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Adiro medicine made by Bayer, is the most com-monly used medicine for patients with cardiovascu-

lar problems. It is no longer being distributed in Andorra so it is beco-ming more difficult to find in the pharmacies. Although this medici-ne is highly prescribed as it is used for heart patients and also for cere-brovascular diseases, there are ot-her alternatives such as the generic medicine, or AAS. Bayer laboratory recognised difficulties in distribu-tion of this medicine attributing these difficulties to «refurbishment works that are being carried out to modernise the German factory at Leverkusen». However, he said that they were not stopping production and ensured that they were «doing everything possible to re-establish the production line and distributi-on as soon as possible».

The Institute of Pharmacists has not sounded alarm bells with refe-rence to this medicine here in An-dorra, and although there are cer-tain pharmacies that are not aware of this problem as they do not have a regular demand for Adiro or they still have some stock left, other phar-macists have told us that delivery of this medicine is irregular or hardly at all. El Periòdic asked several phar-macists and they assured us that

33A packet of the 300 mg dose of Adiro medicine.

Bayer stops distributing Adiro but Pharmacists are not worried People are reassured that there are alternatives to this medicine that is used for heart patients

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DISTRIBUCIÓ DE MEDICAMENTS

The WHO recommends vaccines to go to Russia FIFA World Cup

«All those visiting Russia on the oc-casion of the 2018 Soccer World Cup should receive a vaccine against the triple viral: measles, rubella and mumps». This is the re-commendation of the World He-alth Organization that gathered

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«the lack of Adiro is not worrying as it is a very popular medicine and it can be replaced by other such medi-cines such as the generic one or the well-known AAS medicine.

WORRIES IN SPAIN / Lack of stock in Spain of Adiro has generated more worry as it is one of the best selling medicine for heart problems. Bayer

sells two different dosages of this medicine, one of 300 mg and the other of 100 mg. Up to 18 million units of the latter (100mg) were dis-tributed by Bayer last year to phar-macies in Andorra. El Periòdic de Catalunya also commented that so-me pharmacies have noticed that over two weeks ago, the re was a lack of stock of Adiro, and therefore they

substituted it with its generic equi-valent. Nevertheless, Kern Pharma, one of the main manufacturers of the generic equivalent, notified the Medicine Agency that they are also beginning to have problems in de-livering the generic replacement. However, there is not need to wor-ry yet in Spain about this lack of me-dicine. H

33 Adiro is a medication compo-sed of acetylsalicylic acid. Des-pite sharing this active principle with Aspirin, however, it does not possess the same dosage. Alt-hough Adiro produces tablets of 100 or 300 milligrams, Aspirin al-ways appears in 500 milligrams. A difference that completely chan-ges the effects of both drugs. As-pirin is an analgesic and antipyre-tic and is generally used to fight any type of pain, such as muscu-lar or headaches. Adiro, on the ot-her hand, is prescribed mainly for the prevention of cardiovascular diseases because it is an antiag-gregant pill that acts on the clots of the arteries and allows the blood to circulate in a smooth and unobs-tructed manner. Therefore, it is a drug that helps prevent heart at-tacks, chest angina and stroke ty-pe accidents, as well as facilita-ting the recovery of certain surgi-cal interventions. Bayer is the one who produces this medication, but there are equivalent generic name or drugs from other labora-tories, such as the AAS, that per-form the same function.

Similar to Aspirin, but with different uses and purposes

WHAT IS ADIRO?

Friday and disseminated the noti-ce to the Department of Preventi-on, Promotion and Surveillance of Government Health to alert Andor-ran travelers who have decided to travel to this European country be-tween 14 June and July 15 to wit-ness this public sports competiti-on.

As specified by the international entity, vaccines must be applied, at least, fifteen days before trave-ling to Russia. And they indicated that it is just as important that tra-velers make sure they have these three vaccines and verify that they are up to date. The warning is ex-plained by the large number of in-

ternational travelers and the mo-vement of people attending these mass events, an element that in-creases the risk of transmission. It would not be strange, they argued from the WHO, that travelers retur-ned to their country of origin with diseases such as measles, which is highly contagious and that can ha-ve consequences for one’s health and for that of the population not protected and more vulnerable.

