Health

"The process of recruiting technicians and medical experts is underway. The remaining RHs and PHCs would soon be covered in its ambit one by one," said H.H. Chavan, chief health officer, Pune Zilla Parishad.

"We have started equipping the PHC and RH with diagnostic machines as well. The technician will carry out test with the help of doctors at the respective PHC or RH and reports would be digitally transferred to medical experts at Aundh Hospital and Bharati Hospital -- the two designated telemedicine headquarters in the city," he said.

Explaining the concept of telemedicine, Chavan said telemedicine is a rapidly developing application of clinical medicine where medical information is transferred via telephone, the internet or other networks for the purpose of consulting, and sometimes remote medical procedures or examinations.

"Telemedicine may be as simple as two health professionals discussing a case over the telephone, or as complex as using satellite technology and video-conferencing equipment to conduct a real-time consultation between a general practitioners and a medical specialist for the delivery of clinical care," said Chavan.

Elaborating on the expected benefits of the project, Chavan said the concept will go a long way in providing rural people with accurate and precise medical consultation which was hitherto impossible in villages.

"Most of the villagers run from pillar to post in quest of a cure to their ailments. They use every possible drug in desperation. This eventually affect their health and still the cure they are looking for, remains elusive in the absence of a medical expert at PHC and RH," explains Chavan. By the time such a patients reaches a big hospital in the city, the chances of his getting cured
are already dwindled, he added.

Commenting on how the telemedicine project has benefited the rural people coming to the PHC in Khed Shivapur, Ajit Karanjkar, a medical officer with the PHC said, "Around 10 people in and around Khed Shivapur receive expert medical consultation through the project every day." The Zilla Parishad first equipped our PHC with essential diagnostic equipment like X-ray, ECG machines and testing facilities to check blood, stool, urine and sputum.

The hospital located in Shivajinagar is a 10 storied, 110-bed hospital with state-of-art infrastructure.

Holistic healthcare is its focus. "We are equipped with 6 operation theaters, obstetrics ICU, the first of it's kind in the city, a neonatal ICU and Pediatric ICU," says Dr Amita Phadnis who has had 16 years of experience in neonatology and pediatrics. All these units are not only fitted with international standard equipment but also some unique features such as Hillrom Affinity birth beds, equipped with multiparameter monitors keeping a continuous tab on the patients vital statistics.

This makes it possible to wheel the patient from the labour room to OT without moving her. Giraffe, a Neonatal ICU, in addition to warmers and incubators offers precision control and care for very low birth weight babies. A special Billie blanket, for babies suffering from jaundice, gently envelops the baby, allowing them to be close to the mother. A special network of pneumatic chutes assist quick transmissions of medicines, injections, medical papers from one floor to another saving a lot of time during emergencies.

Be it special hand embroidered linen sheets suitable for babies or massage parlours for women, Cord Blood Banking to complete post delivery care, The Oyster and Pearl takes care of every aspect in the process of childbirth. The vital difference though is highlighted by Dr Avinash Phadnis, "This hospital is the finished product of 47 years of commitment towards women care. The staff is specially screened to select only those people who have the same compassion and commitment towards restoring health as us. The smiles, gentle behaviour and care make a world of difference to patients."

This hospital is also the only one in Pune to have Outreach Clinics, or Satellite OPDs , located at Kothrud, NIBM Road, Koregaon Park, Baner and so on.

These centers have a digital database and can take care of consultations and minor procedures, so patients stay connected with the main hospital without traveling too far.

A niggling question about affordability always arises when dealing with 5 Star hospitals such as these. Dr Phadnis has a straightforward answer.

Agents at rural IT kiosks run diagnostic units, data from which can be viewed by doctors elsewhere

Like most doctors, Radha Srinivasan's day starts early, which is hardly surprising, given the steady stream of patients waiting to meet her. Unlike other doctors though, Radha begins her workday by logging on to Yahoo Messenger. No, she isn't a chat addict; it's just part of her job, which also involves treating patients who live in remote locations. By logging on to the messenger service, Radha is merely indicating to the person manning the rural information technology kiosk miles away that she is ready to diagnose her first patient.

