State ill-equipped to screen kids

Union health minister J.P. Nadda inaugurated pentavalent vaccines in Maharashtra with much fanfare on Monday, but the state lacks the infrastructure to investigate the associated health issues of infants before vaccinating them, which can lead to hospitalisation and death.
Every year, thousands of children are injected with vaccines to bring down the mortality rate. Most of the newborns are provided with vaccines within the first few weeks of birth. But there are many cases where infants succumb after vaccination due to ‘Adverse Effect of Immunisation’, known as AEFI.

Hospitals still ill-equipped for crises

The Paris attacks are an uncomfortable reminder of the 60-hour siege of 26/11 that killed 166 people and injured more than 300 in Mumbai. However, the government is yet to learn a lesson from the crisis that prevailed in hospitals thereafter. As per data available with The Asian Age, both government and municipal hospitals in Mumbai are reeling under vacancies. Also, seven years down the line, the Emergency Medical Services (EMS) Act is yet to be implemented in Mumbai.

Pregnancy drugs in short supply

Due to a disruption in manufacturing, several Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation hospitals are facing an acute shortage of essential medicines for pregnant women. Doctors are mainly blaming late submission of tenders for the dire situation, while patients have been left with no option but to buy medicines from private clinics at a higher price.
Sumir Khanna, an auto driver, had to run from pillar to post to find methyldopa, a drug that was given to his wife who is six months pregnant to control her high blood pressure. His wife was admitted to Sion Hospital for treatment related to high blood pressure. The doctor prescribed methyldopa, but as it was unavailable, he had to buy it from outside at a higher price.

Unclaimed bodies pile up at Sewri TB hospital

Every year, several tuberculosis (TB) patients who come to the city from across the country for treatment, succumb to the infection at the Sewri TB hospital. But many of the bodies remain unclaimed by their relatives due to stigma and fear attached to the infection. But this has become a concern among morgue workers as the hospital morgue is piled up with abandoned dead bodies. To add to their concerns, red tape further delays the process of cremation of the bodies by at least 30 days. But by that time, the body starts decomposing.
The Sewri TB Hospital, one of Asia’s largest TB hospitals, is suffering from an acute shortage of mortuary staffers. And the increasing number of unclaimed bodies in the morgue is worsening the situation.

Genital TB cases on the rise, result in female infertility

Hema Saha, a 31-year-old woman, suddenly started experiencing a mild pain in her abdomen and irregular periods. Her condition further aggravated when the pain gradually increased. Finally, when she consulted a doctor, to her shock, she was diagnosed with genital tuberculosis.
Despite repeated attempts, the couple had been unable to conceive. After the diagnosis, her reports showed that she was infertile and her condition had aggravated due to the delay in diagnosis.

Man cries negligence over stillborn baby

Sunil Keswani, a call centre employee from Thane, is incenced and indignant after his first child was stillborn due to alleged medical negligence. Mr Keswani was counting down the number of days to when his wife would deliver their first child, when things took an unfortunate turn and their nine-month-old child died in his mother’s womb. Mr Keswani filed a complaint against the doctors of a private hospital for medical negligence with the Maharashtra Medical Council (MMC) on March 14.
“When I took my nine-month-pregnant wife to a private hospital, they did not take proper care of her. Though she was suffering from high blood pressure and the water level in her womb was low, they did not do proper diagnosis and discharged her from the hospital which later led to medical complications and killed our child,” said Mr Keswani. “They did not even check the movement of the baby and sadly, he died on March 12,” he added.

Drugs ban worries city diabetics

After the Union health ministry banned 344 fixed dose combination drugs recently, chemists are still unclear and in confusion over the identity of the banned combinations, which is creating trouble for diabetic patients in procuring their medicine.
On Saturday, Anita Aggawal, a diabetic patient, had to run from one medical store to another in search of her anti-diabetic combination drug of Pioglitazone 15 mg and Metformin 500 mg. But all chemists refused to give her one after the ban on the combination of Pioglitazone 7.5 mg and Metformin 500 mg. Though the banned combination is different from the one needed by Anita, she said chemists still refused to give her the drug.

