Provinces required to establish women, children`s empowerment centers

Antara News, Wed, February 23 2011

Padang, West Sumatra (ANTARA News) - State Minister for Women`s Empowerment Linda Amalia Sari Gumelar has asked all provinces and districts to establish an Integrated Service for Women and Children Empowerment (P2TP2A).

"All provinces and districts in Indonesia should establish P2TP2A," Linda Amalia Sari Gumelar said in a function to open Women Organization Coordinating Board Regional Meeting here on Wednesday.

Linda explained from 2002 - 2007 the State Minister for Women`s Empowerment and Child Protection had facilitated the establishment of 17 P2TP2A in 17 provinces and 80 districts/municipalities.

"Unfortunately not all centers function as expected, and therefore the Women`s Empowerment Ministry will cooperate with regional governments to organize training and capacity building," Linda said.

According to her, things like that should be a concern of all parties because the evaluation results of P2TP2A implementation indicated that limited human resources and infrastructure had become obstacles so far.

"Therefore we ask for cooperation of local governments to create a network strengthening programs," Lind said.

She explained that P2TP2A was a community-based container service to women`s empowerment and child protection.

Linda said P2TP2A had a role in a bid to fulfill the need for improvement in education, health, economy, and for the management of violent acts against women and children.

Editor: Priyambodo

28 penitentiary officers dismissed for drugs

The Jakarta Post, Jakarta | Tue, 02/22/2011

Twenty-eight penitentiary officers were dismissed last year for involvement in drug cases, an official said Tuesday.

“Some of them used drugs, some sold them and some others helped smuggle drugs into the penitentiaries,” said Bambang Sumardyono, head of the Ministry of Law and Human Rights prevention and enforcement sub-directorate within the directorate general of correctional affairs.

Most of the dismissed officers were from North Sumatra and Jakarta, Bambang said in Jakarta, as quoted by Antara. 

He said that their cases had been transferred to the police for legal processing.

In anticipation of such offenses, Bambang said that the directorate had established a task force in 2006 involving the police to conduct operations in penitentiaries.

Devices to bar cellular phones and sound recorders were also used to prevent criminal activity, he added.

Dementia 'not normal part of ageing' say scientists

Dementia is not a normal part of growing old, scientists have insisted as they step up calls for more investment in research.

The telegraph, by Martin Beckford, Health Correspondent, 10 Feb 2011

Experts claim they are close to developing effective treatments for the degenerative conditions that will soon affect a million people in Britain.

They want to dismiss the idea that diseases such as Alzheimer’s, which lead to memory loss and a gradual decline in capabilities, are an inevitable part of the ageing process that await us all.

But they say that dementia remains the “poor relation” to cancer and heart disease in terms of research funding, and so more people will suffer unnecessarily unless Government, private companies and the public increase investment.

Professor Julie Williams, a researcher at Cardiff University who has discovered genes linked to Alzheimer’s disease, said: “We’re on the verge of a profound understanding of dementia and one that could lead us to the treatments we need, but we need help to get there.

“Investing in dementia research now will pay dividends, heading off the forecast explosion in numbers living with the condition and the crippling economic costs that come alongside.”

RELATED ARTICLES

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Professor Kevin Morgan, of the University of Nottingham, who is Scientific Adviser for Alzheimer's Research UK, added: “Dementia is not a normal part of ageing – it is caused by brain diseases that we can beat, but we need more investment in the research that will give us answers.”

As The Daily Telegraph disclosed, Alzheimer's Research UK has launched a new drive to increase funding to improve diagnosis and treatment of dementia.

There are fears that without the same “aggressive” research as was used to target HIV in the 1980s, Britain faces a “dementia catastrophe” that will cost the economy billions and ruin thousands of lives.

Julian Huppert, the MP for Cambridge who hosted the charity’s re-launch in Westminster, said: “The impact of dementia is devastating, affecting not just the individual and the people around them, but costing the UK economy over £23 billion a year.”

