The prototype of a Web-based application, which helps online tracking of communicable diseases such as swine flu and dengue at the level of primary health centres (PHCs) and provides the analytics to evolve emergency response and long-term epidemiological strategy, will be launched this month in Tiruvallur.

The GIS application developed by a team at the unit of Environmental Health and Biotechnology, Loyola College, provides field staff and clinicians unique IDs and passwords for reporting disease using smart phones, basic mobiles or internet-enabled computers.

“Initially, the prototype will be on trial at about 50 PHCs in Tiruvallur. Based on the results, the plan is to extend it other districts in the State,” says A. Vincent, professor at Loyola College and lead investigator for the project, which is being funded by the Ministry of Communication and IT.

The Directorate of Public Health has deputed the chief entomologist and statistical officer to coordinate the rollout of the prototype trial.

Algorithms will apply spatial attributes to online data for creating colour-coded thematic mapping of epidemiological data down to the level of PHCs and village-wise patterns. Analytics will also be used to profile endemic areas, map the pattern of an outbreak or engage in time series analysis.

On the hardware side, the team has installed a high-end central server designed to aggregate the data inputs from over 1,400 PHCs, district hospitals and Medical Colleges across the State. This would also be linked up with the Directorate of Health Services.

The other key feature is an embedded alarm system, where an SMS alert is automatically generated to the mobile numbers of a few top government officials once the incidence of a particular disease in an area crosses the pre-assigned threshold.

The prototype has incorporated a set of 24 common diseases such as swine flu, chukungunya, dengue and malaria and the threshold level for each has been set in consultation with the State Health Department.

Prof. Vincent believes that the application is robust enough to be integrated into the national healthcare system and also can be harnessed for mapping not just vector-borne diseases but non-communicable and lifestyle diseases as well.

He points out that the GIS application has been customised for Indian conditions and specially designed to fit with standard input method for syndromic surveillance of the Integrated Disease Surveillance Project, where field-level health workers report on the S form (suspected), laboratory personnel document observations on the L form and doctors write their conclusions on P form (presumptive).

The team at Loyola College has also put together a Java-based native application for low-end devices so that field-level staff, who cannot access the Web through their basic phones, can still report their findings through a text message to a short code number.

The Web-based GIS application can accelerate the State's response to a potential outbreak. Presently, field-level reports are despatched to the Public Health Department every week and then fed into the computer much later, resulting in huge delays between the entries on the input form of field staff and the State's response.

“What this tool does is that it helps a health official assess the disease scenario in any locality on a real-time basis and plan accordingly,” says Prof. Vincent.

Disease can be reported using smart phones, basic mobiles, Net-enabled computers

Initially, prototype to be on trial at 50 PHCs in Tiruvallur
http://www.thehindu.com/news/states/tamil-nadu/article3288192.ece

Tamil Nadu public health services goes hi tech. All the best for its successful implementation.

CHENNAI: The number of confirmed swine flu (AH1N1) cases in the State has risen to 29, with 14 of them hailing from Chennai. According to State Minister for Health and Family Welfare Dr V S Vijay, all the affected, barring the one dead, were responding well to treatment. Vijay also added that there was no cause for panic as the strain of the virus had evolved in such a manner that it was merely “one step higher than normal influenza”.

Compared to the strain that led to a massive number of swine flu cases and deaths in 2009-10, this strain was much more manageable, he assured. He also announced that every district headquarter hospital and major Government hospitals in the State would have a 20-bed swine flu ward in case of emergency outbreaks. “This is no where close to an epidemic,” he reiterated.

Principal Health Secretary Girija Vaidyanathan confirmed that the State was speeding up the process of purchasing 55 lakh immunisation shots for swine flu at a cost of `55 lakh. “This is not an emergency allocation but part of the regular budget,” she said. “All the medicines will be disseminated only to areas that are seen to have the disease,” added Dr Vijay. For now, Coimbatore, Cuddalore and Chennai have been identified as high risk areas.

Get Reliable Tests Done

The Minister also said that concerned citizens who have flu symptoms needed to watch where they get themselves tested. “You should not go to any lab and get yourself tested for swine flu. There are labs that will fleece you anywhere between `2,000-3,000 for a test that ought to cost only around `300. Secondly, many of them will give false positives or negatives, as they don’t have the proper testing apparatus,” cautioned Vijay.

“All major government hospitals and 12 private labs that are accredited by the government are safe and will be able to give accurate results,” he said. Vijay added that soon there would be discussions with private labs to fix a nominal rate and ensure proper testing.
http://ibnlive.in.com/news/flu-spreads-in-tn-half-of-the-cases-in-chennai/246813-60-118.html

Medicinal plants in Western Ghats face threat of extinction (http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/chennai/Medicinal-plants-in-Western-Ghats-face-threat-of-extinction/articleshow/12589253.cms)

CHENNAI: It's a small, evergreen tree whose orange fruit and bark is used in a traditional cure for diabetes. But the Eugenia singampattiana (Korandi palam), native to the Western Ghats, and 57 other species with medicinal value face the threat of extinction, according to a government approved study. The research was done in the Kalakkad Mundanthurai Tiger Reserve (KMTR), and said the one of the reasons was excessive collection of these plants for use in preparation of traditional remedies.

The study cited fires, timber extraction, tea plantations, private enclosures and reservoirs as threats to the forests and biodiversity of species. Destructive harvest of species and tourists and pilgrims entering eco-sensitive areas are also responsible for the loss of plants with medicinal value.

"In the absence of laws or policies, indiscriminate collection of plants from forests cannot be considered an offence," said chief conservator of forests (Coimbatore), Manoj Kumar Sarkar, who authored the study. Apart from the lady's slipper orchid, none of the species is covered by the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES), the Indian Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972, or other national or state legislations. Sarkar has recommended that all 58 species be brought under the plant schedule of the Wildlife Protection Act or Biological Diversity Act, 2002.

Globalization triggered an increase in demand for plant-based medicines and herbal products, and the market has doubled since the 1990s. With at least 85% of the species coming from forests/ wild areas, the sector is completely unorganized. "Monitoring them is not an easy task. The government has to work with local people and come up with sustainable means of harvesting," said Care Earth managing trustee Dr R J Ranjith Daniel.

KMTR, the study said, has 772 medicinal species which are predominantly used in Ayurveda, Siddha, Tibetan, Unani, Homeopathy and allopathy. Sarkar said tree species of commercial value received far more importance than shrubs, herbs and species with medicinal value. There have been 466 fires in the reserve in the last decade.

The State government on Saturday sought to assure the people that there was no reason for the public to panic over the incidence of A (H1N1) influenza, saying it was a self-limiting virus that may weaken as summer advances.

Health Minister V.S. Vijay held a press conference here to outline the steps taken by the government to meet the situation.

He said the government had identified 12 laboratories in the State where people could send their throat swab samples for testing. Of these, seven are in Chennai, two in Coimbatore, one each in Tiruchi, Vellore and Nagercoil.

These apart, there are laboratories in government hospitals, including the Rajiv Gandhi Government General Hospital and King Institute in Guindy, Chennai, Government Rajaji Hospital, Madurai, and Tirunelveli GH.

Dr. Vijay said the confirmatory test for the viral infection was the RTPCR test, which these laboratories offered.

“Private laboratories offer a test called the card test but that is not confirmatory as many times there are false positives. We appeal to people not to go to such centres. The government authorised centres will provide the results in 48 hours which are reliable,” he said.

“The virulence of the virus is low. In another month, as the summer advances, the virus' activity will be reduced. There is no reason to panic as viral infections are self-limiting,” Dr. Vijay added. However, the concern is about children below one year, pregnant women, elderly people and diabetics, whose immunity is low.

As of Saturday, 29 persons tested positive for A (H1N1) influenza in the State, according to Dr. Vijay. A 72-year-old farmer from Nallikaundapalayam in Tiruppur succumbed to the infection last Saturday.

The government had started vaccinating those who were closely associated with infected persons. Vaccines were being administered to health workers, such as laboratory technicians and nurses, who were constantly handling samples and patients.

“At present, we have no plans of offering vaccines to the public as it is not an epidemic. We are, however, setting aside funds to procure medicines if there is a need,” Dr. Vijay said.

When a person tested positive, Osaltamavir (trade name Tamiflu) was prescribed, depending on the infection. The infected were administered the medicine twice a day for five days. Those who came in contact with the infected person were administered the medicine as a prophylactic. The dosage for such persons was one tablet a day for 10 days.
http://www.thehindu.com/news/states/tamil-nadu/article3291341.ece

Birth-spacing device to be available in remote villages (http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/Birth-spacing-device-to-be-available-in-remote-villages/articleshow/12631107.cms)

JAIPUR: Long-acting reversible contraceptive - the intra-uterine contraceptive device (IUCD) that will protect women from getting pregnant for five-10 years - will now be available at the doorstep of remote Indian villages.

In a massive push for adequate spacing of children by Indian women, the Union health ministry has decided to allow two lakh Auxillary Nurse Midwives (ANMs) under the National Rural Health Mission (NRHM) to make IUCDs available at all health sub-centres.

The ANMS are also being trained to insert IUCDs themselves. While one IUCD called Surakha 5 will protect women from having a baby for five years, Surakha 10 will prevent her from conceiving for a decade.

A day after TOI reported how almost three in five women (59%) are having their second child within three years of having their first baby, NRHM mission director Anuradha Gupta told the largest gathering of maternal and child health experts here that birth spacing is the ministry's latest mantra.

Gupta has asked all sub-centres to allocate two days in a week exclusively for inserting IUCDs.

Gupta told TOI, "Sub-centres will take up the role of inserting IUCDs in women. We have also started a new programme called the post-partum insertion of IUCDs. Earlier, women who delivered in institutions were asked to come back after six weeks of delivery for counseling and insertion of IUCDs like Copper 380 A. As expected, a majority of them never returned. Under the new programme, pregnant women are counseled for use of IUCDs during the antenatal period itself, and the IUCD is inserted soon after she delivers the baby, following proper consent."

According to Gupta, 45% of India's maternal deaths are in the 15-24 age category.

A ministry official said, "China has used IUCDs to their advantage. There, IUCD usage is as high as 60% for stabilizing population. In India, it is less than 2%. At present, women have two children in a short gap and then stop. This affects India's population boom adversely. There is no proper spacing between two babies."

Gupta added that IUCDs are completely reversible. It is inserted in the uterus by a trained person and is effective for about 10 years. If a woman wants a baby before that, she can get it removed. It, however, does not provide protection against sexually transmitted diseases.

Copper IUDs prevent fertilization by reducing the number and viability of sperm reaching the egg, and by impeding the number and movement of eggs into the uterus. It is believed that the continuous release of copper from the coils and sleeves of the Copper T 380A into the uterine cavity enhances the IUCD's contraceptive effect.

According to health minister Ghulam Nabi Azad, unless the rapid growth of population is contained, it will be difficult to ensure quality education, healthcare, food and housing, clean drinking water, sanitation, hygiene and a healthy environment for all.

India's population was 1.02 billion in 2001, and projected to be nearly 1.19 billion in 2011. It is estimated that in another 20 years it will exceed that of China. India, however, has just 2% of the land but is supporting 17% of the world's population.

TOI had reported on Wednesday how Andhra Pradesh led the list at 66%, followed by Rajasthan, where 34% women had their second baby three years after having their first child.

The corresponding figure for Maharashtra was 35.3%, followed by Haryana (35.7%), Karnataka (35.8%), Himachal Pradesh (36.6%), Bihar (37.3%), Tamil Nadu (40%), Gujarat (40.3%) and Uttar Pradesh (40.9%).

Nearly 30% women in India are keeping a gap of about 24 months between two children. Union health ministry says a woman should ideally deliver her second child after a gap of at least three years from her first baby. If not done, second-time mothers not only pose a threat to the growth of their fetus but also increase risk of a premature delivery.

Earlier studies have reported a higher incidence of low-birth weight and premature delivery among babies conceived within six months of a previous birth, compared to those conceived 18-23 months following the last baby. Experts say it takes at least two years for a woman's body to recover from childbirth. Since nearly 52% of women in India are anemic, a woman has to let her body replenish lost nutrients and the blood that she loses during delivery.

One of the biggest reasons for this is that Indian men don't really swear by sterilization. The number of men undergoing a vasectomy - a 10-minute walk-in-walk-out operation - has dipped by about 22% in 2010-2011 as compared to the previous year. In absolute numbers, over 50,000 fewer men underwent vasectomy in 2010-11 as compared to 2009-10 - from around 2.7 lakh to 2.16 lakh. The ministry's latest data says most states have seen a sharp dip in the number of men wanting to get involved in family planning. Bihar saw a 55% fall in the number of men opting for vasectomy in 2010-11 as compared to the previous year, while Odisha, Maharashtra and Uttar Pradesh recorded 47%, Kerala (46%), Karnataka (45%) fall, respectively.

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Insurance scheme helps General Hospital offer better heart care (http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/chennai/Insurance-scheme-helps-General-Hospital-offer-better-heart-care/articleshow/12668623.cms)

CHENNAI: The money from the state health insurance scheme has helped the Government General Hospital reduce the waiting period of six patients to undergo heart surgeries. The patients went back home early after the minimally invasive procedures.

Cardiologists at the Government General Hospital used implant devices to mend problems like hole in the heart instead of making a 10cm cut on the chest. Such cuts not only leave a huge scar, but also increase the number of days in hospital and may require more blood transfusion and antibiotics. GH chief of cardiology Dr V E Dandapani said in the last few weeks, the hospital operated on six patients aged between 5 and 22 for heart defects.

For the surgery, doctors used a catheter through a blood vessel in the groin area to reach the heart. They then inflated the device into the desired place to remove a block or plug a leak. "If we had done a normal surgery, each patient would have required nearly 10 units of blood. We would have been forced to keep them for a longer time. Most of them were discharged within three days," he said.

Such implants, given free to patients, cost 1 lakh. "Earlier, we could not afford to use such stents on so many people. Now, with the insurance scheme bringing in money, there is hope for many more people," said cardiologist Dr D Muthukumar.

After the launch of the revamped health insurance scheme, government hospitals have been able to make claims for most surgeries they do if the patient is insured. Nearly 28% of the total claims were made by government hospitals. "We now have funds to offer latest treatment on a par with private hospitals," said GH dean Dr V Kanakasabai.

The road to universal health care (http://www.thehindu.com/opinion/lead/article3312047.ece?homepage=true)

Progressive strengthening of public facilities is the only way to reach medical services to the population as a whole.

“The best form of providing health protection would be to change the economic system which produces ill health, and to liquidate ignorance, poverty and unemployment. The practice of each individual purchasing his own medical care does not work. It is unjust, inefficient, wasteful and completely outmoded ... In our highly geared, modern industrial society, there is no such thing as private health — all health is public. The illness and maladjustments of one unit of the mass affects all other members. The protection of people's health should be recognised by the Government as its primary obligation and duty to its citizens.”

These are the words of the distinguished Canadian surgeon, Norman Bethune, who, in 1936, called for universal health protection in which health services would be provided to all through public funds. He pointed out that the major causes of ill health among the poor in Canada, at that time, were: financial inability to pay, ignorance, apathy and lack of medical service. These are true of present-day India, where health insecurity continues to increase with growing economic prosperity.

What is UHC?

Universal health coverage (UHC) has now been widely adopted by Canada and many other developing countries both as a developmental imperative and the moral obligation of a civilised society. India embraced this vision at its independence. However, insufficient funding of public facilities, combined with faulty planning and inefficient management over the years, has resulted in a dysfunctional health system that has been yielding poor health outcomes. India's public spending on health — just around 1.2 per cent of GDP — is among the lowest in the world. Private health services have grown by default, without checks on cost and quality, escalating private out-of-pocket health expenditures and exacerbating health inequity. While the National Rural Health Mission and the several government funded health insurance schemes have provided a partial response, out-of-pocket expenditure still remains at 71 per cent of all spending, without coverage for outpatient care, medicines and basic diagnostic tests.

The High Level Expert Group (HLEG) established by the Planning Commission has submitted a comprehensive framework for providing UHC in India. A health entitlement card should assure every citizen access to a national health package of essential primary, secondary and tertiary care, both inpatient and outpatient. The HLEG is very clear that services included under UHC must be tax funded and cashless at delivery. User fees are to be abolished because they are inefficient, inadequate and iniquitous. Contributory social insurance is not appropriate for countries like India where a large segment of the workforce — close to 93 per cent — is in the unorganised sector and vast numbers are below or near the poverty line.

Four priorities

Increasing public spending on health is the first immediate requirement. The President of India has affirmed that “to attain the goal of universal health care, my Government would endeavour to increase both Plan and Non-Plan public expenditure in the Centre and the States taken together to 2.5 per cent of the GDP by the end of the 12th Plan.” However, even the doubling of public financing will not be adequate to support all the components of a fully evolved UHC. Priorities need to be defined.

The first priority for achieving UHC, as the Prime Minister has pointed out, should be “a determined effort to strengthen our public health systems.” Primary health care must be improved, starting with sub-centres, the first health post for the community. By staffing them with well-trained non-physician health care providers, both facility-based and outreach services can be provided without being doctor dependent. District hospitals too should be strengthened to provide high quality secondary care, some elements of essential tertiary care and training to different categories of health care providers.

The second priority should be to improve the size and quality of our health workforce. Without this, the promise of UHC will remain an empty entitlement. Since primary health care is our first priority, resources must be devoted to the production of competent and committed community health workers for the frontline, mid-level health workers or AYUSH doctors for the sub-centres, and general and specialist nurses as well as non-specialist doctors for primary health centres. More specialists are needed for higher levels of health care including the district hospitals. New nursing and medical colleges should be preferentially set up in States which presently have very few, linking them to district hospitals. Public health competencies must be increased through inter-disciplinary education which is aligned to health system needs. Improved management of all of these human resources must involve better incentives for recruitment and retention, cadre review and creation of well defined career tracks.

The third priority should be to provide essential medicines and diagnostics free of cost at all public facilities. At the same time, referral linkages and patient transport services should be improved to integrate primary, secondary and tertiary health care in the public system. Difficult to reach areas and vulnerable population groups should receive special attention, even as the principle of universality must be applied while designing health services.

The fourth priority must be to put in place the necessary public systems for UHC. Regulatory systems need strengthening — from hospital accreditation to health professional education and from drug licensing to mandatory adoption of standard management guidelines for diagnosis and treatment of different disease conditions at each level of health care. A national inter-operable Health Information Network is needed to improve governance, accountability, portability, storage of health records and management. Community participation must be supported to actively engage people in the design, delivery, monitoring and evaluation of health programmes. And finally, larger investments should be made in health promoting programmes in other sectors such as water, sanitation, nutrition, environment, urban design and livelihood generation.
Role of the private sector

The Kolkata Group led by Amartya Sen, in its 2011 Public Declaration, pointed to the many limitations of the private sector in health. “Influential policymakers in India seem to be attracted by the idea that private health care, properly subsidised, or private health insurance, subsidised by the State, can meet the challenge. However, there are good analytical reasons why this is unlikely to happen because of informational asymmetry (the patient can be easily fooled by profit-seeking providers on what exactly is being provided) and because of the ‘public goods' character of health care thanks to the interdependences involved. There are also major decisional problems that lead to the gross neglect of the interests of women and children in family decisions.” It is also well known that insurance schemes (whether funded by the Central and State governments) at best provide limited health care and at worst divert a large part of the health budget to expensive hospitalised tertiary and secondary care, to the great neglect of primary care.

Clearly, there is no alternative to a progressive strengthening of the public facilities and thereby reduce people's dependence on private providers. However, the public system may need to “contract-in” the services of willing private providers, to fill gaps in its capacity to deliver all the services assured under UHC. Such “contracted-in” private providers will have to deliver cashless services and would be compensated on the basis of pre-determined cost per package of health services rather than “fee for service” for each visit or procedure. In such an arrangement, the private sector acts as an extension of the public sector where needed and will not compete for the same set of services for the same people.

Final remarks

It is time to recognise that everyone, not just the poor, needs to be protected against rising health costs that can impoverish any family. We are on the threshold of a historic transition to guarantee health security for all Indians. UHC will greatly reduce out-of-pocket expenditures and provide much needed relief to people. Apart from improving people's health, adopting UHC is likely to generate millions of new jobs, enhance productivity, and promote equity. Statesmanship must assert itself to create a national framework of UHC that is capable of State-specific adaptations. It is time to give the people of India the efficient, affordable and equitable health system they desire, deserve and demand.

(K. Srinath Reddy is President, Public Health Foundation of India. A.K. Shiva Kumar is Member, National Advisory Council. Both were members of the HLEG on UHC).

http://www.bbc.co.uk/tamil/india/2012/04/120412_tnhealth.shtml

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ஆனால் அதை மறுத்துப்பேசிய தேமுதிக சட்டமன்ற உறுப்பினர்கள் தமிழ்நாட்டின் தனியார் மருத்துவமனைகள் சிறப்பாக செயல்பட்டாலும், அரசு மருத்துவமனைகளும், சுகாதார கட்டமைப்பும் போதுமானதாக இல்லை என்று குற்றம் சாட்டினார்கள். அதனால் தான் தமிழக அமைச்சர்களும் அவர் தம் குடும்பத்தவர்களும் தனியார் மருத்துவமனைகளில் சிகிச்சை பெறுவதாகவும் அவர்கள் சுட்டிக்காட்டினார்கள்.

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Insurance scheme: stellar performance by Tiruchi GH

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The Hindu The facade of Annal Gandhi Memorial Government Hospital in Tiruchi. Photo: R.M. Rajarathinam
Annal Gandhi Memorial Government Hospital attached to K.A.P. Viswanatham Government Medical College here has performed 361 medical and surgical procedures under the Chief Minister's Health Insurance Scheme, making it the only facility outside Chennai to perform maximum procedures.

In an interaction with mediapersons, Dean A. Karthikeyan said that 204 surgeries and 157 medical management procedures were performed between February 13 and April 13. A total of 399 cases were approved by the insurance company.

The hospital dealt with a daily average of 10-15 cases under the scheme, Dr. Thulasi , nodal officer for the scheme at the hospital, said. So far, Rs. 26.60 lakh had been reimbursed by the insurance company for 116 procedures. The proceeds would go to the respective departments for enhancing infrastructure and other facilities, and towards honorarium for medical staff.

Children were among the foremost beneficiaries with 18 paediatric treatments and 96 paediatric procedures performed. Medical procedures include 44 general surgeries, 45 orthopaedic surgeries, 34 ENT and 12 neurosurgeries, 15 neurology, and 19 cardiology treatments. Procedures included reconstructive hand surgery for a four-year-old, ligament reconstruction, hysterectomy, trauma care, surgeries for cleft palate, cleft lip, kidney obstruction and plastic surgery for patient with 40 percent burns.

The patients were observed during post operative care for a maximum of five days in the respective departments. With Ward 500 being readied exclusively for the insurance scheme, patients would be admitted there once the work was over. While elective surgeries could be performed only after approval, life-saving emergency surgeries were performed promptly after obtaining an emergency log number through a toll-free number, Dr.Thulasi said.

Keywords: health insurance scheme, government health scheme, Tamil Nadu government, Tiruchi government hospital

http://www.thehindu.com/news/cities/Tiruchirapalli/article3321052.ece

Free treatment for TN hemophiliacs (http://www.deccanchronicle.com/channels/cities/chennai/free-treatment-tn-hemophiliacs-458)

With cases of hemophilia, a genetic disorder that prevents blood from forming an effective clot, rising alarmingly among male children and adults, doctors in the city find patients unable to receive correct treatment owing to acute factor shortage and lack of awareness about the disease.

Speaking at a programme organised on the occasion of World Hemophilia Day at Rajiv Gandhi government general hospital on Tuesday, mayor Saidai Duraisamy said, “The insurance scheme introduced in the previous regime did not include treatment for hemophilia but several patients suffering from the disorder have benefitted under the present CM’s comprehensive insurance scheme introduced by the AIADMK government.”

He also said doctors practising modern medicine should take a special interest and learn more about other areas of medicine.

“The hemophilia club in the city has only 15,000 members and several people are still not aware of this rare disorder. So they end up going to wrong places in search of treatment. The focus should be on creating awareness,” he added.

Doctors lament that most of the patients in rural areas are absolutely clueless about the symptoms and treatment for hemophilia. “The factor concentrates to control the bleeding are very expensive but in all the 17 medical colleges across the state we have clinics that provide free treatment. Tamil Nadu is the first state to give life-long free treatment to hemophilic patients,” said GH dean Dr Kanagasabai.

Thiruvananthapuram, April 30:

HLL Lifecare has floated a wholly owned subsidiary, HLL Biotech Ltd, to execute the integrated vaccine complex coming up at Chengalpattu in Tamil Nadu.

The Rs 594-crore vaccine complex aims to boost the country's vaccine security, an HLL Lifecare spokesman said here on Monday.

The first phase of the Complex will have an annual capacity of 585 million doses, and will be completed within 36 months.

