Category: Health

Health

WHO cautions against excessive use of antibiotics

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The World Health Organisation (WHO) has cautioned that the current practice of indiscriminate use of antibiotics is increasingly leading to resistance to medicines, persistence of infections and treatment failure. “Immediate action is needed to stop the world from heading towards a pre-antibiotic era in which all achievements made in prevention and control of communicable diseases will be reversed,” Regional Director of WHO South-East Asia Region, Dr Poonam Khetrapal Singh, said at a recent regional meeting of WHO at Dili, the capital of Timor-Leste. Health ministers and senior health officials of…

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Govt warns FCI of providing substandard food grains

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Provide quality food or we will look at options: Zulfkar ‘NFSA will mark a paradigm shift to meet food shortage’ Minister for Consumer Affairs and Public Distribution (CAPD) and Tribal Affairs Ch. Zulfkar Ali Saturday issued strict instructions to Food Corporation of India (FCI) asking it to provide quality food grains to the state of Jammu and Kashmir. Reviewing the preparatory arrangements being made for the implementation of National Food Security Act (NFSA), Minister warned the FCI that if it failed to provide quality food grains to the department, the…

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Ban surgeries at private hospitals, nursing homes: Lal Singh directs officers

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‘Won’t let them operate till they register blood banks, post operative care’ Minister for Health and Medical Education, Choudhary Lal Singh Tuesday directed health officials to ban all the private hospitals and nursing homes of Jammu and Kashmir from performing surgeries till they setup and register proper blood banks in their premises for admitted patients. The minister said the issue of illegal clinics, diagnostic centers and private hospitals would be raised in upcoming Assembly session to develop consensus over the closing of unauthorized hospitals and nursing homes. “We will not…

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Doctors’ body warns of swine flu in Valley

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The doctors’ body in Kashmir today warned of spread of H1N1 virus in the Valley and pitched for setting up of separate flu prevention clinics in all public hospitals. The Doctors Association Kashmir (DAK), the doctors’ body in the Valley, today warned about the spread of swine flu in Kashmir. It said there was a need to set up flu clinics in hospitals which would help in control and prevention of spread of H1N1 infection. “Separate flu clinics will reduce the likelihood of spreading H1N1 infection and prevent loss of…

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19 Cases of dengue reported from Jammu in one month

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Even as 19 cases of dengue have been reported from the Jammu region in the last one month, the Health Department has claimed that the situation was under control and appealed to people not to get panicked. Two more cases of the vector borne disease have been detected in the region in the last three days, taking the total count of dengue patients to 19. The Health Department has so far tested 167 samples from different parts of the Jammu region out of which 19 have tested positive, an official…

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Dementia: Recognizing the Symptoms

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How to recognize the symptoms of this disease and the latest available treatments. “ Tathis tchu shayad tasruff gumuth”. F or the last few months, Gulkak and his wife had noticed a lot of changes in his mother’s behavior. She had become increasingly forgetful. Her personality had changed – in an instant she would go from being cheerful and pleasant, to anxious, to tearful, and then aggressive. She used to be able to dress herself, but now she had started wearing clothes backwards and they were always mismatched. Simple tasks…

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Two tested positive for dengue in Valley

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Two patients, tested positive for dengue, have been admitted to the Sher-i-Kashmir Institute of Medical Sciences (SKIMS) in Srinagar. Doctors at SKIMS said two patients were tested positive and were admitted to the hospital. “Patients visit regularly to get their tests done here, but so far we have admitted only two patients and their condition is stable,” said Dr Farooq Jan, who heads the Department of Preventive Medicine at the hospital. He said the two patients had contracted the virus outside Kashmir. “There is a need to take precautionary measures,…

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11 Persons test positive for dengue in J&K

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The cases of dengue in the state have reached 13. Two of the patients tested positive live in Delhi. The Health Department in collaboration with the Jammu Municipal Corporation (JMC) has geared up to take preventive measures for dengue. Laboratories in Jammu have detected 11 dengue cases in the last two weeks. Of them, six were living outside the state and five were infected in Jammu. “The toll has reached 13 so far. Of them, 11 were diagnosed in Jammu. Nine patients have been discharged and two others are admitted…

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No arrangements in place to combat swine flu

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It seems that the state government has failed to learn lessons from last year’s swine flu outbreak. Winter is approaching, but no proper arrangements for vaccination have been made so far in Valley hospitals. No proper arrangements have been made so far in major Valley hospitals to combat the outbreak of swine flu in Kashmir as winter is near. During the previous flu season, the health authorities in Kashmir ignored the flu outbreak alert, which resulted in the spread of the disease and loss of nearly two dozen lives in…

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Union Health Ministry recommends H1N1 vaccine to vulnerable group in J&K

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With the spurt in H1N1 cases this year in Jammu and Kashmir, the Union Health ministry has recommended vaccination for doctors, healthcare workers and other vulnerable groups for the three prevalent virus strains, including H1N1 in the month of September and October. As per the advisory issued by the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR), vaccination should be given to four to five vulnerable groups to prevent H1N1 epidemic in the coming months. The group includes children under the age of five, elderly and immune compromised patients and doctors and…

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