RxPG News : Madhya Pradesh

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.

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.

Ujjain gets first medical care unit for AIDS patients

Mon, 07 Apr 2008 14:34:58 PST

( from http://www.rxpgnews.com ) Bhopal, April 7 - A HIV community care centre has been set up to provide medical help to AIDS patients in Madhya Pradesh's Ujjain town, the headquarters of a district that has the second highest number of such cases in the state.

Ujjain Chief Medical and Health Officer Dileep Nagar said the 10-bed medical centre, which was inaugurated last week, is a unit of Saathi, a facility providing support to HIV-positive people.

It was set up with help from Hindustan Latex Family Planning Promotion Trust - in association with Kripa Welfare Society, an NGO, and the Madhya Pradesh State Aids Control Society -.

'It was badly required in a place like Ujjain which, with 351 patients, has the second highest number of AIDS cases in the state. Commercial capital Indore takes the lead with 564 cases,' Manish, who represents Ujjain's network of HIV-positive people, told IANS.

The network, with about 130 members, provides support and counselling for HIV-positive people across the state.

The number of AIDS affected people in the state, according to MPSACS figures, increased from one in 1988 to 2,382 by the end of 2007.

The figures compiled by the MPSACS reveal that 91.7 percent patients acquire the deadly virus through sexual transmission and two percent through blood transfusion.

'What is worrying is that AIDS is no longer confined to urban areas. I have patients from villages, even remote hamlets, where the disease has spread due to lack of awareness,' said a doctor.

The doctor claimed she had come across HIV patients from small towns like Khandwa, Khargone, Badwani and Shajapur.

'This is just the tip of the iceberg. Several cases, mainly from rural areas, go unreported in the state', says Prashant Malaiya, MPSACS deputy director.

NGOs working in Indore, Ujjain, Jabalpur, Rewa, Bhopal, Gwalior, Sagar, Hoshangabad and Morena, claim the number of AIDS victims in these districts is far higher than official figures.

Various surveys have pointed out that people between 31 and 40 form the largest group of HIV-affected people. They have also found that 72 percent of AIDS patients in Madhya Pradesh are men.

'The centre will go a long way in providing care to HIV-positive people. However, we need to sensitise more people, spread knowledge and dispel fear associated with HIV to fight the stigma attached to the disease,' said Unicef official Anil Gulati.

Madhya Pradesh nowhere near reaching key development goals

Thu, 26 Jul 2007 11:06:49 PST

( from http://www.rxpgnews.com ) Bhopal, July 26 - Madhya Pradesh is nowhere near reaching the UN Millennium Development Goals - by the 2015 deadline, if a mid-term evaluation report prepared by voluntary groups is anything to go by.

And this in a state where a world record 3.3 million people across 42 districts took part in a government-sponsored 'Stand Up Against Poverty' campaign in October to achieve the MDGs - reducing poverty, achieving universal primary education, promoting gender equality, reducing child mortality, improving maternal health and ensuring environmental sustainability.

Now voluntary groups in the state have prepared what they call the 'Triple 7 Report' - after a mid-term evaluation of how far the state is from achieving the MDGs.

The report says Madhya Pradesh - where 4.5 million families live below the poverty line - has been found wanting on all fronts.

'Malnutrition is a problem that has always been brushed under the carpet by politicians but the dire conditions in Madhya Pradesh now definitely call for some mandated moves', says Sachin Jain of Vikas Samvad, one of the groups behind the report.

In Madhya Pradesh 82.6 percent of all children under the age of three are anaemic, according to the government's own recent National Family Health Survey - III. The corresponding figure for 1998-99, when NFHS II was carried out, was a low 54 percent.

Sixty percent of all children under the age of three in the state are underweight, 51 percent are stunted and 20 percent are wasted, says the Triple 7 report.

Data collected during the state government's recent growth monitoring drive and Bal Sanjeevni Abhiyaan shows that 80,000 children are suffering from most severe malnutrition and are on the verge of death, the authors of the report say.

According to NFHS III, only 22.4 percent of the children below the age of two have full immunisation coverage.

The Triple 7 report says only 23 percent of the children are registered in Anganwadis -.

