No country is 100% free of risk of import of potential Ebola virus disease

No country, regardless of how far or remote from the current Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, can be considered 100% free of the risk of importation of a potential Ebola virus disease case. However, WHO’s current assessment finds the overall risk in the European Region to be low.

The risk remains very high in the Democratic Republic of the Congo and the WHO African Region. The current Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of the Congo was declared a public health emergency of international concern (PHEIC) under the International Health Regulations (IHR) (2005) on 17 July 2019. A PHEIC represents an extraordinary event that poses a public health risk to other countries through international spread, and that potentially requires a coordinated international response.… (WHO Europe, Aug. 19, 2019)

Healthcare News Monitor

AIIMS starts internal enquiry into fire disaster

ETHealthworld-IANS

A day after a major fire broke out in the All India Institute of Medical Science (AIIMS) complex, the Central government-run hospital began an internal enquiry on Sunday to know what caused the disaster and how to strengthen anti-fire measures. Union Health Minister Harsh Vardhan reviewed the situation at AIIMS along with the hospital Director and senior faculty members."The fire which is suspected to have started from the microbiology laboratory area has affected some laboratories and office areas. The hospital area has not been affected by the fire and there has been no casualty," the hospital said in a statement. "As a precautionary measure, AIIMS administration had shifted patients from AB wing to other areas of the hospital. These patients have been shifted back to their respective wards. "The hospital along with the emergency department and emergency laboratories is fully functional," the statement said. It said the AIIMS administration had initiated an internal enquiry to look into the cause of the fire and further strengthen preventive measure."AIIMS has a regular fire prevention system. There are fire personnel deployed round the clock with fire fighting safety systems regularly tested including clearance of fire exits and corridors. Awareness of fire fighting systems among staff is conducted regularly," it added.

Health Minister Harsh Vardhan reviews fire-fighting arrangements at AIIMS, orders fire safety audit

India Today - PTI

Union Health Minister Harsh Vardhan reviewed fire-fighting arrangements at AIIMS and directed the hospital administration to conduct a comprehensive fire safety audit on Sunday, a day after a massive blaze at the teaching block destroyed samples and medical reports. AIIMS Director Randeep Guleria held a meeting with the heads of various departments and administrative staff to review the hospital patient care services on Sunday. A committee has been set up to restore full functionality of services affected in the teaching block, according to a Health Ministry statement. "It was decided that outpatient department (OPD) and emergency services will continue to run normally. Operation theatres (OTs) will be functional and the scheduled surgeries will be performed. "A committee has been set up to restore full functionality of services affected in PC teaching block. Additional staff has also been deployed for guiding the patients. He also reviewed the existing fire safety arrangements at AIIMS and discussed steps to further strengthen them," the statement said.

Successful Implementation of E-Pharmacy in Rural India

Entrepreneur India – Guest Article

E-commerce has been serving as the most valuable asset to every industry we have known so far and pharmaceutical is no different. Just as how easy it was to order fashion accessories and food earlier; it is now the same for medicine too. And although tele-medicine is about 4 years old in India, it still has a long way to go. Pertaining to its nature of trade, it becomes evident that the industry of e-pharmacy is crucial than any of its allies. Industry experts suggest that this sector has a great business potential and is expected to grow to a turnover of $55 billion by 2020. Currently, when the greater part of the items and services are advantageously conveyed to the patients doorstep, there is a requirement for access models that help patients and customers benefit the accommodation of prescription conveyance without expecting to leave their homes. This need could be tended to by a tele-medicine model, an e-commerce headed model, which gives access to medicines, through portable and Internet based portals. With the developing populace and evolving ways of life, rising number of different health issues remains a key obstacle in creating a developed nation. Giving simple accessibility of value prescriptions and treatments to even the farthest part of the nation has become a benchmark for driving the healthcare segment. This is when the internet has an urgent task to carry out in making the healthcare services available to all with shifted decisions and reasonable rates.

Health ATMs: The Next Frontier In Healthcare Delivery And Preventive Care

Inc 42– Adrit Raha

In December 2016, Essar Foundation established the first Health ATM at the Primary Health Centre in Palnar to provide quality care to villages of Kuakonda block in the remote Dantewada district. In October 2017, Max Bupa Health Insurance became the first insurer in India to launch Health ATMs and conduct non-intrusive medical tests and issue health policies for up to INR 1 Mn without manual intervention. In January of this year, The New Delhi Municipal Council (NDMC) launched a pilot project to install Health ATMs at various government hospitals. Health ATMs come in different avatars and with a different set of core functionalities. At a basic level, Health ATMs can be defined as private, walk-in medical kiosks with integrated medical devices for basic vitals, cardiology, neurology, pulmonary testing, gynaecology, basic laboratory testing and emergency facilities and staffed by a medical attendant. Health ATMs provides quick and convenient preventive health screening. They can also connect patients with certified doctors using high-definition video conferencing, digital medical devices and web/mobile applications. In urban locations, these ATMs serves as wellness kiosks as well. With the increasing prevalence of non-communicable diseases, the mandate is no longer about diagnostics, but, about preventive screenings and early identification of diseases. This is precisely where this technology play such a pivotal role.

Health Ministry suspends CDSCO official arrested by CBI over ‘corruption’ charge

The Indian Express 

The Health Ministry has suspended an official of India’s apex drug regulatory body, following his arrest by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) earlier this week on charges of corruption, it said in a statement on Sunday. The regulatory body, the Central Drugs Standard Control Organisation (CDSCO), has a “zero tolerance” policy towards corruption and is “committed to act stringently” against such acts, the Ministry said. “As informed by CBI, Dr. Naresh Sharma, Dy. Drug Controller (I), CDSCO (Hq), New Delhi has been trapped and taken in custody by them on 16.08.2019 and legal investigation … has been initiated,” it stated, adding the official has been suspended “with immediate effect”. According to his profile on a professional networking website, Sharma joined CDSCO in November 2006 after over five years in Dabur Research Foundation. Between 2000 and 2001, he was in a research and development role at Cadila Pharmaceuticals. He has also worked in R&D roles at two other pharma companies — JK Drugs and Pharmaceuticals and Paam Pharma. The specific details surrounding Sharma’s arrest are unclear.

CDSCO ushers in pharmacovigilance for vaccine ADR collection and reporting

Pharmabiz India– Shardul Nautiyal

In order to meet the requirements for reporting vaccine adverse drug reactions (ADRs), the Central Drugs Standard Control Organisation (CDSCO) is planning to strengthen pharmacovigilance systems for vaccine ADR in collaboration with global regulators, Pharmacovigilance Programme of India (PvPI) and immunization programme of India. This will be instrumental in achieving vaccine pharmacovigilance right from collecting to coding and finally sending individual case safety reports (ICSRs) to PvPI. Representatives from World Health Organisation (WHO), CDSCO, Indian Pharmacopoeia Commission (IPC), MHRA-UK shared experiences on the same with marketing authorisation holders (MAHs) to collect, report, share ADR reports and access database for signal detection in a meet held at CDSCO headquarters recently. he meet which was meant to plan effective implementation of pharmacovigilance system at MAH level also focused on generation of signals from VigiFlow ICSR database for rotavirus vaccine. CDSCO representatives deliberated on regulatory requirement of pharmacovigilance for MAHs in India with focus on the current situation of post authorisation safety studies (PASS). MAH representatives from GSK, MSD, Bharat Biotech and Serum companies also participated in the meet.