The World Cup of Soccer could attract up to a million people from all over the world. Of the 32 parti-

cipating countries, a total of 28 ha-ve reported measles cases this year. And, in fact, the last year, cases in Europe were already quadrupled. In the first quarter of 2018 more than 18,000 cases of measles we-re recorded. France, Greece, Serbia and Ukraine were the countries with the highest number of people affected and Russia itself registe-red more than 600. Therefore, from the Area of Prevention, Promotion and Health Surveillance, they re-call and insist on the importance of an up to date vaccination. H

el Periòdic Newswww.elperiodic.ad2 TUESDAY 12 JUNE 2018

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PERIODIC NEWS

33 Poster of the Vespres d’estiu.

Vespres d’estiu: summer evenings with culture and art

This Monday morning, on the idy-llic stage of the Church of Sant Ser-ni de Nagol, the Minister of Culture of the commune (comú), Josep Roig, and the Head of the Culture Depart-ment, Elisenda Palomares, presen-ted the program for July. The rea-

son for doing it at Nagol is not wit-hout a reason, since precisely this church and the whole town will be the scene of one of the proposed ac-tivities. And, as Roig explained, in this 17th edition, he has opted for «extending the cultural and artistic proposal» of the summer evenings to the outskirts and decentralizing the nucleus of Sant Julià de Lòria. In addition to Nagol, activities ha-ve been planned in Auvinyà and Ai-xirivall, and considering future edi-tions already, proposals are being

studied in other towns in the pa-rish. In Nagol, Auvinya and Aixiri-vall there will be performances of micro theatre, dance, concerts, gui-ded visits to the churches and a bi-te to eat to finish the day. A bus will be provided from Sant Julià to the villages.

The event is called ‘Racons’ (cor-ners in english) is a free and an easy way of «discovering areas of each town in different ways” acti-vity proposals from the dramatic to the fantasy world stated Palomares.

The entertainment will be held in the towns of Aixirivall, Auvinyà and Nag

CULTURE

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For example, simulate a successful TV show to find a partner. The ac-tors and musicians are artists of the country, which demonstrates the commitment of the comú to promo-te national talent, Roig confirmed.

Another novelty which will initi-ate this edition is an evening of An-dorran cinema. It will be on July 2 in Plaça Major de Sant Julià and four short films will be screened: such as «Sergi Mas» or the «The peak of Arcalís». Finally, sports on Wednes-days will remain with classes of Txi-kiung, Zumba and Salsa & Bacha-ta. As for the August programme, it will be similar to that of last ye-ar as the proposals work, as well as the collaboration with the Tobacco Museum. H

«I would like to direct a project for Andorra from Michigan»

MARICEL BLANCH

33Xavier Fonoll.

Xavier Fonoll (Escaldes-Engordany, 1988), studied Chemical Enginee-ring, then a MS in Environmental Engineering at the University of Barcelona. He went on to get a grant from the Crèdit Andorrà Founda-tion to study for six months at the University of Michigan in order to finish his doctoral thesis in Engine-ering and Advanced Technologies, four years later he is still in America.

-How is your research at Michigan coming along? - It is such a different world to Andor-ra. I did my PhD when the crisis was at its height at the University of Bar-celona and what surprised me most was the financial resources alloca-ted to research in Michigan.

–What projects are you working on now?–I am working on two projects; one is focused on researching places where there are very few resources, especially water and food. We are in-vestigating different technologies for sustainable energy production in order to produce clean drinking

« Anaerobic digestion can be used on a large scale where all residues are used, or on a small scale »

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water and food in Africa. The other project is much bigger as we are co-llaborating with various other Ame-rican Universities and we are wor-king on sustainable healthy cities of the future. The objective is for the year 2050 and we are concentrating on migration from the countryside to the city, we will have to build a sustainable infrastructure which at present does not exist.-–The title of your thesis was Strate-gies for Improvement of Anaerobic Digestion of Lignocellulosics. --Yes (laughing) Anaerobic digestion (AD) has been a popular technolo-gy to transform organic wastes into energy in the form of biogas. There-fore organic waste (food waste, agri-cultural waste…) is used to produce energy and at the same time a new resource, fertilizer.

--–When you finished your thesis, did you get the results you wanted?--When I started my thesis I thought I was investigating a specific project. However, the project I presented to the Crèdit Andorrà was very diffe-rent from the one I started. I disco-vered a lot of new things when doing

my research, but I think I was able to keep to the central theme.

