Special Day

Today is special for a number of differing reasons. Firstly, it’s my… our… wedding anniversary and therefore we will be leaving the kids at home with some able babysitters tonight and heading out to celebrate with a posh meal somewhere posh. Well done to me for finding such an amazing wife and… erm… “well done” to her for putting up with me for eight years (and counting).

Secondly, I am neck flippin’ deep in admin at work, and the FDA are to blame. This isn’t particularly special in the way that number one was, but I’m proud to announce that I have just broken a new record for the amount of paperwork generated by a single test in the lab – and outstanding 56 sheets of paper – and that’s surely something that should be recognised. When that champagne cork pops this evening, a small part of me will be celebrating this achievement as well as those cited above.
Never be fooled by anyone who says that “Big Pharma” (or even “Little Pharma”) (or in our case “Ever So Tiny Pharma”) are given an easy ride by the relevant regulatory authorities worldwide. I am frantically chopping down entire forests left, right and centre in order to keep up with the amount of documentation that they now require.
Some bits are required to be provided in pentalicate. And that’s not even a word. That’s how hectic things are. They are making. up. words. to keep us regulated. Which is also protecting the patient, allegedly. Unless the doc gets so drowsy reading all the warnings that he mistakenly injects 14 times the theraputic dose, of course.

Fortunately, the irony of having a public holiday to mark Workers’ Day awaits us tomorrow and I can hide from the mountains of filed A4 paperwork for 24 hours. We have a family day out planned and it looks like the weather will play ball, which, considering we’re heading into May now, isn’t at all bad.

Anyway, I’m digressing and I’m procrastinating, but those results aren’t going to email themselves so I guess I’d better get back to it.

And yes, that is the sound of soft weeping you can hear. And no, it’s not my wife.

Had it

As summer breathes its final breath and dies its final death, barely hanging on here in the Cape with a measly high of 28°C expected today, the bad news is that we still have a mosquito problem. Specifically in my bedroom last night. This is the downside of Cape Town summer for me and I will consider it a GoodThing™ when the cold comes and kills off the last of those little bastards.

It could be worse though.

Worse because right on our doorstep, a child is dying from malaria every minute. We’re lucky that SA is pretty much a malaria-free country, but every year, malaria kills 650,000 – mostly pregnant women and children under five – which is a huge, huge number, especially since malaria is a disease that is both preventable and treatable.
I’ve actually had malaria: thankfully, I didn’t die from it. But even then, it’s a wholly unpleasant and debilitating disease. It’s not something you want, even when you know it’s going to get treated.

Tomorrow – April 25th 2013 –  is World Malaria Day and one way you can help out is by buying a bracelet from Relate Bracelets, a social enterprise which has partnered with United Against Malaria Bracelet for R30.

UAM1

Fairly funky, I reckon, although I freely admit to not being a huge bracelet expert. I’m going to get my daughter one because she’ll love it and I’m going to get my son one, because he has that kind of surfer boy look when it’s sunny and the mozzies are out.
Funds sold from this bracelet go to The Global Fund, which distributes nets (I need this), indoor sprays and provides access to medication.

You can get your bracelet at selected Game and Tiger’s Eye curio stores (Indaba and Out of Africa) or if you are agoraphobic, online through Digital Mall.

Do your bit, get a bracelet and make a difference.