Tag: health and medicine

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Medical Updates Medicine & Health

Follow this five-step guide to good health in 2022

Follow this five-step guide to good health in 2022

As the pandemic rages on, people are continuing to focus on their health and well-being. A large aspect of a healthy lifestyle depends on the kind of food you eat, how physically active you are and if you follow a good sleeping pattern.

Akshay Modi, the managing director of Modi Naturals Ltd, says people usually end up cutting down on their sugar intake after being diagnosed with diabetes, avoiding fried food because of cholesterol, and exercising and gaining a lot of weight.

“With a bit of caution and care, like consuming sugar and oil in moderation and exercising regularly, they can keep themselves from falling prey to these concerns,” he says.

He lists five simple steps that can help a person take a more proactive approach to lifestyle and health; read on.
Follow this five-step guide to good health in 2022

 

1. Engaging in a physical activity

Physical activities give flexibility and power to the body to function seamlessly in today’s world, where much time is spent in front of screens. Be it a refreshing morning jog or an intensive workout, there are a number of options to choose from. Sports and dancing are great options, too. Activities like yoga and meditation provide physical as well as mental well-being. Hiking and cycling are some other interesting activities to undertake.

2. Knowing your nutrients and ingredients

It is important to consume different nutrients and vitamins. Making smart swaps for everyday food helps enhance the nutrition values of your meals. Rice can be swapped for quinoa, whole wheat for ragi, sunflower oil for olive oil. It’s also important to know your ingredients, especially edible oil which is used in each and every meal. It’s also important to buy organic products and to eat at home.

3. Sleep schedules

A poorly-rested body can’t function well physically or mentally. A good night’s sleep is crucial for your body to get the much-needed rest and recovery time. Following a sleep schedule and getting enough hours help reduce stress and increase productivity throughout the day. Ideally, an adult should be sleeping for 7-8 hours at a stretch. Too less or too much sleep is not good. Quick power naps during the day can also be considered. The timing is also important. Sleeping at different hours each day is not ideal.

4. Learn stress management techniques

Stress causes severe damage to our heart. Stress management is something that one needs to learn for themselves. To-do lists and priority lists are recommended for people with anxiety. Indulging in fun activities, dedicating time for hobbies, going on trips can help give you a break from your everyday routine. Stress can also heighten emotions which can make one lose control, and hence stress management requires maintaining positive relations with people around you.

5. Break free of bad habits

Smoking and heavy alcohol consumption are known to cause chronic illnesses such as cancer. While an occasional glass of wine may actually promote your health, uncontrolled consumption of alcohol and heavy smoking can lead to many short term and long term health issues.

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Medical Updates Medicine & Health

World Heart Day 2022: Simple habits to keep your heart healthy

World Heart Day 2022: Simple habits to keep your heart healthy
“Indians and Southeast Asians are at a higher risk of contracting a heart condition than their Western counterparts,” said Dr Prashant Pawar, consultant cardiologist.

Actor-comedian Raju Srivastava’s death, after being hospitalised for over 40 days, has once again highlighted the high fatality rate caused by heart diseases. Across the world, cardiovascular diseases (CVDs) are one of the leading causes of mortality. An estimated 17.9 million people perished due to CVDs in 2019, contributing to 32 per cent of deaths globally. Out of all the people who died from CVD, 85 per cent suffered a stroke and heart attack. Further, a quarter of these CVD deaths occur in low and middle-income countries, according to the World Health Organization.

Keeping these statistics in mind, experts stress on the enormous need for awareness about the prevention of heart disease. As such, World Heart Day is an incredible platform to spread awareness about how people can prevent cardiac issues and reduce the burden caused by this condition, said Dr Prashant Pawar, consultant cardiologist, Fortis Hospital Vashi. “Since the heart is crucial to a person’s survival, it is important to keep it healthy with a well-balanced diet, adequate sleep, and stress busters like meditation and yoga coupled with daily physical exercise while avoiding things like smoking and alcohol that can damage its arteries,” said Dr Pawar.

World Heart Day 2022: Simple habits to keep your heart healthy

 

Lack of physical activities

According to National Center for Chronic Disease Prevention and Health, a lack of physical activity can increase the risk of cardiac issues, even if a person does not have any other risk factors. Besides cardiac problems, being sedentary can also increase the likelihood of several other chronic diseases like obesity, high blood pressure, high blood cholesterol, and type 2 diabetes.

