The following is an archived copy of a message sent to a Discussion List run by the Campaign Against Sanctions on Iraq.
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[ Presenting plain-text part of multi-format email ] Dear All Most of the chemotherapy drugs used in the treatment of cancers and leukemia are Nitrogen Mustered based drugs. These materials are considered, by the US and UK governments, as a dual use materials and are under strict export control. Several years ago the GOI wanted to import 100 vials of Mustian, for cancer treatment, from BOOTS in the UK. The UK government did not give the necessary export license because Mustered hydrochloride was a banned material. It is worth noting that each vial contained 10 milligram of mustered hydrochloride i.e. the whole order was for ONE GRAM and only one gram. They know that UNSCOM have destroyed more than 80 tons ( or 80 million grams) of mustered gas in Iraq yet they consider that ONE gram is a threat to world security. Another stupid example is Angised tablets for Anginal pain, each tablet contains 500 microgram of Glyceryl trinitrate. The UK government refused to ship the drug because glyceryl trinitrate is a derivative of TNT and is banned under the "civilized west" sanctions! I do not know if they have modified this stupid policy or not but defiantly it is one factor of why leukemia drugs are in short supply. Another factor is the unpredictable time it takes for the order to pass through UN 661 committee. One might think that 6 months are practical and start ordering when they have 8 months supplies only to discover that 661 committee are taking their sweet time and the order will come much later than expected then shortage results. One of the most devastating effects of the sanctions is the destruction of the good working relations that existed between the GOI and the drug companies. Previously if a drug shortage occurs then the government will rectify that by asking the drug companies to send urgently needed drugs even before opening the L/C or even signing the contract and in most cases the companies send the drugs within weeks. Those relations now is destroyed and replaced by bureaucratic, heartless, politicians bent on inflicting the maximum damage on their enemy even if it cost the lives of more than a million innocent people. Ends justify the means. Best regards Ghazwan Al-Mukhtar Baghdad Iraq ----- Original Message ----- From: Mark Al-Sinjakli To: soc-casi-discuss@lists.cam.ac.uk Sent: Thursday, February 21, 2002 12:25 PM Subject: Child Leukaemia Treatment in Iraq Dear All I'm writing to you on a point of information I'm trying to clarify. I'm sure I read somewhere that the drugs used to treat leukaemia arrive in drips and drabs because of the process of applying for a license. I know that they are needed all at once, but another key factor for me is the shelf-life of the drugs: does anyone know if they have a limited shelf-life? I've tried all kinds of searches on CASI's archive but have been unable to source the specific reference. Thanks for your help Mark Mark Sinjakli email: scouseanthmark@yahoo.co.uk mark@casi.org.uk ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Do You Yahoo!? Get personalised at My Yahoo!. _______________________________________________ Sent via the discussion list of the Campaign Against Sanctions on Iraq. To unsubscribe, visit http://lists.casi.org.uk/mailman/listinfo/casi-discuss To contact the list manager, email casi-discuss-admin@lists.casi.org.uk All postings are archived on CASI's website: http://www.casi.org.uk