The World's Deadliest Drug: Inside a Krokodil Cookhouse

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Cuba: Cerraran los Hospitales de Jovellanos y Jagüey Grande en Matanzas

El Blog de Medicina Cubana

Por: Asunción Carrillo Hernández.*

Cerraran el servicio dos de los hospitales de la provincia de Matanzas como consecuencia de la falta de personal médico para mantener la asistencia y de recursos para su funcionamiento. Entre tanto cientos de trabajadores de la salud se encuentran cumpliendo misiones en disímiles países.

Hospital General Docente Pedro Betancourt
Jovellanos, Matanzas.

Entre los centros asistenciales que cerraran sus puertas se encuentran: El General Docente Pedro Betancourt del poblado de Jovellanos que brinda su atención a 58 123 habitantes y el Hospital Clínico Quirúrgico Iluminado Rodríguez del municipio de Jagüey Grande que atiende a una población de 57 771.

Los trabajadores del sector que laboran en estos centros serán reubicados en otros hospitales  de este tipo que permanecerán al auxilio sin que esto genere como medida adicional garantizar el transporte.

Dentro de las disposiciones adopta-das previo al proceso se encuentra: otorgar las vacaciones acumuladas, realizar listados por especialidades, poner en marcha la comisión de idoneidad e incrementar el número de disponibles (desempleados).

Las inconformidades fundamentales se centran en el personal auxiliar, quienes encabezan el gran número de desempleados que generará la interrupción de estas instalaciones, sin embargo, no encuentran respuesta a sus interrogantes en directivos a ningún nivel mucho menos en quienes los representan, el Sindicato de Trabajadores.

El Cubano Libre de Hoy .Edición quincenal Año I No. 15 .1 de diciembre de 2013

*Madre del expreso político Iván Hernández. Es miembro de la organización  Damas de Blanco y colabora con la publicación El Cubano Libre de Hoy.

Cuba: Animales muertos, putrefacción: el vertedero se desborda y mata

Videos de Reinaldo Emilio Cosano 

Leer en Cubanet >>

O'Reilly: President Obama trying to make a comeback with ObamaCare

Diagnostica Cuba cada año más de mil 500 casos de VIH-Sida

periodicodigital

La Habana, Cuba.- Cuba diagnostica cada año más de mil 500 casos de VIH-Sida, de los que un 80 por ciento tienen entre 15 y 49 años de edad, informó la jefa del Departamento de Infecciones de Transmisión Sexual del Ministerio de Salud Pública, María Lantero.

El 80 por ciento de los infectados son hombres, y de estos el 90 por ciento son hombres que tienen sexo con otros hombres, detalló la especialista en declaraciones a la prensa en el marco del Día Mundial de la Lucha contra el Sida, que se celebra el 1 de diciembre.

Lantero aseguró que Cuba garantiza la atención integral a toda persona con el virus de inmunodeficiencia humana (VIH), incluyendo tratamiento antirretroviral y apoyo psicológico y social.

La especialista dijo que las infecciones de transmisión sexual (ITS) y el VIH-Sida forman parte del cuadro de salud de esta nación caribeña con 11.1 millones de habitantes.

Señaló que se aboga por el uso del condón como herramienta eficaz para la prevención de las ITS y se fomentan los conocimientos en materia de prevención, asimismo, se promueve su empleo correcto y sistemático.

Reveló que más del 99 por ciento de todos los casos que se diagnostican han adquirido la infección a través de relaciones sexuales sin protección.

White House Misses HealthCare.Gov Fix Deadline

breitbart

By John Nolte 

The Washington Post reports that the White House will announce Sunday that it has met its self-imposed deadline to fix the federal ObamaCare exchange known as HealthCare.gov. The Post also reports that, like everything else surrounding ObamaCare, this announcement is not even close to true.

The faulty $600 million site has been improved over the course of the last two months. Still, though, it can only handle 50,000 users at a time. Moreover, the site still loads slowly and the capacity for 50,000 users hasn't yet been fully tested.

Earlier this month, White House spokesman Jay Carney said the administration's goal was to make the site usable for 80% of users -- another moving of the goal posts since the White House announced November 30 as a target date.  

Other deadline misses include the HealthCare.gov program that allows small businesses to enroll online. This feature, known as SHOP, has been delayed until after the 2014 midterm elections. What hasn't been postponed, though, are the insurance policy cancellations already plaguing small business owners.

In order to re-insure their employees, business owners will now have to work through a broker or insurance agent. That is if the the increased costs and hassles surrounding ObamaCare don't result in small business owners deciding that insuring their employees just isn’t worth it. CBS News reported last week that this is already happening.

