(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)

Tuesday, June 28, 2011

Ministerial decree on female circumcision to protect children

Antara News, Tue, June 28 2011

Related News

Makassar, South Sulawesi (ANTARA News) - Health Minister Endang Rahayu Sedyaningsih said Ministerial Decree Number 1636 of 2010 on female circumcision was not meant to ban the practice but to protect girls.

Endang Rahayu Sedyaningsih
"If it is not regulated, it may lead to the procedure being carried out not by medical personnel but perhaps by shamans or others who would cause infection, bleeding and excessive cutting," the minister said here on Tuesday.

In the health minister`s decree issued in November 2010 it is stated that only doctors, nurses or midwives can perform female circumcisions.

"And what they can do is merely making a scratch with a sterile needle. There is no prohibition," she said.

The ministerial decree on female circumcision has been rejected by various parties who are calling for a halt to the practice. They said the ministerial regulation was only legitimizing it.

Editor: Priyambodo RH

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Sunday, June 26, 2011

RI has 5 million drug users: BNN

The Jakarta Post, Jakarta | Sun, 06/26/2011

The number of people using illicit drugs in Indonesia has grown over the years, with the figure predicted to top 5 million this year, the National Narcotics Agency (BNN) has said.

BNN head Gories Mere said a survey had shown that the prevalence of narcotics users in Indonesia in 2009 stood at 3.6 million people, or 1.99 percent of the country’s population aged between 10 and 59.

In 2010, the figure rose to 4.02 million people, or 2.21 percent of the age group; while in 2011, it is predicted to reach 5 million people, or 2.8 percent of the age group.

Gories said the figure could be the mere tip of the iceberg, and that students were the most vulnerable group in society in terms of drug abuse.

He added that drug syndicates from Iran, Nigeria, India, China and Malaysia were among those distributing illicit drugs in the country, kompas.com reported.

Gories made the statement Sunday during the commemoration of the International Day against Drug Abuse and Illicit Trafficking, which falls annually on June 26, at Monas Park in Central Jakarta.

The event was officiated by President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono.


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Friday, June 24, 2011

4 Russian sailors die after drinking Borneo brew

The Jakarta Post, Associated Press, Jakarta | Fri, 06/24/2011

Police say four crew members of a Russian ship anchored off Borneo island are dead and three more are seriously ill after drinking homemade Indonesian alcohol.

Central Kalimantan police spokesman Edi Ciptianto said Friday that authorities are searching for a local man they believe sold liquor mixed with a homemade brew.

Three men were found dead on the ship, the Captain Kurbatskiy, on Thursday.

Four others suffered from breathing problems, dizziness and vomiting after drinking the liquor and were rushed to a hospital. One, a woman, died shortly after arriving at the hospital.

Thursday, June 23, 2011

Female Circumcision Decree Must Be Revoked: NGOs

Jakarta Globe, Dessy Sagita | June 23, 2011

Related articles

Hundreds of activists demanded on Thursday that Indonesia's Health Ministry revoke a 2010 ministerial decree regulating the proper procedure for female circumcision.

“The decree is extremely discriminatory, we want it to be revoked immediately,” Ratna Batara Munti from the Federation of the Women’s Legal Aid Foundation (LBH Apik) said.

More than 170 NGOs, including Amnesty International, and activists signed a joint statement asking the ministry to revoke the decree, which they said contradicted a 2006 circular from the director general of community health prohibiting health workers from performing female circumcisions.

“Female circumcision will damage women’s sexual pleasure. We need to stop it,” Ratna said.

Further, Masruchah, the deputy chairwoman of the National Commission on Violence Against Women (Komnas Perempuan), said female circumcision was not medically recommended because it could damage reproductive health.

“Female circumcision is an abuse that has to be stopped. The discussion about this issue has been going on for 32 years. It has to stop now,” she said.

