Italy closes schools as death toll hits 107

Yahoo – AFP, Dmitry ZAKS, March 4, 2020

Italy has borne the brunt in Europe of a disease that is now spreading across the 

world faster than it is in the central Chinese region where it was first detected (AFP 

Photo/Miguel MEDINA)

Rome (AFP) - Italy on Wednesday closed all schools and universities until March 15 as the number of deaths from the new coronavirus in the Mediterranean country hit 107.

The measure is the most restrictive response to COVID-19 of any European nation and tougher than the closure of schools -- but not universities -- taken by fellow Group of Seven (G7) member Japan.

Italy reported 28 more deaths on Wednesday -- the highest single day total to date. The nation of 60 million people has now recorded over 3,000 cases and only trails China in terms of total fatalities.

The government's other measures included an unpopular month-long nationwide ban on fan attendance at football matches and other major sporting events.

Prime Minister Giuseppe Conti told the nation that Italy was able to handle the current number of cases but needed a firmer response to keep things from spiralling out of control.

"As long as the numbers are low, the health system can assist (people) effectively," Conti said in a video message posted on Facebook.

"But in case of exponential growth, not just Italy but any other country in the world would not be able to manage the situation."

First death in south

Italy has borne the brunt in Europe of a disease that is now spreading across the world faster than it is in the central Chinese region where it was first detected late last year.

The problem for the Italian government is that existing restrictions -- including a quarantine of 11 towns with 50,000 people in the north -- have failed to stop the outbreak.

The overwhelming majority of the fatalities have occurred in Milan's Lombardy region and the neighbouring northern area around the cities of Bologna and Venice.

Most of Italy's deaths have occurred in Milan's Lombardy region and the neighbouring 

northern area around the cities of Bologna and Venice (AFP Photo/Alberto PIZZOLI)

But 21 of the 22 regions have now had cases and infections are slowly reaching Italy's less wealthy and developed south.

The government reported the first death south of Rome on Wednesday. It came in the Puglia region that surrounds the city of Bari in the heel of the Italian boot on the map.

Top government minister spent hours huddling Wednesday to chart a way out of a health crisis that threatens to tip Italy's wheezing economy into recession and overwhelm hospitals.

Most of the steps adopted involve ways to avoid crowds and keep people from coming in contact with each other outdoors.

Crowd control

The new instructions urge people to stay at least a metre (three feet) apart and to avoid crowded places whenever possible.

Traditional greetings of kissing on the cheeks or shaking hands are strongly discouraged.

Exhibits and shows will be rescheduled -- a measure that will be especially painful for Italy's already hard-hit hotel and restaurant industry.

Some of the government's more mundane and common-sense measures include advice to cough and sneeze in a handkerchief to avoid hands coming in contact with "respiratory secretions".

Italians are also being urged to avoid sharing bottles and not to drink from the same cups and glasses.

The crowd-control measures will most directly affect football matches and could cause the most resentment in the sports-mad nation.

Italy's Serie A has already been thrown into disarray by two weeks of postponements that have seen some clubs not play at all and others play multiple matches in a week.

Fans are even being prohibited from attending the training sessions of top teams such as Cristiano Ronaldo's Juventus in Turin.

The government also recommended to those over 75 to stay indoors and to avoid public places. The advice extends to those who are at least 65 and suffer from other ailments.

A top civil protection official told AFP that most of those who have died in the past few days were in their 80s and 90s and were already suffering from other pathologies.

All these measures are meant to stay in place for a month and be reviewed and possibly fine-tuned after two weeks.

Free pads to tackle 'period-shame' school skipping in Bangladesh

France24 – AFP, 23 September 2019

Dhaka (AFP) - Girls in rural villages will get free sanitary pads to stop them skipping school during their periods as a result of social taboos around menstruation, a Bangladesh minister said Monday.