-Do you think that everything that you are now researching in the Uni-ted States of America, you could one day introduce it in Andorra?-This is the question I was waiting for! I think so, we would have to do studies to see if it is economica-lly viable and to see which could be the most sustainable way to imple-ment it. Anaerobic digestion can be used on a large scale where all re-sidues are used, or on a small sca-le where we treat only residues ge-nerated in a community or an area where there is already another pro-duction of organic residues. I think that we should try it or at least study the economic viability here in Ando-rra. The profit could be in the form of biogas, biomethane or chemical

produce such as fertilizers.

-Can you see yourself at the head of a project like this here in Andorra?-Yes, I would love to, although at the moment I don’t know when I will come back here. My objective at the moment is to become a university professor, and I think that there are more opportunities in the States. But, this doesn’t mean that I can’t collaborate with Andorra when I am there. I miss Andorra and Barcelona a lot, so if I do not manage to beco-me a professor, I would love to come back here, especially if I can work on the same areas as now.

-The only inconvenience would be the financing…-Exactly. Especially if I want to con-tinue with the same research as I am doing now. I would have to change my way of doing things, but I don’t think that would be a problem.

-How have the two days of Discus-sion on Investigation gone?-Very well. There is a department of research in the Institute of Ando-rran Studies (IEA), they contacted me and helped me go to a world con-gress in China. It was a pleasure for me to collaborate with them and gi-ve a talk here in Andorra.

-Is Anaerobic digestion the future?-I think so, I think that if we can control microorganisms and make them produce whatever we want, there can always be a profit.

-Do you think that the problem is that people still don’t know enough about it?-We have to try to link engineering with social sciences and education so this connection becomes well-known and successful. This is called social engineering. H

XAVIER FONOLL student

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17Periodic News 17el Periòdic d’Andorra 17Periodic Newsel Periòdic NewsTUESDAY 12 JUNE 2018 3www.elperiodic.ad

33Jordi Moreno, director of the police force. .

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POLICE WORK

Traffic fines will continue to go unsanctioned across the borders, so fines imposed on foreign vehicles in An-

dorra and vice versa will remain in a kind of limbos. This is the state-ment made in the course of an inter-view between the director of the Po-lice, Jordi Moreno, and the ANA. In this conversation, Moreno also re-cognizes that the Catalan authori-ties «have asked us to exchange in-formation, but it is a complicated management», especially «because it is almost impossible» to get « the driver’s information, the vehicle, must be identified and then notifi-ed». Also, in the other way around, the complications are the same, ac-cording to the director of the Police.

In any case, Moreno recalled that the fines imposed on Andorran ter-ritory «are recorded in a database. If the vehicle returns, the fine has to be paid. For example, if we control it

Foreign cars will still be «hard» to fineThe Mossos have requested information exchange

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at the border, it can be immobilized until the fine is paid »

LOCAL FINES / But not all traffic sanc-tions fall into a bottomless pit as it can be seen every Wednesday in the BOPA for foreign vehicles and as Mo-reno acknowledges in this intervi-ew, although the director points to an improvement with the arri-

work too well. People prefer to pay them in the Police office ».

CHANGES IN PAYMENT / Unlike other co-untries, today, in Andorra paying the amount of the penalty right away does not imply a discount, there is neither a charge for postpo-ning the payment, a situation that Moreno believes helps to perpetu-

val of the SAIGS (Agents Responsi-ble for collecting Judiciary debts) : «More sanctions are collected,» he said. However, the head of the Poli-ce Corps admitted that «they are still sanctions unpaid for and that they now get more» because of the incre-ase in radars. Moreno recalled that there is «the option to pay fines on-line but it is a service that does not

ate the unpaid lists. But this could change in the coming months be-cause «with the future reform of the Circulation Code, if you pay the pe-nalty right away, there will be a 40% discount», a fact that, from the di-rector’s point of view, «will reduce much of the administrative tasks of fines so that people will not find further complications.

