Cempaka Health, Welfare and Society

Drug companies join forces to combat deadliest tropical diseases

2012-01-30T21:44:00.000+07:00

Bill Gatesgets pharmaceutical giants to promise drug giveaways and unprecedented pledgeto share research on new antidotes

The Guardian,Sarah Boseley, health editor, Monday 30 January 2012

A Guinea worm is extracted by a health worker from a child's foot in
Savelugu, Ghana. The new initiative is likely to see the disease given
the $60m the Carter Foundation says it needs to eradicate it completely. Photograph: Olivier Asselin/AP

The headsof 13 of the world's biggest drug companies, brought together by Bill Gates,one of the world's richest men, have agreed to donate more medicines and,unprecedentedly, to work together to find new ones in a bid to end manyneglected tropical diseases (NTDs) that kill and maim some of the poorestpeople on the planet.

The 10diseases targeted affect 1.4 billion people. They include lymphatic filariasis,river blindness, schistosomiasis and Chagas disease. Often the treatments thatexist are ineffective and sometimes they even kill the patient.

The Billand Melinda Gates Foundation is putting in $363m (£231m) over five years tohelp with the control and elimination of these diseases, while the Departmentfor International Development has announced £195m until 2015. USAid and theWorld Bank are also committing money and help.

"Today,we have joined together to increase the impact of our investments and build onthe tremendous progress made to date," said Gates. "This innovativeapproach must serve as a model for solving other global development challengesand will help millions of people build self sufficiency and overcome the needfor aid."

The mostlikely disease to be eliminated is Guinea worm, which has been the target ofthe Carter Foundation for decades. Last year, the former US president JimmyCarter said they needed just $60m more to finish the job in the singleremaining endemic country – South Sudan. That money will now be available.

The biggestcontribution of the pharmaceutical companies, including Britain'sGlaxoSmithKline, the US giants Pfizer and Abbott and many others, is in drugdonations. Those that already had donation programmes are extending them to2020. Millions of tablets will now be distributed.

Unusually,some of the companies have agreed to co-operate to try to develop badly needednew drugs. Abbott, Johnson & Johnson and Pfizer are working together, underthe direction of the public/private partnership DNDi (Drugs for NeglectedDiseases Initiative), on new drugs for worm infections, particularly thosecausing river blindness and lymphatic filariasis.

All 11companies have agreed to open up their compound libraries – details ofpotential drug treatments that have gone through some tests but not found acommercial use – to DNDi, which hopes better drugs for neglected tropicaldiseases may be discovered.

Theinitiative is a response to a World Health Organisation blueprint – a plan totackle these diseases that impede development by preventing the poorestchildren from accessing education as well as limiting adults' ability to work.WHO's director general, Margaret Chan, set an ambitious timetable during thelaunch at the Royal College of Physicians in London.

"Theseancient diseases are now being brought to their knees with stunningspeed," she said. "With the boost to this momentum being made today,I am confident almost all of these diseases can be eliminated or controlled bythe end of this decade." Some experts were less optimistic, however, andcritical of the drug donation focus.

Medécinssans Frontières (MSF), the volunteer doctors' group that helped found DNDi,said while it was delighted neglected diseases were now getting the attentionthey deserved, it wanted to highlight what was missing. Chagas disease,sleeping sickness, and visceral leishmaniasis were slated for elimination by2020, but the WHO and others were underplaying the difficulties, it said.

MSF citedsleeping sickness, caused by the bite of the tsetse fly, as an example. Newdiagnostic tools – to catch the disease before it becomes very hard to treat —as well as new drugs that could be used by healthcare workers with only basictraining in remote areas of Chad, the Central African Republic and South Sudan.

Drugs werenot the only topic on the agenda. "In the Democratic Republic of Congo(DRC), where about three-quarters of reported cases of sleeping sickness havebeen detected, there is a strong national control programme. However thefunding for this programme, provided by the Belgian government since 1997, willbe withdrawn by next year. Nothing offered at the London NTD meeting on 30January 2012 will address this looming crisis," MSF said. In the CentralAfrican Republic, the national programme consisted of four people for theentire country.

In a letterto the Lancet, Dr Tim Allen from the London School of Economics and Dr MelissaParker from Brunel University also said that simply providing more drugs wasnot enough. They said there were problems with mass drug handouts designed toprevent disease such as schistosomiasis, lymphatic filariasis, andsoil-transmitted helminth infections.

"Theseinclude the undermining of already fragile and overstretched healthcare systemswith the introduction of large, internationally-funded, vertical programmesrolling out free drugs to adults and children, irrespective of their infectivestatus; difficulties with relying on volunteers to assist with the distributionof drugs in targeted communities; limits in knowledge surrounding the safetyand efficacy of combining drugs for some NTDs; and a growing tendency for thosepromoting mass drug administration programmes to overlook the fact that theevidence base for how effective they are is more limited than oftensuggested."

Their ownwork in some communities had found that take-up of free drugs in some villageswas much higher than others, because of political, economic and socialcircumstances. In some places, people refused out of the belief that the drugswere intended to harm them. "We are concerned by the way in whichcompetition for multimillion-dollar grants is closing off debate and restrictingcritical analysis of what is actually occurring on the ground," theywrote.

Alternative healer cures breast cancer with leeches

2012-01-26T03:50:00.003+07:00

Antara News, Thu, January 26 2012

Pekanbaru(ANTARA News) - A practitioner of alternative medicine claims he has curedhundreds of women of breast cancer with the help of a most unorthodox medium -leeches.

(Photo: Wikipedia)

H Ismailwho runs an alternative medicine clinic at his modest home on Jalan Hangtuahhere told Antara his cure for breast cancer makes it possible for women withthe disease to recover without undergoing surgery that often implies the lossof one or both of the organs.

"Ihave not kept a record of the numbers but I think I have treated hundreds ofwomen over the years and most of them were cured," Ismail said.

Ismail`sstandard method of treating breast cancer is putting two leeches on the diseasedbreast and allowing them to remain there for some time. At the initial stage,the procedure must be repeated by the patient herself three consecutive times.

Then, thepatient can take a break of three days and undergo a medical check to see ifthere is any change in her condition. If there is a change but no complete cureyet, the patient must continue the leech therapy while taking vitamins to keepfit.

"Inmost cases , it is not enough to do the therapy only three times. Often, it hasto be repeated many more times and the patient must exercise patience," hesaid.

Editor: B Kunto Wibisono

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Red = don't reanimate!

2012-01-25T03:35:00.001+07:00

RNW, 24January 2012, by Maike Winters

(Photo: albert schweitzer ziekenhuis)

An unusualexperiment is due to start in February in the Albert Schweitzer Hospital in theDutch town of Dordrecht. Patients who do not want to be reanimated will begiven red wristbands.

SpecialistValentijn Drexhage explains the problem:

“Thepatient’s wishes are normally noted in the medical file, except sometimes whenit has been forgotten. If the file isn’t in the room where the patient needsreanimating, it’s an acute situation. It’s a question of split seconds and youcan’t waste time looking for a file. That’s the dilemma. We have sometimesstarted something that later we regretted, not to mention the patient, ofcourse, and the family members.”

Patientshave a variety of reasons to elect not to be reanimated. Old people are sometimesno longer so keen to continue living and some patients are fearful about therisks of reanimation. A spokesperson for the hospital points out that theimpact of reanimation of the patient and close relatives is serious: “Themajority of patients suffer lasting damage from being reanimated.”

Vegetable

One patientin the oncology department of the Albert Schweitzer Hospital is all in favourof the experiment. She is opposed to reanimation for religious reasons. Theadvantage of the wristband is that doctors can see right away what to do:

“It’susually a hectic situation when something happens and when they have to decidewhether or not to act. Life after reanimation is pretty grim. I have no desireto live like a vegetable.”

Playingsafe

Patientsaren’t always recognised at the critical moment and if there was the slightestdoubt doctors have, understandably, always played safe and gone forreanimation. Patients are normally asked on admission whether they have anyobjection to reanimation. Drexhage:

“Sometimesthe problem was with patients who came to us from the outpatient clinic andhave passed from one department to another, but we now have departmentalsecretariats which will keep a closer eye on this in future.”

Sensitivity

Theexperiment will continue until mid-May then a decision will be taken whether tocontinue. A spokesperson for the Dordrecht hospital is enthusiastic:

“We wereworried there would be too much sensitivity about this kind of system, but itlooks as though the opposite is true.”

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Afghan mother in 'extremely rare' sextuplets birth

2012-01-25T00:09:00.001+07:00

BBC News, 24January 2012

Doctors say that the six babies - who have not been named yet -
are well but under-weight

RelatedStories

An Afghanmother has given birth to six children at a hospital in the northern city ofMazar-e-Sharif.

The womanwas not aware she was carrying more than one child and had not receivedfertility treatment.

Doctors saythe mother arrived in hospital on Monday and gave birth on the same day tothree boys and three girls. It was her first pregnancy.

Doctors saythat having six children without fertility treatment is extremely rare.

Afghanistanhas one of the highest maternal and infant mortality rates in the world.

'Brave'

The mother,named as Sharah, 24, arrived in Mazar-e-Sharif hospital from a remote villagein Balkh province.

Sharah is exhausted after the
unexpected birth of her six children

ProvincialHealth Director Mirwais Rabi told the BBC that all six babies are well butunder-weight, with one only weighing about 700g (25oz).

Mr Rabisaid the sextuplets were being kept inside incubators and a special team ofnurses and doctors are looking after them.

The motheris said to be in good health but exhausted.

Doctors saythat had they been aware that she was carrying six children, she would havebeen in hospital at least several days in advance.

The BBC'sBilal Sawary in Kabul says Sharah's story has made headlines on Afghantelevision and radio stations.

"Sheis brave, she is amazing," one resident said, "I don't know how shecarried six children. The government should help her now."

A 2010survey revealed that infant and under-fives mortality rates appeared to bedecreasing.

Experts saythat despite recent improvements, Afghanistan remains one of the most dangerousplaces in the world to be a pregnant woman or a young child.

One in 10children in Afghanistan still dies before they are five years old, the surveysaid.

First patients shown to improve with embryonic stem cells

2012-01-24T04:45:00.002+07:00

Reuters, bySharon Begley, NEW YORK, Mon Jan 23, 2012

(Reuters) -Before treatment, the 51-year-old graphic artist was legally blind, unable toread a single letter on a standard eye chart. She has suffered from Stargardt'sdisease, the most common form of macular degeneration in young patients, sinceshe was a teenager, and it was getting progressively worse.

A secondpatient, aged 78, suffered from dry macular degeneration - the leading cause ofblindness in the elderly -and could not even see well enough to go shopping.

But afterbeing treated with stem cells from a donated human embryo, both women haveimproved dramatically, researchers said on Monday. Stem cells are master cellsthat can differentiate into any of the 200 kinds of cells in the human body.

Theirresults are the first-ever report of the medical use of stem cells taken fromhuman embryos, making them crucial barometers of whether the controversialtechnique will ever find widespread therapeutic uses.

In a paperpublished online in The Lancet on Monday, physicians at the University of California,Los Angeles, and scientists at biotechnology company Advanced Cell Technologyreport that the first two patients in the clinical trial suffered no adversehealth effects from the treatment and seem to have benefited from it.

A weekafter having cells derived from a days-old embryo injected into her eye, thegraphic artist could count fingers, and after one month she could read the topfive letters on the eye chart. She can see more color and contrast, has startedusing her computer, and for the first time in years can read her watch andthread a needle. The macular degeneration patient recently went to the mall forthe first time in years.

The safetyfindings, not any vision improvement, is what people should focus on, saidDusko Ilic, senior lecturer in stem cell science at Kings College London, whowas not involved in the work.

"Ifeveryone expects that the blind patients will see after being treated ... itwill end up as disaster," he said.

Nevertheless,advocates for the blind are already hailing the results. "At last we areseeing fruits of human embryonic stem cell research entering clinicaltrials," said Peter Coffey, Director of the London Project to CureBlindness.

OBJECTIONSAND RISKS

Using humanembryonic stem cells for research or treatment has incited controversy forethical and medical reasons. Some opponents argue that because removing stemcells from days-old human embryos almost always destroys the embryo, thetechnique amounts to murder.

ACT is theonly company currently testing human embryonic stem cells in study patients.Last November, stem-cell pioneer Geron announced that it was halting what hadbeen the first-ever clinical trial of the cells-testing them in patients with spinalcord injuries-and leaving the field.

When RobertLanza, chief scientific officer of ACT, approached ophthalmic surgeon StevenSchwartz of UCLA about leading the clinical trial, Schwartz asked for ethicaladvice from two of his patients: elderly nuns. They gave him the go-ahead, hesaid last year.

Evenscientists who support stem cell research argue that they could be dangerous touse therapeutically. The very property that makes them so valuable in research- stem cells can morph into any of the kinds of cells in the human body - alsomakes them risky.

They canform teratomas, a type of tumor that arises when stem cells differentiate intoa profusion of cell types.

Anotherconcern is that transplanting cells derived from human embryos could be rejectedby the patient's immune system. The ACT team got around that by targeting theeye, which is an "immunoprivileged" site that does not produce astrong immune response to foreign tissue.