So-called "period shame" in the highly conservative nation of 168 million people has caused more than 40 percent of Bangladesh schoolgirls to stay at home during menstruation, researchers say.

"This is very alarming. We cannot put their future at stake," Junior Information Minister Murad Hasan told AFP.

Hasan said the "unavailability of menstrual pads" and "cost of hygiene products" were mostly to blame for the absences in village schools where some 63 percent of the population lives.

"Poor parents often prefer their girls to stay at home during their menstrual period rather than buying them hygiene products," he added.

Hasan, a doctor and former junior health minister, said the government planned to roll out the scheme by early next year in some 90,000 villages.

Dhaka, together with aid agencies, has been trying to raise awareness about menstruation among parents and schoolgirls.

Only six percent of schools in the South Asian nation include menstrual hygiene in their curriculum, according to a recent World Bank report.

Leading women's rights activist Maleka Banu welcomed the move.

"We have been demanding it for a long time. It's a positive thing that such initiatives are seeing the light tackling this social stigma," Banu, the general secretary of the female advocacy group Bangladesh Mahila Parishad, told AFP.

"This initiative will surely help the dropout rate to go down."

Low-skilled worker life expectancy is five years less than for graduates

DutchNews, August 16, 2019

Photo: Depositphotos.com

Today’s new pensioners with a college or university degree will live an average of four to five years longer than those with vocational qualifications, the national statistics agency CBS said on Friday. 

Men with a degree are now expected to enjoy 22 years of retirement, while men with few qualifications will live a further 17 years, the CBS said. In addition, the life expectancy gap for men has grown a full year since the period 2011 to 2014. For women, the gap remains four years. 

Lifestyle is likely to be behind the difference, the CBS said. ‘People with a lower level of education are more likely to be overweight and to smoke,’ a spokesman told news agency ANP. They are also more likely to have hearing, eyesight and muscle problems. 

In addition, people with degrees retire, on average, eight months before the low-skilled – meaning they enjoy both a corporate and state pension for longer. 

The FNV trade union federation, which is campaigning for early retirement to be incorporated in the current proposals to reform the pension system, said the new figures demonstrate the real need for change. 

‘The growing difference in life expectancy shows that the union is right to call for the state pension age to be frozen and to scrap the fines for early retirement,’ a spokesman told ANP.

Amsterdam wants to bring in ‘no junk food zones’ around schools

DutchNews, July 15, 2019

Photo: Depositphotos.com 

Officials in Amsterdam wants to restrict the number of snack bars and fast food joints near schools in an effort to reduce obesity rates among the city’s children. 

A campaign launched in 2012 helped reduced the percentage of too-heavy children in the Dutch capital from 21% to 18% over a three-year period but the decline has since halted. 

Now alderman Simone Kukenheim plans to take further action to improve the health of the city’s school going children. She wants to introduce a ‘healthy belt’ around schools without snack bars to prevent children filling up on chips and sweets during their breaks, the Parool reported at the weekend. 

Kukenheim hopes new zoning legislation which will come into effect in 2021 and which aims to ensure a ‘safe and healthy physical environment’ will help reduce the number of snack bars near schools. ‘We are researching how these new rules can be used to encourage a healthier supply of food,’ the alderman said. 

The city has also recently expanded the number of water fountains in the city to encourage children to ditch fizzy drinks. 

Minister 

The alderman has appealed to health minister Paul Blokhuis, urging him to get tougher on the sugar, salt and fat content in food. She also wants him to clamp down on the way unhealthy food is marketed at children. 

Socio-economic status and cultural background also play a role in childhood obesity and the problem is largely confined to poorer parts of the city and among immigrant communities. 

The 2012 campaign included advising schools to ban fruit juices, and unhealthy treats for at birthday celebrations and introduced a ban on fast food sponsorship of council events involving children. 

Amsterdam already bans cannabis cafes, or coffeeshops, from being within 250 metres of a school.

