GOA: Mental health has become a problem not only in India but also globally. With illnesses ranging from minor depression to conditions like Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s, schizophrenia prevalent, there is no denying that it’s time that we came out of the closet.

As per the World Health Organization’s (WHO) estimate, diseases related to mental health are the leading cause of disability in the world today. Nearly 75% of the total number of cases start in an individuals’ early 20’s.
India is not untouched by this silent killer. According to a report, one in every five Indians suffers from depression. Other afflictions, such as suicides and bipolar disorders, are also on the rise.
In order to address the issue and to underscore the importance of mental health, WHO celebrates ‘World Mental Health Day’ annually on October 10.
The theme for this year was ‘Psychological first aid’. National Mental Health Week is also observed in India from October 8 to 15 to make people aware of the magnitude of mental health problem in India.
The prevalence of depression among Indians is around five per cent, and, for a country like India, this is a huge number. A majority of the cases go undiagnosed and people are forced to suffer in isolation.
Social factors like poverty, unemployment, lack of social security and societal stress act as a trigger for the illness to set in and reasons like cultural and religious beliefs, lack of awareness, infrastructure, and trained professionals, and the stigma associated with mental illness, stops people from getting treatment at an early stage.
Unlike other diseases, a person’s mental health also affects his general health, social and personal life, and even the quality of life. According to an estimate, people with mental illness die 10-12 years earlier than others would. Social awareness among people in the community and counseling for family members, relatives and friends do wonders in the outcome of treatments.
In this new age world, where accidents, natural calamities, wars, conflicts, migrations, refugees, unemployment and relationship-related stress take a heavy toll on mental health, it is imperative for us to reach out to those suffering in order to stem mental illness.
Psychological First Aid (PFA) is a humane, supportive and practical approach for people exposed to serious stresses and who may need support. It is an approach to help people recover by responding to their basic needs and showing them concern and care in a way that respects their wishes, culture, dignity and capabilities. PFA is involved in giving non-intrusive practical care and support, assessing people’s needs, providing them with basic requirements like food and water, listening but not pressuring to talk, and comforting and protecting people from further harm.
People from the general community, who are mostly considered to be the first contact in crimes such as health workers, teachers, firefighters, police officers and social workers act as givers of PFA.

