Finance and Health Minister Harish Rao (File Photo)
Hyderabad: Telangana State is creating wonders in the health sector and even the Niti Ayog has also appreciated the progress of Telangana, Minister for Health T Harish Rao said.
Speaking to media reports after laying a foundation stone for the 100 bed hospital at Choutuppal in Nalgonda district on Tuesday, Minister Harish Rao said the State government under the leadership of Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao was taking various steps to improve the health standards in Telangana and reminded that it had launched eight medical colleges in the last year and 102 kidney dialysis centres across the State for providing the best services to the people.
Accusing the BJP government at the Centre of showing discrimination towards the Telangana in allocation for funds, Harish Rao said that the State government had allocated 200 acres of land to AIIMS Bibinagar in 2018, but the Centre had taken four years to inaugurate the hospital.
“The BJP leaders do less work but publicise themselves much. They want to take credit for even small works,” he pointed out.
He also informed that the works of Warangal health city project was going on at the brisk pace and its project would be completed by December.
For consumers, health care industry experts said, the shift offers more privacy, but could also make it more difficult to find primary care, mental health and other medical services online.
“Legal and compliance teams … are telling the marketing team that these tools are dead men walking, you need to shut it off immediately,” said Ray Mina, head of marketing at Freshpaint, a San Francisco firm that provides software to health care firms for managing customer marketing data.
The backdrop for this new concern is a rising trend of Americans receiving information or services from mental health apps, telehealth services and hospital websites. People may not know these services are capturing detailed personal information that is then used for marketing and advertising.
Now, as regulators set new limits on how this data is used and shared, Mina said clients have swamped his firm with questions about what data it’s collecting and with whom it is sharing it. So Freshpaint has to ensure it doesn’t run afoul of the regulators.
It’s a seismic shift for the industry that’s playing out in the numbers.
In the first three months of 2023, telemedicine firms spent a quarter of what they did on targeted Facebook and Google ads during the same period last year, according to data from MediaRadar, an ad industry intelligence platform. Meanwhile, MediaRadar data shows nonprofit health systems also halved their spending on targeted ads during that same three-month period year-over-year.
HIPAA and its limits
Until recently, much of the health data online — picked up in searches, by websites, apps and wearables — was thought to be outside the government’s purview. The federal health data privacy law, HIPAA, only covers patient data collected by insurers and health care providers, like doctors or hospitals.
Collecting data consumers leave online, and using it to market products, is a key mechanism for reaching customers that executives are now fretting about.
Last year, lawmakers proposed broad data privacy legislation, but Congress didn’t pass it. Agencies from HHS to the FTC are trying to expand data protections anyway, arguing that existing authorities provide them the power to do so, even though they haven’t used those authorities to broadly protect health data in the past.
HHS’ Office for Civil Rights surprised insurers and health care providers in December when it issued a bulletin expanding its definition of personally identifiable health information and restricting the use of certain marketing technology.
The office warned that entities covered by HIPAA aren’t allowed to wantonly disclose HIPAA-protected data to vendors or use tracking technology that would cause “impermissible” disclosures of protected health information.
That protected data can include email addresses, IP addresses, or geographic location information that can be tied to an individual, under HHS’ 22-year-old HIPAA privacy rule.
“We’re seeing people go in and type symptoms, put in information, and that information is being disclosed in a way that’s inconsistent with HIPAA and being used to potentially track people, and that is a problem,” said HHS Office for Civil Rights Director Melanie Fontes Rainer at the International Association of Privacy Professionals’ summit in Washington this month.
Meanwhile, in February, the Federal Trade Commission said it had fined prescription discount site and telehealth provider GoodRx $1.5 million for sharing customer data with Google, Facebook and other firms.
The FTC’s principle power allows it to police “unfair and deceptive” practices and GoodRx had told customers it would not share their data, and misled them into thinking their records were safe under HIPAA, the agency said.
