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| Sunday,
March 25, 2001, Chandigarh, India |
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1,000 patients examined
on World TB Day, Chandigarh, March 24 While more than 500 patients were examined at the camp organised by the State Tuberculosis Society, UT, at Government Middle School, Colony No 4; nearly 500 patients were examined at the camp organised by the Department of Chest Diseases and Community Medicine of GMCH-32 at Government Primary School, Colony No 5. Tuberculosis is hundred per cent curable provided patients take the appropriate combination of anti-TB drugs in proper dosage regularly, this was stressed by Mr M.P. Singh, Special Secretary, Health and Commissioner, Municipal Corporation, when he visited the camp. During the camp, 50 sputum smears were prepared on the spot and patients were told about the importance of sputum smear examination in the diagnosis of the disease. Patients and their families went around an exhibition, displaying all relevant information regarding TB diagnosis and treatment and facilities available in the Health Department, UT. Dr Rameshwar Chander, Director, Health Services, UT, said commitment and co-operation from all sections of society was required to fight TB. The Member Secretary, State TB Control Society, UT, Dr B.D. Chugh, disclosed that short course chemotherapy regimen was practiced in Chandigarh for the past four years for which medicines were supplied from the Government of India under the national TB programme. But as per figures available only 35 per cent patients completed their treatment and 30 per cent are cured. The remaining would be a major cause of spreading a deadly form of disease. Dr Chugh informed that the city had been recently selected for the WHO-GoI funded revised National Tuberculosis Control Programme (NTCP). The programme would ensure that patients receive each dose under the direct supervision of any trained directly observed therapy ( DOT) from the government side or NGOs. This would increase the completion rate and further the cure rate. He further disclosed that the UT Administration had received the funding for preliminary activities and by the middle of 2001, it would be able to start the practice of DOTS. One major shift in the diagnosis of TB is that now sputum of each suspected will be examined first and this facility will be made available to 10 centres in the city, including GMCH-32, PGI, General hospital-16, Chest clinics at Sectors 22 and 45, Government dispensaries in Mani Majra, Ram Durbar, Mauli Jagran, Sectors 8 and 38. Dr Chugh said 75 treatment centres were planned all over Chandigarh. This would help the patients to conveniently receive their drugs and complete the course to get cured. Meanwhile, the camp at Colony No 5 was organised by GMCH-32 as part of the organised anti-TB campaign, which was earlier flagged off on February 27 with a rally in the colony. The free medical camp was inaugurated in the morning by Prof SBS Mann, Director Principal, GMCH-32. Prof A.K. Janmeja, Head, Department of Chest Diseases and TB, GMCH-32, informed that majority of the patients examined were from Colony No 5, though patients from other nearby areas also visited the camp. He pointed out that nearly 70 per cent of these patients were suffering from chronic bronchitis, asthma, upper respiratory infections and as many as 16 patients were found to be suffering from TB of lungs, while two others were having lymphnode TB. The sputum was examined in 62 patients, out of which six were found to be positive. Chest X-rays were also done in 65 cases. All tests were done free of cost. Medicines for TB and other respiratory diseases were given to the poor. These patients were also advised to follow-up treatment at the OPDs of the Chest Diseases and TB. Dr Janmeja emphasised that the disease was completely curable for highly potent and effective drugs were now-a-days available. He, however, advised that these drugs should be taken for adequate duration, which is 6-9 months. An exhibition was also organised to promote proper awareness of TB prevention and treatment. Patients and their families were also made aware of TB and other respiratory disorders with the help of audio-visual aids. Dr Rameshwar Chander, Director Health Services, UT, was the guest of
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Antenatal care can save precious lives Chandigarh , March 24 Coax the parents and they hesitantly tell you that they call him Rishu. But this is not his real name, they add urgently because they want him to get well before giving him a proper name. Will to live shines through the small eyes of Rishu as he reaches towards his desperate parents with tiny bands and arms. After several visits from their hometown, Dharamsala, to the Advanced Paediatric Centre (APC), PGI, Chandigarh, in the past 18 months, his father, Santosh, who works in a shop and mother Meena, have exhausted all their resources. As baby of Meena’ waits for operation that will restructure his foodpipe on the sixth floor of the indoor patient ward in the APC, Santosh and Meena are almost at their wits end. Rishu, born with a congenital abnormality of oesophagus, is among