It will manufacture pentavalent combination, BCG, measles, hepatitis B, human rabies, Hib and Japanese Encephalitis vaccines.

“Of the total project cost, Rs 28 crore has already been released,” said Mr M. Ayyappan, Chairman and Managing Director, HLL Lifecare.

“We have also started preliminary works on-site at the 100-acre area. A project office has started functioning with sufficient staff, including a project officer.”

It will help considerably reduce the country's dependence on imports, Mr Ayyappan said.

Pre-qualified by the World Health Organisation, the facility will also have capacity to manufacture futuristic meningococcal, rotaviral, dengue and pneumococcal vaccines.

These will be made available from its multi-bacterial and multi-viral facilities to meet any epidemic or pandemic situations, Mr Ayyappan added.

R&D INITIATIVE

The IVC also seeks to develop a strong R&D base, apart from manufacturing and supplying an estimated 75 per cent of the vaccines required for the UIP.

A market leader in contraceptives, HLL Lifecare has since diversified into project consultancy and healthcare products, among others.

A mini ratna public sector undertaking, it aims to become a Rs 10,000-crore company by 2020.
http://www.thehindubusinessline.com/companies/article3371018.ece

CHENNAI: Despite having a lengthy trail of paperwork to fill out before a child from another State can receive even just a portion of a parent’s liver, the Directorate of Medical Education (DME), Chennai, has shown positive signs, said a top liver transplant surgeon.

“Normally the process to get the approval from the DME takes between four and six days. Most often, the children who require a transplant are brought in a near terminal state,” said Dr Mohamed Rela, Professor of Paediatric Liver Transplantation at Kings College Hospital, London.

Also the head of the liver transplant program at Global Hospitals since late 2010, he said that recently, the DME had taken heed of the urgency of the children’s condition and approved the paperwork in 48 hours, “This is a great step forward. It’s not easy at all. Imagine, sometimes they’ll have to get a court order signed by a judge in Bhopal, while the child is in a hospital miles away,” he added.

Speaking on the sidelines of the the XXI Dr MS Ramakrishnan Memorial Oration conducted by the Kanchi Kamakotti Childs Trust Hospital, Rela also said that paediatric liver transplants were an area that needed attention in India. “In Chennai, we see a lot more cadaver transplants than live transplants. But for children, it isn’t always the best option,” he said and explained that an auxiliary orthoptic transplant for kids who suffer from Acute Liver Failure is the best option. Research to study the factors that promote tolerance between grafted liver and the host will hold the key, he said.
http://ibnlive.in.com/news/tn-gets-pat-for-quick-transplant-processing/255355-60-120.html

Advantages of robotic surgery explained

Robotic surgery allows surgeons to operate through infinitely smaller incisions, resulting in significantly less pain, scarring, and recovery time for patients, said Thirumalai Ganesan, senior consultant urologist, Apollo Hospitals, Chennai, here on Sunday.

Explaining to presspersons about robotic surgery using video clippings, Dr.Ganesan said in addition to a shorter hospital stay, the minimally invasive approach offers other advantages to patients including less risk of infection, less blood loss, fewer transfusions, and quicker return to normal activities.

There are many advantages to surgeons too in robotic surgery.

Conventional laparoscopy is limited to two dimensional vision whereas robotic telescope creates a three dimensional image which mimics natural experience.

“The robot is capable of magnifying images 10-15 times normal and this allows the surgeon to be more selective about the dissection of the critical structures by fractions of a millimetre,” Dr.Ganesan said.

The Da Vinci is a surgical robot system that is used to perform non-invasive surgeries.

Originally developed by the US defence academy to perform surgeries on the battlefield, Da Vinci was later adapted for surgical purposes on the hospital premises.

Describing the Da Vinci system, he said that there are three consoles as part of the machine: a vision cart to monitor the procedure, an operation cart that actually does the procedure, and a surgeon console through which the surgeon controls the operation.

The arms have a 540 degree manoeuvrability that improves the precision of the surgery.

Apollo Hospitals has acquired a robot for multi speciality purpose and has so far conducted 70 robotic surgeries, Dr.Ganesan said.

Today's Paper » NATIONAL » TAMIL NADU
The Hindu



VELLORE, June 2, 2012
Computer disaster recovery system inaugurated at CMC

Staff Reporter



http://www.thehindu.com/multimedia/dynamic/01101/TTSJMHI-W128_ART_G_1101520e.jpg Health Attache and Regional Representative for South Asia, US Department of Health and Human Services, Steven T. Smith, launching the computer disaster recovery system at Christian Medical College, Vellore, on Friday. Collector Ajay Yadav and director of CMC Suranjan Bhattacharji are in the picture.— Photo: D. Gopalakrishnan

The Christian Medical College (CMC), Vellore, has put in place a computer software upgrade – Computer Disaster Recovery system – which has come up with grant from USAID-American Schools and Hospitals Abroad (ASHA) and a matching grant from CMC, Vellore.
Health Attache and Regional Representative for South Asia, US Department of Health and Human Services Steven T. Smith inaugurated the computer software upgrade on Friday in the presence of Collector Ajay Yadav.
Addressing the gathering, Mr. Smith said training of medical professionals was essential to improve health care in India. “We should build a sense of responsibility and compassion in the medical professionals so that the system addresses the needs of the poorest in the country,” he observed.
He pointed out that India was going through a lot of transition in various areas. The progress in health and science was tremendous, he added.
He elaborated on the relationship between India and the United States. “Science and technology has been an important part of the relationship between the U.S. and India, the others included nuclear science, space and Information Technology. One of the growing areas of relationship is health and medical science,” he pointed out.
Mr. Smith went on to stress the need to bring more science for collaboration so that the population have access to better healthcare. “There is need for more medical professionals to meet the needs of the people. There should be more science, more basic science, more applied science, medical technology and more health workers,” he said.
Noting that the two countries had a broad partnership in areas of science and technology and health, he said, “Four high level working groups with experts from the US and India have been set up. There are representatives from the government, private sector and a range of experts including from CMC in the groups.”
Computer software upgrade
The appointment, consultation, investigation, prescriptions, admission and discharge are managed by one computerised system at CMC – CMC Health Information System (HIS) using locally developed and locally maintained applications. CMC uses Oracle Real Application Cluster (RAC) to manage its database on a configuration with built-in server redundancies and power redundancies. In case of a failure, the systems would continue to function because of the redundancies without a pause, a press release said.
CMC has six campuses – patient care, teaching and research at four campuses, teaching in one and clinical services in another one campus. All the campuses were networked using optical cables and those with patient care have radio frequency connectivity which provides redundancy in case of failure of the cable.
Considering the patient load and round the clock patient care, any major physical damage or failure to the main servers or its backups would cause inconvenience to patients as all services from appointments to discharges would stop. Hence, two years ago, an application was made to ASHA for software license support to switch over the entire HIS service from its main server room to a remote site so that patient care service could go on with minimal interruption from a remote host.
With grant from ASHA, the disaster recovery came in. Licenses were provided by ASHA as part of the same grant for the remote servers. Now, backup of patient and patient-related service information, security and confidentiality is provided, the release added.
While the USAID ASHA grant for the software was Rs. 1,58,93,500, there was a matching support from CMC Vellore to the tune of Rs. 1,98,16,520. The total cost of the project was Rs. 3,57,10,020, the release said.
Electronic medical record was being tested at CMC now. The digital technology was to improve the efficiency of the hospital, according to Director of CMC Suranjan Bhattacharji.:)

This site looks good for a govt. website.

http://www.tnhsp.org/

CM's comprehensive Health Insurance Scheme website:

http://www.cmchistn.com/

http://www.cmchistn.com/img/features.jpg

^^ Looks really on par with corporates :cheers:

Murlee, please crosspost in TN websites thread also

TNHSP Tribal Health Services - Part 1.avi


uP51XgEWFtY

Part 2

zfKeqWNUHUc

TNHSP Comprehensive Emergency Obstetric & Newborn Care (CEmONC) Services.avi


W6fPI4W91oM

தமிழகத்தின் தாய் சேய் மகப்பேறு நலத்திட்டத்தை பாராட்டி உலக வங்கி இணையத்தில் 13 ஏப்ரல் 2012 அன்று வெளிவந்த கட்டுரை http://web.worldbank.org/WBSITE/EXTERNAL/NEWS/0,,contentMDK:23192777~menuPK:141310~pagePK:34370~piPK:34424~theSitePK:4607,00.html

^^ medical in TN is comparatively better.
Had the money is spent at least some more "judiciously" result will be wonderful.
there is a huge difference between Chennai Publich Health Centers and Public Health Center in some Towns.
Still some of the programs are good(but not the best) since 70s-80s. I remember a small PHC served in Thanjavur,better even in my childhood days.they served better on what they received. as usual, it got collapsed between 90s-2000s.It was given new life during JJ's 2nd term.
the problem is high corruption between "proposed" supply and actual supply.

"kannu illathavanga oorule, otthai kannan than Raja".. that is the case of TN :)
I wish TN has to compete and do a good show in a city where every one has "eyes".

India to give free medicine to hundreds of millions


India has put in place a $5.4 billion policy to provide free medicine to its people, a decision that could change the lives of hundreds of millions, but a ban on branded drugs stands to cut Big Pharma out of the windfall.

From city hospitals to tiny rural clinics, India's public doctors will soon be able to prescribe free generic drugs to all comers, vastly expanding access to medicine in a country where public spending on health was just $4.50 per person last year.

The plan was quietly adopted last year but not publicised. Initial funding has been allocated in recent weeks, officials said.

Under the plan, doctors will be limited to a generics-only drug list and face punishment for prescribing branded medicines, a major disadvantage for pharmaceutical giants in one of the world's fastest-growing drug markets.

"Without a doubt, it is a considerable blow to an already beleaguered industry, recently the subject of several disadvantageous decisions in India," said KPMG partner Chris Stirling, who is European head of Chemicals and Pharmaceuticals.

"Pharmaceutical firms will likely rethink their emerging markets strategies carefully to take account of this development, and any similar copycat moves across other geographies," he added.

But the initiative would overhaul a system where healthcare is often a luxury and private clinics account for four times as much spending as state hospitals, despite 40 percent of the people living below the poverty line, or $1.25 a day or less.

Within five years, up to half of India's 1.2 billion people are likely to take advantage of the scheme, the government says. Others are likely to continue visiting private hospitals and clinics, where the scheme will not operate.

"The policy of the government is to promote greater and rational use of generic medicines that are of standard quality," said L.C. Goyal, additional secretary at the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare and a key proponent of the policy.

"They are much, much cheaper than the branded ones."

Global drugmakers like Pfizer GlaxoSmithKline and Merck will be hit. They spend billions of dollars a year researching new treatments and target huge growth for branded medicine in emerging economies such as India, where generics account for around 90 percent of drug sales by value, far more than in developed countries.

U.S.-based Abbott Laboratories, which bought an Indian generics maker in 2010, is the biggest seller of drugs, both branded and generic, in India, followed by GlaxoSmithKline.

BIG PHARMA BLUES

In March, India granted its first ever compulsory license, allowing a domestic drugmaker to manufacture a copy-cat version of Nexavar, a cancer drug developed by Germany's Bayer, unnerving foreign drugmakers that fear a lack of intellectual property protection in emerging markets.

That enabled India's Natco Pharma to sell its generic version of Nexavar at 8,800 rupees per monthly dose, a fraction of the 280,000 rupees Bayer's version cost.

In another blow to Big Pharma's emerging market ambitions, China recently overhauled regulations to grant authorities the power to allow domestic drugmakers to produce cheap copies of medicines protected by patents.

Emerging markets are on track to make up 28 percent of global pharmaceuticals sales by 2015, up from 12 percent in 2005, according to IMS Health, a healthcare information and services company.

Most sales in emerging markets come from branded generics, which are off-patent drugs priced at a premium to those made by local manufacturers.

The Organisation of Pharmaceutical Producers of India (OPPI), a lobby group for multinational drugmakers in the country, argues that the price of drugs is just one factor in access to healthcare and that the scheme need not be detrimental to manufacturers of branded drugs.

"I think this will hasten overall growth of the pharmaceutical industry, as poor patients who could not afford will now have access to essential medicines," said Tapan Ray, director general of OPPI.

About 600 billion rupees in drugs are sold each year in India, or 482 billion at wholesale. Drugs covered under the new policy account for about 60 percent of existing sales, or 290 billion rupees at wholesale cost.

The government's annual cost is likely to be lower due to bulk purchasing and because patients at private clinics would still pay for their own drugs. States will pay for 25 percent of the free drugs and the central government will cover the rest.

Under various existing programmes, around 250 million people, or less than a quarter of India's population, now receive free medicines, according to the health ministry.

India's new policy, to be implemented by the end of 2012 and rolled out nationwide within two years, is expected to provide 52 percent of the population with free drugs by April 2017, at a cumulative cost of 300 billion rupees.

That requires a major funding ramp-up from a deficit-strapped government. The scheme has been granted just 1 billion rupees thus far from central government coffers.

STRICT INSTRUCTIONS

Public doctors will be able to spend 5 percent of the budget, equivalent to around $50 million a year, on drugs outside of the government's list, on branded drugs or on medicines that are not on the list. Beyond that, they can be punished, said Goyal, the health ministry official.

"If doctors are found to be prescribing medicines which are not on the list, or which are branded, then disciplinary action will be initiated," he said.

Free medicine is just one solution to better healthcare in India, where just getting to a state clinic can require a long journey.

Swapnil Yadav, who runs a clinic in Ambegaon, a village 170 km (105 miles) southeast of Mumbai, said India should set up free drug retailers instead of government clinics.

"Patients can approach a private clinic and then get free medicines from government-run medicine shops," he said.

The free generics scheme, which mirrors policies in the states of Tamil Nadu and Rajasthan, is expected to be fully operational by the time voters go to the polls for the 2014 general election, when the populist Congress party will seek a third straight victory.

Indian makers of generics such as Dr Reddy's and Cipla are best placed to benefit.

"The move will please the generics manufacturers who stand to gain substantially in competing for contracts," said KPMG's Stirling

Source: http://www.defence.pk/forums/world-affairs/192541-india-give-free-medicine-hundreds-millions.html#ixzz1zxK3FwSK

Great move! Looks good on paper.. Is it practically feasible? Docs?

And there is this great focus on generic drugs especially after Aamir Khans show. Is it safe to consume these non - branded generic drugs? Or any side-effects?

If they are so cheap, why weren't generic drugs scheme that was in place in TN almost 15 years ago not implemented all over? Pharma lobby?

See what Cipla chairman is telling regarding that

Great move! Looks good on paper.. Is it practically feasible? Docs?

And there is this great focus on generic drugs especially after Aamir Khans show. Is it safe to consume these non - branded generic drugs? Or any side-effects?


Generic drugs are basically (mostly) the copies of the branded drugs with identical composition (active and inactive ingredients), dosages and side effects. The active ingredients — the things that make the brand-name drug work in the first place — are also found in the generic version.
What might be different are the generic drug’s inactive ingredients — things that might affect how quickly a drug is released, the size and shape of the pill — there could be variation there.

The brand drugs are expensive because of the cost to the manufacturers on patents, research, drug discovery/development, and marketing. when the patent expires or nears expiration other manufacturers are allowed to use the formula to bring the drug to the market and in effect reducing its cost.

Having said the above, the docs do find generic drugs are not as effective on some patients, and would like to go with only branded drugs as that would work better for that particular patient (may be because of dissimilarities in inactive ingredients). It is subjective at times, but for most part it works the same way. It should be the doctor who should make that determination. Although I'm not a doc (I'm a Physiotherapist to begin with, but now working for the insurers in quality management), I have worked with many docs (and still do) who feel the same. Maybe one of the docs from the forum can talk more about to my comments!

Even in the US, there is a big push by the insurance companies to maximize the use of generic drugs. the doctors are evaluated based on the percentages of prescriptions they write that are generic and are incentivized by the insurers.

This is a welcome move by GOI, but how are they gonna pay for this? is this all a pre election gimmick?



Below is an article I read a while ago about India generic drug makers

We are all aware of many high-priced drugs, some costing more than $10,000 a month for treatment, that have radically altered the course of a patient’s illness. We are also aware of a huge market in generic-equivalent drugs, many of which are similar in chemical composition and effect to their high-priced cousins.

Over the past several years, India has become the world’s largest producer of cheap, lifesaving generic medicines, which are distributed to impoverished countries around the world.

But in the United States and most European countries, many medicines with recognizable brand names are protected by patents and cannot be manufactured or distributed as generic equivalents. Despite this protection, India has, for many years, mass-produced the generic equivalents of many expensive and effective drugs to the poorest countries around the world by circumventing patent regulations. Most of the major manufacturers have, until recently, looked the other way. Presently, however, there is a case in front of the Indian Supreme Court involving the drug Gleevec, a breakthrough cancer treatment for people with a deadly form of leukemia manufactured by the Swiss drug company Novartis. Novartis is trying to stop the Indian supply chain of inexpensive generics by forcing the Indian government to recognize the patent of this drug in particular and, by inference, all brand-name drugs, thereby blocking distribution.

The particular case of Novartis and Gleevec presents a moral and business conundrum. The drug company is trying to stop Indian manufacturers from producing generic knockoffs and claims that the violation of patents and copyright laws would not allow Novartis to pursue research and development to create newer and better drugs. The Indian government, on the other hand, claims that if the large drug companies, like Novartis, prevail in the lawsuit, the worldwide supply of inexpensive medicine to treat cancer, AIDS and HIV, and other diseases would disappear.

The moral dilemma for a company like Novartis, a major worldwide developer and manufacturer of innovative (and expensive) drugs, is that in order to develop these drugs, the company must be profitable. These profits would then, in large part, go toward research and development and hopefully new and far-reaching discoveries. However, the high cost denies millions of patients, particularly AIDS and HIV patients in poorer countries, access to these drugs.

At the heart of the matter is the Indian government’s denial of the patent for Gleevec and similar drugs made by Western drug manufacturers. The Obama administration and the Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America, a drug industry lobby group, are applying considerable pressure on the Indian government to relent in the dispute. Their desire is that the Indian government agree to grant patents to generics in situations similar to that involving Gleevec.

Clearly, the drug companies would like to increase their investment in India, for both distribution and manufacturing, as sales in the emerging markets would then compensate for the expected decreased business in the United States and Western Europe.

Although Gleevec, originally approved by the Food and Drug Administration in 2001, can cost about $70,000 a year in the United States, Novartis insists that it offers hefty discounts in poor and underdeveloped countries. By comparison, the Indian generic version costs about $2,500 a year.

The question for a company like Novartis is, How do you balance the high cost of a drug and the need for a hefty profit in order to continue research and development against the worldwide need for generics across a wide swath of countries unable to afford the brand-name drugs?

The burden falls squarely on India, a country that exports about $10 billion worth of generic medicines per year. Doctors Without Borders estimates that 80 percent of the generic AIDS drugs it supplies to an estimated 170,000 people in Africa are made in India. Without a change in the patent laws, a humanitarian disaster is imminent.

The case before the Indian Supreme Court gets a little sticky because it involves a principle of Indian patent law that prohibits a new form of a substance from receiving a patent unless the formation significantly improves the medicine’s efficacy. This position was aimed at preventing a widespread practice among pharmaceutical companies known as evergreening, wherein the company makes minor changes of existing drugs and earns new patents. Evergreening can theoretically provide many additional years of patent protection from generic competition. At present, India’s patent law does not define efficacy or say how it should be measured.

In the end, the key to the case before the court and the moral conundrum to be solved is to interpret the law in a way that balances the need for innovation against public health concerns.

More info on the free drugs scheme...

Free drugs for all is the beginning of health reforms:

http://www.business-standard.com/india/news/free-drugs-for-all-isbeginninghealth-reforms-s-selvaraj/479706/

Has the health ministry identified a strategy for procurement and distribution of generic drugs?
The health ministry, as I believe, is putting in place a mechanism that would tie in financial allocation to a host of reforms, expected to improve governance and accountability in the medicine supply system in the country. The proposed system is on the lines of Tamil Nadu Medical Service Corporation, the time-tested and successful model based on the principles of ‘centralised procurement and decentralised distribution’. Since the state governments do not have the fiscal width currently to implement the same, the Central government is expected to contribute 75 per cent of the additional funds.

According to the current estimates, the additional funds are expected to be Rs 4,000-5,000 crore a year. This proposal already has the backing of the Prime Minister’s Office and the Planning Commission.

Some states like Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Rajasthan and Bihar are already procuring generic drugs and distributing these for free to patients. How will the Central procurement plan work in this scenario?
The additional funding likely to be allocated by the Centre for the scheme will help the states to shore up their fiscal position to procure medicines and distribute these freely to patients.

The UHC has focused on free drugs. But states with good health indicators like Kerala and Tamil Nadu have not confined themselves to free drugs. They have sufficient doctors at the primary health care (PHC) level, too. But you are only asking for nurses for PHC?
Free drugs is only a part of the grand package recommended by HLEG. Besides, drugs would put pressure on doctors to be present there. Getting doctors will take time, while this can be done immediately. So, this is a beginning.

Bihar spends Rs 93 per capita on health with pathetic results, while Kerala spends Rs 287 — giving it the best health indicator in the country. What is the portion they spend on doctors and drugs?
On an average, salaries and other compensation account for 40 per cent of the government’s public health spending, while medicines account for 10 per cent. However, the state governments spending on medicine varies considerably from as high as 13-14 per cent in Tamil Nadu and Kerala to five per cent or less in Punjab, Uttar Pradesh and Bihar. The Central government at present spends 10-12 per cent of its overall expenditure on drugs. With additional funds for medicine procurement, the Centre may end up spending 14-15 per cent, but a substantial share would go to the states.

Spending on drugs in India was $14.3 billion in 2011, including $3.3 billion for brand-name drugs, according to the IMS Institute for Healthcare Informatics. Total drug spending is expected to more than double by 2016, to $29 billion.

For Western drug makers in India, the target is not the poor but the growing middle and upper-middle classes, many of whom use private clinics and doctors, which are excluded from the current subsidy proposal. Given questions about the quality and regulation of India’s generic-drug manufacturers, Western companies are hoping that Indians with money to spare will decide to opt for brand-name drugs or so-called branded generics, which carry the names of major drug makers.

“We think that there is still a big opportunity in India,” said Mark Grayson, a spokesman for the Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America, the industry trade group. “We believe that the economic situation for many Indians is getting better, and we believe there will be a place for good, branded generics.”

Nevertheless, Western pharmaceutical companies face many challenges in India. In March, its patent regulator ordered Bayer to license a cancer drug to an Indian generic drug maker under a compulsory license. The move, a first for India, raised fears among foreign companies that they could be required to license more of their medicines to generic producers.

For about 35 years, India did not grant drug patents in an effort to provide cheap medicine to its people. That helped establish a thriving generic drug industry. In 2005, it started issuing patents for drugs created in or after 1995.

Given the pervasive corruption in India and the poor state of the medical system, it is unclear how effectively the government could carry out the new drug program.

Yusuf K. Hamied, the chairman and managing director of Cipla, a Mumbai-based company that is one of the largest producers of generic medicines in India and the world, expressed skepticism.

Mr. Hamied, a proponent of generic drugs, said Thursday that he had only read news reports about the proposal and was unsure the government could put it into effect.

“Not easy and does not appear workable except if they give free medicines made by the public sector drug companies,” he wrote in an e-mail message. “They don’t make a full range, so it will be difficult for them. The government should consult us for practical solutions to their policy implementation.”

Dr. Reddy said that to be successful, officials will have to put in place an efficient procurement, distribution and tracking system to ensure that drugs get to the people who need them and are not stolen by officials involved in distribution, as happens to much of the wheat and rice distributed by Indian states to poor families.

But two Indian states, Tamil Nadu and Rajasthan, already distribute free drugs, and have attracted more people to government hospitals as a result. Last year, the National Rural Health Mission began dispensing free drugs to pregnant women to encourage them to deliver their babies at medical institutions, said Dr. Panda, the health ministry official.

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/07/06/business/india-may-provide-free-drugs-at-state-run-hospitals.html?pagewanted=all

FYI, this article regarding the Glivec/Novartis case gives an idea of the patent laws in India...

India inherited its original patent law from the British and it barred the country from producing local versions of patented drugs such as malaria medications or the first antibiotics. Indira Gandhi, as prime minister, was incensed to learn India was paying higher prices for medicines than many Western countries. In 1972, at the height of the Green Revolution, she oversaw the adoption of a law that made it illegal to patent food or medications in India.

The country was then short of technology, but rich in skilled biochemists, who rallied to a Gandhian cry of self-reliance and began to “reverse engineer” Indian versions of many brand-name drugs. By the mid-1990s, the public sector research had led to a thriving private sector generic industry, making drugs for both internal consumption and export.

When India joined the World Trade Organization in 1995, though, it had to agree to start granting patents on medicines by 2005. Leftist parties then in the governing coalition, seeking to keep the law from being what they saw as excessively pro-business, included a clause saying a new form of a known substance cannot be patented unless it has shown enhanced “efficacy.”

