Pasha Sigorta insured Salyan Oil operating company’s staff

Baku, Fineko/abc.az. Operating company Salyan Oil has signed a general medical insurance agreement with Pasha Sigorta.

PS reports that the contract on medical insurance of the Salyan Oil personnel is one of the largest corporate insurance projects in Azerbaijan.

“PS insurance coverage will cover totally up to 1,800 employees. On the other hand, this project is one of the most difficult on its implementation as the insured personnel, including families of the Salyan Oil’s oilmen resides both in Baku and other four administrative regions of the country. In addition, the contract also includes component of ensuring on-site emergency medical care and medical examination of the insured,” a PS source says.

Pasha Sigorta JSC became the insurer of the Salyan Oil staff after it was announced the winner of a relevant tender.

Salyan Oil general director Zhou Yunzhang said that Salyan Oil management is satisfied fully with the offered PS conditions.

“The model of implementation and price aspect of the project testifies of good prospects of building of long partnership relations with Pasha Sigorta,” Yunzhang said.

Nofel Rzayev, the PS general director, said that they consider this contract as a result of Company’s right-built practice of assessment of risks and high level of goal oriented policy of the PS Medical Insurance Service.

“In complex with planned monthly performance sessions with Salyan Oil functional executives in Baku and regions, our attribute characteristics will provide maximum satisfaction of the client’s needs and will create basis for long profitable partnership,” Rzayev emphasized.

PS, a member of Pasha Holding Group of Companies, renders services on 29 types of insurance. In 2007 it entered ranks of 10 leader insurers of Azerbaijan on its insurance premiums (AZN 7.8 million) and ranks of five insurance market leaders on its charter capital (AZN 4 million).

The Medical Insurance Service built on the basis of multi-provider model run 24 hour support of clients’ applications within medical insurance and controls quality of aid given in partner medical institutions.

Last year PS was certified by British rating agency Moody’s for conformity to international standard on management with quality of insurance products and services (ISO 9001:2000). Medical Insurance Service is also covered by this standard.

Bupa Arabia shares debuts on Tadawul

Capital Market Authority confirmed that Bupa Arabia for Cooperative Insurance Company approved the trading of its newly 16 million shares representing 40% of its capital as of Saturday 12/5/1429AH is corresponding to 17/5/2008.

The company is registered within the insurance sector with the symbol 8210, with an unrestricted price limit for the first day of trading only as per CMA regulations

Bupa Managing Director Tal Nazer, expects Bupa shares to start trading extensively as a unique provider of health insurance that owns a huge stake in this vital sector serving more than half a million clients in KSA alone.

Traders’ expectations of the share value are wide ranging.

Listed under the new Commercial Registration number of 4030178881, Bupa Arabia for Cooperative Health insurance has a paid up capital of SR400m.

It is worth mentioning that Bupa Arabia IPO was over subscribed by 921% in March 2008 which involved over 2.5 million subscribers pumping SR1.4bn.

This outstanding performance clearly had a positive impact on the medical insurance sector in Saudi Arabia in particular and the Gulf Region at large.

Bupa Arabia has earned a number of awards including ‘the best insurance company’ by the Jeddah Chamber of Commerce and Industry, as well as ‘the award of the best work environment’ granted by HRH Prince Faisal Bin Salman Bin Abdulaziz.

Furthermore Bupa is the only Saudi company that has been granted the award for the “Best E-business’ in the Middle East Region.

'Games For Health'

