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April 30, 2001, Chandigarh, India
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Brain-dead Mohinder Kaur saved two
lives Chandigarh , April 29 Every year, nearly 70,000 persons die of brain injuries in India following road accidents. This number is besides those patients who have been diagnosed as brain dead due to other medical complications. Doctors say if they donate their organs in time, thousands of lives can be saved. Ironically, cadaver donors are hardly available in the country. Since 1994, when the Organ Transplantation Bill was passed, it is only the fourth time that PGI doctors have conducted a kidney transplant from a brain dead person. Unlike abroad, transplant surgeons in India have been able to manage just a small number of prospective organ donors. At present, there is no central registration available. But doctors guess an average demand of one lakh kidneys, in addition to the already existing number. And doctors are able to transplant kidneys in 3 to 4 per cent and most of these, (as many as 90 per cent), are related donors and hardly 10 per cent are from cadavers or brain dead persons. In advanced countries, it is the other way round and the doctors blame this on lack of awareness and coordination. While abroad, there are trained transplant coordinators who liaise between relatives and the doctors concerned, in India no such concept exists. A PGI Additional Professor and transplant surgeon, Dr M. Minz, says removing a kidney from a brain dead patient and transplanting it in the recipient, besides being a lengthy process, involves many problems. It requires cooperation from the donor’s family, the Dialysis Department to keep the donor alive till the time the recipient is ready for the transplant, a committee of doctors and, of course, trained transplant surgeons. “Unlike other surgeries, transplant in such cases is the mere culmination of efforts put in by a lot of people,” he adds. The doctor says that public education and awareness are the key factors to motivate organ donations from cadavers. Many a time, patients’ relatives don’t accept that their loved ones are brain dead and that there is no way to save their lives. Prevailing myths also suggest that the person will be reborn without the organs that were donated after death. “Even if people are aware of the facts, another inhibiting factor is maintenance of the brain dead,’’ says Dr Minz adding that organs from a cadaver donor cannot be taken out till the time a matching recipient is found. While the donor’s eyes can be taken out even after his or her death, organs like the kidneys, the pancreas, the liver and the heart can only be taken out if the vascular circulation is maintained, which in itself is an expensive proposition. At each step the procedure is lengthy and all those involved have to be extra careful. Dr P.K. Sarin, a transplant surgeon, adds that the Organ Transplantation Bill by itself will not be able to popularise about the concept of cadaver donation. ‘‘There is need to make efforts to increase awareness among the public and dispel the doubts of the common man.” Experts also feel that apart from creating awareness, the government, too, should play an important role by giving health care a better place in its list of priorities. Moreover, responsibility has to be fixed to ascertain why a prospective donor was not considered for organ transplantation. Besides, just like eye donation cards, organ donation cards should be introduced to know whether one is a donor or not. ‘‘In many countries, if a person has not made a choice, it is assumed that he or she is a willing organ donor,’’ says Dr Minz. Considering the fact that maintaining a person with renal failure on dialysis is much more expensive than a kidney transplant, it is important that we pay more attention to encouraging organ donations from brain dead persons, adds Dr Minz. Dialysis costs patients Rs 25,000 per month besides possible associated complications like AIDS. The quality of life in such patients is also poor. A kidney transplant, on the other hand, costs around Rs 50,000 in a government institution such as the PGI and the recipient is able to lead a much better life as well. |
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Doctor’s empathy for a patient must:
DHS Chandigarh, April 29 Upset to see that the patient continues to be “nobody’s baby” even under the doctor’s treatment, Dr Rameshwar said in an interview that the doctors must develop a sense of empathy with the patient. “It is not a good practice for a doctor to attend to a patient one day while he faces another doctor when he comes the next time. And when the patient finally leaves the hospital, he is laden with a bundle of medicines along with the ailment he suffers from. A doctor must own the patient. I have conveyed it to all senior doctors concerned to be available for patients examined by junior doctors at the OPDs. I know the patients always look for the senior-most doctors for final consultation and satisfaction.” “Emergency is an index of the quality of a hospital,” opined the DHS. “So, emergency services have to be strengthened. There is already a provision for the doctor in charge at the Emergency to call doctors of other disciplines keeping in view the patient’s requirement. But it must be clear that the ultimate responsibility towards the patient would rest upon the doctor in charge, and not