A website to help you quit drinking

New Delhi, Dec 8: Planning to quit drinking? You may not have to go to a doctor or a counsellor for that.

Now, one can get tips and participate in a self-help programme just at the click of a mouse.

www.alcoholwebindia.in, e-portal jointly developed by the National Drug Dependence Treatment Centre (NDDTC) and All India Institute of Medical Sciences provides information for alcohol users, family members, policymakers, professionals and the general public.

The portal, which was launched today, has a web-based self-help programme for people who wish to reduce the use of alcohol or stop drinking.

This would enable the users to assess their drinking pattern and help themselves in reducing their drinking without even meeting a doctor or a counsellor, a statement from AIIMS said.

The portal has been developed by a team of professionals from NDDTC, AIIMS in collaboration with World Health Organisation.

 Press release NDDTC, AIIMS the wonderful place where I work .
 Congratulations to NDDTC team for bringing patient education material online.

Indian Medical Libraries on LinkOut

Thirteen Libraries on LinkOut  (Where am I ?)

Advanced Centre for Treatment, Research & Education in Cancer (ACTREC) Library (iintreclib)
Cadila Pharmaceutical Ltd, India (iincpllib)
Christian Medical College - Vellore, INDIA (iincmclib)
Information and Library Network (INFLIBNET) Centre, India (iinflnetlib)
Institute of Nuclear Medicine & Allied Sciences, INMAS Library, India (iininmaslib)
National Institute for Research in Reproductive Health - Mumbai, India (iinnirrhmlib)
Nirma University,India (iinnuislib)
Pramukhswami Medical College-Gujarat, India (iinpracglib)
Regional Cancer Centre Library, Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala, INDIA (iinrccltlib)
Sanjay Gandhi Postgraduate Institute of Medical Sciences, India (iinsagplib)
SDM College of Medical Sciences and Hospital, Dharwad, Karnataka, India (iinsdmlib)
Seth GS Medical College & KEM Hospital, Mumbai, India (iingsmclib)	LinkOut Collection
Tuberculosis Research Centre, India (iintuberclib) Source: LinkOut ( Linking to the world of Resources)

Information spectrum  
(sometimes referred to as the DIKW hierarchy):

• Data = characters, symbols, numbers, signs whose meaning may or may not be apparent.
• Information = data with labels or definition; data that has structure or relationships.
• Knowledge = collected, combined, organized, processed information for a purpose. 
• Wisdom = knowledge over time; knowledge without thinking.  (Source:  http://big6.com/)

News Digest

Vaccine against dengue to be tested in India
 PARIS: The world's most effective vaccine candidate against dengue is all set for trials in India and if all goes to plan, the vaccine will be available globally by 2015.

 23 Delhiites die every day due to respiratory ailments
 NEW DELHI: The city seems to be paying an increasingly heavy price for its deteriorating air quality. An average of 23 people die every day due to respiratory diseases in the capital, a number that has doubled in the past four years, data released by the Delhi government reveals.

 Travel bar on HIV patients affecting global economy: UNAIDS
 NEW DELHI: Nearly 25 years after HIV was detected in India, travel restrictions continue to bar patients from free movement through nations. HIV-related travel restrictions at present exist in 45 countries.

The Global AIDS Epidemic 2012 report, released by UNAIDS on Tuesday, says that the effects of such restrictions are severe for migrant workers, who play an increasingly prominent role in the global economy.

Currently reading

Health Information & Libraries Journal

My favorite journal

Journal of the Medical Library Association

MESH  search for term 'heart attack' leads to

Myocardial Infarction

NECROSIS of the MYOCARDIUM caused by an obstruction of the blood supply to the heart (CORONARY CIRCULATION).Year introduced: 1979

 MESH categories

Cardiovascular Diseases

 Heart Diseases 

Myocardial Ischemia

 Myocardial Infarction

World Diabetes Day - 14 November 

MESH search for 'diabetes' 

Diabetes Mellitus
A heterogeneous group of disorders characterized by HYPERGLYCEMIA and GLUCOSE INTOLERANCE.