Siti Musdah Mulia, a progressive Islamic scholar from the Indonesian Conference on Religion and Peace, said she had conducted a survey to track female genital mutilation in Indonesia. “What I found was horrible. There are some female circumcision procedures that cut the whole clitoris. [Practioners] thought the more they cut, the more religious [the girls] become,” she said.

The Indonesian Council of Ulema (MUI) has issued a fatwa that female circumcision was allowed but not obligatory. However, it also stated that prohibiting the procedure was not allowed.

But the ministry’s director of mothers’ health, Ina Hernawati, said the protest was unjustified because the ministry had never supported female circumcision. “Read the decree carefully, there’s nothing there saying we are supporting female genitalia mutilation or any kind of abuse,” she said.

Ina said the decree was issued because no health worker in Indonesia has received any formal training about how to perform female circumcision and the decree provided guidance on how to conduct it safely if necessary.

“We do not condone the practice. If parents come to midwives, we ask the midwives to explain that medically female circumcision is useless,” she said.

However, she said, many times parents insisted on getting their daughter circumcised for religious or traditional reasons.

“In such case, we prefer the circumcision were done by a trained health worker rather than some random shaman or traditional healer, which may not be safe,” she said.

Ina denied the decree legitimized abuse against women. She said people often associated female circumcision with genitalia mutilation. “They’re totally different. Circumcising is merely scratching a piece of skin.”



Wednesday, June 22, 2011

Indonesia steps up efforts to combat drugs from overseas: anti-drug officer

English.news.cn, by Cundoko Aprilianto, June 21, 2011

JAKARTA, June 21 (Xinhua) -- Indonesia is stepping up efforts to combat incoming drugs from other countries and is increasing cooperation with international anti-drugs bodies, a senior police officer told Xinhua in an interview.

Sen. Comm. Dr. Victor Pudjiadi, deputy for prevention and rehabilitation at the National Anti-Drugs Board, said that foreign drugs dealers from African, European and Asian countries come to Indonesia under disguise and they usually bring drugs in big quantity.

According to Pudjiadi, some international airports in Indonesia now have advanced equipment to detect drugs. "Thanks to the equipment, we have uncovered drugs hidden in drugs dealers' stomach. With the equipment, we can arrest drugs dealers with enough evidence," said Pudjiadi.

He said that in the past, police could not uncover drugs that were hidden in stomach as metal detector did not function to detect the drugs. "So, if they hide the drugs inside their stomach, they will pass the examination," said Pudjiadi.

He also said his organization cooperates with foreign counterparts to share information and capture escaping drugs.

"Whenever drugs dealer suspects escape to other countries, we report to our colleagues overseas. With their help, we can trace drugs dealers wherever they run," said Pudjiadi.

He said success rate of such cooperation is high, but he declined to share any figure.

Responding to critics of increasing number of drugs usage in Indonesia, Pudjiadi said that it looks the number increases whereas the fact is that the number of uncovered case increases.

"That makes the number of drugs usage gets higher even though we are active in socializing anti-drugs campaign. Besides, public awareness also gets higher to report drugs cases to authorities. In the past, many people did not report such case in their family as they were ashamed," he said.

He said that current data of almost four million drugs addicts in Indonesia is just the peak of iceberg. "I believe the actual number is higher," he said.

Editor: An

Dutch minister on sex education as an export product

RNW, 21 June 2011, by RNW News Desk

(Photo: ANP)

Following RNW's recent report about the praise for Dutch sex education policy from Cuba's 'sex chief' Mariela Castro, International Cooperation Minister Ben Knapen gives his views on the subject and responds to Ms Castro's words of appreciation.

What is the minister’s opinion of sex education as a Dutch export product?


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"The Dutch approach to sex education has proved effective in the Netherlands. Mariela Castro refers to this model as a good export product and I am in complete agreement with her. It’s no coincidence that sexual health and sexual rights are one of the four themes central to our new development policy."

How can sex education policy be improved?