Related Article:

Scientists admit dementia not a normal part of aging, refuse to acknowledge known causes

2 men nabbed with 6.2 kg of crystal meth from Malaysia

The Jakarta Post, Mon, 02/21/2011

Two men have been arrested for their alleged attempt to smuggle 6.2 kilograms of shabu-shabu (crystal methamphetamine) from Malaysia to Jakarta, police say.

Afnal, 33, and Ismail, 31, were arrested at the Bakauheni port in Lampung early on Saturday morning, National Police spokesman Snr.Com. Boy Rafli Amar said Monday in Aceh as reported by kompas.com.

The drugs, contained in coffee packages in bags belonging to Ismail and Afnalas, were uncovered by police officers who checked the luggage of passengers on a Lorena bus at the port.

Worth an estimated Rp 5.5 billion (US$590,000), the drugs are thought to have been smuggled from Malaysia through Belawan port in North Sumatra, and would have been taken to Jakarta, Boy said.

Doggy Prozac & Female Viagra: Big Pharma's new 'syndrome' strategy

US pharmaceutical companies get creative when it comes to disorders and drugs to treat almost anything, from canine depression to female sexual dysfunction. The American drug trade is a multi-billion-dollar business, and is only getting bigger. Meanwhile the industry has been accused of illegally pushing medicine onto the market, often endangering the lives of patients. In the US, the most common medication prescribed for dogs is to treat aggression and anxiety disorders. Pharmacists admit that Prozac works

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Exclusive: "Guinea pig" remark spurs U.S., EU device spat

US pharm industry creates diseases to cure them

111 charged in Medicare scams worth $225 million

Jakarta Police Coordinating with US Embassy Over Teen’s Murder

Jakarta Globe, February 18, 2011

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Police in South Jakarta say they are coordinating with the United States Embassy to formally question the American boyfriend of a teenage girl whose body was found dumped in a gutter on Sunday.

An autopsy revealed the girl, Agnes Kharisma, 19, had been raped and strangled three days prior to the discovery of her body. She had also reportedly been robbed of Rp 1 million.

Jagakarsa Police chief of detectives First Insp. Rusdi Dalby told news portal Detik.com on Friday that Agnes was last seen by her family on Tuesday as she left to meet her boyfriend, a 50-year-old American identified as Clark. He reportedly lives in Cilegon, Banten.

Rusdi said Clark, however, told police informally that he had not seen her.

It has previously been reported that Clark’s driver had picked Agnes up from her home in Lenteng Agung, as he had done on a number of prior occasions.

Dalby said the police had not officially questioned Clark or his driver because they were still coordinating with the US Embassy.

“We must interrogate the boyfriend, then the driver. We can’t be reckless because the case involves a foreigner. We are still coordinating,” he said.

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Hunt for American, Singaporean Over Murder of Teen

Agnes Kharisma, 19, was found dead in a gutter in Lenteng Agung,

South Jakarta, on Sunday. She was friends with several expatriates, police say. (Facebook Photo)

Hospital Guards Allegedly Ditch Mentally Ill Man in Field

Jakarta Globe, Zaky Pawas | February 18, 2011

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Police have questioned four security guards from a Bogor hospital after they allegedly dumped a mentally ill man in a field near the North Bogor Police subprecinct station.

Adj. Comr. Ilot Djuanda of the North Bogor Police confirmed on Thursday that the victim, identified as Angga Nugraha, was now being treated at Marzuki Mahdi psychiatric hospital in Bogor.

Ilot said that when police discovered the victim, they rushed him to a 24-hour clinic, which sent him on to Salak Hospital for further evaluation. Angga needed psychiatric care, so he was then transferred to Marzuki Mahdi Hospital.

“We received a complaint from a resident who I shall only identify as Suratman,” Ilot said. “Suratman told our officers that he saw four security guards from Azra Hospital carrying the man, Angga, and dumping him in a field nearby. So, we checked and yes, we found him.”

