January 20, 2020

Unauthorised diversion of 5 crores Buprenorphine tablets by private de-addiction centres.
The health department has asked the civil surgeons of the state to furnish a report on this.
The health department had also constituted a team to review the entire scenario and suggest the recommendations.

Online submission of documents to the District Food and Drug Administration ( FDA) has also been made mandatory ( for the de-addiction centres).
An online portal named – Central Registration Software System( CRSS) has been set up to bring transparency in the system.
Every patient of the de-addiction centre would be registered to take stock of every patient’s condition and recovery.
Civil Surgeons have been tasked to inspect the centres and ensure that the Standard Operating Procedure( SOP) is being followed.
The watch on the sale of medicines is also supposed to be kept.

Usage of Big data and Artificial intelligence could be done to track and analyse the sale of Buprenorphine – Naloxone medicine.
Civil society and local governments can be involved to keep a check on it.
Surprise checking and proactive attitude of the Food and Health department can go a long way in addressing these anomalies.

(Source:- The Tribune)

Topic: Women empowerment and health.

MMR ( Maternal Mortality Rates) of Punjab is 122.
As per the Sample Registration Survey ( SRS) for the years ( 2015 – 2017).
SRS survey was started by the government of India, back in the 1960s.
It is compiled by the Registrar General of India ( RGI).
(SRS) gives reliable annual data on fertility and mortality at the state and national levels for rural and urban areas separately.
As per SRS, a decline of 22.6% could be observed across the nation between 2015 and 2017.
But, Punjab has not shown any improvement in this regard.
Between 2014 and 2016, a 6.9% drop in MMR rates could be observed in Punjab.

The MMR rates in the migratory population are considerably high.
Especially in a city like LUDHIANA, migrant population is experiencing relatively high levels of MMR.
The Maternal deaths are prominent in the migrant community because they didn’t show up for antenatal checkups and care. ( Lack of awareness and enthusiasm in availing services).
Despite the improvement in the quality of labour rooms and other infrastructure, MMR issues Persist.
Even in referral cases, the progress would be checked.
MMR – the proportion of maternal deaths per 100,000 live births.

Maternal death or maternal mortality is defined by the World Health Organization (WHO) as “the death of a woman while pregnant or within 42 days of termination of pregnancy, irrespective of the duration and site of the pregnancy, from any cause related to or aggravated by the pregnancy or its management but not from accidental or incidental causes.

(Source:- The Tribune)

January 20, 2020