Healthcare Infrastructure

'Safety must for health workers'

2012-05-27T03:43:00.002+05:30

PUNE: The Indian Academy of Medical Microbiologists (IAMM) and the Haffkine Institute, in association with the Becton, Dickinson and Company (BD)-India, launched an awareness campaign on health and safety of healthcare workers in the state on occasion of the International Nurses' Day on Friday.

Titled 'Jyot Se Jyot', the initiative will look to sensitise and increase awareness among healthcare professionals and hospital managements on the issues of the safety of healthcare workers. In the next 51 days, the initiative will see seminars, workshops and talks in various cities. It will continue till July 1, which is the International Doctors' Day.

The World Health Organization (WHO) estimates that there are 1.3 million deaths of healthcare workers worldwide due to rampant use of the unsterilised, reused needles. The UN agency linked 33% of new hepatitis B injections and 2 million new cases of hepatitis C each year due to unsafe injections and needle stick injuries. Nearly 5% of new HIV cases come from needle stick injuries.

Bhaskar Sonowal, technical adviser, infection control and patient safety of BD-India, said, "Though there is no official data documenting the number of deaths in India due to needle stick injuries, the number is believed to be high. We are aiming to sensitise this issue in various hospitals in the state for them to set up a standard protocol in hospitals in order to mitigate unnecessary deaths among healthcare workers."

Abhay Chowdhary, head of department of microbiology, Sir J J hospital, Mumbai, said, "There is a negligent attitude among hospitals in the country.

We seem to overlook the serious issue of looking after our healthcare workers, who play a critical role in society and our system. Through this campaign, we are looking to bring safety issue of the workers under the spotlight."

Nita Munshi, head of department of pathology, Ruby Hall Clinic, said, "Healthcare workers are exposed to all sorts of risks in the hospital. Therefore, it is a requirement to install a mechanized system in hospitals to protect them."

Apart from Pune, 'Jyot Se Jyot', started in 2009, will reach out to hospitals in Nasik, Aurangabad, Thane as well, finally culminating in Mumbai on July 1.

Money and doctors: Private healthcare spending in Pakistan rises to $7.3 billion

2012-05-27T03:31:00.000+05:30

The fastest growing segment was medical devices, which saw sales rise 18.1% to Rs35.5 billion. Pharmaceuticals grew a little slower, at 13.1%, to reach Rs173 billion in gross sales in Pakistan.

KARACHI: Pakistanis are increasingly spending more on health, with spending rising to a total of Rs665 billion in 2011, up 14.5% over the previous year, according a to research report released by Business Monitor International (BMI), a UK-based research and consulting firm.

Within the overall sector, the largest in terms of total spending was that of hospitals and other healthcare facilities, which saw their total revenues rise to Rs456 billion in 2011, up 14.1% from the year before. The fastest growing segment was medical devices, which saw sales rise 18.1% to Rs35.5 billion. Pharmaceuticals grew a little slower, at 13.1%, to reach Rs173 billion in gross sales in Pakistan.

There are also several developments taking place within the sector that are likely to allow for even further expansion, according to BMI analysts.

In August 2011, the Drug Registration Board (DRB) approved the registration of 30 medical devices and 210 medicines after a meeting was held at the request of the Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gilani, who called for the uninterrupted provision of medicines to patients. Products approved for registration included vaccines, biologicals, cancer therapeutics, drugs for the treatment of blood disorders such as thalassaemia, and devices used in cardiac procedures.

BMI points out that there are many reasons why investors, particularly those outside the country may want to consider investing in this sector. “Pakistan has one of the most liberal foreign investment regimes in South Asia, with a commitment to low tariffs and 100% foreign equity permitted,” said BMI analysts in the report.

The analysts also note that Pakistan’s rapidly growing population – currently closing in on 190 million – should also be considered an asset. “A growing population is feeding increased demand for pharmaceuticals.”

There are, nevertheless, several challenges faced by the healthcare sector in Pakistan, which BMI cautions investors to be aware of. For the pharmaceutical sector, in particular, the analysts warn: “Counterfeit medicines, a lack of transparency in the government’s pricing mechanisms and an approval process that is biased towards domestic manufacturers are all factors depressing the market’s attractiveness.”

The opening up of free trade with India is seen as a bit of a mixed bag. On one hand, it would allow Pakistani firms to export their products to India more easily, allowing them access to a large and rapidly growing market which would help many of these firms scale up their capabilities and reduce overall costs for Pakistani consumers. On the other hand, many pharmaceutical manufacturers claim that they will not be able to compete with Indian companies and will likely be forced out of business by cheap Indian imports.

Pakistan’s overall business environment gets a poor rating from BMI, which ranks the economy 16th out of the 18 economies that it tracks in the Asia-Pacific region. The only two economies behind Pakistan are Sri Lanka and Cambodia. “The business environment still suffers from poor infrastructure and, most problematically, an uncertain security situation that has declined considerably since March 2007,” said BMI analysts.

In addition, there are several structural challenges to the Pakistani healthcare industry itself that have little to do with the external environment of Pakistan that they operate in. “Procurement processes are bureaucratic and often lack transparency, raising the risks of corruption,” said BMI in its report.

The tobacco conundrum

2012-05-27T03:25:00.000+05:30

Consumption of tobacco products has soared dangerously among children and the youth in Bangalore and the State, raising serious questions over the government’s ineffective measures to curb the unhealthy trend

Tobacco is an addiction. Ask over eight million people in the State who chew tobacco, breathe tobacco and swear by its rivetting attachment. But when you find 80,000 of them are children under 15 years, and an equal number in the age group of 15 to 24 years, you ought to get disturbed, scream out for some action. May 31, World No Tobacco Day, should surely be a day to revisit this dangerous trend, and find ways to curb it, fast!

From half-hearted attempts to arrest public smoking to sweeping generalised talk-down messages, the actions so far haven’t been effective enough. That’s not what you expect when the health risks are high, even for passive smokers. To make matters worse, Karnataka is a leading State in cultivating, consuming and exporting tobacco, according to the Consortium for Tobacco Free Karnataka.

Smoking in public places is a strict no-no according to the Cigarette and Other Tobacco Products Act (COPTA). Though the rules were enforced in 2009, not everyone is aware of the law.

Although the BBMP’s tobacco cell has conducted several raids since 2009, smoking continues to be open and rampant in Bangalore. Section 4 of the Act bans smoking in public places, which include hotels, coffee houses, pubs, bars, shopping malls, workplaces, auditoriums, hospitals, libraries, stadiums and bus stops. The BBMP has registered 534 cases and collected Rs 97,000 as penalty from April 2010 to May 2012.

Section 6 of the Act prohibits the sale of tobacco products near educational institutions. The Palike says it has registered 325 cases and the total penalty collected is Rs 1,54,650.

But the statistics don’t tell the full story. Palike sources reveal that although the penalty amount is used to check violations, tobacco products seized from vendors have been sold back in market by BBMP workers themselves. The BBMP’s inspection squad also faces many problems from elected representatives in removing tobacco vendors located near educational institutions, sources say.

Uphill task for police
Besides the BBMP, the City police are also entrusted with the task of booking cases for smoking in public. While the BBMP has set up special squads to implement the ban, the police are expected to complement the efforts. Additional Commissioner T Suneel Kumar says police stations have been instructed to take up special drives for effective implementation of the law, but no targets have been set.

Kumar feels enforcing such social legislation is an uphill task as penalty wouldn’t work. It is the mindset that has to change. He wonders why only the police should be expected to enforce it when there are 20 other authorities. With limited human resources, the police cannot go looking for smokers in public places all the time. “The best we can do is penalise anybody found smoking in public areas in the course of other duties,” he says.

Schedule III of the COTPA lists 21 authorities who can enforce the law and collect penalty from smokers. Strangely, the list includes Income Tax and Central Excise officials, all gazetted officers of both the State and the Central governments, and even post masters. Also included are Panchayati Raj representatives, medical officers, heads of institutions, transport officers and school principals along with police officers not below the rank of sub-inspectors and traffic superintendents.

Industry interference
This year, No Tobacco Day has a World Health Organisation (WHO) mandated theme, ‘Tobacco Industry Interference’, that focuses on influential tobacco companies disrupting public health policies. According to Dr Upendra Bhojani, member, Consortium for Tobacco Control, Karnataka, there has always been a conflicting mandate within the government.

The Health Ministry’s attempts to curb the tobacco menace is at cross purposes with the Commerce Ministry promoting the tobacco trade and industry development through the Indian Tobacco Board. “The tobacco industry provides huge donations to political parties.

In the last two years, the biggest player in cigarette industry in India donated over Rs 6.7 crore to major political parties. Five of the top 10 shareholders in this firm are government-owned companies,” Bhojani points out.