Ilot said Angga was discovered curled up in an empty field not far from the North Bogor Police station. He said residents who came across Angga initially feared he was dead because he was so still.

“When police arrived, we found him sleeping and in a very poor condition,” Ilot added. “He was wearing shorts and a white T-shirt. He was walking by the time we got to Salak Hospital, but was limping. The limp looks like it is from an old injury,” he said.

Ilot added that police had questioned the four security guards from Azra Hospital and said they admitted to taking Angga, who was not a patient there, to the field. According to Ilot, the security guards said Angga, a resident of Darmaraja district in Sumedang, West Java, was causing a disturbance in the hospital parking lot.

When Angga wouldn’t leave, the guards decided to carry him to the field, Ilot said, adding that the security guards had suspected he was suffering from mental illness.

“Whatever the reason, what they did was inhumane,” Ilot said. “Why didn’t they just bring him to us at the station?”

North Bogor Police subprecinct chief Comr. R. Lubis said the security guards had just been questioned and no formal charges had been laid.

“We regret their actions,” he said. “Our subprecinct office is so close to the hospital. Why didn’t they call us?”

Meanwhile, Suwignyo, human resources manager at Azra Hospital, denied that the security guards had “dumped” the sick man in the field, saying that they had just “moved” him to another location.

“Our security guards tried to get rid of him, but he refused to leave,” he said. “And then he ended up sleeping near the security guard’s post, so they had to move him. It was just across the road, nobody dumped him.

“The security guards thought he was just a stressed out sick man who lived nearby.”

When asked why the hospital did not contact police about this man, Suwignyo said, “the guards said he looked clean and had clean skin. We did not want to alarm anybody.”

Mentally ill people often fail to receive proper treatment in Indonesia. According to a 2007 Health Ministry survey, 4.6 percent of the population suffers from serious mental disorders, including schizophrenia.

111 charged in Medicare scams worth $225 million

AP, KELLI KENNEDY, Associated Press,   Feb. 17, 2011

MIAMI (AP) — Federal authorities have charged more than 100 doctors, nurses and physical therapists in nine cities with Medicare fraud as part of a massive bust.

More than 700 law enforcement agents fanned out to arrest 111 people accused of illegally billing Medicare more than $225 million.

The arrests are the latest in a string of major busts in the past two years as authorities have struggled to pare the fraud that's believed to cost the government between $60 billion and $90 billion each year.

Stopping Medicare's budget from hemorrhaging that money will be key to paying for President Barack Obama's health care overhaul.

Authorities say the scams included billing for toenail removals that were unnecessary and hemorrhoid removals that were never performed.

Ban caramel colouring in soft drinks, group urges

CTV.ca, News Staff, Date: Feb. 16 2011 

A widely used caramel food colouring, found in soft drinks such as Coca-Cola and Pepsi, contains two cancer-causing chemicals and should be banned, a U.S. consumer advocacy group told the Food and Drug Administration Wednesday.

An image illustrating the ingredients in a soft drink
 is shown on the Center for Science in the Public
 Interest (CSPI) website. (Jorge Bach / CSPI)

The Center for Science in the Public Interest (CSPI) says two approved versions to colour food products include ammonia and produce compounds that caused cancers in animal studies. According to the CSPI, there are four kinds of caramel colouring approved by the FDA, two with ammonia and two without.

The group is petitioning for a ban of the ammonia-containing caramels, which contain the substances it says are carcinogenic: 2 methylimidazole (2-MI) and 4 methylimidazole (4-MI).

"For a cancer-causing chemical, cancer experts agree that there is no safe level. That the greater the amount, the greater the risk," CSPI executive director Michael F. Jacobson told CTV News Channel in an interview from Washington.

"But even at very low levels, there's a proportionately small risk. And in this case, the contaminants are not highly potent carcinogens… it's the kind of small risk that government agencies should be concerned about and get them out of the food supply."

