The Patriotic Front-PF has said it will hold its party general conference in mid March ahead of this year’s tripartite elections.

PF Secretary General Wynter Kabimba said currently, the party is holding its provincial conferences and that so far five have been held.

Mr. Kabimba told ZNBC news that the PF has already held provincial conferences in Western, Central, Southern and Northern Provinces.

He explained that Northern Province has been divided into two, and that five more provincial conferences are remaining.

Mr. Kabimba has appealed to the party leadership to exhibit humility during the party’s provincial conferences.

He has also urged PF members to fully participate in the provincial conferences.

Meanwhile, the Patriotic Front has asked government to put in place measures that will curb financial irregularities cited in the Auditor General’s report.

Mr. Kabimba said the PF is particularly concerned that every Auditor General’s report has financial irregularities.

He said the K308 billion  misappropriated is too huge and that it could have been channeled into the social sector.

And in Mansa, The United Party for National Development (UPND) in Mansa District says it will not recognize any aspiring Member of Parliament (MP) candidate for Mansa Central and Bahati Constituencies because it has not been consulted.

And Mansa UPND has challenged PF in the Province to come out in open and tell the UPND if they are not ready to work as a pact in the Province.

In an interview with ZANIS, Mansa District UPND Coordinator Jones Mutimushi said UPND will not recognize all the PF aspiring candidates for Mansa Central and Bahati constituencies because the selection was done without consultation.

Mr Mutimushi said the PF UPND pact has never sat to choose and interview any aspiring candidates adding that it is therefore disappointed to learn that the pact already has the candidates.

He said UPND in the district has therefore distant itself from being part of the panel that chose all the PF aspiring candidates.

He said even if PF has more support in Mansa Central and Bahati constituencies than UPND, PF was supposed to consult them on the selection and not just dictate to them that they have picked candidates.

He said from the inception of the Pact, PF and UPND in the district met only once when the PF Spokesperson Given Lubinda visited the district.

Meanwhile, Mansa UPND has challenged PF in the Province to come out in open and tell the UPND if they are not ready to work as a pact in the Province.

Mr Mutimushi said the PF in the province has been working in isolation adding that this cannot establish the pact that people want.

ZNBC

The Electoral Commission of Zambia (ECZ) has announced that officers from the Auditor general’s office will at the beginning of March 2011 start auditing the commission’s 2009 and 2010 books of accounts.

And the ECZ says it does not hold any classified accounts that cannot be audited.

Responding to views and comment’s on last week’s “Let the people talk” programme on Radio Phoenix, ECZ public relations manager Chris Akufuna told the media today that all counts held by the commission have in the past been subjected to audits.

Mr. Akufuna said ECZ accounts have always been audited by ECZ and that the last audit was in 2008.

He said the K15 billion kwacha funding that the commission received from government, through the ministry of Finance and National planning early this week would be used to clear part of the K92 billion debt owed to various companies for the supply of goods and services.

Mr. Akufuna said ECZ was a transparent institution that did not have anything to hide from the public it serves.

He invited all stake holders with questions regarding the operations and dealings of the commission to approach the institution.

President of Trinidad and Tobago Professor George Maxwell Richards has called for closer ties between his country and Zambia.

He appealed to Zambia to open an Honorary Consul office as a minimum point of contact in the absence of a resident Embassy in order to deepen and consolidate the already existing ties.

He said this when he received Credentials from the newly accredited Zambian High Commissioner to Trinidad and Tobago, H.E. Dr. Nevers S. Mumba in Port of Spain. Dr. Mumba will serve as High Commissioner to Trinidad and Tobago on non residential basis.

This was contained in a press release to Lusakatimes issued by Ben Kangwa First secretary press to the Zambian High Commission in Canada.

Professor Richards added that it was the wish of his country to revive cooperation agreements in Technical, Scientific and Cultural Sectors signed in 1995 during the State visit of Zambia’s Second Republic President Dr. Frederick J.T Chiluba.

President George Maxwell Richards also reminded Dr. Nevers Mumba of the visit of Zambian First Republican President Dr. Kenneth Kaunda in the early 80s to that country.

In turn Dr. Nevers Mumba expressed to President Professor George Maxwell Richards, President Rupiah B. Banda’s satisfaction at the excellent friendship and cordial relations that exist between the two countries, stressing that Zambia is impressed with the smooth election in Trinidad and Tobago that ushered in a new government led by the first female Prime Minister, the Honourable Kamla Persad-Bissessar.

