(Subjects: Religion/Worship, Lightworkers, Food, Health, Prescription Drugs, Homeopathy, Innate (Body intelligence), New Age movement, Global Unity, ... etc.) - (Text version)

“…… Should I use Doctors and Drugs to Heal Me or Spiritual Methods?

"Dear Kryon, I have heard that you should stay natural and not use the science on the planet for healing. It does not honor God to go to a doctor. After all, don't you say that we can heal with our minds? So why should we ever go to a doctor if we can do it ourselves? Not only that, my doctor isn't enlightened, so he has no idea about my innate or my spiritual body needs. What should I do?"

First, Human Being, why do you wish to put so many things in boxes? You continue to want a yes and no answer for complex situations due to your 3D, linear outlook on almost everything. Learn to think out of the 3D box! Look at the heading of this section [above]. It asks which one should you do. It already assumes you can't do both because they seem dichotomous.

Let's use some spiritual logic: Here is a hypothetical answer, "Don't go to a doctor, for you can heal everything with your mind." So now I will ask: How many of you can do that in this room right now? How many readers can do that with efficiency right now? All of you are old souls, but are you really ready to do that? Do you know how? Do you have really good results with it? Can you rid disease and chemical imbalance with your mind right now?

I'm going to give you a truth, whether you choose to see it or not. You're not ready for that! You are not yet prepared to take on the task of full healing using your spiritual tools. Lemurians could do that, because Pleiadians taught them how! It's one of the promises of God, that there'll come a day when your DNA works that efficiently and you will be able to walk away from drug chemistry and the medical industry forever, for you'll have the creator's energy working at 100 percent, something you saw within the great masters who walked the earth.

This will be possible within the ascended earth that you are looking forward to, dear one. Have you seen the news lately? Look out the window. Is that where you are now? We are telling you that the energy is going in that direction, but you are not there yet.

Let those who feel that they can heal themselves begin the process of learning how. Many will be appreciative of the fact that you have some of the gifts for this now. Let the process begin, but don't think for a moment that you have arrived at a place where every health issue can be healed with your own power. You are students of a grand process that eventually will be yours if you wish to begin the quantum process of talking to your cells. Some will be good at this, and some will just be planting the seeds of it.

Now, I would like to tell you how Spirit works and the potentials of what's going to happen in the next few years. We're going to give the doctors of the planet new inventions and new science. These will be major discoveries about the Human body and of the quantum attributes therein.

Look at what has already happened, for some of this science has already been given to you and you are actually using it. Imagine a science that would allow the heart to be transplanted because the one you have is failing. Of course! It's an operation done many times a month on this planet. That information came from the creator, did you realize that? It didn't drop off the shelf of some dark energy library to be used in evil ways.

So, if you need a new heart, Lightworker, should you go to the doctor or create one with your mind? Until you feel comfortable that you can replace your heart with a new one by yourself, then you might consider using the God-given information that is in the hands of the surgeon. For it will save your life, and create a situation where you stay and continue to send your light to the earth! Do you see what we're saying?

You can also alter that which is medicine [drugs] and begin a process that is spectacular in its design, but not very 3D. I challenge you to begin to use what I would call the homeopathic principle with major drugs. If some of you are taking major drugs in order to alter your chemistry so that you can live better and longer, you might feel you have no choice. "Well, this is keeping me alive," you might say. "I don't yet have the ability to do this with my consciousness, so I take the drugs."

In this new energy, there is something else that you can try if you are in this category. Do the following with safety, intelligence, common sense and logic. Here is the challenge: The principle of homeopathy is that an almost invisible tincture of a substance is ingested and is seen by your innate. Innate "sees" what you are trying to do and then adjusts the body's chemistry in response. Therefore, you might say that you are sending the body a "signal for balance." The actual tincture is not large enough to affect anything chemically - yet it works!

The body [innate] sees what you're trying to do and then cooperates. In a sense, you might say the body is healing itself because you were able to give it instructions through the homeopathic substance of what to do. So, why not do it with a major drug? Start reducing the dosage and start talking to your cells, and see what happens. If you're not successful, then stop the reduction. However, to your own amazement, you may often be successful over time.

You might be able to take the dosage that you're used to and cut it to at least a quarter of what it was. It is the homeopathy principle and it allows you to keep the purpose of the drug, but reduce it to a fraction of a common 3D dosage. You're still taking it internally, but now it's also signaling in addition to working chemically. The signal is sent, the body cooperates, and you reduce the chance of side effects.

You can't put things in boxes of yes or no when it comes to the grand system of Spirit. You can instead use spiritual logic and see the things that God has given you on the planet within the inventions and processes. Have an operation, save your life, and stand and say, "Thank you, God, for this and for my being born where these things are possible." It's a complicated subject, is it not? Each of you is so different! You'll know what to do, dear one. Never stress over that decision, because your innate will tell you what is appropriate for you if you're willing to listen. ….”

