Trivandrum | Health Care - Hospitals/Medical Tourism/Medical Research

[25Dude25]

[25Dude25]

[25Dude25]

Source: Mathrubhumi

Kerala Govt assures support for development of regional cancer centre

Thiruvananthapuram, May 21:

The State Government will spare no efforts at grooming the Regional Cancer Centre (RCC) here as a national cancer institute.

The State Health Minister, Mr V.S. Sivakumar, said this while inaugurating a state-level workshop on ‘Role of dental surgeons in prevention and control of oral cancer’.

He assured the Regional Cancer Centre all support for development and growth. The centre has been providing treatment and care to nearly two lakh patients annually.

Source

[ajithv]

Apollo Clinic opened in Trivandrum





Source: Kerala Kaumudi

[25Dude25]

KIMS 10th anniversary celebrations

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The 10th anniversary celebrations of Kerala Institute of Medical Sciences (KIMS), Thiruvananthapuram, will be held here on Friday and Saturday. Health Minister V S Sivakumar will inaugurate the celebrations on Friday. Major Archbishop Baselios Cleemis Catholicos and Shashi Tharoor MP will be the chief guests.

Source

[25Dude25]

Source

[Viveks]

[25Dude25]

Shashi Tharoor again

Production of Ayurveda drug for psoriasis to resume

Alex's unrelenting one-man battle seems to have finally paid off. Thanks to the efforts of this down-to-earth farmer from Kumily in Idukki, the powers that be at the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare have woken up to the sad plight of psoriasis patients across the State who had been suffering owing to the non-production of an Ayurveda drug that helps keep the skin condition under check.

‘Nimbatiktakam' is an Ayurveda drug for psoriasis that had been researched and developed some 20 years ago by the Ayurveda Research Institute for Mother and Child Health Care (ARIMCHC), formerly the Panchakarma Research Institute, at Poojappura here. The drug had been the lifeline of psoriasis patients as it had been found to give excellent results in keeping psoriasis, a difficult-to-treat autoimmune skin condition, under check. Owing to some technical issues, the ARIMCHC had not been producing ‘Nimbatiktakam' capsules since the past eight months, sending psoriasis patients into a panic. The Central Council for Research in Ayurvedic Sciences, under the Department of AYUSH, Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, has now taken steps to ensure that the National Research Institute of Panchakarma (NRIP) at Cheruthuruthy is equipped to start the production of ‘Nimbatiktakam' in the next three months.

It has also directed the Siddha Regional Research Institute in the capital city to manufacture and supply this very vital drug to the ARIMCHC to meet the immediate requirement of psoriasis patients till the NRIP is equipped to take over the production of the drug.

Source

[Tri Man]

Originally Posted by 25Dude25

Shashi Tharoor again

Production of Ayurveda drug for psoriasis to resume

Alex's unrelenting one-man battle seems to have finally paid off. Thanks to the efforts of this down-to-earth farmer from Kumily in Idukki, the powers that be at the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare have woken up to the sad plight of psoriasis patients across the State who had been suffering owing to the non-production of an Ayurveda drug that helps keep the skin condition under check.

‘Nimbatiktakam' is an Ayurveda drug for psoriasis that had been researched and developed some 20 years ago by the Ayurveda Research Institute for Mother and Child Health Care (ARIMCHC), formerly the Panchakarma Research Institute, at Poojappura here. The drug had been the lifeline of psoriasis patients as it had been found to give excellent results in keeping psoriasis, a difficult-to-treat autoimmune skin condition, under check. Owing to some technical issues, the ARIMCHC had not been producing ‘Nimbatiktakam' capsules since the past eight months, sending psoriasis patients into a panic. The Central Council for Research in Ayurvedic Sciences, under the Department of AYUSH, Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, has now taken steps to ensure that the National Research Institute of Panchakarma (NRIP) at Cheruthuruthy is equipped to start the production of ‘Nimbatiktakam' in the next three months.

It has also directed the Siddha Regional Research Institute in the capital city to manufacture and supply this very vital drug to the ARIMCHC to meet the immediate requirement of psoriasis patients till the NRIP is equipped to take over the production of the drug.

Source

This is the hospital where VIPs like EMS,Surjeeth Singh and several other VIPs used to go for Panchakarma/Kizhi Treatment.Unfortunately,due to lack of infrastructure and commercialisation of Ayurveda,this has lost its importance.I had seen several foreign nationals undergoing treatment for paralysis here after having treatment from different parts of world.They say that they are getting improved results here.

