PG Times

The government will set up 3,000 new generic medicine stores across the country to tackle the shortage of drugs in rural areas, finance minister Arun Jaitley said on Monday. "For the better availability of generic medicines in the country, especially in the rural areas, the government has decided to open 3,000 new generic medicines stores," said Jaitley, presenting the Union Budget for 2016-17 in the Lok Sabha. He also announced the launch of a National Dialysis Programme to address the high costs involved in the renal dialysis processes. Under the programme every district hospital will have the facilities of renal dialysis, so that people do not have to travel to the expensive hospitals of metro cities, he said. At least 2,000 new dialysis centres will be started in the country under the programme.

Exam on 15th May 2016.

Has bed number 12 been administered medicines? What time does he have to go for tests? Should he be given something to eat? These are some key questions a nurse has to communicate to her replacement during shift change or when the patient is shifted from ICU to ward. In medical terms, it is referred to as nursing handover protocol. An audit carried out by AIIMS to evaluate adherence to this protocol has revealed several lacunae. For example, significant lapses were found during the morning shifts and weekends. "The low morning compliance probably reflects the delay in arrival of the morning shift staff, busy morning duty corresponding with the doctor's rounds, and nurse fatigue due to night duty," the researchers have stated in their report, published in the latest issue of the Asian Journal of Neurosurgery. The weekend fall of compliance, it adds, may be a result of lack of supervision (absence of administrative nurses) and generalised fall in diligence....

Failure to respond on the part of doctors in emergencies like road accidents is to be treated as "professional misconduct" and will invite disciplinary action under Union Health Ministry guidelines, Lok Sabha was today told. "In pursuance of a Supreme Court judgement, the ministry has issued guidelines in August 2015 to all states and UTs on 'Good Samaritans' in which it has been mentioned that lack of response by a doctor in an emergency situation pertaining to road accidents... shall constitute professional misconduct under Chapter 7 of the Indian Medical Council (Professional Conduct, Etiquette and Ethics) Regulation, 2002. "Disciplinary action shall be taken against such doctors under Chapter 8 of the said regulations. It is the responsibility of the state governments and UTs to take action against the said hospitals," Union Health Minister JP Nadda said in a written reply in Lok Sabha. He said that since health is a state subject...

The average cost of treatment in private hospitals, excluding child birth, is about four times than that of public healthcare facilities, reflecting the challenges that India faces in providing affordable and accessible healthcare, according to the Economic Survey. The Economic Survey 2015-16 tabled in Parliament today also said with limited resources and competing demands in the health sector, it is essential for the government to prioritise its expenditure in the sector. Citing a report by National Sample Survey Organisation (NSSO) the survey said: "the average medical expenditure for treatment (excluding child birth) per hospitalised case if treated in private hospital was about four times than that of public hospital during January-June 2014". On an average, Rs 25,850 was spent for treatment per hospitalised case by people in the private facilities as against Rs 6,120 in the public health facilities, it said. It further said: "The average total medical ...

Jawaharlal Nehru University / JNU Delhi has invited application for filling up the posts of Medical Officer / MO by walk in interview.Interested candidates can appear for interview for recruitment to these jobs as follows -   Part Time Doctor (Allopathic) - 01 post    Qualification – MBBS  Remuneration - Rs. 400 per hour  How to apply – Interested & eligible candidates may attend the interview alongwith all their original certificates / mark sheets with an attested photo copy of each of it and a recent passport size photograph along with the updated Bio-data.  Place of Interview - Inter Room No. 114-B,Administration Block,Jawaharlal Nehru University,New Delhi – 110067  Date of interview - Februay 29,2016 at 10:00 AM    For further detailed advertisement click at the following link -  http://www.jnu.ac.in/Career/Doctor.htm JAWAHARLAL NEHRU UNIVERSITY NEW DELHI-11067 Date: 11.02...

Expressing concern over quacks using fake MBBS degrees from an illegal institute, Central Information Commision has asked Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare to take immediate action through MCI to stop the practice as it poses serious public threat. During a hearing, Medical Council of India officials produced certain documents before Information Commissioner Yashovardhan Azad showing an institute by the name of Indian Board of Alternative Medicine, which has no official or legal sanctity and yet has been giving fake degrees for practice. "...the matter which is truly alarming is the revelation by the Respondent (MCI) about the existence of the Institute by the name of Indian Board of Alternative Medicine with no official/legal sanctity and doctors are using such degree as 'MBBS (IAM)' for practice," Azad said. The Commissioner said it was a matter of grave concern since public health is at high risk owing to these practitioners who have no...