Monsanto / GMO - Global Health


(Subjects: Big pharma [the drug companies of America] are going to have to change very soon or collapse. When you have an industry that keeps people sick for money, it cannot survive in the new consciousness., Global Unity, ... etc.) - (Text version)
"Recalibration of Free Choice"– Mar 3, 2012 (Kryon Channelling by Lee Caroll) - (Subjects: (Old) Souls, Midpoint on 21-12-2012, Shift of Human Consciousness, Black & White vs. Color, 1 - Spirituality (Religions) shifting, Lose a Pope “soon”, 2 - Humans will change react to drama, 3 - Civilizations/Population on Earth, 4 - Alternate energy sources (Geothermal, Tidal (Pedal wheels), Wind), 5 – Financials Institutes/concepts will change (Integrity – Ethical) , 6 - News/Media/TV to change, 7 Big Pharmaceutical company will collapse “soon”, (Keep people sick), (Integrity – Ethical) 8 – Wars will be over on Earth, Global Unity, … etc.) - (Text version)
"The Recalibration of Awareness – Apr 20/21, 2012 (Kryon channeled by Lee Carroll) (Subjects: Old Energy, Recalibration Lectures, God / Creator, Religions/Spiritual systems (Catholic Church, Priests/Nun’s, Worship, John Paul Pope, Women in the Church otherwise church will go, Current Pope won’t do it), Middle East, Jews, Governments will change (Internet, Media, Democracies, Dictators, North Korea, Nations voted at once), Integrity (Businesses, Tobacco Companies, Bankers/ Financial Institutes, Pharmaceutical company to collapse), Illuminati (Started in Greece, Shipping, Financial markets, Stock markets, Pharmaceutical money (fund to build Africa, to develop)), Shift of Human Consciousness, (Old) Souls, Women, Masters to/already come back, Global Unity.... etc.) - (Text version)
"THE BRIDGE OF SWORDS" – Sep 29, 2012 (Kryon channeled by Lee Carroll) (Subjects: ... I'm in Canada and I know it, but I will tell those listening and reading in the American audience the following: Get ready! Because there are some institutions that are yet to fall, ones that don't have integrity and that could never be helped with a bail out. Again, we tell you the biggest one is big pharma, and we told you that before. It's inevitable. If not now, then in a decade. It's inevitable and they will fight to stay alive and they will not be crossing the bridge. For on the other side of the bridge is a new way, not just for medicine but for care. ....) - (Text Version)

Pharmaceutical Fraud / Corruption cases

Health Care

Health Care
Happy birthday to Percy Julian, a pioneer in plant-drug synthesis. His research produced steroids like cortisone. (11 April 2014)

Saturday, May 29, 2010

Insulin giant pulls medicine from Greece over price cut

BBC News, by Malcolm Brabant, Saturday, 29 May 2010 10:53 UK

BBC News, Athens The Danish company's decision has been criticised in Greece

The world's leading supplier of the anti-diabetes drug insulin is withdrawing its medication from Greece.

Novo Nordisk, a Danish company, objects to a government decree ordering a 25% price cut in all medicines.

People with diabetes in Greece have condemned the Danish action as "brutal capitalist blackmail".

More than 50,000 Greeks with diabetes use Novo Nordisk's state of-the-art-insulin, which is injected via an easy-to-use fountain pen-like device.

A spokesman for the Danish pharmaceutical company said it was withdrawing the product from the Greek market because the price cut would force its business in Greece to run at a loss.

The company was also concerned that the compulsory 25% reduction would have a knock-on effect because other countries use Greece as a key reference point for setting drug prices.

'Insensitive'

Greece wants to slash its enormous medical bill as part of its effort to reduce the country's crippling debt.

International pharmaceutical companies are owed billions in unpaid bills. Novo Nordisk claims it is owed $36m (£24.9m) dollars by the Greek state.

The father of a 10-year-old Greek girl with diabetes called Nephele has written to Novo Nordisk's chairman saying there was more to health care than the bottom line.

"You could not have acted in a more insensitive manner at a more inopportune time," he wrote.

The Greek diabetes association was more robust, describing the Danes' actions as "brutal blackmail" and "a violation of corporate social responsibility".

The Danish chairman, Lars Sorensen, wrote to Nephele's father stressing that it was "the irresponsible management of finances by the Greek government which puts both you and our company in this difficult position".

People with diabetes in Greece have warned that some could die as a result of this action.

But a spokesman for Novo Nordisk said this issue was not about killing people. He pledged that the company would make traditional insulin products available free of charge to compensate.

Related Article:

Second firm withdraws drugs from Greece over cuts


Friday, May 28, 2010

Smoking Toddler Puffs Two Packs a Day

Jakarta Globe, Mark Moloney, May 27, 2010

Ardi Rizal, a two year old from Sumatra puffs his way through two pack of cigarettes per day. (Photo courtesy SCTV)

Ardi Rizal is a two year-old from Musi Banyuasin in Sumatra with a difference - he is addicted to cigarettes and smokes two packs a day.

According to his mother Diana, "he's totally addicted. If he doesn't gets cigarettes, he gets angry and screams and batters his head against the wall.'

She said that he suffered withdrawal symptoms when he was denied cigarettes. "He complains that he feels dizzy and sick if he doesn't get a cigarette," she said.

His father, Mohammed, first introduced Ardi to smoking at the age of eighteen months.

Ardi, who weighs about 25 kilos, is also too unfit to play with other children and instead gets around on a toy truck.

Ardi refuses to smoke anything other than his favourite brand.

When his father was asked if he thought smoking would harm Ardi, he said "Ardi looks pretty healthy to me. I don't see the problem."