 MeSH Categories
Diseases Category
 Nutritional and Metabolic Diseases
 Metabolic Diseases
Glucose Metabolism Disorders
 Diabetes Mellitus

Relevant article 

High prevalence of diabetes and impaired glucose tolerance in India: National Urban Diabetes Survey

 MESH database used for the term Substance Abuse

It shows

Substance-Related Disorders

Disorders related to substance abuse, the side effects of a medication, or toxin exposure.

Year introduced: 1998(1963) 

Few of the subheadings given by the NLM indexers  are listed here

• microbiology
• mortality
• nursing
• parasitology
• pathology
• physiology

FEW ENTRY TERMS

• Dependence, Substance
• Substance Addiction
• Addiction, Substance
• Substance Use Disorders
• Disorder, Substance Use

TREE STRUCTURE
All MeSH Categories
Diseases Category
 Substance-Related Disorders

Alcohol-Related Disorders
Alcohol-Induced Disorders +
Alcoholic Intoxication
Alcoholism
Wernicke Encephalopathy

Amphetamine-Related Disorders

Cocaine-Related Disorders

Inhalant Abuse

Marijuana Abuse

Neonatal Abstinence Syndrome

Opioid-Related Disorders
Heroin Dependence
Morphine Dependence

Phencyclidine Abuse

Poisoning

Argyria

		Query                        Items found
#7		Search (#6) OR #5	365042
#6		Search substance abuse	352443
#5		Search drug abuse	358069

Query Translation of Information Literacy on PubMed database

"information literacy"[MeSH Terms] OR ("information"[All Fields] AND "literacy"[All Fields]) OR "information literacy"[All Fields]

MeSH database search for information literacy

Definition:

The ability to recognize when information is needed and to locate, evaluate, and use the needed information effectively.

Year introduced: 2011

PubMed search builder options

Restrict to MeSH Major Topic.

Do not include MeSH terms found below this term in the MeSH hierarchy.

Tree Number(s): L01.143.450
Entry Terms:

• Information Literacies
• Literacies, Information
• Literacy, Information

Previous Indexing:

• Computer Literacy (1991-2010)
• Information Storage and Retrieval (1996-2010)

See Also:

• Computer Literacy
• Information Seeking Behavior

All MeSH Categories
Information Science Category
Information Science
Communication
Information Literacy
Health Literacy

Learning by Practice

This is about one such workshop that I attended on Literature search on PubMed ...at UCMS 

Mnemonics to Boolean operators.

 Use of AND operator for ‘terms search’ will lead to less results while use of OR operator will lead to more results. Isn't it interesting for example

Search Query                  Items found

   (Health) AND Literacy    5716

(Health) NOT Literacy       2348666

 (Health) OR Literacy         2357336

Secondly,  use of MESH, the National Library of Medicine's controlled vocabulary thesaurus. It consists of sets of terms naming descriptors in a hierarchical structure that permits searching at various levels of specificity. For example for the same query 'Health Literacy'. MESH  provide the definition of Health Literacy -  'Degree to which individuals have the capacity to obtain, process, and understand basic health information and services needed to make appropriate health decisions.' The year in which this term was introduced i.e. in this case Health Literacy was introduced in the year 2010.  It further lists the subheadings just like: organization and administration, trends, utilization and so on.  The search can be restricted to MeSH Major Topic and one can exclude MeSH terms found below particular term in the MeSH hierarchy.   I am listing one such Tree structure for the Entry Terms: Literacy, Health:     All MeSH Categories Health Care Category Health Care Facilities, Manpower, and Services Health Services Preventive Health Services Health Education Consumer Health Information Health Literacy Lest I forget again I thought let me put ‘learning to practice’  about the use of operators and MESH more will follow later . I am thankful to Dr. Navjeevan Singh, Professor, Pathology, UCMS   and PubMed Expert Searcher Ms. Vasumathi Sriganesh from QMed Knowldge foundation for providing me the opportunity to attend this workshop on Sunday

World Osteoporosis Day - 20 October 

To know more about this disease see : International Osteoporosis Foundation

Vitamin D deficiency behind 'silent disease'

 Vitamin D helps in absorption of calcium. So deficiency of vitamin D causes calcium deficiency leading to osteoporosis which make the bones of the body brittle. The intake of Vit. D will help in maintaining a healthy lifestyle and consuming a rich balanced diet is enough to ward off this disease.

