Nirmanmoh Bhatia, Jugal Kishore, Tanu Anand, Ram Chander Jiloha
Background: Nursing is known to be a stressful profession. Nursing staff working at the bottom of the hierarchy and in public hospitals are the ones who are more stressed out. There is a
paucity of data on prevalence of stress amongst nurses in the Indian setting. The individual contribution of various stressors, operational in nurse’s personal and professional life, to the overall stress levels also needs to be studied.
Method: A hospital based cross sectional study was carried out on 87 randomly selected staff nurses working in two tertiary care teaching hospitals of Central Delhi. Data was collected using
pre-tested and self-administered questionnaire. Sociodemographic profile, stressors in daily life, stressors at workstation and total stress level was also assessed. The data was fed and analysed using WHO’s EPI-INFO 2005 software.
Results: 87.4% of nurses from the sample reported occupational stress. The prevalence of occupational stress amongst nurses was 87.4%. ‘Time Pressure’ was found to be the
most stressful whereas ‘Discrimination’ was the least stressful of the given possible sources of stress in everyday life. Other highly stressful sources were: handling various issues of life simultaneously with occupation such as caring for own children/parents, own work situation and personal responsibilities. ‘High level of skill requirement of the job’ was the most important stressor and ‘helpfulness of supervisors/senior sisters’ was the least significant stressor
directly related to nursing profession. Other significant work related stressors were: the fact that their jobs required them to learn new things and that they had to attend to, too many patients at the same time.
Conclusion: High prevalence of stress was found amongst nurses, and suggests the need for stress reduction programmes targeting specific important stressors.
Key Words: Nurses, Stress, Occupational Stress, Tertiary Care Hospitals, India
Australasian Medical Journal AMJ 2010, 3, 11, 731-738 (http://www.amj.net.au/index.php?journal=AMJ&page=search&op=titles&searchPage=10)
Wednesday, January 19, 2011
Benign Prostatic Hyperplasia: Health Seeking Behaviour of patients at a tertiary care hospital. Aman Deep Dr. Gopal Krishna Ingle Dr. Jugal Kishore
Background: Benign Prostatic Hyperplasia is a widely prevalent condition
affecting elderly men throughout the world. With increasing
life expectancy, there has been a rise in the percentage of
elderly men and so for this disease across the globe. There is
lack of information about health seeking behaviour of patients
with Benign Prostatic Hyperplasia. Therefore the study was
designed with the objectives of assessing health-seeking
behaviour and the effect of literacy on it among adult and
older subjects suffering from Benign Prostatic Hyperplasia
attending a tertiary care hospital.
Method: A series of 81 patients suffering from Benign Prostatic
Hyperplasia above the age of 50 years, attending surgical Out
Patient Department of a tertiary care hospital in Delhi, were
assessed for their health seeking behaviour using a pre-tested
and a modified questionnaire designed for assessing health
seeking behaviour.
Results: Positive health seeking behaviour of patients was observed in
44%, who reported to a doctor within a month of noticing
their problem. A greater proportion of the literates was aware
about the symptoms suggestive of enlarged prostate and
consulted a qualified health care practitioner as their first
action. More literates approached the higher level of health
care facility on being referred and had maximum faith in
allopathic system of medicine. Also, lesser number of literates
had performed pooja (Hindi word for worship) or other
traditional rituals for relief of their problems.
Conclusion: We concluded that majority of subjects suffering from
Benign Prostatic Hypertrophy were not aware of their
disease and their health-seeking behaviour was poor and
could be related to literacy. Our data highlights the need
for public awareness program targeting the younger male
population so that early detection and treatment can be
offered.
Key Words: Benign Prostatic Hyperplasia, Health Seeking Behaviour,
Awareness.
Australasian Medical Journal AMJ 2010, 1, 3, 213-216 (http://www.amj.net.au/index.php?journal=AMJ&page=article&op=view&path%5B%5D=166.)
affecting elderly men throughout the world. With increasing
life expectancy, there has been a rise in the percentage of
elderly men and so for this disease across the globe. There is
lack of information about health seeking behaviour of patients
with Benign Prostatic Hyperplasia. Therefore the study was
designed with the objectives of assessing health-seeking
behaviour and the effect of literacy on it among adult and
older subjects suffering from Benign Prostatic Hyperplasia
attending a tertiary care hospital.
Method: A series of 81 patients suffering from Benign Prostatic
Hyperplasia above the age of 50 years, attending surgical Out
Patient Department of a tertiary care hospital in Delhi, were
assessed for their health seeking behaviour using a pre-tested
and a modified questionnaire designed for assessing health
seeking behaviour.
Results: Positive health seeking behaviour of patients was observed in
44%, who reported to a doctor within a month of noticing
their problem. A greater proportion of the literates was aware
about the symptoms suggestive of enlarged prostate and
consulted a qualified health care practitioner as their first
action. More literates approached the higher level of health
care facility on being referred and had maximum faith in
allopathic system of medicine. Also, lesser number of literates
had performed pooja (Hindi word for worship) or other
traditional rituals for relief of their problems.
Conclusion: We concluded that majority of subjects suffering from
Benign Prostatic Hypertrophy were not aware of their
disease and their health-seeking behaviour was poor and
could be related to literacy. Our data highlights the need
for public awareness program targeting the younger male
population so that early detection and treatment can be
offered.
Key Words: Benign Prostatic Hyperplasia, Health Seeking Behaviour,
Awareness.
Australasian Medical Journal AMJ 2010, 1, 3, 213-216 (http://www.amj.net.au/index.php?journal=AMJ&page=article&op=view&path%5B%5D=166.)
Sunday, September 19, 2010
My Books on Public Health
2012
1. Sanjay Kumar, Jugal
Kishore. Inequity in Indian Healthcare: An analysis of women’s health. Saarbrücken: LAP
LAMBERT Academic Publishing GmbH & Co. Germany 2012. ISBN -13:
978-3-659-19185-5; ISBN – 10: 365919185x; EAN: 9783659191855
2. Jugal Kishore. Female Feticide: An Instigation of female
status. Saarbrücken: LAP LAMBERT Academic Publishing GmbH &
Co. Germany 2012. ISBN -13: 978-3-659-15473-7; ISBN – 10: 3659154733; EAN:
9783659154737
3. Nupur
Agarwal, Jugal Kishore, GK Ingle. How to prevent and manage your low back pain:
A guide for healthy posture and lifestyle. ISBN 978-3-659-15872-8, Paperback,
pp80. Saarbrücken:
LAP LAMBERT Academic Publishing GmbH & Co. Germany 2012.