Related Article:

Thursday, May 27, 2010

RI made enormous progress upon achieving MDGs, UN official

Antara News, Thursday, May 27, 2010 19:47 WIB

Jakarta (ANTARA News) - The United Nations Under-Secretary-General for Communication and information, Kiyotaka Akasaka, said Indonesia had made an enormous progress at home upon achieving the MDGs target.

"I see that Indonesia has made progress in reducing poverty, upgrade the education sector and women role in the society as well as increasing the rate of child mortality," Akasaka said here on Thursday morning during a press conference after giving a public lecture themed "The UN, MDGs and the Role of Young People in Furthering the Global Agenda" at Atmajaya University Jakarta.

However, he said, further effort was still needed to boost the handling of several sectors namely maternal mortality, eradication of HIV/AIDS, improvement of environmental sustainability an unemployment.

"Indonesia still have five more years to go. I believe this country will be able to achieve the MDGs target and the UN is willing to assist it," he said adding that Indonesia was among countries in the world which support the UN`s program.

At noon, Akasaka is scheduled to meet with Directorate General for Multilateral Economy, Finance and Development from Indonesian Foreign Affairs Ministry, Rezlan Izhar Janie, and other high officials from the ministry. They will be discussing about further cooperation in area of public information.

"Indonesian government has already support UN`s program during the past years. We are hoping that the support will continue in th future," said Akasaka.

In the afternoon he will visit the Peacekeeping Training Facility in Cilangkap to participate in a ceremonial event to pay tribute to Indonesia`s contributions to UN Peacekeeping in anticipation of the International Day of UN Peacekeepers (May 29).

Wednesday, May 26, 2010

Over 100 workers fall into trance

The Jakarta Post, Jakarta | Wed, 05/26/2010 8:50 PM

Over 100 women employees of an artificial eyelid maker in the West Java town of Garut went into a trance on Wednesday, forcing the management to put production process to a halt.

The rare incident took place just after the workers of PT Surya Garut Indah were about to resume activities after a lunch break. Quoting a security guard, Antara reported that the mass trance started from a worker and quickly spread to others.

“They became enraged with their eyes turning red, while screaming and uttering unclear words,” security guard Nurodin said.

It took a spiritual healer over one hour to help the workers regain their consciousness, Nurodin added. The management then asked all the workers to go home to prevent the incident from recurring.

The spiritual healer, Junaedi, said a number of workers had resisted his attempt to cure them. Some of them spitted on him, he added.

He said he remained in the dark about the cause of the mass trance.

Indonesia deports two French journalists

Antara News, Wednesday, May 26, 2010 03:11 WIB

Jayapura, Papua (ANTARA News) - The Jayapura immigration authorities said two French journalists would be deported to their country through Jakarta on Wednesday.

Head of the Jayapura immigration office Robert Silitonga said Baudoin Koeniag and Carol Helene Lorthiois of Mano Mano TV Arte would be deported because they violated their coverage permits.

The TV journalists were arrested while covering a rally in front of the Papuan legislative building on Tuesday afternoon, he said.

From their questioning, it was revealed that the only journalist who got the news coverage permit was only Baudoin Koeniag.

The permit was issued by the tourism and cultural ministry in Jakarta on April 20, 2010, to cover such areas as Aceh, Jakarta, Bali, Gorontalo, and Sorong (Papua), he said.

Jayapura, the capital of Papuan Province, was not on the list, he said adding that the news reporting permit was given to them to make a documentary film on future Indonesia.

Carol Helene Lorthiois herself entered Indonesia by using a tourism visa. The French nationals would be flown for Jakarta by Garuda Indonesia and later deported, Silitonga said.

Besides being deported, the two French journalists would also be blacklisted, he said.

Tuesday, May 25, 2010

Balikpapan declares health emergency on diphtheria

The Jakarta Post, Balikpapan | Tue, 05/25/2010 10:07 AM | The Archipelago

BALIKPAPAN, East Kalimantan: Balikpapan’s health agency has declared a public health emergency after eight children and teenagers in the municipality were reported as infected with diphtheria.

“The state of emergency will remain valid until the area is cleared of the disease,” health agency head Diyah Muryani said Monday.

Diphtheria usually infects children under 10 years old.

However, a 16-year-old teenager in the Telaga Sari subdistrict of South Balikpapan regency was diagnosed with the disease.

Diphtheria reportedly also claimed the life of a child in February. — JP

Yudhoyono Calls for Decentralised Regulation to Deal With Hunger

Tempo Interactive, Monday, 24 May, 2010 | 20:12 WIB

TEMPO Interactive, Jakarta: President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono has suggested that a specific regulation on emergency procedures in dealing with hunger or lack of food supplies for provincial governments, in a bid to shift some of the responsibilities of the central government to regional authorities.

In a speech at the opening of day of Food Resilience Council conference on “Improving regional commitments to build supply independency and the speed up for food differentiation, Yudhoyono said “Lets make the rule of the game to improve accountabilty.”

Yudhoyono said regents should move to overcome hunger at subdistrict levels, while governors will assume responsibility when the plague moves beyond regencies. “When (the hunger) hit several provinces then I and the minister will responsible.”

Yudhoyono told regional authorities to relieve some of the burden from the central government and immediately abandon their focus on investments or development projects and swing their full efforts on the issue whenever it occurred.

He further proded regional authorities for their intentional approaches to the grass root during election time, and instructed local governments to build more intense communications with the public. “When the market goes weird please have a close look. The same measure applies in addressing public complaints and media reports.”