Obesity caused by excessive amounts of sugar in soda is still a greater health threat, but the chemical reaction caused by ammonia and sugar "may be causing thousands of cancers in the U.S. population," the CSPI said in a statement, citing government research on animals.

Jacobson said California is considering regulation that would force some soft drinks to carry a cancer warning on their labels.

The American Beverage Industry quickly refuted the CSPI's claims, saying in a statement that 4-MI, which it identified as 4-MEI, "is not a threat to human health."

The statement went on: "There is no evidence that 4-MEI causes cancer in humans. No health regulatory agency around the globe, including the Food and Drug Administration, has said that 4-MEI is a human carcinogen. This petition is nothing more than another attempt to scare consumers by an advocacy group long-dedicated to attacking the food and beverage industry."

Adding to the confusion for consumers, the ABA pointed to a report by the U.S. National Toxicology Program, which conducted the studies cited by the CSPI, which does not identify 4-MEI as a carcinogen.

Jacobson said "shreds of evidence" that the substances may contribute to cancer date back to 1985, but acknowledged that major studies only began in the last few years.

But still, he said consumers should limit the amount of soda they consume for a variety of health reasons.

"The colas have the sugar that causes tooth decay, promotes obesity, phosphoric acid that erodes tooth enamel, caffeine that may keep people awake or make them jittery, and now these contaminants that pose a cancer risk," he said.

Iranian arrested for allegedly smuggling drugs

Hans David Tampubolon, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta | Thu, 02/17/2011

The Jakarta Police arrested Thursday an Iranian for allegedly smuggling crystal methamphetamine, locally known as sabu, to Indonesia and Japan.

According to Jakarta Police’s Director for Drugs Resort Sr. Comr. Anjan Pramuka Putra, the police caught the suspect undercover, engaging in a transaction at a hotel on Sunday. The suspect, whose initials are M.R.A., demanded that the undercover officer showed US$40,000 to pay for the drugs.

“After we showed the money, the suspect showed the drugs. That’s when officers caught M.R.A. red-handed with 400 grams of sabu as evidence,” he said.

“This Iranian national acts as a stock keeper because nobody else is carrying [the drugs]. M.R.A. also takes sabu to Japan, thus making us refer to [the suspect] as being part of an international network,” Anjan said.

He added that M.R.A. was unrelated to other Iranian nationals previously arrested for drug-related causes.

The police also caught two other suspects, whose identities have not been revealed, separately from M.R.A. 

All three have been charged with the 2009 Drug Law, with the maximum sentence being death.

Negative experiences can stop painkillers working

BBC News, By James Gallagher ,Health reporter, 16 February 2011

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A patient's belief that a drug will not work can become a self fulfilling prophecy, according to researchers.

Negative thoughts rendered painkillers ineffective

They showed the benefits of painkillers could be boosted or completely wiped out by manipulating expectations.

The study, published in Science Translational Medicine, also identifies the regions of the brain which are affected.

Experts said this could have important consequences for patient care and for testing new drugs.

Heat was applied to the legs of 22 patients, who were asked to report the level of pain on a scale of one to 100. They were also attached to an intravenous drip so drugs could be administered secretly.

The initial average pain rating was 66. Patients were then given a potent painkiller, remifentanil, without their knowledge and the pain score went down to 55.

They were then told they were being given a painkiller and the score went down to 39.

Then, without changing the dose, the patients were then told the painkiller had been withdrawn and to expect pain, and the score went up to 64.

So even though the patients were being given remifentanil, they were reporting the same level of pain as when they were getting no drugs at all.

Professor Irene Tracey, from Oxford University, told the BBC: "It's phenomenal, it's really cool. It's one of the best analgesics we have and the brain's influence can either vastly increase its effect, or completely remove it."

The study was conducted on healthy people who were subjected to pain for a short period of time. She said people with chronic conditions who had unsuccessfully tried many drugs for many years would have built up a much greater negative experience, which could impact on their future healthcare.

