with Christmas and New year almost here, many people take the opportunity to indulge in a festive consumption. If you're on vacation all over the archipelago, please take care to avoid all alcoholic beverages that may be tainted with lethal methanol.
It does not matter how experienced or a heavy drinker you are, as little as 30ml of methanol can kill. The Indonesian government does not keep statistics on the annual methanol death, but based on media reports and anecdotal evidence, the death toll is estimated at several hundred. Part of the problem is that many Indonesian doctors do not recognize the symptoms of methanol poisoning, much less know how to treat it.
Fortunately, an effort is underway to train physicians, provide medical equipment and public awareness, so that lives can be saved.
Tim and Lhani Davies, originally from New Zealand and now residents of Perth in Western Australia have lost their teenage son Liam earlier this year after buying a contaminated methanol glass at a bar Gili Trawangan Lombok. They channeled their grief into the creation of a charity called Rescue Initiatives against methanol, which began a series of educational programs and training in toxicology, and also aims to reduce the production of illegal and counterfeit spirits.
Liam Davies, who tragically died at 19 after drinking a glass of methanol-laced on Gili Trawangan.
Liam was 19 when he and a group of friends were on holiday in Lombok. They were well aware of the dangers of contaminated methanol drinks in Indonesia and therefore had brought their own bottles of liquor duty. These bottles were quickly stolen from their hotel, apparently an inside job. When young people have visited Rudy Pub on Gili Trawangan, Liam asked the bartender if the top-shelf bottle of Smirnoff vodka was genuine import. Assured that it was, he ordered a vodka and lime. Most of his friends were drinking beer. Liam later fell ill and was taken to Lombok hospital, where he was misdiagnosed with a brain aneurysm. He was then transported to Perth, where his condition was diagnosed accurately, but it was too late for doctors to save him.
"There were a couple of points at which he could have been saved if doctors to Lombok hospital had asked the right questions and made the right diagnosis," Tim said.
subsequent clinical testing of samples of the alcohol from Rudy Pub indicated an abnormally high content of methanol in beverages. Methanol is used in antifreeze, solvent or fuel. It is a natural byproduct of the local arak, which is distilled from the sap of palm flowers. traditional distillers remove the small amount of toxic methanol, which is lighter than ethyl alcohol safely. But this lightness does not mean that methanol rises to the top of a bottle of counterfeit spirits. Indeed, methanol is soluble in water (or dubious cocktails). So how is it possible that four or more people can share a contaminated methanol bottle of alcohol, but only one of them dies? Indeed, the tolerance of methanol and assimilation of the body varies according to individuals, depending on their genes and the amount of alcohol may be regular in their system.
It is suspected that some unscrupulous bar managers add methanol spirits contaminated local to international brand bottles to stretch their profits. high taxes the government on imported spirits put out of reach of most Indonesians, while most of the spirits sold in Indonesia have entered the black market. Some distribution channels are tightly controlled by powerful individuals, who often operate above the law.
The police have identified at least one suspect in the case of the death of Liam, but prosecutors are still following up with costs. When Tim and Lhani began their campaign for justice for Liam and awareness, there have been some negative reactions such as, "Why all this fuss about a dead bule " However, the campaign is on activation medical clinics and hospitals to cope with methanol poisoning. "This is not about a stranger. This is to save future lives," Tim said.
He and Lhani met with methanol producers, spirits producers and the Indonesian authorities in the hope of developing better enforcement and regulation on the import and distribution of liquor law. They would also see random testing of bottles of alcohol to determine if methanol is present. These tests can be performed within five seconds by means of a spectrometer. - Should the Ministry of Health, the Ministry of Trade or the police wish to invest in such equipment
Placement workshops Denpasar Sanglah hospital was not too difficult because it is committed to a strong cooperation with Australian hospitals after the Bali bombings in 2002. Australian nurse Di Brown, operates a hospital sister program between Sanglah and Royal Darwin hospital, hope to have teams of nurses assigned to remote areas to educate people about the dangers of methanol.
Many Indonesian doctors consider all forms of alcohol intoxication as the same and try to treat it by getting the patient to drink water. methanol poisoning can effectively be treated by giving the alcohol of pure ethanol victim, which stops it from metabolizing methanol in formaldehyde and formic acid. The patient is then undergoing hemodialysis to remove the methanol from the bloodstream. Many hospitals and clinics do not have such facilities. In Lombok, one hospital has dialysis equipment and only a few people know how to operate it. Tim Lhani and raise funds to help provide other necessary equipment and relevant training.
The couple has also been busy in Australia, a campaign that warned school leavers to Bali and Lombok holiday on the risk of toxic cocktails.
In Indonesia, they are raising awareness by focusing on the hospitality industry, local communities and authorized distributors of alcohol. They also plan to airlines and travel companies to provide tourists with information on methanol as they enter Indonesia.
Tim, who was visiting Indonesia for over 20 years, admits there are many challenges, but it has already seen positive results of medical workshops, such as ethanol becoming more accepted as a form of treatment. "If there is one positive thing to come from this tragedy, it is that doctors will be able to save more lives," he said.
For more information, including how you can help raise awareness, visit the of Life Saving Initiatives Against Methanol page:
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