Compliance Pack Stops Superbug

WATSONS PHARMACY and pharmaceutical manufacturer UNILAB launched the antibiotics Compliance Pack to promote and teach proper antibiotic use to Filipinos and to help prevent the emergence of superbugs (antibiotic-resistant bacteria). Antibiotics Compliance Packs are now being sold exclusively in all outlets of WATSONS PHARMACY.

The Compliance Packs contain prepackaged antibiotics in amounts that are usually prescribed by doctors to patients. They are priced forty to sixty percent lower compared to multi-national brands. The antibiotics in these packs are of guaranteed quality and effectiveness, sourced from UNILAB.

“When we heard about the project (antibiotics Compliance Packs) we agreed right away to be part of it. That’s because making medicines more affordable to more Filipinos is an advocacy of UNILAB,” said Atty. Jose Maria Ochave, Corporate VP for Business Development Group, UNILAB.

Ochave said that UNILAB keeps improving its initiative in lowering the prices of its medicine. It manufactures and markets off-patent pharmaceuticals that are just as effective, yet more affordable, compared to equivalent branded drugs. The antibiotics manufactured by UNILAB, which cost forty to sixty percent lower than multinational brands, are packaged in the Compliance Packs.

According to Lyle Joseph Morrell, Health Business Unit Head of WATSONS, the lower prices of quality antibiotics being sold in Compliance Packs will help patients use antibiotics more properly.

As an example, Morrell mentioned Amoxicillin 500mg, the most basic type of antibiotic used to treat patients with community acquired infections. “A full dosage of Amoxicillin 500mg costs P273 if one buys from a multinational brand. On the other hand, a full dose of Amoxicillin 500mg in a Compliance Pack costs only P110. That’s already a savings of 60 percent if the consumer buys the Compliance Pack,” said Morrell.

Dangerous misuse
During the launch, a lecture on improper antibiotic use and superbugs– antibiotic-resistant bacteria that no longer treatable by the antibiotics being used today–was presented Dr. Rontgene M. Solante, president of the Philippines Society of Microbiology and Infectious Diseases.

According to Dr. Solante, the number one cause of superbugs emergence is improper use of antibiotics. Superbugs are. “If we keep using antibiotics improperly, the day may come when our antibiotics no longer work against bacterial infections—we will have an infectious disease apocalypse that will endanger the human race,” says Dr. Solante.

Dr. Solante explained in his presentation how ordinary bacteria become superbugs. He said that when the wrong antibiotic is used at a wrong dosage, the bacteria that survive are able to mutate: changing their chemical and cellular structure so that when they are exposed to an antibiotic, it no longer affects them.

He said that four practices antibiotic misuse, which are unfortunately common in the Philippines, promote the emergence of superbugs. These include:

Self-medication. It’s risky to self-medicate, that is, to use antibiotics without a doctor’s prescription. When a patient buys antibiotics without a consulting a doctor, using an old prescription, or following the advice of relatives and friends, it’s likely that the antibiotics purchased will be the wrong ones, and will also be used at an improper dosage.

Skipping a dose of antibiotic. Patients who miss a dose or several doses of antibiotic are allowing bacteria to recover from the antibiotic’s effects. There’s also a risk that the infection resurge.

Stopping the antibiotic dose too early. There are patients who stop taking antibiotics once they feel better. Others are unable to buy all the antibiotics prescribed because they don’t have enough money.

Using antibiotics like over the counter drugs. Antibiotics are powerful medications that must be used only under a doctor’s supervision. Sadly, there are patients who think antibiotics are used to relieve symptoms like fever, body pain, coughs and colds. Such symptoms are usually caused by a viral infection. Antibiotics are not used to treat viral infections.

Instead, viral infections are best cured by taking enough rest, drinking lots of fluids, taking vitamins and supplements; using lozenges and other remedies. These remedies plus the body’s immune system are usually enough to fight off a viral infection.

