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| Sunday,
November 25, 2001,
Chandigarh, India
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‘India heading for cancer epidemic’ Chandigarh, November 24 Dr K.A. Dinshaw, Director, Tata Memorial Hospital and Research, Mumbai, said according to the latest trends, we are heading for a cancer epidemic in the country. “Maximum rise is expected in incidence of neck and head cancer among males and breast cancer among females. Both these cancers are directly related to the changing lifestyles,” she said. In India at present 30 to 40 percent of the total cancer patients among men suffer from various cancers of the head and the neck and a similar number of women suffer from cancer of the cervix. But the trend is changing among women from a increased incidences of breast cancer. “In Mumbai, this trend is fairly visible and this is a direct result of the westernised lifestyle women are adopting here,” added Dr Dinshaw. Research in the field of radiotherapy as a cure for cancer has shown some very encouraging results. ‘‘Its not just radiotherapy but a combination of radiotherapy with other treatments which has actually revolutionised cancer cure. This multi-therapy approach towards cancer has been very effective in those patients who are in the later stages of the disease. The curative rate in such patients has gone upto 70 per cent, something which was unheard of just ten years back. ’’says Dr Nisar Syed, an expert on head and neck cancer, working in Long Beach Hospital, California, USA. Dr Ian Rothwell, working in Cookridge Hospital, Leads, UK, is an expert in the treatment of cancer of the cervix and agrees with Dr Syed. “Cancer of the cervix is high among Indian women though very few studies have been done to find the reason. But all stages of this cancer can be treated by radiotherapy with different levels of cure. The earlier is the stage of detection the higher are the chances of complete cure,” he says. “A lot of research is going on to ascertain the factors which lead to cervix cancer and whether there are any lifestyle indicators towards the occurance of this cancer. Smoking is certainly one. Women who smoke are much more prone to cervix cancer and some other factors too,” informs Dr Rothwell. Dr Syed has been working with newer techniques of radiation therapy for patients suffering from head and neck cancer in the USA which include something which has been termed as a ‘smart bomb’. “A smart bomb in simple terms is implanting high dose radiation seeds in highly specific areas where the cancer is located. This way there are no needless side effects on the good tissues surrounding the cancer. It is one of the many new techniques where implantation of radiation is done, the other traditional treatment of course has been external radiation and surgery. But surgery is something I recommend should only be done in very early stages of the cancer or in cases of treatment failure. But doubtlessly the best results are being shown by external radiation, radioactive implants, chemotherapy and hyperthermia, mostly in various combination depending upon each patient,” he explained. In the UK, a community cervix cancer screening programme has shown results in having brought down considerably the incidence of cervix cancer among women. Dr Rothwell, who has been actively involved win this project, states that a similar programme can be carried out in India if there are enough resources since the test is expensive and done regularly from a certain age onwards. The PGI has a facility for individual cancer of the cervix screening but this screening is not available at a community level. Dr Nisar Syed, Dr Rothwell and Dr Dinshaw are in the city to present papers at the ongoing 23rd National Conference of Radiation Oncologists at the
PGI. |
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1.15 lakh kids to be immunised Chandigarh, November 24 Oral polio vaccine is recommended by WHO because of ease of administration, low cost, and familiarity of health personal with vaccine the IMA, Chandigarh, is providing 15 booths along with doctors, and volunteers on that day. IMA has appealed to all parents to take their children (0-5 years) to the nearest dispensary or immunization booth on this pulse polio immunization day. All members of the IMA are requested to give additional dose of pulse polio to the children (0-5) in their clinic on that day or refer to the nearest dispensary. The IMA has requested various hospitals and nursing homes to vaccinate all babies born on that day. According to Dr GS Kochhar, president, IMA, Chandigarh unit, polio is caused by three types of viruses. The most frequent cause of epidemic polio is type I. Transmission is primarily person to person via faecal-oral route. Polio virus multiplies in the intestine and spreads through faeces. The virus is intermittently excreted for one month or more after infection. The number of cases is highest in areas with low immunization coverage and poor sanitation such as urban slums. |