The new High Commissioner further stated that he would do his best to boost friendship between Zambia and Trinidad and Tobago for the benefit of the two peoples.
Dr. Mumba also conveyed a message of condolences on behalf of His Excellency, President Rupiah B. Banda on the death of Trinidad’s first President, Sir. Ellis Clarke who died on 30th December, 2010 and was buried first week of January 2011.

Earlier, High Commissioner, Dr. Nevers Mumba held bilateral talks with Trinidad’s Minister of Foreign Affairs, Dr. Surujrattan Rhambachan and discussed a wide range of issues pertaining to the promotion of closer ties in trade and technical support.

At this meeting, Trinidada and Tobago offered Zambia an opportunity for Zambian students to be trained in petroleum studies following Zambia’s prospecting for oil and gas.

Other bilateral meetings were held with the Minister of Trade and Industry, Stephen Cadiz and the Minister of Energy, Mrs. Carolyn Seepersad-Bachan.

By Henry Kyambalesa

I wish to comment on the planned establishment of an umbilical cord blood stem cell bank in Zambia by Cryobank International of India.

Essentially, a “stem cell” is a ductile type of cell that can either naturally develop into most of the 220 types of cells of the human body—such as blood cells, heart cells, brain cells, and kidney cells—or be developed into most of such cells through manipulation.[1] The fun­gibility or non-specialized nature of stem cells provides consider­able therapeutic potential in that the cells can be “doctored” and used to replace damaged, infected or dead cells in a person’s body and restore his or her health.

In the ensuing paragraphs, let us consider the ethical debate asso­ciated with stem cell research, a useful caveat for Zambian law makers and researchers who are involved in contentious research projects, and the need for an effective mechanism for assessing the benefits and costs of such research projects.

The Ethical Debate:

While advances in human stem cell research have generated a great deal of excitement among researchers and op­timistic predictions about revolutionary advances in biomedicine, they have also sparked a highly contentious ethical debate.[2] Among poten­tial benefits of the research are new treatments and possible cures for debilitating diseases and injuries—including Parkinson’s and Alzheim­er’s diseases, diabetes, heart disease, multiple sclerosis, stroke, burns, spinal cord injuries, and some types of cancer.[3]

Ethical challenges associated with the research generally pertain to the source of the most promising categories of stem cells used—that is, “embryonic stem cells” derived from embryos that are between 5 and 7 days old, and “embryonic gem cells” derived from immature aborted foetuses. Basically, the extraction of stem cells from an embryo kills the embryo involved.

According to McDonald,[4] the ethical debate concerning the use of such stem cells boils down to three disparate arguments as follows:

(a) The embryos are genetically human and are potential human beings deserving of society’s full respect and protec­tion;

(b) The embryos are neither conscious nor self-aware, and are mere clusters of human cells with no independent ethical sta­tus; and

(c) The embryos are a part of the human life-cycle, part of the human story, and should, as such, be treated with respect in the same manner as a human corpse is treated.

Human stem cells can also be derived from the tissue of an adult, in which case the subject is generally left unharmed. Unfortunately, stem cells from an adult tissue are difficult to extract; moreover, they are limited in quantity, and appear to be less useful in facilitating revolutionary advances in bio­medicine.[5]

In recent years, the multi-potent-stem-cell-rich blood found in the umbilical cords of infants has proven useful in treating the same types of health problems as those treated using bone marrow stem cells and peripheral blood stem cells (PBSCs).[6] Since the umbilical cords are generally and traditionally discarded as a by-product of the birth process, umbilical cord blood stem cell transplants raise less ethical questions.

Besides, they are less prone to rejection by recipients than either bone marrow or peripheral blood stem cells perhaps because the cells have not yet developed the features that can be recognized and attacked by the recipient’s immune system. And since umbilical cord blood lacks well-developed immune cells, there is less chance that the transplanted cells will attack the recipient’s body. Both the versatility and availability of umbilical cord blood stem cells, therefore, makes them a potent resource for transplant therapies.[7]

But where will the Indian company be obtaining the umbilical cord blood stem cells, and what if the sources of umbilical cord blood stem cells will eventually turn out to be aborted and/or miscarried human foetuses? And how are we going to ensure that some morally corrupt or deficient women in the country or across national borders will not use this as a “cash cow” by getting pregnant and later selling their foetuses to the envisaged stem cell bank for the extraction of umbilical cord blood stem cells?

