RxPG News : Healthcare

Azad overrules IMA's objections to rural MBBS course

Thu, 18 Mar 2010 17:11:07 PST

( from http://www.rxpgnews.com ) New Delhi, March 18 - The Indian Medical Association - has three problems with the government's plan to create a special cadre of rural doctors through a truncated MBBS course, but the health ministry has refused to yield to its pressure and will push ahead on the subject as planned.

According to a top health ministry official, a seven-member delegation of the IMA met Health Minister Ghulam Nabi Azad and apprised him of their reservations over plans for the rural doctors' course. The IMA is the top doctors' association in the country.

'The IMA has three problems with the plan,' a senior health ministry official told IANS.

'They want to call the new medical institutions for rural doctors as 'schools' and not colleges, as planned by the ministry. They are also opposed to naming these four-year courses as degrees. The IMA wants these to be called diplomas and not degrees, as a normal MBBS course is of five-year duration,' the official said.

'The doctors' association also wants a separate registration for these rural doctors,' the official added.

However, the health minister has rejected their demands.

'The minister listened to their problems patiently but told them that there is no conflict of interest with the regular doctors. The changes as demanded by the IMA will not be incorporated,' the official added.

Bachelor of Rural Health Care -, popularly called Rural MBBS, is a four-year course for rural students who will work in health sub-centres and primary health care centres.

Azad has often raised the issue of shortage of doctors in India. 'A whopping 80 percent of the doctors are serving just 20 percent of the population. The doctor-patient ratio is not encouraging,' Azad said in a function Wednesday and reiterated that there is a need for more doctors in villages.

According to the medical education regulator, the Medical Council of India, rural doctors are the need of the hour. 'They cannot do surgeries but can treat 300 different types of ailments that rural Indians face regularly,' MCI president Ketan Desai told IANS.

'I am in favour of rural doctors. Those sitting in cities like Delhi and Mumbai cannot understand the trauma of villagers and how they suffer without any medical attention,' Desai added.

Biotech industry hails tax sops in Indian budget

Mon, 01 Mar 2010 20:55:46 PST

( from http://www.rxpgnews.com ) Bangalore, Feb 26 - The biotechnology industry Friday welcomed the slew of incentives and tax reliefs proposed in the union Budget for the ensuing fiscal 2010-11.

'Though we need to read the fine-print for details, we thank the finance minister for responding to some of our concerns, especially for raising the weighted deduction on all in-house R&D - to 200 percent from 150 percent,' Biocon chairperson Kiran Mazumdar told IANS here.

As significant part of the R&D budget is not in-house, the industry hopes the benefit would apply to costs incurred on filing international patents for protecting the IP - and conducting clinical trials outside the country.

'The increased deduction should allow us to claim international patenting cost and in licensing technology. Otherwise, it will not be helpful. The government needs to be little more insightful than making cosmetic changes,' Mazumdar said.

The Association of Biotechnology led Enterprises - also said legitimate R&D expenses need to be covered under the weighted deduction scheme.

Lauding the service tax exemption on testing and certification of seeds, the association said the concessions extended to medical devices and equipment industry would benefit the healthcare sector in reducing the end-costs.

The budget has proposed concessional basic duty of five percent, CVD - of four percent and zero special additional duty on medical equipment. Specified inputs for manufacturing orthopedic implants are also exempted from import duty.

'The complete liberalisation of pricing and payment of technology transfer fee, trademark, and brand name and royalty payments will augur well to attract fresh investments in the sunrise industry,' the association said in a statement.

The association, however, termed the three percent increase in minimum alternative tax - rate to 18 percent as a negative signal when all other taxes were being reduced.

In a related development, Fortis Hospitals chief executive Vishal Bali regretted that the budget had ignored the call for reforming the Indian healthcare.

'Though the budget has a whopping 46 percent of plan allocation for infrastructure development, not finding healthcare on the finance minister's agenda takes another year away in bridging the affordability and accessibility gap in the sector,' Bali said in a statement here.

'The only positive step to help indigenous manufacture of consumables and implants is the import duty waiver for manufacture of orthopedic implants,' Bali noted.

According to Manipal Health Systems chief executive Rajen Padukone, relaxation of FDI - norms will result in more international players entering the healthcare sector.

'Extension of tax benefits on contribution to central government health scheme - will attract more funds to the scheme and improve its operations substantially,' Padukone said in a statement.

Junior doctors in Madhya Pradesh call off strike

Mon, 01 Mar 2010 10:51:45 PST

( from http://www.rxpgnews.com ) Junior doctors, who struck work Friday demanding reduction in the mandatory rural service period and a hike in emoluments, called off their protest after the government agreed to consider their demands.

'We have returned to work after talks with the state Principal Secretary - S.R. Mohanty who assured us that our demands would be considered sympathetically. Some of our demands have already been met,' Madhya Pradesh Junior Doctors Association - president K.K. Prajapati told IANS.

Prajapati, however, refused to elaborate on the demands agreed by the government.

The junior doctors of Bhopal, Gwalior and Rewa Medical colleges went on an indefinite strike Friday morning.

They were demanding an increase in emoluments to Rs.35,000 along with other allowances during the rural service phase. Also, the doctors want to be posted in those hospitals where their special skills can be used properly.

The doctors were asking the government to reduce the mandatory rural service period to one year from three years.

The junior doctors of the remaining two medical colleges - Indore and Jabalpur - did not join the agitation as they are bound by the court orders not to strike work.

25000 NRI Doctors Could Return to India from UK

Wed, 06 Jan 2010 15:15:08 PST

( from http://www.rxpgnews.com ) Nearly 25,000 British doctors of Indian origin are set to return to India within two to four years and some of them are 'most likely to join the seven AIIMS-like institutions' proposed to be set up by the central government.

'There are around 15,000 young Indian-origin doctors undergoing training in different parts of Britain who will return to India,' Ramesh Mehta, president of the British Association of Physicians of Indian Origin, told IANS.

'Also, at least 10,000 senior doctors of Indian origin who are retiring from their jobs in the UK, are set to return to India,' said the doctor, currently on an Indian tour.

He said they have already talked to the Indian health ministry and have got a favourable response. 'The government has allowed us to come back and practise.'

He said the ministry told the association that there will be a problem in finding quality doctors to man the seven new medical colleges modelled after the All India Institute of Medical Sciences -.

'We believe that these young doctors who are undergoing training in the UK currently, can be of great help in the new AIIMS-like institutes,' he said.

The central government has given a go ahead to seven AIIMS-type medical institutions in Bihar, Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh, Orissa, West Bengal, Uttar Pradesh and Rajasthan. Each of these institutes will come up with a cost of Rs.300 crore.

Each new institution would have an 850-bed hospital, including superspecialty facilities and 39 departments covering all major disciplines of medicine. The medical colleges will also have the provision to take in 100 undergraduate students each per year as well as facilities for imparting Post Graduate and doctoral courses in various disciplines.

Mehta also said the Indian government's plan to start a three-and-a-half-year rural medical course can benefit from these British doctors. 'We are ready to play a part in training doctors whom government will post in rural areas.'

The health ministry and the Medical Council of India have proposed to start a rural medical course called Bachelor of Rural Medicine and Surgery - in district hospitals. This will help doctors to get posted in rural areas and improve the healthcare delivery system at village level.

AIIMS to guide 40 medical colleges on drug reaction

Tue, 29 Dec 2009 21:05:55 PST

( from http://www.rxpgnews.com ) New Delhi, Dec 29 - The All India Institute of Medical Sciences - will help at least 40 medical colleges in the country in understanding the adverse reactions from commonly used drugs.

'It is envisaged that the programme will initially start with 40 medical colleges in 2010 and will involve all the medical colleges in India by 2012,' an AIIMS official said.

This initiative is part of the health ministry plan to 'enhance patient safety by highlighting the adverse drug reactions which can be encountered by commonly used drugs across the country and attempt to minimise them'.

The corporate hospitals and pharmaceutical industry having a pharmaco-vigilance system will also be invited to join the programme. It is also proposed to link the programme to National Rural Health Mission so that adverse drug reaction data from the primary and secondary health care centres can be included for monitoring, safeguarding and assuring public health.

15 percent of Indian women below 50 are obese: Azad

Tue, 01 Dec 2009 19:30:47 PST

( from http://www.rxpgnews.com ) At least 15 percent of women under the age of 50 are obese in India, Health Minister Ghulam Nabi Azad informed parliament Monday.

A Indian Council of Medical Research - survey, carried out at six centres, shows that 12.3 percent urban women and 2.9 percent rural women are obese in India.

'The 2005-06 National Family Health Survey - has shown that the obesity levels in women aged 15-49 years has gone up from 11 percent in 1998-99 to 15 percent in 2005-06,' said Azad.

Azad said the government has earmarked a sum of Rs.16.6 billion under the National Programme for Prevention and Control of Diabetes, Cardiovascular Diseases and Stroke -.

Mexico expects swine flu infections to peak at New Year

Fri, 27 Nov 2009 05:44:59 PST

( from http://www.rxpgnews.com ) Mexico City, Nov 27 - Mexico expects a peak in influenza A - infections in late December and early January, Mexican Health Minister Jose Angel Cordova Villalobos said Thursday.

Cordova Villalobos said that those are teh dryest and coldest weeks of the year in Mexico, and 'the virus spreads faster' in dry conditions.

'There will be more cases and more deaths, but the important thing will be to contain them,' he said during a meeting with federal and state health officials.

The H1N1 flu virus, which was first detected in April in Mexico and has since become a global pandemic, has claimed 610 lives and infected a total of more than 65,000 people in the country, according to the Health Ministry.

Mexico has already received 865,000 vaccine doses. Vaccinations started Wednesday in the central state of Guanajuato, initially limited to medical personnel and pregnant women.

A second batch of 650,000 doses is expected Dec 7, with the bulk of the 30 million doses that Mexico bought from European laboratories to arrive in starting in January.

Wipro unveils new application for remote healthcare

Sat, 21 Nov 2009 20:13:41 PST

( from http://www.rxpgnews.com ) Bangalore, Nov 21 - Wipro Technologies has developed a medical gateway solution for remote healthcare management on real-time basis through mobile, broadband and dial-up networks, the IT bellwether said Saturday.

Powered by Intel's Atom processor, the solution will enable improved care coordination between patients and their healthcare providers.

'The application also helps doctors to overcome challenges faced in traditional care delivery processes, as the intelligent embedded platform will monitor, track and manage healthcare information from a remote location,' the global software major said in a statement here.

Using convergence technologies, doctors can do real-time clinical review of patients by capturing vital data from medical devices such as blood pressure monitors, glucose metres, pedometers and weighing scales.

'Health-conscious ageing population in developed markets takes care of their own health. This has spurred advances in remote patient monitoring technologies, which are beyond the reach of the majority in the emerging economies,' Wipro general manager - Manimaran said in the statement.

Wipro's strategy is aimed at bridging the gap by providing manufacturers a time-to-market solution to launch customised medical devices.

'The devices can be connected through wired and wireless technologies such as Bluetooth, Zigbee, Serial and USB to provide real-time medial data, video and image transfer from a patient to doctors,' Manimaran pointed out.

The gateway solution transmits real-time medical data to application servers, physician handhelds and hospital systems through GSM - broadband and dial-up.

Wipro engineers did the end-to-end design and developed the high performance, low-cost solution to lower the cost of ownership.

'Intel architecture has led to ground-breaking applications at our India design house, which provides hardware and software support to get products to market faster,' Intel South Asia marketing director Sanat Rao noted.

Azad hikes funds for cancer control, treatment of poor

Sun, 01 Nov 2009 18:54:39 PST

( from http://www.rxpgnews.com ) Mumbai, Nov 1 - Health and Family Welfare Minister Ghulam Nabi Azad Sunday announced enhanced funding for the cancer control programme, a fund for treatment of poor cancer patients and more emphasis on study of the disease.

Addressing the Annual Breast and Gynaecological Cancer Conference at Tata Memorial Cancer Hospital - here, the minister said the allocation for the National Cancer Control Programme in the 11th Five Year Plan will be increased ten times - to Rs.2,400 crore.

The centre is also setting up OncoNET India, a network of 27 regional cancer centres and 100 peripheral centres to provide telemedicine services and medical education, he added.

Admitting that cancer has emerged as one of the major diseases in view of increasing life expectancy and changing lifestyle patterns, Azad said that the government has established a Health Minister's Cancer Patient Fund with a seed money of Rs.100 crore for the benefit of people in the below poverty line - category.

Through the fund, a BPL cancer patient can get up to Rs.100,000 assistance at any government facility on the recommendation of the hospital, besides similar assistance made available under Rashtriya Arogya Nidhi for cancer treatment.

Azad urged doctors of TMCH to avail this facility for the treatment of BPL cancer patients.

He assured the doctors that he would take up the issue of increasing cancer-related content at the MBBS course level. He also said that the government would take the initiative in equipping various hospitals at the state and district level with the low cost Bhabhtron machine developed by Bhabha Atomic Research Centre -.

Expressing concern at the delay in diagnosing cancer, which results in high costs and low utilisation of curative services, Azad said nearly two-thirds of the cancers were being diagnosed at the advanced level.

'At least one-third of all cancers can be prevented, another one-third can be detected in time and treated. Of the remaining one-third cases, palliative and supportive care is the only option. Of all the cancers, around 30-40 percent are related to tobacco consumption which can be prevented,' he said.

Stressing the importance of awareness in fighting cancer in women, the minister chided the medical fraternity for lacking in efforts to promote cancer awareness among women and to advise timely screening.

On the occasion, Azad launched a cancer Mobile Screening Van by the Women Cancer Initiative and TMCH which would provide health education, screening and prevention of cancer to nearly 500,000 slum dwellers in north-east suburbs of Mumbai.

Kerala medical colleges doctors suspend agitation

Thu, 29 Oct 2009 18:44:03 PST

( from http://www.rxpgnews.com ) Kochi -, Oct 29 - The striking doctors of Kerala medical colleges, faced with divisions within their organisation, Thursday decided to suspend their ongoing strike.

The Kerala Government Medical College Teachers Association - doctors in the state have been on a work-to-rule agitation to protest the government decision to ban the doctors from conducting private practice.

During their agitation for the past nearly three months, except for a small break in between, they were not allowing paid ward admissions, not attending medical boards and or attending to VIP duties.

Addressing reporters here after a meeting, KGMCTA president Varghese Thomas said though they were suspending the strike, they discontinued to disagree with the government on disallowing the private practice of doctors.

'It has been decided to suspend our strike, taking into consideration the general opinion that the strike should end. We have also requested that private practice be made optional by not giving the non-practicing allowance,' said Thomas.

Trouble erupted within the KGMCTA with the non-clinical section taking a positive stand towards the government's decision on revision of pay, and the clinical section upset at the government decision to ban private practice.

With a section of the powerful lobby of the clinical section adamant that the strike should not be withdrawn unless the decision on private practice ban is revoked, the normal functioning of the state-run medical colleges came to a standstill since Oct 22, causing hardship to the common people.

Health Minister P.K. Sreemathi welcomed the suspension of strike by the KGMCTA.

The KGMCTA has around 1,900 members, of whom around 600 are non-clinical doctors and of the remaining around 200 doctors have a roaring private practice at their residence.

Divisions surfaced within the five units of the KGMCTA when a majority of the members said they would be forced to withdraw from the agitation if association meeting Thursday did not suspend the stir.

Delhi records 280 cases of dengue

Tue, 27 Oct 2009 16:42:43 PST

( from http://www.rxpgnews.com ) New Delhi, Oct 27 - Two people have lost their lives to dengue in the capital and as many as 280 have been been confirmed positive with the vector borne disease so far, health department officials said Tuesday.

The first death - that of a 15-year-old boy - was reported Oct 23 and the death of a nine-year-old boy was reported Monday.

'Until now the total number of confirmed cases of dengue in Delhi is 280. The numbers are less than last year, nevertheless we are taking no chances and taking all precautionary measures to stop the spread of the disease,' N.K. Yadav, chief medical officer of the Municipal Corporation of Delhi -, told IANS.

Until late Monday, Delhi had recorded 255 positive cases. In 2008, Delhi recorded 1,321 cases of dengue.

'October is the ideal time - temperature wise - for mosquitoes to breed and dengue to spread. We have our teams going from door-to-door and checking that there is no water accumulation in flower pots, coolers and elsewhere, and if there is, spraying medicines, so as to check the disease,' Yadav said.

Delhi Health Secretary J.P. Singh said the health department has started a drive to make people aware about the do's and don'ts of dengue through the media.

Chandigarh doctor tests positive for swine flu

Sat, 17 Oct 2009 11:17:39 PST

( from http://www.rxpgnews.com ) Chandigarh, Oct 17 - A senior doctor at a leading hospital here has tested positive for the influenza A - virus, a health official said Saturday.

He is among the dozens of doctors and other medical staff here who have contracted swine flu.

'The patient is a resident doctor of Postgraduate Institute of Medical Education and Research -. He was exhibiting symptoms of swine flu like running nose, high fever and bad throat. We had collected his throat and nasal swab samples Thursday and his report has come positive,' a health official said.

'His condition is stable and he is responding well to treatment. Due to the nature of work, doctors and other hospital staff have become more prone to infection. We instructed them to follow all the precautionary measures and to remain extra cautious,' he said.

Till now, nearly 250 suspected cases of swine flu have been reported in Chandigarh hospitals, of which over 40 have proved positive. One casualty has been reported till now.

In Chandigarh, testing facility of this virus is available at the virology department of PGIMER, which is catering to Punjab, Haryana and Himachal Pradesh.

Quarantined wards for the treatment of swine flu have been established at PGIMER, Government Medical College and Hospital and Government Hospital.

Madhya Pradesh forms team to tackle dengue spread

Fri, 09 Oct 2009 22:30:09 PST

( from http://www.rxpgnews.com ) Bhopal, Oct 9 - Alarmed at the spread of mosquito-borne dengue fever, Madhya Pradesh has constituted a committee to tour affected districts and give recommendations to control the dreaded disease which has claimed nine lives in the state so far.

An investigating committee has been constituted which will work under the supervision of Sharad Tiwari, Dean, Sagar Medical College, and will after investigations give the recommendations to control the dreaded disease, said Health Minister Anoop Mishra.

At least 192 cases of dengue have been confirmed by the Bhopal-based Gandhi Medical College.

Director - Ashok Sharma said: 'Nine people have died from dengue in Madhya Pradesh in the past three months, while 129 others - of whom 57 are in the state capital - are affected by the disease'.

'As many as 57 Dengue patients have been identified in the state capital, followed by 33 in Indore, 17 in Balaghat and 12 in other districts. Three people died of dengue in Bhopal and Indore each. One each succumbed in Ashoknagar, Satna and Balaghat,' Sharma told IANS.

Sharma claimed that necessary steps had been taken to control dengue and the district medical officers had been directed to remain in contact with private hospitals and send information about those affected.

Private practitioners say the actual number of dengue affected people will be much higher if the patients in private hospitals and rural areas are taken into account.

The minister has instructed the committee to present weekly report by touring the concerned districts within a week.

Orissa launches health programme for students

Thu, 01 Oct 2009 18:00:15 PST

( from http://www.rxpgnews.com ) Bhubaneswar, Oct 1 - The Orissa government Thursday launched a school health programme which is expected to benefit more than 580,000 students in the state.

The scheme, launched by Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik in Kandhamal, aims to provide health cards to more than 580,000 students in the 60,000 schools of the state. Each student would be given free medicines and a minimum of two medical check ups by specialist doctors, under the scheme.

The programme would go a long way in improving the health of school children, the chief minister said.

'If students become aware of their health, it would have a positive impact on their families and society. It would help in improving the health condition of the state and ultimately building a better future for the coming generation,' Patnaik said.

Under the scheme, the state government would also give Rs.100 to a student as transportation expense to take a sick student to hospital. A sick student would also be given Rs.50 for each day's stay at hospital.

Apart from that, each of the schools would be provided an annual aid of Rs.10,000 to meet emergency medical expenses, while the plan also includes setting up health awareness centres in schools.

The programme would cost the state exchequer Rs.301.3 million a year, and would be jointly managed by the state health and family welfare and education departments and the National Rural Health Mission -.

Obesity spurs a tide of cancer in Europe

Sat, 26 Sep 2009 12:43:34 PST

( from http://www.rxpgnews.com ) London, Sep 26 - Obesity caused at least 124,000 new cancers last year in Europe, according to a new study.

The proportion of cases of new cancers were highest among women and in central European countries such as the Czech Republic, Latvia, Slovenia and Bulgaria.

'As more people stop smoking and fewer women take hormone replacement therapy, it is possible that obesity may become the biggest attributable cause of cancer in women within the next decade,' said Andrew Renehan, who led the study.

Renehan, senior lecturer in cancer studies and surgery, University of Manchester, and colleagues in Britain, The Netherlands and Switzerland, created a model to estimate the proportion of cancers that could be attributed to excess body weight in 30 European countries.

Using data from the WHO and International Agency for Research on Cancer, they estimated that in 2002 there had been over 70,000 new cases of cancer attributable to excess body mass index -, out of a total of nearly 2.2 million new diagnoses across the 30 European countries.

Researchers found these numbers increased to 124,050 in 2008. 'These are very conservative estimates, and it's quite likely that the numbers are, in fact, higher,' said Renehan.

The number of new cases of obesity-related oesophageal cancer was particularly high in Britain relative to the rest of Europe. 'This country accounts for 54 percent of new cases across all 30 countries,' said Renehan.

'This may be due to synergistic interactions between smoking, alcohol, excess body weight and acid reflux - and is currently an area where research is required,' Renehen said, according to a Manchester university release.

Renehen presented these findings at the 15th congress of the European Cancer Organisation and the 34th congress of the European Society for Medical Oncology.

These findings are slated for publication in the International Journal of Cancer.

