Posts Tagged health
Child battling nothing less than blood cancer
P. Sivatharini with her mother P. Shanthi.
K. Prasad (38), a bearer in a non-descript hotel at Nagamalai Pudukottai here, serves food to scores of people every day. But he is helpless, unaided and incapable when it comes to providing nourishing meals to his four-year-old daughter P. Sivatharini battling nothing less than blood cancer.
The cute little girl was taken to the Government Rajaji Hospital here in March this year as she was down with fever for two days. After a peripheral blood smear test, doctors recommended bone marrow aspiration to rule out leukaemia. Unfortunately, the examination did not rule out but confirmed the disorder.
The news came as a blow to the parents. They were shattered, yet managed to cope with the adversity in the interest of the child who underwent chemotherapy. The treatment had its own side effects and the beautiful girl lost her hair. She began puking blood and also suffered bruises on her head without receiving any blow or falling down.
Immediately, the therapy was suspended for a few months. It has been revived now and the girl is being administered oral drugs. The parents have been advised to provide her the right amount of calories to maintain a good weight and enough protein to keep up her strength during the course of medication.
Ironically, the family is not in a position to provide such wholesome food. “We are already living hand to mouth. I also have an 11-year-old son studying in a Corporation school. I don’t know how to keep this girl healthy,” says her mother P. Shanthi (29) with tears rolling down her cheeks faster than words from her mouth.
S. Syed Ahmed of Foundation for Human Rights and Democracy, a non-governmental organisation here, says many such impoverished children struggling from deadly health disorders were in need of nourishment. “The Government provides healthcare free of cost. The same way, a corpus should be created for feeding them too.
Chennai Apollo Wellness Plus launches Ayurveda Membership Packages that promise a host of health benefits
Apollo Wellness Plus, a wellness hub located at Nungambakkam, Chennai, has launched specially designed Ayurveda Membership Packages that promise a host of health benefits that help in rehabilitation and rejuvenation of the entire body and soul.
The packages include key Ayurvedhic therapies such as Sarvanga Abhyangam (whole body massage), Head and Neck Massage, Hastha Champi, Back and Spine Massage, Padha Champi, Face Treatment, Hair Treatment, Acu-Yoga and consultation, for stimulating one’s immune system and to rediscover the power within.
Complete Ayurvedhic therapy is a 52-week package that includes 26 Sarvanga Abhyangam sessions and five to six sessions of head and neck, Hasta champi, Back and Spine Message, Padha Champi, Face and Hair Therapies, including Acu-Yoga and consultation, a company release here said.
The entire package can be utilised anytime during the first year of the membership, and is being offered at an unbelievable cost of Rs 500 per week. This membership can also be extended to the members of the family to utilise the therapy sessions that may remain unused by the registrant.
Apollo Wellness Plus is also offering a 15 per cent discount on any other treatment apart from packages. The centre also has membership packages spanning 26, 14, and seven weeks with the same benefits offered on the 52 week package.
”Providing an integrative health approach through a wide array of choices from fitness solutions to ayurvedic therapies, Apollo Wellness Plus has certified therapists who work along with both Indian and alternative medicines to provide world-class treatments at affordable price,
Medical Insurance Scheme would be rewarded with a certificate of excellence
Posted by ganesh in Health, Nagapattinam, Public, government on November 20th, 2009
Collector C.Munianathan appraising Chief Minister’s Medical Insurance Scheme at the district level review meet in Nagapattinam
Members of the civic society prescribing over 100 eligible beneficiaries under the Chief Minister Medical Insurance Scheme would be rewarded with a certificate of excellence, stated Collector C. Munianathan at the district level review meet on the Chief Minister’s Medical Insurance Scheme here recently.
This would include not just medical practitioners and health workers, but also, NGOs, good Samaritans and social service volunteers. People have been urged to convey the message and prescribe the names of the needy in their neighbourhood.
Appraising the performance of the scheme in the district, Mr. Munianathan urged doctors and health workers at government hospitals and primary health centres to screen and facilitate deserving patients to benefit from the treatment provided under the Scheme. Medical practitioners were duty bound to recommend patients for treatment, he said.
