The Tribune, Chandigarh, India - Chandigarh Stories

HEALTH

Psychiatric patients need better deal: Jacob
Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, October 19
Keeping in view the paucity of medical professionals in the Government Medical College, Chandigarh, the UT Administrator, Lieut Gen J.F.R. Jacob (retd), has written to the Union Home Ministry not to apply the ban on recruitment to health and education sectors as it can adversely affect the quality of health care and to achieve the target of education for all.

The General was speaking at the inauguration of the 27th Annual Conference of Indian Psychiatric Association (North Zone) at Government Medical College and Hospital, Sector 32, here today. The Governor expressed hope that this conference would deliberate on these two issues and come out with some viable solution.

General Jacob said mental illness and epilepsy were major causes of disability the world over and it had been estimated that neuro-psychiatric disorders account for nearly one third of disabilities in the world.

General Jacob (retd) today underlined the need for giving humane treatment to the mental patients lodged in various mental hospitals. He regretted that some mental hospitals in the country were worse than jails as psychiatric patients were kept in chains.

He said the Supreme Court had to pass strictures when in a fire in a mental hospital in Tamil Nadu mental patients were burnt alive as they were chained.

Calling upon the doctors to pay more attention to improve conditions in mental hospitals, General Jacob said over 440 million persons suffering from mental disorders in the country should get better treatment. General Jacob called upon the doctors to venture into rural areas where not much attention was given to the treatment of mental patients.

He said, “Since 70 per cent population of the country lives in rural areas and we have facilities for treatment of mental disorders concentrated in urban areas only. There is less than one psychiatrist per 1,00,000 persons in the country and most of these professionals are located in the major cities. Thus, a majority of the people living in rural areas have virtually no mental health facilities.”

“Mental illness has been included in persons with the Disability Act, 1995, as one of the disabilities. But, it was sad to note that large number of people did not seek help even where facilities were available. Lack of awareness and stigma attached to mental disorders may be among the reasons for not seeking professional help,” he added. The Governor said in the developing countries, including India, the situation was pathetic. There was acute shortage of beds for such patients and mental health professionals, including psychiatrists, psychiatric nurses, social workers and psychologists, he pointed out.

General Jacob said in view of shrinking joint family system, industrialisation, competitiveness, industrial and traffic accidents, alcohol and drug abuse and natural and man-made disasters, it was estimated that one in four persons would suffer from mental or neurological disorders during their life time. There is also a shift from treatment of mental illness to positive mental health. Thus, the gap between need and resources is widening. Steps should be taken to bridge this gap by producing more mental health professionals and by creating the necessary infrastructure, he added.

Emphasising the need for widening the scope of mental health, he said the professionals should move out of the hospitals and develop links with NGOs and the community. He felt happy for the fact that the Department of Psychiatry of Government Medical College, Chandigarh, had done a commendable job by starting active community services. The three community clinics at Palsora village, Daddu Majra colony and Maloya have given a relief to mental patients, he added. Earlier, the Governor also presented awards to Dr N.N. Vig and Prof Gurmeet Singh for their outstanding services in the profession of psychiatry.

Update on paediatric emergencies
Tribune News Service

Parental education points

* Fever is a body temperature above 37.8 °C
* Fever is not a disease by itself
* Fever per se does not cause any harm unless 41 °C
* Antipyretic are required only at or beyond 39 °C
* Cold sponging is necessary , if 40 °C
* A doctor must be consulted for fever if
— the child is younger than three months
— the fever persists for more than two days
— the child appears sick or stops feeding
— the temperature is more than 39 °C
— the child has other symptoms

Chandigarh, October 19
“Many of the things we need can wait, a child cannot, to him we cannot say “Tomorrow, his name is today”. On this note started the national update on paediatric emergencies at the PGI here today.

Focussing on fever among children during the first session, Dr Manju Salariya stated that as many as 10,000 children attended the PGI emergency each year and the most common complaint was fever. In his opening talk on fever, Prof Sunit Singhi, Chairperson of the conference, spoke in detail about managing a child with fever. He particularly emphasised the points for parent education for seeking immediate medical help in case of fever in a child of less than three months’ age, duration of fever for more than two days or if a child is feeding poorly. Stating that fever is a useful defence mechanism, Dr Singhi said, “Antibiotics should not be given for undiagnosed fever as it can mask physical signs of localisation and delay diagnosis, vitiate subsequent bacteriological investigations and there is an increased chance of bacterial resistance.”

Dr Singhi also listed the basic anti-pyretic therapy as tepid bath and sponging and anti-pyretic drugs. He mentioned that Paracetamol can be administered as a dosage of 5-10mg/kg/6 hours, Ibuprofen as a dosage of 5mg/kg/6 hours and Nimuslide as a dosage of 2.5mg/kg/dose 8 to 12 hourly. Nimuslide, however, is not recommended by the FDA, USA.

Dr Munni Ray, Assistant Professor, Department of Paediatrics, emphasised that fever with unconsciousness is a serious paediatric emergency requiring immediate attention.