TECHNOLOGICAL OFFENSE / On the other hand, Moreno explained that the

PERIODIC NEWS

33Performance of Swan Lake

The Moscow Ballet returns to Andorra with «Swan Lake»

The Moscow Ballet will be held An-dorra la Vella with a great classic «Swan Lake». This classic is truly a symbol of beauty and magnificence of Russian Ballet. The ballet choreo-graphy was created in a performan-ce in 1895 by two legends of ballet, Marius Petipa who supervised the choreography and his pupil, Lev Iva-nov who gave it its true Russian cha-racter, creating the magical world of Swan Lake. The great ballet dancers are accompanied by the sublime mu-sic of the outstanding composer, Pe-

ter Tchaikovsky. This is an all-time fa-vourite ballet, probably the world’s most performed ballet in the world.

«Swan Lake» is the perfect setting for many famous dancers to show-case their art, as it is a unique and perfect creation. The combination of quality, compromise and passion captivates the audience, with great emotion. It is a stunning demonstra-tion of the precision, artistry and she-er grace for which the Moscow City Ballet is renowned for throughout the world. In the words of the direc-tor and founder of the Russian Ballet, Timur Fayziev, «a ballerina needs to-tal dedication to dancing. They must practice for many hours every day, they lead a spartan life dedicated to improving their technique, con-trolling how many hours they sleep

and rest and of course what they eat. However, when you are in love with dancing, this is not a sacrifice, and the ballet company becomes their family as most of their time is spent with the other dancers. Being a balle-rina is so absorbing that there is little time for anything else.

The ‘Moscow Ballet’ was founded in 1989, and consists of some of the leading dancers and choreographers of the Russian Ballet world such as the Bolshoi and Stanislavsky and to-day it is one of the largest companies in the country. Since it was founded they have danced more than a thou-sand performances in over 60 tours around the world, including Japan, China, Italy, England and Spain. In 1991, the great Russian Ballet dancer Rudolf Nureyev chose the company

The performance will be on 26 July at 21:00h at the Congress Centre

CULTURE

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to dance with for his last tour of Eu-rope, before he retired.

Nowadays and throughout its his-tory, the Moscow Ballet has exhibi-ted a repertoire of the best pieces of classical ballet, among which are: «Sleeping Beauty», «Nutcracker», «Gi-

selle», «Don Quixote», «Romeo and Juliet», «A Midsummer Night’s Dre-am», or «Carmen» (suite). On this oc-casion they are bringing to Andorra many promises of Russian ballet: » Technique alone is not enough»says Fayziev. H

«The reform of the Circulation Code will apply a 40% discount if you pay the penalty straight away»

technological growth against peo-ple’s privacy is growing: «For exam-ple, we pay attention to many cases of people who had their data or pas-swords on the Internet hacked and had been blackmailed». «In 2016 we took care of 38 cases, in 2017, there were 46 cases and up till April 2018 we already have 27».

Moreno also explained the purc-hase of a «new robot, the Tedax to deactivate explosives», in the con-text of the renewal of material that the Police Force is developing and that also includes new police vans, types of uniforms, radar guns , mo-nitoring bracelets for detainees and 200,000 euro investment for the computer science and forensic la-boratory. H

el Periòdic Newswww.elperiodic.ad4 TUESDAY 12 JUNE 2018

PERIODIC NEWS

33Photo of cannabis.

Increase in cannabis use Man dies in Perpignan by toxic Tora plant

Cannabis consumption is one of the main reasons why the num-ber of minors with behavioral di-sorders is increasing. The amount of people admitted for this pro-blem at the Hospital Nostra Senyo-ra de Meritxell has gone from th-ree, in 2015, to 20 last year. «Canna-bis consumption can have negative impacts on mental disorders and numbers are increasing. We do not have specific figures, but there are many kids who are affected by can-nabis” the Director of the Mental Health Unit at the hospital, Gem-ma Garcia.

The psychiatrist said that among those hospitalised there were ado-lescents aged between 13 and 17 ye-

ars old. «In some cases, they start to consume cannabis at 12 years old» said the expert, who also wanted to clarify that this is a phenomenon that «is not generalised.» «We do not want to alarm or scare parents, just inform them» she added.

