National TB Prevalence Survey

Dr Harsh Vardhan, Union Minister for Health and Family Welfare launched the National TB Prevalence Survey on Wednesday along with the new TB Harega Desh Jeetega Campaign. He also flagged off a van equipped with state-of-the-art testing facilities for the prevalence survey of TB with a sample size of 5 lakhs. In all, 25 such vans will be part of the prevalence survey, which shall take 6 months and will go to 625 clusters of the country. This shall present national and state level data, which will be used as a policy tool for further interventions. This sample survey is to be completed by 2020… (PIB, AIR)

Healthcare News Monitor

Modicare overhaul sees 554 packages nixed, 237 added

ET Healthworld/TNN-Sushmi Dey

New Delhi: In a major overhaul of the Ayushman Bharat health insurance scheme on its first anniversary, the National Health Authority has discontinued 554 packages, added 237 new ones, increased the rate of 270 packages, while also bringing down prices for 57. The discontinued packages include renal angioplasty with single stent (medicated) and eversion of hydrocele sac — unilateral. The list of procedures, which will now be part of the scheme, include right/left heart catheterisation and DJ stent removal. Packages have also been redesigned to provide better care to cancer patients. TOI was the first to report that government is planning an overhaul of the scheme on September 18. The authority-responsible for implementation of the governments health insurance scheme- said it has made a "conscious attempt" to keep the price of "abuse prone packages at the minimum level to minimise incentives for abuse". “We are confident that with the revision in the Health Benefit Packages of Ayushman Bharat PM-JAY, many new private hospitals will get empanelled with the scheme. This will help improve the access to good quality healthcare, and lakhs of vulnerable families will receive free treatment, health minister Harsh Vardhan said. The revised oncology packages will revamp cancer care for the beneficiaries and are aligned to reflect the current best practices in the country.

Kochi gets Indias first auto-immunology lab

Deccan Chronicle

Kochi has become home to countrys first research-oriented comprehensive auto-immunology diagnostic laboratory. Genomics-driven research and diagnostics company MedGenome Labs has joined hands with Care Hospital, Kochi, to launch the lab named Immucare in a 6,000 sq ft area in the Cochin Special Economic Zone (CSEZ). Dr Padmanabha Shenoy, consultant rheumatologist who owns the Care Hospital, said India has over 100 autoimmune diseases and is one of the top ten reasons for death in women and children. In the Kerala population, 15-20 lakh people have autoimmune disease in which the bodys immune system attacks healthy cells. It can affect different organs. "Immucare would be the only centre in the country dedicated to research, diagnostics and analysis of autoimmune diseases. The markers and tests of autoimmune diseases will be primarily grouped under the specialisations of neurology, gastroenterology, hepatology, nephrology, rheumatology, dermatology, infertility and allergies," he said. "The joint venture aims at providing clinicians accurate, precise and timely diagnosis which will further help reduce the adverse effect of autoimmune and associated ailments, apart from research for the development of tests, products and tools to enhance patient care."

Probe clears doctor in 60 kids’ death in Gorakhpur hospital

The Tribune

A departmental inquiry has absolved pediatrician Dr Kafeel Khan of the charges of medical negligence, corruption and dereliction of duty on the day more than 60 children died at Gorakhpurs BRD Medical College due to oxygen shortage in August 2017. The report comes two years after Khan was suspended from the hospital and spent nine months in jail for the charges that he has now been cleared of. The doctor, who is out on bail, continues to be suspended from the BRD Medical College. He has demanded a CBI probe into the tragedy. Interestingly, investigating officer Himanshu Kumar, Principal Secretary (Stamps & Registration Department) had submitted the probe report into the deaths to the Medical Education Department on April 18, 2019. But neither did the Uttar Pradesh government take any action on it, nor did it make the report public. Khan has blamed the state government for keeping him in the dark about being absolved of the allegations made against him for around five months.

Biocon to reduce insulin prices to 10 cents per day

ET Healthworld - Ayan Pramanik

Biocon plans to bring down the cost of insulin to 10 cents (roughly Rs 7) from the $ 5 (Rs 350) currently. “Biocon will make its recombinant human insulin available at less than 10 cents per day in low and middle income countries. These countries contribute to 80% of the global diabetes burden. In comparison, the current US list price in retail is more than $5 / day or more,” said Kiran Mazumdar Shaw, chairperson and managing director, Biocon at UNAIDS Health Innovation Exchange in New York. Shaw said accessibility of insulin has been a major concern over the years due to its escalating price. The Bengaluru-headquartered biotech firm said it is “committed” to reducing the price of insulin “even further” through partnerships with agencies such as World Health Organisation (WHO) in order to break the barrier to access in certain geographies which are “too poor to deal with the challenge of diabetes on their own”. Diabetes is a global pandemic that affects nearly half a billion people and four out of five diabetic patients live in low and middle income countries, said the Biocon chairperson. “(Frederick) Banting and (Charles) Best (the duo who discovered insulin) gave us this pivotal breakthrough hormone that saves millions of diabetics each year. Despite its universal availability for the last 97 years, it is yet to be universally accessible.”

Assam doctor fined for medical negligence

India Today -PTI

Assam Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has found a doctor of an urban health centre guilty of medical negligence leading to the death of a woman, and ordered him to provide Rs 5 lakh compensation to the patients husband. A full bench of the AHRC, including its chairperson Justice T Vaiphei, on Wednesday found Dr Ghanashyam Thakuria of Ambari Urban Health Centre, guilty of medical negligence that led to the death of one Pinky Das in 2017, an AHRC press release said. The Commission recommended that the amount be paid by Dr Thakuria to the patients husband within two months. "As the employer of the charged officer, it is open to the State Government to pay the said amount on his behalf and recover the same from his salary by instalment or otherwise," the AHRC release said. The AHRC had registered a case on the basis of a complaint filed by the patients husband in October, 2017. Pinky Das had visited the doctor with symptoms of backache, mild fever, lower abdominal pain and burning sensation. "At the time of her examination, she had normal blood pressure, normal pulse, but tenderness on her lower abdomen and both sides of her kidney region, which were diagnosed as symptoms of urinary tract infection.

Odisha: Police arrest 14 touts from government hospital premises

India Today - PTI

The police have arrested at least 14 touts from the premises of three major state-run hospitals in Odisha, a senior police officer said on Thursday. Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik while addressing the Superintendents of Police and Chief District Medical Officers on Wednesday evening had asked the police to ensure that government hospital premises are free of middlemen and directed doctors to provide quality healthcare services to patients. While the Commissionerate of Police, Bhubaneswar-Cuttack on Wednesday night arrested four persons on the charge of misleading patients and diverting them to private hospital from the Capital Hospital here, Sambalpur district police nabbed five touts from Veer Surendra Sai Institute of Medical Sciences and Research (VIMSAR), Burla on Thursday. Similarly, five other such touts were also arrested from District Headquarters Hospital, Bolangir, on Thursday morning, said Director General of Police (DGP) B K Sharma. "As part of our sustained efforts to weed out fixers, police arrested 5 middlemen cheating patients in DH Hospital, Bolangir. On the basis of FIRs, they are being forwarded to court. Further investigation to identify others in the operation continues," Sharma said in a Twitter post. "The accused were influencing some patients and their kin for treatment at private hospitals. They were also demanding money for providing them medicines which are available at state hospital free of cost. Detailed investigation into the incident is underway and the number of arrests might go up," said Sambalpur SP Kanwar Vishal Singh.