It'll all come out in the wash

Interior Minister Jüri Pihl as quoted in Delfi reporting on Postimees reporting on Võsa Reporter reporting on a story that emerged this week about new Estonian passports being made from leftovers from Cameroon and potentially unravelling under the wrong conditions:

"I am of the belief that an Estonian citizen's passport is one of the most important travel documents, and indeed one of the most important documents, that connects us with being Estonian and citizens of Estonia, and it is for this reason that I advise all of you here [in the parliament - Ed.] and everyone else: do not put them in the washing machine."

Pain in the arse

Probing the deepest recesses of male health, Estonian men are being invited to take part in a pilot project of screening tests for prostate cancer.

The project is the first of its kind in the country, with such tests to date having been aimed exclusively at women to combat breast and cervical cancer. However, the prostate has now overtaken the lungs in the race to claim the number one cancer title in men in Estonia, as is the case elsewhere in Europe, and medical professionals are pushing early diagnosis and prevention - because unlike the rest of Europe, Estonia holds a dubious record when it comes to the disease.

“Estonia has the highest rate of deaths from prostate cancer of any country in the world,” revealed men's doctor Margus Punab. “Those who are being diagnosed are being diagnosed too late.” Punab says that a diagnosis must be made within ten years of the cancer developing to ensure the possibility of successful treatment.

Punab says that unlike in countries such as the United States where screening programmes are in place and as little as 1% of men are diagnosed with advanced prostate cancer, 99% of whom in turn beat the disease, the figures in Estonia remain unnecessarily high (and low, as applicable). He calls on men the length and breadth of the country to get tested.

Mati Kuusemäe from the University of Tartu Hospital's men's clinic advocates screening for older men in particular. He says the while the clinic is mostly approached by men between 25 and 30 with prostate infections, its doctors are inviting older men to take part in the project as around 80% of 80-year-old men typically suffer from prostate cancer.

“The average Estonian male simply won't go to see his doctor,” Kuusemäe said. “He just tells himself that the pain will go away. But all men should be paying us a visit. Get over the idea that it's something to be ashamed of!”

That, however, may be easier said than done. A vox populi conducted by Eesti Päevaleht revealed that even those men in the high risk group who have experienced other serious illnesses are unlikely to heed the doctors' calls.

“Nothing wrong with my health,” said Väino, 74. “I had a heart attack, and an operation, but I get by, and what else can you do. I go to the doctor twice and a year and he checks my heart, but it's not like I have anything else wrong with me.” When asked whether he would take part in the prostate cancer screening pilot programme, Väino said: “I shouldn't think so. I doubt I've got anything like that. Everything seems to be working alright, what's down there.”

http://www.epl.ee/artikkel/406873

Predsjednik Mesić u Estoniji

Utorak, 06.11.2007., 06:00

ZAGREB/TALLIN - Predsjednik Stipe Mesić putuje u službeni dvodnevni posjet Estoniji gdje će ga primiti njegov kolega, estonski predsjednik Toomas Hendrik Ilves.

Or in other words, Croatian president Stjepan Mesić has been in Estonia on an official visit to fellow president Toomas Hendrik Ilves, as reported in today's Postimees Online.

The Estonian president praised his counterpart on Croatia's stability, openness, democracy and rapid development as it heads towards membership of NATO and the European Union, declaring it a role model for the rest of the Balkans.

Mesić then met with Estonian prime minister Andrus Ansip, who reiterated the country's support for Croatia's bid to join the EU and NATO, describing the steps the former Yugoslav state has taken towards membership as greatly impressive.

Following up on comments from Ilves, Ansip then addressed what Croatia truly represents to the man in the street in Tallinn: a cheap[ish] option for summer holidays. "It's an attractive tourist destination for us Estonians," he said, encouraging closer economic ties between the two countries, and turning both of the stories reporting Mesić's visit into free ads for Estonian Air flights to Dubrovnik.

And why not? It's bloody beautiful. I wouldn't hesitate to recommend it. Apparently there are quite a few more Croatians making the trip to Estonia too nowadays. Coming from a country that statistically enjoys the most sunshine in the Adriatic or Mediterranean or wherever, Estonia must be popular among those in search of danker, greyer climes.