In a state where 24 women die in childbirth every day, the maternal mortality rate is 379 per 100,000 live births - third highest in the country.

The infant mortality rate - which counts children who die before the first birthday - stands at 76 per 1,000 live births.

'Though the state has introduced many schemes to help combat maternal and infant deaths, they are not yielding the desired results due to bureaucratic hassles and corruption,' say activists responsible for the Triple 7 report.

The activists refer to a recent report of the Comptroller and Auditor General of India that benefits of the schemes do not reach 52-62 percent of the children and 46-59 percent of the pregnant and lactating mothers.

And it is not as if private healthcare is stepping into the breach. The activists point out that expenditure on health has declined from 5.1 percent of total expenditure in 2000-01 to 3.4 percent in 2004-05.

This is a state where 38 percent of the rural population do not have access to safe drinking water. Madhya Pradesh accounts for 40 percent falciparum malaria cases in the country.

The authors of the Triple 7 report said the picture in the field of primary education was equally bleak, due to lack of trained teachers and of basic facilities such as drinking water and toilets in the schools.

The authorities also had to address issues such as the distance to the nearest school, midday meals and scholarships, the activists added.

Malnutrition kills two kids in Madhya Pradesh

Wed, 27 Dec 2006 14:39:13 PST

( from http://www.rxpgnews.com ) Gwalior, Dec 27 - At least two children have reportedly died from malnutrition in Madhya Pradesh's Gwalior district, child rights activists say, emblematic of a deep-rooted problem afflicting over 80,000 underprivileged children in this state.

While one-year-old Purushottam of Ateri village died Sunday, two-year-old Chhottu died Dec 20 though the court had directed the state to take special care of him, the activists said.

'Both deaths occurred at a Gwalior hospital due to the alleged negligence of the staff and doctors,' said Sandesh Bansal, an activist with Jan Adhikar Manch.

Bansal told IANS: 'The cause of Chhottu's death was even more shocking. The district authorities continued to shirk their responsibility of taking care of the child and his family though the high court had ordered them to do so. They said it was not their job since the family belonged to Raisen district.'

Chhottu belonged to one of 18 families of bonded labourers rescued from Raisen district, 50 km from here, in 2005 at the behest of the Bandhua Mazdoor Mukti Morcha, a group working for the rights of workers.

Since the state failed to rehabilitate the rescued families, Jai Prasad of the Morcha knocked the doors of the high court, which directed the district administration and the state labour department to look after the families under the Madhya Pradesh rehabilitation programme.

But the authorities apparently refused to, saying the families were not their responsibility since they were not from Gwalior.

'The matter pertains to Raisen from where they were brought here,' said C.S. Dixit, Gwalior's assistant labour commissioner.

The administration's attitude has made the workers think that they were better off as bonded labour.

'We are being treated like animals, worse than when we were hostage in stone quarries,' laments Bharat Adivasi, Chhottu's father.

Added Prasad: 'This is happening despite the government's claims of making efforts to curb malnutrition, for which it has spent millions of rupees in the past three years.'

The state's budget for the overall development of women and children went up to Rs.5.9 billion this year.

Of this, Rs.3 billion was earmarked for providing nutritious diet to undernourished women and children - Rs.1.9 billion more than the previous year. But according to the government's Child Growth Monitoring Drive, 80,000 children in the state continued to suffer from severe malnutrition.

In April, the state unveiled a special scheme called the 'Bal Shakti Yojana', which seeks to treat severely malnourished children. It includes medical services necessary for such kids.

The number of malnourished children in the 0-5 years age group is 33,000, which is about 50 percent of the total child population in the state, according to National Health Survey data.

Madhya Pradesh students campaign against AIDS

Mon, 18 Dec 2006 22:04:17 PST

( from http://www.rxpgnews.com ) Bhopal, Dec 18 - Hundreds of students in Madhya Pradesh took part in an AIDS awareness campaign and vowed to do their bit to control the fatal virus.

The students tied 'suraksha bandhan' - on their wrists Sunday to symbolise their awareness of HIV and their commitment to spread this awareness.

The students were in a workshop organised by the Makhanlal Chaturvedi University of Journalism here as part of a 'Unite for Children, Unite Against AIDS' drive aimed at engaging the young to prevent the deadly disease.

