Tiny village becomes Indonesian anti-smoking champion

Yahoo – AFP, Andi Cora Uleng, With Dessy Sagita in Jakarta, 11 March 2016

Bone-Bone village looks like any other rural hamlet in Indonesia, but it is an unlikely

 champion in the fight against smoking in one of the world's most tobacco-addicted 

countries (AFP Photo/Cening Unru)

Bone-Bone (Indonesia) (AFP) - Nestled amid mountains in remote central Indonesia, Bone-Bone looks like any other rural hamlet in the archipelago, with a modest collection of houses, shops and mosques and people quietly going about their daily lives.

But it is an unlikely champion in the fight against smoking in one of the world's most tobacco-addicted countries, after it became the first village in Indonesia to impose a total ban on smoking.

"Thank you for not smoking, say no to cigarettes" reads a sign at the entrance to the settlement to Sulawesi, one of the archipelago's main islands, while another says "Please enjoy the scenery and fresh air in our village".

Children play football in Bone-Bone, the
first village in Indonesia that has imposed
a total ban on smoking (AFP Photo/
Cening Unru)

The move has inspired other villages around the country to follow suit and take the law into their own hands as the central government shows little sign of launching a determined, nationwide fight against tobacco.

Such bans are just a small step in a country where 30 percent of the adult population are smokers, and more than 200,000 die every year due to tobacco-related illnesses, according to public health experts in Indonesia.

More than two thirds of adult males in Indonesia use tobacco, the highest rate in the world, according to the World Health Organisation's Global Adult Tobacco Survey, although far fewer women smoke.

In recent decades, many countries in the developed world have launched campaigns to cut tobacco use, ramped up prices, restricted cigarette advertising and banned smoking in public places, leading to sharp falls in smoking rates.

While Indonesia is not alone among developing countries in lagging behind in efforts to tackle tobacco use, even by regional standards it fares poorly.

Tobacco adverts remain highly visible around Indonesia, on billboards and posters, it is the only country in Southeast Asia that still allows cigarette advertising on television, and the only one in the Asia-Pacific region not to have ratified a key UN treaty on tobacco control.

The domestic tobacco industry remains hugely lucrative and powerful, and it is common to see children smoking a sweet-tasting clove cigarette -- an extremely popular Indonesian speciality, which dominates the local market.

Village head Abdul Wahid stand next to an anti-smoking campaign poster that 
reads "Cigarettes are a killer" and "You the one who smoke, we the one who 
die" at his house in Bone-Bone village (AFP Photo/Cening Unru)

'I can save money'

But in Bone-Bone, it is a different story. Smoking has almost entirely disappeared among the population of around 800 inhabitants since the ban came into force a decade ago.

Rather than worries about villagers contracting cancer, economic concerns were what prompted then village head, Muhammad Idris, to implement the ban through a local bylaw.

He said that many poor families in the area could not afford to send their children to school because their fathers were spending too much on smoking, and the youngsters themselves got addicted to the costly habit at a young age.

While cigarettes are cheap by international standards in Indonesia -- with a packet of a local brand costing around the equivalent of a dollar -- a heavy habit can strongly impact the finances of poor families with meagre incomes.

"I went to college with 13 other students from this village, only six graduated, the rest dropped out because they spent their tuition money on cigarettes," Idris told AFP.

The ban was implemented in stages. In 2000, local authorities prohibited the sale of cigarettes in Bone-Bone, smoking in public places was forbidden from 2003, and then a full ban on both smoking and selling tobacco products -- for residents and visitors -- came into force in 2006.

A family works at a house in Bone-Bone village in Enrekang, South Sulawesi (AFP

Photo/Cening Unru)

Punishments for those caught breaking the rules include community service, such as cleaning up mosques in the staunchly Muslim village and their neighbourhood, while some have even been forced to issue a public apology to the entire village through a loudspeaker.

Amir, a blacksmith and father of nine in Bone-Bone, was forced to end his 40-a-day habit by the ban, but has found himself much better off.

