Category: Berita

Belum Aksesi FCTC, Pemerintah Indonesia Dianggap Abai pada Anak

Meningkatnya jumlah perokok pada anak dalam sepuluh tahun terakhir menandakan kegagalan pemerintah dalam melindungi anak. Karena itu, Direktur Eksekutif Lentera Anak Indonesia Hery Chariansyah, SH menegaskan, pemerintah harus segera menandatangani perjanjian internasional Konvensi Kerangka Kerja Pengendalian Tembakau (FCTC).

“Prevalensi perokok anak usia 10-14 tahun meningkat dari 9,5 persen pada tahun 2001 menjadi 17,5 persen pada tahun 2010. Sementara itu usia 14-19 tahun meningkat dari 12,7 persen tahun 2001 menjadi 20,3 persen pada tahun 2010,” kata Heri saat temu media di Gran Sahid Jaya Hotel, Jakarta, ditulis Rabu (27/8/2014).

Hery menerangkan, data tersebut menunjukkan bahwa anak adalah target pasar dan satu-satunya sumber perokok pengganti (substitusi) yang menjamin keberlangsungan dan perkembangan industri rokok. Oleh sebab itu, dia mendesak Presiden SBY karena di akhir masa pemerintahannya belum ada tanda-tanda Indonesia akan aksesi FCTC.

“Sudah saatnya Indonesia menunjukkan keberpihakannya untuk melindungi anak dari zat adiktif rokok dengan melakukan upaya kebijakan yang dapat mencegah anak menjadi perokok pemula. Ini juga dilakukan agar hak konstitusional anak untuk dapat tumbuh dan berkembang secara maksimal dapat diwujudkan seperti dalam undang-undang dasar 1945 pasal 28B ayat (2),” jelasnya.

FCTC, lanjut Hery, sama sekali tidak akan mematikan industri rokok atau petani tembakau. Justru FCTC akan melindungi generasi muda dari dampak buruk rokok terhadap kesehatan.

“Absennya Indonesia dari 177 negara yang telah meratifikasi FCTC akan mengakibatkan Indonesia menjadi target pasar dan merusak kesehatan generasi bangsa. Sementara rokok rentan di usia anak-anak, perempuan dan penduduk miskin,” katanya.

Hery menambahkan, regulasi yang ada saat ini tidak mampu membendung upaya sistematis dan masif industri rokok yang memengaruhi anak-anak. Sebab rokok mengandung 7.000 bahan kimia, 70 diantaranya menyebabkan kanker.

“Jika sampai batas akhir kekuasaan Presiden SBY tidak melakukan aksesi FCTC, maka patut disebut Pemerintah tidak berpihak terhadap perlindungan anak dan gagal melindungi anak dari zat adiktif rokok,” ungkapnya.

sumber http://health.liputan6.com

Indonesia’s cash for health program

Indonesia’s conditional cash transfer program, Program Keluarga Harapan (PKH), provides cash to poor households in exchange for meeting specified health targets. It aims to reduce poverty and improve maternal and child health. But does it work?

After the success of Mexico’s social assistance program PROGRESA (now Oportunidades), Indonesia followed suit in 2007 with the implementation of a pilot program, PKH. PKH set out to speed up the attainment of the Millennium Development Goals, especially poverty reduction and improved maternal and child health. Indonesia’s PKH targets the poorest households with children or expectant mothers. The requirements typically include prenatal and postnatal checks, vaccinations and school enrolment and attendance.

Under PKH, program participants are required to have four prenatal visits; facility-based delivery (the original requirement was childbirth assisted by a trained health care provider); two postnatal visits; monthly weighing; vaccinations and vitamin A for children under five; and enrolment in primary and junior high school with a minimum of 85 per cent attendance for school-aged children.