Court directs Apollo to give free treatment to poor

Tue, 22 Sep 2009 16:20:13 PST

( from http://www.rxpgnews.com ) New Delhi, Sep 22 - Delhi High Court Tuesday directed Apollo Hospital to provide free treatment to poor patients and imposed a fine of Rs.200,000 on it and the Delhi government for not abiding by an earlier court order.

Giving directions to the hospital, a division bench comprising Chief Justice Ajit Prakash Shah and Justice Manmohan asked the hospital to reserve 33 percent in-house beds and 40 percent of the OPD for poor patients.

'Health right is a fundamental right and no one should be devoid of this,' the court said while hearing the 12-year-old legal battle.

The court also directed the hospital not to charge a single penny from poor patients for medicine and other tests.

The court was hearing a petition filed by an NGO seeking action against the hospital for taking money from poor patients, in contravention of the lease agreement for land allotted to it by the government at concessional rates.

The court also directed the government to start a special referral centre in every government hospital to send poor patients to private hospitals for treatment.

Besides, the government has been asked to appoint a nodal officer of the rank of medical superintendent to monitor the treatment given to poor patients.

Government under-funding has made healthcare expensive: Azad

Mon, 14 Sep 2009 21:20:02 PST

( from http://www.rxpgnews.com ) New Delhi, Sep 14 - Admitting that the government expenditure on healthcare has been less than desired, Health Minister Ghulam Nabi Azad Monday said underfunding by the public sector over the years has made it expensive and less accessible.

'Years of prolonged underfunding of the public health system and dependence on the private sector has pushed the cost of healthcare and also affected access,' Azad said while addressing a conference organised by the industry lobby Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry - here.

'The issues of inaccessibility, inadequate infrastructure and need for far more human resource for health in the rural areas, however, remain huge challenges. It is this area that the private sector can play a crucial role in augmenting and supplementing the efforts of the government,' he added.

To buttress his argument, the minister said the National Sample Survey data has revealed that the annual hospitalisation cost by a person is much more in private hospitals than in government hospitals.

'In rural areas the - hospitalisation cost is Rs.7,408, which is higher than the hospitalisation cost in government hospitals -. In urban areas it is Rs.11,553 in private hospital and Rs.3,877 in government hospitals as hospitalisation cost,' the minister said.

Azad said that between 1986 and 1996, the number of people who did not seek health care due to poverty increased from 15 to 24 percent in rural areas and from 10 to 21 percent in the urban areas.

The minister said his government was trying to increase the health care expenditure.

'We have increased the health care expenditure to 1.4 percent of GDP in 2008-09 as against a dismal 0.97 percent in 1999-2000.'

The minister said the central government supports the states in reforming the state supported public health delivery system in order to achieve the Millennium Development Goals - and combat communicable as well as non-communicable diseases effectively.

'However still, expenditure in health must go up considerably. The UPA government has tried to do so over the last five years, though much more remains to be done. Health is a state subject and state governments also need to raise public expenditure on health. It is only through a partnership of the central and the state governments that the objective of 2-3 percent GDP public expenditure can be achieved,' he said.

He said the reduction in maternal mortality ratio from 301 to 254, in infant mortality rate from 58 to 55 and reduction in TB and malaria cases in recent years are 'all indicators that we are on the right track of achieving better health outcome through strengthened primary care'.

'Institutional deliveries have increased from 40.9 percent - to 47 percent - and full immunization coverage of children up to 2 years has gone up from 45.9 percent - to 54.1 percent -,' he revealed.

While urging the private sector to play a more constructive role, Azad said: 'Potential areas where private players can play a crucial role are provision of health services, disease control and surveillance, diagnostics and medicines, health manpower, capacity building including training and systems development, managerial service and auxiliary activities of the health sector.'

Stockholm Water Prize for Bindeshwar Pathak

Thu, 20 Aug 2009 23:39:15 PST

( from http://www.rxpgnews.com ) India's Bindeshwar Pathak, the founder of the Sulabh sanitation movement, was Thursday awarded the Stockholm Water Prize, the most prestigious environmental recognition that has become akin to a Nobel Prize for environmental issues.

'Sanitation is humanity's and the world's most urgent and critical crisis of our times,' Bindeshwar Pathak told IANS here Thursday, and on a more optimistic note said, 'However, it is not yet an unsolvable crisis but a huge challenge. It will require massive, dedicated and selfless labour to achieve the goal.'

Pathak received the award from Prince Carl Philip of Sweden.

Government to identify poor patients at Apollo Hospital

Tue, 18 Aug 2009 20:41:17 PST

( from http://www.rxpgnews.com ) New Delhi, Aug 18 - The city government Tuesday told the Delhi High Court that it would appoint two officers to identify poor patients approaching the privately-run Apollo Hospital for treatment.

The counsel for the Delhi government informed the court when asked how the government would decide if a patient is poor.

The court was hearing a petition filed by a non-governmental organisation - seeking action against Apollo Hospital for charging poor patients for treatment, in contravention of the lease agreement for land allotted to it by the government at concessional rates.

A division bench headed by Chief Justice Ajit Prakash Shah and Justice Manmohan asked Apollo Hospital to explain the criteria under which it identifies poor patients and how much they were charging them for treatment.

In reply, Apollo Hospital said it is a profit-oriented venture and that poor patients have to bear the cost of medicines.

The court asked the government and Apollo Hospital to prepare a detailed report on the amount it charges from poor patients and regular patients.

Three test swine flu positive in Chhattisgarh

Mon, 17 Aug 2009 20:38:11 PST

( from http://www.rxpgnews.com ) Raipur, Aug 17 - Three men, who returned from Maharashtra, have been home quarantined after they tested positive for swine flu Monday with the Chhattisgarh government stepping up measures to tackle any possible outbreak of the virus.

'Three samples were found positive for swine flu out of the total 36 samples' results received Monday,' T.K. Agrawal, the state's deputy director - and swine flu nodal officer, told IANS.

Over 90 samples of patients with common-flu like symptoms have been sent to Delhi from Chhattisgarh for testing, he said.

Agrawal said the three who tested positive are in their early 20s.

They have been asked to take rest in isolation at their homes and follow specific medical advice.

'These three men are not serious and have minor flu problem. We are taking care of them, have given them medicines and told their families not to worry,' the official added.

The state government stepped up measures to deal with the HIN1 virus and constituted rapid response teams of doctors in all the 18 districts.

The rapid response team comprises of three doctors - an expert, a pathologist and a child specialist - in each district with a purpose to detect suspected swine flu patients.

Meanwhile, the test results of 18-year-old Sitaram Verma, who died Aug 12 following flu symptoms at Raipur's Dr. Bhimrao Ambedkar Hospital, were found to be negative for swine flu.

But health officials are still awaiting the test results of Y.S. Rao, a 40-year-old constable with the Central Reserve Police Force - who succumbed to high fever, cough and cold at Bilaspur-based Chhattisgarh Institute of Medical Science - Aug 14.

The state government has deployed doctors at the Raipur airport and railway stations across the state to screen passengers from other states, particularly from Maharashtra and Delhi, to check the spread of the H1N1 virus.

Three in Chhattisgarh test positive for swine flu

Mon, 17 Aug 2009 12:18:21 PST

( from http://www.rxpgnews.com ) Raipur, Aug 17 - Three men in Chhattisgarh, who had recently returned from Maharashtra, have tested positive for swine flu, a health official said Monday.

'Over 90 samples of patients with common-flu like symptoms have been sent to Delhi from Chhattisgarh for testing. Three samples were found positive for swine flu out of the total 36 samples results received Monday,' T.K. Agrawal, the state's deputy director - and swine flu nodal officer, told IANS.

All three are in their early twenties, he said.

Agrawal said the identity of the three men has not been disclosed to avoid creating panic in the neighbourhoods where they stay. Doctors have asked these three men to take rest in isolation at their homes and follow specific medical advice.

'These three men are not serious and have minor flu problem. We are taking care of them, have given them medicines and told their families not to worry,' the official added.

Meanwhile, the test results of 18-year-old Sitaram Verma, who died Aug 12 following flu symptoms at Raipur's Dr. Bhimrao Ambedkar Hospital, were found to be negative for swine flu.

But health officials are still awaiting the test results of Y.S. Rao, a 40-year-old constable with the Central Reserve Police Force - who succumbed to high fever, cough and cold at Bilaspur-based Chhattisgarh Institute of Medical Science - Aug 14.

The state government has deployed doctors at Raipur airport and railway stations across the state to screen passengers from other states, particularly from Maharashtra and Delhi, to check the spread of the H1N1 virus.

Swine flu treatment more important than testing: Government

Fri, 14 Aug 2009 17:42:20 PST

( from http://www.rxpgnews.com ) Treating flu-like symptoms is more essential than testing for the influenza A - virus, a health ministry official said here Friday as the death toll from swine flu rose to 22. While appreciating Maharashtra's efforts to contain swine flu, he said more screening centres would be set up in Pune.

'Now we have seen that testing is not essential before administering treatment. People should get treatment and recover first...that is our aim. Currently 34 people in Pune are undergoing treatment for the flu,' said Vineet Chawdhry, joint secretary, health.

'The way the public health administration is working here is extremely good,' said Chawdhry, who is on a visit to this city that has reported 14 swine flu deaths so far.

'I must clarify there is a lot of hype about the N95 masks. Even Health Minister Ghulam Nabi Azad clarified on Thursday evening that the masks are not for the general public. Yes, people who are on treatment may need the masks.'

He stressed that the artificial demand for masks should come down. Talking about the screening facilities at Pune, the joint secretary said: 'There will be many more screening centres set up in Pune soon.'

Asked if clusters were developing in the city, he replied in the negative. 'We feel the stage when cluster screening is required is over?The entire city needs to be covered.'

'We have to look at two things - the geographical spread and the severity. While the geographic spread is a global phenomenon and India is no exception, the severity here is not much yet,' he said.

He pointed out that even the World Health Organisation and the Centre for Disease Control in Atlanta have said that the virus is still in the moderate stage and has not mutated.

'We advise people to stay at home and that is the only way to ensure the spread is controlled. In cases of co-morbid complications like heart or respiratory distress - that is when treatment and hospitalisation is needed.

'Casualties are increasing...but I won't say that the killing by virus is on a large scale.'

He also advised against taking Tamiflu without medical supervision. 'Only people with symptoms should take the medicine for two days and once they feel better stop the intake. But the medicine needs to be given over a fixed course and if not the body develops resistance, that is why we prefer that the medicine is not given without medical supervision.'

On Friday, 44-year-old Prabhakar Beragar died of swine flu in a Pune hospital. With this the total swine flu death toll rose to 18 in Maharastra. Over 600 people have been infected by the virus, but most of them have recovered.

Chawdhry said: 'The number of indigenous cases are still high here. The infection has spread and that is not unusual. One can't restrict the flow of air. But the administration has done a very good job.'

'It is easy to blame the administration. The screening at airports is not foolproof. In many cases, the person may have the virus but won't show symptoms. They are given handouts and told to call on helplines if they notice symptoms. Here, only 20-25 percent people phoned back and there were some who didn't and so spread it to the community. To control the situation soon is crucial. Data that I saw this morning has shown a downward trend in cases,' he said.

Asked if the army should be called to the city, Chawdhry said: 'This is not a biological warfare. We don't need any intervention from the armed forces now. We are discussing and if there is a need the armed forces medical services may be called on.'

The official was not in favour of replicating the Mexican model of dealing with swine flu. 'What you heard was that everything was shut down - public transport, offices, banks were closed. But what you did not hear is that there people came out onto streets to protest and there was a greater risk.'

He advised suspected swine flu patients to stay at home and not allow friends to come home to enquire about their health.

Don't shut schools after swine flu scare, advises government

Wed, 29 Jul 2009 21:41:41 PST

( from http://www.rxpgnews.com ) New Delhi, July 29 - The Indian health ministry Wednesday asked educational institutes not to shut but take preventive measures to control the swine flu spread as 23 new cases of the influenza A- were reported, taking the tally of the infected people in the country to nearly 500.

The government reiterated its advisory against visiting the flu-affected countries.

The total influenza A- virus cases have reached 498 in India, a statement said.

'About 2,252 persons have been tested so far, out of whom 498 are positive for the virus. Of the 498, 273 have been discharged,' the statement said.

Twelve children were among 23 new positive cases reported Wednesday , with Pune for the third consecutive day registering the maximum cases. Eleven people, including nine children, tested positive in the Maharashtra city, already declared a hit by the pandemic.

Seeing a surge in the number of cases among students, the health ministry asked educational institutes not to shut but take preventive measures to control the swine flu spread. It advised students to avoid study tours to the infected countries.

An official circular said: 'Given the current magnitude of the spread of A- infection and the fact that the virus is fairly mild, closure of educational institutions on account of any student/staff member falling ill with flu like symptoms is not recommended.'

The guideline, however, said educational institutes are encouraged to report the flu cases to local health officers for further monitoring.

'In the first place, the schools should discourage the excursions of the students to the affected countries,' the ministry said.

'In case, students have already proceeded to affected countries on unavoidable tours, then on their return, if some students show flu like symptoms of fever, sore-throat, cough, bodyache, running nose, difficulty in breathing, they should be advised to abstain from attending school and be allowed to stay at home for a period of 7 to 10 days,' the ministry said.

While allowing students to stay home, authorities must not insist on production of medical certificates by the student or staff.

'In case of students staying in hostels, the educational institutions would not only monitor the health status of the students, but also that of care providers.'

Several school across the country mainly in Delhi and Pune were closed entirely or partially after some of their students tested positive for the flu.

More than 50 children have been detected with the swine flu in Pune so far.

On Wednesday, Delhi reported five new cases followed by Kochi - and one each in Kozhikode, Hyderabad, Chandigarh, Roorkee and Gurgaon.

India's swine flu tally up to 285

Sat, 18 Jul 2009 20:26:11 PST

( from http://www.rxpgnews.com ) New Delhi, July 18 - Seventeen people, including 14 children, were detected with the swine flu Saturday, taking the total influenza A - virus cases in India to 285, health officials said.

The youngest to test positive for the virus is an 11-month-old boy.

'So far 1,506 people have been tested out of which 285 are positive for influenza A -. Of the 285 positive cases, 178 have been discharged,' a statement said here.

The 17 new confirmed cases were reported from Delhi -, Pune -, Cochin -, Thiruvananthapuram -, Kozhikode - and Goa -.

The 11-month-old boy with swine flu is from Delhi. The child had travelled from New York to Delhi July 14. Two days later, he developed flu-like symptoms.

Two brothers, 14 and 10 years old, and two sisters, aged nine and two-and-a-half-years, also tested positive Saturday.

According to Anjana Prakash, additional nodal officer for swine flu with the Delhi government, 10 students were admitted at various identified health facilities with flu like symptoms. Of the total, four tested positive. The reports of six are awaited.

All these students are from four prestigious public schools in the national capital.

'We have reiterated to the school authorities to ensure that if any student shows flu-like symptoms the child should be immediately sent home,' she said.

'There is nothing to panic. But people need to be cautious,' Prakash told IANS.

In Pune, all five cases, four girls and a boy all in their early teens, got the virus from infected persons.

In Kochi, one of the two cases is of a nine-year old boy. He had come from London July 17. And as he was suffering from fever and cough, he was taken to the identified facility. His test was positive for swine flu.

In Thiruvananthapuram, a 10-year-old girl, who travelled from Britain via Dubai, was found to be suffering from flu-like symptoms.

In Kozhikode, a 15-year-old girl was detected with swine flu, while in Goa, a 20-year-old man tested positive.

Teach For India a catalyst to bridge educational gap: Clinton

Sat, 18 Jul 2009 18:53:12 PST

( from http://www.rxpgnews.com ) New Delhi, July 18 - The Teach For India initiative is the catalyst for a new movement to bridge the education gap in India, with its volunteers serving as the spark to inspire children to become successful, US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton declared here Saturday.

She was participating in an interactive session at the 140-year-old St. Xavier's College here, with actor Aamir Khan and TV anchor Arnab Goswami sharing the dais with her.

Clinton also utilised the opportunity to raise the profile of Teach For India, an initiative that enables professionals and graduates across the country to associate themselves with government-run schools in their area. Teach For India is modelled on the Teach For America non-profit organisation that aims at building a movement to eliminate educational inequality.

Teach For India was conceived in 2006 when a group of enthusiastic youngsters met Wendy Copp, founder and CEO of Teach For America, to discuss the feasibility of such a programme in India. Following a study launched by global accounting firm McKinsey to determine its feasibility, Teach For India was formally established in 2008.

Under the programme, graduate applicants are chosen to be linked to a low income private or government-run English-medium school for two years. During this time, the programme's volunteers have to undertake projects that help in transforming the school in consultation with the school authorities, parents and the community.

In June 2009, Teach For India placed its first group of fellows in low-income municipal and private schools in Pune and Mumbai.

NGO launches 'Love Condom' campaign to stop HIV infection

Sat, 18 Jul 2009 18:04:27 PST

( from http://www.rxpgnews.com ) New Delhi, July 18 - With 2.5 million people living with HIV infection in India, a non-governmental organisation - Saturday launched a 'Love Condom and Stay Negative' campaign to make people aware about measures to prevent and control AIDS.

AIDS Healthcare Foundation - under the campaign has decided to distribute one million free condoms to people besides motivating them to come voluntarily for HIV infection tests.

The campaign was launched by the AHF-India brand ambassador and actor Ronit Roy here.

'Condoms are the only affordable and preventable tools to prevent HIV infection. Efforts are being made to encourage the widespread use of condoms, community testing and universal access to antiretroviral treatment that can help in bringing down new infection drastically,' said Teri Ford, senior global policy director, AHF.

The campaign aims to foster a public-private partnership for a vaster reach.

M. Ayyappan, chairman and managing director Hindustan Latex Ltd -, the largest condom producer in the country said that only 5.3 percent people use condoms in India despite HIV infection spreading at am alarming rate in the country.

'Buying condoms continues to be a stigma in our country. The launch of the free condom campaign will enable millions in the country to stay protected from HIV infection,' said Ayyappan.

Emphasising on the need to bring behavioural change in society, Padmavati, who runs an NGO for people living with HIV, said: 'A major goal of the campaign is to help guide a shift in thinking around HIV testing. With the straightforward message, our hope is that the initiative will lead people to see HIV testing as a necessary and routine part of their health care.'

Six new swine flu cases surface, total 164 in India

Thu, 09 Jul 2009 21:13:36 PST

( from http://www.rxpgnews.com ) New Delhi, July 9 - Six new cases of swine flu were reported Thursday in the country, including three in the national capital, taking the total number of people infected with the influenza A- virus to 164 so far, health officials said here.

According to the union health ministry, of the six new cases three are from Delhi and one each from Goa, Hyderabad and Bangalore.

Those detected for the flu Thursday include a four-and-a-half year old girl and a 78-year-old woman.

'About 1,040 people have been tested so far, of whom 164 have tested positive for influenza A -,' a statement issued here said.

'Of the 164 positive cases, 114 have been discharged,' it said.

Of the 1,040 people tested, about 320 were identified during the airport entry screening.

About 3.07 million have been screened at the 22 international airports in the country so far, the officials said.

According to the World Health Organisation -, about 94,512 laboratory confirmed cases of influenza A - infection cases have been reported from 135 countries till July 6. As many as 429 deaths have been reported worldwide, mostly from Mexico and the US.

When HIV-affected kids had parliamentarians emotional

Thu, 09 Jul 2009 20:16:48 PST

( from http://www.rxpgnews.com ) New Delhi, July 9 - It was an event that deeply moved some Indian parliamentarians, including Minister of State for Rural Development Agatha Sangma, when nearly 50 HIV positive children Thursday urged them to put an end to the stigma they face by passing the AIDS bill.

'How long can we live with stigma and discrimination,' asked a 14-year-old boy, who contracted the disease from his parents, leaving Sangma emotional.

Sangma, the youngest union minister, was candid as well as realistic in her response. 'I am new to the field and have never interacted with people affected by the disease. It's a kind of awareness for me, but I assure you that I am trying to convince my colleagues to table the bill as soon as possible,' she said.

She and a few other parliamentarians were interacting here with HIV positive kids at an event organised by a voluntary organisation, called Plan India.

'I am a little overwhelmed. I will go back and do my best to push forward the bill,' Sangma said, after listening attentively to the children and their demands.

Expressing the same opinion, another parliamentarian and former labour minister Oscar Fernandes said: 'The stigma against HIV positive people is like modern day untouchability.' He said he is in favour of the well being of HIV-afflicted people.

The children were referring to a bill that is waiting to be tabled in the parliament for over three years. The bill was framed by the National AIDS Control Organization - in collaboration with several expert groups in the country.

Among other things, the bill underlines provisions to do away with the stigma attached to HIV-affected children and provide them education. It also protects the property rights of HIV-affected people. It has the provision for legal recognition of children below 18 years of age as guardians if they are looking after their HIV positive parents.

To a question from a girl whose parents are infected with the AIDS virus, A. Sampath, a parliamentarian from Kerala, said: 'I am in favour of the bill. We will try to push this bill as it will have a great impact on the lives of thousands of people.'

Sampath said he was in favour of more such interactions across the country to create awareness and invited the organizers to hold such a programme in Kerala.

India is home to 2.5 million HIV positive people, of whom over 70,000 are children below the age of 15.

Alka Lamba, a young Congress leader, said that she would try to arrange meetings of HIV positive kids with President Pratibha Patil and Congress president Sonia Gandhi. Film director Nagesh Kukunoor and cricketer Virendra Sehwag too interacted with the children and pledged their support to their cause.

Swine flu case reported in Goa

Thu, 09 Jul 2009 19:11:58 PST

( from http://www.rxpgnews.com ) Panaji, July 9 - A swine flu case was reported in Goa Thursday after a man who landed here from Seattle via Mumbai tested positive for the influenza A -, health authorities said.

