Covid-19 changes medication needs of masses

New Delhi: The novel coronavirus pandemic has brought about a sudden change in the medication needs of masses with a clear preference being shown for respiratory, anti-diabetic, cardiac therapies as compared to anti-infective, gastro, vitamin or pain therapies that had commanded higher demand in pre-Covid period.In the month of March, demand for Cardiac drugs grew by 18.8 per cent yoy and Anti-Diabetic segment grew at 14.4 per cent yoy due to pre-empted buying ahead of the lockdown. Similarly, the Respiratory segment (+26 per cent yoy) saw higher demand due to Covid-19 as the virus is known to impact this critical function of the human body....read more

CMAAO Coronavirus Facts And Myth Buster 64: Mental Health (Part two)

Can psychiatry wards spread COVID infectionsPlacing no hand sanitizer on the hospitals psychiatric ward fearing that the patients would drink it; making them sleep together in communal rooms with the windows sealed shut to prevent suicide attempts, are all conditions that can be a perfect environment for the rapid spread of a potentially deadly virus....read more

CMAAO Coronavirus Facts and Myth Buster 62

Coranxiety the Next PandemicAn article published online April 10 in JAMA Internal Medicine on the mental health consequences of COVID-19, warns of a “pandemic” of behavioral problems and mental illness.What can happen:The COVID-19 pandemic will possibly cause a considerable rise in anxiety and depression, substance use, loneliness, and domestic violence. With school closures, the possibility of an epidemic of child abuse is also possible....read more

You look at people the same way as you are

Honest people regard everybody as honest and dishonest people regard everybody as dishonest. It all depends on the type of people you interact with. If you do not take bribe, nobody will come and offer bribe to you and you will feel everybody is honest. If you take bribe then everybody will come to you to offer bribe and you will feel that everybody in the society is dishonest....read more

Health Sutras By Dr K K Aggarwal

Regularly exercise at home

Healthcare News Monitor

Indian pharma majors step in to develop, import coronavirus test kits

Business Standard- Sohini Das

Indian pharma majors are gearing up to develop or import testing kits for the novel coronavirus as demand for testing picks up. Big names like Cadila Healthcare and Biocon (through Syngene) are in the process of developing indigenous testing kits (rapid antibody testing kits). Some such as Eris Lifesciences, Mylan, and Gland Pharma, among others, are also importing from international suppliers. There are two kinds of testing for the novel coronavirus — the real-time polymerase chain reaction test kit that uses throat or nasal swabs and provides results in a few hours, and the other is antibody-based rapid testing kit that use blood samples and provides results in a few minutes. Cadila has also got government’s nod to import rapid antibody test kits from two Chinese firms — Hangzhou Clongene Biotech and Guangzhou Wondfo Biotech. These are CE certified, which means the product has been assessed by the manufacturer and deemed fit to meet EU safety, health, and environmental protection norms.

India sets up high-level task force to develop vaccine for coronavirus; to co-ordinate with global researchers

Business Today- P B Jayakumar

India has formed a high level task force to research on coronavirus and develop a vaccine. The task force will also coordinate with international community on vaccine development process for coronavirus. The task force will be co-chaired by Member, Niti Aayog, and Principal Scientific Adviser to the Government of India, Professor K VijayRaghavan. AYUSH, ICMR, Department of Science and Technology (DST), Department of Biotechnology (DBT), CSIR, DRDO, DG-Health Services, and Drug Controller General of India are also members of the task force, said Lav Agarwal, Joint Secretary, Ministry of Health & Family Welfare at a press briefing today. He said the task force has Department of Biotechnology (DBT) as central coordinating authority. Its main focus will be to set up a process for vaccine development. The task force will make a list of national and international organisations working on vaccine development. DBT will monitor the progess of research works and also facilitate the process. About 70 clinical trials are taking place over the world to find a vaccine for coronavirus. At least five have entered the human trial stage. Indian companies, including the Serum Institute, Zydus Cadila, Bharat Biotech and Biological E are also working on the vaccine, but they are in preclinical stage. The task force will create clinical cohorts focussing on long term follow-up of people for better understanding of the disease. It will also collect bio-specimens which will form the basis for further trials of drugs and vaccines. This will be different from sample testing protocols, said the Joint Secretary.

Coronavirus in India: 45-day old infant youngest COVID-19 casualty

Business Today

A one-and-a-half-month old kid has become the youngest victim of the COVID-19 pandemic. The child was admitted at the Kalawati Saran Childrens hospital, one of Asias biggest hospitals for children. Authorities in the hospital also revealed that a 10-month-old child was admitted there with the virus. A doctor, three nurses and a few staff workers were found to be positive for the infection after people who were in contact with the child were tested. The other children admitted to the hospital were tested too. Two children admitted in the hospital tested positive, of which one died on Saturday. The other one is stable," a senior doctor told Times of India. He added that about 30 staff workers and parents were tested and several of them tested negative. "Some of the other children admitted in the hospital are too small and on ventilator support. We are making arrangements to place them in safer areas, maybe another hospital with equivalent facilities, to reduce the risk of infection among them," the hospital authorities said. In an earlier case, a 14-month-old COVID-19 infected boy died in a hospital due to multiple organ failures in Jamnagar, Gujarat. The boy was the son of a migrant-labourer couple and had no travel history. Kalawati Saran Childrens hospital is the second government-run hospital after Delhi State Cancer Institute to report multiple numbers of coronavirus infected staff members.

AIIMS doctor attempts suicide over casteist, sexist harassment, RDA writes to Health Minister over inaction

India Today- Tanushree Pandey

The Resident Doctors Association (RDA) of the All India Institute Of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) wrote to to Health Minister Harsh Vardhan on Sunday against alleged inaction by the administration on complaints of caste and gender-based harassment. A dental surgeon at AIIMS, Delhi attempted suicide allegedly due to gender and caste-based harassment by senior faculty members. The woman doctor, who tried to kill herself on Friday, is in a critical condition in the hospitals ICU currently. "We would like to bring to your kind notice a serious event of caste and gender based discrimination of a Senior Resident of CDER, AIIMS. The Resident has made repeated appeals to the Department, the Director and also has be en represented through RDA, AIIMS to the administration," said the RDAs letter, seeking the ministers intervention in the matter. "Despite multiple letters (on three different dates), there has been no adequate action to address this issue of grave concern and eventually, leading the Resident to the edge, making her take the drastic step to end her life after losing the hope of justice in this prestigious institute," it said. The letter said the doctor had also written to the Womens Grievance Cell and SC-ST Welfare Cell of AIIMS as well as the National SC-ST Commission, but no appropriate action was taken.