Lack of anaesthetists hurts TB hospital

Sewri Hospital, one of the biggest TB hospitals in Asia with 1,000 beds, does not have a single anaesthetist in the hospital. For every major thoracic surgery, the hospital calls anaesthetists from KEM, Nair or Sion Hospital. Often, surgeries get delayed due to this process, putting patients’ lives at risk.
In 2015, 41 super major thoracic surgeries were performed in the hospital; and in all the surgeries, anaesthetists were called from other hospitals. Due to this nine surgeries got delayed as patients had to wait because of an anaesthetist.

Girl child preferred for adoption

Reams have been written about the inhuman treatment meted out to a majority of girl children in the country however when it comes to adoption, girl children happen to be the preferred choice. Nearly 76 per cent of those who apply for child adoption choose girls over boys. However, when it comes to abandoning children, 75 per cent of abandoned children happen to be girls.
Hema Kumar (name changed) was only three months old when her parents abandoned her near a temple in Kalyan. When the police could not find her parents despite investigation, the Maharashtra State Adoption Resource Authority (SARA) took her under their wing. As luck would have it, two years ago, an engineer couple adopted her without discriminating against her gender.

Teen beats TB, appears for board exams

When there is a will, there is a way. A 15-year-old Class 10 student has proved this by appearing for her board examinations despite undergoing a critical surgery to treat tuberculosis in her spine, neck and lower back.
Mahek Shah was preparing for her Class 10 examinations in mid-2015 when she suddenly started experiencing pain in her back, which gradually became severe. Mahek, who lives in Mumbai with her family, endured the pain for four months, which also affected her studies. Her family consulted many doctors and orthopaedics but their efforts were vain, with the teenager continuing to suffer from pain.

Government brings in biometric system for doctors, officers

Taking a stern step to discourage the absence of government doctors and medical officers from their work place, the state health ministry has decided to make biometric attendance compulsory. Their attendance will be linked with their Aadhaar card and their salary. So, if they fail to log in, they would suffer a cut in their salaries. Disciplinary action can also be taken against such doctors or officers.
This new initiative will be implemented at all primary health care centres, rural sub district hospitals, and district hospitals, along with State Employment Insurance Scheme, National Rural Health Mission, Maharashtra AIDS Control Society and State Transfusion Council. The officer in-charge shall be responsible to ensure that all employees are biometrically registered, the government resolution stated.

Still no CCTV at most hospitals

Despite repeated demands for installing CCTV cameras in maternity homes for better security for new born babies, so far only 37 per cent of the proposed CCTV cameras have been installed in 27 maternity homes and one maternity hospital.
Every year, around 80,000 babies are born in civic run maternity homes in the city. In the past, several newborn babies have been kidnapped from the hospitals due to lack of security.
In January of this year, a newborn child was kidnapped from the hospital.

Centres for rape victims face staff crunch

The Bombay high court directed the state government on March 22 to set up trauma centres across the state for rape victims, but medical experts have stated that one-point crisis centres are reeling under manpower crunch and poor infrastructure, which is affecting victims.
In Mumbai, there are three such centres, which function at KEM, Nair and Sion Hospitals. They were established to ensure that rape victims are provided with better treatment, counselling and rehabilitation immediately after registration of an FIR.

Mumbai fares worst in health insurance

Mumbai fares worst among metro cities in a comparison of the number of households covered by health insurance in India. Only 12.4 per cent of the total households in the city are covered by health insurance, according to the National Family Health Survey 4 recently released by the Union health ministry.
Mumbai consists of 6,74,339 households but only 80,920 households have health insurance, the survey said. Chennai has recorded the highest health coverage of households under health insurance with 54 per cent success rate.

‘KEM Hospital flouting norms’

A Right to Information (RTI) query by a doctor has revealed that KEM Hospital has been flouting norms while collecting blood during blood donation camps.
According to the Drugs and Cosmetics Rules, 1945, to collect blood from 50 to 70 donors in about three hours or from 100 to 120 donors in about five hours, it is compulsory to have one medical officer, two nurses or phlebotomists to manage six to eight donor tables, two medico-social workers,

Blood banks run out of kits

All blood banks supported by National Aids Control Organisation (NACO) are buying HIV ELISA (human immunodeficiency virus enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay) kits, which are used to identify HIV-antibodies in the blood, from other sources as the organisation has run out of them. NACO has informed the Maharashtra State Aids Control Society (MSACS) that the supply of the kits would resume only after March 31.
According to documents that are in the possession of The Asian Age, the Sion Hospital blood bank, in an email to the Mumbai Districts AIDS Control Society (MDACS), has stated, “We don’t have HIV kits, so kindly try to as early as possible to mobilise the kits.” In reply to this, Dr Seema P. Todur, quality manager (blood safety), MDACS, provided contacts of NACO-approved suppliers to provide National AIDS Research Institute (NARI) validated kits to all the blood banks.