Now it has been renamed Mother and Child Hospital to degrade its value.
This is also where,the Herpatolgical Research (Visha Chikitsa) of Ayurveda College is done.There is a Serpetarium with snakes like Cobra,King Cobra,Viper,...it is opened to general public for a small fees.This used to have a central government research lab during 90's.Don't know if it is hijacked to somewhere else ?

If some 20 acres of land is allocated near poojappura/Thirumala/vilapilsala area,they can set up a fullfledged research centre in Ayurveda and contribute great works to the nation.
http://www.kerala.gov.in/index.php?o...=47&Itemid=290

[ajithv]

Public, the key to SAFE

The district health administration is launching on Monday a special plan that focuses on educating people on public health issues, seeking their active involvement in the management of such issues, and utilising the provisions of the public health Act to prevent any activity that may threaten public health, .

The programme, titled ‘Special Action for Environmental Protection (SAFE)-Thiruvananthapuram,' primarily focuses on educating the public on how individual action can affect public health and how the provisions of the public health Act may be invoked against anyone who acts in disregard of public health, health authorities told a press conference here on Sunday.

Infectious diseases can be prevented to a large extent by ensuring environmental hygiene and everyone must ensure that he or she is not contributing to environmental pollution. Premises of each household must be kept clean and free of vector-breeding grounds.

Under SAFE, the district health administration has proposed that anyone who does not keep their premises clean and whose premises may be providing opportunities for vector breeding, thus endangering public health, be penalised under the public health Act.

People who handle garbage carelessly around their household, who dump it on streets or those who let out waste water or sewage on to the streets will be booked under the law. Sale of food that is unfit for public consumption, polluting water sources, and any action that could be harmful to the environment are all punishable.

“In short, a person can be booked under law if putrefying garbage inside his or her compound becomes a nuisance for others. Even though one may keep one's premises clean, a person's health could still be threatened by his or her neighbour whose premises provide an opportunity for mosquitoes to breed,” a senior health official said.

Under SAFE, health workers will constantly monitor and review public health issues in every block. The accent of the programme is on creating awareness among the public of how public health issues such as epidemic outbreaks are closely linked to individual actions.

• People will be educated on public health issues

• Individuals can be booked for polluting premises

[ajithv]

[fareastian]

Quitting Smoking

[ajithv]

Tailor’s ‘soft touch’ gives shape to women



He stitches a unique product. But he never sees or knows the end-user. Stranger still, he eternally prays for a drop in the number of his customers. He is R Appakutty, probably the only tailor in the state who makes stitched alternatives for women who have undergone mastectomies.

Till a few decades ago, breast cancer-afflicted women had limited options to deal with losing a breast to cancer, something that affected the core of their femininity. The only prosthetic products available were the very expensive silicone gels that none could afford or cheap lumpy foam that went out of shape.

That was when the Regional Cancer Centre pharmacy started providing stitched alternatives packed in skin-coloured cotton cloth. It was done through their palliative care department, after giving the patients basic instructions on how to use it. But no patient ever came face-to-face with the maker of these products.

Appakutty until then was the official tailor of RCC, meeting every single stitched requirement of the hospital, be it surgical gowns, masks, towel, uniforms, bedsheets, pillow-covers or curtains. In fact, even now, years after his retirement, there is not a single curtain at RCC that has not been stitched by him.

‘’I started stitching breast alternatives at the request of former RCC director Dr Krishnan Nair in early nineties. Patients who do not use this may develop a balancing problem and might start leaning to one side,’’ said Appakutty who lives in a small house tucked away in a bylane at Mudavanmughal.

Appakutty uses sponge for making his product, but not just sponge. He chops sponge and mixes it with beads to get the correct weight and in turn the correct balance for the patient.

[psanthosh]

WHO recognition for Pallium India

Thiruvananthapuram: Trivandrum Institute of Palliative Sciences (TIPS), the flagship program of Pallium India has been declared a World Health Organization Collaborating Centre.

The designation has been accorded for a period of four years in the areas of "Training and Policy on Access to Pain Relief. "We are honoured and pleased to receive this designation, which allows us to link up our work in the relief of pain and suffering in India to the national and international bodies that seek the same outcome," said Dr M R Rajagopal, chairman and founder of Pallium India and TIPS.

