Both sides favoured a closer cooperation in specific areas like maternal and child health, infectious diseases, geriatrics, emerging health challenges, besides collaboration in specific projects, officials said. Working groups should meet more frequently to do the groundwork for more intense and meaningful cooperation, they felt. Azad said the two countries can learn a lot from each other considering the fact that both countries have huge populations to look after and attained independence at about the same time.

 In this context, he drew attention of his Chinese counterpart towards the bilateral agreement of 1994 relating to health sector and emphasised the need to hasten the work in the areas identified for bilateral cooperation. Responding to Azad, Chinese Health Minister Li Bin stressed the need to have a more broad-based cooperation in health-care sector and suggested formulation of a comprehensive framework after mutual consultations to give further impetus to bilateral ties.

Source: IANS

“Considerable progress has been made in this regard and an MoU in the field of health is being signed to promote bilateral cooperation between the two countries,” Azad said. The major areas of cooperation will be non-communicable diseases, universal health coverage, maternal and child health, sexual and reproductive health, health and medical research and therapeutic products.

Source: IANS

‘Nurses form a large part of the health workforce and are the backbone of the health care system. They are pivotal in the hospital-doctor-patient paradigm,’ the president said while presenting the National Florence Nightingale awards to nursing personnel here on the occasion of International Nurses Day.

The president said nursing has developed into a noble specialisation and nurses have themselves become synonymous with competence and unparalleled commitment.

He thanked the entire nursing fraternity for their dedication and services to the nation.

Union Health Minister Ghulam Nabi Azad, speaking on the occasion, said in the last seven years there has been a four-time increase in the number of nursing colleges in India.

Thirty-five nurses were presented with National Florence Nightingale awards for their dedicated services in the health care sector.

Source: IANS

He said a budgetary provision of Rs.11,000 crore was made for the National Rural Drinking Water Programme in 2013-14. Up to 67 percent of the NRDWP (National Rural Drinking Water Programme) funds allocated to states could be utilised for tackling water quality problems in rural areas, he added. Supply of water in rural areas is a state subject. 

What is cancer?

Cancer is a group of over one hundred diseases characterized by abnormal, uncontrolled cell growth. In a healthy body – cells grow, die and are replaced in a very controlled way. Damage or change in the genetic material of cells by environmental or internal factors result in cells that don’t die and continue to multiply until a massive cancer or a tumour develops. Most cancer related deaths are due to metastasis, malignant cells that penetrate into the circulatory system and establish colonies in other parts of the body. Great advancements have been made but cancer is still leading cause of death for people under 85.  

With inputs from IANS

What are generic drugs?

They are drugs which have the same chemical composition as branded drugs. They are sold under their chemical name instead of the branded name and are usually cheaper. There has been a movement in recent years to bolster the generic drug scenario in the country and the Govt has even promised to provide them free at public health facilities. Thanks to lack of patent laws that don’t recognise intellectual property rights, India is the leading manufacturer of generic drugs in the world and many developing countries are dependent on Indian pharmaceuticals for drugs to treat various diseases including HIV/AIDS, malaria and even cancer. They entered public consciousness last year when Aamir Khan discussed them on his reality show Satyamev Jayate. 

With inputs from IANS

 ‘According to the study, 1,351 (1.467 percent) of the students were suspected to be diabetic,’ Azad said. The minister also said that a report of the International Diabetes Federation for South-East Region of WHO, comprising 11 countries of which one is India, estimates the prevalence of type-1 diabetes in children to be 1,11,500.  ‘An estimated 18,000 children under the age of 15 were newly diagnosed for type-1 diabetes in the year 2011 in the said region,’ The minister said.

 He added that the government in 2010 launched a National Programme for Prevention and Control of Cancer, Diabetes, Cardiovascular Diseases and Stroke (NPCDCS) to prevent lifestyle diseases. Asked if there was any study on growing sleep disorders, the minister said no such study had yet been conducted.

Source: IANS

 ‘NCDC is a ‘knowledge pool’ of country having epidemiological database of huge scientific value which, upon becoming functional in its new avatar, shall further spruce up our abilities to respond to various outbreaks and diseases’, he said.