 

Open Access Week October 22 - 28,

Read more at : http://www.openaccessweek.org/

The Scholarly Publishing and Academic Resources Coalition(SPARC) is an international alliance of academic and research libraries working to correct imbalances in the scholarly publishing system. Developed by the Association of Research Libraries, SPARC has become a catalyst for change. Its pragmatic focus is to stimulate the emergence of new scholarly communication models that expand the dissemination of scholarly research and reduce financial pressures on libraries.
SPARC and the World Bank Announce  – “Set the Default to Open Access”

The Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine has been awarded 102 times to 199 Nobel Laureates between 1901 and 2011.This year  Nobel Prize was awarded jointly to Sir John B. Gurdon and Shinya Yamanaka "for the discovery that mature cells can be reprogrammed to become pluripotent"

Full report about the prize is available on The Nobel Prize 

‘Doctors often ask for needless tests’

Dr. Kameshwar Prasad, head of the clinical epidemiology unit at AIIMS said unnecessary diagnostic tests and surgical procedures not just put additional financial burden but also affect the patient's recovery. "We are also proposing that evidence-based treatment methodologies should be emphasized in medical schools," he said.

Excerpts from TOI
 

 

 

India’s global research output is just 3.5%: Study

 A recent finding of the study on India's research output and collaboration conducted by Thomson Reuters states that the country had just 3.5% of global research output in 2010. The report which was recently submitted to the department of science and technology has discipline wise data on India’s abysmally low research output.
India's share of world research output in clinical medicine was a meagre 1.9% in 2010, 0.5% in psychiatry, 1.4% in neurosciences, 1.8% in immunology, 2.1% in molecular biology and just 3.5% in environmental research.
The report says that -
 India has been the sleeping giant of Asia. Research in the university sector, stagnant for at least two decades, is now accelerating but it will be a long haul to restore India as an Asian knowledge hub. Indian higher education is faced with powerful dilemmas and difficult choices - public/private, access/equity, uncertain regulation, different teaching standards and contested research quality,"

India has a long and distinguished history as a country of knowledge, learning and innovation. In the recent past, however, it has failed to realize its undoubted potential as a home for world class research. 

I liked one of the comment by the reader :
Until research in India is freed from political and bureaucratic control there is little chance of India gaining her rightful place in the world of academic research.

Excerpts from: India Education Reviews.com

Wall posting or Blog posting

I am lost in two. Though both are exciting but I am enjoying facebook wall posting more. It provides quick comments and are more rapid in providing updates from friends and other sources.

Each year the International Day of Peace is observed around the world on 21 September. The UN General Assembly has declared this as a day devoted to strengthening the ideals of peace, both within and among all nations and peoples.

Read more at  The United Nations

Delhi government slaps ban on all gutka products 

NEW DELHI: Putting health over revenue, the Delhi government on Monday announced a ban on all gutka products in the capital. The ban, which includes sale, manufacture, distribution, transportation, display and storage of these products, is expected to take effect in a day or two.

  The world's first effective vaccine against dengue could be available by 2015

Source: TOI

World Suicide Prevention Day -10 September 

World Suicide Prevention Day on 10 September promotes worldwide commitment and action to prevent suicides. According to WHO on an average, almost 3000 people commit suicide daily. For every person who completes a suicide, 20 or more may attempt to end their lives.

The sponsoring International Association for Suicide Prevention, the co-sponsor WHO and other partners advocate for the prevention of suicidal behaviour, provision of adequate treatment and follow-up care for people who attempted suicide, as well as responsible reporting of suicides in the media.

