HEALTH

Drive to tackle monsoon maladies
Our Correspondent

Ludhiana, August 10
The district administration yesterday launched a massive awareness campaign to educate people about preventive measures against diseases of the rainy season.

Addressing a meeting of school teachers, the DC, Mr Anurag Verma, called upon the teachers to shoulder the responsibility of apprising the public with necessary preventive measures against the spread of seasonal diseases like dengue, malaria and Japanese encephalitis so that the outbreak of these could be avoided.

Mr Verma was presiding over the inaugural session of a district-level two-day training programme, jointly organised by the Health Department and the district administration for teachers, nominated as “health in charge teachers” of all senior secondary schools of the district at Guru Nanak Bhavan here.

He exhorted the teachers to get themselves fully acquainted with tips regarding the preventive measures and to ask relevant questions from the doctors to clear the doubts, so that they could further educate other staff and students in guarding themselves against diseases.

He said the health in charge teachers would daily address the assembly meetings of the students to persuade them to take the message to their families and get feedback about the action taken from the students.

He said these diseases could be prevented easily by following the advise of the doctors and taking adequate preventive measures.

He also advised the teachers to create a sense of awareness among the people through the students to keep their surrounding clean, throw garbage and daily waste materials at proper places, to clear stagnated water in houses, follow basics of personal hygiene and to carry out regular sprays to eradicate mosquitoes. The people should be asked to drink only boiled water, keep the eatables covered and not to eat over ripe or cut fruits and vegetables.

Dr Ajit Singh Chawla, district epidemiologist and Dr U.P.I. Singh, head of Community Medicine at Dayanand Medical College and Hospital, imparted training to the teachers about preventive measures against diseases of the rainy season.

Heart diseases on the rise: surgeon
Our Correspondent

Dr Harinder Singh Bedi

Ludhiana, August 10
Heart diseases have assumed epidemic proportions in Punjab and the more disturbing factor is that more and more young people are getting afflicted. While this sudden change in the age group of the victims can be multi-factorial, the prevention against common risk factors is the key to save the young hearts.

These observations were made by eminent heart specialist and a pioneer in ‘beating heart’ surgery Dr Harinder Singh Bedi, who has recently started a consultancy at Apollo Clinic in Model Town here.

Expressing concern over more and more Punjabis being stricken with a variety of heart ailments, he said the main causative factors giving rise to heart diseases were stress, lack of exercise, obesity, diabetes, hypertension and tobacco intake.

Citing a recent case, he said a couple of days back, a city resident, just 35 years of age, had a massive heart attack that could have proved fatal but for the timely medical assistance.

Angiography of the patient, Karamjit Singh, revealed that his main vessels were blocked with clots and cholesterol and there was no other way to save him other than bypass surgery, which was successfully performed.

He said it was true that Punjabis were genetically prone to heart diseases, but this ‘loaded gun’ (of heart diseases) would not go off unless the trigger of risk factors was not in place. Making a fervent plea for “everything in moderation and moderation in everything, the mantra given by Lord Buddha”, he said the present generation might turn out to the first in history of mankind where the life span of coming generations was likely to be shorter than the average life span prevailing now.

He maintained that the risk factors, responsible for a spurt in heart diseases in the region could be prevented with minor dietary and lifestyle changes, but there was a dire need to create awareness about the risk factors among all sections of the people, particularly the younger ones.

“School teachers, NGOs and other voluntary bodies can play a crucial role in achieving this objective,” he opined.

Seminar on importance of mother’s milk
Our Correspondent

Khanna, August 10
A seminar on importance of mother’s milk was organised at Ramgarh village by the Child Development Project office yesterday.

Dr A K Singla said for better health of children mother’s milk was necessary. He said that mother’s milk was a gift from nature and it was the duty of every mother to feed her child.

SPORTS

Gujjarwal girls win football title
Our Sports Reporter

Ludhiana, August 10
Gujjarwal girls scraped past their opponents from Samrala 1-0 to emerge champions in football (u-19) in the Ludhiana Inter-Zonal Tournament here today. In the match to determine the third spot, Raikot defeated Sahnewal 2-0. Earlier, in the semifinals, Gujjarwal thrashed Raikot 5-0 while Samrala recorded 5-0 win over Sahnewal to reach the finals. Mr Sohan Singh Pannu was the chief guest.

In handball (u-19), Gill beat Samrala to annex the title while in the match for the third position, Jagraon outplayed Gujjarwal to finish at third spot. In the semifinals, Gill outnumbered Jagraon and Samrala got the better of Gujjarwal. Mr Sukhdev Lal Kullar, senior Vice-President, Ludhiana District Schools Tournament Committee inaugurated the football matches today. He was accompanied by Mr Ajmer Singh, DPE, Mr Amrit Singh Haiher, Mr Ajit Pal Singh, Mr Kamikar Singh.