The Chief Minister’s Medical Insurance Scheme provides for treatment of over 51 diseases. This includes treatment of heart ailments, valve replacement, kidney and other organ transplants, treatment of the liver, gall bladder and neurological disorders, treatment for burns, plastic surgery, and of those in coma; oncological treatment for blood cancer and cancer of the uterus.
Members of all 26 Welfare Boards, and families with an annual income not exceeding 72,000 are entitled to free treatment of various diseases under the medical insurance scheme.
Polio drops to children of migrant labourers, all in the age group of five
A total of 1,181 children including 522 children living in Sri Lankan refugee camps and 651 children of migrant labourers, all in the age group of five, were given polio drops in Salem district.
According to health officials, Tamil Nadu has been in the forefront in polio eradication through the intensive and sustained Pulse Polio campaign.
The State has not recorded any incidence of polio for the past one decade.
But the incidents of polio were reported in the States of Bihar and Uttar Pradesh from where migrant population had come to Salem for labour and livelihood.
These migrant labourers including doll makers, gypsies, construction workers, sugarcane cutters, quarry workers and others used to stay put in Salem and its neighbourhood.
Eradication
Hence to make the eradication drive a fool-proof one, the State had decided to cover the children of migrant labourers and also the children residing at refugee camps in the district. A team of doctors and para medical staff on Sunday identified 36 families in the city as ‘migrant families’ from other States and administered polio drops to as many as 651 children.
Later, another team visited the refugee camps in the district and gave drops to 522 children. A senior health official said that the second phase of polio immunisation would take place on December 13 beside the routine, two-phase mass immunisation programme, which falls on January 10, 2010 and February 7, 2010.
exposed to serious health risks as the area lacks a proper drainage system
Stagnated rainwater on Manipuram street in Ward 25 in Salem poses health hazard to the residents
People living in Manipuram and a few other residential colonies in Ward 25 here are exposed to serious health risks as the area lacks a proper drainage system.
Slippery
Rainwater mixed with sewage gets stagnated on the streets, which are yet to be tar topped. People are finding it very difficult to walk on the streets, which turn extremely slippery due to continuous stagnation of water.
Children in the area often walk on the streets barefoot, risking their health.
The civic authorities have not paid any attention to the problem even after repeated representations, the residents say. The sanitary staff from the Salem Corporation rarely visit the area, they point out.
The stench emanating from the stagnated water has become unbearable these days and the mosquito menace has increased to alarming proportions, the residents complain. Their pleas to construct proper drainage system in the area fell on deaf ears. “Civic officials are not even ready to listen to our grievances,” the residents say.
The colony also lacks adequate street lighting and public toilets.
The residents urged the civic body to initiate immediate steps to create necessary basic amenities in Manipuram and the nearby colonies in the ward.
The speard of A(H1N1) virus had been contained to a large extent: Azad
The spread of swine flu has been contained in India following the massive precautionary measures taken by the Centre and state governments, Union Health Minister Gulam Nabi Azad said today.
Talking to newspersons at the Airport, Mr Azad, who is here to review the National Rural Health Mission (NRHM) operations in four southern states, said thanks to these strict measures, the speard of A(H1N1) virus had been contained to a large extent.
Continuous efforts, both by the Centre and state governments were being taken to abolish the pandemic from the country, he said, adding more than 200 countries in the world had fallen victim to the virus. But by taking quick measures, India could contain the spread of the disease.
After learning that the virus started spreading through people coming to India from the US and other European countries, the Centre with the help of state governments, opened health counters at all airports and important railway stations to screen all passengers, who entered the country.
This helped contain the spread of swine flu to a large extent, Mr Azad added.
More than 500 people had succumbed to swine flu since August and over 14,000 people tested positive across the country.
Maharashtra, which claimed 207 deaths, was the worst hit.
Coimbatore-based Foggers India Limited has designed a LOC Handy Fogging Machine to control mosquitoes
The Coimbatore-based Foggers India Limited has designed a LOC Handy Fogging Machine to control mosquitoes at places of public congregations, according to Companies representative N Rajmohan.
After demonstrating the unit to the public in the presence of Director of Public Health ahd Preventive Medicine Dr S Elango here yesterday, Mr Rajmohan said an eco-friendly pyrethrum extract of a plant species was sprayed through the machine.
