Readwrotes Blog

Antara | Thu, 10/15/2009 2:34 PM | National Students wash their hands with soap in an event held to obeserve the Global Handwashing Day at SD Sawahan 2 Elementary School in Surakarta, Central Java, on Thursday. Unicef says using soap to wash hands, particularly after contact with excreta, can reduce diarrhoeal diseases by over 40% and respiratory infections by 30%. Antara/Arief Priyono source: http://www.thejakartapost.com/

Adianto P. Simamora , The Jakarta Post , Jakarta | Wed, 08/05/2009 10:15 AM | Headlines Publish Post Doctor?: An unidentified man puts on a face mask during a health campaign aimed at improving public awareness about the spread of H1N1 virus in Indonesia, in Jakarta on Tuesday. JP/P.J. LEO With the A H1N1 influenza beginning to spread within the local population and infections not only from abroad, the disease could now spread more quickly, an official warned here on Tuesday. Data from the Health Ministry showed that of the 561 confirmed A H1N1 infected patients as of Monday, the majority had not been outside Indonesia before contracting the disease. “The problem is that many people do not have clean and healthy lifestyle habits, which allows H1N1 to spread more quickly because it is now transmitted from human-to-human at the community level,” Andi Muhadir, the director of surveillance of epidemology and immunization at the ministry, told repor...

By Jim Malone Washington 23 July 2009 Pres. Barack Obama arrives in Cleveland, 23 Jul, 2009, for a scheduled visit to Cleveland Clinic and a meeting on health care reform The ongoing national debate about how to reform the U.S. health-care system has become the top political issue in the country in recent weeks. President Barack Obama is making a renewed effort to take charge of the debate, mindful of public opinion polls that suggest growing doubts about his handling of the issue. Her name is Molly Secours, a health-care activist from Tennessee who fought a battle against cancer two years ago that almost sent her into bankruptcy even though she had health insurance. "What we are looking for, what we are asking for, what we are begging for, what I am begging for is a current health reform package so that people like me can receive adequate health care and are not fiscally and physically ruined b...

By Dan Robinson Washington 21 July 2009 The debate over plans to reform America's health care system is raging in the U.S. Congress, as majority Democrats and President Barack Obama defend their proposal for a sweeping overhaul, and Republicans sharpen their criticism. President Obama is fighting hard for his top domestic priority, an overhaul of the current health care system that would cost at least $1 trillion, a priority he asserts that can be achieved without adding to the federal budget deficit. Before a meeting on Tuesday with Democrats on the House of Representatives Energy and Commerce Committee, one of five House and Senate panels preparing legislation, the president said again that Congress needs to put politics aside and get the job done. "Time and again, we have heard excuses to delay and defeat reform. Time and again, the American people have suffered because people in Washington pla...

By Paula Wolfson The White House 20 July 2009 U.S. President Barack Obama is devoting much of his time these days to one issue: reforming the nation's health care system. Concerns about the cost and scope of reform are growing among members of Congress and the general public. Mr. Obama is making an all-out effort to regain the upper hand. President Obama is speaking out about health care reform on a daily basis - stressing its importance to the nation's long term economic well-being. Pres. Obama talks about health care reform after a discussion with health care providers, 20 Jul 2009 The latest stop on his campaign was the Children's National Medical Center in Washington, D.C. - a hospital that provides specialized care in the capital city area. He met with doctors, nurses and administrators. Afterwards, he told reporters that what he heard only strengthened his conviction that health care reform ...

By Paula Wolfson Washington 19 July 2009 U.S. President Barack Obama is stepping up his campaign for health-care reform as concerns rise in Congress about the cost and scope of various proposals before the legislature. US President Barack Obama (File) Reforming the nation's health-care system is a priority for the president. He says it is mandatory for the nation's long term economic health. "Even as we rescue this country from this crisis, I believe we have to rebuild an even better economy than we had before. That means finally controlling the health-care costs that are driving this nation into debt," he said. But the legislative process has proven extraordinarily difficult, with lawmakers squabbling over the size and cost of reform. Mr. Obama is stepping up the pressure with a series of direct appeals to the public and a formal press conference Wednesday, which is expected to be dominat...

By Carol Pearson Washington 11 July 2009 The U.S. government has allocated $350 million to help the country prepare for the H1N1 flu virus as well as the seasonal flu. U.S. officials say a vaccine for the H1N1 flu could be available by October before the flu season starts in the northern hemisphere. The US government has allocated $350 million to help the country prepare for the H1N1 flu virus as well as the seasonal flu The World Health Organization (WHO) estimates that more than 400 people have died from the H1N1 flu virus out of some 90,000 confirmed cases. In June the WHO declared this outbreak to be the first pandemic in more than 40 years. Recently, WHO Director General Margaret Chan predicted the worldwide spread of H1N1 or the swine flu is certain. "Once a fully fit pandemic virus emerges, its further international spread is unstoppable," she said. Currently, countries in the southern hemisp...