"I can save money, I can buy what my family needs and -- most importantly -- I can pay for my children's education," said Amir, who like many Indonesians goes by one name.

About 10 villages across the country have followed Bone-Bone's example by imposing a smoking ban, a move made possible by the heavy decentralisation of power introduced in the archipelago after the end of authoritarian rule in 1998.

Government backsliding

But the numbers of people affected out of a population of 250 million remain tiny, there is little sign of an effective, national strategy to tackle the problem, while activists accuse the government of backsliding in the fight against tobacco.

In August, the industry ministry set a target for domestic producers to produce around 130 billion cigarettes a year over the coming four years, around fifty percent higher than the previous four-year target.

In 2000, local authorities prohibited the sale of cigarettes in Bone-Bone, smoking

 in public places was forbidden from 2003, and then a full ban on both smoking and

selling tobacco products came into force in 2006 (AFP Photo/Cening Unru)

"The government want our people to smoke as many cigarettes as possible," said prominent tobacco control activist Kartono Muhammad.

Indonesia's health ministry has produced a roadmap to fight smoking but officials admit implementation has been poor, with a lack of coordination between different branches of the notoriously bloated and ineffective bureaucracy undermining efforts.

In the face of growing evidence that smoking is affecting Indonesians' health and making them poor, the tobacco industry remains defiant.

Ismanu Sumiran, chairman of the association of Indonesian cigarette producers, most of whose members produce clove cigarettes, insisted smoking rates were falling and that "kretek" cigarettes are part of local culture.

"Even before this country was formed, kreteks already existed and were used in traditional ceremonies," he told AFP.

End Death Penalty, Adopt Anti-Drug Policies That Work, Experts Tell Jokowi

Jakarta Globe, Jun 05, 2015

Flowers are placed outside the Indonesian consulate in Sydney on April 29,
 following the execution of two Australian drug convicts Andrew Chan and Myuran
 Sukumaran in Indonesia. Indonesia executed seven foreign drug convicts
 including two Australians by firing squad on April 29, causing Canberra to
withdraw its ambassador over the 'cruel' punishment. (AFP Photo/Saeed Khan)

Jakarta. Prominent academics and experts have called on the Indonesian government to end the death penalty for drug offenses and commit to proven public health approaches to address drug use.

In an open letter to President Joko Widodo published in the June 6 edition of the British health journal The Lancet, the group called for the discontinuation of “strategies which have been found to be counterproductive such as involuntary rehabilitation and the death penalty.”

“A close examination of the nature and extent of drug use in Indonesia reveals substantial gaps in knowledge and a scarcity of evidence to support forced rehabilitation and the punitive, law enforcement-led approach favored by the government,” the letter said.

“The Indonesian government has shown increased commitment to addressing drug use and guaranteeing the well-being of its citizens, but in order to achieve this it must choose public health and harm reduction strategies,” Prof. Dr. Irwanto of the HIV and AIDS Research Center at Jakarta’s Atma Jaya University and a veteran drug and HIV researcher, one of the signatories of the letter, said in a statement.

“The current drug war approach has been a proven failure around the globe, even causing more harm than good,” he added.

Dr. Ignatius Praptoraharjo, a researcher at the Center for Health Policy and Management at the School of Medicine at Yogyakarta’s Gadjah Mada University, said the government had sidelined effective approaches to drug use in favor of a more punitive stance.

“We know what works: we already have the evidence and have been implementing health-focused programs that work in Indonesia since the early 2000s,” he said. “We have an ethical obligation to provide our citizens with options that save lives, such as needle syringe programs, opioid substitution therapy and community-based, voluntary drug treatment.

“But despite the proven success of these interventions, political commitment and funds are lacking, and current punitive strategies in Indonesia do not provide enough space for meaningful health programs. Our limited funds are instead being used to bolster fear-based approaches, which effectively drive people in need further away from health programs,” Ignatius said.

The letter said there was “evidence that criminalization of people who use drugs and punitive law-enforcement approaches have failed to reduce the prevalence of drug use and are fueling the HIV epidemic.”

