WHO felicitates India for elimination of trachoma as public health problem
New Delhi (PTI): India was on Tuesday felicitated by the World Health Organisation for the elimination of trachoma as a public health problem, making it the third country in the region after Nepal and Myanmar to achieve this feat.
The WHO also felicitated Bhutan for achieving interim targets for cervical cancer elimination, Maldives and Sri Lanka for Hepatitis B control in children, Timor-Leste for eliminating lymphatic filariasis and six countries for achieving SDG and global targets for reducing under-five mortality and stillbirth rates.
"India's success is due to the strong leadership of its government and the commitment of ophthalmologists and other cadres of health-care workers.
"They worked together with partners to ensure effective surveillance, diagnosis and management of active trachoma, provision of surgical services for trichiasis, and promotion of water, sanitation and hygiene, particularly facial cleanliness, among communities," said Saima Wazed, Regional Director WHO South-East Asia, at 'Public Health Awards' event at the Seventy Seventh Regional Committee Session being held here.
Trachoma, a leading cause of infectious blindness, is a chlamydial infection that happens due to lack of hygiene and unclean water supply and can spread by contact with the eye, nose or throat secretions of a person suffering from the disease or indirectly via flies.
Bhutan was recognised for reaching the 2030 interim targets towards elimination of cervical cancer as a public health problem, the first country in the region to achieve this significant public health milestone, the WHO said in a statement.
The interim 90-70-90 targets are 90 per cent girls fully vaccinated against Human papillomavirus (HPV vaccine) by 15 years of age; 70 per cent of women screened with a high-performance test by 35 years of age and again by 45 years of age and 90 per cent of women identified with cervical disease provided treatment, the statement said.
"The success of the Royal Government of Bhutan is driven by strong leadership, favourable health policies, organised health systems, well-defined country priorities, motivated health workforce, and efficient coordination by the Ministry of Health.
"The achievement is especially commendable considering that the major part of the capacity building was carried out when COVID-19 was at its peak," the Regional Director said.
Lauding Maldives and Sri Lanka for achieving hepatitis B control, the Regional Director said that preventing hepatitis B infection in children substantially reduces chronic infections and cases of liver cancer and cirrhosis in adulthood.
Bhutan was also recognised for achieving the SDG and global 2030 targets of reducing under-5 mortality and stillbirth rates.
Timor-Leste was awarded for the elimination of lymphatic filariasis as a public health problem. It is the fifth country in the Region to eliminate lymphatic filariasis.
The Democratic People's Republic of Korea, Indonesia, Maldives, Sri Lanka and Thailand were awarded for achieving the SDG and global targets for the reduction of under-5 mortality, neonatal mortality and stillbirth rates, the statement said.
The SDG target 3.2 for under-5 mortality rate is to reduce to 25 or less per 1000 live births and for neonatal mortality rate is to reduce to 12 or less per 1000 live births by 2030. The 2030 still birth rate reduction target is 12 or fewer still births per 1000 births.
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'Low-quality' catheters supplied to West Bengal govt hospitals at high price, probe ordered
Kolkata (PTI): The West Bengal health department has launched a probe into the supplies of allegedly low-quality and locally made catheters at a high price to several government hospitals, posing a risk to the lives of patients undergoing treatment in these facilities, officials said.
Such central venous catheters (CVCs) were allegedly supplied to at least five medical colleges and hospitals in the state, defying allocation of international standard-compliant CVCs, they said.
The distribution company, which has been accused of supplying these catheters to government hospitals, admitted to the fault but placed the blame on its employees.
"We started checking stocks some time back and found these locally made CVCs in my hospital store. These catheters are of low quality as compared to those allocated by the state. We have informed the state health department," a senior official of the Calcutta Medical College and Hospital told PTI.
Low-quality catheters were also found in the stores of other hospitals, which indicates "possible involvement of insiders in the scam", a health department official said.
The low-quality CVCs were supplied by a distributor in the Hatibagan area in the northern part of Kolkata for the last three to four months, he said.
"Such kinds of local CVCs are priced around Rs 1,500 but the distributor took Rs 4,177 for each device," the official said.
A CVC is a thin and flexible tube that is inserted into a vein to allow for the administration of fluids, blood, and other treatment. It's also clinically called a central line catheter.
"An initial probe revealed that the distribution company Prakash Surgical had supplied the low-quality and locally manufactured catheters to several government hospitals instead of the CVCs of the government-designated international company.
"All the units will be tested and a proper investigation is on to find out who benefited from these supplies," the health department official said.
The distribution company blamed its employees for the supply of inferior quality catheters.
"I was sick for a few months. Some employees of the organisation made this mistake. We are taking back all those units that have gone to the hospitals. It's all about misunderstanding," an official of the distribution company told PTI.
According to another state health department official, a complaint was lodged with the police in this connection.
Asked about how many patients were affected by the usage of such low-quality CVCs, the official said, "The probe would also try to find that out".
According to sources in the health department, some of the staff of the hospitals' equipment receiving departments and some local officials of international organisations might be involved in the alleged irregularities.
