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Tuesday, October 9, 2012

Living longer is not a big deal?


It is reported that average life expectancy in India is up by 4.6 years in the decade ending 2008. Life expectancy of women in now 67.7 years and that of men is 64.6 years. This increase can be broadly attributed to the improvement in the healthcare and the overall feel-good situation amongst the population, financially or otherwise.

There are also undesirable incidences of senior citizens, most of them with nothing much to do and suffering from depression, caused by over-ambitious, career-minded children not treating them well resulting in them loosing mental balance and feeling utterly help-less. The numbers of senior citizen suicide rates in mega cities are increasing!   

The government should wake up to this reality and should have a national policy to utilize the treasury of experience and knowledge accumulated over the years, in the fields of education / training and involve them in societal welfare projects. 





Friday, September 28, 2012

Climate change deaths


Any delay in actions for controlling climate change is likely to cause over 100 million deaths by 2030 says a report commissioned 20 governments on climate change (Montreal gazette). Green House Gas (GHG) emissions by burning of fossil fuel like coal contributes maximum to the climate change.  The all-visible effects of the climate change are: melting of ice caps, extreme weather, water shortage, crop failure, rising sea levels, etc. More than 90 per cent of those deaths will occur in developing countries, said the report that calculated the human and economic impact of climate change on 184 countries in 2010 and 2030.

The world average temperature is rising and the countries have agreed in 2010 to restrict the temperature rise below 2 degree Centigrade to avoid dangerous impacts of the climate change. Temperatures have already risen by about 0.8 degrees Centigrade above pre-industrial times.

The developing countries like China and India continue to burn fossil fuel for their much needed industrial development. Every country, developed and developing, should ensure that the GHG emissions, mainly carbon dioxide, are controlled in equitable-basis to avoid watery grave for every one of us. United efforts are called for.


Sunday, September 16, 2012

Ban on gutka



The Mumbai High Court upheld the ban imposed on the sale of the gutka in the state of Maharashtra by the Commissioner, Foods and drugs Administration (FDA) under the Food Safety and Standards Act. It is reported that close to 30% of the state’s population is consuming gutka and related tobacco products before the ban. Even in schools, teachers, non-teaching staff and students consume gutka and the percentage is only increasing by the day.

The essential ingredients used in gutka are betal nuts, catechu, tobacco, lime and “permitted flavours”. Chemical analyses reveal that gutkha contains both nicotine (1.6–4.5 mg/gm) and arecoline (1.4-2.5 mg/gm). Significant levels of trace metals such as phosphorus, calcium, copper, magnesium, zinc and iron have been detected in these products. Some of the organics in tobacco and betal nuts are well known carcinogens.

Cancer index quantifies potency of a particular product to cause cancer and some gutkhas had a potency of 13.75, which is enough to ban the product in Europe and America.

It is high time that everyone cooperates and supports this legal sanction fully. Let us kick out this habit of mass public health concern.  

Sunday, July 1, 2012

Alcohol in soft drinks


Some of the manufacturers of soft drinks such as Coca-Cola, Pepsi-Cola seems to have admitted that the so-called soft drinks contain traces of alcohol (0.001%). They admitted that the traces of alcohol can come from the process. However, the government has approved the drinks as Soft”, probably because the concentration is very low.

This information needs further clarification from the concerned Indian government departments and analysis of Indian brand of the colas and other soft drinks should be taken up to confirm or allay the concern of soft drinks contain alcohol. One would like to know also the specifications for alcohol content in the soft drinks.      

Friday, April 6, 2012

World is thirsty – World Water Day (March 22, 2012)

There are 7 billion people to feed on the planet today and there are one billion people in the world without access to safe drinking water, while only about 15% of the world's population have enough (and sometimes more than enough) drinkable water!

It is said that each one of us needs to drink about 2 to 4 litres of water every day. Good amount of water is consumed in production of the food we eat. For example: producing 1 kilo of beef consumes 15,000 litres of water while 1 kilo of wheat needs 1,500 litres of water. Unfortunately, 30% of the food produced worldwide is never eaten and the water used to produce it is definitively lost! In addition to the need of water for drinking, water is essential for socio-economic development and for maintaining healthy eco systems. Suggested minimum requirement is 20 litres/day of clean water, while average water use in Europe and the United States of America ranges between 200 and 600 litres/day!

There is scarcity of water. The growth in population, rapid development of urban areas and demand for clean water contribute significantly for the scarcity of water. The scarcity is due to imbalances between availability and demand, the degradation of groundwater and surface water quality, competition/fight between the states in a country, inter-regional and international conflicts, all contributes to water scarcity.

Some of the solutions:
1. Integrations of rainwater into water management strategies, in addition to
focus exclusively on surface water and groundwater.
2. Consume less water-intensive products
3. Reduce the scandalous food wastage
4. Develop techniques to produce more food, of better quality, with
less water
5. Follow a healthier, sustainable diet
6. Connect the rivers within regions
7. Distribute resources equitably among people.

Wednesday, February 15, 2012

More surgical oncologists needed in India

There is pathetic dearth of cancer specialists in India. As per the report from Tata Memorial Hospital, Mumbai, submitted to Medical Council of India, all cancer institutes in the country produce merely 45 surgical oncologists in a year!

Cancer is projected to be major killer globally by 2025. About 5.5 lakh people die of cancer every year and over 8 lakh Indian are diagnosed with cancer annually.

In view of the above numbers and the Indian population, will this number of cancer experts produced annually is adequate?

Monday, February 13, 2012

Touch-screen hazards

These days almost everything needs to be touched to start working!

Be it the ATMS, billing counter at the malls, the mobiles, laptops, cameras, tea/coffee machines, portable media players, games and what not. Everyone also knows that our fingers, particularly when we are out of our homes are unclean and are germs infested. Every new thing created these days involve touch screen usage and hence everyone is spreading dangerous germs and viruses around since they all have to use touch screens almost everywhere during the course of the day. Children are spending more and more time playing indoors, using touch screens.

It is reported that the ATMs are even more germ infested than public toilet seats!

It should be now everybody’s concern: How to manage this serious hazard of possible world-wide increase in the contagious diseases like TB and other infections being spread by the unclean and ubiquitous touch screens? Is there a way out?