The group also raised “serious concerns about the validity” of the figures for drug use and drug-related deaths frequently cited by the president and other officials to justify their hard-line approach to anti-narcotics enforcement, and urged the president to invest in more accurate data collection.

The group said it was concerned that the government was using the estimates as the basis for national policies without providing sufficient opportunity for independent peer review.

“Obtaining valid estimates of drug use is not an easy, straightforward process, yet we need to make sure that national policies are based on evidence that is thoroughly peer-reviewed and transparent,” Atma Jaya’s Irwanto said. “Each human life matters. Productive human lives may be compromised by misguided policies.”

Dr. Kemal Siregar, the secretary general of the National AIDS Commission, warned that drug users faced increasing stigma, discrimination and human rights violations as punitive drug control measures trumped public health.

“HIV infections will continue to rise as long as drug users continue to live in fear of arrest or placement in involuntary rehabilitation,” he said.

The signatories to the open letter, ranging from public health experts and researchers, to theologists and human rights activists, argued in favor of establishing an independent, multi-sectoral committee on drug use comprising relevant government agencies, ministries, researchers, service providers and community leaders tasked with reviewing available drug-related data, setting priorities, recommending evidence-informed actions and monitoring progress.

“As people who use drugs, we have seen and experienced for ourselves that repressive and punitive approaches have exacerbated drug-related deaths and harms such as HIV and hepatitis C transmission,” said Edo Agustian, the national coordinator of the Indonesian Drug Users Network.

“We urge the government to work together with drug-using communities, academics and other stakeholders to build a more effective response before any more lives are lost,” he said.

Further coverage

Editorial: Deal With the Drug Issue the Right Way

Related Article:

Indonesia, Netherlands Organize Harm Reduction Talks at UNODC

Bill Gates drinks cup of water that used to be human poop (VIDEO)

RT.com, January 07, 2015

Screenshot from YouTube user thegatesnotes

Billionaire activist Bill Gates is backing an innovation in water filtration that turns human poop into drinking water. The OmniProcessor could bring clean water to millions of people and help solve the problem of debilitating diseases.

The OmniProcessor, designed and built by Seattle engineering firm Janicki Bioenergy, burns human waste to produce electricity and water. The processor powers itself through the use of a steam engine and does not emit an odor. The machine could handle 14 tons of waste from 100,000 people, producing up to 86,000 liters of drinkable water a day, and net 250 kw of electricity.

At a demonstration of the OmniProcessor shown on GatesNotes, a smiling Bill Gates drank water from the machine, which was previously untreated sewage.

“It’s water,” said Gates in the video.

He wrote on his blog: "The water tasted as good as any I’ve had out of a bottle. And having studied the engineering behind it, I would happily drink it every day. It’s that safe."

Gates said that 2.5 billion people – or 40 percent of the global population – have no access to safe sanitation, and many people use facilities that do not safely dispose of human waste. About 1.5 million children die every year from contaminated food and water, and half of all patients in hospitals are there because of problems with water and sanitation. It is extremely costly to try and create sewage infrastructure in cities and towns that already exist, so Gates thinks the low cost water treatment machine could be revolutionary.

Screenshot from YouTube user thegatesnotes

“If you can get thousands of these things out there, then you’ve ensured the people really will grow up in a healthy way,” Gates told Wired. “They’ll live much higher quality lives. You will save a lot of lives. And you’ll have local entrepreneurs who are maintaining these things.”

The OmniProcessor, which costs $1.5 million, will undergo a pilot launch in Dakar, Senegal later this year.

Related Articles:

Indian children asked to blow whistle on open defecation

Indian villages lit up by off-grid power

Rural India's low-cost sanitary pad revolution


"2013 - What Now ?" – Jan 6, 2013 (Kryon Channelling by Lee Caroll) - (Text version)

“… New ideas are things you never thought of. These ideas will be given to you so you will have answers to the most profound questions that your societies have had since you were born. Inventions will bring clean water to every Human on the planet, cheaply and everywhere. Inventions will give you power, cheaply and everywhere. These ideas will wipe out all of the reasons you now have for pollution, and when you look back on it, you'll go, "This solution was always there. Why didn't we think of that? Why didn't we do this sooner?" Because it wasn't time and you were not ready. You hadn't planted the seeds and you were still battling the old energy, deciding whether you were going to terminate yourselves before 2012. Now you didn't…. and now you didn't.

