Tag: WHO

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Deal with it

Let your eyes be part of the 1 million pledge

Campaign to raise awareness about eye donation kicks off all over India; will be held for a year from now.
by The Editors | editor@themetrognome.in

Vision Sankara Eye Care Hospital has an ambitious plan: it has launched a year-long campaign, ‘Sign4Sight – Year of Million Miracles’, to mark a fortnight observing eye donation from August 25 to September 8. The eye care hospital aims to raise awareness about eye donation through its year-long campaign, and wants 1 million pledges at the end of it.

According to World Health Organisation (WHO), corneal disease is the chief cause for vision loss and blindness. The National Programme for control of Blindness estimates that India has 20% of the global blind population. With about 1,20,000 blind people in the country, the yearly addition of 25,000 to 30,000 cases further tips the scale.

Dr Ashish Bacchav, Vision Sankara says, “In most cases, loss of sight can be corrected by eye donation through a surgical procedure of corneal transplantation. A person can gain vision only when a donor donates a healthy cornea. The corneal transplantation has high success rates of around 95%. Every pledge will give back the boon of eyesight to two individuals.”

Corneal blindness is an affliction due to a damage in the tissue covering the front of the eye, called cornea. The corneas should be removed preferably within an hour of death, but can be removed up to a maximum of 6 to 8 hours.

Mohammed P, a retired serviceman, had his zest for life replenished after his vision was restored post his corneal transplant surgery at the Sankara hospital in Coimbatore. He said, “I have nothing but blessings in my heart for the soul that has given me a second lease on life. As a serviceman I have always been very self reliant and optimistic, with my eyesight restored I can now begin to enjoy playing with my grandchildren and revel in the beauty that life has to offer.”

(Picture courtesy www.zeenews.com)

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Wellness

Flu shots for pregnant women in Mumbai?

Huge rise in flu cases all over India spurs city gynaecologists to advise influenza immunisation shots to their pregnant patients.
by The Editors | editor@themetrognome.in

India has seen a significant rise in influenza (flu) cases over the years, exposing millions to serious life-threatening health complications. Data shows that influenza contributes between 5 per cent and 10 per cent of all acute respiratory infections (ALRI) such as pneumonia and bronchiolitis, leading to an upsurge in hospitalisation and even deaths.

Amongst the high risk groups, there is a gradual rise in vaccination only amongst children. However, even though pregnant women are also a high-risk group, unfortunately, they are not always advised to take this crucial vaccination. Pregnant women face an increased risk of flu complications because of the changes in their immune system. The complications include pneumonia, ear infections, worsening of pre-existing medical conditions such as asthma, diabetes, heart and kidney problems and can lead to hospitalisation. Influenza can also lead to adverse pregnancy outcomes such as babies with a low birth weight, premature deliveries, emergency caesarean, still births and neonatal deaths.

Dr Parikshit Tank, Chairman, Safe Motherhood Committee, FOGSI, says, “The number of pregnant women dying of flu is on the rise. Such cases could have possibly been prevented through immunization. Unfortunately in India, there is little or no awareness amongst pregnant women or the general population that influenza could lead to serious complication for them and their newborn child. Maternal immunisation against influenza protects the mother and also safeguards infants”.

“Immunisation for influenza should not just be administered in times of an epidemic, such as now. The need for immunization must be made a habit, and pregnant women must make sure to get the vaccination regardless of the surrounding health environment. Efforts must be made to increase awareness and access of the influenza vaccination”, added Dr Tank.

Dr Suchitra N Pandit, Imm. Past President FOGSI and Consultant, Kokilaben Dhirubhai Ambani Hospital, Mumbai says, “It is very important for a pregnant woman to take preventive measures to protect herself and her baby from the complications of flu. A single shot flu vaccine is the safest and most effective way to prevent flu and provide immunity to the mother and newborns. This is why our recent FOGSI Good Clinical Practice Guidelines have included the influenza vaccination in the recommended vaccination list for pregnant women. This will help raise awareness and reduce the risk of influenza and its severe outcomes.

“Globally a lot of work has been done to create awareness. Even in Asia we have an organisation named Asia-Pacific Alliance for the Control of Influenza (APACI), whose aim is to reduce the burden of influenza in the region, by assisting public awareness programs on influenza, promoting it among healthcare professionals, through the provision of educational information and activities”, adds Dr Pandit.

Seasonal influenza is characterised by a sudden onset of high fever, cough (usually dry), headache, muscle and joint pain, severe malaise (feeling unwell), sore throat and runny nose. Most people recover from fever and other symptoms within a week without requiring medical attention. But influenza can cause severe illness or death especially in people at high risk. India has already witnessed a swine flu flare-up that killed a total of 2,167 people across different states and affected 35,077 people as on April 11, 2015.