Some patients, however, do not know the difference between a viral and a bacterial infection. So they antibiotics without a doctor’s prescription, just like over-the-counter medicines—and some drugstores allow patients to do this. Dr. Solante cited a medical study that found that 66% of antibiotics sold in Manila were sold without a prescription.

“These practices, when done often enough, lead to the emergence of superbugs. In the Philippines, two types of bacteria—one that causes gonorrhea and another that causes tuberculosis, are already antibiotic-resistant,” he said.

Antibiotics compliance campaign
The antibiotics Compliance Pack is part of a joint campaign for antibiotics compliance being conducted by WATSONS and UNILAB. The Compliance Packs sold in WATSONS stores are one way of educating the public about proper antibiotic use and will help patients use antibiotics properly.

Since the antibiotics are already pre-packaged in their proper amounts, they are more convenient and accurate to use. The lower price and high quality of the Compliance Packs antibiotics, as provided by UNILAB, also make them more affordable to patients.

WATSONS also helps in the campaign by making sure its store pharmacists are well-trained and knowledgeable in the proper use of antibiotics. Patients who are buying antibiotics in WATSONS stores are assisted by pharmacists and taught how to use antibiotics properly.

If a patient wants to buy unprescribed antibiotics but obviously only has cold symptoms or a viral infection, which do not need antibiotics to be cured—then the pharmacist may either point out that the patient does not need antibiotics yet, or tell the patient to consult a doctor first. The pharmacist may also recommend over-the-counter medicine to relieve a patient’s symptoms.

Solante said that the problem of antibiotic-resistant bacteria and a possible “infectious disease apocalypse” is a serious health concern in the Philippines and the rest of the world. He said that a campaign like the one by WATSONS and UNILAB is a good idea and will help efforts of doctors, researchers and the Department of Health in preventing superbug emergence in the country.

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Amidst the recognition it earned as it marked its 20th anniversary last year, Avida Land Corp. still won’t rest on its laurels. The company is in fact looking towards expanding its territory even further and breaking new grounds with new developments, as well as a new headquarters in its lineup. Read more AVIDA Land Corporation breaks ground at Bonifacio Global City

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Planning a wedding on the other side of the world can be a time consuming progress, and you need to allow plenty of time for this to complete before your wedding.

Setting the Wedding Date

First you need to talk to your Filipina bride and set a wedding date, then you can arrange an appointment with your local registry office in the UK.

Doing the British Paperwork

You need to make this appointment quite early in the process, as you need to obtain from them a ‘Certificate of no Impediment to marriage’ (CNI). To get this certificate you must have notice for your forthcoming wedding to your Filipina bride displayed in their office for 21 days, after which time they will issue you with your CNI.

Visit the British Embassy

You need to take your CNI to the British Embassy in Manila. They will take your CNI issued by your British registry office and, in exchange for a fee, they will issue you with a CNI that is acceptable to the Philippine authorities. Get to the embassy early in the morning, before the embassy opens if possible. They should be able to issue the certificate the same day but there is always a queue to get into the embassy and it may be some time before you can be seen.

Getting the Wedding License

Once you have your embassy issued CNI, you must take it to the local registry department in the town where you plan to marry your Filipina bride.

The law of the Philippines requires that you must give notice of your intention to marry your Filipina bride at least ten days before you want your marriage license issued.

What Happens Next?

You need to give some thought to what happens after the wedding. Assuming that your Filipina bride is a citizen of the Philippines and you are not, then neither will have any automatic right to live in the others country, and therefore unless you make your plans beforehand, you will very soon be separated after the wedding.

Coming to UK?

If you wish to apply for your wife to live with you in the UK you will need to apply for a settlement visa from the British embassy. This takes at least three months to be issued, and sometimes it can take much longer, it is also possible that they may want to interview your Filipina bride before granting the visa.

At some point your Filipina bride will need to obtain a stamp in her passport from the ‘Commission on Filipinos Overseas (CFO). This will involve the payment of another fee, and another interview before she is free to join you in the UK.

