Indianapolis Recorder, Indianapolis, Marion County, 14 November 2003 — Page 18

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THE INDIANAPOLIS RECORDER

FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 14, 2003

LOVE

Your mother was right ...wash away those germs

► Continued from Paged “Ynu'rr an Vx-smokcr until you li^lit np tliat noxt li^arotti*," Dodds says. “That’s really who the hook is written for — the person who wants to remain an ex-smoker. If you’re someone who eares about that person, how do you help him or her manage that, espeeially in those early hours and days?" Dodds has the following 10 suggestions for you to help Someone cpiit smoking thisyear on The tlreat Ameriean Smokeout: (1) Ask how you ean help. (2) Don’t nag! Don’t beeome a member of the “cigarette police," sniffing around to see if your loved one has slipped up. (,‘l) If you also smoke, take part in the Great American Smokeout Nov. 21. Ifyou’re going to continue to smoke, do it somewhere else. (4) Keep substitutes handy: gum, carrots, celery, raisins, sunflower seeds. (5) Realize that cessation classes, therapy, or nicotine patches or gum may take a bite out of the family budget. I t’s more than worth it. (6) Understand that, for a while, your loved one may find it too tempting to be around friends and family who smoke or to visit the usual “smoking” places — the cafe, the bowling, alley, the tavern, or even the patio or deck. (7) Don’t raise an eyebrow if he or she starts eating a lot. A fewextra pounds aren’t a concern right now. (8) Keep in mind that quitting may have to be your loved one’s first priority for a time and so others items are going to be put on a back burner. (9) Contact the American Cancer Society (www.cancer.org) for more suggestions. (10) Remember there really are at least 1,440 reasons to quit smoking - one for every minute of the day. And each is a great reason to kick the habit.

(NAPS1) — Experts are coming clean on the issue of handwashing as a critical step to help ensure good health. It turns out that when our mothers told us to wash up, they knew what they were talking about. It’s believed by many that handw ashing may be the single most important means of preventing the spread of infectious disease. Yet recent studies reveal

that healthcare professionals aren’t consistently following this seemingly simple advice. In the rush of real-world clinical settings, few health care facilities’ personnel fully comply with hand hygiene guidelines. Longer hospital stays, more complicated disease states and sometimes even deaths are attributed to the spread of germs in the hospital. The lack of handwashing compliance in medical facilities

has become so widespread that the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) released a new Guideline for 1 land 1 lygiene in I lealth-Care Settings. Medical gloves appear to be an easy solution to prevent hand contamination but in practice, exam gloves may tear or get pinholes, giving germs an opportunity to spread from one patient to another or from clinician to patient. And its a patient, you have the right to expect your caregivers to practice

CLINTON, IN CHINA:

good hand hygiene. In fact, the results of a Boston medical study show that a hospital’s infection rate was greatly reduced when patients were encouraged to ask clinicians if they washed their hands. It’s important to be an informed patient and ask, “Did you wash your hands?” before you receive any medical care. To address these issues, the CDC recommends the increased use of alcohol-based cleansers

because of effectiveness and ease ofuse. Regent Medical’s Hibistat *- line includes effective alcoholbased products and their newest product-11 ibistat towelettes-give health care workers even more convenience to effectively clean their hands. For more information on Hibistat, please visit Regent Medical at \v\v\v.regentmedical.com or call l-800-843-84<,'7.

World must collaborate to fight SARS, AIDS

By STEPHANIE H00 Associated Press Writer

BEIJING (AP) China broughttogether scientists, government leaders and even former President Clinton recently to battle the health threats most urgent to itsell and to big swaths of the world S A RS and AIDS. Clinton praised the Chinese government for its decision to help poor AIDS patients receive treatment. And, he told a symposium at Tsinghua University, the quick spread of SARS around the world demonstrated how- countries and companies simply must collaborate to fight disease. “A sneeze in Hong Kong led to a quarantine in Toronto, ” he said. "We cannot escape each other’s fate.” Clinton said anti-AI DS drugs must become more affordable and it was unconscionable that people across the world were dyi ng because t hey cou Id n’t pay for treatment. ‘iTiis medicine issue is an international scandal,” Clinton said. “Money shouldn’t determine who lives and dies from AIDS." Last week, Chinese Executive vice Health Minister Gao Qiang said thousands of poor

