebe gives in his songs are inspiring. That alone got me very involved with tradition. So, we decided to start this”, Dozie on how he got inspired to start the Osadebe Fest.

As the brain behind the project, he has got together young able-bodied men like himself, who believe in the same dream.

“I cannot do it alone; we cannot do it alone too. We need the Igbos; we need Igbos in diaspora, we need Nigerians, and we need everybody who believes Osadebe impacted on us in one or two ways through his genre of music, which is highlife. So we are projecting a bigger picture, this is just the official unveiling event”, he added.

The event which has the support of the Igbo elders as well as the family of the late legend, as was shown with the representation by one of his sons, Onyeka Osadebe, is funded at the moment by the founding team. However, Dozie said it is open to sponsorship by organisations and individuals with like minds.

“We are looking forward to get support from all nooks of life including the Anambra State government, media and brands that would associate with the progress of this event. We just want will-be sponsors to understand the vision behind this. This has nothing to do with personal interest but basically it is a collective effort of like minds coming together to take our culture to the next level.

“As an Igbo man, I strongly believe in my culture and I also believe that we need to take our culture to where it should be. So, through the entertainment filed, we have decided to use the Osadebe symbol to portray this idea and then push it out there. Like I said, the opportunities are endless”, he noted.

He revealed further that highpoints for the build up to the major event coming up sometime next year would include a novelty football match, symposiums, school debates on the music icon for secondary schools, festival of masquerades where all the masquerades from various quarters of the eastern zone would be brought together in one place to pay homage to late Osadebe and then the main concert which would crown up the whole event in Awka, Anambra State.

“The Osadebe Fest is not just for the Osadebe’s family but for every Igbo person. As team for this project, we are not selfish that is why we are putting it up for everyone, most especially for those that have done highlife music, to be part of the project.

“So, whilst we are preparing for the major event with the various activations that I have mentioned earlier, the musical competition will commence online, so that people who are in the same genre of music as Osadebe would showcase their talents and then winners would emerge who would play on stage during the main event. So, the Osadebe Fest is everyone’s business,. It is for the family, the country and the world at large”, Dozie added.

One of those working behind the scene for the success of the Osadebe Fest Concert, Steve Onu, popularly known as Yaw, said, “I have decided to be part of this project because this is something I have always wanted to do for the Easterners but you know it is not an easy thing, you hardly get support.

“Incidentally, when Afam approached me, and said this is exactly what he wanted to do, I just keyed into the idea. So we are just going ahead with this and believing that it would be a different case.”

Expressing optimism about the approaching event, Onu said, “I strongly believe that this would go a long way to project our culture internationally and otherwise. Before now I have been an advocate but it is a good thing that somebody is spearheading the cause because it requires a lot of work and team work as well. We need the support of everybody to make this a reality.”

Speaking further, Onu who perhaps has foreseen what the project portends, said, “This is no child’s play. African music cannot be talked about without Highlife and that is what the easterners represent. There are lots of brands coming with various styles of Highlife music because they know that African music is not complete without it. So, it means that we cannot run away from these things. I think this is what we need to do now to go back home a bit”.

Stressing on the area he is going to give his support, he said, “Apart from just being on radio, I run a TV channel online, I am a producer, content creator and all of that, so I can pull strings to ensure we come up with a wonderful event.”

On how significant the project is to him as a person, he said, “I am Igbo and a proud one at that and I would always be one. So, I would say that it would definitely be a huge one to help project the Igbo culture and race internationally.”

“You cannot run away from Highlife, it is our thing and that is what we are known for. And I think that every musician now, even though they say what they do is Afro-hip-hop, when you listen to it carefully you still feel some rhythm of Highlife embedded in their music. So we cannot run away from it”, Onu noted further.

According to Hillary Ikechukwu Oranu, another member of the team from Umuoji in Anambra State, the proposed event is intended to be held next year, tentatively in March, the birth month of late Osadebe.

