By 2017, India’s health sector outlay will be 2.5% of GDP
Resisting pressures to
cut down expenditures on social sectors ahead of the Union Budget, the central
government on Wednesday decided to give a boost to health sector, deciding to
increase the outlay from 1.48 % to 2.5% of the GDP by 2017, the end of the 12th
Plan. The planned incentives include a minimum health care package to all
citizens, free medicine and a dedicated health cadre attend to the health of
nation.
A high-level meeting at
the Prime Minister’s Office headed by the principal secretary Pulok Chatterjee
including top officials from the ministries of health, finance and planning
commission took stock of the implementation of recommendations of the National
Commission for Macroeconomics & Health and the High Level Expert Group.
Realising that an young
and healthy population was an asset for the country, the officials emphasised
the need to create adequate capacity at the centre and the states to
meaningfully absorb the increased outlays.
The Planning Commission
was requested to allocate resources to achieve the target and also to motivate
and incentivise the states to allocate more funds for the health sector. “For
this purpose the Planning Commission in consultation with the health ministry
will also work out an appropriate mechanism and scheme for this purpose,” said
an official, who was part of the meeting.
The health ministry
officials said they were working towards the goal of universal health care. The
ministry was told to focus on a new initiative of providing free medicine
through public health facilities under the National Rural Health Mission. The
cabinet has already approved the setting up of a Central Procurement Agency for
bulk procurement of drugs. The ministry was told to set up the CPA early and
prepare Standard Treatment Protocols.
The high-level meeting
also decided to provide a minimum package of care to all citizens through
provision of cashless, hassle free outpatient, inpatient and diagnostic care
and supply of essential medicines. Ambulance services will be strengthened to
provide access to health services to far off and inaccessible areas.
Further, in order to
focus on prevention of disease and promotion of good health, it was decided to
prepare an approach paper for induction of health managers and creation of a
public health cadre. The health ministry was also told to prepare a clear
roadmap to merge all the NRHM schemes under one umbrella.
06.03.2012
You need not have chest pain for
heart attack
MUMBAI:
For long, a sudden chest pain was considered the main symptom of a heart attack, but a
comprehensive study conducted by a Florida-based chest pain centre has found
that many patients taken to hospitals for heart attacks never had chest pain.
Consequently, they were less likely to be treated aggressively, according to a
report on the NYT website.
The study done at the chest pain centre of Lakeland Regional Medical Center, Florida, showed that of 1.1 million people, 42% of women admitted to hospitals for heart attack never experienced chest pain, while the figure was 30.7% in the case of men.
The
study, of which the Center's director John G Canto is an author, was recently
published in the Journal of the American Medical Association.
According to leading cardiologist Ashwin Mehta, well over 20 to 30% of people admitted to hospitals in India have had painless heart attack. "My observation is that people suffering from hypertension and diabetes may have a painless heart attack. In such cases, the signals of discomfort are vague and weak. As a result, they get less opportunity for treatment," Mehta said.
Endorsing Mehta's views, JJ Hospital cardiology professor Anil Kumar said the silent heart attack phenomenon was not new. In most people suffering from high blood-pressure and diabetes, the tendency to have no or less chest pain is quite high. "In my opinion, people with high risk should take more care. Even if there is a slight doubt, they must be rushed to a cardiologist for basic treatment," said Kumar.
The Florida survey also revealed that women were more likely to succumb after a heart attack-the mortality rate for women was 15% and men 10%. Heart disease is the leading cause of death among both men and women not just in the US, but around the world too, killing about seven million people a year, said the NYT website. Until the 1980s, heart disease was largely considered a male problem and many studies that focused only on men drew a narrow picture of the typical signs of a heart attack.
The researchers used data from a national registry of people admitted to hospitals for heart attack from 1994 to 2006 to look at differences in symptoms and mortality rates among men and women. The analysis, covering over 1.1 million people, showed that while chest pain was the most frequent symptom of a heart attack in both men and women, a sizable minority of patients-about 35%-had suffered heart attacks without having chest pain.
06.03.2012
Never
take the time for granted, it doesn't belong to You
No comments:
Post a Comment