Blood bank officials discuss speculation on blood tax

In relation to a speculation that the central government may impose a 14.5 per cent tax on blood and blood products delivered from blood banks in the upcoming budget, representatives of such banks were summoned to prepare a resolution that would be submitted to the state health minister.
The meeting was held last Tuesday. However, no official circular or notice on the matter has been released yet.
To discuss this, the Federation of Bombay Blood Banks (FBBB) summoned representatives from 25 blood banks on February 9 at S.L. Raheja Hospital. Confirming the news, Dr Neelam Nijhara, secretary, FBBB, said, “We held a private meeting regarding this but until we get an official statement from the government, we cannot disclose further information.”
According to documents accessed by The Asian Age, the representatives might meet the state health minister on February 23 to discuss the issue. Dr Sunil Rajadhyaksha, head of of the department of transfusion medicine, Tata Memorial Hospital, one of the representatives who were part of the meeting, said, “This has been going around but until something concrete comes out, we can’t say anything. The tax on blood may be a presumption but we have to wait till the budget is declared.”

Maharashtra records fall in polluted water

At a time when much ink is being spilled on deteriorating air and water quality in the state, there is some respite in the knowledge that water-contaminated habitations in the state have plunged by 42 per cent in comparison to last year, according to recently concluded state data.
2015 data shows that there has been an almost 42 per cent fall in number of contaminated habitations in the state. In 2014, over 239,739 habitations had contaminated groundwater whereas in 2015, only 138,056 habitations had contaminated groundwater.

Hospital staff rallies around fired sweeper

Since Tuesday, Class IV staffers from Prince Aly Khan Hospital have been wearing black ribbons in protest of alleged mismanagement on the part of hospital authorities. However, staffers claim that their agitation has proved futile with neither the management nor the police paying any heed to their demands.
Three months ago, a woman sweeper from the hospital named Rama Gignesh Parmer attempted suicide by consuming phenol after being suddenly fired from the job on grounds that “her character was questionable”. A police complaint was filed at Byculla Police Station however no action has been taken so far.

Cop donates deceased wife’s organs

Nandakumar Naik, a constable at Nagpada police station lost his wife Sheela Naik on Thursday when she suddenly succumbed to brain haemorrhage. However, after Sheela’s death, Nandakumar decided to donate her cornea and liver.
Fifty two-year-old Sheela, mother of three, suddenly fell unconscious while cooking in their house. She was admitted at Nanavati Hospital for treatment where she died on Thursday and Nandakumar gave his consent to donate her organs. Her liver has been sent to Fortis Hospital and cornea to Lilavati Hospital for transplantation.

Doctor rues delay in BMC projects

The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC), in its latest budget, allocated Rs 3,700 crore to the department of health and also announced addition of beds, but its long-pending project for a new building at Harilal Bhagwati Hospital with 110 beds is still pending. The authority is uncertain when it would be functional even as the old building was vacated in 2013 for the construction. As per a Right to Information application filed by a doctor, the new building was supposed to start functioning by February 2016.
“We are still preparing the building. All the equipment is being placed so we can’t provide any date till now, but it would take more than three months to start,” said Krishnakumar Ganapat Pimpale, medical superintendent of the hospital who had replied to the RTI.

FIR against doctor for forged documents

An FIR has been filed by the Maharashtra Medical Council against Dhiraj Ramchandra Patil for submitting forged documents to the council for obtaining registration under Foreign Graduate Registration in 2014 from the council.
Patil submitted all the required documents that were duly certified as true copy by headmaster, Balaji Madhyamik Vidyalay, Pune in 2014. Based on the documents, Patil was issued a registration number 2014/02/0459 from the council on February 28, 2014.

51 vacancies, but BMC won’t hire from Tata Memorial Hospital

Sunita Naik, a 24-year-old, was admitted in Nair Hospital after suffering from a leg fracture. She was immediately taken to the hospital where the doctor asked for an X-ray of her leg immediately. But, she had to wait for more than 40 minutes to get her X-ray done thus delaying treatment.
Currently, the hospital that has a capacity for five X-ray technicians is functioning only with two technicians and so X-rays are not done at nights and evening.
Many times, patients have to be referred to JJ or KEM hospitals.