The language was unusual for patent law, and aimed at stopping “evergreening” the practice multinational pharmaceutical companies use to extend their patent terms beyond the usual 20 years by making minor changes in their existing medicines, filing for a new drug and thus keeping a monopoly.

The ramifications of the case go far beyond Glivec. They reach into the tiny Delhi apartment of C. N. Patel, a 55-year-old oil driller who has been living with HIV since 1996. Five years ago, he collapsed on the job; tests found his immune system so shredded by the virus he was next to dead. He started on the most common course of anti-retroviral drugs, and recovered somewhat – but soon discovered his virus was resistant to those drugs and he needed a “second-line” combination of drugs.

Right now, he takes generics, which he gets free through the national AIDS program. But Abbott and BMS, which hold the patents on his drugs elsewhere, have already applied in India and are watching the Glivec decision. There’s no way to tell what they might charge for Mr. Patel’s drugs if they regain their monopoly, but other patented AIDS drugs are sold for $6,000 a year here, about what his family lives on.

“I can’t pay,” said Mr. Patel. “My pension is gone. My savings are gone. I can’t get more loans. If they win this lawsuit, I’ll just die.”

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/world/drug-companies-watching-indias-drug-patent-case/article534381/?page=all

Also read...
http://www.doctorswithoutborders.org/publications/article.cfm?id=5769&cat=briefing-documents

Q: How is Novartis trying to make Section 3(d) meaningless?
A: Section 3(d) requires demonstration of increased therapeutic efficacy for a medicine to deserve a patent. In this case, Novartis is trying to argue against that "efficacy" should be interpreted differently by the Indian courts and patent offices. The interpretation of the definition of "efficacy" is therefore central to this case, and to the future of India’s role as pharmacy of the developing world.

In its first legal battle in the Madras High Court, Novartis argued that increased bioavailability of the salt form of imatinib meant increased efficacy, entitling it to a patent on imatinib mesylate. But at the time, Madras High Court clarified efficacy to mean "therapeutic effect in healing a disease." The rejection of Novartis’s patent application was therefore confirmed.

Thanks for the details CY!!

Salem, Madurai to get exclusive 500-bed hospitals


For the first time in the State, exclusive 500-bed hospitals for rural children and women will come up at Salem and Madurai at a cost of Rs. 80 crore each.

Under the National Rural Health Mission, the State Health Society has been sanctioned Rs. 160 crore for establishing the state-of-art hospitals at Salem and Madurai. Children below the age of 12 and women from rural areas will be provided treatment in the hospital that has both outpatient and inpatient wards.

The new hospital at Salem is to come up on the campus of the Government Mohan Kumaramangalam Medical College Hospital. The construction area has been identified and work is expected to be taken up in three months and completed by 2013-end.

As many as 200 doctors, 100 staff nurses, 50 technicians, 100 workers and 50 maintenance staff will be recruited.

R. Vallinayagam, Dean of the hospital told The Hindu, that a team from the State Health Society visited Rajiv Gandhi Government Women and Children Hospital in Puducherry, where a similar project was under way. It decided to replicate it.

http://www.thehindu.com/news/states/tamil-nadu/article3666876.ece

^^ Nice :cheers: Fingers crossed

http://in.reuters.com/article/2012/07/23/india-free-drugs-chennai-public-health-idINDEE86M00I20120723?feedType=RSS&feedName=globalCoverage2

(Reuters) - For Ramaiyah Venkat, a retired Indian schoolteacher, the two-hour bus journey every three months to get free insulin is worth it even if he has to queue for hours at the dispensary and sometimes gets less than he needs.

Thousands of people like Venkat flock to the huge Rajiv Gandhi General Hospital in Chennai every day. Tamil Nadu is one of two Indian states offering free medicine for all. The state provides a glimpse of the hurdles India faces as it embarks on a programme to extend free drug coverage nationwide.

.......

The Tamil Nadu government says 50 or 60 percent of people in the state use the programme, which cost just over 2 billion rupees last year.

By comparison, retail drug sales in the state, home to 62 million people, were 54 billion rupees, according to the Tamil Nadu Chemists and Druggists Association. Arul Kumar, general secretary of the industry body, figures only up to 30 percent of the population takes advantage of the free programme.

contd...

:applause::applause:
தமிழகத்தில் 400 புதிய 108 ஆம்புலன்ஸ் சேவை (http://www.dinamalar.com/News_Detail.asp?Id=517466)
400 "108" Ambulances soon(by september) with more medicaladditional equipments, medical facilities.
தமிழகத்தில் அதிநவீன வசதிகளுடன், 400 புதிய 108 ஆம்புலன்ஸ் சேவைகள், விரைவில் மக்கள் பயன்பாட்டிற்கு வர உள்ளன. 108 ஆம்புலன்ஸ் வசதி, 2008 ல் துவக்கப்பட்டது. தமிழகம் முழுவதும் ஒவ்வொரு ஒன்றியத்திற்கு ஒரு வண்டி என்ற வீதத்தில், 436 ஆம்புலன்ஸ்கள் பயன்பாட்டில் உள்ளன. மாநிலம் முழுவதும் இந்த வசதியை விரிவுபடுத்த அரசு திட்டமிட்டுள்ளது. இதற்காக 400 புதிய ஆம்புலன்ஸ்களை அறிமுகப்படுத்த உள்ளது. இந்த ஆம்புலன்ஸ்களை அனைத்து வசதிகளுடன், நவீன முறையில் மக்கள் நல்வாழ்வுத் துறை தயார் செய்து வருகிறது. இந்த புதிய வண்டிகளை இயக்கவும், பராமரிக்கவும் அவசரகால மருத்துவ உதவியாளர்கள், டிரைவர்கள் புதிதாக தேர்வு செய்யப்பட்டு வருகின்றனர். செப்டம்பர் மாதம் புதிய ஆம்புலன்ஸ்கள் பயன்பாட்டிற்கு வர உள்ளன. ஏற்கனவே உள்ள 108 ஆம்புலன்ஸ்களை விட, 6 புதிய மருத்துவ முதலுதவி கருவிகளையும், உயிர் காக்கும் சிகிச்சைக்கான 3 நவீன உபகரணங்களையும் இந்த ஆம்புலன்ஸ்கள் கொண்டிருக்கும்.

Okay..we will be getting ambulances. good.
but where is the "traffic" for ambulance to serve their purpose? :)

CHENNAI: Tamil Nadu, which even 10 years ago had an alarmingly high incidence of HIV infection, has dropped from third to fifth among states with the largest number of people infected with the deadly virus.

Tamil Nadu previously ranked in the top three with 1.54 lakh HIV-positive people, it has now been overtaken by Karnataka (2.45 lakh), and West Bengal (1.67 lakh). Andhra Pradesh, which accounts for 5 lakh of the 24 lakh HIV positive in the country, remains the state with the most number of HIV-infected people, official statistics show.

Government and private initiatives have helped reduce the number of people infected each year in the state, said officials of Tamil Nadu State AIDS Control Society (TNSACS). "Around 27,000 people tested positive for HIV in the state in 2009," said a TNSACS official. "In 2010, the number dropped to 23,000, and in 2011, it fell further to 20,000. That's a decrease of 7,000 new cases in two years."

Activists attribute the success of the state's AIDS programme to the commitment of the health sector and the government. "Tamil Nadu was the first state to start an autonomous AIDS control society and the model, backed by political will, has been very successful," said Dr R Lakshmibai of Tamil Nadu Aids Initiative. "National AIDS Control Organisation has recommended the model to other states."

The state has benefitted from specialized target intervention programmes that go beyond focusing on vulnerable groups such as sex workers, said M Ramar of Centre for Social Development and Social Work Research in Coimbatore who runs intervention programs for migrant workers.

"Once we started targeting their clients, which spans various groups like migrant workers, truckers and youngsters, things started looking better," Ramar said. "I see a sense of awareness among migrant workers here. Fewer migrant workers than before are testing positive each year. Red ribbon clubs are also doing good work at college level."

According to Dr Lakshmibai, intervention programmes prevented the disease from reaching generalised epidemic proportions. "There are three levels — nascent epidemic, concentrated epidemic and generalised epidemic," she said. "The state never let it reach the generalised stage. When it looked like our intervention programs were only creating awareness and not changing behaviour, the state brought in specialised programmes."

Andhra Pradesh, on the other hand, shut down 266 of its first-level detection and counselling centres due to a cash crunch. However, Dr Lakshmibai added that although Tamil Nadu is doing well, sustaining the effort to reduce the incidence of new cases will be a challenge. "Trends and sexual behaviour keeps changing," she said. "Agencies have to keep track of all developments while designing preventive programmes."

The state also has its work cut out in its intervention programme for transgenders. "The first survey was done only recently and shows that 9% of transgenders in the state are HIV-positive, a higher ratio than the 6% of female sex workers," Dr Lakshmibai said.
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/chennai/Fewer-new-cases-TN-5th-in-HIV-numbers/articleshow/15303505.cms

Not too long ago TN had the second highest number of cases (only behind Maharashtra) with the peak prevalence reaching 0.86% (1% is considered critical to an epidemic or in simple terms a "tipping point"). Now it has dropped below 0.2%.TN health dept and TNSACS have done a terrific job. It is very important in these days of MDR and XDR TB's to have a good control of HIV infections.

TN has been very successful in identifying the HIV and so the numbers are more.

One can not conclude that HIV is very low in some states. They also do not have the infra to test HIV as TN has.

One Union Health Minister from TN suruttufied so much by showing bogus NGOs for HIV awareness and actually that issue dented the successful story of TN.

Between Mumbai and Chennai’s first lung transplant, a huge gap

MUMBAI:The recent lung transplant on 41-year-old Jayashree Mehta is the city’s first and comes over a decade after the first lung transplant in the country in Tamil Nadu capital Chennai in 1999. Tamil Nadu has gone far ahead after that as far as cadaveric organ donation is concerned. Maharashtra is far behind.

Since the first lung transplant, Tamil Nadu has seen around 1.3 million cadaveric donations which the rest of the country aspires to reach in the next two years. Doctors in Mumbai admit that many in queue for a transplant here eventually move south.

“On paper, there is nothing particularly different Tamil Nadu is doing. What makes the Tamil Nadu model successful is the impeccable co-ordination between ICUs, hospitals and public there. In Maharashtra, we have the infrastructure but need better implementation,” said Dr Gustad Davar, president of the Zonal Transplant Transplant Co-ordination Centre, Mumbai (ZTCC).

ZTCC, which co-ordinates organ transplant procedures in the city recorded 251 kidney and 36 liver donations in 13 years, from March 1997 to January 2012.

In contrast, Tamil Nadu recorded over 650 organ donations in just three years from 2008 to 2012. Active participation of the Tamil Nadu government in making organ transplantation smoother is another factor that contributed to its success.

“The TN government has greatly helped in pushing the cause of organ donation. There is a transplant co-ordinator in every hospital. Most importantly, it is public awareness that has helped the most. People are more willing to come forward for the cause,” said Dr T Sunder, senior consulting cardiothoracic surgeon at Apollo Hospital, Chennai.

Doctors in Mumbai said poor awareness levels, besides unwillingness of the family of the deceased are hurdles in cadaveric organ donation.

“There are many myths and superstitions that come into play at the time of organ donation. Patients’ kin also fear mutilation of the donor’s body. Awareness even among the educated is poor. This must change,” said Dr Sunil Keswani of the National Institute of Burns, Airoli.



http://www.indianexpress.com/news/between-mumbai-and-chennais-first-lung-transplant-a-huge-gap/982228/0

TN has been very successful in identifying the HIV and so the numbers are more.

One can not conclude that HIV is very low in some states. They also do not have the infra to test HIV as TN has.

One Union Health Minister from TN suruttufied so much by showing bogus NGOs for HIV awareness and actually that issue dented the successful story of TN.

Ithukku antha aal peraye solli irukkalam. I dont know of any other union health minister from TN.

PS. For those of you who are still scratching their head, naatamai is talking about Anbumani Ramadoss.

Among the people responsible for saving lives through organ transplant surgeries, the families of the donors have rarely been recognised for the difficult decision they have to make at a moment of grief. Marking the cause, the Multi Organ Harvesting Aid Network Foundation honoured a total of 26 families who were presented with mementos by K. Rosaiah, the Governor of Tamil Nadu at Raj Bhawan on Thursday.

R. Velliammal, the mother of a 14 year-old son, Ramakumar, was sitting among 25 other similar families who had come together in their grief of having a lost a loved one and yet having given life to several others. Her son had died in a road accident when his scooty collided with a wall. Velliammal had agreed to donate her son’s liver, kidneys, heart, heart valves and cornea giving a new lease of life to seven other people. “When he was alive, my son was always interested in donating blood and had wanted to donate more. He always had a giving nature. So we decided to donate his organs so that people can live through his organs.”

Since October 2008 till June 2012, over 1500 organs, including heart, liver, kidneys, lungs, cornea and heart valves, have been transplanted in the State. “Though Andhra Pradesh started it, Tamil Nadu is the leading state in organ transplantation in the country,” said V. Kanagasabai, the Dean of Rajiv Gandhi General Government Hospital.

Referring to transplant as the greatest achievement of science, Sunil Shroff, the Managing Trustee of MOHAN foundation said, “Unlike live people, cadavers can donate multiple organs saving many live. Organ donation after brain death leaves a legacy behind. It shows how death can bring life and how a terrible loss can turn into the greatest gift of all.” He added that the transplant coordinators and trained councillors were also equally worthy of credit since their role does not end with the surgery. With the help of effective networking, they continue to help rehabilitate the families of the donors.

Commending the giving nature of the people of Tamil Nadu, George Kurien, a trustee of MOHAN foundation said, “Tamil Nadu has a conversion rate of 80% as compared to a maximum of 40-45% for other states. The fact that people of Tamil Nadu give so much is remarkable.”Along with the family members, several neurosurgeons, anaesthesiologists among other medical specialists from Apollo Hospital, Global Hospital and GH were also presented with mementoes for their contribution in declaring the donors as brain dead, a crucial step in the process of transplantation.
http://www.thehindu.com/news/cities/chennai/article3747263.ece

TN SG decided to conduct surprise audits and inspection on Govt hospitals, PHC.
already.
As part of this inspection, they are going to audit the facilities in the hospitals, PHCs and defective instruments will be replaced.
மருத்துவமனைகளில் சோதனை: ஓ.பி., அடிக்கும் டாக்டர்கள் மீது நடவடிக்கை (http://www.dinamalar.com/News_Detail.asp?Id=532997)

அரசு மருத்துவமனைகள், ஆரம்ப சுகாதார நிலையங்களில் பணிக்கு வராமலும், உரிய சிகிச்சை அளிக்காமலும், ஓ.பி., அடிக்கும் டாக்டர்களை கண்டறிய, ஒரே நேரத்தில், அதிரடி சோதனை நடத்த அரசு முடிவு செய்துள்ளது. மாவட்ட வாரியாக, இந்த திட்டம் அமலாகவுள்ளது.

அரசு மருத்துவமனை டாக்டர்களின் சேவை குறைபாடு குறித்து, சுகாதாரத் துறைக்கு புகார்கள் குவிந்து வருகின்றன. இதன் அடிப்படையில், மாநிலம் முழுவதும் உள்ள மருத்துவமனைகளை ஆய்வு செய்து, பணிக்கு வராமல், ஓ.பி., அடிக்கும் டாக்டர்கள் மீது நடவடிக்கை எடுக்க, சுகாதாரத் துறைக்கு அரசு உத்தரவிட்டுள்ளது. ஒவ்வொரு மாவட்டத்திலும், சுகாதாரத் துறை அதிகாரிகளை, முழுவீச்சில் களமிறக்கி, இந்த சோதனையை நடத்த திட்டமிடப்பட்டுள்ளது. இதன் ஒரு பகுதியாக, திண்டுக்கல் மாவட்டத்தில், ஆக., 17ல், ஒரே நேரத்தில், 20 சுகாதாரத் துறை துணை இயக்குனர்கள் தலைமையிலான குழு, அரசு மருத்துவமனைகள், ஆரம்ப சுகாதார நிலையங்களில் சோதனை நடத்தியது.

இதன்படி, சாணார்பட்டி ஆரம்ப சுகாதார நிலைய, உதவி மருத்துவ அலுவலர் செந்தில்குமார் இடைநீக்கம் செய்யப்பட்டார். சக டாக்டர்கள் மீது, தொடர்ந்து பெட்டிஷன் போட்டு வந்த, டாக்டர் சசிக்குமார் வேறு மாவட்டத்திற்கு மாற்றப்பட்டார். அரசின் இந்த நடவடிக்கையால், ஒழுங்காக பணியாற்றும் டாக்டர்கள் மகிழ்ச்சியடைந்துள்ளனர். மேலும், இந்த ஆய்வு மூலம், அரசு மருத்துவமனைகளில் செயல்படும் கருவிகள், செயல்படாமல் உள்ள கருவிகள், தேவைப்படும் கருவிகள் குறித்தும் விவரம் சேகரிக்கப்பட்டுள்ளது. மாவட்ட வாரியாக சேகரிக்கப்படும் விவரங்கள் அடிப்படையில், தேவைப்படும் கருவிகள் பட்டியல் தயாரிக்கப்பட்டு, அவற்றை வழங்கி, மருத்துவமனைகளின் தரத்தை மேம்படுத்தவும், அரசு முடிவு செய்துள்ளதாக, சுகாதாரத் துறை அதிகாரி ஒருவர் தெரிவித்தார்.

Getting India’s health care system out of the ICU


Most people would agree that one’s income or caste or gender should not bar one’s ability to get decent quality health care when one falls ill. A poor person should not have to borrow heavily, sell off her meagre assets, or decide not to get treated at all because she can’t afford the cost of care. Unfortunately, this is exactly what happens to many people today. Far too many households fall below the poverty line trying to cope with the high cost of health care. Even for middle class families, the rising cost of staying healthy can put a serious strain on the budget. The health care system is seriously broken despite the existence over many decades of primary, secondary and tertiary health centres and public hospitals open to all. And despite the rapid growth of high end corporate hospitals that get free public land and other subsidies in return for the (often broken) promise of reserving a share of beds for poor people.

Click here for The ABC of UHC (pdf)
(http://www.thehindu.com/multimedia/archive/01196/The_ABC_of_Univers_1196994a.pdf)
Ensuring universal health care is a major concern of governments the world over. The rapid growth of high end technologies for diagnosis and treatment, and the fact that people are living longer and are more likely to need health support when they age, has become a challenge even in countries like the U.K., long known for its ability to guarantee decent and affordable care through a National Health Service. Here in India, however, technology and aging are not yet the main problems. Consistent public underinvestment in health — barely above 1% of GDP — is a major reason why health care is so unaffordable for so many people. This puts us near the bottom of all countries for this measure. Around 70% of total health spending is out of pocket, and around 70% of that is on drugs. Poor people go less and less to public facilities to which they would go earlier because they almost never have the free drugs they are supposed to provide. This is a great irony for a country that has gained respect in Africa for making drugs affordable through our export of generics to them.

Generic drugs

An important low hanging fruit identified by the High Level Expert Group (HLEG) on Universal Health Coverage (UHC) set up by the Planning Commission is to provide generic drugs through the public system. The HLEG also recommended in its report submitted in October 2011 that health care should be available to all citizens with a smart card and should be cashless at the point of service. An UHC system should provide a combination of preventive, promotive, curative and rehabilitative care through a package of primary, secondary and tertiary services. An emphasis on prevention and promotion at the primary level would be both cost effective and best in terms of health outcomes.

Higher public spending

The HLEG called for stepping up public investment in health to reach 2.5% of GDP by the end of the 12 Five Year Plan, and argued that a strengthened public sector must be the bedrock of reforms. But how to deal with the fact that public facilities themselves ignore public health, often lack adequate staff and equipment, and treat patients with scant respect? More investment must be backed up by the creation of a public health cadre, the recognition of a three year medical qualification in order to increase the availability of qualified professionals, and more staff at the lowest level. And a strong set of management reforms to improve quality and performance of public facilities must be urgently implemented.

The HLEG’s support for public investment in health is backed by the experience of many countries — Europe, Canada, Brazil, Thailand, Mexico, to name a few. But one cannot ignore the reality of the private health sector or the fact that it can and ought to be made to play its part in the move towards universal health coverage. At present, private facilities, under a veneer of respectful treatment, can be hugely expensive, and often do not provide appropriate or high quality clinical services. Ensuring that private health providers play a responsible role requires that we move away from ad hoc and unregulated public-private partnerships (PPPs) and also away from the practice of giving subsidies and freebies like land and tax-breaks to the private sector without any effective mechanisms to ensure accountability. An important recommendation of the HLEG is to set up independent and effective Health Regulatory and Development Authorities at both national and state levels that would supervise the quality of services delivered by both public and private sector providers. These bodies would ensure among other things that standard treatment guidelines form the basis of clinical care across both sectors, with adequate monitoring to improve the quality of care and control costs. They would also ensure grievance redress mechanisms by linking up with measures to ensure citizen participation and accountability. This has been done very effectively in countries that are at the forefront of the move towards universal health care such as Thailand and Brazil, and must be implemented in India.

http://www.thehindu.com/health/article3850103.ece

Patients lose out to patents & profits


A 2012 WHO study ranks India third — behind Myanmar and Bangladesh — among countries that fail to provide health cover to people. A 2011 study reported in The Lancet on ‘Healthcare and equity’ confirms this: every year, at least 39 million people here fall into poverty due to private out-of-pocket health expenditure. A vast majority of Indians do not have access to healthcare or essential drugs. By the government’s own admission, medicines constitute 74 per cent of out of pocket expenditure on health.

Waking up to the crisis, the Centre recently announced measures to bring about alterations to the system — free drugs starting October at state hospitals and price control for patented drugs. Both long-pending proposals require a four-fold increase in public spending on medicines, from 0.1 to 0.5 per cent of the Gross Domestic Product, as recommended by the High Level Expert Group (HLEG) on Universal Health Coverage.

Today, when patients across the country purchase medicines, a substantial portion of the cost includes price margins for drug manufacturers, and numerous middlemen , including wholesalers, retailers, stockists and pharmacists. K.V. Babu, ophthalmologist and Indian Medical Association member, points out that even when doctors prescribe generics, as mandated by the Medical Council of India (MCI), the ‘deal’ is fixed at pharmacies that up their margins by selling expensive branded versions. For instance, the generic version of the popular diabetic medication Glimepride costs less than Rs. 2, while branded version Amaryl costs Rs. 7.

Price control

Doctors believe that price control, especially for expensive patented ones, could be a real gamechanger for healthcare.

According to estimates, the proportion of price-controlled drugs has fallen from around 90 per cent in the 1970s to about 10 per cent (now covering 348 essential drugs). This when, as The Lancet study reports, the cost of ‘essential drugs’ rose by 15 per cent, and those not under price control rose by 137 per cent.

Now, the government is considering a formula that uses ‘relative reference pricing’ or prices tagged to per-capita income. This is significant, given that even the generic versions of life-saving drugs are by no means affordable. For instance, Indian generic drug maker Natco’s version of Bayer’s cancer pill Nexavar costing Rs. 2.8 lakh (monthly dose), produced through a compulsory licence, costs Rs. 8,800.

While these reforms are still on the drawing board, Tamil Nadu has over the past 17 years led the way in providing better and equitable access to medicines with its drug procurement and distribution channel. Kerala and Rajasthan are emulating this model.

The basic idea is simple and universal: the Tamil Nadu Medical Services Corporation procures generics and branded drugs in bulk, driving down prices. By the HLEG’s estimates, this variation could be between 100 and 5,000 per cent. The price advantage is at least 30 per cent, explains K. Senthil, president of the Tamil Nadu State Government Doctors’ Association. “Stock issues don’t exist. And as a result, outpatient numbers have almost doubled over the decade.”

Big pharma, which is betting high on the booming private sector, is irked by the proposed price control and developments in the patents space. Two government decisions have been challenged in closely watched court battles: allowing compulsory licensing for Bayer’s cancer pill, and rejecting Novartis’ patent claim for its cancer drug Glivec to block ‘ever greening’ (legal parlance for drug composition tweaked minimally to extend patent periods). With these bold moves, India follows Brazil and Thailand in countering oppressive IP regimes using TRIPS safeguards.

Another worrying trend is generics majors entering into ‘agreements’ or making licensing pacts with multinationals, points out Shamnad Basheer, IP expert and professor at the National University of Juridical Sciences. So, Indian companies, which once fought tooth-and-nail against MNC patents, are now gradually changing tack.

REVIVE STATE UNITS

While it may be difficult to counter these trends under existing laws, Prof. Basheer emphasises the need to revive public sector pharmaceutical units. “This is imperative not only to make drugs affordable but also to revive government-sponsored research on diseases that affect the poor. Private drug companies have no incentive to do so,” he says.