To the government’s credit, PKH has been more successful than other social assistance programs in identifying and enrolling poor households. The impact evaluation finds that the program has increased participants’ utilisation of primary health care services, which suggests that the program has improved health care access for the poor. Unfortunately, the program has no effect on education. This is not surprising, however, since primary school enrolment is already high (greater than 80 per cent) and the transition rate to junior high school is fairly high (roughly 75 per cent).

Even though the program is successful in getting participants to ‘show up’ to meet the health requirements, participants’ health-seeking behaviour unfortunately has not translated to improvements in long-term outcomes — such as reductions in the incidence of low birth weight and mortality. The lack of impact here is partly related to the supply side of the health care market.

Conditional cash transfer (CCT) programs operate best when the health care system has adequate supply to absorb the additional demand stemming from the program requirements. In some places, there is insufficient supply or no excess capacity in the health care system, so there is a change in price, quantity or quality from the supply side — which can dampen the effects of the program. In particular, higher prices are expected in the short term, before new health care providers can enter the market to increase supply. This increase in demand may also reduce quality of care as providers see more patients.

Indonesia’s public providers are also allowed to hold private practice part-time, and this potentially impacts on the program. As the CCT increases demand for health care — for providers with both public and private practices — they can respond with higher prices in private practice, thereby increasing average prices.

Also, public providers may opt to pursue their more lucrative private practice. This could strain the public system and quality of care would suffer. The combination of lower quality and higher prices could limit health care access, thereby defeating the purpose of the program. This possibility is a particular concern for households that just miss the CCT cut-off.

PKH is planned to go national this year. It will be interesting to analyse the long-term effects and how the effects change as the program expands. The supply of health care will become an even more important issue with the implementation of the national health insurance system, Jaminan Kesehatan Nasional.

The Indonesian government is continuing to seek better ways of delivering health care services to the public and to the poor. As the government is taking steps to strengthen the health care system — through efforts such as PKH — we can be cautiously optimistic for what the future holds.

source: http://www.eastasiaforum.org

Guru Besar UI Ingatkan Legalitas Kartu Indonesia Sehat

Salah satu program yang sudah disebut presiden terpilih, Joko Widodo adalah Kartu Indonesia Sehat (KIS). Kini muncul pandangan yang mengingatkan agar KIS disinkronisasi dengan peraturan perundang-undangan yang ada. Terutama dengan UU No. 40 Tahun 2004 tentang Sistem Jaminan Sosial Nasional (SJSN) dan UU No. 24 Tahun 2011 tentang Badan Penyelenggara Jaminan Sosial (BPJS).

Guru Besar Fakultas Kesehatan Masyarakat Universitas Indonesia, Hasbullah Thabrany, mengingatkan bahwa sejak 1 Januari 2014 lalu pemerintah sudah mentransformasi PT Askes dan Jamsostek menjadi BPJS Kesehatan dan BPJS Ketenagakerjaan. Sistem jaminan kesehatan ini merupakan amanat Undang-Undang.

Karena itu, sistem kesehatan yang hendak diperkenalkan pemerintahan baru, termasuk KIS, seharusnya mengikuti aturan yang sudah ada. Untuk mengatasi itu sebenarnya pemerintah dan DPR bisa saja menyusun Undang-Undang baru. Tetapi opsi ini membutuhkan waktu lama. Penataan BPJS Kesehatan dan BPJS Ketenagakerjaan juga sudah menghabiskan sumber daya dan dana yang besar. Perjuangan masyarakat mendorong BPJS sudah sangat panjang.

“Kalau KIS mau diterbitkan menggunakan UU baru, bakal makan waktu lama dan bertentangan dengan peraturan yang ada (UU SJSN dan BPJS,-red),” kata Hasbullah dalam acara diskusi dan peluncuran buku di Jakarta, Selasa (26/8).