The campaign, in association with the Madhya Pradesh State AIDS Control Society - and Unicef, aims to achieve measurable results in preventing parent-to-child transmission, providing pediatric treatment for HIV children, preventing HIV infection among the youth and providing treatment for affected children.

'We need to be equipped with the right knowledge and young people can help spread awareness and the right information,' said Unicef state representative Hamid El Bashir here.

He said that worldwide millions of children, adolescents and youngsters are at risk and in need of protection. Across the world millions of children under the age of 15 have lost one or both parents to AIDS.

'More disturbing is that HIV/AIDS is now engulfing the 'productive population' in the age group of 20-40 years. With the exposure teens and youth are getting through television, they have started experiencing sex at an early age, further aggravating the problem,' said a MPSACS official.

Unsafe sex, infected transfusion spreading AIDS in Madhya Pradesh

Fri, 01 Dec 2006 00:40:49 PST

( from http://www.rxpgnews.com ) Bhopal, Nov 30 - Unsafe sex and transfusion of HIV-infected blood could push Madhya Pradesh from a low-AIDS prevalence state to moderate category, fear health experts.

The number of AIDS-affected people in the state, according to latest figures, has risen from one in 1988 to 1,933 till October 2006.

While 53 percent of the cases have their genesis in unprotected sex, 23 percent were caused by transfusion of infected blood giving rise to fears of the state moving towards moderate category.

While states having less than one percent population inflicted with HIV/AIDS are said to be 'low prevalence', the moderate category is pegged at 23 percent.

The rise in the number of AIDS patients in the state is attributed to low awareness and an acute lack of infrastructure to tackle the disease and cash crunch, which have become the bane of the anti-AIDs drive in the state. Even the rural areas are not spared, studies say.

'While urbanisation, rapid industrialisation and changing mode of lifestyle were factors contributing to high prevalence in urban areas, traditional practice of selling sex by communities like Bedia, Banchhda and Sansi have added to the woes in rural areas,' a survey says. 'They have little or no knowledge of AIDS or its prevention. They don't even know what venereal diseases are.'

'Since 'tradition' in these communities demands that the eldest daughter of the family has to go in for prostitution to look after the family until her marriage, they surrender themselves for as little as Rs.50 to Rs.100 without any demands for safe sex,' says Rajiv Lochan, head of Shuruat, a voluntary organisation which toured the state to spread AIDS awareness.

These communities spread over 24 districts of the state - including Ratlam, Mandsaur, Neemuch, Morena, Shivpuri, Guna, Ujjain, Datia, Panna and Satna - operate in semi-urban areas which are mostly close to highways.

'Almost all the regions of the state have been affected by HIV and now the dreaded disease has started gripping the rural areas,' says a health department survey.

'More disturbing is that HIV/AIDS is now engulfing the 'productive population' in the age group of 20-40 years. With the exposure teens and youth are getting through television, they have started experiencing sex at an early age, further aggravating the problem,' say a Madhya Pradesh State AIDS Control Society - official.

Western Madhya Pradesh, specially 14 districts of the Malwa and the Nimar regions touching commercial areas of Maharashtra and Gujarat, are in fact highly susceptible to AIDS. Of the 1,933 known cases of AIDS in the state, about 70 percent - have been reported from these districts.

'The findings also suggest a rise in AIDS/HIV among marketing and sales people and those indulging in casual sex and extramarital affairs,' says Madhya Pradesh Voluntary Health Association - executive director Mukesh Kumar Sinha. 'We have to change the guidelines given by NACO that lay emphasis on high risk groups like commercial sex workers, drug addicts, street children, truck drivers and transporters.'

Not many have knowledge about the disease that they still equate with leprosy or the 'curse of Kamdev' -.

Madhya Pradesh bans diclofenac over vulture deaths

Fri, 28 Apr 2006 00:59:37 PST

( from http://www.rxpgnews.com ) Madhya Pradesh has banned the use of diclofenac, a drug used by vets, on the advice of the central government which says the medicine was responsible for a 95 percent decline in the population of vultures in the country.

"The vultures are indispensable natural scavengers responsible for the disposal of wild and domestic carcasses, thus preventing the outbreak of epidemics. But when they themselves feed on animals which die after consuming diclofenac, they themselves die," said Rajesh Rajoura, commissioner, state veterinary services.