The WHO cites an inherent contradiction in the corporate social responsibility by the tobacco industry. The industry’s core function is production and sale of lethal tobacco products against public health interests. No wonder, the statutory picture health warnings on tobacco packs have been diluted to include relatively less effective pictures than what was proposed. A recent remark by WHO’s director general, Dr Margaret Chan, is telling: “The enemy, the tobacco industry, has changed its face and its tactics. The wolf is no longer in sheep’s clothing, and its teeth are bared.”

Beedi, gutka and cigarettes are the main tobacco products easily available in the market. Women and children constitute the majority of over four lakh beedi workers in the State, suffering the harmful effects even without chewing tobacco or smoking. Beedi rollers work in enclosed areas in their houses and are constantly exposed to the smell and dust which in turn cause respiratory infections and allergies.

Consumption of gutka or the smokeless tobacco in chewing form is the most prevalent and the most harmful. This, despite the Food Safety and Standards (Prohibition and Restriction on Sales Regulations, 2011) notified on August 1, 2011, prohibiting the use of nicotine and tobacco in any food product.

Tobacco-related cancer growing
Dr C Ramesh, professor and Head of the Department, Cancer Epidemiology, Kidwai Memorial Institute of Oncology, says 40 per cent of cancer cases that reach Kidwai are related to tobacco consumption. Among men, nearly 50 per cent of cancer cases are tobacco-related.

“The number of tobacco-related cancer cases has increased in the past two years mainly due to the awareness about the disease in the public domain. Although most cases are of patients with cancer from tobacco chewing, the number of cancer cases due to tobacco smoking is also increasing,” says Dr Ramesh.

Not many are opting for tobacco cessation centres, which helps in preventive measures.

Dr Prathima Murthy, head of Tobacco Cessation Centre at Nimhans,says many smokers keen to quit the addiction are not even aware of de-addiction centres. “We are seeing patients in the age group of 20-40 years with severe addiction coupled with psychological problems. Although nicotine supplements help in giving up the addiction, regular follow-up by a patient is very important. There is a need for greater awareness in schools, colleges to nip the menace in the bud,” she adds.

(With inputs from Aditya Bharadwaj and Skandashree Bali)

MDI Labs enters Indian market, eyes Rs 300 crore turnover by 2015

2012-05-27T03:22:00.001+05:30

MUMBAI: Largest German clinical laboratory, the Medizinisch Diagnostiche Institute (MDI) plans to set up over 1,000 collection centers and a logistics network to transport samples across the country.

MDI had earlier made its maiden entry in India by setting up MDI Laboratories India Ltd and it plans to achieve a turnover of over Rs 300 crore by 2015, a company statement said here.

Gujarat Chief Minister inaugurates 100-bed BAPS Yogiji Maharaj Hospital in Ahmedabad

2012-05-27T03:10:00.001+05:30

Ahmedabad: Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi inaugurated a 100-bed modern BAPS Yogiji Maharaj Hospital at Shahibaug here this evening.
Speaking on the occasion, Mr. Modi remembered the contribution of seers and saints of India for their selfless services to the society. He remembered the role of Pramukhswami Maharaj Yogiji in de-addiction of 40-lakh people. He wished the Hospital would work for the society with the same spirit.
The Chief Minister said that the Swamiji has imbibed the essence of Ayurveda and passed on the knowledge to his disciples. If such service institutions join government efforts the state could do wonders, he said.
He said that it was because of the advancement in medical science that the average life expectancy of mankind has increased. He desired to spread the area of influence of the medical science. He said that nursing and medical colleges have been set up in every district.
Dr. V. P. Patel said the hospital was built with the inspiration of Pramukhswami Maharaj of the Bochasanvasi Akshar Purushottam Sanstha (BAPS). It has 100 doctors and 250 para-medical staff.
Prominent among those present on the occasion included Health Minister Jay Narayan Vyas, Purushottam D. Patel, Phoolchand and donors, MLA Bharat Barot

Docs to act for cancer awareness

2012-05-27T03:07:00.000+05:30

For the last few days, Somnath Sonwalkar, an occupational therapist at KEM Hospital, Parel, has been a regular at the hospital's lawn after finishing work at the outpatient department.

Joining a group of theatre actors, Sonwalkar, 29, uses his college theatre experience to rehearse his lines to perfection for a street play against tobacco consumption.

On May 31 — World No Tobacco Day — Sonawalkar will be part of a 20-minute play at three different locations in Parel.
For the first time, the Mumbai chapter of the Indian Medical Association has organised a street play roping in medical and paramedical professionals along with the local 'Jidda' theatre group to raise awareness about ill effects of tobacco.
“We see several cases related to tobacco abuse and counsel them against its consumption. However, this play will allow us to talk to the general public and convince them in an different manner to stop using tobacco,” said Sonwalkar.
“The play peppered with songs will address issues such as reasons for smoking or chewing tobacco, effects of long term tobacco use and how to stop consumption,” said Dr Kishor Khushale, associate professor at KEM Hospital who has written and directed the play.
Rahul Bhandare, the hospital's ward boy, will assist with the play's music while three doctors will act as medical professionals providing information to patients and journalists.

I feel like I’m doing something worthwhile

2012-05-27T03:00:00.000+05:30

A maze of quiet corridors, smelling strongly of disinfectant, leads to the pathology department at KEM Hospital, Parel. There, in a small cabin full of books and medical paraphernalia, pathologist Pragati Sathe sits bent over a microscope.

Sathe, 37, is an associate professor at

the SGS Medical College attached to KEM and also serves as a pathologist for the hospital. She has worked with KEM for 11 years and now also heads a team of 12 trainees, technicians and junior lecturers. Ever since she was a medical student, Sathe says she has found pathology the most interesting branch of medicine, because it is the foundation of all treatment, aiding in diagnosis and seeking answers to how and why a disease occurs.
“Although I work in all fields of pathology — surgical, oncological, gastrointestinal, etc — my main interest is paediatric pathology,” she says, “because it covers a wide spectrum of diseases while other branches concentrate only on one disease or organ.”
Paediatric pathology also allows the medical practitioner to observe the development of the human body from its earliest days, she says, and this too is fascinating. Sathe starts her day at 6 am, making breakfast and hot packed lunches for herself, her husband Aditya, a biochemistry professor, and their eight-year-old daughter, in the kitchen of the one-bedroom flat in Andheri (West) that they share with Aditya’s parents.
After a bath, Sathe leaves for work at 8.15 am so she can clock in at 9.30.
Usually, she starts her day testing specimens that arrived from operating rooms the day before, trying to find out if they carry the suspected disease, determining the extent to which the disease has spread, then submitting a report to the respective OR.
“Often, I get specimens for urgent diagnosis. They are rushed to me while a surgery is in progress and I have 20 to 30 minutes to conduct my tests and file my reports so that the surgery can continue accordingly,” she says.
Between 1 pm and 2 pm, if there are no urgent diagnoses pending, Sathe eats her lunch of rotis and sabzi at her desk.
About three times a week, she also conducts lectures and tutorials for medical students.
Besides lectures, tests and diagnoses, Sathe maintains records at the lab, supervises the work done by her team and sets aside time to study rare cases in reference books and on the internet and to attend meetings with fellow pathologists so that she can stay abreast of new developments.
At 4.30 pm, Sathe packs up for the day and heads home, usually getting there at 6 pm, around the same time as her husband. After resting for a while, Sathe begins cooking dinner at 7 pm, then helps with her daughter’s homework. After a dinner of dal, rice, roti and sabzi at 9 pm, the family turns in at 10.
Besides a weekly day off on Sundays, Sathe and her family holiday twice a year, usually travelling within India. Occasionally, they also take short trips to their bungalow at Kihim beach in Maharashtra’s coastal Raigad district.
In her free time, Sathe likes to paint and sketch, particularly landscapes.
“This is the best job you can have,” says Sathe. “The hours are decent, there is ample leave, the pay is good. Most importantly, at the end of the day I am satisfied because I feel I have done something worthwhile.”

Dr Prem to conduct Medical Tourism Training & Certificate program in Mumbai, India

2012-05-22T00:38:00.000+05:30

Dr Prem, the world renowned speaker, trainer, and chartered consultant will be conducting a two day Medical Tourism Training & Certificate Program in Mumbai, India. This program will be organized by Constellation Communications & Events, an Indian arm of Dubai based conglomerate on June 1 & 2.

According to Dr Prem, the stakeholders of medical tourism industry including the government representatives, facilitators, hospitals, healthcare professionals, physicians, tourism companies, students etc encounter a variety of challenges while in the business of medical tourism. “For last few years, medical tourism industry has been providing promising benefits & opportunities. However, the struggle in this field is growing as well. Several stakeholders of this industry including the healthcare professionals, travel agents, facilitators or support service providers now need to work firmer to make and uphold their place in this industry. They need to be conscious of all the minute particulars that make the whole medical tourism industry work. They need to understand the mutable drifts, chances and experiments in medical tourism. They also have to be well conversant with the various certification programs, legal and ethical issues involved in this,” says Dr Prem.

