xmlns:o="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office"
xmlns:w="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:word"
xmlns="http://www.w3.org/TR/REC-html40">
E-NEWS FROM THE NATIONAL VACCINE INFORMATION CENTER
Vienna, Virginia http://www.909shot.com
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
UNITED WAY/COMBINED FEDERAL CAMPAIGN
#9119
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
Protecting the health and informed consent rights of
children since 1982.
Press Release:
Controversy over the vaccine-autism connection hasnt
scared off the medical group at the International Child Development Resource
Centre, (ICDRC), a childrens research and treatment centre in Florida, from
inviting Dr Andrew J. Wakefield, MB, BS., FRCS., FRCPath, and his team to join
their faculty. ICDRC currently treats
over 1700 children with autism spectrum disorders, and the children come from
every continent to be evaluated. On this past Wednesday, Dr. Wakefield agreed
to join the ICDRC team as its Director of Research and continue his efforts to
solve the possible autism-vaccine link, the role of the intestine in childhood
developmental disorders and the cause of inflammatory bowel diseases such as
Crohns disease and ulcerative colitis. Wakefield is expected to continue his
collaborations with colleagues in the UK, Ireland, Japan and Sweden, making
ICDRC truly international.
The cost of developing and initiating research at the new
centre is estimated at $25,000,000 over three years. Robert Sawyer, Chief
Executive of Visceral, the UK based charity that supports much of the research
conducted by Dr Wakefield and colleagues states. The cost of lifetime care for
a single child with autism was estimated by independent US and UK assessments as
being between $2m and $4m per child.
The US Department of Education recorded 65,000 diagnoses of autism spectrum
disorders in 1999-2000, up from 12,000 in 1992-93. Seen in that context the
cost of developing the proposed facilities at ICDRC is a drop in the ocean.
And the news for the autism world got another boost when
ICDRC announced that it had received the initial investments to start building
a new campus in South Florida. Dr. Jeff Bradstreet, Director of ICDRC, also
stated this past Thursday that negotiations are underway with The Centre for
Complex Systems and Brain Sciences at Florida Atlantic University (FAU), to
develop a collaboration for sharing resources and furthering the research
efforts of ICDRC. The FAU centre is one of Americas top brain imaging
facilities, so Dr Wakefields new found freedom from The Royal Free Hospital
winds up being a windfall for the ICDRC and FAU efforts to help children.
Dr Wakefield stated the autism world is in crisis with
the numbers of affected children skyrocketing. Not only does the medical
establishment have no answers it appears that it doesnt even want to ask the
right questions. ICDRC breaks this
mould. It holds tremendous potential and it will be an honour for my team and I
to help realise that potential.
The creation of a truly independent centre, combining
research with clinical facilities for investigation, treatment and evaluation
of potential therapies offers a unique opportunity to increase our
understanding and develop new service models. The overall aim is to deliver the
benefits that we see as increasingly possible for affected children and young
people everywhere.
This means that Wakefield will spend the greater part of
his time in the United States over the coming months, in order to seize this
opportunity to expedite the research by bringing the power and energy of the
American people to help resolve this issue as soon as possible.
News@909shot.com
is a free service of the National Vaccine Information
Center and is supported through membership donations. Learn more about vaccines, diseases and how
to protect your informed
consent rights http://www.909shot.com
To unsubscribe from this list, send an email to news-request@909shot.com
and type UNSUBSCRIBE in the body of the email.
NVIC is funded through individual membership donations and
does not receive government funding. Barbara Loe Fisher, President and
Co-founder.
NOTE: This is not an interactive e-mail list. Please do
not respond to messages.