A good model to follow is Brazil’s FioCruz, the state-affiliated pharma agency, which not only manufactures drugs of public importance but also does cutting-edge R&D on diseases that affect poor patients.

http://www.thehindu.com/news/national/article3849518.ece

Private health care no panacea


India ranks among the lowest in the world in public spending on health, but the private spending is one of the highest. The National Sample Survey Organisation’s report (2006) shows over 35 per cent of people who are hospitalised fall below the poverty line because of the expenses that follow, and over 40 per cent have to borrow or sell assets to pay for their care. Private sector provision rose from 8 per cent in 1947, and may be as high as 93 per cent of all hospitals, 64 per cent of all beds, 80 to 85 per cent doctors, 80 per cent of all outpatients and up to 57 per cent inpatients.

The Indian health story is one of inadequate resource allocation and poor governance. The substantial development of the private sector has been compensating the shortcomings of the progressively weakening public systems.

Private entrepreneurship has covered all aspects of health care markets, including financing, health worker education and equipment manufacturing and service.

The absence of uniform licensing and accreditation lowers the quality of services, and leads to a skew towards urban-centric provisioning and corruption.

A large number of providers and facilities from the private and unorganised sectors are exploiting the lack of regulatory mechanisms. It is difficult to pinpoint the number of the private sector providers owing to the lack of reliable data, but rough estimates indicate that there may be as many as a million unregistered, untrained providers. Despite these deficiencies, the private sector is often the first choice for health care for much of rural and urban India.

One major recommendation of the High Level Expert Group on Universal Health Coverage on institutional reforms is the establishment of a national health regulatory and development authority (NHRDA) that will regulate and monitor public and private health care providers, with powers of enforcement and redress. This regulator will oversee contracts, accredit health care providers, develop ethical standards for delivery, enforce patient’s charter of rights and take steps to provide universal health care system support through legal and regulatory norms, standard treatment guidelines and management protocols for a national health package. This can control entry, quality, quantity, and price.

The authority will be linked to similar State-level institutions and to an ombudsperson at the district-level institutions, especially to redress grievances.

High inpatient treatment cost, low insurance penetration and the high out-of-pocket expenditure place an undue burden on individuals, especially those below the poverty line and the aged, says a FICCI report on Health Insurance.

The Indian health insurance scenario today is a mix of mandatory Social Health Insurance (SHI), voluntary private health insurance and Community-Based Health Insurance (CBHI). To make quality health care affordable, insurance penetration should increase to at least 50 per cent of the population by 2020 and 80 per cent by 2030 from the current 15 per cent, the report suggests.

The HLEG proposes that every citizen be entitled to essential primary, secondary and tertiary health care. The range of services, offered as a national health package, will cover all common conditions and high-impact, cost-effective interventions for reducing health-related mortality and disability. Public sector and contracted-in private facilities (including NGOs and non-profit organisations) will participate.

The HLEG has recommended general taxation as the most viable option for mobilising resources — complemented by additional mandatory deductions for health care from salaried individuals and taxpayers either as a proportion of taxable income or a proportion of salary. It has rejected levy of sector-specific taxes for financing health care and collection of any kind of user fee.

Importantly, it has suggested that no insurance company or any other independent agents be allowed to purchase health care services on behalf of the government; instead, all purchasing should be undertaken either directly by the Central and State governments through their Departments or by quasi-gover nment autonomous agencies.

http://www.thehindu.com/news/national/article3849441.ece

Multi-drug resistant TB stalking Chennai


http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/chennai/Multi-drug-resistant-TB-stalking-Chennai/articleshow/16330104.cms

India's health-care system
Cashless, portable and paperless


http://www.economist.com/blogs/banyan/2012/09/indias-health-care-system?zid=306&ah=1b164dbd43b0cb27ba0d4c3b12a5e227

Isn't TN's health insurance scheme much more wider in scope and money than the above central govt scheme? Wonder how the TN one is working out..

Any reports or articles have been published on that?

Approximately 300 students of a medical institute in Russia received a live telecast of two cataract surgeries performed in Chennai on Thursday.

The students of the Helmholtz Moscow Research Institute of Eye Diseases saw the surgeries performed by K. Vasantha, director of the Regional Institute of Ophthalmology & Government Ophthalmic Hospital (RIOGOH), on a 57-year-old and a 63-year-old female, making an incision of 1.8 mm to remove the cataract with minimal scars.

The special feature of this surgery is that there were no sutures involved and the procedure was treated as an out patient one. “The patient can be discharged soon after the procedure. The vision will be restored to near normalcy the next day,” said Dr. Vasantha.

Earlier, cataract surgeries were performed with a 7-mm incision which led to a recovery of six weeks before eyesight was completely restored. However, now with the foldable lenses, which will cost Rs. 8000, the patient can be discharged the next day.

On the same day, a wet lab was inaugurated at the RIOGOH for the use of the surgical students at the college.

Appasamy association donated a piece of equipment worth Rs. 7.5 lakh, named Phacoemulsifier, which will give practical experience to students in removing cataracts from goats’ eyes. “The surgical students practice sutures and other procedures on a goat’s eye until they gain the confidence to practice on the human eye,” said Dr. Vasantha.

“Cataract surgeries are done daily at the Government Ophthalmic Hospital. Now, with the help of the Chief Minister Health Insurance Scheme, we are trying to purchase the lenses in bulk and negotiate the prices to make the surgeries free for all patients,” said V. Kanagasabai, dean of the Rajiv Gandhi General Government Hospital.
http://www.thehindu.com/news/cities/chennai/russian-students-get-a-view-of-city-cataract-surgery/article3965760.ece

Honble Chief Minister inaugurated the new buildings of Health Department through Video Conferencing

http://www.tn.gov.in/seithi_veliyeedu/pr12Sep12/pr120912e.jpg

This is my first quote from a newspaper , please correct me if i am wrong !!

" Are you an overworked techie struggling to fix an appointment with a medic or does your aged parent need late night medical attention?

Don’t strain much. Now you can fix an appointment with a specialist of your choice near your locality by just a click of the mouse.

A group of former Infosysians along with a city doc has launched a website called www.mocdoc.in (moc meaning mode of contacting), wherein you can identify the specialist near your locality and also fix an appointment free of cost.

Over 1,000 doctors in the city have registered with mocdoc, which was unofficially launched in June last and extended to Coimbatore in a modest way."

More information at =>http://www.deccanchronicle.com/channels/cities/chennai/new-site-helps-patients-reach-docs-jiffy-088
Courtesy Deccan Chronicle

சென்னை, அக். 13: தமிழகத்தில் 6 மாவட்டங்களில் டெங்கு காய்ச்சல் காரணமாக குழந்தைகள் முதல் பெரியவர்கள் வரை பாதிப்புக்குள்ளாகியுள்ளனர்.

சென்னை, வேலூர், நாகப்பட்டினம், புதுக்கோட்டை, தஞ்சாவூர், திருச்சி ஆகிய 6 மாவட்டங்களில் டெங்கு காய்ச்சல் பாதிப்பு உள்ளதை சுகாதாரத் துறை உயர் அதிகாரிகள் ஆய்வுகள் மூலம் கண்டறிந்துள்ளனர். பிற மாவட்டங்களிலும் டெங்கு காய்ச்சல் பாதிப்பு உள்ளது.

சென்னையில் 2 பேர் உயிரிழப்பு: சென்னை ராயப்பேட்டை அரசு மருத்துவமனையில் காய்ச்சலுடன் அனுமதிக்கப்பட்ட மாணவர் ஷாம்ஜி சனிக்கிழமை இறந்தது குறித்து சர்ச்சை எழுந்துள்ளது. இதேபோன்று, காய்ச்சலால் பாதிக்கப்பட்டு அரசு பொது மருத்துவமனைக்கு கொண்டு வரும் வழியில் திருவேற்காட்டைச் சேர்ந்த சுகுமார் (17) இறந்ததாகக் கூறப்படுகிறது. இந்த இருவரும் டெங்கு காய்ச்சல் காரணமாக இறக்கவில்லை என்று அரசு டாக்டர்கள் மறுத்துள்ளனர்.

சென்னையில் 26 பேர் டெங்கு காய்ச்சலால் பாதிக்கப்பட்டுள்ளனர். குறிப்பாக அரசு-தனியார் குழந்தைகள் மருத்துவமனைகளில் பாதிக்கப்படும் குழந்தைகளை உள் நோயாளிகளாகச் சேர்க்க படுக்கை கிடைக்காமல் கூட்டம் அலைமோதும் நிலை ஏற்பட்டுள்ளது.

564 பேர் பாதிப்பு: புதுவை மாநிலத்தில் கடந்த 10 மாதங்களில் மொத்தம் 564 பேருக்கு டெங்கு காய்ச்சல் பாதிப்பு ஏற்பட்டது கண்டறியப்பட்டது; இவர்களில் தமிழகத்தைச் சேர்ந்தவர்கள் 262 பேர்; மீதமுள்ள 302 பேர் புதுச்சேரியைச் சேர்ந்தவர்கள். இவர்களில் 50 சதவீதம் பேர் குழந்தைகள் என்பது குறிப்பிடத்தக்கது. இந்த மாதம் மட்டும் புதுவையில்

40-க்கும் அதிகமானோர் டெங்கு காய்ச்சலால் பாதிக்கப்பட்டுள்ளனர்.

கோவை பகுதியில்...: கோவை, திருப்பூர், ஈரோடு, நீலகிரி ஆகிய மாவட்டங்களைச் சேர்ந்த 10-க்கும் மேற்பட்டோர் டெங்கு காய்ச்சலால் பாதிக்கப்பட்டுள்ளனர். கோவையில் மட்டும் டெங்கு காய்ச்சலால் 5 பேர் பாதிக்கப்பட்டு அரசு மருத்துவக் கல்லூரி மருத்துவமனையில் சிகிச்சை பெற்று வருகின்றனர்.

மதுரையில்...: மதுரை அரசு ராஜாஜி மருத்துவமனையில் டெங்கு காய்ச்சலால் பாதிக்கப்பட்டு 15 பேர் சிகிச்சை பெற்று வருகின்றனர். இதில் 8 பேர் குழந்தைகள் என்பது குறிப்பிடத்தக்கது. டெங்கு காய்ச்சலுக்கு சிகிச்சை அளிக்க போதிய படுக்கைகளுடன் 2 வார்டுகள் தயாராக இருப்பதாக டாக்டர்கள் தெரிவித்தனர்.

பரவும் வைரஸ் காய்ச்சல்: அக்டோபர், நவம்பர், டிசம்பர் ஆகிய 3 மாதங்கள் வடகிழக்குப் பருவமழை காலமாகும். பருவ மழைக்கு முன்பு மக்கள் தொகையில் 1 முதல் 2 சதவீதம் பேருக்கு வைரஸ் காய்ச்சல் ஏற்படுவது இயல்பானது என்று டாக்டர்கள் தெரிவித்தனர்.

எனினும் "ஏடீஸ் எஜிப்டை' எனப்படும் பகல் நேரத்தில் மனிதர்களின் ரத்தத்தை உறிஞ்சும் கொசு காரணமாக கொடிய டெங்கு வைரஸ் காய்ச்சல் பரவுகிறது. குறிப்பாக நோய் எதிர்ப்புச் சக்தி குறைவாக இருக்கும் குழந்தைகள் டெங்கு காய்ச்சலால் பாதிக்கப்படுவது அதிகரித்துள்ளது.

பதற்றம் வேண்டாம்: "டெங்கு வைரஸ் காய்ச்சல் குறித்து யாரும் பதற்றம் அடைய வேண்டாம். தமிழகம் முழுவதும் கொசு உற்பத்தியைத் தடுக்க தீவிர நடவடிக்கைகள் எடுக்கப்பட்டு வருகின்றன. அரசு மருத்துவமனைகளில் ரத்தப் பரிசோதனை-சிகிச்சை வசதிகள் முழுமையான அளவில் செய்யப்பட்டுள்ளன' என்றார் மக்கள் நல்வாழ்வுத் துறை அமைச்சர் டாக்டர் வி.எஸ்.விஜய்.

முக்கிய அறிகுறிகள் என்ன?
அதிக அளவுக்கு (103 டிகிரிக்கு மேல்) காய்ச்சல், கடும் தலைவலி, கண் வலி, குமட்டல், உடல் வலி, மூட்டு இணைப்புகளில் வலி ஆகியவை டெங்கு காய்ச்சலின் முக்கிய அறிகுறிகள் ஆகும்.

எனினும் வைரஸ் காய்ச்சல் ஏற்படும் நிலையில் அறிகுறிகளின் அடிப்படையில் முதலில் சிகிச்சை அளித்து விட்டு, தேவைப்படும் நிலையில் மட்டுமே டெங்கு காய்ச்சலுக்கு உரிய ரத்தப் பரிசோதனைகளைச் செய்ய வேண்டும் என்று அரசு டாக்டர்கள் தெரிவித்தனர்.

Dinamani (http://dinamani.com/tamilnadu/article1298857.ece)

http://www.thehindu.com/multimedia/dynamic/01239/dengue_1239568f.jpg

There have been a total of 5,376 cases of dengue in Tamil Nadu, the highest in the country this year.
Provisional figures listed on the website of the National Vector-Borne Diseases Control Programme under the Union health ministry revealed that the State recorded 39 deaths from dengue this year — the highest, again.
The state with the second highest number of cases is Kerala, but it is way behind at 2,995 cases (11 deaths). Karnataka records 2,403 cases but it has the second highest number of deaths at 21.


The data, based on information given by the State governments, have been updated up to September 26, this year, and more cases have occurred since.


This is the highest number of cases that Tamil Nadu has seen so far, at least over the past decade for which figures are available. But the last three years have not been good for the State in terms of dengue incidence. In 2011, the number of cases was 2,501, and in 2010, it was 2,051. The State seems to have managed to control the number of deaths up until this year, with 8 in 2010, and 9 in 2011.


Given the ratio of dengue cases to the number of fever cases, it appears dengue is in alarming proportions in the three southern States of Tamil Nadu, Kerala and Karnataka, said S. Elango, former director of Public Health. “When a comparison of viral activity over the last 10 years shows a definite increase in the number of cases, and when the case fatality is high, it is time to be worried,” he said.


A new trend this year is the co-existence of a number of infections simultaneously, Dr. Elango said. Dengue, this year, is presenting itself in combination with leptospiroris, typhoid, and in one case, even tuberculosis. Multi-organ failure as a cause of death, being reported widely, is likely to occur along with the other infections.


The only thing the health department can do at this stage, in an epidemic caused largely by domestic breeding of mosquitoes (Aedes aegypti and Aedes albopictus breed only in clear water), is to step up awareness, a public health expert said. In addition, being prepared to prevent deaths is also key, he said.

www.thehindu.com/news/states/tamil-nadu/state-records-most-dengue-cases-and-deaths-this-year/article4003294.ece?homepage=true

http://www.dinamalar.com/News_Detail.asp?Id=567997

^^தமிழகத்தில் கடந்த ஆகஸ்ட் மாதம் வரை, 46 ஆயிரத்து 149 சாலை விபத்துக்கள் நடந்துள்ளன. இதில், 10 ஆயிரத்து 282 விபத்துக்களில் சிக்கிய, 11 ஆயிரத்து 046 பேர், உயிர் இழந்துள்ளனர்.

சென்னை: தமிழகத்தில் பொதுக் கழிப்பிடங்கள் அமைக்க, ரூ.72 கோடி நிதி ஒதுக்கி முதல்வர் ஜெயலலிதா உத்தரவிட்டுள்ளார். இந்த நிதியின் மூலம் மாநகராட்சி, நகராட்சி, பேரூராட்சிகளில் பொதுக் கழிப்பிடங்கள் அமைக்க ஜெயலலிதா உத்தரவிட்டுள்ளார்.

Jairam should be happy.

http://www.dinakaran.com/News_Detail.asp?Nid=28519

Rs 72 crores allocated for new public toilets

Cross-posting..



http://imageshack.us/a/img819/3104/screenshot2yk.png
http://imageshack.us/a/img824/9241/screenshot3aq.png

Source (http://www.thehindu.com/todays-paper/tp-national/tp-tamilnadu/advanced-heart-care-at-super-specialty-hospital/article4015608.ece)

Rs.2.5 crore earmarked for control, elimination of dengue

A sum of Rs.2.5 crore has been earmarked by Chief Minister Jayalalithaa to control and eliminate dengue in the State in the next two months, Health Minister V.S.Vijay announced at a review meeting on dengue prevention measures in the state here on Monday.

With the onset of monsoons, efforts to bring dengue fever under check would be intensified in dengue-affected areas in the state, Dr.Vijay said addressing senior state health officials, district, municipality, town and panchayat representatives at a consultative meeting.

Acting on the Chief Minister’s orders, special teams have been formed to check spread of fever in dengue-affected districts in Tamil Nadu, including Tiruchi, Madurai, Nagapattinam, Pudukottai, Erode and Vellore.

The special team in each district comprises IAS officers, health services, public health and education department along with members of local administration.

All 355 blocks in the State have designated workers for mosquito control who will work with the local administration to sensitise people to dengue.

Dengue can be cured by treating the fever at primary healthcare centres and government hospitals in the initial stage, Dr.Vijay, said. Provision of chlorinated water, drinking boiled water and consuming nutritious food can help dengue patients recover fast. There was no need to panic as dengue is a viral fever, he said. The Health Minister has asked hospitals not to administer the rapid card test to fever patients as it was not a confirmatory test. Only ELISA tests could confirm dengue, he noted.

http://www.thehindu.com/news/cities/Tiruchirapalli/rs25-crore-earmarked-for-control-elimination-of-dengue/article4025245.ece?homepage=true

Dengue wont get eliminated. Only that 2.5 crores will be eliminated.

^^ tamizhanukku dengue varadhau pathathunnu ippo avan development budgetla 2.5 cr dokku/dongu vera vizhum :) In other words this is an opportunity cost for some other oozhal vyaadhi who would have earned this money in some other projects.

Conclusion: Oozhal affects fellow oozhalvaadhis too thorugh opportunity costs. One corrupt person's oozhal in one area is a missed opportunity for another corrupt in some other area. After all there is only so much money we have available for public spending :lol:

Dengue: The virus, the mosquito, the disease

http://www.thehindu.com/health/dengue-the-virus-the-mosquito-the-disease/article4034563.ece

TN infant mortality rate drops to 22/1000 births.

http://articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/2012-10-20/india/34605370_1_infant-mortality-rate-infant-deaths-kerala

Dramatic improvement this decade. In 2001, it was 52/1000 births.

TN infant mortality rate drops to 22/1000 births.

http://articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/2012-10-20/india/34605370_1_infant-mortality-rate-infant-deaths-kerala

Dramatic improvement this decade. In 2001, it was 52/1000 births.

Great. It'll be great if female foeticide also shows sign of reduction.

From 2008 report..many parts of TN still has over 50 (Read a journal last year too can't find it now. Will find it out and post).

Also you have to take these reports with a pinch of salt. There are several unreported cases of infant mortality. After all we know how records are maintained there don't we? (My FIL is a retired employee for gov hospitals)

http://www.hindu.com/2008/08/18/stories/2008081854940600.htm

First of all, the report is itself from 2008 when the IMR was 37. It is not unreasonable to expect some pockets to have >50.

Second, SRS doesn't use hospital records. It is a survey taken at ground level on millions of households by the census bureau with lot of inbuilt check mechanisms.

The Sample Registration System (SRS) in India is the largest demographic survey in the world covering about 1.5 million households and 7.3 million population. It has continued to be the main source of information on fertility and mortality indicators both at the State and National levels. Apart from the large sample size and geographical spread in most of the Districts, the system has a unique feature of dual recording, which involves collection of data through two different procedures viz., continuous enumeration and retrospective half-yearly surveys. The continuous enumeration and retrospective surveys are followed by the process of matching of the two records and subsequent field verification of unmatched and partially matched events. The system provides a cross check on the correctness and completeness of the events of birth and death listed by the two independent functionaries.

As per the recommendations of the Technical Committee, from 1990 onward tabulations on certain items of demographic interest such as mean age at effective marriage for females, interval between current and previous live birth and also distribution of live births by birth order have continued to form part of the SRS report. From 2000, the sex ratio at birth and from 2002, the sex ratio of child (age-group 0-4) have been included in this Report. Moreover, in order to facilitate effective tracking of Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) on under-five mortality, the estimates of under-five mortality for India and bigger States separately for rural and urban also by sex have been introduced in this Report since 2008.

The SRS is considered as a very good statistical exercise by epidemiologists with very large sample sizes and bias elimination mechanisms that it is considered only next to census in its accuracy. I have seen it being used in lot of high profile publications including Lancet, BMJ etc.

Third, even if there is under reporting now, it would have been much worse 10 years back. So there is no question that the IMR has declined dramatically over the past decade and particularly in the past 5 years.

The IMR may not be 22, but the difference would only be academic, falling well within the margin of error.

Great. It'll be great if female foeticide also shows sign of reduction.

It has. TN was one of the handful of states which showed a higher sex ratio in the 2011 census. The regions surrounding Madurai which were notorious have shown dramatic improvement.

Nice info Shyam.. Thanks!

Shyam, Please see this recent article on Female feticide.

http://www.thehindu.com/arts/magazine/article2774504.ece

There's a good improvement in all the 5 districts including Madurai. Our NGO's are doing a marvellous job and wish to strive the same till it becomes NIL.My wish is to have the NGO's based at the villages, having high FF rate & work with the people.

Third, even if there is under reporting now, it would have been much worse 10 years back. So there is no question that the IMR has declined dramatically over the past decade and particularly in the past 5 years.

The IMR may not be 22, but the difference would only be academic, falling well within the margin of error.

Thanks for detailed explanation TShyam.:)

Delta dt always out number other parts of the state on demographic related stats. Even in sex ratio most of the dt in delta maintains above 1000 when other dt maintains below 980. (but sadly there was drop in child sex ratio for these dt in 2011 census)

Dengue outbreak in India

http://www.thehindu.com/multimedia/dynamic/01250/India_dengue_cases_1250807g.jpg

http://www.thehindu.com/health/dengue-outbreak-in-india/article4038492.ece?ref=slideshow

Dengue outbreak in India

http://www.thehindu.com/multimedia/dynamic/01250/India_dengue_cases_1250807g.jpg

http://www.thehindu.com/health/dengue-outbreak-in-india/article4038492.ece?ref=slideshow

Can't understand why they have not used the official political map of India - this one has J&K showing the borders of PoK and the portion which is occupied by China.

Shyam, Please see this recent article on Female feticide.

http://www.thehindu.com/arts/magazine/article2774504.ece

There's a good improvement in all the 5 districts including Madurai. Our NGO's are doing a marvellous job and wish to strive the same till it becomes NIL.My wish is to have the NGO's based at the villages, having high FF rate & work with the people.

Yes MG. I have heard of the grassroots effort going on to create awareness and reduce the scourge particularly in Usilampatti - the former focal point of this practice. The efforts of some NGO's has been all over the news in the recent past. Congrats on the achievement and all the best for eliminating it.

COIMBATORE: The Indian Academy of Paediatrics, Coimbatore Chapter, emphasised the need to include Pneumococcal Conjugate Vaccine in the national immunization program as priority in the country, to reduce the death of young children due to Pneumonia.

India accounts for about 25 per cent of the world's total Pneumonia death and there is need to emphasise the importance of preventive measures to curb the pneumonia threat, Usha Elango, president, IAP, Coimbatore Chapter, told reporters in a meeting organised to announce the flagging of awareness campaigns on the occasion of World Pneumonia day on November 12.

She said infants, neonates, premature babies between 24-59 months with underdeveloped lungs, narrow airways, poor nutrition and immature immune system are at high risk of contracting pneumococcal infections.

Like other vaccinations given at the earlier stage to prevent diseases, the inclusion of PCV is yet to be part of the programme, which would help prevent pneumonia in children.

As of now, only two companies are supplying the vaccine which continues to be expensive. At least four doses of the vaccine should be given to the child and each costs about Rs3,000. She said the high cost of the vaccination continues to be a burden for the poor. If the government includes the vaccination in the programme it would help reach more children.

T M Manickaraj, former IAP, president and consultant paediatrician, Sarnaya Clinic, Coimbatore, said annually India witnesses 45 million pneumonia cases among children under 5 years of which 0.37 million die due to the disease.

According to the World Health Organisation, streptococcus pneumonia responsible pneumococcal disease is the prime cause for hospitalisation and death among children below five years.

Pneumococcal disease comprises of pneumonia (lung infection), meningitis (brain infection), bactermia (blood infection), Otitis media (ear infection) and sinusitis (sinus infection).
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/coimbatore/Indian-Academy-of-Paediatrics-demand-inclusion-of-pneumonia-vaccine-in-national-immunization-program/articleshow/17136866.cms

^^ I posted a similar opinion last year too

Hib (Haemophilus influenzae) is absolutely essential and is incorporated into the immunization schedule in almost all the countries except India. Hib kills thousands every year and is the most common cause of meningitis (inflammation of the covering of the brain) - which is highly fatal in children less than 5. This vaccine was recommended by WHO in the 90's itself. Infact the medical fraternity was fighting for this for almost a decade now. Countless discussions, meetings, seminars etc etc and only now government is paying heed. The same goes for hepatitis B. This is a well known public enemy and probably you would have already heard about it.