Tim pemenangan Jokowi-JK, Rieke Diah Pitaloka, menegaskan KIS tidak bertentangan dengan UU SJSN dan BPJS. KIS hanya nama kartu yang akan digunakan untuk pelaksanaan program jaminan sosial sebagaimana amanat UU SJSN yaitu Jaminan Kesehatan, Jaminan Pensiun, Jaminan Hari Tua, Jaminan Kecelakaan Kerja dan Jaminan Kematian. Sedangkan badan penyelenggara KIS tetap BPJS.

Menurut Rieke, KIS bertujuan mengoreksi pelaksanaan jaminan sosial yang digelar pemerintahan saat ini. “KIS tidak hanya berfungsi untuk mengakses program Jaminan Kesehatan, tapi program jaminan sosial lainnya sebagaimana amanat UU SJSN. KIS mengoreksi Jaminan Kesehatan Nasional (JKN) yang dilaksanakan pemerintahan saat ini,” ujar anggota Komisi IX itu.

Rieke menyebut pemerintahan Jokowi-JK akan segera menuntaskan peraturan pelaksana BPJS Ketenagakerjaan yang harus beroperasi pada 1 Juli 2015. BPJS Ketenagakerjaan akan menggelar program Jaminan Pensiun, Jaminan Hari Tua, Jaminan Kecelakaan kerja dan Jaminan Kematian. Targetnya, peraturan itu selesai Desember 2014, setelah itu enam bulan selanjutnya akan dilakukan sosialisasi masif. “Peraturan turunan BPJS Ketenagakerjaan harus bisa diselesaikan pemerintahan Jokowi-JK,” tegasnya.

Praktisi Jaminan Sosial dan Asuransi Jiwa, Odang Muchtar, berharap KIS dapat menambah fasilitas kesehatan tingkat pertama secara meluas dan berkualitas. Untuk mewujudkannya diharapkan pemerintahan Jokowi-JK meningkatkan anggaran kesehatan minimal 5 persen dari APBN. “Kami harap Presiden bisa meningkatkan anggaran kesehatan,” tukasnya.

Direktur Kepesertaan BPJS Kesehatan, Sri Endang Tidarwati, mengingatkan ada 7 juta masyarakat di luar Penerima Bantuan Iuran (PBI) yang berasal dari 12 Provinsi dan 139 Kabupaten/Kota. Saat ini mereka ditanggung lewat APBD. Endang mengusulkan agar kelompok masyarakat itu dimasukkan ke dalam KIS. Sehingga Pemda didorong untuk fokus pada penyediaan pelayanan kesehatan peserta agar lebih baik.

Selain itu ada sekitar 2 juta masyarakat penyandang masalah sosial yang belum tercakup Jaminan Kesehatan. Sehingga mereka kerap mengalami kesulitan ketika sakit. Sri Endang mencatat per 22 Agustus 2014 jumlah peserta BPJS Kesehatan mencapai lebih dari 126 juta orang. Padahal, peta jalan menargetkan jumlah peserta sampai Desember tahun ini 121,6 juta orang.Walau melampaui taget capaian kepesertaan, Endang mengatakan kondisi itu belum menjamin kestabilan BPJS Kesehatan.

Dari jumlah itu sebanyak 6 juta orang merupakan peserta bukan penerima upah atau mandiri. Biasanya, mereka mendaftar ketika sakit dan dirawat di Rumah Sakit (RS). Kemudian membayar iuran awal untuk menjadi peserta BPJS Kesehatan.

Oleh karenanya untuk menjaga kestabilan BPJS Kesehatan, Endang berharap agar peserta yang bertambah berasal dari kelompok pekerja penerima upah. “Itu masalah yang kami hadapi. Buntutnya keuangan BPJS, pembiayaan kapitasi dan INA-CBGs,” ucapnya.

Presidium Komite Politik Buruh Indonesia (KPBI), Indra Munaswar, menekankan agar KIS tidak keluar dari ketentuan UU SJSN dan BPJS. “Kalau tidak patuhi peraturan itu maka Presiden yang baru nanti akan kami desak untuk turun,” paparnya.

