Govt blamed for turning a blind eye to doctor attacked on hartal day : (18/05/03)

KOZHIKODE: The Government, especially Health Minister P Sankaran, has come in for severe criticism from the medical fraternity for turning a blind eye to the condition of Dr Vasudevan, who suffered serious head injuries in attacks by miscreants on the day of hartal called by Sangh Parivar on May 3 to protest against Marad carnage. Dr Vasudevan is an assistant professor with the ENT department at the Medical College Hospital here. Read more >>

(Courtesy The New Indian Express dated 18/05/03)

'238 hospital buildings remaining unutilised' : (16/05/03)

THRISSUR - In a shocking disclosure, the Health Minister, P. Sankaran, today conceded that 238 completely constructed hospital buildings in various parts of the State are remaining unutilised because of shortage of staff. The Minister made this disclosure at a meeting of the MLAs from the district convened by him to discuss the construction of a separate DMO office in the district. These buildings have been constructed under extreme public pressure for developing the public health services and by spending crores of rupees pooled from various sources like MP funds, MLA funds, voluntary contributions. Read more >>

(Courtesy The Hindu dated 16/05/03)

Medical Trust achieves a medical feat : (15/05/03)

KOCHI: The wee hours of Tuesday wrote a new chapter in the medical history of the state when a group of doctors successfully performed the first heart transplantation in Kerala at Ernakulam Medical Trust Hospital. And P A Abraham, a 34-year-old Haripad native received a new lease of life with this surgery which used the heart of K K Sukumaran who was certified brain-dead after a road accident. Abraham is now in the post-operative ward and he will be removed from the ventilator tomorrow and will need three weeks of hospitalisation. Read more >>

(Courtesy The New Indian Express dated 15/05/03)

Focus on polio surveillance : (15/05/03)

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM - In spite of the phenomenal strides made in calibrating surveillance of poliomyelitis over the years, India is now bearing the dubious tag of being the stumbling block to the achievement of the global goal of eliminating the wild polio virus. Even after years of implementing the Pulse Polio Immunisation (PPI) programme, which involves administering of oral vaccines to children under five years of age, the country finds itself bracketed along with Nigeria and Pakistan, a health analyst told The Hindu here. Read more >>

(Courtesy The Hindu dated 15/05/03)

It is now `polio Sunday' : (15/05/03)

NEW DELHI - In a bid to make the national polio eradication campaign more popular, the Centre has proposed to give it a new identity. It will now be called `polio Sunday' or `polio ravivar'. Announcing this, the Union Health Minister, Sushma Swaraj, said the new name was thought of since the current term "national pulse polio immunisation day" sounded highly technical. Consequently, the common man was unable to associate with it. Read more >>

(Courtesy The Hindu dated 15/05/03)

Move for round-the-clock guidance centres at MCH : (14/05/03)

A proposal to start round-the-clock information centres at select locations on the campus of the Medical College Hospital here to provide guidance to patients arriving at the institution is under the consideration of the authorities. According to the project, information counters would be set up at select sites on the MCH campus to serve as information-cum-counselling posts for patients and bystanders reporting at the overcrowded institution. The sites chosen are located in front of the main portal leading into the MCH, SAT , RCC and the SCTIMST.

(Courtesy The Hindu dated 14/05/03)

Warning against anthrax : (14/05/03)

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM - The public should exercise caution against anthrax disease, which could spread from cattle to human beings, the District Medical Officer, K. Thankappan, has said. The warning has been issued following reports about the death of cattle due to anthrax within the limits of Aamachal primary health centre. Though the disease first appears in cattle, those who come into contact with cattle during work should be extra careful. Read more >>

(Courtesy The Hindu dated 14/05/03)

Awareness programmes, meetings mark Nurses Day : (14/05/03)

KOCHI - Remembering the lady with the lamp, Florence Nightingale, on her 184th birth anniversary, Nurses Day was celebrated with various programmes in the district on Monday. In the city, nurses and nursing students took out a rally in the morning from the General Hospital compound to Menaka Junction. This was followed by a public meeting which was inaugurated by Mayor C M Dinesh Mani. Read more >>

(Courtesy The New Indian Express dated 14/05/03)

MBBS seats likely to go up to 1500 : (14/05/03)

