Govt urged to protect migrant workers through bilateral accords

Antara News, Tue, August 16 2011

Indonesian migrant workers at a shelter provided by the Indonesian
Embassy in Abu Dhabi. (Antara Photo/Yudhi Mahatma)          

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Jakarta  (ANTARA) - The government should conclude bilateral agreements with countries that use Indonesian migrant workers regarding the latter`s rights and obligations, a non-governmental organization (NGO) said.

"Such agreements will provide protection for our migrant workers abroad and prevent violation of their rights," Nur Harsono, an activist of Migrant Care, said here on Tuesday.

Harsono made the statement in response to reports that a number of Indonesian workers abroad were facing various legal charges for criminal acts and heavy violations such as homicide and drugs.

About the 23 Indonesians in Saudi Arabia and around 300 more in Malaysia who were facing the death sentence, he said the government needed to actively conduct lobbies to obtain forgiveness or reduction of the their sentences.

Earlier, President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono in his annual state address said the government had formed a task force specifically undertaking the crucial diplomatic missions to defend Indonesian workers involved in legal cases abroad.

"Thank God, despite the highly-challenging nature of the mission, since every country possesses its own system of justice, our efforts have come to show some results. A number of Indonesian citizens facing death penalty have been granted forgiveness and sentence reductions," he said.

Learning from the experiences and lessons, he said, onward the supervision towards the preparation and dispatching of Indonesian workers by the private employment recruitment agencies (PPTKIS) would be constricted in order to ensure that the workers about to be dispatched had thoroughly comprehend the law, rules and norms applied in the destination country.

In relation to bilateral agreement with destination countries, the president said the government continues to work on diplomacy and negotiation with the government of the friendly countries, so that through the right MoU, Indonesia Work Forces could truly receive a good protection and assurance of their rights as well as their justice.

He added current policy to halt the dispatch of Indonesian workers to Saudi Arabia was also aimed to increase protection and right-assurance of the work force abroad.

"Truth to be told, the decision is in line with the acceleration and broadening of Indonesia`s economic development that we will undertake within the next 15 years, we hope there will be more job opportunities at home so that our brothers and sister will no longer have to work in informal sectors and become maids abroad. This is very important as it has to do with our dignity and self esteem as a nation," he said.

Editor: Priyambodo RH

Related Article:

SBY Speaks Up for Migrant Workers

A Migrant’s Tale in His Own Words: From Central Java to the Netherlands

Jakarta Globe, Celia Mather & Slamet Heri, August 06, 2011       

Slamet Heri is from Cilacap, Central Java. Now 30, he has been living and working in the Netherlands since August 2006. The unique story, told in his on words, of how he ended up there says much about the life endured by migrant workers across the world.

(AP Photo)

Millions of Indonesians now go abroad for work. Because of his experiences, Heri is now the chairperson of the newly formed Indonesian Migrant Workers’ Union in the Netherlands. Journalist Celia Mather spoke to him in Geneva at a gathering of migrant workers to discuss the International Labor Organization’s convention for domestic workers’ rights. Here is Heri’s story.

“Originally, I got a degree in Teaching and Education Studies at university in Klaten, Central Java. Then, while waiting for a job, I got involved in voluntary work at a youth center, where I organized seminars on reproductive health and HIV/AIDS. I also got active in the Indonesian Youth Partnership and the Indonesian Aids Foundation. I funded these activities — and my studies — by working as a security guard at an asphalt factory.

“I heard about an opportunity to go for education and work experiences in Japan. They said I could get a job at an electronics factory and receive training in business studies. So I went to Jakarta for six months training to learn about the language, culture and how to work in Japan. For some reason the company pulled out midway. I still wanted to go to Japan. Unhappily, I had fallen into the hands of a bogus agency, one so bad I have called it a ‘mafia agency.’

“For over a year I stayed in Jakarta, waiting to go to Japan. I was unemployed but I had to pay the agency for accommodation and fees. It was all a scam. At one point, the agency even suggested falsifying my passport and sending me to the US. I didn’t want that. I wanted to go to Japan in my own name.

“I went back home for a while. Then one day the agency rang. All was now fixed. I thought, ‘At last I’m going to Japan.’ But no, they were sending me to Spain. They said that work permits, wages, accommodation were all guaranteed and I would be met at the Barcelona airport.