HIV and AIDS patients would receive free AIDS treatment, starting with 5,000 this year. By 2008, the number will rise to 40,000 patients, said /hang Fujian, director of the National HIV/AIDS Clinical Task Force, speaking at Monday’s symposium. Clinton said such initiatives could help ensure China’s efforts to make economic progress aren’t undermined. “China has come too far to see the future of millions of people derailed," said Clinton, whose eight-year presidency ended in 2001. New HIV infections in China have been growing annually by about ,‘30 percent. Chinese officials and the United Nations warn that 10 million people could be infected by 2020 without nu >reeffective prevention. About 1 million are already infected. Clinton said Beijing, with its progress in beating back SARS, is in a unique position to bring about change. “The Chinese are famous for good planning," he said, adding: "AIDS kills more people in two hours than SARS killed in total. ” Beijing was criticized for its initial reluctance to inform the world about severe acute respiratory syndrome, which surfaced in southern China late last year

and killed 774 people worldwide before subsiding in June. In China, 349 died. Beijing has also been slow to tackle AIDS, said symposium organizer Dr. David Ho, executive director of the Aaron Diamond AIDS Research Center in NewYork. He called on leaders to act immediately. Grass-roots anti-AIDS efforts are growing in China, but there needs to be a clear plan from the central government “so people within the provinces can grabonto that and have their marching orders,” he said. “A large and comprehensive societal response is in order," Ho said. “If there is no health, there is no prosperity." That’s a message sure to reach the new generation of Chinese leadership, installed this year. It has placed a premium on creating a “well-off society" and raising living standards. But Beijing’s slow reaction to SARS showed it has neglected health care and the welfare of individuals while pursuing fast economic growth for the country overall, said Hu Angang, director of Tsinghua University’s Center for China Study. “The government has to transform from a developmental government to a public service gov-

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Former US President Bill Clinton (left) talks with Song Penqfel, a 21-year-old AIDS patient from north China's Shanxi Province, at Oinghua University in Beijing. More than 300 experts, scholars and officials from around the world attended the International Seminar on AIDS and SARS sponsored by the university.

ernment,” Hu said. After all, poor health undermines growth, he said, pointing out that the SARS outbreak shaved about 0.7 percentage points off gross domestic product for the year. While HIV in China is mostly confined to intravenous drug users and people infected by the buying of tainted blood, it will soon explode in the general population unless people practice safe sex, said Joan Kaufman, director of Harvard University’s AIDS

public policy training program. “It really is breaking out into a sexual epidemic that is beginning to accelerate,” she said. Hu, addressing this point, singled out China’s 100 million migrant workers, many of them men who travel to the cities for seasonal work while their wives remain in the countryside. “We have to give consideration to this population group so they are not excluded from public policy,” he said.

LUPUS

Continued from Paged But the environment plays a major factor in the cause, treatment and flare ups. “Day in and day out I have to watch being in the sunlight for too longor my lupus will flare up. I have to always protect my skin by wearing sunblock," Sanders admits. “This disease is very confusing, one day I feel OK, the next I am dragged down from the toll that it takes on my body.” With a disease that does not discriminate based on age, surveys show that only four out of 10 young adults' ages 18 to 24 claimed to be aware of lupus. Treatment can range from ex-

tensive medication to at-home self care. Avoiding excessive sunlight will prevent a flare up. Alcohol consumption and stress will attack the immune system causing a reaction to lupus. A variety of medications are prescribed to lupus patients including chloroquine, which is used to treat malaria, but also works well with the treatment of lupus flare ups. For more information about lupus visit the Lupus Foundation of America Web site at www. Iupus.org or call (202)3491145.

Common symptoms of lupus include: Achy or swollen joints Extreme fatigue Fevers Skin rashes, especially in the shape of a butterfly on the bridge of the hose Anemia Excessive protein in the urine Pleurisy Photosensitivity Hair loss Abnormal blood clotting Fingers turning white and or blue In the cold Seizures Mouth or nose ulcers

Duane Merchant

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