Speaking to reporters Thursday afternoon, state epidemiologist and nodal officer for swine flu Rajendra Tamba said that medical reports of the patient's throat swab received from the National Institute of Communicable Diseases -, New Delhi had tested positive.

'The reports have tested positive and the patient has been admitted to the isolation ward at the Chicalim Cottage Hospital for medication,' Tamba said.

'The patient, who is a Goan and a sailor by profession, was in the US for the last few months. He left Seattle July 3 and landed in Goa via Mumbai July 5,' Tamba said, adding that the sailor had contacted health authorities after he developed swine flu like symptoms.

'He was immediately taken to the Goa Medical College for examination and his throat swab samples were dispatched for tests,' the official said.

Swine flu screening of India-bound passengers a non-starter

Wed, 08 Jul 2009 21:16:45 PST

( from http://www.rxpgnews.com ) New Delhi, July 8 - India has asked all countries affected by swine flu to undertake screening of passengers travelling to this country but no nation has acted on this yet, parliament was informed Wednesday.

In a written reply to a question in the Lok Sabha, Minister of State for External Affairs Shashi Tharoor said his ministry had sent instructions to Indian missions, as requested by the health ministry, to take up the issue of exit screening for passengers traveling to India.

'So far, no country has commenced such exit screening,' he said.

The reluctance to implement the request was due to the fact that the World Health Organisation - has not recommended such exit screening or travel restrictions in the aftermath of the swine flu outbreak, said Tharoor.

As on July 7, WHO has reported over 90,000 laboratory-confirmed cases of swine flu infection and over 440 deaths from 137 countries. India has so far reported 129 cases.

Gujarat to set up probe panel as illicit liquor toll rises to 27

Wed, 08 Jul 2009 15:32:16 PST

( from http://www.rxpgnews.com ) Gandhinagar, July 8 - The Gujarat government has decided to set up a commission to probe the illicit liquor tragedy in Ahmedabad which has left 27 dead so far, State Home Minister Amit Shah told the Gujarat legislative assembly Wednesday.

The minister during his reply to the opposition members, however, did not immediately provide any time line by which the commission would start probing the tragedy.

'The government has ordered suspension of a deputy superintendent of police in-charge of the areas where the tragedy took place and all necessary action is being taken against the responsible officials,' Shah said.

He added that the deaths from the hooch so far number 27 and that the government is monitoring the situation closely. The opposition members later protested what they termed 'insufficient action' taken by the state government in the illicit liquor episode, and staged an angry walkout from the assembly.

Meanwhile, unofficial figures put at 16 the number of those still under critical care in four major hospitals of Ahmedabad.

The initial toll on Tuesday from the Sagarpitha area where the first deaths were reported was seven. The figure jumped to 16 by midnight when many people were also brought from the labour cluster of Behrampur in critical condition.

At 1.30 pm Wednesday, the toll stood at 27, but is feared to rise further as more critically ill people are being brought to hospitals from Odhav locality, said a senior resident of a government hospital in Ahmedabad.

He said a high percentage of ethyl alcohol in the brew seems to have caused so many casualties.

Meanwhile, the Gujarat police have started raiding liquor dens across Gujarat to nab the bootleggers.

Eight new swine flu cases, total in India 153

Tue, 07 Jul 2009 20:43:35 PST

( from http://www.rxpgnews.com ) New Delhi, July 7 - Eight new swine flu cases were reported Tuesday in India taking the total number of people infected with the influenza A- virus to 153 in the country, the health ministry said.

'So far, 970 people have been tested, of which 153 are positive for Influenza A-,' a statement issued here said.

An official said of the 970 people tested for swine flu, 290 were identified through entry screening at the 22 international airports.

'Of the 153 positive cases, 106 have been discharged,' the official added.

The eight new cases were reported from Mumbai -, Delhi -, Hyderabad -, and Bangalore -.

A 66-year-old woman, who had tested positive for the virus last month in Delhi and had developed complications because she had respiratory problems, was discharged Tuesday after she recovered.

The World Health Organization - Monday said there were 94,512 laboratory confirmed cases of influenza A - infection in 135 countries since the outbreak of the virus.

There have been 429 deaths globally, majority from Mexico and the US.

Liquor tragedy kills seven in Ahmedabad

Tue, 07 Jul 2009 18:23:35 PST

( from http://www.rxpgnews.com ) Ahmedabad, July 7 - Police fired tear gas to disperse rampaging mobs as seven people died and 18 were taken seriously ill after drinking suspected illicit liquor here Tuesday, authorities said.

The deaths in Sagrapitha locality sparked mob protests and crowds pelted stones and damaged vehicles demanding the arrest of those running a den producing moonshine in the area. The police were called to control the situation.

Police officials denied there were any bootleggers in the colony. They said only an investigation would ascertain where the illicit liquor was sold.

Sale and consumption of liquor is illegal in Gujarat.

The opposition Congress raised the issue in the assembly and said the law and order situation had weakened.

Replying to state Congress president Siddharth Patel, Minister of State for Home Amit Shah said in the house that he will make a statement on the issue Wednesday.

Leader of Opposition Shaktisinh Gohil visited the homes of the victims and spoke to the grieving families.

The Bharatiya Janata Party - government had not been able to check rising cases of bootlegging and criminal activities in Ahmedabad, Gohil told reporters later.

Seven dead after drinking illicit liquor in Ahmedabad

Tue, 07 Jul 2009 17:05:46 PST

( from http://www.rxpgnews.com ) Ahmedabad, July 7 - Seven people died and 18 others were taken seriously ill after they were said to have drunk suspected illicitly brewd liquor at Sagrapitha locality in Ahmedabad Tuesday afternoon, police said.

Consuming liquor is a cognizable offence in dry Gujarat.

The critically ill have been admitted to various private and municipal hospitals in the city while the bodies of those killed have been sent for post-mortem examination to the government civil hospital.

The news of people dying in Sagrapitha caused a mob frenzy here as the gathered crowds started pelting stones and damaging vehicles. The police had to lob tear gas shells to disperse the mob which demanded the arrest of the culprits who, they said, have been running a country liquor den in the locality for months. No arrests were immediately made, however.

Senior police officials denied that there were any bootleggers inside the colony. They said only investigations would ascertain any place from where the illicit liquor was being sold.

The post-mortem report, which is still not ready, will determine the exact cause of the death. The critically ill are being treated at various hospitals of the city, police said.

Couple in Punjab tests positive for swine flu

Tue, 07 Jul 2009 11:20:40 PST

( from http://www.rxpgnews.com ) Chandigarh, July 7 - A couple in Jalandhar town of Punjab has tested positive for influenza A - infection after a trip to Thailand, health officials said Tuesday.

Kulwant Singh, 44, and his wife Anita, 38, returned from Thailand to Jalandhar, about 150 km from here, July 3. They were admitted in the civil hospital with the symptoms of running nose, high fever and sore throat.

'We had sent their samples to NICD - and got the reports yesterday -. They have tested positive. Their condition is stable and they are recovering,' Roop Lal, district health officer of Jalandhar, told IANS.

Last month, 14 students of a private school in Jalandhar were quarantined in the civil hospital after they exhibited swine flu symptoms. Seven of them tested positive for the infection.

The students were part of a group of 31 students and three teachers of the Guru Amar Das Public School that went on an educational trip to the National Aeronautics and Space Administration - in the US.

The union territory of Chandigarh also has two suspected cases of swine flu.

A 22-year-old software engineer and a three-year-old girl were admitted to the Postgraduate Institute of Medical Education and Research - and in the government hospital in Sector 32 respectively with symptoms of influenza A - infection.

'The boy had gone to California last month whereas the girl had returned from the US June 30. Seeing their travel history, we have admitted them in isolation wards and sent their samples to NICD for tests,' said H.C. Gera, Chandigarh nodal officer for swine flu.

Last month, the first positive case of swine flu in Punjab was reported from Gurdaspur town, some 250 km from here. The infected boy, who was studying in California and had come home on vacation, was admitted to a government hospital in Chandigarh. He was discharged after treatment.

India's health budget up by nearly Rs.4,000 crore

Mon, 06 Jul 2009 16:41:12 PST

( from http://www.rxpgnews.com ) New Delhi, July 6 - India's health budget has gone up by nearly Rs.4,000 crore to Rs.21,113.33 crore - with Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee Monday giving special emphasis to the rural healthcare.

The National Rural Health Mission - that aims to provide quality healthcare to villagers Monday saw its budget allocation increase by Rs.2,057 crore.

Describing the NRHM as an 'essential instrument for achieving goal of health for all', Mukherjee in his budget speech proposed 'an increase of Rs.2,057 crore over and above Rs.12,070 crore provided in the interim budget' he had presented before the general elections earlier this year.

The flagship programme of the United Progressive Alliance - government, the NRHM was launched in 2005. The aim was to improve availability and access to quality healthcare for people living in remote areas.

The main focus is on 18 states that have weak public health infrastructure - Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, Bihar, Chhattisgarh, Himachal Pradesh, Jharkhand, Jammu and Kashmir, Manipur, Mizoram, Meghalaya, Madhya Pradesh, Nagaland, Orissa, Rajasthan, Sikkim, Tripura, Uttarakhand and Uttar Pradesh.

Hoping to strengthen the tertiary sector, the government is setting up six All India Institute of Medical Sciences --like institutions in the country and upgrading 13 existing medical colleges.

While the upgradation is likely to be completed in the current year, the six institutions are likely to be operationalised by 2010-11, says the plan outlay of the union budget. For this project, Rs.1,447.92 crore has been earmarked.

Aimed at correcting the regional imbalance in the availability of affordable and reliable healthcare services, the project envisages setting up AIIMS prototypes in Patna -, Raipur -, Bhopal -, Bhubaneswar -, Jodhpur - and Rishikesh -.

The union budget has also allocated Rs.10 crore for the National Programme for Prevention and Control of Deafness -. The pilot phase is being launched in 25 districts in the next two years and aims to prevent avoidable hearing loss and ensure early identification, diagnosis and treatment of ear problems responsible for hearing loss and deafness.

The budget also allotted Rs.100 crore for kickstarting medical, non-medical and nursing courses in institutions under the health ministry for accommodating 27 percent reservation for the Other Backward Classes -.

In its bid to develop, promote and make the Indian systems of medicines more scientific, the department of Ayurveda, Yoga and Naturopathy, Unani, Siddha and Homoeopathy - under the health ministry was allocated Rs.734 crore.

The finance minister in his 2009-10 budget also increased by 40 percent the allocation for the Rashtriya Swasthya Bima Yojana -, the health insurance plan that was launched last year.

'More than 46 lakh BPL - families in 18 states and UTs - have been issued biometric smart cards' for the scheme, the finance minister said in his speech.

He said this scheme 'empowers poor families by giving them freedom of choice for using healthcare services from an extensive list of hospitals including private hospitals'.

'Government proposes to bring all BPL families under this scheme. An amount of Rs.350 crore, marking 40 percent increase over the previous allocation, is being provided in 2009-10 budget estimates,' Mukherjee added.

Young India falling prey to party drugs: UN official

Sun, 05 Jul 2009 11:20:42 PST

( from http://www.rxpgnews.com ) New Delhi, July 5 - Youth in India and China face huge risks from party drugs like Ecstasy and Adam because of their large populations and increasing disposable income, a senior UN official has warned.

Besides, these synthetic drugs are easily available as they can be produced in the kitchen unlike heroine or cocaine, says Christina Albertin, who heads the UN Office on Drugs and Crime for South Asia.

'If we look at the ATS - situation, the world drugs report points out that there are fears the ATS has become a bigger problem in the developing world, including India and China,' Albertin told IANS.

Synthetic drugs or ATS like Ephedrine, amphetamines and Methaqualone are known by many names such as Ecstasy, MDMA, Adam, XTC, love drug and hug. They are often abused at parties.

India and China are particularly vulnerable to ATS owing to their large populations and increasing disposable incomes, says the recently released world drugs report.

Albertin says making these drugs is not rocket science, as you can go to internet sites and download recipes on how to produce them.

'If you want to produce heroine or cocaine, you need to have poppy plantations in some parts of the world. You need to have contact with the farmers and need to get the whole production done on the basis of the plants,' says Albertin.

'Then you have the whole chemical process, you need to go near the poppy fields, get all the chemicals there, put up the laboratories there at great risk, making yourself vulnerable to the discovery.

'That does not happen with ATS because synthetic drugs can be produced in the kitchen, they're just chemicals. There are a lot of chemicals that you can buy easily because they may not be under control or they are being deeply neglected,' she says.

According to the world drugs report, there are no prevalent estimates of ATS consumption in India or China. These gaps are major, given the size of the population aged 15-65 years in these countries - 0.73 billion and 0.95 billion respectively in India and China.

'Furthermore, with an increase in both the population and disposable income, their position next to several significant manufacturing countries and expanding domestic manufacture, both countries face substantial risks related to growing ATS use,' says the report.

The last study in India was in 2001 and published in 2004.

'We don't know the actual position and magnitude of the ATS problems in India, which had last performed a household survey in 2001 and it did not include questions specific to various types of ATS consumed,' says Albertin.

According to official sources, the Indian government would be conducting a household survey on the subject next year.

The saddest impact of these drugs is on users who start using them to help cope with life's problems - to do a job better, appear more cheerful, stay awake longer or lose weight quickly - only to find themselves overwhelmed with feelings of anxiety, hyper stimulation and paranoia.

These go-go drugs are now consumed in practically every region of the world, posing a significant problem in North America, Europe and Southeast Asia.

According to experts, India is more vulnerable to the threat posed by the synthetic drugs because key ATS precursors are readily available here and significant manufacturing is also taking place.

'The region is home to a large youth population and potential consumers with increasing disposable income. Plus, prevention and treatment are largely focussed on other drug types,' said a senior law enforcement official.

'The geographic location between the significant ATS markets in Southeast Asia make the country more vulnerable,' the official added.

According to highly placed sources, most ATS flow into India from Myanmar. The Narcotics Control Bureau recently busted several clandestine ATS laboratories in various parts of the country.

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New swine flu case takes India's tally to 129

Sat, 04 Jul 2009 21:51:23 PST

( from http://www.rxpgnews.com ) New Delhi, July 4 - A Thai national was found suffering from swine flu, taking the total number of influenza A - cases in India to 129, said an official statement Saturday.

'The only new case reported Saturday was of a 23-year-old Thai national who travelled from Bangkok to Mumbai by Thai Airways flight TG 317 that reached Mumbai June 28 and proceeded further to Kandla port - to board a ship on which he is a crew member,' it said.

'He was detected at the screening at Kandla port and isolated at the Kandla Port Trust Hospital July 1. Four other crew members in close contact with this case have also been placed under quarantine. They have been put on chemoprophylaxis.'

The statement said, '871 persons have been tested so far, of which 129 are positive for Influenza A H1N1. Of 129 positive cases, 90 have been discharged.'

According to the World Health Organisation -, about 89,921 confirmed cases of influenza A H1N1 infection have been reported from 125 countries till July 3. There have been 382 deaths worldwide, most of them in Mexico and the US.

Broken spine rejoined in 'miracle' surgery

Sat, 04 Jul 2009 17:53:18 PST

( from http://www.rxpgnews.com ) New Delhi, July 4 - Doctors at the All India Institute of Medical Sciences - here have rejoined a 10-year-old boy's broken spinal cord, hospital authorities said Saturday, terming it as a 'first-of-its-kind case'.

The boy, Premchand from Firozabad in Uttar Pradesh, fell while playing in a field and the moving blades of a tractor's harrow went over his back cutting his vertebral column into two.

He was brought to the AIIMS Trauma Centre Sep 4 and immediately operated upon after five hospitals said they could not treat him. Nine months later, he is back on his feet and walking without help.

At AIIMS a team of doctors performed the rare surgery lasting over eight hours.

D.B. Choudhary, senior consultant orthopaedic surgeon at AIIMS, said: 'The child was in a state of shock due to blood loss and had two deep wounds on the back with active leak of cerebrospinal fluid and rib fracture.

'His entire spine was fragmented in two parts. Initially he was given blood and treated with other medicines to prevent meningitis,' he added.

Claiming it a medical feat, AIIMS Trauma Centre chief M.C. Mishra said: 'I have done extensive research and can conclude that it is a first-of-its-kind case in medical history. Such a case with sharp penetrating injury to the spine in a child causing complete breakage of the lumbar spine in two parts presenting with complete loss of power and sensations is extremely unusual and has not been reported in literature either.'

The child started responding and felt sensations only a month after his surgery and now after nine months he is able to walk with minimal assistance.

He is currently undergoing rehabilitation physiotherapy. 'We are expecting him to recover soon,' Deepak Gupta, one of the doctors who operated upon the boy, told reporters. 'There is no threat of infection.'

Urging small hospitals to refer such critical cases directly to the AIIMS, Choudhary said the Trauma Centre is capable of handling difficult cases. Referring to Premchand's treatment, he said: 'It is another miracle carried out at AIIMS.'

12 new cases of swine flu, total 128 in India

Fri, 03 Jul 2009 20:37:41 PST

( from http://www.rxpgnews.com ) New Delhi, July 3 - Twelve new cases of swine flu were reported in the country Friday, taking the total number of influenza A - cases to 128, health officials said here.

'About 837 persons have been tested so far, of which 128 are positive for Influenza A H1N1. Of the 128 positive cases, 82 have been discharged,' a statement issued here said.

The 12 cases were reported from - Bangalore -, Kozhikode -, Delhi -, Hyderabad - and Amritsar -.

The health ministry also denied reports that a patient from Kerala had died due to the virus. 'This is not correct. His throat and nasal swab have tested negative for influenza A at the National Institute of Communicable Diseases, Delhi,' it said.

According to the World Health Organization -, about 77,201 confirmed cases of influenza A infection have been reported from 120 countries till July 1. There have been 332 deaths worldwide, most of them in Mexico and the US.

More medical colleges to be opened in India: Azad

Fri, 03 Jul 2009 17:21:54 PST

( from http://www.rxpgnews.com ) New Delhi, July 3 - The central government will set up more medical colleges through public-private participation to meet the shortage of skilled doctors in India, union Health Minister Ghulam Nabi Azad said here Friday.

Informing the Rajya Sabha, Azad said corporate sector would also be allowed to establish medical colleges in states.

He added that the regulations of the Medical Council of India - were being amended. The MCI is a statutory body that regulates medical colleges, new colleges and doctors' registrations.

Azad said his ministry was proposing to set up a National Council for Human Resources in Health as a regulatory agency for the health sector to reform the current framework and enhance supply of skilled personnel.

He said a task force has been set up, headed by union Health Secretary Naresh Dayal, to work out the details of the council. 'The task force will submit its report to the ministry by July 31,' Azad said.

On July 1, the minister announced that doctors who are ready to work in remote and inaccessible primary health centres in the country may get double their salary.

He said this was the 'only way' to ensure that doctors and paramedical staff work in these remote and tribal areas.

Construction cost for Udhampur army hospital hiked

Thu, 02 Jul 2009 21:49:47 PST

( from http://www.rxpgnews.com ) New Delhi, July 2 - The cabinet Thursday hiked the estimated construction cost for an ultra-modern 650-bed army hospital at Udhampur in Jammu and Kashmir to Rs.2.32 billion from Rs.1.26 billion.

The decision to hike the cost of the new multi-storeyed modern Command Hospital complex and associated accommodation for the Northern Command at Udhampur was taken in a cabinet meeting chaired by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, said cabinet spokesperson Ambika Soni.

She said the project was earlier approved by the Cabinet Committee on Security Aug 9, 2005 at an estimated cost of Rs.1.26 billion. The cost has now been revised to Rs.2.32 billion, she said.

It is a 650-bedded tertiary care and referral hospital and will provide specialised medical care to the armed forces personnel of the Northern Command, she said.

The information and broadcasting minister said since the hospital is presently housed mostly in old and dilapidated buildings of 1949 and 1960 vintage, there is an inescapable and urgent requirement for a new building.

Approval of the hospital project will provide comprehensive medical care to troops and families of armed forces, ex-servicemen and their families located in Northern Command and Jammu and Kashmir. It will also impart training to medics and paramedics.

Four new cases of swine flu, total in India 116

Thu, 02 Jul 2009 21:17:54 PST

( from http://www.rxpgnews.com ) New Delhi, July 2 - Four new cases of swine flu were detected Thursday, taking the total number of influenza A- virus to 116, health officials said here.

Among those who tested positive for the flu are two children and a 68-year-old woman.

'The four cases were reported from Gurgaon, Bangalore, Pune and Cochin,' a health ministry statement issued here said.

'In all, 793 people have been tested so far of which 116 are positive for Influenza A H1N1,' the statement said.

'Of the 116 positive cases, 80 have been discharged. Rest of them remain admitted to the identified health facility,' it said.

In Gurgaon, a six-year-old-girl, who travelled from Houston in the US to Delhi via Chicago, reached Delhi June 27. Her family reported to the identified health facility on July 1 with symptoms of fever, running nose and vomiting.

In Bangalore, a four-year-old girl tested positive for the virus Thursday.

The girl reached the metropolis on June 30 from the US via Singapore. 'As she showed symptoms of fever and cough, she was detected at the airport and admitted in the isolation health facility,' the statement said.

Health officials said in Pune a 34-year-old woman was detected with the swine flu. She had came from San Francisco in the US via Hong Kong and had reached Mumbai on June 27. She reported to the identified health facility on June 30.

In Cochin, a 68-year-old woman, who travelled from Toronto to Cochin via Abu Dhabi on June 29, tested positive for the flu. She was detected at the airport and was isolated at the identified health facility.

According to the World Health Organisation - about 77,201 laboratory confirmed cases of swine flu infection were reported from 120 countries July 1. There have been 332 deaths globally mostly from Mexico and the US.