It's funny, what you ponder about, and what your sociologists consider the "great current problems of mankind", for your new ideas will simply eliminate the very concepts of the questions just as they did in the past. Do you remember? Two hundred years ago, the predictions of sociologists said that you would run out of food, since there wasn't enough land to sustain a greater population. Then you discovered crop rotation and fertilizer. Suddenly, each plot of land could produce many times what it could before. Do you remember the predictions that you would run out of wood to heat your homes? Probably not. That was before electricity. It goes on and on.

So today's puzzles are just as quaint, as you will see. (1)How do you strengthen the power grids of your great nations so that they are not vulnerable to failure or don't require massive infrastructure improvement expenditures? Because cold is coming, and you are going to need more power. (2) What can you do about pollution? (3) What about world overpopulation? Some experts will tell you that a pandemic will be the answer; nature [Gaia] will kill off about one-third of the earth's population. The best minds of the century ponder these puzzles and tell you that you are headed for real problems. You have heard these things all your life.

Let me ask you this. (1) What if you could eliminate the power grid altogether? You can and will. (2) What if pollution-creating sources simply go away, due to new ideas and invention, and the environment starts to self-correct? (3) Overpopulation? You assume that humanity will continue to have children at an exponential rate since they are stupid and can't help themselves. This, dear ones, is a consciousness and education issue, and that is going to change. Imagine a zero growth attribute of many countries - something that will be common. Did you notice that some of your children today are actually starting to ponder if they should have any children at all? What a concept! ….”

Man installs ‘charity fridge’ outside his house

The arrangement ‘would spare the needy the shame of asking for food’

Gulfnews.com, Habib Toumi, Bureau Chief, May 6, 2014

A Saudi man placed a fridge in front of his house in Hail and invited others
to donate food. (Image Credit: Mezmez)

Manama: Saudi and Gulf citizens have heaped praise on a man who placed a refrigerator in front of his house in the northern Saudi city of Hail and invited people to donate food to help the needy.

The open air donation would spare the needy the “shame” of asking for food, the man, who was not named, said.

The move came to national and international attention after a religious scholar, Shaikh Mohammad Al Araifi, paid tribute on his Twitter account to “the Saudi man from Hail who was engaged in an indirect act of charity.”

A Saudi man placed a fridge in front of

 his house in Hail and invited others to

donate food. (Image Credit: Mezmez)

Writing under the moniker of “Sniper”, an online user applauded the “simple, but far-reaching idea.”

“That is exactly what we needed: A simple, but bright idea that goes a long way in helping people,” Sniper posted. “The idea should now be adopted and all large mosques in the country should place fridges to take and distribute food,” he said.

Another blogger, Abdul Rahman, went further by suggesting “the smart idea should be applied in front of all houses.”

“It is the best way to ensure that all people have access to food,” he said.

Another commentator said that the food placed in the fridge does not have to be leftovers.

“The idea should be to develop the concept so that all kinds of food can be placed, even freshly cooked,” he said.

Salah, a Bahraini national, said that the idea should be implemented in Bahrain as the fasting month of Ramadan is about to start in the summer.

“It is a great act of charity that can make many people happy and satisfied,” he said. “There is the food factor, but there is also the spiritual dimension, especially during the sacred month when people engage deeply in acts of charily,” he said.

Ramadan, the month during which Muslim adults abstain from food, drink and sex from sunrise until sunset to test their patience, is expected to start on June 28.

Food as Medicine: How One Hospital Is Using Organic Produce to Help Heal Patients

EcoWatch, Coach Mark Smallwood, August 22, 2014

In 431 B.C. Hippocrates said, “Let food be thy medicine and medicine be thy food”

More than 2500 years later, we are inundated with advertisements boasting the latest, greatest cure-all super drug. From a young age, we learn that it doesn’t matter how or what we eat, there is a quick fix around the corner for whatever ails us—whether we’re obese, have high blood pressure or bad cholesterol—just to name a few of the issues plaguing our society.