After travelling to more than thirty countries to understand Medical Tourism and global healthcare, Dr Prem has analyzed the entire scenario within the medical tourism sector globally. He has conceptualized this training program in a way where he can provide customized solutions to the global issues faced by various stakeholders of the medical tourism industry. This workshop aims to address challenges and help participants to understand & develop an effective strategy to not only survive but succeed in medical tourism industry.

Medical tourism companies / facilitators, hospitals, top doctors, star rated hotels, state tourism boards & tour operators, health insurance companies, Ayurveda centers &spas, yoga centers, TPAs, students etc can take benefit of this program. The participants would also get a copy of Medical Tourism Guidebook signed by the author himself.

About Dr Prem

Dr Prem is a world renowned trainer who offers a variety of distinguished globally recognized healthcare management training services. His training programs are well received & appreciated across all the sectors within the healthcare industry including the government healthcare authorities, private healthcare & medical tourism organizations, pharmaceutical companies, amongst others.

Dr Prem has expertise on various topics including Leadership, Public Speaking, Business Management and Global Healthcare. He has authored more than 15 guide books and has recently launched a guide on How to live a great life. He has delivered more than hundred keynote speeches, presentations and focused training workshops across the globe. He has travelled across 30 countries to share his experience in the field of global healthcare, healthcare marketing & management, CSR in healthcare, medical tourism, etc. He is also the author of guide book series including Medical Tourism Guide Book. To more about Dr Prem, visit www.DrPrem.com

About Constellation CE

Constellation Communications & Events is a fast growing conference, exhibition, and event management company with presence in Dubai and Mumbai. The company has earned a reputation for creating and delivering some successful & high brand-recall events in Dubai. In India, it brings with it an experience of covering the entire spectrum of event services from conceptualization, venue sourcing, travel & hospitality management, creative solutions, marketing, sponsorship & delegate sales, and post-event management. The company believes in excellently planning and organizing a wide range of conferences, exhibitions, domain specific business-to-business conferences, workshops & events.

Contact

Constellation CE -

904, Tower 1,
One IndiaBulls Centre
841, Senapati Bapat Marg
Elphinestone Road
Mumbai 400 013

Phone: +91 22 3342 1111
Fax: +91 22 4315 1112

www.constellationce.com | info@constellationce.com |

Dr Prem’s Team - www.DrPrem.com/contact

Apollo Hospitals to invest Rs 1,500 cr by 2014

2012-04-18T04:47:00.001+05:30

Apollo Hospitals Group will invest Rs 1,500 crore for increasing the number of beds to about 11,500 by March 2014, according to the Chairman, Dr Prathap C. Reddy.
After inaugurating an oncology facility at Apollo Hospitals near here, he told pressperons that the healthcare major had added 800 beds last year in its 56 hospitals, which now have 9,000 beds.
With the opening of six new hospitals in 2012, it would have over 10,000 beds. It is also planning to add 60 new clinics to increase the same to 100 this year.
Cardiac clinic
In Gujarat, where Apollo Hospitals and Cadila Pharmaceuticals Ltd have a 50:50 partnership, the duo have decided to launch an additional cardiac clinic by July 2012 at an investment of Rs 15 crore. They are also considering to set up one or two more hospitals in Gujarat, he said.
The two partners are looking at setting up outpatient clinics in African countries like Kenya, Ethiopia and Uganda as well.
Overseas foray
Asked about Apollo Hospitals’ overseas foray, Dr Reddy said that the Group has, after expanding its reach to Dubai, Mauritius and other places, “temporarily” decided to focus only on India. However, its super-specialty facility in Tanzania will increase the number of beds from the existing 300 to 500.
Replying to a question about the 1,300-strong Apollo Pharmacy chain, he said the Group has identified some potential investors abroad for setting up more such pharmacies in India once the FDI norms are eased by the Government.
Dr Reddy said the Group is expecting to get loans to the tune of Rs 600 crore for expansion this year. “We may also plan to add 4,000 beds next year during 2014-17.”

Life-saving drugs at Govt Hospital soon

2012-04-18T04:38:00.003+05:30

Rajahmundry: Development Committee of the Rajahmundry Government Hospital has resolved to purchase emergency medicines and to augment the basic facilities in the hospitals.

The meeting, which was presided by East Godavari District Collector Neetu Kumari Prasad, resolved to constitute a committee to purchase emergency medicines and to buy the drugs on the recommendations of the committee. It was also resolved to purchase air conditioners and fans in the emergency wards.

It was decided to use the National Rural Health Mission funds and the funds, which would be deposited through Rajiv Arogyashree Scheme for the purchases. She mentioned that the hospital committee meeting would be conducted in every three months and the directed the authorities to purchase emergency medicines and other commodities immediately.

She suggested that 165 KV generator should be purchased, which is required for the hospital and added that the repair works should be done for the ambulance. The District Collector urged the District Vidya Vidhana Parishath coordinator to purchase the medicine required by all the hospitals in the district on the feedback collected by the doctors.

Speaking on the occasion, Rajahmundry City MLA Routhu Suryaprakash Rao said that a dialysis unit was sanctioned for the Rajahmundry Government Hospital and it would be inaugurated very soon.

He assured that the MP and MLA developments funds would be used for the development of the government hospital. MLC Kandula Durgesh pledged Rs 5 lakh from his constituency development fund for the developmental works and urged the officials to show urgency in providing basic facilities in the hospital.

Hospital C member Jakkampudi Vijaya Lakshmi lamented that the patients are struggling due to lack of basic facilities and emergency medicines. Vidya Vidhana Parishath district coordinator, Dr M Chennayya said that the proposals were sent to purchase 165 KV generator for the hospital.

Hospital superintendent M Sulochana has asked for the permission to purchase AC machines, fans and other medical equipment for the hospital.

The committee has resolved to purchase two freezers additionally in the postmortem shed, to set up CC cameras in various departments in the hospital and monitor attendance of the doctors and the staff through bio-metric system.

India pledges free drugs for all citizens through public hospitals

2012-04-18T04:37:00.000+05:30

The Indian government has said that it will make available free drugs in public hospitals in a bid to reduce the amount that patients spend out of their own pockets, which is tipping tens of thousands of households across the country into debt or poverty each year.

India’s health ministry is working with state governments to replicate nationwide a model for the free distribution of essential drugs at public health clinics and hospitals that has been successfully implemented over the past 15 years by the southern state of Tamil Nadu.

The national government will cover 80% of the cost of the programme, which public health experts and health economists estimate will require about 60 billion rupees (£730m; €890m; $1.16bn) a year over the next five years.

Evolution of Mobile e-Health Technology, Tools and Practices in India

2012-04-18T04:14:00.000+05:30

S. K. Mishra¹, R. D. Chand², I. P. Singh²

¹Sanjay Gandhi Post Graduate Institute of Medical Sciences (SGPGIMS), Lucknow, India

²School of Telemedicine & Biomedical Informatics, SGPGIMS, Lucknow, India

Satellite communication based tele-health practice has been in place in India since over a decade. Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) has deployed around four hundred telemedicine nodes spread across the country. Though most of the applications are for teleconsultation and tele-education purpose, of late, the network is being used for diseases surveillance as well. Integrated Disease Surveillance Project launched by Ministry of Health & Family Welfare, Government of India four years ago has been able to collect data related to communicable diseases from district hospital level to the central hub located at the National Institute of Communicable Diseases, New Delhi. First mobile e-Health system was developed as a proto type end points in the year 2001 in a Suitcase and mobile Van and the utilities were demonstrated using ISDN media. Later in 2005 satellite based mobile e-health system was developed and deployed in the community for carrying out mobile tele-health clinics. Subsequently Mobile Tele-ophthalmology and Mobile Tele-Oncology systems were deployed. As the wireless mobile telecommunication solution was introduced many of the follow up and appointment scheduling were carried out between health care providers and care seekers using mobile phone. Real telemedicine applications using data exchange could only be launched when the mobile broadband data network facilities were available. Rapid advancement in the wireless telecommnication like 3G, Wi Max and multimedia technologies made the researchers to innovate e-health portable tools to practice e-health using broad band data services. Ease of use and the falling prices of devices, make the mobile technologies an appropriate and acceptable tool to apply in rural telemedicine projects. Expensive telemedicine platform and network media act as barrier in adoption of this technology in health system in low resource environment. Developing countries require low-cost, sustainable telemedicine solutions for the l! ocal delivery of primary healthcare at the community level.

Wipro eyes deals in IT infrastructure services

2012-04-18T04:00:00.000+05:30

Soap-to-software maker Wipro is chasing a number of technology deals, more than half of which are in IT infrastructure services. About 60%-70% of the software exporter's order funnel is in infrastructure services, a business perceived to be less recession-prone compared to other lines of service, such as application development, its global business head Anand Sankaran said.