Admn gears up for pulse polio programme Panchkula, November 24 This was stated by the Deputy Commissioner, Ms Jyoti Arora, while presiding over an intensified pulse polio immunisation meeting held here today. She said during the campaign as many as 60,998 children under five years would be given polio drops in the district. She said 305 booths would be set up in the district out of which 60 would be set up in urban area, while 245 in rural areas. Four members would be deputed in each booth, totalling 1,225 officials for the programme. She further said the vaccine would be distributed from nine centres, which includes General Hospital, Panchkula, CHC Kalka and Raipur Rani, PHC Pinjore, old Panchkula, Morni, Barwala, Kot and Hongola. As many as 60 doctors would supervise the campaign. Mrs Arora said Rajiv Colony, Indira Colony, Azad Colony, jhugies of Sector 12-A, 14 and 21, Mata Mansa Devi construction sites and Bhainsa tibba, jhugies at gate no 4, Majri and Panchkula, Bir Ghaggar, Burj Kotina, poultry farms in Barwala area, brick kilns, jhugies, Nadha Sahib and Kaushlya huts have been identified as risk pockets. The Deputy Commissioner said the teams would go door-to-door on December, 3 and 4 and polio drops would be administered to the remaining children. She said banners, pamphlets, handbills indicating key messages/dates and posters would also be displayed. Apart from this a cycle rally would also be organised for the awareness among the public. Mr Vikash Arora, ASP; Mr M.S. Yadav, SDM; Mr B.S. Chaudhary, CMO; Mr O.P. Mittal, SMO; doctors, representatives of various welfare organisations and other senior officials of the Administration were also present in the meeting.  |
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No test for recruitment to Class IV employees
demanded Chandigarh, November 24 The matter was taken up at the meeting of the union held here today. Mr Jagdish Singh Jaggi, president of the union, along with Mr Charanjit Walia, president, Engineering and Technical Workers Union, PGI, were among those who addressed the workers attending the meeting. The union members alleged that bungling and irregularities took place while recruiting ward servants a few months back and children of the PGI employees were completely ignored during these selections. The press note also states that recruitment for security staff was done through a “very difficult test which was uncalled for and it gave no priority to children of the PGI staff.” The press note further states that while there were large number of people who had the basic minimum qualification of matriculation and higher secondary, those who were chosen were MA or BA which was not prescribed for the post of a Class IV. PGI authorities on the other hand said tests were the only viable option available with them for recruitment since the number of people applying for very few posts is very high. “Which other method is feasible to shortlist candidates from 3200 applications for 20 posts?” asked a PGI official. |
A chance to improve infrastructure: Anjali Chandigarh, November 24 On being asked here whether she was satisfied with making it to the final round of the Sydney Olympic in the 10 m air rifle event, she said that day had indeed been a big one for her. “However, I was not satisfied with my final score”, she said. She said, when she had been an NCC cadet in 1998, she had become interested in shooting, but had started taking the sport seriously only four years ago. She said the Maharashtra State Shooting Association range at Worli in Mumbai, where she practiced, was not an air-conditioned one and was just like the SAS Nagar range. She said the new range would give a boost to this sport. “However, the new range should have been built according to international standards. The National Games were a good opportunity to improve the infrastructure. She said girls were now taking the sport seriously and their participation had increased manifold at national tournaments. She said her husband Mandar Bhagwat was supportive and liked the sport. “Though he is not a shooter. I derive inspiration from him. When I shot a gold medal here, he immediately rang me up to congratulate me, she said. She said a score between 390 and 395 out of 400 was good for a promising shooter. “In our event, we have now many shooters with close scores and positions vary in every match,” she said. Her career-best score, 398, came in the Commonwealth Shooting Championship in Auckland (New Zealand) in 1999. I hope to do well at the World Championships in Finland, the Commonwealth Games in England, the Asian Games in Korea and the other international tournaments. She said Indian shooters needed a lot of match exposure to build confidence. |