"The effects of Dutch policy are carefully scrutinised so the policy can be adapted if necessary. At the moment, for instance, we have noticed a decrease in condom use by young people and a corresponding increase in sexually transmitted diseases. This means we have to increase the emphasis on preventing STDs in our information."

What exactly is the message to be conveyed?

"In many countries there are still strong taboos about young people having sex, about homosexuality, about HIV/AIDS and the right of girls and women to make their own choices about sex. Taboos like these must be overcome if we are to eliminate problems like high mortality in childbirth, discrimination, AIDS and sexual violence."


Monday, June 20, 2011

Govt allocates Rp 14.2t for proper sanitation

The Jakarta Post, Mon, 06/20/2011

The Public Works Ministry said Monday the government had allocated Rp 14.2 trillion (US$1.55 billion) from the state budget to build proper sanitation infrastructure.

A director general at the ministry, Budi Yuwono, said only 52 percent of households had access to sufficient sanitation. He said the government targeted to raise the coverage by allocating more funds in the state budget.

"Indonesia targets to increase the number of households with access to sustainable sanitation to 62 percent by 2015," he said.

He added that the low sufficient sanitation level was not only about infrastructure but also about public behavior and understanding on the importance of hygiene, kontan.co.id reported on Monday.

Sunday, June 19, 2011

Family of Death Row Prisoner Appeal to Indonesia

Jakarta Globe, June 19, 2011

Related articles

Sydney. The family of an Australian drug smuggler facing execution in Indonesia on Sunday pleaded with President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono to spare his life.

Australian Prime Minister Julia Gillard has already vowed to appeal for clemency for Andrew Chan, one of the so--called “Bali Nine” gang arrested in 2005 attempting to smuggle heroin to Australia from the resort island.

His brother Michael Chan made his own emotional appeal Sunday, saying his younger sibling had grown up during his years in jail.

“When he made his mistake he was a kid, he’s grown into an adult in the last couple of years,” he told a press conference in Sydney.

“Hopefully the president can see that change in him.”

Chan said his Sydney--based parents were devastated to hear Friday that their son, who is 27, had lost his final appeal against his death sentence.

Asked whether he had a message for Yudhoyono, Michael Chan said: “If he’s listening, give him (Andrew Chan) a second chance at life”.

Michael Chan said he had spoken to his brother, who is currently studying theology, since the decision and said he was determined to try to be a better person “whether he’s got a short time or a long time to go”.

On Saturday, Prime Minister Gillard said Australia strongly opposed the death penalty and would try and have Chan’s sentence commuted.

“I’ll be happy to do whatever is necessary to put as much force as we can into the appeal for clemency for Andrew Chan, including personally involving myself,” she said.

Chan was one of nine Australians convicted over their attempt to smuggle eight kilograms (18 pounds) of heroin into Australia from the Indonesian resort island of Bali in 2005.

One other member of the gang, Myuran Sukumaran, is facing the firing squad but has an appeal pending. Another, Scott Rush, won an appeal against his death sentence last month and is now serving life in jail.

The six other gang members are also serving lengthy jail sentences.

Agence France-Presse

Friday, June 17, 2011

Chinese national nabbed for drugs at airport

Multa Fidrus, The Jakarta Post, Tangerang, Banten | Fri, 06/17/2011

Customs and excise officers at Soekarno-Hatta International Airport seized 2 kilograms of catamine worth Rp 2 billion (US$232,560), six grams of crystal methamphetamine and one gram of marijuana from a China Airlines passenger flying from Hong Kong.

Iyan Rubianto, head of the customs office at the airport, identified the passengers as a Chinese national with initials  CF, 57, a former Jakarta nightclub manager.

He said the suspect flew from Hong Kong on China Airlines CI-679 and arrived at the airport on Thursday evening.

Customs Tactical Unit team members conducting profile analyses of passengers at Terminal II suspected the man was carrying drugs.