Professor Tracey said: "Doctors need more time for consultation and to investigate the cognitive side of illness, the focus is on physiology not the mind, which can be a real roadblock to treatment."

Brain scans during the experiment also showed which regions of the brain were affected.

The expectation of positive treatment was associated with activity in the cingulo-frontal and subcortical brain areas while the negative expectation led to increased activity in the hippocampus and the medial frontal cortex.

Researchers also say the study raises concerns about clinical trials used to determine the effectiveness of drugs.

George Lewith, professor of health research at the University of Southampton, said: "It's another piece of evidence that we get what we expect in life.

"It completely blows cold randomised clinical trials, which don't take into account expectation."

Information Body Urges Health Ministry to Name Allegedly Contaminated Milk Brands

Jakarta Globe, Markus Junianto Sihaloho | February 16, 2011

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The Commission for Public Information was under strong pressure on Wednesday to order the Ministry of Health to immediately release the names of infant formula brands that were allegedly tainted by bacteria.

David ML Tobing, a father of two children, filed a complaint at the commission’s office in Jakarta.

A statement by the commission, also known as KIP, said David had filed a complaint regarding the ministry’s ongoing refusal to announce the names of the brands, despite an order from the Supreme Court that it do so.

In its verdict issued in April 2010, the Supreme Court ordered the ministry, Food and Drug Monitoring Agency (BPOM) and the Bogor Institute of Agriculture (IPB) to name the brands.

KIP member Abdul Rahman Ma’mun said they would intensify communications with the three institutions regarding the matter.

He said that according to the Freedom of Information Law, the names must be released.

The Health Ministry has previously stated that it could not name names because it did not know which brands were affected.

The case goes back to a study published in 2008 by the Bogor Institute of Agriculture (IPB), which found five of 22 formula milk samples tested from 2003 to 2006 were contaminated.

In certain amounts, the bacteria is known to cause diarrhea and even meningitis in newborn babies.

Pediatrics report details risks from energy drinks

AP, LINDSEY TANNER, AP Medical Writer

FILE-In this Feb. 17, 2010 file photo, Dakota Sailor, who suffered a siezure after consuming several Nos energy drinks, poses for a photograph in Carl Junction, Mo. Energy drinks are under-studied, overused and can be dangerous for children and teens, warns a report by doctors who say kids shouldn’t use the popular products. (AP Photo/The Joplin Globe, Roger Nomer, File)

CHICAGO (AP) — Energy drinks are under-studied, overused and can be dangerous for children and teens, warns a report by doctors who say kids shouldn't use the popular products.

The potential harms, caused mostly by too much caffeine or similar ingredients, include heart palpitations, seizures, strokes and even sudden death, the authors write in the medical journal Pediatrics. They reviewed data from the government and interest groups, scientific literature, case reports and articles in popular and trade media.

Dakota Sailor, 18, a high school senior in Carl Junction, Mo., says risks linked with energy drinks aren't just hype.

Sailor had a seizure and was hospitalized for five days last year after drinking two large energy drinks — a brand he'd never tried before. He said his doctor thinks caffeine or caffeine-like ingredients may have been to blame.

The report says some cans have four to five times more caffeine than soda, and Sailor said some kids he knows "drink four or five of them a day. That's just dumb."

Sailor has sworn off the drinks and thinks other kids should, too.

The report's authors want pediatricians to routinely ask patients and their parents about energy drink use and to advise against drinking them.

"We would discourage the routine use" by children and teens, said Dr. Steven Lipshultz, pediatrics chairman at the University of Miami's medical school. He wrote the report with colleagues from that center.

The report says energy drinks often contain ingredients that can enhance the jittery effects of caffeine or that can have other side effects including nausea and diarrhea. It says they should be regulated as stringently as tobacco, alcohol and prescription medicines.

"For most children, adolescents, and young adults, safe levels of consumption have not been established," the report said.

