Dehradun, June 25
It has become a habit with the Health Department to advertise for vacant posts and then take ages to carry appointment of successful candidates. At least in the case of three departments comprising the Physiotherapy Department, the Uttarakhand State Aids Control Society (USACS) and the office of Chief Medical Officer (CMO) no appointments have taken place.

After advertising for 13 posts of physiotherapists last year, the department has failed to issue letters of appointment to successful candidates who have real chance of becoming over age, if the government continues to sit on their appointments.

Due to rising demand for physiotherapists and occupational therapists in the state, the department had decided to advertise in 2009 for 45 posts of physiotherapists for different hospitals and health centres across the state and only three posts were filled on contract basis.

Last year, again it advertised for 13 posts but none of the candidates, who had applied for different posts, know the results of the exercise. The demand for physiotherapists and occupational therapists in the state has been triggered due to rising cases of accidents, though there are several youth registered with Uttarakhand and Uttar Pradesh paramedical bodies looking for employment.

“After the state of Uttarakhand was created, the number of posts for occupational therapists has gone up to 50. Several private paramedical institutions have also come up. Every year trained physiotherapists are passing out from here,” said Dr SK Tyagi, in charge of the Physiotherapy Department, Doon Hospital.

Several posts of the physiotherapists are lying vacant at the primary health centres and not a single candidate has been given permanent appointment. Recently a physiotherapist was appointed at Pandit Deen Dayal (Coronation) Hospital in the Physiotherapy Department, along with two others in different places.

Similarly, an advertisement for appointment to the posts of assistants and clerks to be deployed at USACS and at office of CMO, too, were advertised and candidates, who had applied, are still waiting for the appointment letter. 

Nainital, June 25
Union Minister of Women and Child Development Krishna Tirath has asked all states and Union Territories to set up State Nutrition Councils chaired by the respective Chief Ministers to deal with the problem of malnutrition. Krishna said during a meeting of the Consultative Committee of Parliament on “Malnutrition in Women and Children - Problems and Remedies”.

The minister said along with these councils, state coordination committees chaired by Chief Secretaries and having secretaries of the departments concerned as members for monitoring and evaluation of all nutrition-related programmes and indicators would also be set up.

The minister said: “It would greatly facilitate to have District- Nutrition Action Plans for enabling convergent and coordinated actions.” She said Secretary, Women and Child Development, DK Sikri had also written to the Chief Secretaries of all states and UTs on the above-mentioned decisions.

Tirath announced that she was personally travelling to all states and UTs to assess the situation with regards to malnutrition and intends to meet all young parliamentarians involved in efforts to deal with the problem of malnutrition later this month.

“Thereafter, the meeting of National Council on India’s Nutritional Challenges will be held under the Chairmanship of Dr Manmohan Singh. So you all can have the confidence and trust that our government is totally committed for eradication of malnutrition from our country,” the minister underlined.

She said, “Today, 42 per cent of our children below five years are under weight and 69.5 per cent children are anaemic. Twenty two per cent of babies are born with low birth weight.”

Tirath further said it is also important that access of poor and needy children and women to the qualitative food fortified with essential micronutrients needs to be improved by encouraging Public Private Partnership (PPP) and by co-operating with the organised sector to effectively use the latest technology and management skills in the exiting food distribution schemes.

“The nutritional content of the food needs to be enriched by way of inclusion of fortified wheat, flour, rice pulses, sugar and salt (containing food grade iron in adequate concentration, folic acid, zinc etc.) under Public Distribution Scheme (PDS) and as key ingredients under Mid Day Meal (MDM) and Integrated Child Development Scheme (ICDS) to effectively eradicate malnutrition and especially prevalence of anaemia among the children and the women,” the minister pointed.

She cautioned that though much is being done, everyone needs to concentrate and work on the solutions for malnutrition. “Each and every one of us has a responsibility in this regard which calls for concerted action up to the household level with greater social mobilisation, better convergence and massive communication measures

and nutrition education strategies,” said Tirath.

Nainital, June 25
The Ramesh Pokhariyal Nishank government came in for some sharp criticism from the Union Minister of State for Women and Child Development (WCD) Krishna Tirath on Friday.

The minister after a meeting of Consultative Committee of Parliament on “Malnutrition in Women and Children-Problems and Remedies” held here expressed her dismay at the fact that children in the state were not being provided Carry Home Ration over the last nine months.

“I came to know about this only when I discussed things with them during my visit here. Nobody even discussed the matter in a recent meeting of the Health Ministers of various states,” she said.

The minister said her ministry is willing to give as much wheat and other ration as the state wants for the children but it is up to the states to ensure that the children are properly fed. She also disclosed that her ministry has asked the Uttarakhand government to provide wheat-based nutrition to the children in the state. The Carry

Home Ration is a norm prescribed by the WCD ministry since 2009.

On being contacted on the subject the state government officials present at the meet could not give any clear reply and were evasive on the subject.

When being asked about the move in the state by the state government to close down certain anganwadis on the pretext of emigration of children, she expressed her disagreement.

“In fact, the anganwadis in the state need to be increased. I went to a centre today where I was told that there are 15 children but I found 23 children. Even during a

visit to a road side hamlet I found that there are many children who need to be covered under various programmes.

