BananaTalk

Vincent Club 80′s

Tadi malem nelfon temen lamaku. Ah, emang bukan rejeki, lagi-lagi dia ngga ada. Ya udah, ninggalin no. telp aja. Untung ibunya baik banget, "Oh ini temen SDnya itu ya?", lalu sempet ngobrol sebentar. Senangnya… Eh, sebenernya aku belum pernah ketemu beliau sih, main ke rumahnya aja belum pernah. Mungkin beliau tau dari cerita temenku itu kali yaa…

Alhamdulillah, tadi pagi dia nelfon. "Disempetin sebelum berangkat kerja", katanya. Ngobrol sebentar… seperti sering ketemu aja. Rasanya familiar dan akrab. Kangen? Hmm, iya mungkin. Inget dulu dia pernah janji kami bisa ketemu tapi dengan syarat aku lulus kuliah dulu hehehehe… Tapi aku nelfon bukan dalam rangka menagih janji kok. CLBK? Ah, ngga kali Seingetku belum pernah sampe se’dalem’ itu. *"Aah, ternyata cowok?" Iya, emang kenapa? * Tapi… kenapa kangen ya? Emang kangen butuh alasan?

Continue reading…

Fishy website

Just got an e-mail from Al-Irfan mailing list, about ‘Islamic’ websites -or so, from the names. These sites are fake, the informations are twisted, and made for the good misunderstanding of Islam. Here they are.

• http://www.answering-islam.org/
• http://www.aboutislam.com/
• http://www.thequran.com/
• http://www.allahassurance.com/

This is not all, there are many parties want to lead this misunderstanding voluntarily. Just be critical and wise. Beware.

“Is it cold or flu?”

Tadi malam ‘main’ ke MayoClinic. Lalu ingat tentang kebiasaan, istilah, dan mitos yang sudah salah kaprah di rakyat negeri ini. Bukan tentang topik sulit kok, hanya tentang selesma dan flu, or they say "Is it cold or flu?" Beribu sayang, kosakata bahasa kita tidak mumpuni untuk menampung kekayaan bahasa dunia. Jadi kalau kita ditanya begitu, reaksi yang umum adalah bingung, "Emang apa bedanya?".

Daripada saya berpanjang lebar di sini, lebih baik coba sendiri saja kuisnya. Bukan kuis baru, sudah edisi September tahun lalu. Tapi sepertinya tetap sangat membantu. Daripada hanya diberitahu, sepertinya lebih awet di ingatan kalau mencoba sendiri . Linknya di sini. Tidak hanya salah kaprah tentang selesma dan flu, ada juga tentang diare, rasa sakit (pain), dll.

Ah ya, tambahan sedikit. Di Indonesia vaksin influenza tidak diwajibkan oleh satgas imunisasi karena berbagai hal, di antaranya adalah galur virus yang berbeda antara negara asal pembuat vaksin dan negara ini. Jadi, daripada bela-belain repot mencari vaksin ini, lebih baik menjaga kesehatan saja. Insya ALlah kalau daya tahan tubuh kuat virusnya tidak membuat kita sakit (note: it’s different between infected and diseased; terinfeksi dan sakit itu dua hal yang berbeda!). Tak lupa pesan sponsor: tak perlu pakai suplemen, vitamin C dosis tinggi, apalagi antibiotik!

Susu rasa sendok

Jaman hamil Ibrahim dulu, kakanda sibuk merayuku untuk mau rajin minum susu, terutama susu khusus ibu hamil. Tadinya males-malesan sih, tapi yaa.. demi janin, ayo aja deh. Pertama kali dibeliin merk La***mil, cuma rajin sebentar trus udahan. Kadang malah ngga diminum, bikin kakanda gemes jadinya . Suatu hari dia mergokin aku ‘bolos’ minum susu lagi (padahal udah dibikin). Karena dipikirnya mubazir, sedangkan aku yang lagi mual ngga mau minum susu yang udah anyep (ngga anget lagi gituh), diminumlah susu itu olehnya. Apa yang terjadi? "Wekh… Rasanya kaya sendok!! ", katanya. Aku ketawa (rada puas sebenernya hehehe…), akhirnya dia tau alasanku untuk males minum susu itu (haqqul yakin!). Abis itu aku ngga pernah dipaksa-paksa lagi minum susu ‘sendok’ itu (eh iya, ngomong-ngomong rasa ‘sendok’ itu karena kandungan tambahan zat besi yang tinggi)

Continue reading…

Drug Industry Equals The Regulator

It’s actually horrid to live under no custody against bad drug administration in this country. But, well, not knowing may be more comfortable to live with, for many of us. There are still many major things to think about. Do you care?

Below, is a quote from article written by Prof. Iwan Darmansjah, an Emeritus Professor at the University of Indonesia in Pharmacology. You can see the quote here, read the rest from the link provided or find the edited article in Jakarta Post, October 13th edition.

In Indonesia, governance of drugs has never been well organized. POM (Food and Medicine Control Agency), later named BPOM, after its separation from the Ministry of Health and put directly under the President’s control — never had enough or qualified manpower nor the organization to protect the public from bad drugs. The agency is exclusively manned by pharmacists (and two medical doctors given a minor role) and the role of the medical profession about who in fact should be in charge of safety and efficacy of drugs was sidelined.

The drug evaluation branch was entirely headed by pharmacists; the wrong men in the wrong place. The agency seems to be closer and more protective of the industry than of the public. Hordes of ineffective drugs swarm the Indonesian market, draining public resources for useless drugs. False drug claims and wrong doses are blatantly condoned and fill the pages of the formal drug information called Medical Information Management System (MIMS) of Indonesia.

Although BPOM has the power to regulate the industry, it does not effectively used its authority for the sake of consumers. MIMS claim that whatever is put in the MIMS list has been approved by BPOM. Unethical marketing is rampant, and BPOM is unable to control it. As long as the medical department is subordinate to marketing people, as is common in almost all drug companies in this country, the ethical situation will remain hopeless.