Introduced more than 20 years ago, energy drinks are the fastest growing U.S. beverage market; 2011 sales are expected to top $9 billion, the report said. It cites research suggesting that about one-third of teens and young adults regularly consume energy drinks. Yet research is lacking on risk from long-term use and effects in kids — especially those with medical conditions that may increase the dangers, the report said.

The report comes amid a crackdown on energy drinks containing alcohol and caffeine, including recent Food and Drug Administration warning letters to manufacturers and bans in several states because of alcohol overdoses.

The report focuses on nonalcoholic drinks but emphasizes that drinking them along with alcohol is dangerous.

The American Association of Poison Control Centers adopted codes late last year to start tracking energy drink overdoses and side effects nationwide; 677 cases occurred from October through December; so far, 331 have been reported this year.

Most 2011 cases involved children and teens. Of the more than 300 energy drink poisonings this year, a quarter of them involved kids younger than 6, according to a data chart from the poison control group.

That's a tiny fraction of the more than 2 million poisonings from other substances reported to the group each year. But the chart's list of reported energy drink-related symptoms is lengthy, including seizures, hallucinations, rapid heart rate, chest pain, high blood pressure and irritability, but no deaths.

Monday's paper doesn't quantify drink-related complications or deaths. It cites other reports on a few deaths in Europe of teens or young adults who mixed the drinks with alcohol, or who had conditions like epilepsy that may have increased the risks.

Maureen Storey, senior vice president of science policy at the American Beverage Association, an industry group, said the report "does nothing more than perpetuate misinformation" about energy drinks.

Many of the drinks contain much less caffeine than coffee from popular coffeehouses, and caffeine amounts are listed on many of the products, she said in a written statement.

Caffeine is safe, but those who are sensitive to it can check the labels, she said.

A clinical report on energy drinks is expected soon from the American Academy of Pediatrics that may include guidelines for doctors.

Dr. Marcie Schneider, an adolescent medicine specialist in Greenwich, Conn., and member of the academy's nutrition committee, praised Monday's report for raising awareness about the risks.

"These drinks have no benefit, no place in the diet of kids," Schneider said.

___

Online:

American Academy of Pediatrics: http://www.aap.org

American Association of Poison Control Centers: http://www./aapcc.org

American Beverage Association: http://www.ameribev.org

___

Online:

http://www.aap.org

http://www./aapcc.org

http://www.ameribev.org

US pharm industry creates diseases to cure them

RT, 14 February, 2011

US pharmaceutical companies get creative when it comes to disorders and drugs to treat almost anything, from canine depression to female sexual dysfunction.

The American drug trade is a multi-billion-dollar business, and is only getting bigger. Meanwhile the industry has been accused of illegally pushing medicine onto the market, often endangering the lives of patients.

In the US, the most common medication prescribed for dogs is to treat aggression and anxiety disorders. Pharmacists admit that Prozac works terrifically on dogs.

Yes, there is such a thing as doggy Prozac, a beef-flavored version of the well-known “human” anti-depressant, government-approved and being proscribed by veterinarians for canines in crisis.

“There is a significant population of dogs which is really suffering from separation anxiety,” reveals veterinary behaviorist E'Lise Christensen, from NYC Vet Specialists.

The drug company, one of the largest, is banking on that. They believe up to 17 per cent of US dogs are suffering from this mental affliction. It is an idea some would scoff at, and as Christensen says “I definitely understand being skeptical.”

“Companies are desperate to keep up their profit margin, and do things to keep the margin up, even though the number of new drugs that are important in the pipeline has diminished,” argues Dr. Sidney Wolfe, director of Public Citizen’s Health Research.

It turns out those companies do not need doggy drugs in order for critics to make that case. Medical researchers have crunched the numbers and found the pharmaceutical industry now tops the defense industry as the number one defrauder of the US government.

“That was a finding that I didn't expect. No one had really ever looked at it before and it shows you how out-of-control really the pharmaceutical industry really is,” Dr. Sidney Wolfe said.