 The upgraded NCDC shall be able to enhance the intake for the prestigious Epidemic Intelligence Service (EIS) training programme which it is carrying out in collaboration with CDC, Atlanta (USA) as that will help in development of highly skilled field epidemiologists who shall be capable to address the emerging public health challenges.

Speaking on the occasion, Azad said that healthcare sector has witnessed unprecedented reforms in the previous four years with every aspect of it receiving focused attention of the government.

He said that six AIIMS are soon going to become a reality as their Medical colleges are functional since September 2012 and hospitals are at advanced stage of completion. ‘PG seats have increased by 70% and MBBS seats have increased by 46% in the last four years. The flow of funds to the States under NRHM has seen a quantum jump, although health is a ‘State Subject’,’ said Azad.

Azad said that various new initiatives like Janini Shishu Suraksha Karyakaram(JSSK), Rashtriya Bal Swastha Karyakaram(RBSK), Sanitary Napkins for Adolescent Girls, opening of 269 ANM/GNM Schools, Establishment of National & Regional Paramedical Institutions are significant and creditable accomplishments of the  Ministry.

She had gone to the government hospital on Sunday morning after developing labour pain. ‘The staff at the hospital refused to admit us unless we paid Rs 1,000 as bribe although treatment is free at the hospital,’ said Samuel. He said despite telling hospital staff that he did not have any money and was a platform dweller, the hospital staff insisted that he pay the sum. ‘Since we could not pay the money, we returned to our tenement and an old lady helped Lakshmi with the delivery on the platform,’ Samuel said.

Senior doctors at the hospital said it was a clear case of medical negligence and the guilty needed to be taken to task. The Dean of the hospital, Dr R. Vallinayagam said that this matter would be the investigated and the people on duty – doctors, nurses and other staff members – would be punished if found guilty. ‘We will take strong action against those involved,’ Dr Vallinayagam said.

India.com HealthView

What is the use of having free public healthcare facilities if the people who really need them – people who can’t afford private care – aren’t able to use them? A hospital administrator who has worked for years in hospital administration says that this is not a one-off case and paying an under-the-table bribe is the norm for almost all medical procedures right from simple dressing to bigger procedures like delivering a baby. And everyone at the hospital takes a bite from the pie – from the topmost doctors to the ward-boys. It’s ironic really, this incident happened on the same day as which the Union Health Minister was lauding his government’s efforts and how they had transformed the medical sector!  The truth is nothing can change, until we weed out the corrupt mentality that has infected our nation. 

He also said that the launch of the NRHM by the government seven years ago had transformed the healthcare landscape of this country and substantial progress had been achieved. ‘The country has brought down maternal and infant mortality rates. The number of HIV cases has reduced by 57 per cent. Nearly 70,000 beds have been increased in the government health institutions for provision of essential and emergency services,’ he said.

He also claimed that the UPA reforms had transformed the medical sector in the field of medical education by establishing new AIIMS institutes, upgrading state government colleges, nursing schools and had improved public health by sick new-born care units, home-based care services and mobile medical units.

Mr Azad noted that the government had strengthened immunisation activities against various diseases. ‘Hepatitis B vaccine has been included in the universal immunisation programme for the entire county. Pentavalent vaccine was started in eight States.’ ‘The number of MBBS seats has been increased by 46 per cent and PG seats by 70 per cent in the last four years. During this period, 72 new medical colleges, including six new AIIMS, were established raising the seats from 290 to 362. To give a boost to paramedical education, a National Institute of Paramedical Sciences at Delhi and eight Regional Institutes are being established.’

More changes down the line?

The Health Ministry are also considering various other proposals to relax the prerequisite rules of infrastructure requirements for establishing medical colleges, formulating guidelines to allow district hospitals to establish medical colleges with private partners and compulsory posting of one year for medical graduates at primary health centres and PGs at community health centres during their internship period.

The single entrance test, National Eligibility-cum-Entrance Test (NEET), for admission of UG and PG medical courses was another important initiative of the government, the Minister said.