Indra mengusulkan agar Permenkes No. 69 Tahun 2013 tentang Standar Tarif Pelayanan Kesehatan pada Fasilitas Kesehatan Tingkat Pertama dan Fasilitas Kesehatan Tingkat Lanjutan Dalam Penyelenggaraan Jaminan Kesehatan segera direvisi. Sebab, regulasi itu berdampak pada banyak pihak. Salah satunya, peserta tidak mendapat pelayanan yang baik.

Mantan Dirut PT Askes, Gede Subawa, mencatat ada benturan antara tenaga kesehatan dan pasien karena sistem INA-CBGs. Penyebabnya, komponen ongkos tenaga medis di RS tidak jelas. Sebab di setiap RS menerapkan standar yang berbeda.

Gede mengusulkan agar INA-CBGs dievaluasi karena sistem ini masih membuka peluang bagi RS tipe tertentu mengeruk keuntungan besar. Mereka tidak melayani peserta sebagaimana mestinya tapi malah merujuk ke RS yang tipenya lebih tinggi. “Usulan saya, harus ada satu tim khusus mengkaji INA-CBGs, karena itu akar masalah juga,” pungkasnya.

sumber: http://www.hukumonline.com/

Will Indonesia’s Cash For Health Program Work?

Under PKH, program participants are required to have four prenatal visits; facility-based delivery (the original requirement was childbirth assisted by a trained health care provider); two postnatal visits; monthly weighing; vaccinations and vitamin A for children under five; and enrollment in primary and junior high school with a minimum of 85 percent attendance for school-aged children.

To the government’s credit, PKH has been more successful than other social assistance programs in identifying and enrolling poor households. The impact evaluation finds that the program has increased participants’ utilization of primary health care services, which suggests that the program has improved health care access for the poor. Unfortunately, the program has no effect on education. This is not surprising, however, since primary school enrollment is already high (greater than 80 percent) and the transition rate to junior high school is fairly high (roughly 75 percent).

Even though the program is successful in getting participants to ‘show up’ to meet the health requirements, participants’ health-seeking behavior unfortunately has not translated to improvements in long-term outcomes—such as reductions in the incidence of low birth weight and mortality. The lack of impact here is partly related to the supply side of the health care market.

Conditional cash transfer (CCT) programs operate best when the health care system has adequate supply to absorb the additional demand stemming from the program requirements. In some places, there is insufficient supply or no excess capacity in the health care system, so there is a change in price, quantity or quality from the supply side—which can dampen the effects of the program. In particular, higher prices are expected in the short term, before new health care providers can enter the market to increase supply. This increase in demand may also reduce quality of care as providers see more patients.

Indonesia’s public providers are also allowed to hold private practice part-time, and this potentially impacts on the program. As the CCT increases demand for health care—for providers with both public and private practices—they can respond with higher prices in private practice, thereby increasing average prices.

The Indonesian government is continuing to seek better ways of delivering health care services to the public and to the poor. As the government is taking steps to strengthen the health care system—through efforts such as PKH—we can be cautiously optimistic for what the future holds.

source: http://www.asianscientist.com

DPR: Menteri Kesehatan Harus Dokter

Wakil Ketua Komisi IX DPR, Irgan Chairul Mahfiz mendukung pernyataan Menteri Kesehatan (Menkes) Nafsiah Mboi bahwa Menkes periode mendatang harus berlatangbelakang medis atau dokter senior, karena yang ditangani adalah wilayah kesehatan yang domainnya adalah dokter.

“Cuma lagi tidak murni berprofesi dokter saja, tetapi lebih bagus juga yang telah memiliki kemampuan manajemen yang baik dan sudah teruji kapasitas menangani hal-hal diluar medis,” kata Irgan kepada Harian Terbit, kemarin.

