PETALING JAYA: The scorching heat has forced snakes to seek refuge in human homes.
Apart from dark corners, shoes are also a potential shelter for the reptiles, as seen in a video that went viral on social media earlier this month.
Fire and Rescue Department deputy director-general (operations) Datuk Edwin Galan Teruki said the department had received 13,895 distress calls from the public seeking help to remove snakes and other wildlife from their premises in the first four months of this year.
The figure shows an increasing trend, compared to 12,013 calls received in the same period last year.
Edwin advised the public to remain calm if they spot snakes in their homes.
“Do not be rash or panic as this may threaten the snake and trigger its defence mechanism to attack.
“Be it venomous or not, be cautious and try to confine the snake in one area to make it easier for catchers to locate and remove it.
“Keep an eye on the snake from a safe distance,” he said, adding that the public could call the 999 emergency hotline for help.
Edwin added that good housekeeping could help deter snakes from entering and hiding in homes.
“Do not keep food waste in the open as it can attract rats, frogs or even lizards, which are prey for snakes.
“If you have livestock or pets, it is advisable to set up safety nets around their enclosures,” Edwin said.
In the case of a snake bite, limit movement, cover the wound with a clean cloth and never attempt to suck the venom out, he said.
As it can be difficult to determine whether a snake is venomous or not, Ecotourism and Conservation Society Malaysia president and chief executive officer Andrew Sebastian said it is best to avoid close contact altogether.
“Take a picture of the snake. In the case of a snake bite, the photo can help identify the type of snake and the correct anti-venom,” he said.
Malaysia Civil Defence Force disaster management and operations director Col (PA) Sharudin Md Zain said houses, trash disposal areas, water outlets, shoes and toilet bowls could be the hiding place for snakes.
“Fixing safety nets at windows or ventilation and water outlets can be an option.
“Snakes may also be hiding inside shoes or the toilet, so check them before use,” he said, adding that the public should avoid touching or holding the animal.
Contrary to popular belief, Malaysian Nature Society’s Selangor Branch Herpetofauna Group lead coordinator Chan Yik Khan meanwhile dismissed the myth that sulphur could keep snakes away.
“Sulphur does not repel snakes. The most effective method is to make sure that the surroundings do not appeal to them.
“Remove unused flower pots and declutter the area,” he said.
Chan said snakes are generally timid creatures and prefer tight and dark spaces to hide in when they are not foraging.
“Snakes are incredibly adapted to urban environments and they are likely living around you already.
“This is why some people occasionally find snakes resting on their curtain frame,” he said.
He said the most common urban snakes include the common wolf snake, the reticulated pythons and a couple of rat snakes.
With regard to heat, Chan said snakes are exothermic animals, which means their body temperature is regulated by the external temperature in their environment.
“Snakes will try finding shelter under cooler conditions – which includes tiled homes, as compared to urban areas devoid of shade.
“Being able to escape from the blazing sun is vital for their survival or they may overheat and die,” he said.
Whether it’s treating phobias, rehabilitating patients or raising safety standards, virtual reality has become a terrific tool for overcoming the obstacles posed by the real world.
Vr makes it practical to enact scenarios that would be impossible or too expensive to do in real life, reducing hassle for users while also cutting costs and saving time. The pods blast air and physically move in multiple directions to make the Vr experience more immersive. — 123rf.com
— Photos: angelin yeoh/the Star
IMAGINE you are flying on a plane when the sky grows dark, the weather becomes increasingly turbulent, the plane starts to shake, and your seat rattles violently.
While it would be distressing for anyone, it could be too much to handle for someone with a fear of flying.
However, putting them in such a situation under the supervision of a specialist may help them overcome their phobias.
Tanjina Ashraf Khan, CEO and founder of Mentcouch, a psychology centre in Kuala Lumpur, calls it exposure therapy and recommends it for those who want to overcome their extreme sense of fear over an object or situation.
She says that as they work with a therapist to learn how to deal with their anxiety, they will be gradually exposed to their phobias.
“What we want to see during the sessions is the person developing less anxiety toward their fears. We start with a scale of one to 10.
“At the beginning, they may rate their anxiety level as nine. When it gets to a six, that is progress,” she shares.
However, she says exposure therapies are difficult to conduct physically. For example, if a client has a fear of snakes or cockroaches, it’s not realistic to bring those elements into the room.
Enacting certain scenarios, such as getting on a plane, could also be costly.
“It could also be unsafe for the client if they suffer from severe panic attacks on the plane. We may have to request an emergency landing,” Mentcouch managing director Justin Kung adds.
This was the impetus for using virtual reality – just by putting on a VR headset, a person can be “transported” to a different place or situation safely.
“Most importantly, we can assure them that they are in control,” Tanjina says.
She explains that clients typically spend up to 30 minutes in VR while being monitored on a computer by a trained therapist.
Kung says: “We can communicate with them by giving visual commands. This way, they can stay immersed in the environment without too much outside interference.”