“We are looking at next year because it is good for events like these to be significant with a figure. In the sense that you are either doing it on his birthday or you’re doing it in the period he died. We don’t intend to hold the even around the period he died. He died in May, he was given birth to in March so we are keeping our fingers crossed and hoping that around March we would be having the whole event”,Oranu said.

On how he got to be part of the project, he said, “Afam is the brain behind the whole thing. When he called me into the picture, I realised we shared the same idea. And so, we looked at the pros and cons of the project and we decided to come together to ensure that this comes to reality.”

Speaking further on the significance of the proposed Osadebe Fest, Oranu said, “Everybody would agree with me that traditionally, it is good to fall back home at some point, but we are not falling back home at this point because we are old but we are taking back our culture. We want to recognise what is rightfully ours; we want to put the Igbo culture and the Igbo tradition where it is meant to be.

“Basically, the whole idea about the Osadebe fest is not child’s play. It’s a project we intend to sustain for years. Osadebe is meant to be celebrated even in death because he is the biggest Highlife artist from the eastern part of Nigeria. So we felt this man shouldn’t just turn to dust, and vanish just like that. We need to sustain that name; he needs to be in the world map and bringing him into the map a whole lot of culture and tradition needs to be put in place.

“That’s exactly why we are doing this. We are not from his village, we are not his family members but we are just a group of Igbo guys who understand our culture and know where we want to place the Igbo tradition and culture. We understand the importance of Highlife and music in our tradition. That is the direction and vision of where we are going to.”

Stressing further that the planned event has the full support of the late Osadebe’s family as well as the traditional rulers in Igbo land, he said, “We are not just doing this on our own accord, we have the family involved in this, we have the traditional rulers of his village and also the council of traditional rulers and Igwes with the Ohaneze Ndigbo with us. So what we are doing is traditional, it is not just a comedy or musical concert. Permit me to mention “Felabration”, with time Osadebe Fest would get to that point.”

Unveiling the brand logo for Osadebe Fest, the Eze Ndigbo of Mushin Lagos, HRH Igwe John C. Nwosu, Ezechimeleze, said, “I feel highly honoured unveiling the logo for Osadebe Fest today. Osadebe is a great man in Igbo land, Nigeria, Africa and in the world because his music cuts across the globe. So, we are celebrating him today because he is a great man.”

While commending the group for coming up with such innovative idea and also giving his blessings for a successful outing, Eze Nwosu said, “How can a great man like Osadebe just vanish from the society? For these young men remembering him by planning an event like this, which they would be showcasing him and his music every year, is commendable. They have done very well and I pray that God would always be with them as they carry on with the project with steadiness.”

Stressing that lyrics of Osadebe’s music are loaded with lot of meaning and blessings, he frowned at the kind of songs being propagated by the youths of today.

He however encouraged young musicians to emulate the likes of Osadebe in creating music that would endure the test of time.

“Whenever we remember Osadebe, we remember the good work he did by promoting our culture, using his music to educate us on things concerning our culture. I don’t think that in years to come, we can get somebody to replace him. We miss a great man. We can only advice the younger generations to try as much as possible to emulate such legends who did wonders with their songs in the music industry in Nigeria.”

Hon. Jude Obiekwe, the Akpokwuo Dike, a businessman and politician, described the idea as novel, saying, “We are seeing this for the first time and It is a welcome idea to the generation of today. Osadebe is legend and when you see young minds coming together to honour him, we must give kudos to that. So I am very proud of this team.”

He promised to render the group every support needed to ensure the project sees the light of the day.

He called on the present generation of musicians to learn from music icons like Osadebe and their genre of music, adding, “Osadebe’s music is for everyone, not majorly for the Igbos, it cuts across the globe, so, it is things of joy that this is coming up at this point in time.

In Independence, The Year-Old Nigerian Restaurant My Village Grill Is A Welcome Home Away From Home

Chef-owner Victor Ejelonu often pulls double-duty, greeting guests and dashing back to the kitchen to prepare their meals. Image: Zach Bauman

BY LIZ COOK

Here’s the thing: I’m not an expert on Nigerian food.