Under such circumstances, it is advisable to use better alternatives like meloxicam and ketoprofen for treating ailing animals, he said. The union environment and forests ministry recommended the ban.

The Asia Conference, held in 2004 February at Kathmandu, too had expressed concern over the decline in the number of vultures. Stressing that diclofenac posed a major danger to the environment in Asia, the conference felt that there should be urgency in banning the drug.

The central government has selected a forest sanctuary at Bhopal under its vulture augmentation scheme, which would be executed by the Van Vihar (forest department), Bhopal.

"Besides, the Ratapani, Singhori and Narsingharh sanctuaries, where 170 vultures have been found, would also be made better places for the birds," he said.

Sharp rise in AIDS cases in Madhya Pradesh

Thu, 27 Apr 2006 13:32:37 PST

( from http://www.rxpgnews.com ) The death of two members of a family from AIDS within 10 days of each other has sent the alarm bells ringing in Madhya Pradesh, which is otherwise considered a low prevalence state for the disease.

The present case pertains to a family in Ashta town, 100 km from the state capital. While two members of the family died of the disease this month, another succumbed to AIDS five years ago and yet another is battling for life, police say.

Devraj, 30, who was admitted to Ashta civil hospital April 9 and later shifted to MY Hospital, Indore, died after being discharged from the hospital last week.

His sister-in-law, Devaki Bai, 30, who had also been suffering from AIDS, had died April 9, the day Devraj was admitted to hospital.

Devraj's elder brother Gajraj Singh had died of AIDS five years ago. Yet another sister-in-law of his is also suffering from the same disease.

Both the siblings were truck drivers.

The state falls in the low prevalence category for HIV/AIDS, but it could be on the verge of entering the moderate category, fear NGOs involved in spreading AIDS awareness.

While states with less than one percent of the population inflicted with the disease are said to be `low prevalence', the moderate category is pegged at 23 percent.

"The population in the age group of 21-30 years is registering a sharp rise in AIDS cases and will soon replace the age group of 31-40 years. However, youth in their early 20s are becoming most susceptible," reveals the latest report of the Madhya Pradesh State Aids Control Society (MPSACS).

"Out of the total 1,701 AIDS patients in Madhya Pradesh, 38 percent AIDS affected persons belong to the 21-30 age group - only one percent less than that in the 31-40 age group," an MPSACS official said.

Three-fourth of HIV/AIDS patients reportedly contract the disease from unsafe sex and 72 percent of the patients are males.

While 205 people tested HIV positive in 2004, in 2005 the figure rose to 359 - the highest since 1988 when the first AIDS patient was reported in the state.

India has 5.1 million HIV/AIDS patients, second only to South Africa.

New drive in Madhya Pradesh to check child malnutrition

Tue, 18 Apr 2006 08:17:37 PST

( from http://www.rxpgnews.com ) With around 80,000 children suffering from severe malnutrition in the state, Madhya Pradesh has started health fairs in villages where the malnourished will be weighed and provided a nutrition diet.

The month-long fairs, organised under the Bal Sanjivani Abhiyan (Child Growth Monitoring Drive), were launched by Women and Child Welfare Minister Kusum Mehdele at Bada Bangadda village in Indore district.

"The drive will go a long way in totally eliminating malnourishment among children," Mehdele said, launching the drive Saturday.

According to data collected last year under the state government's Child Growth Monitoring Drive, 80,000 children are suffering from severe malnutrition.

The drive to address and control the problem of severe malnutrition is in its eighth phase, but malnutrition continues to persist.

"In the beginning of the campaign, it will cover such children whose parents are likely to migrate in search of work, and the registration of expectant mothers whose delivery is likely during April-May, a season when labour from the state migrates in large numbers," an official said.

"Weighing machines supplied by UNICEF are being provided at all such fairs and the availability of vitamin A will be ensured. Besides a nutritious diet, publicity material will also be made available," he said.

Another official of the women and child welfare department said: "There are plans to organise rallies, hold awakening camps, call for drum-beating in villages to make announcements about the drive and display as much publicity material as possible for the promotion of the drive.