“None of it was true. There was no one to meet me and the other migrant workers off the plane. There were no work permits, just tourist visas for three weeks, and the contract was fake. For several days we paid for a hotel room and waited, but no one came. So we made a decision to survive, but not in Spain. We opened up a map of Europe and each one chose where to go. Some chose Germany or Switzerland. One headed back to Indonesia, still wanting to go to Japan — he is now working in South Korea.

“I chose the Netherlands, because Indonesia was a colony of that country and I thought there might be more Indonesians there. So four of us – two men and two women – bought bus tickets and got off in Amsterdam. We had only ten days left on our visas. And I knew my debt totalled about Rp 75 million [$8,850]. Luckily we met another Indonesian woman at the bus station and she found us a temporary place to stay. We spent the next days looking for other Indonesians who could help us find jobs. For a while we shadowed friends, learning how to do a job and how to communicate with employers. For about a year we were like that, three to a room.

“Many Indonesian migrant workers in the Netherlands are undocumented like I am. None that I know of have a work permit. Actually there is no official contract system between the Netherlands and Indonesia in the domestic work sector, only in some other sectors such as nursing. So most of us become domestic workers, cleaners and gardeners. Many are victims of fraud. There seem to be a lot of us. We often meet each other in the street.

“I have done a lot of different jobs: gardening, babysitting, cleaning, ironing, massage, construction, carpentry and painting. I have worked for registered companies, even though I’m undocumented.

“By 2009, I had gotten sick. I was diagnosed with a rare heart malfunction. I was treated for three months at home and then spent a month in hospital. It turns out that my heart functions only 8 per cent of what it should, and eventually the doctors decided to fit me with a pacemaker. With this, I couldn’t fly home. So the doctors and lawyers helped me get a residence permit. I didn’t have to pay any of my health care costs, thanks to my doctors, the [government] health care insurance and donations from friends. I am truly grateful. Now I pay into the social insurance system in Holland and I work as a volunteer organizer with the EuroMoslim Amsterdam foundation.

“In some ways, my illness was a blessing. Although I am an undocumented migrant, I was able to access the Dutch health care system.

“The idea for the Indonesian Migrant Workers’ Union in the Netherlands [IMWU NL] grew after some of us met with Filipinos in the Netherlands who had built such a group for themselves. They gave us a lot of advice. So we started off with a few people and on Jan. 2, we set up the IMWU NL. It is for any Indonesian migrant worker in the country.

“The FNV Bondgenoten trade union has given us help and some room space. From there, we provide information on migrants’ rights and health care access, legal aid, assistance in negotiating with employers, language courses and so on.

“Right now there is a proposal in the Netherlands to criminalize undocumented migrant workers. However, there is a coalition growing to fight this. We need recognition and respect because we certainly contribute to the economy. We are workers, not criminals. So we want the same rights as other workers, including such things as unemployment benefits and paid holidays.

For myself, I am looking for an employer who will get me a work permit. Then my status will change. Right now, I cannot go home to Indonesia and then return to Europe. I would really like to see my family again but, as I am still looking after my health, these are hard choices to make. Hopefully everything will work out fine.”

China arrests 2,000 in food safety crackdown

Antara News, Thu, August 4 2011

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Beijing (ANTARA News/AFP) - China has arrested around 2,000 people and closed nearly 5,000 businesses in a major crackdown on illegal food additives, the government said, after a wave of contamination scares.

China launched the campaign in April following a spate of tainted food scandals -- included pork found on the market so loaded with bacteria that it reportedly glowed in the dark.

Nearly six million food businesses have now been investigated and more than 4,900 shut down for "illegal practices", the government`s Food Safety Commission said in a statement.

Police have also destroyed "underground" food production and storage sites, and arrested around 2,000 suspects, it said, adding that anyone found breaking the law would be severely punished.

China pledged to clean up its food industry after milk products tainted with the industrial chemical melamine -- added to give the appearance of high protein content -- killed at least six babies and sickened 300,000 in 2008.

In 2009 the country passed a food safety law to try to allay public concern.

But authorities have continued to discover bean sprouts laced with cancer-causing nitrates, steamed buns with banned chemical preservatives, and rice laced with heavy metals, prompting the latest crackdown.

