Archive for September, 2009
Monday, September 21st, 2009
Medical tourism is where people travel abroad to receive medical treatments like cosmetic surgery, which they could not afford in their own country.
Those travelling abroad for such treatments usually come from developed countries, where treatments are very expensive. The UK and the US are two of the biggest markets. That said: wealthy people in countries with poor health sectors often travel to countries that offer better healthcare for major treatments.
When people travel abroad for medical treatments they have two main criteria: cost and quality of healthcare.
They are looking for a place that they can both get to and be treated in cheaply, but which has a top-class health sector so that they know they will be safe. Below are three destinations which meet the criteria for perfect medical tourism destinations, and as such are some of the most popular destinations with medical tourists.
Malaysia:
Malaysia was recently found to be the most popular medical tourism destination with the growing numbers of Asia’s wealthiest. They travel to Malaysia for major treatments because it has one of the best health services in, not only Asia, but the world.
Malaysia is also one of the most popular destinations with those travelling from English speaking destinations (US and UK). This is because, as an ex-British colony there is a high prevalence of English speakers in the health sector. Tourism from the two combines to make Malaysia one of the fastest growing medical tourism destinations, and well worth a property investment tailored to that market.
Costa Rica:
Costa Rica is massively popular with American medical tourists. Costa Rica disbanded the military in 1980 because of the safety and stability of the country. This makes people feel safe about visiting the country, but it also freed up billions of dollars to spend on education on healthcare.
For that reason Costa Rica now has one of the best, and most efficient health sectors in the world. Of the top destinations Costa Rica is also among the cheapest for procedures, which makes it very popular with medical tourists from around the world including the UK. (more…)
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Monday, September 21st, 2009
The Bishops’ Conference of Costa Rica announced Thursday that it completely rejects a bill that would modify the country’s constitution, remove a clause that establishes the Catholic faith as the Costa Rica’s religion and eliminate any reference to God in legal oaths.
The bishops said the measure that was proposed by the “Movement for a Secular State in Costa Rica” is being portrayed as “a means of safeguarding religious freedom” for Costa Ricans, when in reality the movement’s purpose is to take advantage “of this opportunity in order to push its own agenda.”
Some members of the movement, the bishops noted, “have shown themselves to be opposed to the values of the Gospel and the Christian ethics the Church teaches. Their marked particular interest prevents them from seeking the authentic common good and discredits them as supposed defenders of religious freedom in the country.”
They went on to stress that the current Constitution “has historically allowed for a healthy, respectful and balanced collaboration between Church and State in the interest of the integral development of our country. To affirm the contrary is to ignore history,” the bishops said.
Addressing the group’s intention to strip God from legal oaths, the bishops said it is evidence of a secularist agenda which is “opposed to the concept of the just autonomy of the political community and the Church and is understood as the exclusion of God and faith from the public sphere, reducing it to the private realm.”
For this reason, they added, “anti-religious prejudices, special interests and moral relativism are an expression of a myopia that denies any value of the transcendent dimension and of living the Christian faith.”
The bishops said their opposition to the bill was rooted “in the defense of principles and values that support authentic democracy and not in the search for supposed privileges, because a democracy without values…easily becomes a dictatorship and ends up betraying the people.”
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Friday, September 18th, 2009
The subgerente de Telecomunicaciones del ICE, Claudio Bermúdez, assures that the problems experienced by GSM cellular telephones users this week is due to the cellular telephone unit and not the unification of the network that occurred last Saturday, September 12.
The Instituto Costarricense de Electricidad (ICE) last Saturday brought together all the cellular lines of the Alcatel network to the Ericsson, which is now the only GSM network in the country.
Subscribers were asked to turn off and then turn on their cellular telephones on Saturday. The action would allow the cellular telephone to automatically register itself to the network and not cause any interruption in service.
However, many cellular telephone units did not do so and ICE has had to attend to more than 40.000 complaints by customers.
And the complaints continue.
Although ICE’s claim that all the problems are not as a result of the network, let us consider some of the following occurrences that are common by many customers:
- the cell phone works, stops receiving calls, though it is able to make calls, then works fine, then stops then is fine again;
- a text message sent form one cellular phone to another at 5:21pm is delivered almost immediately, while the response takes more than two hours to be received
All Bermúdez can suggest is to visit an ICE agency to have a technician look over the cellular unit.
The numbers affected by the change begin between 8810 and 8851, and 8950 and 8951. All these numbers belonged to the Alcatel network.
