Time to take stock of your winter check list

Winter is here. Most people have still not overcome pollution effects. A deep breath of cold winter air can be risky for people with asthma, bronchitis, or COPD. (Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease). It can trigger wheezing, coughing, and shortness of breath.

Former president of Indian Medical Association (IMA) and current president of Heart Care Foundation of India, Dr. KK Agarwal said, "Even in healthy people, it can irritate the airways, cause the upper airways to narrow and makes it a little harder to breathe.” ....read more

(i) Well Marked Low pressure area over southwest Arabian Sea & adjoining equatorial Indian Ocean and its likely intensification into a Cyclonic Storm

ii) Low pressure area over southeast Arabian Sea & adjoining Lakshadweep area

Weather systems:

(i) Yesterday’s low pressure area over Equatorial Indian Ocean and adjoining Southwest Arabian Sea became a Well Marked Low pressure area over Southwest Arabian Sea and adjoining Equatorial Indian Ocean in the early morning of today, the 02nd December, 2019 and it persists over the same region at 0830 hours IST. It is very likely to concentrate into a Depression during next 12 hours and intensify gradually into a Cyclonic Storm during subsequent 48 hours. It is very likely to move west-northwestwards towards Somalia coast during next 72 hours

1. ii) Yesterday’s Low Pressure Area over Southeast Arabian Sea and adjoining Lakshadweep Area lies over Lakshadweep Area and adjoining Southeast Arabian Sea. It is likely to become more marked during next 24 hours and concentrate into a Depression during subsequent 24 hours.

Healthcare News Monitor

Siemens Healthineers sights diagnostic services outpace supply of experts

Pharmabiz India - Nandita Vijay

Medical technology provider Siemens Healthineers sees that diagnostic services are outpacing the supply of experts. Developing solutions for managing this ever-increasing workload is a crucial task for the healthcare sector. Moreover, as the workload is growing, diagnostics and treatment are also becoming more complex. This is where AI-powered digital twins enable the simulation of individual organ physiology. They are based on curated data and deep learning neural networks. Digital twins can be used to simulate organs. The vision is to extend the idea from single organs to the entire human body. The ultimate aim is to simulate the entire human body to better understand patient health, predict changes, and therapy outcomes, Gerd Hoefner, managing director and president, Siemens Healthcare told Pharmabiz. Diagnostic experts and physicians need a new set of tools that can handle large volumes of medical data quickly and accurately, allowing them to make more objective treatment decisions based on quantitative data and tailored to the needs of the individual patient. So, we have developed a portfolio of more than 45 artificial intelligence (AI)-powered solutions that help to automate and standardise work flows and complex diagnostics to meet the needs of the individual patient, he added.

Maharashtra FDA soon to make provision for issuance of e-licensing of cold storage delivery vehicles for drug distribution

Pharmabiz India - Shardul Nautiyal

The Maharashtra Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has finally decided to make provisions for issuance of online licensing of cold storage delivery vehicles for drug distribution in the drug retail supply chain. Pharmacy trade has been contesting the issue that online licenses for vehicles having cold storage for delivery of medicines at retail drug stores have not been issued in the past five years as the online system neither has provision nor any format on the same. “We will be making necessary provisions for online licensing of cold storage delivery vehicles by next month,” informed Maharashtra FDA Commissioner Dr Pallavi Darade. The Maharashtra FDA in 2014 had introduced XLN online licensing system for online disposal of licenses. There is a provision for obtaining 20 BB and 21 BB licenses under Drugs and Cosmetics (D&C) Act for bulk drug delivery through vehicle license. As per the provision, the state drug regulator can keep an oversight of the drug supply chain right from the wholesaler and C&F agents authorised by pharma companies to the retail drug store for patient safety. The online XLN system was introduced in 2014 across the state in order to accomplish timely disposal of renewal licenses, testing licences, licences for additional products, performance certificate and free sale licences among others but the online system has no format and provision for online application of cold storage licenses for delivery vehicles which is an indispensable part in drug supply chain system.

Centre’s public procurement directive to states may end up restricting competition: MTaI

Pharmabiz India

The Medical Technology Association of India (MTaI), which represents leading research-based medical technology companies with large footprint in manufacturing, R&D and training in India, has taken strong exception to the Central government’s recent directive to states to prefer indigenously manufactured medical devices for public procurement. It may end up restricting competition rather than creating a level-playing field. The timing of the directive, issued this month, is surprising as the industry is actively discussing the means to streamline public procurement of medical devices without disturbing the demand-supply equation, MTaI in a press release said. It is noteworthy that more than 70% of the demand for medical devices is being met by global companies with a large footprint of investment in manufacturing, R&D and training of healthcare workers in India. These companies operate in multiple countries and therefore adhere to international standards such as USFDA or CE that are recognised in India as well as all other nations. The recent directive seems to have ignored these facts in asking states to prefer Indian drug regulatory certification for public procurement. In a way, the directive limits the export potential of Indian companies by allowing them to conform to Indian certification alone, because USFDA and CE are considered as the standard for procurement in the global arena, it said. The press release further says that in 2018, the Central Government had issued draft guidelines for public procurement, stipulating that medical devices should have a minimum local content of 25-50 per cent to qualify for public procurement. At that time, MTaI had said a uniform requirement of 25-50 per cent local content without considering the missing ecosystem for manufacturing sophisticated medical devices and equipment will create a risk of garage manufacturing with low cost low quality Chinese knocked-down kits based assembly.

Sion Hospital’s dialysis unit shut down yet again

ET Healthworld- Lata Mishra

For the second time in 10 days, the dialysis unit at the BMC-run Sion hospital had to be shut down on Sunday due to a burst reverse osmosis (RO) water purification tank. Patients taken to the ward for dialysis had to be turned away. This was the second such incident in just over a week. Mirror had reported last week that on November 22 too, the RO tank had burst, flooding the nephrology ward. In the last month, this is the fourth time the dialysis unit has been forced shut due to problems with the RO tank, but hospital authorities are yet to find a permanent solution. After the last incident, the manufacturer came to repair the tank on November 25, and fixed the problem temporarily. However, on Sunday, a different part of the tank sprung a leak, according to doctors at Sion Hospital. Four patients admitted at Sion Hospital, who were taken for dialysis to the ward on Sunday, had to be turned away. Doctors asked the relatives to take the patients to other hospitals as they were not sure when the dialysis unit would start again. Among them was Tukaram Ramagude, 83, who is suffering from renal failure and needs dialysis thrice a week. His son Ganesh said, “My father need dialysis urgently. I was told to look for another hospital. I have already spent Rs 50,000 on his treatment. We are already in debt and I have no money to shift him to another hospital.” Ganesh added that he will wait at Sion Hospital, where the procedure is free, until the machines get repaired as he can’t afford to shift his father to a private hospital. When asked about the situation in the dialysis unit, Dr Mohan Joshi, dean of the hospital, told Mirror that he is on leave but added that he would get an update on this issue.