"Mahila Mandals (Women's associations) will hold meetings and make home visits to create awareness about the drive, while street plays and puppet shows will also mark the fairs aimed at reducing malnutrition," he said.

O.P. Rawat, principal secretary of the women and child development department, said: "Under the drive, no area of the state would be left untouched."

Efforts would be made during the campaign to look after the acute malnourished children by providing them nutritious food and adequate medical treatment to make them healthy.

During the campaign, the health examination of the pregnant women, foster mothers and girls will also be conducted. Safe institutional deliveries will be encouraged among pregnant women, Rawat said.

Bhopal gas victims to get potable water

Sat, 15 Apr 2006 18:06:37 PST

( from http://www.rxpgnews.com ) A day after Bollywood star Aamir Khan gave his backing to victims of the 1984 Bhopal gas disaster, the Madhya Pradesh government Saturday announced a scheme to provide safe drinking water to them.

Minister for Gas Relief Babulal Gaur told IANS that a Rs.17-crore (Rs.10.7 million) scheme has been prepared in the wake of reports that drinking water in the 13 gas-hit localities of Bhopal was contaminated.

Six major water tanks would be constructed, and water from the Kolar dam would be supplied through pipelines, he added.

Expressing dissatisfaction over the working of the hospitals run by the Gas Relief Department, he promised to bring about "immediate improvements".

Victims of the Bhopal gas tragedy, one of the world's worst man-made disasters, have been protesting in New Delhi for the past five days demanding safe drinking water.

The protestors include people living in the localities affected by ground water contamination caused by the leak of over 40 tonnes of hazardous gas from the Union Carbide's pesticide plant.

The leak, which killed an estimated 20,000 people and maimed several thousands, remains one of the world's worst industrial disasters.

According to social activists, ground water samples collected near the Union Carbide plant have shown contamination levels 10 times higher than in other areas.

High levels of heavy metals such as nickel, chromium, mercury, lead and other toxic materials have been found in the soil.

Thousands of survivors, including those born after the disaster, are still battling the after-effects of the deadly leak - from illnesses ranging from deep psychiatric disorders to stunted growth, various studies have proved.

Protestors are also demanding speedy prosecution of Union Carbide Corp and its officials and the blacklisting of Dow Chemical, which bought Union Carbide in 2001, till it pays for the environmental and health damage caused by the dumping of hazardous wastes.

In addition, the victims are demanding that a National Commission on Bhopal tragedy be set up for long-term medical care and research and economic and social rehabilitation of the victims.

They are also insisting that the Bhopal disaster be included in the curricula of educational institutions and a memorial be erected in memory of victims.

Health scheme for Madhya Pradesh's malnourished children

Sat, 15 Apr 2006 17:54:37 PST

( from http://www.rxpgnews.com ) The Madhya Pradesh government Friday unveiled a scheme to eradicate malnutrition among children, the state's Minister for Public Health and Family Welfare Ajay Vishnoi said.

The 'Bal Shakti Yojana' - strong child scheme - is to be implemented jointly by the public health and the women and child development departments, Vishnoi told reporters here.

"The scheme for treatment and nutritional rehabilitation of severely malnourished children aims at bringing the percentage of severely malnourished children to one percent," he said.

The necessary medical services, he said, would be provided to children identified as severely malnourished by the women and child development department last year.

The number of malnourished children in zero to five years age group was 3.3 million, which is about 50 percent of the total children in the state, the minister said.

The scheme envisages hospitalisation of malnourished children identified for institutional treatment for seven to 14 days and in the case of non-availability of government doctors at district/block level, services of private doctors would be enlisted, Vishnoi said.

Besides, Rs.100 would be paid to mothers of such children as reimbursement of costs incurred while bringing the children to hospital.

Poor pregnant women expect little in Madhya Pradesh: Report

Fri, 14 Apr 2006 23:12:37 PST

( from http://www.rxpgnews.com ) When India celebrated Safe Motherhood Day on Tuesday, the lacuna in proper care for women during pregnancy and childbirth made it less of a celebration this year in the villages of Madhya Pradesh.

Poverty and pregnancy form a lethal cocktail that strikes down rural women in the state, denying them basic and antenatal care, nutrition or medical support.

