HIV infection: 50 mln Asian women at risk, UN warns

Source: Agence France-Presse

More than 1.5 million women living with HIV in Asia were infected by their partners and 50 million more are at risk of infection, according to a report released on Tuesday.
The "HIV Transmission in Intimate Partner Relationships in Asia" report by UNAIDS said the women at risk are either married or in long-term relationships with men who engage in "high-risk sexual behaviours."

"That is, men who have sex with men, injecting drug users, the clients of sex workers," UNAIDS regional director Prasada Rao said.

"(It's) a problem of great magnitude that the countries have largely ignored (and) a challenge that we may no longer ignore," Rao told reporters on the sidelines of the ninth International Congress on AIDS in Asia and the Pacific (ICAAP), which is being held on the Indonesian resort island of Bali.

Women accounted for 35 percent of all adult HIV infections in Asia in 2008, up from 17 percent in 1990, according to the report.
In Cambodia, India and Thailand, the largest number of new HIV infections occur among married women and in Indonesia the virus is now spreading to long-term partners and sex workers, it added.

"The facts speak for themselves. It is estimated that more than 90 percent of the 1.7 million women living with HIV in Asia became infected (by) husbands and partners while in long-term relationships," Rao said.
"These women are often perceived as low risk... women who have not been adequately covered in our national responses."

UNIFEM regional director for South Asia Jean D'Cunha said a "culture of silence" surrounding the issue of sexuality exists among Asian women and this diminishes their ability to protect themselves.

"There are unequal relations within marriage and the taboo around sex and sexuality makes it difficult for the women to talk openly to their partners. Their partners may not disclose their status or may not know their status," she added.

"The women also fear violence if they talk about sexuality openly... or if they demand safe sex or pleasurable sex, they may be castigated as being too loose or too forward," D'Cunha said.
The UNAIDS report calls for more HIV/AIDS prevention efforts among men who have sex with men, removal of punitive laws preventing intravenous drug users from access to clean injecting equipment and greater interventions with sex workers and their clients, Rao said.

"We must re-double our efforts to avert needless infections among these women," he added.
The Bali congress, which runs until Thursday, covers topics ranging from HIV risks among transgenders and migrant workers to biomolecular advances in HIV treatment and the impact of the financial crisis on those with HIV/AIDS.

PUTRAJAYA: Malaysia reported six more deaths related to Influenza A (H1N1), bringing the total number of fatalities to 32.

Source: The Star Online

PUTRAJAYA: Malaysia reported six more deaths related to Influenza A (H1N1), bringing the total number of fatalities to 32.

Health director-general Tan Sri Dr Ismail Merican said there was one death on Sunday while two people succumbed to the disease last Wednesday. Three patients died on Saturday.
It was only now confirmed that the five had died of A (H1N1) following post-mortem, he said, adding that the deaths were officially reported to health authorities on Sunday.

“Four of the victims had underlying risk factors,” he said. “In the last 24 hours, 203 new cases were reported, of which 15 were treated in Intensive Care Unit and 67 patients are in the isolation wards,” he said yesterday.
To date, the total number of reported cases in the country stood at 1,982. Globally, 208,155 people have been found to be infected by the virus and 1,688 people from 174 countries have died.

Dr Ismail advised those who showed symptoms and in the high-risk groups to seek medical attention, adding that anti-viral treatment was effective on patients who began treatment within 48 hours of showing the flu symptoms.

High-risk groups include children who are below five years, senior citizens 65 years and above, children and youth under 19 who have been taking asprin for long-term, pregnant women, those who suffer from asthma, chronic lung disease, organ failure, cardiovascular, liver and blood system diseases, diabetic, obese people and those with low immunity.
“Those who show light symptoms should be given symptomatic treatment, stay at home and limit their interaction with others.”

In Perak, state Health committee chairman Datuk Dr Mah Hang Soon said another institution - the Mara Junior Science College in Lenggong - had been ordered to close.
A total of 41 schools and institutions in Pahang have been closed but 11 had reopened, Mentri Besar Datuk Seri Adnan Yaakob said.
“The staff of the state health department are doing their level best to curb the spread of the virus.”