Today in India, more than 99 percent of the patients have no access to pain relief. Twenty-five years after WHO came out with a viable protocol for pain relief, oral morphine is still not available in the majority of hospitals . With this announcement, the WHO is showing its commitment to turning the situation around for India.

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/c...w/14624873.cms

[ajithv]

PACS to replace X-ray films at RCC

Films of X-ray, CT scan, MRI scan, mammography and ultrasound scan are all soon going to be a thing of the past at the Regional Cancer Centre (RCC), here. In its place comes a sophisticated computer system called PACS, that will digitally capture, store and transmit medical images.

Short for Picture Archiving and Communication System, the PACS will let the doctors view their patient’s images on the computer screen in the Out Patient Department, theatres or from their offices.

“This becomes possible because once the scanning is done, the images and the reports simultaneously come to a centralised server, reporting work station and the hospital network,” said Dr Sumod Mathew Koshy of the RCC. This means that as soon as the radiologist has seen and reported the case, the same is available online to the clinician.

This single click access to diagnostic images, from anywhere in the hospital, is very useful when the patient needs to be seen by several specialists sitting in different clinics on the same day. This will facilitate easy communication between the doctors and avoids delay in charting out the treatment programme.

For the patient, it saves a whole lot of time waiting for the films to be issued, waiting for the doctor and so on. With the PACS, by the time a patient walks out of the scan centre, the doctor would be watching the image on the screen. This considerably reduces patient handling time, and makes treatment delivery faster.

This new system would also be a boon to the patients who are on follow-up after the primary treatment.

“At times, a patient from Malappuram may forget to bring his earlier scan reports and this creates a problem as the doctors would not have anything to compare the present images with. Now, all the previous images and reports will be available at the click of a mouse,” Dr Sumod said.

So when the whole lot of images and data goes digital, what if the system crashes? “We have two levels of storage- immediate and long term. Besides, all the data also goes into a disaster recovery storage just as it goes to the primary storage. This tertiary storage is outside the RCC building, so that the data is quite safe,” Dr Sumod said. Moreover, the GE medical systems that has installed the PACS, will have an in-house engineer stationed at the hospital 24x7 for 10 years from now.

The PACS implementation will also go a long way in facilitating and encouraging these initiatives and also expedite post graduate teaching. The availability of all diagnostic images in soft copy format at the click of a button is expected to make clinical research initiatives infinitely simpler.

Eventually, the doctors at the RCC believe that this improvement in overall efficiency will lead to better patient care at lower operational costs.

[ajithv]

State government promises land to Pallium India

Health Minister V S Sivakumar on Wednesday announced that Trivandrum Institute of Palliative Sciences (TIPS), the flagship of Pallium India, will be given land to set up an in-patient treatment facility in the city. He was delivering the presidential address at the official function that recognised TIPS as a ‘WHO Collaborating Centre.’

‘’This decision comes after considering the importance of the exemplary work that they have undertaken. They will be allowed to set up an in-patient facility attached to a government hospital,’’ said Sivakumar.

The in-patient facility has been a long-standing demand of the TIPS, now attached to SUT Hospital on a temporary basis. They had requested for an in-patient facility attached to a hospital as presence of doctors with expertise in various departments was a need for the patients approaching TIPS for palliative care.

The Health Minister also said that the State Government intends to extend palliative care right from the panchayat-level. ‘’As part of this extensive programme, we will start right at the bottom, when the health workers would visit each home and provide help on a long-term basis. The Government is chalking out the programme,’’ said Sivakumar.

Defence Minister A K Antony said that palliative care has great significance in the current social context when most families are nuclear. ‘’Service-oriented organisations such as Pallium India should come up on a large scale. I would say that all hospitals, including private hospitals and private medical colleges, should definitely have palliative care units,’’ said Antony, whose wife Elizabeth Antony was a volunteer of the Pallium India a little while ago.

Antony also said that palliative care can never be a profession, and that it was more of a humanitarian activity. He called upon doctors to show a little kindness and love while caring for a patient.

A Sampath MP, in a rare gesture, offered to become a palliative care worker. ‘’As a Parliamentarian, I am often on the streets. When I am not on the streets, I am in the House. But I promise to work with Pallium India in my constituency for one day in a month,’’ he said. Mayor J Chandrika and TRIDA chairman P K Venugopal also spoke on the occasion.

[krp]

Originally Posted by Tri Man

This is the hospital where VIPs like EMS,Surjeeth Singh and several other VIPs used to go for Panchakarma/Kizhi Treatment.Unfortunately,due to lack of infrastructure and commercialisation of Ayurveda,this has lost its importance

This used to have a central government research lab during 90's.Don't know if it is hijacked to somewhere else ?