When we are willing to give everything, why is there this approach,” she asserted. It was disclosed that 38 per cent of children in Uttarakhand are born underweight.

When asked about the increasing Infant Mortality Rate being recorded in the state, the WCD Secretary BK Sikri said this can be on account of different sample registration being taken for assessment and added that the state government has been asked by the WCD to do fresh analysis on the basis of 2008 sample registration figures. 

Dehradun, June 25
With the danger of H1N1 still persisting, the state Health Department is starting another exercise of vaccinating health workers in primary health centres (PHCs), including Auxiliary Nurses Midwife (ANM) and Accredited Social Health Activist (ASHA) workers.

The state Health Department has in it’s possession 22,900 single dose vaccines for undertaking another round of vaccination any time now.

“Almost all front-line health and emergency workers, including doctors and nurses, at the PHCs will be vaccinated and we have sufficient number of medicines and masks to tackle the virus that may strike back once the monsoon becomes active,” said DG (Health) Dr CP Arya.

As a preventive measure, close to 9,216 medical staff in the state were vaccinated against H1N1 virus in April. At that time the department had received 22,100 vaccines from the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) that were administered to 9,216 staff members. “Now they will be administered a single dose of vaccine free of cost at all PHCs that will keep them immune from the virus for a year,” said state surveillance officer Dr Pankaj Jain.

The vaccination will provide immunity against the deadly virus that caused 13 deaths in the state. As the trials of the indigenous vaccine had not taken place at that time, Sanofi Panenza, an imported vaccine, was made available.

So far, 135 H1N1 positive cases have been reported in the state, but since March onwards no cases have been reported. Significantly, with the virus on the wane, doctors fear once the vaccine is available for public use, there may not be many willing customers.

“It may appear that there is no imminent threat from the virus, but the World Health Organisation (WHO) warning as pandemic continues to exist and vaccination provides immunity against the virus,” said a senior doctor.

With India made swine flu vaccine, Vaxiflu-S, produced by Zydus Cadilla now available in the market at Rs 356 (approximately), an indigenous way of fighting the deadly virus is at hand.

Dehradun, June 25
The Class IV employees (clerical staff) of the Ayurvedic and Unani Department demanding reinstatement staged a dharna at the Directorate of Ayurvedic and Unani Services protesting against their unceremonious sacking in August 2007, here today.

They said the Nainital High Court has already passed an order regarding their reinstatement, but the department did not honour the order that was passed in November 2009. Even six months after the order the employees were not reinstated.

The employees and their families comprising 140 members are facing acute financial crunch and are going from the pillar to the post to state their case.

Nainital, June 25
A meeting of senior citizens was held here on Wednesday evening to chalk out an agenda to promote active ageing in the region. At the meeting that was attended by about 30 prominent senior citizens of the town and presided over by freedom fighter Banke Lal Consul, it was decided that the senior citizens’ committees need to be set up across the region on the lines of the one operating in Mussoorie with the help of the Helpage India.

Senior functionary of the HelpAge India Dr Aapga Singh said, “The first such committee will be formed in Nainital and a recreation centre for the aged would be established, where they can come and interact with each other. Our plan is to start with opening a physiotherapy centre.”

Senior representative of the Government Pensioners’ Welfare

Organisation Chet Singh pointed out that the major problems being faced by the senior citizens in the region was that of inadequate medical

facilities and the threat to them from the unruly traffic. In addition to this, there is the menace of stray dogs, monkeys and langurs that have a tendency to attack them.

Talking about the scenario in Uttarakhand, Dr Singh said the number of old aged persons in the state was the same as the national figure of 9 per cent, but the problem got aggravated on account of the high emigration of youth that forced the old aged to take care of themselves. The figure was quite high for the Garhwal region where 12 per cent of the population was old aged. Amongst the cities, Haridwar tops the list of old age residents. She pointed out that there were only two government old age homes, whereas it was mandatory to had one in every district.

RS Mishra of the Varisht Nagric Samiti in Mussoorie said the main problems being faced by the old aged people in the state were neglect by family, expensive medicines, insufficient number of hospitals, housing problems and inadequate old age pension. Coupled with this are the problems of loneliness and absence of a place where they can interact with each other. There is also the problem of poor quality of life and unbalanced food, he said. 

Dehradun, June 25
A 28-year-old woman died after she caught fire reportedly while cooking food at herresidence in Doiwala this morning.She was admitted to Doon Hospital by her neighbours, but died during treatment.

Geeta Thapa was reportedly working in her kitchen when she caught fire and sustained 100 per cent burn injuries.

Neighbours rushed to save her hearing her shouts.

They doused the flames by throwing buckets of water.

The Doiwala police station hadn’t received information regarding this till the filling of this report. 

Dehradun, June 25
Ganga Prem Hospice’s monthly cancer clinic will be held at Punjab Sindh Kshetra Hospital in Rishikesh on Sunday, June 27. Dr AK Dewan, senior surgeon ad consultant, Rajiv Gandhi Cancer Institute, Delhi, will be offeirng free of charge consultations to patients between 9 am and 1 pm on Sunday.

Uttarakhand has more than 17,000 new cancer cases in the state every year and 70 per cent to 80 per cent of these cases are detected when the disease has already reached the advanced stages. Ganga Prem Hospice is also offering free of charge medicines and the services of a nurse for a day home visits to cancer patients.