At the global level, awareness needs to be raised that suicide is a major preventable cause of premature death. Governments need to develop policy frameworks for national suicide prevention strategies. At the local level, policy statements and research outcomes need to be translated into prevention programmes and activities in communities.
Related links
International Association for Suicide Prevention (IASP)
More about suicide prevention 

Suicides in India

 It is estimated that over 100,000 people die by suicide in India every year. India alone contributes to more than 10% of suicides in the world. The suicide rate in India has been increasing steadily and has reached 11.2 (per 100,000 of population) in 2011 registering 78% increase over the value of 1980 (6.3). Majority of suicides occur among men and in younger age groups. Despite the gravity of the problem, information about the causes and risk factors is insufficient.

It is based on National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) report for the year 2011.

Source: http://www.maithrikochi.org/home.htm

International Literacy Day-8th September

 The Unesco theme of International Literacy Day 2012 is Literacy and Peace. This theme was adopted by the United Nations Literacy Decade (UNLD) to demonstrate the multiple uses and value that literacy brings to people.

Literacy is a human right, a tool of personal empowerment and a means for social and human development. Educational opportunities depend on literacy. 

  Education brings sustainability to all the development goals, and literacy is the foundation of all learning. It provides individuals with the skills to understand the world and shape it, to participate in democratic processes and have a voice, and also to strengthen their cultural identity.    

Irina Bokova, UNESCO Director General 

A good quality basic education equips pupils with literacy skills for life and further learning; literate parents are more likely to send their children to school; literate people are better able to access continuing educational opportunities; and literate societies are better geared to meet pressing development.

National Nutrition Week is celebrated from September 1 to 7 every year.

Nutrition is the focal point of health and well-being. It allows you to be strong, provides you with the energy to do the things you want to do, and makes you look and feel your best .But under-nutrition is a biggest challenge for India.
To know about nutritional status read: Unicef-India  and Mother-Child Nutrition

Medline covers :

As of July 2012, the number of biomedical journals that are indexed for MEDLINE  =5,632 journal titles. Of these 5,022 journals are indexed  in Index Medicus.

The printed Index Medicus,was started by John Shaw Billings in 1879, its print version was ceased eight years ago.

Source:NLM Tech Bull.

NEWS DIGEST

Unhealthy at 65: India has 76% shortfall in government doctors

 After spending around 1% of gross domestic product (GDP) on health in the past five years, the government is proposing an increase in public spending by half a percentage point to make it 1.58% for the coming five years (2012-17) under the 12th Plan. ....

 Delhiites most obese: Study

NEW DELHI: Delhiites' predilection for fatty foods and sweets is no secret. Not surprisingly, they have beaten south Indians and those from the northeast in a study on obesity. The study focusing on three ethnic groups — Indo-Aryans (from Delhi), Mongoloids (from Manipur) and Dravidians (from Kerala) — found Delhiites to be the most obese.....

PM flags health mission, but policy still unclear

 NEW DELHI: PM Manmohan Singh gave the National Health Mission pride of place in his I-Day speech but a fierce policy row clouds the initiative, highlighting sharp differences over a major policy revamp that includes an ambitious plan for universal health coverage..

RWA asks govt to remove cell tower 

NEW DELHI: Worried over the ill effects of mobile tower radiation, a group of residents from Safdarjung Enclave has moved the government for removal of a mobile tower from their area. ...

SOURCE: TOI

NEWS DIGEST

Road accidents claiming more young lives in Delhi

NEW DELHI: A recent traffic police survey has pointed out that more and more youngsters are falling prey to traffic accidents.
The number of vehicles on Delhi roads have drastically increased from 62,88,342 in 2009 to 67,55,720 in 2010. In 2011, the approximate number of vehicles in Delhi was 72 lakh, said officials. The population in Delhi has also increased from 1,64,37,000 in 2009 to 1,67,53,235 in 2010. In 2011, the population roughly stood at 1.70 crore, said police officers. 

Safety norms for workers on sewer cleaning laid out by NHRC and DJB.