Court ruling on gays will help fight AIDS, say experts

Thu, 02 Jul 2009 18:27:51 PST

( from http://www.rxpgnews.com ) New Delhi, July 2 - Health experts and activists Thursday said the Delhi High Court ruling decriminalising homosexuality will be a new tool in the fight against the spread of HIV/AIDS as the closeted gay community is a high-risk group.

The National AIDS Control Organisation - Director-General K. Sujatha Rao told IANS: 'It is a positive judgment. Decriminalising this high-risk group has made our job easier as we will be able to reach out to them. This will help the public health system.'

The high court Thursday struck down the Indian Penal Code's - controversial section 377, a relic from the British Raj era, that termed homosexuality as a criminal act.

A bench of Chief Justice Ajit Prakash Shah and Justice S. Muralidhar said if Section 377 is not amended, it would violate Article 21 of the Constitution, which guarantees equal opportunity of life for every citizen of the country.

Rao said: 'This - will help us access patients and prevent HIV/AIDS. This was hard earlier as the law made it difficult for us to work with sex workers and gays. They were the hidden population, and we could not reach them as the law was not favouring them.'

NACO is the apex government agency to monitor and check HIV/AIDS in India. The 2008-09 budget of NACO was over Rs.1,100 crore.

According to estimates revised in 2007, India has an approximate 2.5 million people living with HIV. According to NACO, there are 2.35 million men having sex with men - in the country.

Gays are considered to be among the high-risk group vulnerable to the spread of HIV/AIDS in India. Apart from them, the other high-risk groups are sex workers, truck drivers and injecting drug users -.

'Our plea has always been for decriminalising this high-risk group. We are happy that our plea was considered by the court. It would make the public health programmes more successful,' Rao told IANS by phone from Hyderabad.

UNAIDS executive director Michel Sidibe welcomed the decision and said that 'the Delhi High Court has restored the dignity and human rights of millions of men who have sex with men and transgendered people in India.'

He said such oppressive laws drive people underground making it much harder to reach them for HIV prevention, treatment and care services.

'It sends a positive message to countries where such laws still exist,' he said.

According to UNAIDS, currently 80 countries have legislation prohibiting same-sex behaviour.

He said the criminalisation of adult sexual behaviour is hampering HIV responses across the world.

'Such measures have a negative impact on delivery of HIV prevention programmes and access to treatment by people living with HIV. Not only do they violate human rights of individuals, but further stigmatize these populations.'

Speaking on behalf of the United Nations, Charles Gilks, UNAIDS country coordinator in India, said: 'We are excited by the ruling and hope that it will send a positive signal to many other countries, especially in South and West Asia, where sodomy is punishable by death.'

Anjali Shah, a lawyer of the Lawyers Collective, said: 'One of the biggest implications of this verdict is that it will make HIV prevention work much easier and effective.'

HIV activist and physician S. Sunder Raman said the decision is moving toward making sure that the current law does not hold people as criminals for homosexual acts and push them underground.

According to psychiatrist Samir Parikh, the judgment is 'both scientific and humane.'

'The judgment goes with what science says, and this is a positive and progressive step, that needs to be welcomed,' Parikh, head of the Department of Mental Health and Behavioral Sciences in Max Healthcare, told IANS.

'Since early '70s, it has been accepted medically that orientation is not a matter of choice and cannot be corrected, and the fact that same sex orientation is not a disease and this is an innate phenomena that a person has.'

He said the gays faced intense distress and harassment that causes more depressive anxiety symptoms in them.

'... they feel threatened by the stigma and fear of harassment owing to its criminal connotation, as it was considered before today's judgment. This historic judgment indeed pays heed to human rights in the largest democracy of the world,' he said.

India faces shortage of essential vaccines, says report

Thu, 02 Jul 2009 17:39:24 PST

( from http://www.rxpgnews.com ) New Delhi, July 2 - Even though India is the largest supplier of vaccines to the world, its domestic market is completely paralyzed, risking the health of millions of children, especially newborns, says a report.

'India is the largest supplier of vaccines to the world yet its domestic market of vaccines stands completely crippled, endangering the health and future of millions of its children, especially newborns,' according to a report in Down To Earth -, a fortnightly magazine of the Centre for Science and Environment -.

The report says in 2008 the Union Health Minister Anbumani Ramadoss suspended the licenses of three crucial public sector suppliers of vaccines - the Central Research Institute - in Kasauli, BCG Vaccine Laboratory - in Chennai and Pasteur Institute of India - in Coonoor.

These three units together met 80 percent of the country's vaccine requirements under the universal immunization programme.

' Because of this the country is reeling from a debilitating shortage of vaccines, which has severely affected its universal immunization programme,' said the report. It added that on average the availability of vaccines in different states has fallen between 10 and 30 percent.

'What Down To Earth has uncovered is shocking - it shows that the ministry has been particularly and criminally negligent in ensuring an alternative supply of life-saving and vital vaccines in the country,' said Sunita Narain, Director of CSE.

A Right to Information - application filed by Down To Earth has revealed that the closure decision was taken after a World Health Organization - inspection found that the units lacked good manufacturing practices.

'But the ministry refuses to explain why closure was necessary and why steps could not have been taken to improve the functioning of these units. In fact, our investigation finds that the ministry curtailed its programme to build capacity and improve the functioning of these units,' the report added.

The ministry distributed the vaccine orders among three manufacturing units randomly - Serum Institute of India - and Biological Evans - in the private sector, and Indian Immunologicals Limited - in the public sector. But a parliamentary committee found that a chunk of the orders were given to Biological Evans, whose 'good' manufacturing practices remained doubtful.

The DTE report further revealed that the private sector has refused to provide the vaccines at affordable rates and it even quotes a confidential document of the ministry which showed that the government could not procure vaccines because private manufacturers had hiked their prices.

'What is even more ironic is that even as the ministry closed the existing public sector vaccine units, it had no option but to procure vaccines from these same units,' the DTE report said.

While the government has already taken notice of the issue, it must act fast, the report contended.

'We do believe this concerns the future of our country, our infants and the newborn. It cannot and must not be taken lightly,' Narain emphasized.

Verdict decriminalising gay sex welcome: AIDS control body

Thu, 02 Jul 2009 14:29:44 PST

( from http://www.rxpgnews.com ) New Delhi, July 2 - The National AIDS Control Organisation - Thursday hailed the Delhi High Court judgment that decriminalises gay sex, saying it would help reach out to the community and prevent the spread of HIV/AIDS.

'It is a positive judgment. Decriminalising this high-risk group has made our job easier as we will be able to reach them. This will help the public health system,' K. Sujatha Rao, NACO director general and additional secretary in the health ministry, told IANS.

The high court struck down the Indian Penal Code's - controversial section 377, a law from the British Raj era, that says homosexuality and 'unnatural sex' is a criminal act.

Rao said: 'This - will help us access and prevent HIV/AIDS. HIV has no cure and it could be prevented through a condom.'

'Now, we will have more access to them, which was difficult earlier as the law made it difficult for us to work with sex workers and gays. They were the hidden population and we could not reach them as the law was not favouring them.'

NACO is the apex government body to monitor and check HIV/AIDS in India. The 2008-09 budget of NACO is over Rs.1100 crore, of which 67 percent is for prevention and 17 percent for care, support and treatment.

According to estimates revised in 2007, India has an approximate 2.5 million people living with HIV. According to NACO, there are 2.35 million men having sex with men - in the country.

On Thursday, a bench of Chief Justice Ajit Prakash Shah and Justice S. Muralidhar said that if not amended, section 377 of the IPC would violate Article 21 of the Indian Constitution, which states that every citizen has equal opportunity of life and is equal before law.

Gays are considered to be among the high-risk group that is considered vulnerable to the spread of HIV/AIDS in India. Apart from them, the other groups are sex workers, truck drivers and injecting drug users -.

'Our plea has always been for decriminalising this high-risk group. We are happy that our plea was considered by the court. It would make the public health programmes more successful,' Rao told IANS over phone from Hyderabad.

She said that India has been committed to universal access for halting and reversing the spread of HIV. 'This would enable us to achieve that goal,' she added.

Obama names Indian American health researcher White House Fellow

Fri, 26 Jun 2009 09:24:14 PST

( from http://www.rxpgnews.com ) Washington, June 26 - President Barack Obama has appointed Anish Mahajan, an Indian-American internist and health services researcher, as one of the 15 persons to serve as White House Fellows this year.

The 2009-2010 class of White House Fellows represents a diverse cross-section of professions including medicine, business, media, education, non-profit and state government, as well as two branches of the US military, the White House announced Thursday.

'We are thrilled that these exceptional men and women will be joining us here in Washington for the next year,' said First Lady Michelle Obama.

Mahajan, 34, a Robert Wood Johnson Clinical Scholar and a Master of Science in Health Services from the University of California, Los Angeles, 'is committed to the ideal that health policy formulation should be informed by scientific evidence and stakeholder engagement,' the White House said.

'He has led innovative research collaborations between academic, government, and relevant stakeholder organizations on an array of domestic and international health policy issues.'

Mahajan has given presentations and published numerous peer-reviewed articles on topics including HIV/AIDS prevention and treatment, the private sector response to the South African AIDS epidemic, high-deductible health plans, and adherence to medications for chronic illnesses.

His work has addressed health care challenges in the US, India, and South Africa and he has previously served as a consultant to The Ford Foundation and RAND Corporation.

Dedicated to public service, he is currently serving a 2-year term as a publicly elected council member on a City of Los Angeles neighbourhood council. He is Vice-Chair on the council's Public Policy Committee.

Mahajan has received a B.A. in Public Policy and M.D. from Brown University. He also earned a M.P.H. in International Health from Harvard School of Public Health.

CNN Chief Medical Correspondent, Dr. Sanjay Gupta, has also served as a White House Fellow under a programme created in 1964 by President Lyndon B. Johnson to give promising American leaders 'first hand, high-level experience with the workings of the Federal government, and to increase their sense of participation in national affairs.'

63 Swine Flu Cases in India

Mon, 22 Jun 2009 21:13:16 PST

( from http://www.rxpgnews.com ) Four more people in different parts of the country tested positive for the influenza A - Monday, taking the total number of people affected by the flu virus in India to 63.

The condition of a 66-year-old woman, who contracted the flu from her son, deteriorated and she was put on ventilator in a hospital in Delhi.

'The woman tested positive June 17 and was shifted to Deen Dayal Updhayay Hospital. She is said to have a chronic respiratory illness and her condition deteriorated Sunday and she was put on ventilator. She continues to be on ventilator. A group of experts is attending to her,' a health ministry official said.

'Four new cases - two from Delhi and one each from Mumbai and Pune - tested positive for the swine flu in India Monday,' the official said.

In Delhi, a 25-year-old man who came from the US and self reported to an identified health facility with complaints of sore throat June 20 was tested positive for the flu.

The second case was of a 29-year-old woman, who travelled from Canada via Belgium and reached Delhi June 18. She has also tested positive for the flu.

In Pune, a 24-year-old man who came from the US via London and reported to the hospital with flu like symptoms tested positive for the virus.

In Mumbai, a 23-year-old woman who came from Melbourne June 19 has also tested positive for the flu.

'All these people have been isolated and are being treated. We are trying to trace their contacts,' the official said.

With increasing number of cases in Delhi, the government has sought help from the private hospitals in the capital.

'We have written to all private hospitals asking them to join hands with the government in handling swine flu patients. They have to prepare isolation wards and the government will provide them with the Tamiflu drug. But we are yet to hear from them,' said a senior health official in Delhi government.

Meanwhile, of the 63 cases 37 have been discharged after they recovered from the flu. India has reported six indigenous cases where people contracted the flu without going abroad.

World Health Organization - has reported 44,287 laboratory confirmed cases of influenza A- infection from 94 countries. There have been 180 deaths.

Health screening of passengers coming from affected countries is continuing in 22 international airports. 44,691 passengers have been screened on June 21 with 27,345 passengers from affected countries.

A total of 224 doctors and 112 paramedics have been deployed to man 77 counters at these airports. A cumulative total of over 2,200,000 passengers have been screened.

Apollo to get 50 million loan for small-town hospitals

Sat, 20 Jun 2009 18:42:33 PST

( from http://www.rxpgnews.com ) International Finance Corp, a member of the World Bank group, will provide $50 million as loan to Indian private healthcare major Apollo Hospitals for setting up hospitals in numerous smaller cities across the country.

The company expects to set up 15 new hospitals in the next three years, an initiative that will also create significant employment opportunities for local medical professionals.

'Creating an adequate hospital infrastructure alone will require $34 billion in private investment by 2012 in secondary and tertiary care hospitals, medical colleges, nursing, and hospital management schools,' an IFC statement said.

'Apollo has long been one of IFC's key strategic clients both in the region and globally, given the scope of its operations and its willingness to invest in smaller cities,' said IFC vice-president Rashad Kaldany.

'The project aligns with our strategy to invest in healthcare, one of India's largest service industries where the private sector's involvement is most critical,' IFC said.

Added Apollo Hospitals founder and executive chairman Prathap Reddy: 'This project will help us fulfil Apollo's vision to deliver medical services where they are needed most.'

--Indo-Asian News service

ash/ank/vt

Electronic nose potent new weapon against brain cancer

Thu, 18 Jun 2009 13:23:27 PST

( from http://www.rxpgnews.com ) An electronic 'nose' developed by NASA for air quality monitoring on Space Shuttle Endeavour can also act as a potent new weapon against brain cancer.

The 'nose' can detect odour differences in normal and cancerous brain cells, opening up new possibilities for neurosurgeons in the fight against the condition.

Neurosurgeons from the City of Hope Cancer Centre, along with scientists from the Brain Mapping Foundation - in West Hollywood and Jet Propulsion Laboratory -, used NASA's electronic 'nose' to investigate the role of cellular odour in cellular trafficking, brain cancer metastasis and stem cell migration.

The 'electronic nose', which is to be installed on the International Space Station to automatically monitor the station's air, can detect different contaminants, some with concentrations as low as one part per million.

In a series of experiments, the BMF used NASA's electronic nose to sniff brain cancer cells and cells in other organs. These experiments will help pave the way for more sophisticated biochemical analysis and experimentation, said a NASA release.

Babak Kateb, study co-author said: 'This pilot study lays the groundwork for future research that may help us better understand cellular trafficking, contribute to designing better approaches for the detection and differentiation of brain cancer, and understand the pathophysiology of intracranial gliomas.'

The results will be presented at the sixth Annual World Congress for Brain Mapping & Image Guided Therapy at Harvard Medical School, Aug 26-29.

Indian American helps design vaginal ring to prevent HIV transmission

Thu, 18 Jun 2009 12:27:35 PST

( from http://www.rxpgnews.com ) An Indian American endocrinologist has helped develop a vaginal ring that would prevent conception and transmission of HIV infection, by releasing multiple types of non-hormonal agents and microbicides.

Worldwide, there are about five million new infections and three million deaths every year caused by HIV/AIDS alone.

If proven successful in future clinical trials, the vaginal ring could empower women to protect themselves from unintended pregnancy and sexually transmitted diseases.

The ring may also someday represent a novel method to prevent STDs for those with aversion to currently available methods, with hormonally derived active agents, or with allergies to latex condoms.

'This device is a new approach to birth control, because it avoids the long-term use of hormonal methods that have been associated with increased risk of certain cancers,' said Brij Saxena, study co-author and professor of reproductive biology and endocrinology at Weill Cornell Medical College -.

'At the same time, this is the first device to simultaneously offer the possibility to prevent unintended pregnancy and HIV transmission,' said Saxena, who did his B.Sc, M.Sc and Ph.D from Lucknow University - in 1949, 1951 and 1954, respectively.

'No one has ever conquered a viral epidemic with treatment, so prevention is the most effective option. Ideally, an HIV vaccine is the most desirable method, but that is not foreseeable in the near future,' explained Jeffrey Laurence, study co-author and physician at New York-Presbyterian Hospital/WCMC.

'The next best thing would be something that would prevent infection and put the power in the susceptible female partner's control. That's the potential a device such as this can offer.'

The vaginally inserted ring is incorporated with multiple antiviral drugs that prevent HIV infection and are time-released over a period up to 28 days, said a WCMC release.

'The compounds in the device are natural materials that are already approved by the US Food and Drug Administration for use in humans,' explained Saxena.

The results were published recently in AIDS.

Society doing hyperactive kids a disservice

Thu, 18 Jun 2009 11:30:22 PST

( from http://www.rxpgnews.com ) Authors and educators are doing hyperactive children a disservice by insisting that hyperactivity has always existed.

Canadian researcher Matthew Smith said not only is that notion wrong, it misleads patients, their parents and their physicians. Smith, from Edmonton is completing his doctorate at the Centre for Medical History, University of Exeter.

Hyperactivity disorder - is currently the most commonly diagnosed childhood psychiatric disorder, said Smith, and millions of children are prescribed drugs including Ritalin to treat it. Yet prior to the 1950s, it was clinically and culturally insignificant.

He argued in a paper that hyperactivity disorder as we understand it today is a modern construct that was first described in 1957. Before that hyperactive behaviour existed - but it wasn't always thought of as a disorder or pathology worth treating, said Smith.

However, Smith said many today assert that hyperactivity is a universal phenomenon, which can be seen in historical figures like Mozart or Einstein. Smith argues that hyperactivity is rooted in social, cultural, political and economic changes of the last half century.

'When history is extended back beyond 1957, it overlooks all the social factors that contributed to the idea that children were hyperactive - and that that was a problem,' he says.

Smith says that whether you consider hyperactivity a disease worth treating often depends on context - and the context changed in the late 1950s when the US refocussed its education system in response to the space race, said an Exeter release.

'If a child's playing soccer, there's a chance hyperactivity isn't going to be a problem. But if they are stuck in a classroom, it is a problem,' he said.

Dr Reddy's ties up with GlaxoSmithKline

Mon, 15 Jun 2009 20:54:57 PST

( from http://www.rxpgnews.com ) Mumbai, June 15 - Pharmaceutical major major Dr Reddy's Laboratories Monday announced a partnership with Britain's GlaxoSmithKline - to develop and market select products across emerging markets outside India.

'Under the terms of the agreement, GSK will gain access to Dr. Reddy's rich and diverse portfolio and future pipeline of more than 100 branded pharmaceuticals in fast growing therapeutic segments such as cardiovascular, diabetes, oncology, gastroenterology and pain management,' the company said in a regulatory statement.

G.V. Prasad, vice-chairman and chief executive officer of Dr Reddy's, said the tie-up would help the companies provide 'affordable and innovative medicines to a much wider population'.

The products will be manufactured by Dr. Reddy's and be licensed and supplied to GSK to market in emerging markets in Africa, the Middle East, Latin America and Asia Pacific, excluding India.

GSK will share revenues with Dr Reddy's as per agreed terms.

Abbas Hussein, president - of GlaxoSmithKline, said: 'Together we will be able to deliver more medicines of value to more patients in these countries.'

US Senate approves sweeping tobacco legislation

Fri, 12 Jun 2009 03:28:40 PST

( from http://www.rxpgnews.com ) The US Senate Thursday approved sweeping new controls on tobacco products, including a ban on the labelling of 'light' cigarettes and increasing the size of health warning labels.

The bill for the first time gives a federal regulator, the US Food and Drug Administration -, broad authority over tobacco companies. It was welcomed by health advocates and even some major tobacco companies.

The legislation, passed 79-17 by the Senate, would bar companies from labelling cigarettes as 'light' or 'ultra-light', though it does not specify how they should be labelled instead. Anti-smoking advocates argue cigarettes with less tar are no less harmful to one's health.

Fruit or sweet-flavoured cigarettes - often criticized for targeting children - will also be banned, while new warning labels on cigarette packets will take up about half of the space.

'This legislation represents the strongest action Congress has ever taken to reduce tobacco use,' said Matthew Myers, president of the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids, a Washington-based lobby group.

'The time finally has come to end the special protection the tobacco industry has enjoyed for too long and at such great cost to the nation's health,' he said.

The US House of Representatives approved a similar bill in April, but the House must hold one more vote on the Senate's version before it can reach President Barack Obama's desk for signature.

Obama said the bill 'will make history by giving the scientists and medical experts at the FDA the power to take sensible steps that will reduce tobacco's harmful effects and prevent tobacco companies from marketing their products to children'.

Altria Group, the parent company of cigarette producers Philip Morris, also welcomed the bill's passage.

'The legislation is an important step forward to achieve the goal we share with others to provide federal regulation of tobacco products,' Altria said in a statement.

Australia confirms its first swine flu case

Sat, 09 May 2009 10:11:07 PST

( from http://www.rxpgnews.com ) Sydney, May 9 - A woman who arrived back in Australia on a flight from Los Angeles to Brisbane last week has been confirmed as the country's first swine flu patient.

Queensland health authorities said the woman tested 'weak positive' for the new influenza A - virus and has already recovered.

'This is clearly a serious development but we are in a situation where the best medical advice seems to be indicating that this person would not have been infectious,' state chief medical officer Jeanette Young said.

'Because at this stage there is no evidence of any live infection in Australia, the advice currently is for us not to change that alert level.'

The woman reported her symptoms to health authorities at Brisbane airport Thursday after coming off Qantas flight QF16. She remained in Brisbane with family members.

'Because we're taking every precaution, we'll be contacting passengers from the same flight sitting close to the woman, and her close family, to check if they have had any illness and alert them to seek medical advice if they become unwell,' Young said.

The World Health Organisation reported Friday that 2,500 people in 26 countries had tested positive for the influenza A - virus.

Of the 567 people tested for swine flu in Australia, 544 have been cleared and the rest are awaiting results.

Hacker demands $10 mn ransom for stolen medical records

Fri, 08 May 2009 11:37:15 PST

( from http://www.rxpgnews.com ) Washington, May 8 - A cyber hacker who claimed to have stolen the medical records of more than 8.3 million residents of the state of Virginia is demanding $10 million for their return, the Washington Post reported.

