News Briefs (January 2008)

Monday, January 07, 2008

Cholera Outbreak Hits Southern Laos

A cholera outbreak has swept through more than a dozen villages in southern Laos, killing two and sickening nearly 200 with severe diarrhea, a World Health Organization official said Monday. The disease was confirmed in the remote province of Sekong, near the border with Vietnam, after people from 13 villages began falling ill last month, said Tessa Rintala, the WHO spokeswoman in the capital, Vientiane. The two deaths were attributed to extreme dehydration.

It was the country's first cholera outbreak since 2000, Rintala said. She said tests found that at least one of the rivers in the villages was contaminated with cholera and could be a source of the outbreak. The Health Ministry was expected to send chlorine to the affected areas to treat water. (AP)

Suharto Stable after Dialysis, Transfusion

The health of former Indonesian dictator Suharto was improving Monday, with fluids being drained from his heart and his appetite and ability to communicate returning, days after he was rushed to the hospital in critical condition, doctors and family members said. The 86-year-old was suffering from anemia, a dangerously low heart rate and swollen internal organs when he was admitted to Pertamina Hospital on Friday and his condition sharply deteriorated hours later, with some aides saying privately he had been on the verge of death. But a transfusion of blood—supplied by his children—and dialysis treatment appeared to be working, said Dr Marjo Subinandono, the chief presidential doctor.

Suharto has been accused of overseeing a brutal purge of more than half a million left-wing opponents at the outset of his 32-year reign. Though he has also faced charges of embezzling hundreds of millions of dollars in state funds, he has so far evaded prosecution because of his health. Since his ouster by a pro-democracy uprising in 1998, Suharto has lived a secluded life on a leafy lane in the capital, Jakarta, rarely venturing from his mansion, but a steady stream of high-profile guests still flock to see him on birthdays and Islamic holidays, a sign of the lingering influence he has over the ruling elite. (AP)

Malaysia Rations Cooking Oil to Counter Supply Shortage

Malaysian cooking oil will be rationed starting Monday to counter a supply shortage caused by smuggling and panic buying amid fears of a price hike, a government official said. Consumers will be allowed to buy only up to 5 kilograms (11 pounds) of cooking oil at any one time, said Hoo Seong Chang, parliamentary secretary of the Domestic Trade and Consumer Affairs Ministry. Supermarkets and retail stores nationwide have been told to enforce the rationing, he told The Associated Press on Sunday. The government is also asking cooking oil manufacturers to raise production, and is urging consumers to cooperate to ensure that the shortage is resolved quickly, Hoo said. Deputy Prime Minister Najib Razak said panic buying and hoarding had created an "artificial shortage" of cooking oil, prompting the rationing, but that there was plenty of oil for everyone, The Sunday Star newspaper reported. The newspaper, however, said news of the rationing had sparked a renewed rush to buy cooking oil nationwide. (AP)

Burma’s First Herbal Park Opens

Burma’s first national herbal park has opened in the new capital of Naypyidaw, state-run newspaper The New Light of Myanmar reported on Sunday.

Over 20,000 herbal and medicinal plants from over 700 species are being cultivated to produce medicines for treating diseases such as cholera, diarrhea, dysentery, hypertension, diabetes, malaria and tuberculosis in the 81-hectare park, the report said.

According to health authorities, Burma has made arrangements for the development of traditional medicines in line with international standards, including opening diploma courses and practitioner courses to train skilled experts in the field.

Indigenous Burmese medicines have traditionally comprised ingredients such as roots, tubers, bulbs and animal products, and have a long history in the country.

Australian Takeover at Phnom Penh Post

The two Australian businessmen who run the weekly Myanmar Times announced Monday that they have taken over The Phnom Penh Post, a Cambodian newspaper, said Agence France-Presse.

According to an AFP news report, Ross Dunkley, chief executive officer of Burma Consolidated Media, which publishes The Myanmar Times, said that he and Bill Clough, an Australian miner and oil and gas entrepreneur, have taken a controlling stake in the paper.