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM - The number of MBBS seats in the State are likely to go up to 1,500 with three new self-financing medical colleges in the pipeline. One of the three proposed new medical colleges, Jubilee Mission Hospital, Thrissur, has already received the preliminary sanction, the letter of intent, from the Medical Council of India (MCI) for 100 MBBS seats. Read more >>

(Courtesy The New Indian Express dated 14/05/03)

'MCH centre a money-spinner?' : (12/05/03)

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM - A so-called Government-supported facility established for the benefit of a section of patients reporting at the Thiruvananthapuram Medical College, is turning out to be a fleecing point for the poor. Strange circumstances seem to have prevailed upon the Nuclear Medicine Department, which, according to MCH sources, is now being run by a 'non-parental' organisation, even though the outfit has a governing body studded with a cross-section of reputable persons, with the District Collector serving as chairman. Read more >>

(Courtesy The Hindu dated 12/05/03)

''Govt planning medical university in State'' : (12/05/03)

KOZHIKODE - Health Minister P Sankaran on Sunday said the Government was actively considering the proposal to establish a medical university in the State. Speaking at the public function of the IMA Fest-2003 here, he said that the university will have all the three branches of Allopathy, Ayurveda and Homoeopathy under its awning. ''A unified medical bill for both private and government doctors is also being considered by the Government. We also intend to improve the salary package of government doctors to prevent their migration to the private sector,'' he said. Read more >>

(Courtesy The New Indian Express dated 12/05/03)

'Retain ST relief for MCH paying counter' : (11/05/03)

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM - The controversial issue of granting Sales Tax relief for drugs procured by the paying counter at the Thiruvananthapuram Medical College Hospital has come to the fore again with several organisations raising a demand for retaining the concessions to the fair price medical store. The paying counter had turned into a refuge for poor patients by providing medicines at rates several times lesser than prices charged by private chemists. Read more >>

(Courtesy The Hindu dated 11/05/03)

Steps to promote AIDS awareness : (11/05/03)

NEW DELHI - The Union Health Minister, Sushma Swaraj, today announced a package of measures to tone up the anti-AIDS programme in the country, by creating better public awareness of the various aspects of the disease and by streamlining the activities of NGOs involved in the programme. The aim of the new strategy is to ensure that even while the fight against the disease is strengthened, the stigma attached to it is dispelled by removing various misconceptions associated with it. Read more >>

(Courtesy The Hindu dated 11/05/03)

IOA lectures on paediatric hip pathology from Saturday : (10/05/03)

KOTTAYAM - The Instructional Course Lectures of Indian Orthopaedic Association (IOA), to be held for the first time in Kerala, on Saturday, will bring to focus the alarming rate of congenital diseases among children, including the Perthes disease, in the State. The lectures and deliberations at the two-day IOAICL-2003, scheduled here up to Sunday, will go a long way in addressing the Kerala-specific diseases among children, which are yet to become a subject for comprehensive studies. Read more >>

(Courtesy The New Indian Express dated 10/05/03)

Medical reps allege unethical marketing by firms, spread of spurious drugs : (10/05/03)

KOCHI: The three-day strike called by Kerala Medical and Sales Representatives Association (KMSRA), which began on Thursday, has thrown light on the alleged unethical practices adopted by many pharmaceutical companies in marketing their products and the spread of spurious drugs in the State. Association members allege that in the last five years many major companies have started their own marketing campaigns like sponsoring doctors' conferences which only help in dumping unwanted drugs on patients. Read more >>

(Courtesy The New Indian Express dated 10/05/03)

National Orthopedics meet at Kottayam : (09/05/03)

KOTTAYAM: As part of the continuing yearly educational programme, the Indian Orthopaedic Association will organise a two-day course lectures here on May 10 and 11. The theme of the course was 'problems and solutions in pediatric hip'. Discussions would he held on pediatric hip problems by national and international faculty, Prof, P S John, President, Kerala Orthopaedic Association, told reporters on Thursday. About 250 delegates from various parts of the country were expected to attend the conference which would be inaugurated by health minister P Sankaran on Sunday at Hotel Windsor Castle.