Politisi Partai Persatuan Pembangunan (PPP) ini melanjutkan, pernyataannya bukan bermaksud meremehkan profesi lain seperti yang dinyatakan Menkes. Sebab, jelasnya, kalangan profesi lain jelas tidak memahami hulu hilir teknis masalah medis. “Saya kira prioritas pertama sependapat dengan Menkes (harus dari kalangan medis). Setelah itu baru kalangan profesi lain,” ujarnya.

Anggota Komisi IX DPR lainnya, dr. Surya Chandra Surapaty, MPH, PhD, menegaskan, jabatan Menkes harus kompeten dalam bidang kesehatan. “Dokter kan paham akan tingkat-tingkat pemeliharaan kesehatan, yakni preventif, promotif, kuratif dan rehabilitatif. Kalau tidak dokter, ya paling tidak dia ahli kesehatan masyarakat. Kalau sarjana lain tidak pas jadi Menkes,” kata dr. Surya Chandra.

Politisi Partai Demokrasi Indonesia Perjuangan (PDIP) ini menjelaskan, setiap profesi sudah memiliki keahliannya masing-masing. Sehingga, katanya, Menkes harus dari kalangan dokter bukan melecehkan profesi lain tidak layak menjabat sebagai Menkes. “Katanya perlu syarat kompeten dan profesional? Bagi-bagi dong bidangnya,” tegasnya.

Sebelumnya, Menteri Kesehatan (Menkes), dr. Nafsiah Mboi, SpA, MPH, menyatakan masalah kesehatan di Indonesia sulit teratasi apabila Menkes periode 2014-2019 tidak berasal dari kalangan medis atau dokter. Sebab, katanya, sistem maupun kebijakan yang ada di Indonesia adalah menteri masih harus berhubungan langsung dengan berbagai kalangan termasuk masyarakat.

“Pengalaman saya sendiri ya, sulit kalau tidak dari kalangan medis atau kalangan dokter. Struktur kita beda, kalau di Indonesia menteri itu mempunyai hubungan langsung dengan organisasi profesi, RS, kebijakan-kebijakan di daerah, itu masih menterinya terlibat langsung,” kata Menkes.

Dia melanjutkan, Indonesia berbeda dengan negara-negara lain seperti Inggris ketika masih zaman negara persemakmuran bahwa menteri itu jabatan politik saja. Dimana, ketika partainya kalah dalam pemilu maupun pemerintahan, jabatan menteri diganti. “Mungkin seperti di negara-negara lain, disitu menteri itu kedudukan politik, maka siapa saja bisa,” ujarnya.

Selain itu, Menkes juga mengusulakan Menkes periode mendatang harus dokter senior karena kemampuan berkomunikasi baik dan memiliki kemampuan yang lebih. Namun, tambahnya, bukan tidak berarti yang bukan dari kalangan dokter tidak bisa berkomunikasi, tetapi membutuhkan waktu dan sebagainya. “Yang penting dia (Menkes) punya pejabat-pejabat dibawahnya (PNS) ini paling kuat. Jadi menterinya siapa saja bisa,” pungkasnya.

sumber: http://www.harianterbit.com

Ebola outbreak: World Health Organisation drafts strategy to combat disease as death toll rises to 1,427

The World Health Organisation (WHO) says it is finalising a plan to stop the spread of the deadly Ebola virus, with details to be released early next week.

The death toll from the Ebola outbreak in West Africa has risen to 1,427, according to the latest figures released by the WHO.

Liberia remains the worst-affected country with 624 deaths. Guinea has seen 406 people die while the disease has killed 392 in Sierra Leone and five in Nigeria.

The UN agency says it has drawn up a draft strategy to combat the disease over the next six to nine months.

David Nabarro, senior United Nations system coordinator for Ebola, who was travelling with the WHO’s Dr Keiji Fukuda in Liberia, said the strategy would involve ramping up the number of health workers fighting the disease.

“It means more doctors, Liberian doctors, more nurses, Liberian nurses, and more equipment,” he said.

