India to test four drugs for Covid-19 as part of the WHO solidarity trial

MUMBAI: India will start clinical trials on the effectiveness of four anti viral drugs against Covid-19 as part of the World Health Organization solidarity trial, under a fast tracked study, a move that offers hope for a possible cure for the disease.On Wednesday the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) announced that potential anti-viral agents, Remdesivir, Chloroquine/Hydroxychloroquine, Lopinavir-Ritonavir and Lopinavir-Ritonavir with Interferon (ß1a) will be evaluated as part of the solidarity trial....read more

We have no choice now: we will have to live with Corona

To: Sh Narendra Modi, Honble Prime Minister of IndiaCould India have done better than other Asian countries if it had acted in February?Time to have IB (health intelligence) also investigate health threats from other countriesCMAAO Countries Status as on 11th MayCurrently, India is doing far better when compared to Europe and North America but not when compared to other CMAAO Asian countries. Being the President of CMAAO, I am only comparing it with these countries. India should have acted fast in February....read more

CMAAO Coronavirus Facts and Myth Buster 94: Vaccine, Collateral Harms Vs. Benefits

(With inputs from Dr Monica Vasudev)833: CMAAO Weekly Update and Vaccine development status in CMAAO countries9th May, 2020, Saturday, 9.30am-10.30amParticipants,Member NMAs: Dr KK Aggarwal, President CMAAO, Dr Yeh Woei Chong, Singapore Chair CMAAO, Dr Rajan Sharma, National President IMA, Dr Marthanda Pillai, Member World Medical Council, Dr Ravi Naidu, Past President CMAAO, Malaysia, Dr N Ganabaskaran, Past President Malaysian Medical Association, Dr Thirunavukarasu Rajoo, Hon. General Secretary, Malaysian Medical Association, Dr Marie Uzawa Urabe, Japan, Dr Sajjad Qaisar, Pakistan,....read more

Confession

Confession is one of the many ways of detoxifying the mind. It has its roots in Hindu mythology but today it is mainly practiced in Christian religion as a hardcore ritual. Among Christians, one usually goes to a Church and confesses to the Bishop without disclosing his or her identity.In Hindu mythology, confession is a routine spiritual practice. People can confess to their Guru, to their God in the temple or their mentor....read more

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Let us end the social pandemic before the medical pandemic

Healthcare News Monitor

Ensure access to life-saving medicines

The New Indian Express

Over the past month, a network of Good Samaritans—politicians, doctors, activists and bureaucrats—has been working together to help parents of small children procure a life-saving drug: Vigabatrin. The drug is an anti-seizure medication prescribed often for babies. Although manufactured in India for export to other nations, it is usually imported by pharmacists for sale within the country. Since the nationwide lockdown has come into force, parents of children taking the drug have struggled to access it. The group, all connected only by good intentions, empathy and the internet, has gone to extraordinary lengths in order to help desperate parents. Parents with the drug too have generously shared their stock—across states—with those running out of it. However, as inspirational and heart-warming as these efforts may be, the role of the government needs to be brought into focus. Ensuring seamless access to life-saving medication has been one of the blindspots of the Centre’s planning and implementation of the lockdown amid the global pandemic. Vigabatrin is not the only drug that has become difficult to access. Hydroxychloroquine also became difficult for regular patients to access once the government recommended its use as a prophylactic against Covid-19 for frontline workers. Drug companies helped meet the need in that case. However, till then, many patients were left in the lurch. As it becomes clear that a return to pre-pandemic life is unlikely to occur anytime in the immediate future, it is imperative that the Centre look at ways to address the needs of patients, especially those with rare diseases, who require drugs like Vigabatrin.

