 |
|
| Wednesday,
July 17, 2002, Chandigarh, India
|
|
||||
‘Health economy needs oxygen’
Chandigarh, July 16 There are gaps in the health-policy document, with not much budgetary allocation, but, to achieve health targets, resource mobilisation is must. Generating finances alone will not help if the flow of these is not right. According to Dr Ganguly, India should encourage health insurance by taking money from those who can afford to pay it, for those who cannot bear medical expenses. “We will have to turn hospitals into societies to utilise the money made for strengthening health infrastructure,” he said. He stressed the need for creating ethical guidelines and expressed concern over the use of ultrasound sonography leading to female foeticide. “Social demons have caused the commercial mushrooming of fertility centres all over the country,” he said. An interface between research and the people can benefit masses. Knowledge is of little use if it remains confined to medical journals or papers. “In India, we have a poor north and a rich south, whereas, it is essential that people everywhere should have access to health facilities,” Dr Ganguly said. In his address, Dr S.K. Sharma, Director of the PGI, welcomed new students to the institute and referred to news reports on negligence on part of the PGI doctors. He said such incidents should not take place in a reputed institute like the PGI. The PGI has taken in 148 students this academic session, with the maximum having joined the MD and MS courses and 15 having joined the DM and M.Ch courses. For the 148 seats, the PGI had received 2,500 applications. Though the PGI had 13 seats reserved for foreign nationals, only four have been filled.  |
|
Debate on a decision that proved
potent Chandigarh, July 16 “I leave it to the ethicists to debate the decision, though the doctor used Viagra in an emergency situation to save the baby,” said Dr N.K. Ganguly, chief guest at the inauguration of the new academic session of the PGI, here today. He said only the Drug Controller of India could allow the new use of a medicine. Dr N.K. Rajeev of Kochi’s Amrita Institute of Medical Sciences in Kerala discovered the new use of Viagra when he took the unusual step of giving an oral dose of it to baby Sunitha in May in a last-ditch effort to save her life. The baby who had pulmonary hypertension, a fatal lung condition, was saved from a certain death due to the doctor’s decision. The Kochi hospital, later, in same way, saved the lives of two more babies who had the same ailment. Dr Ganguly said: “Viagra is nitric oxide, having modules that dilate the blood vessels. So far, there was no effective treatment for pulmonary hypertension in India and the old treatment comprised adding oxygen to the nitric-oxide cylinder. In giving Viagra to save the life of a blue baby, the doctor did break the law, as he did not know what dose or frequency of the medicine was to be used.” The doctor said the legal viewpoint showed the decision to be wrong, but a panel of experts should have a debate on what a doctor should and should not do in such emergency situations. This unique case has initiated a debate in medical circles on the legality of such an experiment that the Drug Controller General of India had not cleared. Dr Ganguly stressed the need for creating an interface to translate research into action, as the pharmaceutical industry had become highly sophisticated and 11 new drugs had recently been developed. “There is an urgent need to frame policies to make basic health available to all. A majority of population still cannot afford to buy a large number of medicines. The fruits of medical advancement have not reached the masses,” he said. The research funding in various science and health institutes had become good, but, to improve research further, the ICMR would adopt five medical colleges every year. Scholarships would be given to medical students, so that, they could work with eminent scientists. |
|
120 donate blood Chandigarh, July 16 Mr Deepak Saini donated blood for the 35th time. The entire executive of the HMT Ladies Club, led by its president, Mrs Pramila Dhar, donated blood. |
Akshit, Dhruv in title clash Chandigarh, July 16 Results:
girls under (16) : singles — quarterfinal — Mohini b Mohita 11-0,11-0; Juhi b Tinna 11-2, 11-1; Pallavi b Kratika 11-0,11-1; Surbhi b Geetika 11-2,11-2;Mohini b Jisha 11-0, 11-0. semi-final; Pallavi b Juhi 11-2,11-0; Kannu b Mohini 11-0,11-0; boys under (16) : QF — Prateek Pawan b Ankur 15-2,15-0. Girls (under -13 singles) QF
— Surbhi b Parul 11-1,11-9; Juhi b Aditi 11-6,11-4; Mohini b Muskan 11-7,11-0; Semi-final: Juhi b Mohini 11-4,13-11; Pallavi b Surbhi 11-0, 11-0; men doubles: (semifinal) — Gaurav and Prateek b Vikrant and Vivek 15-7,15-9; Peeyush and Sachin b Munish and Saurav Kapoor 15-7,15-7; boys singles; (semifinal) — Akshit b Dhruv Goyal 11-0,11-0; Raghav b Priyanka 15-9,15-12.: women singles: semi-finals; Kannu b Preetika 11-5, 6-11,11-2; Gauri b Samritika 11-2,11-7. boys doubles (under-13 semifinal) — Rasik and Prerak b Mohit and arjun 15-9,15-2; Dhruv and Akshit b Priyanka and Raghav 15-6,15-4; and boys doubles: (under-16) — Adhiraj and Salil b Ankush and Arjun 15-4,15-2; Saurav and Anshul b Nakul and Saurabh 15-0,15-3; Bhanu and Sanchit b Mavesh and Lalit 15-6,15-0; Sudhir and Deepak b Sushank and Ankit 15-1,15-3 ;Prateek and Prerak b Sumit and Abhishek 15-0,15-2.