upon those who visit to assist him. A violation of this understanding would be tantamount to negligence. The Sector 22 Health Centre is also being upgraded. The ‘Well Baby Clinic’ shall also start functioning soon,” he further informed. According to Dr Chander, the most neglected areas are the slums on the periphery of the city, where each colony, with a population of not less than 5,000 is bereft of medical care. On a visit to various dispensaries, the DHS said that he instructed the doctors and supporting staff to visit slums frequently and make the inhabitants aware of the importance of cleanliness and motivate them to avail of national health schemes. Besides, the DHS plans to depute the auxiliary nurse-midwives (ANMs) and the lady health visitors (LHVs) to create health awareness among the slum-dwellers under the targeted programmes. “Although the services provided at the General Hospital are far better, than what I have seen in Punjab,” says Dr Rameshwa. “Yet the hospital’s performance has to be evaluated in comparison to the PGI and the Government Hospital, Sector 32. Hence, a lot has to be done here.” For an ideal hospital, three things namely building, equipment and training are essential. We have the first two and are planning to tie up with the PGI for the training part. Even the trauma ward is nearing completion,” he further said. The DHS added that the Directorate of Ayurveda and Homoeopathy would be activated to deliver the goods to the public. In case of Homoeopathy, doctors manning their respective dispensaries shall not have to go to other dispensaries on certain fixed days of the week where there were no doctors at present. The pharmacists deployed there shall attend to the new and old patients and issue them prescriptions under their signatures, he said in response to a question. However, the posts which fell vacant due to the promotion of two AMOs and MOs shall be filled in by May by calling doctors on deputation. Hinting at a change of guard in Homoeopathy to get better results, Dr Rameshwar Chander stressed the need to maintain punctuality. |
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Early intervention retards
disability growth Chandigarh, April 29 Prof Raj Bahadur is also the nodal officer for this World Health Organistaion workshop, which aims towards sensitising delegates towards areas of disability prevention and rehabilitation, organised by the Orthopaedics Department of the GMCH, Sector 32. Lauding the government’s decision to include data pertaining to disabled persons in the recently concluded census , he said that this would help get to the base of the entire problem. While discussing the magnitude of problems faced by people with hearing disabilities, Prof S.B.S. Mann, Director Principal, GMCH, said, various surveys conducted in the PGI and other institutions by the ICMR, had indicated that there were approximately 20 crore individuals suffering from a hearing disability of one or the other kind. Enumerating the causes of deafness, Prof Mann highlighted the magnitude of congenital deafness, the incidence for which was one in every 1,000 live births. He also stressed upon the hazards of noise pollution, especially for heavy vehicle drivers and factory workers. Prof Arjun Dass, Head, ENT, GMCH, Sector 32, discussed the significance of screening the high-risk population for hearing disabilities. By early intervention, the severity of hearing disability could be considerably reduced, said Prof Dass. The delegates were also educated on the physiology of language and speech in children and its effect on their development. Ms Sandeep Kaur and Mr Ravi Kapoor from the ENT department of the GMCH discussed various aids and alternative communication skills available for persons with hearing or speech disorders. Speaking on visual disabilities, the PGI Additional Professor, Dr M.R. Dogra said, there were 40 million blind persons in the world, out of which 13 million resided in India. Important causes of blindness in the country included cataract, trachoma , Vitamin A deficiency, measles and glaucoma which were all preventable and treatable, said Dr Dogra. Mr Jayra, Principal, Institute for Blind, Sector 26, demonstrated various aids for coping with routine activities for the visually impaired Quoting the example of Hellen Keller, the first qualified blind physician of the USA, Mr Jayra said, appropriate training and the will to learn could help the visually handicapped to achieve the impossible in life. Prof Sunandan Sood, Head of Eye Department, GMCH, and Dr S.K. Arya discussed the role of early identification of visual impairment The method to evaluate visual disability and various concessions and relaxations available for the visually available for were also discussed. The workshop was inaugurated by the local MP, Mr Pawan Bansal, yesterday. He spoke about the legal aspects of various acts dealing with disabilities and said that with the enactment of the People With Disabilities Act 1995, the disabled were now legally empowered to get their due share in society. |
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525 attend mangal mela Chandigarh, April 29 Specialists from the Department of Dermatology and Venereology, PGI, examined patients suffering from sexually transmitted infections (STIs) and reproductive tract infections ( RTIs). |
Satvika, Karan clinch tennis