About 50% of these deals are from the US and 20-25% from the UK, Sankaran told ET in a recent interview. The contracts, ranging from $100 to $500 million, are from banking, retail, manufacturing and healthcare sectors. Some of them are integrated deals involving infrastructure services, application development and back office services, he added.

"Healthcare is throwing up quite a few opportunities for infrastructure outsourcing. A lot of companies in this sector have done application outsourcing and have seen the success of it, so this is the second wave of outsourcing," he said. The deals are expected to close over the next 6-12 months.

Over the years, the size of IT contracts has been whittling down, and IT infrastructure is one of the few areas where service providers can still look forward to large deals. Unlike application development, where revenues are dependent on the applications that are being developed, maintaining of IT infrastructure is an essential expenditure, and to that extent, it's recession-proof.

Wipro was perceived to be losing out on infrastructure deals compared to peers such as Tata Consultancy Services and HCL Technologies because of a greater emphasis on the higher margin consulting business after TK Kurien took over as CEO but Sankaran refuted this. "We're still the largest in this segment. Maybe we could have been larger than what we are but we are still number one if you include our India business," Sankaran said.

Last fiscal, infrastructure services accounted for about $1 billion of Wipro's revenues and continues to be 75%-80% of its global technology business, he said. Sankaran, who also heads Wipro Infotech, its India and Middle East IT business, took over as head of the global infrastructure business after the international and domestic infrastructure businesses were merged two quarters ago in a restructuring exercise.

Wipro's largest acquisition has been that of Infocrossing, the US-based provider of infrastructure management services, in 2007. The acquisition gave Wipro the ability to offer large scale hosting services and mainframe services, which the company now wants to leverage with its systems integeration skills to win large infrastructure projects globally like its Delhi International Airport and ESIC projects in India.

Expat scientist-entrepreneurs are relocating to India to offer cost-effective healthcare innovations

2012-04-15T05:11:00.001+05:30

Global scientists of Indian-origin, who have made path-breaking discoveries in the field of healthcare, are moving to India to test, validate and market their innovations. Their aim is to provide handy, affordable solutions for the diagnosis and treatment of life-threatening diseases like cancer. Shiladitya Sengupta and his team, who developed technology to help in cancer treatment at Harvard-MIT division of the Health Sciences and Technology in Boston, have founded a start up - Invictus Oncology - in India.

The Delhi-based start-up is developing nanomedicine - or a drug smaller than one-thousandth the diameter of human hair - which hones in on tumours and reduces side-effects. It shrinks tumours by cutting off blood supply to it and continues to sit on the tumour till it dies.

Sengupta is one among the many newgeneration scientists who are putting their research to meaningful use and building affordable, low-cost products in India. "I was told that this is a crazy idea as nobody discovers drugs in India, especially for cancer," says Sengupta, whose team aims to develop a drug from India that can be used globally.

Start-ups such as this hope to tap the healthcare market in India, which is expected to swell five-fold and touch $280 billion in 10 years. Some of these cuttingedge technology entrepreneurs spoke to The Economic Times on the sidelines of EmTech India, a technology conference, organised by MIT's Technology Review.

Achira Labs Dhananjaya Dendukuri and Suri Venkatachalam are the founders of Achira Labs, a two-year-old medical diagnostic start-up, which has developed a proprietary lab-on-chip platform that can perform a number of tests, including those for thyroid, diabetes and infertility.

The company's chip platform is designed to deliver diagnostic results within minutes of testing, allowing rural patients to receive immediate medical care without having to wait for days or weeks.

"Not having access to diagnostic facilities has been the bane of India's rural population. Our focus is, if you can't come to us, we will come to you," says Dendukuri, a 34-year-old, Ph.D. holder from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Achira will kick-start the pilot manufacturing process of its chip this year, with full-scale manufacturing expected to start in 2013. The team is also in the process of developing a fabric-based testing platform, using silk yarn to create an integrated fabric chip.

Dendukuri believes that silk weaving can not only be used to build a low-cost, scalable platform for chip manufacture but can also create employment for the weavers. Funded by the Nadathur Group, Achira Labs has also received a grant of $1 million from Grand Challenges Canada last year. The funding will be utilised to further develop the fabric-based chip to make medical diagnostic tests.

Invictus Oncology & Vyome Biosciences

Shiladitya Sengupta, an assistant professor at Harvard Medical School's Brigham And Women's Hospital in the US, has cofounded three life sciences start-ups in India. Among them are Delhi-based firms Invictus Oncology and Vyome Biosciences.

Invictus is developing nextgeneration anti-cancer drugs. The technology initially developed in Sengupta's lab at Harvard has been further developed by a group of scientists who have relocated to India. Among them are Monideepa Roy, who was teaching at Harvard Medical School, Dipankar Pramanik of Johns Hopkins, and Sajid Hussain of University of California. Sengupta says similar drugs in the US cost $9000 per dose and Indians cannot afford those nano-medicines.

His other start-up Vyome Biosciences, which addresses skin diseases, was started in late 2010 by him and Rajesh Gokhale of Delhi-based Institute of Genomics & Integrative Biology. The company has already filed patents both in India and the US. It has received seed funding from Navam Capital.

Jai Medica
Sanjay Kakkar is the founder of this personalised healthcare venture that has developed a simple saliva-based test to determine how prone a person is to a heart attack or coronary heart disease (CHD) risk. The country's first ever genetic test to check the risk of heart disease is important at a time when India is witnessing an epidemic of CHD, with three million deaths per year and approximately 12% of the population affected annually.

Kakkar, an alumnus of Harvard University and King's College, University of London, was born and raised in the UK. After stints at big drug-makers Novartis and Pfizer, he built and managed Trigen, a UK-based biotechnology company. He led it, from starting off as a spin-out from a research institute into a free-standing business, until it was acquired. Then he relocated to India.

Mitra Biotech

It's all about the correct diagnoses, according to Pradip Majumder, chief scientific officer and a co-founder of Mitra Biotech, a Bangalore-based bio-technology company engaged in developing personalised cancer therapy.

Founded in 2008 by a team of Harvard and MIT researchers, Mitra has developed a technology that allows doctors to predict which drugs might work and which won't for a cancer patient, based on the characteristics the tumour.

This also spares patients on whom the drugs might not work from their toxic side-effects. In parallel, Mitra is accumulating a database of 'market-sets' or types of patients whose tumours respond to specific drug combinations. A study has found that nearly six lakh Indians die of cancer every year, with 70% of these deaths between the ages of 30-69 years.

Mitra has already established linkages with the Mazumder-Shaw Cancer Centre and Healthcare Global Enterprises. Separately, the company is also partnering pharmaceutical companies to bring down the cost of cancer treatment drugs and improve their drug development. The company is backed by global venture capital firm Accel Partners, Karnataka Information Technology Venture Capital Fund and India Innovation Fund.

Strand Lifesciences

Vijay Chandru is the co-founder and chief executive of Bangalore-based bioinformatics firm Strand Life Sciences. His firm's latest innovation is a virtual liver - a predictive method that integrates data and insights for deeper understanding of the impact of a drug on the liver. The platform can predict toxicity of several known drugs and toxins.

Sengupta of Invictus Oncology says there is a great need for India to develop a network where academic institutions, industrial partners and catalyst funds can partner to take the innovations to market. "Being a scientist is not about just doing bench research but translating research into practice," he says.

India is now official member of International Affiliate of the Infusion Nurses Society of US

2012-04-15T02:33:00.002+05:30

Nandita Vijay, Bengaluru

India is now an official member of the International Affiliate of the Infusion Nurses Society of US. The formation of the Infusion Nurses Society (INS) India is expected to give a boost to the infusion care in the country.

The Society is responsible for setting the standard for infusion care, by developing and disseminating standards of practice, providing professional development opportunities and quality education, advancing the specialty through evidence-based practice and research supporting professional certification and advocating for the public, in alignment with the vision and mission of The Infusion Nurses Society of US.

Infusion therapy is becoming complex and it is important for the healthcare workers to be equipped with current knowledge and skills. It would now be obligatory for the nursing staff to participate in appropriate learning and practice activities to develop and upgrade their competence.

“The establishments of INS-India, the guidelines are intended to help healthcare practitioners to ensure that patients receive quality healthcare,” said Rajnish Rohatgi, business director, BD Medical Surgical Systems, India.

“The initiative is in line with BD’s ongoing program where our clinical advisors work with several hospitals across India to coordinate quality training for nurses and healthcare professionals,” he added.

INS–India would bring innovative resources and opportunities to a wide range of healthcare professionals who are involved in the specialty practice of infusion therapy. INS is setting the standard for dedicated clinicians who seek to provide excellent infusion care across all practice settings, stated Mary Alexander, chief executive officer, Infusion Nurses Society.

