Silicosis risk to be discussed at
national conference
With
close to three million workers in India at high risk of silica exposure, of
which 1.7 million do mining-related activities, the National Human Rights
Commission (NHRC) will organise a day-long conference Friday to discuss and
review steps taken by the government to prevent, detect and eliminate
Silicosis, a lung disorder.
The
conference, at the India International Centre, will be attended by health
experts, representatives of the central and state government, state human
rights commission, legal experts and NGOs dealing with the problem. ‘The aim of
the national conference is to discuss the status of action taken by the union
Ministry of Labour and Employment and states on the earlier recommendations
made by the NHRC in the prevention, detection and eventual elimination of
silicosis,’ a statement issued by the commission said.
Silicosis
is a lung disorder caused by inhalation, retention and pulmonary reaction to
silica. It is caused as a result of exposure during mining, stone crushing and
quarrying activities. ‘Once a worker or any other person is afflicted by
silicosis it becomes a constitutional obligation on part of the state to take
appropriate short-term and long-term measures from the point of view of
providing medical facilities and rehabilitation of the victims,’ the statement
added.
According to a 1999 report of the
Indian Council for Medical Research (ICMR), about 3 million workers in India
are at a high risk of silica exposure. Most of these workers are employed in
mining-related activities, glass and mica-related work and metal industry.
Source: www.thehealthsite.com
25.07.2014
UN officials highlight the rising
trend of pharmaceutical misuse in India
After cannabis and heroin, the
misuse of pharmaceutical drugs is rising among subcontinental drug users
because of their easy availability at cheap rates and this is a cause for
concern, a top UN official has said. ‘Cannabis is easily available in India,
Nepal and Bangladesh. Heroin is also available at cheaper rates, but there are
also pharmaceutical drugs which are very cheap in this region and is a serious
problem,’ Cristina Albertine, the South Asia representative of the United
Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), told IANS in an interview.
Recalling one of her visits to a
drug rehabilitation centre in Kolkata, Albertine said: ‘I had gone to a Kolkata
rehabilitation centre where all the clients were rickshaw pullers who injected
heroin to cope up with the life. ‘The drugs are very cheap in the region. As
you (India) are very close to Afghanistan and Myanmar, heroin is very cheap
there. I guess that the regions close to productive sites get heroin at very
cheap rates,’ Albertine said in the interaction at the UNODC India office here.
According to Albertine, misuse of
pharmaceutical drugs poses a serious problem for India and South Asian
countries because of their availability at low prices. ‘You don’t need too much
financial security to be able to afford it,’ she said. Codeine-based cough syrups,
diazepam and proxyvon are some of the pharmaceutical drugs that are quite
popular among addicts.
‘Yaba pills are very famous in
Bangladesh and Myanmar,’ Albertine added. She said once hooked on to drugs, it
is very difficult to kick the habit. ‘India, Nepal and Bangladesh cultivate
cannabis. Misuse of synthetic and pharmaceutical drugs is a big concern as they
are produced by pharmaceutical companies in India and Bangladesh,’ Albertine
said.
Talking about the sources and routes
of drugs, Albertine said: ‘Opiate and heroin basically come from Afghanistan.
Then it comes through Pakistan to India.’ ‘You also have some influx from
Myanmar into northeast (India). Then you have the synthetic drug which comes
from Southeast Asia and often through Myanmar and Bangladesh.’
The UNODC has no exact figure of
drug addicts in India since the Indian government has not maintained such
records since 2001, Albertine said. ‘We don’t have any national survey. India
had done a survey in 2001, which was published in 2004,’ Albertine said. India
has over 70 million drug addicts, according to a survey conducted by the Social
Justice and Empowerment Ministry and UNODC. Albertine said Bangladesh and Sri
Lanka have also not conducted drug surveys, though Nepal did so a while ago.
Source: www.thehealthsite.com
25.07.2014
If you win, you need not have to explain...If you lose, you
should not be there to explain
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