But the FTC also cited a violation of its health breach notification rule, which says that entities not covered by HIPAA that collect personally identifiable health information must tell consumers when there’s been a breach of their data. The agency had never used the rule, which was previously considered a cybersecurity enforcement tool, as a stick to wield against companies that knowingly shared customer data with business partners.
The agency said to expect similar enforcement to come and last month fined online therapy provider BetterHelp $7.8 million for sharing customer data after telling patients it would not.
“Firms that think they can cash in on consumers’ health data because HIPAA doesn’t apply should think again,” said Samuel Levine, director of the FTC’s Bureau of Consumer Protection. “Our recent actions against GoodRx and BetterHelp make clear that we are prepared to use every tool to protect Americans’ health privacy, and hold accountable those who abuse it.”
In both of the cases, the FTC required the firms to change their data protection practices and to halt sharing customer information. Both companies settled their cases, but denied wrongdoing.
GoodRx said in a statement that it “had used vendor technologies to advertise in a way that we believe was compliant with all applicable regulations and that remains common practice among many health, consumer and government websites.”
BetterHelp said in a statement that it was accused of using “limited, encrypted information to optimize the effectiveness of our advertising campaigns so we could deliver more relevant ads and reach people who may be interested in our services.”
The company suggested that it had been unfairly singled out, since “this industry-standard practice is routinely used by some of the largest health providers, health systems, and healthcare brands.”
Everyone from online telehealth providers to major hospital systems is taking notice.
“They’re taking a look at anything that looks like a marketing operation that sits on their website and they’re pulling back from it until they get more guidance from HHS,” said Anna Rudawski, a partner at law firm Norton Rose Fulbright who advises health care organizations on data protection.
Measuring the fallout
Data privacy advocates are urging the regulators on, arguing that health information deserves special protections and that enforcement needs to evolve now that the world has moved online. They expect companies can adjust.
“Advertising does not have to be privacy-invasive to be valuable or effective,” said Cobun Zweifel-Keegan, managing director of the Washington office of the International Association of Privacy Professionals.
And the industry is hardly putting up a united front in response.
Lartease Tiffith, the executive vice president for public policy at the Interactive Advertising Bureau, a trade group for online advertising firms, for example, said that recent enforcement actions target companies that explicitly misrepresented their data privacy policies by not telling customers they were sharing information about them with third parties.
“If you tell consumers, we’re not going to do X, and you do X, that’s a problem,” he said. “I don’t think it has anything to do with our industry.”
But some health care executives aren’t so sure. “This has been the reason that my CEO can’t sleep at night,” said a lawyer for a telehealth company whom POLITICO granted anonymity so as not to draw attention to their client.
Rudawski said risk-averse health care organizations are discontinuing advertising with major platforms like Google and Facebook until the new regulatory environment is clearer.
And Brett Meeks, executive director of the Health Innovation Alliance, which represents providers, insurers, and others on health technology matters, said that health systems want to follow the rules, but were not prepared for the abrupt policy changes. “It’s hard to follow rules that change with little notice,” he said.
Others may be trying to avoid the fines and remedies imposed on GoodRx and BetterHelp with preemptive action.
Online telehealth provider Cerebral, which is under federal investigation for allegedly overprescribing controlled substances and, reportedly, for violating privacy regulations, recently filed a data breach notification with HHS, citing its December guidance.
“Cerebral determined that it had disclosed certain information that may be regulated as protected health information under HIPAA to certain Third-Party Platforms and some Subcontractors without having obtained HIPAA-required assurances,” the firm said in the notice, which it also sent to 3.18 million patients and others who visited its website or used its app.
At the same time, the company told customers it hadn’t done anything unusual by tracking their clicks and sharing that information with other businesses, calling it standard practice “in many industries, including health systems, traditional brick and mortar providers, and other telehealth companies.”
In a statement, Cerebral said that the new HHS guidance marked a sea change for the health care industry because it said that “all data — including the submission of basic user contact information — gathered from a healthcare entity’s website or app should be treated as [protected health information]” under HIPAA.
