'Safety must for health workers'

PUNE: The Indian Academy of Medical Microbiologists (IAMM) and the Haffkine Institute, in association with the Becton, Dickinson and Company (BD)-India, launched an awareness campaign on health and safety of healthcare workers in the state on occasion of the International Nurses' Day on Friday.

Titled 'Jyot Se Jyot', the initiative will look to sensitise and increase awareness among healthcare professionals and hospital managements on the issues of the safety of healthcare workers. In the next 51 days, the initiative will see seminars, workshops and talks in various cities. It will continue till July 1, which is the International Doctors' Day.

The World Health Organization (WHO) estimates that there are 1.3 million deaths of healthcare workers worldwide due to rampant use of the unsterilised, reused needles. The UN agency linked 33% of new hepatitis B injections and 2 million new cases of hepatitis C each year due to unsafe injections and needle stick injuries. Nearly 5% of new HIV cases come from needle stick injuries.

Bhaskar Sonowal, technical adviser, infection control and patient safety of BD-India, said, "Though there is no official data documenting the number of deaths in India due to needle stick injuries, the number is believed to be high. We are aiming to sensitise this issue in various hospitals in the state for them to set up a standard protocol in hospitals in order to mitigate unnecessary deaths among healthcare workers."

Abhay Chowdhary, head of department of microbiology, Sir J J hospital, Mumbai, said, "There is a negligent attitude among hospitals in the country.

We seem to overlook the serious issue of looking after our healthcare workers, who play a critical role in society and our system. Through this campaign, we are looking to bring safety issue of the workers under the spotlight."

Nita Munshi, head of department of pathology, Ruby Hall Clinic, said, "Healthcare workers are exposed to all sorts of risks in the hospital. Therefore, it is a requirement to install a mechanized system in hospitals to protect them."

Apart from Pune, 'Jyot Se Jyot', started in 2009, will reach out to hospitals in Nasik, Aurangabad, Thane as well, finally culminating in Mumbai on July 1.

Money and doctors: Private healthcare spending in Pakistan rises to $7.3 billion

The fastest growing segment was medical devices, which saw sales rise 18.1% to Rs35.5 billion. Pharmaceuticals grew a little slower, at 13.1%, to reach Rs173 billion in gross sales in Pakistan.

KARACHI:  Pakistanis are increasingly spending more on health, with spending rising to a total of Rs665 billion in 2011, up 14.5% over the previous year, according a to research report released by Business Monitor International (BMI), a UK-based research and consulting firm.

Within the overall sector, the largest in terms of total spending was that of hospitals and other healthcare facilities, which saw their total revenues rise to Rs456 billion in 2011, up 14.1% from the year before. The fastest growing segment was medical devices, which saw sales rise 18.1% to Rs35.5 billion. Pharmaceuticals grew a little slower, at 13.1%, to reach Rs173 billion in gross sales in Pakistan.

There are also several developments taking place within the sector that are likely to allow for even further expansion, according to BMI analysts.

In August 2011, the Drug Registration Board (DRB) approved the registration of 30 medical devices and 210 medicines after a meeting was held at the request of the Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gilani, who called for the uninterrupted provision of medicines to patients. Products approved for registration included vaccines, biologicals, cancer therapeutics, drugs for the treatment of blood disorders such as thalassaemia, and devices used in cardiac procedures.

BMI points out that there are many reasons why investors, particularly those outside the country may want to consider investing in this sector. “Pakistan has one of the most liberal foreign investment regimes in South Asia, with a commitment to low tariffs and 100% foreign equity permitted,” said BMI analysts in the report.

The analysts also note that Pakistan’s rapidly growing population – currently closing in on 190 million – should also be considered an asset. “A growing population is feeding increased demand for pharmaceuticals.”

There are, nevertheless, several challenges faced by the healthcare sector in Pakistan, which BMI cautions investors to be aware of. For the pharmaceutical sector, in particular, the analysts warn: “Counterfeit medicines, a lack of transparency in the government’s pricing mechanisms and an approval process that is biased towards domestic manufacturers are all factors depressing the market’s attractiveness.”

