Health News from Reuters

India slashes health budget, already one of the world's lowest

The government has ordered a cut of nearly 20 percent in its 2014/15 healthcare budget due to fiscal strains, putting at risk key disease control initiatives in a country whose public spending on health is already among the lowest in the world.
Two health ministry officials told Reuters on Tuesday that more than 60 billion rupees, or $948 million, has been slashed from their budget allocation of around $5 billion for the financial year ending on March 31.
Despite rapid economic growth over the past two decades, successive governments have kept a tight rein on healthcare expenditure. India spends about 1 percent of its gross domestic product (GDP) on public health, compared to 3 percent in China and 8.3 percent in the United States. Read more HERE

UN to declare June 21 as World Yoga Day: Swaraj 

 

New Delhi, Dec 7 (PTI) The United Nations will soon declare June 21 as World Yoga Day following a proposal by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj said today.

"Three months ago, Prime Minister Narendra Modi had appealed to the world community that India's yoga should be celebrated as World Yoga Day. I am happy to inform you that we have received support of 170 nations and four days from today, the United Nations will declare June 21 as the World Yoga Day," Swaraj said at a function in the presence of yoga guru Ramdev.

Addressing the 'Gita Prerna Mahotsav', organised "to celebrate 5,151 years of religious book Gita" at the Red Fort Maidan here, the senior BJP leader said that yoga is not merely an exercise, but a road to prosperity and good health.

During his visit to the United Nations in September this year, Modi had urged the world community to celebrate Indian yoga at the international level and that June 21 be declared as the World Yoga Day. Read more HERE

Source: PTI

ICLAM 2014 : Conference  Report

The National Institute of Fashion Technology (NIFT) in collaboration with the Government Information and Official Publications section of the International Federation of Library Associations and Institutions (IFLA)  and Indira Gandhi National Centre for the Arts (IGNCA) organizined the second international conference of the series titled International Conference on the Convergence of Libraries, Archives and Museums (ICLAM) in New Delhi from 27th to 29th November, 2014. The conference theme was Innovative Ideas, Technologies and Services. In the 21st century the core issue in memory institutions, i.e., libraries, archives and museums, is innovative applications of digital technologies in all the spheres of activities ranging from management to collaboration. Technological innovation is vital to reinforce the  roles of libraries, archives and museums in promotion of formal and informal learning. However, innovations - whether internal or external, radical or incremental - are not growing with the pace as it should. Critical changes are taking place in paradigms and products in libraries, archives and museums. On the basis of deliberations on various aspects of innovation the conference suggested effective strategies for creating sustainable culture of innovation in institutions in managing scientific and cultural heritage resources.

 
ICLAM 2014 organized the Pre-Conference Workshop on  (i) Open Educational Resources for Libraries on 26 November 2014 by Dr. Sanjaya Mishra, Director, Commonwealth Educational Media Centre for Asia, New Delhi. Open Educational Resources (OER) have emerged as a new wave in the field of teaching and learning. While OER emerged during the same time at that of the Open Access (OA) movement, it has made significant strides. New publications models are also emerging due to easy availability of platforms and technologies supporting open dissemination of knowledge resources. However, understanding of open licensing and copyright issues are still challenging for many. This workshop was the primer on OER, and focussed on discussing what, why and how of OER in the context of the roles performed by Library and Information Professionals

(ii) Institutional repository using DSpace by Mr. Manoj Kumar K., Scientist D  INFLIBNET Centre, Infocity, Gandhinagar, Gujarat

ICLAM 2014 covered a wide spectrum of talks ranging from  Open Access Scholarly Information by Leslie Chan, OASIS; LAM in the digital shift by Rolf Källman, Head of Department, Digisam, The National Archives of Sweden, Stockholm Community Engagement through Digital Innovation -- Dr. Ceri Gorton, Cultural Development Manager, Oxford City Council, UK
Disaster Management for GLAM sector from archivist from Artlab, Australia - Heather Brown, Artlab, Australia, Social Media and Social Networks: innovative applications by Osama Manzar, Founder & Director Digital Empowerment Foundation, New Delhi; Let the knowledge go around : reimagining GLAM through the lens of openness by T. Vishnu Vardhan, Programme Director,Access to Knowledge, The Centre for Internet & Society, Bengaluru. There were many more interesting talks by Dr. Jagdish Arora, Director INFLIBNET Centre, Infocity, Gandhinagar, Gujarat,  Dr. RK Chadha, Additional Secretary, Parliament Library, New Delhi, Dr. S.Majumdar, Librarian, IIC, New Delhi, Prof. Laxman Rao, UGC Emeritus Fellow, Osmania University, Hyderabad, Dr. Gayas Mukhudumi, University Librarian, Jamia Milia Islamia, Jamia Nagar, New Delhi, Dr PR Goswami, Director, IGNCA, Dr. R.K Sharma, Librarian, UNIC, New Delhi and Dr. Ramesh C Gaur, Librarian JNU, N. Delhi. In the conference were present several eminent professionals-.. and papers  covered in the conference were engaging too. The new concepts that I learned were Internet of Things (IoT),...... overall the  conference provided a stimulating environment for discussions imbued with eclecticism among theorists and practitioners representing various stakeholders and diverse schools of thought from different parts of the world.