Timely treatment is essential

Coronary arteries are only about 3-4 mm in diameter. Over time, a person consuming too many processed foods, including fatty and greasy items, can cause extreme damage to them. Additionally, if any significant heart artery is blocked for more than 30 minutes, it can impact the muscles in the heart, leading to a severe medical condition. This is a sign of a heart attack or cardiac issues; if a person suffers from it, they require immediate medical attention. In such a scenario, a common symptom is chest pain that must be brought to a doctor’s attention immediately.

The risk of blood pressure increases with age

Dr Pawar mentioned that in people above the age of 80, there is a 60 per cent chance of them having high blood pressure. This is mainly because as we get older, the arteries in our body get stiffer, affecting the blood pressure level. This can be true even for people with heart-healthy habits. Hence, the vulnerable population must monitor blood pressure regularly. A recent nationwide survey by ICMR has shown that 28 per cent of adults in India have hypertension, and nearly 77 per cent are undiagnosed, leading to a high burden of hypertension in the country.

The prevalence of coronary heart disease has increased in India

“Indians and Southeast Asians are at a higher risk of contracting a heart condition than their Western counterparts. This is evident in the prevalence of heart-related diseases that have substantially increased in rural and urban India over the past several decades. The rate of coronary incidences has risen from 1.6 per cent to 7.4 per cent in rural people and from 1 per cent to 13.2 per cent in urban populations. In 2021 there was a six-fold rise in cases related to cardiac issues in Mumbai,” Dr Pawar said.

Today, this condition claims as many lives each year as cancer, chronic lung diseases, accidents and diabetes combined. Some simple habits that can help you prevent a heart attack include the following

World Heart Day 2022: Simple habits to keep your heart healthy

*Focus on a diet rich in fibre, high protein, and low fat.
*Have a hearty breakfast that keeps you full for the day. Your lunch and dinner should be smaller in comparison.
*Be physically active for at least 30 minutes daily, at least five days a week.
*Use the staircase whenever possible and avoid lifts. Alternatively, it would help if you also chose to walk small distances instead of using vehicles.
*Get adequate sound sleep for at least eight hours a day.
*Quit smoking and reduce alcohol consumption as far as possible.
*Practice stress busters like meditation, yoga, and breathing tactics.

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Medical Updates Medicine & Health

Can knee osteoarthritis be treated without surgery?

Can knee osteoarthritis be treated without surgery?

Knee osteoarthritis or knee joint pain is a non-inflammatory, degenerative joint disease that causes progressive loss of articular cartilage. “Cartilage is a strong, flexible tissue that helps avoids injury by preventing the bones from rubbing against one another,” said Dr Vivek Loomba, Consultant Pain Physician at the Indian Spinal Injuries Centre, New Delhi, adding that as the cartilage degrades and the bones rub against one another, it may lead to knee osteoarthritis. “It is one of the most common reasons for knee pain and disability in older adults,” he told.

Who is at risk?

Osteoarthritis of the knee is more common in “women than in males”. “Some other factors that can contribute to the condition of the knee include advanced age, being overweight or obese, previous knee injuries or surgery, and certain jobs that require constant knee bending,” he shared.

Symptoms

The primary symptom of knee osteoarthritis is pain. In addition to pain, patients may have swelling, knee stiffness, function-limiting knee discomfort, loss of flexibility, pain while resting or at night, cracking or grinding noise while moving their knee, and impact on walking distances.

How is osteoarthritis of the knee diagnosed?

In addition to a complete medical history and physical examination, the patients may require further tests like:
*Blood tests
*X- Ray
*Arthrocentesis: A clinical procedure that is performed using a sterile needle, to obtain synovial fluid to determine the cause of arthritis.
*Arthroscopy: A surgical method where a camera is inserted into the afflicted joint to obtain visual data of the deterioration caused to the joint because of OA
MRI (magnetic resonance imaging)

According to Dr Loomba, “Knee osteoarthritis develops slowly over years, interfering with daily activities and the ability to work. So, efforts should be made to stop the condition from getting worse by seeking early treatment.”

Can knee osteoarthritis be treated without surgery?

