Health Archive

New Delhi, Oct 25 – Thirteen new swine flu deaths were reported Sunday, taking the total toll in India due to Influenza A(H1N1) virus to 444, health authorities said here.

For the first time, Punjab and Mizoram reported deaths – one each – since the first death was reported in the country Aug 3.

The maximum deaths were from Maharashtra where 11 people died since Friday. The total toll in the state has now touched 185 – the highest in the country.

Kerala, where 10 deaths had occured earlier, also recorded two new casualties.

Also, 90 new cases were recorded Sunday. With this the total number of people affected with the contagious virus has gone up to 13,232.

Of the 90 cases, 22 alone were from Karnataka.

The other states where new cases were reported were – Maharashtra (21), Delhi (17), Andhra Pradesh (5) and Kerala (12).

New Delhi, Oct 25 – With nearly 21 percent of pregnancies in India unintended, a federation of gynaecologists and an NGO have come together to increase awareness on family planning and safe abortion among the urban poor in three states, including Delhi.

Population Services International (PSI), an NGO, has partnered for improving maternal health with the Federation of Obstetric and Gynaecological Societies of India (FOGSI), said Jyoti Vajpayee, PSI’s senior technical advisor.

PSI, which works in the area of health, including among the HIV patients, maternal and child health in 22 states, will be starting this initiative at places with high population, poor indicators and high need.

‘These states are Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan and Delhi,’ Vajpayee told IANS.

Apart from focusing on maternal health, they will also be providing Copper Intrauterine Contraceptive Devices (IUCDs) as a safe, effective and reversible option for family planning. IUCD is commonly known as Copper-T.

‘We want to create a service delivery network to improve access to affordable and high quality IUCD services and products to low and middle income groups and complement family planning efforts of the government,’ she added.

She said they are providing an IUCD called Freedom Five at an highly subsidised cost of Rs.75. In the market, it costs Rs.250.

‘Since many women like to avail family planning services from private providers, the potential of such providers located near areas where the urban poor reside, can be harnessed to address their needs,’ she said.

Vajpayee said that evidence has long endorsed the IUCD as a long term, highly effective and reversible contraceptive method.

‘The contraceptive effectiveness of the IUCD is very high and is comparable to that of male and female sterilization,’ she added.

‘It is a long-term method as it prevents pregnancy for three, five or 10 years depending on the type of IUCD inserted. As it is reversible, the IUCD has the potential to satisfy family planning needs of women who want to end childbearing, as well as those who wish to postpone childbearing for some time,’ she said.

In India, 117,000 women die every year from complications arising out of pregnancy and childbirth, while many more suffer debilitating complications.

‘Family planning is central to reduction of maternal mortality and ill health by reducing the number of pregnancies, unsafe abortions and high risk births,’ she stressed.

Quoting the National Family Health Survey-3 (2005-06), Vajpayee said that it shows that nearly 21 percent of all pregnancies are either unintended or mistimed.

It also states that 13 percent of married women want to postpone their next pregnancy or stop having children altogether but for whatever reason are not using contraception.

‘Thus, it becomes vital that quality family planning services are made available to lower income groups in urban areas, who are largely underserved in terms of quality health care,’ Vajpayee told IANS.

C.N. Purandare, the president of FOGSI, said: ‘Family planning is helpful in saving lives of women and children lives because it prevents untimely and unintended pregnancy. Reduces women’s exposure to the health risks of unsafe childbirth and abortion and lessens the health risks associated with pregnancies that are early, closely spaced or very late.’

The FOGSI has 24,800 members and have worked on anaemia eradications, adolescent health and save the girl child initiatives in the country.

New Delhi, Oct 25 – Taking note of the shocking saga of former model Gitanjali Nagpal, who was found begging on the streets of the capital, the government is soon going to have mobile health vans for mentally ill people found abandoned on the streets.

The Delhi government along with the Institute for Behavioural Health Studies and Applied Sciences (IBHAS) under the Urban Mental Health Module informed the Delhi High Court earlier this week that they have already got the sanction for five such mobile vans.

‘We have got the necessary permission from the central government for the mobile health vans along with the team of specialised doctors for the five districts,’ advocate Zubeda Begum told a division bench consisting of Chief Justice Ajit Prakash Shah and Justice S. Muralidhar.

The bench was hearing a public interest petition from a Delhi University law student, Pratibha Chopra, drawing the court’s attention towards the plight of mentally ill people in the capital.

The petitioner referred to the case of Nagpal and said there are more than 2,500 women in Delhi who are mentally ill and are not receiving any aid from the government which has led to their exploitation.

Nagpal, 32, who once walked the ramp for top designers, was last year found begging at a market in south Delhi. The Delhi Commission for Women (DCW) took her to VIMHANS hospital, where doctors diagnosed her as suffering from fear psychosis.

However, the bench was surprised by the centre’s order sanctioning only five mobile health vans. ‘It is pointed out that under the scheme of urban mental health module, nine mobile vans were required for the nine districts across the capital but the government has agreed to start only five which is contrary to our orders.

‘So the government must explain as to why our orders were not complied with by Nov 18,’ the judges said.

Last year the court directed the government to create separate wards for mentally ill women, especially the homeless, in the state government-run Nirmal Chhaya shelter homes.

A specialised ward will have a team of a psychiatrist along with medical staff and all necessary facilities for the rehabilitation of the mentally ill.

The court in a separate case last year also ordered the Reserve Bank Of India to formulate guidelines for opening bank accounts for mentally ill children so that they don’t feel left out of society.

(Kanu Sarda can be contacted at kanu.s@ians.in)