Hepatitis B

Hepatitis B

The campaign theme is designed to tell the real-life stories of the effect that hepatitis B and C have on the lives of the 500 million people living with the diseases worldwide. The campaign theme focuses on the physical and emotional impact of viral hepatitis, but also aims to empower those living with the diseases through the sharing of inspirational stories, he said. National Liver Foundation has launched the campaign theme to generate increased understanding and to help fight the diseases that kill over one million people every year. Shah explained, "Hepatitis B virus is a blood borne disease which is more infectious than HIV virus. We are confident that with the formation of new task force, NLF will be able to accomplish its mission and communicate with the target audiences more effectively."

Hepatitis B

HEPATITIS B is a deadly disease with a high prevalence rate in the Philippines. Studies show that in the Philippines there is a hepatitis B carrier rate of 9%. This means that out of 10 Filipinos at least 1 is a carrier of the hepatitis B virus. It is estimated that more than 7.7 million people are chronically infected with hepatitis B, of whom between 1.1 and 1.9 million are expected to die prematurely of cirrhosis or liver cancer. This makes chronic hepatitis B one of the most challenging infectious diseases to manage.
There are several reasons for the high burden of hepatitis B in the country. The two main reasons are lack of awareness of the disease coupled with inability to afford the expensive treatment.
Pharmaceutical company Roche sets to help address the problem. In line with the government’s thrust to provide easier access to medications, Roche recently launched the Pegassist Easy Access Plan for patients with hepatitis B.
Through the Pegassist Easy Access Plan, patients with hepatitis B can have access to the peg-interferon alfa-2a hepatitis treatment medication with discounts up to as much as 50%. "The Pegassist Easy Access Plan socializes the medication discount system. This means, patients who truly cannot afford the medication will get a higher discount accordingly," said Dr. Dennis Dioko, Roche specialty business unit director.

"For patients who are interested to see if they can qualify for discounts through the Pegassist Easy Access Plan, there are several ways to find out. First, if they are seeing a gastroenterologist, their doctor can refer them to the Hepatitis Hotline (718-7620). If they are not currently seeing a doctor, they can call the hotline directly and the hotline can refer them to a gastroenterologist nearest to them for consultation."
According to Dr. Dioko, "After hepatitis B patients call the hotline – manned by the Hepatitis Hotline nurse – and have already been prescribed Peg interferon alfa-2a by their doctors, they will be referred to a financial assessment agency. The financial assessment agency will then conduct an evaluation of the patient to determine the discount rate applicable to the patient. Once the financial assessment has been completed, the agency will decide how much of a discount the patient is eligible to receive. Patients can receive as much as 50% off of the medication."
The Hepatitis Hotline nurse will then inform the patient of their qualified discount rate. At this point, the nurse will also explain to the patients the details on how they can purchase their medication at the discounted rate through the plan’s official distributor.
"In addition to providing discounts on the medication, hepatitis B patients will also be provided with free selected hepatitis B laboratory tests that would have otherwise been very expensive. Tests such as HBV DNA Testing and S-quantification are samples of laboratory tests patients can have access to through the Pegassist Easy Access Plan. The hotline can guide them accordingly on how to avail of these discounted labs," added Dr. Dioko.
The program hopes to be able to make treatment and care available to a wider range of hepatitis B patients and give them the opportunity to get the medication they need. In addition to discounted medication and discounted laboratory tests, the hotline will also provide a nurse assistance program that will continue follow-ups on patients throughout the course of treatment. And for patients who wish to pay through credit card, they can opt to pay via staggered payments to make the payments even easier on their budgets.