“But it also means, of course, more international staff.”

The announcement comes after aid agency Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF), which has urged the WHO to do more, said that the speed of the crisis was outstripping the ability of authorities to cope.

The affected West African countries were already struggling with few doctors and fragile healthcare systems before the Ebola outbreak was first identified in March.

Health workers have been among the hardest hit by the disease.

The head of MSF, Joanne Liu, told Reuters that the fight against Ebola was being undermined by a lack of international leadership and emergency management skills.

In a sign of spreading regional alarm, Senegal, West Africa’s humanitarian hub, said it had blocked a UN aid plane from landing and was banning all further flights to and from countries affected by Ebola.

The WHO has repeatedly said it does not recommend travel or trade restrictions for countries affected by Ebola, saying such measures could heighten food and supply shortages.

Gabon has also announced its suspension of air and sea links to the four affected countries, following the lead of a number of regional nations who have defied WHO advice in an attempt to isolate themselves from the disease.

Families hiding infected loved ones

The WHO said the scale of the outbreak has been underestimated and that many cases have probably gone unreported, especially in Liberia and Sierra Leone.

Families hiding infected loved ones and the existence of “shadow zones” where medics cannot go mean the Ebola epidemic is even bigger than thought, the agency said.

The WHO said it is now working with the MSF and the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to produce “more realistic estimates”.

The stigma surrounding Ebola poses a serious obstacle to efforts to contain the virus, which causes regular outbreaks in the forests of Central Africa but is striking for the first time in the continent’s western nations and their heavily populated capitals.

“As Ebola has no cure, some believe infected loved ones will be more comfortable dying at home,” the WHO said in a statement detailing why the outbreak had been underestimated.

“Others deny that a patient has Ebola and believe that care in an isolation ward – viewed as an incubator of the disease – will lead to infection and certain death.”

In other cases health centres are being suddenly overwhelmed with patients, suggesting there is an invisible caseload of patients not on the radar of official surveillance systems.

US experts have played down hopes of a cure for Ebola after two American health workers were sent home from hospital after being cleared of the virus.

source: http://www.abc.net.au

Tiga Masalah Kesehatan yang Dihadapi Indonesia

Hasil riset yang dilakukan lembaga riset “The Indonesian Institute” mencatat, ada tiga hal besar yang masih menjadi persoalan dalam bidang kesehatan di Indonesia.

Yang pertama adalah masalah infrastruktur yang belum merata dan kurang memadai. Karena dari sekitar 9.599 puskesmas dan 2.184 rumah sakit yang ada di Indonesia, sebagian besarnya masih berpusat di kota-kota besar.

“Masih banyak masyarakat di daerah yang tidak bisa mengakses pelayanan kesehatan karena tidak adanya fasilitas kesehatan yang disediakan. Alasan lainnya juga karena letak geografis yang sulit dijangkau,” papar Direktur Riset dari “The Indonesian Institute” Lola Amelia, dalam acara talkshow Beritasatu.com Festival, di Jakarta, Sabtu (23/8).

Persoalan kedua juga menyangkut masalah distribusi yang belum merata, khususnya tenaga kesehatan. “Beberapa daerah masih banyak yang kekurangan tenaga kesehatan, terutama untuk dokter spesialis. Memang sudah ada program ‘bidan masuk desa’, tapi kan mereka tidak menetap,” ujar dia.

Data terakhir Kementerian Kesehatan RI memang mencatat, sebanyak 52,8 persen dokter spesialis berada di Jakarta, sementara di NTT dan provinsi di bagian Timur Indonesia lainnya hanya sekitar 1-3 persen saja.

Persoalan terakhir yang menjadi catatan “The Indonesian Institute” adalah soal pendanaan. Karena untuk tahun 2014, pemerintah hanya mengalokasikan 2,4 persen dana APBN untuk bidang kesehatan. Padahal Undang-undang Kesehatan Nomor 36/2009 mengamanatkan dana kesehatan sebesar 5 persen dari APBN.