Editor: Priyambodo RH

Scientists credited on ghostwritten articles 'should be charged with fraud'

Legal experts call for severe sanctions against scientists who 'guest author' papers actually written by drugs companies 

guardian.co.uk, Ian Sample, science correspondent,Tuesday 2 August 2011

Ghostwritten articles about Vioxx, which was later withdrawn amid
safety concerns, had minimal input from guest authors.
Photograph: Spencer Platt/Getty

Doctors and scientists who put their names to medical articles they have not written should be charged with professional misconduct and fraud, according to legal experts.

The proposals aim to stamp out the shady business of "guest authorship", where research papers written by pharmaceutical companies or industry-sponsored medical writers are passed off as the work of influential, independent academics.

In the worst cases, doctors receive payments or other incentives to endorse articles without being familiar with the studies or data the reports describe. Often, the articles are biased and do not carry the names of the real authors.

The medical profession has long been troubled by guest authorship and ghostwriting, but the issue has become harder to ignore in recent years as the extent to which drugs companies use the tactic as a marketing tool has become clear.

Articles drafted by industry with minimal involvement from guest authors have been published in leading journals on hormone replacement therapy (HRT), Vioxx (an anti-inflammatory drug that was withdrawn amid safety fears), Neurontin (used in pain relief), antidepressants, and the combination diet drug, Fen-phen (also withdrawn for safety reasons).

While the practice is not currently considered to be illegal, it is widely regarded as unethical and potentially harmful to patients because it skews the information that appears in medical journals.

Writing in the journal, PloS Medicine, Simon Stern and Trudo Leemens, who are law professors at the University of Toronto, warn that measures brought in by publishers and professional bodies to curb guest authorship and ghostwriting have so far failed to tackle the problem. They call for more severe sanctions against those involved, even when the articles are scientifically accurate.

"It's a prostitution of their academic standing. And it undermines the integrity of the entire academic publication system," Leemens said.

"A guest author's claim for credit of an article written by someone else constitues legal fraud, and may give rise to claims that could be pursued in a class action," the authors write. The same offence could also support claims of "fraud on court" when drugs companies rely on ghostwritten articles in court cases. Stern and Leemens argue that pharmaceutical companies and the medical writers they sponsor may also incur liability for soliciting and facilitating fraud.

In 2009, a trove of documents relating to ghostwriting and guest authorship were released following a request in court by PloS Medicine and the New York Times. The papers revealed that Wyeth, a pharmaceutical company, had used ghostwriters to prepare 26 medical articles that emphasised the benefits and downplayed the risks of taking HRT for conditions such as heart disease and dementia. Government funded studies on the therapy were later stopped after the treatment was shown to raise the risk of breast cancer, heart disease and stroke.

Adriane Fugh-Berman, a doctor at Georgetown University Medical Centre in Washington DC, who was an expert witness for the women who brought the civil action against Wyeth, said the Canadian lawyers had put forward a "provocative proposal for a serious problem".

"Ghostwriting distorts the scientific literature on drugs and other therapies, and changes prescribing decisions in a way that may be harmful to patients. It is thus a threat to public health. Academic institutions give lip service to being against ghostwriting but no academic has been sanctioned. Fear of legal action really might deter the practice, which is euphemistically termed 'editorial assistance'," she told the Guardian.

Some journals, including PloS Medicine, have called for bans on guest authors and warn that unacknowledged ghostwriting will be retracted if discovered after publication, with the academics being reported to their institutions.

Fiona Godlee, editor of the British Medical Journal, said the practice continues to be a problem in the medical literature.

"Guest authorship and ghostwriting is absolutely unacceptable and we have been saying this for a long time. It is misleading, a form of fraud, and it would be good to see much stiffer penalites and legal liabilities for people who involve themselves in this," she said.

"The benefits of being a guest author are still substantial. You get a piece of work under your name that you didn't have to bother writing, the company involved will push to get it published in a high-profile journal, and visibility, promotion and all sorts of things come your way, not to mention international travel and speaking at conferences."

Thousands residences launch campaigns against drugs

Antara News, Sun, July 31 2011

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Pamekasan, E Java (ANTARA News) - Thousands of people converged on Arek Lancor Monument in Pamekasan district in Madura island on Sunday to launch a campaign against drugs, gambling and other crimes.

They signed a joint pledge as representatives of the Pamekasan Police Resort, the Pamekasan District Narcotics Board and the Pamekasan District Administration looked on. Also present at the event was East Java Deputy Governor Syaifullah Yusuf.