When officers examined his carry-on baggage they found two plastic bags containing white crystal powder hidden in a strawberry pie container. In his glasses box, officer found the crystal meth and the marijuana.

“Narchotest results at the customs and excise laboratory confirmed that the white crystal powder is catamine and crystal meth,” Iyan said at a press conference on Friday.

Wednesday, June 15, 2011

Virginity tests: pointless and harmful

RNW, 15 June 2011, by Tim Fisher


(image: Birth of Venus by Botticelli)

F
emale virginity and the ability to prove an unmarried woman is a virgin are still vital to a family’s ‘honour’ in many countries, but the members of the Myth Dispelled campaign group in the Netherlands say it’s actually impossible to prove by medical means whether a woman is still a virgin. They also say that virginity testing - highlighted by recent controversial cases in Egypt and India - is a powerful tool when it comes to oppressing women and actually violates their human rights.


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The whole issue of virginity made headlines recently with the humiliating testing of a number of alleged rape victims in India and 17 Egyptian women who took part in the Tahrir Square protests in Cairo. In the latter case, the aim of the tests appears to have been to ‘protect’ members of the Egyptian army against possible rape accusations.

Still not known

Writing in Dutch newspaper NRC Handelsblad, Ineke van Seumeren – a gynaecologist at the UMC teaching hospital in Utrecht - and fellow Myth Dispelled (Mythe Ontkracht) member and chairperson Ines Balkema argue that virginity testing is pointless: “In many countries it’s still not known that female virginity cannot be medically proven. Even in the modern Netherlands many people are convinced that you can see or feel whether or not a woman is a virgin. The medical facts are different.”

The way such tests are carried out is often extremely primitive – one of the most common being the method of inserting two fingers into the vagina. Two fingers are said to be equal to the width of a penis. If the fingers enter ‘easily’, then the woman in question is assumed to have had sex before.

The Myth Dispelled foundation explains that the flexibility or tightness of a vagina and the condition of the hymen – the membrane that ‘closes’ the entrance to the cervix – say and prove nothing about the sexual activity, or lack thereof, of a woman.

An illusion

In the opinion piece, the two women write: “The hymen is not a sealed membrane. In most cases it is a small, flexible lip; sometimes it’s hard and inflexible […]. It varies from woman to woman […]. A vagina is made to allow a baby to pass through; it’s an illusion to think that a vagina will expand because of something small like a penis.”

They argue that virginity testing is, in fact, a powerful tool when it comes to the continued oppression of women and they cite what happened in Cairo: “When the female protestors in Egypt underwent the virginity test, completely undressed, military personnel were there taking photographs. The result of practices like this is that women will think twice about demonstrating or filing a rape charge. This is a serious violation of women’s human rights…”

On a more positive note, the authors write that the recent cases have sparked debate about abolishing these mediaeval tests in both India and Egypt, adding that it’s now important to keep an eye on whether this actually happens and to keep on stressing that virginity isn’t something that can be proven or disproven by medical means.


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Students rally following death of rejected hospital patient

Multa Fidrus, The Jakarta Post, Tangerang | Wed, 06/15/2011

Dozens of students from Jaringan Mahasiswa Peduli Tangerang (Jampat) staged a rally at Tangerang General Hospital (RSUD) on Wednesday following the death of a poor patient who was turned away by hospital management.

“Tangerang residents are banned from being sick because the multipurpose card the municipal administration distributed to residents as free access to health and educational services are useless. This statement is true,” student Irfansah said.

The students asked Health Minister Endang rahayu Sedyaningsih to support the rights of poor residents to get medical treatment. They also asked the Tangerang municipal administration to look into why the cards were useless.

“We also ask the administration not to produce multipurpose cards just to have a positive image,” Irfan said.

According to the students, in May the hospital let Maryati, 56, a resident of Nusa Jaya subdistrict in Karawaci die because the Maryati’s family could not pay for her treatment fees at the hospital even though they possessed one of the multipurpose cards.