Mr Azad also congratulated the rapid strides made by the state of Kerala in the field of healthcare and lauded them for having indicator like maternal mortality rate (MMR), infant mortality rate (IMR) and total fertility rate (TFR) on par with developed nations.  It would not have been possible without the progressive outlook and leadership provided by successive State governments, irrespective of party affiliations, the Minister said.

 India.com Health View

While Mr Azad might be in a self-congratulatory mood, the fact remains that overall; India’s health indicators are among the worst in the world – on par with Sub-Saharan African countries. More women and children die in India due to simple causes like lack of safe drinking water and poor nutrition than anywhere else in the world. We still have the highest number of pre-term deaths, 50% of all Indian children are either stunted or wasted due to poor nutrition and nutrition levels particularly among women are very low. To add to that we are currently playing host to a dangerous version of highly infectious form of tuberculosis and communicable diseases like swine flu, malaria, encephalitis and dengue have become seasonal. And we are not just battling developing world diseases – there’s been an exponential rise in the cases of non-communicable diseases like cancer, heart diseases, diabetes, hypertension and COPD.

 Before we can address all the above issues, there’s no reason to believe that the meagre steps the government has taken in the field of healthcare is any cause for celebration or acknowledgement.

Couples from Edwards’ native Britain along with Americans are coming in droves to India to hire women as surrogate mothers. Indian clinics offer them services at a fraction of what it costs in the UK or the USA and due to this India have been unofficially christened the ‘Surrogacy Capital of the World’. It’s estimated this illegal industry is worth Rs 13033 crore. And it’s an industry which is dependent on vulnerable, financially-poor women.

Lack of guidelines, a toothless Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) along with cheap labour and high demand has created this dangerous environment. India’s surrogacy laws has faced some vehement criticism from many quarters including Dr Ranjana Kumari who told CBS, ‘There are so many women who don’t want to see their own child dying out of bad health, or not getting educated, not getting two meals a day. So that’s why so many women are available.’

A recent case involved a woman called Premila who acted as a surrogate for an American couple last year. Eight months into her pregnancy, she suffered from convulsions caused by the pregnancy. Though doctors managed to save the baby, Premila passed away and sadly under the current laws she wasn’t entitled to any sort of compensation.  The American couple decided, voluntarily, to leave them $20,000. Her mother Kanku Ben Chavan said that her daughter was illiterate and she couldn’t read the contract she had signed to become a surrogate and none of the family members understood what would happen if she died. It also shows how women who undergo the procedure don’t truly understand or aren’t explained the side-effects of being a surrogate. 

Dr Ranjana Kumari says the industry needs to be regulated. ‘The vulnerability of poverty is being exploited in this whole system — it should be banned. It should not be allowed,’ she said.

However, despite the risks there are lots of women who want to be surrogates. Not all of them are selected and those that are consider themselves lucky. Many of these women use this money to put their children through college or for other needs. They see surrogacy as a mean to help their family earn money.

Very rarely do fertility clinics provide surrogate mothers with life insurance and medical care, the primary concern is the health and well-being of the baby. That’s why there’s a need to regulate the surrogacy.

Strict laws on the way?

About a month ago, the Health Minister Ghulam Nabi Azad said the government proposed to bring a bill that will regulate surrogacy and other ART-related practices in India. The bill proposed to protect the rights of infertile couples or individuals and also ensure the formation of national advisory board and maintain a national registry of ART clinics and banks, state boards and registration authorities and fix their responsibilities and duties. 

 India.com Health View

Despite the Health Minister’s kind words and the passing of the ART Bill 2010 (as it’s known), it will make little difference to the ground realities. The laws passed in parliament seem to have little effect on what really happens. Take for example the PCPNDT Bill 1984 (Pre-Conception and Pre-Natal Diagnostic Techniques) which forbids sex determination tests. Though the Bill has been around for almost 30 years sex-determination remains a rampant practice and female foeticide numbers have actually gone up over the years. And the problem is compounded by inadequate implementation, barely a handful of doctors have actually been arrested for their heinous crimes. It was only after Satyamev Jayate exposed the issue that various state governments cracked down on the illegal clinics. So pardon us if we’re not too optimistic about Mr Azad’s words or the bill in parliament.