According to the World Health Organization (WHO), vaccination against influenza is the most effective way to prevent influenza and its complications. Furthermore, WHO also states that pregnant women constitute the highest priority group for seasonal influenza vaccination. The flu shot has been given to millions of pregnant women over many years and has not been reported to cause any potential harm to either mother or baby. Lack of awareness, overcrowding, poor sanitation and myths about the disease, add to the disease burden.

Considering the benefits it has for the mother and infant, the Association of Physicians of India (API) and the Indian Academy of Pediatrics (IAP) also recommend vaccinating against influenza during pregnancy.

(Picture courtesy www.medicaldaily.com. Image used for representational purpose only)

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Wellness

Smoking ups dementia risk

A recent report by WHO confirms that smoking increases dementia risk, like it is a factor in cancer and cardiovascular disease.
by Alzheimer’s Disease International (ADI)

Smokers have a 45 per cent higher risk of developing dementia than non-smokers, according to information published recently by the World Health Organization (WHO), in collaboration with Alzheimer’s Disease International (ADI).

Evidence reviewed by WHO reveals a strong link between smoking and the risk of dementia, and the more a person smokes, the higher the risk. It is estimated that 14 per cent of Alzheimer’s disease cases worldwide are potentially attributable to smoking. WHO warns that exposure to second-hand smoke (passive smoking) may also increase the risk of dementia.

“Since there is currently no cure for dementia, public health interventions need to focus on prevention by changing modifiable risk factors like smoking,” says Dr Shekhar Saxena, Director of the Department for Mental Health and Substance Abuse at WHO. “This research shows that a decrease in smoking now is likely to result in a substantial decrease in the burden of dementia in the years to come.”

Tobacco use is already recognised as the one risk factor common to four main groups of non-communicable diseases (NCDs): cancers, cardiovascular disease, chronic lung disease and diabetes. “Tobacco is one of the biggest public health threats the world has ever faced, killing nearly six million people a year,” says Dr Douglas Bettcher, Director of the Department for Prevention of Noncommunicable Diseases at WHO. “WHO urges governments to actively implement and enforce the measures of the WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control, especially smoke-free environment laws and access to tobacco cessation services”.

Laurent Huber, Director of the Framework Convention Alliance (FCA) for Tobacco Control, comments: “It is no surprise to see these findings confirm that tobacco smoking is a major risk factor for dementia. This adds yet another item to the long list of the devastating consequences of tobacco and gives even more reason for personal and public health action to help people to quit smoking.”

“The research also shows that quitting smoking later in life might be beneficial so encouraging and supporting current tobacco users to quit should be a priority,” says Serge Gauthier, chair of the ADI’s Medical Scientific Advisory Panel.

Dementia affects more than 44 million people worldwide, with almost two thirds of them living in low- and middle-income countries. “Every year, there are 7.7 million new cases of dementia. In 2010, the global cost was calculated at US$ 604 billion, which represents 1 per cent of global GDP (gross domestic product),” says Marc Wortmann, ADI Executive Director. “No government can ignore the opportunity to link this new information into its planning and health system activities to reduce smoking and control NCDs.”

ADI believes that this information brief can form the basis for countries to add messages about brain health and dementia risk into public health anti-smoking programs and interventions.

(Pictures courtesy www.express.co.uk, www.dailymail.co.uk)

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Trends

Antibiotic resistance burgeoning problem in South East Asia: WHO

A just released WHO report looks at antibiotic resistance globally and finds a very dismal picture for South East Asia.

A new report by the World Health Organisation (WHO) – the first to look at antibiotic resistance globally – reveals that this serious threat is no longer a prediction for the future, it is happeningright now in every region of the world and has the potential to affect anyone, of any age, in any country. Antibiotic resistance – when bacteria change so antibiotics no longer work in people who need them to treat infections – isnow a major threat to public health.

“Without urgent, coordinated action by many stakeholders, the world is headed for a post-antibiotic era, in which common infections and minor injuries which have been treatable for decades can once again kill,” says Dr KeijiFukuda, WHO’s Assistant Director-General for Health Security. “Effective antibiotics have been one of the pillars allowing us to live longer, live healthier, and benefit from modern medicine. Unless we take significant actions to improve efforts to prevent infections and also change how we produce, prescribe and use antibiotics, the world will lose more and more of these global public health goods and the implications will be devastating.”

