Living in Peru : your everyday companion

LivinginPeru.com
Isabel Guerra

Peru's authorities declared a state of “health emergency” in the Datem (Marañon) territory, due to a hepatitis B epidemic which is currently affecting the Kandozi-Shapra indigenous people, who are in danger of becoming extinct since they are small population.

The decision was adopted after a meeting between Health Minister Oscar Ugarte, and Apu (leader) of the Kandozi, Venancio Ukama, who arrived in Lima a few days ago to get help for his community.

Ugarte said that his ministry was already aware of the problem, and that it is carrying out a vaccination against Hepatitis B; he announced that doctors will be sent to the area to care for those already ill.

Kandozi-Shapra Indians live on fishing and subsistence farming; they are only 2,500 individuals.

Gianina Lucana, a nurse working for the World Wildlife Fund (WWF), said that "so far, 80 people have died from hepatitis B since 2000" in the region.

Reportedly, other native leaders said that hepatitis B came when Occidental Oil Company settled in the area.

Ukama said he is waiting for the implementation of the measures announced by Minister Ugarte.

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LivinginPeru.com
Isabel Guerra

At present, Loreto is the first region in the country that has a Strategic Multisectorial Regional Plan against AIDS, according to the newspaper from Iquitos “Pro y Contra.”

The formulation of this document started in 2007 with the participation of organizations representing civil society: NGOs, unions, professional associations, gay, lesbian, and people living with HIV or AIDS; and also by state health and education sectors, at national and regional level.

As part of activities for World Day Against AIDS (December 1st), Regional Health Directorate of Loreto will present publicly this Plan.

The first case of HIV diagnosed in Loreto was reported in 1989, six years after the first national report; since then the number of new cases in Loreto has increased until reaching 2,017 HIV cases and 660 AIDS cases.

Loreto ranks fifth in number of AIDS cases, after Lima, Callao, Arequipa and Ica.

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LivinginPeru.com
Isabel Guerra

According to the latest decree issued on the matter, the doctors who refuse to prescript generic medicines will get a fine up to S/. 7,000 soles (some US $2,300)

The decision aims to put an end to the alliance between laboratories and certain doctors, a situation that makes many Peruvians to buy the most expensive medicines in the market.

The decree also states that from now on, not only the National Directorate of Medicines and Drugs (Digemid) will be in charge of inspection, but also all the Regional Directorates, which will sign agreements with associations of health professionals.

The next stage of this strategy contemplates an intense promotion of generic medicines in the country.

Have other topics you'd like to see in our news section? If you or someone you know would like to contribute a news article to Living in Peru, whether it's translated or based on a personal investigation, send it to editor@livinginperu.com.

LivinginPeru.com
Isabel Guerra

A total of 1,968 cases of HIV and 404 of AIDS were confirmed Peru, according to the Directorate General of People's Health of MINSA (Peru's Health Ministry) as of September 2009.

With these new reports, the total of HIV cases has just reached at present 23,446 in Peru, and the number of AIDS cases amounts 36,138.

Lima will host (starting November 21st) the 4th Community Forum IV and V Latin American and Caribbean Forum on HIV / AIDS and STIs, which will review the progress of the pandemic.

Specialists from the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO), the Joint United Nations Program on HIV / AIDS (UNAIDS) as well as representatives of AIDS programs in the region and from community networks will attend the event.

The World Health Organization declared December 1st as the World AIDS Day.

Have other topics you'd like to see in our news section? If you or someone you know would like to contribute a news article to Living in Peru, whether it's translated or based on a personal investigation, send it to editor@livinginperu.com.

LivinginPeru.com
Isabel Guerra

A few weeks ago, Constitutional Court (TC in Spanish) determined that the Emergency Oral Contraception Pill, or the “morning-after pill” would not be distributed freely in public health facilities; now Peru's TC has stated that the Health Ministry can't sell  the pills already in stock.

This interpretation of the TC has caused loud reactions from other sectors in the government, and amongst NGOs working on reproductive health and women's rights issues as well.

Representatives from these NGOs claim that banning the morning-after pill not only will increase the number of clandestine abortions, but also would be “discriminatory and contrary to the poorest women's rights.”

NGO Flora Tristán had presented weeks ago a study (done by antropologist Delicia Ferrando) that claims that more than 300,000 clandestine abortions would be performed every year in Peru, which has generated a very hot debate between pro-choice groups, who think this study reveals that abortion is a public health issue in Peru, and pro-life groups, who claim that these figures do not come from a real census but from an statistical projection, and that statistics may have been manipulated.

The Dean of the Colegio Médico  (Peru's Medical Board, which reunites all the doctors legally authorized to work in Peru)  told the press that they will  go to international tribunals and file claims seeking for an overruling of this TC's sentence.

Judge Alvarez Miranda, a member of the TC, explains that the sentence they have issued “is only about the role of the state on the free distribution of this pill. If any other institution suits another claim, we will analyze it,” adding that the pamphlet that comes along with the pill in another countries has warnings about a possible abortifacient effect, “but in Peru that warning it is not included, and the state is responsible for regulating the free sale of any product in pharmacies as long as they don't include complete information for the consumer on its possible side effects.”