A sign directs visitors and patients to the St. Luke’s Rodale Institute Organic
Farm, adjacent to the hospital. Photo credit: Bill Noll

It now seems almost revolutionary to think that we can change our health by changing the food we eat.

But, one hospital in Pennsylvania thought just that.

In 2014, Rodale Institute, in partnership with St. Luke’s University Health Network, launched a true farm to hospital food program.

The Anderson Campus at St. Luke’s has more than 300 acres of farmland, much of which had historically been farmed conventionally with crops like corn and soy. The hospital administration recognized the impact that providing fresh, local organic produce could have on patient health and approached Rodale Institute to transition the land to organic and farm vegetables to be used in patient meals as well as in the cafeteria.

The five acre farm at the St. Luke’s Anderson campus in Bethlehem,
PA. Photo credit: Bill Noll

Lynn Trizna, or Farmer Lynn, as she’s known around St. Luke’s, provides food to all six hospitals within the network. This year, she is growing five acres of vegetables with plans expand to ten acres in 2015. She estimates about 44,000 lbs of produce from her farm will be served in the hospital, just this season. She is paid a salary through Rodale Institute and has employed three staff members, all aspiring farmers.

Farmer Lynn Trizna. Photo
credit: Bill Noll

With a three-year plan in place, Rodale Institute and St. Luke’s see the potential for expansion. We envision growing the program to include fifteen to twenty farmers—supporting new farmers who don’t have access to land; greenhouses that allow for year round production of produce; and a small batch cannery, ensuring that we can enjoy the harvest, even in the coldest months of winter.

We have created this model with the belief that it can, and should, be replicated at every hospital throughout the U.S.

So, the next time you’re feeling a bit under the weather, stop—think of us and Hippocrates’ words of wisdom. Maybe you’ll then look to the garden for a cure, instead of the medicine cabinet.

Related Articles:

Taiwan aims to triple organic farming land by 2020

'Secret gardens' provide safe food for Chinese officials

Rising Above Illness & Misfortune

Jakarta Globe, Dyah Ayu Pitaloka, Aug 03, 2014

Catur Handayani, 18, takes care of her two younger siblings, one of whom has
 polio, despite suffering from a debilitating tumor herself, for which she cannot
afford treatment. (JG Photos/Dyah Ayu Pitaloka)

Catur Handayani’s thin hair is wet, her face fresh from a shower. She lives in a house in Codo village in the East Java town of Malang. By 10 a.m. she has finished all her chores, which include cleaning the house, washing her two sibling’s and father’s clothes, and cooking their food. She carries out her role as the mistress of the house, despite suffering from a lymphatic vessel tumor for the past five years that has disfigured her face and subjects her to searing headaches.

“I became sick in the fifth grade. I just found out about the disease after I was sent to the hospital in 2013. I stopped going to school after I became sick,” says the 18-year-old, her voice hoarse and her breathing raspy.

Catur, the fourth of six children, is thin but her eyelids are swollen and bulging.

“My eyes became swollen after the chemo,” she says. “I’m supposed to do chemo five times, but I only did it once, in June 2013. My father didn’t want to take me to the hospital because there wasn’t any money, and my pain got worse.”

Every night she feels sore. If she works too much she gets tired and dizzy. But she keeps doing the chores she has always done since her mother and later her step-mother left her father. Her three elder siblings have also left home and started their own families.

Catur starts her day by fetching water from a well outside the house to fill up a tub in the bamboo bathroom at the back. After that, she sweeps the dirt floor of the two-bedroom house, then does the laundry and bathes her little sister, Ana Mayasa, 12, and brother Slamet, 6.

Ana, who has suffered from polio since birth, requires special care. Slamet has never attended a formal school and has difficulties communicating.

“I bathe them with a sponge and then change Ana’s diapers. She can’t walk,” Catur says.