The report, ‘Antimicrobial resistance: global report on surveillance’, notes that resistance is occurring across many different infectious agents but the report focuses on antibiotic resistance in nine different bacteria responsiblefor common, serious diseases such as bloodstream infections (sepsis), diarrhoea, pneumonia, urinary tract infections and gonorrhoea. The results are cause for high concern, documenting resistance to antibiotics, especially“last resort” antibiotics, in all regions of the world.

antibiotic resistance risingKey findings from the report

– Resistance to the treatment of last resort for life-threatening infections caused by a common intestinal bacteria, Klebsiella pneumonia – carbapenem antibiotics – has spread to all regions of the world. K pneumoniae isa major cause of hospital-acquired infections such as pneumonia, bloodstream infections, infections in newborns and intensive-care unit patients. In some countries, because of resistance, carbapenem antibiotics would notwork in more than half of people treated for K pneumoniae infections.

– Resistance to one of the most widely used antibiotics for the treatment of urinary tract infections caused by E coli – fluoroquinolones – is very widespread. In the 1980s, when these drugs were first introduced,resistance was virtually zero. Today, there are countries in many parts of the world where this treatment is now ineffective in more than half of patients.

– Treatment failure to the last resort of treatment for gonorrhea – third generation cephalosporins – has been confirmed in Austria, Australia, Canada, France, Japan, Norway, South Africa, Slovenia, Sweden and theUnited Kingdom. More than 1 million people are infected with gonorrhoea around the world every day.

– Antibiotic resistance causes people to be sick for longer and increases the risk of death. For example, people with MRSA (methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus) are 64 per cent more likely to die than people with anon-resistant form of the infection. Resistance also increases the cost of health care with lengthier stays in hospital and more intensive care required.

South East Asia findings

The available data reveals that antibiotic resistance is a burgeoning problem in WHO’s South-East Asia Region, which is home to a quarter of the world’s population. The report shows high levels of E coli resistance to third generation cephalosporins and fluoroquinolones – two important and commonly used types of antibiotic – in the Region. Resistance to third generation cephalosporins in K pneumoniae is also high and widespread. In some parts of the region, more than one quarter of S aureus infections are reported to be methicillin-resistant (MRSA), meaning that treatment with standard antibiotics does not work. In 2011, the health ministers of the Region articulated their commitment to combat AMR through the Jaipur Declaration on AMR.

Since then, there has been growing awareness of the need for appropriate tracking of drug resistance, and all countries have agreed to contribute information to a regional database. “Combatting drug resistance is a priority area of work for WHO in the Region,” says Dr Poonam Khetrapal Singh, WHO Regional Director for South-East Asia. “We need to act now to use antibiotics rationally, ensuring their availability for future generations.”

The report reveals that key tools to tackle antibiotic resistance – such as basic systems to track and monitor the problem – show gaps or do not exist in many countries. While some countries have taken important steps inaddressing the problem, every country and individual needs to do more. Other important actions include preventing infections from happening in the first place – through better hygiene, access to clean water, infection control inhealth-care facilities, and vaccination – to reduce the need for antibiotics. WHO is also calling attention to the need to develop new diagnostics, antibiotics and other tools to allow healthcare professionals to stay ahead ofemerging resistance.

This report is kick-starting a global effort led by WHO to address drug resistance. This will involve the development of tools and standards and improved collaboration around the world to track drug resistance, measure its healthand economic impacts, and design targeted solutions.

(Picture courtesy antimicrobial.blogspot.com, www.theguardian.com)

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Learn

Three suicides happen every day in Mumbai

Statistics for the country’s financial capital are grim, with most suicides found to occur in the 18-45 years age group.
by The Editors | editor@themetrognome.in

Actress Jiah Khan killed herself at her home on Sunday. She was 25.Actress Jiah Khan (see pic on left) committed suicide at her Juhu home late on Sunday evening. The country woke up to the news of her shocking death, even as the inevitable question cropped up yet again – what drives somebody so young to suicide?

There were three suicides in Mumbai in the last two weeks, all of them publicised in the news. However, what is not known widely is that the malaise runs quite deep – as per data sourced from a comprehensive suicide watch study released for India by the World Health Organisation (WHO) for 2006-2007, police statistics said that three lives were lost per day in Mumbai due to suicide. As against this, Navi Mumbai registered two deaths by suicide per week.

All over the country, as per statistics from the National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB), a suicide takes place somewhere in the country every five minutes. “Seven times that number attempt to take their lives and as for those who feel desperate and unable to cope, the number is mind boggling. More suicides occur between (the ages) 18 and 45 – in other words, in the most productive age group of our society,” the report says.

What is it about Mumbai that is claiming more lives by suicide than other factors such as accidents and disease?