Prema Bai from Hardhot village, over 70 km from Raisen district headquarter in Madhya Pradesh, is four months into her pregnancy.

Wife of a daily wager, she and her husband earn a paltry Rs.40 each daily to feed their five-member family. Medical supplies and prescriptions remain a distant dream as Prema struggles to manage one square meal a day.

With every meal at stake, visiting a doctor for an antenatal check up is out of the question. Consequently, she is left with no choice but to trudge in her neighbour's bullock cart to the only government clinic in the village for free medical treatment.

"For an expectant mother in the remote areas of Madhya Pradesh, it is common to travel in bullock carts or cycles over pot-holed roads to distant rural health centres in the hope of getting proper healthcare," health experts say.

However, these centres hardly have any bed to offer to the patients, and painkillers are the only medicines available. Of course, they do offer advice to Prema and other pregnant women to visit a gynaecologist.

But no gynaecologists are available in a village like Hardhot.

"The situation is worse in rural areas," says a new Population Council study.

The study adds that less than half of the pregnant women, mostly illiterate and socio-economically disadvantaged, don't even seek any care.

"The women think that check-ups were not necessary (60 percent) or not customary (four percent)," the report reveals.

Lack of knowledge regarding the importance of antenatal care, the long trek to health centres and a lack of cheap transportation are other bottlenecks that pregnant women face.

"An inability to meet costs related to visiting a health facility prevents 15 percent of the women from undergoing such check-ups."

Still, some of the poor women reach the nearest available medical facilities in the hope of getting better care but are mostly left to fend for themselves.

Compelled by myriad disadvantages, the women in rural areas opt for home delivery often in dangerously unhygienic conditions, increasing the chances of fatal complications both for the mother and child.

A majority of maternal deaths take place after delivery, most of them within 24 hours after childbirth, for want of postpartum care, which allows health workers to detect and manage problems and to make sure that the mother and child are doing well.

The state government had came out with a new Reproductive and Child Health Programme in 1990, but its success can be gauged by Prema's trauma.

In a state where women on an average have three children, the maternal mortality ratio is one of the highest in the country, said the study.

Madhya Pradesh Health Minister Ajay Vishnoi, however, seems satisfied with the government schemes promoted by the state under the Rural Health Mission.

Though he admitted that fighting traditional gaps would take time, he said: "We will soon be appointing lady officers in rural areas to assist pregnant women and ensure safe delivery with post-pregnancy childcare."

The truth is that despite several improved maternal child health services and postpartum programmes aimed at safe motherhood, the lives of many women in the reproductive age group here are still at risk.

Madhya Pradesh cracks whip on rural hygiene

Wed, 12 Apr 2006 13:21:37 PST

( from http://www.rxpgnews.com ) Intensifying a drive for better hygiene at rural levels, the Madhya Pradesh government has started to act on its threats against panchayat leaders who fail to do away with the unhealthy system of dry toilets.

Last year the state assembly had amended the Madhya Pradesh Panchayati Raj and Gram Swaraj Act, 1993, to stipulate that panchayat - village council - representatives must build toilets with a flush in their homes within a year of being elected.

The axe has already fallen upon Mangobai, president of the Chandankheda panchayat, who was removed from her post for failing to construct a toilet at her home, disqualifying her to remain in office as per the provisions of the act.

So far, only 76,114 of the state's 324,167 panchayat representatives have built toilets at their homes. The remaining defaulters were slapped show-cause notices with most having no excuse except that of ignorance.

"Although the deadline for building toilets with a flush expired in February, elected representatives were given a month's grace before district collectors issued show-cause notices to errant panchayat representatives," Panchayati Raj director Vijay Singh Niranjan said.

State Panchayati Raj Minister Narender Singh Tomar said: "The idea is to inculcate a sense of hygiene in rural areas and to abolish the unhealthy system of dry latrines."

"Elected representatives should be model citizens. Money was no constraint as the act amended in March last year stipulated a grant for flush toilets. Several reminders and notices were sent out but to no avail," Tomar told IANS.

"The act also aims to promote sanitation and discourage the practice of women going to answer nature's call out in the open," he added.