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SPORTS ROUND-UP Chandigarh The National Games evoked very little enthusiasm in Chandigarh because the UT Administration just went about fulfilling the formality of playing host to the events the venues of which are in their jurisdiction. The feat of Gurpreet Kaur of Chandigarh in rowing was not acknowledged by the Chandigarh Administration. This 17-year-old girl from MCM DAV College for Women, did the city proud by competing in the senior section and securing medals. A rowing competitor from Kerala said that their state would honour its medal winners in these games with handsome cash rewards ranging from Rs 50,000 to Rs 2 lakh. Though Punjab has also fixed a reasonable amount for its medal winners, Chandigarh offers no special reward for its achievers. Another source of encouragement could be the institutions where the medal winners study. In the present case we have Gurpreet Kaur from MCM DAV College. Apart from fee concession, the college can consider sanctioning a scholarship. Another case is that of Sabeeha Dhillon, the shooter who has won a medal representing Punjab. She is also a student of MCM DAV College. The college should come to the aid of these sportswomen who have brought glory to the college. Shooters from different parts of the country have been lodged in Shivalik Public School, SAS Nagar. About the quality of food, a girl shooter from Delhi said it was really marvellous. She said when they reached SAS Nagar, they did not expect such nice food arrangements. Another shooter from Himachal Pradesh said, “Thank God, the lodging was near the range and the environment and the hospitable attitude of the school staff and the students was quite praiseworthy.” Though the results were being supplied by the technical officials well in time, but the absence of a media centre at the venue of shooting caused a problem. A journalist from Maharashtra was surprised to find no media centre here. He utilised the services of an STD Pay Phone where he was charged heavily for sending his reports. The local authorities could have given the facility of e-mail and fax to media persons. The media centre at CLTA, Sector 10, could hardly be the much use when the SAS Nagar venue was more than 10 kilometers away. |
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Varun, Ramanpreet win TT titles Chandigarh, November 24 The sub-junior boys (under 14) title was clinched by Sumit Kumar of Manav Mangal School-21 while sub-junior girls singles title was captured by Mahima of DAV Public School-8. The third place in this section went to Aditya Puri of Manav Mangal-21. In the boys final, Varun was taken to task by third seed Sajal Kaushal of GMSSS-35 before the former won 11-9,11-8, 7-11, 11-4 and 11-4, while Ramanpreet in girls’ section easily overcame the challenge of Deepinder of Dev Samaj Girls School-21. In the girls’ section, the third place was secured by Megha Kassal of GMSSS-35 when she defeated Arshdeep Kaur of Manav Mangal-21 11-9, 13-11, 11-8. Sumit defeated Amanpreet of AKSIPS-41 in five games 7-11, 11-4, 11-8, 13-11, 11-8. Manik of DAVP-8 got the third place. Mahima outplayed Sadhika of GMSSS-35 13-11, 11-9, 11-5. Guneet Kaur of Bhavan Vidyalya-27 bagged the third place. |
BSNL employees honoured Chandigarh, November 24 The Sanchar Sewa Padaks were given to Mr K.S. Saini, Divisional Engineer , Phones, (Customer Service), Mr Jatinder Mahajan, SDE, and Mr Kuldeep Ram, Assistant Accounts Officer. The Sanchar Sarthi Awards were given to Mr Tilka
Raj, Chief Section Supervisor, Ms Kuldeep Kaur, Senior Telephone Supervisor, Mr
Ajit, Phone Inspector, Mr Bahadur Singh, Lorry Driver, and Mr BP
Saini, Telephone Operator. |
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CAG objects to BRO
accommodation Chandigarh, November 24 The CAG has written to the Border Roads Organisation (BRO), pointing out that since no rent is being charged from the occupants of these houses, the exchequer is losing about Rs 30 lakh annually. According to the CAG, the families of BRO personnel based at Manali have been allocated houses here, which is against regulations as BRO personnel have been allocated accommodation at Manali also. The CAG has recommended that the BRO authorities or the Ministry of Defence should explore the possibility of allocating this accommodation to other government agencies, including the armed forces, to avoid losses as well as recurring expenditure on watch and ward. In another report released in August, the CAG had slammed the BRO authorities for oversight and faulty planning while constructing these houses, which resulted in infructuous expenditure of about Rs 6 crore. The CAG had then pointed out that the accommodation was built at Chandigarh for a non-static unit, which became surplus once the unit moved out. The permanent accommodation, including electrification and allied works, was undertaken for 38 Border Road Task Force on the plea that the unit would be stationed at Chandigarh permanently. About Rs 4.80 crore, including the cost of land, was spent on construction. The unit moved to Manali in June, 1996, to discharge its strategic functions. BRO sources say given its role, there was no reason for a BRO unit to be located in Chandigarh. Personnel of a Pioneer company were deployed at the place once the task force moved out. This attracted additional objections since Pioneers are supposed to be engaged in road construction activities. The pay and allowances paid to these personnel worked out to be Rs 1.21
crore. |
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