HEALTH

Steroid intake in asthma patients can lead to cataract
Nalini Ranjan

New Delhi, November 25
Cataract is assuming alarming proportions in the Capital with diabetes and pollution zeroing in on the population at a fast pace. Dr Alkesh Choudhary, a well-known eye surgeon and head of Greater Kailash-based MD Eye Centre, warns that if this situation goes unchecked and no measures are taken to remedy it this disease may soon take on epidemic dimensions. This disease of the eye, which should befall older ones, is affecting even the youth. As a consequence of pollution, steroid-dependent asthma patients are being increasingly found to develop cataract later on. With the use of power inducing steroids catching on among the youth, eye specialists warn that greater number of them may have to confront cataract some time or the other. As a result of the pollution levels rising fast, a large number of people in Delhi are falling victim to asthma. A good number of them have to take steroids as a last resort, which in turn cause cataract in them in a younger age. But what is most worrisome is the diabetes, which has become a scourge for the people of the Capital, given their worst lifestyle and eating habits in the whole country.

Diabetes has emerged as a major cause of proliferating cataract cases in the capital. This could be borne out by the large number of cataract patients turning up at the eye clinics for surgery.

Dr Choudhary, working as a senior eye surgeon in Moolchand Hospital and G.M. Modi Hospital, enumerated the increase in the average age of the people, kidney disorders, short-sightedness glaucoma, diarrhoea, chain smoking and excessive pollution as some of the other potent reasons for the increase in the number of cataract cases.

Dr Choudhary further revealed that with the arrival of a surefire method of surgery called

phaco-emulsification the treatment of cataract had become very easy. The method is quite effective and most accurate. But surprisingly enough, due to ignorance of the people in general about this method, India still registers increase in cases of blindness year after year.

Referring to his long stint in the USA and Britain, Dr Choudhary confirmed that in these countries, as a result of this most handy surgery, the number of cataract patients had been brought down substantially. Pointing out the special features of this surgery, he said no sutures and cuts were needed. A patient could go home without any bandage just after the operation and resume work in a few days.

Sex workers ill-equipped to combat AIDS
Tribune News Service

New Delhi, November 25
Even as the number of HIV and AIDS cases in the Capital continues to multiply with each passing day, the Delhi State Aids Control Society has failed to supply sufficient number of condoms to more than 4500 sex workers in the Red light areas of Delhi, said K. L. Bhola, head of the Bharatiya Patita Uddhar Sabha.

“If the government was serious about preventing the spread of AIDS and HIV, they need to take more seriously the matter of supplying condoms,” Mr Bhola said. Bharatiya Patita Uddhar Sabha, is a NGO working among sex workers in the country.

Delhi has about 23,000 HIV positive cases and 600 people have AIDS. Of the 36.8 million HIV positive cases the world over, more than 10 per cent are reported to be in India.

Mr Bhola urged the Project Director of the DSACS to provide health cards to sex workers to help them have regular check-ups in the government hospitals. But the government was yet to initiate any step in this regard, he added.

In order to make it more effective the mobile health dispensary units of the Delhi Government should visit the red light areas between 12 noon and 5 pm, he said.

Expressing gratitude to Delhi Health Minister Dr A .K. Walia for supplying two mobile health units, Mr Bhola said he should also impress upon the government hospital doctors the need to treat the prostitutes whenever they visit them.

He demanded that the names of the sex workers should be included in the electoral rolls, which is currently being revised in Delhi. The authorities and politicians were neglecting them, as they did not have voting rights, he charged.

Delhi Health Minister said un-safe sex is the main cause for the spread of HIV/AIDS. Infected syringes/blood and from affected mother to her baby are the other factors for the spread of this fatal disease.

He said the youth are the most vulnerable to HIV infection today and as a measure to prevent the spread of AIDS, the government is organising several awareness programme.

The state government has launched a week long AIDS awareness programme in schools with the help of various NGOs.

The programme is being held in about 450 schools in which 15 NGOs are taking part, the Delhi Health Minister said.