The FBI and state officials have confirmed that they are investigating the incident.

The report Thursday came a week after someone managed to take over a Virginia Department of Health website that monitors prescriptions to track the sales of controlled substances. The hacker shut down the site and posted a ransom note online, claiming to have stolen and encrypted the data and threatening to sell the data to the highest bidder if authorities did not pay him by Thursday.

'Attention Virgina,' the demand read, 'In my possession right now are 8,257,378 patient records and a total of 35,548,087 prescriptions. Also, I made an encrypted backup and deleted the original. Unfortunately for Virginia, their backups seem to have gone missing, too.'

The incident comes at a time of heightened concerns about the privacy and security of medical data as US President Barack Obama is attempting to introduce a new national health records system.

Sandra Whitley Ryals, director of Virginia's Department of Health Professions, declined to comment on the details of the case. But she confirmed that the entire system has been shut down since Thursday to protect the security of the programme data.

'We are satisfied that all data was properly backed up and that these backup files have been secured,' she said.

Global financial crisis creates development emergency

Sun, 26 Apr 2009 09:51:18 PST

( from http://www.rxpgnews.com ) Washington, April 25 - The widening global financial crisis has created a development emergency, preventing many countries from achieving targets on reducing hunger, child mortality and major diseases, the International Monetary Fund -and World Bank have warned in a report.

The Global Monitoring Report, released Friday on the eve of IMF and World Bank spring meetings in Washington, said it was unlikely that the eight Millennium Development Goals -, an ambitious programme adopted by governments in 2000, would be met by the target year of 2015.

'The triple jeopardy of the food, fuel and financial crises is pushing many poor countries into a danger zone, imposing rising human costs and imperiling development prospects,' the report said.

In addition to reducing poverty, the MDGs call for halting the spread of HIV/AIDS, ensuring gender equality, providing universal primary education to all children, ending maternal and child mortality and stopping the degradation of the environment.

'With simultaneous recessions striking all major regions, the likelihood of painfully slow recoveries in many countries is very real, making the fight against poverty more challenging and more urgent,' warned John Lipsky, IMF deputy managing director.

He described the financial meltdown as the 'most serious crisis of confidence since the Great Depression' and said 'conditions in developing countries are deteriorating dramatically'.

According to new estimates, an additional 55 to 90 million people will be trapped in extreme poverty - defined as those who live on less than $1.25 a day - in 2009 because of the global recession. The number of chronically hungry people is expected to

climb to more than one billion this year or about one-sixth of the world's population, reversing gains in fighting malnutrition, the report said.

Developing countries will be particularly hard hit as exports contract, commodity prices fluctuate wildly, and remittances and foreign investment shrink, with growth in emerging economies projected to fall to 1.6 percent in 2009, from an average of 8.1 percent in 2006-2007, according to new IMF projections.

On Wednesday, the IMF offered its most dire picture yet of a world that is plunging into by far its deepest recession since World War II, predicting that the global economy will shrink by 1.3 percent in 2009 and recover to only 1.9-percent growth in 2010.

'Worldwide, we have an enormous loss of wealth and financial stability,' said World Bank chief economist Justin Yifu Lin. 'Millions more people will lose their jobs in 2009, and urgent funding must be provided for social safety nets, infrastructure, and

small businesses in poor countries, for a sustainable recovery.'

Lipsky called on wealthier nations to take steps to protect the poor and follow up on their commitments to increase aid to low income countries. The report said increased spending in the private sector would alleviate some of the negative impact on the poor.

'Foreign aid to poor countries stands at $120 billion - nowhere near enough, and a drop in the ocean compared to the $8.4 trillion recently mobilised to prop up ailing banks,' said Bernice Romero of humanitarian aid group Oxfam.

'At $173 billion, the American Insurance Group - alone has received $50 billion more than total global aid levels ... poor people need a bail-out of their own.'

Citizens' groups from across the United States planned to disrupt the IMF-World Bank meetings over the weekend with street protests, traffic blockades and a five-km 'Run on the Bank,' voicing their opposition to financial policies they say disregard human rights and environmental concerns.

'We're demanding an economy that works for all of us,' said Rev Graylan Hagler of Ministers for Racial, Social and Economic Justice. 'For Latin America, for Africa, for the Middle East, for Asia ... we must stop the IMF and the World Bank from expanding their neoliberalist agenda. We are convening to resist this agenda and plan new ideas for a better world to come.'

Swine Influenza A (H1N1) Spreads Outside Mexico

Sun, 26 Apr 2009 06:09:37 PST

( from http://www.rxpgnews.com ) The United States Government has reported seven confirmed human cases of Swine Influenza A/H1N1 in the USA (five in California and two in Texas) and nine suspect cases. All seven confirmed cases had mild Influenza-Like Illness (ILI), with only one requiring brief hospitalization. No deaths have been reported.

The Government of Mexico has reported three separate events. In the Federal District of Mexico, surveillance began picking up cases of ILI starting 18 March. The number of cases has risen steadily through April and as of 23 April there are now more than 854 cases of pneumonia from the capital. Of those, 59 have died. In San Luis Potosi, in central Mexico, 24 cases of ILI, with three deaths, have been reported. And from Mexicali, near the border with the United States, four cases of ILI, with no deaths, have been reported.

Of the Mexican cases, 18 have been laboratory confirmed in Canada as Swine Influenza A/H1N1, while 12 of those are genetically identical to the Swine Influenza A/H1N1 viruses from California.

The majority of these cases have occurred in otherwise healthy young adults. Influenza normally affects the very young and the very old, but these age groups have not been heavily affected in Mexico.

Because there are human cases associated with an animal influenza virus, and because of the geographical spread of multiple community outbreaks, plus the somewhat unusual age groups affected, these events are of high concern.

The Swine Influenza A/H1N1 viruses characterized in this outbreak have not been previously detected in pigs or humans. The viruses so far characterized have been sensitive to oseltamivir, but resistant to both amantadine and rimantadine.

WHO is coordinating the global response to human cases of swine influenza A (H1N1) and monitoring the corresponding threat of an influenza pandemic.

The World Health Organization has been in constant contact with the health authorities in the United States, Mexico and Canada in order to better understand the risk which these ILI events pose. WHO (and PAHO) is sending missions of experts to Mexico to work with health authorities there. It is helping its Member States to increase field epidemiology activities, laboratory diagnosis and clinical management. Moreover, WHO's partners in the Global Alert and Response Network have been alerted and are ready to assist as requested by the Member States.

WHO acknowledges the United States and Mexico for their proactive reporting and their collaboration with WHO and will continue to work with Member States to further characterize the outbreak.

Bill Gates' foundation targets Indians for research grants

Thu, 02 Apr 2009 18:50:58 PST

( from http://www.rxpgnews.com ) New Delhi, April 2 - The Bill and Melinda Gates foundation Thursday announced $100,000 grants for researchers to develop innovative ideas to address maternal and child health care issues. The third round of the world-wide initiative is targeted particularly at Indian researchers.

'We hope to hear from researchers of every age and every continent, and from disciplines that don't typical focus on global health or even biomedical research. India has great potential and a pool of engineers, doctors and creative minds. Yet in our previous two rounds we have received little response from Indians,' Andrew C. Serazin, programme officer for the project, told reporters here.

Andrew and his partner Joseph Torres have come specifically to India to promote and advocate the round three of The Grand Challenges Exploration, a five-year $ 100 million initiative to encourage bold and unconventional research on new global health solution.

In the previous two rounds, the project received around 7,000 applications from 118 countries and Indians accounted for just three percent of it.

'The initiative uses a streamline, online grant making process. Applications are only two pages and the preliminary data about the proposed research is not even required,' Torres explained.

The foundation and an independent group of reviewers will select the most innovative proposals and grant will awarded around three months from the May 28 proposal submission deadline.

The topic areas for the proposal are creating low cost antagonistic for priority global health condition, new tools to accelerate eradication of malaria, new vacancies for diarrhoea, HIV, malaria, pneumonia and tuberculosis and new ways to increase mucosal immunity -.

Initial grants will be of $100,000 each. Projects showing promise thereafter could get an additional funding of upto $1 million. About 80-100 applicants are likely to be selected globally.

To promote and advocate the project, the foundation has approached institutes like All India Institute of Medical Sciences, Indian Institute of Technology-Delhi and other facilitating partners.

The proposals can be sent via www.grandchallenges.org/explorations.

Government to lay stress on mental health services

Fri, 20 Feb 2009 20:37:05 PST

( from http://www.rxpgnews.com ) The country faces an acute shortage of psychiatrists and mental health professionals and to tackle this the government is setting up centres of excellence in mental health, parliament was informed Friday.

Minister of State for Health and Family Welfare P. Lakshmi told the Rajya Sabha Friday that according to a recent survey by the National Institute of Mental Health and Neuro-Sciences -, the prevalence of mental disorders is about seven percent of the country's population and of this, three percent need treatment.

'Close to three percent of the population need active treatment. There is, however, shortage of psychiatrists and mental health professionals in the country,' she said.

To address the shortage, manpower development schemes are being taken up, and that includes setting up of centres of excellence in mental health.

She said the National Human Rights Commission - has taken a lead in this matter and the Medical Council of India has promised to create more awareness among students in medical colleges to take up postgraduate course in psychiatry.

The Medical Council has granted permission during 2005-2008 to start Doctors of Medicine - in Psychiatry courses at 18 institutes and Diploma in Psychological Medicine - course in seven institutes.

The council also asked four institutes to increase the number of seats in MD - course.

'This has resulted in addition of 25 seats in MD - course and eight seats in DPM course,' Lakshmi said.

She said under the National Mental Health Programme, efforts are also being made to provide mental health services as a part of the general health system.

Under the District Mental Health Programme -, the central government is upgrading the psychiatric wings of medical colleges and hospitals in states and strengthening and modernising the mental hospitals to make them therapeutic units.

Lakshmi said the health ministry has also proposed to re-strategise the National Mental Health Programme - during the 11th Five Year Plan -, which aims to extend the district mental health programmes to more districts in a phased manner.

Go-ahead to Rs.3.87 bn plan for Lady Hardinge Medical College

Thu, 29 Jan 2009 15:50:35 PST

( from http://www.rxpgnews.com ) New Delhi, Jan 29 - The central government has given the go-ahead to a Rs.3.87 billion redevelopment plan for the prestigious Lady Hardinge Medical College - and associated hospitals.

The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs, which cleared the plan at its meeting Wednesday, also increased the strength for undergraduate seats from 127 to 200 and postgraduate from 70 to 130 students in the college.

According to a statement issued here Thursday, the redevelopment should be completed 'within a period of 32 months so as to comply with the Central Educational Institution - Act, 2006 at the cost of Rs.387.31 crore -'.

The act stipulates reservations for admission for those belonging to the Scheduled Castes, the Scheduled Tribes and the Other Backward Classes in Central Educational Institutions established, maintained or aided by the central government.

'The admission strength for undergraduate and post-graduate courses shall be increased to 200 and 127 seats from the existing 130 and 70, respectively, over a period of three years,' said the statement.

Considered one of the most prestigious colleges of Delhi University in providing medical education, LHMC is only for girls. The college and hospital was formally opened by Lord Hardinge, the then Viceroy of India, on Feb 17, 1916.

Kolkata government medical college doctors performed unique operation

Thu, 15 Jan 2009 18:45:27 PST

( from http://www.rxpgnews.com ) Kolkata, Jan 15 - A team of doctors at the Kolkata government medical college successfully operated on a youth who had been pierced by a six-foot-long iron shaft in a road accident.

Sheikh Rezzak Ali, 22, survived a head-on clash with a speeding truck Wednesday morning at Arambag in Kolkata's neighbouring Hooghly district. An iron rod had pierced his right lung in the accident.

The seven-member medical specialist team, headed by surgeon Siddhartha Mukherjee, performed the two-hour long critical surgery at the Calcutta Medical College and Hospital Wednesday to remove the shaft.

Mukherjee said Ali showed immense courage and stamina. He was not nervous and did not even faint after suffering the fatal accident.

'It helped us to save him,' the doctor added.

Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee Thursday congratulated the doctors and said he wanted to meet them.

Ali was driving a Tata Sumo to Arambag with his brother Sheikh Rajak and some neighbours when a truck rammed into them at Shirakol. An iron shaft shot out of the truck, smashed through the windscreen and speared Ali.

Rajak managed to pull Ali out of the car and first took him to a nursing home nearby. Later, he was taken to the state-run Kolkata Medical College and Hospital.

A similar accident took place in the national capital in July last year when an engineer, Supratim Dutta, was impaled by an iron beam that perforated seven of his organs. Dutta survived as the beam had narrowly missed his heart, but needed a series of complicated surgeries.

Supreme Court refuses to halt doctor's trial for medical negligence

Wed, 24 Dec 2008 16:21:47 PST

( from http://www.rxpgnews.com ) The Supreme Court has refused to halt the trial of a Hyderabad-based doctor who kept treating a seven-year-old leukemia-hit girl for tuberculosis for six months, eventually leading to her death.

The bench of Justice S.B. Sinha and Justice Cyriac Joseph dismissed doctor B. Jagdish's plea to quash a trial court summons to him, seeking his answers to the charge of killing the girl by medical negligence, involving wrong diagnosis of disease followed by fatal treatment.

In a verdict delivered last week but released late Tuesday, the bench turned down the doctor's plea, saying: 'No member of the medical profession could have treated the child for tuberculosis as it was a clear case where the diagnosis at the outset should have been one of leukemia.'

Appalled by the doctor's wrong diagnosis and treatment, the bench said, 'Unless a person has a special skill to treat a child, ordinarily he should not have treated her, not because he was wholly incompetent but because it required a special skill keeping in view the nature of the disease the child was suffering from.'

The main accused in the case is a self-styled child specialist, Jagdish, who runs a private medical centre named Disney's Medi-Kid Children's Hospital in Hyderabad.

The child, a Class 3 student, was first taken to Jagdish's hospital June 22, 2000, following a severe bout of vomiting while she was in her school.

The doctor admitted her to his hospital for three days during which he had her blood tested twice. And despite the test results showing an abnormally low count of white blood corpuscles, the doctor declared the girl to be suffering from tuberculosis and acute anemia.

After prescribing medication for tuberculosis, the doctor discharged the girl from hospital amid recurring vomiting and high fever, prompting her parents to approach the doctor repeatedly within days after the discharge.

Undeterred by the girl's worsening situation, the doctor kept administering her medicines for tuberculosis, assuring her parents all the while of the girl's well being and dissuading them from going for a second opinion despite bouts of vomiting becoming more frequent.

This state of affairs continued for three months when the girl developed high fever, besides rashes all over her body Oct 1, 2000. Her face too was abnormally swollen.

It was eventually at this stage that Jagdish sought help from another doctor, who following a 'biopsy of the girl's bone marrow' found her suffering from an advanced stage of leukemia along with an enlarged liver.

At the advice of the second doctor, the girl was admitted to Apollo Hospital, where she died Nov 10, 2000.

Following the girl's death, her parents initiated civil as well as criminal court proceedings against the doctor. The civil proceedings at the state consumer court were for monetary compensation for deficiency of services by the doctor in treating the child and the criminal proceedings were for his prosecution for causing the child's death due to medical negligence.

Acting on the parents' complaint, the state consumer court ordered the doctor in June 2006 to pay damages worth Rs.400,000 to the victim's parents on account of deficiency of services, while a magisterial court issued summons to the doctor in 2004 to answer charges of medical negligence.

Challenging the magisterial court's summons to him, the doctor first went to the Andhra Pradesh High Court, which dismissed his plea. Against the high court order, he approached the apex court, but it too asked him to face the trial at the magisterial court for criminal negligence.

India, China revive ties in medicine in memory of Kotnis

Thu, 04 Dec 2008 14:08:50 PST

( from http://www.rxpgnews.com ) The black-and-white 1946 Bollywood classic 'Dr.Kotnis Ki Amar Kahani' starring V. Shantaram still evokes nostalgic memories.

In a country that does not easily open doors to outsiders, Dwarkanath Santharam Kotnis, a young Indian doctor, was a true Chinese citizen and martyr at heart - who died for the cause of Chinese liberation.

Kotnis arrived in China as part of the Indian Medical Team in 1938 to treat victims of the Chinese War of Liberation. Seven decades down the line, India and China are reviving the mission to open a new chapter in bilateral relationship - shared health.

As part of a memorandum of understanding signed between the Indian Council for Cultural Relations - and the Chinese People's Association for Friendship with Foreign Countries in January 2008, a delegation of 10 Chinese doctors arrived in India to study the Indian healthcare system and exchange ideas.

The project, titled India-China Joint Medical Mission, will allow the Chinese doctors to tour the Apollo Hospitals, rural medicine centres and the city of Chandigarh.

Launched by Karan Singh, president of the ICCR in the capital Tuesday, the mission, though symbolic, will have a greater outreach than any other bilateral projects between the two Asian giants.

'Historical ties between India and China date back to the early Buddhist period when Buddhist scholars came to India to study at the universities and scholars from India visited China. However, several years of western dominance had weakened the ties which both the countries are now trying to restore,' Karan Singh said.

He said the young Chinese doctors will be able to see the state of Indian healthcare services for themselves - even in the villages where it needs special attention.

'The initiative taken by the Prime Ministers of both the country during Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's visit to China in January, will usher in a new era in cooperation,' he said.

A delegation of 10 Indian doctors also visited China in January - and toured all the landmarks associated with Kotnis.

According to S. Anuradha, professor of medicine at the Maulana Azad Medical College in the capital, who visited China in January, Indian and Chinese medical experts could collaborate in education and exchange ideas.

'China has several institutes of higher medicine, but the healthcare is not subsidised by the government. People have to buy their own medicines and pay hospital bills,' she said.

Recounting the popularity of Kotnis in China, Anuradha said the Indian doctor was 'more revered in China than in India with several landmarks like hospitals and parks named after him.'

Kotnis, who became involved in the resistance against Japanese occupation of China and even began strategising with Chairman Mao Zedong on how to take on the occupation forces inside the territories overrun by Japan, died of hardships of army life at the age of 32.

He married a local Chinese woman Gua Qinglan and had a son Yinhua. Both mother and son have travelled to India to meet their relatives after the doctor's death and several Chinese leaders have visited Kotnis' relatives in Mumbai.

Myanmar faces 24,000 AIDS deaths for lack of ART drugs

Wed, 26 Nov 2008 19:05:56 PST

( from http://www.rxpgnews.com ) Bangkok, Nov 25 - An estimated 24,000 people will die of HIV/AIDS in Myanmar next year unless the international donor community is willing to provide funds for antiretroviral drugs -, a medical group warned Tuesday.

'Myanmar has about 240,000 people with HIV/AIDS, and of them about one-third need antiretroviral treatment without which they cannot survive,' said Frank Smithius, the head of Medecins Sans Frontier, which treats patients with ART in Myanmar.

The groups is providing ART to 11,000 patients while the Myanmar government, the UN and other non-governmental groups are supplying another 4,000.

'It's not enough, when 75,000 people need ART,' said Smithius. 'It is estimated by the UN and Myanmar government that 24,000 people will die if nothing is done in the next year.'

Myanmar, which is run by a military junta that is condemned in the West for its atrocious human rights record and failure to introduce democratic reforms, is the second-lowest recipient of overseas development aid worldwide at three dollars per capita.

The Myanmar government spends a estimated 0.3 percent of its gross domestic product on health, one of the lowest rates worldwide.

In 2008, it allocated the equivalent of $0.7 per person on healthcare, of which about $200,000 was allocated to treatment of HIV/AIDS patients, an MSF report released Tuesday said.

The health care organisation has been operating in Myanmar since 1993. It said it spends about $300 per patient for ART in Myanmar, or about $3.3 million to treat 11,000 patients.

Smithius said it had no additional funds to treat the remaining 60,000 HIV/AIDS patients and called on the international donor community to assist in dealing with the pandemic.

An estimated $18 million will be needed to treat the HIV/AIDS patients currently deprived of antiretroviral treatment.

International donors are often reluctant to send aid to Myanmar for fear the funds will be diverted to the government, which faces strict economic sanctions from both the US and Europe.

'If we can guarantee that we have been able to deliver medicines directly to the patients, then there is no reason to not provide aid to Myanmar, and at MSF we can make that claim,' said Smithius.

He said the group runs 25 HIV/AIDS clinics inside Myanmar and has government permission to import antiretroviral drugs tax free.

Malnutrition downplaying India's economic growth: UN

Wed, 26 Nov 2008 15:25:49 PST

( from http://www.rxpgnews.com ) New Delhi, Nov 26 - India is progressing well in education and showing consistency in economic growth but its progress is getting downplayed due to poor child health conditions, a new UN report has said.

'In recent years, India has made impressive progress towards enrolment in primary schools. Progress in child health indicators is less impressive. Bangladesh and Nepal with lower levels of income and economic growth, have outperformed India on this indicator,' said the Education for All - Global Monitoring Report of the Unesco.

The report said that while India has 'sustained one of the world's highest economic growths for the last two decades, social indicators for child mortality, nutrition and child health lag far behind'.

'If India had reduced child mortality to Bangladesh levels, it would have had 200,000 fewer deaths in 2006.

'Rising average income has done little to enhance child nutrition,' the report said quoting India's national family health survey which says percentage of underweight children - remained unchanged between 1998 and 2005.

Around 75 percent of pre-school children in India suffer iron deficiency and 60 percent have sub-clinical vitamin A deficiency.

'Health provisions are lacking in many areas. More than one quarter of children with diarrhoea are never treated. Around 45 percent children do not receive the full DPT3 vaccination,

'The marked disconnect between success in the economy and failure in child nutrition is the product of deep inequalities linked to income, caste, gender and state,' the report said.

The global education body has described the flagship Integrated Child Development Service - as a failure. 'The programme fails to preferentially target girls, children from lower castes and the poor, all of whom face higher risk of malnutrition.'

