From The Hitavada-

MCI makes Research Cell a must for all medical colleges

Considering that research is being neglected in higher education including medical education, Medical Council of India (MCI) has decided to emphasise on this particular area. MCI has made it mandatory for all medical colleges in the country to have Research Cell. Vide a circular dated February 11, Secretary of MCI has informed all the Deans of medical colleges in the country to form a Research Cell. The decision has been taken with reference to the discussion on the issue in Executive Committee meeting of MCI held in November 2014. The meeting had approved the recommendations of Academic Council of MCI. Academic Council had observed that there was an ‘imperative need’ for creation of a standing mechanism for the purposes of accelerating research activities in every medical college. To actualise the same, it was proposed that every medical college should have a Research Cell, which would give necessary impetus to stimulate research activities in medical colleges. Dr Vedprakash Mishra, Chairman of MCI Academic Council, said that research was one of the cardinal objectives of medical education. Therefore, it was necessary that research skills needed to be inculcated in true sense at under-graduate level of education in a structured manner. For the purpose, a standing mechanism was warranted. “Research Cell with specified composition, functions and duties attributable to it in each medical college, will definitely give a genuine fillip to strengthening the research potential of every medical institution in the country. The initiative of MCI on the said count is timely, laudable, and in larger academic interests,” he said. There are 381 medical colleges in the country at present, of which 44 are in Maharashtra. Of the total number of medical colleges in Maharashtra, eight are in Vidarbha.

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Phlebotomist: A person who draws blood for diagnostic tests or to remove blood for treatment purposes - from MedicineNet.com

News from Reuters -


Insight - Deserted New Delhi hospitals sour India's healthcare dream


 Two state-of-the-art public hospitals in New Delhi are barely operational years after they officially opened - not for lack of funding but because officials did not spend the millions of dollars allocated to treat heart and kidney patients.
The empty hospitals in the heart of the Indian capital are emblematic of the paralysis gripping a public health system that is responsible for some of the world's worst health indicators. Many of the country's 1.2 billion people have a choice between expensive private care, or no care at all.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi faces many challenges to his stated goal of providing universal public health coverage, but one of the most daunting is ending the logjams that mean officials consistently fail to use their budgets.
At the 300-bed Janakpuri Super Speciality Hospital, gleaming marble-floored corridors disappear into dark wings, thick chains locking the doors to most of the five-storey building. Wards lie empty, without beds. It officially opened in 2008.
In another part of the city of 16 million people, the Rajiv Gandhi Super Speciality Hospital sits in a landscaped 13-acre complex. It started outpatient services in 2003 but more than a decade later only six beds - of the 650 the hospital was built for - receive overnight patients.

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From THT -

Health minister declares Feb 10 as National Deworming Day
The Union health minister Jagat Prakash Nadda along with state health minister Rajendra Rathore declared February 10 as the National Deworming Day in Jaipur at Panchayati Raj Institution on Monday.
The day will be observed in 11 states and Union Territories including Assam, Bihar, Chattisgarh, Dadra & Nagar Haveli, and Haryana among others in the first phase on February 10 to treat 140 million children initially at risk of parasitic worms infection in schools and Anganwadi centres, Nadda said. Medicines would be given to children aged between 1-19 years.
Nadda further added that around 65% children will be covered under the programme on February 10 and the remaining will be covered between February 11 and 14.

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