HEALTH

Ensure quality neonatal care, say experts
Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, October 31
The health system should not merely focus on the mushrooming Intensive Care Units (ICU) for the newborns in the country but also ensure quality neonatal care. This was highlighted by experts on the concluding day of the Annual Convention of the National Neonatology Forum at the PGI today.

Speakers in the plenary session on the “Quality Improvement in Neonatal Care’’ said while the number of ICUs was increasing, they should also be properly maintained.

Dr Rohit Vasa, from Chicago, the USA, narrated how the quality improvements initiatives had helped to improve the outcome of the sick newborns in the USA and, Dr David Field, from the UK elaborated on different approaches to quality improvement.

Dr Shoo Lee, from Vancouver showed how networking among various institutions could help each one of them to imbibe the better practices of the other to help improve the neonatal care.

Dr Sunil Sinha, from the UK presented a novel technique of brain cooling as a treatment for babies who did not breathe at birth and suffer from hypoxia. By applying a device that selectively cools the head of the baby, it is proposed that brain oxygen consumption could be slowed down, thereby limiting the damage to the brain.

The president of the forum, Prof N.B. Mathur, yesterday said lack of awareness about the care needed by the newborns was the main reason for higher deaths and infections in the country.

“As many as 35 per cent of the babies delivered annually in the country are not properly wrapped in clothes, leading to its bleak chances of survival at birth. The babies should be kept at a temperature of around 36 to 37°C at the delivery otherwise it gets cold and the chance of their death increase because the body resistance of a new born is very low, making it vulnerable to catch infections,’’ said, Prof Mathur.

The expert said as many as 50 per cent of all neonatal deaths occured on the very first day of birth itself, making it mandatory for health professionals to immediately start caring for the baby after it was delivered.

“Indian hospitals also lack proper facilities of the specialised corners where the appropriate room temperature is maintained which is suitable for the newborn. Also, we lack the specialised trained personnel for the neonatal care, as merely 20 per cent of the medical and paramedical staff is specifically trained for the care of newborn babies. Also merely 37 per cent of the first referral hospitals have the facilities to treat the newborn babies,” said, Prof Mathur.

Another cause for concern for the president was the high percentage of low weight babies born in the country, which reflected the poor nutrition and neglect of females and girl child in India. “We have 30 per cent low birth weight babies in the country every year primarily because mother of the expectant mothers are anemic and poorly fed,’’ he said.

Prof Mathur, plans to send a proposal to the Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare for strengthening the health facility system where the neonatal care is awarded high priority.

SPORTS

PU, Pbi varsity triumph
Our Sports Reporter

Chandigarh, October 31
Punjabi University and hosts Panjab University won their semi-final league matches against Delhi University and Kurukshetra University in the North Zone Inter-University Basketball (men) Tournament played here today on the PU grounds.

In the first league match Punjabi University beat Delhi University by a narrow margin of 87-86 in the extra time as both teams were levelled at 80-80 in the stipulated hours. The half time score was 29-34 in favour of ultimate winners.

For Patiala, scorers were Jaspreet 26, Harpreet 21, Prabhjot 19, Hardeep 10, Jaspreet 9 and 
Amarpreet 2.

In the second tie, PU prevailed upon KU 97-68 with a half-time score of 35-32. For PU scorers were — Mandeep 22, Fatehjit 19, Yadwinder 13, Amrish 11, Amritpal 10, Sweetpal 9.

Punjabi University will play Kurukshetra while the PU will face Delhi tomorrow . The matches will begin at 2 pm.

Carrom titles: The Fourth Panchkula District Carrom Championship concluded this evening at Saupin’s School, Sector 9, Panchkula. It was Prikshit Vashisht of Bhavan Vidyalaya, Sector 15, Panchkula, who won double crown in the sub-junior and junior section.

Ridhi Kanwar captured the women singles title while Deepak clinched the men singles title. Tanya Mahajan bagged the girls sub-junior title. Mr Lucky Sachdeva, an NRI was the chief guest and gave away the prizes.

Kho-kho meet: Government Senior Secondary School, Sector 37, won the under-14 girls section title in the Third Challenger Kho-Kho meet played here today. Various other winners were the Khalsa Club in the women section, the Universal Club in the men section and Government Model High School, Sector 43, in the boys section. Mr Kuldeep Singh, Municipal Councilor gave away the prizes.

Cricket tourney: Hosts St John’s High School, Sector 26, and St Kabir School, Sector 26, outplayed St Soldiers School, Sector 28, and Stepping Stones by 54 runs and 10 wickets respectively in the Blessed Edmund Rice Cricket Tournament played here today .

Brief scores: Ist tie: St John’s: 155 for three (Vidhur 48, Sakshar 22, Ravi 20, Amit 2 for 34, Ripudaman 2 for 22). St Soldiers: 101 all out (Yashvir 32, Sandeep 22, Manuraj 4 for 18, Jasmeet 4 for 28, Ranbir 2 for 19).

IInd tie: Stepping Stones: 51 runs all out (Kanav 3 for 18, Karandeep 3 for six, Sarabjot 2 for three). St Kabir: 53 for no loss.

Karate championship: The 13th Chandigarh State Karate Championship concluded today at the Ajit Karam Singh International Public School, Sector 41. More than 150 karatekas from various institutions took part. The overall boys championship trophy went to Shishu Niketan School, Sector 22, while for girls it went to Government Girls Senior Secondary School, Sector 23. Various winners in different categories were, Vishal, Manish, Rohit, Sahil, Rupak, Avitoj, Ankur and Ashish. Among girls, the winners were, Kiranpreet, Meenu, Roopinderjeet, Swati, Mallika, Sneh Sharma, Sandeep, Niraj and Sangeeta. Mr Ravinder Talwar, Secretary, Chandigarh Olympic Association, and Mr VP Paul, Principal, CL DAV Public School, Sector 11, Panchkula , also graced the occasion.

B’minton championship: Chandigarh downed Haryana and Delhi by 2-1 and 2-0 respectively in the 5th North Zone Ball Badminton Championship held at Kurukshetra. In this meet, six men and five women teams are taking part. The information was provided by the Chandigarh Ball Badminton Association.