Stents to cure chronic sinusitis

NEW DELHI: For years, they have been used to open blocked arteries. In a novel approach, drug-eluting stents are now being used to cure chronic sinusitis which is not treatable with medicines. The technique is also advisable for diabetics and those suffering from hypertension.

Solving The Dialysis Problem
Government Plans A Standalone Dialysis Centre In Each District To Tackle Chronic Kidney Disease 
There's hope for lakhs of Indians suffering from chronic kidney disease (CKD),if the government follows through on its plans.Every year,lakhs of Indians die because they cannot get to a dialysis machine.Dialysis is the lifesaving procedure of removing waste from the blood when the kidneys are unable to do so.

Thin diabetics may be more in danger than obese ones
Type 2 diabetes,a condition thought of as a disease of the overweight and sedentary,also develops in people who arent overweight.And it may be deadlier in these normal-weight people,a new study shows.
In the study reported in The Journal of the American Medical Association,researchers reviewed data of more than 2,500 people with Type 2 diabetes over decades.
They found that those of normal weight at the time of their diagnoses were twice as likely to die during the study period,compared with those who were overweight or obese.

SOURCE: TOI

Twelfth Five Year Plan process is an opportunity to review the health system of our country,for next five years to redeem our commitments to health and to lives lived with dignity.To know more about  the future health plans as has been given by health division of planning commission (Feb 2012) visit: Report of the Steering Committee on Health for the 12th Five Year Plan

Also the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare  has asked Planning Commission to rewrite its chapter on health. Details about this are available at :Ministry opposes plan to overhaul healthcare

Source: LiveMint.com dated 6th Aug

National Bone & Joint Day- August 4

IOA theme : Knowledge is Power; Skill is our Strength

COIMBATORE: Moving forwards, August 4 will be observed as National Bone and Joint Day. The Union Ministry of Health has decided to observe such a day to focus on treatment related issues concerning bones and joints following a request from the Indian Orthopaedic Association (IOA), which stressed the need to create awareness among people on the growing problems related to bones and joints.
Speaking to TOI, S Rajasekaran, president of IOA, said that with the ageing population and increasing accidents, the health problems related to bones and joints have also amplified. On the request of the association, the government has agreed to declare August 4 as National Bone and Joint Day, he said. The IOA charter was signed on the same day in 1971.

Read More: TOI

Use of Medical Subject Heading (MeSH) in Online Retrieval

MeSH is the National Library of Medicine's controlled vocabulary thesaurus. It consists of sets of terms naming descriptors in a hierarchical structure that permits searching at various levels of specificity.

MeSH descriptors are arranged in both an alphabetic and a hierarchical structure. At the most general level of the hierarchical structure are very broad headings such as "Anatomy" or "Mental Disorders." More specific headings are found at more narrow levels of the twelve-level hierarchy, such as "Ankle" and "Conduct Disorder." There are 26,142 descriptors in 2011 MeSH. There are also over 177,000 entry terms that assist in finding the most appropriate MeSH Heading, for example, "Vitamin C" is an entry term to "Ascorbic Acid.

Read more: Medical Subject Heading

 

Critical appraisal is the process of assessing and interpreting evidence by systematically considering its validity, results and relevance to an individual's work. Within the last decade critical appraisal has gained importance to medical education curriculum.

To read more about critical appraisal visit http://www.casp-uk.net/

Harm Reduction

The term harm reduction refers to polices and programs that aim to prevent or reduce the harms associated with injecting drug use.

India is witnessing a steady increase in injecting drug related HIV epidemics in both numbers and locations. Though 87% infections are attributed to unprotected sex, injecting drug use (IDU) remains a major driver of HIV across the country. The last several years have seen a rising body of evidence on the effectiveness of prevention programs for IDUs including sterile needle syringe, oral substitution therapy, and education and outreach services. These programs are founded on a harm reduction approach, in that they aim to reduce harms associated with drug use without eliminating drug use per se.

