HEALTH

A mission to curb tobacco consumption
Shveta Pathak
Tribune News Service

Ludhiana, November 21
If ever you happen to strike a conversation with Kanwal Nain Singh nine out of ten times the chances are that he will talk to you about curbing tobacco usage. Not that there is nothing else to talk about, but that is what he wants to talk about . For this is what is “the most important issue with tobacco usage claiming over 2,200 lives every day in India and 11,000 lives across the globe”.

Kanwal Nain has now made it his mission to generate awareness among people against the usage of tobacco in various forms. A government employee, he says he dedicates one-fifth of his income towards the cause. Not merely that, it is a part of his daily routine to visit different places and meet people whom he tells about harms that tobacco can cause to their lives. “Since it is not merely the user who is affected it becomes extremely important that all of us work in this direction,” he feels.

To eradicate this social evil he has a vision. “It is children who need to be made aware of this menace. So lectures and debates in schools and colleges during morning assemblies need to be organised,” he suggests. Mobile vans displaying posters depicting harmful effects of tobacco usage should be introduced besides film shows to educate masses, he says.

He also recommends measures like generating awareness among parents during parents-teachers meetings at schools, training of raagi and katha vachaks to sing at least one hymn relevant to the issue and wide publicity particularly in sensitive areas. Besides, proper enforcement of law is also required, he opines.

Not that all this is easy. Working towards the cause alongwith his job poses practical problems apart from the ill-treatment that is meted out to him several times by people. Narrating one such incident when he was ill-treated by a TC in a train he says many people brush this issue aside as sheer nonsense but we must always remember that we don’t have to wait till we face a problem. 

Lakhs of children given polio drops in city
Our Correspondent

Ludhiana, November 21
The campaign to administer polio drops to all eligible children in the district got under way at Civil Hospital here today with Parliamentary Secretary Surinder Dawar starting immunization in the presence senior officers of the Health Department.

Speaking at the occasion, Mr Dawar expressed confidence that very soon India would also join the list of polio-free nations. He dwelt at length on several other government schemes aimed at providing a better health care to people.

Civil Surgeon Dr S.N. Tiwari inaugurated the 5th phase of polio immunisation programme at a dispensary in Salem Tabri locality. Area councillor Madan Lal Bagga, Dr Balwinder Singh and Dr Inderjit Kaur were also present.

Dr Tiwari claimed that by the end of the day, more than 5 lakh children, in the age group of 0 to 5 years would be given polio drops in the district under the Intensified Pulse Polio Immunization Campaign- 2004. The health department, in active cooperation with other voluntary organisations, health institutions and NGO's had put up 900 polio booths all over the district. Apart from this, special arrangements had been made to administer polio drops to the travelling children with the help of 96 mobile teams of doctors, which were deployed on highways, bus stands and railway stations. At every booth, a team of four persons, comprising medical staff and volunteers were deputed.

Meanwhile, pulse polio camps were organised at several places in the city and suburban areas in the district. At a camp held at Guru Angad Dev Charitable. Hospital on Chandigarh Road here by Lions Club Ludhiana Royal, polio drops were given to 240 children. The club members also distributed biscuits among the children. At a polio vaccination camp, organised at Dr Kotnis Acupuncture Hospital in Salem Tabri area, hundreds of children were administered polio drops. The camp was inaugurated by Mr Madan Lal Bagga, Councillor, Ward No 4. Dr Inderjit Singh, Medical Superintendent and Dr Kuljeet Singh Bhalla were also present at the occasion.

The Rameshwar Welfare Trust organised more than 10 pulse polio camps with the help of health administration. At the main camp, organised at Rameshwar Public Labour School under the leadership of Dr Amita Jain, more than 600 children from 0 to 5 years were vaccinated. Prizes were given to the three first comers.

The district branch of Indian Academy of Peadiatrics set up four pulse polio booths at different places in the city. Dr Rajinder Gulati, president of the IAP, inaugurated the booth at Bindraban Road.

More than 300 children were given polio drops at a camp organised by Government Senior Secondary (Multipurpose) School in collaboration with the School Eco Club, NCC Unit and the local Civil Hospital. Among others, Mr H.K. Myer, Mr Pritam Singh, Ms Malkiat Kaur, Ms Paramjit Kaur, Mr Bishamber Lal and Dr Jasbir Singh were present at the camp.

Machhiwara: During the fifth round of pulse polio campaign here, over 9200 children of age group 0-5 years were given two extra polio drops today in Machhiwara Block. The campaign was inaugurated by the SMO Machhiwara Dr Harwinder Singh at Civil Hospital Machhiwara in the morning. As many as 83 polio booths were set up throughout the block.

10 pc children suffer from dyslexia
Tribune News Service

Ludhiana, November 21
To mark Child Health Care Week a workshop on first aid and a lecture on learning disabilities was organised by the district branch of Indian Academy of Paediatrics at R S Model Senior Secondary School, Shastri Nagar, here today.

Dr Harinder Singh, resource person of the academy, briefed students of senior classes about the help that could be given to an injured person by a non-medico. He demonstrated how an injured person should be handled at the accident site.

Dr Rajinder Gulati, president of the academy, talked on learning disabilities in children. He said some children doing poorly at school were actually intelligent. Their overall brain growth was normal, but brain areas concerned with skills of reading, writing, spelling, language or arithmetic were not developed adequately. This was called specific delay in development, he added.

The result is that although this intelligent child understands what is taught, he is not able to express it in writing because of his deficits in reading, writing or knowledge of spelling. So he gets poor marks. This handicap is called dyslexia or learning disability. At present about 10 per cent of young children suffer from this handicap, he added.

Mild forms of dyslexia are more common than severe forms. Boys are affected three times more than girls because of genetic reasons. It is important to detect and diagnose learning disabilities early in childhood because it is of great consequence for parents, teachers and the affected child who could be given special remedial coaching, he said.

Welcoming the members of the academy, Mr M.L. Kalra, Principal of the school, said such interactions with the paediatricians would go a long way in eliminating misconceptions about common problems in children.

Dr A.K. Handa, secretary of the branch, proposed a vote of thanks. 

Radiation oncologists’ conference 
Tribune News Service

Ludhiana, November 21
Radiation oncologists from across the country, besides a few from abroad, will attend a four-day conference to be held in the city from November 25. The conference is being organised by the northern chapter of the Association of Radio Oncologists of India at Silver Oaks Gardens, Pakhowal Road, Ludhiana.

Giving details here yesterday, Dr Arvind Verma, organising secretary of the conference, said the four-day conference would cover a wide range of topics related to the major disciplines of oncology, especially the predominance of radiation oncology. He pointed out that radiation therapy is the most commonly used treatment against cancer and its scope had widened.

Dr Verma observed that in the near future radiation oncologists would have to shoulder bigger responsibilities in prevention as well as in the treatment of malignant tumours.