SUMEDANG, Indonesia, July 6 (UPI) -- Officials in Indonesia's West Java province have declared a state of emergency in the fight against AIDS. West Java Gov. Ahmad Heryawan said Tuesday at a coordination meeting of the provincial AIDS commission that the infection rates for AIDS and the virus that causes it, human immunodeficiency virus, are higher among homemakers than for sex workers in the province, The Jakarta Post reported Monday. "This is very concerning, particularly because most of the people living with HIV/AIDS here are in their productive ages," Heryawan said. The governor cited a report by the AIDS commission that put the number of homemakers in the province diagnosed with HIV/AIDS at 295, while the same report said 259 cases of the disease have been diagnosed among sex workers. Heryawan said nearly 85 percent of HIV/AIDS cases in West Java, about 3,838 people, are between the ages of 15 and 49.

By VOA News 03 July 2009 Pharmacist walks past package of anti-influenza virus medicine Tamiflu (File photo) Japan and Hong Kong say they have each identified cases of the swine influenza A-H1N1 virus that are resistant to the anti-viral drug Tamiflu. Denmark reported the first such case earlier this week. Japan's Health Ministry said Friday that it discovered the resistance in a patient who had been given Tamiflu after being diagnosed with swine flu. The patient was recovering after taking Relenza, another medicine used to contain the pandemic. Hong Kong health officials say they found the Tamiflu-resistant strain in a sample from a 16-year-old girl who tested positive for swine flu when she returned from the city of San Francisco in the U.S. state of California last month. The company that makes Tamiflu, Swiss drug maker Roche says about half of one percent of all flu cases are resistant to the drug. The World Health...

By Phil Mercer Sydney 04 July 2009 An aboriginal man drinks a beverage outside a store in the remote outback town of Wadeye in the Northern Territory, Australia, 01 Jun 2009 As the number of swine flu cases in Australia soars past 4,500, new research indicates that indigenous people may be more susceptible to the contagious virus, compounding an array of existing health conditions. The findings have been detailed in the medical journal The Lancet . The authors have warned of a looming international public health catastrophe. Experts are concerned that indigenous peoples, such as Australia's Aborigines and Native American Indians, suffer poor health that puts them at higher risk from the H1N1 virus, which is commonly known as swine flu. One Aboriginal man in Australia has already died from the infection, while Native Indians in Canada have seen many cases. Australian researchers, writing in The Lancet , h...

By Jeff Swicord Washington 26 June 2009 As bee populations decline around the world, beekeeping is becoming the environmentally "in" thing to do, even in urban settings. VOA takes us to the grounds of the Franciscan monastery in Washington, D.C. for a crash course on the life of bees and their importance to the environment. Then, we visit the rooftop of D.C.'s posh Fairmont hotel, where chefs are keeping hives and harvesting the honey to use in everything from cheese plates to the French delicacy, foie gras. Joe Bozik tends one of the beehives he maintains at the Franciscan Monastery Joe Bozik has been keeping bees on the grounds of the Franciscan Monastery in Washington D.C. for about four years. Recently, honey bee populations in the U.S. and Europe have fallen victim to something called "Colony Collapse Disorder," where bees leave the hive but, for unknown reasons, never retur...

By BETSY MCKAY The new H1N1 swine flu may cause more-severe illness than similar seasonal strains but may spread less easily, according to preliminary findings from a study of ferrets to be published soon by Centers for Disease Control and Prevention scientists. CDC officials said Friday they received reports of nearly 6,300 new U.S. cases in the past week, more than in any other week since the outbreak began in late April, signaling the virus isn't letting up despite summer's arrival. Almost all flu cases now tested are the new H1N1 flu rather than regular seasonal flu, the agency said. U.S. government officials and manufacturers are preparing to produce 600 million doses of vaccine for the H1N1 virus, an effort that would dwarf seasonal-flu campaigns and would include enough for those vaccinated to receive two doses. As many as 60 million doses could be ready by September, they said at a meeting Friday of the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices. But f...

AP – In a Thursday, April 30, 2009 file photo, a sample of suspected swine flu is displayed by a technician … By MIKE STOBBE, AP Medical Writer Mike Stobbe, Ap Medical Writer – 1 hr 38 mins ago ATLANTA – Swine flu has infected as many as 1 million Americans, U.S. health officials said Thursday, adding that 6 percent or more of some urban populations are infected. The estimate voiced by a government flu scientist Thursday was no surprise to the experts who have been closely watching the virus. "We knew diagnosed cases were just the tip of the iceberg," said Dr. William Scha...

Sleeping on a problem really can help solve it, say scientists who found a dreamy nap boosts creative powers. They tested whether "incubating" a problem allowed a flash of insight, and found it did, especially when people entered a phase of sleep known as REM. Volunteers who had entered REM or rapid eye movement sleep - when most dreams occur - were then better able to solve a new problem with lateral thinking. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences has published the US work. In the morning of the test day, 77 volunteers were given a series of creative problems to solve and were told to mull over the problem until the afternoon either by resting but staying awake or by taking a nap monitored by the scientists. Compared with quiet rest and non-REM sleep, REM sleep increased the chances of success on the problem-solving task. The study at the University of California San Diego showed that the volunteers who entered REM during sleep improved their creative problem so...