The theme of the second session was enteric infections. Dr Deepak Bansal, Assistant Professor, PGI, emphasised that parents and clinicians should be patient when treating children with typhoid fever as it normally takes five to seven days for the fever to respond in spite of starting antibiotics. Dr Daljeet Singh, Professor and Head, DMC, Ludhiana, mentioned the importance of ORS in children with diarrhoea and elaborated on the management of complicated cases like diarrhoea in malnourished children.

Dr Suresh Gupta, senior consultant from Sir Ganga Ram Hospital, Delhi, discussed common emergencies in paediatric practice and the participants were apprised of various emergency procedures in the post lunch session.

The update was inaugurated by Prof I.C. Pathak, former Director PGI. Prof. Pathak expressed concern over the lack of emergency facilities in the neighbouring areas causing a lot of inconvenience to the public.

Earlier, Dr Sunit Singhi, President, Indian Academy of Paediatrics, Chandigarh chapter, welcomed the delegates and spoke about the objectives of the conference. Dr Bhavneet Bharti, the organising secretary proposed a vote of thanks.

Organised by the Department of Paediatrics at the APC auditorium, the update was attended by more than 150 delegates from all over the country.

10 cases of dengue confirmed in city
Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, October 19
As many as 10 patients have been confirmed positive for dengue in the city following serological test done at the PGI and the National Institute of Communicable Diseases, New Delhi, an official press note said here today.

The Health department said it had geared up its campaign to curb the spread of the disease. Emphasis has been laid on the prevention of the disease. Keeping in mind the festive season, residents have been urged to involve themselves in campaign to help the Health Department by keeping coolers dry and removing water from reservoirs around residential areas.

The UT Administration has deployed special teams in in Indra Colony and Mani Majra, for anti-larvae and anti-adult mosquito measures. The note said: As many as 151 fever cases were examined at the Civil Hospital, Mani Majra, and four of them were admitted. The total number of admitted cases here was 21, while as many as 59 had been admitted to the General Hospital.

SPORTS

Gaurav, Amit corner glory
Our Sports Reporter

Chandigarh, October 19
Gaurav Malhotra (in cricket ball throw) and Amit Singh (in high jump), both Class IV students, cornered glory in the annual sports day of St John’s High School, Sector 26, for the junior school. Narayan, Ranteg Singh and Devjyot were adjudged the best athletes in class III, IV and V sections respectively.

Earlier, a simple but colourful function began with flag hoisting and an impressive march past by tiny tots. The chief guest, Brother RI Meredith, appreciated the fine effort made by children.

The other winners in various sections were: long jump — Kamaljit, Akshay Mittal and Vishal Suri. High jump — Amit Singh, Nischaljit Singh; cricket ball throw-Manbir, Sunil Kumar, Gaurav Malhotra and Devjot Singh, 50 metre race — Nirmal, Keshav Aryal, Sehaj, Vaibhav, Ajit and Ajay Kumar, Divakar Kapil, Udey Pratap Sandhu, Raja Mukul Goel and Suraj. 75metre race — Khushinder Dhaliwal, Anmol Bhardwaj, Rajat, Durgesh and Akimjeet Singh. 100 metre race — Narayan, Deepankar Chhabra, Ashish, Kamaljit and Sumer S Sandhu, Sehajbir, Jagrit, Amandeep, Manpreet, Jaiverdhan, Ashish, Manavpreet Singh, Devjyot Singh, Vishal Suri, Dipankar chhabra, Ranteg Singh and Utkarsh Malhotra.

Chandigarh XI win

Saurabh Arora of Government Model Senior Secondary School, Sector 19, once again proved his supremacy with bat and bowl when he steered Chandigarh XI to a fine 24-run win over Rohtak XI to move into the final of the Haryana State Inter District Cricket (below-17) tournament for the Rajinder Goel trophy played at Gurgaon. As per reports reaching here, Chandigarh XI made 196 runs for the loss of nine wickets in the stipulated 40 overs. But Rohtak XI were bundled out for 172 runs in 37.4 overs.

Brief scores: Saurabh Arora 48 n.o., Tejwinder Gill 35, Gaganpreet 27, Varun Kaushal 27, Parveen Kumar 25, Rakesh 16, Rohit 2 for 19, Parveen 2 for 32). Rohtak XI: 172 runs all out (Puneet Kumar 56, Sant Kumar 29, Ankush 4 for 18, Saurabh Arora 2 for six, Tejwinder Gill 2 for 14).

Honoured

The Tug of War Association, Chandigarh, on Saturday honoured five of its players who stole limelight in the just-concluded International Goodwill Tug of War meet held at Kathmandu (Nepal). The chief guest, Mr Gurbachan Singh Grewal ‘Gari’ from California, USA, donated Rs 5100/- to the association. The players who brought silver medal for the country were honoured with trophies by the association. They are Manmeet Singh (DAV Model School, Sector 15), Gurinder Singh, Alam Vijay Singh, Gurjit Singh and Jagdish Singh.

Godrej club victorious

A fine performance by Umesh Kaira who scored 29 runs and claimed five wickets for just 16 runs, enabled the Godrej Cricket Club to beat the Hillions Cricket Club by six wickets in the match held at Government Senior Secondary School, Sector 23.