This confession shouldn’t come as a surprise. I grew up in rural Iowa and have the skin tone of someone who spent the last 30 years locked in a windowless basement.

But restaurant criticism seems to demand that one adopt an authoritative tone — that one make flat pronouncements about “insipid” soups and bluster about perceived gaffs in technique. What’s an ignorant critic to do?

I read, of course — as much as I can get my hands on. I try as many dishes as possible. But when it comes to the food at My Village Grill, the year-old Nigerian restaurant in Independence, I know I’m missing some culinary touchstones. I’ve never inhaled the raw scent of a stick of oburunbebe before it’s simmered to make banga, or tasted a bush mango seed before it’s ground into a coarse powder for ogbono soup.

Chef-owner Victor Ejelonu didn’t waste any time puncturing my self-consciousness.

“You are going to have an experience,” he told me after taking my order (efo riro with pounded yam). He sounded almost giddy, as if a voice could skip. “You’re going to be Anthony Bourdain.”

I looked around the restaurant, spotless and empty. I didn’t feel like Bourdain. I felt like a guest at a wedding in an Elk’s Lodge circa 2000. Black tablecloths were topped with glittery gold charger plates; colorful helium balloons were tacked to drop-ceiling tiles; strings of color-changing LEDs pulsed around the bar. Laugh, commanded a sign on the wall in curly silver script. On the eastern wall, a portable stage squatted beneath an electronic disco ball, both waiting to come to life.

I felt like turning on that disco ball when the efo riro arrived. The stew was smoky, spicy, and richly flavored. Although efo riro is often made with aramanth, My Village Grill uses spinach leaves cooked down until they’ve practically absorbed into the savory broth. The greens add a bittersweet pulse to the fermented funk of stockfish and the bracing red heat of the soup’s pepper base. If you’ve never tried Nigerian soups before, this is a great introduction.

Ejelonu has assembled a menu that represents a broad cross-section of Nigerian cuisine. Some of the dishes on offer are popular in the Niger Delta, others in western Nigeria. A few soups, such as efo riro, originated with the Yoruba people, others with the Igbo or Efik.

Part of the “experience” Ejelonu alluded to lies in the act of eating them. The soups are part of a menu of “swallow meals” — a reference to starchy accompaniments like fufu meant to be “swallowed” with your soup. My Village Grill offers several swallows, from pounded yam fufu (wispy and soft, with a texture like stiff mashed potatoes) to eba fufu (a toothier, grainier dough made from grated cassava). Forget your fork and use the fufu as your cutlery. Pinch off a little ball with your first three fingers, then shape it into a starch-spoon for scooping up soup.

Peppers are a key player in Nigerian cuisine; recipe writer Yewande Komolafe turned me onto a Yoruba saying, translated as “the soul that does not eat pepper is a dead soul.” But some dishes on the menu are naturally mild. The egusi soup relies on ground melon seeds to provide a nutty taste and crumbly texture while thickening the tangy, greens-laden soup into a hearty stew.

The okra and spinach soup is another benign option, though it’s not likely to convert okra skeptics. The soup showcases okra in all its mucilaginous glory, yielding gooey spoonfuls that trail away from the bowl like chewing gum. The tripe in my bowl was too tough to power through — I’d order it with the goat next time, which is mild and sweet and fall-off-the-bone tender — but the broth’s subtle flavors let the flavor of the okra shine.

On the other end of the spectrum: the whole grilled tilapia, which is one of the better-prepared whole fishes I’ve been served (and a great deal at $12). For years, I’ve resigned myself to ordering restaurant dishes with a “spice cushion” — which is to say, one step hotter than I actually want. (I don’t begrudge restaurants for grading on a curve; the spice distribution has been inexorably skewed by diners who find black pepper taxing).