4. Suman Lata, Jugal Kishore, Gurmeet Singh. Breastfeeding and
College Girls: An exploratory study to assess the knowledge and attitude of
College girls regarding breastfeeding. SBN 978-3-8484-9882-6, Paperback.
Saarbrücken:
LAP LAMBERT Academic Publishing GmbH & Co. Germany 2012.
5. Medha Goyal Charu Kohli, Jugal Kishore. Effect of Educational Booklet on Depression. ISBN
978-3-659-10276-9. Saarbrücken: LAP
LAMBERT Academic Publishing GmbH & Co. Germany 2012
6. J Kishore. A Textbook for Health Worker and Midwife. 1st
edition, pp. 300; New Delhi: Century Publications 2012.
7. J Kishore. National Health Programs of India: National
Policies and Legislation related to health, Ed.9th 2010 (September),
pp. 814; New Delhi: Century Publications
2012.
8. J Kishore, I Grewal. Practical and Viva in Community
Medicine. 2nd Edition. New Delhi: Century Publications 2012.
2011
9. J Kishore. Question Bank Community Medicine. 1st
Ed. New Delhi: Century Publications
2011.
10. J Kishore. National Health Programs of India: National
Policies and Legislation related to health, Ed.9th 2010 (September),
pp. 814; New Delhi: Century Publications
2011.
2010
11. J kishore. Practical and Viva: Community Medicine. Ed.1st
2010, pp. 450; New Delhi: Century Publications
2010.
12. J Kishore. National Health Programs of India: National
Policies and Legislation related to health, Ed.8th 2009 (September),
pp. 814; New Delhi: Century Publications 2010
(Revised Reprint).
2009
13. J Kishore. National Health Programs of India: National
Policies and Legislation related to health, Ed.8th 2009 (September),
pp. 814; New Delhi: Century Publications 2009.
14. J Kishore. Bhrun Hatiya: Apradhi Kaun? (Hindi translated by dr. Panna Lal) Ed 1st,
ISBN978-81-88132-17-1, pp 144; New Delhi: Century Publications 2008.
2007
15. J Kishore. National Health Programs of India: National
Policies and Legislation related to health, Ed. 7th 2007
(September), ISBN 81-88132-17-9, pp. 700; New
Delhi: Century Publications 2007.
16.
J Kishore. A Dictionary of Public Health, Ed 2nd,
ISBN 81-881320-10-0, pp 1050; New Delhi: Century Publications 2007.
2006
17.
J Kishore. National Health Programs of India: National
policies and legislation related to health, Ed. 6th 2006 (July), ISBN 81-88132-15-2, pp. 549; Century Publications,
Jamia Nagar, New Delhi 110025;
2005
18. J Kishore. National Health Programs of India: National
policies and legislation related to health, Ed. 5rd 2005 (Aug),
Century Publications, Jamia Nagar, New Delhi 110025;
19.
J
Kishore. “The Vanishing Girl Child” 1st ed Century Publications, New
Delhi 25.
20.
J Kishore. “A Text of Health for Health
Workers”, 2nd Ed Century Publications New Delhi 25
2004
21.
J Kishore, GK Ingle. Biomedical
Waste Management in India. ISBN 818813208-X, pp 144, 1st Edition,
2004, Century Publications New Delhi.
22.
J Kishore. A Textbook of Health for Health
Workers. 1st Edition 2004, Century Publications New Delhi.
2002
23.
J Kishore. “A Dictionary of Public Health”,
ISBN 81881320, pp 624 1st Ed. 2002 Century Publications, Jamia Nagar
New Delhi 25.
24. J Kishore. National Health Programmes of India:
National policies and legislation related to health, ISBN 818813204-7, pp.
410, Ed. 4rd 2002, Century
Publications, Jamia Nagar, New Delhi
2001
25.
J Kishore. National Health Programmes of India:
National policies and legislation related to health, Ed. 3rd 2002,
Century Publications, Jamia Nagar, New Delhi
26.
J Kishore & P C Ray. “Pioneering Social
Reformers of India” 2001; Wisdom Publications, New Delhi, 2001. In Hindi-Bharat Ke Agrani Samaj Sudharak 2002.
2000
27.
J Kishore. National Health Programmes of India:
Ed. 2rd 2002, Century Publications, Jamia Nagar, New Delhi
28.
Ishwar Ke Bina Jeena. (Living
without God-Translated to Hindi by BP Nidaria and Jugal Kishore) Published by
Century Publication, New Delhi 2000
1998
29. J Kishore. “Comprehensive Review of Community
Medicine”, based on MCQ and important notes, Ed. 1998, Century Publications,
Jamia Nagar, New Delhi
30. P C Ray & J Kishore. “The Great Warriors of
Human Rights Movement From India” Ed. 1998; Wisdom Publication, New Delhi. In
Hindi Manav Adhikar Andolan Ke Bharatiya
Yoddha 2002.
1994.