The opening up of free trade with India is seen as a bit of a mixed bag. On one hand, it would allow Pakistani firms to export their products to India more easily, allowing them access to a large and rapidly growing market which would help many of these firms scale up their capabilities and reduce overall costs for Pakistani consumers. On the other hand, many pharmaceutical manufacturers claim that they will not be able to compete with Indian companies and will likely be forced out of business by cheap Indian imports.

Pakistan’s overall business environment gets a poor rating from BMI, which ranks the economy 16th out of the 18 economies that it tracks in the Asia-Pacific region. The only two economies behind Pakistan are Sri Lanka and Cambodia. “The business environment still suffers from poor infrastructure and, most problematically, an uncertain security situation that has declined considerably since March 2007,” said BMI analysts.

In addition, there are several structural challenges to the Pakistani healthcare industry itself that have little to do with the external environment of Pakistan that they operate in. “Procurement processes are bureaucratic and often lack transparency, raising the risks of corruption,” said BMI in its report.

The tobacco conundrum

Consumption of tobacco products has soared dangerously among children and the youth in Bangalore and the State, raising serious questions over the government’s ineffective measures to curb the unhealthy trend

Tobacco is an addiction. Ask over eight million people in the State who chew tobacco, breathe tobacco and swear by its rivetting attachment. But when you find 80,000 of them are children under 15 years, and an equal number in the age group of 15 to 24 years, you ought to get disturbed, scream out for some action. May 31, World No Tobacco Day, should surely be a day to revisit this dangerous trend, and find ways to curb it, fast!

From half-hearted attempts to arrest public smoking to sweeping generalised talk-down messages, the actions so far haven’t been effective enough. That’s not what you expect when the health risks are high, even for passive smokers. To make matters worse, Karnataka is a leading State in cultivating, consuming and exporting tobacco, according to the Consortium for Tobacco Free Karnataka.

Smoking in public places is a strict no-no according to the Cigarette and Other Tobacco Products Act (COPTA). Though the rules were enforced in 2009, not everyone is aware of the law.

Although the BBMP’s tobacco cell has conducted several raids since 2009, smoking continues to be open and rampant in Bangalore. Section 4 of the Act bans smoking in public places, which include hotels, coffee houses, pubs, bars, shopping malls, workplaces, auditoriums, hospitals, libraries, stadiums and bus stops. The BBMP has registered 534 cases and collected Rs 97,000 as penalty from April 2010 to May 2012.

Section 6 of the Act prohibits the sale of tobacco products near educational institutions. The Palike says it has registered 325 cases and the total penalty collected is Rs 1,54,650.

But the statistics don’t tell the full story. Palike sources reveal that although the penalty amount is used to check violations, tobacco products seized from vendors have been sold back in market by BBMP workers themselves. The BBMP’s inspection squad also faces many problems from elected representatives in removing tobacco vendors located near educational institutions, sources say.

Uphill task for police
Besides the BBMP, the City police are also entrusted with the task of booking cases for smoking in public. While the BBMP has set up special squads to implement the ban, the police are expected to complement the efforts. Additional Commissioner T Suneel Kumar says police stations have been instructed to take up special drives for effective implementation of the law, but no targets have been set.

Kumar feels enforcing such social legislation is an uphill task as penalty wouldn’t work. It is the mindset that has to change. He wonders why only the police should be expected to enforce it when there are 20 other authorities. With limited human resources, the police cannot go looking for smokers in public places all the time. “The best we can do is penalise anybody found smoking in public areas in the course of other duties,” he says.

Schedule III of the COTPA lists 21 authorities who can enforce the law and collect penalty from smokers. Strangely, the list includes Income Tax and Central Excise officials, all gazetted officers of both the State and the Central governments, and even post masters. Also included are Panchayati Raj representatives, medical officers, heads of institutions, transport officers and school principals along with police officers not below the rank of sub-inspectors and traffic superintendents.

Industry interference
This year, No Tobacco Day has a World Health Organisation (WHO) mandated theme, ‘Tobacco Industry Interference’, that focuses on influential tobacco companies disrupting public health policies. According to Dr Upendra Bhojani, member, Consortium for Tobacco Control, Karnataka, there has always been a conflicting mandate within the government.