In a move aimed at controlling hospital acquired infection, the health ministry on Tuesday issued guidelines for healthcare institutions to prevent transmission of infections. The move is significant as almost 40% of patients admitted in public hospitals are vulnerable to life threatening infections. While private hospitals are regarded as better, health experts say chances of catching infections there are also pegged at around 20-25%. The guidelines, prepared by the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) cover the basic principles of infection control, role of health care workers, bio-waste management and elaborates on the steps to be followed for setting up of an effective infection control in hospitals. Highlighting that good infection control measures can significantly reduce patient morbidity and mortality in hospitals and has also been proven cost-effective, ICMR director general Soumya Swaminathan said, "The infection control policies and procedures, ...

To check irrational use of antibiotics, packs of certain medicines will soon carry a ' red line ' differentiating them from other drugs. The move is aimed at discouraging unnecessary prescription and over-the-counter sale of antibiotics causing drug resistance for several critical diseases including TB, malaria, urinary tract infection and even HIV. The Centre is set to kickstart an awareness campaign - 'Medicines with the Red Line ' - to spread awareness about irrational use of antibiotics. "India is committed to combating antimicrobial resistance (AMR). However, a collective action is required by all stakeholders within a country and by all countries within a region, " health minister J P Nadda said. He added, the government is also working to prepare a national action plan to combat AMR. The World Health Organisation (WHO) has raised an alarm seeking urgent and concrete measures to arrest the reducing effectiveness of antibiotics. The UN ...

The Union health ministry has approved a Rs 2,700-crore expansion plan for the AIIMS trauma centre here that includes adding 1,841 beds to the existing facility. The plan assumes significance because of increasing footfall of patients, primarily for tertiary care, at the country's premier medical institute. Estimates show 30,000-40,000 patients visit AIIMS' OPD every day. The revamp entails separate centres for digestive disorders with 465 beds, endocrinology (244), ENT (334) and spine (200). Bone marrow and kidney transplant centres will be built with 88 and 63 beds, respectively. While the government has tried to distribute a lot of this traffic by opening new branches of AIIMS in different states, the institute in the capital continues to attract the most number of patients mainly because of its world class infrastructure and competent doctors. "The expansion of trauma centre along with the upgradation of AI IMS in the states is a part of sustaine...

Union Health Minister J P Nadda today said the NDA government had already started the process of establishing 17 new AIIMS and 20 cancer institutes in the country. Once fully functional, more than 16,300 additional bed would be available in these new AIIMS, Nadda said after laying the foundation of a super speciality block under PMSSY at the Guwahati Medical College here. 50 Tertiary Cancer Care Centres were also being set up. The National Cancer Institute, Jhajjar (with 710 beds) and the second campus of Chittaranjan National Cancer Institute, Kolkata, were also being established. Besides, he said, super speciality blocks were being set up in 70 medical colleges and 58 district hospitals upgraded to medical colleges in the country. Appropriate ground work had also been done for initiatives like Mission Indradhanush, Kayakalp, AMRIT, introduction of new vaccines, steps taken in AIDS control programme and is all set to take a big leap forward. "Over t...

Exam on 8th May 2016.

Medical Council of India (MCI) has recommended an addition of 501 PG medical seats, cut across government and private colleges in the country. The recommendation comes for the 2016-17 academic session, and reportedly the Ministry of Health has been intimated on the matter. At present 25,577 PG medical seats are available in the country. MCI has considered only those colleges for the increase in PG seats, which had earlier applied to the council. After an MCI inspection only; the recommendation for the said colleges has been forwarded to the health ministry. The health ministry is likely to take a decision by end of February. Reportedly, concerning the matter of cancer treatment, there are just five seats for radiotherapy. The issue of having more doctors to address the increase in the number of cancer cases still remains a concern. This development follows the earlier revision by the MCI of the minimum standard requirements in several disciplines in order to address shortag...