In an effort to provide “Safe Infusion for Safer Healthcare, the Infusion Nurses Society India teamed up with Becton Dickinson India Pvt. Ltd. and 3M India at The Oxford College of Science, Bangalore to highlight the contemporary know-how of Infusion therapy.

“We are working to provide patients high quality health care products in India. With the help of INS, we are looking forward to introduce better technology and techniques to provide improved standards for Indian healthcare industry,” stated Gautam Khanna, executive director, healthcare division, 3M India.

HH Sheikha Moza bint Nasser visited Medanta

2012-04-11T03:51:00.000+05:30

HH Sheikha Moza bint Nasser visited Medanta multi-super specialty hospital for medicine and research near New Delhi yesterday.
Sheikha Moza was briefed on the various sections of the hospital, such as the cancer treatment division and the attached research centres in addition to a number of other sections including the intensive care unit, the outpatient clinics, laboratories, the robotic surgery and brain surgery units.
Sheikha Moza met a number of the physicians and officials in charge of the hospital and discussed scopes of co-operation between the hospital and the health sector in Qatar in the medical, educational and research fields.

Medanta – the Medicity is one of India’s largest multi-super specialty institutes located in Gurgaon, a bustling town in the National Capital Region.
The institution has been envisioned with the aim of bringing to India the highest standards of medical care along with clinical research, education and training.
Medanta is governed under the guiding principles of providing medical services to patients with care, compassion, commitment.
It is spread across 43 acres and includes a research centre, medical and nursing school. It has 1,250 beds and over 350 critical care beds with 45 operation theatres catering to over 20 specialties.
Medanta houses six centres of excellence which will provide medical intelligentsia, cutting-edge technology and state-of-the-art infrastructure with a well-integrated and comprehensive information system.

AADHAAR Opening Up of New Vistas in Healthcare

2012-04-11T02:31:00.000+05:30

‘Aadhaar,’ a unique identification system for providing ID (a digital signature) to citizens, is based on the personal bio-data and biometrics (ten digit finger printing and iris scan)

The project is based on the diversified architecture of the cloud and is the first online ID of its kind in the world. 125 million people have already been enrolled for UID and the figure is expected to grow to 600 million in the next two and a half years. According to Mr Nilekani, once completed, Aadhaar will be the largest database anywhere in the world. AADHAAR Opening Up of New Vistas in Healthcare

EHRs-The game changers in Healthcare

The UID scheme has opened up new vistas for the healthcare sectors. Since the UIDAI implements an open-system, plug and-play approach, entrepreneurs can develop applications in numerous areas in healthcare. The medical industry could build up a database using ‘Aadhaar’ as base for seamless use by various healthcare providers. The government and regulatory agencies have a major role in how EMRs/EHRs are developed and implemented by HCOs. The Ministry of Health and Family Welfare and bodies like National Knowledge Commission, CDAC have constituted an EHR Standards committee that is already seized of this matter.

The Government needs to enact suitable legislation and policies to encourage adoption of EMR, legally accept digital signatures, and provide guidelines to standardise records formats, nomenclature, and communication protocols to enhance interoperability of IT applications across healthcare spectrum.

Defining Regulatory and Legal Framework

In USA Health Insurance Portability and Accessibility Act (HIPAA) addresses some of the relevant issues, a lot remains to be done in India. The government may also educate care providers and public at large about benefits of EHR and may also mandate compliance. These EHRs can be linked to each citizen’s UHID and health data can be filed and retrieved from National Data Record System based on cloud. The issues of capturing, storage, standardisation (ICD- 0,SNOMED-CT,LOINC) and interoperability (HL-7 version 3.0, DICOM) of health information, billing formats, authenticity, privacy and security of sensitive data, can also be ensured through laws similar to HIPAA.

The most commonly used interface standards in healthcare are Continuity of Care Record, or CCR and Continuity of Care Document, or CCD. CCD is a joint effort of HL7 and ASTM to foster interoperability of clinical data to allow physicians to send electronic medical information to other providers without loss of information.

Once these regulatory norms and standards are put in place, various HCOs, ISVs (independent software vendors) and stake holders shall come forward to develop and implement EHRs. The linkage of EHRs linked to the UID of the patient will ensure achievement of ultimate objective of ‘one EHR for each patient, accessible anywhere, anytime’. Also, automated transactions shall create a trail that permits medical audit thereby increasing accountability. In addition, adhering to standard treatment guidelines and clinical pathways shall enable clinicians to practice evidence based medicine. Notwithstanding the immense benefits offered by UID linked EHRs, the journey to their implementation is not going to be smooth. But the gains at the end of journey are worth the efforts. The parliamentary standing committee on the matter has also expressed some reservations on the role of UIDAI.

Cisco and Government of Karnataka in PPP to Pilot Remote Healthcare in Chitradurga District to Bring Inclusive Growth

2012-04-11T01:16:00.000+05:30

Cisco Uses Its Healthcare Solution to Connect a Remote Primary Healthcare Center and a Remote Community Healthcare Center to the District Hospital

CHITRADURGA, INDIA -Cisco (NASDAQ: CSCO) today announced the launch of its Cisco® healthcare solution pilot program to enable remote healthcare for one primary healthcare center and one community healthcare center from the district hospital in Chitradurga District.

With this project, Cisco advances its Inclusive Growth vision of using technology to bridge the urban-rural gap. Last year, Cisco launched the initiative so that rural communities can get access to essential urban services like healthcare, education, a marketplace and access to public services through technology and bring them into the mainstream economy. Using the network as a platform, these services can bring about transformational change and greatly reduce the urban-rural divide.

Cisco introduced its healthcare solution in its corporate social responsibility project -- Samudaya -- to enable access to remote healthcare to flood-affected people of Raichur on a proof-of-concept basis. Leveraging Cisco technology and medical services provided by RxDx's multi-specialty hospital in Bangalore, remote consultation for over 1700 patients has been rendered.

In the Chitradurga pilot, the healthcare solution will link Chitradurga District Hospital to one community healthcare centre at Bharamasagara in Chitradurga Taluk and one primary healthcare centre (PHC) at Mathode in Hosadurga Taluk. Patients visiting these two centers will have their vitals checked by the paramedic/nurse at the centre while the doctor at the district hospital provides consultation and diagnosis in real time. Cisco's healthcare solution creates an environment where patients and doctors can meet each other virtually through video without having to commute long distances.

Nearly 70% of India's population lives in rural areas, but 80% of the total available doctors are in urban areas and patients often have to travel long distances at great cost to get quality healthcare. This gap, coupled with the shortage of local doctors, poses a huge challenge for delivery of rural healthcare system. Cisco's solution alleviates these issues for the rural population

The proactive initiatives of the government of Karnataka to use Cisco technologies to provide remote healthcare is a positive step to leapfrog these challenges and bring about inclusive growth.

Executive quotes

Shri Janardhana Swamy, MP, Chitradurga District
"A significant number of population lives in the rural areas in Karnataka, which is the case with the entire nation too. The rural population is unable to access quality healthcare and specialist consultants due to lack of availability and spend precious time traveling to urban centres for their treatment. In this regard Cisco Inclusive Growth solutions are a step in the right direction. I want to congratulate Cisco on its mission to provide access to healthcare using its technology. Cisco's solution will enable better access to medical treatment for the population of Chitradurga."

Shri Vipul Bhansal, District Commissioner, Chitradurga District
"We are confident that we will be able to provide affordable healthcare to a larger population using technology. People in the rural areas need easy access to specialists, which is something that can be facilitated with Cisco solutions."

Aravind Sitaraman, President, Inclusive Growth, Cisco
"Healthcare in India is a major concern for those who cannot afford or access it. While this amenity is available easily to urban population at very affordable rates, it is not ubiquitous in rural areas. Governments across all states of India recognize this gap. While some are in the process to adopt new solution towards making an impactful change, others are starting to do so. We are happy to collaborate with visionary governments like Karnataka in implementing the new wave of growth and enablement. This project marks significant progress towards the Inclusive Growth goal of using technology as the enabler to bridge urban-rural gap and Cisco's vision of changing the way people work, live, play and learn."

About Cisco
Cisco (NASDAQ: CSCO) is the worldwide leader in networking that transforms how people connect, communicate and collaborate. Information about Cisco can be found at http://www.cisco.com. For ongoing news, please go tohttp://newsroom.cisco.com.

Cisco and the Cisco logo are trademarks or registered trademarks of Cisco and/or its affiliates in the U.S. and other countries. A listing of Cisco's trademarks can be found at www.cisco.com/go/trademarks. Third-party trademarks mentioned are the property of their respective owners. The use of the word partner does not imply a partnership relationship between Cisco and any other company.