Can it be managed without surgery?

Most people suffering from knee osteoarthritis fear that they might have to undergo surgery to get relief from the pain and discomfort. However, there are several pain management options that can help in relieving the pain. As per Dr Loomba, various strategies for management of the condition include:

Non pharmacological

Exercise like walking, cycling, isometric and isotonic knee exercises.
Weight Reduction: Even a slight decrease in weight, by 2-5 kg, will help in decreasing the pain and degeneration of the knee joint.
Aquatic (water based) therapies.

pharmacological

Medications like acetaminophen, NSAIDS like ibuprofen or etoshine, local NSAIDS like Volini gel are used as first line management.
If the pain persists, weak opioids like tramadol (ultracet) can be prescribed.
In severe cases, stronger opioids like morphine can be added to the treatment regimen.

Intra Articular knee joint injections – This includes corticosteroid and/or hyaluronidase injections administered into the knee joint. The corticosteroid helps in decreasing inflammation while hyaluronidase provides lubrication.

Radiofrequency ablation: The radiofrequency ablation of the nerves supplying the knee joint is reserved for refractory cases, and may provide pain relief for up to 1 year. This procedure may serve as a boon for patients who are unfit or do not want to undergo knee replacement surgery.

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Government Guidelines Medical Updates Medicine & Health

New India prepared to deal with any threat in healthcare sector: Health Minister Mansukh Mandaviya

New India prepared to deal with any threat in healthcare sector: Health Minister Mansukh Mandaviya
Synopsis

The difference has been made by the proactive planning of the prime minister, he said, adding health infrastructure is being propagated across the country via the PPP model with a microcosm of public hospitals mushrooming along with private medical colleges.

Union Health Minister Mansukh Mandaviya on Friday underlined the need for de-politicising the discussions on health policy and infrastructure and adopting a more holistic approach across the whole spectrum of the populace. He also asserted that a new India is prepared to deal with any threat in the healthcare sector.

“A healthy India will be a wealthy India,” Mandaviya said speaking at the Public Affairs Forum of India’s (PAFI) 9th Annual Forum 2022.

He said the new India under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi is an empowered nation and is well prepared to face any crisis.

New India prepared to deal with any threat in healthcare sector: Health Minister Mansukh Mandaviya

The difference has been made by the proactive planning of the prime minister, he said, adding health infrastructure is being propagated across the country via the PPP model with a microcosm of public hospitals mushrooming along with private medical colleges.

Mandaviya said 22 AIIMS have been planned across the country to improve the tertiary level of health infrastructure.

Elaborating on the country’s management of COVID-19, he said the government had started efforts to understand the virus much before it came to India, and accordingly planned and prepared beforehand to face the pandemic.

New India prepared to deal with any threat in healthcare sector: Health Minister Mansukh Mandaviya

Talking about why health infrastructure to GDP ratio is declining in India, Mandaviya said, “Every country has its own model specific to its people. In India, healthcare expenditure is lower as compared to other nations. Still, the Government is very much concerned about the health of its people and has assigned a budget of Rs 100 crore for each district to implement the Ayushman Bharat Scheme in the next five years.”

Giving the details of the PPP model in healthcare, Mandaviya said the government is following a holistic approach in planning and building healthcare models for the country.

He said the government is following two models for healthcare.

While under one it has launched the Nishchay Mitra scheme for the eradication of TB from India by 2025 and asked people to adopt nine lakh TB patients, under the second PPP arrangement, the Ayushman Bharat Scheme has been extended to 24,000 plus private hospitals, enabling business to private hospitals and ensuring healthcare for all.
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Medical Updates Medicine & Health

Delhi reports fresh case of Monkeypox! Nigerian woman tests positive – Details here

Delhi reports fresh case of Monkeypox! Nigerian woman tests positive

The monkeypox case tally in India has reached 13 after a 30-year-old Nigerian woman in Delhi reportedly tested positive. This is the 8th case of the viral infection in the national capital, the PTI reported quoting sources on Friday. The woman has been admitted to Lok Nayak Jai Prakash Narayan Hospital (LNJP), they added.

Another person suspected to be suffering from monkeypox has also been admitted to the Delhi government-run hospital, sources said. According to the sources, the woman’s condition is currently being monitored.