The Wall Street Journal reports that technical problems will still inhibit HealthCare.gov from verifying users' identities and the transmission of accurate enrollment data to insurance providers. The fallout of the latter problem won't be readily apparent until someone who has been told they are insured tries to visit a doctor or emergency room only to discover their insurer has no idea who they are.

Some crucial parts of HealthCare.gov are not even built yet, including the mechanism that pays your insurance carrier the part of your premium covered by the federal government -- the infamous subsidy.

Some reports claim that in order for ObamaCare to meet its March 30 enrollment goal of 7-plus million enrollees (this number is necessary to make the system financially viable), somewhere around 54,000 people must sign up daily. Currently, only around 7,000 enrollments are occurring daily.

Granted, this is a big improvement over last month's enrollment numbers, but two times zero is still zero. 

Cuba prevé un "ligero aumento" de infecciones por VIH en 2013

La Habana, 30 nov (EFE).- Cuba prevé cerrar el año con un "ligero aumento" de infecciones por VIH, si bien se mantienen niveles de estabilidad en los diagnósticos y el país se incluye entre los 18 con más baja transmisión, informó hoy un experto.

"El grupo que más nos está llamando la atención es el grupo entre 24 y 39 años, aunque hay un ligero aumento como en otros países del mundo también de la infección en aquellas personas mayores de 50 años", dijo a un telediario local el director del "Instituto de Medicina Tropical Pedro Kouri" (IPK), Jorge Pérez.

Con décadas de liderazgo en el tratamiento del VIH/sida en la isla, Pérez afirmó que la infección "parece que va a tener un ligero aumento" en 2013, pero no actualizó las cifras de casos.

Según datos oficiales de 2012, en Cuba se habían diagnosticado hasta esa fecha unas 17.000 personas con VIH, de las cuales más de 14.000 vivían al cierre del año pasado y un 85 por ciento tenía entre 15 y 49 años de edad.

"Estamos entre los países de menor transmisión en el área del Caribe, que es la región de mayor intensidad de la transmisión, y entre los 18 países de más baja transmisión", resaltó Pérez.

El médico subrayó, además, que la isla prácticamente ha logrado eliminar la transmisión materno-infantil, con solo 42 casos de niños infectados con el virus desde que apareció la enfermedad hasta la actualidad.

Por otra parte, destacó que el sistema de Salud Pública cubano ha podido cubrir el tratamiento antirretroviral "en el 100 por ciento de los necesitados".

Como reto, Pérez manifestó que Cuba tiene que dar "un salto" para cumplir los planes de "cero" nuevas infecciones, muertes por sida y discriminación y estigma, que plantean el Programa de las Naciones Unidas sobre el VIH/sida (Onusida) y la Organización Mundial de la Salud.

El experto opinó que en Cuba hay que trabajar desde la sociedad para evitar el estigma porque "desafortunadamente no es oficial pero es oficioso", y en concreto se refirió a casos de discriminación en el ámbito laboral.

Cuba: Irregularidades en el servicio de las Ópticas [Oficial]

Cuba: + 85 mil multas a elaboradores de alimentos [Video oficial]

Nobody Showing Up to Obamacare Info Events in New Mexico

breitbart

According to local reports, New Mexico Health Insurance Exchange (NMIX) educational programs have been an utter failure over the past few weeks. The Farmington Daily Times reports, that officials from the NMIX have not been able to incentivize the locals to come out and find out about the wonders of Obamacare. Said Bloomfield Chamber of Commerce President Janet Mackey, “We advertised for three weeks before, put it on our reader board and hand-delivered invitations to various doctor's offices and small businesses. We only had seven people RSVP, and since we were also going to be providing dinner, we thought with so few people it would be a waste of resources.”

Another seminar drew 10 people at the local Marriott.

Small businesses in New Mexico can use the state-run exchange, but individuals must use the federal exchanges. Those who did show up at the Marriott seminar were angry that their premiums had risen, according to one of the NMIX consultants.

Lori Raef, who owns a small business with her husband, had her insurance cancelled. She said, “I do believe everyone should have insurance, but I just don't think this is the right way to do it. My benefits will go down, but my premiums will go up, and what bothers me is that middle class people are going to end up paying more for everyone else's benefits."

