News Digest

24x7 pharmacy opens at AIIMS, offers big savings
NEW DELHI: There's good news for 10,000-odd patients, who visit AIIMS' OPD daily.
In a first-of-its-kind venture in a government hospital, a 24x7 pharmacy shop opened at the hospital this week has the mandate to provide all medicines and surgical consumables prescribed by an AIIMS doctor to an OPD patient at a 56% discount on MRP across the board.

Portability drives health cover innovation
MUMBAI: Health insurance market has become competitive following the introduction of portability which allows customers to switch companies without losing their "no-claim" benefits. Although prices have not come down, companies are offering better features.

Govt changes norms for cancer docs training
NEW DELHI: India has found a way to increase the number of doctors specifically to treat cancer. The Union health ministry will soon allow every professor of three disciplines - radiotherapy, medical oncology and surgical oncology - to teach three students as against the existing norm of two.

Family doc concept is back
New Delhi: Family physicians medical practitioners that were fast disappearing are now being revived.
With India witnessing a rush of medical students keen on becoming specialists,the health ministry and Medical Council of India (MCI) have notified introduction of a new three-year postgraduate course MD in family medicine.
Chairman of MCIs board of governors,Dr K K Talwar said,The curriculum has been prepared and sent to all state governments that have been told to roll out this broad speciality course.

Free treatment still out of reach of poor patients; panel slams govt
NEW DELHI: Poor patients haven't been able to reap benefits of the free treatment provision in top private hospitals in the city. The monitoring committee looking after the implementation has faulted the government policies vis-a-vis lack of publicity and failure by state-run health institutions to refer the needy.

AIIMS creates 230 new posts to meet crunch
NEW DELHI: The Union health ministry on Thursday sanctioned the creation of 230 new faculty positions in the All India Institute of Medical Sciences to tide over acute faculty crunch.

Scaling peaks on prosthetic legs
New Delhi: He lost his legs to frostbite at the age of 23 after remaining trapped in an ice cave for 14 days,but the accident did not dull Mark Inglis love of mountaineering.
In 2006,he conquered Mt Everest on prosthetic legs.Just because I became a double amputee is no reason to stop doing things in life, says the 52-year-old New Zealander,now a successful winemaker,corporate consultant,writer and motivational speaker.

12 AIIMS-like bodies by 2017
NEW DELHI: India will have 12 AIIMS-like institutions by the end of 2017.The report of the steering committee on health for the 12th five year plan (incorporating reports of all working groups and deliberations in Committee meetings) has suggested opening of four new prototypes of premiere All India Institute of Medical Sciences ( AIIMS) in addition to the eight already approved.

Source:TOI