I do not believe a blood disorder known as “Thallasemic condition” is common in Zambia to warrant the setting up of a “cord blood cell bank” in the country. I would, therefore, advise the government not to allow the setting up of such a facility in our beloved country, especially if there are no definite answers to the questions I have raised above.

While I see the potential for umbilical cord blood stem cells to provide a lasting cure to life-threatening genetic blood disorders, we should be wary of research endeavors which many Zambians would find morally repugnant—research which has the potential to promote abortions for the purpose of selling foetuses. We must, of course, advance the promise and cause of science and research, but we must do so in a way that honors and respects life.

We need to protect the dignity and integrity of human life! And we must guard against creating a market for human parts like umbilical cords in our country!

A Useful Caveat:

McDonald[8] has provided a useful caveat for bio­technology companies and researchers facing vexing challenges and dilemmas arising from contentious research endeavors like stem cell research; it may be paraphrased as follows: The opinions of people in the host nation or community shou­ld be seriously discerned, publicly discussed, and ultimately used as important inputs in the generation of a “definition of corporate ‘best practice’ or clinical ‘standard of care’.”

An Assessment Mechanism:

It is essential for transnational companies which are engaged in contentious scientific and/or technological research projects to embrace measures which their host countries may institute to evaluate the technical and economic viability of such projects, and “the societal dimension of [the] impacts”[9] of the projects. In other words, they need to participate actively in “technolo­gy assessments” which their host governments may introduce. Such asse­ssments are important because they can be used by national governments in many beneficial ways. For example, they can be used as:

(a) Sources of vital informa­tion needed in isolating envis­aged scienti­fic and technological research projects that need to be promoted, and those which need to be discouraged or prohib­ited altogether;

(b) Means of assess­ing and mini­mizing the potential negative impacts that may be associated with scientific and technologi­cal research pro­jects; and

(c) Vehicles for resolving the contentious moral and ethical issues and dilemmas that may be evoked by scientific discov­er­ies and technolo­gical break­throughs.

To be useful, technology assessments need to generate and provide suffi­cient and reliable information about a given scientif­ic and/or techno­logical project on such matters as the following:[10] (a) the technical and economic feasibility of the project; (b) its potential economic, social, and environ­men­tal effects; and (c) the potential risks and safety concerns associated with it.

Moreover, the assessments need to be administered by an agency that is akin to what Alvin Toff­ler has referred to as a “techno­logical ombuds­man,”[11] which can be created and cha­rged with the res­ponsi­bility for recei­ving, investigat­ing and, among a host of other things, acting on com­plaints per­taining to the irrespon­si­ble applica­tion of new scientific discoveries and techno­logical break­throughs.

If it is prudently managed, such an agency can enable a cou­ntry to create a positive and via­ble inter­face between society and scientific and tech­nological research endeavors.

———————–

[1] A definition adapted from Religious Tolerance, “Stem Cell Research: All Sides to the Dispute,” www.religioustolerance.org/; and National Institute of Health (NIH), U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, “Stem Cells: A Primer,” www.nih.gov, May 2000.
[2] MacDonald, C., “Stem Cells: A Pluripotent Challenge,” http://www.stem­cells.ca.
[3] Religious Tolerance, and National Institute of Health, op. cit.
[4] McDonald, C., op. cit.
[5] Religious Tolerance, op. cit.
[6] The University of Utah: Genetic Science Learning Center, “Stem Cell Therapies Today,” www.learn.genetics.utah.edu/, January 2011.
[7] The University of Utah, ibid.
[8] McDonald, C., op. cit.
[9] See Hetman, F., “From Technology Assessment to an Integrated Per­spec­tive on Tech­nolo­gy,” in Srini­vasan, M., edi­tor, Tech­nology As­sess­ment and Devel­op­ment (New York: Praeg­er Pub­lish­ers, 1982), p. 37.
[10] See Kyambalesa, H., Business Innova­tion and Competi­tive­ness in the Develop­ing World (Brookfie­ld, USA: Ashgate Publish­ing Company, 1993), p. 72.
[11] See Toffler, A., Future Shock (New York: Random House, Inc., 1970), p. 442.