In thestudy, physicians led by Schwartz injected what are called retinal epithelialcells into one eye of each patient. RPE cells lie at the back of the eye andbathe the retina's rods and cones in substances called growth factors. When RPEcells die, as they do in macular degeneration, so do the photoreceptors, eventuallycausing blindness.

TransplantingRPE cells grown from stem cells, Lanza reasoned when he began this researchalmost a decade ago, might rejuvenate the eye's rods and cones, restoring lostvision.

To produceRPE cells, Lanza and his colleagues arranged to obtain days-old embryos createdby in vitro fertilization. The parents, who no longer wanted the embryos,donated them for research. The scientists then removed a single stem cell fromone embryo, grew it in the lab to obtain millions of cells, and differentiatedthem into RPE cells.

The primarypurpose of the clinical trial was to determine whether the implanted cellscaused any harm. So far, neither patient has experienced inflammation, anindication that their immune system is not attacking the foreign cells.

And thereis no evidence that a teratoma formed in either patient. Researchers also foundthat the RPE cells still survive after being implanted four months ago.

NOT A CUREFOR THE BLIND

The goal ofthe study was to determine safety and, at most, see whether the therapy canslow down or arrest vision loss, not restore it. "The fact that we'reseeing measurable improvements in their vision, persisting for more than fourmonths, is a bonus," Lanza said in an interview.

Althoughrods and cones cannot be brought back from the dead, he explains, "untilyou lose them completely you can rescue them." He believes that thetransplanted RPE cells both bathed the deteriorating rods and cones innourishing growth factors and gobbled up fragments of dead rods and cones,keeping the retinal environment healthier for the survivors.

The UCLAphysicians plan to enroll a total of 12 Stargardt's patients and 12 maculardegeneration patients in the ongoing clinical trial, with groups of threepatients each receiving a different number of retinal epithelial cells.

The twopatients being reported on Monday each received the smallest dose, 50,000cells. Other patients will receive at least twice that many. The trial is alsoexpanding across the Atlantic: the first patient was treated at Moorfields EyeHospital in London last Friday. In a later trial, they hope to treat patientswith earlier-stage disease, before so much of their vision has been lost.

DavidPrentice of the Family Research Council, a pro-life group that has opposed theuse of human embryos for research, says the results will require more scrutiny.

"Youhave to follow the patients longer to know if it's safe," he told Reuters."People will also want to know if there are other routes to the sameend," using sources of stem cells other than human embryos.

Lanza isplanning just that. He believes that skin cells "re-programmed" torevert to embryonic status might prove just as good a source or RPE and otherspecialized cells as human embryonic stem cells. Called IPS (for "inducedpluripotent stem") cells, they can be derived from a patient's own skincells and pose no risk of immune rejection.

"Ithink we can be up and running in the clinic with IPS cells in one or twoyears," Lanza says.

(Additionalreporting by Kate Kelland in London; Editing by Michele Gershberg and Cynthia Osterman)

(Photo: Urban don)

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"Recalibration of Knowledge" – Jan 14, 2012 (Kryon channelled by Lee Carroll) - (Subjects: Channelling, God-Creator, Benevolent Design, New Energy, Shift of Human Consciousness, (Old) Souls, Reincarnation, Gaia, Old Energies (Africa,Terrorists, Cuba, Iran, North Korea, Venezuela ... ), Weather, Rejuvenation, Akash, Nicolas Tesla / Einstein, Cold Fusion, Magnetics, Lemuria, Atomic Structure (Electrons, Particles, Polarity, Self Balancing, Magnetism), Entanglement, "Life is necessary for a Universe to exist and not the other way around", DNA, Humans (Baby getting ready, First Breath, Stem Cells, Embryonic Stem Cells, Rejuvenation), Global Unity, ... etc.) - New !

"The Quantum Factor" – Apr 10, 2011 (Kryon channeled by Lee Carroll) (Subjects: Galaxies, Universe, Intelligent design, Benevolent design, Aliens, Nikola Tesla (Quantum energy), Inter-Planetary Travel, DNA, Genes, Stem Cells, Cells, Rejuvenation, Shift of Human Consciousness, Spontaneous Remission, Religion, Dictators, Africa, China, Nuclear Power, Sustainable Development, Animals, Global Unity.. etc.) - (Text Version)

Magic mushrooms may help with depression, say leading scientists

2012-01-24T03:57:00.002+07:00

Activeingredient could allow sufferers to relive happier times, says team includingformer government adviser David Nutt

guardian.co.uk,Sarah Boseley, health editor, Monday 23 January 2012

Magicmushrooms' active ingredient psilocybin enables users to
experience more vividrecollections. Photograph: Peter Dejong/AP

A drugderived from magic mushrooms could help people with depression by enabling themto relive positive and happy moments of their lives, according to scientistsincluding the former government drug adviser, Professor David Nutt.

Twostudies, for which scientists struggled to find funding because of publicsuspicion and political sensitivity around psychedelic drugs, have shed lighton how magic mushrooms affect the brain.

Nutt, fromImperial College London, was sacked as a government drug adviser after claimingtobacco and alcohol were more dangerous than cannabis and psychedelic drugs suchas ecstasy and LSD.

He believesprejudice and fear have prevented important scientific work on psychedelicdrugs. Research began in the 1950s and 60s but was stopped by thecriminalisation of drugs and stringent regulations which made the work costly.

"Everybodywho has taken psychedelics makes the point that these can produce the mostprofound changes in the state of awareness and being that any of them haveexperienced," said Nutt.

The drugshad been used for millennia, he said, since psychedelic mushrooms grew in theElysian fields of Greece. Aldous Huxley wrote The Doors Of Perception about theinsight such drugs gave him into the life of the mind.

Thestudies, led by Robin Carhart-Harris, also of Imperial College, looked at theeffect that psilocybin, the active ingredient in magic mushrooms, has on thebrain through the use of a magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scanner. The firststudy on healthy volunteers, published in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS), surprised the researchers. They hadassumed the drug might increase activity in certain parts of the brain.Instead, it decreased it in the "hub" regions which link differentareas.

"Thisloss of connectivity might mean consciousness is less constrained by inputsfrom the outside world via the senses, which could explain why people canimagine things very vividly," said Nutt.

The 10 menand five women who volunteered experienced changes in visual perception,extremely vivid imaginings and changes in their perception of time and of size andspace.

The MRIscans showed lowered bloodflow to regions linked to the ego, the sense of selfand personality.

A secondstudy, to be published on Thursday in the British Journal of Psychiatry, gavevolunteers cues to remember positive events in their lives such as theirwedding or performance in a play. Their recollection became very vivid."It was almost as if rather than imagining the memories, they wereactually seeing them," said Carhart-Harris. "This could be veryuseful in psychotherapy, for instance in people with depression who find itvery difficult to remember good times and are stuck in the negative."

The teamare now hoping to do a further study which will involve giving psilocybin todepressed people who are undergoing psychotherapy, in the hope that it willallow them to relive times of past happiness.

The studiesshowed that psilocybin worked on the same areas of the brain as the SSRIantidepressants such as Prozac, as well as talking therapies and meditation ascarried out by skilled practitioners. But the advantage over pills, the teambelieves, is that the positive effect could be long-lasting.

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One hundred years of the war on drugs

2012-01-23T22:51:00.000+07:00

RNW, 23January 2012, by John Tyler

Opium use on the island Java, Indonesia. (Photo: Tropical Museum)

One hundredyears ago today, the war on drugs started in The Hague. On 23 January, 1912,twelve countries met to sign the first international agreement regulating thedrug trade, the International Opium Convention. Little has changed in thosehundred years; the United States still aggressively pursues a policy ofprohibition while the Dutch still prefer to regulate drug use.

Marcel deKort, author of a history of drug policy in the Netherlands, says this countrywas never keen on using repressive measures.

"[TheDutch] always had their doubts about the international approach of prohibition.Already in the 1920s they called the US approach 'destructive idealism.' "

Profitmotive

At the timeof the opium convention, Dutch doubts about prohibition were fueled by money.The international drug trade was big business. The trade in opium and morphinehad been steadily expanding during the second half of the 19th century. Germany,the United Kingdom and France were all profiting - but none held a candle tothe Netherlands.

Plantationson Java gave the Dutch East India company a commanding position in the market,and they reported a profit of 26 million guilders from opium in 1914 before theconvention had taken effect.* Cocaine also proved to be a lucrative businessfor at least one Dutch company which sold the drug to both sides during WorldWar I.

So if thedrug trade was such good business, why did the Netherlands host the 1912convention in the first place? Marcel Kort says the Dutch decided, 'if youcan’t beat them, join them.' Active participation in what was considered anunwelcome but inevitable development would do more to help protect Dutcheconomic interests than more stalling.

Delayingtactics

The Haguealmost missed out. The United States, backed by China, had been trying forthree years to get the major players to agree to a treaty, but European powerskept putting it off. But an American physician - the main force behind theconvention - finally had enough. Upon hearing of yet another delay, the doctortracked down the vacationing Dutch ambassador in a remote area in the state ofMaine and sternly instructed him to set a date for the convention. Otherwise,the doctor threatened, he'd organise the event himself in Washington, DC. Theplan worked and after six weeks of face-to-face haggling, the firstinternational treaty regulating drugs was signed in the Netherlands.

Turningpoint

TheNetherlands and other European powers did manage to water down the 1912convention, keeping the emphasis on regulating trade, rather than prohibitingdrug use altogether. The deal covered four drugs - opium, morphine, cocaine andheroin. It did not regulate synthetic drugs, thanks to lobbying by theGerman-dominated pharmaceutical industry.

Implementationof the agreement was stalled until after World War I, but then it was includedin the Treaty Of Versailles that ended the war. This mean that, in one fellswoop, 60 countries were bound by the convention rather than just the original13.

In additionto regulating international trade, the convention also required all signatoriesto pass domestic legislation controlling drug use.

One hundredyears of bickering

Thediplomatic bickering about regulation versus prohibition which began with the1912 convention negotiations has continued ever since. The United States walkedout of a 1925 conference on the grounds that it wouldn’t be tough enough, andit wasn’t until 1961 that the US finally succeeded in pushing through a moreprohibitive treaty.

The UnitedNations Office on Drugs and Crime, established in 1997, adopted thezero-tolerance policy favoured by the United States. Dutch drugs policy todayis still slanted towards regulation, but a number of measures have been adoptedrecently which tend more towards prohibition.

Ironically,as the Netherlands seems to be backpedaling on its liberal approach, a numberof other countries are turning to policies which deal with drug-use as a publichealth and social welfare problem rather than a criminal one. And anincreasingly loud chorus of voices from the scientific, political and socialspheres are declaring that the war on drugs has been lost and it's timezero-tolerance was traded in for tolerance-under-strict-conditions.

* figurefrom Economic Histories of the Opium Trade, by Siddharth Chandra, University ofPittsburgh

To readmore about the history of drug control, check out the Transnational Institute'sarticle, The development of international drug control.

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Pot-based prescription drug looks for FDA OK

Pot-based prescription drug looks for FDA OK

2012-01-23T05:25:00.000+07:00

Associated Press, By LISA LEFF, Jan 22, 2012

SANFRANCISCO (AP) -- A quarter-century after the U.S. Food and Drug Administrationapproved the first prescription drugs based on the main psychoactive ingredientin marijuana, additional medicines derived from or inspired by the cannabisplant itself could soon be making their way to pharmacy shelves, according todrug companies, small biotech firms and university scientists.

(AP Photo/ GW Pharmaceuticals)

A Britishcompany, GW Pharma, is in advanced clinical trials for the world's firstpharmaceutical developed from raw marijuana instead of synthetic equivalents- amouth spray it hopes to market in the U.S. as a treatment for cancer pain. Andit hopes to see FDA approval by the end of 2013.

Sativexcontains marijuana's two best known components - delta 9-THC and cannabidiol -and already has been approved in Canada, New Zealand and eight Europeancountries for a different usage, relieving muscle spasms associated withmultiple sclerosis.

FDAapproval would represent an important milestone in the nation's often uneasyrelationship with marijuana, which 16 states and the District of Columbiaalready allow residents to use legally with doctors' recommendations. The U.S.Drug Enforcement Administration categorizes pot as a dangerous drug with nomedical value, but the availability of a chemically similar prescription drugcould increase pressure on the federal government to revisit its position andencourage other drug companies to follow in GW Pharma's footsteps.

"Thereis a real disconnect between what the public seems to be demanding and what thestates have pushed for and what the market is providing," said AronLichtman, a Virginia Commonwealth University pharmacology professor andpresident of the International Cannabinoid Research Society. "It seems tome a company with a great deal of vision would say, `If there is this demandand need, we could develop a drug that will help people and we will make a lotof money.'"

Possessingmarijuana still is illegal in the United Kingdom, but about a decade ago GWPharma's founder, Dr. Geoffrey Guy, received permission to grow it to develop aprescription drug. Guy proposed the idea at a scientific conference that heardanecdotal evidence that pot provides relief to multiple sclerosis patients, andthe British government welcomed it as a potential way "to draw a clearline between recreational and medicinal use," company spokesman MarkRogerson said.

In additionto exploring new applications for Sativex, the company is developing drugs withdifferent cannabis formulations.

"Wewere the first ones to charge forward and a lot of people were watching to seewhat happened to us," Rogerson said. "I think we are clearly pastthat stage."