Thane Teenager’s Pharma Startup Brings Down Medicine Cost by 80%, Gets Investment from Ratan Tata

The Better India- Gopi Karelia

Thane-based Arjun Deshpande comes across as a regular teenager who loves playing football and reading books. But what makes this 18-year-old unique is his mission to provide medicines to people at low rates. “Medicines are a necessity today, and it is terrible that the common man needs to pay exorbitant prices to purchase them. My goal is to eliminate this basic yet fundamental problem by providing certified medicines at affordable rates,” says Arjun, who is the founder of Generic Aadhaar, to The Better India. The startup purchases generic quality medicines from government-approved manufacturing units and sells at prices that are 80 per cent lower compared to the market. Arjun, who is presently awaiting his Class 12 board results, started the company last year with an investment of Rs 15 lakh from his parents. Giving an insight into how his company works, Arjun says, “Pharmaceuticals in India put a brand name on generic medicines and sell at high prices. The customers bear the extra cost of branding or marketing. My company sell generic medicines directly to retailers who directly sell it to the end customer under our brand.” Impressed by Arjun’s novel idea and determination, philanthropist Ratan Tata recently invested an undisclosed amount in his company to scale operations. “It was very encouraging for me when sir, my biggest inspiration, came on board. His belief in my vision has motivated me to work harder and take this model across India.”

Kolkata: Private hospitals resume normal services

The Times of India

Hospitals forced to shut down after patients and health workers contracted the novel coronavirus are set to resume services. While Charnock Hospital off VIP Road, the first private hospital in the city to close on April 15, will reopen on Thursday, Peerless Hospital, which went into a closure on May 4, could reopen next week. Both have sanitized the premises and will resume their Covid units. Insittute of Neurosciences Kolkata, which had restricted services after its CEO and a staffer tested positive in April, is scaling up operations. While the 300-bed Charnock Hospital will resume services with 50 beds, including a 20-bed Covid isolation unit, Peerless has set up a new 30-bed Covid unit, including an eight-bed ITU. The beds will be spread across its three buildings with the Covid unit being housed in a separate building that will have no other patient. While the non-Covid sections of Peerless will function normally, it has revamped its Covid unit with more measures. “We have set up a new suction plant that will maintain negative pressure and prevent air from the Covid unit from reaching other parts. It will be cut off the from the rest of the hospital,” said Peerless medical superintendent Sudipto Mitra. Four Peerless doctors had tested positive and are now in home quarantine. Several other health workers who had tested positive have recovered. “Barring a few, our entire workforce will be on duty,” he said. Charnock, too, is getting most of its health workers—several had tested positive and more than 50 were quarantined—back in service. The hospital has a 1,000-strong workforce. “Apart from sanitization, we needed to make sure we have enough doctors, nurses and health workers fit to work. We now have enough of them, though we are still not in a position to resume full-scale operations. But we are scaling up our services,” said Charnock MD Prashant Sharma. A dialysis (https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/topic/dialysis) patient at the hospital had tested positive last month and several health workers were infected. The hospital shut its dialysis unit for a couple of days. “We are treating around 100 patients at the dialysis unit a day, though the rest of the hospital has been shut,” added Sharma.

COVID-19 treatment: 9 hospitals approved to join WHO’s Solidarity Trial

Financial Express- PTI

Nine hospitals have so far been approved to conduct randomised controlled clinical trials under the WHO’s ‘Solidarity Trial’ to find an effective treatment for the novel coronavirus disease, apex medical research body ICMR said on Wednesday. Four treatment protocols — Remdesivir, a combination of Lopinavir and Ritonavir, Hydroxychloroquine, and Lopinavir and Ritonavir with Interferon beta-1a — will be evaluated during the clinical trials across the selected hospitals, which include the AIIMS in Jodhpur, Apollo Hospital in Chennai, the Ahmedabad-based B J Medical College and Civil Hospital, and the Chirayu Medical College and Hospital in Bhopal. “The required regulatory and ethical approvals have already been obtained and the trial has begun with recruiting COVID-19 patients in the country. Till now, nine hospitals have been approved. The plan is to enroll at least 20 to 30 clinical sites across India,” said Dr Sheela Godbole, head of the Epidemiology division at the ICMR-National AIDS Research Institute.