But when I ordered the grilled fish “hot,” it came out exactly that, with a rich, round pepper burn from a fragrant, nutty spice paste dry-brushed liberally onto the flesh. I attacked the fish between lusty gulps of ice water: each morsel flaked easily off the bone but retained a plump juiciness.

As corny as it sounds, I consider that spiced-to-order fish an act of trust. Eating at My Village Grill feels like dining in a new friend’s home. The chef and servers are eager to share their food and invite you in; friends of the restaurant cheer on your entrée choices or lean over from the pool table to advise on fufu technique. On one visit, a friendly waitress brought my table a little dish of chin chin, crunchy wheat crackers with a subtle sweetness, because she thought we might like to try them. On another, Ejelonu insisted we try the palm wine: a milky, naturally fermented drink made from the sap of a palm tree. The bottled drink was a little yeasty and a lot sweet — an ideal complement for earthy, spicy meals.

The neighborly hospitality extends to the décor, which evokes a pan-African vibe. The Nigerian flag shares wall space with the flags of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Zimbabwe, Ghana, and Tanzania, among others. (Before Dale with the bald eagle profile pic writes in — yes, there’s an American flag, too).

Newcomers to the cuisine have plenty of easy entry points. Take the samoosas — samosas, but twice as fun to say. The pastries come five to an order, each fried to a crisp sable brown and filled to the corners with mildly seasoned ground beef. They’re the perfect neutral vehicle for the smoky, velvety tomato sauce served alongside. Ejelonu called it his “secret sauce” and declined to elaborate on the ingredients. “If I told you…” he began, then trailed off meaningfully.

Another crowdpleaser: the jollof rice (a generous portion runs $5). Each grain of rice is perfectly chubby and chewy, tomato-rouged and spice-mottled. For a couple extra bucks, you can add stapler-sized slices of fried plantains, crisped and caramelized on the edges but tender within, sprinkled with just enough salt to make the natural sweetness crackle on the tongue.

One of the restaurant’s most popular dishes is the beef suya: skewers of thin-sliced beef dredged in a peanut-forward spice blend and kissed on a grill. There’s a chicken version, too — and as with most dishes, the restaurant will customize to your spice tolerance. Still, I’d nudge first-timers toward the soup menu. You can order jollof or skewered meats at a few different restaurants in the metro; isi-ewu (spiced goat head) is harder to come by.

Sometimes I hear from diners who are wary of trying unfamiliar cuisines. “I don’t want an adventure,” someone told me when soliciting a recommendation. “I just want dinner.”

Everyone has the right to order what they like, but I find this sentiment puzzling. It doesn’t take courage to sit at a table and eat what someone else has prepared. It does take some curiosity. Enjelou had the measure of it when he called eating “an experience.” Adventures are ephemeral. You can have an experience, but you can also develop it.

Here are a couple sentences that are only marginally about food: You don’t have to be an expert at everything. You just have to be willing to learn — and to look a little foolish in the process.

I’m an expert at the latter. I’m sure I handled my fufu with the grace and poise of a famished warthog. But that didn’t seem to matter to the waitress, who dropped by the table to deliver a message with a shy grin: “I’m so happy you’re eating with your hands.”

I’m going to need to eat a lot more fufu before I master my starch-spoon technique. My Village Grill makes that practice an attractive proposition.

SOURCE: THE PITCH

TICAD 7: African Leaders Make A Clarion Call For Increased Private Sector Engagement

BY AFRICAN DEVELOPMENT BANK GROUP

YOKOHAMA, JAPAN (ADBC) - The African Development Bank delegation’s packed sessions kicked off on Thursday with President Adesina addressing Plenary Session 3 on Public-Private Business Dialogue: Enhance Trade and Investment between Japan and Africa.

Japan’s Prime Minister Shinzo Abe officially opened the session, chaired by Egypt’s President Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi and co-chaired by South Africa’s President Cyril Ramaphosa. The Presidents of Nigeria, Muhamadu Buhari; Namibia, Hage G. Geingob; Niger, Mahamadou Issoufou; and the continent’s top captains of industries were in attendance.