"The joint pledge involving all elements of the community from different professions in Pamekasan to fight against drugs, gambling and other crimes is the first ever joint pledge I have found," Syaifullah said.

Representatives from almost all elements of the community including farmers, pedicab drivers, doctors, teachers, students and journalists signed the joint pledge.

Syaifullah who is also chief of the East Java Provincial Narcotics Board (BNP) said the commitment of all parties to fighting against drugs was a manifestation of joint spirit that must be maintained.

He said fighting against drugs, gambling and other crimes was not only the duties of law-enforcers but also of all sides.

"The number of police personnel is limited. So it is unlikely for them to carry out their duties optimally without active role from all elements of the community," he said.

He said the joint pledge actually laid a firm foundation for the local people and the district government including police to create a tranquil and conducive situation, he said.

The signing of the joint pledge followed a roll call for Ramadhan tight operations.

Editor: Jafar M Sidik

Ascension Sleep Issues and Body Aches

The Ascension is causing us to experience different sleep patterns and to feel body aches. We are in an intense portion of the Ascension process and we will have times of both things happening to us. The Angels want us to know that if we listen to our bodies, we will always do what is best. We are not to judge what we are going through based on our family or friends. We are unique and everything is fine. I pray this video has answers for you. More information on my website: www.ChristinaLunden.com

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Cost of Popular Medicines Set to Plunge as Raft of Patents Expire

Jakarta Globe, Linda A. Johnson, July 25, 2011

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The cost of prescription medicines used by millions of people every day is about to plummet.

The next 14 months will see the arrival of generic versions of seven of the world’s 20 best-selling drugs, including the top two: cholesterol fighter Lipitor and blood thinner Plavix.

The magnitude of this wave of expiring drugs patents is unprecedented. Between now and 2016, blockbusters with about $255 billion in global annual sales are set to go off patent, notes EvaluatePharma, a London research firm. Generic competition will decimate sales of the brand-name drugs and slash the cost to patients and companies that provide health insurance benefits.

Top drugs getting generic competition by September next year are taken by millions every day: Lipitor (atorvastatin) is taken by about 4.3 million Americans and Plavix (clopidogrel) by 1.4 million. Generic versions of big-selling drugs for blood pressure, asthma, diabetes, depression, high triglycerides, HIV and bipolar disorder also are coming by then.

The flood of generics will continue for the next decade or so, as about 120 brand-name prescription drugs lose market exclusivity, according to Medco Health Solutions.

In the United States, patients, along with businesses and taxpayers who help pay for prescription drugs through corporate and government prescription plans, collectively will save a small fortune. That’s because generic drugs typically cost 20 percent to 80 percent less than the brand names.

Doctors hope the lower prices will significantly reduce the number of people jeopardizing their health because they can’t afford medicines they need.

Generic medicines are chemically equivalent to the original brand-name drugs and work just as well for nearly all patients.

When a drug loses patent protection, often only one generic version is on sale for the first six months, so the price falls a little initially. Then, several other generic makers typically jump in, driving prices down drastically.

Last year the average generic prescription in the United States cost $72, versus $198 for the average brand-name drug, according to consulting firm Wolters Kluwer Pharma Solutions. Those figures average all prescriptions, from short-term to 90-day ones.

Among the drugs that recently went off patent, Protonix (pantoprazole), often used for severe heartburn, now costs just $16 a month for the generic, versus about $170 for the brand name. And of the top sellers that soon will have competition, Lipitor retails for about $150 a month, Plavix costs almost $200 a month and blood pressure drug Diovan (valsartan) costs about $125 a month. For those with drug coverage, their out-of-pocket costs for each of those drugs could drop below $10 a month.

Generic Lipitor should hit US pharmacies on Nov. 30 and cost around $10 a month.

For people with no prescription coverage, the coming savings on some drugs could be much bigger. Many discount retailers and grocery chains sell the most popular generics for $5 a month or less to draw in shoppers.

The impact of the coming wave of generics will be widespread — and swift.

American insurers use systems that make sure patients are switched to a generic the first day it’s available. Many health plans require newly diagnosed patients to start out on generic medicines. And unless the doctor writes “brand only” on a prescription, if there’s a generic available, that’s almost always what the pharmacist dispenses.