“Ini sebetulnya masalah kemauan pemerintah saja. Tapi kalau melihat visi dan misi Jokowi sebagai Presiden RI, dia setuju akan menaikkan anggaran kesehatan menjadi 5 persen. Mudah-mudahan di pemerintahannya nanti, hal itu bisa direalisasikan,” harap Lola.

sumber: http://www.beritasatu.com

WHO: HIV prevention urgently needed for MSM and transgender people

The World Health Organization (WHO) has warned that the global fight against HIV risks stalling without stronger preventative treatments for transgender people and gay and bisexual men.

As well as offering medical advice, WHO has recommended that countries “remove the legal and social barriers that prevent many people from accessing services”. In countries which do not prevent discrimination against groups such as transgender people and gay men, seeking healthcare often carries severe risks which render treatment inaccessible.

The message comes as WHO issues new “guidelines on HIV prevention, diagnosis, treatment and care for key populations”, ahead of an International AIDS Conference to be held in Australia later this month.

In a press release, WHO noted that transgender women are at particularly high risk, being “almost 50 times more likely to have HIV than other adults”. Men who have sex with men (MSM) are “19 times more likely to have HIV than the general population”.

Other key risk groups are sex workers, people in prison, and people who inject drugs.

Dr Gottfried Hirnschall, Direction of the HIV Department at WHO, said: “Failure to provide services to the people who are at greatest risk of HIV jeopardizes further progress against the global epidemic and threatens the health and wellbeing of individuals, their families and the broader community.”

The announcement marks the first time that WHO has strongly recommended pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) for MSM “as an additional method of preventing HIV infection”, to be used in conjunction with condoms.

“Modelling estimates that, globally, 20-25% reductions in HIV incidence among men who have sex with men could be achieved through pre-exposure prophylaxis, averting up to 1 million new infections among this group over 10 years,” WHO states.

PrEP is a preventative treatment for people who are HIV-negative, but at high risk of contracting the infection. The treatment involves taking one anti-retroviral pill daily and, if used consistently, has been shown to reduce the risk of infection by up to 92%.

Guidelances released at last year’s International AIDS Conference recommended that antiretroviral treatment should be offered to HIV-positive patients at an earlier stage in the progression of the infection.

Earlier this year, the U.S. Centre for Disease Control (CDC) extended its own recommendations on the preventative usage of the PrEP drug Truvada to new groups.

Results of another study released this week showed that the use of Truvada as PrEP also lowers inflectional rates of genital herpes by 30%.

In the UK, the drug is currently still in its experimental trial period, but some campaigners are already calling for it to be made available on the NHS.

source: www.pinknews.co.uk

Konsumsi Susu Indonesia Masih 32 Gelas Per Tahun

Konsumsi susu di Indonesia diprediksi yang terendah di antara negara Asia lainnya. Masyarakat Indonesia rata-rata hanya mengonsumsi 32 gelas susu per tahun. Padahal idealnya, seseorang membutuhkan 100 liter susu per tahun.

Ketua Panitia Festival Dessert “Mooseum,”, Danniswara menjelaskan, ‎hingga kini isu konsumsi susu yang rendah kerap menjadi penyebab utama naik turunnya kualitas gizi masyarkat Indonesia.

“Oleh karena itu dibutuhkan sarana edukasi masyarakat Indonesia mengenai pentingnya mengonsumsi susu bagi kesehatan,” kata Danniswara, dalam keterangan tertulisnya, Jakarta, Minggu (13/7).

Itulah mengapa pihaknya menggelar ‎kegiatan seputar dunia susu‎, seperti “MooSharing”, yang merupakan kegiatan talkshow yang membahas transformasi susu menjadi produk susu dan membudayakan konsumsi susu.

