Saturday, June 7, 2003, Chandigarh, India

 

C H A N D I G A R H   S T O R I E S


 
HEALTH

Leprosy obviation by 2007 ‘unlikely’
Pratibha Chauhan
Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, June 6
With 30 new cases of leprosy being reported in the city every month and majority of them being migrant population, the task of eliminating the disease by the year 2007 appears to be an unachievable task for the UT Health authorities.

“It is only stray leprosy cases, at times restricted to just one per month, which come from the indigenous population of the city, as rest are from the migrant population belonging to the endemic states of Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Orissa and Madhya Pradesh,” says a skin specialist at the PGI.

“Ever since the launch of the District Leprosy Society in the city under the National Eradication Programme, the prevalence rate has come down from 6.6 persons per 10,000 people to 2.2, but bringing it down further to one seems quite unachievable, as handling the migrant population is not an easy task,” admits a doctor at the General Hospital.

The updated figures with the District Leprosy Society show a total of 1,690 leprosy patients in the city till date and around 250 active patients on real multi-drug therapy. The society, which has been given extension to continue its work twice earlier, is expected to be wound up by next year.

“The number of fresh cases coming to the General Hospital is over 20 per month, apart from those going to the Government Medical College and Hospital and the PGI,” informs Dr Uma Vasudeva, Medical Officer of the District Leprosy Society. She informed that Indira Colony, Mani Majra, Mauli Jagran, Bapu Dham colony, Industrial Area, Colony No. 4 and 5, Palsora, Burail, Hallo Majra and Nehru Colony were the most affected areas of the city.

Under the National Leprosy Eradication Programme, a target of bringing down the disease level to one person per 10,000 by the year 2007 has been set. There is also a problem of compliance when these migrant patients go back to their native place and discontinue their treatment. “In case the leprosy programme is discontinued next year after being integrated with general health services, I have a strong apprehension that the cases will go up, as it will not be possible to devote exclusive time to leprosy patients,” admits a senior doctor at the General Hospital.

“In order to ensure that there is not a single drop out case, we send letters to both the district leprosy society of the area from where our patient belongs as well as to his family,” said Dr Vasudeva. This, she says, has to be done to prevent registering of the patient at two places and ensuring that they continue treatment.

Another aspect of the disease is that at times there can be cases of recurrence and require fresh treatment and those who have been cured need constant follow up for a minimum period of five years, stresses Dr Vasudeva.

She says leprosy is a disease of the nerves and skin, which is least infectious of all diseases and if detected early and treated properly can be completely cured.
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Over 500 examined at medical camp
Tribune News Service

SAS Nagar, June 6
The outreach programme of the Civil Hospital here proved to be a major success today. Over 500 patients were examined by specialists from the Civil Hospital at a free camp organised by the Punjab Health Systems Corporation. Inaugurated by MLA Kharar and Deputy Speaker Punjab Vidhan Sabha, Mr Bir Devinder Singh, the camp started at 9 am in the morning and continued through the day.

Giving details of the camp Dr Manjit Singh Bains, SMO, In charge Civil Hospital, here stated that 75 per cent of the total patients who visited the camp were women. ‘‘The most common ailment was found to be pyorrhea, a dental problem, apart from dermatitis, worm infestation, refractive errors and hyper tension, ’’he said.

More than 200 of the patients consulted more than one specialist at the camp. Many patients were also given medicines free of cost. ‘‘This time we also provided some basic testing facilities to the patients. ECGs were done on the spot other than random blood testing, haemoglobin estimation, blood pressure etc, ’’informed Dr Bains.

As many as 47 cases were given referral cards for further management at hospital level today. These patients will be examined on a priority basis at the Civil Hospital and if required to stay in the hospital, their registration and stay will be free of cost.
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SAS Nagar to have skating rink
Tribune News Service

SAS Nagar, June 6
There is good news for SAS Nagar youngsters. The township will soon have a basketball court and a skating rink. This was decided at a special joint meeting held at the PUDA office here yesterday under the Chairmanship of the Deputy Speaker Vidhan Sabha and MLA, Kharar, Mr Bir Devinder Singh.

The meeting was attended by the Additional Chief Administrator, PUDA, Mr Yashvir Mahajan, the Municipal Council President, Mr Kulwant Singh, and the Senior Town Planner Mr G.S. Girn, and a large number of other officers of the township.