The early six cases have been treated and discharged, a senior doctor said. Monkeypox is a viral zoonotic disease having common symptoms such as fever, skin lesions, lymphadenopathy, headache, muscle aches, exhaustion, chills or sweats and sore throat and cough.

Delhi reports fresh case of Monkeypox! Nigerian woman tests positive

According to a recent study done by the LNJP and the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR), patients in the first five cases showed “mild to moderate grade intermittent fever, myalgia (muscle pain) and lesions on the genitals, groins, lower limb, trunk and upper limb”. Four of these cases had non-tender firm lymphadenopathy (swelling of lymph nodes).

The study further asserted that no secondary complications or sexually transmitted infections were recorded in these cases except for Hepatitis B in one case. In Delhi, the first case of monkeypox was reported on July 24. LNJP Hospital has been made the nodal facility to treat patients with the viral infection.

According to a WHO report last month, the number of monkeypox cases globally dropped by 21%, reversing a month-long trend of rising infections. The report further said that a possible signal of outbreak in Europe may be starting to decline as well.

As many as 60,799 monkeypox cases have been reported across the world, as per the data by Centres for Disease Control and Promotion. The global death toll from monkeypox currently stands at 20.

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COVID-19 Medical Updates Medicine & Health

90% high-risk Covid patients recover within 10 days due to Yoga, Ayurveda

90% high-risk Covid patients recover within 10 days due to Yoga, Ayurveda

Yoga and ayurveda may be effective in the treatment of high-risk cases of Covid-19, according to a research by the IIT-Delhi and Dev Sanskriti Vishwavidyalaya, Haridwar.

NEW DELHI : In the latest of ways to fight Covid-19, Indian Institute of Delhi (IIT-D) has found that yoga and ayurveda has proven effective in the high risk cases of the fatal contagious disease. India lost millions to Covid-19 when the Delta variant was dominant. The research was conducted by the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT), Delhi and Dev Sanskriti Vishwavidyalaya, Haridwar.

90% high-risk Covid patients recover within 10 days due to Yoga, Ayurveda

The study has been published in the Indian Journal of Traditional Knowledge. The study has also stated that yoga and ayurveda has proven instrumental in relieving such patients from anxiety and aid in speedy post-treatment recovery from Covid-19.

The experiment

The study was conducted in 30 high-risk patients of Covid-19. Besides the standard care treatment according to guidelines, the patients were prescribed ayurvedic medicines through telemedicine, and administered a personalized therapeutic yoga programme using video conferencing.

“Almost all the patients were classified as high-risk owing to one or more of co- morbidities such as Diabetes Mellitus, Hypertension, Chronic Kidney Disease, Coronary Artery Disease (which are known to lead to severe outcomes in cases of COVID-19), and/or age above 60.

The treatment

The treatment included ayurvedic medicines, daily yoga-sessions including deep relaxation techniques, pranayama and basic asanas and some lifestyle modifications. Based on the administered treatment, the cases were categorized into YAS (Yoga-Ayurveda based treatment, with possibly allopathic supplements), YASP (Yoga-Ayurveda based treatment, with possibly allopathic Supplements and Paracetamol), YAM (Yoga-Ayurveda based treatment, and Modern Western Medicine (MWM).

The patients, most of whom presented with many symptoms prior to the Yoga and Ayurveda treatment, were followed-up telephonically regularly until recovery.

The treatment given to the patients was personalized (in accordance with the classical texts) and took account of each patient’s medical history and the symptoms presented, which made it more effective as compared to a fixed standardized treatment plan, a researcher stated.

Results

More than half of symptomatic patients started improving within five days (90 per cent within nine days) and more than 60% reported at least 90% recovery within 10 days.

“Six patients with oxygen saturation (SpO2) below 95 per cent, benefited through Makarasana and Shithilasana; none progressed to composite endpoints (consisting of admission to intensive care unit, invasive ventilation or death). Most patients reported that the therapy had a profound impact on their recovery process, with many experiencing improvements with respect to their comorbidities too.

“By the end of the treatment, several patients had decided to adopt yoga in their lifestyle, and several turned to the ayurveda doctors in the team for management and treatment of their comorbidities,” said Sonika Thakral, a scholar at IIT Delhi, who coordinated with the patients for routine follow-up.