Mentcouch counsellor Syahirah Husna says: “We will typically take a break for 10 minutes and assess their anxiety level and talk about relaxation techniques such as deep breathing.
“When they are ready to continue, they can practise the techniques they’ve learned in their chosen environment.”
Apart from overcoming phobias, Mentcouch is using VR as part of its therapy for stress relief, in which an individual would be guided through techniques like muscle relaxation in a soothing virtual environment like a beach or forest.
“Some people have trouble concentrating during therapy, as they will be stressed thinking about work or what the traffic will be like when it’s time to go home,” she says, adding that such sessions will help them become more mindful and calm.
Kung agrees, saying, “They feel that with VR, less effort is required to help them relax.”
Raising the bar
Over at Taman Desa in KL, chartered physiotherapist Lian Yunperng is using VR as part of physiotherapy treatments, describing the virtual world as a “form of distraction from pain”.
“We recommend this specifically for people recovering from a stroke or those who may be living with chronic pain.
“They may find it difficult to lift an object due to their condition, so we help them achieve upper-limb movement by practising using VR,” says Lian, who owns and operates Ace Physiotherapy.
Lian starts a session by securing the headset for the patient and adjusting the focus so they can see clearly. Patients are not required to walk and will largely be sitting down.
“I will be guiding them throughout the process as I can view what they are seeing on my smartphone.
“The sensors will track their hands and they will be able to perform movements such as picking up an object like a stone or throwing a ball in the virtual environment,” he says.
They may also be tasked with completing a block puzzle. It starts off with three blocks, with the number of blocks and complexity increasing as the patient progresses.
Each VR session typically lasts about 10 to 15 minutes and after undergoing training for three months, Lian will measure patients’ progress by checking their muscle power.
“For severely debilitated patients, we hope to see improvements, including being able to perform movements such as making a fist, moving their fingers or lifting their wrist,” he says.
Lian first integrated VR as part of his physiotherapy services back in 2019 – while exploring ways to improve his services, he stumbled upon a crowdfunding campaign for a VR headset.
“The product was geared for gaming, but I was inspired by the possibilities and started to look into how I could use VR for rehab,” he says.
He eventually decided to go with Oculus after testing several products and finding apps that he felt would be suitable for his physiotherapy plan.
“The headset is light and portable. I don’t need cables (it uses a rechargeable battery) or to carry extra equipment such as monitors.
“I can get it ready in 10 minutes by using my phone and not waste my patient’s time,” he says.
Lian is careful not to introduce VR to patients without first assessing their suitability.
“They must not have conditions like epilepsy or severe balance issues. If they feel dizzy while using VR, then the treatment will cease,” he says.
The feedback for incorporating VR as part of the physiotherapy treatment has been encouraging, saysLian, adding that most patients were open to it.
“They get to try something new and there’s a fun element to it,” he says.
Training tech
Fun is the last thing on the minds of workers at the Genting Tunnel East Coast Rail Link (ECRL) construction site in Bentong, Pahang, as they have to be on their toes to stay safe and minimise risks.
“Safety is a priority for everyone. It is compulsory to attend safety training due to the exposure to various types of hazards,” says Datuk Osman Haron, the health, safety and environment director for China Communications Construction ECRL, the main contractor for the ECRL project owned by Malaysia Rail Link (MRL).
To improve and enhance safety awareness levels at the site, the company said it set up a VR Safety Experience Hall to allow its workers to learn about safety in a more immersive environment.
It has two VR safety experiences, the first being a VR pod that simulates the experience of a fast-moving vehicle.
In a demo, the pod simulated a bumpy cart ride with tight turns and steep slopes in a snowy mountain that was made more real by its ability to blast air and physically move in multiple directions.
“There are trainings to simulate car crashes and falling from great heights. The experiences are meant to serve as reminders to workers to always perform safety checks when on site and to equip themselves with the required gear,” Osman adds.
The other VR service gives the worker freedom of movement within a designated area, allowing him or her to pick up tools and operate them in a virtual world. Depending on the chosen scenario – it’s claimed to offer up to 100 options, including one that was inspired by real construction tragedies in China – the dangers they face will be different.
Workers may find themselves operating a crane, only for the hosting cable to snap and injure others, or drilling in a tunnel while standing on an unsteady platform that would break.
After each experience, a pop-up will show the actions that led to the mishap.
For example, in the first scenario, the cable could have snapped because no prior inspection was conducted to ensure all equipment was in order, and in the second, it could be due to workers not wearing safety harnesses and the scaffolding not being built according to safety standards. “
Typically, workers would have to sit through hour-long briefings on safety and they may not retain all the information due to the static setting.
“By experiencing what could happen if they are not aware of precautionary measures with VR, it will be a more beneficial learning experience,” Osman says.
Untapped uses
Osman admits, however, that VR can’t replace all aspects of safety training, as practical experience is still an important aspect.