Michelle Obama in 2008: Barack Will Make Us 'Sacrifice' for Health Care

Read on breitbart >>

Cuba: Las fotos del Hospital Ginecobstétrico "Ramón González Coro" que el Granma no muestra

el hospital gonzalez coro -antiguo sacrado corazon-, constituyo hasta finales de la decada del 80 lo mejor en su especialidad en cuba. unas fotos recientes reflejan su actual estado y la desidia de un regimen que exporta servicios de salud a 100 paises, pero mantiene a su poblacion en condiciones higienico-sanitarias pauperrimas.

----------------------------  

porelojodelaaguja

Finalmente Patricia es abuela. Su hija estuvo ingresada unos días en el Hospital González Coro, antigua Clínica Sagrado Corazón, del Vedado, La Habana, porque su bebé nació bajo de peso, algo muy común en estos momentos.

Ella hizo algunas fotos que me facilitó para que quedaran como testimonio de las comodidades e higiene que brinda el centro hospitalario.

Otra de las sorpresas que esperaban a la recién estrenada mamá, fue presenciar algunas disputas entre otras pacientes, debido al robo de cigarrillos. Ella que no fuma, tuvo que aspirar el humo proveniente de esos cigarrillos compartidos entre  mamás y el personal de  salud que las atendían.

Mas fotos en el blog de Rebeca Monzon >>

Cuba: Contaminacion de los rios guantanameros

Obamacare Enrollment Numbers Brutally Low

Read on breitbart >>

Cuba: Number of People with Diabetes Doubles in a Decade

the report doesn't say why?
-------------------- 
cadenagramonte

Havana, Cuba, Nov 14.- The number of Cubans suffering from diabetes has doubled in 10 years, according to the Statistical Yearbook Health at the end of 2012, published by the Cuban Ministry of Public Health.

The report states that despite the fact that Cuba has a national program for the care of people with diabetes, from the Primary Health Care system, over half a million people are suffering from the disease, and the highest incidence is in the age group 60-64.

The Cuban program includes classes and lectures, tests, care for women before and during the gestational period. There are Endocrinology consultations in every hospital and clinic throughout the country.

According to Doctor Ileydis Iglesias, in an interview with Prensa Latina news agency, the prevalence rate of the disease increases due to risk factors as obesity, low levels of physical activity and kind of food consumed.

Cuba marks today the Diabetes World Day with a series of activities such as walks, forums and conferences. The Day commemorates the birth of Frederick Banting, Nobel laureate noted as the primary discoverer of insulin.

There are 371 million diabetics in the world, and the disease is considered one of the greatest health challenges nowadays, according to the International Federation of Diabetes. (ACN)

Obamacare: Running Out of Money

politicalcalculations

In 2010, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services was set up with a slush fund of one billion dollars to support the implementation of Obamacare. If we go by the department's summary of its Fiscal Year 2014 budget proposal, it would appear to have already burned through $811 million through 30 September 2013, the end of the federal government's 2013 fiscal year:

That would leave the department with just $189 million left to spend. It was planning to spend $163 million in the federal government's Fiscal Year 2014, which began on 1 October 2013.

Instead, the problems that have plagued both the department's Healthcare.gov web site and the back end systems that support its operation are forcing the agency to spend this money on fixing its problems.

Keeping in mind that HHS was burning through money at an average rate of $871,233 per day during the federal government's 2013 fiscal year, it is very likely that it is now spending much more than that amount per day as the Obama administration is desperate to keep President Obama's signature achievement from becoming an unmitigated failure.

Something has to give, because they cannot both repair Obamacare's IT systems and web site and spend what they were planning to spend to do other things in FY2014. HHS is running out of money and cannot do both.

Oh, by the way, we described how we could have eliminated HHS' technical problems within a very short period of time for just $47 million back on 22 October 2013. And as far as we're concerned, the hardest part of implementing our solution is already done. And yet, the Obama administration would appear to be more concerned with funneling money to its crony corporate partners than it does in actually making it possible for regular Americans to shop for and buy health insurance as they might choose.

Perhaps a good question for a mainstream media reporter to ask is why does the Obama administration insist on doing those things? And a really good question for a skeptical U.S. Congress member to ask is why they should throw even more money to repair the Obamacare web site when our solution is already proving to be a much more viable and a much more affordable option?

Data Sources

U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. Fiscal Year 2012 Budget in Brief. Advancing the Health, Safety, and Well-Being of Our People. [PDF Document]. 2011.

U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. Fiscal Year 2013 Budget in Brief. Strengthening Health and Opportunity for All Americans. [PDF Document]. 2012.

U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. Fiscal Year 2014 Budget in Brief. Strengthening Health and Opportunity for All Americans. [PDF Document]. 2013.