Gates Foundation announces world’s strongest policy on open access research

Read more at : Bill & Melinda Gates foundation

News headlines

 Libraries at a loss as 20 LAKH precious books damaged by J&K floods

 8 women dead, 50 hospitalized after sterilization surgery in Chhattisgarh

 Library ban being reviewed, sorry if remark misunderstood: AMU VC

News headlines

Air to be worst a day after Diwali -TOI

WHO Declares Nigeria Ebola-Free -The Hindu

No need to panic on dengue: Govt -THT

Men too are vulnerable to osteoporosis, warn docs -TOI

Dr Harsh Vardhan assures toning up of blindness control schemes
At World Sight Day event lauds “Vision Ambassadors” concept

Dr Harsh Vardhan, Union Health Minister, has decided to review the progress of the National Programme for Control of Blindness (NPCB) with a view to toning up its implementation.

The Minister, who was speaking at an event at Bangaloreyesterday to mark World Sight Day, which fell on October 9, remarked that he would ensure that the funds earmarked for NPCB for the 12th Plan period (2012-17) are utilised optimally and that he would raise the matter with the state governments.

NPCB was launched in 1976 as a 100 percent Centrally- funded scheme with a goal to reduce the prevalence of blindness. However, the rate has not shown much appreciable difference even after 28 years, the Minister noted. The Rapid Survey on Avoidable Blindness conducted during 2006-07 showed a reduction in the prevalence of avoidable blindness from 1.1 percent in 2000 to 1 percent in 2006. NPCB has now targeted to bring down the prevalence of blindness to 0.3 percent by 2020 from the present level of 1 percent. 

Source: http://pib.nic.in/newsite/erelease.aspx?relid=110764

Country’s first ever Mental Health Policy unveiled                 
Society needs to change perception on mental illness: Dr Harsh Vardhan

Dr Harsh Vardhan, Union Health Minister, has said that universal access to mental health care is a specific goal of the government. It would find substantial articulation in the evolving National Health Policy and National Health Assurance Mission (NHAM), he said.

“I visited the famous Institute of Mental Health and Hospital in Agra this week in preparation for the launch of the National Mental Health Policy. I have promised it fresh funds for modernisation and expansion. Similar funds will be given to all hospitals in the country to enable them to open departments for treating patients in need of psychological and psychiatric healthcare,” the Minister said today after launching India’s first Mental Health Policy.

Significantly, the Mental Health Policy was launched on the first ever National Mental Health Day organised by the government.

Source: http://pib.nic.in/newsite/PrintRelease.aspx?relid=110417

Weight Loss Surgery

Also called: Bariatric surgery, Bypass surgery, Gastric banding, Obesity surgery

Read more about this surgery on my fav. trusted health information website: Medline Plus

WHO’s Heart Day expert advice: reduce salt intake

News Headlines :

Deep brain stimulation may aid patients with obsessive-compulsive disorder

Healthy lifestyle may help 4 out of 5 men prevent heart attacks

Scrub typhus disease kills eight in Shimla

Country running out of anti-HIV drug stock

Common diabetes pill might increase heart disease risk

News headlines :

Ebola cases may hit 1.4 million mark by January 2015, warns CDC

Sugar substitutes may mess with gut bacteria—causing obesity in the process

Want to beat the blues? Eat fruits, veggies

Alzheimer’s disease a global burden

Govt curbs power of regulator to cap HIV, cancer drug prices

Smoked meat can be deadlier than alcohol

Fear of losing job may boost asthma risk

A blood test may identify psychosis risk

WHO report on Preventing suicide: A global imperative

Overview

Every 40 seconds a person dies by suicide somewhere in the world. “Preventing suicide: a global imperative” is the first WHO report of its kind. It aims to increase awareness of the public health significance of suicide and suicide attempts, to make suicide prevention a higher priority on the global public health agenda, and to encourage and support countries to develop or strengthen comprehensive suicide prevention strategies in a multisectoral public health approach.

The report provides a global knowledge base on suicide and suicide attempts as well as actionable steps for countries based on their current resources and context to move forward in suicide prevention.

Source: WHO

Dr. Harsh Vardhan releases National Health Profile 2013 
 
Report by India Education bureau, New Delhi: Union Minister for Health and Family Welfare Dr. Harsh Vardhan released the National Health Profile 2013, here today. The annual document is prepared by the Central Bureau of Health Intelligence (CBHI). It covers demographic, socio-economic, health status and health finance indicators, along with comprehensive information on health infrastructure and human resources in health. CBHI has been publishing NHP every year since 2005. This is the 9th edition.

Speaking at the function Dr. Harsh Vardhan emphasized on the critical importance of reliable country-wise data in all sectors of healthcare in the country covering not only public health professionals, but the various stakeholders in the healthcare sector such as even those who have traditional knowledge in different systems. Such data would enable the policymakers in sound planning and effective implementation of various schemes, he stated. He added that the country has immense potential and vast resources to strive towards excellence in any field, healthcare being just one of them. It is time that we made optimum utilization of the existing resources, he added. The country should be prepared and geared up for meeting any medical emergency, he stated. A comprehensive healthcare database showing region-wise and location-wise availability of doctors, nurses, chemists, dispensaries, private practioners and other human and health infrastructure will go a long way in building up our capacity of dealing with any health emergency, Dr Harsh Vardhan noted.

 Read further at : http://indiaeducationdiary.in/
AND the National Health Profile 2013 is available at : http://cbhidghs.nic.in/index2.asp?slid=1256&sublinkid=1163

  'Swaasth India'

Swaasth India is a platform to connect Government of India's health related requirements with medical expertise of physicians of Indian origin globally. This is a collaborative project between the Ministry of Health & Family Welfare (Government of India), the American Association of Physicians of India origin USA (AAPI), Global Association of Physicians of Indian origin (GAPIO) and the British Association of Physicians of Indian origin, UK (BAPIO).
Swaasth India will enable physicians of India origin residing globally to support the Government of India's objectives to improve the standard of living and health status of the Indian population in a coordinated way.

See more at: http://www.swaasthindia.gov.in