For example, workers have to learn how to operate machinery in real life so that they can feel the “weight” and how objects move in certain weather conditions.
“For some aspects of safety training, we try to find ways to combine it with VR, as it has the advantage of helping workers fully visualise situations,” he says.
He adds that VR also helps to remove constraints such as the need to be in various locations and facilities for training.
“We’ve had issues where training could not be conducted because the trainer was not there.
“But with VR, there is no such issue. We can also upgrade the software with new experiences to keep our workers updated with new safety guidelines when they move to a new site,” he says.
Meanwhile, Tanjina says that with VR “moving fast”, she sees the potential of it being used for online sessions with both the therapist and patient appearing as 3D avatars.
What’s crucial now, she says, is to create more awareness about the benefits of VR and other forms of technology in mental health treatment.
“People were not open to technology being used as part of mental health treatment until the pandemic opened opportunities for people to try online therapy.
“The biggest hurdle is helping more people become aware of the benefits of technology in certain aspects,” she says.
Lian agrees, saying that people have to be more open to trying new forms of tech for physiotherapy treatment.
He claims that robotics, such as an exoskeleton, can be incorporated into rehabilitation therapies, and that an Ai-powered device is being developed to assist stroke patients in performing movements.
“I encourage people to think outside the box and not be limited to what they have learned in university.
“Go to expos and conferences to learn about tech advancements in health. I would also advise them to look into the science and research behind it,” he says.
Osman adds that, in addition to VR, the company is relying on technology such as drones to monitor remote areas that are difficult to access by humans.
“We are closely following the development of technology in various fields to see how it can be implemented.
“Technology is very much an important aspect of what we do,” he says.
A handout photo provided by the Russian Direct Investment Fund (RDIF)
shows samples of a vaccine against the coronavirus disease (COVID-19)
developed by the Gamaleya Research Institute of Epidemiology and
Microbiology, in Moscow, Russia August 6, 2020. Picture taken August 6,
2020.
PETALING JAYA: The announcement of a Covid-19 vaccine in Russia – dubbed Sputnik V – that will help end the pandemic soon is still a “distant reality”, say local public health experts.
Russia announced on Tuesday it will approve a Covid-19 vaccine after less than two months of human testing and hopes to begin production in September with plans to vaccinate its medical staff immediately afterwards.
The approval was made before a phase three trial which would involve thousands of participants and considered essential before regulatory approval is made.
Public health expert Datuk Dr Zainal Ariffin Omar criticised the approval of the Covid-19 vaccine in Russia as non-ethical for its lack of full clinical trials and scientific data.
“The scientific community is worried as basically, a vaccine will need to undergo full clinical trials to identify its efficacy and side effects.
“So, it is premature for Russia to be releasing the vaccine now without conducting large-scale trials that would produce data to show whether it works, ” he said.
Public health medicine specialist of Universiti Malaya Medical Centre, Associate Professor Dr Rafdzah Ahmad Zaki said for any available vaccines, the effectiveness of the vaccine needs to be evaluated before it can be considered.
“With any new vaccine, there will be a committee to discuss and decide on the evidence of whether the vaccine works or not, ” she said.
The head of the Centre for Epidemiology and Evidence-Based Practice noted that any risk or benefit will be balanced before a vaccine is approved, such as whether the tested population is similar to Malaysia’s community and the kind of resources needed to implement the vaccine.
Dr Zainal, who is Malaysian Public Health Physicians’ Association president, cited an example of a dengue vaccination which was approved by the World Health Organisation (WHO). But even then, it was later found to have caused a lot of deaths and />complications.
“Luckily after evaluation, we did not implement the use of the dengue vaccination for our country.
“That is why the scientific and medical community is very cautious of approving a vaccine for the community because we don’t want to be wrong for using a premature product, ” he said.
Dr Zainal expects a vaccine to be made available in the country only by the middle or end of 2021.
“Any vaccine will help the situation later on. But at the moment, we don’t have the capability of developing new vaccines. But we can be involved in any trials or collaborate with international agencies for trial purposes, ” he said.
Indonesia said on Tuesday it would launch a Phase 3 human trials of a vaccine candidate from China’s Sinovac Biotech.
According to the WHO, there are currently 139 vaccines in development and 26 have been undergoing human trials since July 31.
Out of the 165 vaccines, six are reaching Phase 3, which is the last step before regulatory approval and will involve large numbers of human testing.
Sinovac’s vaccine, named CoronaVac, is already being tested on 9,000 Brazilian health workers.
Malaysian Medical Association president Dr N. Ganabaskaran said the Covid-19 pandemic will go on for years even if vaccines are readily available.
“Even if vaccines are available, what about poor countries? Not all countries can afford the vaccine.
“There are vaccines being developed, but available vaccines will go to the rich countries first and it may take many years before we can overcome Covid-19, ” he said.
