The Tribune, Chandigarh, India

HEALTH

Modern medicines very costly for
the poor: Naturopaths
Tribune News Service

New Delhi, April 10
The naturopaths have called for making traditional treatment a national movement saying modern medicine has become unaffordable for the poor. At their annual meet, doctors of naturopathy said the ancient method of treating diseases help people achieve harmony with nature unlike others. “The poor have not been able to get the benefits of advances in modern medicine,” said Dr N. S. Adhikari, Secretary General of International Foundation of Natural Health and Yoga, here last evening.

“The allopathic medicine has achieved tremendous progress, but its costs keep the poor people away,” said Dr Harsh Vardhan, former Delhi Health Minister.

An exhibition mounted at the National Science Academy, the venue of the meet, explained various methods of treatment under naturopathy like fasting therapy, mud-therapy and hydro-therapy.

“Fasting is an important modality in natural method of health preservation,” said Dr Adhikari adding that the “excellent treatment” helps people suffering from indigestion, constipation, gas, asthma, obesity and high blood pressure.

Clean mud dug from three-four feet under the surface of the ground, is used in mud-therapy, a “simple and effective” treatment for headaches, high blood pressure and skin diseases.”

Mud dilutes and absorbs toxic substances in the body,” said Dr Adhikari.

Taking bath properly with clean, fresh and cold water is all that is required in hydro-therapy. Body massage to improve blood circulation and to strengthen organs is also advocated under the natural method of treatment in which people are asked to shun junk food.

BODY & MIND
Get crystal-clear vision
Tripti Nath

Visual Aids Centre, an eye clinic in South Delhi, is now offering the latest FDA approved laser technology known as the CustomVue TM procedure for vision correction.

The clinic has installed the VISX Star S4 Lasik Laser System along with other supporting equipment for CutsomVue individualised laser correction. CustomVue has been introduced by Mesers VISX Inc. of the USA and is done on its latest equipment - the VISX Star S4 lasik workstation.

The visual aids centre claims to have got a wonderful response from persons with weak vision. Within three days of the installation of the machine, the centre has treated 21 patients with CustomVue.

Padamshree Vipin Buckshey, senior optometrist and Contact Lens Consultant at Visual Aids Centre, says that the new procedure promises better quality of vision.

“In the previous procedure, we were only feeding the prescription of the eye, which needed correction. In this procedure, we also measure the front surface of the eye and correct the imperfections of the cornea.

The patient has the potential to see 25 per cent more than he would see with spectacles and contact lenses. In this procedure, we change the shape of the cornea with a ray of light. The vision correction by this method for both eyes takes only 20 minutes and costs Rs 35,000. But, everybody is not a candidate for this. We need to study the thickness and all the contours of the cornea. Eighty per cent of persons with spectacles and contact lenses can undergo this method of vision correction,” says Dr Buckshey who is also an Optometrist to the President of India.

Dr Buckshey says that the VISX Star S4 with Wavescan LaAser System is suitable for most eyes as it removes minimum Corneal Tissue during the procedure and takes minimum time for laser application.

Redevelopment plan

The faculty, staff and students of Lady Hardinge Medical College, the oldest medical college in Delhi exclusively for women, are excited about the comprehensive redevelopment plan, which promises the campus better healthcare facilities.

The plan will be executed in three phases over a period of ten years. An allocation of Rs 250 crore has been made in the Tenth Five Year Plan for the comprehensive Redevelopment Plan. The Sucheta Kriplani Hospital and the Kalawati Saran Hospital, which share the campus with LHMC will also benefit with the plan. Sucheta Kriplani Hospital, which specialises in obstetric and gynaecological services and the Kalawati Saran Children Hospital, which boasts of the largest number of paediatric admissions in the world, will have a bed capacity of 2,000 by the end of 2005. At present, Sucheta Kriplani Hospital and Kalawati Saran Hospital has 650 and 500 beds respectively.

The comprehensive redevelopment plan will facilitate creation of a superspeciality hospital on the campus. This will comprise an in-vitro fertilisation centre and departments of fatal medicine, neuro-surgery, cardiology, cardiothoracic surgery and oncology and radiology.