A number of other health care organizations not previously known to be in regulators’ sights have also submitted breach reports this year, acknowledging that web trackers they’d employed had collected patient data. New York-Presbyterian Hospital, UC San Diego Health and alcohol recovery telehealth company Monument filed breach reports last month; Brooks Rehabilitation did so in January.
Still other firms are taking a wait-and-see approach, hoping for more guidance from both the FTC and HHS.
An executive at a telehealth company, who spoke on the condition of anonymity so as not to draw attention to his firm, said he doesn’t take issue with the FTC’s actions or the HHS guidance, but is concerned it could lead to more restrictive privacy guidance that directly interferes with standard advertising practices.
“That would suddenly create real challenges for companies to market their services, which if their company is doing something good in the world, you want their services marketed. So how do you balance?” he asked.
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( With inputs from : www.politico.com )
What they and others have discovered is that the country is increasingly open about it. And that the politics are changing around it.
Sen. Tina Smith (D-Minn.) penned a personal essay about Fetterman and how the news of his depression dredged up old feelings about her own fight with the disease in her teens, and again as a young mom. Republican Sen. Katie Britt’s team sent cookies and brownies to Fetterman’s office almost once a week, the senior Fetterman aide told POLITICO. And before President Joe Biden kicked off his budget speech in Philadelphia last month, he spoke directly to the senator: “John, if you can hear this at all, we’re with you, pal. We’re with you,” he said, drawing cheers from the crowd.
“It was like, damn, this is cool. You never know how it’s going to go, you know? There’s no playbook for what John did,” said the Fetterman aide. “But if you can learn anything from John Fetterman, it’s that it’s OK. Things can get better. It is OK to get help. That’s what he wants people to take away from this.”
Fetterman’s return to the Hill on Monday will provide the most visible example of the nation’s capital — a city where public figures often fight to keep personal battles shrouded in secrecy — slowly embracing an issue that affects 1 in 5 Americans in a given year. From Congress to the White House, policymakers have begun leaning into mental health as a key policy priority.
“In the ’50s and ’60s, nobody said the word cancer. We talk about cancer now. We need to get to that point where we talk about depression. We talk about bipolar disorder. We talk about PTSD. We talk about schizophrenia, and acknowledge that these are illnesses for which there is treatment, and people can have satisfying, fulfilling lives,” said Lynn Bufka, associate chief of practice transformation at the American Psychological Association and a licensed psychologist in Maryland.
“So anytime we have more visible figures talking about the reality, it helps people to see ‘Oh, that person is a lot like me.’”
Not only are politicians opening up about their private struggles and decisions to seek treatment but they are doing it while staying in office, said Jason Kander, the former secretary of state of Missouri. Kander, a rising star in the Democratic party, ran for Kansas City mayor in the 2019 election. He dropped out after revealing he had post-traumatic stress disorder and depression after his service in Afghanistan.
“I announced that I was leaving public life for a while to go get help … now I’m a public person again, and I’m trying to be that role model as best I can. But there’s a difference between that next level of what John Fetterman is doing,” Kander said in an interview. “I’m aware of the social media comments that are like, ‘Oh, whatever happened to that guy after he made that announcement?’ And that’s fine, but it’s really great that in the case of John Fetterman, or Ruben Gallego, people see, ‘Oh, they made this announcement, and their pursuit continued.’”
The shift in Washington can be attributed to a number of factors, Bufka said. After decades of advocacy work from the APA and other organizations focused on mental health education, the media now talks about mental health more. The Covid pandemic also greatly exacerbated the crisis, forcing politicians to face the issue head on as one impacting their constituents — and their own lives.
Biden followed a similar path. He had spoken in the past about mental health and worked on the issue as vice president, announcing Obama White House efforts to increase access to mental health services. But during the 2020 campaign, the issue became personalized as he faced questions about his son Hunter’s struggles with mental health and addiction.
“The idea that we treat mental health and physical health as though somehow they’re distinct — it’s health,” Biden said during the interview with CNN. “… I’m confident, confident, he’s going to make it.”