“Our government has put in place measures, seeking to diversify our economy by developing agriculture, emphasizing manufacturing and addressing the energy and infrastructure deficit. With this we shall be placing Nigeria on the path of rapid growth and sustainable development,” Buhari said, before inviting Japanese investors to invest in power and renewable energy, petrochemicals and gas, maritime shipping, ports, agribusiness and healthcare, some priority sectors identified by his administration.

“Nigeria has very attractive investment opportunities with some of the highest returns in investment,” Buhari said.

Africa needs quality infrastructure, and presents the biggest deal of all: a market investment of $68 - $108 billion a year. There is increased foreign direct investment all across Africa. “Think of it,” Adesina told the 2,000 delegates, “TICAD, China-Africa Forum, India-Africa Forum, US-Africa Forum the Russia-Africa Forum. What do they all see? A population of two billion people. Rapid urbanization, with increased demand and infrastructure and the world’s largest youth population.

Adesina urged Japanese companies “to be at the table and on the ground in Africa,” because “the truth is, there is no risk-free environment - not even in Japan. In reality, perceived risks in Africa are actually much higher than real risks. Africa presents a compelling return for investors,” he said.

Wrap up of Day 2 with key moments for the African Development Bank’s delegation

At the African Development Bank Side Event on Investing in Human Capital Development in Africa: A case for Education & Skills, Nutrition, Health & Jobs for Youth, delegates heard from Senegal’s President Macky Sall, the Bank’s chief Adesina and Jennifer Blanke, Vice President Agriculture, Human and Social Development.

“Education is also a societal leveler that enables the children of the poor to be on an even playing field as those of the rich. To ensure a more equal world, we must provide quality education for all,” Adesina pleaded. Link to President Adesina’s full speech.

Adesina underscored the need to rapidly end stunting at the Global Panel on Agriculture & Food Systems for Nutrition (GPAN) - Ending Malnutrition in Africa: Towards Nutrition for Growth 2020 & Beyond.

“We have a responsibility in our time to unite, to defeat the twin scourges of stunting and malnutrition,” Adesina said, while VP Jennifer Blanke offered the Bank’s approach and perspectives on combatting malnutrition. “The Bank is rolling out a nutrition lens across all its agricultural investment. I want to tell policy makers, think about all the investments in education, investing in nutrition is also a good investment,” she noted.

At the Panel discussion on “How to mobilise private sector investment for sustainable infrastructure development in Africa and the role of the financial sector” Vice President for Finance and Chief Finance Officer of African Development Bank, Bajabulile Swazi Tshabalala, shared insights on the Bank’s role in helping crowd in the private sector to bridge Africa’s infrastructure gap.

A number of Bank-led initiatives are in place to create an enabling environment for doing business. “The Bank provides concessional and non-concessional Policy Based Loans to countries focusing on governance to support their sector wide initiatives that are aimed at improving the business environment and ease of doing business in Africa,” Tshabalala said.

The Bank Group also deploys de-risking instruments, including the Partial Risk Guarantee (PRG) and the Partial Credit Guarantee (PCG), to help leverage and catalyze private sector financing by covering private lenders/investors against well-defined political and commercial risks.

“With its unique position in Africa, the Bank leverages its AAA rating and its Preferred Creditor Status (PCS) to attract private financing for development by covering risks that private investors are unable or unwilling to absorb or mitigate,” Tshabalala noted.

Last month, the Bank executed a EURO 470 million partial credit guarantee (PCG) to help Senegal hedge its inherent currency risk from its 2021 and 2033 Eurobonds. The transaction attracted interest from 13 international commercial banks including Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group (MUFG Bank).

African heads of states and key business leaders from around the world are attending TICAD7 which provides an opportunity to explore investment opportunities and learn from Japan’s experience. The event, held every 3 years, has been convened alternately in Japan and Africa since 2016. The last TICAD was held in Nairobi, Kenya.