By VOA News 22 June 2009 Officials in the Philippines say a 49-year-old woman with swine influenza A-H1N1 has died - the first death in that country related to the virus. Health authorities say the woman died Friday from heart failure that was aggravated by severe pneumonia. They said throat swabs collected after her death revealed she had the swine flu virus as well. Filipino family wears protective masks against swine flu in East Avenue hospital compound in Quezon City, Philippines, 22 Jun 2009 But Philippine Health Secretary Francisco Duque said health authorities cannot conclude the woman's death was due to the virus. This particular strain of influenza is a new virus that has shown itself to be very contagious, spreading easily among people, and from one country to another. The World Health Organization earlier this month declared an influenza pandemic for the first time in more than 40 years, as cases of the swine flu continue to spread worldwide. The WHO says ...

6. Get in, get out, and pay a whole lot less Physicians jam so many appointments into a day that it can be hard to squeeze in on short notice. And if you have to take your kid to an emergency room for a weekend illness, it could cost you a co-pay of $100 or more, especially if the insurer deems it a nonemergency. But there are easier, cheaper ways to get treatment for minor ailments. First, workplace clinics are making a comeback. Most common at large companies, they are generally staffed with nurse practitioners, RNs with additional training and the ability to prescribe. You can swing by at lunch. The price: gratis. Walk-in retail clinics in chain stores also rely on nurse practitioners. They're a good choice if you know what's wrong and it's simple. (If you aren't sure if you should go to a doctor instead, go to a doctor.) Prices for treating earaches, sore throats, and the like are posted on the wall. If your insurance pays, the co-pay is usually the same as a doctor...

By Amanda Gengler , Money magazine writer 3. Get your free money. Sign up for that FSA Need any more proof that humans aren't as rational as economists assume? Look at flexible spending accounts, a benefit that can put hundreds of bucks in your pocket. About 80% of large employers offer FSAs, but a mere 22% of their workers enroll, according to the consultancy Mercer. An FSA allows you to set aside part of your paycheck for health expenses. (The exact limit depends on your company, but it's usually $2,000 to $5,000.) You don't have to pay income or payroll taxes on that part of your earnings. So if you are in the 28% bracket, a $1,000 FSA may save you about $350. Money in your FSA can usually be used to cover co-pays and deductibles, prescriptions, and even over-the-counter drugs. These plans used to require paperwork, but that excuse is gone. Many now offer debit cards and websites to track and manage your spending. There are still two little catches: First, you lose money...

Deductibles, co-pays, and drug prices keep going up, up, up. These 10 smart moves can lower your expenses - but not the quality of the care you get. By Amanda Gengler , Money magazine writer (Money Magazine) -- Talk about a recession double whammy. It's bad enough that you've been working harder with less prospect of getting a raise. Now it feels as if you can't even afford to get sick. According to benefits consultant Hewitt, the average insured worker at a big company is likely to spend $3,826 on insurance premiums and out-of-pocket medical costs in 2009. That's up 9% from last year, a remarkable figure when you consider that inflation overall is pretty close to zero. It seems that in good times and bad, you can count on health-care costs to defy economic gravity. And it doesn't get much better when you hit 65 and qualify for Medicare. By one estimate, a couple retiring this year will need a cool quarter-million in savings just for medical expenses. So for better ...

Acquired immune deficiency syndrome (AIDS) posed a major public health threat for Indonesia in the early 1990s. Although in an April 1992 report the Department of Health reported only fortyseven documented cases of individuals whose blood tested positive for human immuno-deficiency virus (HIV), according to the department there were at least 100 times that many undocumented HIV cases, making a net estimate of 4,700 cases. According to government officials, the most likely mode of HIV/AIDS transmission was through heterosexual contact with prostitutes. By the end of 1990, twelve cases of AIDS had been reported in Indonesia. While the Department of Health devoted relatively few of its resources to disease prevention in 1991, it cooperated with the World Health Organization (WHO) in the distribution of 500,000 condoms annually and with a United States Agency for International Development ...

Services and Infrastructure As access to education improved throughout the archipelago, use of modern forms of health care also increased. Statistics show a correlation between the rise of education levels and the increased use of hospitals, physicians, and other health resources. Indeed, in the 1970s and 1980s, health in Indonesia showed overall improvement. Life expectancy for men was 58.4 years and for women 62.0 years in 1990, up 7.3 years and 7.6 years, respectively, since 1980. By the 2000-04 period, life expectancy was projected by the World Bank to reach 66.5 for men and 69.7 for women. However, the distribution of those improvements, as well as the resources for health maintenance and improvement, were unequal. Whereas infant mortality fell from an average of 105 per 1,000 live births in the 1980 to 75.2 per 1,000 in 1990, according to the World Bank, and was expected to de...