31. Jugal Kishore. “Bhavnayen” An Anthology of Hindi Poems, JK Indu Parkashan, New Delhi.1994.
Friday, September 17, 2010
response to the Article "Its an emergency" of Lalita Panicker
The Hindustan Times
Dear Editor
I read the Lalita Panicker's article titled "Its an emergency" with great interest. It is serious concern for every sensible person in the country and also in the world. It am delighted to find stylish jargon of emotional words used in the article with little content and facts and figures. On one side government is not ready to give free to poor of the country grains instead allowing them to rotten in their stores. On other side whole opposition, media and sensible people of the country are kept quiet for all corruptions, mishandling and mismanaging of public fund, escalating prices of essential commodities. One can blame the health sector for all deaths and diseases happening in the country but to just inform our dear colleague and friends that health of a person is also depended on food, shelter, water, power, transport, etc. Government can not made the food free but can make the health free whereas women and children of this country dying more from malnutrition than other diseases. It is also not true that women and child health was not the top priority of government for such a long time. It is also not true that we are lack of facts and figures but it depends on presenter and listners. It is painful to say that most of the policies and high profile meetings on health are attended by people who have never gone through public health of the country so it is quite possible for them to react in such a manner. Whole print and audiovisual media can also be blamed for this as they are also not more than 2% of space and time spending on health issues similar to the government budget. Issue of commonwealth game is rightly highlighted where health of women and children are neglected by the Contractors and contracting agencies. Government and contracting agencies have violated the Contract Labour (Regulation and Abolition) Central Rules 1971: Construction and Maintenance of Creches. Similarly what government and highest courts of the country have done to those private giant hospitals who didn't fufil social responsibility of serving 15-20% of the poor. So in conclusion I can say that it is easy to blame others without finding faults in selt. It is also interesting to accept useless suggestions of foreigners in five star hotel and not hearing the prophecy and hard work of your own people
response
Dear Editor
I read the Lalita Panicker's article titled "Its an emergency" with great interest. It is serious concern for every sensible person in the country and also in the world. It am delighted to find stylish jargon of emotional words used in the article with little content and facts and figures. On one side government is not ready to give free to poor of the country grains instead allowing them to rotten in their stores. On other side whole opposition, media and sensible people of the country are kept quiet for all corruptions, mishandling and mismanaging of public fund, escalating prices of essential commodities. One can blame the health sector for all deaths and diseases happening in the country but to just inform our dear colleague and friends that health of a person is also depended on food, shelter, water, power, transport, etc. Government can not made the food free but can make the health free whereas women and children of this country dying more from malnutrition than other diseases. It is also not true that women and child health was not the top priority of government for such a long time. It is also not true that we are lack of facts and figures but it depends on presenter and listners. It is painful to say that most of the policies and high profile meetings on health are attended by people who have never gone through public health of the country so it is quite possible for them to react in such a manner. Whole print and audiovisual media can also be blamed for this as they are also not more than 2% of space and time spending on health issues similar to the government budget. Issue of commonwealth game is rightly highlighted where health of women and children are neglected by the Contractors and contracting agencies. Government and contracting agencies have violated the Contract Labour (Regulation and Abolition) Central Rules 1971: Construction and Maintenance of Creches. Similarly what government and highest courts of the country have done to those private giant hospitals who didn't fufil social responsibility of serving 15-20% of the poor. So in conclusion I can say that it is easy to blame others without finding faults in selt. It is also interesting to accept useless suggestions of foreigners in five star hotel and not hearing the prophecy and hard work of your own people
response
Wednesday, November 18, 2009
Recommendations of National Conference on Air, Noise, Water, solid waste and Plastic waste during Commonwealth games in 2010
RECOMMENDATIONS OF THE BRAINSTORMING CONFERENCE
ON MANAGEMENT OF WATER, AIR, NOISE, SOLID WASTES AND PLASTIC WASTE DURING COMMONWEALTH GAMES 2010 TO BE HELD AT DELHI
1. Public information
The Conference is duly informed of the overall planning and certain micro-planning exercises conducted by various organizations belonging to Municipal Corporation of Delhi, the Delhi Development Authority, the Government of National Capital Territory and the Central Government. Much of the information was not known to most of the participants. It is recommended that a vigorous campaign be made by a designated coordinating agency to inform the general public through various media so as to generate confidence in the public that care for environment is part of the efforts being made to hold a successful and green Commonwealth Games at Delhi.
2. Air quality management
The Olympics held in China in 2008 owe part of the success to certain bold decisions, such as closing down polluting industries one month before the event. Likewise, a large number of public offices were closed one week before the Olympics. The strong democracy that we are may not accept such arrangement. However, potential polluters need to be identified and sternly warned to keep pollution under control failing which immediate action to shut them down would be taken. Such units may be in Delhi or near its border in Sahibabad, Ghaziabad and Faridabad. In any case, coal-based thermal power stations of Delhi and near its border will need to be shut down two weeks before the Games are held. The diesel generating sets, which number more than 2 lakh in Delhi, can remain out of operation if uninterrupted power supply is assured. It is recommended that a close scrutiny be made as to which polluting industrial units should be so warned and which thermal power stations should be shut down. It may also be assessed as to which offices can be closed for four weeks without significant interruption in public service. The manpower thus made idle may be utilized for assisting in the organizing the Games. Uninterrupted power supply should be arranged for Delhi for the period of the Games. It is further recommended that as a mitigative measure, greenery should be increased near the sporting arena.
3. Air quality monitoring
Delhi is noted by the World Health Organisation among the major cities that have poor environmental conditions. While poor quality of water can be countered by bottled drinking water, there is no such alternative to poor quality of air. Athletes are particularly sensitive to air quality because heavy breathing during running and other exercise sports can cause serious injury to their pulmonary and cardiovascular systems. It is therefore recommended that air quality is monitored regularly and accurately right from now to get baseline data, obtain actual trend of results of measures implemented to improve air quality and predict with confidence the anticipated air quality during October 2010, when the Commonwealth Games will be held.
4. Prediction of air quality
In the last decade, introduction of CNG-run public transport vehicles, manufacture of fuel-efficient automobile engines and production of lead-free petrol and low-sulphur diesel did cause a remarkable improvement of air quality of Delhi. The advantage is wearing out on account of a phenomenal increase in the number of automobiles on the road in spite of the recently established Delhi Metro system and an improved fleet of buses. Traffic jams are becoming more frequent and more intense with time. Emission of certain pollutants, such as ozone and fine particulate matter, has tended to increase with the aforesaid changes in fuel and engines. In the euphoria of gains noticed earlier, the new threats are overlooked. While data on concentration of ozone is scanty, a lot of data is available on the precursors of ozone, which are the hydrocarbons, oxides of nitrogen and sunlight. It is recommended that careful observations need to be made to assess the concentration of ozone and fine particulate matter and to relate such observations to the doze-effect on health of the affected population. In particular, it is recommended that concentration of ground level ozone is observed and estimated by modelling, and its trend be analysed to provide authentic information for the athletes who can be at threat if it rises above a certain level.
5. River quality
River Yamuna will be viewed by a large number of athletes, visitors, journalists and commentators during the Commonwealth Games. The view is appalling. The adverse publicity of the care given to this major water body, which is included among the holy rivers according to faith of the majority of population of the country, will reflect adversely on the responsiveness and effectiveness of our administration. By now several authorities have conceded that hardly anything is possible to upgrade the river water quality to an acceptable level. This myth can be blown away with the application of bio-remediation, i.e., by dosing selected bacteria into a body of water, which quickly multiply, decompose organic pollutants and mitigate odour. Thus, the drains of Delhi can be made to clean the Yamuna. It is recommended that bioremediation be applied on the tributary drains, the river and poorly performing sewage treatment plants in Delhi.
6. Solid wastes management
Packaging and containers are likely to be discarded in large quantities during the Commonwealth Games. To regard them as wastes is to increase the burden of their handling and disposal. To regard them as resource is an approach to get wealth and energy from waste. Biodegradable packaging is technically possible. Most of the containers have the possibility of reuse by segregating them according to the possibility of their reuse. It is, therefore, recommended that bio-degradable packaging is prescribed for certain items carefully selected for the purpose and arrangements are made to segregate the containers according to the potential of their reuse.