The focus continued into his presidency. During his first State of the Union address, Biden talked about how the pandemic impacted kids, increasing social isolation, anxiety and learning loss. As part of his “unity agenda,” he outlined the White House’s strategy for combating the mental health crisis: creating healthy learning environments, strengthening system capacity and connecting more Americans to care.
The American Rescue Plan included funding to expand Certified Community Behavioral Health Clinics, invest in the 988 suicide prevention hotline and launch projects to tackle the impacts of social media and kids. Biden’s latest budget requests $139 million for research and another $16.6 billion to increase mental health care programs in the Veterans Affairs Medical Care program.
“Having the White House be public about this is is meaningful. And I suspect — I would never deign to speak for the president — but I suspect that the contemporary veterans in his family have helped him understand this,” said Rep. Seth Moulton (D-Mass.), who has spoken about his PTSD after serving in the military.
There has been no shortage of administration officials talking about the growing crisis, including Domestic Policy Council Adviser Susan Rice, and Surgeon General Vivek Murthy, who has said in interviews that he accepted Biden’s offer to serve a second term because of the dire state of the country’s emotional health.
During White House events, Murthy has talked about about his own struggles with mental health as a young boy and about his uncle, who died by suicide after a silent battle with depression.
Still, the steps forward don’t negate the reality that a stigma still exists, Smith said. She suspected that if one were to do the math, there were likely dozens of members of Congress choosing to not talk about their mental health, fearful of what it could mean for their political careers.
Even as Fetterman’s openness has been met with a positive response, stories like the one of Tom Eagleton, the Democratic running mate for presidential nominee George McGovern who withdrew from the ticket after acknowledging was treated for clinical depression and received electroshock therapy, still haunt politicians.
Then there was former Rep. Patrick Kennedy who left politics to focus on his addiction and bipolar disorder. He entered a rehabilitation center after crashing his car into a barricade on Capitol Hill in 2006. In a 2016 interview, Kennedy noted that there were moments he knew he needed help, well before that breaking point. But back then, politicians didn’t talk about these things.
“It is getting better, but individuals still take risks when they speak out … people are still willing to jump to the conclusion that because you have a mental health issue, that means are you really capable of serving? Can you really do what you need to do?” Smith said.
“But to me, it’s worth it. The positive side of it is the people out there, especially the young people, who see folks like me — who by all appearances have my act together — being open about it. That creates a door for them to walk through.”
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( With inputs from : www.politico.com )
New Delhi: Samajwadi Party leader Azam Khan was on Monday admitted to Sir Gangaram Hospital in Delhi after a sudden deterioration of his health.
The SP leader’s condition is said to be stable and is under observation.
“Due to the sudden deterioration of SP leader Muhammad Azam Khan’s health, he has been admitted to Sir Gangaram Hospital in Delhi at around 3 am on Monday,” hospital authorities said.
More details are awaited.
He was elected MLA from the Rampur Sadar constituency.
The state Assembly Secretariat, earlier in October, announced Khan’s disqualification from the House after a court sentenced him to three years in jail in a hate speech case.
The case was registered against Khan in April 2019 for levelling serious allegations against administrative officials posted in Rampur, Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath during an election meeting.
During the 2019 Lok Sabha elections, Khan was booked for making inflammatory speeches while addressing a public meeting in Khatanagaria village of the Milak Kotwali area.
Earlier Allahabad High Court in May 2022 had granted interim bail to Azam Khan in a matter which was related to a wrongful possession of Waqf board property land.
Says govt committed to provide best healthcare, high-tech equipments to Health centres of JK
Pulwama, April 15 (GNS): Secretary, Health and Medical Education, Bhupinder Kumar, today presided over a felicitation ceremony held to recognize outstanding performance of Pulwama district in health sector.
District Development Commissioner, Pulwama, Baseer-Ul-Haq Choudhary, Director Health Services Kashmir, Dr Mushtaq Ahmed Rather, Deputy Commissioner Shopian, Sachin Kumar, SSP Pulwama, Mohammad Yousuf, CMOs Pulwama and Shopian, State Tuberculosis Officer, District Tuberculosis Officers, doctors, paramedical staff, health workers and other concerned were present on the occasion.