EKO ARI WIBOWO

Police advise residents to be watchful of housemaids

The Jakarta Post, Jakarta | Mon, 05/24/2010 9:37 PM

City Police warn residents to keep an eye on newly recruited housemaids to avoid falling victim of crimes committed by alleged theft syndicates.

City Police spokesman Sr. Comr. Boy Rafli Amar said Monday hiring housemaids from licensed agencies or those recommended by their relatives are safer.

“It is also important for employers to make sure their maids have relatives or close acquaintance they can reach or contact anytime,” Boy said.

On Sunday, a resident of Cempaka Putih, Central Jakarta, lost Rp 30 million (US$3,300), a set of diamond earrings and two cellular phones from her home, all allegedly stolen by her maid, who had only been employed that day.

Monday, May 24, 2010

Should Parents or Teachers Take Care of Sex Education?

Jakarta Globe, Putri Prameshwari& Titania Veda, May 24, 2010

Students in Surabaya getting a lesson on the female reproductive system. Sex itself is a taboo subject in class.  (Antara Photo/Eric Ireng)

For Jakarta housewife Rika Henria Ardanesworo, sex is one of the most difficult topics to discuss with her two daughters, and she wishes schools would play a bigger role in teaching students about the subject.

Rika said her daughters, Khesia and Archie, now both in their early 20s, learned the basics of sex from their peers. All she can do now is try to convince them to stay away from it.

“Communication is the key,” she said, adding that she had never formally prohibited her daughters from engaging in sex.

Instead, she tells them horror stories that could result from premarital sex, such as unwanted pregnancies, failed marriages and diseases.

“That is how I teach my kids and hopefully, they can learn from it,” Rika said.

The issue of teenagers engaging in sexual activity again became a hot topic recently after a survey conducted by the Indonesian Commission for Child Protection (KPAI) was leaked to the media.

The survey, which KPAI chairman Hadi Supeno said constituted preliminary research and was not meant to be published, showed that 32 of 100 teenagers claimed they had had full sexual intercourse.

Hadi quoted the teenagers, aged 14 to 18, who came from middle-upper-class families, as saying that they did not receive adequate attention from their parents, thus they were left at home with little supervision over what they accessed on the Internet or watched on television.

“Those teenagers had become curious, and without tight monitoring they could easily satisfy this [curiosity],” he said.

In response to the survey, Communication and Information Minister Tifatul Sembiring called for more stringent controls over the Inter net.

However, Hadi said that would not solve the problem.

“Let’s not be naive and just blame technology,” he said. “Like it or not, there is greater access to information these days.”

To address the issue, the KPAI is pushing for a program that would teach parents how to educate their children at home.

“We have been recommending this program to the government and now it is being discussed together with the BKKBN,” Hadi said, referring to the national agency for family planning and population control.

The program, he said, would see health institutions from the city level down to those in villages providing lessons for parents in how to talk to their children about sex, a subject that is still widely seen as taboo.

So should schools also be involved? Wahyu Hartomo, an official at the State Ministry for Women’s Empowerment and Child Protection, said that ideally, sex education would be given to students as early as elementary school. “[Sex] education should start from about 12 years of age, ideally,” he said, adding that children should know how to protect themselves against sexual abuse.

The tricky part in the classroom, however, is to provide education without promoting sexual activity. Suparman, chairman of the Indonesian Independent Teachers Association, said teachers should know the boundaries when talking about sex in the classroom.

“Bearing in mind the culture here, it would be difficult not to feel awkward when talking about this,” he said. “If they don’t deliver the message in the right way, it will be seen as too vulgar.”

Suparman said that since we now live in the information age, teachers must find new ways to handle the topic.

“With globalization, teachers must find new methods of giving sex education,” he said.

Suparman added that teachers themselves should receive more lessons before broaching the subject, because sex education “cannot be regarded in the same way as other subjects.”

Religion also complicates the topic of sex education. Amidhan, the chairman of the Indonesian Council of Ulema (MUI), said that the lessons must be restricted to the scientific aspects of sex.

“It is permissible to teach children about the dangers of casual sex,” he said, “but do not give them ideas on how to have casual sex.”

He said the most important lesson to be taught in sex education classes was the matter of faith, since the stronger a child’s faith, the more aware he or she will be that premarital sex is a sin. “Faith is the basic lesson,” he said.

In Gorontalo, legislator Adnan Entengo said he felt there should be thorough research before introducing sex education classes in schools.

“We don’t want to steer children to sex instead of teaching them about it,” he told state news agency Antara.

Experts agreed there should not be a dedicated class for sex education because of the sensitivity of the subject. Suparman said sex education could instead be integrated into other subjects such as biology or religion.

“For example, there should be a greater focus on anatomy during biology,” he said.

Hadi said sex education could be incorporated into many subjects, including Indonesian and English lessons.

“Make the students read informative articles and books about sex,” he said.

Fire victims of sinking naval vessel brought to Malaysia

Antara News, Monday, May 24, 2010 11:19 WIB

Tanjungpinang, Riau Islands (ANTARA News) - Herawaty, one of the victims of a naval vessel which caught fire and sank in Lingai waters, Anambas islands, Riau islands province, on Thursday (May 20), had been brought to a hospital in Johor, Malaysia, for intensive care.