7. Household garbage disposal
The sweepings from the dwellings and kitchen wastes make an excellent combination to be treated by vermiculture process at the household level. Residents that have small garden or large enough terraces can adopt this technique to produce and utilise compost from the wastes generated in their own homes and thereby significantly reduce the quantity of garbage that need to be handled and disposed of by a municipal service. It is recommended that domestic vermiculture units may be vigorously promoted including technical and financial support for the manufacture and use of the bins required in the process.
8. Mock drill
Whatever services and regulatory controls are planned for the duration of the Commonwealth Games should be rehearsed in order that the deficiencies in the plan are noticed and rectified. Such mock drills are also greatly helpful in generating awareness and co-operation of the people and in the assessment of net benefits of the plan. It is recommended that at least two mock drills may be held before the Commonwealth Games to practice and validate planned services and regulatory controls.
ON MANAGEMENT OF WATER, AIR, NOISE, SOLID WASTES AND PLASTIC WASTE DURING COMMONWEALTH GAMES 2010 TO BE HELD AT DELHI
1. Public information
The Conference is duly informed of the overall planning and certain micro-planning exercises conducted by various organizations belonging to Municipal Corporation of Delhi, the Delhi Development Authority, the Government of National Capital Territory and the Central Government. Much of the information was not known to most of the participants. It is recommended that a vigorous campaign be made by a designated coordinating agency to inform the general public through various media so as to generate confidence in the public that care for environment is part of the efforts being made to hold a successful and green Commonwealth Games at Delhi.
2. Air quality management
The Olympics held in China in 2008 owe part of the success to certain bold decisions, such as closing down polluting industries one month before the event. Likewise, a large number of public offices were closed one week before the Olympics. The strong democracy that we are may not accept such arrangement. However, potential polluters need to be identified and sternly warned to keep pollution under control failing which immediate action to shut them down would be taken. Such units may be in Delhi or near its border in Sahibabad, Ghaziabad and Faridabad. In any case, coal-based thermal power stations of Delhi and near its border will need to be shut down two weeks before the Games are held. The diesel generating sets, which number more than 2 lakh in Delhi, can remain out of operation if uninterrupted power supply is assured. It is recommended that a close scrutiny be made as to which polluting industrial units should be so warned and which thermal power stations should be shut down. It may also be assessed as to which offices can be closed for four weeks without significant interruption in public service. The manpower thus made idle may be utilized for assisting in the organizing the Games. Uninterrupted power supply should be arranged for Delhi for the period of the Games. It is further recommended that as a mitigative measure, greenery should be increased near the sporting arena.
3. Air quality monitoring
Delhi is noted by the World Health Organisation among the major cities that have poor environmental conditions. While poor quality of water can be countered by bottled drinking water, there is no such alternative to poor quality of air. Athletes are particularly sensitive to air quality because heavy breathing during running and other exercise sports can cause serious injury to their pulmonary and cardiovascular systems. It is therefore recommended that air quality is monitored regularly and accurately right from now to get baseline data, obtain actual trend of results of measures implemented to improve air quality and predict with confidence the anticipated air quality during October 2010, when the Commonwealth Games will be held.
4. Prediction of air quality
In the last decade, introduction of CNG-run public transport vehicles, manufacture of fuel-efficient automobile engines and production of lead-free petrol and low-sulphur diesel did cause a remarkable improvement of air quality of Delhi. The advantage is wearing out on account of a phenomenal increase in the number of automobiles on the road in spite of the recently established Delhi Metro system and an improved fleet of buses. Traffic jams are becoming more frequent and more intense with time. Emission of certain pollutants, such as ozone and fine particulate matter, has tended to increase with the aforesaid changes in fuel and engines. In the euphoria of gains noticed earlier, the new threats are overlooked. While data on concentration of ozone is scanty, a lot of data is available on the precursors of ozone, which are the hydrocarbons, oxides of nitrogen and sunlight. It is recommended that careful observations need to be made to assess the concentration of ozone and fine particulate matter and to relate such observations to the doze-effect on health of the affected population. In particular, it is recommended that concentration of ground level ozone is observed and estimated by modelling, and its trend be analysed to provide authentic information for the athletes who can be at threat if it rises above a certain level.
5. River quality
River Yamuna will be viewed by a large number of athletes, visitors, journalists and commentators during the Commonwealth Games. The view is appalling. The adverse publicity of the care given to this major water body, which is included among the holy rivers according to faith of the majority of population of the country, will reflect adversely on the responsiveness and effectiveness of our administration. By now several authorities have conceded that hardly anything is possible to upgrade the river water quality to an acceptable level. This myth can be blown away with the application of bio-remediation, i.e., by dosing selected bacteria into a body of water, which quickly multiply, decompose organic pollutants and mitigate odour. Thus, the drains of Delhi can be made to clean the Yamuna. It is recommended that bioremediation be applied on the tributary drains, the river and poorly performing sewage treatment plants in Delhi.
6. Solid wastes management
Packaging and containers are likely to be discarded in large quantities during the Commonwealth Games. To regard them as wastes is to increase the burden of their handling and disposal. To regard them as resource is an approach to get wealth and energy from waste. Biodegradable packaging is technically possible. Most of the containers have the possibility of reuse by segregating them according to the possibility of their reuse. It is, therefore, recommended that bio-degradable packaging is prescribed for certain items carefully selected for the purpose and arrangements are made to segregate the containers according to the potential of their reuse.
7. Household garbage disposal
The sweepings from the dwellings and kitchen wastes make an excellent combination to be treated by vermiculture process at the household level. Residents that have small garden or large enough terraces can adopt this technique to produce and utilise compost from the wastes generated in their own homes and thereby significantly reduce the quantity of garbage that need to be handled and disposed of by a municipal service. It is recommended that domestic vermiculture units may be vigorously promoted including technical and financial support for the manufacture and use of the bins required in the process.
8. Mock drill
Whatever services and regulatory controls are planned for the duration of the Commonwealth Games should be rehearsed in order that the deficiencies in the plan are noticed and rectified. Such mock drills are also greatly helpful in generating awareness and co-operation of the people and in the assessment of net benefits of the plan. It is recommended that at least two mock drills may be held before the Commonwealth Games to practice and validate planned services and regulatory controls.