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It’s almost Holy Week so I would like to share a story : In Matthew 14:13-21 five small barley loaves and two small fish supplied by a boy were used by Jesus to feed a multitude. The first miracle that Jesus showed to the people is when he made 4,000 bread and fish out of five loaves of bread and two fish.  His disciples distributed it to the people. They all ate and were satisfied. After eating seven basketfuls of broken pieces were left.

Fish is a very significant food, and when it’s holy week people would do fasting by not eating meat. During holy week or lenten season restaurants avoids serving meat and so they would come up with recipes out of fish.

Just like the lenten season there’s another way you can enjoy eating or perhaps cooking your favorite fish recipe. Join I love Fish Video Contest and get the chance to win 50,000 cash.

Here are the Mechanics:

1. Contest is open to everyone, 18 years and old above. A participant can submit up to five (5) entries.
2. The video should be no less than 5 minutes and maximum of 15 minutes that shares a favorite seafood recipe (ingredients and how to cook it) using any of the following – white pompano, seabass (apahap), red snapper (mangagat), green grouper (lapu-lapu), and tilapia.
3. File size of the video should be no more than 2 GB.
4. Mandatory components:
   • The I Love Fish watermark (logo image included in this blog post) to appear at the lower right hand side of the video.
   • An image snippet of the Fishta brand (website or its actual location in any of its outlets)  anywhere in the video.• At the end of the video, state that:

   This video is a contest entry to I Love Fish (http://www.ilovefish.ph) Video Contest sponsored by Fishta Seafood

   Submission of entries will be from February 21 to March 31, 2011. All entries will be sent via CD or DVD (in a format that allows it to be uploaded via YouTube and Facebook) along with the printed and signed entry form per recipe, mailed or delivered to:

5. 
   I Love Fish Contest
   c/o Janette Toral
   Rm. 602 West Trade Center, 132 West Trade Center, Bgy. Philam, Quezon City 1105

All participants joining shall also attest to the following:

1. Images, music, and video footages used in the entry were taken by the contest participant or permission was granted by its owners.
2. The contest entry has never been used for any other competition.
3. The contest entry was not posted online, for public viewing, prior and during the contest proper.
4. You are giving I Love Fish and Fishta Seafood, Inc. the permission to upload your entry in its blog, website, Facebook, and YouTube page.
5. Joining the contest implies that you are giving I Love Fish and Fishta_Seafood, Inc. the right to use your video and recipe entry for promotional purposes.

Criteria for judging:

• Recipe preparation, execution and presentation – 40%
• Editing and post production – 20%
• Production value – 20%
• Overall impact – 20%

Names of judges will be posted here shortly.

Prizes:

• The grand prize winner will get fifty thousand pesos (P50,000).
• One second prize winner will get thirty thousand pesos (P30,000.00)
• Three third prize winners will get ten thousand pesos (P10,000.00) each
• First ten qualified submission will get a Fishta gift pack.

Winners announcement

Winners will be announced on April 16, 2011 here at I Love Fish.

I am going to make my own entry soon! What’s my recipe?  Clue: it’s something fishy!

Reminder : Make sure to courier entry on or before March 29 to avoid submission delays.

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Are you looking where to find medical nursing scrubs? Nursing uniforms has been in demand all over the years, all over the world and all over the ocean.

Who are the market of nursing scrubs?

Hospitals and Health Care companies requires scrub suits or nursing medical uniforms, specially for nurses. Aside from it serves as uniform it symbolizes cleanliness. Cleanliness is next to Godliness.

Blue is the common color because just like the clouds, cotton blue is soft. I know a place where we the skies are blue- The Blue Sky.

Blue Sky Scrubs provides all uniform needs to all field of medicines. If you are a doctor, conductor, desk, nurse or caregiver you can buy your uniform needs in Blue Sky Scrubs company. They do offer all types of scrub suits from all sizes to all different colors.