A (H1N1): 6 more deaths, taking total to 32 (Update)

SOURCE: MAZWIN NIK ANIS (THE STAR ONLINE)

PUTRAJAYA: Malaysia reported six more deaths related to Influenza A (H1N1), taking the total number of fatalities to 32.

Health director-general Tan Sri Dr Ismail Merican said that only one death occurred on Sunday. Two of the victims had succumbed to the disease on Aug 5 and three patients died on Aug 8.
He said it was only confirmed that the five victims had died due to A (H1N1) following post-mortems. The deaths were officially reported to health authorities on Sunday.

“Four of the victims had underlying risk factors. In the last 24 hours, 203 new cases were reported, of which 15 were being treated in intensive care units and 67 patients are in isolation wards,” he said Monday.

The total number of reported cases in the country stood at 1,982 to date. Globally, 208,155 people have been infected by the virus and 1,688 people from 174 countries have died.
Dr Ismail advised those who show symptoms and are in a high-risk group to immediately seek medical attention, adding that the anti-viral treatment had proven effective on patients who began treatment within 48 hours of showing symptoms.

High-risk groups include children who are below five years; senior citizens 65 years and above; children and youths under 19 who have been taking aspirin on a long-term basis; pregnant women; those who suffer from asthma, chronic lung disease, organ failure, cardiovascular, liver and blood system diseases; diabetics; obese people; and those with a low immunity.
“Those who show light symptoms should be given symptomatic treatment, stay at home and limit their interaction with others.

“One should should also look for warning signs such as difficulty in breathing, fever, continuous chest pains, cough and diarrhea,” he said.
Dr Ismail also advised the public to lead a healthy lifestyle by consuming sufficient amounts of water, eating healthy and not smoking.

In MALACCA, the Education Ministry said it will propose a uniform and consistent set of guidelines for school closures, reports MARTIN CARVALHO.
Its Deputy Minister Datuk Dr Wee Ka Siong said the proposal would be tabled before the National Security Council as soon as possible.
He said these guidelines would help avoid inconsistent decisions by state health authorities.

Baby among three new A(H1N1) deaths

Source: The Star Online





KUALA LUMPUR: Three more people including a baby and a child died of Influenza A (H1N1), bringing the death toll to 18.

Health Minister Datuk Seri Liow Tiong Lai said the 16-month-old baby girl had fever, cough and runny nose for a week before she was admitted to hospital last Sunday.

He said the baby died of severe pneumonia with underlying A (H1N1) infection at Sultanah Aminah Hospital in Johor Baru on Friday.

A five-year-old boy with upper respiratory tract infection, died of encephalitis secondary to A (H1N1) at Tengku Ampuan Afzan Hospital in Kuantan on Friday, said Liow.

He said the other flu-hit victim was a 63-year-old asthmatic patient who died of severe pneumonia and underlying pulmonary tuberculosis.

“He had fever, runny nose and cough for five days before being admitted to Selayang Hospital last Sunday.’’

Liow said the country also recorded 53 new cases, bringing the total to 1,578.

“There are still 64 people warded at the hospital including two babies, two obese persons and a post-delivery mother in the high-risk group.’’

Liow has urged the public to practise good hygiene, avoid crowded places and shun big events.

However, he said the Merdeka celebrations at Bukit Jalil National Stadium this month would be held as planned for now.

“We will screen everyone including participants of the parade and the public before they enter the stadium,’’ he said.

He also called for private medical practitioners to give out masks to flu and cough patients as part of their treatment.

“The vaccine will only arrive by the end of the year. For now, we must prevent the flu from spreading,’’ he told a press conference after opening the Japan Clinic at HSC Medical Centre here Saturday.

Liow also urged local doctors to be more competitive following healthcare liberalisation.

The liberalisation, which is taking place in stages, enables foreign companies to open hospitals and foreign doctors to work in the country.

Liow said the ministry has so far opened up five sectors.

The Idiot is Richer

Source: KCLAU.COM

One evening, the bar was unusually crowded. People started patronizing the place before dinner time and soon the place was full of middle-age adults who know each other for a long time. It was a reunion party and they were all friends graduated from the same school at the same time.