Saturday, August 1, 2009
Myths about Diabetes and its treatment in a North Indian Population
Background : Myths prevailing about diabetes in the society have become a major hurdle for its proper treatment and control. Aim : To find out about various myths related to diabetes and its treatment in the population. Materials and Methods : A cross sectional study was carried out in a teaching hospital of Delhi in 2008. 124 diabetic patients attending the regular diabetic clinic, 78 people who accompanied these patients and 214 non-diabetic people were included in the study. A pre-tested interview schedule with 48 questions was used to get information about sociodemographic characteristics and myths about diabetes. Data was analyzed by Epi info software version 3.2. Results : The most common myth in the population (22%) was that eating more sugar causes diabetes. Others were: diabetes can only occur in old age, soaking feet in water can help control blood sugar, diabetes is a result of past sins and is cured by spiritual treatment. Myths were significantly more common in females, non-diabetics, less educated group. There was a slightly higher prevalence of myths in Muslim population. 12.1% of diabetics were taking herbal medicines. 15.9% of the diabetics and 26% of non diabetics were unaware that complications could occur if diabetes was uncontrolled. 18.5% of diabetics and 30.1% of non-diabetics were unaware about role of diet and lifestyle measures in control of diabetes. Conclusions : The prevalence of myths about diabetes is high in North Indian population which could be associated with poor early health seeking behavior and poor compliance with treatment.
Author: Mridula Rai, Jugal Kishore. Myths about Diabetes and its treatment in a north Indian Population. International J Diabetes in Developing Countries 2009;29 (3): 129-132
Wednesday, October 15, 2008
2nd National Symposium on Beliefs and Faiths: A Challenge to Public Health
2nd National Symposium on Beliefs and Faiths: A Challenge to Public Health was held on September 13th, 2008 at Maulana Azad Medical College, New Delhi by the Department of Community Medicine in collaboration with Center for inquiry Delhi branch and Center for Media Study Academy. The symposium was attended by eminent public health experts, sociologists, psychiatrists and faculty members, residents and undergraduates of the various institutes of Delhi such as All India Institute of Medical Sciences, National Institute of Health & Family Welfare, University College of Medical Sciences, Lady Hardinge Medical College, Delhi University, Jawahar Lal Nehru University. The technical sessions highlighted the impact of beliefs and faiths on people’s behavior, lifestyle and health seeking patterns. The symposium emphasized the need for promotion of rational and scientific thinking.
On this occasion, the Guest of Honor and keynote speaker was Dr Paul Kurtz, Professor Emeritus of Philosophy, Committee for the Scientific Investigation of claims of the Paranormal (CSICOP), Chairman of the Council for Secular Humanism and Founder and Chairman of Prometheus Books, USA. Dr Paul Kurtz highlighted the significance of scientific thinking in public health. He accentuated that people hold various kinds of beliefs and faiths, which affect their way of thinking and health seeking behavior in particular. He called for the need of critical examination of these beliefs and faiths.
Dr Kurtz emphasized on public appreciation and understanding of science and scientific temperament. He put forth the need for scientific examination of religion as to how religion affects an individual’s life as a whole. He touched upon the issues of scientific naturalism, naturalistic methodology and ethnic naturalism. Dr Kurtz enumerated different kinds of alternative systems of medicine in different countries and emphasized that validity of such systems should be questioned by every civilized society before their acceptance. He highlighted that a huge number of people irrespective of their ethnic backgrounds seek treatment by these methods. Systems like acupuncture originated in China but are now spread world over. Other widely sought after methods are Reiki, Acupressure, homoeopathy, Unani, Siddha and Ayurveda. Besides these systems of medicine, people still rely on religious ways of tackling disease like prayer meetings, therapeutic touch, holy water etc. Dr Kurtz stressed on the need for scientific examination of such ways of dealing with disease. He said that practitioners of these systems should prove their claims according to the current scientific methods. He elaborated the list of achievement of modern medical science such as diagnosis by ultrasound, magnetic resonance imaging, PET’s Scan, PCR, immunization, immunomodulation, treatment by modern antibiotics, nuclear and chemotherapy therapy in various cancers, bypass surgery, etc. These developments are real and saving hundred of thousand lives everyday.
Many people worldwide engage in these activities for long periods of time and do not seek medical help timely, which leads to worsening of their disease condition. Dr Kurtz laid emphasis on in depth studies about these methods in order to find evidence of reliability and consistency of alternative systems of medicine in different countries.
Dr Kurtz affirmed the need of inculcation of scientific temperament and rational thinking as this will have a long term impact on people’s behavior about health and disease.
In the introduction speech, Dr. Jugal Kishore, Professor and Director of Center for Inquiry Delhi Branch has highlighted the urgent need of development of scientific temper and evidence based public health particularly in India. He spoke that beliefs, faiths, and religion are directly and indirectly affecting our day-to-day life therefore having impact on public health. He said that silently beliefs are penetrating our decision taking power and affecting our life style and health seeking behavior. If we are interested to develop Public Health in any society role of beliefs and faiths cannot be neglected whether it is bad or good. He also said that as a scientific body it is our duty to deliberate on such issues, which are neglected due to acceptance of religious sanctity of certain practices that could be harmful to the public. Role of Psycho-social issues in public health is already realized world over but meager attention has been paid in India.
REPORT - Session I
Name of the session: Epidemiology of Myths and Beliefs
Chairpersons: Dr CS Pandav, Professor and Head, CCM, AIIMS
Dr Saudan Singh, Professor and Head, Deptt of Community
Medicine, VMMC
Rapporteur: Dr Ravneet Kaur
Speaker I: Swami Agnivesh, Former Minister of Education Haryana Government, President Bandhua Mukti Morcha
SPIRITUAL ASPECTS OF BELIEFS AND ITS ROLE IN HEALTH AND DISEASE
Swami Agnivesh discussed in detail how religious faiths affect people’s behavior. People do what religion dictates them to do without thinking rationally because of fear of gods. He stated that religion instead of being a spiritual entity has taken the form of a multi billion soul saving industry. He narrated his own experiences of life. Being born into an orthodox Brahmin family, he also inherited the traditions of performing poojas for hours and hours and also practiced untouchability. He described how he used to treat bonded laborers as untouchables just because his family taught him to do so. He was curious but never dared to ask questions about God and Faith because of the fear of wrath of gods. It was only when he came into contact with Arya Samaj that he felt enough courage to question the religion and caste system. He realized that the spirit of pursuing truth without any compromise needs to be instilled. Common people are not given choice of a rational thinking. Children are born into a religion and a belief system. Swami ji emphasized that there is a need to break from these beliefs and develop the ability to doubt and question the faiths. Taking responsibility of one’s own actions is the real karma. Swami Agneewesh described the 3 Ds culled from Vedas that instigated in him the spirit of inquiry i.e. To doubt, to Debate and to Descent.