“This time, human tragedy repeats itself in Tangerang. The hospital rejected Linda Wahyunignsih, 21, a resident of North Poris Plawad subdistrict, Cipondoh, who died on Monday after suffering from a womb infection after she delivered a baby at the hospital on May 23,” he said.

Linda, who also had a multipurpose card, was rushed to the hospital on Monday morning but hospital management turned her down because she did not fulfill the administrative requirements.  

RSUD spokesperson Ahmad Nazir said Linda, who was admitted to the hospital on May 23 to deliver a baby, booked the “Anyelir B” treatment room that cost Rp 97,000 (US$11.35) per day.

“Referring to the treatment room she had booked, we believed that the patient was not from a poor family as they are usually treated in economy class that costs Rp 25,000 per day here,” he said.

ASEAN members sign agreement to boost dengue prevention

The Jakarta Post, Jakarta | Wed, 06/15/2011

Ten ASEAN members have agreed to a new action plan aimed at controlling the spread of Dengue Fever in the region.

The agreement was signed during an event held in connection with ASEAN Dengue Day, at the National Monument in Jakarta on Wednesday.

During the event, Indonesian Health Minister Endang Rahayu Sedyaningsih announced the Jakarta Call for Action on the Control and Prevention of Dengue, which was proposed to follow on from the ASEAN Strategic Framework on Health Development.

"It is estimated that worldwide 50 to 100 million people are infected with [dengue fever each year], and 20,000 of these cases result in death," she said.

Up to 75 percent of these incidents occurred in the Asia-Pacific region, showing that the region should take the lead in dengue fever control and prevention efforts, Endang said.

ASEAN members have already recognized dengue as a major communicable disease that poses a serious threat to health, she said.
"ASEAN leaders endorsed this in the ASEAN Socio-Cultural Community Blueprint.”

The agreement calls upon stakeholders in the region to strengthen regional cooperation on dengue prevention, to combat the disease in sustainable ways, and promote inter-sectoral collaboration.

Conducting research on dengue vaccines was among projects proposed to improve dengue prevention in the region, she said.

A dengue vaccine is widely seen as the best way to prevent the disease from spreading.

France-based pharmaceutical company Sanofi Pasteur is currently running clinical trials of a dengue vaccine in several countries, including Indonesia.

The research, however, has been slow since the disease has four different viral strains. (lfr)

Tuesday, June 14, 2011

Major firms launch initiative to fight malnutrition in kids

Rangga D. Fadillah, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta | Tue, 06/14/2011

The Indonesian government welcomed on Monday a public private partnership (PPP) initiative to fight malnutrition in Indonesian children called Project Laser Beam (PLB), which is supported by the United Nations World Food Program (WFP) and several globally renowned enterprises.

The secretary of the Office of the Coordinating People’s Welfare Minister, Indroyono Soesilo, said the initiative was critical to help the country end child hunger and poverty, particularly in East Nusa Tenggara and Papua, two of the poorest provinces.

“The government of Indonesia is committed to lifting people out of poverty and giving every Indonesian child a healthy start in life. PLB will kick off very soon under the coordination of my office,” he said at a press conference on the sidelines of the World Economic Forum on East Asia in Jakarta.

He expressed his gratitude to Unilever, Kraft Foods, DSM and Global Alliance for Improved Nutrition (GAIN) as well as to three local companies — PT Tiga Pilar Sejahtera, GarudaFood and Indofood – for their participation in PLB.

“PLB is a creative new pillar in the fight to end child malnutrition, which we believe will be a major contributor to attain the Millennium Development Goals [MDGs],” said Indroyono who is also a candidate for the Food and Agriculture Organization’s director general for the 2012-2015 period.

PLB is a five-year, US$50 million project that aims to eradicate child malnutrition. The initial focuses of the initiative will be Indonesia and Bangladesh where child malnutrition rates are unacceptably high.