Contact: 

Nafissatou Diouf, Communication and External Relations Department: n.diouf@afdb.org

US Agency Sees Low Risk In Contaminated Blood Pressure Drugs

In this Thursday, March 14, 2008 file photo, a woman rides a bicycle past Changzhou SPL in Changzhou, China. The FDA did not open its first permanent offices in China and India until 2008 and 2009, respectively. That followed dozens of deaths and hundreds of allergic reactions in the U.S. linked to the contaminated blood thinner heparin made at this Chinese facility. (AP Photo/Eugene Hoshiko)

BY MATHEW PERRONE

WASHINGTON (AP) — U.S. health officials on Wednesday tried to reassure patients that they face very low risks from ongoing contamination problems with widely prescribed blood pressure drugs.

Drugmakers have issued more than 50 recalls since last July linked to low levels of a probable cancer-causing chemical found in generic drugs taken by millions of Americans. The contamination underscores the Food and Drug Administration’s struggle to police an industry that increasingly relies on overseas manufacturing plants in China and India.

On Wednesday, an FDA official said the actual risk to patients from the tainted medications is likely lower than originally stated.

The FDA said last year that if 8,000 patients took the maximum dose of the drugs for four years, the contamination issue could cause one extra case of cancer over their lifetimes.

The agency now says that the actual risk to patients is likely much lower than this “worst case scenario.” That’s because most patients likely “received much smaller amounts of the impurity,” because not all blood pressure drugs on the market contain the hazardous chemicals.

The FDA’s drug center director, Janet Woodcock, said patients should continue taking their medication, because the risk of untreated high blood pressure and heart failure “greatly outweighs the potential risk of exposure to trace amounts” of contaminants.

The affected medications are low-cost versions of lifesaving heart-regulating drugs, including valsartan, losartan and irbesartan. They are designed to allow blood to flow more easily and are sold as single-ingredient pills and tablets and in combination with other drugs.

The FDA is responsible for ensuring that U.S. medicines are produced in safe, sanitary conditions that meet quality standards. But regulators have struggled for years to inspect the supply chain as pharmaceutical production spread globally.

For decades the FDA focused its manufacturing inspections on U.S. factories. More than 90 percent of the drugs prescribed in the U.S. are generics, and over time, most companies have moved their manufacturing overseas to take advantage of cheaper labor and materials. Today roughly 80 percent of the ingredients used in U.S. medicines are made abroad, according to the Government Accountability Office.

The FDA did not open its first permanent offices in China and India until 2008 and 2009, respectively. That followed dozens of deaths and hundreds of allergic reactions in the U.S. linked to a contaminated blood thinner made at a Chinese facility.

The FDA has tried to keep pace with foreign inspections. But when the GAO’s watchdog investigators last examined the issue in 2016, they estimated the FDA had never inspected nearly 1,000 of the 3,000 foreign manufacturing facilities that export drug ingredients to the U.S.

Earlier this summer House lawmakers asked the FDA to provide information about its oversight of facilities in China and India linked to the recent recalls.

“We remain concerned about whether FDA has the appropriate resources, policies, management practices, and authorities to oversee adequately foreign drug manufacturing,” wrote members of the House Committee on Energy and Commerce, in a June letter to the FDA.

On Wednesday, Woodcock noted that the FDA recently issued a warning letter to an India-based manufacturer, Lantech Pharmaceuticals, over traces of a carcinogen found at one of its facilities. The FDA said the company failed to “control and monitor” its manufacturing to prevent the chemical from making its way into pharmaceutical shipments.

The FDA notes that 43 blood pressure medications have not been affected by the contaminations issues. No drug shortages have been reported due to the issue, the agency noted .Follow Matthew Perrone on Twitter: @AP_FDAwriter


The Associated Press Health and Science Department receives support from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute’s Department of Science Education. The AP is solely responsible for all content.