Is polio back? UP samples ring alarm bells

The samples, from Baheri, Meergunj, Faridpur and Nawabgunj among other tehsils, have been sent to the central laboratory in Mumbai for further testing. 

BAREILLY: A mere year after the country was declared polio free, more than 200 samples have tested positive to polio-like symptoms from tehsils here, sending alarm bells ringing in the health department.

The samples, from Baheri, Meergunj, Faridpur and Nawabgunj among other tehsils, have been sent to the central laboratory in Mumbai for further testing. Officials have also been informed that the children, between the ages of 5 and 15 years, have complained of paralysis and loss of muscular strength in hands and legs.

According to World Health Organisation (WHO) rules, a country needs to have zero recorded cases of an infectious disease for three years for the disease to be eradicated. After years of intense campaigns across the country, India's last polio case, that of 18-month-old Rukhsar from Howrah district in West Bengal, was reported in 2011. Three years later, the country was declared polio free.

The latest cases were examined by a team of doctors at primary and community health centres in the affected tehsils, who in turn informed WHO officials. The worldwide organization spearheaded moves to collect stool samples of the children, numbering 208, were sent to the Mumbai lab. Reports are awaited.

Meanwhile, the local administration is taking no chances. "We have deputed special teams across the district who are keeping an eye on such cases. Weakness in hands and legs does not essentially mean that the child is suffering from polio. Only if the test report of the stool sample confirms presence of wild polio virus can it be treated as a case of polio. We have received reports of 170 samples from the lab so far and they have been negative. Reports for the remaining are awaited," informed chief medical officer (CMO) Vijay Yadav, talking to TOI.

The last polio case in Bareilly, said Yadav, was reported in 2009 from Bhamaura village, while Uttar Pradesh's last case was reported in 2010 in Firozabad district. In 2015, WHO had collected 5,551 samples in 2015. Most of them tested negative and the reports of 787 are awaited.

"Across the world this year, only 25 cases of polio have been reported from Pakistan and three in Afghanistan. We have to remain extra cautious, because we share our boundary with Pakistan and chances are that the virus will be transmitted from there," said Yadav. Doctors said that symptoms of polio include high fever, paralysis attack, weakening of muscles in hands and legs and loss of sensation in the face.

Source : Economic Times

Air pollution is world’s top environmental health risk : WHO

Air pollution is the world's biggest environmental health risk, causing at least one in eight deaths around the globe, the World Health Organization has said.

The assessment was reached at the first ever discussion on air pollution and its health impacts at WHO's World Health Assembly, which concluded in Geneva last week. Delegates at the assembly adopted a resolution to address the health impacts of air pollution.

The new estimation significantly increases the threat posed by air pollution and has dire health implications for countries such as India, where pollution load is high and public health infrastructure underdeveloped.

WHO had last year ranked Delhi as the most polluted among 1,600 cities across the world, worse than Beijing which had previously held the dubious tag.

WHO's assessment points to a huge surge in disease burden and deaths due to air pollution exposure. Deaths due to air pollution, which include outdoor as well as indoor pollution, have increased four-fold across the globe over the past decade, the latest data shows. While the total number of deaths due to air pollution is pegged at 8 million every year, data shows that China and India are by far the worst affected countries.

Of the 8 million deaths globally, 3.7 million are from outdoor or ambient air pollution, the data shows. Around 88% of premature deaths due to air pollution exposure occurred in low- and middle-income countries, and the greatest number in the western Pacific and south-east Asia regions.

Latest studies by WHO and other international agencies show that apart from development of respiratory diseases, exposure to air pollution leads to severe risk of cardiovascular diseases, such as strokes and ischaemic heart disease. Moreover, stronger links of air pollution and cancer have also been established in recent studies.

Of the 8 million deaths globally, 3.7 million are from outdoor or ambient air pollution, the data shows. Around 88% of premature deaths due to air pollution exposure occurred in low- and middle-income countries, and the greatest number in the western Pacific and south-east Asia regions.

Latest studies by WHO and other international agencies show that apart from development of respiratory diseases, exposure to air pollution leads to severe risk of cardiovascular diseases, such as strokes and ischaemic heart disease. Moreover, stronger links of air pollution and cancer have also been established in recent studies.

India's government expenditure on health among the lowest in the world

When it comes to government expenditure on health, India's is among the lowest in the world. 

In 2012, at 60 PPP dollars per capita, it was barely 1.4 per cent of the US government's per capita health dollar expenditure of 4,153 PPP dollars. 

Despite having such a high per capita public expenditure on health, the extremely high cost healthcare system in the US means the government covers only 47 per cent of total healthcare costs. 

In the UK and Japan, more than 80 per cent of the cost is covered by by government. In India, government expenditure is only 30.5 per cent of total expenditure on health.

Source : WHO