Cheap Medical Nursing Scrubs is comfortable to wear because it is made from 100 cotton scrubs. Compared to other scrub suits, Blue Sky has more choices on colors and design. It comes in all types of sizes and a includes a set of pants.

Scrub Sets from Blue Sky Scrubs is designed specially for Health Care companies. It ensures the quality of uniform that has a professional look and above all it dries easily when you wash it. So you can wash and wear it.

What are you waiting for ? buy now!

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A few days ago , I posted about Polycom. So here is another post about Polycom documented during their launch here in the Philippines !

Polycom is the industry leader in providing solutions to unified communication. Solutions that enable geographically dispersed workforces to communicate and collaborate more effectively and productively over distances. In short they make people closer even at far distance.

Unified Communication is an application that allows people dispersed in different geographical location to communicate and collaborate a more effective and productive way thru voice, video and data. Polycom pioneers the state of the art teleconferencing technology.

UC stands for :

• Unified Communication
• Unified Collaboration

With industries leading telepresence, video and voice and infrastructure solutions . Polycom is committed to accelerate unified communications innovation for enterprise, mobile, SMB, and consumer networks while protecting customer investments. The kind of business solution that polycom provides will have a greater impact in our lives.

Imagine a huge widescreen in front of you and you are talking to someone. Isn’t it interesting ? That is what Polycom does.

Through Telepresence Solutions , Polycom makes our lives easier in terms of conducting meetings and conferences. The telepresence suite called Polycom RealPresence allows people dispersed in different geographical location to communicate and collaborate . The suite is perfect for company meetings. It saves time and energy and above all it helps boost the companies productivity.

Let ‘s say a company needs to have a meeting with all it’s branches . Polycom’s video conferencing offers solution that delivers quality . The usual problem with video conferencing is the delay due to slow connection. But with Polycom, any video conferencing can be done in high definition video at any bandwidth. This becomes a more efficient way of conferencing.

Polycom is also particular with the quality of sound. That is why they are committed to make sure the highest standard of providing quality communication.

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Some people has fear of water (hydrophobia) . Water has the ability to destroy us all but on the good side water is the essence of life. Without water we have no life. 97% of the Earths water is Salt that leaves only 3% fresh water to drink and most of them is frozen. The truth is less than 1% of the Earths water is potable……………..

Purchasing water filters can lead to reduced plastic water bottle waste. Instead, filter your own water and place it in a reusable bottle. Your average water filter can replace approximately 3000 16oz plastic water bottles saving you and the environment. You are saving big money by filtering your own water and you are saving the environment by eliminating plastic water bottles from the landfill.

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ZEN ZEST TEA TREE OIL

Tea Tree Oil, a natural anti-bacterial with tremendous medicinal benefits, is a great remedy for pimples, blemishes and even insect bites. Extracted from the fresh leaves and twigs of the Australian Tea tree, it helps the immune system fight infectious bacteria and diminish skin disorders. When applied, Zen Zest Tea Tree Oil (P 120.00) deep cleanses and repairs skin, leaving it smooth and blemish-free. On top of the flawless complexion, the warm and spicy aroma of Zen Zest Tea Tree Oil soothes and makes you feel good inside and out. Added to bath water, it does an excellent job at relaxing the muscles.

Zen Zest Tree Oil comes in small handy bottles that you can carry anywhere for a quick solution to a skin emergency. Available in all Zen Zest outlets nationwide.

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In recent months, I’ve seen this new commercial and ads in the streets about this new product made for men. They call it Freshman Masculine Wash. At first, I thought it was a gel or liquid soap. I later realized it’s a specific type of soap for that spot down-under.

Men have had their own facial wash, under-arm wash and all kinds of products but a wash specific to the pubic area is stretching it a bit.

Ok, we’re giving it a try and bought two of these Freshman Wash to try out and see why to make of it. But alas, we couldn’t still figure it out. We have photos to prove it but we’re skipping the ones that are R18.

