HIV+ women get newborn hope

 Living with HIV (human immunodeficiency virus) is not easy, and it is even harder on couples who dream of becoming parents but fear passing on the virus to their children. But thanks to a new treatment scheme, these couples now have better than 90% chances of giving birth to a perfectly healthy, HIV-negative baby.
Titled ‘Prevention of Mother-To-Child Transmission (PMTCT)’, the scheme was launched in 2014, when the Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS) committed to ambitious testing and treatment targets to combat the AIDS epidemic.
The international organisation launched the 90-90-90 scheme in the same year, aiming for 90% early diagnosis, 90% patients on treatment and 90% suppression of virus by the year 2020.

After losing wife to dengue, man takes on mosquitoes

Jeetendra Lodha has dedicated himself to spreading awareness about dengue. The diamond trader lost his wife Rekha to the disease in September, after BMC officials allegedly ignored several warnings to eliminate mosquito breeding grounds in their locality.
Lodha led an awareness rally in Borivli yesterday to pay tribute to Rekha, whose birthday was on October 11. Around 100 people from the surrounding areas participated. Several women and girls from the Terapanth Mahila Mandal participated in the rally to spread awareness about dengue and malaria. “My wife is no more and I cannot do anything to bring her back. So, to pay a tribute to her, I arranged a rally along with the Mahila Mandal to spread awareness about the disease,” said Lodha.
Rekha was admitted to the Kokilaben Dhirubhai Ambani Hospital on September 6 with symptoms of dengue. But, she succumbed to the virus on September 12 after it affected her brain and vital organs. She and Jeetendra have a son, who is in college and a daughter who is in Std IX. Before Rekha contracted the disease, BMC officials were told about the mosquito breeding grounds in the locality, however, they allegedly did not do anything to remove them.

Passing the buck
“I don’t want anyone to die like my wife did due to bureaucratic apathy. We have to take the responsibility on our shoulders. BMC keeps passing the buck. There is a huge breeding ground near a building in Yogi Nagar but they aren’t doing anything about it. So, through rallies, we want to spread awareness among people,” said Lodha. After the rally, he has also met with BMC officials to discuss more measures to spread awareness and remove mosquito breeding grounds in Yogi Nagar.

BMC says
When mid-day reached out to BMC’s Insecticide Officer Rajan Naringrekar, he said that like every year during the monsoon, they had conducted an inspection of the breeding grounds in the area. “We have done our part by spreading awareness among people. It is false claim that we are not doing anything. We have also sent notices to buildings in the areas where such grounds have been found,” he said.
102
Confirmed dengue cases in Mumbai till Oct 12
1,813
Probable dengue cases in Mumbai till Oct 12

'Harassment forced me into pre-term labour'

Cama hospital, the biggest government-run maternity hospital in the city, has found itself in a soup after a pregnant assistant professor alleged that the medical superintendent harassed her, and that this resulted in her getting pre-term labour pain, forcing her to leave her job. However, the college and Grant Medical College (GMC) have refuted these claims. 
Dr Priyanka Pohekar joined Cama and Albless Hospital on October 1, 2015, as an assistant professor in the department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, where, she claimed, medical superintendent Dr Rajshree Katke humiliated her frequently, which took a toll on her, leading to extreme mental and emotional stress. This then allegedly caused complications in her pregnancy, and to save her unborn child, she was forced to quit from the job. 
On August 31, she filed a complaint with the head of the department and dean of GMC. A copy of the complaint is with mid-day. 

Dengue casts shadow on pregnant women

While director of major hospitals claims situation is under control, medicos say changes in immunity make expectant mothers more vulnerable to virus.
Dahisar resident Reena Mishra (27) fought death in pregnancy after being diagnosed with dengue in the eighth month and developing health complications due to it. Today, she’s a happy and doting mother, after undergoing a C-section on August 9 that saved her as well as her child.
She, however, isn’t the only pregnant woman in the city who contracted the illness. Hospitals have reported more than 100 such cases.
Cause and effect
“There are some pregnant women undergoing treatment for dengue and dengue-like symptoms. But the situation is under control. They just need to be more careful,” said Dr Avinash Supe, Director of Medical Education and major BMC hospitals.

50% JJ doctors ducked rural service

The state government spends Rs 5 lakh on every medical student by providing basic facilities free of cost and charging minimum fees. But despite this, many medical students refuse to serve rural Maharashtra. Nearly 50 per cent of the under and post-graduate students, after passing out from one of the biggest government-run colleges, Grant Medical College, Mumbai, have opted out of a one-year bond to serve in rural Maharashtra, in the past five years.

Grant Medical College and JJ group of hospitals, are among top medical institutions in the country, but mid-day, through an RTI query, has found that out of 645 students from the under-graduate and post-graduate courses there, 354 students opted out of the bond from 2011 to 2015.
In 2013, the Bombay High Court instructed the state to ensure that all doctors, after their MBBS and PG courses, serve in rural hospitals.