Festival Dessert “Mooseum,” di Skygarden, Living World, Alam Sutera, Serpong juga menyajikan “Mooms & Kids Cupcake Decorating”, yang merupakan lomba bagi ibu dan anak untuk mendekorasi cupcake bersama.‎

Kegiatan yang diinisiasi oleh para mahasiswa S1 Marketing Prasetya Mulya tersebut juga dimeriahkan kegiatan ‘Moonster’, yakni hidangan penutup berukuran besar yang akan dibagi-bagikan kepada pengunjung sebagai menu berbuka puasa.

Mooseum tidak memungut biaya masuk bagi pengunjung dan akan berlangsung selama dua hari, yaitu 12-13 Juli 2014.

Selain itu digelar juga bazar hidangan penutup berbahan dasar susu dan mini museum interaktif, yang berisi berbagai macam pengetahuan proses pengolahan susu dengan berbagai teknologi. ‎Dengan rangkaian kegiatan tersebut diharapkan dapat mengurangi tingkat keengganan masyarakat mengonsumsi susu.

“Kami bertujuan dapat mencanangkan gerakan cinta susu. Sebagai langkah awal, kami mengundang anak-anak panti asuhan untuk datang ke ‘Mooseum’ untuk memperoleh susu gratis dan mengedukasi mereka mengenai budaya minum susu,” kata Danniswara.

sumber: www.beritasatu.com

Realizing a Global Vision for World Health Partners: Expansion to Africa

Over the last five years, World Health Partners (WHP) has worked to develop a system of healthcare delivery that meets the needs of those most vulnerable in India: rural communities who constitute three-fourths of the population. Last month, with the launch of a new collaborative project in Kisumu, western Kenya, WHP took the first step in realizing a foundational goal for the organization: expansion into Africa.

At first glance, expansion into Africa seems a counterintuitive step for WHP. Our expertise is in India. We have spent half a decade navigating challenges unique to the Indian health system. And, though we are proud of our progress, there remains no shortage of work in rural India. Yet, WHP’s mission has always been to deliver health services to those in need, a philosophy that is agnostic to country or region, and one that means working where the needs are greatest.

In my 25+ years of working in global health, I have seen countless programs take root and grow only to wither and fade – programs filled with great ideas that failed to adapt to local contexts, or programs with great promise that failed to innovate in the face of the uncertainties of low resource, weak infrastructure settings. Our experience working in rural Uttar Pradesh and Bihar, two of India’s largest and poorest states, has been a crucible of learning and innovation for us, and we relish the challenge of applying these lessons to a new country.

After over 120,000 successful telemedicine consultations in India, and having served millions of patients through our 6,000 rural Sky franchisees, we trust that our model is making a difference in the lives of those we reach.

Our new project in Kenya, implemented in collaboration with Kisumu Medical and Educational Trust (KMET), was born from a mutual desire to improve health services for rural Kenyans, many of whom remain underserved by the existing health system.

Kenya, like most countries in the developing world, has struggled to relocate doctors, nurses, and clinical services close to the rural communities that need them the most, communities in which nearly 75% of Kenya’s population still lives. In the face of an underdeveloped rural infrastructure and insufficient human resources for health, we believe our Sky network can be a catalyst for achieving universal health coverage.

For many rural communities of western Kenya, the first point of medical care is the local community health worker (CHW). The Sky franchise network transforms rural CHWs into sources and conduits for affordable and timely medical services through a combination of training, reliable supply of medicines and diagnostics, and telemedicine links to qualified doctors in urban centers.

This is a small beginning for WHP’s efforts in Africa. Existing human resources like CHWs in rural Kenya are present in every community; the native sense of entrepreneurship is a universal resource and the lynchpin of human ingenuity. We are confident that the linkages we help form, along with our micro-franchising approach, will not only empower local health workers, but give them the ownership necessary to truly bridge, sustainably and at scale, the access challenges that exist in much of Africa.

source: www.huffingtonpost.com