HARMFUL FOR MEMORY / The Director stressed that there must always be a genetic predisposition to suffer from one of these disorders. «If you do not smoke, the disorder may not necessarily develop or it may hap-pen later». The impact of marijua-na among adolescents is more se-rious than in adults because the brain is still developing until ap-proximately 20 years old,. «If you add a toxic substance to the neu-rons, you are preventing the brain from developing properly. The dif-ference of the damage caused by cannabis is that it affects memory. It also causes those using cannabis to be more «apathetic.» «Those who

Behavioural disorders among young people get worse if they smoke marijuana

HEALTH INTOXICATION

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A 78-year-old man died Friday night after eating a poisonous plant that he had harvested in the mountain range of Canigó. The hi-ker and his 75-year-old compani-on, who live in the French city of Alénya, picked up Aconitum also known as wolf’s bane or tora bla-va in catalan a deadly plant and one of the most toxic that can be found in Europe. Thinking it was wild celery he innocently picked it up. The couple cooked the plant for dinner and the man died after a few minutes of ingesting it. The woman, on the other hand, suf-fered from nausea and vomiting

His wife had to be hospitalized, but is no longer in critical condition

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and was hospitalized in Perpig-nan. Having been in a serious sta-te, she is no longer fighting for her life.

The couple had given some of the plants to a woman who they met on the way. When the woman explained it, the police started an emergency operati-on to find her from Friday night to Saturday, assisted by firefigh-ters. The 32-year-old woman en-tered the hospital of Perpignan and was put into observation wit-hout further consequences, ac-cording to FranceInfo.

This event occured a month af-ter an Andorran family was ad-mitted to the Meritxell hospital for the same reason. Andorra’s Minister of Health, Carles Álva-rez has already warned about the dangers of the plants that can be easily avoided by cautiousness H

PERIODIC NEWS

33The Valira river between la Seu and Castellciutat.

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WEATHER

The Catalan Pyrenees, have experienced an exceptiona-lly rainy spring (from March 1 to May 31), according to a

data collection from the Meteoro-logical Service of Catalonia. It con-cludes that it has been the wettest season since 2013, although in many towns the records show that this year has become the rainiest of the last 69 years. The latest figures show that the collected rainfall was higher than 600 mm at the high points in the western Pyrenees.

The highest value recorded by the stations of the XEMA (Xarxa d’estacions meteorològiques au-tomàtiques) and the XOM (Xarxa d’Observadors Meteorològics) was 789.9 mm in Espot (2,519 meters), followed by 664.6 mm in Boí (2,535 meters) and 626.4 mm in Bonai-gua (2,266 meters), in Pallars Sobi-rà. Apart from the total precipitati-

The rainiest spring in 69 years in the PyreneesPlaces like Oliana, Vielha and Tremp registered high levels of rainfall

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on, the high number of rainy days during the last three months con-tributed to this factor. In the wes-tern Pyrenees the number of rainy days exceeding 0.2 mm is more than 60 days. The average tempe-rature has been similar to or hig-her than the average climate values in most of the territory, despite so-me exceptions in the Pyrenees, whe-re it can be described as cold. In so-me parts of the Pyrenees, it has be-en the rainiest spring with records starting from 1950. Despite this glo-bal abundance of precipitation this year, there have been some dry are-as. The Ebro Delta and other areas of the South coast of Spain did not ha-

ve constant showers.

TEMPERATURE / The seasonal average temperature of this spring hasn’t been outstanding ether. However, in the Pyrenees the temperatures were 0.5 to 1.5 degrees below the usual ones of spring. In contrast, in Lleida the temperatures were between 0.5 and 1.8 degrees abo-ve normal. This balance of tempe-rature is the result of variations of temperatures over three months; April was warm in general, while in March and May there were con-trasts in temperature, with some warm days and some cold days, but without being too extreme.

CONTRASTS WITH CATALONIA / Apart from the outstanding figures regis-tered in the Pyrenees, 9 XEMA we-ather stations with 20 or more ye-ars of data, located in the counti-es of La Noguera, Segarra, Conca de Barberà, Osona and El Vallès Orien-tal, have also broken their previous record of spring rainfall. For the ot-her 9 stations, the spring of 2018 was the second rainiest, while for 6 it was the third and for 4 stations, it was the fourth rainiest.

However, some parts of the Montsià have collected less than 60 mm, which is less than a tenth of the precipitation collected in pla-ces with more abundant rainfall. In the XEMA stations, the areas that stand out are the Buda island, with only 47mm and the Alfacs, with 58.8 mm. H

Unlike the spring of 2017 and 2015, temperature has increased +1.8 ºC in the city of Barcelona.

smoke a lot do not want to do anyt-hing. There are kids smoking eight, ten or more joints per day” said the doctor. Also behavioral disorders end up in school failure. H

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