"On Saturday morning, Herawaty was taken by her husband to Johor, Malaysia, from Tanjungpinang for further and more intensive treatment of her burns," Assistant II of Anambas islands regency administration Yunalhas Fasri said in Tanjungpinang Saturday.

He said Herawaty sustained very serious burns and was in urgent need of more intensive treatment.

"Most of the body of Herawaty, wife of the head of Anambas islands tourism agency sustained serious burns," he said.

Another fire victim, also with serious burns, was Ishye Kurnia, who had been brought from Palmatak, Anambas to the RSCM general hospital in Jakarta Friday afternoon.

Three people who had burns and broken bones admitted to the naval hospital in Tanjungpinang are Dr Tajri, Rahayu and Lia Rosiana.

"Six others with lighter injuries and traumatized, are still being treated at the community health center in Tarempa, Anambas islands," he said, adding that all the medical expenses of the victims will be paid by the Anambas islands regency administration.

Up till 10 am on Saturday, he said, three people were still missing, namely Mauli Yulianty (wife of Yusrizal, regent of Anambas islands), Navy Chief Sergeant Hartono, and Dodi Harayudha (Anambas islands administration spokesman).

Customs officers foil attempt of smuggling 2 kg of Methamphetamine

Antara News, Monday, May 24, 2010 11:33 WIB

Jakarta (ANTARA News) - Customs officers at Juanda Airport in Surabaya, East Java, arrested two Malaysian nationals on charges of smuggling in 2 kg of shabu-shabu (crystal methamphetamine) on Saturday night, a spokesperson said.

The two Malaysians identified by their initials as LKT and TKP, arrived at the airport on Cathay Pacific, Evi Suhartantyo, chief of the directorate general of customs and excise`s public relations service, said in a statement on Sunday.

They were arrested for carrying 1 kg of shabu-shabu each, she said.

"The 2 kilograms of shabu-shabu are valued at around Rp4 billion," she said.

Earlier, in mid May 2010, the airport`s customs officers also foiled an attempt of smuggling in 50 grams of shabu-shabu carried by an Indonesian migrant worker employed in Malaysia.

The worker, identified by his initial as S, put the shabu-shabu worth Rp100 million in a milk powder container. The customs officers detected the contraband in a profiling check using a drug-detecting instrument provided by the Australian government, she said.

The worker who hailed from Lumajang, East Java, arrived at the airport by Air Asia from Kuala Lumpur, she said.

Sunday, May 23, 2010

Urinary tract infections 'resistant to antibiotics'

E.coli causes about 80% of UTIs

Urinary tract infections are becoming increasingly hard to treat because of emerging resistance to current antibiotic drugs, experts warn.

They say the problem is spawned by the overuse of antibiotics in the farming industry which enter the food chain.

Scientists from the University of Hong Kong found evidence suggesting resistance genes are being passed from animals to humans in this way.

Their findings are published in the Journal of Medical Microbiology.

The researchers examined Escherichia coli bacteria, which are responsible for the vast bulk of human urinary tract infections. (UTIs).

Looking at samples from humans and animals they found an identical gene for antibiotic resistance was present.

The gene, called aacC2, encodes resistance to a commonly-used antibiotic gentamicin and was found in approximately 80% of the 249 human and animal samples the team studied.

Lead researcher Dr Pak-Leung Ho said: "These resistance genes may possibly spread to the human gut via the food chain, through direct contact with animals or by exposure to contaminated water sources.

"When the resistance genes end up in bacteria that cause infections in humans, the diseases will be more difficult to treat."

Global problem

Although the research was carried out in only one region - Hong Kong - experts say the problem is global.

Dr Ho said: "With the international trading of meats and food animals, antibiotic resistance in one geographic area can easily become global.

"Health authorities need to closely monitor the transmission of resistance between food-producing animals and humans and assess how such transfers are affecting the effectiveness of human use of antibiotics."

Professor Chris Thomas, an expert in bacteria at the University of Birmingham, said doctors in the UK were also seeing resistant strains.

"Antibiotic use in animal husbandry is tightly controlled in Europe.

"But even if the problem is being curbed here, people travelling abroad and moving from community to community will bring resistance with them and it will spread.

"It's a worldwide problem."

He said the resistant infections could be treated with other, sometimes more expensive antibiotics. However, with time, resistance may develop to these too, he warned.

In the UK, it is estimated that one woman in three will have a UTI before the age of 24, and that half of all women will have at least one UTI during their lifetime. They are less common among men.

Bacteria in chicken

Related Article:

Antibiotic-resistant bacteria affecting humans

Jump in antibiotic resistance linked to food industry


Saturday, May 22, 2010

Severely malnourished infant found in Madura

Antara News, Saturday, May 22, 2010 17:59 WIB

Bangkalan, E Java (ANTARA News) - Anameli, a toddler in Bangkalan district on Maudura Island, East Java, has been found to be suffering from extreme malnourishment and in need of immediate hospitalization, a health worker said.

The two-year-old infant from Tengginan hamlet, Pataterongan village, Galis sub-district, Bangkalan district, was very thin, having a body weight of only 6.5 kilograms, Nur Aini said.

Speaking to newsmen here Saturday, Nur Aini of Syarifah Ambami Rato Ebu General Hospital said the ill-fated infant`s weight was only half that of a normal two-year old.

She said the weight of a normal two-year-old child was 12 kilograms.

When taken to the hospital, Anameli`s temperature was "high", and she often vomited and suffered from diarrhea, Nur Aini said.

