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Tuesday, October 23, 2007

Cadaver transplant – a boon for exploitation

The Health Ministry of the Indian government seems to be promoting cadaveric transplants of organs. Doctors at Hinduja Hospital, Mumbai declared a 35 year women, who suffered brain hemorrhage, brain dead, and the five organs: liver, two kidneys and two corneas were transplanted on five patients. However, in India, cadaveric transplants accounted for only 0.1% of all transplants and there is potential for improve this to 10-15%. Over the years, cadaver organ transplant has been gradually developing into a feasible and comparatively cost-effective method in restoring the health of patients and this is a boon to all patients who suffer from organ failures due to some reason or the other. Lakhs of people die of organ failures every year. This hi-tech procedure will also discourage needy people from visiting illegal organ “bazaars” mushrooming in the country.

Apart from the moral and ethical issues with respect to the cadaver organ transplants, Government should bring out clear cut policy / guidelines to regulate this beneficial procedure. Some of the important issues connected with the procedure are: the individual’s advance, explicit consent in order to acquire his organs upon death, motive for such consent, objections from the relatives of the diseased for removal of the organs, transported a brain dead victim by road/air in under Intensive Care from one place to other, misuse of the procedure by the relatives/friends and unscrupulous elements for monetary gains, etc. Let this procedure be given wide publicity through television/newspapers to sensitize the public.

Saturday, October 20, 2007

Shelters for stray dogs

Stray dog is one of the major eyesores of cities like Mumbai in India. In every street corner there is a “gang” of stray dogs creating nuisance and having open sex. The Bombay High Court has directed the municipality to solve the problem at the earliest. But no success. It is reported that there is a ban on killing stray dogs by the courts.

The Mumbai municipality is unable to tackle this problem in spite of spending millions of rupees on sterilization program entrusted to some NGOs. It was reported that randomly dogs were caught counted for billing and left on the highways even without sterilization.

Now, the issue is building Dog Shelters to house the stray dogs. It is reported that two plots totally measuring 47 acres were earmarked for the purpose. The municipal Corporation is going to spend 90 million rupees on catching the dogs, transporting them to the shelters and feeding them. There are about 600,000 stray dogs in Mumbai alone.

There are many questions which need to be answered.

1. Whether all the dogs will be sterilized? Ethical aspect of the sterilization program.
2. Whether spending millions of rupees on sheltering and feeding of stray dogs when we do not do so for the poor people in Mumbai who sleep on footpath and starve.
3. What will be conduct of the dogs if male and female dogs are kept together and separately? A good percentage of the dogs is sick with skin diseases.
4. If other animals such as chicken, goats, sheep, snakes, birds, etc are killed and eaten as non-vegetarian food why so much concern for the dogs? Why they shouldn’t be put into sleep? What is the logic?
5. Dogs should be permitted to be kept at home only, under proper license and healthcare.
6. Who will compensate if a stray dog bites somebody (children are the main targets) resulting in injury with potential for deadly Rabies disease?

Thursday, October 18, 2007

Healthcare status is pathetic

The Times of India, Indian daily dated October 18, 2007 brought out a story “India leads in childbirth deaths”, which is shocking to read. It is reported that death rate of women in India is followed only by Nigeria and Congo! India accounted for one-fifth of the women died world over annually during childbirth. The maternal mortality ratio is 450 deaths per 100, 000 live births. 1.17 lakh women died during childbirth in the year 2005. The states: Rajastan, Madhya Pradesh, Jharkhand, Orissa, UP and Bihar record high maternal deaths.

India is one of the countries which pledged along with other WHO Member Nations, “Health for All by the Year 2000” at Alma-Ata in 1978; and in the same year it has also signed the International Covenant for Economic, Social and Cultural Rights – Article 12, in which the country is obliged to achieve the highest attainable standard of health.

Ministry for Health at the Central and State government levels are well aware of these facts. Health care policy I the country seems to be limited to family planning, immunization, selected disease surveillance and medical education and bio-medical research. It is reported that the healthcare expenditure is over 5% of the GDP (2002 data). But, due to the population, the per capita expenditure is very low. For a population of over a billion, there are just 15,500 hospitals (both public and private) in the country.

Over the years, the life expectancy has increased to about 65 y. With India emerging as a super economic power, demand for quality healthcare will increase and the type of healthcare requirement is already changing due to the rise of life-style related diseases such as diabetic, hypertension and cardiac related diseases.

The government as per its promise to the world body like WHO should come out openly with a political agenda and ensure availability of proper healthcare as the right of the Indian citizen.

Monday, October 15, 2007

Meditation – the stress buster

Stress has become a part of life. No one can avoid it. One can only control the stress level. It is true that some level of stress is good, in fact needed for giving your best in studies and work areas. Any level of stress beyond the certain level is harmful. Suicidal tendencies, over aggressiveness, road brawls and falling prey to psychosomatic diseases like diabetic, hypertension, skin ailments, etc. are the common symptoms of stress building up and affecting the health. There is great need to optimize the stress level. This is easy to say and difficult to achieve.