(Courtesy Kaumudi.com dated 09/05/03)

Surgery meet at Kottayam from Friday : (09/05/03)

The state wing of the Association of Surgeons of India is holding a meet at Kottayam from 9th to the 11th of May. The program co-ordinated by the Department of Surgery, Medical College Kottayam and The Kottayam Surgical Club, will be held at Thellakam Matha Hospital and Mamman Mappila Hall. The meeting will be attended by various eminent surgeons and PG students from the state. The meet will be preceded by a work-shop on Laprascopic surgery at the Matha Hospital.

(Courtesy Malayala Manorama dated 09/05/03)

R. C. C. OPD to function 6 days : (09/05/03)

The out patient wing of the Regional Cancer Centre in Thiruvananthapuram will function from Monday to Saturday in the future. The registration of new patients can be done on Saturdays also. The O. P. will function from 8 am to 1 pm.

(Courtesy The Hindu dated 09/05/03)

Snag in CT scan machine hits diagnosis at MCH : (09/05/03)

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM - Frequent hitches encountered by the spiral whole body Computerised Tomography (CT) scan equipment at the Medical College Hospital here has led to a strident demand among clinicians that another machine be procured as a back-up so that the diagnostic needs of patients are taken care of without interruption. The Rs. 1.50-crore machine, the first ever to be installed in the Government sector, had been in limbo for the second time in a week, resulting in the piling up of investigation requests from patients in the Casualty as well as in-patients in the wards. Read more >>

(Courtesy The Hindu dated 09/05/03)

Medical reps allege unethical marketing by firms, spread of spurious drugs : (09/05/03)

KOCHI - The three-day strike called by Kerala Medical and Sales Representatives Association (KMSRA), which began on Thursday, has thrown light on the alleged unethical practices adopted by many pharmaceutical companies in marketing their products and the spread of spurious drugs in the State. Association members allege that in the last five years many major companies have started their own marketing campaigns like sponsoring doctors' conferences which only help in dumping unwanted drugs on patients. Read more >>

(Courtesy The New Indian Express dated 08/05/03)

Commitment to duty leaves doctor in coma : (08/05/03)

Kozhikode - Taking the 'risk' of attending duty on a hartal day was the only ''crime'' Dr P. Vasudevan committed out of allegiance to the profession. The 48-year-old doctor is now battling for life at the intensive care unit of the Kozhikode Medical College Hospital (MCH) after being attacked by the RSS-BJP supporters during the May three hartal called by the Sangh Parivar to protest the Marad massacre the previous day. The car of Dr Vasudevan, attached to the ENT department of the MCH, was attacked at nearby Cheruvannur on his way to the hospital. As the vehicle was pelted with stones, the splinters of window panes pierced into his brain, leaving him critically injured. Read more >>

(Courtesy Malayala Manorama dated 08/05/03)

Mini telephone Exchange at Medical College out of order : (08/05/03)

The mini telephone exchange in the premises of the Medical College and S. A. T. Hospital in Trivandrum is out of order. This has caused problems for communication between the patients and their relatives.

(Courtesy Malayala Manorama dated 08/05/03)

ESMA will be used against Govt. doctors : Semmalai : (08/05/03)

Chennai - With the Tamil Nadu Government Doctors Association threatening to join the fortnight-long medicos' strike, the Health Minister, S. Semmalai, today warned that the Government would put it down with an iron hand and use the stringent Essential Services Maintenance Act against doctors who plunged into the protest. "The Government doctors should realise the essential nature of their service and desist from striking work. They should also not incite the students. In case, they resort to a stir which affects the public and contravenes the law, the Government will put it down with an iron hand," the Minister said, in a suo motu statement in the Assembly. Read more >>

(Courtesy The Hindu dated 08/05/03)

World Asthma day, focus on environmental factors, ‘burden’ : (07/05/03)

KOCHI - Kochi is one of the worst polluted cities in the country with the pollution levels increasing every year, resulting in more cases of asthma, both in adults and children. This was found in a study done by the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) during 2000-2001. Kochi is one of the 50 cities monitored closely by CPCB to find out the levels of respirable particulates that cause asthma and the city was found to have critical levels of this material. Kochi shares the list with cities like Delhi where 7 to 10 per cent of males suffer from various respiratory diseases. And Bangalore records a spurt in cases of asthma in tune with vehicular population and industrial growth. Read more >>