The Mumbai conundrum

self mutilationDr Harish Shetty, renowned city-based psychiatrist, said in a newspaper interview recently, “In a city like Mumbai, people suffer from loneliness. We are getting at least eight people with suicidal thoughts. You have to be alert in case somebody you know gets angry on little matters, or uses words like ‘I am not worth it’ or ‘My life is finished’ every time he or she is under stress.”

A major point to ponder for our city is that with our fast-paced lives, there is constant competition to get ahead and stay ahead. “In this city, you are constantly racing against the clock to finish projects, earn more, get a better life. Rising inflation, growing peer competition, not as much opportunity to succeed as one would like…all of these begin to prey on the mind and cause a tremendous amount of stress,” says Dr Varsha Thakker, a private practitioner. “While most people are able to channel their frustrations into positive outlets, there are some who may not be able to cope. This class of people may not even acknowledge that there is a problem, that they may need help.” She adds that often, with an existing burden of problems, it sometimes takes just a little trigger to set a person on the path to suicide. “We hear of children killing themselves after a petty dispute with their parents. It may seem like a small issue to anyone else, but it is possible that that child was carrying a huge amount of stress all along, and one harsh word probably pushed him over the edge,” she says.

Suicides are not rampant only among students and young professionals in the city, but among the city’s police force as well. A recent The Times of India report says that there were 168ask for help  suicides in the Mumbai police force in the years 2002 to 2012. “Let’s face it – this is a tough city to live in, and the pressures of daily life are immense,” says Dr Shetty. “However, people must seek help if they are depressed often or find themselves increasingly thinking of ending it all.”

Some statistics to ponder:

– Every 3 seconds, a person in India attempts to die.
– Suicide is one of the top three causes of death among the young in the age group of 15-35 years.
– About 1 lakh people die by suicide in India every year.
– 3 people in a day in Mumbai commit suicide.
– A study says 72 per cent writers, 42 per cent artists, 41 per cent politicians, 36 per cent intellectuals, 35 per cent musicians and 33 per cent scientists are prone to stress-related disorders.
– Suicide estimates suggest fatalities worldwide could rise to 1.5 million by 2020.

(Statistics courtesy AASRA, the helpline for the distressed. Pictures courtesy www.india-forums.com, suicidal-lovez.blogspot.com, celiacdisease.about.com, www.sailorspouse.com)

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Wellness

World’s leading mammography system launched

The machine uses artificial intelligence algorithms to help detect abnormalities that would not normally be seen by the naked eye.
by The Editors | editor@themetrognome.in

The recent news of Hollywood actor Angelina Jolie undergoing a double mastectomy and the consequent brouhaha over it notwithstanding, the early detection and treatment of breast cancer is a growing concern worldwide. India, too, has rising numbers of women being detected with breast cancer. Most times, early detection can save lives.

Of the ways to detect this disease, doctors advise regular mammography scans. However, not all mammographies can detect abnormalities, and a very high resolution scanning system  has been seen to help. Hearteningly for India, such a system was recently launched by eminent doctors in the country.

A mammography scan is a high-resolution X-ray of the breasts. It is done with the intention of early detection of breast cancer. Many studies all over the world have shown time and again that breast cancer has a much better survival rate if detected early. It is a simple procedure and requires no special preparation.

Known as ‘the best mammography system in the world’, the machine Amulet is a low-dose, 50-micron full filed digital mammography system that uses artificial intelligence in detecting abnormalities. Says Dr Harsh Mahajan, Honorary Radiologist to the President of India, “We have seen a sea change in mammography technology over the last couple of decades. It started with screen-film mammography and gradually moved to CR-based mammography, which is still the most popular form of mammography in India today. But with Amulet, we now have the capability to scan the breasts with much more clarity than ever before. The Computer Aided Diagnostics (CAD) system installed with the machine helps direct the radiologist in the direction of lesions that would normally not be seen by the naked eye.”

Dr Venu Gangahar, who says he has used Amulet, said, “We had a patient whose mammogram looked completely normal, but the CAD system directed us to look at a particular part of the breast in greater detail. When we double checked this area after zooming, we realised that there was in fact some micro-calcification, that was further evaluated by MRI which detected a focal suspicious area which might be an earlier cancerous lesion.” According to Dr Gangahar, this patient’s images were previously sent to one of the best cancer centres in the world, who were not able to detect the lesion on initial inspection.

Breast cancer stats:

– One in 28 women in urban India is found to develop breast cancer, according to the Tata Memorial Cancer Center, Mumbai.

– There will be 2,50,000 new cases of breast cancer in India in the year 2015, as per the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS).

–  Early screening can decrease mortality of breast cancer by at least 30 per cent, says the World Health Organisation (WHO).

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