So here’s our “10 Reasons Why Men Don’t Need Freshman Masculine Wash”:

1. It can not replace soap. We already have Dial. Men only use one soap at a time.
2. Men don’t have “wash time” down under. Only women do. The only time men wash up is while taking a bath — that’s it.
3. Men don’t need to spend for another type of soap to spend on. A body wash and a facial wash is enough.
4. Men don’t have enough room in their gym bag for another bottle of soap.
5. Men don’t want to be caught red-handed using this masculine wash.
6. Freshman makes you look like you’re not washing your private parts before this product was invented.
7. Only smelly men use masculine wash.
8. Men don’t want to get caught buying masculine wash the same way they cringe to the idea of buying sanitary napkins for their girlfriends.
9. Freshman make you look like a freshman in the men’s hygiene department.
10. Real men use Old Spice.

Ok, we’re just joking.

We’d rather save water, one brand of soap is enough.

If we’ll see Freshman Masculine Wash we’ll going to throw it on our Low-Flow toilets with or without having toilet repair.

We love our Dual Flush Toilets !

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This article has been posted originally at: Discourses on Life and Frugal Living Pinoy Style

I went to BDO today to take some cash. Since the ATM machine was being serviced, I was prompted to withdraw over the counter. I only needed P1,500 so the teller gave me one one thousand bill, 2 two hundred bill and a 50 peso bill. Since my account was held in Manila, they charged me P50 for the withdrawal since my account was out of town.

When I got home, my water delivery guys came and I paid them with my One Thousand Bill. Since they did not have any change, they promised to return in a few minutes to get the change since they are buying gas at the nearby Shell Station. I said okay since the water company has been delivering my water for the past 6 months and they have been very reliable with delivery and such.

After an hour, they came back and told me my money was fake and the Shell Station refused to take my money– as they tried to pay their gas with the One Thousand in order to get some change. I looked at them and stared them down to see if they were lying. Ofcourse none of them even blinked (they said blinking or looking at the left side might be a sign of deception). They said that the Shell people thinks my bill was a fake. So I took the money back and asked why they think it was fake. They said it felt funny. Ofcourse, it felt funny, my then crispy bill from the bank was now soft, thanks to the manhandling of the Shell people. They have rubbed and crumpled my bill until it turned into mush. I flipped the money and checked if the shadow (konsensya) was present and it was! The usual marker or ribbon like material weaved on the bill was also present. Apart from the soft texture of the bill, they appear alright to me.

So what now?

What if the bill was indeed fake? Where did exactly did it come from? The only place where I got the money was straight from BDO, unless those water people switched my bill with a fake one. If the money indeed came from BDO, were they liable for giving out fake currency? If someone unwittingly passed on a fake currency to you, what are you supposed to do? Can we just return the fake bill and be replenished? Perhaps, I can test this and go to BDO 2 days from now and check if they will replace the said bill. Hmmm…

This also reminded me of an old email from my husband’s colleague and she actually complained that BDO in SM Megamall gave her 2 fake One Thousand Bill. This happened years ago. With the holiday related spending on the rise, we should be wary of bills exchanging on our hands. According to the water guys, they actually got fake Two Hundred Peso bills last week. They have been forewarned and is on the lookout for fake Thousand Bills too.

I checked online and did not really find anything substantial about what the government can do in the event a fake currency falls into our hands, apart from yes, you can get into prison for passing fake currency around. But, how about on instances wherein you have no idea you were totting a fakie?

According to the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas although the counterfeiters have more sophisticated techniques in generating fake currencies, there are some easy ways to spot a fake currency.

The color is too vivid

The paper is too smooth.

The shadows were not present

The ribbon weaved into the paper is not even there.

If you suspect a fake bill, you can report it to the nearest police station. Doing so will help you trace where the fake might have originated. There is however no clear guidelines on how one can get a refund if lets say the counterfeit indeed came from a legal institution like your own bank or even a huge retail store (for example SM). We just have to be careful and be vigilant as bills exchange our hands.

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