New Chairman of DMA Hospitals

Dr Prem Aggarwal, noted cardiologist and Managing Director of the Sanjeevan Group of Hospitals, has been elected the Chairman of DMA Hospitals, Nursing Homes and Medical Establishment Forum. Dr Aggarwal has lost no time in meeting Delhi Chief Minister Shiela Dikshit to draw her attention to the proposed increase in property tax on private nursing homes, hospitals and laboratories.

Dr Aggarwal told the Chief Minister that imposition of property tax of business grade on owners of private medical establishments would result in a manifold increase of costs and have a spill over effect on consumers. It would make private health care out of the reach of patients.

The Chief Minister assured Dr Aggarwal that she would set up a committee to address their grievances. The DMA Nursing Home & Medical Establishment Forum was set up in 1988 to address the problems faced by owners of nursing homes and private medical establishments.

Doctor-patient relationship

The newly elected team of the Delhi Medical Association (DMA) led by Dr I. P. Dhalla, general practitioner of Daryaganj has chosen ‘Doctor-patient relationship-service with dignity’ as its theme for the year 2004-2005.

Recipient of the best State Secretary award (1986) and the best branch President award of the Indian Medical Association in 1987, Dr Dhalla wants to restore the harmonious relationship between doctors and patients. He feels that the ties between doctors and patients in the decade gone by have become a cause of concern. The outgoing team of DMA led by Dr Anil Bansal left no stone unturned till its last day in office to sensitise the political leadership to the menace of quackery.

Working towards its goal of Quack free and pollution free Delhi, Dr Bansal’s team on March 26 met the Health Minister of Delhi, Mr Yoganand Shastri, the Health Secretary, Mr S. P. Aggarwal, the Director, Health Services, Dr R. N. Baishya, the Drug Controller, Anand Prakash and the head of the anti-quackery cell in Delhi government, Dr Mohan Lal. The outgoing DMA team was assured by the Delhi government that it would table the Anti Quackery bill in the Vidhan Sabha after elections.

The Health Secretary, Delhi Government, informed the DMA that the Delhi Medical Council has filed cases against 28 quacks. He said that the problem of quackery cannot be tackled effectively till the bill is passed. Once the bill is passed, quackery will become a cognisable offence.

SPORTS

R R Gymkhana enter quarter-final
Our Sports Reporter

New Delhi, April 10
An all-round performance by Neeraj Chawla helped R R Gymkhana beat Najafgarh Sports Club and entered the quarter-final of the 14th All-India Om Nath Sood Memorial Cricket Tournament at the Guru Gobind Singh College of Commerce ground, Pitampura.

Neeraj Chawla was given the man of the match award for his unbeaten knock of 68 off 64 balls, with two fours and two sixes.

Scores: R R Gymkhana: 202 for 9 in 40 overs (Neeraj Chawla 64 n o, Deepak Sharma 25, Shami Wadhwa took three wickets). Najafgarh: 135 all out in 35 overs (Naveen Gahlot 26, Shami Wadhwa 23, Narender Kumar 3 for 13, Himanshu Chawla 2 for 20).

Rakesh, Ravi Uniyal shine

An all-round display by Rakesh Rawat (45 n o and 3 for 8) and deadly bowling by Ravi Uniyal 4 for 20 helped Pan Business List beat S. T. Micro Electronics by nine wickets and entered the final of the Suntan Cup Cricket Tournament at the Airport Authority of India ground.

Scores: S.T. Micro: 109 all out in 22 overs (Bipin Bandhu 39, Ved Prakash 25, Ravi Uniyal 4 for 20, Rakesh Rawat 3 for 8, Kuldeep 2 for 15).

Pan Business List: 110 for 11 in 20 overs (Rakesh Rawat 45 n o, Abdul Satar 40, Rajesh Narwal 1 for 19).

Hansraj School win

Exciting all-round displays by Varun Bharadwaj (32 n o and 3 for 18) and Mohit Sharma (32 n o, 2 for 19) helped Hansraj School, Punjabi Bagh defeat Sant Sujan Singh Ji School by six wickets and entered the quarter-final of the second Pankaj Jain Under-14 Inter-School Cricket Tournament at the Bal Bharati School ground, Pitampura.

Scores: Sant Sujan Singh: 103 all out in 20 overs (Varun Bharadwaj 3 for 18, Mohit Sharma 2 for 19).