In 1985,the FDA approved two drug capsules containing synthetic THC, Marinol andCesamet, to ease side-effects of chemotherapy in cancer patients. The agencyeventually allowed Marinol to be prescribed to stimulate the appetites of AIDSpatients. The drug's patent expired last year, and other U.S. companies havebeen developing formulations that could be administered through dissolvingpills, creams and skin patches and perhaps be used for other ailments.

Doctors andmultiple sclerosis patients are cautiously optimistic about Sativex. TheNational Multiple Sclerosis Society has not endorsed marijuana use by patients,but the organization is sponsoring a study by a University of California, Davisneurologist to determine how smoking marijuana compares to Marinol inaddressing painful muscle spasms.

"Thecannabinoids and marijuana will, eventually, likely be part of the clinician'sarmamentarium, if they are shown to be clinically beneficial," saidTimothy Coetzee, the society's chief research officer. "The big unknown inmy mind is whether they are clearly beneficial."

Opponentsand supporters of crude marijuana's effectiveness generally agree that moreresearch is needed. And marijuana advocates fear that the government will useany new prescription products to justify a continued prohibition on marijuanause. .

"Tothe extent that companies can produce effective medication that utilizes thecomponents of the plant, that's great. But that should not be the exclusiveaccess for people who want to be able to use medical marijuana," Americansfor Safe Access spokesman Kris Hermes said. "That's the race against time,in terms of how quickly can we put pressure on the federal government torecognize the plant has medical use versus the government coming out with themagic bullet pharmaceutical pill."

Interest innew and better marijuana-based medicines has been building since the discoveryin the late 1980s and 1990s that mammals have receptors in their centralnervous systems, several organs and immune systems for the chemicals inbotanical cannabis and that their bodies also produce natural cannabinoids thatwork on the same receptors.

One of thefirst drugs to build on those breakthroughs was an anti-obesity medication thatblocked the same chemical receptors that trigger the munchies in pot smokers.Under the name Acomplia, it was approved throughout Europe and heralded as apossible new treatment for smoking cessation and metabolic disorders that canlead to heart attacks.

The FDA wasreviewing its safety as a diet drug when follow-up studies showed that peopletaking the drug were at heightened risk of suicide and other psychiatric disorders.French manufacturer Sanofi-Aventis, pulled it from the market in late 2008.

Given thatdrug companies already were reluctant "to touch anything that is THC-likewith a 10-foot- pole," the setback had a chilling effect on cannabinoiddrug development, according to Lichtman.

"Bigcompanies like Merck and Pfizer were developing their own versions (ofAcomplia), so all of those programs they spent millions and millions on justwent away..." he said.

Butscientists and drug companies that are exploring pot's promise predict the pathwill ultimately be successful, if long and littered with setbacks.

One isAlexandros Makriyannis, director of the Center for Drug Discovery atNortheastern University and founder of a small Boston company that hopes to marketsynthetic pain products that are chemically unrelated to marijuana, but worksimilarly on the body or inhibit the cannabinoid receptors. He also has beenworking on a compound that functions like the failed Acomplia but without thedepressive effects.

"Ithink within five to 10 years, we should get something," Makriyannis said.

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‘Stop backstreet abortions: change the law’

2012-01-20T17:11:00.001+07:00

RNW, 19January 2012 , by Maike Winters

(Photo: Urban don)

Millions ofdesperate women around the world still end unplanned pregnancies by resortingto backstreet abortions or knitting needles. Worldwide the number of unsafeabortions has risen, a recent study found. The majority of abortions in Africaand Latin America are unsafe. Legalising abortion is the way to save lives,says Women on Waves, a Dutch organisation that campaigns for safe abortion.

Around theworld, 43.9 million abortions were carried out in 2008. Almost half of themtook place in unsafe conditions, according to research by the GuttmacherInstitute and the World Health Organisation (WHO). The total number ofabortions has stabilised.

Knittingneedles

RebeccaGomperts of Women on Waves works to provide safe abortions for women in partsof the world where abortion is outlawed. The rise in the number of unsafeabortions doesn’t surprise her. “Particularly in countries where abortion isillegal the procedure is carried out unsafely,” she says. “Unsafely means thatwomen do it themselves by jumping down the stairs, or using knitting needles,or going to someone who’s had no training. But not every illegal abortion isnecessarily unsafe.”

Forexample, abortion can be induced safely by a woman herself using the drugMisoprostol, says Gomperts. “The pills were used to prevent stomach ulcers. Butbecause the authorities now know that Misoprostol can be used for otherpurposes, women in Thailand, Brazil and the Philippines, for instance, haven’tbeen able to get them for the past couple of years. Because of that there’sbeen an increase in the number of unsafe abortions in these countries.”

Complications

One ineight women who undergo an unsafe abortion die, according to WHO figures, and8.5 million women a year are left requiring medical treatment. Gabie Raven ofthe Dutch Society of Abortion Doctors has seen it happen in practice. “I’veworked in Africa myself and if you see the way they go to work with herbs andpots and pans to induce an abortion, it’s obviously unsafe. It’s somethingthat’s always happened. But I’m surprised there’s been no improvement.”

Eight outof ten women in developing countries face strict laws against abortion. Becauseof the illegality, Gabie Raven says, many abortions take place in dangeroussettings. “Even if someone’s trained to do abortions, there’s always a chanceof complications. In the Netherlands we’re prepared for it, but with abackstreet abortion it’s a different story.”

Information

Legalisationis essential to stop the number of unsafe abortions from continuing to rise,Gomperts says. “It’s extremely important that abortion is legalised. But that’sa hard thing to achieve. In countries where it’s illegal, you first have toprovide women with good information on how they can induce an abortion safelythemselves using pills.”

Goodinformation on contraception is also needed to bring down the number ofunplanned pregnancies. Dutch Deputy Development Cooperation Minister Ben Knapensees a role in this for the Dutch government. “More than in other countries, wetalk about sensitive matters like abortion and sexuality without taboos. I’vemade sexual health one of my priorities to enable girls and women to make theirown choices about reproduction and sexuality. We know that this leads to a fallin unplanned pregnancies, abortions, and maternal mortality.”

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"Recalibration of Knowledge" – Jan 14, 2012 (Kryon channelled by Lee Carroll) - (Subjects: Channelling, God-Creator, Benevolent Design, New Energy, Shift of Human Consciousness, (Old) Souls, Reincarnation, Gaia, Old Energies (Africa,Terrorists, Cuba, Iran, North Korea, Venezuela ... ), Weather, Rejuvenation, Akash, Nicolas Tesla / Einstein, Cold Fusion, Magnetics, Lemuria, Atomic Structure (Electrons, Particles, Polarity, Self Balancing, Magnetism), Entanglement, "Life is necessary for a Universe to exist and not the other way around", DNA, Humans (Baby getting ready, First Breath, Stem Cells, Embryonic Stem Cells, Rejuvenation), Global Unity, ... etc.) - New !

Obama administration to make drug companies disclose money paid to doctors

2012-01-18T06:15:00.004+07:00

The Raw Story, byEric W. Dolan, Monday, January 16, 2012

The Obamaadministration plans to establish new rules requiring pharmaceutical companiesto disclose the payments they make to doctors, according to the New York Times.

The newrules are being issued under the new health care law and will makepharmaceutical companies report money they have given to doctors for research,consulting, speaking, travel and entertainment. The payment data will be madeavailable to the public online.

Companiesthat fail to comply with the new rule could be subject to a penalty up to$10,000 for each payment they fail to report.

The closerelationship between doctors and pharmaceutical companies has been a concernfor years. Drug companies have paid doctors up to $400 an hour to act as keyopinion leaders and some doctors earn more than $25,000 a year in advisoryfees.

Critics saythis encourages doctors to over-prescribe medication and harms public health.

Doctors whotake money from pharmaceutical companies are more willing to prescribemedication despite potential risks, according to an analysis by the Times.

Inaddition, a study published in the American Journal of Public Health founddrugs that pharmaceutical companies marketed most aggressively to doctorstended to offer less benefits and more harm to patients.

“This isnot a random occurrence, but rather a repeating, planned scenario in whichdrugs, discovered with good science for a specific set of patients, aremarketed to a larger population as necessary, beneficial and safer than otheralternatives,” Howard Brody, a professor and director of the Institute for theMedical Humanities at UTMB Health and co-author of the study, explained.

Anotherstudy by researchers at the Stanford University School of Medicine andUniversity of Chicago failed to find evidence that atypical antipsychoticmedication, a top-selling class of drugs, actually helped most patients. Thestudy was published January 2011 in Pharmacoepidemiology and Drug Safety.

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Dutch insurers pay for Christian anti-gay therapy

2012-01-18T05:26:00.000+07:00

RNW, 17January 2012

Dutchnational daily Trouw reports that a therapy intended to cure gay Christians whoconsider their sexual preference to be sinful is fully paid for by healthinsurance companies.

(Photo: Alexandria)

Healthinsurance companies are obligated to pay for the therapy because theorganisation providing it, Different, is an officially recognised institutionfor mental health care.

Medicalorganisations argue that the therapy is inherently flawed and potentiallyharmful. A spokesperson for Doctors organisation KNMG says: “As a general rule,a doctor is not allowed to offer a therapy that does not work. There is noscientific evidence that a therapy intended to suppress a person’s homosexualfeelings would be effective.” He added that such a therapy could even beharmful.

Psychologistsworking for Different say in Trouw that homosexuality is not an integral partof a person’s psychological make-up but rather an ‘orientation’ that can betreated. The organisation claims a 30-percent success rate. Homosexuality isseen as the result of psychological traumas incurred during childhood such as alack of clear role models and child sex abuse.

Healthinsurance companies are much embarrassed by the therapy. A spokesperson for theAchmea company says it rejects the therapy but is legally obligated to pay thebills submitted by these clients.

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About the Challenges of Being a Gay Man – Oct 23, 2010 (Saint Germain channelled by Alexandra Mahlimay and Dan Bennack) - “ ... You see, your Soul and Creator are not concerned with any perspective you have that contradicts the reality of your Divinity – whether this be your gender, your sexual preference, your nationality – or your race, ethnicity, religious beliefs, or anything else.The onlyidentity that has any fundamental or lasting relevance to your Soul is yourDivinity. Any other way you may label or identify yourself is transitory. Itchanges from one incarnation to the next. ..."

"The Akashic System" – Jul 17, 2011 (Kryon channelled by Lee Carroll) - (Subjects: Religion, God, Benevolent Design, DNA, Akashic Circle, (Old) Souls, Gaia, Indigenous People, Talents, Reincarnation, Genders, Gender Switches, In “between” Gender Change, Gender Confusion, Shift of Human Consciousness, Global Unity,..... etc.)

"Perceptions of God" – June 6, 2010 (Kryon channeled by Lee Carroll) (Subjects: Quantum Teaching, The Fear of God, Near-death Experience, God Becomes Mythology, Worship, Mastery, Intelligent Design, Benevolent Creator,Global Unity.... etc.) (Text version)

“.. For centuries you haven't been able to think past that box of what God must be like. So you create a Human-like God with wars in heaven, angel strife, things that would explain the devil, fallen angels, pearly gates, lists of dos and don'ts, and many rules still based on cultures that are centuries old. You create golden streets and even sexual pleasures as rewards for men (of course) - all Human perspective, pasted upon God. I want to tell you that it's a lot different than that. I want to remind you that there are those who have seen it! Why don't you ask somebody who has had what you would call a near-death experience? …. “

"The Humanization of God" – Jul 16, 2011 (Kryon channelled by Lee Carroll) - (Subjects: The Humanization of God, Gaia, Benevolent Design, Shift of Human Consciousness, 2012, Guides and Angels, Communication with God, Wars in Heaven ?, The Love of God, (Old) Souls, Global Unity,.... etc.)

“… Do angels exist? Absolutely, but not as you think or have been taught. Are there helpers? Absolutely, but again, not like you think. When angels visited Humans in ancient days and the events were written about by those who were there to witness the experience, I can guarantee it was a lot different than they could express on paper. When an angel appears before a Human, it looks like a swirling ball of energy, sometimes even fire that is not hot and does not consume anything. Angels are not in Human form and never have been. They are multidimensional beings, not in 3D. Yet you want to put skin and wings on them and give them a name! Why? It makes you feel better about them. We understand that…”

“The 2012 Ostiary - Angels Among You” – Dec 30, 2012 (a message from Metatron channelled by Tyberonn)

Indonesia allocates 708.8 mln USD to health insurance for poor people

2012-01-14T05:47:00.004+07:00

English.news.cn 2012-01-13

JAKARTA,Jan. 13 (Xinhua) - Indonesian Health Minister Endang Rahayu Sedyaningsih saidon Friday that her ministry has allocated some 6.5 trillion rupiah (about 708.8million U.S. dollars) to fund health insurance program for the poor this year.

Endang saidthat the program, called Jamkesnas, includes hospitals providing specialmedical treatment to the poor across the country.

"Thereare more than 1,070 hospitals providing Jamkesnas scheme for the poor in thecountry at the moment. We are expecting 300 more hospitals to join the programthis year," the health minister said.

Theministry regards hospitals that join the program as General Service Provider(BLU).

Theministry had earmarked 29.915 trillion rupiah (about 3.2 billion dollars) inthis year's state budget, and most of the fund would be used to improve healthservice for the poor.