People with Down ‘never stop learning’, US-Dutch research shows

DutchNews, January 4, 2019

Photo: Depositphotos.com

People with Down syndrome never stop learning and continue to acquire functional skills well into adulthood, according to a new mass study by US and Dutch researchers. 

The research is based on the experiences of more than 2,600 families in the US and the Netherlands and coordinated by researchers from the Dutch Down Syndrome Foundation and the Massachussetts General Hospital. 

‘Contrary to some public beliefs, people with Down syndrome never stop learning, and functional skills can still be attained and improved well into adulthood,’ director of the programme Brian Skotko told the Harvard Gazette. 

The results in both the US – based on questionnaires in 2008 and 2009 – and the Netherlands (questionnaire in 2016) were broadly similar. They indicated that most people with Down syndrome could walk by 25 months of age, speak reasonably well by age 12, maintain personal hygiene by 13, and work independently by 20. 

By the age of 31, 49% were reading reasonably well, 46%  could write reasonably well, 34% were living independently, and around 30% could travel independently. 

‘Now we have guideposts — based on the responses of thousands of parents — that can help clinicians know when children may be falling behind their peers with Down syndrome and, when necessary, refer parents to additional supports, resources, and therapies,’ Skotko said.

Indonesian third-grader's 'school crawl' becomes sensation

Yahoo – AFP, December 20, 2018

Mukhlis Abdul Holik's heartwarming story has become a sensation across
Indonesia (AFP Photo/CANTIGIE NUR FERDINAND)

Sukabumi (Indonesia) (AFP) - Indonesian third-grader Mukhlis Abdul Holik begins the long haul to school with a knapsack strapped to his back and hands stuffed into a pair of sandals -- to guard against road burn.

It is no ordinary trip for the eight-year-old. He has severely deformed feet and legs so tiny that he only reaches up to his classmates' waists when standing.

With his mom in tow, the gap-toothed pupil crawls from his West Java village across rocky paths and an old wooden bridge that he navigates on his hands alone, as his sneakers dangle in the air.

Holik crawls from his West Java village across rocky paths and an old wooden 

bridge that he navigates on his hands alone, as his sneakers dangle in the air 

(AFP Photo/CANTIGIE NUR FERDINAND)

Holik's heartwarming story has become a sensation across the country of 260 million, and earned him a meeting with Indonesian president Joko Widodo, after media covered his trip to school and back -- a distance of nearly six kilometres.

"The road is steep but he crawls every day," said Holik's mother Pipin, who like many Indonesians goes by one name.

"If we've got money, then he can take a motorcycle taxi but if things are tight, he's got to crawl. He never complains.... rain or shine, he always goes to school."

Holik declared himself "very happy" after meeting Indonesian President 

Joko Widodo (AFP Photo/CANTIGIE NUR FERDINAND)

Holik met the country's leader on December 3 -- the UN's International Day of Persons with Disabilities.

"I asked Abdul when we met if he wanted anything from me," Widodo said in a statement.

"I thought he'd want me to give him a present. But he didn't want anything. He just said he wanted to go to university."

The pupil declared himself "very happy" for meeting his idol Widodo, who got a full report on Holik's ambitious future plans.

"I want to be a firefighter, a doctor and an astronaut," he told AFP.

Ritalin does not boost hyperactive children’s exam scores, VU researchers say

DutchNews, March 30, 2018

Drugs such as ritalin which are given to children with attention deficit disorders to improve concentration have little or no effect on actual performance and exam results, according to neurologists at Amsterdam’s VU University. 

The report, published in European Child & Adolescent Psychiatry, is based on an analysis of 37 years of research into ADHD and medication. 

The researchers found that while 70% of children with ADHD benefit from medication to boost concentration, methylphenidate – the active component in drugs such as Ritalin and Concerta – improves accuracy in arithmetic by 3% and has no impact on reading skills. 

Children may complete more assignments but this does not translate into better marks or test results. 