thousands born with the defect. Doctors suggest pregnant women should be examined by a trained ultrasonographist. For as the paediatric surgeons in the APC rightfully point put — all abnormalities can be diagnosed and the treatment planned for. Rishu was the much awaited first child of the couple and when soon after his birth he started drooling and choking with saliva and had problems in feeding, Santosh and Meena did not know what to do. Preliminary diagnosis followed by investigations by the paediatric surgery in the APC revealed that Rishu did not have a foodpipe. But one-year-old Aditi from Dehra Dun was luckier. When she was detected with this life threatening atnomality, oesophageal atrisia”, she underwent the initial oesiphagastomy where an outlet in neck was made from where whatever she swallowed could come out and gastrostomy, a tube inserted in the abdomen, which gave her nourishment till the time she was ready for the reconstructive surgery. As part of staged operation, a small part of the stomach together with the blood vessels was restructured into a pipe and the oesphageal bridge was reconstructed. As paediatric surgery is all about staged approach by a skilled surgeon. Paediatric surgeons say that as many as two to three per cent of the babies suffer from one or the other congenital defect. One out of every 500 live births usually suffer from a benign or a cosmetic aberration which can be corrected easily in peripheral hospitals with excellent results. Then one out of every 5,000 children suffer from problems usually related to geniticourinary , oesophageal or intestinal disorders which requires skilled diagnosis and treatment at a tertiary care centre. It is here that the importance of skilled antenatal diagnosis steps in. As the parents and attending doctors need to know well in advance that the child, soon after the birth , has to be shifted to a tertiary care centre where in expert hands he is appropriately managed. But in the one out of 50,000 anomalies like the neural tube defects which present taxing problems for paediatric surgeons as well as parents. This is where antenatal diagnosis assumes paramount importance as at times, even after best possible treatment, quality of life can not be assured. Which is why, keeping in mind the social acceptibility, some such
pregnancies, may unfortunately have to be terminated before they are born. Since most abnormalities are not visible these are not diagnosed till the new born shows some symptoms and in this precious time is lost. APC in the PGI gets about 70 to 80 babies per year with various type of oesphageal abnormality out of which as many as 60 per cent are saved. Which keeping in mind the logistical problems associated with a hospital in the developing country is a fairly good percentage. Incidentally, in western countries, the survival rate is close to 90 per cent. Experts say that this number can be improved upon and paediatric surgery in India has managed to keep pace with the rest of the world. Where we lack is post operative ventilation and helping the baby breathe with the help of support system and alimentation or giving the food intravenously. Most of the babies can be saved . But to deliver good quality paediatric service, besides proper diagnosis the child needs a supportive health care system. Is anyone listening? |
Kalsi club beat MSWS
XI Chandigarh, March 24 In other matches, the Energetic Cricket Club had an easy win over the Victorious Cricket Club by eight wickets, thanks to the superb knock of 103 runs in 73 deliveries with two sixers and 17 boundaries by the skipper Ashutosh. In another matches, the Maloya CC beat the Harmukh CC by six wickets and the Gallant CC defeated DYFI XI by 10 wickets, Brief
scores: Ist match: Victorious CC: 161 runs for four in 25 overs (Ajay Kunwar 36, Raj Kumar 31, Sanjay Malik 22 n.o., Ajay Verma 15); Energetic CC: 162 runs for two in 21 overs (Ashutosh 103 n.o.). IInd match: Harmukh CC:111 all out in 22.2 overs (Sanjoo Pandita 23, Ajay Pandita 21, Manoj 19, Rajesh Kumar 4 for 37, Munish 2 for five). Maloya CC; 112 runs for four in 20.3 overs (Vishal Hans 42, Mahender Pal Rana 20 no.). IIIrd match: DYFI: 97 all out in 22.5 overs (Jagat Rawat 28, Yuvraj Kaushik 3 for 20, Anil Sharma 2 for 21, Ajay Bhardwaj 2 for 25). Gallant CC: 99 for no loss in 15 overs (Vishal Sahni 40 n.o., Jaswinder Singh 37 n.o.) IVth Match: MSWS XI: 183 runs for five wickets in 24.1 overs (Baljit Kalsi 42 n.o. , Nirmal Singh 39, Ashwani 26, Bhavneet 25, Satwinder Singh 2 for 41).
Ball badminton team Jagdeep Kaur of Shivalik Public School, Sector 41, in the girls and Gurwinder Bajwa of the Flankers Ball Badminton Club in the boys’ section will lead the UT team in the 46th Senior National Ball Badminton Championship to be held at Rohtak from March 27 to 30. According to Mr Baljinder Singh Banwait, secretary of the Chandigarh Ball Badminton Association, members of the teams are: Girls — Jagdeep Kaur (captain), Monu Dhiman, Renu, Santosh, Kanchan, Anshu, K Smiti, Swati. official — Sunita Rani. Boys — Gurwinder Bajwa (captain), Amit Bhalla, Gurinder Gill, Amandeep Singh, Shiv Kumar, Bajesh Khanna, Rajeshwar Sharma, Harish Singh. manager — Mohan Lal and coach — Papinder.