The doctor`s diagnosis showed that the toddler was malnourished because her weight was only around six kilograms, she said.

The parents` carelessness might have contributed to Anameli`s malnourishment, she said.

However, referring to the case of seven-year-old Puji Astuti, daughter of Suryadi, 26, and Liah, 26, in West Java district of Bekasi, poverty had mainly contributed to Astuti`s malnourishment.

Due to her parents` poverty, Puji Astuti had been malnourished since eight months ago.

The daughter of residents of Jati Mulya village, Tambun Selatan sub-district, Bekasi district, West Java, only had a body weight of 10 kilograms.

Anameli and Puji Astuti are just two of millions of malnourished children in Indonesia.

According to World Vision Indonesia, a non-governmental organization which plays an active role in fighting malnutrition, more than five million Indonesian children are malnourished.

It said the malnutrition was an "iceberg phenomenon" in which the number of minor, moderate, and serious malnourished children is often far higher than those seen on television.

East Java is one of the Indonesian provinces, which remains vulnerable to the malnourishment cases.

The East Java province`s health authorities recently confirmed that 125 toddlers in Pacitan district were malnourished.

"The body weight of malnourished infants is lower than that of healthy ones`," Head of Pacitan district`s health office Wawan Kasiyanto said.

Since 2009, the Pacitan health workers had found that 1,221 infants had decreasing weights and 125 were identified as malnourished.

The normal growth of malnourished babies could be hampered so that they need extra-food packages containing sufficient vitamins and minerals, and medicines to strengthen their immunity system, he said.

Poor access to healthcare still a major problem in RI

Dina Indrasafitri, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta | Sat, 05/22/2010 10:07 AM

Problems with accessible and affordable healthcare are common in Indonesia and most ASEAN countries, but there are solutions, says lawmaker Nova Riyanti Yusuf.

The problem of accessibility could be solved with the provision of an insurance system that would help people access healthcare, she said.

Kevin Haydon, the CEO of global sales and service at Philips Healthcare, said that while there was growing awareness about the urgent need for healthcare among countries in the ASEAN region, this tendency also produced the challenge of growing demand.

Despite the general problem of increasing demand for quality healthcare, there are also specific problems experienced by ASEAN countries, which have different financial structures or market characteristics.

“In the case of developed economies, the biggest health challenges are chronic diseases and the fact that the population is living longer. As you get older, you end up with more chronic diseases such as diabetes and cancer, which are typically more expensive to manage,” Haydon said.

While countries with developed economies strive for ways to ensure that better quality healthcare is still affordable, those with emerging markets are still struggling with basic issues of access.

“In many emerging economies, despite increasing affluence, urbanization and improved healthcare, there is still a serious challenge of ensuring access to healthcare — especially for the millions of urban and rural poor,” Haydon said in his speech during the event.

Nova said there had not been any moves for direct cooperation between Indonesia or any other ASEAN countries, such as Thailand and the Philippines.

The Indonesian government is currently drafting a bill on a social insurance management agency. The bill is expected to provide a legal basis for an agency that will manage the national security system, in which all Indonesians will have primary healthcare insurance.

Earlier this week, lawmaker, Surya Chandra Surapaty, said the House of Representatives was hoping to submit the draft to the President on June 16.

Nova said that should the country manage to pass the bill this year, it might establish itself as a model for other countries in the region.

However, she added that some suggestions revealed the hope in establishing a universal healthcare system in which the rich helped the poor and the well helped the ill was “very ambitious”.

“We [legislators] are discussing whether this bill will be feasible,” she said.

Nova raised several issues, such as whether the state should also cover secondary or tertiary healthcare and whether the state should apply taxes to ensure feasibility.

“Thailand mentioned that at first the system of paying 30 baht granted primary health care, but then [the problem] spread further into the secondary and tertiary. Nowadays, there are many diseases related to lifestyle and climate change,” she said.

On a more optimistic note, Nova said that she would propose including mental illnesses in the draft of the new bill.

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New Jakarta Law to See Full Public Smoking Ban

Jakarta Globe, Ulma Haryanto, May 21, 2010

A young girl smoking a cigarette at shopping mall in Jakarta. JG Photo/Jurnasyanto Sukarno

Jakarta Governor Fauzi Bowo announced on Friday that a city bylaw to totally ban smoking in all public buildings would soon be finalized.

If the ban is treated seriously, unlike earlier attempts to restrict smoking in public areas, Jakarta could finally join the growing list of major cities around the world that have virtually eliminated smoking inside bars, restaurants, offices and shopping malls.

As an interim measure, Fauzi on Friday issued a decree to revise a widely ignored 2005 bylaw on smoke-free areas that mandated the creation of smoking rooms in public buildings.

Under the 2005 bylaw, smokers can be fined Rp 50 million ($5,400) or even jailed for six months for violating the ban, but enforcement has been virtually nonexistent.

The revised bylaw, which still has to be ratified by the City Council, states that smoking areas have to be separated physically from any public building and cannot be located next to an entrance or exit door. This would replace the current system of smoking rooms.

“It is easier to shoo smokers away than to make special rooms for them, and that is what is already happening in other countries right now,” Fauzi said.

The revision is being pushed by the Jakarta Environmental Management Agency (BPLHD) in cooperation with Swisscontact Indonesia, a nongovernmental organization. The revision is based on tests conducted in 34 city buildings by Swisscontact in 2009 that found evidence of nicotine in almost all surveyed locations.