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Friday, September 18th, 2009
It’s official, the new Ley de Tránsito will not take effect on Wednesday as it had been scheduled, but rather on March 1, 2010, following approval by 39 legislators last night. Four legislators voted against the postponement.
The six month postponement is to allow the corrections to the law that was approved last December.
The postponement means that the fines will not go up next week, nor will the cost of the 2010 Marchamo that must be paid by December 31, 2009.
Jorge Méndez, head of the fracción del Partido Liberación Nacional, said that a Comisión Especial (Special Commission) will be created to study the controversial clauses of the law, in particular the numbering of the articles.
The postponement effectively delays the tough sanctions for infractions like running a red light, not using a seatbelt or talking on a cellular phone while driving, for example, with high fines and points that leads to the suspension of a drivers license.
However, the tough sanctions against drunk and reckless drivers will continue.
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Friday, September 18th, 2009
Washington won’t support upcoming elections that could help resolve the standoff. Bad move.
The crisis in Honduras just got more complicated, because Washington may have blocked the most likely road to reconciliation in that Central American nation. The US State Department announced earlier this month that a broad range of assistance for Honduras would be terminated and that additional sanctions would be imposed on members and supporters of the government.
This will add pressure for the return of the deposed president, Manuel Zelaya. He unwisely was bundled out of the country on June 28 by the Honduran military, acting under the instructions of the supreme court and legislature, for his efforts to seek an unconstitutional second term.
Since then, negotiations backed by the United States and led by Costa Rica’s president, Oscar Arias, have sought resolution between the de facto and the deposed governments. Those have stalled, and now that Congress is back in session after its summer break, Washington’s patience for Mr. Zelaya’s return is thinning.
That’s all well and good, but the State Department went further, declaring that the Honduran national elections long-scheduled for Nov. 29 could not be supported “at this moment.” Such a position poses risks for the US. It also has broad implications for regional democracy.
Washington has essentially declared that the elections will be illegitimate, if, for example, the de facto government refuses to budge. A democratic, transparent, and constitutionally consistent election was the one escape valve from the Honduran imbroglio for all parties. Without it, the crisis may continue beyond its natural election season conclusion. (more…)
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Friday, September 18th, 2009
Costa Rica and China signed a statement of understanding on Thursday to develop joint scientific researches.
The understanding was signed between the Costa Rican National Institute of Biodiversity (INBio) and the Chinese Academy of Science (CAS), within the framework of the Science and Technology Cooperation Agreement signed by the two countries earlier this year.
INBio officer Eric Mata said the two sides could extend their opportunities to improve human resources, joint projects, as well as infrastructure and equipment development.
INBio scientific coordinator of Bio-prospect Guiselle Tamayo said Costa Rica could offer China all its knowledge and experience on biodiversity conservation, which is helpful to create sustainable economic development.
Tamayo also said his country could use China’s strength on medicinal plants and microorganism study, which are the fields Costa Rica interested in.
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Friday, September 18th, 2009
Costa Rica’s hopes of qualifying for the 2010 World Cup are now in the hands of a coach who is familiar with qualifying for the tournament.
The Costa Rican Federation hired Brazilian Rene Simoes to replace Rodrigo Kenton as head coach on Wednesday. He will make his debut when Costa Rica faces Trinidad & Tobago on Oct. 10.
Brazilian Rene Simoes is confident he can turn around Costa Rica, which is in danger of missing out on the 2010 World Cup after leading the Hexagonal at the halfway point, but he is facing obstacles in preparing the Ticos for the final two games against Trinidad & Tobago and the USA.
Simoes first gained notoriety in the CONCACAF region by leading Jamaica to the 1998 World Cup. He followed that up with a stint as Trinidad & Tobago head coach prior to the 2002 World Cup. After a stint in women’s soccer as the head coach of Brazil’s Olympic silver medal-winning team, Simoes returned to the men’s game, eventually returning to lead Jamaica. He was unable to get Jamaica past the second-round group stage (in a group that included Mexico, Honduras and Canada), and was fired.
Simoes most recently spent time coaching in his native Brazil, including a stint with Fluminense, before taking over Costa Rica on Wednesday.
What do you think of this hire? Relieved it wasn’t someone like Leo Beenhaker? Worried that it’s a head coach who is familiar with the United States? Don’t think it will matter on Oct. 14 when the United States faces Costa Rica at RFK Stadium?