The obvious way to find out how a person is doing financially is to look at what car he/she drives. David, a senior engineer in a multi-national-corporation who used to be the top student, drives a Japanese car (middle range type). Frank, who persistently failed English language test, drives a Europe-made luxurious sedan. It is an S-Class Mercedes Benz to be specific. Apparently, Frank has the money, earns the big bucks from his businesses. He is the director of several companies.

I bet that you will find someone like Frank and also David during your reunion party. Is there a correlation between academic success and financial well-being?

Book worms are nerds
Academic success may guarantee you a higher-basic-pay-job. But thereafter, your certificates are practically useless. To advance in a career or business, we require a different set of skills. Beside hard works, you’ll need communication skill, selling skill, leadership skill….you name it. Technical skill can only bring you so far.

Graduates has ego
A degree holder has an inflated feeling of pride in his/her superiority. That’s an inevitable ego boost. When you have high ego, it stops you from doing the necessary things that may secure financial success.

Were you at the top, or at the bottom?
If you used to be among the best in school, look at where you are now? Is there someone who did worse academically is richer than you now?

I know quite a few classmates who are doing great now, definitely better than me. The fact is that I was the top three students in school last time.

123456789

Source: The Star Online

Today, (Friday) the 7th of August 2009, you lived through two unique moments of the Gregorian calendar.

Today afternoon at 12:34:56pm and at 12:34:56am the figures come up as 123456.

The figures 789 are for the date 7th, the month of August 8 and the year 2009.

Run in sequence it becomes 123456789.

You can live through it again if you live for a 1,000 years from now when it will be 3009, with the same time and date.

Some suggetions on everyone's dilemma - To save or to spend?

Source: Pankaj Kumar (The Star Online)


OUR parents do it, our grandparents and forefathers did it, our siblings do it, as do some of our friends and colleagues. All for the rainy days, so we were told. Yes, savings.

We have to save for our future to ensure that we have something to meet unexpected expenses that may occur in our lives or to make the down-payment for the dream home or car or to pay for our once-in-a-lifetime event, where we become king and queen for a day.

When we are in a family with children, we also save for their future education needs as well as preparing ourselves for retirement.

Some say we do too much of it while others say there’s no such thing as enough. Our parents told us that we have to start young and we should build it up over the years so that by the time we retire we have enough to enjoy and live until we are called by Him.

Some say we have to save 10% of our monthly income as a benchmark while others try for more if they can afford it while some find it tough just to make ends meet, simply because of the higher cost of living

One thing without doubt is that we have this inherent habit of saving for the future and, to the extent, we save so much that we do not know what to do with it.

My argument is simple as if we look at the current banking system in the country and capturing data related to savings, fixed deposits and demand deposits, individual savings amount to about RM388bil against the total of RM695bil as at June 30, 2009, representing about 56% of the banking system.

If we were to measure the above data in terms of per capita deposit and based on our total population of 28.3 million, per capita individual deposits in the banking system is about RM13,700.

In any society, savings is the pillar of economic expansion as the savings mobilised can be utilised to fund investments. This is indeed very different in Western society, particularly the US where it was only recently that the US found reasons to save due to the on-going economic fallout.

For years the rest of the world has been funding US consumption as the US has been running current account deficits for years and now ranks as the worst country in the world with the highest amount of current account deficit of US$862.3bil.

Malaysia proudly ranks number 17 with a current account surplus of US$17.86bil.

What is the irony of the Americans and us in Asia? It seems that much of Asia’s savings are channelled towards America’s consumption.

We save and the US spends, but it is Asia’s economy that is said to be weak while Uncle Sam is who the world looks up to as without the US spending power, the rest of the world could collapse, starting with significant decline in trade between the rest of the world and the US.

Based on a recent article by Dr Jagdish Bhagwati, a famous Indian-born economist in the US, the US had taken over US$5 trillion from the world and, today, to keep the US spending habits, the rest of the world has to invest US$2bil per day.

Today, almost US$1.3 trillion of US treasuries are held by the Chinese and Japanese. With more US papers flooding the market and to ensure that the dollar doesn’t collapse, the rest of the world has no choice but to buy these papers.

