India
becomes a polio free country
Countless campaigns and great work from the government in
eradicating polio has finally bore fruit. World Health Organisation (WHO) is
soon going to certify India as a polio free country after no cases of the
disease were reported in the last three years.
‘Any country that does not have a case of polio for three
consecutive years is declared polio free by the WHO. For the last two
years we have been a polio free country. If by January 13, there are no
polio cases in the country, then we will be declared polio free.’, Union Health
Minister Ghulam Nabi Azad told reporters a few days ago.
This achievement is noteworthy because in 2009, 50 percent
of the polio cases worldwide were from India. Among the people who contributed
and are appreciative of the success is Bill Gates, the founder of Microsoft,
‘Our foundation began working in India a decade ago, at a time when many feared
that the country would become a flashpoint for HIV/AIDS.
Since then, we have expanded into other areas, including vaccines, family
planning and agricultural development. In all of this work, Melinda and I have
seen many examples of India’s poor making dramatic contributions. But nowhere
has this power been demonstrated more clearly than in the fight to end polio.
Indeed, India’s accomplishment in eradicating polio is the most impressive
global health success I’ve ever seen.’, he said in a piece for the Wall
Street Journal.
Polio is still endemic to a lot of countries like Pakistan
and Afghanistan. Hopefully, they too will learn from India’s success story and
soon we will have zero polio cases in the whole world.
Source: http://health.india.com
13.01.2014
Eat sweets
to reduce harmful bacteria in the mouth!
Gone are the days when eating sweets was considered bad for
our teeth. New research suggests that sweets could reduce the levels of harmful
bacteria in the mouth that can lead to tooth decay.
Bugs cause decay by sticking to the surface of our teeth,
where they trigger erosion. Sweets help to stop this as the harmful bacteria
are swallowed with salvia and are flushed out of the body, scientists found,
reports femalefirst.co.uk.
German firm Organobalance GMBH has developed ‘The boiled
sweets’ that could be targeted at children to try to avoid the early onset of
tooth decay, something which affects one in four five-year-old kids.
Streptococcus mutans, the most harmful bacterium in the
mouth, feeds on sugar in the diet, which it ferments into an acid that burns
holes in the surface of a tooth.
The most effective way to reduce bacteria numbers at the
minute is to brush and floss regularly to reduce the plaque.
It is also said that 75 percent of those given the
bacteria-loaded sweets had significantly lower levels of streptococcus mutans
after eating only one sweet and this reduction persisted throughout the
experiment.
Source: http://health.india.com
13.01.2014
To be inspired is great, but to inspire is an honor
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