Dukan Diet

Dreading the moment you hit the beach this summer? Does even packing your swimming costume fill you with terror?
The new Dukan Holiday Diet, starting exclusively in today’s Mail and continuing all next week, could be the answer to your prayers.
It’s the protein-packed weight-loss plan that’s swept Britain and now it’s been adapted by Dr Pierre Dukan himself to get you ready for the beach.
Of course, it’s only a few months since Carole Middleton used the Dukan Diet to get ready for a certain wedding. Kate’s mother revealed the secret of her quest to slim down for the big day in an interview. ‘I’ve been doing it for four days and I’ve lost 4lb,’ the 56-year-old revealed.
Speculation soon followed over whether her willowy daughters might have been adopting the principles of the diet plan, too.
Certainly the Dukan diet has been the most high-profile and universally popular weight loss regime since the Mail announced its arrival in Britain in April 2010.
Since then, this high-protein, low-fat eating plan has been credited with swift weight loss among those for whom dieting is a struggle and also the glitterati.
Jennifer Lopez credits Dukan for the toning of her famous curves, actress Penelope Cruz says Dukan snapped her back into red carpet shape after the birth of her daughter, and Welsh singer Katherine Jenkins swears by its  simple methods to keep her looking great for the cameras.
The diet plan was devised by French doctor Pierre Dukan to provide his obese patients with a weight-loss solution that didn’t sacrifice the great Gallic love for food. After 20 years of research Dr Dukan published his findings in 2000 in his book I Don’t Know How To Get Slimmer, which became a bestseller.
Central to the plan is that it acknowledges the pleasure to be had from eating and promises efficient weight loss while enjoying unlimited quantities of real food.
It is these principles — and this speedy weight loss — that make Dukan such a perfect way to get in shape for your summer holiday, and why Dr Dukan himself has developed a special plan for the Mail to get you ready for the beach.
Starting today, and continuing next week, the Mail will show you how to use this new Dukan Holiday Diet to lose weight fast — and then keep it off during your holiday and stay trim when you return.
Follow Dr Dukan’s plan from Monday, and by next weekend you could lose as much as 7lb!
Over five days, we will show you how to adapt the diet to suit the amount of weight you want to lose, and how to eat when you go on holiday. And, don’t worry, you can still have a great time enjoying delicious food and a glass of wine each day.
To help you, on Monday and every day next week, the Mail is giving away a glossy Dukan recipe card to help you lose weight. You can pick up yours from Tesco or WHSmith. The cards will suggest what to have for dinner during the first five days of the Dukan Holiday Diet — including dessert.
Then, inside the paper every day, you’ll get a daily meal planner with delicious options for breakfast, lunch and snacks.
‘It is very important that on holiday, you feel special and not deprived,’ Dr Dukan says.
‘A holiday is not a punishment, even if you’re on a diet. You don’t have to suffer, and there’s absolutely no reason why you should automatically gain any weight at all.’
Independent registered dietician Dr Sarah Schenker agrees.

‘Huge quantities of carbohydrates, particularly refined carbohydrates (white bread, pasta and rice) are just not good for your health, so the Dukan low-carb, protein-rich system strikes a mid-balance closer to a healthy way of eating than many of us realise,’ she says.
‘Even people who do not have a weight problem could learn a lesson from the Dukan system, by switching to a couple of carb-lite days after a carb-heavy weekend.’
HOW DUKAN WORKSThe Dukan Diet is not one, but four interconnecting diets designed to work against the body’s natural reluctance to let go of excess weight, and to ensure the pounds that are lost don’t come back.
It starts with a short, sharp Attack phase where you eat nothing but protein — just meat, fish, eggs and (unlike Atkins) no-fat or very low fat dairy products. This is the kick-start that gives you the initial, rapid weight loss, and sets the tone for the other stages of the Dukan plan.
Dr Dukan says this first stage of the diet produces obvious and immediate results — many people can expect to lose as much as 7lb in just five days.
‘There’s nothing wrong with spending one to five days in the protein-only Attack phase of the diet if you are otherwise healthy,’ says Dr Schenker.
‘It is an effective way to kick-start a diet. Even though much of the initial weight lost will be water, the speed of weight loss can be encouraging, and there’s a lot to be said for the motivational benefit of seeing your weight tumbling down.
‘As avocados, nuts and seeds are banned in the early stages of the diet, you should try to include oily fish in your protein selection (up to two portions a week for women of childbearing age, and up to four portions a week for men and post-menopausal women) to ensure you have a good intake of essential fats and fat soluble vitamins.’
You stay on the Attack phase from one to ten days depending on how much weight you have to lose, before moving on to the Cruise phase. This is the workhorse stage of the diet where you alternate the pure protein days of Attack with days when you add a delicious array of unlimited salads and vegetables to your wide selection of meat, fish and no-fat dairy products.
On Cruise, you can start a meal with a salad or soup, then follow it with meat or fish and vegetables. Most dieters lose a 2lbs a week during the Cruise phase, and stay on it until they reach their target weight.
The majority of diets would only take you this far, but Dr Dukan noticed how often his patients’ weight would begin to creep back up again once they reached their target weight and resumed their old eating habits.
To counter this, he created a third Consolidation phase for when you reach your ideal weight. In this stage, in addition to unlimited protein and salads/vegetables, you put fruit (one piece a day), bread (two slices), cheese and starchy foods like pasta (in moderation) back on the menu.
You are even encouraged to have two totally unrestrained ‘celebration meals’ a week — with alcohol, butter, bread, chocolate . . . or any other foods you truly love, but usually feel guilty about.
This is an important part of the diet’s acknowledgement that food, in all its variety, must be relished and enjoyed if you are going to stay at your target weight for ever.
Dr Dukan’s research shows that sticking to the Consolidation stage for five days for every 1lb you lose, allows the body to permanently establish its new equilibrium.
The fourth and final stage, Stabilisation, allows you to eat and drink whatever you like without guilt or restriction, with one caveat: only protein on Thursdays. For ever.