Read more: India Harm Reduction Network

World Hepatitis Day-28 July

 The theme given by WHO  for this day that will last a year is “It’s closer than you think”

 This campaign focuses on raising awareness of the different forms of hepatitis: what they are and how they are transmitted; who is at risk; and the various methods of prevention and treatment.

Despite its staggering toll on health, hepatitis remains a group of diseases that are largely unknown, undiagnosed and untreated. 

 ABOUT:

Hepatitis is an inflammation of the liver, most commonly caused by a viral infection. There are five main hepatitis viruses, referred to as types A, B, C, D and E. These five types are of greatest concern because of the burden of illness and death they cause and the potential for outbreaks and epidemic spread. In particular, types B and C lead to chronic disease in hundreds of millions of people and, together, are the most common cause of liver cirrhosis and cancer.

Hepatitis A and E are typically caused by ingestion of contaminated food or water. Hepatitis B, C and D usually occur as a result of parenteral contact with infected body fluids. Common modes of transmission for these viruses include receipt of contaminated blood or blood products, invasive medical procedures using contaminated equipment and for hepatitis B transmission from mother to baby at birth, from family member to child, and also by sexual contact.
Acute infection may occur with limited or no symptoms, or may include symptoms such as jaundice (yellowing of the skin and eyes), dark urine, extreme fatigue, nausea, vomiting and abdominal pain.

One of the research paper that I found in PubMed database that is relevant to my country is :

Natl Med J India. 2006 Jul-Aug;19(4):203-17.

Viral hepatitis in India

Acharya SK, Madan K, Dattagupta S, Panda SK.

Source

Department of Gastroenterology, All India Institute of Medical Sciences, Ansari Nagar, New Delhi 110029, India. subratacharya2004@yahoo.com

Abstract

Viral hepatitis is a major public health problem in India, which is hyperendemic for Hepatitis A (HAV) and Hepatitis E virus (HEV). Seroprevalence studies reveal that 90%-100% of the population acquires anti-HAV antibody and becomes immune by adolescence. Many epidemics of HEV have been reported from India. HAV related liver disease is uncommon in India and occurs mainly in children. HEV is also the major cause of sporadic adult acute viral hepatitis and Acute liver failure (ALF). Pregnant women and patients with chronic lung disease (CLD) constitute the high risk groups to contract HEV infection, and HEV-induced mortality among them is substantial, which underlines the need for preventive measures for such groups. Children with HAV and HEV coinfection are prone to develop ALF. India has intermediate Hepatitis B (HBV) endemicity, with a carrier frequency of 2%-4%. HBV is the major cause of CLD and Hepatitis C  (HCC). Chronic HBV infection in India is acquired in childhood, presumably before 5 years of age, through horizontal transmission. Vertical transmission of HBV in India is considered to be infrequent. Inclusion of HBV vaccination in the expanded programme of immunization is essential to reduce the HBV carrier frequency and disease burden. HBV genotypes A and D are prevalent in India, which are similar to the HBV genotypes in the West. HCV infection in India has a population prevalence of around 1%, and occurs predominantly through transfusion and the use of unsterile glass syringes. HCV genotypes 3 and 2 are prevalent in 60%-80% of the population and they respond well to a combination of interferon and ribavirin. About 10%-15% of CLD and HCC are associated with HCV infection in India. HCV infection is also a major cause of post-transfusion hepatitis. HDV infection is infrequent in India and is present about 5%-10% of patients with HBV-related liver disease. HCC appears to be less common in India than would be expected from the prevalence rates of HBV and HCV. The high disease burden of viral hepatitis and related CLD in India, calls for the setting up of a hepatitis registry and formulation of government-supported prevention and control strategies.

PMID:

17100109

[PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE]

Anemia Prevalence in India

The National Family Health Survey (NFHS-3), conducted in 2005-06, presents the statistics that mark a growth in cases pertaining to anemia. Most of the anemic patients, especially women, suffer from mild to severe deficiency of iron. The hemoglobin count in most of the adolescent girls in India is less than the standard 12 g/decilitre, the standard accepted worldwide.While 56 per cent of adolescent girls are anemic, boys too are falling prey to the disease. Around 30 per cent of adolescent boys are suffering from anemia, the report states.