Swami ji accentuated that God is nothing but Truth, Love, Compassion and Justice. To love god is to relate to His creations. Pollution of Earth, Air and Water are equivalent to defacing God. Hence, if one wants to relate to God he has to love His creatures and preserve the Earth. Instead of falling blindly into a pre formed belief system, one’s behavior should be guided by rational thinking. An analytical mind is the best gift that God has given to human beings.
Speaker II: Dr RC Jiloha, Director Professor and Head, Deptt of Psychiatry,
GB Pant Hospital, New Delhi
PSYCHOLOGICAL AND CLINICAL ASPECT OF RELIGIOUS BELIEFS AND ITS ROLE IN MENTAL HEALTH
Dr. Jiloha congratulated the Department of Community Medicine for organizing this symposium and expressed that it is a step towards mental health literacy.
He discussed beliefs from psychological perspective.
He defined beliefs as pre existing notions that have got strong personal endorsements. These beliefs affect people’s behavior, their relationship with other human beings and ability to cope with stressful situations. He emphasized the fact that beliefs require no inquisitiveness.
He discussed common beliefs associated with mental illnesses. These are:
- Mental illnesses occur due to curse of gods, invasion by ghosts or punishment of past sins.
- Nothing can be done in mental illnesses
- These kinds of illnesses are fatal
- Mental illnesses have nothing to do with doctors
- Since ghosts are invoked as agents of these diseases, these can only be treated by jhaar - phoonk and tantra – mantra
Dr Jiloha called attention to the fact that a lot of stigma is associated with mental illnesses. There are feelings of shame, dishonour and disapproval among the victims. The methods of treating such patients are also very tortuous and unscientific. The victims are beaten up, chained, kept in dark rooms and treated badly.
Other important issues discussed were:
- Beliefs regarding possession states: Neurotic symptoms occurring in young female patients are labeled as possession states by common people and these patients are thought to be under the influence of a bad spirit. Instead of consulting a psychiatrist, treatment is sought from tantriks in such cases.
- Beliefs about sexuality and generalized weakness: It is believed that semen is very precious and that one drop of semen takes 80 days to form. This one drop of semen is equivalent to 80 drops of blood and is formed by eating 80 ser of grain.
Dr Jiloha added that though most of the beliefs have a detrimental effect on the health seeking behavior of people, they also have a positive side. Beliefs sometimes help in better coping in stressful situations. Since many happenings are attributed to super natural causes, feeling of guilt and helplessness is less in people who hold such beliefs.
He emphasized that it is high time to reinforce mental health literacy by making general people aware about mental illnesses, equipping them with knowledge about their causes and risk factors and importance of professional help in these cases. However, it is a challenging task because this process overlays beliefs and thus may become unacceptable. These challenges in addressing the belief system need to be tackled carefully and concerted efforts to eliminate harmful beliefs are needed.
Speaker III: Dr Vivek Kumar, Professor, Social Studies, JNU, New Delhi
SOCIAL ASPECT OF BELIEFS AND FAITHS AND THEIR ROLE IN PUBLIC HEALTH
Dr Vivek Kumar discussed beliefs from social point of view. He highlighted that beliefs are an important aspect of an individual’s social life as they are prevalent in the society before one’s birth and remain in the society even after his death.
He brought forth that beliefs are a way of putting constraints on one’s behavior. Not living in accordance with the belief system can invoke ridicule, ostracism and punishment from the society.
Dr Kumar emphasized that health is based on social structure. Dissections could not be performed on cadavers because of strong religious and social beliefs. This hampered the study of human anatomy in the past. He cited many examples where beliefs have posed resistance to the development of modern medicine.
He also highlighted that health is largely based on social status. In Indian society, many occupations remain restricted to certain castes, so there is a pattern of health practices in the society. Health construction is also based on social beliefs and social roles assigned to different individuals based on these beliefs. Finally, Dr Kumar stressed the need to have a social engineering process in the health system.
Session-II on 13-9-08 on Dissemination of evidence based public health messages : Role of Mass Media
Chairperson Dr. N. Bhaskara Rao, Chairman, Centre of Media Studies, New Delhi
Dr. N. Innaiah, Director Center for Inquiry India,
Dr. TSR Sai, Professor and President of Indian Public Health Association
Rapporteur: Dr. Harsh Mahajan
Dr. N. Bhaskara Rao in his speech highlighted that there has been tremendous expansion of mass media in the last few years. He said that no other country in the world has 24X7 hour news channels as India. However, he observed that media focuses mainly on crime and sex with little emphasis on health. Only 0.65% of news channels time is spent on health. He also observed that media is governed by various factors like advertising, market researchers, media planners and corporate sector.
Mr. Pramod Joshi, Senior Resident Editor, Hindustan Times spoke on “Dissemination of evidence based public health messages: Role of print Media”. He observed that the sectors of public health, education and justice are not in good state in India. He highlighted that there are two types of Media in the country – Voluntary and Professional. He mentioned that the readership of all English newspapers combined is lesser than any Hindi newspaper. He also observed that greater focus of media is on health of urban and rich class population than the rural and poor population. Therefore, he advocated that media should project the public health interests of all sections of the society. He also advocated that medical fraternity and Media should cooperate with each other to pass on the health messages to the public.
Dr. Bir Singh, Professor of Community Medicine, AIIMS, discussed about the myths and misconceptions in sexuality and reproductive health. He highlighted that sexual and reproductive health is shrouded under a lot of myths and misconceptions. Some of them are universal and some are local and culture-specific. He observed that 80% of the sexual problems are psychogenic due to myths and misconceptions. He suggested the method of managing these myths and misconceptions by 6Cs – Communication, Correct (Information), Conception Onwards, Culture Sensitive, Careful and Continuous. He stressed that public health personnel and mass media can do a lot in removing these myths and misconceptions. He also shared with us the various initiatives taken up by the AIIMS Hospital in this field.
Dr. T. Mathiyazhagan, Professor, Department of Communication, NIHFW, discussed the findings of his study among the tribals in Mandla, Madhya Pradesh regarding their myths and misconceptions on health and health care delivery system. First of all, he highlighted the various myths among tribals regarding various diseases. He observed how the communication intervention reduced significantly the various myths and misconceptions among the tribals. He concluded his presentation by stressing upon the role of media in dispelling these myths and misconceptions.
Dr. Sanal Edamaruku, President of Indian Rationalist Association and Editor of Rationalist International, spoke on “Mantra Healing and other Magic Cures: How much media is responsible?” He recalled that there was a mantra healing center at MAMC in 1997. The healer, Janak Sahi chanted mantras to heal all diseases. He shared his experiences of working against the ojhas and tantriks on the visual media. He emphasized that media should not propagate false beliefs among the public. He stressed that public health facilities should reach the remotest regions.