Editor: Xiong Tong

Chinese tree extract stops rats getting drunk

2012-01-12T04:02:00.000+07:00

NewsScientist, by Andy Coghlan, 09January 2012

Forhardened drinkers, it sounds too good to be true: a natural substance thatkeeps them sober no matter how much they drink, neutralises hangovers andeventually breaks the cycle of alcohol addiction.

Won't makeany difference

(Image: OJO Images/Rex Features )

Alcoholismis a huge problem globally, killing 2.5 million people a year according to the World Health Organization. There has been serious research recently looking fordrugs that stop people drinking, or at least encourage them to drink less.

Extracts ofa Chinese variety of the oriental raisin tree (Hovenia dulcis) could be theanswer. The extracts have been used for 500 years to treat hangovers in China.Now dihydromyricetin (DHM), a component of the extract, has proved its worth asan intoxication blocker in a series of experiments on boozing rats. It works bypreventing alcohol from having its usual intoxicating effects on the brain,however much is in blood.

Soon, apreparation containing DHM will be tested for the first time in people. "Iwould give it to problem drinkers who can't resist going to the pub anddrinking," says pharmacologist Jing Liang of the University of California,Los Angeles, who led the research team.

"DHMwill reduce the degree of drunkenness for the amount of alcohol drunk and willdefinitely reduce the hangover symptoms," says Liang. "In time, itwill reduce their desire for alcohol."

Too drunkto stand

Liang firsttested whether DHM blocks the clumsiness and loss of coordination caused bydrinking too much. To do this, she measured how long it took for treated ratsto right themselves after being laid on their backs in a V-shaped cradle.

After sheinjected rats' abdomens with a dose of alcohol proportionate to the amount ahuman would get from downing 15 to 20 beers in 2 hours by a human, they tookabout 70 minutes, on average, to right themselves. However, when an injectionof the same amount of booze included a milligram of DHM per kilogram of ratbody weight, the animals recovered their composure within just 5 minutes.

DHM alsostopped rats in a maze from behaving in ways resembling anxiety and hangovers.Rats given heavy doses of alcohol cowered away in corners of the maze, whereasthose given the extract with their alcohol behaved normally and were as inquisitiveas rats given no alcohol at all, exploring the more open corridors of the maze.

Finally,DHM appeared to discourage rats from boozing when they had a free choicebetween drinking a sweetened solution of alcohol or sweetened water. Over aperiod of three months, rats will normally get addicted to increasing volumesof the hard stuff. Rats given DHM, though, drank no more than about a quarterof the amount that the "boozers" eventually built up to. Moreover,boozy rats that had worked up to the higher levels suddenly dropped down to amoderate intake when given DHM after seven weeks.

All thebenefits of DHM were lost instantly when Liang also gave the rats a drug calledflumazenil, which is known to block receptors in the brain for aneurotransmitter called gamma aminobutyric acid (GABA). According to Liang,this proved that DHM works by stopping alcohol from accessing the samereceptors. This, she says, explains why DHM kept the rats sober even when theyhad huge amounts of alcohol in their blood.

Good idea?

"Thissupports other data that GABA receptors are key in the actions of alcohol andthat targeting this interaction is a viable approach to reducing alcoholintake," says David Nutt of Imperial College London, former head of theBritish government's advisory committee on drugs. "Let's hope it's safe touse in humans."

Otheralcohol experts fear that the availability of a "sobriety pill" couldencourage more, not less drinking. Markus Heilig, clinical director of the USNational Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism in Bethesda, Maryland, saysthat Roche abandoned development of a similar compound called Ro15-4513."There was a lot of philosophical worry that an 'alcohol antidote' wouldentice people to consume alcohol and then count on being able to terminate theintoxicating effects on demand," says Heilig.

Ro15-4513caused serious side effects, including anxiety and convulsions. Liang saysthere is no sign that DHM carries similar side effects.

Journalreference: The Journal of Neuroscience, DOI: 10.1523/jneurosci.4639-11.2012

Two Children Who Died in Police Custody Returned to Parents ‘Bearing Signs of Torture’

2012-01-07T17:24:00.000+07:00

Jakarta Globe, Ulma Haryanto, January 07, 2012

Relatedarticles

Indonesia'sNational Police are investigating the shocking deaths of two young brothersinside a police prison in West Sumatra last week.

“Nineofficers who were on duty [at the time of the deaths] are being questioned byan internal team,” police spokesman Sr. Comr. Boy Rafli Amar said on Friday.

Accordingto Boy, Sijunjung Police have claimed that the two boys, 14-year-old Faisal and17-year-old Busri, hanged themselves in their prison cell.

“A forensicexamination has been conducted but I have not received the report yet,” hesaid.

Faisal wasarrested on Dec. 21 for stealing from a charity box at a mosque, while Busriwas arrested five days later for stealing a motorcycle.

On thenight of Dec. 28, Faisal and Busri’s parents were notified by the villageadministration office that their sons had died in police custody.

“When theyarrived at the police precinct, the officers told them that the boys hangedthemselves using their clothing as ropes and asked the parents to sign astatement saying that they would not sue the police for anything thathappened,” said Roni Saputra from Padang Legal Aid Institute (LBH), who isrepresenting the family.

Roni saidthat since both parents were illiterate, they obligingly signed the letter.

“Policedidn’t show the bodies right away but instead put [the corpses] in an ambulanceand dropped them off at their parents’ house,” he said.

But insteadof finding the usual marks of someone who died from hanging, the parents sawthat their sons’ bodies were full of injuries.

“First,Busri’s arm was swollen, as if his bones were broken, there was a big gash onhis left leg, as if someone sliced it open. [The boys’] thighs have markssimilar to electrocution, their toes were smashed and their skulls were soft,”Roni said, adding that fresh blood was still flowing from Faisal’s nose.

“The onlymark that is consistent with the police’s claim was that the skin around theirneck was chafed,” Roni continued.

Thefrustrated parents went back to the police precinct with a number of othervillagers and demanded an autopsy.

“At firstthe police refused, but then more and more people from the village came andheld a demonstration until the police chief agreed,” he added.

As ofFriday, the family is still waiting for the result.

“We demandtransparency from the police, including the Sijunjung police about the realcause of death,” Roni said, adding that they also have coordinated with WestSumatra Commission of Human Rights (Komda HAM) to investigate the case.

Maria UlfaAnshor, the chairwoman of the Indonesian Commission for Child Protection (KPAI)said the case showed the police cared little for the welfare of youngsters.

“This caseshows that child protection is not being done by the police,” Maria said.

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Sri Lanka Targets Three Million Dogs for Mass Cull

2012-01-07T16:46:00.001+07:00

Jakarta Globe, January 07, 2012

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Colombo.Sri Lanka has lifted a moratorium on killing stray dogs as the governmentattempts to cut down on the 2,000 people that are hospitalized every day afterbeing bitten, a media report said on Saturday.

HealthMinister Maithripala Sirisena told the Swarnavahini television network that thegovernment had decided to revert back to destroying strays, a practicesuspended five years ago, because of rabies concerns.

“Clearlyour new policy has failed ...,” Sirisena told the privately run network. “As agovernment, we have decided to go back to the previous practice.”

Sri Lankanlaw allows the authorities to catch and kill stray animals, but a presidentialorder suspended the practice in 2006 following lobbying by animal rightsgroups.

But thehealth minister said stray dog populations had rapidly increased, to threemillion in recent years, and had become a major public health issue in anisland of 20 million people.

Some 2,000people are hospitalized daily after being bitten by stray dogs, the ministersaid, adding that the authorities were spending over $13 million annually todeal with the problem.

Animalrights activists said sterilization efforts had failed because of corruptionand mismanagement by public health officials.

“We wantthe government to reconsider this decision and ensure a humane treatment ofthese animals,” said Sagarika Rajakarunanayake, of the Satva Mithra animalrights group.

A healthministry official said the government was going ahead with plans for asanctuary for stray dogs in the north of the country, but rights activists saidit was not a practical way to look after stray animals.

They arguedthat the sterilisation program should be made more effective along with acampaign to vaccinate stray dogs against rabies.

Agence France-Presse

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Vietnam man Nguyen Duy Hai has 90kg tumour removed

2012-01-06T23:16:00.000+07:00

BBC News, 6January 2012

RelatedStories

Huge tumour removed from patient

A previous operation failed to stop the
dramatic growth of the tumour

AVietnamese man is in a stable condition in hospital after doctors removed agiant tumour which weighed far more than the rest of his body.

Nguyen DuyHai's 90kg (198lb) tumour, which was growing on his right leg, was removed in acomplex 12-hour operation.

The leaddoctor, an American, waived his fee and other costs were funded throughdonations, the hospital said.

Familymembers burst into tears of happiness when they discovered he had survived,reported VietNamNet.

Mr Hai, whois believed to be 31, has been living with the tumour - which is non-cancerousand linked to a rare genetic disorder - since he was four years old, reportedAFP news agency.

Part of hisleg was amputated when he was 17 in an attempt to stem the growth of thetumour, reports said, but without success.

The tumourprevented Mr Hai walking and also hampered sleep.

This latestoperation was carried out on Thursday at the France-Vietnam (FV) hospital in HoChi Minh City and led by US Dr McKay McKinnon, who previously successfullyremoved an 80kg tumour from a Romanian woman, AFP reported.

Familymembers and friends left their home in the mountainous central area of Da Latto go to Ho Chi Minh city, where they prayed for Mr Hai and wept tears of joyonce they learned he had survived, VietNamNet said.

Indonesian tycoon donates $30 million to NUS

2012-01-01T16:34:00.000+07:00

The Jakarta Post, Tan Dawn Wei (The Sunday Times), The Asia News Network, Singapore, Sun,01/01/2012

Mr Tahir,ST Photo: Desmond Foo

It is thelargest gift the National University of Singapore (NUS) has received from aninternational alumnus, but Indonesian tycoon Tahir is reluctant to talk aboutthe $30 million he has just pledged.

The59-year-old chairman and chief executive of Indonesian conglomerate MayapadaGroup, and one of the country's wealthiest men, prefers to talk about hisphilosophy of philanthropy.

“There arelots of people richer than me,” he said, with a wave of his hand. “It's notabout how many cars you have, how rich you are. That's disgusting.”

A bigsupporter of education, the Indonesian-born Singapore permanent resident isdonating the $30 million to the Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine to advanceresearch and education. As a result of his gift, the total sum received by NUS,including a government matching grant, is expected to be around $75 million.

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Doomed teen Ben Breedlove shares life after death experiences on YouTube

2011-12-31T07:11:00.001+07:00

Rawstory, by AgenceFrance-Presse, Friday,December 30, 2011

Ben Breedlove

CHICAGO — Aweek before Ben Breedlove died of a heart attack, the Texas teenager posted aremarkable video describing the peace and bright lights he’d found the othertimes his heart stopped.

Breedlove,18, tells his story with simple note cards and the occasional smile, sittingclose to the camera and stepping back just once to show the scar from when apacemaker was implanted to help his troubled heart.

It is aremarkably hopeful video, though Breedlove also describes the fear he livedwith after being born with a serious heart condition and disappointment that hecould not play sports and “be the same as everyone else.”

“The firsttime I cheated death was when I was 4,” one of the cards said.

Breedlovehad a seizure and as nurses rushed him down a hospital hallway, he told hismother of the bright light overhead.

She saidshe couldn’t see anything, but he felt his fear and worries washed away andcouldn’t help smiling.

“I can’teven describe the peace, how peaceful it was,” he wrote. “I will NEVER forgetthat feeling or that day.”

Breedlovenearly died again a few months ago when his heart stopped during a routinesurgery to remove his tonsils.

“It was amiracle that they brought me back,” he wrote. “I was scared to die but am SOglad I didn’t.”

Breedlove’sheart stopped again on December 6. He was at his Austin high school and satdown on a bench after feeling like he was going to faint.

He passedout and when he woke up, he couldn’t talk or move. He could only watch andlisten as paramedics put shock pads on his chest.

He heardthem say that his heart had stopped and that he had no pulse, which he explainsby the fact that “when people’s bodies ‘die’ the brain still works for a shorttime.”

“I reallythought to myself, this is it, I’m dying,” he wrote.

“The nextthing that happened I’m not sure if it was a dream or vision. But while I wasstill unconscious I was in this white room. No walls, it just went on and on…”

He foundhimself standing with his favorite rapper, Kid Cudi, and they were both dressedin really nice suits.

“Why he wasthe only one there with me, I’m still trying to figure out,” Breedlove wrote.

“I had thatsame feeling, I couldn’t stop smiling. I then looked at myself in the mirrorand I was proud of MYSELF. Of my entire life, everything I have done. IT WASTHE BEST feeling.”

Kid Cudiput his hand on his shoulder and then Breedlove’s favorite song came on, thepart where Cudi raps “when will this fantasy end… when will the heaven begin?”

Cudi toldhim “Go now” and Breedlove woke up.

Afterviewing the video, the rapper said he broke down in tears watching it.

“This hasreally touched my heart in a way I cant describe, this is why I do what I do.Why I write my life, and why I love you all so much,” Kid Cudi wrote on hisblog.

“I know Benis at Peace, and I hope he gets a chance to sit and talk with my Dad.”

Breedloveended his video with four final cards: “I didn’t want to leave that place. Iwish I NEVER woke up. Do you believe in angels or God? I Do.”

Breedlovedied at Christmas and his family said in his death notice that it was a giftfrom God.