BALTIMORE and WASHINGTON -- Four major emerging trends -- exergaming kicks into high gear, video games go to rehab and therapy, major health care providers arrive on the scene, and the rise of video games for first responders and medical professionals -- were highlighted during a telenews event conducted by organizers of the Games for Health national conference at the Baltimore Convention Center.Drawing on 60 planned presentations by 75 speakers, Games for Health conference highlights trends including:-- Video games go to rehab and therapy. In a Games for Health conference highlight, a version of the popular video game Guitar Hero will be unveiled that is designed to aid arm amputee rehabilitation ... Red Hill Studios will present its findings about the use of PDWii to aid balance and mobility in Parkinson's patients. PDWii is currently being developed by Red Hill Studios and the UCSF School of Nursing, with funding by the NIH. Quantifiable results are being used to track patient progress and are being integrated into the patient's overall regime. Results will be used to benefit further innovations in the field of games for health ... For younger patients, there is Ditto, a "multi-modal distraction device" designed to control pain and stress among patients undergoing burn and orthopedic medical procedures.-- Exergaming kicks into high gear. One Games For Health panel will explore how exergaming in gyms and other settings can be used to combine physical activity and fun. Another presentation will focus on "Zyked" - a set of online and mobile services designed to be for working out what Xbox Live! is for videogames. Zyked's creator Tom Soderlund will present the basics behind Zyked and report on how the first batch of user tests are going. Soderlund will also present how Zyked intends to work with a multitude of portable devices including digital music players, digital athletic gear and mobile phone platforms. Dr. Alasdair Thin of Heriot-Watt University, Edinburgh, Scotland, will outline in "Go for the Burn: Designing Body-Movement Controlled Video Games to Maximise Energy Expenditure" his thoughts about how to future exergame design should work to ensure maximum health benefits.-- Major health care providers arrive on the scene. For the first time ever, a major U.S. health care insurance company, Humana, is a primary sponsor of the Games for Health conference. The sponsorship reflects the medical community's increasing interest in the potential of games. Representatives from several of the largest health insurance plan providers in the United States will convene in a plenary session at the conference to detail the game-related efforts they've launched to date and their view about what is needed for the future to use games and games technology to solve critical problems in health they and others are facing ... Another new development: the K.I.C.K. (Kid's Interactive Creation Kiosk) is a touch screen system and software activity package developed with young children in mind. Initial design of the system was focused on hospital waiting rooms and other similar healthcare settings. Developed by a team of graduate students at Carnegie Mellon's Entertainment Technology Center, the project was originally titled "Project ER" and aimed to lower stress for 60,000 children who visited Pittsburgh Medical Centers ER each year. During the test run, the project gathered considerable research on how to deploy such systems in healthcare settings and will share this knowledge during a case presentation of the K.I.C.K. system. In order to see games for health play a greater role in settings where healthcare is delivered, significant hardware and software delivery problems need to be solved.-- The rise of games for first responders and medical professionals. Conference attendees will have an opportunity to play with 3DiTeams. Funded by the U.S. Army Telemedicine and Advanced Technology Research Center (TATRC), 3DiTeams was developed by Virtual Heroes with Duke University's Human Simulation and Patient Safety Center, and lets people interact with a fully 3D simulation of emergency health care environments ... Medical Cyberworlds is a startup in the process of creating an online multiplayer game to train doctors to communicate more effectively with their patients. Dr. Fred Kron, the founder and CEO of the company and Noah Falstein, the lead designer will present an update at the conference on the state of the project and discuss the challenging process of encouraging effective collaboration between physicians, academics, and game developers.

HFMD Virus Spreads among Chinese Children

More than 12,000 Chinese children are infected with the hand, foot and mouth disease (HFMD), and the authorities have slapped heavy punishments on ten doctors for allowing 26 children to eventually die. The doctors' response to the cases was deemed too slow.Authorities have also found that some village doctors have been illegally injecting children with immune globulin, falsely claiming it would cure them, according to Xinhua. Other doctors have been found failing to treat patients properly and have also been punished.The Chinese Ministry of Health declared a national alert over the weekend and established a task force which coordinates local officials on control efforts. East China's Anhui Province announced that it will reimburse the full medical costs associated with treating the disease for those who are covered by a public health insurance scheme. Typical reimbursements range from 55 to 65 percent, People's Daily reports.Nearly 1,500 cases have been recorded in China's capital alone, shutting down two kindergartens in Beijing."The Chinese government is paying great attention to the virus and related departments are taking effective measures to stop it from spreading," Foreign Ministry spokesman Qin Gang told the press. He apparently sought to appease concerns over the 2008 Olympics which are scheduled to take place in Beijing.The outbreak was caused by the enterovirus 71 (EV71). All the children infected are aged below 6, with most of them being under 2, due to their lower immune function. The hand, foot and mouth disease (HFMD) it causes is in no way linked with foot-and-mouth disease which affects animals, which is caused by another member of the Picornaviridae family.EV71, which causes hand, food and mouth disease, is a childhood illness found worldwide that spreads with saliva, feces, fluid secreted from blisters or mucus from the nose and throat. Symptoms typically include fever, skin rashes and sores inside the mouth and on fingers and toes.The illness has no specific treatment, but children usually recover quickly without problems. However, there are cases when the illness can result in a more serious form that can lead to paralysis, brain swelling or death. The outbreak of EV71 comes amid preparations for the Olympic Games, already tarnished by unrest among Tibetans in western China and an international torch relay disrupted by protests.

