Morning MEDtalks with Dr KK Aggarwal 13th September 2018

TEDx Video: Doctor-patient relationship:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i9ml1vKK2DQ

The Supreme Court has asked AIIMS and the Centre to expedite the national survey and the formulation of action plan to curb the growing menace of drug abusein the society, including by school-going children. In July this year, the apex court had asked AIIMS to formulate a national action plan to curb the growing menace of drug abuse in the society, including by school-going children (ET Healthworld-PTI, Sept. 11, 2018).

Global hunger continues to rise, says a new UN report “The State of Food Security and Nutrition in the World 2018”. The number of hungry people in the world has reached 821 million in 2017 or one in every nine people. Hunger has been on the rise over the past three years, returning to levels from a decade ago. This reversal in progress sends a clear warning that more must be done and urgently if the Sustainable Development Goal of Zero Hunger is to be achieved by 2030... (WHO)

India leads the way as the hardest working country with 69% of full-time employees saying they would work 5 days a week even if they had the option to work fewer days for the same pay, according to a survey by a US-based multi-national workforce management firm Kronos Incorporated. UK (16%), France (17%) and Australia (19%) are the least content with the standard five-day workweek. The US (49%) had the most overtime (more than 40 hours each week) followed by India (44%), Mexico (40%) and Germany (38%). The survey included full and part-time employees living in Australia, Canada, France, Germany, India, Mexico, the UK and the US… (The Pioneer-PTI, Sept. 11, 2018).

Health Ministry has written to states to start the process of electing new members to the Medical Council of India (MCI) as the tenure of most of the members is coming to an end in November. The National Medical Commission Bill 2017, which seeks to replace MCI, is yet to be enacted by the Parliament. The states have been asked to start the process of electing new members to the council as the tenure of most of the members is coming to an end in November. Also, an oversight committee comprising five members had resigned last week after their tenure of one year ended (HT).

The Diabetes Disaster Response Coalition (DDRC) has created a Patient Preparedness Plan, to help people with diabetes effectively manage their diabetes during times of disaster. Build a “diabetes kit” and store it in an easy-to-carry waterproof bag or container. Important Information to Keep In Your Kit - Write down or copy the following: (ADA, Sept. 10, 2018)

1. Type of diabetes you have
2. Other medical conditions, allergies, and previous surgeries
3. Current medications, doses, and time you take them. Include your pharmacy name, address and phone number.
4. Previous diabetes medications you have taken
5. A letter from your diabetes care team with a list of your most recent diabetes medications, if possible.
6. A copy of your most recent laboratory result, like A1C results
7. Make, model and serial number of your insulin pump or CGM. Include pump manufacturer’s phone number in case you need to replace your device.
8. Doctor’s name, phone number, and address
9. Phone numbers and email addresses for your family, friends, and work. Include out-of-town contacts.
10. A copy of your health insurance card
11. A copy of your photo ID
12. Cash

Dept. of Health in Abu Dhabi issues health alert for UAE residents ahead of winter. The Department of Health in Abu Dhabi (DoH) has urged the public to take the seasonal influenza vaccine ahead of the onset of the winter season, starting in December, during which this type of flu becomes more contagious. DoH recommended that individuals aged six months and above should receive a single dose of vaccines annually; while, children aged 9 years or younger, should be given two doses at a gap of four weeks or more.

Patient exposure to radiation during coronary CT angiography (CTA) has dropped nearly 80% over the last 10 years, largely because of innovations in technique allowed by hardware and software advances. The improvements in radiation exposure, seen consistently throughout the world, had no apparent practical effect on image quality, say researchers from the Prospective Multicenter Registry on Radiation Dose Estimates of Cardiac CT Angiography in Daily Practice in 2017 (PROTECTION VI).

“The Union government now needs to finalise on the name change of CDSCO to ‘Indian Drugs Administration’ (IDA) which will deal with all major issues related to quality, patenting, pricing of drugs, cosmetics & medical devices, etc. Another alternative can be ‘Indian Drug Regulatory Services’ (IDRS)”, said Dr. BR Jagashetty, former National Adviser (Drugs Control) to MoHFW and CDSCO and former Karnataka state drugs controller. Whatever name is finalised by the government should include the word ‘India’ to represent our country nationally and internationally, he added… (Pharmabiz, Sept. 10, 2018)

Dr KK Aggarwal

Padma Shri Awardee

Vice President CMAAO

President HCFI