RSS Feed for Cisco: http://newsroom.cisco.com/rss-feeds

Press Contact
Bipasha Chakrabarti
Cisco Systems, Inc.
+91 80 4426 2353
bipchakr@cisco.com

FDI Fuelling Growth of Hospital Services in India

2012-04-11T01:03:00.002+05:30

Foreign Direct Investments (FDI) in the hospitals and diagnostic center segment has reached a new high in India. India is already charged in this route as evident from the 100% allowance of FDI in the hospital segment under automatic route, since January 2000. Interestingly, it has also been noticed that foreign players and NRIs are showing significant interest in the Indian healthcare market. There is also an increasing interest among private equity funds, domestic and international financial institutions, venture capitalists, and banks to examine investment opportunities across an extensive range of segments. Further, according to a new research by RNCOS, “Indian Hospital Services Market Outlook”, with growing foreign investment, the hospital services market in India is expected to witness an impressive growth at a CAGR of around 21% during 2010-2015.

The hospital care segment holds a major share of the healthcare industry outpacing the overall industry growth. The demand for hospital services has been consistently soaring in the country, with every class of the society showing firm belief in quality and standard of healthcare. Realizing the continuous inflating demand, many investors worldwide have expressed their keenness towards investment in the Indian hospital service market.

The report by RNCOS provides extensive information and rational analysis of the Indian hospital sector. It also provides a prudent analysis of the factors that are driving growth in the industry, taking into consideration the existence of various challenges confronting the current scenario. Analysis and statistics regarding market size, growth, share, segmentation and geographic distribution have been thoroughly analyzed to present a comprehensive overview of the market. The industry estimate presented in the report is based on numerous economic models together with correlation and regression analysis and most significantly judgmental analysis of our team of industry experts.

A section on recent industry developments along with information about the key players has also been included in the report to provide a balanced outlook of the Indian hospital services sector.

As forecasting method is the sum of statistical as well as judgmental analysis, it is free from all kinds of biases and reflects a true picture of the industry.

Indian Doctors can reduce health care costs in America.

2012-04-05T19:42:00.000+05:30

Press Trust of India - Cayman Islands

Renowned Indian heart surgeon Devi Shetty has struck a deal to build a 2,000-bed healthcare city in the Cayman Islands to target American patients and insurers searching for deeply discounted medical care.

The British Caribbean territory agreed to the deal with Dr Devi Shetty, a low-cost healthcare pioneer renowned as Mother Teresa's heart surgeon. The Caymans fulfilled its part of the bargain last week by passing legislation that caps medical negligence claims at $600,

The tiny, affluent territory west of Jamaica has 55,000 residents and is under pressure from Britain to diversify its economy and move away from its tax haven image.

The healthcare city will cost about $2 billion and encompass a hospital, medical university and assisted-living facility and target American patients and insurance providers seeking deep cost reductions.

Construction is set to begin this year on the initial $100 million phase, with a 200 to 300-bed facility expected to be complete in about 18 months.

The project has attracted significant interest. Templeton emerging markets expert Mark Mobius, who oversees some $50 billion in assets, recently said the project could be very attractive to outside investors.

Shetty would not discuss specific investors, although JP Morgan Chase & Co, American International Group Inc and the chairwoman of Biocon Ltd, a large Indian biotechnology firm, already own more than 25% of the Shetty family's Bangalore-based hospital group, Narayana Hrudayalaya Private Ltd.

Its 1,000-bed flagship hospital performs more than twice as many cardiac bypass surgeries and pediatric surgeries in a year than similarly sized US hospitals.

Citing his high-volume, low-cost hospitals in India as his model, Shetty estimates the Cayman facility will draw 50% of its patients from the United States.

U.S. insurers and employers are under pressure to reduce costs for high-tech procedures for heart, cancer, orthopedics, nuclear medicine and organ transplants, Shetty said.

"It will be much easier for insurance companies to buy an air ticket and ask them to go to the Cayman Islands and get a heart bypass done and have a two-week beach holiday and come back at perhaps less than 50% of the cost," he said.

The Cayman Islands are politically stable, English-speaking and close to Miami, which makes the modern large-scale facility an attractive medical tourist destination for Americans, Shetty said.

The Caymans' incentive package for the new hospital includes duty waivers on $800 million of medical equipment, recognition of Indian medical credentials and a discount of up to 30% on work permit fees for the influx of foreign workers expected to staff the hospital.

The average cost for a heart bypass is $144,000 in the United States, five times higher than neighboring Mexico at $27,000. Costa Rica charges $25,000 and Colombia $14,800 for the same procedure, the Medical Tourist Association said.

Even with the higher cost of doing business in the Cayman Islands, Shetty estimates a heart bypass will cost less than $10,000.

Medical tourism is still considered a niche market. But an estimated 1.3 million Americans will seek medical care outside of the United States in 2011 with 35% annual growth, according to a Deloitte report.

President Barack Obama's year-old healthcare overhaul faces significant challenges in court. But as it is implemented, millions of Americans will be brought into the insurance market in 2014, escalating costs well into the double digits, said industry expert Irving Stackpole.

"That will push medical tourism across the chasm from being a sector filled with early adopters to a mainstream solution for healthcare consumers," Stackpole said.

As Americans travel abroad for medical care, competition will increase in Latin America and the Caribbean to get a piece of the lucrative market, said Dr Steve Tomlinson, head of the private Chrissie Tomlinson Memorial hospital in the Caymans.

Last month, a 4-year-old Cayman girl was flown to Shetty's hospital in Bangalore for successful surgery to repair two holes in her heart. Surgeons in Jamaica said the operation was too complex and the child's medical insurance was insufficient to cover the $800,000 cost of the surgery the United States.

"We could do it virtually free. It is all because of volume," Shetty said.

Kalam moots integrated healthcare

2012-04-03T17:04:00.001+05:30

The Times of India (TOI)

BANGALORE: India's Missile Man, former president APJ Abdul Kalam has some advice for the healthcare sector. He wants the entire sector to integrate itself so as to evolve a specialized healthcare system. "Medical colleges normally deal with diagnosis and treatment of diseases only when the patient is ill. I feel the university has to specialize in integrated healthcare system. Every doctor, every dentist, nurse, pharmacist, traditional practitioner , paramedical staff has to be equipped with knowledge of the integrated medicare system. RGUHS should consider this and transform the syllabus accordingly," Kalam said in his speech at the 14th convocation of Rajiv Gandhi University of Health Sciences here.
Regarding medical education, Kalam said in a competitive environment, the focus should be research and teaching. "Institutions should promote research and teaching. Good teaching emanates from research. The teacher's love for research and experience in research are vital for the growth of an institution. A university is judged by the level of research work it accomplishes. This sets in a regenerative cycle of excellence," Kalam added.
Dr C N Manjunath, director of Sri Jayadeva Institute of Cardiovascular Sciences and Research Centre, Bangalore, and retired DIG H F Naicker, a yoga expert , were awarded 'Doctor of Science' honorary degrees. The function was attended by governor H R Bhardwaj, who is also Chancellor of Universities, and 82 medals were given to students who excelled in medicine, dental science, pharmacy , nursing and Ayush.
Toppertalk
They were all smiles. Their hard work has finally paid dividends, and they had the honour of receiving medals from former President APJ Abdul Kalam. Toppers Dr Vishwanath K Pai and Dr M Joshi Arun Bharat had some commonalities: both studied in Mangalore and both secured eight gold medals each. While Pai studied medicine at AJ Institute of Medical Sciences, Gujaratbased Bharat studied dental science at AB Shetty Memorial Institute of Dental Sciences.
"I want to do MD in medicine," said Pai, acknowledging the support of his family members and faculty. Bharat wants to do an MDS in periodontics.
Dr Pooja Prakash Prabhu has the distinction of getting four gold medals, the highest in female category. A student of JSS Medical College, Pooja hails from Mangalore. While crediting her success to her parents, both doctors, Pooja wants to study MD (Paediatrics).
For Reprint Rights: timescontent.com

The Times of India (TOI)

Wire News provided by

PE firm Advent International invests $105m in Care Hospital.

2012-04-03T04:24:00.000+05:30

Private equity firm Advent International has picked up equity in hospital chain Care by investing $105 million. With this the healthcare services provider hopes to consolidate its position in the sector and bet big on the growth opportunities to set up more hospitals in Tier II locations.
“We believe that there is tremendous potential in the Indian healthcare market. Through this, Advent brings relevant global experience to support Care’s expansion plans in India as the hospital chain aspires to match the best international benchmarks in healthcare delivery,” said Georg Stratenwerth, managing director of Advent India PE Advisors.

For the undisclosed equity that Advent holds, it has acquired shares from some of the existing investors and injecting additional capital into the business. Post the investment, the management continues to be the same. The multi-specialty chain has presence in southern cities like Hyderabad, Vishakapatnam among others cities like Raipur, Bhubaneshwar, Nagpur and Pune.

