The Statesman, New Delhi,
22 June 1998.

Dr. Harsh Vardhan Honoured
The World Health Organization has awarded this year’s WHO Director-General Medal to Delhi’s Health Minister, Dr. Harsh Vardhan for his for his outstanding contribution towards building up a tobacco free society.

The Times of India,
New Delhi, 10 June 1998.

US Approves New TB Drug
The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved a new drug to fight tuberculosis, the first new treatment in more than a decade for the virulent disease and one that doesn’t require as many doses in the months’ long regimen.
Doctors and researchers said the drug Rifapentine will make it easier for patients to complete their treatment for tuberculosis. This, in turn, could help thwart the rise of drug-resistant strains. "This drug sticks around in your blood stream for longer," said Dianne Murphy, Director for infectious diseases at the FDA. "This could enhance compliance and contribute to preventing resistance." The use of Rifapentine allowed patients to cut the weekly medication by half - to once a week - during the final four months.

The Indian Express,
New Delhi 25 June 1998.

The Cost of Universal Health Care
"According to United Nations estimates, the cost of universal access to basic health care services would be 25 billion dollars a year, that is 3% of the 800 billion dollars currently devoted to military expenditures", said Dr. Fidel Castro, President of Cuba, during the 50th anniversary celebrations of the World Health Organization (WHO) at the 51st World Health Assembly.
In a World where the economy has grown six times between 1950 and 1997, why, challenged Dr. Castro, do 12 million children under five years of age still die every year? Why are 200 million such children undernourished? Why do 250 million children and adolescents work? Why is it that 110 million do not attend primary school?
Dr. Castro told his audience that 17 million people who die in the world every year "are the victims of mostly curable infectious diseases, many of them preventable, at a cost sometimes lower than a dollar". He went on to say that "in spite of efforts by the WHO and UNICEF, in the last 50 years.... over 600 million children and 25 million mothers who could have survived died for lack of medical care.

WHO Press Release WHA/5
14 May 1998.

Tobacco Epidemic
Tobacco is a greater cause of death and disability than any single disease. There is no longer any doubt that tobacco use has reached the proportion of a global epidemic approaching its peak among men in most developed countries and spreading now to men in developing countries and women in all countries.

• Today, according to WHO estimates, there are approximately 1.1 thousand million smokers in the world, which represents about one-third of the global population aged 15 years and over. Of these, 800 million are in developing countries.
• Since the mid 1980s, estimated global cigarette consumption has remained relatively steady at about 1600 cigarettes per adult per year.
• However, there has been a shift in the distribution of tobacco consumption in the last two decades, Declining consumption in developed countries has been counterbalanced by increasing consumption in developing countries.
• Available data suggest that, globally, approximately 47% of men and 12% of women smoke. In developing countries, 48% of men and 7% of women smoke, while in developed countries, 42% of men smoke as do 24% of women.
• Although life expectancy for both sexes is predicted to be on the rise, in many countries, the gap between them is growing significantly due to the larger number of men who smoke die of tobacco-related diseases.

WHO Fact Sheet No.154/Rev.
May 1998

New Health Policy in the Offing
The Union Government will evolve a comprehensive health policy in view of the changes in the demographic profile and disease patterns and the growth of non-communicable diseases and emergence of new diseases like AIDS, according to the Union Minister for Health and Family welfare, Mr. Dalit Ezhilmalai.
Mr. Ezhilmalai, speaking after the concluding session of the ‘Health Ministers conference of Southern States’ said although the framework of the 1983 Health Policy was sound and held good even today, there was an endorsement for reviewing it.
The Health Ministers from Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Pondicherry and Kerala also endorsed the need to incorporate a policy on the private health sector, its involvement in extending health care services while regulating its quality and standards.

The Hindu Business Line,
New Delhi 22 June 1998.

Drastic cut in WHO Aid to India
The World Health Organization is making drastic cuts in the aid extended to India and some other countries in south-east Asia. India, already faced with sanctions, will now have to cope with an additional burden from the health sector.
India has to deal with an enormous burden of communicable disease for which it depends to a large extent on foreign assistance. The outlay for health programmes for 1997-98 was Rs 920 crores of which foreign aid alone was Rs 400 crores. India gets over $ 15 million from WHO. The cuts were proposed at the recent World Health Assembly. The maximum benefit will go to the African and European nations which will go up by 56.66 per cent and 32.18 per cent respectively. The decision is considered as largely a ‘political’ one.

Source: Times of India,
New Delhi 28 June 1998.

Diethyl glycol in Gurgaon drug samples
Laboratory tests of drug samples obtained from private practitioners in Gurgaon, Haryana, from where several children were taken ill due to an ‘unknown renal infection’ earlier this month, have confirmed the presence of diethyl glycol in paracetamol preparations as per analysis done at the Shri Ram Institute for Industrial Research. Nearly 40 infants and toddlers have been admitted within a month at different hospitals in Delhi with acute renal failure and prolonged coma. All patients were from Gurgaon. Many children died despite aggressive therapy and the remaining continue to be in deep coma requiring artificial breathing support.
Preliminary investigations revealed that all patients had ingested some syrup for treating fever at the onset of their illness. The preparations were ‘unlabelled’ and were dispensed by practitioners in Gurgaon. A series of detection and estimation tests are underway to standardize paracetamol in order to avoid lethal infections of this kind in future.

Source: The Hindu,
New Delhi 25 June 1998.

Law Hamper Interest of the Consumer
The Consumers Affairs Department’s (CAD) obsolete laws and procedural rigmaroles are hampering the interest of the consumer, a consumer expert committee set by the government said in its report.
The Committee has proposed wide-ranging changes to optimize the department’s functioning and to make the laws consumer-friendly and transparent. Well-known consumer activists: H.D. Shourie, Manubhai Shah, R. Desikan and Mala Banerjee, the trade bodies; FICCI, Assocham and CII, director-0general of BIS and senior bureaucrats from the CAD and Law Ministry constituted the Committee.
The Committee has suggested that the Consumer Protection Act 1986 must be amplified to include all related and incidental services and facilities connected with banking, financing, insurance, transport etc. And that the realm of housing service should be updated to include time-sharing resorts as well. To improve the dismal conditions of the consumer courts, the Committee asked the State Governments to prescribe the salary allowances and honorarium of the District Forum Members. For speedier disposal of cases, the consumer courts have been asked to send notices to the opposite party within 21 days of the receipt of the complaint. The State Commission has been asked to set up circuit court camps at regular intervals in different regions of the states. This would ensure speedy redressal of the complaint in rural areas.

Source: Indian Express,
New Delhi, 28 June 1998

Holistic Health Training Programmes
Basic Holistic Health and Food Reflexology
Dates : 2 - 8 August 1998. This workshop will include the study of the five basic dimensions of holistic health: self-responsibility, nutritional awareness, physical fitness; environmental sensitivity and stress management.

Contact: Dr Celine Payyappilly

Creation/Ecology Worship
Dates : 7 - 12 September 1998. This will be an experience-based programme to facilitate the participants towards Earth-Universe Consciousness. It is a journey of earth-awakening as one gets in touch with the universe story - our story.

Contact : Sr. Bernice Fernandez & Team.
For details of the courses, write to:
Medical Mission Sisters
Bibwewadi, Pune 411 037
Maharashtra
Ph: 0212-513655

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