National nutritional anaemia control programme in India

Read more at: http://indiatoday.intoday.in/story/Anemia+cases+in+India+on+rise:+NFHS+3+report/1/11517.html

The program, implemented through the Primary Health Centers and its subcenters, aims at decreasing the prevalence and incidence of anemia in women of reproductive age. It focuses on three vital strategies: promotion of regular consumption of foods rich in iron, provisions of iron and folate supplements in the form of tablets to the high risk groups, and identification and treatment of severely anemic cases. The program solicits the support of various departments in implementing the dietary modification and supplementation measures.

Source:

PMID;11243085 and India Today

Read more at: http://indiatoday.intoday.in/story/Anemia+cases+in+India+on+rise:+NFHS+3+report

/1/11517.html

World Population Day: 11th July

 The theme chosen by the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA ) to mark this year is 'Universal Access to Reproductive Health Services'. 

Reproductive health is at the very heart of development and crucial to delivering the UNFPA vision — a world where every pregnancy is wanted, every childbirth is safe, and every young person’s potential is fulfilled.

To read more log on to http://www.unfpa.org/public/home

Only by continuous self-appraisal can a large information system make itself responsive to the needs of the scientific community.

                                                         - F W Lancaster

citations-gadget

A Google Scholar Universal Gadget for Scientific Publication Citation Counting

It enables users to search for the total number of citations of author(s). It provides a total citation count, total number of cited publications and Jorge E. Hirsch's H-Index.  The h-index is an index that attempts to measure both the productivity and impact of the published work of a scientist or scholar.

Death of Skills, Death of Merit. Death of experience. Its a crab syndrome.

 National Urban Health Mission (NUHM)
About:
The NUHM will meet health needs of the urban poor, particularly the slum dwellers by making available to them essential primary health care services. This will be done by investing in high-caliber health professionals, appropriate technology through PPP, and health insurance for urban poor.

Find more about it @ Urban Health Resource Centre

List of publications from AIIMS included in PubMed from Jan-June 2012 searched on 4.7.2012 are:
Click AIIMS and scroll little to find the bibliography. It lists 428 publications.

Anaemic Bill

R. RAMACHANDRAN

The Bill to regulate medical education and govern human resource in health is a highly diluted version of the original draft.

Distortions in the area of Human Resource for Health (HRH) are the root cause of many of the ills facing the health sector in India. Among them is the shortage of qualified medical professionals. The estimated density of 19 health workers (qualified and unqualified) per 10,000 population is nearly 25 per cent less than the World Health Organisation (WHO) norm of 25 (doctors, nurses and midwives). The doctor density is only six. Further, there are large variations across States and the distribution is highly skewed in favour of urban areas. This disparity is particularly significant from the perspective of achieving universal health coverage (UHC) at least in the medium term for a couple of decades.Read more:http://www.frontline.in/stories/20120713291301700.htm

DOCS GROW EYE CELLS IN LAB

Times Of India
03 July 2012
Experiment By Chennai Scientists Raises Hope Of Curing Blindness Considered Irreversible
There is new hope for millions of people suffering from "irreversible" blindness due to retinal degeneration or damage. Scientists at Chennai–based Sankara Nethralaya say retinal cells grown from the remains of eyes donated for corneal transplant can be used to correct blindness and retina degeneration.
The scientists said they drew pigment cells from the iris (circular structure in the eye) and ciliary (circumferential tissue) from the donated eyes after the cornea was removed. When these cells were cultured in a petri dish and mixed with growth factors, it produced more cells. Genetic tests showed that these cells resembled and had characters of retinal cells. The study, accepted for publication in the journal Stem Cell Review and Reports, is funded by the department of bio–technology of the Union ministry of science and technology. "This experiment takes us closer to the hope that these cells may be able to cure blindness," said S Krishnakumar, head of Vision Research Foundation at Sankara Nethralaya.
A significant number of the 12 million blind in India suffer from preventable or reversible blindness, but doctors say the prevalence of retinal ailments such as diabetic retinopathy, degeneration and detachment is gradually increasing. Some of these diseases don’t have a cure and leave the affected people with permanent blindness. Across the world, scientists have been pinning their hopes on stem cells for treating retinal diseases. In April 2011, Nature published a report on how retina of rats could be created in a Petri dish from its own stem cells. In January 2012, Lancet reported that scientists used embryonic stem cells to improve the sight of two almost–blind women, a breakthrough that they say raises the hope of a cure for age–related vision loss.