The report said that the Indian government had said that it would create a world-class education system but 'achieving the goal will require stronger political leadership and practical policies that link the education for all agenda with policies to improve public health and enhance equity'.

India building five blood banks of world standard: Ramados

Tue, 25 Nov 2008 21:55:48 PST

( from http://www.rxpgnews.com ) New Delhi, Nov 24 - India is building five world standard blood banks at a cost of Rs.4.65 billion, Health Minister Anbumani Ramadoss said here Monday.

'There will be four regional blood banks in Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai and Kolkata at a cost of Rs.500 million each. These blood banks will be of world standard,' Ramadoss said at an event organised to celebrate the 25th anniversary of the Hemophilia Federation of India.

'Along with these four banks, another larger bank will come up in Chennai which will have the capacity to process nearly 300,000 units of blood every year. Most of this purified blood can be used for the benefit of hemophilia patients,' he said.

The cost of this blood bank will be much more than the regional banks but it will have a blood fractionation unit for hemophilia patients. All these banks will be managed by the National Aids Control Society.

The minister said that India needs at least eight million units of blood every year.

'As against such a huge demand, we get nearly 5.5 million units of which little over 60 percent is collected through voluntary donation.'

Hemophilia is a congenital lifelong bleeding disorder. Its patients bleed internally, mostly in joints, muscles and vital organs like brains. In many cases, the disease leads to permanent disability.

India is home to 75,000 such patients, most of them men. Though the disease is incurable, it can be managed through anti-hemophilia factor injections, which are very expensive. The patients often need blood transfusion.

Plan to Start MBBS Courses in IITs not feasible

Tue, 25 Nov 2008 15:32:22 PST

( from http://www.rxpgnews.com ) New Delhi, Nov 24 - The faculty members and the alumni of the premier Indian Institutes of Technology - have expressed opposition to any plan to start medical courses in the institutions, claiming it is 'neither feasible nor desirable' and any attempt in this regard will prove 'disastrous'.

'We have already biotechnology courses at IITs. I believe churning out doctors from IITs is neither feasible nor desirable,' M. Balakrishnan, dean postgraduate studies at IIT-Delhi, told IANS.

There were reports that the government appointed 11th five-year committee for higher education, headed by eminent scientist Yash Pal, was planning to introduce a varsity structure and possible courses on medicine in IITs.

'This will prove disastrous. Instead of bringing in a varsity culture in IITs, it's better to improve infrastructure, maintain a certain benchmark in students intake and provide world class education in the field of engineering,' said P.V. Indiresan, a renowned educationist and former director of IIT-Chennai.

He said the student-teacher ratio has worsened and this was 'impacting the students-faculties interaction in the classroom.'

Yatinder Pal Suri, an entrepreneur and alumnus of IIT-Kharagpur said: 'It is not desirable to diversify too much. Expansion into too many things with the present infrastructure is not a viable option.'

'Expansion is good but that must happen with a proper planning,' Suri added, a view echoed by Pradeep Gupta, chairman of Cyber Media group and an IIT Delhi graduate.

'IITs in India are much popular. There is no point in diluting the brand. We should focus on becoming a leading global brand like MIT in the US,' said Vijay K. Saluja, a retired chief engineer of New Delhi Municipal Council -, who has also studied at an IIT.

Many believe that the laboratories at IITs need to be upgraded on a priority basis before thinking of anything else.

'Instead of shifting gear towards a varsity pattern, it's better to improve the IIT-industry interface. This will improve employability and confidence of students,' said Pramod Chawla, another alumnus.

In the beginning of the present academic year, the government opened six new IITs under the supervision of the existing seven.

Mid-day meal: 10 schools face action for irregularities

Thu, 20 Nov 2008 12:04:10 PST

( from http://www.rxpgnews.com ) Lucknow, Nov 20 - The Education Department of Uttar Pradesh will initiate action against 10 government-run primary schools for irregularities in providing lunch to students under the Mid-Day Meal - scheme in Etah district, officials said Thursday.

'In the ongoing surprise inspections, we found most schools were providing one to two biscuits to their students in the name of Mid-Day Meal scheme,' official in-charge of primary education in the district J.S. Satya told IANS on phone.

According to rules, every child should be provided with a meal with minimum content of 300 calories of energy and 8-12 grams of protein each day for at least 200 days a year, officials said.

'Majority of the schools from where the anomalies have been reported are in Nidhauli and Marhara villages in Etah, some 295 km from Lucknow,' said Satya.

He said the officials of all such schools would face strict action and a report about the irregularities has just been handed over to the district administration.

At present, Khichri and Tehri - are usually given under MDM in the schools of the state, officials said.

About 150,000 schools are covered under the MDM scheme in Uttar Pradesh. Under the scheme, lunch is provided to students till Class 8. Over 18.6 million students are enrolled under the scheme.

The National Programme of Nutritional Support to Primary Education, also known as Mid-Day Meal Programme, was launched by the central government on Aug 15, 1995. Its objective is to boost universalisation of primary education and to improve the nutritional status of children.

Nearly Half of Primary Care Doctors in US Would Like to Quit

Thu, 20 Nov 2008 00:18:03 PST

( from http://www.rxpgnews.com ) A survey released today by The Physicians’ Foundation depicts widespread frustration and concern among primary care physicians nationwide, which could lead to a dramatic decrease in practising doctors in the near future. The survey examined the causes behind the doctors’ dissatisfaction, the state of their practices and the future of care. The resulting findings show the possibility of significantly decreased access for Americans in the years ahead, as many doctors are forced to reduce the number of patients they see or quit the practice of medicine outright.

An overwhelming majority – 78 percent – of physicians believe that there is an existing shortage of primary care doctors in the United States today. Additionally, nearly half of them – 49 percent, or more than 150,000 practicing doctors– say that over the next three years they plan to reduce the number of patients they see or stop practising entirely.

“Going into this project we generally knew about the shortage of physicians; what we didn’t know is how much worse it could get over the next few years,” said Lou Goodman, PhD, President, The Physicians’ Foundation. “The bottom line is that the person you’ve known as your family doctor could be getting ready to disappear – and there might not be a replacement.”

The Physicians’ Foundation believes the future of primary care could have a significant impact on the American healthcare debate.

“At a time when the new Administration and new Congress are talking about ways to expand access to healthcare, the harsh reality is that there might not be enough doctors to handle the increased number of people who might want to see them if they get health insurance,” said Walker Ray, MD, Vice President, The Physicians’ Foundation. “It’s as if we’re talking about expanding access to higher education without having enough professors to handle the influx of students. It’s basic supply and demand.”

The reported reasons for the widespread frustration among physicians include increased time dealing with non-clinical paperwork, difficulty receiving reimbursement and burdensome government regulations. Physicians say these issues keep them from the most satisfying aspect of their job: patient relationships.

“Tens of thousands of primary care doctors face the same problems as millions of ordinary citizens: frustrations in dealing with HMOs and government red tape,” said Sandra Johnson, Board Member, The Physicians’ Foundation. “The thing we heard over and over again from the physicians was that they’re unhappy they can’t spend more time with their patients, which is why they went into primary care in the first place.”

I aborted after cops pushed me: Sister of absconding doctor

Tue, 18 Nov 2008 23:52:24 PST

( from http://www.rxpgnews.com ) Noida, Nov 18 - The sister of a physician at the Noida Medicare Centre - who has been evading summons Tuesday accused the police of high-handedness, which she said led to her miscarriage.

Priyanka Awana, the 25-year-old sister of Rapal Awana, has alleged that the policemen manhandled her at her brother's Sector-31 house, where they had come to serve a legal notice on him.

'When I asked why they had come, they did not give me a satisfactory answer and trespassed into my house. When I resisted, they pushed me aside and I fell down. I had a two-month foetus in my womb, which has been terminated due to the impact. I suffered immense pain in my abdomen after the act,' Priyanka told reporters.

When she was taken to the District Hospital in the evening, an ultrasound test could not be carried out on her due to inadequate facilities at night.

'We have to verify whether the pain is due to the miscarriage or due to any other reason,' said a doctor at the Noida District Hospital.

Priyanka was then taken to a private hospital, where an ultrasound was yet to be performed to check the status of her condition.

The police denied having received any complaint in this regard.

Earlier, a case was registered against Rajpal Awana and NMC chairman Naveen Chaudhary on Nov 2 for allegedly thrashing a patient's attendants who complained to the hospital management about poor facilities and medical negligence.

Two NMC security guards have been arrested but Awana has been absconding since the incident.

Prioritise sanitation in development process: PM

Tue, 18 Nov 2008 21:40:55 PST

( from http://www.rxpgnews.com ) New Delhi, Nov 18 - Sanitation needs to be given priority in development policy approaches, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh said Tuesday, and suggested a four-point roadmap to make this universally available to all citizens.

'Good sanitation should be a birthright of every citizen of South Asia,' he said while inaugurating the Third South Asian Conference on Sanitation here.

For this to happen, firstly, 'sanitation issues need to be given priority in our development policy approaches,' he stressed.

'Its cross-cutting implications need deep study and greater understanding. The role of community leadership in changing old habits and ways of thinking will be crucial as our own experience has shown,' the prime minister said.

'The capacities of our rural and urban local bodies to address these issues from both social and economic angles will need to be enhanced,' he noted.

Secondly, he said, sanitation has to be located in an integrated framework of public health policy to ensure that sanitation activities are indeed adequately funded.

'We know, for example, that something as simple as washing hands properly can check 50 percent of the diarrhoea cases in our country. Provision of safe drinking water can also greatly help to contain the incidence of many water-borne diseases. Similarly, provision of toilets near the habitat can protect our women against many stomach related diseases.'

Thus, Manmohan Singh said, 'conscious efforts have to be made to invest in hygiene consciousness and sanitation as part of a holistic public health policy'.

The third area, according to the prime minister, was technology.

'We need to develop sanitation technologies for diverse eco-systems. Advances in science and technology make it possible as never before in human history that chronic poverty and ill health do not have to be the inevitable lot of a majority of human race.'

Noting that the new technologies have to be affordable and sustainable, Manmohan Singh said: 'This is a technology challenge we must work on, using both modern science and traditional wisdom and knowledge.'

'We know that advanced technologies exist for toilets used in space programmes. We also know that traditional water systems were engineered in our villages to optimise scarce resources, including the use of water,' he said.

'We should, therefore, use scientific ingenuity to take us to the next generation of sanitation technologies,' Manmohan Singh said.

Fourthly, he maintained, the issue of sustainability needed to be addressed.

'I am told that 20 percent of the toilets built in our country are not functional because of a variety of factors, from poor construction to the lack of adequate maintenance. We need, therefore, to build local capacity in construction and maintenance of sanitation facilities,' the prime minister contended.

In this context, he pointed out that India had, for some time, been advocating a 'barefoot engineers' programme where rural youth are trained in multiple engineering skills to repair agricultural pump sets, hand pumps, rural household power connections, agricultural implements and sanitation facilities.

'In our country we have conceived of a major national initiative for skill development. I hope that we will be able to integrate training of barefoot engineers into this national plan,' the prime minister stated.

This apart, he said India 'will be very happy to share our experience' with other countries of South Asia and also to learn and gain from their experience in tackling problems of rural sanitation.

'In recent years, all the countries in South Asia are working on making sanitation a priority development investment. It is our solemn obligation duty to ensure that every citizen South Asia has access to a functioning toilet,' Manmohan Singh said.

Israeli couple makes news, but Indians reluctant on surrogacy

Tue, 18 Nov 2008 18:52:35 PST

( from http://www.rxpgnews.com ) Mumbai, Nov 18 - An Israeli gay couple may have made a splash in India by having their own baby through surrogacy, but the head of the institute here that made it possible rues that very few childless Indians actually go in for the procedure despite the best of facilities.

'A majority of our patients who opt for surrogacy are foreign nationals. Of this, about 18 percent are gay couples. There is not a single Indian,' Kaushal Kadam, scientific director at Rotunda - The Centre for Human Reproduction, told IANS here.

It was Rotunda that made the dream of Israeli gay couple Yonatan and Omer Gher's dream - to have a baby of their own - come true. Yonatan was the donor. The two returned to their home country Monday with their one-month-old son Evyatar.

But according to Kadam, despite this highly successful surrogate pregnancy and many other cases, Indians are yet to completely accept surrogate mothers and such pregnancies.

In India, surrogacy for same sex couples is legal and administered under the guidelines of the Indian Council of Medical Research. It has become more popular in the past couple of years, thanks to the awareness created by the media, explained Kadam.

Also, as compared to the US, in-vitro fertilization - in India is much cheaper. While in the US, a single IVF delivery might cost around $35,000, it comes for barely $450 -, Kadam revealed.

Rotunda, which specialises in third party reproduction, conducted their first IVF treatment for a gay couple back in 2006. Since then, the centre has been flooded with enquiries from abroad, about surrogate pregnancy, especially from gay couples and single men.

'In the last two years alone, we have conducted nearly 15 cases of IVF treatments for same sex clients, almost half of which are in different stages of successful pregnancy right now,' Kadam said.

The centre adopts a detailed process to identify the potential parents. When a client approaches, after conducting preliminary investigations into their backgrounds, the clinic provides them with the profiles of surrogate mother candidates.

Once the client makes his choice, donor sperms and eggs are fused together and injected into the surrogate mother.

'Thereafter, through the nine-month pregnancy term, we ensure the health and well-being of the surrogate mother, while sending regular updates and sonography reports to the prospective parents,' according to Kadam.

Even if the foreign clients return home during the interim - period, reports and updates about the progress of the pregnancy are e-mailed or informed on telephone. The client returns to Mumbai in time for the delivery of the baby.

Rotunda conducts nearly 25 IVF treatments in a year, with a success rate of 50 percent. The number of patients is low considering the 30 percent infertility rate across the world, doctors say.

Kadam feels the figure is going up, owing to modern lifestyles and late marriages. Greater awareness and openness is needed about options like IVF, especially in cases where natural births are difficult or not possible at all.

Most important, Kadam said family support systems and removing the social stigma associated with surrogate births are essential to give the procedure a much-needed boost.

Dengue scare in Kochi threatens tourism

Tue, 18 Nov 2008 18:01:45 PST

( from http://www.rxpgnews.com ) Kochi, Nov 18 - A large number of people, including three doctors, are suspected to be affected by dengue fever in this commercial capital of Kerala, worried health officials said Tuesday.

There has been an increasing number of patients arriving with fever in Kochi General Hospital, Radhakrishnan, superintendent of the hospital, told IANS.

'Three doctors of the hospital are suffering with dengue. A few other staff members are also down with fever and the test-report of that is yet to come,' said the superintendent.

Ernakulam district collector M. Beena, a doctor, said cases of dengue have been reported but there was nothing alarming and the disease has not taken the shape of an epidemic outbreak.

'The administration is fully geared and has already taken a strong anti-mosquito campaign,' said Beena.

Already crippled by the economic slowdown, the tourism industry here is worried and a dengue scare could well create another dent as the peak season is already on.

More importantly, 5,000 foreigners are expected to witness the Volvo Ocean Race stopover in Kochi from Dec 3 to 13.

The Kerala High Court early this month came down heavily on the Kochi Municipal Corporation for its failure to remove piled up garbage on the streets in the city.

Election campaign stress can be a killer, warn experts

Tue, 18 Nov 2008 12:30:49 PST

( from http://www.rxpgnews.com ) New Delhi, Nov 18 - When Bharatiya Janata Party - legislator Puran hand Yogi died of suspected suicide here Sunday, his close aides speculated it could be because of his stressful life. Their fears are not unfounded as experts warn that the hectic schedule of politicians at election time can indeed be a killer.

'My father was stressed and depressed due to the election campaign since the past few days. Although we were sure he would win a fourth time around, he was still very tense,' Yogi's son Rajiv said.

Police said 73-year-old Yogi, who was seeking re-election from his Rajinder Nagar constituency in the Nov 29 Delhi assembly polls, was found hanging from a ceiling fan in his house in west Delhi.

Early mornings and late nights, lack of stress busting exercises, high levels of anxiety and 17-18 hours of campaigning - experts say that leading the life of a politician, especially before the elections, is like burning a candle at both ends.

Take Chaudhary Prem Singh of the Congress' schedule for instance.

The 75-year-old politician has created a world record by winning 10 consecutive elections from the same constituency and the same party. The pressure to keep up his record in the Delhi assembly polls is, therefore, quite obvious.

'This time I will create another record - of winning by a maximum majority of votes,' Singh told IANS.

And his schedule?

'I start my day at 4 a.m. I go for my prayers and then start meeting the party workers and campaign till late at night. I sleep only by midnight,' Singh said.

According to counsellor Praveen Thapar, a hectic schedule makes one forget his or her limitations and this can take serious toll on one's health - with drastic results at times.

'Stress can be a killer. It makes you forget your potential and pressurizes you to go on even when your body and mind have reached their limitations,' Thapar, chairperson of the Sanjivini Society for Mental Health, told IANS.

'In the case of politicians, they lead a very hectic life, especially during elections. They have high goals to reach, and in the process make their minds and bodies undergo high levels of stress,' she said.

Harsharan Singh Balli, a three-time BJP legislator, has serious health problems. Despite this, he doesn't have a fixed time for meals, is hardly careful about what he eats and doesn't exercise.

'I have blood pressure and blood sugar problem which gives rise to other health complications. Yet, I don't have any fixed time for my meals. I can't afford to be choosy about my food all the time.

'Campaigning before the elections is a busy time and therefore my day starts at 5 a.m. and I go to bed not before 12.30 a.m.,' 60-year-old Balli said.

Similarly, 58-year-old BJP legislator Sahab Singh Chauhan said his day starts at 6 a.m. and doesn't end until 2 a.m.

'There is so much to be done - campaigning, meeting with party workers and networking. I don't have the time to do any yoga, meditation or any exercise. Even visiting the temple is a rarity. For me, people's prayers act like my shield,' Chauhan said.

'However, I do have certain restrictions. Like I don't have sweet tea, cold water or cold fruits. And if I need to rejuvenate, I simply talk to my kids,' he added.

According to Thapar, a supportive family that is not overtly ambitious is a fall back system that is very necessary to survive in today's high stress world.

'Eating together or going to places of worship are all ways to relax oneself. A family's support is also very important.

'Every individual has his own threshold level and to say that an aged person will collapse to stress faster than a younger one would not be entirely true. Having said that, with age, your ambitions grow and your body - not so much the mind - needs more rest. An imbalance there and things can get out of hand,' Thapar said.

India trails Pakistan, Bangladesh in sanitation

Mon, 17 Nov 2008 19:33:05 PST

( from http://www.rxpgnews.com ) New Delhi, Nov 17 - India might be an emerging economic power, but it is way behind Pakistan, Bangladesh and even Afghanistan in providing basic sanitation facilities, a key reason behind the death of 2.1 million children under five in the country.

Lizette Burgers, chief water and environment sanitation of the Unicef, Monday said India is making progress in providing sanitation but it lags behind most of the other countries in South Asia.

While a mere 14 percent of people in rural areas of the country - that account for 65 percent of its 1.1 billion population - had access to toilets in 1990, the number had gone up to 28 percent in 2006. In comparison, 33 percent rural Pakistanis had access to toilets in 1990 and it went up to an impressive 58 percent in 2006.

Similarly in Bangladesh, 36 percent of rural people have access to proper sanitation. The corresponding figures for Afghanistan and Sri Lanka were 30 percent and 86 percent respectively.

'This is a huge problem. India has made some progress but there is a lot to be desired. The speed in which we are - increasing the toilet usage will not help much,' Burgers told IANS, a day before an international sanitation campaign in Delhi.

She, however, said that the huge population in India is a major challenge. Burgers said that between 1990 and 2006, rural areas of the country has witnessed a growth of 181 million people of which 39 million people did not have access to toilets.

According to the international health and sanitation watchdog, there are at least 2.5 billion people across the globe who do not have access to toilets and 50 percent of them are in the south Asian region.

That is the main reason why 50 percent of the global child mortality rate is reported from the same region. Besides, many children suffer from diarrhoea as well as pneumonia and other respiratory problems in India.

While 88 percent of all diarrhoea case are attributed to water, and lack of sanitation and hygiene, all roundworm and hookworm cases in children are due to poor sanitation facilities.

Experts said open defecation is one of the key reasons for malnutrition and stunted growth among kids and looking at the sanitation scenario, the situation is not bright for Indian children.

To highlight the issue, New Delhi is hosting the third South Asian Conference on Sanitation -. Beginning Tuesday, the four-day conference will be inaugurated by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh.

Over 1,000 delegates from both government and private sector from several South Asian countries including India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Afghanistan, Sri Lanka, Nepal and Bhutan will participate in the programme.

'We are stressing on four major issues - urban sanitation, manual scavenging, menstrual hygiene and school sanitation,' said S.K. Singh, of Water Aid, a partner NGO of the conference.

Press Council issues new guidelines for reporting HIV

Mon, 17 Nov 2008 16:51:55 PST

( from http://www.rxpgnews.com ) New Delhi, Nov 17 - No using the term 'scourge', no hidden camera to show people living with HIV, no images of the sick and dying and no graphics of skulls and crossbones while reporting about the viral disease, the Press Council of India - has said in its revised guidelines to the media on HIV and AIDS.

It has also stipulated that journalists should not disclose the identity of the people infected with HIV. The council clarified that since 'HIV is not synonymous with AIDS, 'HIV/AIDS' as a term is no longer considered accurate'.

The 1993 guidelines were revised after a writ petition was filed by the National Network of Positive People in the Juvenile court in Thiruvananthapuram, objecting to the visuals shown by the media of two children suffering from the virus and the subsequent false reporting of the death of one of them.

The court then directed the PCI to issue fresh directions to the media. The Council held meetings with the UNAIDS and activists working in the field and came out with its revised guidelines Sunday.

India is home to 2.5 million HIV positive patients including 70,000 children below the age of 14.