Chile gives free Viagra to seniors

A working class suburb of Chile's capital has begun handing out free Viagra to senior citizens.
Lo Prado Mayor Gonzalo Navarrete said he launched the program because "an active sexuality improves the overall quality of life".
About 1,500 residents of the working class area are eligible to receive as many as four pills of the erectile dysfunction drug each month, the mayor said. They have to be at least 60 and be registered with the municipality's health service.
"A doctor will have to certify that they suffer from erectile dysfunction and that their condition would not put them in danger of suffering cardio-respiratory side effects," Navarrete said by telephone.
He said he has assured about $US10,000 ($A11,000) in financing for the program through the end of the year.
In other countries, some government insurance plans provide Viagra, but Lo Prado hands the 50mg pills out free, with no membership in any public or private insurance plan required.
Navarrete said some other mayors in the capital Santiago, which includes 34 municipalities, have told him they plan similar programs.
He said he did not know how many pills had been distributed so far.

IDSA To Review Guidelines For Lyme Disease Diagnosis, Treatment

Boston (dbTechno) - A doctors group, the Infectious Diseases Society of America (IDSA) has agreed to review its national guidelines on Lyme disease. They will review the guidelines to both diagnose and treat the disease.
The call to review the Lyme disease guidelines comes after an antitrust investigation found major flaws in the set-up of the guidelines.
Lyme disease can be very hard to diagnose with very slight flu-like symptoms. The most obvious symptom of Lyme disease is the round red rash it leaves. There are 20,000 new cases of Lyme disease reported each year, experts state though the total may be around 100,000.
The 2006 Lyme disease guidelines go against the belief of many critics. The guidelines currently state that the majority of Lyme disease cases are treated with a 30-day set or oral antibiotics. They also state that there is no proof that chronic Lyme disease even exists, and that long-term antibiotics are effective.
Experts are stating though that Lyme disease is not as easy to diagnose and treat as the guidelines state, as the disease can last for years and years.
Critics of the guidelines state normal treatment with antibiotics takes six months or longer.
The IDSA guidelines are a tool used quite often by insurance companies as a reason to put a stop to long-term antibiotic treatment.
Connecticut Attorney General Richard Blumenthal, who launched the antitrust investigation, stated “The IDSA’s 2006 Lyme disease guideline panel undercut its credibility by allowing individuals with financial interests, in drug companies, Lyme disease diagnostic tests, patents and consulting arrangements with insurance companies, to exclude divergent medical evidence and opinion.”
The guidelines in place will not be changed while the review is carried out, which could take up to a year.

Intravenous Vitamin Mix Bar Alleviate Stress, Aging

If you've ever watched that episode of House where the good doctor nurses his hangover by hooking himself up to an IV drip and said to yourself "I wish I could do that," you're in luck. Now in Japan, even people who aren't wisecracking M.D.s can get an IV drip pick-me-up at Tenteki10. Located in swanky Ebisu, Tokyo, the IV drip cafe features walk-in service with bags of fluids starting at $20 a pop. Their menu is quite varied.
The cheapest option, the Basic Pack, contains a proprietary blend of saline solution and Vitamins B6, B12 and C. For a couple thousand yen more, a user can add on a combination of nine other drip bags, with options like Red Pack for an energy lift, Diet Pack for a metabolism boost and Placenta Pack for "rejuvenation."
The cafe is operated by a subsidiary of a medical clinic, but is unsurprisingly not covered by Japan's national health insurance. A doctor at Tenteki10 calls the IV drip service "preventive medicine" and stresses that it's an option for people to "raise their awareness of daily health management on their own." Right. As if anyone would go to an IV drip bar and then decide to exercise, eat right and get enough sleep.