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COVID-19 Government Guidelines Medicine & Health Techniques

‘India to become healthcare provider to the world’

 

‘India to become a healthcare provider to the world’
The Medical device sector has a crucial role to play in improving accessibility and affordability of healthcare especially with regard to the availability of precision devices stated D V Sadananda Gowda , Union Minister for Chemicals & Fertilizers during his inaugural address at the 12th MedTech Global Summit .

We now must turn our attention to correct our high import dependence. Our pharmaceutical sector will become Atmanirbhar in a short period of 2-3 years, not only domestically but globally providing low cost and high-quality equipment and drugs.

Our Product Linked Investment schemes will attract cumulative investment of INR 78,000 crore and generate 250,000 in employment, with Med tech attracting at least 40,000 crore and employing 140,000 new employees.

The government is committed to providing low cost, affordable health care to every citizen through PMJAY and Ayushman Bharat with both schemes significantly reducing out of pocket expenditure for our citizens.

The medical device industry has labored and helped prepare indigenous products in our fight against COVID, with our production of ventilators proof of the success of Indian indignity stated Piyush Goyal.

It showed to the world that India can be a trusted partner when it comes to global engagement and global trade. This is the time to leverage the tools of technology to recharge our health systems with the power of: Access, Awareness and Availability, he added.

Chandrajit Banerjee , Director General, Confederation of Indian Industry expressed his gratitude towards the Department of Pharmaceuticals and the phenomenal work undertaken through the recent PLI schemes launched for bulk drug parks and med tech parks. These are the progressive steps required for us to become Aatma Nirbhar.

The Industry and Government need to work together to steer India to become global suppliers of medical Technology. There should be a greater streamlining of the regulatory process, a single national Med-Tech policy and a signal nodal body to govern and support the sector is imperative, he added.

In this pandemic, all the healthcare ecosystem has come together, and have eliminated the need for importing stated Dr Naresh Trehan , Chairman, CII National Committee on Healthcare & Chairman & Managing Director, Medanta – The Medicity. In order to further move up the value chain, Med-Tech, the entire healthcare spectrum, Scientific Intuitions and Government need to be brought on to the same platform to allow for convergence. We need to make a plan to take to the government so that all stakeholders across can help collaborate and innovate.

Source:  http://Source: http://www.smetimes.in/smetimes/news/top-stories/2020/Aug/24/india-healthcare53157.html

 

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Medicine & Health

High blood sugar may limit aerobic exercise capacity

A study finds that hyperglycemia makes it more difficult for people to increase their aerobic capacity.

Regular aerobic exercise provides various health benefits, which heighten as a person increases their aerobic capacity. Doctors recommend this form of exercise to help control diabetes, but people with diabetes often have trouble improving this capacity.

Now, scientists at the Joslin Diabetes Center, an affiliate of Harvard Medical School, in Boston, MA, have published a new study that may explain why.

Hyperglycemia, or higher-than-normal levels of blood sugar, may prevent people from increasing their aerobic capacity and gaining the health benefits that this type of exercise can provide.

The researchers have observed this diminished effect of aerobic exercise in humans with chronic hyperglycemia when blood sugar levels are within the prediabetes range, as well as in mouse models.

Hyperglycemic mice

“The idea behind this study was to see: If we induce high blood sugar in mice, will we impair their ability to improve their aerobic fitness?” says Prof. Lessard.

In designing the study, the researchers hoped to learn more about the mechanisms behind this potential effect, in an effort to find new ways to help people with hyperglycemia boost their fitness levels.

Initially, Prof. Lessard and colleagues increased blood sugar levels in two groups of mice:

  • The first group received a Western diet high in saturated fat and sugar. The mice became hyperglycemic and gained weight.
  • The second group consumed a diet with less sugar and fat and did not gain weight. However, these mice acquired hyperglycemia as a result of modifications that caused them to produce less insulin.

The mice in both groups exercised equally, running roughly 500 kilometers, or about 311 miles, over the course of the study.

Still, compared with a control group that had lower blood sugar levels, both sets of hyperglycemic mice failed to gain significant aerobic capacity.

The fact that both groups developed the condition suggests that the effect is related to blood sugar, not obesity or the effects of insulin.