The Health Ministry’s attempts to curb the tobacco menace is at cross purposes with the Commerce Ministry promoting the tobacco trade and industry development through the Indian Tobacco Board. “The tobacco industry provides huge donations to political parties.

In the last two years, the biggest player in cigarette industry in India donated over Rs 6.7 crore to major political parties. Five of the top 10 shareholders in this firm are government-owned companies,” Bhojani points out.

The WHO cites an inherent contradiction in the corporate social responsibility by the tobacco industry. The industry’s core function is production and sale of lethal tobacco products against public health interests. No wonder, the statutory picture health warnings on tobacco packs have been diluted to include relatively less effective pictures than what was proposed. A recent remark by WHO’s director general, Dr Margaret Chan, is telling: “The enemy, the tobacco industry, has changed its face and its tactics. The wolf is no longer in sheep’s clothing, and its teeth are bared.”

Beedi, gutka and cigarettes are the main tobacco products easily available in the market. Women and children constitute the majority of over four lakh beedi workers in the State, suffering the harmful effects even without chewing tobacco or smoking. Beedi rollers work in enclosed areas in their houses and are constantly exposed to the smell and dust which in turn cause respiratory infections and allergies.

Consumption of gutka or the smokeless tobacco in chewing form is the most prevalent and the most harmful. This, despite the Food Safety and Standards (Prohibition and Restriction on Sales Regulations, 2011) notified on August 1, 2011, prohibiting the use of nicotine and tobacco in any food product.

Tobacco-related cancer growing
Dr C Ramesh, professor and Head of the Department, Cancer Epidemiology, Kidwai Memorial Institute of Oncology, says 40 per cent of cancer cases that reach Kidwai are related to tobacco consumption. Among men, nearly 50 per cent of cancer cases are tobacco-related.    

“The number of tobacco-related cancer cases has increased in the past two years mainly due to the awareness about the disease in the public domain. Although most cases are of patients with cancer from tobacco chewing, the number of cancer cases due to tobacco smoking is also increasing,” says Dr Ramesh.

Not many are opting for tobacco cessation centres, which helps in preventive measures.

Dr Prathima Murthy, head of Tobacco Cessation Centre at Nimhans,says many smokers keen to quit the addiction are not even aware of de-addiction centres. “We are seeing patients in the age group of 20-40 years with severe addiction coupled with psychological problems. Although nicotine supplements help in giving up the addiction, regular follow-up by a patient is very important.  There is a need for greater awareness in schools, colleges to nip the menace in the bud,” she adds.

(With inputs from Aditya Bharadwaj and Skandashree Bali)

MDI Labs enters Indian market, eyes Rs 300 crore turnover by 2015

MUMBAI: Largest German clinical laboratory, the Medizinisch Diagnostiche Institute (MDI) plans to set up over 1,000 collection centers and a logistics network to transport samples across the country.

MDI had earlier made its maiden entry in India by setting up MDI Laboratories India Ltd and it plans to achieve a turnover of over Rs 300 crore by 2015, a company statement said here.

Gujarat Chief Minister inaugurates 100-bed BAPS Yogiji Maharaj Hospital in Ahmedabad

Ahmedabad: Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi inaugurated a 100-bed modern BAPS Yogiji Maharaj Hospital at Shahibaug here this evening.
Speaking on the occasion, Mr. Modi remembered the contribution of seers and saints of India for their selfless services to the society. He remembered the role of Pramukhswami Maharaj Yogiji in de-addiction of 40-lakh people. He wished the Hospital would work for the society with the same spirit.
The Chief Minister said that the Swamiji has imbibed the essence of Ayurveda and passed on the knowledge to his disciples. If such service institutions join government efforts the state could do wonders, he said.
He said that it was because of the advancement in medical science that the average life expectancy of mankind has increased. He desired to spread the area of influence of the medical science. He said that nursing and medical colleges have been set up in every district.
Dr. V. P. Patel said the hospital was built with the inspiration of Pramukhswami Maharaj of the Bochasanvasi Akshar Purushottam Sanstha (BAPS). It has 100 doctors and 250 para-medical staff.
Prominent among those present on the occasion included Health Minister Jay Narayan Vyas, Purushottam D. Patel, Phoolchand and donors, MLA Bharat Barot