Infant playpens recalled in US after baby's strangling death
Agence France-Presse
Last updated 10:56am (Mla time) 09/28/2007

WASHINGTON -- A US manufacturer of furniture for infants and small children, Kolcraft Enterprises, on Thursday recalled 425,000 playpens following the strangulation death of a 10-month-old boy. 

In addition to the Sesame Beginnings Play Yard, in which the infant boy died after strangling on a restraint strap, 12 other models are included in the recall, the company said in a statement issued jointly with the US Consumer Product Safety Commission.

Among them, the Contours 3-in-1 Play Yard poses a suffocation risk, the statement said.

Kolcraft has received 45 reports of children rolling to the side of a rocking cradle on the Contours 3-in-1 play yard and becoming trapped against the side of the cradle, where they could suffocate.

The statement made no mention of any suffocation deaths related to the play yards.

All the recalled play yards were manufactured in China.

Kolcraft's recall came a week after US authorities announced a recall of one million China-made baby cribs after at least two babies became trapped and died, and more than 60 other incidents were reported.

The US Consumer Product Safety Commission said Friday it was recalling older-style Simplicity Inc. cots because the drop-side could became detached, creating a gap which could either trap or suffocate a child.

A nine-month-old baby and a six-month-old were known to have died when the drop-side of their cots were installed upside down and collapsed, the commission said in a statement.

The commission was also investigating the death of a one-year-old in a newer Simplicity crib in which the drop-side was installed upside down.

Heart disease patients at higher risk for colorectal cancer
Agence France-Presse
Last updated 09:55am (Mla time) 09/26/2007

WASHINGTON -- Patients with coronary artery disease face nearly double the risk of healthy people for colorectal cancer, according to a Hong Kong study released Tuesday in the United States.

University of Hong Kong researcher Annie On On Chan found that the prevalence of colorectal cancers and tumors was sharply higher among patients newly diagnosed with atherosclerosis, and even greater if they were smokers or had metabolic syndrome.

Chan's research team studied 621 people being screened for coronary artery disease (CAD) in Hong Kong, their average age over 60, between November 2004 and June 2006, to determine any linkage between coronary disease and colorectal cancer, the second-most prevalent cancer around the globe.

For those newly diagnosed with coronary disease, the rate of cancer was 4.4 percent; for those without heart disease 0.5 percent, and 1.5 percent in the general population.

"Both colorectal neoplasm and CAD probably develop through the mechanism of chronic inflammation," the authors said in a summary of their research.

"Inflammation is now recognized as being pivotal in the pathogenesis of atherosclerosis and, hence, CAD. Colorectal cancer is also thought to progress through the pathway of inflammation."

The research will be published in the September 26 edition of the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA).

United Nations adopts Declaration on Rights of Indigenous Peoples
http://www.un.org/apps/news/story.asp?NewsID=23794&Cr=indigenous&Cr1#

13 September 2007 – The General Assembly today adopted a landmark declaration outlining the rights of the world’s estimated 370 million indigenous people and outlawing discrimination against them – a move that followed more than two decades of debate.

The United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples has been approved after 143 Member States voted in favour, 11 abstained and four – Australia, Canada, New Zealand and the United States – voted against the text.

A non-binding text, the Declaration sets out the individual and collective rights of indigenous peoples, as well as their rights to culture, identity, language, employment, health, education and other issues.

The Declaration emphasizes the rights of indigenous peoples to maintain and strengthen their own institutions, cultures and traditions and to pursue their development in keeping with their own needs and aspirations.

It also prohibits discrimination against indigenous peoples and promotes their full and effective participation in all matters that concern them, and their right to remain distinct and to pursue their own visions of economic and social development.

General Assembly President Sheikha Haya Rashed Al Khalifa, Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon and High Commissioner for Human Rights Louise Arbour have all welcomed today’s adoption.

Sheikha Haya said “the importance of this document for indigenous peoples and, more broadly, for the human rights agenda, cannot be underestimated. By adopting the Declaration, we are also taking another major step forward towards the promotion and protection of human rights and fundamental freedoms for all.”

But she warned that “even with this progress, indigenous peoples still face marginalization, extreme poverty and other human rights violations. They are often dragged into conflicts and land disputes that threaten their way of life and very survival; and, suffer from a lack of access to health care and education.”

In a statement released by his spokesperson, Mr. Ban described the Declaration’s adoption as “a historic moment when UN Member States and indigenous peoples have reconciled with their painful histories and are resolved to move forward together on the path of human rights, justice and development for all.”

He called on governments and civil society to ensure that the Declaration’s vision becomes a reality by working to integrate indigenous rights into their policies and programmes.

Ms. Arbour noted that the Declaration has been “a long time coming. But the hard work and perseverance of indigenous peoples and their friends and supporters in the international community has finally borne fruit in the most comprehensive statement to date of indigenous peoples’ rights.”

The UN Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues estimates there are more than 370 million indigenous people in some 70 countries worldwide.

Members of the Forum said earlier this year that the Declaration creates no new rights and does not place indigenous peoples in a special category.

Ambassador John McNee of Canada said his country was disappointed to have to vote against the Declaration, but it had “significant concerns” about the language in the document.

The provisions on lands, territories and resources “are overly broad, unclear and capable of a wide variety of interpretations” and could put into question matters that have been settled by treaty, he said.

Mr. McNee said the provisions on the need for States to obtain free, prior and informed consent before it can act on matters affecting indigenous peoples were unduly restrictive, and he also expressed concern that the Declaration negotiation process over the past year had not been “open, inclusive or transparent.” -End-

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