HEALTH

New technique to detect cancer
Tribune News Service

CHANDIGARH, Dec 8 — Panjab University is likely to benefit from a US technology of detecting cancer at the preliminary stages under a programme of mutual understanding. The proposal was conveyed at an ongoing refreshers course on environment studies on the campus.

Prof A.K.Ganju, Associate Director of the Sylvester Comprehensive Cancer Centre , University of Miami, USA, spoke about benefits of the technique particularly in detection of the disease at the preliminary steps.

Professor Ganju is behind development of the technique ( laser based) to discover of growth of cancer cells. One highlight of the technique is the assistance in early detection of the disease.

He said a highly sophisticated apparatus cost nearly Rs 8 crore and the newly developed apparatus costs only Rs 8 lakh.

It also studies whether a medicine under use for a patient was assisting a cure. Prof R.C.Sobti from Panjab University is scheduled to visit the US shortly for study and transfer of the technique.

Professor Ganju says that he is paying his debt to the university. Professor Ganju did his doctoral on the subject from Panjab University.

Making people aware of AIDS
Tribune News Service

CHANDIGARH, Dec 8 — After covering five states, the inter-state AIDS awareness drive sponsored by the Health and Family Welfare Department, reached here yesterday.

During the extensive tour covering an estimated population of 15 million, the team which included 75 students of the Indian Medical Nursing Training Institute, Jalandhar, educated urban slum- dwellers, beggars, truck drivers and villagers about AIDS.

According to the programme coordinator of the awareness drive, Mr Amar Singh Kaily, the team members intensively contacted people belonging to lower socio-economic classes besides the highly vulnerable category of Indian population. The AIDS awareness drive started from Jalandhar on December 1 and reached Chandigarh on December 8 after covering Rajpura, Ambala, Yamuna Nagar, Saharanpur, Haridwar, Rishikesh, Dehra Dun and Poanta Sahib.

While in Dehra Dun on December 5, the members of the team also met the Governor of the newly formed state, Uttaranchal, Mr Surjit Singh Barnala. Mr Barnala while congratulating the members for this campaign observed that since government alone cannot deal with this task there was a need to entrust this work to the NGOs.

The team members, during its eight-day tour, observed that most of the people belonging to the lower socio-economic groups were neither aware of the disease, nor its mode of spread and other implications. The team, however, realised that most of them could be best influenced by the religious and social organisations.

Another important observation included the fact that poor people like beggars mostly assembled in religious places like temples and mosques. Which is why, it was important that religious heads be oriented about the menace of AIDS .The awareness drive was supported by the Bharat Paramedical Sciences Educational and Development Welfare Society Jalandhar, a social organisation and the Lions Club. 

Union Territory is polio-free, officially
Tribune News Service

CHANDIGARH, Dec 8 — Polio appears to have been wiped out in the Union Territory of Chandigarh, at least officially. No polio case has been reported in the UT till the middle of the last month this year. However, unconfirmed reports say that there might have been one poliomyelitis case, in the UT during this period.

Providing the baseline information about the disease while addressing mediapersons in the Advanced Paediatric Centre in the PGI here today, Dr M.P.Minocha, Director, Family Welfare, Chandigarh Administration, said that figures reveal that this year there has been definite improvement in the incidence of polio cases in the city. During 1998 and 1999, four each cases were reported in the UT.

According to the latest information available from the Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, this year 196 cases of polio virus were reported from all over the country till November 11.

Maximum cases have been reported in Utter Pradesh(130) followed by Bihar (42), Maharshtra (6), Haryana (4), Delhi (3), West Bengal (3), Karnataka (3), Madhya Pradesh (2) and Gujarat (2).

This year Kerala, which recorded a zero polio status last year, also reported one polio case. According to Dr Minocha, in the case of Kerala, as well as Chandigarh, migratory population was responsible for these lapses.

Providing the baseline information about the disease, Dr Minocha said that the world was at the threshold of complete polio eradication, which made the end-stage years were very important.

Dr Madhuri Bhasin, surveillance officer with the WHO, said that to maintain clarity, since 1997, special surveys are being regularly conducted. It was a result of these surveys that polio transmission has been effectively contained in large areas of the country.

She admitted that India was lagging behind the goal for total eradication of polio by 2000. She, however, hoped that India would be definitely able to achieve this goal by 2002.

It is important that poor vaccinated areas are identified and primary reasons for the lapse determined.