Clinical neurologist Anne Fleur Kortekaas-Rijlaarsdam said that mild cases of ADHD should be treated using psycho-sociological means before opting for drugs. 

‘Our results show that doctors should be more reticent to prescribe medicines if they see that the primary concern is to improve school performance,’ she said. 

Prescriptions for Ritalin had quadrupled in recent years, according to the Dutch health council, and in 2015, it emerged 4.5% of Dutch children are prescribed the drug.

"Menstruation is a gift from God" - UNICEF rolls out "girls club" scheme to encourage Ethiopians going through puberty to stay in school

"Menstruation is a gift from God" - UNICEF rolls out "girls club" scheme to encourage Ethiopians going through puberty to stay in school https://t.co/M9aGACCGCW

— AFP news agency (@AFP) November 16, 2017

Drinks firms agree to stop selling sugary drinks to Dutch high schools

DutchNews, September 6, 2017

Soft drink manufacturers have agreed to stop placing sugary drinks in vending machines and canteens at Dutch high schools from the end of next year as part of ongoing efforts to boost healthy diets among teenagers.

‘We want to help youngsters make a more healthy choice,’ Raymond Gianotten, director of the soft drinks and fruit juice association told RTL Nieuws. 

The decision is part of a Europe-wide agreement made by the industry to end the availability of sugary drinks in schools and also falls under Dutch government efforts to offer healthier food at school canteens, the association said. 

By the end of next year, schools will only sell soft drinks with no or few calories. Light versions of popular fizzy drinks will remain on sale. ‘There is nothing the matter with them,’ Gianotten said. ‘They have no sugar and few calories. You can drink them without consuming too many calories.’ 

Products are classified as ‘light’ if they contain 30% less sugar, fat or carbohydrates than the original product. 

Research by public health institute RIVM in 2016 found that schools had already been replacing unhealthy drinks in vending machines.

Trump downshifts Michelle Obama's healthy school food scheme

Yahoo – AFP, May 2, 2017

Donald Trump's administration backtracks Michelle Obama's 2012 Healthy,
Hunger-Free Kids Act (AFP Photo/CHRIS KLEPONIS)

Washington (AFP) - US President Donald Trump's administration on Monday put the brakes on a scheme championed by former first lady Michelle Obama meant to ensure healthier meals in schools through lower salt, fats and sugar.

The Agriculture Department said in a statement the change would give American schools "greater flexibility" and stop kids from throwing out the less appetizing food mandated under the scheme.

Forcing schools to adopt better nutritional standards under the 2012 Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids Act if they wanted federal subsidies for meals was one of Michelle Obama's key achievements.

Lauded by supporters in the US as crucial in the fight against childhood obesity, the initiative put restrictions on sodium and sweetened milks, and required school lunches to increase the amount of whole-grain foods they contained.

The Trump administration's backtrack on the measure came the same day as a study suggesting that if American children exercised more, tens of billions of dollars in medical costs could be saved over their lifetimes.

The finding was made by researchers at Johns Hopkins University's Bloomberg School of Public Health. According to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, about one in six American children are overweight or obese.

The Agriculture Department said the nutritional requirements imposed on schools in the past five years had added $1.2 billion in costs to school districts and to states.

It said easing those rules would decrease costs, give back greater control to local authorities, and see children eating more enthusiastically.

"If kids aren't eating the food, and it's ending up in the trash, they aren't getting any nutrition –- thus undermining the intent of the program," Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue said.

At the same time, the Trump administration discontinued another signature program by Michelle Obama and her husband Barack Obama.

The 2015 scheme designed to promote educational opportunities for adolescent girls in developing countries, called "Let Girls Learn," was being immediately scrapped, CNN reported on the basis of an internal email it had obtained.

The email, sent to members of the US Peace Corps, a US government overseas volunteer program, said some parts of "Let Girls Learn" would continue, but the name was being dropped along with its standalone status.

