PM Manmohan Singh claims NRHM showing
good results
Prime Minister
Manmohan Singh said on Thursday the National Rural Health Mission
(NRHM) had started showing good results and had helped bring down
both maternal and infant mortality rates. ‘We had launched the
National Rural Health Mission in 2005. (It) has started showing
good results. Both maternal and infant mortalityrates have come down sharply,’ he said
in his Independence Day speech. He said: ‘A much larger proportion
of children are now born in hospitals. There has also been a large
increase in the proportion of children being
inoculated.’
The NRHM is the government’s flagship programme for improving healthcare delivery across rural India. ‘We have implemented the health mission in urban areas also. This will result in both expansion and improvement of health services in such areas,’ the prime minister said. He said the Rashtriya Swasthya Bima Yojana (National Health Insurance Scheme), which provides free in-patient treatment in hospitals to ‘our poor brothers and sisters’, now covers about 3.5 crore families.
What is the NRHM?
The National Rural Health Mission (NRHM) is an ambitious plan to improve health delivery in rural India where access to even the most basic services is very low. The scheme has been called by some economists ‘the most ambitious rural health initiative ever’ and takes a more practical approach by training local residents in primary healthcare.
Last year’s (2012-13) budget increased allocation to two of the biggest projects to alleviate the healthcare woes of the poor – the National Rural Health Mission (NRHM) and the Rashtriya Swasthya Bima Yojana (RSBY) which literally means the National Health Insurance Scheme.
The NRHM was a rural health initiative started in 2005, to alleviate the healthcare woes of rural India. The way it works is the government picked out 264 backwards districts to improve healthcare services which they would seek to improve the healthcare facilities in these places with a more pragmatic approach. This involved training locals as Accredited Social Health Activists (ASHA) and various indicators suggest that it has worked to a certain extent. Last year, the NRHM was allocated Rs 20,822 crore (increased from Rs 18,115 crore in 2011). Like the NRHM, the RSBY is mainly for the poor who can’t afford health insurance. It is a smart-card based insurance scheme for every Below-Poverty Line (BPL) family which allows them to get inpatient treatment up to Rs 30,000 per year. The scheme will cover the main bread earner, their spouse and three dependents. In 2012, the RSBY was allocated Rs 1097.6 crore.
PM Manmohan Singh lauds polio-free India!
IANS August 15, 2013 at 1:11 pm
India has
been able to eradicate polio which used to cause disability to
lakhs of people, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh said on
Thursday.
‘No case of polio has been detected in the country in the last two years. We have been able to eradicate a disease which used to cause disability to lakhs of people,’ Manmohan Singh said in his Independence Day address from the ramparts of the Red Fort.
What is polio?
Polio or poliomyelitis is a communicable viral disease which affects the nerves and can lead to partial or permanent paralysis. It is transmitted through stool or saliva. The global effort to eradicate polio has been very successful and from 350,000 cases in 1988 only 40 cases were reported worldwide in 2012. There is no cure for the diseases though vaccination can prevent the disease for life. India has done remarkably in eradicating polio and from 2011 no new cases were reported.
Scientists find a possible cure for childhood cancers
India.com Health August 17, 2013 at 9:07 am
Now scientists
have found a way to target the structure of cancer cells, making
the treatment of cancer that much more possible.
Researchers at the University of New South Wales (UNSW) demonstrated that the therapy is effective in two types of cancers in the animal model – namely neorublastoma (cancer that affects children) and melanoma (skin cancer). Scientists say that the drug causes the collapse of the structure of the cancer cells. Since this process happens relatively quickly and is effective against every type of cancer cells, it has given scientists hope for more new age treatments for ailments like cancers in children.
This new line of treatment could lead to an entirely new type of chemotherapy, which could have more positive outcomes for hard-to-treat cancers and have fewer long-term side effects for survivors.
Lead scientist Dr Justine Stehn from the Oncology Research Unit, in the School of Medical Sciences, says that targeting the architecture of cancer cells has long been the aim of almost all studies, but because these building blocks also make up the heart and muscles, attacking those cells was impossible. Soon they found that there was another building block that was unique to cancer cells – tropomyosin. This compound in the cancer cell structure was sufficiently different from those in the heart and muscle, and could be safely targeted.
Over 55 and love coffee? Here is some advice for you
IANS August 17, 2013 at 10:23 am
If you have been fond of drinking coffee many times in a day, beware! A new study has found a link between heavy coffee consumption and increased death risk for people aged below 55.
The US study, published in the journal Mayo Clinic Proceedings, found a statistically significant 21 percent increased mortality among those who drink more than 28 cups of coffee a week or four cups of coffee a day, Xinhua reported. Based on age groups, the study found that the risk of death from all causes risen by more than 50 percent for men and women who were younger than 55. But no adverse effects were noticed in heavy coffee drinkers aged over 55.
In this study, researchers from the University of South Carolina, US examined the coffee consumption of more than 43,000 individuals aged between 20 and 87 years from 1971 to 2002. During the 17-year median follow-up period, more than 2,500 participants died. It was found that younger men had a trend towards higher mortality despite lower consumption. But this became significant at about 28 cups per week where there was a 56 percent increase in mortality from all causes.
