Asians sleep the least due to higher work and educational demands, says study

A new study indicates that young and middle-aged adults in Asia had the shortest sleep duration, and it may be due to high cultural demands. “Higher work and educational demands in Asian countries compared to the West likely explain the latter’s shorter sleep duration,” said M Gradisar from Flinders University in Australia.

According to the researchers,young adults in Asia had the shortest sleep duration of six hours 30 minutes, whereas those in Oceania has seven hours 14 minutes, and Europe had the longest at seven hours seven minutesYoung adults in Central and Southern America and the Middle East also reported short sleep of six hour 40 minutes. “Our findings suggest that cultural factors likely impinge upon the sleep opportunity of young people around the world,” Gradisar said.

For the study published in the journal Sleep Medicine, researchers compared the sleeping habits of 17,335 people who were asked to wear fitness trackers through which their 14-day sleep patterns were tracked … (Indian Express, August 14, 2019)

Healthcare News Monitor

Health ministry asks medical device manufacturers to register at information sharing portal as part of MvPI

Pharmabiz-Shardul Nautiyal

In order to effectively implement the Materiovigilance Programme of India (MvPI), the Union health ministry has directed medical device manufacturers to register at the recently launched Medical Devices Information Sharing Portal through hyperlink - www.mvpi.co.in. This portal would serve the purpose as an India specific tool to help Indian Pharmacopoeia Commission (IPC) facilitate baseline study of products available with medical devices companies in India and assure patient safety. IPC in consultation with Central Drugs Standard Control Organisation (CDSCO) has developed the portal to ensure that safe medical devices are available in the country. IPC has been keenly working on the development of resource material and reporting tools as the National Coordination Centre (NCC) for MvPI which was launched in 2015. Other reporting tools and reference documents for manufacturers available on IPC website are an updated medical devices adverse event reporting (MDAER) Form (version 1.1), a field safety corrective action (FSCA) form, a reference manual for medical devices and a handbook for MvPI. Union health ministry is also planning to create a Registry of High Risk Medical Devices to effectively study and follow medical device associated adverse events (MDAE) and enable dangerous ones to be withdrawn from the market.

Living legend award for nutrition scientist

The Hindu 

Nutrition scientist Coluthur Gopalan, regarded the father of nutrition research in India, was conferred with the first ‘FANS Living Legend Award’ by Federation of Asian Nutrition Societies (FANS) at its meeting held during the 13th Asian Congress of Nutrition in Bali last week. Dr. Gopalan has served as Director of ICMR-National Institute of Nutrition (ICMR-NIN) from 1961-1973 with research under his leadership forming the basis for major national nutrition programmes initiated in the 1970s. After serving as Director General, ICMR (1974-79), he established the Nutrition Foundation of India (NFI) and has been its president since then. He was the founder of Nutrition Society of India (NSI) and also FANS founding-member and continues to be its honorary executive member.

57.3% practitioners of allopathic medicine are not qualified: Health Ministry

The Hindu 

“At present, 57.3% of personnel currently practising allopathic medicine do not have a medical qualification,” states the Union Health Ministry’s data, adding that this puts at risk rural patients who suffer because of an urban to rural doctor density ratio of 3.8:1, and India’s poor doctor-population ratio of 1:1456 as compared with the World Health Organisation standards of 1:1000. “There is a huge skew in the distribution of doctors working in the urban and rural areas. Consequently, most of our rural and poor population is denied good quality care, leaving them in the clutches of quacks,” said Union Health Minister Harsh Vardhan.

Three in every 5 children denied of colostrum in first hour of birth, says report

Indian Express 

Nearly 60 per cent of children below three years of age in India are denied of ‘first immunization’ in form of the first milk of their mother, according to a new report by child rights body CRY. Colostrum is the first form of milk produced immediately following the delivery of baby. Colostrum contains antibodies to protect the newborn against diseases. It is considered the most effective, naturally available and least expensive life-saver ever. According to a report prepared by ‘Child Rights and You’, taking data from the latest NFHS survey in 2015-16, three in every five children in India have been denied colostrum. “Nearly 60 per cent of children below three years are denied of their ‘first immunization’ – as colostrum (the first milk of the mother) feeding is commonly referred to – as in medical terms it is the most effective, naturally available and least expensive life-saver ever,” the report said.