“We knowthe Lord used the amazing life of our precious son to reach a weary world onChristmas night, just as He did over 2000 years ago with his own Son,” theywrote, and urged people to find the video that Breedlove posted on YouTube onDecember 18.

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"Perceptions of God" – June 6, 2010 (Kryon channeled by Lee Carroll) (Subjects: Quantum Teaching, The Fear of God, Near-death Experience, God Becomes Mythology, Worship, Mastery, Intelligent Design, Benevolent Creator,Global Unity.... etc.) (Text version)

“… When a Human almost dies, they get close to the veil, very close. They are ever so close to the creator's energy and just barely touched by it. When their heart was stopping and their breathing was almost gone, before they were brought back to life with science, they got to touch the hand of God for just an instant. What they saw was magnificent! The energy before them was filled with love and light, filled with family, filled with beauty. There was no strife there. There was no punishment there or even the hint of it. And when they came back from that experience, listen to what they told you. It changed their lives, didn't it? Listen to each one talk about it, for they continued to say, "There is nothing to fear and death is something you experience as a normal transition." Blessed is the Human Being who experiences both death and birth and has the wisdom to report, "Oh, it's uncomfortable, but I'll get through it, because I've done it before." The person who has experienced a near-death experience is no longer afraid to die! What does that tell you? They have seen what is there and they embrace it! …”

Cancer-Causing Toxin Found in Chinese Milk

2011-12-26T17:01:00.002+07:00

Jakarta Globe, December 26, 2011

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China hasdiscovered excessive levels of a cancer-causing toxin in milk produced by oneof the nation's leading dairy companies, the firm said, in the latest in aseries of food safety alarms.

Thegovernment's quality watchdog found high levels of an aflatoxin, which iscaused by mould, in milk produced by the Mengniu Dairy Group, the company saidin a statement issued Sunday.

Mengniusaid the milk, produced at one of its plants in the southwestern province ofSichuan, was tested before being sold so the contaminated milk never reachedthe market.

China istrying to crack down on product safety violations to reassure citizens andrestore faith in the government after a series of high--profile scandals.

Milk was atthe centre of China's biggest food safety scandal in 2008 when the industrialchemical melamine was found to have been illegally added to dairy products togive the appearance of higher protein content.

At leastsix babies died and another 300,000 became ill after drinking milk tainted withmelamine.

Productsafety problems have been found in goods ranging from pharmaceuticals tocooking oil. In September, the government arrested 32 people over the sale ofcooking oil made from leftovers taken from gutters.

Aflatoxinscan be found in milk after cows consume feed contaminated by mould and canincrease the risk of cancer, including liver cancer, according to the World HealthOrganization.

Mengniusaid the products had been destroyed, and apologized to consumers.

The GeneralAdministration of Quality Supervision, Inspection and Quarantine made thelatest discovery in nationwide testing of 200 dairy products made by 128companies, the agency said separately.

AFP

Australia Says Bali Tattoo Likely Gave Patient HIV

2011-12-24T16:45:00.000+07:00

Jakarta Globe, December 24, 2011

Kuta Beach. Australian health authorities have said a patient diagnosed
with HIV likely caught the virus while having a tattoo done on the Indonesian
resort island of Bali. (JG Photo/File)

Relatedarticles

Sydney.Australian health authorities have said a patient diagnosed with HIV likelycaught the virus while having a tattoo done on the Indonesian resort island ofBali.

Theyrecommended that people who had recently been tattooed on the island, known forits white, sandy beaches, partying and nightlife, should consider being testedfor HIV and other blood-borne viruses.

Authoritiesdid not reveal any details of the patient concerned.

“All theevidence points to a tattoo received recently in Bali as being the source ofthe infection,” Western Australia’s Department of Health said in a statementdated Friday.

“This casedemonstrates the very real health risk in having this type of procedure doneoverseas,” said Paul Armstrong, the department’s director of communicabledisease control.

Thedepartment highlighted the risk not only of tattoos but also of body piercings,saying that besides HIV, patients were also potentially exposing themselves toHepatitis B and C as well as bacterial infections.

Indonesian officialssaid last year that the number of known HIV/AIDS cases on Bali was soaring,with one in four prostitutes reported to be HIV-positive and the number ofinfections jumping almost 19 percent from the year before.

Agence France-Presse

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Report: Military hospitals not adequately checking doctor credentials

2011-12-24T06:01:00.003+07:00

CNN News, ByCharley Keyes, CNN, December 23, 2011

Congress and the military have examined how Maj. Nidal Hasan was
trained, evaluated and promoted as a military physician.

STORYHIGHLIGHTS

Congresscalled for the General Accountability Office report after the Fort Hoodshootings
The reporturges the Defense Department to speed efforts to revise the review process
Themilitary says its centralized system will be delayed without adequate funding

Washington(CNN) -- A federal watchdog took a bite out of military hospitals this month,warning it is impossible to tell if some doctors are licensed, properly trainedand evaluated in their specialties.

"Armyoversight and physician credentialing and privileging requirements were notsufficient to assure that MTFs (Medical Treatment Facilities) fully compliedwith existing requirements or completely documented information needed tosupport credentialing and privileging decisions," said the new GeneralAccountability Office report.

"Specifically,Army Medical Command's oversight of individual MTFs' reviews of physicians'applications for privileges was insufficient to identify the instances ofnoncompliance and incomplete documentation," the report added.

In somecases the military had failed to check properly on the legitimacy of doctors'licenses to practice medicine, the report alleged.

"Somecredentials files we reviewed lacked complete documentation to show that MTFshad primary source verified all of the physician's state medical licenses,including seven instances involving a physician's only active medical license,"the report says.

Primarysource verification of credentials means they are verified with a specificcredential's source.

Congresscalled for the report in the aftermath of the Fort Hood, Texas, shooting inNovember 2009, for which an Army psychiatrist is charged with 13 murders.

Congressand the military have examined how Maj. Nidal Hasan was trained, evaluated andpromoted as a military physician. Nine military officials, including doctors,were disciplined for their actions or failures in the Hasan case. He faces acourt-martial, with a possible death penalty, in March.

The GAOreport cast a wider net and urged the Defense Department to speed up itsefforts to revise and standardize reviews of doctors' credentials. And itsingles out the Army for problems at its facilities.

"Basedon our review of 150 credentials files at the five Army MTFs we selected forour review, we found that none of the five Army MTFs fully complied withcertain Army physician credentialing and privileging requirements," theGAO report said. "Specifically, we found that the selected MTFs did notfully comply with the Army's requirement to primary source verify all statemedical licenses at the time of privileging and at renewal."

In aresponse included in the report, Assistant Secretary of Defense for HealthAffairs Dr. Jonathan Woodson wrote the department is progressing withstandardization and centralization of credential files and improving howdoctors can apply for and renew privileges to practice at military hospitals.But the military warned that its centralized system would be delayed"without adequate funding."

The reportcited over-reliance of so-called peer reviews, especially in cases wherecoworkers might have only a limited familiarity with a doctor.

"Inone file we reviewed, both peer recommendations were from individuals whoindicated they had limited knowledge of the physician's clinicalcompetence," the report says. "The department chief later told usthat this physician was terminated within the first three months due to issueswith the physician's competence and professionalism."

In anotherinstance, a doctor had problems with errors in prescriptions, above what thehospital allowed. However, this was not reflected in the doctor's file. And thephysician's department chief "was not aware of the negative prescriptiondays but was 'not at all surprised' because there were current concerns aboutthis physician," the report said.

Breast implant scandal spreads across the world

2011-12-23T15:50:00.000+07:00

RNW, 22December 2011, by Frank Renout

A hugescandal has broken out in France over faulty silicon breast implants. But thescandal has far-reaching consequences for women as far away as Chile and China.

(Photo: RNW)

There aretens of thousands of women in France living in fear right now that their breastimplants may have to be removed. Research into the implants made by the Frenchmanufacturer PIP show that the silicon material is prone to bursting. There arealso fears about the safety of the implants after women died of cancer sometime after receiving them.

Worldwidescandal

The Frenchgovernment is expected to call up all women who have the implants to have themremoved as a precaution. Around 30,000 French women will be affected who haveeither decided to have a breast enlargement operation for esthetical reasons orbecause of the removal of a breast after cancer treatment. But the matter hasgone far beyond the French borders. There is already talk of a “worldwidescandal”.

The Frenchcompany PIP has been producing breast implants for almost ten years. And withgreat success. The company became a world leader in the sector: producing100,000 implants every year, which are distributed to 65 countries all over theworld. The main market (50 percent) is in South America, where the implants aresold via hospitals in Chile, Brazil, Venezuela and Argentina.

A quarterof the exports went to West European countries like Great Britain, Germany,Belgium and the Netherlands. The French implants were also shipped to theMiddle East (from Turkey to Syria) and Azia (from Thailand to China).

Burst

The bubblehas burst, so to speak, for the French company. In 2010, the first problemscame to light. PIP used a different type of silicon than it officiallyregistered; the implants were cheaper and of inferior quality: so they burst.More than 2000 French women took the company to court because PIP hadmisinformed them

Problemsemerged in other countries too. In the spring of 2010, the Chilean authoritiestook the French breast implants off the market. Venezuela and Brazil followedsuit, as did Colombia later.

Carcinogenic?

In WestEurope, the Spanish authorities called on hospitals to stop using PIP products,in Great Britain hundreds of women took the company to court.

Last month,the ‘silicon scandal’ took on a whole new dimension when a French woman withPIP breast implants died of lymph cancer. Her family blamed her illness anddeath on the silicon implants. Research has not been able to show a directlink, but that made little difference to the commotion in France.

Now Parisis considering advising all 30,000 French women with PIP implants to have themremoved as a precaution. The government is almost certain to foot the bill,because the French breast implant company PIP has gone bankrupt and istherefore unable to pay compensation. In Great Britain, women with PIP implantshave decided to sue the clinics which operated on them.

Related Articles:

PIP implants sold to Dutch firm under new name

Interpol hunts breast implants boss

Implants: France recommends removal but UK does not

French government advises removal of suspect silicone breast implants

Police Reveal Jakarta-Netherlands Narcotics Network

2011-12-21T21:26:00.001+07:00

Jakarta Globe, Bayu Marhaenjati, December 21, 2011

Relatedarticles

TheNational Police narcotics division revealed a drug network on Wednesday betweenthe Netherlands and Jakarta that they uncovered on Dec. 14. The policeconfiscated 85,000 ecstasy pills and 3,000 grams of methamphetamines worth Rp29 billion ($3.19 million).

“We havearrested the perpetrator with the initials Y.U.N. in Ruko Harco in Mangga Dua,and confiscated the evidence [the drugs] allegedly sent from the Netherlands,”Brig. Gen. Arman Depari, the National Police’s narcotics director, said onWednesday.

Arman saidthe narcotic storage area was surrounded by electronics shops in the Mangga Duaarea.

“Afterinterrogating Y.U.N., police have arrested two other suspects M.A.R. andVE.R.,” he said.

M.A.R. andV.E.R. told police they got the drugs from the Netherlands sent by a Dutchnational with the initials B.C. The other Dutch man, G.N., was the drugfinancier.

“B.C. andG.N. are Dutch nationals and are still being searched for,” Arman said.

Revealed: huge increase in executive pay for America's top bosses

2011-12-15T06:24:00.001+07:00

Exclusivesurvey shows America's CEOs enjoyed pay hikes of up to 40% last year – with onechief executive earning $145m

guardian.co.uk,Dominic Rushe in New York, Wednesday 14December 2011

John Hammergren, CEO of healthcare provider McKesson,
earned $145m last year. Photograph: George Nikitin/AP

Chiefexecutive pay has roared back after two years of stagnation and decline.America's top bosses enjoyed pay hikes of between 27 and 40% last year,according to the largest survey of US CEO pay. The dramatic bounceback comes asthe latest government figures show wages for the majority of Americans arefailing to keep up with inflation.

America'shighest paid executive took home more than $145.2m, and as stock pricesrecovered across the board, the median value of bosses' profits on stockoptions rose 70% in 2010, from $950,400 to $1.3m. The news comes against thebackdrop of an Occupy Wall Street movement that has focused Washington'sattention on the pay packages of America's highest paid.

TheGuardian's exclusive first look at the CEO pay survey from corporate governancegroup GMI Ratings will further fuel debate about America's widening income gap.The survey, the most extensive in the US, covered 2,647 companies, and offers acomprehensive assessment of all the data now available relating to 2010 pay.

Last year'ssurvey, covering 2009, found pay rates were broadly flat following a decline inwages the year before. Base salaries in 2009 showed a median increase of around2%, and annual cash compensation increased just over 1.5%. The troubled stockmarkets took their toll, and added together CEO pay declined for the third year,though the decrease was marginal, less than three-tenths of a percent. Thedecline in the wider economy in 2007, 2008 and 2009 far outstripped the declinein CEO pay.

This year'ssurvey shows CEO pay packages have boomed: the top 10 earners took home morethan $770m between them in 2010. As stock prices began to recover last year,the increase in CEO pay outstripped the rise in share value. The Russell 3000measure of US stock prices was up by 16.93% in 2010, but CEO pay went up by27.19% overall. For S&P 500 CEOs, the largest companies in the sample,total realised compensation – including perks and pensions and stock awards –increased by a median of 36.47%. Total pay at midcap companies, which areslightly smaller than the top firms, rose 40.2%.