Younger women who consumed more than 28 cups of coffee per week had double the risk of dying from all causes than those who did not drink coffee, the study said. ‘For those drinking high amounts, there should be some caution, as this dose was associated with at least a signal for increased total mortality in this large study, especially in those under 55 years of age,’ Xuemei Sui, the study’s co-author from the University of South Carolina in Columbia.
Central government to provide financial assistance for haemophilia patients
IANS August 15, 2013 at 1:11 pm
The central
government will provide financial assistance under the National
Rural Health Mission (NRHM) to state governments to help
haemophilia patients, the Rajya Sabha was
informed.
The Rashtriya Bal Swasthya Karyakram, launched by Congress President Sonia Gandhi Feb 6 under NRHM provides facilities for early detection and treatment of haemophilia, Health Minister Ghulam Nabi Azad said in a written reply on Tuesday.
He said state governments could submit proposals for treatment of haemophilia cases in their respective programme implementation plans for consideration of central assistance.
Azad said diagnosis and treatment facilities for haemophilia disease are also available in central government hospitals like Lady Hardinge Medical College, Sucheta Kriplani Hospital, Safdarjung Hospital and Ram Manohar Lohia Hospital (all in New Delhi) and Jawaharlal Institute of Postgraduate Medical Education and Research, Puducherry.
What is haemophilia?
Haemophilia, a congenital lifelong bleeding disorder that prevents the blood from clotting properly, leads to patients bleeding internally, mostly in the joints, muscles and vital organs like the brain. In many cases, the disease leads to permanent disability.
India has nearly over 100,000 haemophilia patients, most of whom face severe problems in treatment with only a few able to afford the high costs.
Jubilant’s molecule gets USFDA approval for drug trials
India.com Health August 11, 2013 at 11:52 am
The US Food
& Drug Administration (FDA) accepted the novel molecule of the
Bangalore-based Jubilant Biosys Ltd for clinical trials to treat
prostate cancer,
the pharma company said on Saturday. ‘The FDA acceptance of
our investigational new drug relates to the new molecule targetting
prostate cancer. Approval of our filing paves way for the next
stage of development and clinical trials later this year,’ Jubilant
drug discovery services president Subirkumar Basak said in a
statement.
As a subsidiary of the pharma major Jubilant Life Sciences, Biosys provides integrated drug discovery solutions to pharma firms worldwide. The drug trials will be conducted in collaboration with the US-based Endo Pharmaceuticals Ltd. ‘Being at the forefront of pharmaceutical, life sciences and healthcare innovation, we pursue our goal to enable affordable healthcare to patients worldwide,’ Basak said. The filing and progression of the molecule to the next development stage also validates Endo’s collaborative drug discovery approach to improve patient outcomes.
‘Our multi-target oncology collaboration with Jubilant, which began four years ago, is focused on developing therapies that address the unmet needs of cancer patients worldwide,’ Endo’s discovery & early development vice-president Sandeep Gupta said in the statement.
Breastfeeding may reduce Alzheimer’s risk among women
IANS August 6, 2013 at 4:02 pm
A British study has suggested breastfeeding mothers run a lower risk of developing Alzheimer’s, with longer periods of breastfeeding further reducing the risk.
The study paper, published in the Journal of Alzheimer’s Disease, has suggested that the link may be to do with certain biological effects of breastfeeding. For instance, breastfeeding restores insulin tolerance which is significantly reduced during pregnancy, and Alzheimer’s is characterised by insulin resistance in the brain, Xinhua reported.
On the basis of data gathered from a group of 81 British women, researchers observed a highly significant and consistent correlation between breastfeeding and Alzheimer’s risk. They argued that this was so strong that any potential sampling error was unlikely.
‘Alzheimer’s is the world’s most common cognitive disorder and affects 35.6 million people,’ said the study’s lead author Molly Fox of the University of Cambridge.
Delhi hospital launches hereditary cancer test
IANS August 5, 2013 at 8:35 pm
With over one million people diagnosed with cancer every year in India, a hospital here has launched a hereditary cancer genetic testing service, a doctor said on Monday.
Sir Ganga Ram Hospital said the service will provide a new frontier in the fight against cancer with a focus on prevention.
The service will be run by trained genetic counselling experts, medical, surgical, paediatric oncologists and cyto-pathologists.
‘The experts will inquire about the history of cancer in the family members, identify the presence of other risk factors and provide an estimate of risk of an individual to develop cancer,’ said I.C. Verma , director, department of genetics, Ganga Ram Hospital.
Verma says risk management and preventive cancer counselling can help families to cope with increased risk for different cancers.
‘Those testing positive in the gene test are counselled regarding their risk for developing cancer. Those who are already affected with cancer are made to understand how genetic mutation can affect their future treatment,’ he said.
The cost varies for genetic testing of different cancers.
About 10 percent of cancers in adults and about 20 percent in children are hereditary.
The importance of genetic testing was highlighted by Hollywood actress Angelina Jolie, who tested positive for a mutation in the breast cancer gene, and opted for breast removal to prevent development of breast cancer in future.