 |
|
| Monday,
March 31, 2003, Chandigarh, India
|
|
||||
Doctors lay stress on improving vaccines Chandigarh, March 30 Even as debates on the need for protecting children against diseases like mumps, pneumonia and hepatitis by including these in the immunisation programme are on, the fact remains that the coverage of the existing ones is also not satisfactory, point out medical experts. “Even though the government claims that 80 per cent of the children are immunised against TB, diphtheria, tetanus, measles, polio and pertussis, WHO and other independent agencies like the National Family Health Survey put the figure at 42,” said Dr Joseph L. Mathew, while speaking on “Expanding the Immunisation Programme “at a CME organised by the Indian Academy of Paediatrics, Chandigarh chapter at the PGI, today. Doctors said not only was there a need to improve the coverage of the existing vaccines but also it was required to add other vaccines like MMR, Hib and hepatitis. The situation in the states of Bihar, Orissa and Uttar Pradesh was the worst while in the city the coverage per centage stood at 79. Even though there were 40,000 persons carrying hepatitis in the city alone but even now no programme had been launched to check the problem. “Seeing the gravity of the problem some states and cities have been selected under a national programme where hepatitis-B vaccine will be provided free of cost to all, informed Dr M.P. Minocha, Director, Family Welfare Bureau. The problem in the effective coverage of children under the immunisation programme is faced in the case of migrant population. “Since a majority of migrant population goes back to their native villages for delivery and return after a few months, their children are often left uncovered, which is why the figures in UT are not satisfactory,” said health officials. Dr Sunit Singhi, president of the association, said the need for including other diseases in the immunisation programme was being felt but a lot of expenditure would be involved as some of these vaccines were expensive.  |
|
Disabled,
yet living life to fullest Chandigarh, march 30 With
no known cure for the disease, which affects muscles leading to
disability and consequent death, it is not easy for such patients and
their families to come to terms with the harsh reality. “More than
the doctors it is persons suffering from the disease who can motivate
us to try and lead a normal life and this helps a lot,” says a
mother of two teenaged sons, who have been disabled due to myopathy. More
than 50 members of the Chandigarh Muscular Dystrophy Association from
Punjab, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh and Chandigarh come together every
year to share their joys and sorrows at the Lake Club here. “What
hurts the most is when you go to a doctor and he curtly tells you that
there is no cure, which makes you feel miserable as if it is the end
of everything,” says a 42-year-old patient from Solan, who attended
the get-together today. It is the family of Goyals from Solan whose
three members are suffering from muscular dystrophy, to whom the
credit for bringing all such persons together goes. “It was in 1992
that around 20 persons suffering from myopathy formed a body in Solan,
after which we got in touch with others in Chandigarh,” says
Sanjana, president of the Solan chapter. “Despite being dystrophy
patients, both my brothers and I make it a point to remain active as
we look after our respective business and lead a normal life,” says
Sanjana, who runs her own boutique in Solan. Our endeavour has been to
encourage people with this problem to come out and lead an active life
so that they can remain mentally agile and lead a normal life despite
disability, she adds. “Being a rare disease, such patients keep
suffering as majority of the doctors fail to diagnose the problem,
symptoms of which start appearing at the age of 10,” says Dr Raj
Bahadur, MS and Head of Orthopaedics at Government Medical College and
Hospital. Though there is no specific cure for it, early diagnosis and
physiotherapy can help reduce dystrophy of muscles, adds Dr S.
