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Argentina Media Focus AH1N1 Flu
Buenos Aires - The AH1N1 flu virus is
filling television channels in Argentina after the
health emergency decreed in 17 of the 24 provinces
of the country.
Sunday's legislative elections that gave a defeat
for forces supporting the government caused an about
face in the media and news is now focused on the flu
with its consequent questions and eventual dangers.
To date there are 44 deaths and new figures, the
number of cases in the whole country is about 1,600
until Friday.
Buenos Aires province, the largest in the country
and most affected by influenza AH1N1 should peak
in two weeks according to predictions of the Health
minister in the territory, Claudio Zin, who also
announced new measures to prevent more contagion.
The increased number of special programs on
television, analyses and commentaries in newspapers
and magazines and constant allusions to the subject
on the radio are causing unrest and concern of the
scientific media.
In this context the subject of poverty and its
persistence in Argentine political reality in spite
of advances since 2003 are also included in debates.
Optimistic specialists say the State assumes
specific medical costs for those who need it and
unifies a common public and private medical front
including production and distribution of drugs for
all the population clashes with economic interests.
But an expert confirmed that Tamiflu and its generic
forms are priced between 350 and 150 pesos (between
93 and 40 dollars for the treatment of one patient)
making it inaccessible for most Argentine families. |
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