‘Unsafe injection practices claim 21 million victims every year’
Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, June 12
Scientists have finally come up with a solution to the problem of deadly infections spread by recycled syringes: auto-disable syringes.

It has been hailed as a major technological breakthrough in the history of medical devices as auto-disable (AD) syringe cannot be reused after the first use and any attempt to reuse the syringe leads to the breaking of the plunger. The auto-disable mechanism in the AD syringe works by locking the plunger of the syringe after a dosage has been given and automatically makes it impossible to reuse the syringe.

Medical experts say that as AD syringe cannot be reused, so the risk of person-to-person transmission of blood-borne pathogens (such as Hepatitis B or HIV) is completely eliminated. Though earlier the use of AD syringes was restricted to immunisation only, now the world over in the “general health care” sector also, the AD syringes are fast replacing the standard disposable syringes.

There are as many as 21 million people across the globe who get infected with deadly viruses and fatal diseases like HIV, Hepatitis B and Hepatitis C due to unsafe injection practices such as reusing disposable syringes. Out of this, 13 lakh people die annually. In India alone, more than 7.8 million people suffer (6.26 million from Hepatitis B, 0.8 million from Hepatitis C and 8,600 from HIV) from infections caused due to unsafe injection practices. Apart from this, 4.75 lakh people die annually due to infection and diseases caused by unsafe injections.

This was stated here today by Mr Pradeep Sareen of Hindustan Syringes and Medical Devices Limited (HMD) while launching India’s first Auto-Disable (non-reusable) Syringe “Kojak Selinge”.

According to an estimate, over Rs 2,700 crore is spent every year the world over as the medical cost on syringe-led infections and diseases. Considering these factors, the AD Syringes are an effective answer to this problem. Priced at Rs 5.25 per piece for 2 ml, Kojak Selinge is available in sizes of 0.5 ml, 2 ml and 5 ml.

PCMS docs’ plea to minister
Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, June 12
Dr T.C. Malhan, President of the Doctors’ Forum and special invitee of the Punjab Pradesh Congress Committee, along with representatives of PCMS doctors of 1997-1998 batch met Choudhry Jagjit Singh, Cabinet Minister, Punjab, here today. They apprised him of the prevailing sense of fear and uncertainty among doctors of the batch due to the ongoing movement against corruption launched by the Punjab Chief Minister.

The minister was informed that 872 doctors were selected during the tenure of Mr Ravi Sidhu as the PPSC chief and these selections were made on merit and in the presence of eminent doctors and experts. These doctors for the past 3-4 years had been serving the rural masses.

Dr Malhan appealed to the minister that their case be considered sympathetically so that no innocent doctor was punished. The minister assured the doctors that he would take up the matter personally with the Chief Minister.

SPORTS

Dr Chadha’s tips to budding cricketers
Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, June 12
The regular trainees attending the summer cricket coaching camp at the Sector 19 Govt Senior Secondary School could not have asked for more. Amongst them this morning was Dr Ravinder Chadha, a former physio therapist of the Indian cricket team.

Dr Chadha interacted with the under-19 trainees. The youngsters watched with awe as the former Haryana Ranji Trophy cricketer gave them a talk on physical fitness, technique and mental fitness.

He said speed, stamina, strength and suppleness were the ingredients that went into the making of a good sportsperson. He said without strength and stamina one was prone to injury. He asked the boys to put in extra work at the gym to get that strength and stamina so important to reach the top in any sport.

He also gave the boys his views on the diet they should follow. He said simple items like banana, jam and bread were ideal for instant energy. Fatty food items took time to provide energy, and ended up adding tiers to the stomach. He finished his interaction with the demonstration of Swiss ball and exercise tube. These two items he said were just the right exercising items which were easy to handle. Mr Surinder Singh, affectionately called “Bhaijee”, who has been running this coaching camp for several years, said the 30 trainees were being provided with a regular diet of milk and eggs by LG Electronics.

Neha, Isha enter semis in tennis
Our Sports Reporter

Chandigarh, June 12
Neha Singh and Isha Toor entered into the last four of the AITA North Zone Ranking Tennis Tournament played at the tennis stadium, Sector 10, here today. In other matches of the section, Taskeen Bains and Simmer also entered semifinals.

In the boys’ section for under-16, Harneet Singh of Chandigarh toiled hard in facing the stiff challenge from Jitin Bishnoi and went down fighting in three sets.

In another tough played match, Gursher Harika had much difficulty in beating Gurdit Singh in three sets.

The quarterfinals results are: girls’ under-14; Anukriti Prasad (Delhi) b Sameera Sharma (Delhi) 6-0, 6-1; Amrita Seth (Delhi) b Nikunj Kamal (Delhi) 6-3, 6-4; Shubhneet Sandhu (Punjab) b Monika Menon (Delhi) 6-1, 6-1; and Taskeen Bains (Chandigarh) b Jilke Nelord (Delhi) 6-2, 6-4.

Under-16: Neha Singh (Chandigarh) b Anukriti Prasad (Delhi) 6-2, 6-3; Simmer (Chandigarh) b Nikunj Kamal (Delhi) 6-3, 6-4; Taskeen Bains (Delhi) b Amrita Seth (Delhi) 6-0, 6-3; Isha Toor (Chandigarh) b Dhana Siri (Delhi) 7-5, 6-1.

Boys: under-14: Gursher Harika (Chandigarh) b Kuldeep Chugh (Punjab) 6-1, 6-3; Kinshuk Sharma (Chandigarh) b Yuki Bhambri (Delhi) 6-4, 6-3; Vijayant Malik (Chandigarh) b Deepinder Singh (Chandigarh) 6-3, 6-2; Simmer Veer Singh (Chandigarh) b Ashwani Prakash (UP) 6-2, 6-1.

Under-16: Gursher Harika (Chandigarh) b Gurdit Singh (Chandigarh) 3-6, 6-3, 6-0; Jitin Bishnoi (Chandigarh) b Harneet Singh (Chandigarh) 4-6, 6-3, 6-3; Paras Thakur (Chandigarh) b Prateek Tyagi (UP) 7-6 , 6-1.

A correction

The article ‘‘Another opportunity goes abegging’’ printed in these columns in the issue dated June 11, 2002, was written by Sushil Kapoor and not Sunil Kapoor as erroneously printed. The error is regretted.