Statistics reveal that close to 30 million people in rural areas in India suffer from sanitation-related diseases. About 0.4 to 0.5 million children die of diarrhoea alone each year, with most deaths taking place in villages.

Annual expenses incurred on sanitation-related diseases are reportedly to the tune of Rs.12 billion.

50 cattle die of anthrax in Madhya Pradesh

Tue, 11 Apr 2006 07:41:37 PST

( from http://www.rxpgnews.com ) At least 50 cattle are reported to have died in Madhya Pradesh due to anthrax since December, officials said Saturday.

Anthrax, an acute infectious disease caused by the spore-forming bacterium Bacillus anthracis, was first reported in the state in Bori Sanctuary in Hoshangabad district in 2002 when it caused the death of several wild buffalo.

"It occurs most commonly in wild and domestic lower vertebrates like cattle, sheep, goats, camels, antelopes, and other herbivores and can also occur in humans when they are exposed to infected animals or tissue from infected animals," said P.K. Sharma, posted at the government veterinary hospital here.

"Animal disease investigation laboratory at Jabalpur which conducted the tests on cattle samples sent from Kartaj village (of Narsinhpur district) has confirmed the presence of Anthrax," Sharma said.

Health officials said that the first death due to suspected anthrax occurred in Kartaj village in December last year.

Since then around 50 cattle, including cows, bulls and calves, have died.

"Cattle in the area were vaccinated soon after the first death due to suspected anthrax. Later a major vaccination drive was launched on February 28," Sharma said, adding the number of deaths continued to rise with cattle showing typical symptoms of the disease.

"The cattle have been vaccinated once again on April 7. The test reports from Jabalpur and fresh tissue samples have now been sent to High Security Animal Disease Laboratory in Bhopal," he said.

Madhya Pradesh to reopen regional health offices

Mon, 10 Apr 2006 23:55:37 PST

( from http://www.rxpgnews.com ) The Madhya Pradesh government Monday decided to reopen seven regional health offices abolished by the previous government, state officials here said.

The state's cabinet, at a meeting chaired by Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan, accorded sanction for setting up offices of regional director - health services - at Bhopal, Gwalior, Indore, Jabalpur, Ujjain, Rewa and Sagar.

Posts of different categories were also sanctioned for these offices, the officials said.

They added that regional directors would be vested with financial and administrative powers equivalent to the director of health services.

These offices were abolished a few years ago following the introduction of a district government system by the previous government.

"Since the district government system no longer exists and difficulties were being experienced in implementation of different national programmes due to the abolition of these offices, it has been decided to set up these offices again," said an official who wished to remain anonymous.

The cabinet accorded sanction for the posts of district health officer, district family welfare officer and principal health and medical officer for the health and family welfare department.

Bird flu sample tests positive in Madhya Pradesh

Wed, 05 Apr 2006 13:49:37 PST

( from http://www.rxpgnews.com ) Barring one, over 800 samples sent to a lab here from districts in Madhya Pradesh bordering Maharashtra have tested negative for bird flu, official sources say.

The samples received by the High Security Animal Disease Laboratory included those sent till March 17 from Burhanpur, Barwani, Khargone, Jhabua, Balaghat, Chhindwara, Seoni, Indore, Khandwa and Dhar.

"The shadow of bird flu that broke out in Jalgaon district of Maharashtra has not affected Madhya Pradesh, barring Ichhapur village in Burhanpur - two kilometres from Jalgaon," an official of the veterinary department said.

"Except one sample from Ichhapur, all others have been reported as negative by the lab," he said.

Four samples from Jalgaon tested positive for bird flu March 14 and six others followed suit March 28. Immediately, Burhanpur, Barwani, Khargone and Jhabua were put on high alert and survey work was intensified.

Only one sample tested positive from Ichhapur March 28. The administration immediately swung into action and 8,540 birds were culled in 23 villages of Burhanpur district and disinfectant was sprayed in and around 2,600 houses.

Earlier, after some cases tested positive in Warad in Maharashtra, 2,916 birds were culled in four villages of Barwani in Madhya Pradesh and samples from all districts bordering Maharashtra were picked up.

Though no natural deaths of birds have been reported from anywhere in Madhya Pradesh in the past week, rapid response teams have been put on high alert.