On the occasion, the participants took an oath against drug abuse.
Various speakers emphasized the need to raise awareness about the ill-effects of drug abuse and help the affected people reach de-addiction centres. They appealed to the gathering, especially the youth, to unite and fight against drug addiction, terming the menace as one of the stumbling blocks for India to achieve its full potential.
On the occasion, Bhupinder Kumar expressed happiness over the fact that recently Pulwama has been declared as TB free district. He said that the entire Kashmir division is gradually moving towards Tuberculosis (TB) elimination. “TB incidences are declining in Kashmir. We will achieve TB elimination by 2025 intensified and active case finding and case screening is being done regularly,” he added.
He appreciated the untiring efforts of health employees in achieving these significant landmarks. He lauded the district administration led by Baseer-Ul-Haq Choudhary for his unparalleled support and guidance.
Secretary said that the department has done an extremely wonderful job in achieving brilliant results during the last few years in TB elimination. He praised the work of State Tuberculosis Officer, Chief Medical Officers Pulwama and Shopian, District Tuberculosis Officers, Block Medical Officers and most importantly the outstanding role of the ground staff.
He said that twin districts of Pulwama and Shopian, Anantnag and Kulgam were declared TB free recently, while twin districts of Srinagar and Ganderbal received gold Medals.
Hailing the achievements of Director Health Services, Secretary Health said that it has been made possible only by coordinated efforts of the department under the dedicated work of Doctors, paramedical staff and all the field workers.
On the occasion, he also felicitated doctors, health workers, field staff and paramedical staff of Pulwama/ Shopian for their commendable contributions in the health sector. He said that Pulwama and Anantnag districts in south Kashmir have been declared tuberculosis free in the second round of the sub-national certification for TB elimination of India recently. He added that three districts (Budgam, Pulwama and Anantnag) are the only districts that have been declared TB-free so far. “Srinagar has got a gold medal while UT J&K has got bronze and most of the other districts have maintained the status quo. Pulwama now has the distinction of being among the only three districts with TB free status,” he added.
Secretary lauded their tireless work during the Covid-19 pandemic and in TB elimination. He said that the fight against Covid and TB was almost impossible without the work of health workers while the support of allied departments was paramount. He also complimented anti-TB medical personnel, Pulwama for achieving the target in two years ahead of the National target.
On the occasion, Deputy Commissioner said that only with the strenuous efforts of Health society Pulwama and its associated officers/officials/ workers, health sector is witnessing reformation of the district’s health sector which is being acknowledged at national level as the District received back to back recognition for TB free and Kayakalp awards.
It has been a proud moment for the district administration and all of us that the district received Kayakalp “Award to Public Health Facilities” 2022-2023 besides one Community Health Centre Pampore, 05 PHCs, 01 NTPHC and 04 HWCs have qualified for awards under Kayakalp.
He added that following the National ambitious goal of achieving TB Free India by 2025, District Pulwama is privileged to hit the milestone two years ahead of the National target.
Director Health Services Kashmir, appreciated the work of the health care workers and credited the low mortality rate during the Covid-19 pandemic and the TB elimination in the District to them.
Later, Bhupinder Kumar felicitated the toppers of the recently declared results in class 8, besides felicitating the media fraternity of Pulwama for their commendable role in disseminating information regarding COVID-19 and TB in the district.(GNS)
New Delhi: Amid the daily spike in COVID-19 cases in the country, a health expert has advised people to wear masks and follow Covid-appropriate behaviour.
Dr Sandeep Nayar, Pulmonologist, HOD, BLK Hospital said that masks should be made mandatory in crowded places.
“Amid a rise in COVID-19 cases, it is most important that people start wearing masks. One should wear a mask while going to any crowded place. Use double-layer masks in places like hospitals etc., as it is very effective in preventing infection,” Dr Nayar said, adding that the government should also issue advisories and should make wearing face masks mandatory in crowded places.