Prof Lata Kumar, Head, Department of Paediatrics, PGI, and Prof H.M. Swamy, Head, Community Medicine, GMCH, urged the media to provide concrete information to its readers and spread awareness about the necessity of taking the oral polio vaccine by all children falling in the age group of zero to five.

This time, as many as 1,15,200 children in the age group of zero to 59 months will be given oral polio vaccines (OPV) on December 10, 2000, and January 21, 2001.

The UT has been divided into three zones , each of which will be monitored by senior officers of the PGI, GMCH, Sector 32 and GH-16. There will be 461 booths in urban and rural areas including 15 mobile vans. In all 1800 people will be involved with the campaign in this round. A number of NGOs are also involved with the campaign

The Department of Community Medicine, GMCH, Sector 32, will also organise a second round of mass distribution of vitamin A solution to the slum areas of the UT.

The disease rarely kills but always cripples to varying degrees. Poliomyelitis is caused by picornavirus. In itself, a very small virus, it lodges and multiplies in the intestines. Transmission is primarily person-to-person via fecal-oral route. Thereafter, it targets the motor system of the nerves. Once effective, it causes a loss of tenacity of muscles. The virus spreads rapidly and the transmission is usually widespread by the time of onset of paralysis. The time between the infection and onset of paralysis is 10 to 21 days. The virus is intermittently excreted for one month or more after the infection.

SPORT

Cycling association to hold trials
By Our Sports Reporter

CHANDIGARH, Dec 8 — The Chandigarh Amateur Cycling Association will hold selection trials to select the UT team for the National Track Cycling Championship to be held at Trivandrum from December 26 to 30, on December 10 at 6.30 a.m. at the Lake Club, Chandigarh. According to Mr Rakesh Mohindra, Secretary of the association, the cyclists will be selected in the sub-junior, junior and senior category. A two-week coaching camp will also be held to train the selected cyclists.

International marathon
Mr Ravinder Chaudhary, secretary of the Amateur Athletic Association, Chandigarh, had accompanied the Indian marathon team as manager for the 2000-Macau international marathon held on December 3 at Macau, China. He was also nominated as member of the Amateur Athletic Association of India for the term 2000-2004.

ADMINISTRATION

Damage assessment of records on
Tribune News Service

CHANDIGARH, Dec 8 — The extent of damage to records of the UT Licensing and Registration branch is still being ascertained after a fire broke out in the record room in the basement of the Municipal Corporation building on December 5.

The fire which broke out in the afternoon could be controlled by six fire tenders after more than four hours. It took many hours the next day to pump out the water and take out the record for drying outside. A team of workers is working to take out all the files and put them out to dry taking precaution not to damage the documents.

Sources in the department said the volume of the record could be gauged from the fact that only a section had been taken out. Great care has to be exercised since some of the record are more than 30 years old and the papers were already brittle and had been further damaged by the water.

Claiming that only old records, pertaining to vehicles registered in the 60s and 70s, had only been partially destroyed, the sources said that people were not likely to face any problem since most of the registers listing details of the documents had been saved.

In case some one needs any documents, the same could be verified from the registers. Moreover, it has been decided that the people whose record had perished in the fire would be furnished their papers after furnishing an affidavit. This practice was being followed in some cases where the documents were untraceable or had been misplaced.

The sources added that the fire was indeed a blessing in disguise since the department had reportedly pressed for the computerisation of records. 

Gujral to be Chief Vigilance Officer
Tribune News Service

CHANDIGARH, Dec 8 — The Union Ministry of Home Affairs has agreed to hand over the charge of the Chief Vigilance Officer (CVO) to the UT Home Secretary, Mr Raminder Singh Gujral, relieving the Adviser, Ms Vineeta Rai, of the additional work.

Formal orders in this regard are likely to be issued by the UT Administrator, Lieut Gen J.F.R. Jacob (retd) on Monday, however, the MHA’s instructions were received today, highly placed sources said.

Traditionally the work of the CVO was always handled by the Home Secretary but this changed when Mr N.K. Jain, was posted as the Home Secretary in June 1999 as the MHA did not agree to his taking over as the CVO. The work was then handed over to the Adviser and then given to Mr Balbir Singh, who was the Chairperson of the Chandigarh Housing Board (CHB). Consequent to Mr Balbir Singh’s transfer a few months ago the work was handed over to the Adviser.