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Ironically when Pune is making long strides in private health services, there is not a single municipal corporationrun hospital in the western parts of the city. And the one that was chipping in with some services has been lying desolate for the last seven years.

Jorvekar Dispensary located opposite the Poona Hospital, across the road that leads to Yashwantrao Chavan bridge, bears testimony to the PMC's apathy on one hand while on the other it represents the long struggle of a few individuals who have been fighting all these years to restore and revive the hospital.

The campaign aims to bring down chronic ailments like heart disease, diabetes, cancers and stroke, which caused 53% of deaths in India in 2005.

Set up by the health ministry and the Public Health Fotmdation of India, the sites - www.healthy-india.org and www.foodpyramidindia.org - possib1y give the best nutritional advice based on the traditional lndian diet.

"Cancers apart, major risk factors for other diseases are high blood pressure, high cholesterol, not eating enough fresh fruits and vegetables, obesity and tobacco use. Five of these risk factors are caused by unhealthy diets and being physically inactive, which we hope to change through the campaign," says Health Minister An- bumani Ramadoss. "A third of all cancers, too, can be prevented by eating healthy and staying active."

Diet advice apart, foodpyramidindia.org has a calorie calculator to figure out how many calories your body needs - based on your age, height and activity level. It also categorises 'physical activity' as moderate or vigorous, in addition to a daily routine like walking, climbing stairs, doing household chores or playing outdoor games.

Chairman H.C. Jehangir said that more than the machines, it is the doctors' care and compassion that outlive all the machines as every new technology becomes old and outdated with time.

Head of the newlylaunched unit, radiologist A.K. Bhatia said that Apollo is the only centre in the country where consultantbased services are provided 24 hours since last eight years. Elaborating on the advantage of cardiac CT angiography, he said that the technology is good for preventive purpose before the damage occurs and is done without any catheterisation. It is useful for evaluating status of blood vessels after cardiac surgery and the machine takes only eight seconds for this type of assessment.

He further said the unit is not only useful for doing cardiac angiography, but also angiography of the brain, abdomen and peripheral vessels. It is extremely useful in trauma cases, where diagnosis for the whole body is achieved within 20 seconds.

On March, , negotiations were held for the proposed joint activity between PMC and NARI. As per the plan, the centre will provide free guidance to people as well as treatment to HIV patients. It will also provide technical advice and training to the PPTCT (Prevention of Parent to Child Transmission) centers, which are operation at PMC run hospitals.

The doctors have, however, warned against irresponsible spewing any more. Experts contend that the phlegm of a disease-carrier can spread air-borne respiratory diseases such as tuberculosis (TB), pneumonia and influenza and even lead to an epidemic of TB, if the habit remains unchecked.

The habit remains a trademark of the city what with most public transport bus drivers and autorickshaw men invariably seen throwing a gobbet of spit on to the roads and pavements with complete lack of care and concern. Since most of them chew tobacco, they spit more often than others.

"The habit can really cause havoc," feels Dr Tushar Sahastrabuddhe, professor and head of the department of tuberculosis and respiratory diseases at Dr D.Y. Patil Medical College.

The prevalence of active TB is quite high in the country. "It is an established fact that there is one TB patient among every 70 people in India," said Sahastrabuddhe. "By the time TB is diagnosed, the infected person has already transmitted the germ through the air with frequent spitting," explains Sahastrabuddhe. And if the patient happens to be a tobacco chewers, then he is more likely to spit and, in turn, infect others, he added.

Senior citizens, who are residing within the PMC limits, can avail of the scheme's benefits by registering their names at the designated centres between May 15 and May 31. Only those who are over 59 years of age are eligible for registration.

Out of the total annual membership fees of Rs 1,500, the PMC will contribute Rs 300 and the remaining Rs 1,200 will have to be borne by the beneficiary.

Printed application forms are available at Sahyadri Hospital (Kothrud), Surya Hospital (Kasba Peth), Sahyadri Munot Hospital (Seven Love Chowk), Fatima Convent Sahyadri Clinic (Fatimanagar), Sahyadri lab (Dani Bungalow) near Sahyadri Speciality Hospital. The completed forms can be submitted at these centres itself.

The groundbreaking study, conducted by a team of researchers led by Dr Denis Xavier of St John's National Academy of Health Sciences in Bangalore, studied 21,000 heart attack patients admitted to 89 hospitals in 50 cities across the country. It found that while the cardiac risk factors in India - excessive tobacco consumption, high lipid levels in the blood due to fat-rich diets and hypertension - weren't dissimilar to those in other nations, what

It will give consumers information on essential medicines and their prices, and also help them locate a cheaper generic version if an expensive, branded version has been prescribed. The helpline will be run by a consumer organization,VOICE,and initially funded by the government. A toll-free number, which can be accessed from anywhere in the country, is likely to be introduced soon.

Helpline will prevent overpricing of drugs
A helpline to be launched by consumer organization, VOICE, and initially funded by the government is likely to be introduced soon. The helpline will also tell you prices of scheduled drugs, which are under government control.

In another move to benefit the "aam admi", the government has decided to promote sale of non-branded generic drugs (cheaper versions of branded medicines) by setting up drug stores in each district. These stores -- to be run by non-governmental organizations and agencies like Red Cross -- will sell drugs at reduced prices. Doctors at government hospitals will be asked to prescribe generic drugs.