(Courtesy The New Indian Express dated 07/05/03)

Cardiology seminar from Thurdsday : (07/05/03)

Thiruvananthapuram - The Chief Minister, A. K. Antony will inaugurate the two-day national seminar on prventive cardiology, 'Hridayam 2003' here on Thursday. The seminar is being organized under the joint aegis of teh Department of Kayachikitsa of the Govt. Ayurveda College and the Department of Cardiology of the Medical College with the support of Post Graduate Students Association, House Surgeons Association and Ayurveda College Union. The seminar is aimed at making Keralaites aware of the high incidence of heart ailments in teh state and to change their lifestyle.

(Courtesy The Hindu dated 07/05/03)

The New O. P. Schedule for Dept. of Medicine : (07/05/03)

The Superintendent of the Medical College, Dr. Mathew Thomas has taken charge as the H. O. D. of the Department of Medicine. The O. P. schedules have changed as follows

Monday - Dr. Mathew Thomas (M1)
Tuesday - Dr. B. Jayakumar (M2)
Wednesday Dr. S. Gopakumar (M3)
Thursday - Dr. D. Dalus (M4)
Friday - Dr. Ashwini Kumar (M5)
Saturday - Dr. Baby Paul (M6)

(Courtesy Malayala Manorama dated 07/05/03)

Hospital Society dispute a S. A. T. : (07/0/03)

A dispute about the functioning of two societies working for the development of the S. A. T. H. Trivandrum will be settled by a sub-committee. The two societies involved in the dispute are S. A. T. Health Education Society (SATHES) and the Health Development Society (HDS). According to government order, there should be one working society for the development of a hospital. The decision will be made after consulting the Health Minister and will be made via the Hospital Supdt. Dr. Raj Mohan.

(Courtesy Malayala Manorama dated 07/05/03)

Full-fledged isolation ward coming up at GH : (06/05/03)

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM - A full-fledged isolation ward is coming up at the General Hospital (GH) here to quarantine patients with contagious diseases, especially the dreaded Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS). The self-contained 10-bedded ward would be equipped with modern facilities ranging from incubators to ambubags and pulse oxymeters. The isolation ward would also house suspected SARS cases. Read more >>

(Courtesy The Hindu dated 06/05/03)

IMA concern over steps to tackle SARS : (05/05/03)

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM - The State chapter of the Indian Medical Association has expressed serious reservations over the manner in which the Health Department was confronting the SARS threat. The department’s plan to set up a permanent isolation ward at the General Hospital here for treating patients with communicable respiratory diseases has drawn much flak from the IMA and a section of health experts. According to IMA State secretary Dr T.Suresh Kumar, the move was ‘‘untimely and unnecessary’’. Read more >>

(Courtesy The New Indian Express dated 05/05/03)

Plea to make `protective goggles' mandatory for workers : (05/05/03)

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM - Leading ophthalmologists have urged the Government to make `protective goggles' mandatory for the workers who face potential eye hazard in their work places. The plea was made at the annual Continuing Medical Education (CME) Programme on `Ocular Trauma', organised by the Regional Institute of Ophthalmology at the institute conference hall here on Sunday. The programme, in which more than 150 eminent ophthalmologists from the State and Tamil Nadu took part and presented papers, dealt at length with the prevention and treatment of eye injuries using state-of-the art equipment. Read more >>

(Courtesy The New Indian Express dated 05/05/03)

Virology Institute to become autonomous : (04/05/03)

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM - The Virology Institute, currently attached to the Alappuzha Medical College, is to be re-established as an autonomous institute in an eight-acre land in the medical college compound allotted by the State Government. ‘‘The institute will have virology, protozoology, bacteriology, epidemiology, medical entomology, public health training and publication divisions,’’ said Dr Jacob John, an eminent virologist and advisor to the Virology Institute. ‘‘We will lay special emphasis on surveillance, prevention, and cause of an epidemic outbreak and carry out sophisticated diagnostic work on behalf of the Public Health Department,’’ he said. Read more >>

(Courtesy The New Indian Express dated 04/05/03)

MCH: CT scanner develops snag : (03/05/03)