It is indeed a vicious cycle that we are in now as the world is too dependent on US consumption for its own growth.

Bhagwati further commented in his recent article that a nation cannot grow unless the people spend, not save. Not just spend, but borrow and spend. Saving is sin and spending is virtue.

I must say that the above argument has its merits in the American context but we Asians believe in our own values.

Hence, savings will remain a virtue and we will continue to embrace this belief in us and our children as it is our savings habit that has brought us to where we are today while our spending habits are slowly but surely rising.

It may not come as a surprise that one day, we in Asia too will increase our desire for goods and services to the extent it undermines our ability to save and, at the same time, our ability to be a source of funds for the nation’s economic growth.

Drug Recall

Source: Dato’ Dr Jemilah Mahmood, Gleneagles Hospital

Dear all,

Please take the time to send this message to your loved ones, family and friends. Print it out and put it up in your office for public reading!

URGENT!!! PLEASE READ CAREFULLY FOR THE SAKE OF YOUR CHILDREN AND OTHERS!

_______________________________________

All drugs containing PHENYLPROPANOLAMINE are being recalled. You may want to try calling the 800 number listed on most drug boxes and inquire about a REFUND. Please read this CAREFULLY, as I know that some of you may USE some of these drugs (Alka Seltzer Plus for one). Also, please pass this on to everyone you know. STOP TAKING anything containing this ingredient. It has been linked to increased hemorrhagic stroke (bleeding in brain) among women ages 18-49 in the three days after starting use of medication. Problems were not found in men, but the FDA recommended that everyone (even children) seek alternative medicine.

The following medications contain Phenylpropanolamine:

Acutrim Diet Gum Appetite Suppressant Plus Dietary Supplements

Acutrim Maximum Strength Appetite Control Alka-Seltzer Plus

Children's Cold Medicine Effervescent

Alka-Seltzer Plus Cold medicine (cherry or orange)

Alka-Seltzer Plus Cold ! Medicine Original

Alka-Seltzer Plus Cold & Cough Medicine Effervescent

Alka-Seltzer Plus Cold & Flu Medicine Effervescent

Alka-Seltzer Plus Cold & Sinus Effervescent

Alka Seltzer Plus Night-Time Cold Medicine Effervescent

BC Allergy Sinus Cold Powder

BC Sinus Cold Powder

Comtrex Deep Chest Cold & Congestion Relief

Comtrex Flu Therapy & Fever Relief

Day & Night Contac 12-Hour Cold Capsules

Contac 12 Hour Caplets

Coricidin D Cold, Flu & Sinus

Dexatrim Caffeine Free

Dexatrim Extended Duration

Dexatrim Gelcaps

Dexatrim Vitamin C/Caffeine Free

Dimetapp Cold & Allergy Chewable Tablets

Dimetapp Cold & Cough Liqui-Gels

Dimetapp DM Cold & Cough Elixir

Dimetapp Elixir

Dimetapp 4 Hour Liquid Gels

Dimetapp 4 Hour Tablets

Dimetapp 12 Hour Extentabs Tablets

Naldecon DX Pediatric Drops

Tavist-D 12 Hour Relief of Sinus & Nasal Congestion

Triaminic DM Cough Relief

Triaminic Expectorant Chest & Head Congestion

Triaminic Syrup Cold & Allergy

Triaminic Triaminicol Cold & Cough

I just found out and called the 800# on the container for Triaminic and they informed me that they are voluntarily recalling the following medicines because of a certain ingredient that is causing strokes and seizures in children:

Orange 3D Cold & Allergy Cherry (Pink)

3D Cold & Cough Berry

3D Cough Relief

Yellow 3D Expectorant

They are asking you to call them at 1800-548-3708 with the lot number on the box so they can send you postage for you to send it back to them, and they will also issue you a refund. If you know of anyone else with small children, PLEASE PASS THIS ON. THIS IS SERIOUS STUFF. DO PASS ALONG TO ALL ON YOUR MAILING LIST so people are informed. They can then pass it along to their families. To confirm these findings please take time to check the following URL:

http://www.fda.gov/cder/drug/infopage/ppa/default.htm>