The battlefield of a global vaccine race has seemingly transferred from research and development to the market after Russia
announced its approval of the world's first COVID-19 vaccine on Tuesday, soon after which the US announced to purchase another 100 million doses of a domestic candidate, revealing the Trump administration's anxiety over Russia's move.
Covid'19 Vaccine for the world started mass produced in China on 8/8/20
Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Tuesday that
Russia had become the first country to grant regulatory approval to a
COVID-19 vaccine after less than two months of human testing, a move
Moscow likened to its success in the Cold War-era space race.
China will make its Covid-19 vaccine a global public good when it is
ready for application after successful research and clinical trials, a
senior Chinese official said.
BALIK PULAU: The contractor of the 600m elevated road project linking Jalan Bukit Kukus to Jalan Tun Sardon here has been issued with a stop-work order.
The order came following a mishap on the site where 14 concrete beams measuring 25m each fell onto a slope in Jalan Tun Sardon on Thursday.
Eleven beams broke apart in the 8.30pm incident. However, no injuries were reported.
It is learnt that a crane operator accidentally knocked down one of the beams laid on the ground, causing others to fall onto the slope like dominoes.
Penang Department of Occupational Safety and Health (DOSH) director Mohd Rosdee Yaacob said the contractor had been instructed to be present at the DOSH office tomorrow for a meeting.
“We are reviewing the standard operating procedures at the work site.
“For now, the contractor is not allowed to load and unload other concrete beams,” he said yesterday
Mohd Rosdee said his officers were only sent to the site on Friday as they were not immediately informed of the incident.
State Works Committee chairman Zairil Khir Johari said the contractor had been told to prepare a full report for DOSH.
He said the Penang Island City Council (MBPP) would also initiate an internal inquiry tomorrow.
The construction of the elevated road, together with the upgrading of a 1.1km stretch along Lebuhraya Thean Teik and a 1.5km stretch along Lebuh Bukit Jambul, is a MBPP project costing RM275.6mil and is scheduled for completion early next year.
The three segments are part of the project for the construction of the RM545mil alternative road – Jalan Bukit Kukus – to help ease traffic snarls along Jalan Paya Terubong, which is an arterial road linking Bayan Baru, Balik Pulau and Air Itam.
The construction works involve linking Lebuhraya Thean Teik in Bandar Baru Air Itam and Lebuh Bukit Jambul in Penang via Jalan Bukit Kukus, building an elevated U-turn along Lebuh Bukit Jambul for those who want to make a turn and go back to Relau. - The Star
Paired road already hits snag
Slow path ahead: The elevated road near Jalan Paya Terubong in Penang will not be ready for another two years.
GEORGE TOWN: Work on the RM545mil Jalan Bukit Kukus paired road project has hit a snag even before the construction mishap in Jalan Tun Sardon.
The completion date on the project, an alternative road linking Lebuhraya Thean Teik in Bandar Baru Air Itam to Lebuh Bukit Jambul, will be delayed by a year till mid-2020 due to unforeseen obstacles during construction.
State Works, Utilities and Flood Mitigation committee chairman Zairil Khir Johari, in describing the project as “very complicated”, said it was constructed by three parties as a cost-saving measure.
“The Penang Island City Council (MBPP) will construct 2.8km of the stretch, while PLB Land Sdn Bhd and Geo Valley Sdn Bhd will construct the remaining 1.4km and 0.7km respectively,” he said.
Zairil said while the three parties involved in the works faced various issues resulting in the delay.
“For example, the MBPP which is working on the 2.8km stretch costing RM275.6mil, faced a delay due to land acquisition issues, realignment and relocation of cables.
“The project is 69% done and to be completed by early 2020.
“PLB Land faced issues with big rocks and boulders. The RM150mil section has progressed 36% and scheduled for mid-2020,” he said.
Zairil said that Geo Valley faced legal issues as the residents affected by their section of the project took up matters with the Appeals Board and the case was pending.
The RM120mil stretch by Geo Valley is now 18% completed.
“Once PLB and Geo Valley complete their portions, we will connect them accordingly,” he said.
It was earlier reported that the contractor of the 600m elevated road project linking Jalan Bukit Kukus to Jalan Tun Sardon was issued with a stop-work order.
The order came after a mishap on the site where 14 concrete beams measuring 25m fell onto a slope in Jalan Tun Sardon on Thursday. No injuries were reported.
It is learnt that a crane operator accidentally knocked down one of the beams laid on the ground, causing others to fall onto the slope.
Paya Terubong assemblyman Yeoh Soon Hin hopes that there will be no further delays.
“About 60,000 vehicles use Jalan Paya Terubong daily to get to Bayan Lepas, and traffic congestion is bad during peak hours.
“I hope the project will be completed safely according to specifications and on schedule for the people to use,” he said.
Once the alternative route is completed, traffic is expected to see a reduction of at least 30%.
The new link will comprise a dual carriageway with a bicycle lane, walkway and LED street lights.
A small waterfall on the hill will also be retained and construction would go around the waterfall.