Even as Delhi hobbles back to normalcy after the chikungunya and dengue health scare that reached endemic proportions last month, the national capital faces yet another health exigency in the form of bird flu.
The government is monitoring bird sanctuaries and the Gazipur Murga Mandi, the sole meat market that caters to the entire city.
“Samples from the mandi and other sources have been sent for testing to Regional Disease Diagnostic Laboratory (RDDL), Jalandhar and High-Security Animal Disease Laboratory (HSADL), Bhopal and the results are expected on Saturday,” a government source said.
It remains to be seen if the rickety health services system of the city (and the country) — that was found wanting just a few weeks back during the dengue and chikungunya outbreak had hit the population — will be prepared enough to deal with a crisis if any.
Representational image. ReutersRepresentational image. Reuters
However, ever since the first outbreak of bird flu in India a decade ago — in Gujarat and Maharashtra in February 2005 — India has never had a human case of H5N1 viral infection even though there has been an outbreak of the disease almost every other year.
Delhi’s development minister Gopal Rai has requested the citizens to not panic as the virus doesn’t seem to have entered the food chain yet.
Despite the minister’s reassurance, is there no cause for concern?
A stroll around any area of the city is enough proof that municipal services in the city are not at their international best, as should be the case considering that Delhi is the capital of a nation that is being heavily promoted as an investment destination globally. Is Delhi ready to take on the world as a global capital or is just another Third World city that has more negatives than positives?
The Supreme Court too has come down heavily on the AAP government on garbage piling up in the city and for poor sanitation. The apex court has expressed concern over bird flu scare in the national capital.
While the bird flu panic is slowly spreading, the experts strongly feel that it’s high time that the government should come up with an advisory with ‘dos’ and ‘don’s’ on bird flu.
“The central government should issue an advisory with ‘dos’ and ‘don’s’ to combat bird flu across the country. It’s not just limited to Delhi. District magistrates and district forest officials should be sensitized. Moreover, awareness regarding avian flu needs to be created especially for children, so as to avoid any panic,” Anand Arya, an environment expert, specializing on birds told Firstpost.
Source of avian (bird) flu scare
The scare of avian flu ( the official name of bird flu) originated in Delhi after the Delhi zoo reported over a dozen of dead birds on its premises. It was followed by the death of birds at Deer Park, Hauz Khas and near a water body at Sundar Nagar. Besides, local birds, migratory birds died in zoo premises. While the RDDL Jalandhar detected symptoms of the virus in the samples of carcasses of birds tested, Bhopal’s HSADL confirmed H5N1 virus in three birds. H5N1 is the virus that causes bird flu.
– Delhi Zoo: 12 birds found dead. (Of these three are confirmed bird flu cases).
– Deer Park: 5 birds found dead.
– Sundar Nagar: 3 crows found dead.
– Gwalior Zoo: 15 birds found dead. (The aerial distance between Gwalior and Delhi is only 285 km).
Source of Bird flu virus (H5N1)
Bird flu virus already exists in dormant state in India, Bangladesh, Pakistan, China and Russia border. It can become active. The other source is a migratory bird. The virus infects and kills wild birds and domestic poultry.
“Nearly 225 migratory species visit India every year and it starts in September. We get migratory birds in almost all the 7.57 lakh wetlands in the country. It’s serious if any of the flock gets infected,” said Arya.
Past incidents
– First confirmed and notified case of H5N1 outbreak in India was reported in Gujarat and Maharashtra in February 2005.
– The second outbreak — a major one was in March-April 2006 in Madhya Pradesh — where more than 10 lakh poultry birds were culled.
– In 2007, it was in Manipur, followed by West Bengal in 2008. More than 40 lakh birds were killed in Bengal.
– In the consecutive years, the outbreak occurred in Tripura, Odisha, Sikkim, Assam and Bihar.
– The last bird flu outbreak was reported in 2015 in Kerala.
– In 2005, 50-60 birds were found dead at Okhla Bird Park in Delhi, which created a panic. However, after post-mortem, it was found that the birds died after consuming poisonous feed used to catch fish.
– In India, no case of bird flu infecting human has been reported yet.
– Large-scale culling of poultry birds took place in a decade causing huge financial loss to poultry business.
Can I consume egg and chicken?
According to experts, no case of bird flu has been reported in poultry so far. It’s safe to consume properly cooked egg and chicken.
“Most bacteria and virus can’t survive high heat. Instead of consuming cold meat, it’s preferable to have properly cooked, roasted chicken and eggs in the form of boiled and omelet,” advised Arya.
What government has done so far?
– Delhi government has started a helpline number (011-2389 0318) where citizens can report cases of bird flu and seek help.
– A large number of samples has been taken from zoos, bird sanctuaries, and poultry markets and sent for testing.
– Municipal corporations have deployed teams to check flu.
– Delhi government is keeping a strict vigil on poultry market.
– Delhi minister Gopal Rai said that Delhi government is well-equipped with medicines to deal with the situation.
– Central Zoo Authority is conducting inspection of zoo enclosures.
– Delhi Zoo and Deer Park have been shut down.
Precautionary measures
According to medical experts, one shouldn’t touch a dead bird or the carcass and keep a safe distance. It should immediately be reported to authorities concerned.
Physical contact with bird droppings should be avoided, because any bird can be an infected one. Extreme care should be taken while cleaning droppings because most human infection is from close contact with sick or dead infected poultry or droppings.
– Any one suffering from fever must take medical advice.
– Avoid spreading of rumors and panic.

AHMEDABAD: Dr. Ketan Desai, the new president of World Medical Association (WMA), issued a strong warning about continued political attempts around the world to marginalise the autonomy and self-governance of the medical profession.