Only 100,000 have signed up for Obamacare

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Fatty Liver: Is It the Fat's Fault? - Victoria Prince

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Gluten 'allergies' aren't real, docs say

today

Melissa Dahl

blogs.kqed.org

Two truths about allergies that may blow your mind: Bo Obama isn’t a hypoallergenic dog, and nobody is actually “allergic” to gluten.

These are just two examples of the myths allergists would very much like to bust, according to a presentation being given today at the annual meeting of the American College of Allergy, Asthma and Immunology. Dr. David Stukus put the presentation together after years of patients coming to him with fiercely held, but totally incorrect, beliefs about allergies — something that’s only gotten worse in this age of medical Googling.

“It was shocking to me, the amount of misinformation that is available to the general public,” says Stukus, who is an allergist at Nationwide Children's Hospital and assistant professor of pediatrics at Ohio State University.

Here, Stukus helps us separate allergy fact from allergy fiction.

Myth 1: If you’re allergic to cats or dogs, it’s best to stick with hypoallergenic breeds.

Actually, there is no such thing as a hypoallergenic pet, Stukus says, because “every single pet will secrete allergens.” And it doesn’t make much of a difference if the pet has short or long hair, because the dander that people are allergic to doesn’t come from the fur – it comes from the animal’s saliva, sweat glands and urine. Even expensive, genetically engineered pets still secrete minor allergens, Stukus said.

OK, but what if you’re an animal lover who also happens to be allergic to pet dander? Stukus often gets that question. “The best response to that is even people with pet allergies, they may be fine around certain breeds and not around others," Stukus says. The only way to figure that out, though, is to hang around different breeds and note how your body reacts. (Stukus tells his patients to "literally rub your face on the animal.")

Myth 2: No bread for me; I’m allergic to gluten!

Two words these days that make any allergist sigh: gluten allergy.

“Gluten has been blamed for all that ails humanity,” Stukus says. But there are only three disorders you can attribute to gluten on a scientific basis, he says: celiac disease, wheat allergies and non-celiac gluten sensitivity.

“Then there’s this claim about ‘gluten allergy,’ which really doesn’t exist,” Stukus says. “It’s not really a recognized allergy. Wheat is a recognized allergy — but a lot of people will misinterpret that as gluten.”

Myth 3: Black mold can cause some truly terrifying diseases.

Google “black mold” and you’ll find websites linking it to some frightening maladies – things like seizures, fibromyalgia, bipolar disorder, cancer.

“This has been attributed to cause all kinds of ailments,” Stukus says. “But there is absolutely no scientific link of a causal disorder to black mold to any of these disorders.”

But the most black mold can do to you is cause allergic rhinitis and asthma symptoms — if, that is, you're allergic to mold in the first place.

Myth 4: If you have an egg allergy, you should never get a flu shot.

This is a hot topic right now, Stukus says, as it is every flu season. Allergists understand the confusion: Egg embryos from chickens are indeed used to grow viruses in the production of several vaccines, like influenza, rabies, yellow fever and MMR. So these vaccines may indeed include tiny bits of egg protein, which sounds worrisome to someone with an egg allergy (or the parent of a kid with an egg allergy).

But unless people have a history of a severe reaction called anaphylaxis in response to eating eggs, flu shots are safe for people with egg allergies. Even in people who have severe allergic reactions to egg, the vaccine is still likely to be safe, but a referral to an allergist is recommended before getting a flu shot. (An egg-free vaccine, called Flublok, is also now available.)

As for the other major vaccinations — MMR is safe for anyone with a history of egg allergy, but rabies and yellow fever are not.

Myth 5: For little ones, the rules are these: No milk until age 1, no eggs until age 2, and no nuts until age 3.

Food allergies are a scary topic these days, especially for parents, says Dr. Stanley Fineman, who is an allergist at the Atlanta Allergy and Asthma Clinic and is past president of the ACAAI. But there is some old information that is still hanging around and causing confusion: In 2000, guidelines suggested restricting foods like milk, eggs and nuts in very early childhood.

Today, that recommendation has flipped around. There is no evidence to support avoidance of these highly allergenic foods past 4 to 6 months of age, Stukus writes in his presentation.

“In the allergy community, the stance has sort of reversed 180 degrees,” he says. “We used to think avoidance reduced allergies; now, we think early introduction leads to tolerance.” 

The takeaway from all of this: Don't believe everything you read on the Internet.

“Use the Internet for guidance, but don’t rely on it as your sole source of health information,” Stukus says. “It’s a great place to formulate questions that you can take to physicians.”

Report: At Least 3.5 Million People Have Received Health Insurance Cancellation Notices

Read at breitbart >>