HIV hits record in Singapore

The number of HIV cases in Singapore hit a record last year, according to figures monitored on Wednesday.

Statistics from the health ministry showed 422 people newly infected with the Aids virus in 2007, the highest number in a single year since records began in 1985.

About 93 per cent of those infected were males, and most of the infections were transmitted through sex, the ministry said in a statement on its website.

Nearly two-thirds of the infections occurred through heterosexual sex, while there were seven cases from intravenous drug use and one through a blood transfusion overseas, it said.

Most infections were detected during testing for some form of medical treatment, with only 13 per cent discovered during voluntary screening, it said.

The number of persons infected with HIV between 1985 and 2007 totalled 3,482, the ministry said, adding that 1,144 have died. (story)

New anti smoking drug launched

Snubbing out that cigarette could become easier for smokers, with the launch of a new anti-smoking drug that helps to wean smokers off their nicotine addiction.

Developed by pharmaceutical firm, Pfizer, specially for smoking cessation, the drug Champix (varenicline), is a non-nicotine agent, which the company claims is the first new anti-smoking treatment here in nearly ten years.

Champix works by blocking nicotine receptors in the brain to relieve nicotine cravings and withdrawal symptoms. It also cut down on the feeling of pleasure the smoker has when he inhales.

Nicotine addiction is usually cited as the main stumbling block for those who wish to quit smoking. (story)

Chinese man dies after taking Power 1 Walnut sex drug

The illegal sexual-enhancement drug Power 1 Walnut has claimed its first fatality.

He was among the patients who developed serious adverse reactions after taking the made-in-China drug, said the Health Sciences Authority (HSA) on Monday.

The middle-aged local Chinese man was taken to hospital in a coma state in early March. Investigations found that he had taken Power 1 Walnut.

‘The patient did not regain consciousness and eventually succumbed to pneumonia,’ said HSA in a statement.

The case is pending the coroner’s investigation.

‘There are also other patients who developed serious adverse drug reactions of seizures and unconsciousness with just a single ingestion of half a tablet of Power 1 Walnut. This demonstrates the highly toxic effects of this product,’ warned HSA. (story)

3 more charged in illegal sexual enhancement drug trade

3 more men were charged in court on Thursday with peddling illegal sexual enhancement drugs after the authorities cracked down on the trade in February.

All three - Lee Teck Boo, Ong Nguk and Teo See Bong - were accused of selling Power 1 Walnut pills, which have caused at least 20 men to be hospitalised.

One went into a coma and another had a stroke.

The three men are said to have had a total of 64 of the China-made tablets on them. They are among eight men caught so far this year during raids on such peddlers in Desker and Rowell roads.

On Wednesday, four men were jailed between six and eight months for similar offences under the Medicines Act. All except one had with them Power 1 Walnut tablets.

Although labelled to contain only natural herbal ingredients, the pills were found to be adulterated with two western medicinal ingredients - Glibenclamide, a potent anti-diabetic medication that can cause severe and life-threatening symptoms of very low blood sugar, and Sildenafil, an active ingredient in Viagra. Sildenafil is a potent drug that should only be taken under a doctor’s supervision. (story)

Singaporean drug mule jailed 5 years

A Singaporean man who swallowed more than A$500,000 worth of heroin and then tried to smuggle it into Australia, was jailed five years by a court in Brisbane on Tuesday. Ng Teck Boon, 40, had 91 packets of heroin in his stomach when he was arrested at Brisbane International Airport on June 27 last year, The the Supreme Court in Brisbane was told.

He pleaded guilty on Tuesday to one count of importing a marketable quantity of a border controlled drug, according to a report carried on news.com.au.

Commonwealth prosecutor Paul Huygens told the court that Ng had arrived on a flight from Hong Kong and was grilled by Customs officers after looking ‘nervous’.

He quickly admitted to having swallowed a large amount of heroin before boarding the flight.

He was arrested by Australian Federal Police and spent two days in hospital while he passed out all the packages, said the online report. (story)

William Ng: criminal for life

At the age of 15, William Ng was sent to the Singapore Boys’ Home for three years for robbing and hurting a victim. He proved too troublesome there and was packed off to the Reformative Training Centre.

Since his release, Ng, now 38, continued to be in trouble with the law.

He has been jailed for fighting and causing hurt, theft, drug possession and consumption, as well as fined for traffic offences.

On Wednesday, he was sent to jail again, this time for six years and two months and ordered to be caned six times for a host of crimes.

He committed some of the offences in 2002 while still under supervision for consuming drugs a year earlier. (story)

CNB makes huge heroin bust

The Central Narcotics Bureau (CNB) has smashed another major drug trafficking syndicate in Singapore, with the seizure of 10 kg heroin and a stash of other drugs worth about $2.5 million on the streets, in an operation on Monday.This is the biggest drug seizure in five years and came close on the heels of of the 3.5 kg of heroin seized on New Year’s Eve and others made earlier last month.

Continuing its vigorous enforcement, it CNB officers carried out a major operation on Monday and arrested the syndicate leader and seven others, two of them women.

Besides the heroin, they also seized 45 grams of Ice, 68 Erimin-5 tablets, four Subutex tablets with a total street value of about $2.5 million, and $400,000 cash. (story)

New alzheimer drug set to begin trials

A trial for a new drug to combat the debilitating brain disease Alzheimer’s has started on patients here, while others for cancer and the degenerative neurological condition Parkinson’s are starting soon. The clinical trials are being done by Japanese pharmaceutical giant Eisai, which has set up a centre in Singapore to coordinate US$50 million (S$72 million) in clinical research annually in the Asia- Pacific and the Middle-East.

Having the centre here means that applying for drug approvals in Singapore and other Asian countries will be faster, said Eisai’s regional medical director, Dr Raymond Chua.

Eisai plans to run half of all its trials in the Asia-Pacific and the Middle-East, up from 10 per cent now.

In Singapore, a trial to study the effects of a new form of Eisai’s drug Aricept on Alzheimer’s has already begun in public hospitals here, including Singapore General Hospital. (story)

CNB raids drug hideout, make arrests

Central Narcotics Bureau (CNB) arrested a total of 10 drug traffickers, 65 suspected drug abusers and seized over $10,000 worth of drugs when they raided a drug supplier’s hideout on Thursday.The two-day operation began on Wednesday when CNB officers arrested a heroin drug trafficker - a 49-year-old Malay man - after he sold a packet of heroin to an undercover officer.

Before the arrest, the trafficker had arranged for the undercover officer to go with him to his supplier’s residence to get the heroin. (story)

Former drug lord dies

Former drug lord Khun Sa, one of the world’s most wanted men on whom the United States had put a two million-dollar bounty, died at the weekend in Myanmar, a Thai narcotics official said Tuesday.’Khun Sa has died of various diseases and old age,’ the senior officer with the Thai Office of Narcotics Control told AFP.

The man who was once Asia’s most notorious drugs trafficker, was thought to be 74 years old and was suffering from diabetes and high blood pressure.

A spokesman for the Shan State Army, one of the few guerrilla forces in Myanmar still fighting the junta, confirmed that Khun Sa had died on Saturday in Yangon, where he had been allowed to live after surrendering to the government in 1996.

(story)