“A blockbuster drug that goes off patent will lose 90 percent of its revenue within 24 months. I’ve seen it happen in 12 months,” says Ben Weintraub, a research director at Wolters Kluwer Pharma Solutions.

The looming revenue drop is changing the economics of the industry. In the 1990s, big pharmaceutical companies were wildly successful at creating pills that millions of people take every day for common conditions, from heart disease and diabetes to osteoporosis and chronic pain. Double-digit quarterly profit increases became the norm. But the patents on those blockbusters, which were filed years before the drugs went on sale, last for 20 years at most, and many expire soon.

Drug companies also are trying to stabilize future sales by putting more sales reps in emerging markets such as China and India, and diversifying into businesses that get little or no generic competition. Those include vaccines, diagnostic tests, veterinary medicines and consumer health products.

As the proportion of prescriptions filled with generic drugs reached 78 percent in 2010, from 57 percent in 2004, annual increases in prescription drug spending slowed, to just 4 percent in 2010. According to the Generic Pharmaceutical Association, generics saved the US health care system more than $824 billion from 2000 through 2009, and now save $1 billion every three days.

The savings are only going to get greater developed nations’ populations age. John Rother, policy chief for AARP, a lobby group for retirees, said people who take their medicines regularly often avoid costly complications and hospitalizations, bringing the system even bigger savings than the cheaper drugs.

In addition, many patients taking a particular brand-name drug will defect when a slightly older rival in the same class goes generic.

Global sales of Lipitor peaked at $12.9 billion in 2006, the year Zocor (simvastatin), an older drug in the same class, went generic. Lipitor sales then declined slowly but steadily to about $10.7 billion last year. That still makes Lipitor the biggest drug to go generic.

Associated Press

Medical research warning over human cells in animals

Panel of scientists and ethicists says research on animals that contain material from humans should be more tightly regulated

The Guardian, Alok Jha, science correspondent, Friday 22 July 2011

A laboratory mouse. Photograph: Natacha Pisarenko/AP

Medical research on animals that contain material from humans – such as brain cells – should be more tightly regulated, according to a report from a leading panel of scientists and ethicists.

The report, which included a public consultation, says such research needs more scrutiny and clearer legal boundaries.

Scientists already use animals that contain human material in work to understand medical conditions such as Down's syndrome. But the report's authors said politicians should devise regulations to cover likely advances.

The team highlighted future research into human cognition and reproduction as areas of greatest concern to the public.

Martin Bobrow, professor of medical genetics at the University of Cambridge, led the panel set up by the Academy of Medical Sciences. He said: "Where people worry is when you get to the brain, the germ cells and the sentinel features that help people recognise what is a person, as opposed to a rat or a rabbit.

"Things like skin texture, facial shape, speech, replacing brain cells with human cells, allowing the development of human germ cells in animals. And particularly where there is any possibility of fertilisation within an animal."

He said the public was also concerned about animals whose appearance was deeply disturbing.

The professor said the panel was not recommending such work be banned outright, but that these were areas where the value of the science should be most carefully considered. Current laws around the use of animals in scientific research would cover most eventualities for now but these rules would not be enough for the techniques of the future, he said.

One "animal model" that includes human material is the Down's syndrome mouse. It carries a copy of human chromosome 21 among its DNA. Using this model, scientists are gaining insight into the condition.

"Changing animals by putting human genes or cells into their structure is one way of making them more resemble the bit of the human condition you're interested in studying," said Bobrow.

Tom Baldwin, a philosopher at the University of York and panel member, said ethical decisions might need to be based on the "great ape test", referring to the UK moratorium against using humans' closest animal relatives in medical research.

"If you start putting very large numbers of human brain cells into primates, suddenly you might transform primates into something that has some of the capacities that we regard as distinctively human – speech or other ways of being able to manipulate or relate to a human," he said. "These possibilities, at the moment, are largely being explored in fiction but we need to start thinking about them now."

The report recommends that a science and ethics committee with input from the public be set up to assess the merit of scientific projects in sensitive areas.

Lovell-Badge said continuing public discussion about the issue was key, "so that those sorts of experiments are discussed openly. Some of them certainly should be done, but it needs to be done in an open way."