GMI releaseda preliminary report on 2010 CEO pay earlier this year, before all the data wasavailable. Paul Hodgson, a senior research associate at GMI, said that reporthad shown a significant bounce but he had expected a wider sample to dampen theeffect.

"Wagesfor everybody else have either been in decline or stagnated in this period, andthat's for those who are in work," said Hodgson. "I had a feelingthat we would see some significant increases this year. But 30-40% wassomething of a surprise." Bosses won in every area, with dramaticincreases in pensions, payoffs and perks – as well as salary.

Still,there are no bankers among this year's big winners. Three of this year's top 10earners come from the healthcare industry. Top earner John Hammergren at McKesson,the world's largest healthcare firm, made $145,266,91 last year – most of itfrom stock options.

The risingstock markets were especially good to CEOs, said Hodgson. Stock options werethe main area that drove these outsized awards. "They got the options, themarket collapsed, then it came back – and all of a sudden they were in themoney again," he said.

And therewill be more to come. GMI, formerly known as the Corporate Library, isexpecting a rash of massive stock option bonuses as many firms awarded theirtop executives big option deals when the stock markets hit their lows in2007-2008.

"There'sstill a lot of money just waiting in the market," said Hodgson. Hedescribed the upcoming awards as a "bombshell" likely to dwarf thisyear's figures.

2010 was agreat year to lose your job as a CEO. Four of the 10 highest paid CEOs wereretired or departing executives. Ronald Williams, former head of Aetna, ahealth insurer, exercised 2.4m options for a profit of $50.4m. Aetna's stockprice declined by 70% from when Williams assumed the role of CEO in February2006 until his retirement. At pharmacy chain CVS, Thomas Ryan made a $28mprofit on his options. During Ryan's 13-year tenure as CEO, CVS Caremark'sstock price decreased almost 54%.

Omnicare'sJoel Gemunder retired last August and received cash severance of $16m, part ofa final-year pay package worth $98.28m. Adam Metz, the former boss of GeneralGrowth Properties, a real estate company that specialises in shopping malls,walked away with a $46m cash bonus in 2010. GGP executives received nearly$115m in bonuses from the firm as it emerged from bankruptcy.

But thisyear's top earner may have his biggest payday still to come. Hammergren is duea $469m payoff if McKesson changes ownership. "Boards make thesedecisions, but they don't work out what happens if they stay in the job,"said Hodgson.

"Ifthey had have done, one hopes, they would have looked at each other and said:'This is ridiculous.'"

A Thousand Aceh Police Officers Identified as Drug Users

2011-12-13T16:51:00.004+07:00

Jakarta Globe, Nurdin Hasan, December 13, 2011

Relatedarticles

Banda Aceh.About a thousand police officers, out of 13,000, in Aceh were identified asdrug users, Aceh police chief Ins. Gen. Iskandar Hasan said on Tuesday.

Iskandarsaid the number of police officers who were found to be drug users was between850 and 1,000. One hundred and eighty nine of the officers were sent to amonth-long training and guidance session for drug users at the Aceh Policestation.

“We’ll seewhether they will change or not in a month using the indicators we have setup,” Iskandar said. “If they cannot be changed, we’re going to fire them.”

TheNational Narcotics Agency conducted hair tests to determine if the officerswere using drugs. A former subdistrict police chief was among those who testedpositive.

Iskandarsaid drug dealers want police officers to become drug users.

“It’s theirstrategy to get to the legal enforcers, such as police, military andprosecutors,” he said. “It is a strategy to secure their networks. If all thelegal enforcers are silent, who will arrest them?”

Regardlessof training and guidance, the police who were found to be drug users will bepunished. Part of their salaries will be stopped, they will not be promoted orallowed to continue their studies.

Iskandarhad previously said that Aceh was known as an international distribution pointfor crystal methamphetamine, with drugs coming from Malaysia and beingdistributed to other regions of Indonesia. Aceh is also known for its highquality of marijuana.

Related Article:

Major Drug Shock Rocks Police in Aceh

Indonesian Man Dies After Self-Immolation

2011-12-11T15:47:00.001+07:00

Jakarta Globe, December 11, 2011

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An22-year-old Indonesian man has died after setting himself on fire near thepresidential palace, police said on Sunday, in what is believed to be thecountry’s first self-immolation protest.

The man,identified as student Sondang Hutagalung, died on Saturday after he was takento hospital with 98 percent burns, Jakarta police spokesman Baharudin Djafartold AFP.

“He diedyesterday from a sizeable percentage of burns on his body after setting himselfon fire. We still don’t know what caused him to immolate himself,” he said.

Local mediareported that Hutagalung had doused himself in petrol and torched himself nearthe state palace on Wednesday before running towards a billboard bearing thephotograph of President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono.

Witnessestold the Jakarta Globe newspaper he had shouted anti-government messages.

But Djafarsaid it was “not possible” to say he was protesting against the government orthe president.

“He was theperpetrator as well as the victim. Only he had the answer — we couldn’t guesshis motive,” he said.

“But wehope nobody will repeat such an act. If you’re unhappy with anything, you mayprotest but please do so without hurting yourself and others.”

Presidentialadviser Daniel Sparingga said on Thursday that Yudhoyono had been informed ofthe incident and “expressed his sympathy and concern.”

Protestsare common in Indonesia but the self-immolation is believed to be the first ofits kind in the world’s third-largest democracy of 240 million people.

Yudhoyono’spopularity rankings have slumped despite strong economic growth, amidcorruption and incompetence across all levels of the state. He was sworn in atthe start of his second five-year term on Oct. 20, 2009.

The firstIndonesian president to be directly elected after decades of authoritarianism,Yudhoyono has won two clear mandates with promises of tough action oncorruption, but is seen as too weak and indecisive to take on powerful vestedinterests.

Agence France-Presse

Japan's Meiji recalls baby milk after caesium find

2011-12-06T23:01:00.001+07:00

BBC News, 6December 2011

RelatedStories

Japanesemilk powder maker, Meiji, has recalled its baby formula after discoveringradioactive caesium in the product.

Shares inthe firm fell 10% in early trading in Tokyo after the company announced itwould recall 400,000 cans of the formula.

Meijiproduces the milk, which is only sold in Japan, in Saitama prefecture, north ofTokyo.

Saitamaborders the tsunami-hit prefecture of Fukushima.

The recallwas started after tests found up to 30.8 becquerels of caesium per kilo ofMeiji Step powdered milk.

The levelis below recommended limits set by the Japanese government, but Meiji has goneahead with the recall.

Milk powderis the latest foodstuff to be affected by radioactivity in Japan aftershipments of beef were banned in August and rice in September, also for caesiumcontamination.

Healthy living, organic Style

2011-12-04T15:40:00.001+07:00

TriwikKurniasari, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta, Sun, 12/04/2011

Organic products enjoy rising popularity as more people adopt healthy
living. JP/Triwik Kurniasari

Theimportance of living a healthy life is a popular trend, with morenature-focused communities going for only natural and organic products.

Ahmad Nuhused to consume white cane sugar, the most common sweetener used in food anddrinks. But the 30-something man decided to stop his habit when he startedworking at a palm sugar company around four years ago, finding that palm sugarwas healthier since it contained more fibers and nutrients and had lesscarbohydrates than white sugar.

“White canesugar undergoes a long process and producers sometimes add other refinedsweeteners, chemical contents and even coloring, so it’s not that healthy,”Ahmad told The Jakarta Post.

“A longtime ago, people ate palm sugar to boost their energy so they could walk formiles. So, let’s go back to the old days which ensured a healthier life.”

Since then,he eliminated white sugar from his daily intake, replacing it with palm sugarmade from the sap of sugar palm trees or date trees. His family and relativesused followed his steps and used palm sugar to make soup or other dishes.

Ahmad wasamong the participants of the 2011 Organic, Green and Healthy Expo organized bythe Indonesian Organic Community (KOI) and the Alliance of Indonesian Organic(AOI) at CNI Building in West Jakarta’s Puri Indah recently.

The eventwas aimed at introducing local certified organic and natural products as wellas encouraging the public to adopt a healthy lifestyle.

Organicfood products are made in ways that limit the use of synthetic substancesincluding pesticides and chemical fertilizers. Among items on offer werevegetables, grains such as white rice, red rice and black rice, miscellaneoussnacks made from cassava, sweet cassava and bananas, teas ranging from regulargreen and black tea to Rosella and kumis kucing (Orthosiphon spicatus), foresthoney and palm sugar.

But theterm organic is not only a matter of being pesticide free —the food must alsobe preserved in a chemical-free environment.

TheophilliaArispraptami of the Indonesian Forest Honey Network is promoting tropicalforest honey, which is dubbed as organic, as the honey is not manufactured byhumans.

The honey,she said, is derived from Apis dorsata bees, the most productive Asian beesliving in tropical and subtropical areas such as Indonesia, the Philippines,India and Nepal.

“We collectand extract the honey directly from the hives in the forests, maintaining itsnatural nutrient values. The bees collect nectar and pollen from blossoms inthe forest, while manufactured bees gathered nectar only from one type ofblossom, depending on the season,” Theophillia said.

“The hivesare usually found hanging on trees, caves and stones, while regular honey comesfrom worker bees in designed boxes.”

She alsosaid that forest honey was safer, as the honeybees consumed wild blossoms thatwere not contaminated by hazardous chemical contents.

SentarumLake National Park in West Kalimantan and West Java’s Ujung Kulon National Parkare two areas used to cultivate forest honey.

Thenetwork, she said, guaranteed that the honey was not mixed with water or sugar,not heated and contained no chemical treatments, because the cultivation wasunder supervision of organizations including her institution.

The farmersare trained before they harvest the honey so they don’t ruin the hives and theenvironment.

“We don’tsqueeze the hives to get the honey. We only drain it so the honey will be morehygienic,” she said, adding that forest honey is sold from Rp 75,000 (US$8.20)to Rp 90,000 at a number of stores that specialize in organic produce in thecapital.

Theophilliapointed out that forest honey production required well-conserved green forests,protected from illegal logging, fire and land conversion.

EniWidarijani, a member of an organic community in East Java, said the productionof organic foods required special treatment.

“Organicfarming procedures are performed to conserve soil and water and reducepollution,” Eni says.

“Firstly,we have to change farmers’ mindsets to go back to nature and leave allpesticides behind to boost their harvest. We had to give them some realexamples to convince them.”

She andother members also encouraged farmers to go back to nature by making use of plantsin their environment such as secang (sappanwood) and pegagan or button grass(Cetella asiatica), which can be turned into hot drinks.

To cleanthe grass from the dirt, they usually use lemon zest or aloe instead of usingchemical-based disinfectants.

For manypeople, consuming natural and organic food poses some challenges, since suchitems are not easily found and the high prices may take toll on people’swallets.

The authorof Hidup Organik, Panduan Ringkas Berperilaku Selaras Alam (Organic Living, ASimple Manual to Live in Harmony with Nature), Bibong Widyarti, said the costlyprice was mainly caused by the long process of organic certification programs.

All organicfoods, she added, have to meet some standards, including how the foods aregrown, handled and processed before the products can be sold on the market.

Yuniken,who has consumed organic products since 2007 and organized women in West Java’sBogor to farm organic products, admitted she had to be able to manage herhousehold budget to support the healthy habit.

“One of theobstacles, however, sometimes is that it’s not easy to get organic items,especially when we run out of the stuff and don’t have time to go to organicfood stores,” Yuniken said.

“But I’mtrying my best to serve healthy dishes on my table with fresh organic produce. It’sfor the sake of my family’s health.”

First lady calls for more jobs for disabled people

2011-12-04T15:36:00.001+07:00

The Jakarta Post, Jakarta, Sun, 12/04/2011

First ladyAni Yudhoyono on Sunday urged all companies throughout the country to providemore job opportunities for disabled people, to help them realize theirpotential.

“I hopethat companies will give work opportunities to disabled people as is regulatedin the Constitution. Every company can widen their implementation so that thepotential among disabled people in Indonesia is not neglected,” she said, asquoted by tribunnews.com.

She saidthe government had proven that they would provide support for people withdisabilities and promised to continue to do so.

“This yearthe government has given financial aid of Rp 300,000 (US$33) to 19,025 disabledpeople in 33 provinces. Next year we will improve on that,” she said.

Apart fromfinancial support, the government would also provide aid in the form ofequipment, skills education and access to jobs, she said.

Near Death Experience of a Neurosurgeon: A must watch! (Video)

2011-11-27T22:51:00.001+07:00

Aneurosurgeon shares his near-death experience.

Bacterial meningitis,coma, earth worm eye view of the world, then the warm loving light...

Featuringalso Dr. Bruce Greyson, a psychiatrist and longtime NDE researcher.

A mustwatch video for skeptics, specially people who seek scientific evidence.

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Neurosurgeon Dr. Eben Alexander’s Near-Death Experience Defies Medical Model of Consciousness

Anita Moorjani's Near Death Experience clears in 4 days, grade 4B lymphoma cancer

Bali court sentences Australian boy, 14, over drug charge

2011-11-25T19:26:00.001+07:00

Teenagersentenced to two months in detention for buying drugs, but he should be free injust over a week

guardian.co.uk,Associated Press in Bali, Friday 25 November 2011

Indonesian guards escort the 14-year-old Australian boy after his trial
at Denpasar district court. Photograph: Firdia Lisnawati/AP

AnAustralian teenager has been sentenced to two months in detention for buyingdrugs while on holiday with his family in Bali.