Six year old Amsterdam boy starts secondary school

DutchNews, November 4, 2016

Photo: Depositphotos.com 

A six-year-old Belgian boy whose family moved to Amsterdam a year ago is about to start lessons in the pre-university stream of a private secondary school in the city, Belgian media reported on Friday 

Laurent Simons started at the Winford school last year but has steamed through the curriculum and is now ready for more challenging subjects, broadcaster VRT said.

‘He is racing through it all,’ father Alexander, who is a dentist, said. The boy is said to have an IQ of at least 145 and is already taking maths classes at secondary school level.

The boy’s father said his son has no problem mixing with 12 and 13-year olds. ‘He likes it,’ Simons said. ‘He does not really get on with children of his age.’ Classes at the Winford school are also much smaller than in normal Dutch schools. 

According to the Parool, a six-year-old at secondary school is a first for the city. Other super bright children, such as Floor Sietsma, who went to university at the age of 12, did complete their primary school programme.

Laurent Simons is nog maar 6 jaar oud, maar gaat binnenkort al naar de middelbare school 😮 #Ochtendshow pic.twitter.com/4JFd5dzFoJ

— MNM (@MNMbe) November 4, 2016

Ban sugary drinks in primary school, says food advice body

DutchNews, June 21, 2016

Photo: Despositphotos.com 

The government-backed food advisory centre Voedingscentrum has welcomed the decision by dozens of primary schools to ban sugary drinks on their premises, saying the measure will help cut obesity among children. 

The organisation says pupils in primary schools should be restricted to water and milk with their packed lunches in an effort to boost healthy eating. 

One school in Dordrecht, where one in three children is overweight, has already taken the ‘drastic step’, the AD says on Tuesday.

‘We are doing nearly all we can to keep a healthy school,’ director Mark van der Sluijs told the AD. ‘Children get fruit and milk during the morning break… but bring sugary drinks for lunch. Not everyone realises it, but those packets of drink are very unhealthy and full of sugar.’ 

Voedingscentrum spokeswoman Danielle Wolvers said in a statement that if all schools took such a step it would send out an important signal. ‘Children influence each other, so such a rule helps to stimulate healthy behaviour,’ she said.

So far, 94 of the country’s 6,700 primary schools have signed up to the Voedingscentrum’s ‘healthy school’ programme, the AD says.

Erasmus hospital trains doctors to use botox, cosmetic fillers

DutchNews, February 29, 2016

Photo: Depositphotos.com 

Erasmus University’s teaching hospital is to train dermatologists to perform cosmetic treatments such as the use of botox and fillers, the Volkskrant reports on Monday. 

Dermatology professor Tama Nijsten told the paper that there is a major shortage of places where cosmetic dermatologists can develop their skills. ‘Everyone does a bit of this and that and after a couple of workshops they set up in business,’ she said. ‘That is why a proper training centre is needed.’ 

‘Society is moving in this direction,’ Nijsten said. ‘I think you have to be careful not to impose your own norms and values on the rest of the country. [Cosmetic treatments] happen and if they happen you should make sure they are done properly.’ 

Taxpayers’ cash 

The six-month Erasmus programme has been criticised by some professionals. ‘I think it is inappropriate,’ Radboud dermatology professor Peter van Kerkhof told the paper. ‘A university teaching hospital should be about making people better… Should we be using taxpayers’ money to train people to carry out beauty treatments?’ 

It is not the first time that academic hospitals have taken a step into the world of private medicine. Groningen University opened a clinic offering cosmetic surgery such as breast enlargements in 2010, the Volkskrant points out. 

The Erasmus programme is being run together with dermatologist Peter Velthuis who runs a string of commercial cosmetic surgery clinics.

Utrecht city council to begin experiments with a basic income

DutchNews.nl, June 28, 2015

Utrecht city council is to begin experimenting with the idea of a basic income, replacing the current complicated system of taxes, social security benefits and top-up benefits. 