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM - The whole body spiral Computerised Tomography (CT) scan machine went in limbo for the second time in a week, piling up the backlog of investigation requests of patients in the Casualty and in-patients in the wards. The CT equipment which had developed a software error earlier had been set aright by a service engineer a couple of days back before the machine developed the same problem on Thursday. The scan machine was repaired once again on Friday morning and diagnosticians are keeping their fingers crossed that the problem does not resurface yet again. Read more >>

(Courtesy The Hindu dated 03/05/03)

Hard times for virology institute : (02/05/03)

ALAPPUZHA - Red-tapeism and neglect by a section of the authorities are hampering the work of the Kerala State Institute of Virous and Infectious Diseases here, the only virology institute in the State, at a time when the threat of a viral disease outbreak looms over the State. The institute, which functions along with the department of microbiology of the Alappuzha Medical College, does not have a separate building even four years after it was founded. There are complaints that the grant-in-aid provided by the State Government to the institute is not given on time. Besides, some of the clauses pertaining to the operation of the institute's account in the treasury make the withdrawal of amount a difficult task. Read more >>

(Courtesy The Hindu dated 02/05/03)

IMA to launch SARS sensitising programme : (02/05/03)

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM - The State unit of the IMA will launch a sensitising programme for doctors on guidelines for SARS detection and management to strengthen preventive measures against the killer virus. As part of the exercise, the organisation will despatch pamphlets on SARS to an estimated 20,000 doctors across the State. The 86 IMA units will also conduct awareness programmes aimed at various sections of society, ranging from physicians and transport officials to the general public. The IMA has also underscored the need to step up screening across ports, railway stations and important bus terminals to effectively check the entry of the killer-virus, which had the potential to wreak havoc in a State with a largely mobile population. Read more >>

(Courtesy The Hindu dated 02/05/03)

Allopaths, homoeopaths lock horns over SARS : (01/05/03)

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) has given yet another chance to the allopaths and homoeopaths to lock horns with each other over the ‘‘right medicine’’ for the treatment. The homoeopaths have come up with preventive and curative medicines for SARS. According to Homeo Medical College principal Dr Abdul Lathif, homoeo medicine ‘Chelidonium’ was the best preventive cure for SARS available now. ‘‘It has been used as a cure for pneumonia since ages. ‘Chelidonium’ can be used effectively for preventing SARS. There is also specific line of treatment to cure the disease,’’ he said. Read more >>

(Courtesy The New Indian Express dated 01/05/03)

Lok Ayukta order permits Sena ambulances in MCH : (01/05/03)

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM - The Lok Ayukta has recommended to the competent authority to issue necessary directions permitting the ambulances of the Karunya Charitable Society controlled by the Shiv Sena to be parked on the Medical College and Dental College premises free of cost. In a verdict issued today, the Lok Ayukta, Justice P.C.Balakrishna Menon, and the Upa Lok Ayukta, Justice T.V.Ramakrishnan, said `Karunya' was eligible for the facility over private ambulances, in view of the free service it provides to destitutes and poor families. Read more >>

(Courtesy The Hindu dated 01/05/03)

Anthrax bacterium genome sequenced : (01/05/03)

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM - The lethality of the anthrax bacterium may not be solely the result of genes on its two plasmids (circular bits of DNA), according to the research group which has sequenced its entire genome and whose work will be published in the coming issue of the journal, Nature. Scientists at the Institute for Genomic Research (TIGR) in the United States have deciphered the entire genome of the ames strain of the anthrax bacterium. Read more >>

(Courtesy The Hindu dated 01/05/03)

Maintenance must if husband is aware of pregnancy at the time of marriage : (01/05/03)

NEW DELHI April 30. The Supreme Court has held that if a person marries a pregnant girl with the knowledge of her pregnancy, such a marriage cannot be said to be void or illegal and the wife will be entitled to maintenance in the event of divorce on that ground. A Bench, comprising Justice M.B. Shah and Justice Arun Kumar, set aside a judgment of the Kerala High Court affirming a trial court's order which held that the girl had concealed the pregnancy at the time of marriage and hence it was invalid and that the husband need not pay any maintenance amount to the girl under Sec. 125 Cr.P.C. Read more >>

(Courtesy The Hindu dated 01/05/03)