Drunks light up parts of dumping ground ‘for fun’

Though the police has filed an FIR against three unknown people who are allegedly involved in lighting the fire at the Deonar dump yard, the site is still vulnerable to more such incidents due to lack of guards.
Just a day after the Maharashtra chief minister declared an investigation into allegations of sabotage, locals have been found lighting a fire at the site just for ‘fun’. This raises doubts as to whether the police will be able to stop such activities.

Fire worsens Mumbai pollution levels

On Monday the air pollution levels in Mumbai were recorded higher than Delhi which has been in the news due to its high air pollution levels. The information was received from SAFAR and Indian Institute of Tropical Meteorology.
Environmentalists have blamed the worsened conditions on the continuous emission of smoke from the Deonar dumping ground for the past few days.
The city’s air quality index (AQI) on Monday read 320 ug/m3, which again falls under the ‘very poor’ category as per the guideline of World Health Organisation (WHO). However, the pollution level of Delhi, the most polluted city of the world, according to WHO, experienced a sudden decline in the pollution levels. The capital recorded ‘moderate’ air pollution with 180 ug/m3 in AQI on the same day. In fact, Pune also recorded low AQI with 200 ug/m3 AQI. This is the fourth consecutive day that Mumbai has recorded ‘very poor’ air quality.

Selfie obsession dangerous: Experts

In the wake of the tragic drowning of a college student at Bandra, researchers have said that the quest for the perfect selfie can have seriously adverse consequences.

Earlier, in January 2015, a 16-year-old suffered 90 per cent burns while performing a stunt on the roof of a train while trying to click a selfie. He had received an electric shock from a 25,000-volt overhead wire.

Throwing light upon the growing selfie addiction, Dr Sagar Mundada, psychiatrist, JJ Hospital, said, “In the past one year, 12 people have died in accidents while clicking selfies. It is becoming an addiction. I have seen two cases where if the patients don’t click at least five selfies every day, they would become very anxious.”

A patient is abandoned at JJ Hospital every week

The odour of bandaged wounds is the first sensation that is experienced when one sets foot in ward number 4 at JJ Hospital. At the end of this ward lies Hema Mohanty, a patient who receives no visitors or well-wishers. The 26-year-old can be seen reeling in pain with blood oozing from her left leg, which has rotted away due to gangrene. Ms Mohanty is in need of immediate surgery to stop the infection from spreading all over her body. And in addition to her agony, she has come to grips with the fact that it was her own husband who had abandoned her here.

Medical neglect hearing a let down

The public hearing by the National Human Rights Commission to hear the complaints of medical negligence turned out to be a damp squib for many who had turned up at Tata Institute of Social Sciences (TISS), Deonar on Wednesday as the commission refused to hear complaints against private hospitals from Maharashtra. This left many complainants disappointed as well as angry with the NHRC. While the NHRC officials claimed they had no power to act against private hospitals, complainants said the whole exercise was meaningless if the commission was going to hear matters related only to government and civic hospitals.

‘Private hospitals need effective grievance redressal cells’

The much-awaited public hearing of the National Human Right Commission (NHRC) concluded on Thursday but many complainants of medical negligence cases had to go back home empty-handed after the body refused to hear cases against private hospitals. However, during the two days of hearing, the commission also highlighted several lapses in the health services and raised the need for effective grievance redressal cells (GRC) at private hospitals.
The commission will submit its suggestions to the Medical Council of India (MCI) and its state bodies with the observation made during the hearings. Though the official website of NHRC stated that the body would hear cases against public and private health services, the latter was refused on Wednesday.

SHRC sends suo moto notice to Aids society over fund crunch

The State Human Rights Commission (SHRC) has sent a suo moto notice to Maharashtra State Aids Control Society (MSACS) for shortage of funds for HIV treatment, irregular distribution of condoms, and lack of drugs at Antiretroviral Therapy (ART) centres in the state. SHRC has made these observations based on articles published in the media.
“We have sent a suo moto notice to MSACS by acting on reports published in the media. We are yet to receive any response, as it has been sent just a few days ago. In the past one year, we have taken up 52 cases under suo moto,” said Justice Bhannurmath, chairperson, SHRC.