Yoga and meditation are the simple techniques by which one can control the stress level. The techniques develop a person as a whole, body and mind. Yogic postures keep your body healthy and meditation control the thought process of the mind and keep the stress level under check. Yoga should be practiced under the guidance of a trained teacher. Never practice yoga by seeing TV programs and referring to books. The yoga practices shown on TV are generally common and not person-specific, and hence can be harmful if care is not taken. However, most of the meditation techniques apparently look simple such as trying to control the breath, try to feel the breath, try to focus or concentrate on any one “mantra” or object, etc. This simplicity is the reason why people do not take liking for the meditation. They are not able to sit in one place without thinking!

Control over thoughts is not easy to get. One can go for “Sakshibhavana” in Vajrasana, with eyes closed, posture. The technique consists of not blocking the thoughts but allow the thoughts, good and bad, to come and go. You be a witness without getting involved emotionally. Slowly one will find the number of thoughts coming reduces and will be able to calm the “utal putal” of the mind and relax.

It is reported that even a brief meditation can boost concentration and curb stress level. Then whom are you waiting for. Contact any reputed yoga and meditation center or a good yoga teacher and start practicing. Good luck to you.

Wednesday, October 10, 2007

Human-animal mix creatures

This year’s Noble prize for medicine goes to the group of people working on stem cell research. The research has innumerable benefits in terms of investigating various diseases such as Alzheimer's, Parkinson's, at molecular level and provides possibilities of genetic therapies and to create healthy new tissue in the laboratories. From reading genetic code one can go for writing the code, the way one wants it! Man is trying to attain God’s level.

For example, in UK scientists are allowed to create human-animal embryos for research purposes. Such embryos if implanted into a woman or an animal, may create undesirable freaky creatures. Hence, though the research and other cloning techniques have immense benefits in medicine, it is banned in many countries fearing misuse. Caution is the key.

Within a few years, don’t be surprised if one finds creatures, half human and half animals (seen in Hindu mythology) standing in Queue next to you! The group of man-made freak creatures will ask for reservations in higher education in line with the reservation of the Schedule Castes and Tribes in India. Be ready for more competitions!

Tuesday, October 2, 2007

Image of “Made-in-China” products takes a beating

It is common knowledge that if one wants to buy any cheap item, go for made-in-China product. It will be cheap and will look bright and sleek. You don’t look for quality in those cheap products. Markets around the world are flooded with Chinese products. How a quality conscious country like US and UK can fall for these tactics and import Chinese made products? First, it was toys and jewellery for children, which is now followed by children’s garments. Toxic materials such as lead, cadmium were found in paints used in the toys and jewellery quantities in excess of the safe amounts. It is reported that the children’s clothes contained dangerous levels of formaldehyde.

The Chinese made cheap products are also seen in Indian, rural and urban markets. The difference in the prices is very large. So everybody is tempted to buy the products. The Indian government should wake up to this reality and regulate the import and marketing of all Chinese made products. The Indian consumer should be made aware of the quality requirements of the consumables through media such as television. There is a ministry to deal with consumer affairs! Come on, do something. Tell the public what the ministry is doing. Just recalling the products from the markets by the manufacturer is not enough.

Monday, October 1, 2007

India - Graveyard for hazardous wastes

Any development has to pay a price in terms of generation of waste, which needs to be safely disposed. The waste may be chemical from chemical and metallurgical industries and power plants, electronic waste (e-waste), plastic scraps, radioactive waste from nuclear industries, etc. Unless there is well established methods for safe management of the waste, the waste will find its way into the environment and pollute our water bodies, pollute the air we breathe and contaminate the food we eat. In fact, in nuclear industry, the waste management aspect is well established and care is taken at the design stage itself, and provisions are made for the safe disposal of the radioactive waste generated.

India generates about 48 lakh tons of non-radioactive waste hazardous waste in a year. The wastes consist of clinical waste, toxic heavy metals such as mercury, arsenic, cadmium, chromium, & lead, scrap plastics such as pet bottles, etc. The import is banned under the Indian and international law. It is reported that over 2.5 billion rupees worth of the hazardous waste was imported illegally in India in 2006-07.

The situation is not different in case of electronic wastes generated due to consumables such as PCs, cell phones, photocopiers, radios and televisions. The average life span of a PC is reported to be just 2 years. It is estimated that about one lakh tons of e-waste is generated in India every year. Mumbai alone produces more than 11,000 tons of the e-waste in a year. As on today, recycling of the waste is done in working conditions which are not safe for the workers and the environment. The matter is compounded due to the presence of organics such as polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), which may be carcinogenic. The situation is very grave in cities like Mumbai where the waste volume generated is very high and increasing every year.

There is an urgent need for establishing a system for collection, handling, recycling and safe disposal of this waste. People are looking at the Government regulators such as State Pollution Control Boards for tackling this all important issue.