“Corona cases are shooting up, patients with symptoms of sore throat, cough, cold, and fever are coming to us,” the health expert said. “We are advising the patients with such symptoms to have strict home isolation for seven days,” he added.
He said that the condition of the patients is not worrisome.
“Very few patients are requiring hospitalization. Only patients suffering from some serious illness are required to be admitted to the hospital. Patients suffering from cancer, or other serious diseases are at greater risk from this variant and need to be extensively taken care of,” Dr Nayar said.
The national capital on Wednesday reported 1,149 new coronavirus cases, marking a sharp jump from Tuesday when 980 cases were reported, according to a daily bulletin issued by the Delhi Health Department.
According to the Delhi Health Department, one death was reported in the national capital but the primary cause of death was not Covid. While the positivity rate stood at 23.8 per cent.
On Wednesday, India recorded 7,830 new coronavirus cases, marking a sharp jump from Tuesday when 5,675 cases were reported, according to data shared by the Union Health Ministry.
Indian Medical Association (IMA) on Monday advised citizens not to panic amid rising Covid cases, saying that they should maintain proper hygiene.
“Don’t panic. We have controlled it before, We will do it now also with your support. Covid cases are rising, but don’t panic. Maintain hygiene,” the statement said.
According to leading epidemiologists and virologists, the new Covid variant — XBB.1.16 — could be the reason behind the increase in cases.
“People in high-risk groups — pregnant ladies, those over the age of 60, those with chronic illnesses, and those with underlying health conditions, immunocompromised — face an increased risk of severe illness and death from Covid-19. We need to protect them,” read the statement.
With Jammu and Kashmir recording the highest prevalence of dementia across India, the researchers are desperate to find answers to a trend that many think has leapt out of the mass depression the region has lived with, reports Insha Shirazi
A recent study shocked the scientific community by revealing that Jammu and Kashmir top the list of areas in India having the highest prevalence of dementia. Published by the Journal of the Alzheimer’s Association, the study prevalence of dementia in India: National and state estimates from a nationwide study put the dementia prevalence in the 60-plus population in India at 7.4 per cent.
What set the alarm bells ringing was that the prevalence of dementia was 4.5 per cent in Delhi and 11 per cent in Jammu and Kashmir.
Alarmed over the findings, the scientists have started asking for more investigation to determine whether the long-running insurgency in Jammu and Kashmir, which has raged for more than 30 years, may be the cause of the area’s high dementia prevalence.
In Jammu and Kashmir in general and Kashmir in particular, cases of dementia are stated to be on the rise. In 1986, a few years before the onset of militancy, a study on the prevalence of Alzheimer’s disease in Kashmir found no cases of dementia in Kashmir.
Changed Situation
Now the situation has completely changed.
“We routinely see 3 to 5 cases of dementia-like cases in our daily OPD, on average,” Dr Yasir Rather, professor in the Department of Psychiatry, IMHANS GMC Srinagar said. “Brain cell destruction is the root cause of dementia. The communication between brain cells is disrupted as a result of this injury. Memory, thinking, behaviour, and feelings might be impacted when brain cells are unable to communicate correctly.”
Off late, people with chronic dementia are more visible. “I regularly observed the activities of my grandmother, who has dementia. She is in her late 70s and exhibited strange behaviours, including forgetting my name and whether or not she had eaten lunch,” a university student, Alya said. “She used to converse with herself as if someone else were around, and sometimes, my grandmother’s condition worsened.”
Brain Blast; Kashmir is witnessing a hugely above-average number of dementia patients and experts are exploring the possibility if it has links with the protracted conflict.
The term dementia refers to a spectrum of mental impairments, including memory loss, difficulty speaking or understanding, difficulty solving problems, and another cognitive decline that is severe enough to affect a person’s ability to go about their everyday activities. This spectrum includes several different varieties of dementia, with Alzheimer’s disease being the most prevalent.