Last month, MBPP mayor Datuk Yew Tung Seang said the construction on the paired road would take up RM44.2mil of the council’s budget next year. - The Star by Lo Tern Chern
Long and winding road: This satellite picture from Google Earth Pro
shows five planned interchanges of the Teluk Bahang-Tanjung Bungah
paired road. The road starts at (1) Lembah Permai corner near Sri
Vazhikattum Muniswarar shrine. The three interchanges in the middle are
(2) at Jalan Sungai Emas, (3) at Persiaran Sungai Permai and (4) near
Chin Farm Waterfall. The road ends (5) about 200m from the Teluk Bahang
roundabout near the Toy Museum.
GEORGE TOWN: Alarm bells rang among Tanjung Bungah residents after they
realised the proposed new road from Teluk Bahang to their neighbourhood
entails de- forestation and construction on slopes with gradients
steeper than 25 degrees.
They want the project scrapped and demand that the state government think of alternatives.
Through the Tanjung Bungah Residents Association (TBRA), 400 of them
signed a petition against the project known as North Coastal Paired Road
(NCPR).
TBRA chairman Meenakshi Raman said the environmental impact assessment
(EIA) report showed that 3.34ha of gazetted forest reserves would be
cleared for the road.
“Tracts of the Teluk Bahang Forest Reserve and Bukit Kerajaan Forest Reserve will be deforested. How can this be allowed?
“These reserves are gazetted as water catchment areas too,” she said in a
press conference at the Tanjung Bungah market yesterday.
She said the EIA report revealed that 46% of the proposed road would be on slopes with gradients higher than 25 degrees.
“The EIA is clear that slope instability risks will be high. Mitigation
measures are suggested but haven’t we learned enough about Penang’s
development? Landslides occur often here,” she said.
The residents urged the Depart-ment of Environment (DoE) in writing not
to approve the EIA. A copy of the letter was forwarded to Chief Minister
Lim Guan Eng on Aug 21.
The NCPR is a 10.53km four-lane road from near SK Teluk Bahang until the
L-shaped bend of Lembah Permai at Sri Vazhikattum Munis-warar shrine.
This is part of the Penang Transport Master Plan (PTMP) and is under the purview of Consortium Zenith Construction.
It is one of three new roads planned as the traffic dispersal system of the Penang Undersea Tunnel project.
Residents are also confounded by the cost.
Meenakshi said that in 2011, the estimated construction and land acquisition cost of the NCPR was expected at RM1bil.
She said the EIA stated that at an average speed of 70kph, motorists
would save 14 minutes of travel time compared with the current coastal
road.
“Spending such a huge amount to save 14 minutes is a colossal waste of public resources,” she added.
She felt that the EIA should have included a cost-to-benefit analysis.
“For RM1bil, can’t we think of other alternatives to the traffic problem?”
In response, state exco member Lim Hock Seng clarified that the clearing
of the forest reserves was studied in the EIA as a requirement but the
state was planning to avoid forest clearing.
“The first phase of NCPR is from Batu Ferringhi to Tanjung Bungah. That is the most urgent.
“The Teluk Bahang stretch, where the forest reserves are, won’t be built so soon.
“We do plan to continue examining alternatives to avoid deforestation.”
Lim said the main road in Batu Ferringhi could not “take it anymore
during the holiday season” and the NCPR was vital to relieve traffic
jams in the area.
Also, he said SRS Consortium, the state’s PTMP project delivery partner,
was planning a viaduct from Lembah Permai to Seri Tanjung Pinang.
“So we are not dumping traffic or leaving a bottleneck at the Vale of Tempe Road with the NCPR.
“Motorists can choose between the winding coastal road or the NCPR depending on where they are going.
“This project will help reduce traffic,” he said.
Meenakshi also expressed shock that the EIA stated that NCPR would have 10 proposed interchanges.
But Lim and also Consortium Zenith chairman Datuk Zarul Ahmad Mohd
Zulkifli said there would be only three interchanges in the middle of
the road.
“They will be between Teluk Bahang and Tanjung Bungah, in Jalan Sungai
Emas, Persiaran Sungai Permai and near Chin Farm Waterfall,” said Zarul
Ahmad.
Penang Water Supply Corporation chief executive officer Datuk Jaseni
Maidinsa gave an assurance that the NCPR’s route would not affect water
catchment because the road would be downhill of Teluk Bahang Dam or any
other reservoir.
Source: The Star by Arnold Loh
Call to scrap proposed road
Troubled spot: Aerial view of
Jalan Lembah Permai in Tanjung Bungah, where the North Coastal Paired
Road from Teluk Bahang will end in the L-shaped bend of the road.
GEORGE TOWN: Tanjung Bungah residents want the proposed new road from
Teluk Bahang to their neighbourhood scrapped after realising it entails
deforestation and construction on slopes with gradients steeper than 25
degree.