titles Chandigarh, April 29 The under-16 boys doubles title went to Satvir Singh and Gurtej Singh of Jalandhar who defeated local lads Kinshuk Sharma and Sanjog Kapoor in straight sets. In the parent-guardian event, the title was clinched by Kinshuk Sharma and his father S.M. Sharma. They outplayed a young pair of Satvika Saboo and her brother Pranav Saboo in straight sets. Kinshuk Sharma, a trainee at the CLTA and a student of St John’s High School, broke Karan Patnaik in the second and the fourth game to surge ahead, 4-0. Thereafter Karan managed to grab only two games while Kinshuk rallied to win, 6-2. In second set, Kinshuk dominated the game right from the beginning and won five games in a row to win, 6-3, thus set score became 1-1. In third set, both were 3-3 and again Kinshuk took the lead of 4-3. But Karan was able to capture three games in a row to win the crucial tie, 6-4. The girls under-16 final between Satvika and Isha was also played on even lines with former winning the first set, 6-3. Isha, who has recently won the North Zone AITA Tennis Tournament (Under-14) at Yamuna Nagar won the second set, 6-3. In final set, it appeared as if Isha would finally be the winner but despite leading at 4-3 she lost the next three games and eventually the match, 4-6, to Class XI Bhavan Vidyalaya, Sector 27, girl, Satvika, 4-6. Mr Satish Chandra, a senior IAS officer of Punjab, was the chief guest and gave away the cash prizes to winners. A four-year-old boy Dilsher Gill was honoured for his fine movements along with another player from Parwanoo (HP), Digvijay Singh. Results — boys under-16: Karan Patnaik b Satvir, 6-3, 6-3; under-14: Karan Patnaik b Kinshuk Sharma, 2-6, 6-3, 6-4; girls under-16: Satvika Saboo b Isha Toor, 6-3, 3-6, 6-4; under-12 girls: Inayat Khosla b Ujala Joshi, 6-0, 6-1; under-16 (boys doubles): Satvir and Gurtej b Kinshuk and Sanjog, 6-3, 6-4; guardian and child: S.M. Sharma and Kinshuk b Pranav and Satvika, 6-4, 6-0.
Cricket tourney Good performances by Kamalpreet Singh and Vaneet Khosla paved the way for the Kelvinator XI in beating the Unique XI by 34 runs in the Ist TL Talwar Cash Prize Cricket Tournament here today at DAV College, Sector 10. Brief scores: Kelvinator XI: Kamalpreet 82, Vaneet Khosla 51, Munish Chadha 31, Ramandeep 23 and Ranjeet Rana 2 for 31; Unique XI: 212 for eight (Vinay Kumar 51, Arun Kumar 57, Harish Garg 27, Munish Chadha 3 for 19, Vaneet 2 for 20). In another match the Chandigarh Youth XI defeated the Sports Club XI by two wickets.
Summer cricket The Bhakra Beas Management Board (BBMB) XI defeated the Energetic Cricket Club by 17 runs in the Vth UT Summer Cricket Tournament played here at the CSIO cricket ground today. In other matches of the day, the Mohali Gymkhana defeated High Court XI by seven wickets; Industrial Cricket Club defeated Chetna Cricket Club by 24 runs; Chandigarh Sports club defeated Connect ‘B’ by 175 runs; and the CNS XI got the better of DYFI Cricket Club by 32 runs.
Basketball tournament Yadavindra Public School, SAS Nagar, clinched the ICSE Inter-School Basketball Tournament for the Chandigarh region here today. The meet which began yesterday was played at YPS grounds in SAS Nagar, and was played on league basis. St Xavier’s School, Sector 44, Chandigarh, was declared runners-up, while St Stephen’s School, Sector 45, stood third and St. Kabir School, Sector 26, secured the fourth position. |
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STC-18 to get more
facilities Chandigarh, April 29 On the question of uneven distribution of hockey coaches causing coordination problems at the STC, Sector 18, where at present four coaches are posted for 20 plus trainees, Anand said this matter was brought to his notice recently and he would take appropriate decision in this regard by the next week. But he said in any case two coaches would always be there for the STC-18 which has produced international hockey players like Sita Gussain, Pritam Thakran, Sunita, Kamla Dalal and Mamta Kharab. ‘‘Among present trainees, we have Nishi Chauhan, Anu Kumari, Neha and Saba Anjum who have won laurels at the national level’’ he said. Anand said the centre had done more than what was expected despite the non-availability of synthetic turf. So they would certainly like an improvement in the existing facilities. When his attention was drawn to the pending suspension case of volleyball coach D.S. Thakur of Jubbal (Shimla), he said he would look into the matter. It may be recalled that D.S. Thakur had coached women volleyball players at the Education Department Centre in a remote village named Jubbal and had the distinction of producing outstanding international volleyball players. It was on March 24, 2000, that he was suspended on the charge that he did not send his monthly monitoring reports in time. Now for the past 13 months, he has been languishing at Sector 42 monitoring cell, as a result, the coaching centre in HP remained disturbed. A SAI coach on the condition of anonymity said that monitoring reports of coaches could be manipulated any time. On the question of new trainees for various STCs located in Punjab, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh and Chandigarh, he said the process of trials was over and by the mid of the next month, new trainees would join at respective centres. He also said that the new sports sciences-cum-fitness centre in the vicinity of Sector 42 was now in the final stages of completion. We hope to start it soon. |
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