The councils's don'ts to the print and electronic media are - not to sensationalise the story, avoid alarmist reports and images of the sick and dying, not to use skull, crossbones or snakes as graphics, avoid references to caste, gender or sexual orientation and not to reinforce stereotypes about sexual minorities like lesbians, gays or transgenders.

'Uphold confidentiality and obtain informed consent. Journalists should not disclose the identity of the person infected with HIV unless they have specific permission to do so. Whenever possible, they should get written consent,' the guidelines said.

But it added that to 'minimize damaging repercussions, it would be best to avoid identification even when written consent is obtained. This can be done by changing names and locations in the story'.

It also made clear that the identity of children affected by HIV should not be revealed and their photographs should not be published.

'This include orphans and children living in orphanages and juvenile homes,' it stressed.

Media must 'ensure their story is objective, factual and sensitive' and should give their stories a human face.

'The focus should be on facts. Distortion of facts in any manner to make the story salacious and, therefore, more saleable is unacceptable,' it added.

It said that the media should take care not to promote myths related to prevention and transmission of HIV.

For the visual media, it said that they must 'deal sensitively and ethically with the identities of those who have HIV and AIDS as well as their families and associates.

'Hidden cameras should never be used. Try to show people living with HIV in a positive light by portraying them as individuals instead of 'victims'.'

According to Akhila Sivadas, who heads a media advocacy group, these 'guidelines were essential as the earlier ones were outdated'.

'This is the recommended approach. It now depends on the media to translate it into practice. It is still to be worked on,' Sivadas, who is the executive director of the Centre for Advocacy and Research, told IANS.

When does music produce noise-like effect?

Mon, 17 Nov 2008 16:37:37 PST

( from http://www.rxpgnews.com ) London, Nov 17 - 'Music is always noise-related and often not appreciated,' German poet and humorist Wilhelm Busch noted wryly.

Busch's sarcastic saying embodies a bitter truth: Orchestra musicians jeopardise their ears with their own music. For instance, in a Wagner opera, sound values of 120 decibels - and higher can be attained.

Even the average sound level, depending on the repertoire and instrument, often takes on a magnitude that is considered hazardous to health.

Nevertheless, the EU Noise Directive, also in effect for German orchestras since Feb 15, has been implemented too rarely in practice; there is a lack of effective noise-protection measures.

Therefore, the Physikalisch-Technische Bundesanstalt - has developed a noise protection shield. It can in the critical range above 250 Hertz lower the sound level at the ear of the musician by up to 20 dB, according to a PTB release.

The noise protection shield can be reconstructed with little time and effort. In early testing, this has already been accomplished, with extremely positive feedback.

Why women in UK can't find sperm donors?

Mon, 17 Nov 2008 15:39:50 PST

( from http://www.rxpgnews.com ) London, Nov 13 - Where have all the generous sperm donors in UK gone?

Lately, the country is facing a severe shortage of such 'seminal' Samaritans. The problem has become particularly acute after the anonymity tag to protect their identity was removed in April 2005.

Although the move may have benefited children, who can now trace their biological parents when they attain the age of 18, it made donors back-off double-quick.

Reproductive experts pitched in for a slew of new measures in the British Medical Journal to keep their figures up after drastic decline in the number of donors.

Currently, many clinics struggle to recruit donors, have long waiting lists for those needing treatment, have high costs, the doctors said, according to an online report.

Mark Hamilton, who chairs British Fertility Society -, based at Aberdeen University, and Allan Pacey, BFS secretary informed that 4,000 patients required donor sperm every year, or an additional 500 new ones annually to meet meet demand.

In 1996, 403 men were newly registered with the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority - as donors, whose numbers dwindled to 247 eight years later.

Figures in 2006 rose to 307 but fewer women could be treated with donated sperm. In 2005, 2,727 women were treated with donor sperm but this fell to 2,107 in 2006.

Hamilton and Pacey described the current limit of 10 families from a single donor as 'arbitrary.' They called for more sperm sharing schemes.

Dump the junk food, save your child from diabetes

Sun, 16 Nov 2008 13:45:05 PST

( from http://www.rxpgnews.com ) New Delhi, Nov 16 - If your child asks you for some loose cash for eating at the school canteen or a pizza luncheon - consider not giving in, for his sake!

A recent study reveals that 85 percent of school children between 10-14 years, diagnosed with diabetes are obese owing to their improper eating habits.

The on-going study was conducted by the Delhi Diabetes Research Centre - under the Bhagidari Scheme of the Delhi government on 5,802 school children in the capital.

The study attributed obesity and emerging health issues to the change in eating patterns that 'mimic western lifestyle'. At least 11 percent of the children prefer eating lunch from school canteens and do not bring their lunch from home; while 81 percent of children visit fast food joints at least once a week, the study said.

Moreover, 62 percent children like eating junk food like burger or pizza to green vegetables and 47 percent take at least 1 cold drink daily.

As if this was not enough, 25 percent of children do not exercise at school. At home this number reduces to half, with 13 percent not playing outdoors at home. Over and above this, 35 percent of children spend more time watching TV and playing on the computer.

'These overweight children have 70 percent chances of becoming overweight adults and prone to develop diabetes, heart diseases and high blood pressure affecting the productive population of the nation,' said Ashok Jhingan, chairman, DDRC.

Adding to the risk is the family history factor. At least 10 percent of the studied children had parents with diabetes.

All this means one in five children are either obese or overweight, said the study.

According to Jhingan: 'Obesity is one of the major factors that can lead to 'pre diabetes' and later on type 2 diabetes in adults. Once children reach middle school level, it is difficult to reverse this trend. Two years back, there were 200,000 juvenile diabetics in India. Latest data puts the figure close to 305,000'.

Diabetes is a serious condition that affects the body's ability to control its blood sugar levels. Diabetic patients produce little or no insulin; or their cells don't respond properly to insulin. Untreated diabetes is said to be a huge burden on the society and the healthcare system.

Altering diet, increasing moderate physical activity and lowering body weight are the key to prevent or delay the onset of diabetes.

Now with this study reflecting on the dismal condition of the youth, 'immediate measures' have to be taken.

'Change has to be brought about at home and in lifestyle. Discipline is the key - now almost everyone is health conscious but children are not!'

Who is to be blame for this? The career driven parents and competitive academic schedules, answers Jhingan.

'In some schools there weren't playgrounds - some did not even hold the stipulated hour long physical education class, instead extra classes were being conducted,' he recalled.

He went on to say that while earlier, parents and schools promoted the idea of nutritious food and educating children, now children lacked basic information.

'Young parents are career driven - working all week with an ill-informed domestic help monitoring the child's health. On weekends rather than cook a nutritious meal, they compensate time by taking kids out to fast food joints, promoting the wrong idea.'

In its recommendations to the Delhi government and to schools, the DDRC has said that there is an acute need for each school to have a nutrition expert to monitor the problem and guide parents, teachers and children.

In fact, Jhingan concluded that the problem was such that one needs to resort to more drastic steps - 'Incentive based exercise modules be developed- if the child does well in physical exercise give him 10 marks more in assessment!'

Ban on smoking in Goa only after tourist season

Sat, 15 Nov 2008 16:46:55 PST

( from http://www.rxpgnews.com ) Panaji, Nov 15 - Smokers in Goa can puff away till the end of the year - despite the law against smoking in public places in the rest of the country - as the state's peak tourism season lies right ahead.

The state says it wants to create more awareness about the ban, which came into effect Oct 2, before enforcing it.

Shekhar Salkar, who is part of the state-run Tobacco Control Cell, Saturday said the state government would start penalising people from Jan 1 for smoking in public places.

Salkar was speaking to reporters at the end of an orientation session for police personnel vis-a-vis the new anti-smoking rule aimed at wiping out the perils of passive smoking.

Those caught violating the rule can be fined Rs.200.

'We don't want them to fine people right now, we need to educate them too initially,' Superintendent of Police - Bosco George said.

'We have devised a reward and appraisal system where the policeman who creates maximum awareness about the anti-smoking act will stand to benefit.'

Goa, which has a population of approximately 1.3 million, attracts nearly twice as many tourists each season. The tourist season starts in late October, peaks in December and tapers off by February.

The current tourism season seems to be slack thanks to the global economic slowdown, with a sharp decrease in the number of chartered planes flying down to Goa from Russia, Britain and Germany.

Students shun school after five killed by contaminated milk

Sat, 15 Nov 2008 14:54:45 PST

( from http://www.rxpgnews.com ) Ranchi, Nov 15 - Students of a government-run school in Jharkhand stayed away on Children's Day while teachers fled in fear, following the death of five children after drinking contaminated milk.

On Thursday evening, five students of the Adivasi Residential School at Baridih in Bero block, about 40 km from here, died and more than 60 fell ill after eating snacks and drinking milk. The angry villagers blocked roads Friday to protest the deaths.

The incident has created panic among the students and most of them were taken away by their parents. 'Which parent will sit back when there is a risk to their children's life? We cannot allow our children to die by eating poisoned food,' said Gopal Oraon, whose son studies in the school.

Echoing his view, another father said: 'We admitted our children for education. This kind of incident has shaken our faith on the school administration. We will admit our children in other schools'.

The school has 248 students. Out of them, five died and 66 fell ill after eating snacks and drinking milk provided by the school authorities.

According to parents, students had refused to drink the milk as it had a bad smell but the hostel superintendent Yogeshwar Sahu forced them, drinking some himself in an attempt to convince them. He is also undergoing treatment in the Rajendra Institute of Medical Science -, Ranchi where 21 other students are also admitted.

All the teachers of the school fled after incident. Meanwhile, a First Information Report - has been lodged in Bero police station against four people including principal Claymant Tigga and the hostel superintendent in connection with the incident. The Jharkhand welfare department has constituted a team to probe the entire case.

Police have seized samples of the milk for investigation. The viscera of dead students have also been stored for investigation.

The school, run by the welfare department, aims to ensure free education and food to tribal students to improve their educational level. The state government has also announced compensation of Rs.100,000 each to the kin of the deceased students.

Britain reviews child protection after toddler's death by torture

Sat, 15 Nov 2008 10:13:07 PST

( from http://www.rxpgnews.com ) London, Nov 12 - A shocked British government has ordered a full review of the country's child protection measures after a court convicted a young mother, her boyfriend and another man for the terrible death by torture of a 17-month-old child.

In his short life, the boy known as Baby P endured 50 injuries - including broken bones and back - at his home in a London borough.

Child officers, police and doctors saw him 60 times, temporarily took him under their care thrice and arrested his mother twice. However, according to lawyers at the trial, Baby P still did not pass the 'evidence threshold' to be taken into care. Now, after the convictions, the administration is wondering how it went wrong.

This is the second such case from the same borough of Haringey. The nation was shocked in 2000, when eight-year-old Victoria Climbie died of malnourishment and a whopping 128 injuries caused by her guardians. Child carers failed to notice her condition, leading to the first review of the child protection system.

Baby P's 27-year-old mother, her boyfriend and Jason Owen - a man staying in their house - were Tuesday convicted of allowing the child's death. They now await sentencing.

The child was used as 'a punching bag', the court was told, according to The Guardian.

A paediatric pathologist who examined Baby P after his death said that he had never seen such damage done to a child. The court heard that a tooth must have been swallowed after a violent blow to the head, fingernails were missing, eight ribs had been fractured and chocolate was smeared over him to cover his bruises when social workers visited.

His mother, who had a traumatic childhood with a drug addict mother, was able to manipulate social workers and police. She deceived them with the appearance of cooperation, taking the child to doctors when he was ill and apparently seeking help. On three occasions, the baby was released back into her care. The last was two months before he died.

The first signs of abuse began to appear in December 2006, a month after the boyfriend moved in. A police detective said he was 'sadistic - fascinated with pain' and jurors heard suggestions that he may have tortured his younger brother during childhood.

Police believe the biggest factor in the tragedy was the boyfriend's hidden presence in the house. Had they known he was living there, Baby P might have been saved, detectives said. The police had no idea that he had been in the house because he had 'purposefully evaded' them at every opportunity.

Two days before Baby P's death, he was examined at a hospital by paediatrician Sabah al-Zayatt who allegedly failed to spot his broken back. The General Medical Council is investigating her case.

Hospital chief executive Jane Collins said: 'Clearly we didn't get things right - a child died.'

Two social workers and a lawyer received warnings, but there were no sackings or resignations, said Sharon Shoesmith of Haringey Safeguarding Children Board.

Harry Ferguson, professor of social work at the University of the West of England, said: 'The striking thing for me is how the social workers failed to touch the child, to examine him...it exposes structural weaknesses in how we are failing to prepare professionals.'

Lord Laming, the child protection expert who led the inquiry into the Climbie case, said: 'People who do deliberate harm to a child go to great lengths to disguise what they have done. People working in this field have to recognise this in their evidence gathering.'

Mor Dioum, director of the Victoria Climbie Foundation, said: 'This case is worse than Climbie. The signs were there but were not followed.'

Children's Minister Beverley Hughes said the incident was shocking and asked Lord Laming to report on how his recommendations were being addressed nationally.

A dog named `Condom' launches campaign

Fri, 14 Nov 2008 19:47:39 PST

( from http://www.rxpgnews.com ) New Delhi, Nov 14 - India Friday launched an advertisement involving a dog named 'Condom' to popularise contraceptive usage, nearly six months after a 'condom condom' mobile ring tone commercial boosted its sale by 85 million.

'There is still a huge problem in promoting condom usage. There is a lot of hesitation and there is a need to popularise its use and increase its acceptability. Hence these advertisements,' said K. Sujatha Rao, head of the National AIDS Control Society.

'Many sex workers tell our officers - that men would rather pay more than use a condom,' she said, adding 'contraceptive usage is very important to curb the AIDS threat'.

In the new advertisement, a pesky parrot irritates the puppy named 'Condom' and an old lady comes to the dog's rescue. The campaign produced by BBC World Service aims at adult Indian men.

'The lady proclaims support for condom and the campaign summarizes this in the tagline 'Jo Samjha Wohi Sikander -,' a health official said.

India is home to 2.5 million HIV/AIDS patients including 70,000 children below the age of 14.

The lady reinforces the message that condoms mean good sense and those who know it are the real winners in life! The advertisement will be seen on television and in cinemas nationally from mid-November.

Earlier the ring tone campaign, which chants 'condom, condom, condom', became a massive success in India and abroad, with nearly 500,000 requests to download it in India.

Another 160,000 people, mainly from outside India, downloaded the ring tone from a popular website. Recently, the ring tone campaign made it to the top of the list of five most innovative condom campaigns in the world on CNN.com.

Currently over a billion condoms are being sold in a year in India and a sale of three billion is being targeted by 2010.

Children spread awareness about diabetes in Delhi

Fri, 14 Nov 2008 16:13:18 PST

( from http://www.rxpgnews.com ) New Delhi, Nov 14 - Awareness is the key to check diabetes, was the message given by over 400 children, some who were themselves suffering from the disease, who participated in a peace march in the capital Friday to mark the World Diabetes Day.

Children from over 20 schools in Delhi walked from Jantar Mantar to the Parliament Street to spread awareness about the disease and highlight the growing trend of diabetes among children in the country.

According to A.K. Jhingan, Chairman, Delhi Diabetes Research Centre: 'Diabetes in children is becoming a global public health issue with potentially serious outcomes. Two years back, there were 2,00,000 juvenile diabetics in India. Latest data puts the figure close to 305,000.'

The children also participated in a street play depicting causes and prevention of the disease.

'It is just through changing our eating habits and lifestyle that we can prevent being affected by the disease. I am on a mission to make as many people as I can aware about it,' said Srikant Dubey, a tenth class student of a government school, who is a diabetic.

Diabetes is a growing problem in the Indian subcontinent and the Middle East.

According to the International Diabetes Federation -, there were an estimated 40 million people with diabetes in India in 2007 and this number is predicted to rise to almost 70 million people by 2025.

33 die of mosquito-borne diseases, fever in West Bengal

Fri, 14 Nov 2008 12:14:28 PST

( from http://www.rxpgnews.com ) Kolkata, Nov 14 - Mosquito-borne diseases and a type of fever whose cause has not been identified have claimed at least 33 lives in West Bengal since September, officials said Friday.

'At least 25 people have died in Kolkata alone. Eight others have died in other parts of the state,' said Sanchita Bakshi, state director of health services.

In Kolkata, malaria claimed 10 lives, while six people died of dengue, and one each of Japanese encephalitis, meningo encephalitis and viral encephalitis. Six people died of a fever whose cause has not yet been identified.

'Eight died of chikungunya, dengue and Japanese encephalites in other parts of the state during this period,' said Bakshi.

She added that at least 300 people have been affected by mosquito-borne diseases across the state.

Javed Khan, a leader of the main opposition Trinamool Congress, alleged that the state government had not taken any initiative to contain the outbreak. He also accused the government of showing a low number of victims.

'They have failed to combat the diseases. Now they are trying to contain the damage to their image by giving out low figures of victims,' Khan said.

Debdwaipayan Chatterjee, chief municipal officer - of Kolkata Municipal Corporation -, denied the charges and said the civic body was taking all necessary steps to control the disease.

'Our officers are regularly spraying bleaching powder and anti-mosquito oil across the city. We are continuously carrying out awareness campaigns to sensitise the people about the symptoms of these diseases,' he said.

'Also, the Indian Council of Medical Research - has started sending us weekly updates on the outbreak and victims so that we can work accordingly,' Chatterjee added.

Jharkhand parents protest food poisoning deaths of children

Fri, 14 Nov 2008 11:42:20 PST

( from http://www.rxpgnews.com ) Ranchi, Nov 14 - A day after five students died of food poisoning at a residential school in Baridih, more than one thousand villagers Friday protested the deaths and raised slogans against the Jharkhand government.

The villagers, including the parents of school children, blocked the Ranchi Bero road in protest.

Students of Adivasi Residential School fell ill Thursday evening after taking snacks and drinking milk. The doctors of Rajendra Institute of Medical Science -, where the students have been admitted, suspect that adulterated milk caused food poisoning.

Five children were reported dead while the condition of 19 is said to be critical. More than 60 students had fallen sick and about 30 were admitted at the hospital.

The school, situated at Baridih in Bero block, about 40 km from here, is run by the welfare department to ensure free education and food to tribal students.

'I had not imagined I would lose my son this way. The state government is responsible for the death of my son. Free education and food have taken a heavy price,' said a mourning father of a dead student.

Jharkhand Chief Minister Shibu Soren had suspended the school teachers and announced a compensation of Rs.100,000 to the kin of each of those dead.

'This is a crime against humanity. The culprit will not be spared,' said Soren, who is expected to visit the school Friday.

Clouded vision could be pointer to diabetes

Fri, 14 Nov 2008 11:08:41 PST

( from http://www.rxpgnews.com ) New Delhi, Nov 14 - If your eyes feel blurry and your vision is clouded, don't just dismiss it as fading eyesight. It could be an indication of diabetes and could even lead to loss of vision if left untreated, say doctors.

Diabetic retinopathy is a serious condition of the eyes caused due to diabetes, says Mahipal Sachdev, medical director of Centre for Sight that is holding a free diabetic eye screening camp in the capital.

'More than 25 percent diabetics suffer from eye-related problems, including eye infections, conjunctivitis, cataract and glaucoma,' Sachdev, who was formerly with the All India Institute of Medical Sciences -, told IANS.

'However, these conditions don't lead to vision loss, they are treatable. But diabetic retinopathy, which is the adverse effect of diabetes on the retina - the light sensitive innermost layer of the eye, can lead to vision loss if not dealt with urgently,' he added.

The condition is caused in diabetics due to the 'mismatch' in the oxygen supply to the blood vessels in the retina. The retina gets lesser than required supply of oxygen. This leads to stimulus for new blood vessels to be formed - called relative anoxia.

'These new blood vessels are unstable and tend to leak and bleed. They cause irreversible damage to the retina. In an advanced stage, it can lead to loss of vision,' said Sachdev.

The damage caused by diabetic retinopathy cannot be reversed, but arrested. Therefore, the stage at which a person is diagnosed with the condition and at which treatment begins is of utmost importance.

The mainstay of the treatment is through laser, with which the 'non essential part of the retina is burnt away and the mismatch in the oxygen supply gets balanced and the stimulus for new blood vessels goes off', said Sachdev.

The prevalence of diabetic retinopathy is directly proportional to the diabetic stage of the patient and the blood sugar control. The added causes are high blood pressure, high altered lipid profile and renal complications. If the person is a smoker - the adverse effects get exaggerated.

According to Sachdev, a lot of diabetics don't know that their eyes can be adversely affected and don't come for annual check ups. Even in advanced countries like the US, diabetes is a leading cause of eye problems.

Around four to five diabetics are diagnosed for the condition when they come to an opthalmologist with an eye problem.

'When patients come with dimmed and cloudy vision, we ask for a test of the blood sugar level, and many turn out to be diabetics,' he said.

The Centre for Sight has six centres in the National Capital Region - and will hold camps Friday, where they will have free eye screenings and free tests for blood glucose levels to detect diabetes. The team consists of 30 eye specialists, including six who were with AIIMS earlier.

According to Sachdev, 15 percent of the urban Indian population is estimated to have diabetes.

'Delhi has a population of 1.2 crore -, and an estimated 15 percent of them have diabetes. In rural areas, four to five percent of the population is said to have diabetes.

'In urban areas, the percentage is more because of the preference for junk food, lack of exercise, sedentary lifestyle and also genetic factors, like some people are predisposed to diabetes and early cardiac problems.

'In contrast, rural patients don't eat pizzas and burgers and walk a lot that helps them burn off excess calories. Their food is also much healthier,' he said.

Centre for Sight provides long term regular treatment for those suffering from diabetic retinopathy. Even in cases of advanced cases of bleeding in eyes, the centre provides advanced vitrectomy microsurgery, he said.