On the other side, pro-life movements have praised the TC's decision, claiming that “it protects the life since conception,” and that “the morning after pill is supported only by certain sectors with economic interests on its free sale and distribution,” and that “it is not discriminatory,” arguing that according to some polls, “the lowest socioeconomic sectors are the ones who defend life more strongly.”

Have other topics you'd like to see in our news section? If you or someone you know would like to contribute a news article to Living in Peru, whether it's translated or based on a personal investigation, send it to editor@livinginperu.com.

LivinginPeru.com
Isabel Guerra

Every year 10,000 Peruvians die due to smoking tobacco, said to RadioProgramas del Peru (RPP) Alberto Saavedra, a member of the International Association of Medicine for Addictions.

According to him, over 80% of smokers in Peru began the habit during adolescence, at the age of 13 and 14 on average.

Regarding to the child population, 11% confirmed they had smoked a cigarette or more before age 10.

Saavedra also stressed that the country's male population addicted to cigarettes amounts to 577,000, while while women amount to 238,000.

He also mentioned that smoking causes 90% of lung cancer cases, 80% of larynx cancer cases and 76% of the esophageal cancer cases.

For his part, Dr. Alberto Matsuno, president of the Peruvian Society of Neumology, proposed as a solution to raise taxes on tobacco and other more drastic measures, since separate non-smoking rooms do not really protect people.

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LivinginPeru.com
Isabel Guerra

Arequipa now has  a hospital specialized in cancer: the Instituto Regional de Enfermedades Neoplasicas (Regional Institute of Cancer), that will serve patients from Arequipa, Moquegua, Tacna, Puno and Cusco.

The manager of the institution, José Luis Picoaga, said it has been built with the help of Cerro Verde Mining Society and by the moment will offer diagnosis services and cancer check-up, surgery and chemotherapy. Currently looking forward to hire more medical staff, this institute has at present nine doctors, 11 nurses, nine technicians, one psychologist and one social worker.

It will also have a bunker for the working of radiotherapy equipment, to be installed by the end of this month by the company Oncoserv.

By the moment, the Regional Government signed an agreement with Essalud to offer radiotherapy services in the Center of Nuclear Medicine inside Hospital Carlos Alberto Seguín Escobedo.

Have other topics you'd like to see in our news section? If you or someone you know would like to contribute a news article to Living in Peru, whether it's translated or based on a personal investigation, send it to editor@livinginperu.com.

LivinginPeru.com
Isabel Guerra

"I'm happy. My dream came true. God used me as an instrument for the medicine to perform an operation that will save other lives," said an emotional Rosario Hidalgo Valenzuela, the first patient in Peru to have a multiple organ operation.

The surgical operation was held at Guillermo Almenara Irigoyen National Hospital in La Victoria, with a 32 person team, including doctors, nurses, assistants and technicians.

The operation took place on September 29th at 11:oo p.m. and finished the next  day,  at 7:00 p.m.

Rosario Hidalgo is 34 and 23 years ago was diagnosed with diabetes mellitus, illness that made her dependent on insulin. As a result of such illness, she developed renal insufficiency in 2000, that effected her pancreas as well.

The doctors and the patient prepared for over a year for the surgery to be successful.

Rosario Hidalgo got the pancreas and the kidney from the same donor.

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LivinginPeru.com
Isabel Guerra

President of Essalud (Peru's Social Security system), Fernando Barrios Ipenza, is asking Spanish businessmen to invest in Peru in some projects that the aforementioned institution is planning.

Barrios Ipenza explained those plans to the businessmen in a meeting that took place last Wednesday in Madrid, under the sponsorship of the Interamerican Bank of Development and the Spanish Government.

He said that Essalud's main objective is to optimize health services for Peruvian citizens.

"This will be done through private financing oriented to the construction of new hospital infrastructure and the improvement of the management system.  We are not talking about putting in private hands neither the social security nor the hospitals; they will remain public. Only the management will be in private hands," he pointed out.

Have other topics you'd like to see in our news section? If you or someone you know would like to contribute a news article to Living in Peru, whether it's translated or based on a personal investigation, send it to editor@livinginperu.com.

LivinginPeru.com
Isabel Guerra

Peru's Health Ministry edited a booklet and a video showing the standard procedures recommended for a safe preparation of Peruvian flagship dish, the popular "cebiche," (raw fish fillets marinated in lime juice), with the aim to guarantee its safety for human consumption.

He reminded that cebiche, due to his composition with raw ingredients, is often connected with poisoning and food intoxication episodes.

The Viceminister of Health, Melitón Arce Rodríguez, explained that good practices of manipulation and manufacture to follow are described in both educational materials, to prepare this dish and avoiding any possible illnesses. DIGESA will deliver this booklet and the video to the most important health centers and restaurants in Lima.

Have other topics you'd like to see in our news section? If you or someone you know would like to contribute a news article to Living in Peru, whether it's translated or based on a personal investigation, send it to editor@livinginperu.com.