If some 20 acres of land is allocated near poojappura/Thirumala/vilapilsala area,they can set up a fullfledged research centre in Ayurveda and contribute great works to the nation.
http://www.kerala.gov.in/index.php?o...=47&Itemid=290

+1.

http://tharoor.in/news/mp%E2%80%99s-half-term-report/
As per above report,
"Successfully intervened to complete the Central Ayurveda Institute at Poojappura. New building under construction and expected to be completed within a year."

[ASGeorge]

Upcoming annexe of the Sree Chitra Tirunal Institute for Medical Science and Technology Thiruvananthapuram


Designing a hospital building is a complex task. SANGEETHA UNNITHAN finds out how the design came about for an upcoming annexe of the Sree Chitra Tirunal Institute for Medical Science and Technology in Thiruvananthapuram

A hospital building is no ordinary structure. It has to be patient-friendly and able to provide sterile areas and house state-of-the-art equipment. These have been the key questions before the designers of an annexe for the Sree Chitra Tirunal Institute for Medical Science and Technology in Thiruvananthapuram.

The institute, a reputable tertiary-care hospital and research institution in India, draws hundreds of patients from all over the country every day. However, its physical expansion has not kept pace with the huge patient influx. The institute has a long list of patients awaiting cardiac and neurological surgeries.

The situation is bound to change now. The much-awaited expansion of the institute is taking off next week with the foundation stone being laid for the first annexe block. The building, coming up on 0.3 hectare (83 cents) of land, behind the main building, on the Government Medical College campus, will add crucial patient-care facilities.

Two blocks

“The expansion project basically involves construction of two annexe buildings — the medical and surgical blocks. It has been a long-awaited project, and we expect to increase the number of hospital beds to 1,000 when these blocks are completed. In the first phase, the medical block will come up, a nine-storey building with 218 beds,” K. Radhakrishnan, Director of the institute, says.

The block, designed by the Kochi-based architectural firm Ajit Associates, will incorporate green building concepts. From the colour scheme to spatial planning of state-of-the-art hospital equipment, much detailing has gone into the design, B.R. Ajit, architect and managing director of Ajit Associates, says.

“Since this is an advanced healthcare institution providing treatment and care to chronically and seriously ill patients, maintaining a patient-friendly and sterile environment was the key to this project. We held discussions with doctors of every department of the institute for more than three months before preparing the blueprint,” Mr. Ajit says.

The north-facing building, with an area of 1.3 lakh square feet, has been split into four wings with differential heights.

Radiology, cardiology, movement disorder and epilepsy departments will each be assigned a floor. Apart from these, there will be a rehabilitation ward, a general ward, an intensive care unit floor and private rooms on two floors.

Tackling heat

Every room and window has been designed to face north to reduce heat.

“Since heat penetration is the highest on the southern side, we have avoided openings and windows on this side of the building. Cutting the heat at the southern side and making the whole building face north will give a natural cooling effect. We have provided garden space in the corridors of each floor to enhance the cooling effect,” Mr. Ajit says.

The north-west wing of the building has been provided a central courtyard. It is unlike conventional courtyards with no sky-lit roof. The open space on the fourth floor lets in light.

“The fourth floor has no rooms but has only corridors opening to the western side. The corridor space will be made a landscaped garden. It will light up the courtyard and provide a Venturi effect to help provide good ventilation to the building,” Mr. Ajit says.

The bridge connecting the main building to the new block will join on the garden floor.

Air-conditioning is another key element of the building. Separate air-conditioning mechanisms will be provided for sterile and semi-sterile areas.

In sterile areas such as the intensive care units and operation theatres, advanced clean-air-system air-conditioning will be used.

“This means that there will be no recirculation of air and the air pressure, temperature and humidity will be maintained independently and the air- conditioner will be provided with several filters to maintain the air quality. The entire building will have VRF (variable refrigerant flow) air-conditioning, which automatically controls the cooling mechanism with the changing room conditions,” Mr. Ajit says.

The building will have six lifts and a separate stretcher lift.

An independent power substation, a biogas plant, a sewage treatment plant, solar panels, mini windmills, movement- and climate-sensing LED lamps and movement-sensing faucet will be among the green features.