SPORTS

Birla awards for Dhyan Chand, Gavaskar and Anand
Our Sports Reporter

New Delhi, November 25
Hockey wizard Dhyan Chand, cricket icon Sunil Gavaskar and chess maestro Vishwanathan Anand have been selected for the K K Birla Foundation Awards for 'Outstanding Sportspersons of the Century.' The K K Birla Foundation has a scheme to encourage outstanding performances of sportspersons, and under this scheme, two awards are given every year. For the second award, Gavaskar and Anand were selected as the award committee felt that the contribution of both Gavaskar and Anand has been unique in their own way.

"Gavaskar has given Indian cricket an identity and has inspired a whole generation with his outstanding performances. Similarly, Vishwanathan Anand has brought the ultimate crown of the World Champion to India, the place where the game was born", a release from the Award Committee said. He was selected as a member of the Indian Army team, which toured New Zealand in 1926. Dhyan Chand realised India's Olympic dream single-handedly when he brought home the first-ever gold medal in Olympics in 1928 from Amsterdam. He was the star of India's golden triumph at the Los Angeles Olympics in 1932 and the Berlin Games in 1936, where he scored six consecutive goals. Sunil Gavaskar caught the attention of the cricket world by his peerless performance on his maiden tour to the West Indies in 1971. He has scored centuries against all the cricket-playing countries of the world (South Africa and Zimbabwe were not Test playing countries in his time).

BCCI convenes Working Committee meeting
Our Sports Reporter

New Delhi, November 25
The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) has called an emergency meeting of the Working Committee here tomorrow to deliberate on its tussle with the International Cricket Conference (ICC) following the punishments handed out by ICC match referee Mike Dennes on six Indian cricketers, including Sachin Tendulkar, and to decide on the course of action to be taken.

The meeting will decide whether to abide by or reject the ICC ruling that middle order batsman Virender Sehwag of Delhi be dropped for the first Test against England starting in Mohali (near Chandigarh) on December 3. The BCCI stand is that Sehwag has already served the one-Test ban when he was dropped from the on-going third Test in South Africa, though the ICC has ruled that it would not treat the third Test as an "official" one.

Danny scores hattrick for Mizoram school
Our Sports Reporter

New Delhi, November 25
Government Higher Secondary School, Aizowal (Mizoram) inflicted a crushing 6-0 defeat on Nabbari High School, Tripura in the Subroto Mukherjee Cup Football Tournament at the Ambedkar Stadium here on Sunday.

Danny stole the spotlight by scoring a hattrick. His goals came in a 13-minute blitz from the 47th minute to 60th. Ramengmawai had opened the account in the fourth minute and four minutes later, Lalramzauva consolidated the lead. A minute later, Lalmingchaiia made it 3-O, and in the second half, it was Danny all the way. In another match, Gayeshpur Vidyamandir High School, Nadia (Bengal) beat Golden Valley School, Bahadurgarh (Haryana) by 1-0. V Mondal scored the match-winner in the 48th minute. The match had no bearing on the team position in Group V as Government Higher Secondary School, Aizowal had already qualified for the quarter-final from this group. Government Higher Secondary School, MP School, Kokrajhar (Assam) and Krida Prabodhani School, Pune (Maharashtra) played a 1-1 draw. D Boro scored Assam’s goal in the 27th minute while S Pawara got the equaliser for the Pune team in the 48th minute. With this match, the Assam school have moved into the quarter-final.

Monday’s fixtures: AP Sports School, Hakimpet (Andhra Pradesh) vs Govt. Higher Seconday School, Dimapur (Nagaland) (2 p m); SAI Training Centre, Salt Lake (Kolkata) vs Elite Co-Education Senior School, Kathmandu (Nepal) (3.30 p m)—Ambedkar Stadium.

South Delhi lift Shivalik Polo Cup
Our Sports Reporter

New Delhi, November 25
South Delhi downed fancied McDowell signatures by eight goals to seven in the extra sudden-death chukker to win the Mount Shivalik Maharaja Hari Singh Memorial Cup (14 goals) on the concluding day of the Delhi Fall Polo season at the Jaipur Polo Ground here on Sunday.

In an exciting final, watched by a packed house, both the teams combined well, and displayed their superb stick work and good horsemanship. Basheer Ali opened the account for McDowell Signatures by scoring a goal in the first chukker.

The match was a neck and affair all through, till Manupal Godara blasted home the match-winning goal for South Delhi. Manupal scored eight goals for the winners, and was adjudged the "most valuable player" of the tournament.