'Course will legitimise quacks. It's dangerous'
Tribune News Service

CHANDIGARH, Aug 23 — It was after a directive issued by the Punjab and Haryana High Court that a survey was conducted in Punjab, primarily in the rural areas, to identify unqualified doctors operating clinics illegally. Following this, the Punjab Government decided to introduce a three-month capsule training course for these 'doctors', who would then be allowed to carry their practice legitimately. Meanwhile, the Punjab unit of the Indian Medical Association has opposed this move. TNS spoke to a cross-section of social activists from various parts of the country who were in the city recently to take part in a conference organised by the Voluntary Health Association of Punjab.

"This is simply a political gimmick, which would set up a dangerous precedent", said Dr Sabu George, from Tamil Nadu, who has been working with various non-government organisations (NGOs) for the past 15 years and in Punjab for the last couple of months, primarily with children. "A crash course would merely legitimise quackery and create problems for the state. What is required is a good regulatory system to weed out all that is illegitimate and also to educate the people in the rural areas so as not to encourage quackery, which normally comes in cheap packages", he added.

Ms Veena Kumari, an advocate who has worked for human rights issues, also spoke against legalising the quacks and added that if need be human rights activists would even move the court against this "populist" decision. "The doctors should also oppose this move of the government, because how fair would it be to bring on a par a person who has studied medicine for five years and more and the one who has just been through a three-month crash course?" she questioned.

Mr Partha P. Rudra, who works with a network of NGOs in Delhi, said issue seemed to touch a grey area, "Since the areas of practice have not been defined for the practitioners to be put through this crash course. The focus would be on making more money". Mr Rudra added, "Instead of announcing a capsule course, the government needs to introduce some soft courses for the people at large where they would be provided some familiarity with the basics of the medical field. Like ask whether the needle of the injection has been changed, or insist on the general cleanliness of a clinic etc. Legitimising these doctors operating without licence is dangerous".

Dr Rajni Lamba, anthropologist by training and working with the Haryana AIDS Control Cell, also spoke against this decision of the government, though she said that she preferred the term 'traditional practitioner' to 'quack'.

"These traditional practitioners, especially in the rural areas, perform their role as a social performer for the community. But when this same person starts dabbling in things like putting milk into injection and injecting everybody for any ailment, then it can reach dangerous heights. This would need to be checked", Dr Lamba added.

Mrs Charu Singh from Delhi, who worked with UNICEF before joining a national daily, said quacks should be "banned per se", since they posed a serious problem.

Dr Meera Shiva, a social activist and working with the Voluntary Health Association of India, New Delhi, looked at the issue with a different perspective and talked about the lack of medical practitioners in rural Punjab. "The government has been wanting to address this shortage issue for long, since most doctors are unwilling to settle in rural areas. But then what the government has decided seems to be totally unethical and wrong. In fact, the issue of basic health services seems to be left unaddressed. With more than 80 per cent of health care running out of private clinics, there are some fundamental questions left unanswered. And the focus now needs to shift to the fact that the ordinary citizen does have a right to quality health care", said this fire-brand activist.

Sector lacks basic amenities
Tribune News Service

SAS NAGAR, Aug 23 — One of the oldest sectors of the township, Sector 55 (Phase 1), continues to be bereft of basic amenities till date. People are being forced to live amidst unhygenic conditions, spread by unauthorised meat shops running in a part of the sector.

Mohali village, adjacent to the sector, has added to the woes of residents. Highlighting the problem, the residents of Punjab Urban Development Authority (PUDA) houses say a rehri market behind the gurdwara is a source of nuisance. Unauthorised meat shops and unauthorised jhuggis in front of the rehri market have added to filthy conditions.

The remains of poultry, dumped by meat shops in open spaces behind an industrial unit, have created unhygenic conditions. Stray dogs litter the remains. Efforts by residents to get the meat shops removed from the site have failed to bear any result.

Many issues are on the agenda of the House Owners Welfare Association. Cleaning of the garbage bins by sanitation staff of the municipal council has been sought by residents.

Mr N.S.Rai, President of the association, who has been living in the sector since 1979, says the place is underdeveloped. Repeated representations by the association to the Punjab Government for provisions of civic amenities are yet to be implemented.

A civil dispensary is being run in inadequate rented accommodation. The dispensary caters to the needs of the residents of phases 1, 2 and 3. Mr Rai says the PUDA authorities, after constant persuasion, has allotted land but construction of the building has yet to be started.

Construction of a school building and a community centre are among the demands of residents. The association has urged PUDA to allot a piece of land for the community centre near the old barrier.

It has demanded bylaws by PUDA for regulation of hedges and fences. Adequate provision for parking in main market of the sector and renting of vacant shops in PUDA complex in the sector has also been demanded.

Mr Rai says a green belt running along an industrial unit is being used as open lavatories. Proper maintenance of the green belt has been sought by the association.

Sector 12 an unhealthy area
From Gautam Dheer
From Our Correspondent

PANCHKULA, Aug 23 — Residents of Sector 12 near Railla village are living in unhealthy conditions. Villagers have encroached upon open spaces in front of houses. Pools of stagnant water in the open spaces around the village have been declared unsafe by the district Health Department.

Residents and the sector welfare association have often represented to the local estate officer, but no action has been taken in this regard.

The village has around 100 head of cattle and these are tethered in open spaces in front of the houses. The unoccupied plots are filled with heaps of dung, emitting a fowl smell all around. Any endeavour of the residents to remove the cattle is resisted violently by the villagers.