Eggstreme measures

Seems Alfred Hitchcock and his fellow Estonian ovophobes have had their revenge, with the announcement that all of Tallegg's egg-laying hens will have to be destroyed due to an outbreak of Newcastle disease.

Postimees reports that all production and sales of eggs from the company will cease immediately, only being restored to full capacity by summer next year. Even at 50% production by March or April, Tallegg are likely to miss out on the annual Easter egg frenzy, and considering they produce 80 million eggs a year - representing almost 20% of their output - it's gotta hurt. (The chickens, at the very least.)

Could be boom time for Latvian, Lithuanian and Polish eggs, all of which will undergo strict checks* upon import, although people appear not to be terribly fazed at the prospect of a lack of local eggs on supermarket shelves or about Newcastle disease itself (which, it should be pointed out, poses no threat to humans): a mere knee-jerking 11% have said they will cut eggs and chicken out of their diet completely, while as many as two thirds say the sorry fate of the birds will not influence their lives in the slightest.

http://www.postimees.ee/061107/esileht/siseuudised/293616.php?newcastle-i-haiguse-tottu-lahevad-koik-talleggi-munakanad-hukkamisele

*and presumably price rises

Europe loves bedwetters

Estonian band The Bedwetters took home the New Sounds of Europe title at last night's MTV European Music Awards in Munich. I have never heard anything they have done, but it's good news for Estonia I suppose, and their careers.

Impotence, poverty, broken homes, brain death

Wielding the might of moral righteousness, three paper pushers from City Hall are championing sobriety in the capital with a plan to advertise against alcohol. The fact that they are from the Centre Party - which at the state level is out in the cold in opposition to the current coalition - and that their campaign takes a direct pop at the government's inaction regarding alcohol-related problems in the country is neither here nor there.

Under the plan, reported in today's Linnaleht, off-licences will be plastered with catchy slogans such as "Alcohol destroys your brain cells!", "Alcohol makes you impotent!", "Alcohol tears families apart!" and "Alcohol is a waste of your money!" in order to steer people away from the demon drink. And if the troika behind the campaign had their way, at least a few of the half a million kroons they intend to spend would see the slogans slapped on the bottles themselves, a la the warnings on cigarette packets.

And in fact I tend to agree with their views. I would back them all the way if I wasn't convinced they were just out for political gain rather than actually concerned about the health of the populace. Nevertheless, they have a point: the prime minister and his cohorts claim that putting the price of a bottle of beer up by about 50 cents is a giant step towards the eradication of the drink problem in the country, when it is clearly nothing of the sort, and seem not to be at all concerned that alcohol is responsible for many of the issues they tell us they are otherwise 'addressing'.

In that sense, City Hall's slogans are perfectly targeted, if they are designed to have a shot at the government. They constantly bang on about knowledge-based economies, upping the birth rate, keeping families together and making more money, and our triumvirate of public servants has pointed out - quite rightly, if not altogether comprehensively - that alcohol continues to play a part in scuppering all of them.

Reflect yourself

With the clocks having been wound back to winter time and night once falling up before the afternoon can get much of a look in, the police have reminded pedestrians in Estonia that they are required, by law, to wear reflectors when out and about after dark.

"We can issue fines of up to 600 kroons to anyone not wearing one," said a policeman from a police station somewhere in Tallinn. "But normally we just hand out reflectors, ha ha!" Well, he didn't put it quite like that, but you get the idea.

He also made the proposal that car drivers who see anyone walking in the dark without a reflector should alert the police to their location, or better yet go and chide them themselves. This is risible for a number of reasons - if they're not wearing a reflector, drivers are less likely to see them in the first place; they should not be making phone calls whilst behind the wheel in any case; and the police must surely have better things to do than chase down non-reflector-wearing pedestrians - but is nice in theory.

I was recently given a spiffy new one that looks a bit like a snowflake-shaped disco ball. And since I don't want to add to the 280 statistics killed or injured last year in accidents involving them not wearing reflectors, I shall attach it to my outerwear at once.