Mouse muscles

According to Prof. Lessard, muscle tissues typically change as a result of aerobic exercise, and muscle fibers become more efficient at using oxygen. “We also grow new blood vessels,” says Prof. Lessard, “to allow more oxygen to be delivered to the muscle, which helps to increase our aerobic fitness levels.”

However, the researchers saw no such muscle adaptation in the hyperglycemic mice.

They suggest that high levels of sugar are interrupting the remodeling of muscle by altering proteins in the space between muscle cells, where new blood vessels would typically have formed.

The study authors add that another possible factor may be a malfunctioning of the c-Jun N-terminal kinase (JNK) pathway. This signaling pathway may act as a molecular switch that programs a muscle to react to a particular type of exercise.

In earlier research using hyperglycemic mice, Prof. Lessard found that the JNK pathway may get this wrong. She determined that “The muscles of hyperglycemic animals have bigger fibers and fewer blood vessels, which is more typical of strength training, rather than aerobic training.”

People with hyperglycemia

Prof. Lessard and her team followed up with clinical tests in humans and found similar results. They also identified one group for whom the issue was particularly acute.

The researchers saw that individuals with impaired glucose intolerance — in which blood sugar levels rise with the consumption of glucose — had the least increases in aerobic capacity.

This was, at least in part, due to the malfunction of the JNK pathway. “Looking at how their muscles responded to a single bout of typical aerobic exercise, we also saw that those with the lowest glucose tolerance had the highest activation of the JNK signaling pathway, which blocks aerobic adaptations,” says Prof. Lessard.

Recommendations

To that end, the team recommends that individuals with hyperglycemia consider following a diet designed to lower blood sugar levels. In addition, diabetes drugs can help get these levels under control.

The researcher emphasizes that aerobic exercise has health benefits, even when taking into account the inhibiting effect of high blood sugar, saying:

“Regular aerobic exercise is still a key recommendation for maintaining health in people with or without hyperglycemia.”

Prof. Lessard also notes that other forms of exercise, such as strength training, can help with health and fitness.

Source: https://bit.ly/31kpG09

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Government Guidelines Medical Equipments Medical Updates Medicine & Health

Emerging Opportunity for Medical Equipment Manufacturing in India

The central governments’ initiatives on national health programs like Ayushman Bharat are propelling India to become a nation with advanced diagnostic facilities thus boosting the prospects of medical equipment manufacturing in several states

The COVID lockdown situation and the call by the Indian Prime Minister, Narendra Modi towards becoming more self-reliant or Aatma Nirbhar has brought in several opportunities to many sectors, prominent among them being the medical device manufacturing in India.

The cost of healthcare in India is almost 35 per cent more competitive as compared to developed countries such as the US and UK. That is the reason many foreign tourists visit India to get affordable treatment. There is also an exponential rise in the domestic demand in the preventive healthcare segment. This segment has been growing at 18 per cent CAGR and expected to be worth US$100 billion in the next 2-3 years. The current demand and supply-side dynamics do provide a huge opportunity for local manufacturers for producing medical devices in India.

At the moment, India imports almost 85-90 per cent of the sophisticated medical devices from other countries, prominent among them being China. In the year, 2019-2020, medical equipment worth almost Rs 4560 crores was imported from China. India as a market for medical devices is among the top 20 countries in the world, worth almost US$11 billion. With several initiatives launched by the Central Government such as the Ayushman Bharat scheme – to provide access to affordable health care services to all, this market is expected to grow to US$50 billion in the next five years. Presently, local medical equipment manufacturers are mostly involved in the production of low-end products for domestic and as well as international consumption. After Japan, China and South Korea, India is the fourth largest market in Asia with the potential to grow at 28 per cent.

Niti Aayog, the think tank body of the Government of India, has started working out a roadmap for the promotion of medical equipment manufacturers in the country. The Government has also allowed 100 per cent foreign direct investments (FDI) in companies manufacturing medical devices through the automatic route. The Indian Government has already chalked out plans intending to remove all roadblocks and offer tailor-made solutions to attract investment to make India a manufacturing hub for medical devices.

Medical device manufacturing comprises of five broad segments, including patient aids like pacemakers and hearing devices, dental products like braces and dentures, MRI and other diagnostic machines, prosthetics like knee implants and artificial joints, and disposal & consumables like needles and syringes.