There is an ongoing unauthorised extension of the village everyday. A large area along the periphery of the village has been encroached upon. Unauthorised construction of houses, cow sheds, fodder stores etc. in and around the village is going on unchecked. Open spaces and vacant plots are used for agricultural and commercial purposes.

The villagers have set up unauthorised water taps for bathing the cattle. This has added to the marshy conditions and turned the internal roads into stretches of slush.

Migrant labour and other people housed by villagers in small rooms on the periphery bathe in open, causing embarrassment to the residents. Col Santok Singh (retd), a resident, said that it had become difficult for him to move out with his family. "If we object to anything, we land ourselves in trouble. That very night our glass windows are broken by villagers ", he added.

Unauthorised parking of heavy vehicles, trollies and tractors in the residential area is considered a right by the villagers. Pressure horns of heavy vehicles not only cause noise pollution but also hamper the peace in the area, especially at night.

The village has a large population of migratory labour. There is no verification or check done by the police. Many houses have been constructed by the villagers on plots of bona fide owners.

Ms Mani, General Secretary of the Sector Welfare Association, said that the situation had been brought to the notice of the authorities concerned several times but no remedial step had so far been taken.

Level of awareness about HIV
Tribune News Service

CHANDIGARH, Aug 23 — Awareness about HIV/AIDS is higher among men than women in the city with 85 per cent of the males showing awareness about the subject as compared to only 67 per cent of the women. This was revealed in a survey conducted here by the Reproductive and Child Health (RCH) programme.

According to the RCH project, since reproductive tract infection (RTI) and sexually transmitted diseases (STDs), including HIV/AIDS form a major health hazard both among men and women in rural and urban areas, data on the same were collected through a household questionnaire.

Predictably enough awareness about the same was mostly through the electronic media, but the study also indicates that about 13 per cent of male respondents as against less than 1 per cent of female respondents are of the view that HIV is curable.

With the questionnaire listing ''sexual intercourse'' and ''lack of personal hygiene'' as the two main sources of transmission of HIV/AIDS, about 77 to 84 per cent respondents said that they had knowledge of sexual intercourse being one of the modes of transmission.

And though ''safe sex'' and ''use of condom'' emerged as the two most important measures reported by both male and female respondents for the prevention of this disease, level of knowledge among female respondents about other preventive methods like ''check blood prior to transfusion'' and sterilized needles and syringes for injection was much lower than that among male respondents. But awareness about ''avoiding pregnancy when having HIV/AIDS virus'' was more than three times higher among females than males.

On the issue of the RTI, another alarming figure that the data give is that only 4 to 5 per cent of both males and females are aware of the same. In fact, the level of awareness about the RTI, as per the study, is the same in urban area, irrespective of the sex of the respondents. Also over 3 per cent of the male respondents reported at least one symptom of the RTI, while in females the reported cases were more than 5 per cent. Further, while only 75 per cent of the males sought treatment, among women this figure is as low as 49 per cent. But the survey indicates that 55 per cent of these males sought treatment from private doctors, whereas 60 per cent of women sought treatment from government doctors.

All is not well at Polyclinic
Tribune News Service

CHANDIGARH, Aug 23 — It is not uncommon to find government hospitals in a state of distress or even without facilities. One such hospital seemingly is the Polyclinic, Sector 22, where the laboratory of clinical pathology and haemotology is reportedly without the basic facilities of refrigeration or even reagents.

The seniormost employee of the laboratory here is Senior Lab Technician Das Ram Dhiman, an MSc in pathology, who performs only routine haemotology tests, which include blood and urine tests, and tests to detect viral and anemia. But this laboratory reportedly has not been performing any bio-chemical tests for the past one year.

In fact, according to sources, because of lack of supply of reagents, most routine tests are also delayed sometimes.

Incidentally while a Tribune News Service team was in the clinic today it noticed that the blood sugar kit, which had been last operated on May 22 after which it had stopped functioning due to malfunctioning, was again not in order. Some patients were found to be streaming in the laboratory to collect their test results, but were asked to wait till the time the machine could be put back to order.

On the issue of shortage of reagents, Dr G.Dewan, Deputy Director-cum-Deputy Medical Superintendent (DMS), said that he was not aware of any shortage since no such information had been made available to him. On the other hand, Dr J.L. Chaudhary, Joint Director-cum-Medical Superintendent (MS), contended that there was a shortage, "but these would be made available within a period of two-three days".

Dr Chaudhary also added that a refrigerator had been provided in the clinic which was kept in the room where the ultra-sound machine was placed and the same was also being used by the laboratory.

Interestingly, under the Reproductive and Child Health (RCH) programme, which has only recently recruited six laboratory technicians on contract basis, the clinic has also been allotted two technicians. But sources claim that even these technicians have not been provided with reagents to carry out their tests, like for the VDRL (venereal disease research laboratory).

The employees of the laboratory have, meanwhile, also asked for a pathologist to be recruited here, but, according to Dr Chaudhary, "no post of a pathologist exists here since only routine tests are carried out".

While the doctors of the clinic, none of who obviously wanted to be put on record, also lament about lack of facilities available at the laboratory, the technicians maintain that none of the doctors have any power to revise the situation.

Sources also inform that the clinic is now planning to carry out skin tests as well, but obviously because of lack of reagents, these tests would also have to wait.