The Tribune, Chandigarh, India

HEALTH

BODY & MIND
UK eyeing Indian nurses
Tripti Nath

THE Indo-UK Nurses Association (INUKNA), a membership-based, non-profit organisation, has entered into strategic marketing tie-up with E-Indiabiz.com, a marketing solutions organisation, to promote its recruitment services targeted exclusively at the nursing fraternity in India. It will provide information and assist nurses to obtain all government related approvals needed to work as a nurse in the United Kingdom. At present, the UK health care system is facing a shortage of nurses with estimates putting the requirement at 22,000 per year. In the year gone by, the UK Government gave 9,800 approvals to foreign nurses. Of these, only 254 nurses were from India. According to Indo-UK Nurses Association spokesperson Phil Brown, ``As a non-profit body we were looking at cost-effective means to bridge India and the UK on the nurses’ front. By the end of 2002, we hope that 1,000 Indian nurses will be approved by the United Kingdom licensing authority.”

Paediatric Cancer

Kalawati Saran Children’s Hospital, affiliated to Lady Hardinge Medical College here, plans to introduce paediatric oncology facilities from April 2002 for treatment of paediatric cancer. According to Prof A.S. Bais, Medical Superintendent of the hospital, the addition of 150 beds to a new building will augment the hospital’s cumulative bed capacity to 500. The building, constructed with the help of the Japanese International Cooperation Agency, has already got over 50 beds and has emergency, OT services and neonatalogy facilities. Apart from this, it covers super specialities as paediatric orthopaedics, paediatric ENT and paediatric ophthalmology. The facility of paediatric oncology has been started keeping in mind the high incidence of leukaemia among children. The paediatric oncology facilities will cover radiotherapy, linear accelerator and brachytherapy.

Psychiatry Meet

The daylong annual conference of the Delhi Psychiatry Society (DPS) here on Sunday will enable mental health professionals to exchange ideas and share experiences in treating various kinds of ailments. According to Dr Sandeep Vohra, president of the DPS and Senior Consultant Psychiatrist at Indraprastha Apollo Hospital, at least 300 members of the society from Ghaziabad, Faridabad, Noida and Rohtak are expected to participate in deliberations during the conference. A symposium on nicotine dependence, during the conference, will give professionals an opportunity to discuss the latest anti-smoking pill, Bopropoin. The conference will also include discussions on new anti-depressants in the market. Prominent among those attending the conference are

Dr A.B. Ghosh, former Head of the Department of Psychiatry, Kolkata Medical College, Dr Utpal Goswami, Head of the Department of Psychiatry at Lady Hardinge Medical College, Dr N.K. Bohra, senior Delhi-based psychiatrist and Dr A.K. Vohra, Head of the Department of Psychiatry at the Post Graduate Institute of Medical Sciences, Rohtak. The DPS has also arranged tele-conferencing with Dr Guy Goodwin, Professor of Psychiatry at Oxford University, UK, who enjoys international acclaim on the management of depression.

Trauma centre

The trauma centre coming up at AIIMS will be connected to all trauma centres across the country.

The Union Minister for Health and Family Welfare, Dr. C.P.Thakur, recently unveiled the foundation stone of Jai Prakash Narayan Trauma Centre of the All-India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS). The centre is proposed to be constructed on a 14.35-acre plot at Raj Nagar on Ring Road at a cost of Rs55 crore. The proposed trauma centre, with bed strength of 140, would have state-of-the-art technology and be connected with all trauma centres across the country. It would later be converted into the National Centre for Trauma Care. The government had recently approved a scheme to provide Rs1.5 crore each to state hospitals on national highways to upgrade the trauma care facilities. The government had also approved projects worth Rs120 crore to upgrade facilities at AIIMS, which include setting up of two dharamshalas and the Centre for Dental Education and Research. The JPN Trauma Centre will be used for training specialists, paramedics and other personnel. Specialised training in telemedicine will be provided at the proposed centre to enable specialists at other centres to treat patients at their respective centres and refer only those cases that require very special care. A trauma information division will also be set up as part of the centre.

Sure Weight loss

There is a piece of good news for residents of East Delhi. The Cure and Curve Clinic inaugurated by Delhi Health Minister A.K. Walia in Saraswati Vihar recently promises to use health and beauty through research. The clinic guarantees weight loss.

SPORTS

PSB to meet Indian Airlines in Shastri Hockey final
Our Sports Reporter

New Delhi, December 8
Punjab and Sind Bank (PSB) will take on Indian Airlines in the final of the Shastri Hockey Tournament tomorrow.

In the semifinals at Shivaji Stadium in Delhi on Saturday, Punjab and Sind Bank edged past the Central Industrial Security Force (CISF) 2-1 while Indian Airlines lowered Air India with an emphatic 3-0 victory.

In a closely contested match, the CISF took the lead in the second minute when Mangra Munda converted a penalty corner, but the bankmen quickly got the equaliser through Parminder Singh, also via a penalty corner. In the second half, Sandeep Singh Ghuman scored off a penalty corner to get the match-winner. In the second semifinal, Indian Airlines thoroughly outplayed Air India. All three goals came in the second half. Ten minutes after resumption, Altaf-ur-Rehman scored the first goal off a penalty corner, and nine minutes later, Rehman scored again to make it 2-0. Brojen Singh completed the tally in the 57th minute.

The star-studded Indian Airlines were checked from scoring by Air India in the first half, but they went on the rampage in the second session, and this time the Air India defenders had no counter.

Delhi, Chandigarh enter last four
Our Sports Reporter

New Delhi, December 8
Delhi University scored an impressive 6-1 victory against Kumaon University in the SGTB Khalsa College Golden Jubilee North Zone Inter-University Hockey (Men) Championship at the Khalsa College ground here on Saturday.

Four goals, including a hattrick by Prabhakaran Singh, were the highlight of the match. Ajay Kumar and Kulbir Singh were the other goal-getters for Delhi. Tarun Belwal reduced the margin for Kumaon. Delhi have qualified for the four-team North Zone final league.

Panjab University, Chandigarh, also qualified for the final league when they shocked last year’s all-India champions, Meerut University, 5-3 via the tiebreaker. Punjabi University, Patiala, beat Aligarh Muslim University 2-1 after leading by 2-0 at half time. Gurpreet and Navdeep Saini scored the goals for Punjabi while Shahid reduced the margin for Aligarh.

Jamia Milia, Delhi, lost to Guru Nanak Dev University, Amritsar, 3-4 in a tiebreaker after the teams were involved in a goalless contest during the regulation period. Jamia Milia were the all-India runners-up last year. The North Zone final will be held from Monday. Delhi meet Panjab, Punjabi meet GNDU in the Inter-Zone Championship.