On Wednesdays, Catur fired up a side dish of salted fish and tofu to go with their rice. The fuel for the stove is a pile of dried palm branches. “I gather the branches from around the yard. Usually my father also helps to gather them,” Catur says.

She says she feels lucky when, in her spare time, she can tune out in front of the small television in the room that she shares with her sister and brother.

The TV was a gift from donor last year. Another donor gave the family a mattress a week earlier, with pillows, and Catur says she’s been able to sleep more comfortably since.

Sugiyono, Catur’s father, is the family’s sole breadwinner. Every day he goes out to the local market and sells secondhand bicycles. When he leaves, he locks the front door from the outside. “If it’s not locked, my son Slamet can wander around and get hit by a vehicle,” he says.

The bamboo-thatched house sits on communal land owned by the village. Sugiyono previously moved around, always in the vicinity of the market, before the house was built. All the material to build it was donated by the village, while most of the furnishings come from Samaritans in the area.

“I got help getting electricity from my neighbors. My house depends on the village head. If he wants to reclaim this land, well, I’d have to move,” Sugiyono says.

He says he rarely makes enough money to afford food every day. He’s on a health insurance scheme provided by the government, but still can’t afford to get treatment at the Saiful Anwar hospital in downtown Malang, 30 kilometers away.

“We were once given a list of medication from the hospital. Whenever my daughter’s headaches start up, she has to buy the medicine on the list. It costs

Rp 5,000 [42 cents] per medication,” Sugiyono says.

In spite of their struggles, Catur hopes to recover one day. She does her chores gamely, without complaining or letting the pain get to her. The support and attention from the generous people around them has strengthened her spirit.

“If I recover from this pain I want to return to school. Now, I often feel dizzy when I think too hard,” she says.

The Codo village chief, Joko Sugiharto, says the family is one of three that live on land borrowed from the village. In each case, the village has built them a simple house to live in.

To help with medication fees, the whole family is registered for medical aid. In addition they are also eligible for state-subsidized rice, or raskin, and cash handouts from the government, or BLT.

“For their medical treatment, it’s all free. The only reason they don’t go is because they don’t have the money to get to Malang,” Joko says.

Last year, the village pulled together to help get Catur to a hospital. At the time all the medical expenses were covered by the health coverage, while other costs were covered by local benefactors.

“The villagers give because they can’t bear” to see the family suffer, Joko says.

At around 11 a.m. that day, four young men visit Catur’s house: “They’re the sons of some rich people at Wajak Market, and they want to take Catur back to the hospital for treatment,” Joko says.

Nestlé agrees to pay all employees living wage

Company to pay entire UK workforce – including agency and contract staff – minimum of £8.80 in London or £7.65 elsewhere

theguardian.com, Press Association, Monday 30 June 2014

Nestle becomes the largest manufacturer to sign up to the living
wage in the UK. Photograph: Laurent Gillieron/EPA

Food giant Nestlé has become the first leading manufacturer to commit to paying the living wage.

The firm already pays at least the living wage to its 8,000 staff but the move will benefit contract employees and agency workers. About 800 contractors working with Nestlé will implement it by December 2017.

The announcement was described by campaigners as a significant milestone in the drive to persuade employers to pay the living wage, which is currently set at £8.80 an hour in London and £7.65 elsewhere, compared to the national minimum wage of £6.31.

Nestlé UK & Ireland's chief executive, Fiona Kendrick, said: "We are proud to be the first mainstream manufacturer in the UK to become a living wage employer and see this as an opportunity to be a positive influence in our sector.

"As a major UK employer, we know that this is the right thing to do. Not only does it benefit our employees but also the communities they live and work in."

Living Wage Foundation director Rhys Moore said: "The accreditation of Nestlé as a living wage employer marks a significant milestone in the campaign to tackle in-work poverty. We hope that the leadership they have shown will encourage others in this industry to follow suit and improve conditions for those at the lowest end of the pay scale and sub-contracted staff.

"We are aware that Nestlé is going above and beyond the basic requirements of becoming an accredited employer, and is extending their commitment to graduate, internship and school leaver programmes."