There are two types of dementia. Vascular dementia, dementia with Lewy bodies, and frontotemporal dementia are irreversible. Reversible types include dementia-like conditions triggered by vitamin deficiency like vit B 12 or B 1 or due to thyroid problems. “Most people develop Alzheimer’s disease after the age of 65, but people under this age can also develop it,” Dr Yasir said. “This is called early-onset Alzheimer’s disease, a type of young-onset dementia. Dementia-like Frontotemporal type has been diagnosed in people in their 50s, 40s and even in their 30s.”
“The early signs and symptoms of dementia will vary depending on the progression,” Dr Yasir said. “At the onset, the person may experience challenges with their short-term memory, and struggle with things such as paying the bills, preparing meals, forgetting names and religious ritual timings and household chores, or getting lost in a known area. With a moderate stage, an individual may have trouble speaking or understanding speech and they may not understand spatial awareness. In severe stages, a person will no longer have the ability to communicate and will be unable to care for themselves.
High Prevalence
What is, however, not known is why Kashmir offers a high percentage of people with dementia. The likely reasons, Dr Yasir said could include genetic predisposition, poor nutrition, lack of access to healthcare, and environmental factors such as water and air pollutants like excessive use of agricultural and horticulture pesticides in our region.
Besides, he said, Kashmir may have a greater prevalence of dementia due to the high rates of chronic stress, depression, and other psychological problems in the population. Moreover, the prevalence was greater in rural areas (8.4 per cent) than in urban areas (5.3 per cent), highlighting the urgent need to increase diagnosis in rural health facilities.
Dr Kamran Nisar, a researcher at the University of Kashmir’s Centre of Research for Development, is working on the prevalence of Alzheimer’s disease in Kashmir. Alzheimer’s dementia, he said, is the most prevalent type of dementia, accounting for 70-80 per cent of the cases.
Kamran has also been trying to find answers. He said a lot of factors contribute to dementia, which includes prolonged stress, conflict, floods, and separation from loved ones. Besides, dementia is also impacted by dietary choices, physical inactivity and family history. People who engage in physical activities, such as cycling, have a far lower risk of developing dementia than physically inactive people.
“In Kashmir, there is a small amount of awareness about dementia, and as a result, people frequently misunderstand what dementia is and how it differs from forgetfulness or some other age-related condition,” Dr Kamran said. “We need to address this issue as much as we can because no awareness campaigns or events are being organized at the university or college level about this dementia and its prevalence is rising in Kashmir.”
Neurologist Dr Irfan Yousuf, also asserted that Kashmir lacks basic knowledge about understanding the crisis. “There is a lack of knowledge about dementia and people mistakenly think it is a form of depression, even though these are unrelated conditions,” Dr Yousuf said. “A person with dementia acts normally and is unaware that they are afflicted with the illness, unlike a person with depression, whose mood is not always good, and who skips interactions as well.”
Alzheimer’s disease is a neurodegenerative condition in which brain cells (nerve cells) are not operating normally. Vascular dementia occurs when the brain’s blood arteries get blocked, preventing appropriate blood flow and leading to neuronal dysfunction.
Chronic Depression
Kashmir has been the capital of mental sickness for a long time. For many decades, Kashmir has reported massive mental morbidity. Nearly 18 lakh adult residents of Kashmir, which is almost 45 per cent of the entire population, showed symptoms of mental distress, according to the 2015 survey by the Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF, or Doctors Without Borders). The survey revealed that 41 per cent of the population showed signs of depression, 26 per cent exhibited signs of anxiety, 23 per cent depression and anxiety and 19 per cent showed probable symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), 17 per cent have depression and PTSD, 18 per cent have anxiety, depression and PTSD and 14 per cent have anxiety and PTSD.
depression
Though mental healthcare has expanded over the years and has a better spread, in comparison to the 1990s, the situation is still seriously challenging. The increasing incidence of drug abuse has added yet another load factor to the mental health system.
Detecting Dementia
Dr Irfan Yousuf said the first signs of dementia are when a family member or guardian notices that the person is repeating the same dialogue over and over again and that their mental activities are completely different and are not functioning properly. It is possible to alleviate symptoms and halt the progression of dementia, he said. Studies on dementia have been conducted, and the treatment is still ongoing.