At least 10 percent of the power requirement, including 80 to 90 per cent of the hot water requirement, will be met through solar energy. To top it all, the building will be provided a green roof with a landscaped roof-top garden.

The first phase of the project, estimated to cost Rs. 70 crore, is expected to be completed in two years.
Source : The Hindu

[psanthosh]

BCG group to enter Ayurveda treatment, to open new hospitals and university

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM/KOCHI: BCG Health Care group is making a foray into Ayurvedic treatment by investing in clinics, farms for medicinal herbs and education. The group, which has had its share of success with homeopathic clinics - Advanced Research and Training for Health (Arth) - launched four months ago, is adding five more clinics by the month end in Thiruvananthapuram, Kollam, Shornur, Palakkad and Thrissur.

Rekha C Babu, Ceo of the company, said Arth clinics being set up in the hub and spoke model, have registered month-on-month profit. "On per-doctor analysis, there is almost 100 % increase in their revenue. The talent pools from this largely unorganised sector are phenomenal and while its corporatisation may be attributed to the 60%, 70% month-on-month growth. We don't want to get carried away with the initial growth and hope to stabilise at around 30%, the projected market growth in this sector."

Homeopathic sector is expecting a turnover of Rs 4,600 crores and Kerala is expected to contribute Rs 800 crore to this, of which Arth is looking to sit tight on 10% market share by opening 45 clinics by the year end.

The company's venture into Ayurveda is also calculated with BCG group not wanting to market itself as panchakarma centre focusing on youth and rejuvenation but on the four branches of Ayurvedic treatment - Rasayana, Vajeekarana, Salya and Manasikam. BCG group will open 25-30 bed Ayurvedic hospitals in Kochi and Tiruvananthapuram.

As part of its Rasayana treatment, the first Kayakalpa treatment centre Veda Vaidyasala has started functioning at Palarivattom, Kochi. This centre is currently researching the benefits of the treatment.

"The Kayakalpa Kuti will accept only one patient at a time and currently the team is researching the results shown by a patient who had very low sperm count. Kayakalpa treatment has shown tremendous results in his case," she said.

The BCG group will be opening an Ayurvedic college at Wyanad with intake planned for 2013 academic year. They have also bought 10 acres of land at Palakkad to cultivate Navara rice which will be used for consumption at the treatment centre.

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/c...w/15170943.cms

[Tri Man]

Originally Posted by psanthosh

BCG group to enter Ayurveda treatment, to open new hospitals and university

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM/KOCHI: BCG Health Care group is making a foray into Ayurvedic treatment by investing in clinics, farms for medicinal herbs and education. The group, which has had its share of success with homeopathic clinics - Advanced Research and Training for Health (Arth) - launched four months ago, is adding five more clinics by the month end in Thiruvananthapuram, Kollam, Shornur, Palakkad and Thrissur.

Rekha C Babu, Ceo of the company, said Arth clinics being set up in the hub and spoke model, have registered month-on-month profit. "On per-doctor analysis, there is almost 100 % increase in their revenue. The talent pools from this largely unorganised sector are phenomenal and while its corporatisation may be attributed to the 60%, 70% month-on-month growth. We don't want to get carried away with the initial growth and hope to stabilise at around 30%, the projected market growth in this sector."

Homeopathic sector is expecting a turnover of Rs 4,600 crores and Kerala is expected to contribute Rs 800 crore to this, of which Arth is looking to sit tight on 10% market share by opening 45 clinics by the year end.

The company's venture into Ayurveda is also calculated with BCG group not wanting to market itself as panchakarma centre focusing on youth and rejuvenation but on the four branches of Ayurvedic treatment - Rasayana, Vajeekarana, Salya and Manasikam. BCG group will open 25-30 bed Ayurvedic hospitals in Kochi and Tiruvananthapuram.

As part of its Rasayana treatment, the first Kayakalpa treatment centre Veda Vaidyasala has started functioning at Palarivattom, Kochi. This centre is currently researching the benefits of the treatment.

"The Kayakalpa Kuti will accept only one patient at a time and currently the team is researching the results shown by a patient who had very low sperm count. Kayakalpa treatment has shown tremendous results in his case," she said.

The BCG group will be opening an Ayurvedic college at Wyanad with intake planned for 2013 academic year. They have also bought 10 acres of land at Palakkad to cultivate Navara rice which will be used for consumption at the treatment centre.

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/c...w/15170943.cms

Is this the health mall they were referring a few months back ?

http://www.bcghealthsquare.in/?page_id=7