In Indonesia, more than 37 percent of under fives go to bed hungry, while in Bangladesh, the rate reaches 48 percent.

Pradeep Pant, Asia Pacific president director of Kraft Foods, said his company contributed around $10 million to the initiative. He elaborated that PLB would cover programs, such as teaching locals about sustainable farming, assisting them to create micro enterprises and providing nutrition education to mothers and children.

“In my opinion, this initiative is likely to succeed because it has three required pillars, which are sustainability, big scale and conducted repeatedly,” he said.

Unilever chief executive officer Paul Polman argued that participating in the initiative was very important for his company’s business. Ending child malnutrition and preparing children to be healthier and more prosperous in the future would be a way for the company to expand its market.

“Our business won’t work if the market doesn’t work,” he said.

The continued commitment of Unilever, Kraft Foods and several new local and international partners demonstrated confidence that the world was on the right track in fighting hunger in a new and innovative way, said the director for public policy, communications and private partnerships of WFP, Nancy Roman.

“When the government and businesses work together, we can do more than what we can do individually,” she said.

Breastfeeding cuts risk of SIDS

English.news.cn   2011-06-14

BEIJING, June 14 (Xinhuanet) -- A new study suggests that breastfeeding may protect infants from dying of sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS), according to media reports.

SIDS happens most often in infants between two and four months old and kills 2,550 infants in the United States each year, according to the National Institutes of Health.

"Breastfeeding is the best method of feeding infants," said Dr. Fern Hauck, the study's lead author from the University of Virginia School of Medicine in Charlottesville.

The researchers, who combined data from 18 previous studies, found that the rate of SIDS was 60 percent lower in infants who had any breastfeeding than those who were not breastfed at all, and 73 percent lower in infants who had been breastfed exclusively.

Therefore, they drew the conclusion, "Breastfeeding to any extent and of any duration is protective against SIDS. The protective effect is stronger for exclusive breastfeeding."

However, the study has shortcomings as the number of past studies was small and the duration was defined in different ways in these studies, which "made it difficult to pool the results".

Editor: Yang Lina

Bill Gates and others pledge $4.3 billion for vaccines for children in poor countries

Los Angeles Times, June 13, 2011

Bill Gates, the Microsoft cofounder who has recently been focusing most of his efforts on philanthropy, joined several world leaders to pledge billions for vaccines for children in poor countries.

"This is absolutely human generosity at its finest," Gates told reporters Monday at the Global Alliance for Vaccines and Immunization conference in London.

"For the first time in history, children in developing countries will receive the same vaccines against diarrhea and pneumonia as children in rich countries," Gates, who founded the alliance, said, according to Reuters.

Gates and several international donors pledged $4.3 billion to buy vaccines to protect children in poor countries against potentially fatal maladies like pneumonia and diarrhea.

British Prime Minister David Cameron pledged $1.3 billion and said despite his nation's budget cuts, this cause is a no-brainer.

"Frankly, the idea of children dying from pneumonia and diarrhea should be absolutely unthinkable in 2011," Cameron said from the conference. "But for many parents in the developing world it is a devastating reality."

The global alliance has already vaccinated 288 million children in 19 countries and hopes to immunize 243 million more by 2015. It wants to broaden its reach in coming years by going to 26 additional countries.

"Today is an important moment in our collective commitment to protecting children in developing countries from disease," Liberian President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf said. "But every 20 seconds, a child still dies of a vaccine-preventable disease. There's more work to be done."

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Photo: Bill Gates speaks at the Global Alliance for Vaccines and Immunization conference in London. Credit: Paul Hackett / Associated Press

Rabbit born without ears near Fukushima nuclear plant

News.com.au, The Daily Telegraph, June 13, 2011

  • Rabbit born without ears at Fukushima
  • Could be first sign of side-effects
  • Fears of new radiation leak from plant





FRESH fears over a nuclear leak at the tsunami-ravaged Fukushima plant have re-ignited after a rabbit born close to the facility was found to have no ears.