Infact the next fight is to include pneumococcal vaccine in the schedule. That is another big thala vali causing respiratory infection in kids for which a vaccine is readily available but not implemented by India.

However I know what you mean. For example, the panic created for the swine flu 2 years back was totally unnecessary and is a classic case of panic marketing by big pharma.

In this case (Hib), the vaccine is manufactured by serum institute and not by a MNC. This is a perfectly legitimate exercise (although someone might be earning something somewhere - you cant stop it in a country like India). Hope they expand it all over India soon and roll out pneumococcal vaccine asap.

TRICHY: Slowly, awareness about cadaver transplants is increasing among people in Trichy, with hospitals also contributing to the situation. Greater awareness is helping terminally ill patients get a new lease of life from brain dead patients whose organs, chiefly the cornea, kidney, liver and heart valves are harvested. Two hospitals - Assured Best Care (ABC) at Annamalai Nagar and Cauvery Medical Centre at Thennur - have been authorized by the government to perform kidney transplantations.

Both these hospitals have handled at least 15 such operations each.

While some doctors are prone to "creating awareness" about these "medical marvels," others think it is unethical to propagate these operations as if it is an achievement of a particular hospital. For instance, on Wednesday morning, Madhumalar, a 24-year-old woman was declared brain dead after she was diagnosed with hydrocephalus (an abnormal condition in which cerebrospinal fluid collects in the ventricles of the brain) and after her husband, Karthikeyan, gave written permission, the Cauvery hospital harvested two kidneys, liver and cornea. While one kidney was transplanted at Cauvery, the other was taken to Madurai Meenakshi Medical Mission Hospital, the liver to CMC Vellore, and the cornea to Trichy Joseph Eye Hospital. The woman is also survived by a four-year-old daughter.

Though Cauvery hospital is inclined to carry these feats to the people through the media, so that there is greater awareness, ABC is dead against the "disguised advertising". ABC's executive director Dr G Mukundan told TOI that, "It is unethical to advertise such operations. What we do is a solemn act, and it must also be considered a doctor's routine job. Though ours was the first hospital in Trichy to perform such operations, we never organized a press meet nor did we persuade the next of kin of the brain dead to donate organs. It must be spontaneous and if the donor's kin come forward it is well and good," he said. In fact, ABC harvested kidneys, liver, and cornea from a 10-year-old Thiruvanaikkovil boy who was declared brain dead following a road accident on November 2. "The father of the boy came forward to donate the organs and we accepted it. It was a highly noble gesture, and we were all praise for the grieving father," Dr Mukundan said.

Dr Mukundan said in matters of such organ donation, Trichy was in the forefront more than Madurai and Tirunelveli put together. But cadaver organs coming from government hospitals were negligible. The government rule is that whenever two kidneys are harvested in a particular region, the other should be given to the neighbouring region where it might be required. "In my memory, I can safely say we have not received any cadaver kidney either from Madurai or Tirunelveli so far, but it always goes from Trichy.

Meanwhile, a newly opened hospital in Trichy has claimed to have treated a six-year-old girl, Mohana Priya, for acute fulminant liver failure, a syndrome that normally requires transplantation. With the go-ahead given by the girl's father, team of doctors from the hospital was said to have saved the girl.

"It was because the father of the child, Sakthivel, from Mudakkipatu village near Thogaimalai would not be able to spend Rs 25 to Rs 30 lakh for liver transplant, an operation far more complicated than even a heart transplantation was performed. He left the treatment to the discretion of the doctors. Since it is a new hospital, the doctors took it upon themselves as a medical challenge to treat the child and save her," said a doctor.

A doctor from the hospital told TOI that the child was diagnosed with hepatic encephalopathy (brain damage & disorientation) syndrome due to Hepatic "A" virus. It was a chance admission at the hospital, and the child was already down with jaundice. The team of doctors have claimed to have treated the child successfully after two weeks of treatment.
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/madurai/Warming-up-to-cadaver-transplants/articleshow/17137216.cms

Vasan Healthcare

pctbGvHGG8w

TN among 6 states tipped to achieve infant mortality goal (http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/chennai/TN-among-6-states-tipped-to-achieve-infant-mortality-goal/articleshow/17288234.cms?)

CHENNAI: Only six states across the country are likely to achieve the Millennium Development Goal (MDG) 4 of reducing under-five mortality rate by 2015. The MDG aims to reduce under-five mortality (U5MR) rate by two thirds between 1990 and 2015 and in numerical terms around 39 per 1,000.

India as a whole may fall short of realising the goal, though Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Kerala, Punjab and Himachal Pradesh will cross the milestone, said a study conducted jointly by the Unicef, the National Institute of Medical Sciences and the Indian Council of Medical Research. An analysis of data from the Sample Registration System (1978-2010) and three rounds of National Family Health Surveys conducted in 1992-93, 1998-99 and 2005-06 indicates that following the rapid decline in the 1970s, U5MR stagnated in the 1990s and then started declining again in the past decade. It fell to a level of 118 in 1990 to 93 in 2000 and 59 in 2009. Though U5MR has always been lower in urban than in rural areas, the decline in urban areas has been slower than in rural areas in the past two decades.

The report further said the 11th plan target was to reduce the infant mortality rate to 28 per 1,000 by 2012. But India is not likely to achieve this target in 2012 or even in 2016. Even among the six states, only Tamil Nadu and Kerala are likely to achieve this target in 2012, while Maharashtra may come close to achieving the target. For U5MR, the target set was 39 per 1,000 at the end of 2012. While economic status was found to have a strong and significant association with child survival, the fact is that progress in child survival in India has been equitable.

"A renewed focus on empowering women and promoting equity in access to health services will help guide actions for accelerating child survival in India, as we move towards the year 2015 and beyond," said Louis-Georges Arsenault, Unicef India representative. "We require a comprehensive approach that includes coverage of key child survival interventions, improving quality of prenatal care, promoting education of girls beyond primary, delaying the age of marriage and childbirth and ensuring adequate spacing between births," he said.

In terms of environmental determinants, the study suggests that children living in households with access to unsafe source of drinking water were at greater risk of death. Neonatal, post-neonatal and child mortality is also higher for children in households that do not have access to a flush or pit toilet.

:cheer:

http://epaper.timesofindia.com/Repository/getimage.dll?path=TOICH/2012/11/20/5/Img/Pc0051300.jpg

The state should concentrate on the malnutrition of both mothers and children. The easy causes of IMR and U5MR has been more or less brought under control in most districts and the fight is going to be lot tougher going forward.

TN among 6 states tipped to achieve infant mortality goal (http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/chennai/TN-among-6-states-tipped-to-achieve-infant-mortality-goal/articleshow/17288234.cms?)

:applause::applause::applause:

Chck out the link for detailed annexure in tabular form

AIIMS like Hospitals

The details in regard to setting up of hospitals on the lines of AIIMS and upgradation of existing Government Medical College Institutions in the first and second phase of PMSSY and progress in each of the projects is annexed.



Out of 13 institutions taken up for upgradation in the first phase of PMSSY, civil work at 6 medical colleges, viz. Thiruvananthapuram Medical College; Government Mohan Kumaramangalam Medical College & Hospital, Salem; Government Medical College, Bangalore; NIMS, Hyderabad; SGPGIMS, Lucknow and Jammu Medical College have been completed.

Out of 6 medical colleges taken up for upgradation in the second phase of PMSSY, civil work at Government Medical College, Amritsar; Rajendra Prasad Government Medical College, Tanda; Jawaharlal Nehru Medical College, Aligarh and Pt. B.D. Sharma Postgraduate Institute of Medical Sciences, Rohtak has already started. At Nagpur Medical College where only procurement of medical equipment is involved, procurement work has already been initiated. In respect of Madurai Medical College, plan/design was modified consequent on change of location by the Government of Tamil Nadu.

Consequent on failure of bid process initiated in 2006 for selection of single Project Consultant for all the six institutions and rejection of bids for architectural design due to exorbitant price offered by the bidder, the whole process had to be initiated de novo. It was accordingly decided in January, 2007 that each AIIMS site should be treated as a separate and independent project instead of clubbing all six together and that the construction of housing complex should be separated from that of Hospital and Medical College, so that it is constructed earlier.

There had also been delay in finalization of Detailed Project Reports for medical college and hospital complexes consequent on incorporation of certain changes and also adoption of some additional features such as green building concept etc. in the design of the buildings.

In addition, due to local problems at Bhubaneswar site, change in basic design of the building due to site condition at Rishikesh, modification in design at foundation level due to site requirements at Patna and Raipur sites, deficient services by Project Consultant at Jodhpur site etc., also delayed the work at the six AIIMS projects. All the six AIIMS-like institutions in the first phase of PMSSY are expected to be made functional by 2013-14.

Implementation of remaining 7 upgradation projects in the first phase of PMSSY has got delayed due to certain site conditions/local issues etc. and these are expected to be completed by March, 2013.

The civil work at Amritsar Medical College; Tanda Medical College; Aligarh Medical College and PGIMS, Rohtak has started and the work is in progress. At Nagpur Medical College where only procurement of medical equipments is involved, the procurement work is undertaken by the State Government/Institute. At Madurai Medical College, concept plan/design has modified due to change of location by the State Government/institute authorities.



http://pib.nic.in/newsite/erelease.aspx?relid=89314

India’s Hidden Health Care Labor Force


http://graphics8.nytimes.com/images/2012/11/27/world/asia/27-Jyoti-Photo-IndiaInk/27-Jyoti-Photo-IndiaInk-blog480.jpg

A clinic in Kavarapattu, Thanjavur, Tamil Nadu, run by Sughavazhvu, an organization which provides health care in rural areas.


As India grapples with the daunting challenge of providing health care to the millions who can’t afford or access it, a growing number of “affordable health care” entrepreneurs are focused on developing new solutions for the rural and remote parts of the country.

One such initiative is gaining steam in Thanjavur in Tamil Nadu, where IKP Center for Technologies in Public Health has partnered with a local nonprofit, Sughavazhvu Healthcare, to set up a network of well-equipped health centers that provide a broad range of health care services.

“In India, money is not the problem,” said Nachiket Mor, a public health expert who is an IKP Center director and chairman of Sughavazhvu Healthcare. ”Manpower is not the problem. We just need to create and demonstrate on the ground how a primary health care system can work,” he said.

The pilot, not-for-profit project is currently running seven facilities, which, Mr. Mor said, “could act as model primary health subcenters.” Each center has protocols for the treatment of a wide range of ailments, including cardiovascular diseases, diabetes, anemia, oral health, women’s health and reproductive care, ophthalmic care and even mental health counseling and treatment.

Across India, access to health care remains a pressing problem, exacerbated by the country’s large population and shortage of doctors. Nowhere is this challenge more acute than in rural India, which is experiencing a severe shortage of qualified health care practitioners. According to Health Ministry statistics, the doctor-to-patient ratio for rural India is one to 30,000; the World Health Organization recommends a ratio of one to 1,000.

This leaves the health of rural populations largely in the hands of people who aren’t always fully qualified, including family elders, midwives and doulas, untrained community health workers and accredited social health activists (known as ASHA workers) who merely refer patients up the chain to specialists and bigger-city hospitals, Mr. Mor said.

The Indian government has tried to fill this gap by providing low-cost care through rural health centers, called “subcenters,” in villages, tasked with offering primary care. But often they are empty rooms, Mr. Mor said, with little or no qualified staff or facilities.

The Tamil Nadu pilot program is intended to show that it is possible to provide continuous, quality health care for rural communities by using village-based “health extension workers” to assist doctors.

What Mr. Mor calls his “game changer” is India’s large talent pool of what are known as “Ayush” doctors, practitioners of Ayurveda, Unani and Siddha medicine, who are trained in indigenous medical education. (Unani medicine originated in the Arab world, while Siddha is from Tamil Nadu.) There are 750,000 qualified and registered Ayush practitioners who are currently severely underutilized, he said.

“In our view this talent pool is already large,” he said. “Their services can much more easily be expanded and utilized than the pool of physicians trained in allopathic care,” that is, conventional modern medicine.

These doctors already have much of the training they need, Mr. Mor said, as there is an 80 percent overlap between the curricula they follow to become Ayush doctors and the international M.D. curriculum.

The project trains and certifies these indigenous doctors to serve as “independent care providers” in a rural setting. A Supreme Court judgment made it legal for Ayush doctors to practice conventional medicine, provided they follow certain regulations. The training program has been developed in partnership with the University of Pennsylvania’s School of Nursing.

Mr. Mor said he hopes to find private sector players or state governments to partner with to set up similar facilities across the country. He is in talks with private and state partners in Odisha and Uttaranchal, he said.

He brings to the project his experience as a part of the government committee on universal health coverage instituted by the Planning Commission, which has recommended the establishment of a National Healthcare Reform Commission. It has also recommended the introduction of a new three-year Bachelor of Rural Health Care (BRHC) university program to train rural health care practitioners, double the number of community health workers in rural areas and recruit adequate numbers of dentists, pharmacists, physiotherapists and technicians.

Other countries are also trying to create a cadre of rural health care professionals, and the nongovernment sector has often stepped in when the state has shown reluctance or complacence.

In Bangladesh, for instance, BRAC, the world’s largest development organization, is in the process of training 80,000 community health care providers who, like paramedics, will be taught essential services such as maternal and child health care. They will be able to go door to door to provide services in the poorest parts of the country, Asif Saleh, BRAC’s senior director, said from Dhaka.

http://india.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/11/29/indias-hidden-health-care-labor-force/

Rs.50-crore maternity care facility for GRH

http://www.thehindu.com/news/cities/Madurai/rs50crore-maternity-care-facility-for-grh/article4147166.ece

State puts up good fight against HIV


With the UNAIDS report putting India among the nations with a 50 per cent or over drop in HIV incidence rate (new infections), this is clearly good news for the country. Down south, Tamil Nadu, once considered a high-prevalence State, also has good news.

The State has managed to retain stabilisation of its HIV/AIDS epidemic, holding on to its prevalence rate of 0.25 per cent since 2007. Initial estimates at the State level indicate that there actually may be a drop in the rate (0.11 per cent), though next year’s sentinel surveillance will have to conclusively establish this trend.

“Our stress, as with the WHO, is to reach the magic figure of zero: zero infections and zero deaths,” says Kumar Jayant, Project Director, Tamil Nadu State AIDS Control Cell. “For this, while we continue our awareness drives and IEC activities, we also need to be able to keep track of every single infected person, and ensure that they get the drugs.”

Keeping track of every single person is now the challenge. In a State where a large section of the population accesses private health care, the reasoning is that a good number of people are testing themselves in the private sector. Tagging each and every person is the next step to take. Mr. Jayant says efforts have been initiated to involve the private sector in the Integrated Counselling and Testing Centres.

Already, about 76 private hospitals have been roped in to collaborate on running ICTCs — this information is available with TANSACS. The target is to reach about 300 private hospitals, he adds, and collect data about positive cases from there too.

In terms of setting up anti-retroviral therapy centres, link ART centres, ICTCs to detect and counsel patients with new infections, strengthening the blood bank system, and expanding IEC activities in a major way have been some of the prominent activities that have led the State forward.


A significant contributor to the way the epidemic has gone has been the Prevention of Parent to Child transmission programme. Pregnant women who test positive are closely followed up and adequate interventions are made to ensure that their children are not born with the HIV infection too. Sources in TANSACS say that the programme is working very well, with the rate of transmission from mother to child nearly down to five per cent among positive mothers.

Suniti Solomon of YRG Care, who detected the first HIV case in the country, says, “Over the last 25 years, we have done a really great job, especially in Tamil Nadu.” Awareness has gone up for sure, she adds, and while the number of patients among traditional high risk groups has come down, other high risk groups are emerging. The moral of the story is that there can be no laxity in handling the epidemic.

“We need to continue our vigil,” Dr. Solomon says. Currently, cost-effective formulations are available to treat HIV at the initial stages, and with counselling to ensure that the patient adheres to the regimen, it is possible to suppress the virus to levels that are undetectable, and thus, break the transmission cycle.

http://www.thehindu.com/news/states/tamil-nadu/state-puts-up-good-fight-against-hiv/article4151467.ece

^^

http://www.thehindu.com/multimedia/dynamic/01285/hiv_1285413e.jpg

Diabetes Mellitus Cure in Kitchen : Oyster Mushroom

http://www.foodconsumer.org/newsite/Nutrition/Food/11930.html

Nachiket Mor

Award: The Crossover Leader
Age: 48

Why He Won: For successfully making the transition from a thriving career in the corporate world to working for the social sector and for serving as an inspiration and role model for others.
His Trigger: To make a substantial difference, to find a solution to poverty.
His Mission: Make financial services and health care accessible to everyone.
His Action Plan: Create institutions, design scalable models that recognise the role of the market.
His Next Move: Demonstrate that the models in financial services and health care are viable; convince the market to adopt them and scale up.

If you want to see a place that represents the average India—that’s neither too big nor too small, neither too rich, nor too poor, possessing nothing unique, except perhaps history—visit Thanjavur.

If you rank the districts in India according to economic and social indicators, Thanjavur in Tamil Nadu will be right in the middle. And within Thanjavur, the distinction of being in the centre would go to a village called Alakuddi.

It is set amidst acres of paddy fed by tributaries of the Cauvery. You will find women washing clothes at the river ghats and children plunging into its waters. At the village railway station, empty benches wait under trees that sway in the breeze. It could well be RK Narayan’s Malgudi.

On every weekday morning, Uma Priyadarshini arrives at this station and takes a dusty road to a clinic, called SughaVazhvu Health Centre, in the village centre. She receives about 30 patients every day, treats them herself or refers them to a government hospital. The clinic is clean, with a few benches, some medical and diagnostic equipment, and two computers.

For help, Uma has a nurse who does the initial screening, and who collects information about patients and feeds it into a computer. But what is of greater help to Uma is a software that guides her in examining patients. On a recent afternoon, there were three or four women waiting in the foyer, holding cards with barcodes. With these codes, Uma can access their medical history and treat a range of conditions: Screen patients for cervical cancer, fill a bad tooth, test eyesight and help patients with chronic ailments like diabetes.

Interestingly, Uma does not hold an MBBS degree. She studied ayurveda at a college in Kerala, and also underwent a year-long training in pharmacology, dental procedures and emergency care—subjects not covered by her syllabus but required for this job.

Doctors with MBBS degrees seldom go to rural areas. There is an acute shortage of doctors in India; the government estimates we need at least 7 lakh more. The Alakuddi clinic, one of seven in the district, demonstrates how physicians with degrees in alternative medicine can fill this gap in primary health care.

Zeena Johar, president, IKP Centre for Technologies in Public Health, which runs the chain of clinics, says there are more than 7.5 lakh practitioners of alternative medicine in India and 70 percent of them are in legally permitted categories. There’s an 80 percent overlap between their course material and that of an MBBS degree.

The gap in education can be bridged with a combination of technology and training, as is the case with Uma. Dr Devi Shetty, who runs Narayana Hrudayalaya in Bangalore, believes this is the way forward in addressing India’s primary health care problems. “This will become the norm. The country has no other option,” he says.

Not far from the SughaVazhvu Health Centre is another well-appointed building: Brightly painted, the office within has a scale to weigh gold and silver items, a webcam to photograph customers, a burglar alarm and a safe. A board reads Pudhuaaru KGFS (Kshetriya Grameen Financial Services). KGFS is trying to solve a different problem—that of financial access.

On busy days, people wait to meet officials, get loans or insurance, and deposit their savings in a bank. The centre has been around longer than SughaVazhvu and is a part of a bigger network that includes five business units, three in Tamil Nadu, and one each in Orissa and Uttarakhand. KGFS has more than 100 branches and 2 lakh customers, and grew at a time when the government was struggling to find ways to implement financial inclusion—over 40 percent of India’s population does not have bank accounts—and the limitations of microfinance were becoming apparent.

KGFS steps away from many risks that are inherent in other models, and it can scale up. It has a very different business model, says Ganesh Rengaswamy of Lok Capital, one of its investors. It is based on branches, and on a complete understanding of its customers.

Despite all its ordinariness, Alakkudi could well be at the top of a list of places that point to the future, thanks to these two ventures.

Read more: http://forbesindia.com/article/philanthropy-awards-2012/nachiket-mor-the-crossover-leader/34245/1#ixzz2E9KDyk6h

Easing of visa norms to boost medical tourism

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/chennai/Easing-of-visa-norms-to-boost-medical-tourism/articleshow/17486793.cms

I came across a very weird but intriguing / interesting request from one of my friends.

Initially I thought of not sharing this. But many of you may have faced / will face a similar question in your life.

My friend's child who has recently attained puberty had this question and he could not answer the same immediately. He pushed the responsibility to me as I am considered as the quick reference source by many of my friends.

Thanks to Google Bhagwan, I was able to muster the following answer. Our Doctor friends here may help to clear our doubts.

The question was
Why humans have hair in armpits & the pubes ? Is there any advantage or not ?

My Answer :
The truth is no one really knows exactly why humans have pubic hair, although several theories exist.

The most compelling argument for the presence of pubic hair is that these hairs help to retain natural phermones produced by glands to entice the opposite sex and encourage reproduction with a suitable partner.

Phermones are produced by apocrine glands found in “hairy” areas of the body, such as under the arms and the genital region. The hair in these areas traps the pheromones, which are relatively odorless until bacteria break them down and the air in the hair traps and releases it.

Another reason given is that hair are natural heat exchangers and genitals are one of the most delicate parts of the body and can’t work in abrupt conditions like heat or cold.

Genitals and especially testes work at a temperature below normal body temperature, about two to three degrees lower and the theory is that the bush of hair are just a control system to regulate temperature.

Other theories put forward are the reduction of external friction during sexual intercourse, protection of the sensitive pubic area and the protection of skin on the pubic area from certain infections, rashes, irritations and acne.

Another question for our Doc Friends:

I come across this quite often when I read about Indian system of Medicine. Ayurveda & other Indian systems mainly concentrate more on the Lymph capillaries, nodes & the Chakras in the body.

For eg, accumulation of gas in lymph capillaries & nodes, liquification & solidfication of the same leads to Vata Dosha.

Heating up of Body is due to excessive Pitta Dosaha in Lymph capillaries & nodes.

Does Allopathy has similar concepts ?

Vata is responsible for heart pumping & blood movement through the body parts, movemnet of food, passing urine, stools & semen etc. Vata Dosha leads to many ailments from Gastric Complaints, Arthiritis, Slip Disc, Sciatica, Paralysis etc.

My heart says that there should be some meeting point between the two systems.

Importance of few country side green leaves which are good to prevent lot of diseases.
முடக்கு+அறுத்தான்= முடக்கறுத்தான்

முடக்கறுத்தான்/ முடக்கற்றான்/ முடர்குற்றான்/ மொடக்கொத்தான்

"சூலைப்பிடிப்பு சொறிசிரங்கு வன்கரப்பான்
காலைத் தொடுவலியுங் கண்மலமும் - சாலக்
கடக்கத்தானோடிவிடுங் காசினியை விட்டு
முடக்கற்றான் தனை மொழி"
- சித்தர் பாடல்-

கீல்பிடிப்பு, கிரந்தி, கரப்பான், பாதத்தைப் பிடித்த வாதம், மலக்கட்டு அத்தனையும் முடக்கற்றான் உபயோகித்தால் இந்த உலகை விட்டே ஓடிவிடுமாம்.

முடக்கற்றான் கொடிவகையைச் சேர்ந்தது. இது இந்தியாவிலும், இலங்கையிலும் அதிகமாகக் காணப்படுகிறது.குளிர்ந்த ஈரச்சத்துள்ள இடத்தில்தான் முடக்கற்றான் பயிராகும்.தோட்டங்கள், வீட்டு வேலி இவைகளிலுள்ள பெரிய செடிகளின்மேல் படர்ந்து வளரும். உஷ்ண பிரதேசங்களில் முடக்கற்றான் கொடியைப் பார்க்கமுடியாது. வளமான இடங்களில் இந்தக் கொடிசற்று பெரிய இலைகளுடன் செழிப்பாகப் படரும். இந்தக் கொடியின்தண்டும் இலைக் காம்பும் மெல்லியதாகவே இருக்கும். இது ஏறுகொடியாக சுமார் 3.5 மீ. அளவு படரும்.

இதன் தண்டு, இலை, காம்பு எல்லாம் நல்ல பச்சை நிறமாகவே இருக்கும். இதன் பூ வெண்நிறமாக இருக்கும். இதன் காய் மூன்று பிரிவாகப் பிரிந்து உப்பலான மூன்று தனித் தனி அறைகளைக் கொண்டதாக இருக்கும். ஒவ்வோர் அறையிலும் ஒரு விதை வீதம் ஒரு காயில் மூன்று விதைகள் இருக்கும். காயைப் பறித்துத் தோலை உறித்தால் உள்ளே மிளகளவு, பச்சை நிறமான விதைகள் இருக்கும். அதன் ஒரு பகுதியில் நிலாப்பிறைபோல் ஒரு வெண்ணிறக் குறி தோன்றும்.