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Thursday, September 17th, 2009
Not unexpected, the president of the Instituto Costarricense de Electricidad (ICE), Pedro Pablo Quirós, said he opposes the reimbursement of customers for the nine days ICE delayed the effective date of the electrical rate reduction.
Quirós made the statement following the news that the Autoridad Reguladora de los Servicios Públicos (Aresep) is presenting an appeal to the Tribunal Contencioso Administrativo to force ICE to reimburse ¢1.1 billion colones to its customers.
The appeal is being made to the same court that ICE appealed the increase that was to have gone into effect on September 1. The Tribunal ruled last Wedensday against ICE and ordered the 7.2% rate reduction to take effect on September 10.
The Aresep and the Defensoría de los Habitantes (Ombudsman) feels that ICE should not pocket the nine days of higher rates, that clearly belongs to its subscribers.
“If these people (the Aresep) want us to give away electricity, they are wrong”, said Quirós on Tuesday.
The ICE president then alluded to the possibility of suing the Aresep and that there is no subsidy for electrical service in Costa Rica.
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Thursday, September 17th, 2009
Two Costa Rican men will today will begin their trial in the murder of two women and the attempt of a third, after ending their shift as employees of the White House restaurant and casino in Escazú, on October 28, 2008.
The three women were on their way home when they were intercepted by the two men, shooting Angie Peraza Fernández in the head, leaving her dead on the side of the road, while forcing Yerlin Marín Salazar and her sister, Arelis, to their vehicle and at gunpoint taking them to take money out of an automated teller machine in Paseo Colón.
The two men then shot Yerlin Marín and Arelis, dumping Yerlin’s body in the area of Belén de Heredia and the her sister Arelis in Santa Ana.
Only Arelis was able to survive the shooting.
The two men identified by their last names, Mora Cantillano and Mena Jiménez, will be sitting in the defendant’s chair in courtroom 12 of the Tribunales de San José.
A total of nine people are expected to give testimony in the killing and attempted killing.
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Thursday, September 17th, 2009
The price of gasoline goes up tomorrow following the approval by the Autoridad Reguladora de los Servicios Públicos (Aresep) last month. The notice was published today in the official government publication, La Gaceta, and takes effect at 12:01am Thursday.
The price of a litre of super will go up ¢34 colones, regular and diesel ¢33 colones. Av-Gas, jet fuel, kerosene and natural compressed gas also go up.
The price of a litre of super gasoline at the pumps tomorrow will be ¢601, up from today’s ¢567; regular to ¢582 from ¢549; and diesel to ¢506 from ¢472.
The good news is that the increase will be temporary as the Aresep is evaluating a proposal that would reduce gasoline prices by ¢26 colones for a litre of super, ¢24 for regular and ¢22 for diesel. However, the lower prices would not take effect until the middle of October.
In the same notice taxi fares increase today. the Aresep approved taxi fares will increase by ¢25 colones for the first kilometre and ¢30 for each additional kilometre. With the increase the minimum rate is today ¢455 colones.
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Thursday, September 17th, 2009
Honduras’ Presidential candidates returned from Costa Rica this evening approximately at 7:15 pm. Pepe Lobo spoke first with the press, who greeted the candidates as they exited the plane from Costa Rica, then was polite and waited for the remainder of the canndidates who were arriving on another flight. Together, the candidates faced the press and waited for the spokesperson to begin.
The spokesperson said they all spoke with Arias, and all but one candidate, signed a declaration that they are behind the accord providing it does not violate the laws of the Constitution of Honduras. They stated, however, that it is not up to them as candidates, but up to the current government. They back continued dialog with Arias, and feel they have shown willingness to continue to speak with him. They feel they had a productive meeting, and that they appropriately presented their side about the elections being free and independent of the current government.
The front-runners in Honduras’ presidential race backed a negotiated solution to the country’s political crisis on Wednesday, but stopped short of calling for the return of ousted president Manuel Zelaya.
The candidates said they supported the efforts of Costa Rican President Oscar Arias to resolve the crisis touched off by the June coup that forced Zelaya into exile.
Arias has proposed that Zelaya return to office to serve out the remainder of his term, while coup participants would be given amnesty, but the de facto government has refused to consider any deal that would allow Zelaya back.
The candidates stressed they were not speaking on behalf of the de facto government.
Zelaya was arrested and flown out of the country by the military on June 28 after he angered the judiciary by seeking constitutional changes that would allow presidents to seek reelection.