Over the last week, media reports emerged on a proposal by the Medical Council of India seeking the views of various Ministries on introducing a common entrance examination for medical admissions. In a letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Tamil Nadu Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa reiterated her strong objection to any move by the Centre to introduce NEET, a single national-level examination for medical courses. Here's why: The AIADMK government has consistently been of the view that common entrance exams put rural students at a disadvantage because they lack resources to stand at an equal playing field as their economically advantaged peers. According to Jayalalithaa, the examination by design favours the urban elite, who can enroll in training institutes and coaching classes and have access to study materials unlike their rural counterparts. Any attempts to introduce such a common entrance test in any other manner or by any other name, infringes upon the state's ...

Recently, PG Times had conservatively estimated the scale of the black economy in medical seats at about Rs 12,000 crore. How has this black market come into being? It is thanks largely to a massive expansion in private medical education in the 15 years from 1996 to 2010. Nearly 60% of the private medical seats now available were added during this period. The expansion followed a crucial change in the Indian Medical Council Act in 1993, which gave the Medical Council of India (MCI) complete control over the process of recognising new colleges and courses. Incidentally, the 15-year period was one in which Dr Ketan Desai and his close associate Dr Kesavan Kutty Nair held sway over MCI. Desai was twice removed from the post of MCI president on allegations of corruption, though he has never been convicted on these charges. At the time of independence there was just one private medical college, CMC Vellore, and even at the beginning of the 1980s there were only 11 of them. ...

The recently notified 'new' ethical guidelines of the Medical Council of India (MCI) are being touted as a bid to punish doctors accepting freebies from pharma companies. However, these guidelines, doctors fighting corruption in the profession point out, will legitimise doctors' associations taking money from the pharma industry. While the guidelines elaborate the quantum of punishment for doctors on the basis of the value of favours or freebies received from pharma companies, they also include an amendment that ensures that doctors' associations are beyond the MCI's jurisdiction. Under the Societies Registration Act, it takes just seven people to form an association. In effect, what is barred for an individual doctor can be done as soon as seven or more of them get together to form a society or association. The guidelines are actually five years old, but were notified in the official gazette on February 1. Without them being notified by the government, ...

The Indian Academy of Pediatrics (IAP) today launched ACE 10/10, a major healthcare initiative aimed at adolescents. The initiative will focus on driving awareness around three key pillars of Health, Nutrition and Vaccination as essential to comprehensive adolescent care. The ACE 10/10 initiative was jointly unveiled by Dr. Pramod Jog (IAP President 2016), Dr. Anupam Sachdeva (IAP President Elect 2016) and Dr. Bakul Parekh (IAP Secretary 2016). Speaking on the occasion, Dr Pramod Jog, said, "With 1 in 5 people in India being adolescents, there is a need is to ensure that the foundations laid during adolescence are strong enough as they are the future of the country. While what happens during the early years of life impacts adolescents' health and development, what takes place during the adolescent period affects health during the adult years and even influences the wellbeing of the next generation. Paediatricians play an important role as trusted advisors to p...

In a significant move, Union Health Minister J P Nadda has approved the Medical Council of India’s recommendation for an amendment to the Indian Medical Council (IMC) Act that will empower it to hold a nationwide common medical entrance test. The health ministry has prepared a draft cabinet note to be circulated among the ministries. The proposed amendment will pave the way for a one-country, one-medical entrance plan, for both undergraduate and postgraduate medical courses in all colleges, including private colleges and deemed universities. The MCI has told the government that it could either notify an existing examination, like the All India Pre Medical Test (AIPMT), as the common test or notify a new one. The IMC Act governs the functioning of the MCI, which is the medical education regulator. Under the current Act, its role is limited to finalising the medical curriculum, while the states and individual colleges can devise their own admission procedures. B...

The Ministry of Health and Family Welfare issued guidelines on the Zika virus disease, here. The text of the guidelines is as follows. Background Zika virus disease is an emerging viral disease transmitted through the bite of an infected Aedes mosquito. This is the same mosquito that is known to transmit infections like dengue and chikungunya.  Zika virus was first identified in Uganda in 1947. World Health Organization has reported 22 countries and territories in Americas 1 from where local transmission of Zika virus has been reported. Microcephaly in the newborn and other neurological syndromes (Guillain Barre Syndrome) have been found temporally associated with Zika virus infection. However, there are a number of genetic and other causes for microcephaly and neurological syndromes like Guillain Barre Syndrome. Zika virus disease has the potential for further international spread given the wide geographical distribution of the mosquito vector, a lack of immunity amo...