Paul Nurse, president of the Royal Society, said this sort of research required open discussion to ensure it moved in a direction that the general public remained comfortable with. "The Royal Society is supportive of the recommendations made in this report, especially the call for a national expert body … Proper scrutiny and regulation of this developing field now will ensure that society benefits from its advances fully."

Indonesians Caught in 2-Ton Coke Bust Off Coast of Portugal

Jakarta Globe, July 21, 2011

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Eight Indonesian nationals were arrested on Wednesday after Portuguese officials seized nearly 1.7 metric tons of cocaine $114 million) hidden on a fishing boat they were traveling in.

The suspects, aged between 25 and 46, are suspected of being members of a smuggling network active on the American, African and European continents, the head of the Portuguese police’s drug-busting unit, Joaquim Pereira, told a press conference.

The boat, from Namibia, was intercepted by the Portuguese navy and air force some 22 miles off the European coast.

The drugs were “probably from Latin America and destined for Europe,” Pereira said.

Agence France-Presse

Iranians in drug smuggling bust

The Jakarta Post, Jakarta | Mon, 07/18/2011

The police say narcotics officers arrested three Iranian citizens on Friday for allegedly smuggling 15,000 doses of  crystal methamphetamine worth about Rp 1.5 billion ($US175,500) into Indonesia.

Jakarta Police narcotics chief Sr. Comr Nugroho Aji Wijayanto said the suspects, identified as MA, MDZ and SK, were allegedly part of a Iranian drug network.

“The crystal methamphetamine was made in Iran and brought to Indonesia by the three suspects on Qatar Airlines,” Nugroho said Monday as quoted by kompas.com.

The suspects had swallowed a total of 159 small plastic bags of crystal meth to evade detection, he said.

“We trailed them from the airport. They took a taxi to their hotel in Senen  [Central Jakarta] where they took out the crystal meth,” Nugroho said.

Officers then raided the suspects’ hotel room.

The police would investigate the suspects’ local contacts, he said.

Jakarta police bust international drug ring

The Jakarta Post, Jakarta | Thu, 07/14/2011

The Jakarta Police drug division arrested three people suspected of being part of an international drug network.

“Two of the suspects, YN alias NR and SG alias AS, are Indonesian citizens, while the other one, KRT alias AND, is a Malaysian citizen,” drug division director Sr. Comr. Nugroho Aji Wijayanto said as quoted by tempointeraktif.com on Thursday.

YN and KRT were arrested on Monday evening at the City Lofts apartments in Central Jakarta, while SG was arrested at midday on Monday at the Sahid apartments, also in Central Jakarta.

Nugroho said the police had been investigating and trailing the suspects for two months before the arrests. “They are part of an old international drug network,” he said

The police confiscated 8 kilograms of crystal methamphetamine, locally known as shabu-shabu. One of the packages contained 1 ounce of high quality crystal meth known as “blue ice”, worth around Rp 3 billion (US$351,000).

“We confiscated 3 kilograms from the first crime scene [City Lofts] and the remaining 5 kilograms were found at the second crime scene [Sahid apartments],” Nugroho said.

The police also seized 10 ecstasy tablets, four cellular phones, three scales, one Malaysian passport and 570 Malaysian Ringgit ($190), 5 Yuan (75 cents) and 17,000 Vietnamese Dong (85 cents). The evidence is worth Rp 15 billion in total.

All the suspects were charged under the Narcotics Law, which carries a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison.

The police investigation is ongoing, as two other suspects, AF and AH, both Malaysian citizens, remain at large.

Dutchman discovers why the sun causes wrinkles

RNW, 13 July 2011, by John Tyler

(Photo: Wikimedia Commons)

            

Once we reach a certain age, our skin begins to wrinkle and crease. It happens to everyone. No one seems to welcome it. A multi-billion euro industry has been built on products and procedures that promise to slow down the process.

Now a young Dutch researcher says they have it all wrong. Feiko Rijken believes the prevailing theory for why exposure to the sun ages our skin is not a right explanation for the process.“There’s a broadly accepted hypothesis about the mechanism behind skin ageing, and we took a critical look at it,” says Dr Rijken. “We found this mechanism to be incorrect on various levels.”

The idea

Mr Rijken’s idea is put forward in the successful doctoral dissertation he recently defended at Utrecht University. His theory is that skin damage resulting from exposure to the sun is caused by cells that are busy combating infection. This comes up against the prior accepted theory that excessive exposure to sunlight releases certain enzymes in the skin, causing it to crease.