This is how BMC blood banks are cheating you

Even as 2014 GR reduced cost of blood from Rs 1,050 to Rs 850, civic hospitals continue to follow the old rate card; say BMC has not sent an official circular.
In gross violation of a state government resolution, several needy patients approaching BMC-run blood banks have been forced to shell out extra for blood, owing to bureaucratic apathy on the part of the civic body.
In 2014, the state government had passed a resolution, reducing the cost of blood by R200 — from Rs 1,050 to Rs 850 — at all government and civic hospitals. However, two years on, many BMC-run hospitals are still following the old rate card. The reason: They haven't been given the go-ahead by the BMC yet.
"We are following the old rate as we haven't received an official letter from the BMC about the new rate. When we get it, we will follow it," said a BMC officer, working at one of the blood banks. The information was revealed in an RTI query. It was learnt that leading civic hospitals like Sion Hospital, Bhabha Hospital, VN Desai Hospital and Cooper Hospital have been charging Rs 200 extra from private hospital patients, who require blood on an emergency basis. Civic hospitals provide free blood to patients admitted to their hospitals.
Earlier this week, Abhijit Shinde, a resident of Sion, had admitted his wife to a private hospital after she had to be operated on for a tumour in her uterus. Doctors had recommended that he procure two units of blood from Sion Hospital. But, unaware of the cap imposed on the price of blood, Shinde, on Saturday, bought the blood for Rs 1,050. Like him, families of at least 40 patients who approached these four blood banks, ended up paying Rs 200 more.

Slimming pills cause nothing but health issues, claims FDA

As hundreds fall prey to false advertising for slimming pills, FDA jumps into action with state-wide raid on stores peddling the harmful drugs.
Thinking of popping a pill to shed all that excess weight quickly and easily?
A fat lot of good that’ll do – many of these so-called slimming and quick weight-loss pills do nothing but cause health problems like nausea, irregular heartbeats and insomnia.
Alarmed by the rate at which unsuspecting customers are falling prey to this money-spinning industry, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has now launched a state-wide raid on pharmacies peddling the products, most of which are easily available over the counter at pharmacies across the state.

No psychiatrists in drought areas

Maharashtra chief minister Devendra Fadnavis on Monday raised the need to counsel farmers in the state Assembly to help curb farmer suicides.
However, it has come to light that Marathwada and Vidarbha that record the highest number of farmer suicides, do not have a single psychiatrist in the seven government hospitals to counsel them.
This year, more than 1,000 farmers committed suicide in the state due to the continuing agrarian crisis for successive years. To address the issue, the central government is laying importance on the counselling of the depressed farmers in drought-prone areas.

Each week, JJ Hospital treats abused boys

Twelve-year-old Arijit Chauhan (name changed) used to lie awake at night because of the pain caused by blisters on his private parts. When his parents finally took him to JJ Hospital for a check up, they were shocked to learn that their son was suffering from a sexually transmitted disease caused by sexual abuse.
“Every week, we receive 2-3 such cases in which a boy is sexually abused. Some of them are so severe, that they require surgical intervention,” said Dr Minakshi Nalbale Bhosale, a paediatric surgeon from the hospital.

100 farmers to auction their organs

Condemning a recent incident where a debt-ridden farmer was forced to sell his kidney, 100 farmers from Aurangabad will hold a protest on Thursday where they will auction their organs to the public to repay their debt.
“We are suffocating under the burden of debt. Every day, goons of moneylenders keep knocking at our doors. Due to this, we can’t even go outside. We have no other option but to sell our body parts,” said Jayaji Suryavanshi, a farmer and social activist.
At a time when the government is keen to counsel debt-ridden farmers to stop them from ending their lives, farmers appear dissatisfied with the

62 per cent medical consultant posts lie vacant in BMC hospitals

Despite increasing the monthly salary of specialty medical consultants to Rs 75,000 in hand, the 18 Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) peripheral hospitals in the city are facing an acute staff shortage of 62 per cent.
There are total 217 posts in five branches of medical consultants — medicine, pediatrics, gynecology, surgery and anesthesia in these hospitals. Out of these only 84 seats have been filled up, while remaining 133 posts are lying vacant for years.

HIV+ former sex worker becomes a Masters student

Kruti Khan (name changed on request) was around 26 when she realised that she had been infected with HIV. As she had been working as a sex worker for almost a decade, it was not possible for her to determine whom she received the infection from. However, being HIV positive did not stop Kripa from following her dreams. Determined to be successful in life, Kruti took up studying again and graduated with a degree in BCom and is currently doing her Masters in IT from a state open university.

Fund crunch puts infants at risk

An awareness programme aimed at helping HIV pregnant women to save their babies from contracting the infection is set to die a sudden death. The programme, which had been running for decades, will be discontinued from today as National AIDS Control Organisation (NACO) has refused to grant funds for it to Maharashtra. Every other state in the country has, however, been granted its share of the fund.
Reshma Khan (name changed), the 27-year-old resident of Nerul gave birth to a child two months ago at JJ Hospital. But she can’t breastfeed her baby as the HIV virus in her blood might get transferred to the infant who has born without the infection.

Blood going waste in BR Ambedkar hospital

The cold storage centre for blood at Dr Babasaheb Ambedkar Hospital has been lying unused and gathering dust for the past two years. The municipal corporation hospital was renovated at an expense of `100 cr in 2013. While patients who visit the hospital are suffering and donated blood is getting wasted from the lack of cold storage facility, government bodies are busy passing the buck.
Two years ago, the state government had a plan to set up nine blood storage units in Mumbai that would operate under the primary blood bank, Sir JJ Mahanagar Raktapedhi in Byculla. But as per a Right to Information (RTI) application, a request for plan approval of blood storage center at Dr Babasaheb Ambedkar Hospital was submitted to Food and Drugs Administration (FDA) twice on December 9, 2013 and July 16, 2014. Further, on November 17, 2014 and May 11, 2015 the hospital had again sent two letters to FDA asking about the status of the application. But no response has yet been received by the hospital authority.

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.