Through the Tanjung Bungah Residents Association (TBRA), 400 of them
signed a petition against the North Coastal Paired Road (NCPR).
TBRA chairman Meenakshi Raman said the environmental impact assessment
(EIA) showed that 3.34ha of gazetted forest reserve will be cleared for
the road.
“Tracts of the Teluk Bahang Forest Reserve and Bukit Kerajaan Forest
Reserve will be deforested. How can this be allowed?” Meenakshi said
during a press conference at the Tanjung Bungah market yesterday.
She said the EIA revealed that 46% of the proposed road would be on slopes with gradients higher than 25 degrees.
“The EIA is clear that slope instability risks will be high. Mitigation
measures are suggested, but haven’t we learnt enough about Penang’s
development? The island is sensitive to landslides,” she said.
The residents urged the Department of Environment (DoE) in writing not
to approve the EIA. A copy of the letter was also forwarded to Chief
Minister Lim Guan Eng on Aug 21.
The NCPR is a 10.53km four-lane road that is part of the Penang
Transport Master Plan and is under the purview of Consortium Zenith
Construction. It is part of the traffic dispersal system of the Penang
Undersea Tunnel project.
The residents are also confounded by the cost. Meenakshi said in 2011,
the estimated construction cost and land acquisition cost of the NCPR
was RM1bil.
She felt the EIA should have included a cost-to-benefit analysis and
“for RM1bil, can’t we think of other alternatives to the traffic
problem?”
In response, state exco member Lim Hock Seng clarified that the clearing
of the forest reserves was studied in the EIA as a requirement, but the
state is planning to avoid it.
“The first phase of NCPR is from Batu Ferringhi to Tanjung Bungah. The
Teluk Bahang stretch, where the forest reserves are, won’t happen so
soon.
“Although it is studied in the EIA, we do plan to continue examining alternatives and avoid deforestation,” said Lim. - The Star
Fake medicines may contain toxic substances that include heavy metals (e.g. aresenic) and additives (e.g. steroids). – AFP
The drugs you are taking may be fake
Counterfeit drugs are a booming criminal industry with serious consequences for public health.
Many of us have a strong faith in the power of modern medicine.
We go to the doctor or pharmacist, get the prescribed pills, take them religiously and expect to be cured of whatever ails us.
Oftentimes, this faith is justified, but in an age where fake products abound, have you ever wondered about the authenticity and quality of the drugs that you are ingesting?
According to a 2013 Emerging Markets Health Network report, 3-5% of all medicines being circulated in Malaysia were fakes.
Health Minister Datuk Seri Dr S. Subramaniam has also been reported as saying that the ministry had seized some 33,704 unregistered products worth RM43.22mil last year alone.
While this is not high compared to other middle- and low-income countries – for example, the International Pharmaceutical Manufacturers Group in Indonesia estimates that about one-quarter of medicines on the Indonesian market are fake – it is certainly something to be worried about as it concerns our health.
University of Oxford’s Reader in Tropical Medicine, Prof Dr Paul Newton says that it is difficult to estimate the global size of the problem as there is not enough data.
According to him, there are very few studies, and very few of those are done in a scientifically-rigorous manner, adding that there are certainly hotspots of such problems around the world.
Pfizer Global Security director Mark Robinson shares that the pharmaceutical company sees the highest number of fake drug seizures in Asia, compared to the rest of the world.
But he adds: “That’s because we are targeting (illegal) labs, seizing the drugs before they reach the market.” He observes that in 60 countries around the world, patients went into a legitimate, licensed pharmacy and got counterfeit drugs.
In addition, he notes that the World Health Organisation (WHO) estimates that over half of those who buy drugs online from unverified websites receive counterfeit medicines.
Two types of fake
Fake drugs, also called poor quality drugs, can be divided into two types: counterfeit and substandard.
Prof Newton explains that counterfeit medicines are made by criminals with the intent to deceive patients and healthcare workers for monetary gain.
According to Robinson, these criminals include entrepreneurs, terrorist organisations, drug syndicates and weapons dealers.
Brick dust, used to hold the fake pill together, as well as boric acid, leaded highway paint to provide the yellow colour, and floor wax to provide shine, were found to be used in the production of counterfeit mefenamic acid by an illegal lab in Colombia. - AFP
They do it, he says, because it is profitable, because they are pretty sure they won’t get caught, and because even if they do get caught, the penalties are very low compared to the amount of money they can make.
The danger of these drugs is that they can vary from not having any active pharmaceutical ingredient to containing toxic materials. (See What’s in your fake drug)
Active pharmaceutical ingredients are the chemical compounds that treat the medical condition.
Unlike counterfeit drugs, substandard drugs are made by the original or licensed manufacturer, but do not conform to the proper standard of quality.
They are “medicines with mistakes”, says Prof Newton.
These medicines occur due to errors in the factories. Sometimes, they can be small errors, and sometimes, they can be large errors, like using the wrong active ingredient, he says.