Hepatitis B

The ministry of health has sent a team of medical experts to launch a fight against hepatitis B that has been reported in Kasese district, western Uganda.
Dr. Kenya Mugisha, the officer in charge of general duties at the Ministry of Health says that the district of Kasese has registered over 86 cases of hepatitis B in the last 11 months.

Mugisha says the ministry is going on immunizing the people of Kasese and the nearby districts. He says the main source of hepatitis B is poor hygiene.
Hepatitis B is a viral disease which attacks the liver reducing its function ability, causing loss of appetite and general body weakness.
Other symptoms of the disease are nausea abdominal pain, yellow skin and eyes and releasing dark urine.

Geylang Checker

THESE days, when she opens her e-mail account, she psychs herself for death threats and warnings of rape and other forms of assault from anonymous senders.
"I will kill you when I hunt you down," one e-mail reads. Another says: "I will rape you ladies when I get hold of you."
Yet another adds: "Geylang syndicate is not good to be trifled with."
But these ominous e-mail messages have not deterred the woman, who prefers to be known as Angie, from running Geylang Checker, a website she set up last July to monitor "cheating men in Geylang".
In an e-mail interview with my paper, she revealed that she has put together a team of more than 50 so-called "checkers", mostly women and a few men, who conduct "hourly patrols of Geylang streets" every day.
They snap photographs of boyfriends, husbands, male relatives and colleagues who solicit the services of prostitutes, she said.
The checkers receive assignments and tip-offs from women who seek their help in finding out if their men have been to the red-light district.
Angie is in her early 30s and works in "one of the five big auditing firms" here. She confessed that she feared for her life and those of her volunteers "many times".
"Safety is a concern, but helping Singaporean women takes a higher priority," she said. Her family is unaware of her activities. She started the website because she did not want other women to go through what she had experienced.
In May last year, she caught her then boyfriend stepping out of a brothel in Geylang and saw him kiss a woman on his way out.
"I didn't believe it when my friend told me, so I took a cab down and waited outside," she recalled. Angie immediately broke off their relationship.
"We had been together for six years. I deleted his contact numbers and warned him not to look for me any more," she said.
To date, there have been 43 postings on the website, featuring photographs of men and women, and recruitment ads for more volunteers.
She and her volunteers have received 30 requests so far and exposed 15 cases of cheating, she said. The website was initially a one-woman operation but Angie roped in two friends whose boyfriends had cheated on them to take photos surreptitiously in the Geylang area.
She said she did not have any long-term plan at first.
She wants website to deter cheating by men
She conjectured that the initial trio were able to take photos without any fuss as they were "dressed formally" and people thought they were tourists.
She said that, while they are not trained professionally or skilled in martial arts, they have "the guts and strategy", although their "cameras are not well-furnished".
The site has a donation link but funding is limited as people think it is a scam, she said. Still, the team grew bigger when people heard of the site by word of mouth and through their call to arms on the site.

The volunteers come from all walks of life. They include lawyers, doctors, junior-college and university students, office workers and housewives.
Men have stepped forward as well. She calls them "our secret weapon" and revealed that one of them works in the army and provides them with "expertise in guerilla warfare".
She said the army expert has taught the volunteers to work in two teams. One works as a decoy, while the other snaps photos.
Angie said: "We have also planned our escape route. We know which hotels we can hide in if we're being chased."
However, there have been some close shaves with the men they were tracking. She recalled that a female volunteer was once caught taking photos and was chased by two men.
They cornered her and smashed her camera on the ground. Before they could "make advances on her", the police arrived and the men fled, she said.
Security experts my paper spoke to said that while they commend the intentions of the volunteers, they may not achieve the best results.
Mr James Loh, 39, who owns SG Investigators, said that the cheating spouse may not stop his errant ways even after being confronted.
In fact, he said that the group's photo-taking "will jeopardise the collection of evidence that can be used by the court". Such evidence is required for settling divorce claims.
Only evidence collected by a professional and licensed source may be used, said the investigator of more than eight years.
Nevertheless, Angie said she does not intend to stop the website any time soon.
She said she wants the site to become a "whistle-blower" and her master plan is to create a site that is "a complete deterrent to cheating among Singaporean men".
She is single and has not dated anyone since her break-up last year. But she is still keen to pursue a relationship.
She said: "Yes, trust (in men) has been lost, but I want to see how my future partner can help me regain this trust so that Geylang Checker may be passed on to the next hurting woman."