Prabhakar, head of the Neurology Department at PGI. In such patients, it is the family support which is very important as the person becomes dependent on them as disability increases, stresses Mr Gurbir Singh, president of the Chandigarh chapter of the association. Despite suffering from the problem for decades he has been working as an engineer with the PSEB. It
is very essential to increase the level of awareness not just amongst
the public but doctors as well who do not guide the patients, feel
majority of them. |
Sunny, Kamaldeep take lead in SJOBA rally Chandigarh, March 30 Mr Anoop Sood, president of the SJOBA, said out of 63 participants, 41 were left in the race while 11 developed technical snags in the vehicles yesterday and 11 were off the route on the second day. In all, eight in the car section and 14 in the mobike category were out of the rally. Mr Sood said the participants were happy with the smooth conduct of the rally. They also praised the communication network between the marshals and the medical team. Sanjay Sikand and Ajay Jaggi’s team met with an accident just hours before the completion of the rally near Siswan Khurd and Jaggi got a fracture in one of his arms. Mr Sood said the rally was approved by the FMCI and great rallyists like Hari Singh were also involved in the rally. Mr Pranav Gupta, secretary of the SJOBA, said all three women participants were able to finish the rally. The pair from Shimla, led by Krishan Kumar, finished overall seventh in the car category. In the mobike category, Sukhjit Singh Rana defended his title. Mr Gupta said the final declaration of results along with the prize distribution function would be held tomorrow evening at 7.30 pm at Forest Hill Resort near Nayagaon. Results: Jeep category: Sunny Sidhu and Kamaldeep 1, Sandeep Sharma and Kulbir Dhaliwal 2, Rahul Khanna and Rashid Raza 3. Car section: Bhalinder Singh Sangha and Gurbaz Pannu 1, Amanpreet Ahluwalia and Anuj Kalra 2, Manish Verma and Arush Vohra 3. Mobike category: Sukhjinder Singh Rana 1, Anuj Mohan 2, Suhrid Sharma 3. Scooter category: Ishwinder Singh 1,Vineet Chawla 2, Vishal 3. Assault condemned The Chandigarh Photo Journalists Association has condemned the reported assault on Mr Sanjay Kuril, photo journalist with the Hind Samachar Group by Chandigarh-based cricketer Dinesh Mongia a few days ago at his house. According to Mr Pankaj Sharma, secretary-general of the association, a few print media journalists along with photo journalists converged at Mongia’s house after his arrival from South Africa. When Mr Kuril tried to take a picture of Mongia, the latter manhandled him. Annual Athletic Meet The 19th Annual Athletic Meet of Government College, Mohali, began here today. Mr Kulwant Singh, President of the Mohali Municipal Council, took salute from the NCC cadets and also inaugurated the meet. Earlier the Principal of
Government College, Mr Tarlochan Singh Sohi, welcomed the chief guest and highlighted the achievements of the college in the field of sports. Photo exhibition A photo exhibition displaying action photographs of the cricket World Cup 2003 concluded at Sector 17 here. The exhibition was organised by Shri Gurudev Photo Color. The formal concluding function was presided by Dinesh Mongia recently. |
|
Tough task ahead for COA Chandigarh, March 30 The city with close to one million population has good infrastructure for many sport while some have been neglected for years. The indoor gymnastics hall in Sector 7 has been neglected for many years due to shortage of funds. This hall, which has produced International stars like Kanwal Thakar Singh, was later converted into a gymnastics centre. But its condition continued to deteriorate as enthusiasm for gymnastics began to decline. Same was the case with the athletics track in Sector 7, which was once planned to be converted into a synthetic track for better facilities to athletes. Surprisingly the town where ‘flying Sikh’ Milkha Singh lives and also heads the Amateur Athletic Association of Chandigarh does not have a single synthetic track. The laying of synthetic turf in the Sector 42 sports complex had been delayed for many years. Even the national-level hockey tournaments like All-India Gurmit Memorial Tournament were being played on grassy grounds in Sector 18 hockey stadium. It was creditable, that despite all above poor facilities, the city team remained national champion having International players like Raj Pal Singh, Inderjeet Chadha. Sector 25 Patiali ki Rao shooting ranges, are capable of being developed into international ranges. But again due to fund shortage, they have been just turned into a graveyard. The COA should press the authorities concerned for laying emphasis on developing the desired infrastructure. If this is not feasible, the COA must find its own ways and means to promote that very sport and bring in latest facilities. The COA will face pressure from various bodies to grant affiliation. The local Chandigarh Badminton Association may get the affiliation with the COA. Although badminton made its maiden appearance in the Barcelona Olympics in 1992, till date the Badminton Association of India has not been affiliated to the Indian Olympic Association. The BAI had given the option to respective affiliated state units to seek affiliation from respective Olympic bodies. When contacted, Mr T.P.S. Puri, Secretary, CBA, confirmed that he had talked to new team officials and was hopeful that the CBA would get the affiliation with COA. Now, it remains to be seen whether Rana Sodhi, himself a former international shooter, along with his team, including Ravinder Talwar and others, would come up to the expectations of the sports fraternity here. |
 |
| Punjab | Haryana | Jammu & Kashmir | Himachal Pradesh | Regional Briefs | Nation | Editorial | | Business | Sport | World | Mailbag | Chandigarh Tribune | Ludhiana Tribune 50 years of Independence | Tercentenary Celebrations | | 123 Years of Trust | Calendar | Weather | Archive | Subscribe | Suggestion | E-mail | |