He opines that this problem is more likely to occur in low-income countries where there is a lack of drug regulation and quality control measures.
However, as with counterfeit drugs, it is difficult to estimate the size of this problem due to the lack of data.
“Not many people are actually looking (for this problem), so we might have an unpleasant surprise,” he says, adding that in terms of public health, substandard medicines are as dangerous as counterfeit drugs.
He adds that some companies are very active in ensuring that their products are good, but, like any human activity, some cut corners and skip the quality control.
Poor regulation
According to the WHO, only one-fifth of its member states have well-developed drug regulation; half have varying levels of regulation and enforcement; and the remaining 30% have either very limited or no drug regulation at all.
In Malaysia, Dr Subramaniam was reported as saying that online drug sales are a particularly hard area to enforce as the Customs Department does not screen packages valued below RM500, due to the very high number of such packages.
“We have asked the Customs Department to screen all packages, and they are trying to do it, but I think it is quite expensive to put such a system in place,” he said after opening the Access to Safe Medicines Training Conference organised by Mediharta Sdn Bhd in January.
Prof Newton was a speaker at the same conference, while Robinson was a speaker at the launch of Pfizer’s anti-counterfeit technology, Patient Authentication for Safety via SMS (PASS), in Malaysia.
According to Robinson, the top three drugs produced by Pfizer that are found to be counterfeited in Malaysia are erectile dysfunction drug, sildenafil; non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drug (NSAID) used to treat pain and inflammation, celecoxib; and hypertension drug, amlodipine.
He adds that it is not only branded drugs that are counterfeited, but also generic drugs that are no longer patented, like the NSAID mefenamic acid.
“People just want to use our good name (to sell fake drugs),” he says.
Prof Newton notes that antibiotics and cardiovascular drugs are also being increasingly counterfeited in South-East Asia.
He adds that it is not only drugs that are counterfeited, but also medical devices like cardiac stents, rapid diagnostic tests and insecticide-treated bed nets – a problem particularly rampant in Africa.
Bad effects
The effects of fake drugs can be felt both on the individual level, as well as on a wider scale. For the patient, taking counterfeit drugs can range from death to developing more serious health complications.
These health complications may be caused by the actual illness being untreated due to a lack of active ingredients in the counterfeit drug, or the drug containing either toxic ingredients or the wrong active ingredients.
The latter will also make it more complicated for doctors to treat the patients, as they might be confused by the incongruent symptoms.
Counterfeit or substandard drugs that contain less active ingredients than required can also cause drug resistance, particularly if they are antibiotics.
Prof Newton adds that consuming fake drugs also ends up incurring more expense on the patients’ part, as they don’t get better and keep on buying more medications.
Patients might also lose faith in the healthcare system, he says. “If you don’t trust the pharmaceutical companies or doctors, you won’t go back and might seek other alternatives.
He notes that fake drugs will also affect genuine pharmaceutical companies, as well as government healthcare systems and non-governmental organisations that inadvertently purchase these drugs.
Both Prof Newton and Robinson hope that governments around the world will take a stronger stance against counterfeit medicines, both in terms of enacting relevant legislation with much stronger penalties for those producing fake drugs, as well as in terms of enforcement.
Patients should also be more careful of what they consume.
For example, signs that a medicine could be fake include an excessively low price, flimsy or unprofessional packaging, and not requiring a doctor’s or pharmacist’s prescription for non-OTC (over the counter) drugs.
An example of the holographic security label for registered Malaysian drugs, which features the hibiscus symbol, serial number and the letters PBKD and DCA. All drug packaging must have this label. – Photo:
An example of the holographic security label for registered Malaysian drugs, which features the hibiscus symbol, serial number and the letters PBKD and DCA. All drug packaging must have this label. – Photo: Health Ministry
In Malaysia, registered drugs also have a holographic security sticker on their packaging.
A year on, lack of hard facts, initial confusion and overnight 'experts' add to fog of uncertainty
KUALA LUMPUR: It’s been exactly a year since Malaysia Airlines’ Flight MH370 disappeared en route from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing, and despite the most extensive search in aviation history, the fate of the Boeing 777 aircraft and the 239 people on board remains a mystery.
While the search led by Australia in the depths of the Indian Ocean continues, how and why a sophisticated aircraft carrying 227 passengers and 12 crew vanished without a trace has piqued the curiosity of many.
The authorities and aviation experts remain baffled. They believe only the plane’s cockpit voice and flight data recorders can shed light on why the plane was diverted from its original path and headed south across the vast Indian Ocean.
The lack of hard facts and the initial confusion when the plane was declared missing gave rise to a flood of anecdotal “evidence” and a crop of overnight aviation “experts” basking in their two minutes of fame.
Numerous conspiracy theories over the fate of flight MH370 have been appearing ever since, with none providing a credible clue on what could have really transpired.
In the run up to the first anniversary of MH370′s disappearance, conspiracy theorists went into overdrive.