“The partnership with Advent provides us with the required resources and support to expand our presence and reiterates our commitment in providing the best in healthcare” said Care Hospital founder B Soma Raju adding that the hospital had begun in 1997 with a 100-bed facility.

The hospital chain, which specialises in cardiac care, neurology, nephrology and general medicine, is said to be ranking 5th among all hospitals in the country in terms of number of beds and revenue. The group has a total of 1,590 beds across eleven hospitals.

Prior to Care, Advent had invested in CAMS, which is into providing of outsourced transaction processing for mutual funds and insurance along with Element-K, a corporate e-learning business acquired by SkillSoft. Advent International has globally invested in over 30 healthcare companies worldwide across a broad range of sub-sectors, including pharmaceuticals, healthcare services and medical equipment.

Medical Tech in India: Is the Worm Turning?

2012-04-03T04:05:00.000+05:30

Gauri Kamath

A recent edition of TED Talks featured Myshkin Ingawale, a co-founder of Mumbai-based Biosense which has invented a needle-free, handheld haemoglobin measuring device. This is big for a country where anaemia or low haemoglobin count is the leading cause of maternal mortality even though iron supplements are cheaply and plentifully available. Many of these deaths can be averted with early diagnosis but women often lack adequate and timely access to healthcare facilities and don’t know they need iron supplements.

Biosense’s product ToucHB (see photo below) is a point-of-care device which means that it takes diagnosis to the patient rather than the other way around. So, for instance, in a rural area, a woman will not have to trek several kilometers to a primary healthcare centre if a government worker can visit her with ToucHB and test her on the spot. Since it’s non-invasive (no needle pricks necessary), it also addresses another problem – the unwillingness of women to give blood samples if they don’t feel ill. Anaemia does not always manifest itself in overt symptoms like say, morning sickness does. The product is currently undergoing testing.

Seeking risk takers

Biosense’s product is a good instance of how something made to address an urgent public health need can also have a wider market that could create enough volume to make the project feasible, even successful.

In urban areas, for instance, “people would have the paying capacity to buy such a product for constant monitoring,” says Abhishek Singh, head (healthcare) at Crisil Risk and Infrastructure Advisory. Direct selling could be done through clinics and pharmacies, he says. That would be a better bet in the short term than the rural market which is best tapped in partnership with the government. The National Rural Health Mission has targeted a reduction in maternal mortality rates to 100 per 100,000 live births from 212 in the period 2007-09 (the last reported official estimate).

In a conversation with me last week, Ingawale said that while the government would be an “impact player”, this being a new technology with “rough edges”, getting its buy-in would take time. Assuming the company clears testing, the initial adoption would most likely be from “risk-takers” such as clinics run by private foundations, individual doctors with CSR budgets or non-profits. Maybe even pharmaceutical companies who have strong haematinic portfolios and want to do free camps, he said.

“It won’t happen overnight,” he said. “We have to show results.” The company’s ambition is to take the cost per test to Rs 10/ which is a fraction of what it costs using conventional technology in a city like Mumbai. It also wants to use ToucHB as a point-of-care platform for other tests.

Level the playing field

Biosense is but the latest instance of homegrown medical device companies doing product innovation. This is doubly interesting because for years now the medical technology sector has been the poor cousin of the Indian drugs industry for a variety of reasons.

A critical mass of synthetic chemists, favourable policy and entrepreneurial vision has led to a revolution in the Indian generic drugs industry. But medical technology has found it tougher on all counts. For one, the sector needs a variety of unrelated capabilities such as medicine, engineering, design and so on to be available in plenty and work together at a similar level of competence and quality, not just within the organisation but also its vendors. In India, that has been lacking. For instance, Biosense gets its processors made in the US, its LEDs from Japan and its boards from Germany.

Two, regulation has been a travesty. Barnyard operators have operated with impunity tarring the entire indigenous industry. Importantly, the market for medical technology in the form of hospitals and laboratories has been very limited until recently, not justifying the risk and investments called for. And even those who dared usually made cheaper versions of western innovations.

A few things are changing – medical technology startups are now buoyed by relatively more avenues of funding such as venture capital and impact investing. And they have a growing market – private healthcare is taking off and the government too plans to commit more funding to healthcare.

But there’s still need for world-class regulations. Even now, important legislation governing medical devices is in limbo and device companies are governed ad-hoc under the Drugs and Cosmetics Act since 2005 in a kneejerk reaction to a court order. There is also need to create global quality manufacturing so that various capabilities can be sourced efficiently and indigenously.

Entrepreneurship in medical technology has emerged against the odds. It won’t hurt to even things out a bit.

About the Author: Gauri Kamath has been writing on the business of medicine for over 14 years. She has been a writer and senior editor at leading financial news publications such as The Economic Times, Business Standard and Businessworld. Kamath currently lives at Apothecurry, where she shares interesting developments and incisive opinion related to the pharma and healthcare sectors. Follow here on Twitter. Connect with her on Linkedin.

The American College of Cardiology to tie up with Mumbai hospitals

2012-04-03T03:32:00.000+05:30

The peculiar nature of heart diseases among Indians is finally getting international attention.

The American College of Cardiology (ACC), a medical association whose guidelines for treating heart diseases are followed across the globe, will tie up with 10 Indian hospitals, including four from the city, to study the patterns of heart ailments here. The aim was to draw up Indian-specific treatment rules, said ACC officials.

The four city hospitals are KEM Hospital, Bombay Hospital, Asian Heart Institute and Hiranandani Hospital. Details of patients visiting OPDs of these hospitals will be taken.

At present, most treatment guidelines are based on studies conducted on Anglo-Saxon patients, says ACC’s Brendan Mullen. As cardiac disease among Indians is different from that among the Anglo Saxons, the same rules cannot be blindly applied. “The dosages prescribed for Americans cannot be given to Indians who are slightly built in comparison,” said Asian Heart Institute’s Dr Ramakanta Panda.

Dr Prafulla Kerkar, who heads KEM Hospital’s cardiology department, said, “Indian doctors have a wide experience in treating heart diseases, but

India doesn’t have standardized guidelines like in the US or Europe. Everything is anecdotal.” There was no guideline on if a patient should be put through expensive procedures or given medicines, he added.

Said Dr Ganesh Kumar of Hiranandani Hospital, “If you study 100 prescriptions, each will be different.” Every patient who has suffered a heart attack should be put on a special class of drugs called beta-blockers. “But this doesn’t happen in India,” he added.

It is here that the ACC registry can help. As Mullen puts it, most heart diseases can be treated with medicines. “We must work out the right treatment for the right patient at the right time,” he said. Dr Panda said, “The burden of heart disease is so high that it will cost India five times its GDP for every patient’s bypass or angioplasty.” The right combination drug for Indians must be worked out.

Fortis Healthcare Signs Agreement Giving India's Fastest-Growing Hospital Chain Access to Masimo's State-of-the-Art Noninvasive Patient Monitoring Solutions

2012-04-03T02:58:00.002+05:30

Fortis Escorts Heart Institute in New Delhi is First to Standardize Operating Rooms and Critical Care Areas to Masimo rainbow® SET Pulse CO-Oximetry Technology for Advanced Noninvasive Measurements

Fortis Healthcare, India's leading provider of integrated healthcare services with 68 hospitals across the country, and Masimo (NASDAQ: MASI) jointly announce a multi-year medical technology supplier agreement that allows Fortis hospitals access to Masimo's full line of the most technologically and clinically-advanced pulse oximetry and noninvasive, continuous patient monitoring solutions.

As part of the new agreement, Fortis Escorts Heart Institute, New Delhi, becomes the first hospital in the Fortis Healthcare Group to install 100 Masimo Radical-7s to standardize its operating rooms and critical care patient rooms with Masimo technology.

"This new preferred supplier relationship enables all hospitals and healthcare facilities owned, managed, and contracted with Fortis Healthcare to directly access and purchase Masimo's complete market-leading line of advanced noninvasive patient monitoring solutions," stated Dr. Raajiv Singhal, zonal director, Fortis Healthcare. "Now all Fortis-affiliated hospitals, beginning with Fortis Escorts Heart Institute, can benefit from the advanced noninvasive capabilities of Masimo SET® Measure-Through Motion and Low Perfusion pulse oximetry, Masimo rainbow® SET Pulse CO-Oximetry™, Masimo SafetyNet™, and SEDLine® brain function monitoring solutions at significant contracted savings."

Fortis hospitals now can purchase Masimo standalone (Radical-7®, Rad-87®, Rad-8®) and portable (Rad-5®, Rad-57®, Pronto, Pronto-7™) rainbow Pulse CO-Oximeters on contract, along with ReSposable, adhesive, and reusable sensors for all categories of patients, from neonatal and infant/pediatric to adult.