The meeting had been called especially to discuss matter relating to Matour village. Among the various decisions that were taken include the construction of a tubewell by the MC here in the village to cater to the drinking water shortage problem. ‘‘The water here is being provided by the rural water supply from Sohana village but since one of their tubewells has failed, they cannot supply to Matour any more. So a new tubewell will be built at the cost of Rs 16 lakh,’’ said Mr Bir Devinder Singh.

It was also decided that a survey be conducted to solve the problem of sewerage in the village and a water outlet system will be established by PUDA costing Rs 1.74 lakh.

It was also decided that small vacant areas be identified across the township by PUDA to be developed into playing grounds for budding sportspersons. ‘‘We have asked PUDA to identify a place for a basketball court in Sector 69 and a skating rink in in phase VII here.

Mr Bir Devinder informed that the upgradation of the Matour school to the plus two level will be reconsidered as the present size of the school was too small to cater to students above a certain level.
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Good news for horse riders
Our Correspondent

Chandigarh, June 6
Good news for equestrian lovers!. Lakeview Riding Club located in the Lake Club, Sector 6, has opened its doors for horse riders. Though the coaching for horse riding began about four months ago, but people are still not much aware of the new facility being offered in the city.

Mohinder Singh, a trainer at the club, said the facility to provide horse riding could be possible only through the efforts of Col M.Berry, general manager of the club. He said Colonel Berry arranged five horses, all gifted by horse lovers, then asked trainers to impart training to children. Mohinder and Rajesh were two trainers, though at times the help of other experts in horse riding was also taken.

All five horses are thoroughbred, with two of them, ‘Sensation’ and ‘North Star’ having participated in various races. The names of the other three are, Romal, Miss China and Lily. The interesting part told by the trainers was that a horse could carry its name even seven years after its death.

When contacted, Colonel Berry said at present they had 22 kids on roll, and the monthly charges were quite minimal and lesser than charged by other riding centres in the region. On the training part, he said, to start with, boys were taught trauting, then jumping then tent pegging and other tactics. Trauting mainly involves controlling a horse.

He said they were putting a limit to members, due to scarcity of space, but once the new ground for horse riding coming up adjacent to new squash courts was ready, then they could hope to increase the horse riding members. He said equestrian was one sport where the city lacked proper facilities. But it was his dream to provide new sports facilities to the residents and equestrian was one of them. He said by next year, they hoped to train at least 15 -20 young riders who would compete in various competitions.
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Rahul Bakshi wins Southern India Golf
Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, June 6
Rahul Bakshi of Chandigarh won the Southern India Junior Golf Tournament in the under-13 years age category by a whopping margin of 15 strokes, according to information received here today. The tournament was held at the Bangalore Golf Course. With this win, Rahul became the top-ranked golfer in India in the under-13 years age category. He had also won the last regional western India juniors held at Mumbai.

Rahul started the tournament with a round of 82 and was closely followed by Madhav Soi of Delhi and Samarth Ghorpade of Bangalore, who had identical scores of 84. The second day saw Madhav Soi catching up with Rahul with a round of 83 with Kanishk Madan of Delhi just two strokes behind. With his lead almost gone, Rahul played brilliant and aggressive golf on the third day to complete the round with an excellent score of 77. Madhav Soi could only manage a score of 85 while Kanishk was third with a round of 84. On the final day, Rahul, again firing on all cylinders right from the first hole, returned a card of 77 to win by 15 strokes. Madhav and Kanishk had identical scores of 84, which gave Madhav Soi the first runners-up position.
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Sarbjit helps Jalandhar reach 239
Our Sports Reporter

Chandigarh, June 6
Chandigarh were 32 runs without loss in 13 overs in their second innings in the final of the Punjab State Inter-district Cricket Tournament for Under-17 section, played at PCA stadium, SAS Nagar, here today. Gurkirat (17) and Sidhharth (12) were at the crease at the end of the second day’s play. Tomorrow is the last day of the tournament.

Earlier Jalandhar were bowled out for 239 runs in 80 overs. Sarabjit was the top scorer with 93 runs, while Abhinav made 25. Naresh took four wickets for 72, runs while Gaurav Chopra claimed two wickets for just 22 runs.
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