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| US and Japanese immunologists awarded Tang Prize – BorneoPost <b>...</b> Posted: 19 Jun 2014 09:44 AM PDT TAIPEI: An American and a Japanese immunologist were yesterday named joint recipients of the Tang Prize, touted as Asia's version of the Nobels, for their contributions in the fight against cancer. James P Allison of the MD Anderson Cancer Centre at the University of Texas, and Tasuku Honjo of Kyoto University beat out some 100 nominees from around the world to take the inaugural prize in the category of biopharmaceutical sciences. "This is an exciting time in our fight against cancer," the Tang Prize Foundation said. "Their pioneering research has led to a new field in the therapy of cancers, which are already the leading killers to mankind," Chen Chien-jen, vice-president of Taiwan's top academic body Academia Sinica, told reporters. Allison, currently chair of Immunology and director of Immunotherapy Platform at the University of Texas, was one of the two scientists to identify the ligand CTLA-4 as an inhibitory receptor on T-cells in 1995. — AFP  We encourage commenting on our stories to give readers a chance to express their opinions; please refrain from vulgar language, insidious, seditious or slanderous remarks. While the comments here reflect the views of the readers, they are not necessarily that of Borneo Post Online. Borneo Post Online reserves the right not to publish or to remove comments that are offensive or volatile. Please read the Commenting Rules.  |
| 'Stop the 'Orang Gila' tag' - The Borneo Post Online Posted: 14 Jun 2014 11:41 AM PDT by Karen Bong, reporters@theborneopost.com. Posted on June 15, 2014, Sunday KUCHING: Sarawak needs more psychiatrists and a more responsible mass media in order to put mental health issues in the proper perspective. Assistant Minister of Public Health Datuk Dr Jerip Susil said the state had 15 psychiatrists, including two in private practice and two in Universiti Malaysia Sarawak (Unimas), but all of them were operating in major urban centres. In the case of social stigma attached to mental health, he urged the mass media to stop categorising everyone with mental issues as "orang gila", thus creating the impression that such individuals were dangerous. Speaking at the 4th Sarawak Mental Health Conference 2014's welcoming dinner cum cultural show at Riverside Majestic Hotel here on Friday, Dr Jerip lamented that people in rural areas and in smaller towns such as Sri Aman, Limbang, Betong and Kapit had no access to mental health services. "This is one restrictive frontier in which Sarawak has to overcome," he said. "I hope the Ministry of Health can send more psychiatrists to the state." Dr Jerip said although psychiatrists do provide travelling visits to district hospitals, it was still insufficient to meet the needs of the people. He pointed out that Hospital Sri Aman had a psychiatric ward since the 1980s, but it did not have a resident psychiatrist. "I also hope the mental health service sector in the state can encourage more doctors to take up psychiatry." On the debilitating stigma attached to mental health issues, Dr Jerip opined that the mass media, and the medical fraternity to a certain extent, had to be blamed for the "mystery" surrounding mental health services and widespread misperception that those with mental disorders are dangerous. Giving an example, he said the recent publication in a national paper using the term 'orang gila' in place of the correct term 'schizophrenia' on World Schizophrenia Day last May "was one such prejudice the press might want to rid itself of". "Then there is the tendency for those afflicted with mental illness to stay isolated and stay in the shadows. This gives the wrong impression that mental disorders are not common. "For the sufferers and their caregivers, this has given rise to the misconception that they are alone, that others do not understand what they are going through." Dr Jerip said there were a lot of things which mental health workers could do to help alleviate the heavy burden shouldered by mental health sufferers and their caregivers. "I hope the Stigma Shout Workshop to be conducted in the conference can be launched as a programme to help address this need as it will help make the mental health services more acceptable and encourage sufferers to come forth for treatment." Dr Jerip also urged non-governmental organisations (NGOs) and the mental health services sector to work together to educate the public, the sufferers and caregivers. He later pledged RM20,000 for Sarawak Mental Health Association. The conference, themed 'Psychiatry in the 21st Century: Facing New Frontiers', was organised by Sarawak Mental Health Association in collaboration with Kuching Sentosa Hospital, Sarawak General Hospital's (SGH) Department of Psychiatry and Unimas' Department of Psychological Medicine. Organising chairman Dr Lau Kim Kah said proceeds from the conference would be donated to the association to fund various projects. Also present were MHAS Sheltered Accommodation Building Sub-Committee chairman Datuk Wee Hong Seng, state Health director Datu Dr Zulkifli Jantan, technical advisor to the Ministry of Health on psychiatric matters, Dr Toh Chin Lee, state technical advisor on psychiatric matters, Dr Ismail Drahman and the conference's Scientific Committee chairman Dr Gan Chee Kuan. |
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