“Schools and hospitals are categorized as ‘totally smoke-free areas,’ however, we found that 32 percent of the tested locations in schools and 68 percent in hospitals had nicotine residue,” said Dollaris Suhadi, executive director of Swisscontact Indonesia.

Based on the current bylaw, there are seven areas where smoking is not allowed: public spaces, health facilities, workplaces, houses of worship, aboard public transportation and in areas dedicated to education and children’s activities.

Smoker Stephan Pramono, 27, said he was skeptical of the new bylaw. “The regulation cannot be properly applied if the people who work for the government themselves don’t do it,” he said. “I know that many civil servants smoke in their offices.”

Dimas A Kusuma, marketing communications manager for Plaza Semanggi mall, said that the biggest challenge would come from shoppers.

“When the 2005 bylaw was issued, we had a 90-day joint campaign with community organizations and NGOs to socialize the new smoking rules,” he told the Jakarta Globe on Friday. “Tenants do not complain, but customers do, because some of them are really addicted to smoking, especially after drinking or eating.”

The mall, which bans smoking throughout the building, still fights an uphill battle despite telling security guards to remind smokers who are inside to extinguish their cigarettes.

“I think the new regulation will be easier to accept because smokers know to smoke in one designated area, and now the new regulation has moved that area outside,” Dimas said.

Tulus Abadi, chairman of the Indonesian Consumer Protection Foundation (YLKI), said that according to a survey his group conducted last year, only half of 60 malls in Jakarta complied with the 2005 bylaw.

“During our survey we still found cafes or restaurants that did not provide a special smoking area, or insufficient no-smoking signs or customers smoking in non-smoking areas,” he said.

The survey found that 45 percent of government offices also ignored the smoking ban.

“The implementation of these regulations relies on the regional government’s seriousness in enforcing them,” Tulus said.

“We are hoping that Jakarta can follow international standards that ban smoking not only in malls and offices, but also in pubs, cafes and discotheques,” he added.

“We hope that the new bylaw can be issued by the government this year or in early 2011.”

Friday’s gubernatorial decree is far from being the Jakarta administration’s first attempt to stamp out smoking. Here is a full list:

Gubernatorial Decree No. 11 of 2004 [ Surat Keputusan Gubernur ] to prohibit smoking inside government offices.

Gubernatorial Decree No. 75 of 2005 specified certain areas as smoke-free. Bylaw No. 2 in 2005 on air pollution control was issued to enforce Decree No. 75. It also mandated smoking rooms in public buildings.

Gubernatorial Decree No. 88 of 2010 has now revised that bylaw to say smoking rooms must be separate from the main building, and not near entrances or exits. This will be the basis for a new bylaw.

In Papua Prisons, Abuse Routine for Political Inmates

Jakarta Globe, Radot Gurning & M Irham, May 21, 2010

‘When I fell sick they didn’t take me to hospital straight away. They don’t care about us,’ Cosmos Yual said.

Papua. Indonesia is often hailed as the country with the greatest freedom of speech in Asia. But while antigovernment protests are a weekly and colorful norm in Jakarta, it’s a different story in the country’s far eastern tip of Papua.

Free access for foreign journalists is restricted, antigovernment protests are silenced by heavy-handed police and political dissenters are being abused behind bars.

Ferdinand Pakage is one such prisoner, serving his sentence in the Abepura penitentiary in Jayapura. He is blind in his right eye, which he said happened after one of the guards hit him there.

“Two years ago I was hit with a set of keys and I went blind in one eye. Now I get terrible headaches that I have never experienced before and I can only see out of my left eye,” he said.

Pakage is serving 15 years in jail for a murder he says he never committed. He was arrested during antigovernment protests in Abepura. Pakage is now losing his memory and staggers when he walks or stands up.

Despite demands for a full investigation from US-based watchdog Human Rights Watch, the guard, Herbert Toam, accused of carrying out the beating, still works at the prison. And while the prison doctor has recommended Pakage be treated in Jakarta, he has not been allowed to travel.

Cosmos Yual also needs medical attention. He lay shivering on a mat on the floor of his cell in the Doyo prison with just a thin piece of material covering his body.

“I’m in the second stage of tropical malaria. The doctor has just been to see me for the first time since I feel ill,” he said.

Yual said he had been shivering for the last four days. His face was pale, his eyes yellow and he still had a high fever. There was a foul smell his room, apparently emanating from the toilet just one step away from where he lay. He shares his 5-by-7-meter room with six other inmates.

“When I fell sick they didn’t take me to the hospital straight away. They shouldn’t have left me but they did. They don’t care about us,” he said.

While Yual described his treatment, the prison warden and two guards stood watch.

From his occasional glances at the warden it was clear Yual was choosing his words carefully.

“We don’t want violence here. We just want fair treatment. If they [prison guards] have personal problems, they shouldn’t take it out on us,” he said.

Yual was arrested while protesting against the US-owned Freeport mine in Papua, which has been a frequent source of unrest in the province. He was charged with assault and provocation and is now serving six years in prison.

Political dissent is not taken lightly in Papua; those who dare to raise the Morning Star independence flag face up to 20 years in prison.

That’s what happened to Filep Karma. He is serving 15 years at Abepura and has been put on par with Burmese human rights activist Aung San Suu Kyi by Amnesty International because he has consistently employed non-violence to promote his cause.