The latest was Jeff Wise, a science journalist and author, who claimed that the plane was hijacked on the behest of Russian President Vladimir Putin and flown to a remote landing strip in Kazakhstan.
But why would Putin want to hijack a Malaysian plane in the first place?
On March 3, a senior Boeing 777 pilot claimed that flight MH370 was taken on an emotional last farewell ride over the pilot’s home island of Penang, before the pilot ditched the plane into the ocean.
Captain Simon Hardy who came up with this theory, published in Flight International magazine, is based on the initial suspicion that the MH370′s Captain Zaharie Ahmad Shah could have turned rogue and deliberately flown the plane off course.
But there is nothing to substantiate this claim.
In December 2014, a former French airline boss Marc Dugain in a six page article in Paris Match claimed that the US might have shot down flight MH370 as it approached the US military base on the Diego Garcia atoll in the western Indian Ocean, fearing a 9/11 style attack on the base.
The US military is said to have covered up the incident.
Immediately, the US embassy in Kuala Lumpur stated that there was no indication that flight MH370 had flown near the US military facility in the first place.
Former prime minister Mahathir Mohamed, too, had his own idea: just two months after the plane disappeared, he wrote in his blog that “someone” must have remotely seized control of the aircraft from the pilots.
He based his argument on a supposed patent received by Boeing in 2006 for an “anti-terrorism auto-land system” that, once activated, removed all control from the pilots to return a commercial airliner to a pre-determined landing location. But Dr Mahathir failed to mention who that “someone” could be behind the plot. So back to square one.
Everything on board the plane, including its cargo and passengers, came under suspicion right from the onset.
Conspiracy theorists claimed that the plane was carrying dangerous cargo that caused a fire on board or crippled the plane’s operating systems.
Among the items in the cargo manifest were highly flammable lithium ion batteries. Did the batteries have anything to do with the plane’s fate like the fire in South African Airways’ Flight 295 in 1987?
Other conspiracy theorists focussed on the 20 employees of Freestyle, a Texas based semiconductor manufacturing company; the equipment they were carrying had radar-blocking capabilities developed by the company, thus crippling the plane’s systems, these theorists claimed.
Fingers were also pointed at two Iranians on the passenger list who boarded the plane with forged travel documents. Could they have been terrorists who hijacked the plane to an unknown destination or sabotaged the plane?
But Interpol revealed that the pair had no links with any terrorist groups and were on their way to seek asylum in Europe.
And of course there were the out-of-this-world conspiracy theories. The plane was hijacked by aliens. A Malaysian bomoh claimed the plane was hijacked by elves and was permanently suspended in the air.
Two months after the plane disappeared, Indian film director Rupesh Paul put up a trailer for a film about MH370 at the Cannes Film Festival, to be called “The Vanishing Act: The Untold Story of the Missing Malaysian Plane”.
CNN, which had given the MH370 story its full wall-to-wall treatment, described it tellingly: “If the Cannes Film Festival had an award for most squirm-inducing production, it would surely go to the producers of a new thriller telling the “real” story of the still-missing Malaysian Airlines jet.”
National Geographic turned out a documentary that was more cautious in its approach visualising all possibilities including a catastrophic failure of aircraft systems or structure. But there are not definitive answers.
The confusion in the first days of the aircraft’s disappearance led to parallels with conspiracy theories about the assassination of US President John F. Kennedy, mainly that the government had covered up crucial information in the aftermath of the incident.
LOOKING BACK: THE FINAL MOMENTS OF MH370
* Malaysia Airlines’ Flight MH370 departs from Kuala Lumpur International Airport in Sepang at 12.41 am to Beijing with 227 passengers and 12 crew. It was a code sharing flight with China Southern Airlines.
At the helm of the Boeing 777-200 ER was veteran pilot Capt Zaharie Ahmad Shah.
The passengers include 153 Chinese nationals, 38 Malaysians, 12 Indonesians, six Australians, three French, four Americans, two from Ukraine, New Zealand and Canada respectively and one each from Russia, Taiwan, Italy, the Netherlands and Austria.
Less than one hour into the flight, as the plane approached the Igari Waypoint, in South China Sea, where it was to be handed over to the Ho Chi Minh City air traffic control, it disappeared from the radar screen.
“Good night Malaysian three seven zero” were the last words spoken from the cockpit. No distress signal received.
Subesequently the plane was tracked by Malaysian military radar as it deviated from its planned flight path and crossed the Malay Peninsula and headed towards the Andaman Sea.
Communications pings between the aircraft and Inmarsat’s satellite network concluded that the flight continued until 8:19 am towards southern Indian Ocean. However, the precise location could not be determined.
A major multinational search was mounted without success. Australia leads the second phase of the search with the cost mounting.
Malaysia's poor response following the disappearance of flight MH370 reflected the
fact that the country is still way behind in terms of governance.
Behind the chaotic information are the flaws in Malaysia's system of ...