City alderman Victor Everhardt says the aim is to see if the concept of a basic income works in practice. ‘Things can be simpler if we base the system on trust,’ he told website DeStadUtrecht.nl. 

The experiment will start after the summer holidays and is being carried out together with researchers from Utrecht University.

In theory, a basic income consists of a flat income to cover living costs which, supporters say, will free up people to work more flexible hours, do volunteer work and study. Additional income is subject to income tax. 

The Utrecht project will focus on people claiming welfare benefits. One group will continue under the present system of welfare plus supplementary benefits for housing and health insurance. A second group will get benefits based on a system on incentives and rewards and a third group will have a basic income with no extras. 

‘We have asked civil service experts if an experiment using basic incomes is an option and have not had a definitive ‘no,’ Everhardt said. In addition, the trials fit in well with home affairs minister Ronald Plasterk’s decision to allow local authorities to experiment more with welfare benefits, he said.

Crowdfunding

‘What happens if someone gets a monthly amount without rules and controls?,’ Everhardt is quoted as saying in the Independent.’ Will someone sitting passively at home or do people develop themselves and provide a meaningful contribution to our society?’ 

Other cities, such as Nijmegen, Tilburg, Wageningen and Groningen are interested in a similar scheme. 

Earlier this year, a crowdfunding experiment using the concept of a basic income raised enough to allow Groningen campaigner Frans Kerver to live for a year on €1,000 a month. 

The crowdfunding effort is continuing and the second recipient, if enough money is raised, will be decided via a raffle.

A man cycles past a cafe displaying Tour de France items for sale, ahead of 

the upcoming Tour de France cycling race, in downtown Utrecht on June 23, 

2015. (Robin van Lonkhuijsen-AFP/Getty Images

Related Articles:

Why Should We Support the Idea of Universal Basic Income?

This Dutch City Plans to Give Residents a Universal ‘Basic Income’

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

Govt Starts Distribution of Social Benefit Cards

Jakarta Globe, Novy Lumanauw, Apr 28, 2015

President Joko Widodo, center, distributes the Indonesia Health Card (KIS) to
workers at a rubber plantation in North Sumatra. (Antara Foto/Septianda Perdana)

Jakarta. Tens of millions of disadvantaged Indonesians will start receiving the government’s much-touted Indonesia Health Card (KIS) and Indonesia Smart Card (KIP) from this week — months after the flagship social benefit programs were officially unveiled.

The government says the cards will improve Indonesians’ access to education and health services, and it aims to distribute them to more than 100 million people.

A total of 88.2 million people will receive the KIS card, which provides the nation’s poor and near-poor with access to healthcare.

Card holders will be entitled to treatment at public primary care clinics (puskesmas) and treatment in third-class hospitals. Benefits provided under the health card will be managed by the Social Security Agency (BPJS) but funded by insurance premiums of Rp 19,225 ($1.60) per person — paid by the Ministry of Health.

Meanwhile, 20.3 million people will be provided with the KIP card, which entitles students from underprivileged families to 12 years’ free education, as well as education resources and free higher education provided they pass university entrance exams.

Workers at a rubber plantation in North Sumatra were the first to get their hands on the KIS cards on April 18, but the government started national distribution on Tuesday.

Distribution of the cards, a campaign promise of President Joko Widodo, was slated for late 2014, but budget wrangling that was only resolved in January pushed the schedule back.

“We’ll start distributing the cards this week,” Joko said on Tuesday after disbursing 3,289 KIS cards to employees of state-owned shipping and dock company, Dok & Perkapalan Kodja Bahari, in North Jakarta.

