The Tribune, Chandigarh, India

HEALTH

Camp to check spread of seasonal diseases
Our Correspondent

Ludhiana, August 9
Under the directions of civil surgeon Dr Sat Pal Sharma, the health department today organised an awareness camp in the Jawahar Nagar area to make people aware of the preventive steps to be taken against seasonal diseases. The camp was inaugurated by newly-elected councillor Sonu Kapil Kumar.

Speaking on the occasion, medical officer, Model Gram dispensary, Dr Suchitra Kalia, advised the people to use boiled or chlorinated water to prevent the spread of diseases like gastroenteritis, jaundice, typhoid and diarrhea, which were common during the rainy season.

A few speakers urged the people to keep their surroundings clean, avoid consumption of over-ripe or under-ripe fruits, uncovered eatables and maintain body fluids in cases of diarrhea or vomiting.

The field staff of the department gave tips on prevention against mosquito-borne diseases like malaria and dengue. Relevant literature was also distributed among residents of the on this occasion.

Workshop on health services
Our Correspondent

Ludhiana, August 9
In a bid to improve the doctor-patient relationship, the Indian Medical Association (IMA) will hold a national workshop at Varanasi on September 1, 2007.

According to former district president of IMA and member of the national governing council of the body Dr Gursharan Singh, medical professionals from all over the country would deliberate on the crucial issue so as to evolve a consensus and make suitable recommendations to the government.

Dr Singh, who will be attending the workshop on the invitation of Dr Ajay Kumar, national president of IMA, said this was a welcome step towards bringing about improvement in the patient-doctor relations all over the country. He said all across the developed nations, health policies were formulated by the respective professional association.

He informed that in fact, the process of involving the professional body in policy-making was set in motion way back in 2004 with the combined efforts of the union government and the IMA when a national-level workshop at Thiruvananthapuram in Kerala, discussed at length, the “accessibility and affordability of quality health services in India”.

This workshop made certain recommendations on the related issues with the IMA further proposing concerted followup action for developing and putting in place, a working model of the ideal doctor-patient relationship in the country.