இதன் காய் முற்றிய பின் பழுப்பு நிரமாக மாறிக் காய்து விடும். இதை மற்ற கீரைகளுடன் சேர்த்துச் சமைத்துச் சாப்பிடலாம்.இதை தனியாக மருந்தாகவும் பயன் படுத்தலாம்.

இதன் இலையில் அடங்கியுள்ள சத்துக்கள்:

ஈரப்பதம்-83.3, புரதச்சத்து-4.7, கொழுப்புச் சத்து 0.6, மாவு சத்து 9.1, தாது சத்து 2.3, சக்தி-6 கலோரி முதலியவை உள்ளது. விதை மூலம் இனப்பெருக்கம் செய்யப் படுகிறது.

முடக்கு+அறுத்தான் = முடக்கறுத்தான் / முடக்கற்றான். இது மூட்டுக்களை முடக்கி வைக்கும்மூட்டு வாத நோயை அகற்றுவதால் முடக்கற்றான் எனப்பெயர் பெற்றது.

குழந்தை பிரசவிக்கும் நேரத்தில் ஒரு சில பெண்கள் ரொம்ப கஷ்டப் படுவார்கள் இவர்கள் வேதனையைக் குறைத்து, சுகமாகசுலபமாக பிரசவிக்கச் செய்ய இந்த முடக்கற்றான் நன்கு பயன்படுகிறது.

சுகப்பிரசவம் ஆக:

முடக்கற்றான் இலையைத் தேவையான அளவுகொண்டு வந்து அதைக் காரமில்லாத அம்மியில் வைத்து மை போல்அரைத்து, பிரசவிக்கக் கஷ்டப்படும் பெண்களின் அடிவயிற்றில் கனமாகப் பூசிவிட்டால் கால் மணி நேரத்திற்குள் சுகப் பிரசவம் ஏற்படும். கஷ்டமோ, களைப்போ தோன்றாது. மருத்துவமனை அருகிலில்லாத கிராமங்களில் உள்ள மருத்துவம் பார்க்கும் பெண்களும், பாட்டி மார்களும் இந்த முறையையே கையாண்டு வருகின்றனர். இது கை கண்ட முறையாகும்.

மலச்சிக்கல், வாயு, வாதம், குணமாக:

மூன்று நாட்களுக்கு ஒருமுறை முடக்கற்றான் இரசம் வைத்துச் சாப்பிட்டு வந்தால் உடலிலுள்ள வாய்வு கலைந்து வெளியேறி விடும். வாய்வு, வாதம்,மலர்ச்சிக்கள் சம்பந்தப் பட்ட எல்லாக் கோளாறுகளும் நீங்கும்.

முடக்கற்றான் இரசம் தயாரிக்கும் முறை:

ஒரு கை பிடியளவுமுடக்கற்றான் இலை, காம்பு, தண்டு இவைகளை ஒரு சட்டியில் போட்டு ஒரு டம்ளரளவு தண்ணீர் விட்டு, நன்றாகக் கொதிக்க வைத்து இறக்கி அந்த நீரை மட்டும் வடித்து, சாதாரண புளி இரசம் வைப்பது போல் அந்த நீரில் புளி கரைத்து, மிளகு, பூண்டு,சீரகம் சேர்த்து இரசம் தயாரிக்க வேண்டும்.


பாரிச வாய்வு குணமாக -: கைப்பிடியளவு முடக்கற்றான் இலையைக்கொண்டு வந்து நைத்து ஒரு சட்டியில் போட்டு இதே அளவு வேலிப்பருத்தி இலையையும், சூரத்து ஆவரையிலையையும் இத்துடன் சேர்த்துஇரண்டு டம்ளர் தண்ணீர் விட்டு ஒரு டம்ளராக வடிகட்டிக் காலைவேளையில் மட்டும் தொடர்ந்து மூன்று நாட்களுக்குக் கொடுத்து வந்தால்பாரிச வாய்வு குணமாகும். தேவையானால் மூன்று நாட்கள் இடைவெளிவிட்டு, மறுபடி 3 நாளாக மூன்று முறை கொடுத்து வந்தால், பாரிசவாய்வு பூரணமாகக் குணமாகும்.

சுக பேதிக்கு :

ஒரு கைப்பிடியளவு முடக்கற்றான் இலையை ஒருசட்டியில் போட்டு, வெள்ளைப் பூண்டு பற்களில் ஐந்து நைத்துஇதில் போட்டு அரைது தேக்கரண்டி அளவு மிளகை ஒன்றிரண்டாக உடைத்து அதையும் சேர்த்து, இரண்டு டம்ளர் அளவு தண்ணீர்விட்டு அடுப்பில் வைத்து ஒரு டம்ளர் அளவிற்கு சுண்டக் காய்ச்சிய கஷாயத்தை வடிகட்டி விடியற் காலையில் சாப்பிட்டு விட்டால் பலமுறை பேதியாகும். அதிகமான பேதியினால் ஒரு எலுமச்சப் பழசாறு சாப்பிட்டால் பேதி உடனே நின்று விடும். இரசம் சாதம்மட்டும் சாப்பிடலாம். இரவு தேவையான பதார்த்தம் சாப்பிடலாம்.

முடக்கற்றான் இலைகளை எண்ணெயில் இட்டுக் காச்சி மூட்டு வலிகளுக்குப் பூசினால் நீங்கும். இதன் இலையை இடித்துப் பிழிந்துஎடுத்த சாற்றினை இரண்டு துளிகள் காதில் விட்டு வர காது வலி,காதில் இருந்து சீழ் வடிவது முதலியவை நீங்கும்.

முடக்கற்றான் இலையையும், வேரையும் குடி நீரிட்டு மூன்று வேளையாக அறுபது மில்லி வீதம் தொடர்ந்து அருந்திவர நாள்பட்டஇருமல் குணமாகும்.

சில பெண்களுக்கு மாதந்தோறும் ஒழுங்காக மாதவிலக்கு ஏற்படாது. இவர்கள் முடக்கற்றான் இலையை வதக்கி அடி வயிற்றில் கட்டிவந்தால் மாத விலக்கு ஒழுங்காக வரும்.

முடக்கற்றான் இலையை உலர்த்தி எடுத்த பொடியுடன், சித்திரமூல வேர் பட்டை, கரிய போளம் இவைகளையும் பொடி செய்துகுறிப் பிட்ட அளவு மூன்று நாள் அருந்தி வர மாதவிலக்கு ஒழுங்காக வரும்.

முடக்கற்றான் கொடி மல மிளக்கி செய்கை உடையது. இதன் கொடியைமுறைப்படி குடிநீரிட்டு அத்துடன் ஆமணக்கு எண்ணெய் சேர்த்துஅருந்த மலத்தைக் கழிக்கச் செய்யும்.

முடக்கற்றான் வேரை உலர்த்தி பின்னர் முறைப் படி குடி நீர் அருந்திவர நாள் பட்ட மூல நோய் குணமாகும்.

^^til date my Grand-dad and grand-mom cook this soup for its many medicinal properties.I tasted many times too.its liek the normal rasam and felt good many times after having it..we always call it mudakathan rasam..

http://img805.imageshack.us/img805/9373/20130103d019106023.jpg

108 services saved 1,10,00 people in the last 1 year.
கடந்த ஓராண்டில் 108 ஆம்புலன்சில் ஒரு லட்சத்து 10 ஆயிரம் பேர் மீட்பு (http://www.dinamalar.com/News_Detail.asp?Id=623233)
திருப்பூர்: ஈரோடு, கிருஷ்ணகிரி, கரூர், கோவையை உள்ளடக்கிய மேற்கு மண்டலத்தில், கடந்த ஓராண்டில் 108 ஆம்புலன்ஸ் சேவை மூலம், ஒரு லட்சத்து 10 ஆயிரம் பேர் மீட்கப்பட்டுள்ளனர்.ஏழை மக்கள் மருத்துவ சேவையை எளிதில் பெற, இலவச 108 ஆம்புலன்ஸ் திட்டம் 2008ல் கொண்டு வரப்பட்டது. தமிழகம் முழுவதும் 450க்கும் மேற்பட்ட ஆம்புலன்ஸ் இயக்கப்படுகின்றன. மேற்கு மண்டலத்தில் 112 ஆம்புலன்ஸ் உள்ளது.
கடந்த 2012ல் மட்டும் ஈரோடு, கோவை, நாமக்கல், கிருஷ்ணகிரி, தர்மபுரி, கரூர், நீலகிரி, சேலம் உள்ளிட்ட மேற்கு மண்டலத்தின் எட்டு மாவட்டங்களில், ஒரு லட்சத்து 10 ஆயிரம் பேர், அவசர உதவிக்காக 108 இலவச ஆம்புலன்ஸ்களை அழைத்துள்ளனர்.
கோவை மாவட்டத்தில் விபத்துக்களில் சிக்கிய 6,170 பேர் மீட்கப்பட்டுள்ளனர். சேலம் 5,986; ஈரோடு 5,197; கிருஷ்ணகிரி 3,220; நாமக்கல் 3,158; தர்மபுரி 2,671; கரூர் 2,081; நீலகிரி 518 பேர். போதிய மருத்துவ வசதி இல்லாத, கிராமங்களை அதிக அளவில் உள்ளடக்கிய கிருஷ்ணகிரி மாவட்டத்தில், பிரசவ சிகிச்சைக்காக 5,188 பேர் மீட்கப்பட்டுள்னர். இதே மாவட்டத்தில் அதிகபட்சமாக 125 குழந்தைகள் ஆம்புலன்சில் பிறந்துள்ளன. சேலத்தில் 5,018 பேர், நீலகிரியில் 1,434 பேர் மீட்கப்பட்டுள்ளனர்.நெஞ்சுவலி, மாரடைப்பு, திடீர் வலிப்பு உள்ளிட்ட உயிரிழப்பு ஏற்படும் பிரச்னைகளில் சிக்கியவர்களை மருத்துவமனைக்கு வருவதற்குள் காப்பாற்றியதில், கோவை முதலிடம் பெறுகிறது. கோவையில் மட்டும் 953 பேர் காப்பாற்றப்பட்டுள்ளனர். கிருஷ்ணகிரி, சேலம், ஈரோடு மாவட்டங்களில், முறையே 354, 678, 659 பேர் காப்பாற்றப்பட்டுள்ளனர்.எட்டு மாவட்டங்களிலும், கடந்த ஓராண்டில் மட்டும் ஆம்புலன்சில் 533 குழந்தைகள் பிறந்துள்ளன. நெஞ்சுவலியால் மட்டும் 5,263 பேர் மீட்கப்பட்டுள்ளனர். நீலகிரி மாவட்டத்தில் குறைந்தபட்சம் 4,633 பேர் மட்டுமே, 108 ஆம்புலன்சை பயன்படுத்தியுள்ளனர்.

South India witnessed most PE deals in 2012 healthcare tops list

South India attracted the most number of private equity (PE) investments (162 deals worth $2.46 billion, or Rs13,470 crore) in 2012, with Bangalore-based companies leading the pack with 88 deals worth $1.17 billion.

According to data provided by PE research firm Venture Intelligence, the information technology and IT-enabled services sector saw the largest number of deals in the south, while the healthcare sector secured the top investment deals. Western India witnessed 126 deals with higher PE capital in terms of value, at $3.8 billion, and northern India saw 92 deals worth $2.37 billion, the data showed.

Interestingly, seven of the top 10 deals, which saw fund infusion into unlisted companies, were in the healthcare sector, including India Value Fund’s $180 million infusion into Manipal Health Enterprises. Other major healthcare deals are the $110-million investment by Advent International in Hyderabad-based Care Hospitals, the $100-million investment by Olympus Capital in Kochi-based DM Healthcare and the $100-million investment by GIC in Tiruchi-based Vasan Eye Care.

“The top four deals in the healthcare industry took place in four major cities in the four states in south India—Bangalore, Hyderabad, Kochi and Tiruchi. Healthcare is one such sector which would not get affected by the global downturn,” said Arun Natarajan, founder of Venture Intelligence.

Courtesy: admin sir of TP

Source : http://business-standard.com/india/news ... st/498352/ (http://business-standard.com/india/news/south-india-witnessed-most-pe-deals-in-2012-healthcare-tops-list/498352/)





^^^^

Its Amazing

Very Great to see Trichy as one of the Top 4 Cities in South India ---------Which saw top 4 Deals in Healthcare Industry


This is why "Trichy is Rightly Called as Growing Low Cost Medical Tourism Hub of TN"


:cheers::cheers::cheers:

T.N. tops in implementation outcomes of NRHM (http://www.thehindu.com/news/national/tn-tops-in-implementation-outcomes-of-nrhm/article4302309.ece)
Majority of patients are utilising public health facilities in the State for chronic disease treatment

An evaluation has ranked Tamil Nadu at the top for implementation outcomes of the National Rural Health Mission (NRHM) and described it as a benchmark for other States.

Analysis of data also reveals that in physical infrastructure per 1 lakh population with respect to Primary Health Centres, Community Health Centres, and First Reference Units, Jammu and Kashmir is far ahead of Tamil Nadu and the other States.

One important reason why Tamil Nadu (which also had a much better baseline) was purposively chosen in this sample — surveyed under Evaluation Study of NRHM — was to measure achievement of the high focus States with reference to a benchmark for performance.

The seven States surveyed are: Tamil Nadu, Madhya Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Jharkhand, Orissa and Jammu and Kashmir.

For the utilisation of public health facilities for ante-natal care and post-natal care services, Tamil Nadu is the best performing State and Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh and Assam are the worst.

Institutional deliveries

On institutional deliveries, Tamil Nadu leads and Jharkhand is at the bottom.

According to the survey done by the Institute of Economic Growth of the University of Delhi, institutional deliveries are reported to be the highest in Tamil Nadu (96.6 per cent), followed by Madhya Pradesh (63.3 per cent), Assam (56.9 per cent), Orissa (52.6 per cent), Jharkhand (46.1 per cent), Uttar Pradesh (45.8 per cent) and Jammu & Kashmir (38 per cent).

The survey found almost all seven States have reported post natal count care by more than 65 per cent of the lactating women except in Jammu & Kashmir, which has only 57 per cent utilisation of this service. Almost similar percentages of lactating women have reported to be Janani Suraksha Yojana (JSY) beneficiaries.

Usage of family planning services, public or private, is maximum in Assam (65.5 per cent) followed by Tamil Nadu (63.3 per cent), Jammu & Kashmir (61.6 per cent), Jharkhand (54.7 per cent), Madhya Pradesh (53.7 per cent), Orissa (53.4 per cent) and Uttar Pradesh (42.3 per cent). The Accredited Social Health Activists (ASHAs) and auxiliary nurse midwives (ANMs) have a major role to play in motivating couples to adopt family planning methods.

As far as utilisation of public vs. private health facilities for chronic disease treatment is concerned, the survey found that majority of the patients were utilising public health facilities in Tamil Nadu (94 per cent), Assam (90.3 per cent), Orissa (86.8 per cent), Jammu & Kashmir (83.5 per cent), Jharkhand (69.8 per cent), Madhya Pradesh (63 per cent) and Uttar Pradesh (44.6 per cent). Overall utilisation being poor in Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh and Jharkhand reflects that there may be problems of both access and quality of basic health care.

Role of ASHA scheme

Awareness about ASHA scheme was much higher than NRHM per se, and this clearly reflects the role of ASHA as the most linked to the NRHM initiatives as compared with others like Village Health and Sanitation Committees or Village Health and Nutrition Days. Interestingly, source of knowledge about these initiatives are predominantly ASHA/ANM and not print or electronic media.

Also, the study found that most of the ASHAs were reported to be carrying kits and involved in counselling over sanitation and hygienic practices as well as distribution of common medicines. ASHAs’ role was quite important in increasing awareness about the key health care initiatives of NRHM to increase utilisation of obstetric and child care.

Recommending consolidation of ASHAs scheme by mentoring and retraining, the study says inclusion of administering vaccinations, would further enhance antenatal and child care. Thus, more attention is needed for the improvement of existing infrastructure, upgrading health facilities, including drugs, doctors and equipment, in most of the lagging States.

Nevertheless, institutional deliveries have accelerated and safe home deliveries have improved over the period. Most of the public health facilities are getting utilised by more health care seekers. JSY beneficiaries are more than the institutional deliveries in some of the high focus States such as Jharkhand, basically because of home deliveries being covered under JSY. However, despite substantial efforts in mainstreaming AYUSH, only 0.5 per cent of patients with chronic disease had opted for treatment under AYUSH with Ayurveda being more popular than other traditional streams.

Trichy GH Upgradation to 100 Crore Super-Speciality Hospital Updates

Works on 100 Crore Super-Speciality Hospital in Trichy is Going very Fast------2 Floors completed as of now



Ultra-Modern Government Maternity Centre at a cost of 7 crores attached to it has completed and is ready for Inaguration


http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8224/8389458668_158054c276_z.jpg


source: Indian Express---Trichy Edition dated 7th January 2013



^^^^^^

Very Happy to see Amazing Super-Speciality Upgradation of Trichy GH To 100 crores is progressing at a very fast pace

Hoping and eagerly waiting for its speedy inaguraion very soon-------a Great boon to Entire Central and Southern Districts


:cheers::cheers::cheers:

Regional Cancer Centre work begins

MADURAI, January 19, 2013




The Government Rajaji Hospital (GRH) here has initiated steps to set up a Regional Cancer Centre, which was announced by Chief Minister Jayalalithaa on January 11, which will cater to patients in the southern districts.


This facility is coming up on the Balarangapuram Government Hospital premises. The state government has sanctioned Rs.3 crore for construction of buildings. While the existing buildings would be refurbished as per requirements, the construction works for new buildings would be taken up soon by the Public Works Department.


N. Mohan, GRH Dean, told The Hindu on Thursday that the “administrative sanction” for utilising Rs.3.02 crore was given by the Health Department towards buildings and a separate fund was also allotted for procuring equipment needed for surgical oncology, radiation oncology and medical oncology.


It was announced last week that approximately Rs.15 crore has been allocated to establish the Regional Cancer Centre in Madurai. Additional buildings have to be constructed at Balarangapuram for chemotherapy facility for cancer patients, the Dean said.


Dr.Mohan said that the state government is also giving Rs.10 crore to buy equipment for cancer treatment in three branches of oncology — surgical, medical and radiation. Meanwhile, S. S. Sundaram, Head of Department of Surgical Oncology, GRH, has said that the volume of cancer patients was more in southern districts and the Regional Cancer Centre would be of great help to patients.


Oral cancer, lung cancer, stomach cancer, breast cancer and cancer of the cervix were being detected among men and women and early detection was important, he added.


Specialists in the radiation oncology wing said that high-end machines were being purchased for the new centre because radiation therapy was most important during treatment.


http://www.thehindu.com/todays-paper/tp-national/tp-tamilnadu/regional-cancer-centre-work-begins/article4321965.ece



http://epaper.dinakaran.com/pdf/2013/01/17/20130117h_015102017.jpg


^^

As per the report Cancer care centre announced by Government will serve 10 District which includes Dindigul, Theni, Trichy, Sivaganga, Madurai of southern Tamilnadu.

Mental health of children ensures overall wellbeing of society-------Resolution passed at an International Conference in Trichy

TIRUCHI, January 19, 2013
Special Correspondent


Delegates from 26 universities in India, Australia, UAE take part in 2-day meet

http://www.thehindu.com/multimedia/dynamic/01335/18JAN_TYRKMNS01_TY_1335237e.jpg Brainstorming:Sue McGinty, centre, Professor and Acting Director, The Cairns Institute, James Cook University, Townsville, Australia, having a word with P.Illango, Professor and Head, Department of Social Work, Bharathidasan University, at the international conference on child and adolescent mental health in the city on Friday. — Photo:M.Moorthy




Deeming mental health of children, the nation’s future, as an essential component of overall health and wellbeing of society, Bharathidasan University’s Department of Social Work on Friday has envisaged an international conference as a platform for participants to share research outcomes and theoretical insights.


Against the reality of lack of attention to mental health of children and adolescents leading to consequences that reflect negatively on the capacity and productivity of society, the mandate of the participants comprising physicians, psychiatrists, special educators, professors, practitioners, lawyers, social workers, physiotherapists, nurses, sports persons, dieticians, and research scholars was to showcase innovative and effective interventions to address the issues globally.


At the start of the two-day conference on child and adolescent mental health on Friday, speakers dwelt on the disadvantages of modern era wherein the lives of children and adolescents who find themselves in clutches of technological development turn mechanical.
The nuclear family system denies children grand-parental and even parental guidance, leading to lesser interaction among family members.

Academic load
While parents hardly had time to impart skills, values and ethics to children, the heavy academic load deters teachers from setting right the shortcoming, they explained, cautioning that the inadequacy of guidance from elders eventually would produce future generations incapable of coping up with challenges of life.


Sue McGinty, Professor and Acting Director, The Cairns Institute, James Cook University, Townsville, Australia, inaugurated the conference that has attracted 207 abstracts and 174 full papers for publication.
Nonie Harris, Course Coordinator and Senior Lecturer at the Institute; M.Daniel, Director In-Charge, UGC Academic Staff College, Bharathidasan University; and P.Illango, Professor and Head, Department of Social Work, also addressed the participants encompassing delegates from 26 universities from eight States in India, and from Australia and United Arab Emirates.





source: http://www.thehindu.com/todays-paper/tp-national/tp-tamilnadu/mental-health-of-children-ensures-overall-wellbeing-of-society/article4321943.ece

Tamil Nadu: Jaya sanctions over Rs 25 crore for upgradation of dental colleges, hospitals (http://ibnlive.in.com/news/tamil-nadu-jaya-sanctions-over-rs-25-crore-for-upgradation-of-dental-colleges-hospitals/316611-62-128.html)

Chennai: Announcing a slew of measures in the health sector, Tamil Nadu Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa on January 19 sanctioned over Rs 25 crore for various works including upgradation of the Government Dental College and Hospital here.
She granted Rs 10 crore for the upgradation of the institution in Chennai which would be used towards construction of new buildings and procuring new equipment, a state government release here said. Further, the number of seats in higher studies in the college had been increased from 35 to 58 and she had approved creating 36 medical and non-medical staff vacancies, it said.
The Chief Minister announced Rs 5 crore for construction of new building for Government Siddha Medical College at Palayamkottai, Rs 6.55 crore for a water project for Tirunelveli Medical College and Hospital and Rs 1.90 crore for Government Stanley Medical College in Chennai for renovation of a silver jubilee auditorium.

Dear Friends,

Kindly Click on the Madurai banner at the top and rate it 5-star so that we can try coming in top 100 banners.

Please pass this message to your friends and our neighbourhood friends..:)

The new headquarters changed to Government hospital
பன்நோக்கு அரசு மருத்துவமனையாக மாறியது புதிய தலைமைச் செயலகம்!

https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-0G4Whnwhsdw/UQkiiv79qcI/AAAAAAAABHU/xqAs_QK1-Lk/s912/hospital.jpg

Vikatan

^^ why are dogs sleeping and roaming around freely in a multi-specialty hospital? Do they plan to treat dogs there as well?:wallbash:

^^oh yeah , there is a dog in the picture no - 4&5 , I thought you were teasing some politician..

Besides that did you noted how the Tax payers money is used to serve for the shelter of stray animals..I think we are so compassionate people...

^^ why are dogs sleeping and roaming around freely in a multi-specialty hospital? Do they plan to treat dogs there as well?:wallbash:

That was their permanent home for the last two years. You might think what are these dogs doing here but the dogs are thinking "what the hell are these humans doing in our home."

Bouquets for Tamil Nadu’s performance in health sector


Tamil Nadu, which came in for appreciation for its performance in the health sector during the Call to Action: Child Survival and Development Summit, was also ranked high by the Common Review Mission of the National Rural Health Mission which evaluated several health parameters.

Based on a comparative evaluation, the CRM of NRHM report commended Tamil Nadu for its maternal and child care services. It is one of the three states, along with Kerala and Maharashtra, to cross the 11 Plan target for Maternal Mortality Rate reduction. While all States reported continuous increases in institutional deliveries, the highest levels were in Tamil Nadu.

In context, the State has a large number of primary health centres providing caesarean section facilities (105) the report noted, while observing that in many states it is still the private sector that does a majority of the C-section cases in the district.

A key component of pulling off a successful surgery is the availability of blood.The best practice in this sector is also credited to Tamil Nadu, where blood storage centres are not only fully functional, but also has strong linkages with various health units.

The quality of ante-natal care services in the country continues to be a cause of concern and was found to be poor in all states except Tamil Nadu and Kerala, the report stated. The State also had proper identification and follow-up for cases of severe anaemia, with adequate remedial measures put in place.