“In many countries including Turkey , India, and the United Kingdom, there are continued political attempts to undo or marginalize the autonomy and self-governance of the medical profession,” Dr. Desai, who hails from Gujarat, told delegates from 40 national medical associations in his inau gural speech at WMA’s annual assembly in Taiwan on Friday .
“Regulation of clinical practice, framing of evidence-based standard treatment guidelines, defining and checking professional malpractice and medical education -professional independence is vital for all.The WMA must continue to be alert against government attempts to usurp professional independence through bureaucrats and politicians,” Dr. Desai, former presi dent of Medical Council of India (MCI), said. Dr. Desai also called for more protection for physicians, whether in war or civil conflict situations.

He also warned that professional honesty and integrity were at risk in many countries as physicians were prescribing drugs or referring patients based on `kickbacks’. “Physicians should not go by any financial or other consideration in referring patients to laboratories, pharmacies or opticians,” Dr. Desai said.
“There is a need to create a World Health-Keeping Force along the lines of the World Peace-Keeping Force.National medical associations could join hands and create such an `international health-keeping force’ under the aegis of the WMA,” Dr. Desai said.

The county of Northumberland in north England – known for quality and integrated healthcare – has signed a memorandum of understanding to share expertise as part of the Indo-UK Health Programme linked to the Narendra Modi government’s Smart City project.
The Northumbria Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust and Northumberland County Council signed the MoU with Indo-UK Healthcare Pvt Ltd (IUHP), officials announced here on Tuesday.
The area is reputed to provide some of the best and fully integrated services in Britain’s National Health Service. The model creates a seamless experience for patients by integrating acute hospitals (including emergency services), community services and care delivered at home.
“This is an important milestone in our vision to transform the health of millions of Indian citizens. Northumbria provides outstanding high-quality integrated health and social care for its residents,” Ajay Rajan Gupta of IUHP said.

“This is exactly the experience we need to take forward our own plans. We want to take the very best that the NHS has to offer across to India and there is no doubt Northumbria is the best at what it does.”
The Indo-UK Institute of Health programme is considered one of the world’s largest healthcare initiatives. It aims to transform the provision of quality healthcare and medical education services across India.
The programme will deliver a staged rollout linked to the Smart City project across 100 cities and involve the setting up of 11 Indo-UK Institutes of Health Media cities along with 89 Indo-UK Clinics.
Daljit Lally of the Northumberland County Council said: “India has one of the largest populations in the world so the pressures on its healthcare system are enormous. Whilst our primary goal is to share how we have developed such a pioneering approach to delivering integrated care in Northumberland, I have no doubt that we will also learn a great deal which will benefit the NHS.”

GURGAON: After Haryana Civil Medical Services (HCMS) Association doctors at government hospitals threatened to go on indefinite mass leave from October 27, workers under the National Health Mission (NHM) have also called an indefinite strike from October 25.
It’s yet another challenge for a government that is gearing up to launch a year of celebrations to mark Haryana’s golden jubilee.

In a meeting on Saturday evening, the NHM workers decided to launch a massive protest from October 25. NHM employees have been demanding permanent jobs in the state health department. “The state government has been ignoring our demands for the last 18-20 years,” a statement from NHM Haryana said.
Although NHM employees are hired after going through a proper interview procedure like in the case of permanent doctors, they do not get permanent status, according to NHM workers. “We want the government to initiate the process to make all NHM employees permanent. We want salaries on a par with those of the permanent employees,” the statement said.
Dr. Atul Gijwani, a general secretary of NHM Haryana, told TOI, “It is the gross injustice. We have been working for the last 18 years dedicatedly in the health department, but we are not entitled to equal pay and many benefits that permanent employees get in the department,” Gidwani said.
There are 12,000 NHM workers in Haryana, of which 650 are in Gurgaon. NHM workers serve at all the levels right from doctors to Class IV workers. The NHM program was started in Haryana in 2005 under National Rural Health Mission.Chief medical officer Pushpa Bishnoi remained unavailable for comment.