The honourable chairperson Dr. N. Innaiah in his concluding remarks highlighted the salient features of Drugs and Magic Remedies Act, 1955. He advocated that media should work to remove the false beliefs and faiths among the people.
At the end, Dr. N. Bhaskara Rao suggested a five-pronged strategy to remove the common beliefs and faiths in public health –
There is need for more specialized agencies like Dept. of public health. There is a need to develop clearing houses to protect against propogation of beliefs and faiths.
NCERT Curriculum should have at-least one lesson on this subject.
Standardization by credible agencies
Enforcement mechanism
Longitudinal studies
At the end of the presentations, some questions/clarifications were asked by the delegates, which were attended and answered successfully by the presenters to the satisfaction of delegates. In the end, the mementoes were handed over to all the speakers by chairpersons. Mementoes were also presented to the chairpersons. This session was closed after thanks to the chairpersons, speakers, delegates and organizers.
On this occasion, the Guest of Honor and keynote speaker was Dr Paul Kurtz, Professor Emeritus of Philosophy, Committee for the Scientific Investigation of claims of the Paranormal (CSICOP), Chairman of the Council for Secular Humanism and Founder and Chairman of Prometheus Books, USA. Dr Paul Kurtz highlighted the significance of scientific thinking in public health. He accentuated that people hold various kinds of beliefs and faiths, which affect their way of thinking and health seeking behavior in particular. He called for the need of critical examination of these beliefs and faiths.
Dr Kurtz emphasized on public appreciation and understanding of science and scientific temperament. He put forth the need for scientific examination of religion as to how religion affects an individual’s life as a whole. He touched upon the issues of scientific naturalism, naturalistic methodology and ethnic naturalism. Dr Kurtz enumerated different kinds of alternative systems of medicine in different countries and emphasized that validity of such systems should be questioned by every civilized society before their acceptance. He highlighted that a huge number of people irrespective of their ethnic backgrounds seek treatment by these methods. Systems like acupuncture originated in China but are now spread world over. Other widely sought after methods are Reiki, Acupressure, homoeopathy, Unani, Siddha and Ayurveda. Besides these systems of medicine, people still rely on religious ways of tackling disease like prayer meetings, therapeutic touch, holy water etc. Dr Kurtz stressed on the need for scientific examination of such ways of dealing with disease. He said that practitioners of these systems should prove their claims according to the current scientific methods. He elaborated the list of achievement of modern medical science such as diagnosis by ultrasound, magnetic resonance imaging, PET’s Scan, PCR, immunization, immunomodulation, treatment by modern antibiotics, nuclear and chemotherapy therapy in various cancers, bypass surgery, etc. These developments are real and saving hundred of thousand lives everyday.
Many people worldwide engage in these activities for long periods of time and do not seek medical help timely, which leads to worsening of their disease condition. Dr Kurtz laid emphasis on in depth studies about these methods in order to find evidence of reliability and consistency of alternative systems of medicine in different countries.
Dr Kurtz affirmed the need of inculcation of scientific temperament and rational thinking as this will have a long term impact on people’s behavior about health and disease.
In the introduction speech, Dr. Jugal Kishore, Professor and Director of Center for Inquiry Delhi Branch has highlighted the urgent need of development of scientific temper and evidence based public health particularly in India. He spoke that beliefs, faiths, and religion are directly and indirectly affecting our day-to-day life therefore having impact on public health. He said that silently beliefs are penetrating our decision taking power and affecting our life style and health seeking behavior. If we are interested to develop Public Health in any society role of beliefs and faiths cannot be neglected whether it is bad or good. He also said that as a scientific body it is our duty to deliberate on such issues, which are neglected due to acceptance of religious sanctity of certain practices that could be harmful to the public. Role of Psycho-social issues in public health is already realized world over but meager attention has been paid in India.
REPORT - Session I
Name of the session: Epidemiology of Myths and Beliefs
Chairpersons: Dr CS Pandav, Professor and Head, CCM, AIIMS
Dr Saudan Singh, Professor and Head, Deptt of Community
Medicine, VMMC
Rapporteur: Dr Ravneet Kaur
Speaker I: Swami Agnivesh, Former Minister of Education Haryana Government, President Bandhua Mukti Morcha
SPIRITUAL ASPECTS OF BELIEFS AND ITS ROLE IN HEALTH AND DISEASE
Swami Agnivesh discussed in detail how religious faiths affect people’s behavior. People do what religion dictates them to do without thinking rationally because of fear of gods. He stated that religion instead of being a spiritual entity has taken the form of a multi billion soul saving industry. He narrated his own experiences of life. Being born into an orthodox Brahmin family, he also inherited the traditions of performing poojas for hours and hours and also practiced untouchability. He described how he used to treat bonded laborers as untouchables just because his family taught him to do so. He was curious but never dared to ask questions about God and Faith because of the fear of wrath of gods. It was only when he came into contact with Arya Samaj that he felt enough courage to question the religion and caste system. He realized that the spirit of pursuing truth without any compromise needs to be instilled. Common people are not given choice of a rational thinking. Children are born into a religion and a belief system. Swami ji emphasized that there is a need to break from these beliefs and develop the ability to doubt and question the faiths. Taking responsibility of one’s own actions is the real karma. Swami Agneewesh described the 3 Ds culled from Vedas that instigated in him the spirit of inquiry i.e. To doubt, to Debate and to Descent.
Swami ji accentuated that God is nothing but Truth, Love, Compassion and Justice. To love god is to relate to His creations. Pollution of Earth, Air and Water are equivalent to defacing God. Hence, if one wants to relate to God he has to love His creatures and preserve the Earth. Instead of falling blindly into a pre formed belief system, one’s behavior should be guided by rational thinking. An analytical mind is the best gift that God has given to human beings.
Speaker II: Dr RC Jiloha, Director Professor and Head, Deptt of Psychiatry,
GB Pant Hospital, New Delhi
PSYCHOLOGICAL AND CLINICAL ASPECT OF RELIGIOUS BELIEFS AND ITS ROLE IN MENTAL HEALTH
Dr. Jiloha congratulated the Department of Community Medicine for organizing this symposium and expressed that it is a step towards mental health literacy.
He discussed beliefs from psychological perspective.
He defined beliefs as pre existing notions that have got strong personal endorsements. These beliefs affect people’s behavior, their relationship with other human beings and ability to cope with stressful situations. He emphasized the fact that beliefs require no inquisitiveness.