Judge AmzerSimanjuntak told the packed Denpasar district court that when taking intoaccount time already served, the 14-year-old would be freed in just over a weekand immediately deported.

The boy,who cannot be identified because of his age, sat sobbing, his head bowed down,as his father patted him on the back while the judge spoke.

Though hecould have faced up to 12 years under Indonesia's tough drug laws, the panel ofthree judges said it decided to be lenient because he admitted to buying 3.6g(0.13oz) of marijuana from a man in front of a supermarket, and repeatedlyexpressed remorse.

Theteenager has been in an immigration detention centre since his arrest on 4October. He has promised to enter a drug rehabilitation programme if allowed toreturn to his home in Morrisset Park, north of Sydney.

He said hehad been struggling for some time with his addiction.

Dozens ofAustralians have been jailed or put on death row for drug possession inIndonesia.

BPOM Says These 22 Coffee Brands Are Bad for You

2011-11-25T19:01:00.001+07:00

Jakarta Globe, DessySagita, November 25, 2011

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Coffeedrinkers, beware of these 22 brands. It is not about their caffeine content,says the Food and Drug Monitoring Agency (BPOM), but that they containchemicals that can be bad for your health.

The 22brands are not registered with BPOM but had been sold in the market, accordingto BPOM head Kustantinah. The problem is that they contain sildenafil ortadalafil.

Bothsubstances are not allowed for use in food or beverage as they can causeheadaches, dizziness, nausea, stomach aches, palpitations, chest pains,permanent erectile dysfunction and even death.

Sildenafiland tadalafil are usually found in drugs or supplements for erectiledysfunction. They can have a lethal effect if consumed by someone with a heartcondition.

“Imagine ifpeople don't know this fact,” Kustantinah said. “Coffee is a beverage usuallytaken in the morning, during the day and at night time.”

BPOM haswithdrawn all these brands from the market to be destroyed. Meanwhile, theproducers as well as marketers have been warned to stop producing and sellingthese or face sanctions of a maximum of five years in jail or a fine of Rp 600million.

The bannedcoffee brands are:

1. 39 Sa Kao 3 in1 Kopi Mix PlusEkstrak Jahe

2. 39Sa Kao kopi Mix Ginseng Korea 3 in 1

3. Bel-bel Kopi Ekstra Susu

4. Black Borneo Platinum Coffee

5. Dream Coffee

6. Dynamic Coffee/Dynamic Nusantara/DynaminTribulus Coffee.

7. Golden Life

8. God Coffee Premium/ Good Coffee

9. Herba Max Coffee

10. Jaho Mix Barokah SP

11. Jomoon Instant Coffee

12. Joss-Fly Plus Coffee Plus Panax Ginseng

13. Kopi Cleng- Sehat, Nikmat, Berstamina

14. Kopi Mahabbah

15. Kopi Pasutri

16. Kopi KPH/Kopi Kuat

17. Kopi Strong 234

18. Maca-Tech

19. Matador Coffee

20. Mawaddah Coffee

21. On Coffee

22. Premium EnergyCoffee

Lippo Group to Build Six Hospitals in 2012

2011-11-23T17:54:00.001+07:00

Jakarta Globe, IvanDasa Saputra, November 23, 2011

A doctor and his assistant perform simulations at the Siloam
Cancer Hospital MRCCC Semanggi, Jakarta. The Lippo Group
is planning to build six more hospitals next year.
(JG Photo/Safir Makki)

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The LippoGroup is planning to build six international standard hospitals in fiveIndonesian regions next year.

“Everyhospital should be built with international principles, using internationalstandards, equipment and service,” James Riady, CEO of the Lippo Group, said onWednesday.

James saidthat while it is not relevant to get international accreditation for allhospitals, the hospitals will be built with international standards.

“Internationalaccreditation needs a high budget that might have an impact on patients,” Jamessaid.

The sixhospitals will be built in Makassar, Manado, Bali, Palembang and Jakarta withan investment of Rp 300 to Rp 500 billion ($33 million to $55 million) each.

As part ofthe Lippo Group’s mission to serve all sections of society, Siloam Hospital,owned by the Lippo Group, is increasing space for a third class ward.

“We willkeep on building hospitals because we’re hoping to be the main player in thehealth industry,” James said.

The JakartaGlobe is affiliated with the Lippo Group.

Rice containing radioactive caesium found in Japan

2011-11-17T18:01:00.001+07:00

BBC News, By RolandBuerk, Tokyo, 17 November 2011

Japan quake

The rice came from an area outside the exclusion zone
around Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant

Radioactivecaesium has been detected above the safety level in rice for the first time inJapan since the nuclear crisis began at the Fukushima plant.

The samplecame from a Fukushima city farm about 60km from the plant.

Thegovernment is considering banning shipments from the area it was found.

There havebeen a series of scares over radiation in food in Japan in recent months - inbeef, mushrooms and green tea among other products - but never before in thecountry's staple, rice.

Now caesiumin concentrations above the official safety limit has been detected in a samplefrom a farm in Fukushima city.

The ricewas being prepared for market, but Chief Cabinet Secretary Osamu Fujimura saidnone had been sold.

Thediscovery highlights the difficulty of tracking the radiation which has beenspread across eastern Japan by wind and rain.

Localgovernments in rural areas have set up testing centres to try to ensurecontaminated products do not get into the food chain.

Last weekthe Tokyo Metropolitan Government also began testing samples bought at shops inthe capital in an attempt to further reassure anxious members of the public.

Related Article:

Fukushima rice banned by Japan

J&J starts removing toxins from baby products

2011-11-17T04:39:00.001+07:00

Associated Press, Nov 16, 2011

NEWBRUNSWICK, N.J. (AP) -- Johnson & Johnson has begun removing two harmfulchemicals from its iconic baby shampoo and other baby products in the U.S.

Aninternational coalition of consumer and environmental groups had pressed thecompany since May 2009 to remove the toxins from all personal care products,including Johnson's Baby Shampoo.

Two weeksago, the Campaign for Safe Cosmetics was emboldened after finding the healthcare giant had removed the two chemicals from products in several othercountries. But in the U.S., the products contain trace amounts of potentiallycancer-causing chemicals.

Johnson& Johnson now says it expects to remove formaldehyde-releasingpreservatives from baby products within about two years and is reducing tracesof the other chemical.

Indonesian MER-C volunteers continue hospital construction in Gaza

2011-11-14T04:35:00.001+07:00

Antara News, Mon, November 14 2011

RelatedNews

Bogor,W.Java (ANTARA News) - The volunteer organization of the health emergency,Medical Emergency Rescue Committee (MER-C) Indonesia from the engineeringdivision headed to Gaza, Palestine, to continue the second phase of the tenderfor the construction of an Indonesia hospital there.

"Themembers of the team are engineers and will go to Gaza via Egypt," chairmanof the MER-C Indonesia presidium dr.Sarbini Abdul Murad said here Saturdaynight.

Heexplained that by Emirates Airlines in the Jakarta-Dubai-Cairo route, the teamwas scheduled to leave on Sunday (Nov 13) morning and arrive in Cairo, Egypt,on Sunday (Nov 13) at 10.55 local time.

The teamwas led by chairman of the MER-C construction division Ir.Faried Talib withIr.Idrus Muhammad Alatas and Ir.Nur Ikhwan Abadi as members.

Dr.Sarbinisaid the team was expected to be in Gaza for at least two weeks. Meanwhile,Ir.Nur Ikhwan Abadi planned to stay in Gaza joining the other six Indonesianvolunteers who are still there to oversee the Indonesia hospital construction.

"Wehave asked all Indonesians to pray for the success of the project," hesaid.

FariedTalib added the team`s target is to directly supervise and evaluate theconstruction of the hospital which has been 50 percent completed.

In addition,it will prepare the second phase of the tender for architectural work andmechanical and electrical equipment of the hospital in Gaza.

Dr.Sarbiniexplained they finally got an entry permit from the Egyptian foreign ministryto enter the Gaza Strip, Palestine, for building the hospital.

"Afterwaiting for 20 days, finally the Egyptian foreign ministry issued a permit forthe MER-C engineering team consisting of four people to enter Gaza through theRafah border," he said.

Accordingto him, information on the permit was made by the Indonesian embassy in Cairo,as the party which has helped facilitate the issuance of the permit for theMER-C team to the Gaza Strip on Monday (Oct 24).

Heexplained initially the confirmation about the entry permit to Gaza wasreceived in a short message from the political section of the Indonesianembassy in Cairo followed by the necessary papers sent by electronic mail ofthe embassy on the same day.

Dr.Sarbiniasserted that the team decided not to leave until the permission of theEgyptian foreign ministry was secured. It was based on the previous experience,in which the engineers of the MER-C team who in May 2011 did not get apermission to go to Gaza although they had been waiting for a month in Egypt.

However,the tender of the Indonesian hospital`s construction must be continued so thatthe whole process of the tender and interview with the contractor was finallydone via teleconference between Gaza and Egypt.

Even thesigning of a memorandum of understanding on the Indonesian hospital`sconstruction between the MER-C team in Egypt and the tender which woncontractor in Gaza was carried out by quite unique.

Dr.Sarbiniexplained the uniqueness was that the Mer-C team entrusted the MoU documents toa person who went to Gaza from Rafah gate (in Egypt), while the contractor waswaiting for the documents at the Rafah gate (in Gaza).

Once theMoU was read and signed by the contractor, the documents re-deposited by a personwho went to the Rafah gate (Egypt) where the MER-C team was still waiting.

"Althoughthe process was winding, the construction of the Indonesian hospital progressedstep by step. On May 14, 2011 the construction of the Indonesia hospital inBayt Lahiya, North Gaza was finally started," Dr.Sarbini said.

Theconstruction of the Indonesian hospital in Gaza was started from the mission ofhumanitarian relief team from Indonesia who brought medical supplies from thegovernment and the Indonesians to Gaza people from 2008 to 2009.

At thattime the mission was led by dr.Rustam S.Pakaya who served as head of the crisiscontrol of the ministry of health and Aidil Chandra Salim, the director ofMiddle Eastern affairs of the foreign ministry.

But,furthermore the Indonesian government fund which should be combined with thoseraised by MER-C Indonesia to build the hospital was diverted to other uses inthe Al-Shifa hospital in Gaza.

Editor: Aditia Maruli

300,000 doses of flu vaccine Preflucel withdrawn in alert over side-effects‎

2011-11-11T21:08:00.001+07:00

Daily Mail, by Sadia Whitelocks, 27th October 2011

Preflucel has been recalled amid
fears it is making people ill

A fluvaccine has been recalled from thousands of surgeries and pharmacies acrossEurope amid fears it is making people ill.

TheMedicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) has issued a warningover Preflucel, a popular influenza vaccine.

Around300,000 doses of the drug are to be immediately withdrawn following fears fromhealth bosses that the most recent batch, issued last month, is causingside-effects.

A highpercentage of those vaccinated with Preflucel have reported fatigue, musclepain and headaches.

Alternativeproducts will now be made available to prevent any shortages.

Newbury-basedBaxter Healthcare, which manufacturers the drug, approved for use in March saidthat patients with concerns should contact their GP.

A statementread: 'There has been a higher-than-expected reporting of adverse reactionsafter administration of vaccines from this batch.

'Any stockshould be quarantined and returned via the normal channels.

More...

'No furtherPreflucel of any batch should be administered at this time.'

In Scotland2,500 vaccines have been recalled and Preflucel will not be issued untilfurther notice.

In responsethe Scottish Government has ordered more than 1.1million doses of other fludrugs.

Despitefears, a spokesman urged people not to panic: 'This recall does not affect theflu vaccination programme, for which over 1.1 million doses of other fluvaccines have been ordered.

Experts say the side-effects are those usually associated with flu vaccines

'Individualswho have been vaccinated with Preflucel should not be concerned.

'Most ofthe side-effects are those usually associated with flu vaccines - they havestarted shortly after the vaccination and have been mild and short-lived.

'Thevaccine is being recalled because these side-effects have been reported morefrequently with this specific batch.'

It waslabelled as suitable for patients with allergies because it does not containegg and is expected to provide up to 80 per cent protection against influenza.

A spokesmansaid the recall was a 'precautionary measure' due to reports of adversereactions.

Preflucelis one of 13 different flu vaccines being used to protect people against thewinter virus.

Related Article:

Baxter, same company that unleashed tainted avian flu vaccines, recalls 300,000 flu vaccines for serious adverse reactions

ASEAN to form partnerships to promote traditional medicine

2011-11-05T18:21:00.001+07:00

AntaraNews, Sat, November 5 2011

RelatedNews

Jakarta(ANTARA News) - ASEAN member countries have agreed to establish partnerships topromote traditional medicine through among other things information exchange,research, and the scientization of traditional cures to guarantee their safety.

Theagreement was reached at the Third Conference on ASEAN Traditional Medicine inSolo, Central Java, on Saturday, President Director of PT Deltomed LaboratoriesNyoto Wardoyo said in a press statement here on Saturday.