Len McCluskey, general secretary of Unite, said: "With in-work poverty on the rise, many employers are simply ignoring their responsibility to pay staff a decent wage. They should take note from Nestlé's positive stance which shows that paying a living wage is not just good for communities but makes good business sense too."

Tim Roache, of the GMB union, said: "Nestlé have always recognised their greatest asset is their workforce and are demonstrating this with action, not just words. This shows once and for all that if one leading manufacturer can pay a living wage to all employees including young workers and those contracted out, then many more are able to do so."

The business secretary, Vince Cable, said: "I welcome Nestlé's decision and encourage all businesses to pay their staff above the minimum wage when it is affordable and not at the expense of jobs."

The shadow business secretary, Chuka Umunna, said: "It is fantastic news that Nestlé is announcing its accreditation as a living wage employer, having worked in collaboration with Unite, GMB and the Living Wage Foundation to achieve this.

"We want to see as many businesses as possible take the decision to become living wage employers, so I hope other firms will follow the strong example which Nestlé is setting."

The district nurse makes a comeback - to decide on frontline care

DutchNews.nl, Wednesday 05 March 2014

Health minister Martin van Rijn
(Trouw/ANP)

The government is re-introducing the district-based nurse from next year as part of its plans to decentralise many long-term care services.

District nurses will be charged with deciding what services they will provide for people in their area in order to help them remain living in their own homes, junior health minister Martin van Rijn told parliament on Wednesday.

The cost of district nursing will be covered in the basic healthcare package.  This means health insurance companies will decide who should get the contracts, Trouw points out.

Costs

Draft legislation making the switch towards community nursing possible was sent to parliament on Wednesday.

MPs are largely agreed that community-based care is preferable to institutions but are divided on the role of health insurers in this, Trouw says.

In particular, opposition MPs are worried that insurers will go for the cheapest option and that district nurses will not be paid for other essential tasks such as coordinating with other care professionals.

Van Rijn has assured MPs more cash will be made available to pay for district nurses to have a coordinating role.

Premiums

Meanwhile, health minister Edith Schippers says the expected increase in healthcare premiums because of the switch to community-based nursing will be limited to €20 a year thanks to an extra injection of government funds.

There had been fears the premiums would rise by €200 to pay for the changeover. Long-term care is currently paid from out of a separate pot of money known as the AWBZ.

However, the extra government contribution will be phased out by 2019, Schippers said in a briefing to parliament. In addition, health insurers will be free to increase premiums for a basic policy by more than €20 because of other factors which have increased costs.

Office workers quit China's poisonous produce for the farm

Want China Times, Staff Reporter 2012-12-15

Qi Jing, left, and Xiao Nan. (Photo courtesy of Qi Jing and Xiao Nan)

Qi Jing and Xiao Nan shuffle out of their Beijing desk jobs on Friday and head off to the countryside for the weekend, a normal routine for the farm owners who unintentionally dug up a business from their earthen interests, the party-run China Youth Daily reports.

Skepticism over the quality of the food on their plates brought the two women to reconsider their eating habits in a radical way. China has seen little improvement in its food safety standards. Almost every week the public finds out that there is mercury in their baby food, plasticizers in their drinks or that the oil they use to cook came from the gutter. Some foods, like eggs and even peas, end up being entirely, inedibly fake.

Qi and Xiao's iFengshou farm, started on a piece of rented land in the suburbs, is their solution. It opened to the public in April after more than 200,000 yuan (US$32,000) in investment.

The savvy duo make their money from the excess produce they began to sell to followers of their blog. "We didn't do it for profit in the beginning, but waste should not be tolerated," Xiao said.

One of their friends once called the duo's idea "out there and ridiculous" but later designed a postcard for the farm because of its growing popularity, the newspaper said.

Alternative "farming" is far from outlandish and is becoming mainstream far beyond the reaches of the modest Beijing venture. In Hong Kong, residents who have caught the chemical scent of China's produce have begun to stuff tiny plots into every space conceivable. Corn and cabbage sprouts on rooftops, on balconies and in communal plots all over the tightly packed city, according to the New York Times.