But let’s not get too technical. Suffice it to say, if Dr Rijken is correct, he could be shaking up a large sector of the anti-ageing industry.

The industry

And what an industry. Methods to slow – if not halt – the visible effects of time are a multi-billion euro global enterprise. Profits from anti-ageing products amount to 40 billion euros in the United States alone.

People go to great lengths to prevent the visible signs of ageing. Diets, supplements, hormone treatments, immersive treatment at holiday resorts, Botox injections and plastic surgery are but a few options. Those seeking a less medicated route apply all kinds of products to exfoliate their skin. Crushed apricot kernels, salt, sponges and brushes have all been used by many a wrinkle-phobe.

The experts

Anti-ageing experts have come forward to help us make sense of what’s available. Not everyone is enamoured with the industry.

Biologist and author Aubrey de Grey thinks much of current commercial anti-ageing ‘science’ is bunk. Mr De Grey is unimpressed by most products on the market. He does, however, think we will be able to bring the ageing process to a halt just a few decades from now. According to him: “We might be able to have more impact on aging by repairing molecular and cellular damage rather than by merely slowing down the damage.” Mr De Grey believes the answer to ageing lies not in doing less to the body, but in doing much more. He looks forward to the day we can replace cells in the body like we replace parts in a car.

Although Dr Rijken and Mr De Grey share a scepticism towards the anti-ageing industry, they are at opposite ends of the spectrum. Mr de Grey advocates broad, sweeping changes in how we think about ageing. Dr Rijken is more down to earth – at least when it comes to the sun and what it can do to your skin.

The solution

Even though Dr Rijken’s idea could completely change our understanding of how skin ages, he is humble. “You know what the cause is, and you can very effectively control that,” he says. “So I would say choose for prevention.”

His advice on how to restrain the ravages of time is old-school: stay out of the sun, always use sunscreen and, whatever happens, don’t get burnt.

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Girls Put at Risk by Circumcision Edict: Experts

Jakarta Globe, Nurfika Osman, July 12, 2011

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The number of young girls in the country being circumcised could increase following a Health Ministry decree on the procedure, health experts warn.

The decree appears to contradict a 2006 memo from the ministry prohibiting health workers from circumcising girls.

“It’s a huge setback that Health Minister Endang Rahayu Sedyaningsih, who is also a doctor, has allowed this nonmedical practice to persist,” Kartono Muhammad, a former head of the Indonesian Doctors Association (IDI), said on Tuesday.

“With female circumcision now formalized in regulation, this will encourage practitioners to perform the procedure.”

He said that female circumcision did not have any health benefits and instead harmed girls and young women.

Among the immediate complications are severe pain, shock, bleeding and tetanus as a result of infections arising from shoddy surgery, he said.

“Female circumcision, which is usually performed on newborn babies, is very dangerous because they are more susceptible to infections,” Kartono warned.

He also said the long-term consequences could include bladder and urinary tract infections, as well as cysts and infertility.

Ramona Sari, from the Indonesian Family Planning Association (PKBI), said the type of female circumcision most commonly done in Indonesia was risky, since it often involved lacerations to the clitoris.

“It’s widely performed across the country and is particularly dangerous because in small villages it’s often done by traditional healers without the right tools or proper sterilization,” she said.

Kartono said other forms of circumcision, including the removal of the clitoris, had also been reported in the country.

“Cases of removing the entire clitoris have been found in a few areas in West Java and West Sumatra, where they’re performed by ultraconservative Islamic communities,” he said.

He said the rationale for female circumcision was a mix of cultural, religious and social factors, motivated by the belief that it would ensure abstinence and future marital fidelity.

“Many communities believe circumcision helps reduce a woman’s libido and thereby helps prevent her from engaging in illicit sexual acts,” Kartono said. “No religious scripts prescribe the practice, but practitioners often believe otherwise.”

The World Health Organization says that up to 140 million girls and women worldwide are living with the consequences of female genital mutilation.

Speaking after protests on the issue last month, Ina Hernawati, a Health Ministry official, said the decree did not represent support for female circumcision, but instead offered guidelines to reduce the risks in cases where it occurred.