Under initiatives like Make in India, several state governments have taken up the onus of setting up medical device manufacturing parks in their respective states and have got the approval from the Government of India to do so. There would be six medical devices manufacturing clusters in the country in states like Andhra Pradesh, Kerala, Telangana, Tamil Nadu, Maharashtra, and Sikkim. These clusters would provide a huge boost to domestic manufacturing of high-end medical devices at a lower cost and significantly enhance job creation.

The unfolding crisis has displayed the potential of Indian manufacturers to scale up the manufacturing to meet the higher demand for PPE kits, ventilators, and other lifesaving equipment. However, there are a lot of challenges that the Government needs to address to make the country a hub of manufacturing medical equipment. Firstly, there is a need to set necessary infrastructures like supply chain and logistics channels. There is an irregular power supply in several parts of the country which impairs the manufacturing process. The Government also needs to take steps to reduce the high cost of finance for local manufacturers.

The medical equipment manufacturers have been long demanding to reduce the effective rate of Goods and Service Tax (GST) on medical devices to 5 per cent from the present 18 per cent. Due to the high GST rate, it becomes more advantageous to import the equipment than manufacturers the same in the country. There is also a need to rationalize custom duty for necessary components and transitional inputs going into the production of medical equipment in India. It will further help if the government begins to incentivize high-end medical equipment manufacturers in order to promote the production of these devices in the country.

There is also a need for the Government to set up import restrictions and duty protection on the import of medical devices in India. This would restrict imports and at the same time, provide a boost to local manufacturers. There is a need to increase the skilling and training programs to tackle the shortage of talented and trained people in the sector. The Government also needs to put in place a robust regulatory framework to maintain high-quality standards and create a healthcare ecosystem in India.

India has some of the best doctors in the world and state-of-the-art healthcare facilities, the strong foothold in the medical devices manufacturing sector will only further reduce the cost of treatment and at the same time enhance the country’s image as a global healthcare destination.

Source: https://bit.ly/3i2bzDe

 

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COVID-19 Medical Updates Medicine & Health

Delhi: 2nd sero survey from today, 15k samples targeted

New Delhi: The second round of the serological survey in the capital will begin on Saturday, with the authorities targeting to cover nearly 15,000 people to analyse the prevalence of antibodies in Delhiites in different districts. The tests will have to be completed by August 7.

All arrangements have been made in the 11 districts to start the exercise, which will be crucial to find out if Delhi is heading towards herd immunity from novel coronavirus. The first serological survey in Delhi, in which the sample size was 21,387, revealed nearly a quarter of its population had developed antibodies.

Teams of lab technicians, doctors, civil defence volunteers and ASHA workers will go to selected areas to collect samples in the morning. Earlier, the sero survey was scheduled to be completed by the fifth day of every month, but the deadline has been extended this time due to festivals.

The districts have been given different targets of sample collection. North West district, which collected the largest number of samples at 3,548 during the last survey, will have to collect 2,200 samples, and West district 2,150 samples against 2,373 in the previous one. Central district, which collected 2,702 samples earlier, has been asked to gather 1,548 samples.

Sandeep Kumar Mishra, district magistrate of North West district, said he had directed all 16 collection teams to ensure multi-stage systematic random representative sampling as per the guidelines. “It is critical in projecting the accurate prevalence of antibodies in people. It is more important than the size of samples,” Mishra said.

In Central district, 16 teams will collect samples from different areas across various age groups to ensure that the samples represent the entire administrative unit, said district magistrate Nidhi Srivastava.

Arun Gupta, additional district magistrate of South, said no sample would be collected from the areas covered in the last survey.

Since the sero survey reveals the prevalence of antibodies in population at a micro level, it helps the district authorities plan interventions for mitigation and containment of Covid-19.

The samples will be collected from various areas, including those without any any Covid-19 case, containment and buffer zones, those with only isolated cases, upscale and middle colonies, and slums. All individuals covered in the first survey will be excluded from sampling this time.

Directions have been issued to the field teams to ensure that out of the total number of samples, 25% should be of those younger than 18 years, another 25% of those in the age group of 50 years and above, and the remaining 50% from those in the age group of 18-49 years. All districts have been allocated different laboratories to send their samples for tests.

Source: https://bit.ly/2PoHLnX