  The Road to Universal Health Care

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.

Excerpts from The Hindu

Ability is nothing without opportunity.
                                                -Napoleon Bonaparte

‘India will miss 2015 millennium development goals’

One of the MDG goals is to reduce under-five mortality rate to 42 per 1,000 live births by 2015. India will reach 52 by that year missing the target by 10 percentage points. The national level estimate of infant mortality rate is likely to be 44 against the MDG target of 27 in 2015. Some of the largest states like Madhya Pradesh (62), Odisha (61), Uttar Pradesh (61), Assam (58), Meghalaya (55), Rajasthan (55), Chhattisgarh (51), Bihar (48) and Haryana (48) still have IMR above the national estimates.

The national level measure of the proportion of one-year old (12-23 months) children immunized against measles has registered an increase from 42.2% (1992-93) to 74.1% (2009). India is, however, expected to cover about 89% children in the age group 12-23 months for immunization against measles by 2015 — short of universal immunization of one-year olds against measles by about 11 percentage points.

India will reach maternal mortality rate (MMR) of 139 per 100,000 live births by 2015, falling short by 30 percentage points. 

Read more: TOI

The science of transplants breaches new frontiers

Transplantation of Human Organs Bill, 1994

‘Donors are less; demand much more’

Numbers and the need:  Every year, 1.5 lakh Indians need either transplantation or dialysis Just 3,500-4 ,000 kidney transplants performed annually in India. In Mumbai, 18 cadaver kidney transplants done in 2012, but 2,250 have registered 800 liver transplants done annually; 10% are from cadavers

Buzz around body parts  : Lot  needs to be done in India. The lack of a national registry, says Dr Umesh Oza, secretary of the Indian Society of Organ Transplantation, means there's no knowledge of how many transplants have been done. Cherian says it's time there was an all-India data base of donors. Examples can be gleaned from the Organ Procurement and Transplantation Network of the US or UK Transplant Centre . "Co-ordination between hospitals will reduce the demand-supply burden. 

Read More: TOI

Doctors' Day celebrated on July 1

The Doctor's Day is celebrated on July 1 all across India to honour the legendary physician and the second Chief Minister of West Bengal, Bidhan Chandra Roy. He was born on July 1, 1882 and passed away on the same date in 1962, aged 80 years. Doctor Roy was honoured with the highest civilian honour of Bharat Ratna in 1961.

Read more at: http://doctor.ndtv.com/

Use of salt, sugar in Indian fast food likely to come under scanner

NEW DELHI: The amount of salt and sugar on the menus of fast food companies in India may soon come under the scanner.The World Health Organization (WHO) on Friday said it would like to see the Union health ministry regulate the use of salt and sugar in the fast food being dished out.
Experts say junk food —high on salt and sugar content — is fuelling India's hypertension and obesity epidemic.
Dr Nata Menabde, country representative of the WHO, told TOI that the global health watchdogs would support India with scientific evidence to help better negotiate with companies on cutting down salt and sugar use. 

Read more: TOI

 

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh voices concern over quality of medical education

 Expressing concern over the quality of medical education, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Saturday said a "credible regulatory" mechanism should be put in place and a "serious look" given at the curriculum.
"There is a perception of deteriorating quality. We cannot allow this situation to continue. We must put in place a credible regulatory and institutional mechanism to help develop standards in our medical education", he said in his address at the third Convocation in Jawaharlal Institute of Post graduate Medical Education and Research here.. 

Source: India Today