This is the core team that literally rebuilt the Government Psychiatric Diseases Hospital Srinagar that is now known as IMHANS.
“A patient with advanced dementia forgets the route of the road where he or she frequently travels. Particularly at night, they lose track of how to get to their kitchen and bathroom,” Dr Yousuf said. “Although the person suffering from dementia is unaware of these symptoms, family members and their attendants have seen changes.”
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New Delhi: The Delhi High Court has upheld a ban on the manufacture, storage, and sale of gutka, pan masala, flavoured tobacco, and similar products in the city, citing their direct and harmful impact on public health.
The ban was initially imposed by the food safety commissioner, but was later quashed by the high court in September 2022.
The Centre and Delhi governments appealed against the decision and a bench headed by Chief Justice Satish Chandra Sharma has now set aside the earlier decision and upheld the ban.
The court rejected objections raised by entities in the tobacco business against the ban, stating that there was no justification for the quashing of the notifications.
The court has declared that there was no justification for the previous decision to quash the notifications, and has rejected objections from tobacco business entities against the ban that was in place from 2015 until 2021.
“We find ourselves unable to sustain the impugned judgment rendered by the learned Judge. These appeals shall consequently stand allowed. We find no merit in the challenge raised (against the ban). It shall, in consequence, stand dismissed,” said the bench, also comprising Justice Yashwant Varma.
“It becomes necessary to observe that the writ petitioners (manufacturers of tobacco related products, etc) did not dispute that both cigarettes as well as smokeless tobacco have a direct and pernicious impact on public health. Once it was found and conceded that both categories of tobacco constituted substances which had a direct impact on public health, the impugned notifications clearly did not warrant being quashed,” observed the court.
In its 176-page judgment, the court noted that the Supreme Court has already urged governments to ban the manufacture and sale of gutka and pan masala, and the previous single judge’s decision could not have deemed this not applicable in the current case.
Regarding the objection raised by tobacco businesses that the ban was discriminatory because it only applied to smokeless tobacco and not cigarettes, the court rejected this and stated that the ban was implemented because of the “larger number of users of smokeless tobacco” and that food safety authorities were authorised to impose such prohibitions.
The court also mentioned that Article 14 could not be used to argue that since a specific type of tobacco had not been banned, there should be no prohibition on other similarly harmful products. It noted that there were 163.7 million smokeless tobacco users in the country compared to 68.9 million smokers.
The court also mentioned that products such as pan masala, chewing tobacco, and gutka were not exempted from the definition of “food” under Section 3(1)(j) of the FSSA.
The court noted that the petitioners had operated under the mistaken belief that the notifications aimed to ban or prohibit tobacco, when in reality, they sought to prohibit the addition of tobacco or tobacco products to food products.
Hyderabad: A total of 511 women journalists were examined in the 10-day health camp which was organized at the Information Department headquarters Hyderabad in the city. The health camp which started on March 29 continued for 10 days.
It was jointly organized by the Departments of Health, Information and Public Relations following instructions of Minister K T Rama Rao. The government has started health camps with the intention of providing complete health to women journalists.
A total of 511 journalists including 205 accredited women journalists from Hyderabad and Rangareddy districts and another 306 women journalists working in various press and news channels who have organization identification cards also utilized this opportunity in the master health check-up program.
The master health check-up includes a blood test (C.B.P), blood sugar, diabetic tests, lipid profile, thyroid, calcium, urine tests, vitamin B12, D3 etc. Diagnostic tests like ECG, X-ray, ultrasonography, mammogram, and Pap smear were done screening tests, medical officer examination, eye screening, dental tests, and gynaecology tests were done. The reports were submitted on the same day.
The health camp was conducted under the supervision of medical officers and officers of the I& PR Department. The women journalists who underwent the tests expressed their happiness about this program. The women journalists who underwent health check-up expressed their satisfaction that this camp has given a lot of support to the families of journalists, a press note said.
