10 areas governments could work with to reduce the harmful use of alcohol

(WHO): Each year 3 million lives are lost due to harmful use of alcohol. The WHO global strategy to reduce the harmful use of alcohol seeks to improve the health and social outcomes for individuals, families and communities, with considerably reduced morbidity and mortality due to harmful use of alcohol and their ensuing social consequences. It is envisaged that the global strategy will promote and support local, regional and global actions to prevent and reduce the harmful use of alcohol.

The global strategy focuses on 10 key areas of policy options and interventions at the national level. The 10 areas for national action are:

1. Leadership, awareness and commitment.
2. Health services response.
3. Community action.
4. Drink-driving policies and countermeasures.
5. Availability of alcohol.
6. Marketing of alcoholic beverages.
7. Pricing policies.
8. Reducing the negative consequences of drinking and alcohol intoxication.
9. Reducing the public health impact of illicit alcohol and informally produced alcohol.
10. Monitoring and surveillance.

Healthcare News Monitor

Centres hypertension control initiative prog expanded to 100 districts

ET Healthworld-PTI

New Delhi: To accelerate implementation of quality treatment for hypertension among Indians and prevent deaths from heart attack, stroke and kidney failure, the government announced on Wednesday the expansion of its India Hypertension Control Initiative (IHCI) to 100 districts covering all the states. According to government data, uncontrolled high blood pressure or hypertension is the most common reason for sudden heart attack and is a leading cause of death in the country. One in four adults have high blood pressure in India. Among people with high blood pressure, only half have been diagnosed and only 1 in 10 have blood pressure under control. As a result, a large number of people suffer heart attacks, strokes, and kidney failure while in the productive years of life, a health ministry official said. IHCIs expansion is being done by the Indian Council of Medical Research in collaboration with the World Health Organisation and the Health Ministry. Launched in November 2017, IHCI has enrolled more than three lakh patients with high blood pressure in government health facilities in 25 selected districts in Punjab, Madhya Pradesh, Kerala, Telangana, and Maharashtra. "Now IHCI will expand to 100 districts across India covering all the states. The project will accelerate the implementation of quality hypertension treatment for over 15 crore people over the next four years and prevent deaths from heart attack, stroke and kidney failure," the official said.

Can National Essential Diagnostics List alone fight India’s healthcare battles?

Financial Express

Protection of patients, stronger regulations and right to healthcare were among the focus areas of general elections. With the new government in power, we are yet to see how many of those will see the light of day. In a country spending only 1.15% of GDP on its people’s health, the appetite for better healthcare initiatives is voracious. In what could be a step in this direction, the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) collaborated with the ministry of health and family welfare and some experts to release the final draft of the National Essential Diagnostics List (NEDL), in the coming months (according to sources). As the government plans to launch pathology labs at more than 500 Jan Aushadhi outlets, it appears we are inching closer to finalising NEDL. What does it mean to the people? If all goes as planned, the government will make a set of quality diagnostic tests available at every healthcare centre, and the move could make more than 100 diagnostic tests accessible to people. While the move is laudable, India has healthcare battles to win on many fronts, failing which NEDL could fall flat. We need a more structured approach to address the growing challenges of the healthcare industry.

IIT Kanpur plans to set up Rs 800 crore hospital, bolster medical research

Business Standard

Indian Institute of Technology, Kanpur (IIT-K) is planning to bolster research in medical sciences through an interdisciplinary approach and has mooted a Rs 800 crore hospital and medical research facility. The institute has joined hands with Tata Trusts to prepare a project report for the proposed hospital, IIT-K deputy director Professor Manindra Agrawal told Business Standard on Wednesday. “There is a proposal to set up a medical research facility in the campus. In today’s age, a lot of other streams, such as computer and electrical sciences are used in medical research. Plus, we have a very strong bio-sciences faculty. They can all work well with medical research,” he added. The proposed 500-bed hospital is expected to cost Rs 800 crore and span 30 acres. Agarwal said the institute would explore the possibility of firming up alliances with existing medical facilities to promote research.

Pay ex-BSF officer Rs 50 lakh for medical negligence, hospital told

ET Healthworld-Joychen Joseph

Jaipur: Rajasthan State Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission (RSCDRC) has imposed a penalty of Rs 30 lakh on a private hospital Narayana Hrudayalaya in Jaipur and Rs 10 lakh each on two doctors Dr Ankit Matur and Dr Anshu Kabra of the hospital for medical negligence. The commission asked the hospital to pay the compensation with 9% interest from December 2017.The commission issued the order on a petition by Radhuveer Singh, a retired BSF official living at Kalwar Road area in Jaipur. The commission said that the patient was admitted at the hospital for a bypass surgery. But the doctors, without his consent, implanted stent through his legs instead of hand which endangered the life of the patient. The bypass operation has resulted in rupture in his heart and blood collected in his lungs. When the doctors again operated to treat the above problem, he suffered gangrene on his right leg which had to be amputated to save his life. With one problem after another cropping up, the patient had undergone 14 operations and 42 bottles of blood had to be transfused during the entire procedure.

Health Minister inaugurates new facility at NCDC

BioSpectrum India

“National Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) has contributed phenomenally in elimination and eradication of several diseases of public health importance such as smallpox, polio, guinea-worm and yaws.” This was stated by Dr Harsh Vardhan, Union Minister of Health and Family Welfare at the 110th Annual Day celebrations of the National Centre for Disease Control (NCDC), in New Delhi. At the function, the Union Health Minister inaugurated the laboratory complex (Lab 3) at NCDC and the new building of National Vector Borne Disease Control Programme (NVBDCP) in presence of Ashwini Kumar Choubey, MoS (HFW). The L3 laboratory complex has five floors and houses 22 Bio safety level(BSL) II laboratories. Setting up of this state-of-art laboratory will give impetus to laboratory diagnosis of various emerging diseases of public health importance. Thanking the Prime Minister Narendra Modi for his visionary leadership and constant guidance, Dr Harsh Vardhan stated that under the charismatic Prime Minister, India is going to witness the elimination of diseases like Tuberculosis, Leprosy, Measles, Malaria and Kala Azar where NCDC is poised to play a very pivotal role. Dr Harsh Vardhan further said that the Ministry is committed to end TB by 2025, five years ahead of the global target of 2030.

Maharashtra: 7 more eligible for J&J implant payout

The Times of India

The state panel that has been scrutinizing patient claims for compensation in the Johnson and Johnson defective hip implant case has found seven more people eligible for payout. Since its formation last October, the panel has finalized names of 16 patients from Maharashtra to the central committee in New Delhi. A senior Food and Drug Administration (FDA) official, part of the five-member body, said another 30 cases from the state are under consideration. In all, the panel has received 64 applications from patients fitted with the faulty ASR implant and have suffered complications. The panel, which includes orthopaedic surgeons from J J Hospital, has rejected around 10 cases so far. An estimated 100 people from the state are fitted with DePuy Orthopaedics-manufactured hip implant. After the Centre approved of a compensation formula last November for patients with the implant, it was decided that state level committees would screen cases. The cases would then be referred to the central committee in Delhi, which along with the Central Drugs Standard Control Organisation (CDSCO), would decide on the payout amount ranging from Rs 30lakh to 1.2 crore. While CDSCO had asked the pharma giant to grant a compensation of Rs 65 lakh and Rs 74 lakh to two patients from the state, J&J had challenged the order in Delhi high court and said it was willing to pay Rs 25 lakh.