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The Mission - Gwen Olsen - the Rx Reformer

This is the story of Gwen Olsen. Once a very successful pharmaceutical sales rep., now her mission is to stop the over-medication of our children. Gwen is the author of Confessions of an Rx Drug Pusher and travels around the United States speaking to groups www.GwenOlsen.com

Govt to equip Indonesian migrant workers with cell phones

The Jakarta Post, Jakarta, Fri, 07/08/2011

The National Agency for the Placement and Protection of Indonesian Migrant Workers (BNP2TKI) signed an MoU with PT Nurkumala Abadi on providing cell phones to migrant workers sent to South Korea.

"It is highly expected that the cell phones will enable them to communicate with their family members and related government authorities in Indonesia more frequently," BNP2TKI's head Jumhur Hidayat said on Friday.

" Let’s hope that this reduces the amount of problems faced by migrant workers,” he added.

The government has sent 2,923 migrant workers to the country from January to July 4.

PT Nurkumala Abadi Hermin general manager Abdul Syukur said that before leaving to South Korea, the workers would be asked to complete a registration form. "Once they arrive in South Korea, they will receive cell phones just by showing the form," he said.

He said the company had committed to provide 8,000 to 10,000 cell phones each year.

According BNP2TKI data, 3,962 migrant workers were sent to South Korea in 2010 and 2,024 workers in 2009. The largest number of workers sent to South Korea was recorded in 2008 when 11,885 workers were sent there; almost tripling the 2007’s figure of 4,303 workers.

President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono had earlier promised the public that he would provide every Indonesian migrant worker with a cell phone.

Indonesia's First Private Cancer Hospital Launched

Jakarta Globe, Dessy Sagita, July 07, 2011

President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, center, speaking at the
inauguration of the Mochtar Riady Comprehensive Cancer Center in Semanggi,
South Jakarta, on Thursday. He was accompanied by the center's founder,
Mochtar Riady, right, and Minister of Health Endang Rahayu Sedyaningsih.
(JG Photo/Safir Makki)

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The first private cancer hospital in Indonesia, Mochtar Riady Comprehensive Cancer Center, was officially launched on Thursday by President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono.

The hospital, which is the biggest cancer hospital in the country, is expected to be one of the best-equipped cancer centers in Asia.

MRCCC founder Mochtar Riady said the hospital's development was inspired by his personal experience. His own mother died of dystocia when he was only eight years old and his father died at age 60 due to stomach cancer.

"I couldn't stand watching him enduring the pain," he said.

Investment in MRCCC totaled $138.8 million. The hospital has 30 floors and is located in the heart of Jakarta, Semanggi. It is equipped with cutting-edge medical devices including positron emission tomography - computed tomography (PET-CT) and IBA Cyclotron which could produce isotopes on a large scale.

The founding of this hospital was also in anticipation of an increased number of Indonesians that choose to receive medication from overseas with reasons of advanced clinical and treatment technology.

Yudhoyono said partnership between the government and private sector in developing modern hospitals, especially in big cities, could help keep Indonesian patients from seeking medical treatment abroad.

"We certainly don't want our patients to seek help in Singapore, Tokyo, or Malaysia simply because they think we don't have modern hospitals," he said.

"But at the same time we can't forbid them, so the only way is to increase our competitiveness by providing good infrastructure like this," he added.

Yudhoyono also conveyed his appreciation because MRCCC dedicated 30 percent of its facilities to third-class service.

"The regulation says private hospitals should dedicate at least 10 percent of the beds to the third class ward, but MRCCC has done more, and I would like to thank you for that," he said.

Yudhoyono issues five directives on legal affairs

The Jakarta Post, Jakarta | Thu, 07/07/2011

President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono issued special directives for ministers dealing with legal, human rights and security affairs to speed up their work, including the construction of new prisons, migrant workers and border issues between Indonesia and Malaysia.

The President ordered the ministers to prioritize building 34 new penitentiaries and improve the facilities of another 43 jails across the country this year.

“The President has signed a decree on a special task force on migrant workers,” Coordinating Political, Legal and Security affair Djoko Suyanto told reporters.

The task force is headed by the former religious minister Maftuh Basyuni, and his deputies are Alwi Shihab, Hendarman Supandji and Bambang Hendarso Danuri.

“The task force has also set up a team to keep tabs on our migrant workers on death row in China, Singapore and Kuala Lumpur,” he said.

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Migrant Worker Taskforce to focus on TKI on death row