The cards are similar to the Jakarta Health Card (KJS) and Jakarta Smart Card (JKP) implemented when Joko was governor of the capital,

Related Article:

Jokowi: Revoke Licenses of Private Hospitals That Refuse KIS Patients

World's first academy for humanitarian relief to be launched

Humanitarian Leadership Academy to train aid workers from over 50 countries in organising rapid responses to disasters and emergencies

The Guardian, Julian Borger Diplomatic editor, Sunday 22 March 2015

Local residents receive humanitarian aid in the city of Debaltseve, Ukraine.
The world’s first academy for humanitarian relief will train aid workers in
responding to disasters and emergencies. Photograph: Sokolov Mikhail/
Sokolov Mikhail/ITAR-TASS Photo/Corbis

The world’s first academy for humanitarian relief is to be launched, aimed at training 100,000 aid workers from over 50 countries in organising rapid responses to disasters and emergencies.

The Humanitarian Leadership Academy, launching on Monday, is a response to the growing number of humanitarian crises around the world, driven by climate change and conflict, combined with a severe and worsening shortage of people with the skills necessary to coordinate the large-scale response required in the critical first days to prevent mass casualties.

The HLA is being set up by a global consortium of aid organisations with initial £20m funding from the UK Department for International Development, out of a target of £50m. The Save the Children charity has paid the startup costing and is hosting the academy’s hub in London.

Further centres will open in Kenya and the Philippines later this year, and by 2020 the plan is to have ten training centres around the world, which would offer both classroom and virtual training for the surrounding regions, in mobilising the rapid response in resources and manpower needed in the wake of a disaster.

Jan Egeland, a former UN head of humanitarian affairs and emergency relief, will be the academy’s first chairman. He said the initiative “may revolutionise the entire humanitarian sector”.

“Investment in a new and better trained generation of humanitarian workers closer to where we find the greatest needs will bring development and sustainability to many of the world’s most fragile communities,” Egeland, the head of the Norwegian Refugee Council, said.

Last year witnessed a record number of severe global humanitarian emergencies and the highest number of refugees the world has seen since the second world war. 50 million people were forced to flee their countries.

  

Justin Forsyth, chief executive of Save the Children, said: “If we are to save more lives in some of the toughest places in the world we need to train and support local people themselves to become the humanitarian workers and volunteers of the future. The academy will do this by bringing together an extraordinary and unique coalition of actors to train and share best practice, transforming the humanitarian system.”

The idea behind the establishment of ten national and regional centres around the world is that each should be able to tailor responses to crises in terms of local conditions and local culture. Aid experts have said that previous attempts to increase local and regional capacity to react to large-scale emergencies have foundered because they were seen as impositions of practices developed far away.

The plan is for each centre to provide a common pool of knowledge, the latest technology and examples of best practice, as well as solid career structures for humanitarian workers, with internationally recognised certification for successive levels of achievement, recorded in ‘humanitarian passports’. The end result should be to expand the pool of people available in every region to manage the humanitarian response in the first 72 hours of an emergency.

“This is potentially one of the most transformational projects I have been involved in,” said Gareth Owen, Save the Children’s director of emergencies, who has been working on the academy project since 2007. “It is based on the recognition that many studies of humanitarian disasters and emergencies point to leadership and decision-making as the critical factor. Really by now we should have a global capacity that we can draw on that is far greater and more diverse. We haven’t invested enough in people on the ground.”

Owen said that climate change was adding to the relentless annual toll of humanitarian crises: “We used to have a big natural disaster about once a decade and that has come down to one every two or three years.”

Global funding for emergency relief has largely stagnated. Owen said the $20bn (£13bn) spending on the response to humanitarian emergencies is a third of the amount the world spends on yoghurt, for example, and that there is no comparison with the $1.5tn spent on arms.

“The Humanitarian Leadership Academy will help create a faster and more effective disaster response system by empowering local people in the most vulnerable countries to be the first responders after a disaster strikes,” Justine Greening, the secretary of state for international development, said. “The high quality training and expertise delivered by this academy will mean humanitarian responses not only provide immediate, life-saving relief, but also help build a more secure and resilient world.”

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