Dr. Anil Karlekar, head of anesthesia and critical care medicine at Fortis Escorts Heart Institute, stated, "This long-term association with Masimo will provide Fortis with industry-leading medical technology innovations and patient-monitoring solutions that will benefit patient care and the Fortis vision of creating a world-class integrated healthcare delivery system in India."

As the first hospital in the Fortis network to standardize its operating rooms and critical care areas to Masimo rainbow SET Pulse CO-Oximetry technology, Fortis Escorts Heart Institute recently installed 100 Masimo Radical-7s – with a select number providing clinicians with access to Masimo noninvasive total hemoglobin (SpHb®) and pleth variability index (PVI®) measurement capabilities. Monitoring SpHb helps clinicians quickly and continually assess a patient's hemoglobin blood level, which may help reduce unnecessary blood transfusions and associated costs. PVI may allow clinicians to noninvasively and continuously assess fluid status of patients. Masimo noninvasive oximeters and sensors enable rapid and continuous blood-constituent monitoring without the need to draw blood – providing tools to detect signs of anemia, internal bleeding, and the need for a blood transfusion in patients undergoing surgery. And because the same sensors follow patients from the OR to critical care areas of the hospital, each patient has a lifesaving continuum of care.

"Since installing the new technology in our operating rooms, Masimo Radical-7 monitors have noninvasively tracked and trended heart rate, oxygen saturation, hemoglobin, and fluid volume changes reliably," Dr. Karlekar added, "providing a unique new view into the patient's underlying physiological status, which has the potential to improve clinical decisions during surgery and patient outcomes during recovery."

Masimo rainbow SET Pulse CO-Oximetry is a breakthrough technology platform that allows hospitals to noninvasively measure and continuously monitor blood constituents and physiological parameters that previously required invasive procedures – including: total hemoglobin (SpHb®), oxygen content (SpOC™), carboxyhemoglobin (SpCO®), methemoglobin (SpMet®), Pleth Variability Index (PVI®), and acoustic respiration rate (RRa™), in addition to the Measure-Through Motion and Low Perfusion performance of Masimo SET oxyhemoglobin (SpO2), perfusion index (PI), and pulse rate (PR). The oximetry at leading hospitals worldwide, Masimo rainbow SET provides real-time results that enable clinicians to more rapidly assess patients and detect and treat adverse, potentially life-threatening conditions earlier. *

Masimo rainbow Pulse CO-Oximeters deliver additional features with simple field-installed software upgrades, so healthcare facilities can fight the rising costs of equipment obsolescence. No more costly device and hardware replacements. Masimo's easy upgrader tool adds new noninvasive measurements and patient-monitoring capabilities to existing "rainbow-ready" Masimo oximeters.

Masimo President of Worldwide Sales, Marketing, and Clinical Research, Jon Coleman, stated, "Fortis Healthcare is blazing a healthcare transformation trail in India with Masimo SET and rainbow SET advanced noninvasive technologies. Leveraging the unique benefits of our noninvasive oximetry and patient monitoring measurements and devices provides Fortis clinicians with immediate access to clinical measurements and critical physiologic intelligence, like real-time hemoglobin levels, that previously required invasive, time-consuming, and costly testing with delayed results. This translates to potentially earlier clinical decision-making that improves patient safety and outcomes while reducing the cost of care."

*To see a summary of all known clinical studies and abstracts on Masimo technologies and noninvasive measurements, please visit: http://www.masimo.com/cpub/clinicals.htm.

About Fortis Healthcare Fortis Healthcare (India) Limited is committed to clinical excellence and patient-centric healthcare, which is manifest in hospital design, patient services, medical programs and the compassionate approach of medical and non-medical hospital staff. Fortis commissioned its first hospital in 2001 at Mohali, near Chandigarh, and has expanded its operations to become a network with an over 10,000 bed capacity across 68 hospitals. The Fortis network has a large number of international accreditations, including four JCI (Joint Commission International) and 10 NABH (National Accreditation Board for Hospitals) certifications. The network's capability covers multi-speciality hospitals and super-speciality centres that provide tertiary and quaternary healthcare to patients in the major medical specialities. For more information, visit www.fortishealthcare.com

About Fortis Escorts Heart InstituteRecognized the world over as a center of cardiac excellence, Fortis Escorts Heart Institute provides the latest technology in cardiac bypass surgery, minimally invasive surgery, interventional cardiology, noninvasive cardiology, and pediatric cardiology to more than 14,500 inpatients and 7,200 emergency patients a year. With more than 200 cardiac doctors, 1600 employees, 285 patient beds, 5 Cath Labs, and a host of other world-class facilities, Fortis Escorts Heart Institute is backed by the most advanced laboratories and the latest technology for cardiac care.

About Masimo Masimo (NASDAQ: MASI) is the global leader in innovative noninvasive monitoring technologies that significantly improve patient care—helping solve "unsolvable" problems. In 1995, the company debuted Measure-Through Motion and Low Perfusion pulse oximetry, known as Masimo SET®, which virtually eliminated false alarms and increased pulse oximetry's ability to detect life-threatening events. More than 100 independent and objective studies demonstrate Masimo SET provides the most reliable SpO2 and pulse rate measurements even under the most challenging clinical conditions, including patient motion and low peripheral perfusion. In 2005, Masimo introduced rainbow SET® Pulse CO-Oximetry™ technology, allowing noninvasive and continuous monitoring of blood constituents that previously required invasive procedures, including total hemoglobin (SpHb®), oxygen content (SpOC™), carboxyhemoglobin (SpCO®), methemoglobin (SpMet®), and Pleth Variability Index (PVI®), in addition to SpO2, pulse rate, and perfusion index (PI). In 2008, Masimo introduced Patient SafetyNet™, a remote monitoring and wireless clinician notification system designed to help hospitals avoid preventable deaths and injuries associated with failure to rescue events. In 2009, Masimo introduced rainbow Acoustic Monitoring™, the first-ever noninvasive and continuous monitoring of acoustic respiration rate (RRa™). Masimo's rainbow SET technology platform offers a breakthrough in patient safety by helping clinicians detect life-threatening conditions and helping guide treatment options. In 2010, Masimo acquired SEDLine®, a pioneer in the development of innovative brain function monitoring technology and devices. Masimo SET and Masimo rainbow SET technologies can be also found in over 100 multiparameter patient monitors from over 50 medical device manufacturers around the world. Founded in 1989, Masimo has the mission of "Improving Patient Outcome and Reducing Cost of Care … by Taking Noninvasive Monitoring to New Sites and Applications®." Additional information about Masimo and its products may be found at www.masimo.com. Forward-Looking StatementsThis press release includes forward-looking statements as defined in Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933 and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, in connection with the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. These forward-looking statements are based on current expectations about future events affecting us and are subject to risks and uncertainties, all of which are difficult to predict and many of which are beyond our control and could cause our actual results to differ materially and adversely from those expressed in our forward-looking statements as a result of various risk factors, including, but not limited to: risks related to our assumptions regarding the repeatability of clinical results; risks related to our belief that Masimo's unique noninvasive measurement technologies, including: total hemoglobin (SpHb®), PVI®, acoustic respiration rate (RRa™), and SEDLine® contribute to positive clinical outcomes and patient safety; risks related to our belief that Masimo noninvasive medical breakthroughs provide cost-effective solutions with comparable accuracy and unique advantages, including: immediate and continuous results that enable earlier treatment without causing invasive trauma in all patients and in every clinical situation; as well as other factors discussed in the "Risk Factors" section of our most recent reports filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission ("SEC"), which may be obtained for free at the SEC's website at www.sec.gov. Although we believe that the expectations reflected in our forward-looking statements are reasonable, we do not know whether our expectations will prove correct. All forward-looking statements included in this press release are expressly qualified in their entirety by the foregoing cautionary statements. You are cautioned not to place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements, which speak only as of today's date. We do not undertake any obligation to update, amend or clarify these statements or the "Risk Factors" contained in our most recent reports filed with the SEC, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, except as may be required under the applicable securities laws.

Media Contacts:
Ruhee Dhar	Mike Drummond
Fortis Healthcare	Masimo Corporation
Phone: 91-11-47135000	Phone: (949) 297-7434
Email: ruhee.dhar@fortishealthcare.com	Email: mdrummond@masimo.com

Masimo, SET, Signal Extraction Technology, Improving Patient Outcome and Reducing Cost of Care… by Taking Noninvasive Monitoring to New Sites and Applications, rainbow, SpHb, SpOC, SpCO, SpMet, PVI, rainbow Acoustic Monitoring, RRa, Radical-7, Rad-87, Rad-57,Rad-8, Rad-5,Pulse CO-Oximetry, Pulse CO-Oximeter, Adaptive Threshold Alarm, and SEDLine are trademarks or registered trademarks of Masimo Corporation. The use of the trademarks Patient SafetyNet and PSN are under license from University HealthSystem Consortium.

SOURCE : Masimo