In some cases it is criminally out of control, perhaps helping this industry go from selling US$40 billion to $234 billion a year in prescription drugs. Over the last two decades, companies have been cheating and endangering patients. Their biggest violations are overcharging the government by billions and illegally marketing their drugs to treat conditions for which they have not proven safe or effective.

One of the largest criminal penalties ever levied against an American corporation involved the drugs giant Pfizer. The illegal practices included essentially hiring positions despite the buzz about the drug, telling their colleagues to prescribe it for a condition it was not approved for.

And when it comes to the drug companies, disease-pushers may not be an unfair way of describing them, as well as drug pushers – that is what one filmmaker found when tracing a newly-minted disorder.

“Female sexual dysfunction itself is something the pharm industry really pushed for and had a hand in creating,” believes Liz Canner, filmmaker of Orgasm Inc.

That is the conclusion Canner came to after following the process of a drug company developing female Viagra. She says only a small number of women need it, but the company has other plans.

“Their marketing and the amount of money they’re pouring into it really says they’re trying to sell this to the whole population,” insists Liz Canner.

And with commercials for prescription drugs airing on TV in the US, companies are in a position to do just that.

With billions being made and not much to lose, critics say even in the case of crime, for this industry nothing is likely to change.

“Unless people go to jail unless the fines are much larger than they have been the companies will find that it's cheaper to cheat” Dr. Sidney Wolfe said.

Companies that stop short of nothing to find some-syndrome, someone or something new to medicate.

Related Article:

Doctors asked to prescribe generic drugs

Doctors asked to prescribe generic drugs

Antara News, Sun, February 13 2011

Jakarta (ANTARA News) - Coordinating Minister for People`s Welfare Agung Laksono has reminded that doctors in all government hospital and other health care centers should prescribe generic drugs for their patients.

"It has been regulated that doctors at government health facility centers are obliged to prescribe generic drugs for their patients," the coordinating minister said here on Sunday.

With the prescription, patients could obtain generic drugs at pharmacies or at non-government health facility centers, he said.

He said that the aim of generic drug prescription was to alleviate the burden of patients and their families in buying medicines.

The prescription of cheaper generic drugs is also intended to inform people that they should not merely be tempted to purchase expensive drugs which might not be more effective than generic ones.

He said that generic drugs also came from branded medicines whose patent rights had expired so that their production cost was lower.

Therefore, he said, the popularization of generic drugs should be focused not only on low prices but also on their quality which was relatively the same as that of branded ones.

"Therefore, doctors and health workers at government hospitals, including at public health care centers, play a decisive role in encouraging people to use generic drugs," he said.

Editor: Aditia Maruli

Six killed in clash between villagers and Ahmadiyah followers

The Jakarta Post, Jakarta | Sun, 02/06/2011

Six Ahmadiyah followers were reportedly killed on Sunday in Umbulan village, Cikeusik sub district, Pandeglang, Banten, in a clash between local people and them.

"I see six people dead, all of them are Ahmadiyah followers," Lukman, a Cikeusik leader, said as quoted by kompas.com on Sunday.

Lukman added all of the casualties were unable to be identified as they had no identity cards.

One villager suffered a serious injury in the attack.

Semarang councillors caught with ‘shabu-shabu’ in Bali

The Jakarta Post, Jakarta | Fri, 02/04/2011

Two Semarang City Council members were allegedly caught with crystal methamphetamine, or shabu-shabu, in Bali.

Bambang Sutrisno is head of the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P) faction at the Semarang City Council, and Edy Purwanto is a member of the Democratic Party faction at the council.

The Bali Police’s narcotics division is still investigating the case. The two councillors were caught after police raided the Ramayana Hotel in Kuta.

“They visited the Badung administration as part of their work together with an entourage on Tuesday, Feb. 2,” Bali Police spokesman Sr. Comr. Gede Sugianyar Dwi Putra said Friday, as quoted by kompas.com.

“Both suspects had not used the drugs yet," Gede said.