Football meet PATIALA Shooting championship |
Extension sought
for Gujral Chandigarh, July 16 With less than a month and a half to go, the Administrator, Lieut-Gen J.F.R. Jacob (retd), before going to the United Kingdom, had sent a letter to the Union Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) and the Government of Haryana, Mr Gujral’s parent state. The services of Mr Gujral have been sought by the Administration on the ground of continuity as the two-year tenure had left several projects in between. Meanwhile, sources said the Administration had sought a second extension for the Punjab cadre IAS official, Municipal Commissioner, Mr M.P. Singh. |
|
8 new power substations
soon
Chandigarh, July 16 In an important development, the Administration, acting on the directions of the Northern Region Electricity Board (NREB), will be setting up capacitor banks on all critical transformers. These capacitor banks will help in balancing out the voltage and curbing fluctuations. These issues were finalised in a power review meeting here this afternoon. The Administration will also crack a whip on people drawing more power than the sanctioned load. A voluntary disclosure scheme (VDS) will be launched under which residents will have to declare the power load connected in their homes, business establishments and commercial centres. According to sources, the scheme will be announced by the end of this month. These steps are aimed at upgrading the power distribution system of the city. And residents need not worry about any long and lengthy procedures. They will have to fill a single form which will be available at various offices of the Electricity Department. The form will carry all details as to how the form has to be filled and what is the load for each type of gadget like a geyser, an air-conditioner, a room heater, a light point and a fan, among other appliances. Later, teams of the department will check residences and establishments at random. Penalties will be imposed, in case of non-declaration of correct load. According to sources, about 9,000 air-conditioners have been sold in the city, but not a single application has been received for enhancement of load. The Electricity Department needs to know what is the load requirement of the city as this is crucial in planning for the future, sources say. Today’s meeting also discussed as to how to go about setting up new projects like substations in the next two years. These projects will cost about Rs 80 crore in all. |
|
SDM (East) to have new office Chandigarh, July 16 The idea of the Chandigarh Administration is to have the offices of the SDMs in their respective areas of operation. Under the same proposal the office of the SDM (South) was to be shifted to the Sports Centre in Sector 42. However, the space was occupied by the Punjab Olympics Association (POA) for organising the national games. The POA was served an eviction notice to vacate the premises till February 28 this year. |
|
Ban extended Chandigarh, July 16 With the city experiencing the driest first fortnight of July in 12 years, the lifting of the ban could have created water shortage, sources said. The corporation had traditionally been imposing a ban till July 15. |
 |
| Punjab | Haryana | Jammu & Kashmir | Himachal Pradesh | Regional Briefs | Nation | Editorial | | Business | Sport | World | Mailbag | In Spotlight | Chandigarh Tribune | Ludhiana Tribune 50 years of Independence | Tercentenary Celebrations | | 122 Years of Trust | Calendar | Weather | Archive | Subscribe | Suggestion | E-mail | |