A laser surgery costs Rs.3,000 per sitting and normally three-four sittings are required to arrest the condition of diabetic retinopathy, which along with strict diet regimentation would help patients, Sachdev added.

Broken teeth? Smile and dial helpline!

Fri, 14 Nov 2008 10:25:57 PST

( from http://www.rxpgnews.com ) Chandigarh, Nov 14 - If you happen to break your teeth, don't fret. Just put them in some milk or coconut water and scuttle off to a dentist - so advises a newly launched helpline here.

The oral health sciences department at the Postgraduate Institute of Medical Education and Research -, Chandigarh, has started the unique 24-hour emergency helpline - 9914208717 - dedicated to saving broken or fractured teeth.

'A helpline to attend trauma cases related to teeth was the need of the hour. We have observed here in our department that cases of dentofacial trauma that affect patients' teeth and facial structure has increased manifold in the last few years,' Ashima, senior faculty member, paediatric dentistry, PGIMER, told IANS.

The helpline will be managed by a four-member team of senior doctors.

'Broken and fractured teeth are the most common cases. Earlier, we used to hardly get one or two such cases in a month but now we are getting two cases of broken teeth and three to four cases of fractured teeth every week,' said Ashima.

Alarmingly, most of these cases involve children or teenagers who incur injury because of some scuffle, fall or accident, she pointed out.

The helpline number, 9914208717, was flashed on the PGIMER's website three weeks ago on a trial basis. After getting a remarkable response from the public, it was launched formally Monday.

The oral health sciences department at the institute is one of the most ultra modern and well-equipped departments, with over 40 physicians attending to hundreds of patients everyday.

'Damaged teeth can be successfully re-implanted if they are preserved well and are cautiously taken to the physician in a short time,' said Ashima.

'We give easy and quick tips on the phone as to how to protect broken teeth. Generally, people wrap broken teeth in paper to save them, but that is entirely wrong as they should be kept in milk, coconut water or even in the mouth so that they do not lose moisture.'

PGIMER, one of the leading medical institutes of northern India, was started in 1962, caters to patients from Punjab, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh and Jammu and Kashmir.

'Normally, people tend to ignore teeth problems, causing more trouble a few years later. Many times, patients come to us two or three days after a tooth injury and at that time, the doctors cannot do much to help them,' Mishthu, a senior resident doctor and one of the attendants at the helpline, told IANS.

'Although in the initial days, the response was lukewarm, now the response is overwhelming as we are getting continuous calls from patients. It is indeed very satisfying for us that we are able to help a patient in time,' stated Mishthu.

People in the city and surrounding areas are also very happy with the helpline.

'This helpline was like a godsend for us when last week my 16-year-old son broke two of his front teeth after he was badly hit by a cricket ball while playing,' said Radhika Jain, a government school teacher.

'His coach immediately dialled the helpline and on their instructions carried the broken teeth to a nearby dental clinic by immersing them in milk. The teeth were successfully fixed back,' said Jain.

'Indian adolescents in metros vulnerable to risky behaviour'

Fri, 14 Nov 2008 10:03:03 PST

( from http://www.rxpgnews.com ) New Delhi, Nov 14 - Indian adolescents in and around metropolitan cities believe in partying hard and are vulnerable to risky behaviour - be it physical intimacy, alcohol or drugs, says a new study.

It also indicates that girls are not far behind in partying, smoking, drinking or even watching porn sites.

The study was conducted by well-known psychiatrist Samir Parikh, who surveyed 1,000 students studying in private schools in Delhi and the suburban towns of Gurgaon and Noida. A total of 541 boys and 459 girls in the 14-17 age group were studied.

'It is an attitudinal survey, not a behavioural survey. Most of these children are vulnerable and could get trapped into committing risky behaviour,' Parikh, head of the department of mental health and behavioural sciences in Max Healthcare, told IANS.

The survey noted that many of the boys and girls said it was 'common to be physically intimate with someone even though one is reluctant to participate at times'.

Most of the boys and girls get involved in sexual relationships due to pressure - be it peer pressure or media exposure, said Parikh.

'These children are vulnerable as sex is in their minds and they are curious. They don't think it is risky behaviour. As they don't think it is wrong, it could be dangerous later in their lives when they get an opportunity. There are so many dangers,' he said.

The survey said that 15 percent boys as opposed to 10 percent of girls fall in the category that is vulnerable to starting a physical relationship.

The study also found that a fair number of the respondents said they believed that having one drink at parties was quite common. About 16 percent boys believed this and themselves indulged in the practice on many occasions.

Girls are also not far behind when it comes to the occasional tipple, with 11 percent believing this and not at all shy in trying it out too.

Parikh says what is worrisome is that more than 600 students, both boys and girls from a sample of 1,000 students, had admitted that they consume alcohol at parties.

Smoking cigarettes in school premises was also found to be a frequent occurrence. Here girls, at 33 percent, had a marginal edge over boys -. 'There seems to be a tilt towards smoking being an activity that is indulged in school premises as well by quite a large number of students,' the study said.

Another thing the survey found was that experimenting with new drugs once in a while is common in all schools, especially at parties.

At least 23 percent boys as compared to 13 percent girls experimented with new drugs in parties, it said.

'These results seem to indicate that parties seem to be occasions in which a lot of risky indulgences take place,' the survey said.

Bragging about visiting porn sites is also another common topic in conversation among both boys and girls. 'The data showed that quite a high population of both boys and girls know or visit sites that are not meant for their age groups,' it said.

Also, many of the respondents believed that television shows are reflective of physical violence. 'Most believe that television shows are mostly about hitting, hurting and abusing others,' said Parikh.

Noting that there is a lot going on in an adolescent's mind, he said that they need to be given life skills, which is unfortunately lacking in India. 'We need to address this for the children's better, knowledgeable future,' he said.

-

'Former minister Ajit Panja on life-support system'

Thu, 13 Nov 2008 20:24:45 PST

( from http://www.rxpgnews.com ) Kolkata, Nov 13 - Former union minister and Trinamool Congress leader Ajit Panja, who was suffering from cancer, has been 'put on life-support system' after his health condition worsened, hospital officials said here Thursday.

The 72-year old politician, who was suffering from oral cancer, was admitted to Peerless Hospital on the outskirts of Kolkata Oct 25 due to his deteriorating health.

'Panja's health conditioned worsened on Wednesday night and we immediately shifted him to the ICU -. He has been put on life-support system and a team of specialised doctors is constantly monitoring him,' hospital spokesperson S. Mitra told reporters here.

Mitra said Panja's health condition was showing no sign of progress.

'We are trying our very best. But even with all the medication and highest concentration of oxygen, Panja's condition is showing no sign of improving since the cancer has spread to other organs of his body,' said Mitra.

Panja was a member of the West Bengal assembly. He became a member of the Lok Sabha on a Congress nomination in 1984. He joined the Trinamool Congress in 2001.

Foot asleep? Wake up to diabetes!

Thu, 13 Nov 2008 14:43:55 PST

( from http://www.rxpgnews.com ) New Delhi, Nov 13 - If your foot often falls asleep and there are cuts or bruises on them that cause no sensation, brace yourself - it may be a case of diabetic foot.

With World Diabetes Day falling on Friday, experts have a word of advice. Leading a life of discipline and being cautious with one's feet is the key to living with diabetes and dealing with the potential risk of gangrenous infection is simple, they say.

'Diabetic patients are often lazy about basic instructions - following a disciplined routine of taking medicines and regular exercises as prescribed. These are essential to keeping the circulation of blood and sugar levels in check,' said Ashok Jhingan, diabetologist and chairman, Delhi Diabetes Research Centre, told IANS.

Diabetes is a growing problem on the Indian subcontinent and in the Middle East.

According to the International Diabetes Federation -, there were an estimated 40 million people with diabetes in India in 2007 and this number is predicted to rise to almost 70 million people by 2025.

'When a normal person wakes up in the morning, he goes to the mirror to look at his face. But a diabetic needs to look at his feet with the same care,' Jhingan said.

This is because the symptoms and signs of a diabetic foot include numbness or tingling in the feet, persistent sensation of cold feet, ulcerations on the foot or the toes.

'One must also be wary of small cuts or burns that can develop into gangrene or deformities on the toes and the foot,' Jhingan explained.

A recent study compiled by Kushagra Katariya, CEO Artemis Health Sciences and cardio thoracic surgeon, ahead of World Diabetes Day on Nov 14, found that approximately 5 percent of diabetics develop foot ulcers and 12 percent develop poor leg and foot circulation and every 30 seconds a lower limb is lost to diabetes.

'Unfortunately as a result of these problems, a diabetic is 15 times more likely to have an amputation of the leg than a non-diabetic,' Katariya said.

Diabetic foot problems can occur at any age and after any amount of time following someone being diagnosed as a diabetic.

'However, most patients with diabetic foot problems are older, as circulation gets poor with advancing age,' he added.

It is important for diabetics to get their feet regularly checked by a healthcare professional that specialises in this field, feel doctors.

'If there is a small infection, it can be controlled before it develops into a gangrene-like threat - the dead skin can be scraped, aspirin like drugs for speeding circulation to wounded areas can be prescribed, but first the diabetic must check his feet and be careful,' Jhingan observed.

In some cases, the blood circulation in diabetes patients is so bad that it can cause vascular blockages. These can be removed surgically but also through an angioplasty or laser.

'The doctor may order simple tests such as a vascular ultrasound to check the circulation in the legs. More advanced tests may include a CT-Angio or an MRA to look at the vascular supply,' said Katariya.

Many diabetic foot problems can be nipped in the bud by raising patient awareness to potential problems - watch your weight, keep blood sugar levels in control and get regular checkups.

'Diabetics should always buy footwear in the evenings,' Jhingan quipped, 'not in the mornings as poor blood circulation causes the foot to swell in evenings - the shoes should not be tight or smaller. Comfortable soft soled footwear should be worn.'

In winters, the diabetic foot is often likely to be regarded as a chill bite.

'In which case the patient should be doubly cautious - keep warm but avoid prolonged exposure to hot water - this can cause bacterial infections and non-healing ulcers in diabetic patients, as their wounds take longer to heal. Due to loss of sensation in their feet, diabetics often don't come to know about such injury early enough,' Jhingan averred.

In India almost 40,000 legs are amputated every year due to diabetes alone.

'Due to a gradual decrease in vision, diabetic patients tend to wound themselves. And due to a simultaneous loss of sensation in the feet, they do not feel the pain and hence the wound is ignored, causing prolonged infection - the limb then has to be amputated,' Jhingan said.

Private hospitals pulled up for not treating poor patients free

Wed, 12 Nov 2008 20:58:14 PST

( from http://www.rxpgnews.com ) New Delhi, Nov 12 - The Delhi High Court Wednesday pulled up several private hospitals in the capital for not providing free treatment to poor patients - a pre-condition for getting land at subsidised rates.

A division bench of Chief Justice Ajit Prakash Shah and Justice S. Muralidhar also criticised the Delhi government for failing to take action against such hospitals while government hospitals were flooded by poor patients from all over the country.

The court was hearing a petition filed by an NGO seeking action against the Apollo Hospital for charging poor patients for treatment.

It asked the government and the Apollo Hospital to prepare a detailed report about the amount they charge from a poor patient and from a regular category patient.

The bench also pointed out findings of a committee appointed by it that showed the Apollo Hospital had wrongly claimed it was providing free treatment to poor patients.

The bench directed the committee comprising of S.K. Sarin and Additional Solicitor General Amarendra Sharan to visit the hospital and submit a detailed report by Dec 17, the next date of hearing.

Apollo Hospital, on the other hand, said it is a profit-oriented venture and the poor patients have to bear the cost of medicines.

The court also issued notice to the St. Stephens Hospital, Moolchand hospital and Rajiv Gandhi Cancer Institute for charging fees from the poor patients.

India to launch injectible polio vaccine

Wed, 12 Nov 2008 18:12:20 PST

( from http://www.rxpgnews.com ) New Delhi, Nov 12 - India will soon introduce an injectible polio vaccine - in the nine troubled districts of Uttar Pradesh and Bihar, considered to be the hotbed of polio in the country, to check the spread of the epidemic.

'The IPV vaccine would be introduced in Uttar Pradesh and Bihar districts to control the spread of the disease,' Health Minister Anbumani Ramadoss told reporters here Wednesday.

Though Uttar Pradesh was earlier described as the 'world's most tenacious reservoir of P1 poliovirus' by the World Health Organisation - Director-General Margaret Chan, the state remained free of the most dangerous and fast travelling virus for a record one and a half years.

The minister said the P1 strain, considered to be the most dangerous strain that spreads fast, was not reported in the country's most populous state for over 15 months.

India will introduce the IPV in the two states alongside the ongoing countrywide oral immunisation drive to eradicate the disease and Microsoft founder Bill Gates will help the country in this new strategy.

The decision to introduce the vaccine, which was not launched because of paucity of funds, was taken following the fresh injection of funds from Gates.

India is one of the few countries grappling to control the disease that affects children below the age of five. This year till Oct 31, the country has reported 499 cases of polio, a whopping 35 percent of the cases reported worldwide.

Last year, the country reported 874 cases, over 90 percent of them from Uttar Pradesh and Bihar.

'We want to check polio transmission in the country,' said Ramadoss.

Rs.9 bn modernisation plan for Ahmedabad Civil Hospital

Wed, 12 Nov 2008 18:10:33 PST

( from http://www.rxpgnews.com ) Gandhinagar, Nov 12 - The Ahmedabad-based Civil Hospital, the biggest state-run hospital in Gujarat, will be modernised at a cost of Rs.9.11 billion -, Chief Minister Narendra Modi announced here Wednesday.

The hospital, set up in 1952, will be renovated and its capacity would be increased from 2,150 beds to 5,150 beds, Modi told reporters.

'With the addition of the bed capacity it will be the biggest healthcare complex in Asia,' he said.

It will also have more operation theatres and other modern facilities.

Instead of the 600,000 patients it serves annually, 2.5 million patients would benefit once the project is completed in three phases by 2010 when the state will be celebrating its golden jubilee, the chief minister said.

'Gujarat is aiming for an impeccable record in HDI - and social infrastructure services. With public participation, various innovative initiatives are being implemented to bring a qualitative changes in the healthcare and its delivery mechanism. Inspired by the success, we have initiated the most ambitious project of transforming the Ahmedabad civil hospital,' Modi said.

Stem cell research to get a boost under Obama

Wed, 12 Nov 2008 16:23:25 PST

( from http://www.rxpgnews.com ) Washington, Nov 11 - The new US administration under Barack Obama will take a more pro-active view on the issue of stem cell research than his predecessor George W. Bush, his aides have said.

John Podesta, an aide in Obama's transition team, told The New York Times that Obama would give the green signal to stem cell research without waiting for a decision of the Congress as soon as he takes over Jan 20, 2009 from outgoing President Bush.

In 2007, President Bush vetoed the legislation to finance the research with public funds, for the second time in his presidential mandate, despite the fact that Congress supported a less restrictive resolution on the subject.

The Bush administration argued that the projected legislation put scientific investigation and ethical principles in conflict and violate moral principles.

US scientific community has overwhelmingly supported stem cell research as the harbinger of a new age of medical science.

Stem cells have the remarkable potential to develop into many different cell types in the body.

Serving as a sort of repair system for the body, they can theoretically divide without limit to replenish other cells as long as the person or animal is alive. Stem cell research is said to have heralded new promises in the treatment of a wide variety of diseases that still baffle medical science.

Most British Women Unaware of Lifestyle Stroke Risks

Wed, 12 Nov 2008 06:20:34 PST

( from http://www.rxpgnews.com ) A new survey, carried out by GfK NOP for UK charity The Stroke Association has revealed that 60 per cent of women don’t even know what their blood pressure is and 67 per cent are unaware what an ‘optimal’ reading should be. The survey also found that while more than a fifth of women surveyed had been prescribed medication to control their blood pressure, more than half of these said they did not take their tablets regularly, putting themselves at risk of death or disability from a stroke.

When asked about taking measures to protect themselves from a stroke, a second survey found that 83 per cent of the women did not know that lack of exercise increases the risk. Another 72 per cent of women did not recognise that a poor diet is a risk factor and 71 per cent were unaware that alcohol also increases the risk of stroke.

Joe Korner, Director of External Affairs, explains: “Many women will be blissfully unaware that they may have high blood pressure caused by the lifestyle choices they make. Regular, excessive drinking, smoking, poor diet and lack of exercise mean that women are pushing their blood pressure to dangerous levels without realising it.

“People do not realise that by making very small lifestyle changes they can dramatically reduce the risk of having a stroke. For example, moderate exercise can decrease the chances of having a stroke by 27 per cent and by eating your ‘five-a-day’ you can reduce the risk by a quarter,” Mr Korner said.

As part of its drive to raise awareness, The Stroke Association is urging working age women to be aware of how their lifestyle impacts on the risk of having a stroke and to have their blood pressure tested regularly. An optimal blood pressure reading is 120/80 mmHg. High blood pressure is defined as a reading above 140/90mmHg. Blood pressure testing can be carried out at a GP surgery by the GP or practice nurse. However gyms and pharmacies can also carry out blood pressure testing.

Institute of Clinical Research partners with Singapore Health

Tue, 11 Nov 2008 20:23:54 PST

( from http://www.rxpgnews.com ) Bangalore, Nov 10 - Institute of Clinical Research India -, which imparts training in clinical research studies, has entered into a partnership with Singapore Health -, the state-run healthcare institute, to improve hospital management system in India.

The partnership also envisages training Indian clinicians for domain expertise in specialty areas such as liver transplant, stem transplant and renal transplants in Indian hospitals.

'The knowledge-building partnership is to scale up educational resources, foster talent to meet the growing needs of healthcare and put India on the global healthcare management map,' ICRI chairman S.R. Dugal told reporters here Monday.

Due to lack of professional healthcare management in public and private hospitals across the country, more deaths are caused by infections, medication delivery lapses and traumatic medical incidents.

'The need of the hour is to improve healthcare management in India by accelerating talent growth and creating a holistic system for medical tourism in the sub-continent,' SingHealth senior consultant and emergency physician V. Anantharaman said.

ICRI plans to build patient referrals to SingHealth as a single window for treatment in therapeutic areas and help them with information and support. It will also tie up with other hospitals for joint patient management.

SingHealth has three tertiary level hospitals, five national care centres, with 42 clinical specialties and 3,000 beds. About 2,000 doctors work in its hospitals as medical associates.

Both partners will jointly conduct various training programmes and clinician exchanges for capability build-up for better patient care.

ICRI operates from four campuses in Mumbai, Delhi, Ahmedabad and Bangalore.

Healing disability with performing arts

Sun, 09 Nov 2008 20:41:41 PST

( from http://www.rxpgnews.com ) New Delhi, Nov 9 - Folk dances by one-legged dancers, a performance by a visually-impaired flute player and singer, and a presentation by youngsters with impaired hearing and speech here during Sambhav 2008 was proof that art has the power to heal.

The event here Sunday by mentally and physically challenged performers was held at India International Center, organised by Association for Learning Performing Art and Normative Action -.

'There are a series of laws in place for safeguarding the rights of specially-abled people, specially for providing them equal opportunities for employment, education and public acceptance. In fact, even the law-makers are waking up to the reality of the ground level - the latest being the UN Convention 2008 that calls for reviewing institution for specially-abled and their right to play and recreate,' said Indira Jaisingh, an eminent jurist, lawyer and human rights activist.

The technical session of the seminar focused on dance, movement and theatre as therapies and the challenges and possibilities of healing through performing arts.

'Disability is a state of mind. Trust in healing medicine which keeps them connected to us,' said Guru Syeed Salauddin Pasha, a pioneer of Indian therapeutic theatre.

Sharing her valuable experiences as an exponent of dance Ammbika Kameshwar said: 'Dance and theatre have a very deep-rooted healing effect and a child with disabilities needs stimulating inputs to help him reach his optimum level of functioning.' Kameshwar is the founder-director of RASA center for theatre, arts and special needs, Chennai.

Speakers at the function emphasized the need to build a platform through the arts for the specially-abled to breakthrough into the mainstream.

They included S.K. Jha, renowned connoisseur of Indian classical music and literature from Gujarat, Debashree Mukherjee, secretary of the Department of Social Welfare of the Delhi government and others from the field of music and theatre from four other countries.

The seminar was followed by five performances - the traditional Gitinatya from Orissa by children with intellectual disability, a royal court dance by a group form Sri Lanka, Nepal folk dances presented by one-legged dancers and visually-impaired flute player and singer, a performance from Bhutan by deaf and mute youngsters, and a fusion of classical and folk dances from Bangladesh. In addition, ALPANA's home-production presented a blend of Odissi, fusion and melody.

The evening performance was also attended by Wajahat Habibullah, chief information commissioner of India, and Oscar Fernandes, India's labour minster.

Orissa government doctors decide not to go on strike

Sat, 08 Nov 2008 23:08:47 PST

( from http://www.rxpgnews.com ) Bhubaneswar, Nov 8 - Orissa government doctors Saturday night decided not to go on strike from Nov 9 after the state government assured of considering their demands within three months.

Around 3,000 government doctors had submitted their resignations Monday to protest the dismissal of three doctors and threatened not to join work from Sunday if the orders were not withdrawn.

The doctors were protesting the dismissal of Bibek Swain, an anaesthesiologist, Santanu Sahu, a surgeon, and Anup Nath Sharma, an orthopaedic specialist, for allegedly cutting off the palms of five tribals while performing autopsies on their bodies in 2006.

The state government Friday invoked the Essential Services Maintenance Act - against the doctors.

'We decided to withdraw the protest after Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik assured us that the government will consider our demands within three months,' an office bearer of the Orissa Medical Service Association - told IANS.

ESMA is a central act which prohibits strikes in certain jobs and violations of it can lead to imprisonment and penalties. The act empowers the government to arrest the violator without warrant.