Organic, community-supported agriculture is cropping up all over the mainland. Even big business — from state-owned power companies to telecommunications — is cashing in on the rebellion. Company-owned plots of land are a way to unite employees through community work and guarantee healthy produce in office canteens, says US-based Health Impact News Daily.

The iFengshou farm women rent miniature plots on the land to people who also feel cornered by China's food industry, and are overrun with constant updates to their blog and customer orders. "Sometimes I feel as if I've been kidnapped by the farm," said Xiao. "But the farm has overhauled our lives."

Seventeen of the 20 lots on the farm have been rented out, and they deliver fresh produce to additional 20 families in the city.

First herbal community health center launched

Antara News, Sun, June 10 2012

Bogor, West Java (ANTARA News) - The first herbal community health center (Puskesmas) was launched in the Second Bogor Organic Fair (BOF) and the Indonesian Herbal Festival, here, Sunday.

Herbal medicines

The herbal Puskesmas was officially launched by Ning Harmanto of the Indonesian Social Entrepreneurship Association (AKSI), Sri Nuryati of the BOF II organizing committee, said.

A number of the fair`s visitors were given free medical checkups at the herbal Purkesmas after the launching.

The Second Bogor Organic Fair was organized by the Indonesian Organic Alliance in cooperation with the Bogor Municipality Administration, AKSI, and the Bogor Institute of Agriculture (IPB) at the IPB complex, from June 9 to 10, 2012.

The BOF and Indonesian Herbal Festival were organized to promote herbal products including herbal medicines such as "jamu".

Jamu should become a Indonesian brand widely known internationally, she said.

Chairman of the Indonesian Organic Alliance Sabastian Saragih said his organization has 79 members, including organic plant farmers in 20 provinces.

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Healthy living, organic Style

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

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

The importance of living a healthy life is a popular trend, with more nature-focused communities going for only natural and organic products.

Ahmad Nuh used to consume white cane sugar, the most common sweetener used in food and drinks. But the 30-something man decided to stop his habit when he started working at a palm sugar company around four years ago, finding that palm sugar was healthier since it contained more fibers and nutrients and had less carbohydrates than white sugar.

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

“A long time ago, people ate palm sugar to boost their energy so they could walk for miles. 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 sugar made from the sap of sugar palm trees or date trees. His family and relatives used followed his steps and used palm sugar to make soup or other dishes.

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

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

Organic food products are made in ways that limit the use of synthetic substances including pesticides and chemical fertilizers. Among items on offer were vegetables, grains such as white rice, red rice and black rice, miscellaneous snacks made from cassava, sweet cassava and bananas, teas ranging from regular green and black tea to Rosella and kumis kucing (Orthosiphon spicatus), forest honey and palm sugar.

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

Theophillia Arispraptami of the Indonesian Forest Honey Network is promoting tropical forest honey, which is dubbed as organic, as the honey is not manufactured by humans.

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

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

“The hives are usually found hanging on trees, caves and stones, while regular honey comes from worker bees in designed boxes.”

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

Sentarum Lake National Park in West Kalimantan and West Java’s Ujung Kulon National Park are two areas used to cultivate forest honey.

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

The farmers are trained before they harvest the honey so they don’t ruin the hives and the environment.

“We don’t squeeze the hives to get the honey. We only drain it so the honey will be more hygienic,” 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 the capital.

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

Eni Widarijani, a member of an organic community in East Java, said the production of organic foods required special treatment.

“Organic farming procedures are performed to conserve soil and water and reduce pollution,” Eni says.

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

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

To clean the grass from the dirt, they usually use lemon zest or aloe instead of using chemical-based disinfectants.

For many people, consuming natural and organic food poses some challenges, since such items are not easily found and the high prices may take toll on people’s wallets.

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

All organic foods, she added, have to meet some standards, including how the foods are grown, 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’s Bogor to farm organic products, admitted she had to be able to manage her household budget to support the healthy habit.

“One of the obstacles, 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 organic food stores,” Yuniken said.

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