Studi Penggunaan Media Sosial sebagai Wadah Penyelenggaraan Demokrasi oleh Mahasiswa Institut Teknologi Bandung

Active users of social media are young people aged 18-29 years. Part of the community included in this group are college students. College students use social media to obtain and disseminate informations. Occasionally, social media is used to convey political opinions on campus or country issues. Therefore, this study was conducted to determine the use and the effectiveness of social media in voicing internal and national issues by college students. The subjects of this study were students of the Bandung Institute of Technology (ITB) who are active members of the Kabinet Keluarga Mahasiswa (KM), Himpunan Mahasiswa Jurusan (HMJ), and Unit Kegiatan Mahasiswa (UKM). The research was conducted using qualitative methods and data obtained by survey methods and literature study. This study aims to determine the role and effectiveness of social media in implementing democracy and optimizing its use. This study is the first to examine the use of social media in democratic practices by Indonesian college students. Therefore, this research is expected to provide an overview of the use of social media by college students as well as ways to increase the effectiveness of their use.Mayoritas pengguna aktif media sosial adalah golongan muda dengan umur 18-29 tahun. Bagian masyarakat yang termasuk dalam golongan ini adalah mahasiswa. Mahasiswa menggunakan media sosial untuk mendapatkan dan menyebarkan informasi. Tidak jarang media sosial digunakan untuk menyampaikan pendapat politik mengenai isu-isu yang ada di kampus hingga isu-isu yang ada di negara. Oleh sebab itu, dilakukan penelitian ini untuk mengetahui penggunaan serta efektivitas penggunaan media sosial dalam penyuaraan isu internal hingga nasional oleh mahasiswa. Subjek dari penelitian ini adalah mahasiswa Institut Teknologi Bandung (ITB) yang merupakan anggota aktif Kabinet Keluarga Mahasiswa (KM), Himpunan Mahasiswa Jurusan (HMJ), dan Unit Kegiatan Mahasiswa (UKM). Penelitian dilakukan dengan metode kualitatif dan data didapat dengan metode survei dan studi literatur. Penelitian ini bertujuan untuk mengetahui peran serta efektivitas media sosial dalam penyelenggaraan demokrasi dan optimalisasi penggunaannya. Penelitian ini merupakan penelitian pertama yang mengkaji penggunaan media sosial dalam praktek demokrasi oleh mahasiswa Indonesia. Oleh karena itu, penelitian ini diharapkan dapat memberikan gambaran penggunaan media sosial oleh mahasiswa serta cara untuk meningkatkan efektivitas penggunaannya.&nbsp

Availability and affordability of blood pressure-lowering medicines and the effect on blood pressure control in high-income, middle-income, and low-income countries: an analysis of the PURE study data

Background: Hypertension is considered the most important risk factor for cardiovascular diseases, but its control is poor worldwide. We aimed to assess the availability and affordability of blood pressure-lowering medicines, and the association with use of these medicines and blood pressure control in countries at varying levels of economic development. Methods: We analysed the availability, costs, and affordability of blood pressure-lowering medicines with data recorded from 626 communities in 20 countries participating in the Prospective Urban Rural Epidemiological (PURE) study. Medicines were considered available if they were present in the local pharmacy when surveyed, and affordable if their combined cost was less than 20% of the households' capacity to pay. We related information about availability and affordability to use of these medicines and blood pressure control with multilevel mixed-effects logistic regression models, and compared results for high-income, upper-middle-income, lower-middle-income, and low-income countries. Data for India are presented separately because it has a large generic pharmaceutical industry and a higher availability of medicines than other countries at the same economic level. Findings: The availability of two or more classes of blood pressure-lowering drugs was lower in low-income and middle-income countries (except for India) than in high-income countries. The proportion of communities with four drug classes available was 94% in high-income countries (108 of 115 communities), 76% in India (68 of 90), 71% in upper-middle-income countries (90 of 126), 47% in lower-middle-income countries (107 of 227), and 13% in low-income countries (nine of 68). The proportion of households unable to afford two blood pressure-lowering medicines was 31% in low-income countries (1069 of 3479 households), 9% in middle-income countries (5602 of 65 471), and less than 1% in high-income countries (44 of 10 880). Participants with known hypertension in communities that had all four drug classes available were more likely to use at least one blood pressure-lowering medicine (adjusted odds ratio [OR] 2·23, 95% CI 1·59–3·12); p<0·0001), combination therapy (1·53, 1·13–2·07; p=0·054), and have their blood pressure controlled (2·06, 1·69–2·50; p<0·0001) than were those in communities where blood pressure-lowering medicines were not available. Participants with known hypertension from households able to afford four blood pressure-lowering drug classes were more likely to use at least one blood pressure-lowering medicine (adjusted OR 1·42, 95% CI 1·25–1·62; p<0·0001), combination therapy (1·26, 1·08–1·47; p=0·0038), and have their blood pressure controlled (1·13, 1·00–1·28; p=0·0562) than were those unable to afford the medicines. Interpretation: A large proportion of communities in low-income and middle-income countries do not have access to more than one blood pressure-lowering medicine and, when available, they are often not affordable. These factors are associated with poor blood pressure control. Ensuring access to affordable blood pressure-lowering medicines is essential for control of hypertension in low-income and middle-income countries. Funding: Population Health Research Institute, the Canadian Institutes of Health Research, Heart and Stroke Foundation of Ontario, Canadian Institutes of Health Research Strategy for Patient Oriented Research through the Ontario SPOR Support Unit, the Ontario Ministry of Health and Long-Term Care, pharmaceutical companies (with major contributions from AstraZeneca [Canada], Sanofi Aventis [France and Canada], Boehringer Ingelheim [Germany amd Canada], Servier, and GlaxoSmithKline), Novartis and King Pharma, and national or local organisations in participating countries