Theconference was attended by representatives of Cambodia, Malaysia, Thailand,Myanmar, Singapore, Laos, Vietnam, Brunei Darussalam, and Indonesia as thehost.

Themeeting`s participants on the sidelines of the conference visited the factoryof PT Deltomed Laboratories in Wonogiri, Central Java.

They made acomparative study on the modernization and standardization process oftraditional medicine production, and the herbal material extraction carried outin the factory.

PTDeltomed, a national herbal medicine producer, has established cooperation withthe health ministry`s Traditional Medicine and Herbal Medicine Development andResearch Center (B2P2TO-OT).

Since 2009,the company has met the Good Manufacturing Product Standard and received aNational Sanitation Foundation certificate on September 14, 2011, as aprerequisite for herbal medicine exports to countries in the Americancontinent.

Editor: Suryanto

Quantum medicine, the new medicine? - Dr Paul Drouin

2011-11-04T21:28:00.003+07:00

Related Article:

"The Quantum Factor" – Apr 10, 2011 (Kryon channeled by Lee Carroll) (Subjects: Galaxies, Universe, Intelligent design, Benevolent design, Aliens, Nikola Tesla (Quantum energy), Inter-Planetary Travel, DNA, Genes, Stem Cells, Cells, Rejuvenation, Shift of Human Consciousness, Spontaneous Remission, Religion, Dictators, Africa, China, Nuclear Power, Sustainable Development, Animals, Global Unity.. etc.) - (Text Version)

Indonesia promoting medicinal herbs tonic scientifically

2011-11-03T17:40:00.000+07:00

Antara News,Thu, November 3 2011

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Karanganya(ANTARA News) - The Indonesian government has made a strong commitment todevelop and promote traditional medicine, especially jamu (medicinal herbtonic), with a view to integrating traditional medical treatment into thenational health system, in which a number of regulatory frameworks had beenpublished, including the development of jamu scientifically.

The HealthMinistry in developing jamu scientifically or for research purposes this yearhas provided a budget of Rp45 billion, Health Ministry secretary general RatnaRosita said on the sidelines of the participants of an International Conferenceon Traditional Medicine in Karangpandan, Karanganyar regency, Central Java, onWednesday.

He said thebudget for the development of jamu has also been increasing. Jamu has now alsoentered hospitals treating various diseases like cholesterol, uric acid, andhypertension. "We will continue developing traditional drugs which hadoften been more acceptable culturally by the people than conventionalones".

"Traditionaldrugs will be prioritized in Java as they are normally closely related to theculture of the people on the most densely populated part of the country whichhas become popular in using jamu. In other parts of the country, jamu may beproduced in the form of capsules or other more accepted forms," he said.

KaranganyarRegent Rina Iriani SR said the people have become increasingly popular in usingtraditional drugs.

She said assecurity includes benefits and quality of traditional drugs, jamu has also beenscientificated. Karanganyar is part of Central Java which has become a nationalexample of a jamu scientific program of medical treatment.

TheKaranganyar administration supported the central government`s policy on theintegration of traditional drug treatment into national health services andjamu scientification process, while preparing biological resources.

Karanganyarhas more potentials in the cultivation of medicinal plants.

The seminarparticipants from ASEAN member countries led by Health Ministry secretarygeneral Ratna Rosita also watched the treatment at the various public healthcenters using herbal drugs.

Editor: Aditia Maruli

Govt commences construction of brain treatment center

2011-11-01T19:57:00.000+07:00

The Jakarta Post, Jakarta | Tue, 11/01/2011

The HealthMinistry began the construction of a hospital in Jakarta on Tuesday, which wasexpected to serve as the country's first national center for brain and nervedisease treatments.

“Up to now,Indonesia hasn't had a special, integrated center for comprehensive brain andnerve disease treatments. The center must operate according to evidence and beable to compete at the global level,” Health Minister Endang RahayuSedyaningsih said during the groundbreaking ceremony of the National BrainCenter Hospital in Jakarta.

Endang saidthat Indonesia required such a center as strokes had been the main cause ofdeaths and disabilities in nearly all hospitals across the country.

She saidthat the number of people experiencing strokes had been increasing each year,as was the number of those suffering from other neurological disorders, such asdementia and traumatic head and spinal injuries.

Endang saidthe hospital would provide comprehensive “brain check-ups” among other medicalservices, Antara reported.

Bali Gay Clinic a National First

2011-11-01T19:29:00.000+07:00

Jakarta Globe, November 01, 2011

Denpasar.Bali has opened the country’s first ever clinic geared toward the lesbian, gay,bisexual and transgender community.

The BaliMedika Clinic, located on Jalan Kalianget in the popular tourist area of Kuta,has been in operation since Sept. 27 but was officially opened on Saturday,with the mission of tackling the stigma routinely experienced by members of theLGBT community at other health centers.

“Thisclinic will be a safe haven for homosexual and transgender people who continueto experience difficulty getting access to treatment at general health carefacilities,” said Prof. Dewa Nyoman Wirawan, an adviser to the clinic.

He addedthat although the provincial administration was making progress in ensuringbetter access to health care for all by improving services at community healthcenters, the reality was that the LGBT community was still being left outbecause of widely held conservative views against them.

“That’s whyI proposed the idea of setting up a clinic that would serve members of thismarginalized community,” Wirawan said. “Fortunately, one of my colleagues, Dr.Yogi Prasetia, has agreed to manage the clinic. Over time, we will continue toprovide the facility with more equipment than we currently have.”

Wirawan, asenior faculty member at Udayana University’s School of Health, said that Yogihad extensive experience in dealing with health issues among the LGBT communityin the resort island.

Among theservices available at the clinic will be general medical check-ups, screeningsfor sexually transmitted diseases, and hormone-replacement therapy.

“We willalso provide counseling services, both general and mental,” Wirawan said. “Inthe future, we plan to offer VCT [voluntary counseling and testing] servicesfor people living with HIV/AIDS, as well as distribute ARVs [anti-retroviraldrugs].”

He addedthat since the clinic’s unofficial opening, staff there had seen a steady streamof patients.

The GayaDewata Foundation, which provides counseling and promotes safe sex practicesamong Bali’s gay community, has welcomed the establishment of the Bali MedikaClinic.

“The gayand transgender community here tends to be closed off and its members arereluctant to let anyone find out about their sexual orientation, so they tendto avoid seeking medical treatment when they fall ill,” said ChristianSupriyadinata, the foundation’s director.

He alsopointed out that existing community health centers were unlikely to offer someof the treatments required by the transgender community, such as hormonereplacement therapy.

A doctor isavailable from 4 p.m. to 8 p.m. on weekdays, and from 9 a.m. to noon onSaturdays.

Officialfigures show that 160 people from Bali’s gay and transgender community havecontracted HIV as of September, while 39 have developed AIDS.

Nongovernmentalgroups, however, suggest the real unreported figures could be much higher.

Antara

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Yoga may work better for lower back pain than conventional treatments

2011-11-01T05:22:00.003+07:00

Patientswith lower back pain who did yoga showed bigger improvements in their abilityto perform everyday physical tasks

guardian.co.uk,Nic Fleming, Monday 31 October 2011

Yoga sessions used in the study were designed to be safe and beneficial
for people with lower back pain. Photograph: David Mcnew/Getty Images

Doing yogais a more effective way for people with lower back pain to become more mobilethan the treatments currently offered by GPs, according to new research.

The studyfound that back pain sufferers recorded greater improvements in everydayphysical tasks such as walking, bending down and getting dressed if they didweekly yoga sessions.

Participantswho had practised yoga reported enhanced function compared with those receivingstandard care, even nine months after the yoga classes had finished.

Previous,smaller studies have suggested yoga could be beneficial to back pain sufferers.However, these have often involved just one teacher and have not includedlong-term follow-up.

Back painis estimated to affect 80% of adults at some point in their lives, and one infive people visits their GP in any given year because of it.

Thecondition, defined as chronic if it lasts longer than six weeks, is the secondmost common cause of long-term disability after arthritis and second only tostress as a cause of absence from work. It costs the NHS around £1bn per yearand the annual cost to the economy has been estimated at £20bn.

Existingtreatment options include painkillers, spinal manipulation, acupuncture,exercise classes and cognitive behavioural therapy.

"Inthe past when you had back pain, you were told to lie down until itpassed," said Prof David Torgerson, director of the York Trial Unit at theUniversity of York, who led the study.

"Thesedays the main advice is to keep your back active. It seems yoga has morebeneficial effects than usual care including other forms of exercise, althoughwe have not carried out a direct comparison.

"Weare still carrying out the economic analysis but it is likely yoga could reducethe costs of back pain both for patients and for the NHS."

Twentyexperienced yoga teachers from the British Wheel of Yoga and Iyengar Yoga weretrained to deliver a beginner level course of 12 yoga sessions specially designed to be safe and beneficial to those with lower back pain.

A group of156 patients with chronic lower back pain were assigned to have the 75-minuteyoga classes in north and west London, Manchester, York and Truro, in additionto normal GP care, while a control group of 157 just saw their GPs.

Participantsfilled in a 24-point questionnaire on whether their condition prevented themfrom doing everyday tasks. Lower scores equated to better function.

Those whodid the yoga scored on average 2.17 points lower than those who did not. Threeand nine months later, their scores were still 1.48 and 1.57 points lowerrespectively.

Participantsalso reported lower overall pain levels on average. However, this effect didnot reach statistical significance. Around 60% of those in the yoga groupcontinued with their practice after the classes.

The studyis published in the Annals of Internal Medicine.

Rates ofreported cases of back pain have doubled in the past 40 years in England, atrend seen in other Western countries. Some believe this is a result of higherlevels of obesity, stress and depression, while others suggest people are morewilling to report the condition.

When theUK's National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence – which draws upguidelines on the best treatments – last reviewed treatments for lower backpain in May 2009, it ruled that exercise, spinal manipulation and acupuncturewere cost-effective treatments.

"Yogais one of a number of treatments that have now been shown to be effective forback pain," said Martin Underwood, professor of primary care research atWarwick Medical School.

"Thestudy shows it having a small to moderate average effect for patients, meaningthere will be some people who experience little or no effect and other peoplefor whom it has substantial benefit. Unfortunately we don't yet know whichpatients respond to which treatments."

Hospitals refuse to treat poor girl with tumor

2011-10-31T21:43:00.000+07:00

The JakartaPost Mon, 10/31/2011

A10-year-old girl with a tumor was been refused treatment at two hospitalssimply because her family is poor.

Yani,daughter of Suhandi and Satria, who lives in Jati Murni subdistrict, PondokGede district, Bekasi, West Java, was diagnosed with a tumor seven years ago,said Mustari Soleman, a university student who has taken up the family’s cause.

He said ina media statement that two big hospitals in Jakarta had refused to performsurgery on Yani as the family was unable to pay the costs.

AlthoughYani’s parents have a welfare card, they are only entitled to 30 to 50 percentcoverage of the total costs charged by one of the hospitals, Mustari added.

Instead,the hospital told Yani’s parents they would have to pay a Rp 20 million(US$2,200) down payment for the surgery.

Mustari andother students are calling on the government to investigate and evaluate hospitalsthat refuse to treat poor people and cover Yani’s surgery costs.

Chaining Up Indonesia's Mentally Ill a Common Practice

2011-10-22T05:06:00.000+07:00

Jakarta Globe, DessySagita, October 21, 2011

Almost 19,000 people suffering from serious mental disorders are being
kept in chains or pillories because of the country’s limited psychiatric
facilities and the stigma attached to such illness, a top official said
on Friday. (JG Photo)

Almost19,000 people suffering from serious mental disorders are being kept in chainsor pillories because of the country’s limited psychiatric facilities and thestigma attached to such illness, a top official said on Friday.

“Chainingor pillorying mentally disturbed people is the worst reflection of the shortageof health facilities, and we think that in Indonesia there are still around18,800 people chained or pilloried,” said Irmansyah, the director for mentalhealth at the Health Ministry.

Restrainingtheir movement often is the only way out for families of people with mentalhealth problems, he said, as they usually either have no access to healthservices or cannot afford them.

Accordingto the Mental Health Atlas released by the World Health Organization last week,Indonesia is among the countries with the lowest ratio of psychiatrists amongthe population.

Irmansyahpointed out that Indonesia only had 1 psychiatrist for every 3.3 millionpeople. The country also has only 48 mental hospitals with a total capacity of7,700 beds.

However,the WHO estimates that at least one million Indonesians are suffering fromgrave mental disorders and that some 80,000 of them need to be treated in ahospital.

Because ofthe limited medical infrastructure, “only 3.5 percent of mental healthsufferers have access to treatment,” Irmansyah said.

He addedthat even in cases where treatment would be available, families of patientsoften were reluctant to find professional help for loved ones because of thesevere social stigma.

Theofficial said that pillorying someone was a violation of up to nine laws,including the Law on Human Rights, the Law on the Protection of Children, theLaw on Household Violence and the Law on Health. The government therefore hasset a target to eradicate the degrading practice of chaining or pilloryingmental health sufferers by 2014, Irmansyah said.

He addedthat the Health Ministry was preparing a Law on Mental Health that would firmlystate the rights of people with mental problems.

“We have toremind all that no matter now grave the mental health problem suffered bysomeone, we still have the Jamkesmas and Jamkesda schemes,” Irmansyah said,referring to the national Health Insurance Scheme and the Regional Health Insurancescheme.