He discussed common beliefs associated with mental illnesses. These are:
- Mental illnesses occur due to curse of gods, invasion by ghosts or punishment of past sins.
- Nothing can be done in mental illnesses
- These kinds of illnesses are fatal
- Mental illnesses have nothing to do with doctors
- Since ghosts are invoked as agents of these diseases, these can only be treated by jhaar - phoonk and tantra – mantra
Dr Jiloha called attention to the fact that a lot of stigma is associated with mental illnesses. There are feelings of shame, dishonour and disapproval among the victims. The methods of treating such patients are also very tortuous and unscientific. The victims are beaten up, chained, kept in dark rooms and treated badly.
Other important issues discussed were:
- Beliefs regarding possession states: Neurotic symptoms occurring in young female patients are labeled as possession states by common people and these patients are thought to be under the influence of a bad spirit. Instead of consulting a psychiatrist, treatment is sought from tantriks in such cases.
- Beliefs about sexuality and generalized weakness: It is believed that semen is very precious and that one drop of semen takes 80 days to form. This one drop of semen is equivalent to 80 drops of blood and is formed by eating 80 ser of grain.
Dr Jiloha added that though most of the beliefs have a detrimental effect on the health seeking behavior of people, they also have a positive side. Beliefs sometimes help in better coping in stressful situations. Since many happenings are attributed to super natural causes, feeling of guilt and helplessness is less in people who hold such beliefs.
He emphasized that it is high time to reinforce mental health literacy by making general people aware about mental illnesses, equipping them with knowledge about their causes and risk factors and importance of professional help in these cases. However, it is a challenging task because this process overlays beliefs and thus may become unacceptable. These challenges in addressing the belief system need to be tackled carefully and concerted efforts to eliminate harmful beliefs are needed.
Speaker III: Dr Vivek Kumar, Professor, Social Studies, JNU, New Delhi
SOCIAL ASPECT OF BELIEFS AND FAITHS AND THEIR ROLE IN PUBLIC HEALTH
Dr Vivek Kumar discussed beliefs from social point of view. He highlighted that beliefs are an important aspect of an individual’s social life as they are prevalent in the society before one’s birth and remain in the society even after his death.
He brought forth that beliefs are a way of putting constraints on one’s behavior. Not living in accordance with the belief system can invoke ridicule, ostracism and punishment from the society.
Dr Kumar emphasized that health is based on social structure. Dissections could not be performed on cadavers because of strong religious and social beliefs. This hampered the study of human anatomy in the past. He cited many examples where beliefs have posed resistance to the development of modern medicine.
He also highlighted that health is largely based on social status. In Indian society, many occupations remain restricted to certain castes, so there is a pattern of health practices in the society. Health construction is also based on social beliefs and social roles assigned to different individuals based on these beliefs. Finally, Dr Kumar stressed the need to have a social engineering process in the health system.
Session-II on 13-9-08 on Dissemination of evidence based public health messages : Role of Mass Media
Chairperson Dr. N. Bhaskara Rao, Chairman, Centre of Media Studies, New Delhi
Dr. N. Innaiah, Director Center for Inquiry India,
Dr. TSR Sai, Professor and President of Indian Public Health Association
Rapporteur: Dr. Harsh Mahajan
Dr. N. Bhaskara Rao in his speech highlighted that there has been tremendous expansion of mass media in the last few years. He said that no other country in the world has 24X7 hour news channels as India. However, he observed that media focuses mainly on crime and sex with little emphasis on health. Only 0.65% of news channels time is spent on health. He also observed that media is governed by various factors like advertising, market researchers, media planners and corporate sector.
Mr. Pramod Joshi, Senior Resident Editor, Hindustan Times spoke on “Dissemination of evidence based public health messages: Role of print Media”. He observed that the sectors of public health, education and justice are not in good state in India. He highlighted that there are two types of Media in the country – Voluntary and Professional. He mentioned that the readership of all English newspapers combined is lesser than any Hindi newspaper. He also observed that greater focus of media is on health of urban and rich class population than the rural and poor population. Therefore, he advocated that media should project the public health interests of all sections of the society. He also advocated that medical fraternity and Media should cooperate with each other to pass on the health messages to the public.
Dr. Bir Singh, Professor of Community Medicine, AIIMS, discussed about the myths and misconceptions in sexuality and reproductive health. He highlighted that sexual and reproductive health is shrouded under a lot of myths and misconceptions. Some of them are universal and some are local and culture-specific. He observed that 80% of the sexual problems are psychogenic due to myths and misconceptions. He suggested the method of managing these myths and misconceptions by 6Cs – Communication, Correct (Information), Conception Onwards, Culture Sensitive, Careful and Continuous. He stressed that public health personnel and mass media can do a lot in removing these myths and misconceptions. He also shared with us the various initiatives taken up by the AIIMS Hospital in this field.
Dr. T. Mathiyazhagan, Professor, Department of Communication, NIHFW, discussed the findings of his study among the tribals in Mandla, Madhya Pradesh regarding their myths and misconceptions on health and health care delivery system. First of all, he highlighted the various myths among tribals regarding various diseases. He observed how the communication intervention reduced significantly the various myths and misconceptions among the tribals. He concluded his presentation by stressing upon the role of media in dispelling these myths and misconceptions.
Dr. Sanal Edamaruku, President of Indian Rationalist Association and Editor of Rationalist International, spoke on “Mantra Healing and other Magic Cures: How much media is responsible?” He recalled that there was a mantra healing center at MAMC in 1997. The healer, Janak Sahi chanted mantras to heal all diseases. He shared his experiences of working against the ojhas and tantriks on the visual media. He emphasized that media should not propagate false beliefs among the public. He stressed that public health facilities should reach the remotest regions.
The honourable chairperson Dr. N. Innaiah in his concluding remarks highlighted the salient features of Drugs and Magic Remedies Act, 1955. He advocated that media should work to remove the false beliefs and faiths among the people.
At the end, Dr. N. Bhaskara Rao suggested a five-pronged strategy to remove the common beliefs and faiths in public health –
There is need for more specialized agencies like Dept. of public health. There is a need to develop clearing houses to protect against propogation of beliefs and faiths.
NCERT Curriculum should have at-least one lesson on this subject.
Standardization by credible agencies
Enforcement mechanism
Longitudinal studies
At the end of the presentations, some questions/clarifications were asked by the delegates, which were attended and answered successfully by the presenters to the satisfaction of delegates. In the end, the mementoes were handed over to all the speakers by chairpersons. Mementoes were also presented to the chairpersons. This session was closed after thanks to the chairpersons, speakers, delegates and organizers.
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