Locals have been left wondering whether this earless bunny - found near the facility at the end of last month - was the first sign of side-effects from the nuclear catastrophe.

The Fukushima plant suffered terrible damage when a tsunami, triggered by an earthquake, swept through the facility in March, destroying reactors.

Following a blast at the plant that caused initial leaks, officials warned people living near Fukushima to stay indoors, turn off airconditioning and stop drinking tap water.

Since then experts have been nervously watching radiation levels around the plant.

The Japanese government has already more than doubled the estimate for the amount of radiation released by the plant.

The government's Nuclear and Industrial Safety Agency also said during a briefing in Tokyo that it was now believed that reactor cores in some of the units melted more quickly than previously thought.

Meanwhile, more than 90,000 people are still living in shelters three months after the tsunami and only a fraction of the debris has been removed. The confirmed death toll from the disaster yesterday reached 15,413 while another 8069 people remain missing.

Dengue Fever Still a Major Killer in Indonesia, but Vaccine Research Brings Rays of Hope

Jakarta Globe, Dessy Sagita, June 14, 2011

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More than four decades after Indonesia first declared war on dengue fever, the government on Monday conceded it was still struggling to win the battle against the deadly disease.

“The challenge is enormous, it is extremely difficult to keep the disease under control,” Health Minister Endang Rahayu Sedyaningsih said after opening the first Asean Dengue Day conference in Jakarta.

Dengue fever was first detected in 1968 in Surabaya and Jakarta. More than 50 cases were found at the time and more than half of the victims died. More than 40 years later, Endang said, Indonesia had the largest dengue fever problem of any country in Southeast Asia.

The Ministry of Health reported that last year more than 150,000 people across Indonesia were infected, and more than 1,400 people, mostly children, died of the disease. By comparison, in Thailand last year there were 57,000 infections and 70 fatalities.

According to the World Health Organization, Indonesia accounted for 57 percent of all dengue cases in the region in 2006, including almost 70 percent of deaths from the disease.

Endang said that given Indonesia’s vast land area and high population, it was nearly impossible to eradicate the breeding places for the disease-carrying mosquitoes.

Asean Secretary General Surin Pitsuwan said that dengue fever was a serious problem not only for Indonesia but also for other Asean countries.

“Every year 51 million people are infected and 20,000 people, especially children, die unnecessarily,” he said.

Endang said dengue fever vaccine could be the best approach to curb the number of infections and fatalities in Indonesia. While no vaccine is available yet, a clinical trial is under way in five Asian countries, including Indonesia. Some 2,000 children in Jakarta, Bandung, and Bali are participating in the clinical trial.

It will run over the next five years.

Endang said there was no guarantee yet about the efficacy of the vaccine but so far it has been proven safe. The University of Indonesia, Airlangga University in Surabaya, and the Ministry’s research and development agency are researching the vaccine.

“They are all still in the early stage, but I dream one day we will be able to produce our own vaccine and protect our children from dengue fever,” she said.

Monday, June 13, 2011

Boediono: Developing Countries Can Achieve Millennium Development Goals on Their Own

Jakarta Globe, Dion Bisara, June 13, 2011

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Vice President Boediono said today that, in order to achieve the United Nations Millennium Development Goals, Indonesia and other developing countries should not rely on financial support from other countries because they could achieve the MDG through their own economic expansion.

"The role of traditional donors is overrated. What they should do to help developing countries achieve the MDG is to give then more room to develop themselves," Boediono said in a discussion at the World Economic Forum on East Asia in Jakarta.

"It should be overall support in terms of investment and trade deals that we can share. Share the added values with us and we can create," Boediono said.

Boediono also said that central government's role is imperative to achieve the MDG over the next decade.

Rajat Nag, managing director of the Asian Development Bank, reiterated Boediono's statement, saying that Asia's economy has been doing very well and could take over the role of traditional donors.