The leftist leader, who allied himself with Venezuela’s anti-U.S. President Hugo Chavez, has denied he intended to prolong his stay in power.
Zelaya’s supporters say the de facto government is seeking to hold out until the general elections on November 29 in order to legitimize the coup.
The United States cut more than $30 million in aid to the country earlier this month as it stepped up pressure on the coup leaders. Washington has also warned it could not recognize the elections as legitimate because of Zelaya’s ouster.
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Thursday, September 17th, 2009
Costa Rica requested 1.8 million vaccines against the A/H1N1 flu virus to prevent infections among its people, official sources said on Wednesday.
According to the health authorities, these vaccines will be offered to some most vulnerable group of people, like patients who have risk factors like obesity, diabetes and smokers, as well as the health staff.
Those who have high levels of asthma among children and the people above the age of 60 years will be part of the priority sectors to receive the vaccine.
Costa Rica will buy these vaccines trough the Pan American Health Organization, which facilitate the procedures to get the vaccines for the third world countries.
Currently, Costa Rica has reported a total of 1,246 cases of A/H1N1 flu, including 33 death cases.
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Wednesday, September 16th, 2009
Yet anther load of cocaine has fallen into the hands of law enforcement. The security ministry said that its officers managed to capture a boat loaded with 700 kilos (1,540 pouns) of the drug after a chase Tuesday.
That brings to 88 tons the amount of cocaine seized by police during the Arias administration, according to the ministry’s accounting.
According to the Ministerio de Gobernación, Policía y Seguridad Pública, the chase began along the Pacific coast when an aircraft of the Servicio Vigilancia Aérea spotted the fastboat and gave chase. Eventually the three-person crew headed the boat to shore, jumped out and began to swim to some mangroves.
The Servicio Nacional de Guardacostas at the Quepos station and the Policía de Control de Drogas came on the scene and began to investigate the boat. They found the drugs hidden in the 33-foot craft, they said.
The crew bailed out of the boat near Pueblo Real de Damas in the Cantón de Aguirre. That was about 8:30 a.m. Police set up roadblocks in an effort to find the fleeing suspects.
The crew must have recently refilled fuel containers on the craft, the Santa Patricia. There were 14 20-liter fuel containers and only one was empty. The three 75-horsepower outboards on the boat requires a lot of fuel.
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Wednesday, September 16th, 2009
Looking for that notary that signed off on the property deed now in question? Can’t find him or her? Probability he or she is dead.
That is one of the weaknesses of the Registro that is being evaluated by the Área de Fiscalización de Servicios Públicos Generales, Ambientales y Agropecuarios de la Contraloría General de la República, where a suspended or even dead notary is able to file a property registration and without any problems.
The Contraloría is evaluating the system known as Sistema de Bienes Inmuebles which is a database system for all real property registrations.
The report indicates that the system “presents an important degree of obsolescence”.
The report, numbers DFOE-PGAA-IF-14-2009, also says that the “integrity of the data is not 100% trustworthy”, noting registrations or changes registrations in the system permitted by suspended or deceased notaries.
The Contraloría investigation concludes that the system lacks controls to block out unregistered users and suggests a new system be adopted.
The new system being recommended by the Contraloría is called “Sistema Unico de Registro” which would modernize the information systems.
Until them the records of the Registro Nacionalm continue to vulnerable.
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Wednesday, September 16th, 2009
Costa Rican president, Oscar Arias, has not given up on a peace plan for Honduras. As the chief mediator in the Honduran political crisis, Arias, said on Monday that he will meet with the Honduras presidential candidates to emphasize that the upcoming elections will not be recognized if held under the government of Roberto Micheletti.
Arias is expected to meet on Wednesday at least four of the six candidates to the November elections in Honduras, in an effort to gain their support for restoring ousted president, Manual Zeleya.
Arias has been the leading negotiator for the US backed efforts to restore Zelaya.
Brazil earlier this week made it clear that it will not recognize any government other than that of Zelaya. Arias is expected to emphasize that the international community will not recognize any government formed before a Zelaya restitution.
As part of Aria’s multi point peace plan outlined during the last rounds of negotiations between Zelaya and Micheletti supporters was a new election in Honduras, but only after Zelaya is restored to power and with the promise that Zelaya would not run for another term.
Arias, a Nobel Peace prize winner, has been frustrated in his efforts to bring the two sides to a conclusion of a crisis that is now almost 3 months old. (more…)
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