He has been suffering from a bladder infection, but the only help he received was being told by prison officers to lift his legs to ease the pain. He has been waiting for almost a year to be treated in Jakarta, but recommendations for the treatment from the prison’s doctor have so far gone ignored.

The head warden of the Abepura prison, Antonius Ayorbaba, said he didn’t have the funds to send political prisoners to Jakarta for health care.

When these allegations of abuse and neglect reached government officials in Jakarta, however, the reaction was one of shock and denial.

Ridha Saleh, a member of the National Commission on Human Rights, (Komnas HAM), said he was furious.

“I will immediately request information from the head of the Abepura and Doyo prisons and demand they give us full access,” he said.

Justice and Human Rights Minister Patrialis Akbar also said he was shocked by the claims.

“We have not received any reports about any of this,” he said. “In which part of Papua did this happen? Thank you for the information; I will check and recheck it.”

But the Commission for Missing Persons and Victims of Violence (Kontras) indicated the neglect and abuse of political prisoners was no accident.

Syamsul Alam investigates violence in Papuan prisons for the group.

“Why hasn’t the government taken any effective steps to fulfil the health rights of prisoners? If they don’t give them the permission to have health treatments and leave them to suffer, then I strongly suspect it is intentional,” he said.

Following a KBR68H radio interview with Patrialis, Antonius was transferred to another prison in what the government said was a routine move.

Meanwhile, the ban against protesting remains in place in Papua.

This article was first broadcast on “Asia Calling,” a regional current affairs program produced by Indonesia’s independent radio news agency KBR68H

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Friday, May 21, 2010

President promises to increase health funds

Antara News, Friday, May 21, 2010 18:04 WIB

Jakarta (ANTARA News) - President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono has promised that starting next year the government will raise health funds significantly to make it the main sector in development.

Speaking at a scientific gathering hosted by the University of Indonesia Medical Faculty (FKUI) here on Friday to observe National Awakening Day, President Yudhoyono said the portion of health funds would be raised significantly like education funds which were increased by 20 percent from the State Budget.

"After the rise of education funds by 20 percent from the State Budget, I state that starting 2011 the portion of health development will be stepped up significantly by raising its funds," the president said.

Since 2008 , the portion of health funds had ranged from two percent of the State Budget, but based on World Health Organization (WHO) standards, the minimal health funds should be 15 percent from the state budget of a country.

The head of state on the occasion said the health sector in the future would be a top priority and main agenda of development.

"We have to agree that development in the future should be oriented to integrated person," the president said.

Therefore he added that development would be directed to fulfill three main components in the human development index, namely health, education, and adequate income.

He added that national policy should have right direction to improve people`s health through the revitalization of community clinics and the development of third class hospitals across the country.

The head of state also expressed hope that modern hospitals with international standard would also be built at major cities in Indonesia.

But he said such hospitals should also have rooms for low income people who need medical treatment.

To reach the Millennium Development Goal, President Yudhoyono said the government policy in the next five years is to improve people health across the country.

Thursday, May 20, 2010

Consumers at Risk of Mercury Poisoning: Activists

Jakarta Globe, Dessy Sagita, May 20, 2010

Public health and environmental activists on Tuesday called for lawmakers to introduce legislation regulating the use of mercury in consumer goods and small mining operations.

“Southeast Asia is probably the biggest user of mercury,” said Yuyun Ismawati, director of environmental group Bali Fokus Foundation. “We use it in electrical and medical equipment, batteries and even dental fillings.”

Increasingly, medical and scientific bodies are pushing for tighter controls on mercury to curtail the shopping list of health problems brought on by the prolonged exposure to the toxic element. And what a list it is. It includes: damage to the brain, tissue, kidney and lungs, as well as birth defects.

But in major urban areas such as Jakarta, where the treatment of general waste has been an issue for years, the dearth of safe disposal facilities is compounding the problem.

Indonesian Consumer Protection Foundation (YLKI) chairwoman Husna Zahir said the increasing rate of mercury poisoning found among the public is also a question of low awareness of the element’s side-effects.

“Most consumers have little knowledge of the dangers posed by substances such as mercury because they only start exhibiting symptoms once the toxin has accumulated inside the body,” she said.

Skin-whitening creams, hot sellers at glitzy urban department stores, were singled out for flying under the radar of public conciousness.

“Women should be particularly concerned about this, because of the proliferation of mercury-containing cosmetic products, some of which are actually licensed for sale,” Husna said.

Husna called on the Food and Drug Monitoring Agency (BPOM), the country’s main consumer and public health watchdog, to tighten licensing requirements of products before they are brought to market.

Yuyun echoed that call, urging the government to adopt a policy of “No data, no market,” for manufacturers who fail to provide accurate product information about toxic or potentially harmful substances.

“People must be careful about consuming fish caught in polluted waters, as they could also contain high levels of accumulated mercury,” Yuyun said.

UN Industrial Development Organization Indonesia country coordinator Rini Sulaiman said mercury use in Indonesia has been driven by increasing discoveries of gold and other precious metal deposits.

Smaller miners often use mercury amalgamation to extract gold and other precious metals. The process is no longer used by the big mining companies because of the severe environmental degradation it leaves behind.

“There are so many miners now exhibiting symptoms of mercury poisoning, including tremors, fever and nausea,” Rini said.