Positive reports have also come in about increasing numbers of special new-born care units from four states in Tamil Nadu, which has also reported effective birth and death registration systems.

Moving on, the committee felt that the State utilises the school set up to effectively address preventive, promotive and basic curative health care needs of school children, recommending that the model be implemented in other states as well.


The Tamil Nadu Medical Services Corporation a state-run procurement and logistics system, which has come in for rich praise from several quarters has been recommended for replication widely, but has taken place only in Delhi and Kerala.

Undoubtedly, there are several sectors that require improvement even in Tamil Nadu, public health experts in the State explain. However, the perception of the Centre, and other states about the performance of Tamil Nadu is also based on clear indicators of human development. It has consistently performed better than most states in the country in terms of infant and maternal mortality rates, and with a special public health cadre in place is better placed to handle and ramp up performance, they add.

http://www.thehindu.com/news/states/tamil-nadu/bouquets-for-tamil-nadus-performance-in-health-sector/article4399883.ece

New Speciality Hospital for women & children to come up at Salem at a cost of Rs 48 crore



http://img651.imageshack.us/img651/6463/20130217a005104016.jpg

I came across a very weird but intriguing / interesting request from one of my friends.

Initially I thought of not sharing this. But many of you may have faced / will face a similar question in your life.

My friend's child who has recently attained puberty had this question and he could not answer the same immediately. He pushed the responsibility to me as I am considered as the quick reference source by many of my friends.

Thanks to Google Bhagwan, I was able to muster the following answer. Our Doctor friends here may help to clear our doubts.

The question was
Why humans have hair in armpits & the pubes ? Is there any advantage or not ?

My Answer :
The truth is no one really knows exactly why humans have pubic hair, although several theories exist.

The most compelling argument for the presence of pubic hair is that these hairs help to retain natural phermones produced by glands to entice the opposite sex and encourage reproduction with a suitable partner.

Phermones are produced by apocrine glands found in “hairy” areas of the body, such as under the arms and the genital region. The hair in these areas traps the pheromones, which are relatively odorless until bacteria break them down and the air in the hair traps and releases it.

Another reason given is that hair are natural heat exchangers and genitals are one of the most delicate parts of the body and can’t work in abrupt conditions like heat or cold.

Genitals and especially testes work at a temperature below normal body temperature, about two to three degrees lower and the theory is that the bush of hair are just a control system to regulate temperature.

Other theories put forward are the reduction of external friction during sexual intercourse, protection of the sensitive pubic area and the protection of skin on the pubic area from certain infections, rashes, irritations and acne.

As far as I know whatever you have said is correct....

Another question for our Doc Friends:

I come across this quite often when I read about Indian system of Medicine. Ayurveda & other Indian systems mainly concentrate more on the Lymph capillaries, nodes & the Chakras in the body.

For eg, accumulation of gas in lymph capillaries & nodes, liquification & solidfication of the same leads to Vata Dosha.

Heating up of Body is due to excessive Pitta Dosaha in Lymph capillaries & nodes.

Does Allopathy has similar concepts ?

Vata is responsible for heart pumping & blood movement through the body parts, movemnet of food, passing urine, stools & semen etc. Vata Dosha leads to many ailments from Gastric Complaints, Arthiritis, Slip Disc, Sciatica, Paralysis etc.

My heart says that there should be some meeting point between the two systems.

The concepts are quiet different between the two.

My personal opinion is these systems of medicines can be compared with the laws of Physics. English medicine has too many evidences like Newtonian theory but restricted. Indian system of medicine might be like string theory when explored well can redefine the whole medicine. It is the duty of the government and the respective professionals to generate evidence and prove it.

திருச்சி

திருச்சி மாநகரை தூய்மையாக பராமரித்திட அனைத்து வணிக நிறுவனங்களும் முழு ஒத்துழைப்பு அளிக்க வேண்டும் என மாநகராட்சி ஆணையர் தண்டபாணி வேண்டுகோள் விடுத்துள்ளார்.

கலந்தாய்வு கூட்டம்

திருச்சி மாநகராட்சி தேவர் ஹாலில் மாநகராட்சி ஆணையர் தண்டபாணி தலைமையில் அனைத்து வணிக நிறுவனங்களின் உரிமையாளர்களுடன் திடக்கழிவு மேலாண்மை குறித்த கலந்தாய்வு கூட்டம் நடந்தது. கூட்டத்தில் ஆணையர் தண்டபாணி பேசியதாவது:–

65 வார்டுகளில் துப்புரவு பணிகளை மேற்கொள்வதற்காக மாநகராட்சி துப்புரவு பணியாளர்களுடன் தனியார் நிறுவன ஒப்பந்த அடிப்படையில் 400 துப்புரவு பணியாளர்களை நியமனம் செய்து பணிகளை மேற்கொள்ள நடவடிக்கை எடுக்கப்பட்டது.

சேவைக்கட்டணம்

குறிப்பாக குடியிருப்பு பகுதிகளை விட வணிக பகுதிகளில் அதிக குப்பைகள் சேருவதால் அதற்கு முக்கியத்துவம் கொடுத்து இரவு நேரங்களில் மாநகராட்சி லாரிகள் மூலம் குப்பைகளை அகற்ற திட்டமிடப்பட்டது. இதில் மக்கும் மற்றும் மக்காத குப்பைகளை தனித்தனியாக பிரித்து வழங்குவதுடன் பாதாள சாக்கடை அடைப்பை தடுக்கும் வகையில் திடக்கழிவுக்கென பிரிக்கும் தொட்டி அவசியம் கட்ட வேண்டும். திடக்கழிவு அகற்றுவதற்கு கூடுதல் சேவைகள் மேற்கொள்வதற்காக மாநகராட்சி நிர்ணயிக்கும் புதிய சேவைக்கட்டணம் செலுத்த அனைவரும் முன்வர வேண்டும்.திருச்சி நகரை தூய்மையாக பராமரித்திட அனைத்து வணிக நிறுவனங்களும் ஒத்துழைக்க வேண்டும்.

இவ்வாறு அவர் பேசினார்.

மாநகராட்சியில் பதிவு பெற்ற கட்டிட வரைவாளர்கள் வரைபடம் தயார் செய்து கொடுக்கும் போது அரசு விதிமுறைகளை முழுமையாக கடைபிடிப்பதற்கான ஆலோசனை கூட்டமும் நடந்தது. கூட்டத்தில் நகர்நல அலுவலர் ராஜேஸ்வரி, உதவி ஆணையர்கள் தனபாலன், தயாநிதி, ரங்கராஜன், மற்றும் பலர் கலந்து கொண்டனர்.

தமிழக முதல்வரின் விரிவான மருத்துவக் காப்பீட்டுத் திட்ட நிதியில் இருந்து திருச்சி மகாத்மா காந்தி அரசு மருத்துவமனையில் ரூ. 10 லட்சத்தில் வாங்கப்பட்ட நவீன நரம்பியல் அறுவைச் சிகிச்சைக்கான கருவியை, ஞாயிற்றுக்கிழமை இயக்கி வைத்தார் மாநிலப் பள்ளிக் கல்வித் துறை அமைச்சர் என்.ஆர். சிவபதி.
இது மூளை, தண்டுவடம் மற்றும் நரம்பியல் அறுவைச் சிகிச்சைக்கான அலெஞ்சர் நிறுவனத்தின் "சி-ஏஆர்எம்' எனப்படும் கருவியாகும்.
வாகன விபத்தால் ஏற்படும் முதுகெலும்பு, தண்டுவட முறிவு, தண்டுவடத்தில் ஏற்படும் காசநோய்க்கான அறுவைச் சிகிச்சை, கழுத்து மற்றும் முதுகெலும்பு ஜவ்வு விலகல், தண்டுவடத்தில் ஏற்படும் கட்டிகள் போன்றவற்றுக்கு இந்தக் கருவி பயனுள்ளதாக இருக்கும்.
இந்த நிகழ்ச்சியில் மாவட்ட ஆட்சியர் ஜெயஸ்ரீ முரளிதரன், மாநகர மேயர் அ. ஜெயா, எம்எல்ஏக்கள் மு. பரஞ்ஜோதி, ஆர். மனோகரன், மருத்துவமனை முதல்வர் டாக்டர் அ. கார்த்திகேயன், இருக்கை மருத்துவ அலுவலர் டாக்டர் சிவக்குமார், கோட்டத் தலைவர்கள் ஜெ. சீனிவாசன், ஆர். ஞானசேகர் உள்ளிட்டோர் பங்கேற்றனர்.

A model for the rest of India


It comes as no surprise that Tamil Nadu has once again been applauded for its “excellent” maternal and child-care services by the Common Review Mission of the National Rural Health Mission (NRHM). Suffice it to say that at a time when 99 per cent of global maternal mortality occurs in developing regions of the world, Tamil Nadu, Kerala and Maharashtra have become pockets that have bucked the trend. Even as India has been reducing its maternal mortality ratio — defined as the number of maternal deaths per 100,000 live births — the rate of reduction, from 380 in 1993 to 97 during 2007-2009, has been rapid in the case of Tamil Nadu. So much so that Tamil Nadu, along with Kerala (81) and Maharashtra (104), has already achieved the Millennium Development Goal of 109 maternal deaths per 100,000 live births by 2015. Compare this with the national average — an MMR of 212 for 2007-2009, which is more than double the MDG target.

The State has been able to accomplish this by taking up a multi-pronged approach. First, it has equipped all health-care settings, starting with the 1,612 primary health-care centres, with trained staff nurses available round the clock and all essentials required for safe deliveries. Second, it has through innovative and women-friendly initiatives ensured that most deliveries take place in health-care settings. According to a recent survey by the University of Delhi, institutional deliveries are as high as 99 per cent in Tamil Nadu. The national average is about 73 per cent.

More than the very high percentage of institutional deliveries, what is more significant is the percentage of deliveries taking place in government-run institutions. Nearly 67 per cent of deliveries take place in government institutions, compared to 33 per cent in the private sector. The PHCs alone account for 27 per cent; it was about seven per cent in 2005.

In fact, today, PHCs face a demand-side pressure. Compare this with Kerala — where the private sector accounts for roughly 60 per cent of deliveries. The primary reason why women in Tamil Nadu are flocking to government facilities is the changed nature of health-care services being provided. As many as 105 PHCs in the State have the facilities to conduct C-sections and store blood, and their main focus is maternal and child heath care. Women-friendly services like screening and appropriate intervention for gestational diabetes, hypertension and anaemia have had a magnetic effect. But the most critical contributor has been the strong and continued importance accorded to health-care services by whichever political party is in power.

http://www.thehindu.com/opinion/editorial/a-model-for-the-rest-of-india/article4432355.ece

https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-1foTptvHE_I/USSSnlixOfI/AAAAAAAABTU/vxQIlrM231M/s722/hos.jpg

maalaimalar

Better equipped PHCs deliver (http://www.thehindu.com/news/national/tamil-nadu/better-equipped-phcs-deliver/article4439739.ece)

http://www.thehindu.com/multimedia/dynamic/01372/grf1_jpg_1372698g.jpg

http://www.thehindu.com/multimedia/dynamic/01372/grf_jpg_1372699g.jpg

The delivery percentage has gone up from 7. 8 to 27. 2

The number of deliveries taking place in primary health centres, the bottom of the public health services tier, has climbing steadily over the years in Tamil Nadu. From a mere 7.8 per cent in 2004-2005, the 1,614 PHCs in the State now cater to 27.2 per cent of all deliveries. Clearly, the PHCs are attracting patients from all other healthcare institutions.

Patients are shifting from Health Sub-Centres, Government Hospitals, and even the private sector, according to the latest figures available with the Directorate of Public Health. Just under a third of the 11.3 lakh deliveries in the State are happening at the PHC, very often the first point of care in rural areas.

In 2004-2005, about 42.8 per cent of all deliveries in Tamil Nadu took place in private health care institutions; it came down by 10 percentage points to about 32.8 per cent in 2011-2012. While some of them have gone to government hospitals, the bulk have shifted to PHCs closer to their homes. The one improvement that public health officials said really gladdens them is the reduction in the percentage of domiciliary deliveries, or deliveries happening at home. What was about 35 per cent in 1993 has come down dramatically down to 0.2 per cent in 2011-2012.

The benefits of shifting deliveries to institutions from homes are numerous, public health officials add. Several complications can be addressed, there is better infection control, and emergency resuscitation can be performed for both mother and infant to save lives. Consequently, the Maternal Mortality Rate has nearly halved from 145 in 2001-02 to 73 in 2011-12.

Not surprisingly, Tamil Nadu is among the better performance indicators in maternal and child health in the country.

“The main reason for this shift is that PHCs are now equipped to provide services to women and children. Some PHCs conduct even Caesarian section surgeries, but the bulk of them are equipped to provide normal deliveries too. Round the clock, trained nurses and anaesthesiologists are available,” J. Radhakrishnan, Health Secretary, said. Comprehensive emergency Mother and Newborn Centres have also been set up across the state to take care of maternal conditions.

A big draw to the PHCs, in addition to the facilities, is the Muthulakshmi Reddy Maternity Assistance Scheme. As per this scheme a sum of Rs. 12,000 is being provided in three instalments: at the time of registering the mother at the health centre, at the time of delivery and after the child has received the full course of immunisation. This has made a big difference to the attitude of people, especially in rural areas, Dr. Radhakrishnan added.

Keywords: primary health centres, Tamil Nadu PHCs, maternal mortality, institutional delivery, Muthulakshmi Reddy Maternity Assistance Scheme, child health, maternal health

Tamil Nadu likely to get 185 more MBBS seats :cheers: http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/chennai/Tamil-Nadu-likely-to-get-185-more-MBBS-seats/articleshow/18622159.cms

Tamil Nadu likely to get 185 more MBBS seats :cheers: http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/chennai/Tamil-Nadu-likely-to-get-185-more-MBBS-seats/articleshow/18622159.cms

It is definitely heartening to see the increase in the number of government medical colleges which definitely help in delivering a good healthcare to the poor. But it is high time for the TN colleges to go to the next level in an area where central institutes like AIIMS, PGIMER, BHU and JIPMER fare well. It is research. Teaching MBBS and Postgraduates has come to a peak and no further improvement could be made in TN colleges. When the research side improves all the TN colleges will be at par with central institutes. Most of the faculties in TN colleges are unaware of the research methodlogy (like designing a clinical trial or an observational study) or how to get financial grants from central funding agencies like ICMR, DST, DBT, CSIR or DRDO. With the huge patient pool in the colleges TN can become a research hub for human studies but sadly the faculties are quite ignorant about their potential.....

ECO SURVEY
State tops in rural healthcare


It’s laurels for Tamil Nadu again this year. The state has been ranked first in the country for maximum progress under the National Rural health Mission (NHRM). Data put out by the Centre said Tamil Nadu has more than 1,844 primary health centres (PHCs), additional PHCs and other sub-district facilities. This surpasses Rajasthan, which comes second with 1,500 rural health care facilities.

But Campaign Against Sex Selection and Abortion (CASSA) core team member M Jeeva said, “A large number of the PHCs in Tamil Nadu are equipped to deal with only minor ailments.” Some of them do not even have facilities even for delivery of babies. Pregnant women often get themselves admitted into private hospitals, he said. Moreover, the state maintains that it has only one PHC for every 30,000 persons

http://epaper.timesofindia.com/Default/Scripting/ArticleWin.asp?From=Archive&Source=Page&Skin=TOINEW&BaseHref=TOICH/2013/02/28&PageLabel=9&EntityId=Ar00904&ViewMode=HTML

^^

Campaign Against Sex Selection and Abortion (CASSA) core team member M Jeeva said, “ Pregnant women often get themselves admitted into private hospitals,

http://www.thehindu.com/multimedia/dynamic/01372/grf_jpg_1372699g.jpg


A large number of the PHCs in Tamil Nadu are equipped to deal with only minor ailments.” Some of them do not even have facilities even for delivery of babies

“The main reason for this shift is that PHCs are now equipped to provide services to women and children. Some PHCs conduct even Caesarian section surgeries, but the bulk of them are equipped to provide normal deliveries too. Round the clock, trained nurses and anaesthesiologists are available,” J. Radhakrishnan, Health Secretary, said. Comprehensive emergency Mother and Newborn Centres have also been set up across the state to take care of maternal conditions.

A big draw to the PHCs, in addition to the facilities, is the Muthulakshmi Reddy Maternity Assistance Scheme. As per this scheme a sum of Rs. 12,000 is being provided in three instalments: at the time of registering the mother at the health centre, at the time of delivery and after the child has received the full course of immunisation. This has made a big difference to the attitude of people, especially in rural areas, Dr. Radhakrishnan added.

JIPMER to set up Allied Health Sciences Institute (http://newindianexpress.com/states/tamil_nadu/article1486400.ece)



As part of its ongoing expansion programme, JIPMER would set up an Allied Health Sciences Institute and School of Public Health.

This was revealed by Director of JIPMER Dr T S Ravikumar, on the sidelines of an inaugural function for continuing medical education on “issues in HIV”.

Dr Ravikumar said that the Learning Resource Centre, utilising virtual technology and advanced simulation lab, would become functional later in the year to help students and scholars.

As part of ongoing expansion drive, a geriatric OPD, a screening out patient department (OPD) and expansion of super-specialty block would be completed. The works for upgrading casualty into a trauma and disaster centre would also be taken up.

He said that steps would be taken to ensure quality and patient safety measures, and added that discussions with the Health Ministry officials about further expansion plans of JIPMER would be held.

Employees’ Counselling for ‘Strong JIPMER’

In a bid to make its employees mentally strong to deal with stressful situations, JIPMER is planning to introduce psychological counselling sessions.

JIPMER director Dr T S Ravikumar on the sidelines of the function said that counselling sessions to create a “strong JIPMER” would be organised jointly by the psychiatry department of the hospital and the department of applied psychology of Pondicherry University.

Following the inauguration of a students’ counselling centre at the Kendriya Vidyalaya on JIPMER campus, he said that a session would be held to cover medical students, faculty members and employees on campus.

It is worth noting that over 5,000 outpatients visit the hospital daily from Puducherry and neighbouring Tamil Nadu districts of Villupuram and Cuddalore. Patients from Kerala and Andhra Pradesh also come for treatment.

A model that delivers


The intense heat of Vellore had just been vanquished temporarily by a freak storm. The speeding wheels of the ambulance leave no trail of dust behind. Inside the vehicle, Ellama, pregnant and full-term, is clutching her stomach with one hand and with the other, her husband’s arm. The ambulance is trying to balance urgency with a smooth drive. As it races from Banavaram Panchayat in Vellore to the Institute of Obstetrics and Gynaecology in Egmore, Chennai, Ellamma and her family send up a small prayer.

Ellama had been referred to the ISO-certified Banavaram Primary Health Centre (PHC) for a Caesarean. The district’s flagship PHC does elective and emergency C-sections five days a week. She was scheduled for surgery, when suddenly she developed complications.

“Ordinarily, we could have delivered here, but the fainting episode made it a complex case. We stabilised her, and made the decision to shift her to a higher institution in her best interests,” explains S. Manonmani, Block Medical Officer.

With its blood storage units, availability of a trained obstetrician, anaesthetist, ultrasound scan facility and doctors and nurses on call 24 hours, the block-level PHC at Banavaram is itself a referral centre for surrounding areas. Ellamma had been referred to it from the PHC at nearby Panapakkam, but prudence is the better part of valour, especially when it is the question of saving two lives.

“Part of the task of providing quality medical care to patients is also about knowing when to refer them to a higher centre,” says A. Somasundaram, Deputy Director of Public Health, Vellore district, who was on a regular inspection of the PHC

The Banavaram PHC is significant to the evolution of Tamil Nadu’s public health history. It is here that Uma Natarajan, a gynaecologist performed the first ever C-section surgery at a PHC (in the State) on a young Saranya, back in 2007.

“Up until then, most deliveries were happening at home, or they were happening in private centres. That is also when things changed in Tamil Nadu, leading it on to its much-feted achievements in maternal and child health care,” explains A. Padmanabhan, Advisor, Public Health Administration, National Health Systems Resource Centre, under the National Rural Health Mission (NRHM).

The tipping point came, said Dr. Padmanabhan, who has also served as Director of Public Health in the State, when people began asking for more.

“People started protesting and complaining. They started demanding facilities at the PHC level, because going to the private clinics for delivery was a luxury only few could afford. The administration sprung into action and created an ‘enabling’ environment for doctors at the PHCs.”

That included operation theatre facilities, semi auto analysers (laboratory testing facilities), ECG machines, blood storage units, training in anaesthesia for doctors (MBBS), and appointing three trained staff nurses round the clock to take care of deliveries. Faced with the same human resources shortage that health care in the rest of the country has to contend with, the State government turned to innovation to tide over that looming crisis: it hired doctors working in the private sector on contract, and paid them for services rendered.

FEWER COMPLICATIONS

“Merely that was not enough. Once the nuts and bolts were taken care of, the focus shifted to the small, non-infrastructural issues, like attitude of health-care staff towards patients,” Dr. Padmanabhan explains. Ostensibly, it was the tougher task. In this, small things began to make a difference. One of the ideas that took off was getting PHCs to conduct the (valakappu) bangle ceremony for pregnant women, a ritual usually conducted by her family.

“The idea was to make the PHC seem like an extension of the family. It is only the closest members of the family who are involved in such a ceremony. It will increase the confidence of the women and the community in the local PHC,” he adds.

Subsequently, the novelty of the valakappu wore out, but the idea of throwing a feast for the woman has stayed. On two days of the week, ante natal mothers can eat a sumptuous meal in the PHC they report to. Besides helping patients bond with PHC staff, this move has delivered a significant twin result: improvements in the nutritional status of the women.

“Improved nutrition means fewer complications, better birth weight and better healing for the mother,” says Dr. Manonmani. Iron-Folic Acid tablets, and iron sucrose injections are provided to beat anaemia among young mothers.

It is not surprising then that Tamil Nadu has notched up substantial achievement in human development indicators in the last decade or so. “Today, we have an impressive number of deliveries taking place in the public health-care sector, right from the PHC level to the tertiary hospital. About three lakh deliveries are now taking place in government health-care centres in Tamil Nadu,” says J. Radhakrishnan, Health Secretary of the State. Before the changes, that number was a low 70,000. Home deliveries have come down to less than one per cent.

“Once out-of-pocket expenses come down, which is what the system has managed to do in Tamil Nadu, people will see the benefit of going to a public health-care set-up, especially if outcomes can measure up,” Dr. Padmanabhan adds.

In addition, the government provides monetary assistance to all pregnant women registered with a government health-care institution, with the last allotment to be credited only when the baby has finished the course of inoculations. Any case of death (mother and child) in an institutional delivery was scrutinised and set on record via a maternal death audit.

Newborn intensive care units are being set up across the State, to revive, stabilise and provide life support for infants. For emergencies, the babies are rushed to higher institutions in special ambulances. More lately, in association with Mediscan, detection of birth defects using ultrasound machines has also been initiated in some PHCs.

This period of hectic public health activity in Tamil Nadu coincides with the State clocking the country’s fastest average decline in under-five mortality rate between 2008 and 2010.

In her presentation at the recent Call to Action Summit (for child survival and development) held at Mamallapuram, Anuradha Gupta, Mission Director, NRHM, had abundant praise for Tamil Nadu’s average Under-Five Mortality Rate decline (at 12.5 per cent), when the national average decline was just over seven per cent. The Common Review Mission of the NRHM has not only commended Tamil Nadu, but has also indicated some experiences that can be replicated in other States.

However, she tempered her praise with a note of caution: “No State can rest on its laurels. We have to continue to make efforts to reduce our under-Five mortality and maternal mortality rates. For this, business as usual is not enough.”

As she pointed out, four or five districts in the State were lagging behind the rest. So, while Tamil Nadu marks milestones in public health care, it should also look towards achieving equity in health services across the State.

http://www.thehindu.com/opinion/op-ed/a-model-that-delivers/article4475839.ece

This post is not on any projects. But talks about facial chemicals effects and natural foods.

Aram thinai: 13 Mar 2013
அழகாக, பொலிவாக இருக்க வேண்டும் எனும் அக்கறை எங்கும் பரவிவரும் காலம் இது. தினசரி குறைந்தபட்சம் 12 அழகுசாதனப் பொருட்களைப் பெண்ணும், 6 அழகுசாதனப் பொருட்களை ஆணும் உபயோகிப்பதாக அமெரிக்கப் புள்ளிவிவரம் சொல்கிறது. நம் ஊரும் கிட்டத்தட்ட அமெரிக்கச் சந்தையாக மாறியிருப்பதால், எண்ணிக்கையில் இரண்டு, மூன்று குறையலாமே தவிர, அழகுசாதனங்கள் அங்கிங்கெனாதபடி இங்கும் நிறைந்திருக்கின்றன.