Floor hockey champion Gurpreet, a mentally retarded child and student of Government Institute for Mentally Retarded Children, Sector 32, here brought glory to India when he clinched bronze medal in the floor hockey event at the World Winter Games held at Alaska (USA) from March 4 to 8. According to the press note issued by Dr B.S. Chavan, Joint Director of the institute, teams from as many as 80 countries took part in the event. He said the parents of Gurpreet were quite thrilled with his achievement. |
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Hockey champ back in
town Chandigarh, March 24 Inderjit, who returned to city last night was at the astro turf hockey stadium, Sector 42, this evening to share his experience at the prestigious meet where India was able to win a gold medal by overpowering formidable Pakistan in the finals. Born in November 1981, Chadha got basic training in the city under the guidance of hockey coach Jasbir Singh. Earlier, he had taken part in the Junior World Cup and was also a member of the Chandigarh Junior Hockey team which won the national title only last month. He was picked up for the Indian senior squad for the first time for Dhaka tournament. Chadha said valuable coaching under the Olympian Cedric D’Souza was the crucial factor for the upsurge in the performance of the Indian team. he recalled that during his stay at Dhaka he had asked his fellow players regarding the cause of their poor performance at the Sydney Olympics, they opined that Cedric should have been appointed as coach earlier, since he was more scientific in approach. Chadha sid apart from the normal game, it was the additional inputs which finally helped in enhancing confidence of Indian players. He said the Bangladesh team was in high spirits right from the begining and it was felt that being in their home country, they will do
well. But when India proved everyone wrong by Bangladesh 2-1. Chadha said the sports psychologist, Dr J.P.S. Sidhu, who accompanied the team, was of great help and he infused confidence and boosted the moral of the team. Chadha said it was hi-tech coaching by Cedric, guidance by the psychologist and Captain which were instrumental in India’s remarkable performance. Inderjit will be attending the national camp from April 13 at Bangalore in preparation of forthcoming Korea-India hockey test series and also for World Cup qualifying matches to be played later in the year. |
‘Deemed assessment scheme’ okayed Chandigarh, March 24 According to a press note, the department has been facing the problem of speedy disposal of the assessment cases due to the paucity of staff since a long time. Therefore, it was decided to bring an amendment to this effect in the Punjab General Sales Tax Act extended to UT, Chandigarh. The facility of deemed assessment is already available in Punjab but the same was not being implementated in Chandigarh for want of the clear approval from the Government of India. The department had been accepting the assessment returns from the registered dealers but the final clearance by the department used to get delayed on account of the lesser number of assessing authorities and the supporting staff. The scheme will facilitate the dealers and the assessing authorities in the quick disposal of such cases which had been pending for the past several years and the department would also get some additional revenue in the shape of fee paid by such dealers for qualifying under the scheme. |
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MC House meeting to take up bus
issue Chandigarh, March 24 According to the Municipal Corporation Act, the Mayor is supposed to hold at least one meeting of the House to transact the business of MC. But in this case, the Mayor has so far convened only two special meetings, one in January to settle the controversy regarding the formation of nine MC sub-committees and another one in February to get the MC budget passed. Sources reveal that the revised approval is being sought for the bus, which was earlier objected to by the audit department since the same was not duly approved by the House during Mr Adiwal’s tenure and later in Mayor Shanta Hit Abhilashi’s tenure. The other main items listed in the agenda are approval for auctioning commercial sites of various categories in Chandigarh and Manimajra; proposal for transferring the maintenance and operation of public toilets and mobile toilet vans to a private agency, revision of water supply by-laws and another controversial issue regarding the box-culvert bridge on the Chandigarh-SAS Nagar road. Permission to appoint a convener of the committee inquiring into the construction of the box-culvert bridge will also be sought. Sources reveal that the said committee is quite jinxed as for members keep resigning from time to time. The other items on the agenda are repayment of loans taken by erstwhile, NAC Manimajra which has now been merged with the MC; revised estimates for providing public health services in Kumhar and Janata colony, Sector 25, approval of draft bylaws governing the sale of meat, fish and poultry products and reconsidering water tariff. Besides this, the issue of allotment of land measuring 0.57 acre to Sant Nirankari Mandal at Mauli Jagran, UT; permission to hold yoga
classes in community centres; collection of removal charges on the eve of festivals and levy on sale of liquor will also be discussed. Two other items pertain to transfer of token fee/tax on rickshaw, thelas, rehris, hand carts to MC and increase of share of taxes of MC. The letters from the administration and action taken report also figures among the agenda items. |
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