News Digest

Alcohol among major global killers

NEW DELHI: Alcohol globally has become a major killer. The WHO says globally, 6.2% of all male deaths are alcohol-related, compared to 1.1% of female deaths. Around 3.2 lakh young people aged 15-29 years die annually from drinking, resulting in 9% of all deaths in that age group.
Experts say liquor raises the risk of as many as 60 diseases. What's most worrying for India is that the country is home to one of the largest alcoholic beverage industries in the world, producing 65% of the alcohol in south-east Asia.

India contributes to about 7% of the total alcohol beverage imports into the region. India was among the first countries to raise an alarm against alcohol.

Since then, it has not been able to put in place an effective anti-alcohol policy.

Stem cell study: Govt wants to draw ethical line

NEW DELHI: Should gamete donation be allowed in India? What about couples undergoing In-vitro Fertilization (IVF) donating spare embryos for research? These are some of the contentious issues on which the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR), in collaboration with Department of Biotechnology ( DBT), is looking to the public for answers and suggestions. Towards this end, the health research wing of the government has organised a public consultation programme in the Capital on Saturday.

According to Dr V M Katoch, director general of ICMR, the aim is to develop a consensus among scientists, pharmacists and the public. "The ICMR-DBT guidelines on stem cell research and therapy were prepared in 2007. We are revising it and the public consultation programme is an attempt to seek suggestions on the same," said Katoch. He added that the 'Biomedical Research Human Subjects Promotion and Regulation Bill,' to regulate and monitor research on the human subjects including use of stem cells for experimental and therapeutic purposes, is also being finalized.

All in family: Women take lead as kidney donors
Statistics show that it's women who are in the lead as donors. And this has much to do with saving their families. Figures from major city hospitals that conduct kidney transplant show that in over 70% cases, women - mostly the wife or the mother - donate their organs.

Cabinet nod for NRI doctors to practice, teach in India

NEW DELHI: NRI doctors are a step closer to be able to practice or teach medicine in India.The Cabinet on Tuesday cleared the National Council of Human Resources in Health (NCHRH) Bill that allows doctors who hold the Overseas Citizens of India (OCI) status to work in India. They can also join medical college as faculty.


Wake-up call on sleep apnea
Kounteya Sinha, TNN | Dec 15, 2011, 02.38AM IST
NEW DELHI: Those suffering from Obstructive Sleep Apnea (OSA) are four times more prone to suffer from cardiovascular risk factors and metabolic syndrome (MS) such as obesity, hypertension, dyslipidaemia and insulin resistance. Delhi has 9.3% prevalence of OSA which is a highly prevalent but an under-recognized clinical problem. In an urban setting in northern India, the occurrence of OSA is 13.7% and 3.8% in men and women.

However, patients with moderate-to-severe OSA can reverse metabolic abnormalities and lower blood pressure by undergoing three months of continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP) therapy.

These are the findings of two separate studies - one published in the Indian Journal of Medical Research (IJMR) and the other in New England Journal of Medicine - carried out by Dr S K Sharma, who heads the department of medicine at AIIMS.


Govt hospitals have to renew fire clearance
TNN | Dec 13, 2011, 01.20AM IST
NEW DELHI: All government hospitals will have to renew their fire clearance certificates within a month, said Delhi health minister A K Walia.

He held a meeting on fire-safety measures in government hospitals with officials and PWD engineers. This comes in the wake of the blaze in AMRI in Kolkata that has claimed 93 lives so far.

"I have asked medical superintendents of all hospitals to review the fire-safety measures in consultation with PWD engineers and prepare a list of steps needed. They have been instructed to renew their fire clearance certificates in a month's time," said Walia.

Samsung flags off ‘Wheels Of Hope’ Programme
The Samsung Wheels of Hope bus, which is a converted computer lab with Samsung Notebooks /netbooks and tablets, gives these children their first exposure to the world of computers and the power of the internet.The Company’s endeavor to spread knowledge on new age technology products and the world of the internet to students from the lesser privileged sections of society.The bus started it journey to reach out to students studying in around 35 MCD and government-aided schools in Delhi/ NCR region.