uk parliamentary yearbook

Hi all

This website - http://www.parliamentaryyearbook2011.co.uk/

has details of the 2012 UK parliamentary yearbook.

Here is some of the info on the homepage:

Welcome to the 2012 edition of the Parliamentary Yearbook.

We now have a new perspective on our parliamentary democracy. A coalition government has placed new pressures on our predominantly two-party system. For the first time in more than 60 years compromise has shaped many policies and minor party rifts have been seized upon by the media.

Recession, the economy and cutbacks have predominated in shaping much of government policy, and our perception of the activity in Westminster has in many ways been coloured by this. However, now in the year of Her Majesty the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee and the London Olympics there is much to celebrate in this land of ours.

Within Westminster, whatever the background, the domestic, social and business affairs of the nation — the core business of Parliament — carries on; debates still take place about the NHS, education, social services, the environment, international affairs, public- and private-sector business and the many other aspects involved in managing the affairs of the UK. It is these, the issues involved in the government of the nation, which are covered by the features in the Parliamentary Yearbook. My appreciation goes out to all the contributors and everyone who has been involved in the book’s production.

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And a quote from ex-PM Tony Blair:

"The Parliamentary Yearbook plays a key role in mapping out the new structures brought about by the Government's constitutional reform programme. I commend it to all those who work in Westminster and to those who have an interest in the workings of Parliament and Government"
Rt Hon Tony Blair, Prime Minister 1997-2007

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Why am I posting this?

Because there is a section on our colleagues at London Pharma!

See: http://www.parliamentaryyearbook2011.co.uk/london-pharma-company-profile.html

And the relevant bit for us is:

LONDONPHARMA SUBLINGUAL SPRAY SYSTEM

These little girls are from one of the world’s poorest countries. Malaria, the biggest killer of children, stalks their land. If they are struck down, they would probably die. Surely it doesn’t have to be like this ...

By the time you get to the end of this article 12 children will have died of malaria. You may be at home browsing this publication, in the office or on a train. Maybe you are sipping a cup of coffee. For the victims of this wretched and seemingly unrelenting disease death will not come wrapped in the dignity of comfort. They will have lost their young lives in a dusty village, probably in Africa, when their tiny, emaciated bodies finally give up the battle with the malaria parasite.

This is the terrible reality of the mosquito in Africa and parts of Asia. It kills one million people a year, the vast majority children too young or under-nourished to resist. At LondonPharma, we are trying to ensure that all this changes.

Up to now preventive treatments include expensive tablets, nets and spraying, while ways of combating the infection have typically been tablets, injections and pessaries — all of which involve hospitalisation. And because most hospitals are a considerable distance from villages throughout Africa, the victims are usually dehydrated or comatose by the time they reach a hospital. This makes traditional treatments difficult, if not impossible. Hence, the terrible death toll from malaria.

Our solution is non-invasive and does not require the patient to be hospitalised. The product is called ArTiMist, an anti-malarial sublingual spray which was developed for ProtoPharma Ltd by LondonPharma. (ProtoPharma was acquired by LondonPharma in 2011.) ArTiMist uses a drug called artemether that has proven anti-malarial effects. It has been formulated by us to be delivered sublingually by those with little or no medical training. The product is a pre-treatment that can be administered to comatose children and has a rapid onset of action with positive results seen within six to eight hours. Patients recover sufficiently to move on to oral treatment as necessary.

Our product can be kept for up to 12 months in non-refrigerated conditions, and the only equipment is the spray itself. The use of our delivery system eradicates the parasite within one to two days as opposed to four days with quinine. We are currently in phase-three trials in multiple sites around sub-Saharan Africa, with very promising results being obtained daily.