The plan involves setting up a new set of air-conditioning system at the hospital's two operation theatres, upgrading the pathology laboratory and X-ray facility -- to make them operational round the clock, recruitment of additional staff -- including doctors and nurses, establishment for an intensive care unit (ICU) -- to deal with emergency cases and putting in place a new set of modern equipment.

The cantonment hospital, as it is generally known, is the only major public sector health centre for the 90,000-odd residents of the Pune Camp.

S.M. Mahajan, resident medical officer of the PCB, said the hospital will acquire a range of new instruments -- including defibrillators, air sterilisers, fetal doppler machine, orthopaedic imaging equipment and latest X-ray system.

"The renovation of the maternity ward has been completed and the new physiotherapy department has started full-fledged functions. The work on improving the interior of the pathology laboratory will also be over soon," Mahajan said.

The pathology and the X-ray labs will be made operational 24 hours a day, once the new instruments are put into use. "The upgradation will take care of the growing patients' needs, till the super-speciality project gets sanction," added Mahajan.

The Indian Army's Pune-based Southern Command is now embarking on a special programme to cover more than one lakh army personnel and their families under a scheme of oral health care.

The Mother and Child Oral Health Care campaign, a joint initiative of the Army Dental Corps (ADC) and the Army Wives Welfare Association (AWWA), will be formally launched on April 9 by Anita Thamburaj, AWWA president (Southern Command), at the Command Hospital here.

According to Brigadier Vimal Arora, chief dental adviser of Southern Command, around 100 dental officers and 300 para dental staff will be involved in the project throughout all states under the Southern Command.

"We intend to cover more than one lakh families of army personnel during the next three months. The Command Hospital will act as the nodal centre for the programme," Arora said.

Inaugurating the new hospital facility, the mayor lauded the efforts of the hospital in providing best of medical care to not only citizens of Pune and Pimpri-Chinchwad but also to those from other parts of the State. She said the hospital has emerged as the most-sought one for patients from the city and far flung areas. Rajashree Birla, chairperson of the Aditya Birla Foundation said in the short span of its establishment, the hospital has received good response from all sections of the society. "We are bringing in more and more latest technology services to add value and meeting the international standards in health care," said. She added,"Our ultmiate goal is to provide compassionate and cost-effective care to citizens sufferings from various ailments. We are fulfilling the dream project of Aditya Birla who had envisgased this institute."

To match the international standards for providing care in the SICU, the hospital has appointed high ly qualified doctors with international qualification and experience and specially trained nurses, it was stated.

"The centre will offer checkup, diagnosis and treatment under one roof, probably the only place in the city to do so," said Shivdeo Bapat, head of the centre and trustee of MMF.

The National Urban Health Mission (NUHM), to be launched in a couple of months, would cater to a population of around 22 crore in 429 cities and towns of the country, Union Health Minister Anbumani Ramadoss said.

"Out of this nearly six crore of the slum population would be insured," he said.

The premium for the insurance scheme with a coverage of around Rs 40,000-50,000 would be paid by the government to the hospitals directly.

"The beneficiaries of this scheme can approach both government and private hospitals," the minister added.

According to Ramadoss, this will help in ensuring a huge inflow of funds into the government hospitals as the Centre will pay the amount directly to the hospitals.

The beneficiaries might have to pay a premium of Rs 600 annually later.

The insurance will cover maternal benefits, Out Patient Department (OPD) facilities and other general diseases.

Chemicals and polymers manufacturer Dow Chemicals plans to develop its Pune unit into a global research and development centre that will focus on a wide spectrum of products which give it an edge in the Indian and international market.

Thinking Big

• The unit would be a global research and development centre that will focus on a wide spectrum of products which give it an edge in the Indian and international market.
  
• Ramesh Ramachandran, president and chief executive officer, Dow Chemicals International, said that the centre will be the first of its kind outside the US.

Ramesh Ramachandran, president and chief executive officer, Dow Chemicals International, said today that the centre, the first of its kind outside the US, will focus on discovering new molecules and develop novel applications for existing ones.

Dow Chemicals International is the Indian subsidiary of the Dow Chemicals which is based in Midland, Michigan in the US.

"The focus of the centre will be on energy conservation and water, as well as low-cost housing," Ramachandran said. Efforts will be made to use agri-based feedstock to convert it into materials that can replace metals or other substances.

Ramachandran said the Pune centre will work on globally significant projects in process engineering and optimisation, numerical analysis and modelling, as well as applications development.

He underlined that the centre will be confined to research and development activity and there is no plan to manufacture chemicals here.

Around 4 million babies around the world die each year before they are a month old, and three-quarters of them die in the first week of life -- mainly from bacterial infections, birth complications and prematurity. In an article published in the Lancet, the researchers said the list can help identify serious illnesses in infants under two months and bridge a gap in a previous checklist that did not cover infants in their first week of life.

THE CHECKLIST

• History of difficult feeding
  
• History of convulsions
  
• Movement only when stimulated
  
• Breathing rate of 60 breaths per minute or more
  
• Severe chest indrawing
  
• Body temperature over 37.5ºC
  
• Body temperature under 35.5ºC