அழகாக இருக்க மெனக்கெடுவதில் என்ன தப்பு என்போருக்கு, அதன் பின்னணியும் கட்டாயம் தெரிந்திருக்க வேண்டும். கிட்டத்தட்ட 80,000 அழகுபடுத்திகள் நம் சந்தையில் உள்ளன. 12,500-க்கும் மேற்பட்ட ரசாயனப் பொருட்கள், உங்களை மணமூட்ட, அழகூட்ட, நிறமேற்றப் பயன்படுத்தப்படுகின்றன. இவை பாதுகாப்பானதா... உடல் நலத்துக்குத் தீங்கு தருமா என்ற முழுமையான ஆய்வுகள் உலகில் எங்கும் நடைபெறவில்லை. எல்லாமே அரைகுறை முடிவுகள்தான். ஒரு நாட்டில் தடைசெய்யப்பட்ட பொருள், இன்னொரு நாட்டில் கொடிகட்டிப் பறக்கும்.

பெண்களைக் குறிவைத்துக் கொண்டுவரப் படும் இந்தப் பொருட்களின் பின்னணிகுறித்து வரும் செய்திகள் பயமுறுத்துகின்றன. குழந்தை களை அதிகம் கவரும் நெயில் பாலீஷில் கலந்துள்ள காரீயம் (lead), அவர்களின் மூளைத்திறனையே பாதிக்கக்கூடியது. 'லெட் எல்லாம் சேர்ப்பதே இல்லை’ என சத்தியம் செய்த பல முன்னணி நிறுவனங்களின் பொருட்களை ஆய்வுசெய்ததில் 65 சதவிகிதத்துக்கும் மேலான நகப் பளபளப்பிகளில் லெட் இருப்பது உறுதி செய்யப்பட்டது. 'இதைத் தெளிச்சீங்கன்னா, பக்கத்து வீட்டு, பக்கத்து நாட்டு அழகியெல்லாம் பின்னாடி வருவாங்க!’ என்று விளம்பரப்படுத்தப்படும் பல மணமூட்டிகளில் உள்ள ஃபார்மால்டிஹைடு, நரம்பைப் பாதிக்கும் நச்சு. எத்தலீன் ஆக்ஸைடு போன்ற ரசாயனம் புற்றுநோய் வர வழைக்கக்கூடியது. இப்படிக் கிட்டத் தட்ட 22 சதவிகித அழகூட்டிகளில் புற்று தரும் ரசாயனங்கள் இருப்பதாக எச்சரிக்கிறது, அழகுப் பொருட்களைப் பற்றிய ஆய்வுகளை மேற்கொண்டு இருக்கும் 'ஸ்கின் டீப்’ அமைப்பு.

பெண் குழந்தைகள் மிக விரைவிலேயே வயதுக்கு வருவதற்கும், மார்புப் புற்று அதிகமாகப் பெருகுவதற்கும் அழகூட்டிகளில் உள்ள ஹார்மோன்கள் காரணமாக இருக்குமா என்று நிர்ணயிக்கும் ஆய்வுகள் அதிக அளவில் நடக்கின்றன. அதற்கான முகாந்திரம் நிறையவே உள்ளது. தாலேட் (Phthalate) எனும் முகத்தில் மேக்கப்பை நிறுத்தும் கெமிக்கல், கண் அழகுக்குப் பயன்படுத்தப்படும் பாலிசைக்ளிக் ஹைட்ரோ கார்பன் (polycyclic hydro carbon) ஆகியவை எல்லாம் சந்தேகப் பார்வையில் உள்ள ரசாயனங்கள். ஆனாலும், நம் சந்தையில் இன்றளவிலும் விற்பனையில் உள்ளவை. ஐந்து வயதுக் குழந்தைக்கு ஹேர் ஸ்ட்ரெய்ட்டனிங் செய்து, முகத்துக்கு ஸ்க்ரப் செய்து, பாலீஷ் போட்டு, ஸ்ப்ரே அடித்து, காற்றுப் புகாத பளபள ஆடை அணிவித்து நடத்தும் பிறந்த நாள் கொண்டாட்டங்கள் அந்தக் குழந்தையின் அழகையும் ஆரோக்கியத்தையும் கெடுக்கும் என்பதை நினைவில்கொள்ளுங்கள்.

'ச்சே... ச்சே... நாங்கள்லாம் புத்திசாலி. ஒன்லி ஹெர்பல், நேச்சுரல், ஆர்கானிக்தான் யூஸ் பண்ணுவோம்’ என்று சொல்வோருக்கு ஒரு விஷயம்... பெரும்பாலான இந்த சமாசாரங்கள் உங்களை வாங்கவைக்கும் உத்தியாக லேபிளில் மட்டுமே ஒட்டப்படுகின்றன. சோடியம் லாரல் சல்பேட் இல்லாத மூலிகை ஷாம்புகள் சந்தையில் மிக அரிது. 'கொஞ்சம் மூலிகை; கொஞ்சம் கெமிக்கல்’ என்ற கலவைகள்தான் அதிகம். சுற்றுச்சூழல் மற்றும் நுகர்வோர் பொருட்கள் தொடர்பான ஆய்வுகளை மேற்கொள்ளும் CERTECH எனும் அமைப்பு ஆர்கானிக் என உலகில் விற்கப்படும் அழகூட்டிகளில் 10 சதவிகித மூலப்பொருட்கள் மட்டுமே ஆர்கானிக் என்கிறது. குழந்தைகளுக்கு என விற்கப்படும் ஆர்கானிக் நேச்சுரல் அழகூட்டிகளில் 35 சதவிகிதம் கெமிக்கல் பிரிசர்வேட்டிவ் சேர்க்கப்படுவன என தன் அறிக்கையில் கூறுகிறது.

'காஸ்மெடிக்ஸ் எல்லாம் மேலே பூசுவதற்குத்தானே? உடலுக்கு உள்ளே எப்படிப் போகும்?’ என அலட்சியமாக நினைக்க வேண்டாம். தாலேட் பிளாஸ்டிசைசர்ஸ், பாரபின்கள் (பொருள் கெட்டுப்போகாதிருக்க பெரும்பாலான க்ரீம் கள், ஷாம்புகளில் சேர்க்கப் படும் பிரிசர்வேட்டிவ்) இன்னும் நிறமிகளுக்காகச் சேர்க் கப்படும் நானோ துகள்கள் ஆகியவை உடலுக்குள் உறிஞ்சப்படுவது உறுதிப்படுத்தப்பட்டுள்ளது. அவற்றில் சில, குறிப்பாக, மணமூட்டிகளும் சன் ஸ்கிரீனரும், விந்தணுக்களின் எண்ணிக்கையைக்கூடக் குறைக்குமாம். அதிகமாக ஸ்ப்ரே அடிக்கும் பழக்கம் உள்ள ஆண்கள் இனி கொஞ்சம் 'உஷாராக’ இருங்கள். இன்னொரு விஷயம்... அதிகம் சன் ஸ்கிரீன் தேய்த்துத் திரியும் நபருக்கு, விட்டமின் டி குறைவும் புற்றுநோய் வரும் வாய்ப்பும் கூடுதல். 'வெயில்ல போய்க் கருத்துடாதப்பா. இதைக் கொஞ்சம் தேய்ச்சுட்டுப் போ’ என இனி சொல்லாதீர்கள்.

கறுப்பு அழகு. கருமையை நகைப்பதும் இழிவுபடுத்துவதும் விவரம் தெரியாமல் செய்யும் செயலாகும். குழந்தைப் பருவம் முதலே கறுப்பழகை ரசிக்காமல் பவுடர் போட்டு, க்ரீம் தடவி வளர்ப்பது சிறு வயதிலேயே அந்தக் குழந்தைக்குக் கறுப்பு என்றால் நல்லதில்லையோ என்ற மனோ பாவத்தை வளர்க்கிறது. விளைவு? கறுப்பாக இருக்கிறது என்பதால், உணவில் மிளகைப் பொறுக்கிவைக்கும் குழந்தை (சில பெருசும் கூட), 'கொஞ்சம் நிறம் கம்மியா இருக்கிறது’ என சிறு தானியங்களை ஒதுக்கிவைப்பதும், 'இது எப்படி நல்லாயிருக்கும்?’ என உடலுக்கு உறுதியை இனிப்பாகத் தரும் பனங்கருப்பட்டியைத் தூரமாக வைப்பதும்தான் நிகழும். கறுப்பு அழகு மட்டுமல்ல... ஆரோக்கியமும் கூட!

அழகு என்பது வெளித் தோற்றத்தில் அல்ல நண்பர்களே... கிடைத்த திடீர் கணத்தில் கரம்பற்றி அழுத்தித் தந்த காதலியின் முத்தம், 'அம்மா! நான் ஊட்டிவிடவா?’ எனக் கேட்கும் குழந்தையின் வாஞ்சை, 'தலைவலிக்குதாப்பா?’ என்ற உங்கள் கணவரின் கரிசன வார்த்தை, 'சூடா இருக்கா? எண்ணெய் தேய்த்துக் குளிச்சிக்கோப்பா!’ என்று போனில் விசாரிக்கும் அம்மாவின் அக்கறை... இவைதான் அழகு. இந்த வார்த்தைகளைக் கேட்ட கணத்தில், ஓடிப்போய் கண்ணாடியில் முகம் பாருங்கள்... அங்கே தெரிவதுதான் அழகு. உள்ளக் களிப்பில், உவகை பூசி, மலர்ந்து இருங்கள்... நீங்கள்தாம் அழகன்/அழகி!

Cross posting from TN Unavu vagaigal Topic:
Aram Thinai 06 March 2013. Talks about herbal properties of vegetables, grains.

நவீன வசதிகள், தொழில்நுட்பங்கள் மூலம் எந்த நோய்க்கும் தீர்வு காணும் மருத்துவ உலகை இன்றும் ஆட்டிப் படைக்கும் ஒரு வியாதி உண்டென்றால், அது புற்றுநோய். இன்ன காரணத்தால்தான் புற்றுநோய் வருகிறது என்று துல்லியமான தரவுகளுடன் இந்த நோய்க்கான காரணத்தை இதுவரை மருத்துவ உலகத்தால் வரையறுக்க முடியவில்லை. மர்மமும், ரகசியமும், பெரும் வேதனையும், உயிர் வலியும் நிறைந்த இந்தப் புற்றுநோய், மருத்துவ ஆய்வுகளின் எதிர்பார்ப்பைக் காட்டிலும் அதிகமாக ஒவ்வோர் ஆண்டும் தன் வீரியத்தை அதிகரித்துக்கொண்டே இருக்கிறது. முன்பு இந்தியாவைவிட, மேற்கத்திய நாடுகளில்தான் புற்றுநோய் மரணங்கள் அதிகமாக இருக்கும். ஆனால், இப்போது நம் ஊரிலும் 25, 30 வயதுகளில் எல்லாம் புற்றுநோய் தாக்குகிறது. என்ன காரணம்?

நகரமயமாக்கலை முக்கிய காரணமாகச் சொல்கிறார்கள் நிபுணர்கள். ஆரோக்கியமான உணவு, வாழ்க்கைச் சூழல் அனைத்தையும் ஓரங்கட்டிவிட்டு, நகரங்களுக்கு வேகவேகமாகக் குடிபெயர்கின்றனர் கிராம மக்கள். காலையில் பல் துலக்கும் களிம்பு முதல், இரவு கொசுக் கடியில் இருந்து காத்துக் கொள்ளத் தடவப்படும் களிம்பு வரை அனைத்தும் கெமிக்கல். வெயிலில் நிறுத்திய காருக்குள் அதன் டாஷ்போர்டு செய்யப் பயன்படுத்திய பிளாஸ்டிக்கில் இருந்து பென்சீன் கசிந்து வரு கிறது. வீட்டில் அழகுக்காக அடுக்கி வைக்கப்பட்டிருக்கும் மெலமினால் செய்யப்பட்ட பாத்திரங்கள் யூரியா பார்மால்டிஹைடு என்ற வேதிப்பொருளை வெளியேற்றுகிறது. நம்மைச் சுற்றிக் குவிந்துகிடக்கும் பலவித பிளாஸ்டிக்குகளில் இருந்து டயாக்சின்கள் கசிகின்றன. நாம் அன்றாடம் உண்ணும் உணவு தானியங்கள், காய்கனி களில் நுண்ணிய ரசாயனத் துணுக்குகளும், கதிர்வீச்சுகளும் கலந்திருக்கின்றன. ஆனால், சம்பந்தப்பட்ட எந்தத் துறை யினரைக் கேட்டாலும், 'ஐயோ... யார் சொன்னது? எங்கள் கசிவுகள் பாதுகாப்பான வரையறைக்கு உட்பட்டுத்தான் இருக்கிறது’ எனச் சத்தியம் செய்வார்கள்.

புற்றுநோய்த் தடுப்பில் உணவுப் பழக்கத்துக்கும் மிக முக்கியப் பங்கு உண்டு. இதற்குச் சரியான உதாரணம், இந்தியர்கள் மட்டும் மலக்குடல் புற்றுநோயால் பாதிக்கப்படாததைக் குறிப்பிடலாம். இதற்கான காரணம் என்னவாக இருக்கும் என்று மேற்கத்திய விஞ்ஞானி கள் ஆராய்ந்ததில், உணவில் இந்தியர்கள் சேர்க்கும் மஞ்சளின் மகிமையை உணர்ந் திருக்கிறார்கள்! மஞ்சளின் curcuma curcumin சத்து நம் செல்களில் உள்ள NF kappa-B என்ற புரதக்கூட்டைச் சீரமைத்து நோய் எதிர்ப்பாற்றலை அதிகரிக்கச் செய்வ தாலேயே, புற்று நம்மை உற்றுப் பார்க்கா மல் இருக்கிறது. கிட்டத்தட்ட 250 வகை யான நோய்களை வராமல் காக்கும் குணம் மஞ்சளுக்கு உண்டு.

அமெரிக்காவின் டெக்சாஸ் பல்கலைக்கழகப் புற்றுநோய் துறைப் பேராசிரியர் பரத் அகர்வால் தனது 'ஹீலிங் ஸ்பைசஸ்’ என்ற ஆங்கில நூலில், 'மஞ்சள் மட்டுமல்ல; இந்தியர்களால் சமையலில் பயன்படுத்தப்படும் பல நறுமணப் பொருட்களுக்குப் புற்றுநோயைத் தடுக்கும் ஆற்றல் உண்டு. இந்துக்கள் கொண்டாடும் துளசியாகட்டும், இஸ்லாம் வலியுறுத்தும் கருஞ்சீரகமாகட்டும் இரண்டுமே புற்றுக்கு எதிரான நோய் எதிர்ப்பாற்றல் கொண்டவை. கறிவேப்பிலை, லவங்கப்பட்டை, இஞ்சி, பூண்டு, வெந்தயம், ஏலம், சாதிக்காய் என சாதாரணமாக உணவில் மணமூட்ட உபயோகப்படுத்தும் அத்தனையும் நோய்த் தடுப்புக் காரணிகளாகச் செயல்படுகிறது!’ என்கிறார். இந்தப் பொருட்களை அன்றாடம் சமையலில் பயன்படுத்துவதுதான் நம் உணவுக் கலாசாரம். ஆனால், சமீபமாக நாமோ நேரம் இல்லை என்ற காரணத்தைச் சொல்லி இவற்றை ஒதுக்குகிறோம். அதிலும் அதிஆபத்தாக, குழந்தைகளுக்கு இந்த உணவுப் பழக்கத்தை நாம் அறிமுகப்படுத்துவதே இல்லை.

தினசரி உணவில் அதிகபட்சமாக இயற்கை விவசாயத்தில் விளைந்த பழங்களும் காய்கறிகளை யும் சேர்த்துக்கொள்ள வேண்டும். குறிப்பாக, சிவந்த நிறம் உள்ள பப்பாளி, கொய்யா, பட்டை தீட்டப்படாத தானியங்கள், ராகி, கம்பு, வரகு, தினை போன்ற சிறுதானியங்களை முடிந்தவரை அடிக்கடி உணவில் சேர்த்துக்கொள்ள வேண்டும். எப்போது இனிப்பு தேவைப்பட்டாலும் வெள்ளைச் சீனியைத் தேடி ஓடுவதைத் தவிர்த்து பனை வெல்லம், தேன் முதலியவற்றைப் பயன்படுத்த வேண்டும். பால் இல்லாத பச்சைத் தேநீர் (green tea) செக்கில் ஆட்டிய நாட்டு எண்ணெய், tக்ஷீணீஸீs யீணீt இல்லாத தின்பண்டங்கள், மீன், உடல் உழைப்புக்கு ஏற்றபடி நாட்டுக் கோழி இறைச்சி என நமது உணவுப் பழக்கத்தை மாற்றி அமைத்துக்கொள்ள வேண்டும்.

புற்றுநோய்க்கு எப்படியேனும் தீர்வு தேடும் தேடலில், வளர்ந்த நாடுகள் பல்வகை மருத்துவ முறைகளை ஒருங்கிணைத்து கூட்டு சிகிச்சைமுறையை முயற்சிக்கின்றன. ஆனால், இங்கு இந்தியாவிலோ வாழ்வின் விளிம்பில் நிற்கும் ஒரு புற்றுநோயாளி, 'வேறு ஏதேனும் மாற்று மருத்துவம் பயன்படுத்திப் பார்க்கலாமா?’ என்ற கேள்வியை மருத்துவரிடம் கேட்கவே முடியாது. கேட்டால், 'எனக்கு அதைப் பற்றி எதுவும் தெரியாது. அது உங்கள் பாடு!’ என்று சடாலென விலகிக்கொள்வார்கள்.

சித்த மருத்துவம், ஆயுர்வேதம், யுனானி, யோகா எனப் பல பாரம்பரிய மருத்துவமுறைகள் இருக்கும் இந்தியாவில், ஒவ்வொரு துறை மருத்துவரும் ஈகோ மறந்து இணைந்து, தத்தம் துறையின் நுட்பங்களை ஒருங் கிணைத்து மருத்துவ உலகின் பெரும் சவாலாக இருக்கும் புற்றுநோய்க்கு விடை காண முயற்சித்தால் தீர்வு சாத்தியமே!

- பரிமாறுவேன்...

TN Govt announces Rs 9 cr grant to Jeevan for stem cell storage

http://www.thehindubusinessline.com/news/tn-govt-announces-rs-9-cr-grant-to-jeevan-for-stem-cell-storage/article4670786.ece
CHENNAI, APRIL 30:
The Tamil Nadu Government has given a grant of Rs 9 crore to the Public Cord Blood Bank established by the Jeevan Blood Bank and Research Centre in Chennai to process and store about 3,000 cord blood donations from Tamil Nadu. The money will be disbursed over three years.



“This will be a major boost to public cord blood banking in India; this area can flourish only with government patronage. I hope other States will follow the TN government’s example,” said Dr. P Srinivasan, Co-Founder and Chairman of Jeevan.



Umbilical cord blood, which is discarded after childbirth, is one of the richest sources of blood forming stem cells and is being used across the world for over two decades for the treatment of blood cancers, Thalassemia and blood disorders, he said.

But for this the HLA (Human Leucocyte Antigen) matching of the donor and the recipient is critical for the successful transplant of stem cells. This depends on the ethnicity of the patient and donor. In the absence of an Indian inventory, the chances of an Indian finding a match is less than 10 per cent across the world.

“Even if one is lucky enough to find a match elsewhere, it will cost the patient close to Rs. 20 lakh to import it”, he added.

Other State governments should come forward to create a larger national inventory so that different groups in India can find a match to cure diseases. Dr Srinivasan said patients from Tamil Nadu will get free of cost stem cells from Jeevan.

DEL

State pumps 15cr into colleges of Indian medicine

CHENNAI: A sum of 15 crore has been allocated to improve infrastructure facilities in colleges teaching Indian systems of medicine in the state, chief minister J Jayalalithaa told the assembly on Wednesday while announcing a slew of welfare measures for the health sector.


Stating that 10 crore would be allocated to improve facilities at the Arignar Anna government college for Indian medicine in Chennai to enable it to get national accreditation, she said a research and development wing would be set up for such colleges with an outlay of 12 crore. Lifestyle clinics would be opened in all government hospitals at a cost of 9.60 crore.

A computerised hospital management system would be implemented at a cost of 22.58 crore. All hospitals in the state would be linked to a central server in Chennai. This would help patients and also enable the government in collecting data.

King's Institute in Chennai is the only one with facilities to conduct tests for various diseases, the chief minister said and added that molecular virology laboratories would come up at Madurai, Coimbatore and Tirunelveli medical college hospitals at a cost of 2 crore in the first phase. She announced creation of a community-based pain relief and palliative care centre in all districts at a cost of 16.50 crore, besides upgradation of maternity centres in Madurai and Salem medical college hospitals at an estimated 50 crore.

Announcing that 2013-14 would be observed as non-communicable diseases prevention year, she said awareness and prevention activities would be carried out at a cost of 2.50 crore.

Recalling that her government had hiked the subsidy to the Adyar Cancer Institute from 1.32 crore to 1.75 crore last year, she said 2.50 crore would be given this year.

Exclusive intensive care units for pregnant women would be set up in 55 hospitals at a cost of 12.28 crore, besides appointment of doctors and medical officers.

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/chennai/State-pumps-15cr-into-colleges-of-Indian-medicine/articleshow/19961539.cms

11 newborns die in TN out of 3 lakh in India (http://www.deccanchronicle.com/130509/news-current-affairs/article/11-newborns-die-tn-out-3-lakh-india)

Chennai: Healthcare administrators in Tamil Nadu seem to be putting up a brave fight to keep newborns alive. Only 11 infant deaths out of an estimated 3 lakh in India are reported from Tamil Nadu.

The global situation, as per a report from ‘Save the Children’, is gloomy as a million babies go to the grave without seeing the next dawn after birth. And of this one million infant deaths on Day 1, 29 per cent happen in India.

Health secretary Dr J. Radhakrishnan told Deccan Chronicle that effective measures were being taken by Tamil Nadu government to help the newborn survive, and even smile after birth. “A strong network of committed staff of the health department, improved infrastructure in health facilities and regular audit of our various welfare projects are the major reasons for this success,” he said.

He said 125 CEmONC (Comprehensive Emerg*ency obstetrics and New*born care Centres), are functioning across the state, providing immediate and effective emergency care to the newborn to prevent their deaths with timely intervention.

“These CEmONCs function 24 hours a day. We ensure blood transfusion; cesarean and all emergency maternity and infant care is provided in these centres by trained medical staff. We organise training programmes to the paramedical staff often to improve the service,” he said.

Additional director of Primary Health Centre Kulandhaisamy said every infant death had been audited in Tamil Nadu and a thorough check had been done wherever necessary. “We have our block and district level committees which audit infant deaths even if the child dies in private hospitals or at home. We identify the type of infant death and make serious efforts to prevent similar deaths in future across the district hospitals,” he said.

He added that the newborn corner in all 1,614 primary health centers in TN have necessary equipment and the staff who have been providing utmost care for the infants to be healthy on the day of their birth.

“Since we have 108 ambulance facility, neo-natal intensive care unit, and network of government hospitals which are approachable from remote villages, parents rush the baby for emergency care and the newborn is thus saved,” he said.

a misleading article .....^^ the reporter , in his excitement, seems to have mixed up the mortality rate and the actual number. According to the statistics provided by "Save The Children", which is taken from census of india 2011, the 0-7 day mortality rate is 11 in Tamil nadu , and lowest in Kerala - 5 , which I presume are rates per 1000. The highest among them seems to be MP -32 per 1000

^^ Thats what I thought too.. The numbers 11 out of 3 lakh didn't make much sense. Either the number 3 lakhs is incorrect or the number 11. Oh wait a minute.. The news items seems to be from TOI.

https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-1foTptvHE_I/USSSnlixOfI/AAAAAAAABTU/vxQIlrM231M/s722/hos.jpg

maalaimalar

Good to note that MKs monument will be effectively used for public service.

GE launches healthcare mission on wheels (http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/news-by-industry/healthcare/biotech/healthcare/ge-launches-healthcare-mission-on-wheels/articleshow/20125158.cms)

COIMBATORE: GE Healthcare today kicked off its first healthcare technology experiential lounge on wheels +Mission Healthier India+ in the city.

The mission was aimed at introducing high-end technology to hospitals, nursing homes and clinics in 50 towns of Tamil Nadu at their doorsteps and to create awareness on the usage of technology in early detection of diseases, S Ganesh Prasad, Director Ultrasound, GE Healthcare South Asia, said.

Built at a cost of Rs. 40 lakh, with equipment like ECG, scan, critical tools and infant care technologies, the lounge would provide a closer view of technologies that can aid three key care areas that small towns and villages are challenged with--women and maternal infant health, cardiac diseases and critical care, Prasad said.

Flagged off by Mayor S M Velusamy, the specially designed vehicle which would allow clinicians and public to experience GE's "advanced and affordable" technologies at their doorsteps, Ashuthosh Banerjee, General Manager, Life Care Solutions, GE Healthcare, said.

Experts from the company will provide hands-on demonstrations on usage of these advanced medical technologies, he said.