He said effctive mosquito management was need of the hour and fogging was considered to be highly effective.
”Thermal fogging distrubts the life cycle of the insect and thus destroys mosquitoes which have the potential to multiply. Best results are achieved when such fogging is done in places where mosquitoes breed,” he said.
Claiming that the new unit was easy to maintain, ideal for poultry farms, bungalows, party lawns, housing societies, farm houses, schools, industries and gram panchayats, he said the Directorate of Public Health, Government of Tamil Nadu had approved and recommended the new fogging unit.
Extending financial assistance to orphaned children of HIV/AIDS victims in Tamil Nadu
Posted by ganesh in Chennai, Education, Health, government on November 11th, 2009
A graduating Fellow, making a presentation to Principal Secretary, Health, V.K. Subburaj and other officials at the Government Hospital of Thoracic Medicine (GHTM)
The State government will start extending financial assistance to orphaned children of HIV/AIDS victims in Tamil Nadu from November 14, Principal Secretary, Health, V.K. Subburaj said here on Tuesday.
A trust with a corpus fund of Rs.5 crore was created with the objective of extending educational and medical assistance to orphaned children of HIV/AIDS victims. A total of 1,612 children in Tamil Nadu had been identified as eligible for the aid, the senior official said, participating in a function at the Training Centre of Government Hospital of Thoracic Medicine (GHTM) in Tambaram Sanatorium. The function was to mark the valedictory of the fourth year and commencement of the fifth-year batch of HIV Fellowship, Clinical and Leadership Training Programme.
Interest from the corpus fund of Rs.5 crore would be used to meet the medical, educational and other expenses. About Rs.45 lakh would be spent every year, he said. Pointing out that Tamil Nadu was a model for the entire country not only in general healthcare but also for HIV/AIDS care, the senior official said the government spent Rs.110 crore a year on creating facilities and improving infrastructure, among others.
Mr. Subburaj said that while the national death rate among HIV/AIDS patients was 7.9 per cent a year, it was only a little over 4 per cent in Tamil Nadu. Further, the national average of patients discontinuing from treatment was 10.2 per cent per year and it was just 2.5 per cent in the State. This was possible because of better treatment facilities made available to patients.
The level of awareness and the need to invest more in HIV/AIDS was due to the nature of the disease and associated problems of stigma and discrimination. Though tuberculosis claimed more lives in Tamil Nadu, the government spent only Rs.10 crore on combating TB, Mr. Subburaj pointed out. He appealed to doctors who had completed the fellowship programmes in the past four years to provide the best of care to the affected people.
G. Manoharan, medical director, I-TECH, said that along with GHTM, they had been conducting the fellowship programme since 2005 to prepare junior and fairly experienced doctors to be leaders in HIV/AIDS-related care and support, education and research in India and also to support the State government. Till now, 49 people had completed this fellowship programme and 30 per cent of them were women. Of the 49, a majority were from Tamil Nadu.
Mr. Subburaj released an abstract of the projects taken up for research by fellows in the past four years. S. Vinayagam, Director of Medical Education, released a fellowship curriculum package on the occasion. Thomas Keaton,Vice-Consul, U.S. Consulate, Chennai, said such fellowships were a good example of public-private partnership programmes in the areas of HIV/AIDS care.
Stalin ask officials to undertake rain high-level relief works
Tamil Nadu Deputy Chief Minister M K Stalin today held a high-level meeting and discussed with officials the pre-cautionary steps to be taken to prevent rain-related mishaps and undertake relief and rescue works in the affected areas.
Addressing the meeting, Mr Stalin said officials of Revenue, Public Works, Highways, Health and Local Administration departments, involved in field works, should be cautious and be in a state of readiness to undertake immediate relief works.
The Revenue officials should keep track of rain related mishaps.
They should coordinate with district administrations and gear up to face any kind of situation, an official release here said.
Mr Stalin said the public works officials should keep a watch on all water resources and ensure that they do not breach following heavy rains.
The District Administrations should involve themselves fully in the relief works and maintain drinking water and sanitation.
They should also ensure that there was no spread of diseases.
Recent Comments