Hansraj School: 104 for 4 in 18 overs (Varun Bharadwaj 32 n o, Mohit Sharma 32 n o).

Alcon Alpine win

Alcon Alpine Academy beat Dronacharya by 10 runs in an Under-15 Cricket Tournament at the Yamuna Complex ground.

Scores: Alcon: 187 for 8 in 40 overs (Manish Adhikari 54, Imran Khan 38, Jatin Kapoor 38, Kashay Mohan 3 for 34, Samarth Saxena 3 for 37).DCF: 177 (Lakshay Mohan 30, Shrey Gupta 29, Prakash Chand 3 for 40).

Indra Prastha Academy enter final
Our Sports Reporter

New Delhi, April 10
Indra Prastha Academy defeated Sonnet Club by three wickets and entered the final of the West Delhi Academy Under-12 Cricket Tournament at the Hari Nagar Sports Complex ground. Kunal Srivastava, who scored 64, was named the man of the match.

Scores: Sonnet: 156 for 8 in 40 overs (Arjun Gupta 55, Kartik Sehrawat 34, Lalit Choudhary 3 for 45, Noil Diabral 3 for 28).

I P Academy: 157 for 7 in 33.2 overs (Kunal Srivastava 65, Unmukh Chand 31, Arjun Gupta 4 for 20).

Abhishek Vashisht deadly

Deadly bowling by Abhishek Vashisht (3 for 25) helped R P Academy defeat Young Friends by 53 runs and entered the quarter-final of the 5th ARBDM Cricket Tournament. Abdul Sattar got the man of the match award.

Scores: R P Academy: 193 all out in 38.3 overs (Abdul Sattar 64, Ashok Kumar 31, Wilkins Victor 3 for 35, Rakshit Pant 3 for 24).

Young Friends: 140 all out in 34.2 overs (Sandeep Malhotra 53, Gaurav Vashisht 3 for 25, Amba Prasad 2 for 14, Sachin Rana 2 for 33).

Vikaspuri move into final

Vikaspuri Coaching Centre defeated Sonnet Club by one wicket and entered the final of the first R C Sharma Memorial Under-17 Cricket Tournament at the Vikaspuri ground. Shashi Kant was named the man of the match.

Scores: Sonnet Club: 123 all out in 32.5 overs (Ashwat Kumar 33, Vikas Garg 30, Pradeep Sangwan 3 for 23, Priyank Tehlan 3 for 21, Varun Kumar 2 for 20, Prakash Kumar 2 for 15).

Vikaspuri: 125 for 9 in 37.3 overs (Shashi Kant 32, Prateek Choudhary 30, Tushar Tanwar 31, Karan Rai 3 for 36, Vikas Garg 3 for 24, Karan Harit 2 for 9).

GHPS storm into q-final
Our Sports Reporter

New Delhi, April 10
Guru Harkrishan Public School, India Gate drubbed SSB Khalsa Senior Secondary School, Faridkot 13-0 and stormed into the quarter-final of the second All-India Sahibzada Ajit Singh Hockey Tournament at the National Stadium on Saturday. The winners knocked in seven goals at half time. Rajinder Yadav, Yashpal Hooda, Amit Bhargava, Mandeep Antil, Kulbhushan Sharma, Gurumukh Singh, Surinder and Sandeep Antil were the goal-scorers. Khalsa Senior Secondary School, Ropar beat Guru Harkrishan Public School, Vasant Vihar 7-0. Ranjodh Singh scored a hattrick while Gurjeet Singh, Bachitar Singh, Sarwinderjeet Singh and Balwant Singh scored a goal each.

In the third match, Khalsa College Senior Secondary School, Amritsar scored a narrow 1-0 victory against Lyallpur Khalsa School, Jalandhar 1-0. Jagdeep Kumar scored the match-winner when he converted a penalty corner in the 44th minute.

Sunday’s fixtures: Khalsa School, Ropar vs GHPS, Loni Road (9 am); Doabha School vs Khalsa College, Amritsar (11 am); GGS Khalsa School, Sarhali vs Lyallpur Khalsa (2.30 pm); GAD Khalsa School vs GHPS, India Gate (4 pm)— National Stadium.