On the day we met her, it was 41-year-old Vijaya C, who had logged on from Iraniyur, some 15 km from Tirupattur (near Madurai). Because Vijaya's medical parameters are already fed into the system, it takes only a few minutes for the doctor to pronounce her diagnosis--viral infection. Quickly, Radha moves on to her next patient, while we are left wondering about the technology that helps her in this endeavour. It is tele-medicine alright, but with a difference. It's affordable and has an in-built diagnostic solution. And, the company that has pioneered this innovation is a little-known boutique firm based out of Bangalore, Neurosynaptic Communications.

Neurosynaptic's journey began in 2002 when founders Sameer Sawarkar (currently its CEO) and Rajeev Kumar (Director) quit their salaried jobs, and decided to turn entrepreneurs. Sawarkar and Kumar were communication and signal processing engineers with a passion--to explore opportunities involving the central nervous system (brain waves, in particular) and combine that with electronics.

"We knew that next-generation solutions would be inter-disciplinary in nature--the era of one domain or one technology is passe," Sawarkar says. "The future is all about different domains and the technologies available in those domains coming together to create new solutions. We wanted to be a part of this movement." Soon, the duo got in touch with Professor Vijay Raghavan of the National Centre for Biological Sciences. He, in turn, referred them to Ashok Jhunjhunwala and his TeNet Group at IIT Madras, which was working towards transforming rural areas through the use of technology.

It was during their numerous visits to the TeNet centres that the duo decided to shift track and focus on the huge untapped opportunity in rural healthcare delivery.

They wondered if tele-medicine could bridge the gap between what was needed and what was available. Was it possible to bring patients and doctors together on a single platform even if they were physically apart? Some work was going on in this field in a few rural IT kiosks--like basic video-conferencing and remote imaging for cataract patients--but it was inadequate in terms of helping a doctor get relevant information to make a proper diagnosis.

For instance, the doctor had no way of checking a patient's blood pressure, pulse rate or temperature--such things could not be done remotely. That was what prompted Sawarkar and Kumar to develop the idea of building a diagnostic capability. They also realised that there was a need to build a full-fledged solution that would allow connectivity with a doctor if required.

After speaking to a cross-section of doctors, they identified a basic set of parameters that could be built into an easy-to-use diagnostic unit. These included body temperature, blood pressure, heart sound, height and weight measurement, electro cardiogram and some basic imaging. The idea was to capture this data, both for current use as well as for subsequent visits to the doctor. Agents at rural IT kiosks would be trained to operate the unit and store the data, which could then be viewed by the doctor remotely.

These and other questions were asked during a random but scientific survey conducted by doctors from the Indian Medical Association (IMA), environmental science students from Fergusson College and University of Pune. While the initial findings show that noise levels had touched nearly 119 decibels (dB) at Mandai - the annual survey of the Maharashtra Pollution Control Board (MPCB) also shows a rise in the noise levels at certain places in the city.

While the decibel recordings were taken every 10 minutes at three spots in the city and presently are being analysed, the initial trends show that the noise levels were the highest at Mandai at 119 dB,. According to Indian medical standards the maximum permissible limit of noise in the residential areas during daytime is 55dB and at night is 45dB.

Superspeciality treatments like oral and maxillofacial prosthodontics -- which deals with replacement of structures in the head, neck and face region after oral cancer surgery-- are fast catching on since they are up to the mark and affordable even to the common man.

"A near normal life is indeed possible after oral cancer surgery and the patients don't have to resign themselves to a suboptimal lifestyle post treatment," says B. Srinivasan, an oral and maxillofacial prosthodontist with the Ruby Hall Cancer Treatment, adding that there is a need to effect a paradigm shift in our approach to the entire issue.

The real truth about milk:

Human bodies are not designed to drink the milk from other animal species. Dr. Benjamin Spock, America's leading authority on childcare was one of the first to warn the world against the dangers of consuming cow's milk.
Consider these cold facts.

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.