28-Nov-2017: Health Ministry and ICMR launch India Hypertension Management Initiative (IHMI)
The IHMI aims to reduce disability and death related to cardiovascular disease (CVD), the leading cause of death in India, by improving the control of high blood pressure (hypertension), reducing salt consumption and eliminating artificial trans-fats, leading risk factors for CVD.
Creating awareness about the various aspects of the non-communicable diseases like prevention, detection and management is vital as it is a silent disease. There is an urgent need to raise awareness about NCDs amongst families regarding packaged food and processed foods with excessive salt and trans-fat. Incorporating yoga in one’s life is important for prevention and management of hypertension.
The India Hypertension Management Initiative (IHMI) is a collaborative project of Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR), Ministry of Health and Family Welfare (MoHFW), State Governments, World Health Organization (WHO), and Resolve to Save Lives initiative of Vital Strategies. The primary goal of this project is to reduce morbidity and mortality due to CVDs, the leading cause of death in India, by improving the control of high blood pressure, which is a leading risk factor for CVDs among adults in India.
The IHMI is focused on five essential components of scalable treatment of hypertension. It will support the adoption of standardized simplified treatment plans for managing high blood pressure, ensure the regular and uninterrupted supply of quality-assured medications, task sharing so health workers who are accessible to patients can distribute medications already prescribed by the medical officer, and patient-centered services that reduce the barriers to treatment adherence. Data on hypertension will be improved through streamlined monitoring systems, and the lessons learned and practice-based evidence will inform further interventions to improve cardiovascular care. IHMI will be progressively rolled out in 25 districts in the first two years across districts selected by the Health Ministry for expansion of active screening and intensification of treatment activities for hypertension.
Around 200 million adults in India have high blood pressure, yet control rates for the condition remain low. Studies suggest that in rural areas in India, only one quarter of people with hypertension are aware of their condition, and only around 10 percent have their blood pressure controlled. In urban areas, around 40 percent of people with hypertension are aware of their condition, and only around 20 percent have their blood pressure controlled. This initiative aims to strengthen the cardiovascular disease component of the Health Ministry’s National Program for Control of Cancer, Diabetes, Cardiovascular Diseases and Stroke (NPCDCS). It will focus on strengthening hypertension management and monitoring at the primary health care level, within the existing healthcare system, and is aligned with WHO’s Global HEARTS Initiative and National Guidelines.
11-Sep-2017: A Bengaluru firm receives the international CARB-X grant
A Bengaluru firm has become India’s first to receive the international CARB-X grant to develop antibiotics to treat hospital-acquired infections.
CARB-X, or Combating Antibiotic Resistant Bacteria Biopharmaceutical Accelerator, is a public-private international partnership, which was set up in 2016 to focus on innovations to improve diagnosis and treatment of drug-resistant infections. It grew out of President Barack Obama’s 2015 Combating Antibiotic Resistant Bacteria (CARB) initiative, and is funded by the London-based biomedical research charity Welcome Trust, and the Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority (BARDA) of the US Department of Health and Human Services.
The partnership provides a new, collaborative approach to speed research, development and delivery of new antibiotics, vaccines, diagnostics, and other innovative products to address the urgent global problem of drug-resistant bacterial infections. CARB-X will provide grants up to $ 455 million (over Rs 2,900 crore) over a five-year period to firms across the globe for antibiotics R&D. All CARB-X funding so far is focused on projects to address the most resistant “Gram-negative” bacteria.
Bacteria are classified as Gram-positive and Gram-negative, based on a structural difference in their cell walls that is detectable through a staining technique developed in 1884 by the Danish bacteriologist Hans Christian Gram. Gram-negative bacteria are responsible for 20-25% of infections, and are multi drug resistant — which is the ability of bacteria to defend themselves against drugs that try to kill them.
Antibiotic resistance has become a global crisis that threatens the management of infections, both in the community and in hospital practice. The major reasons are the indiscriminate use of antibiotics, including against viral infections, especially in countries like India where they are commonly available over the counter; their prolonged use in patients admitted to hospitals; and their abuse in animal husbandry as growth promoters. Cheaper antibiotics such as penicillin, tetracycline or co-trimoxazole can often no longer cure an infection, and high-end ones like third- and fourth-generation cephalosporin and carbapenem are commonly used, doctors in India believe. In hospital critical care units, more than 50% organisms are now resistant even to these drugs.
5-Sep-2017: NITI Aayog launches the National Nutrition Strategy
Dr. M.S Swaminathan and Padma Shri Dr. H Sudarshan, launched the National Nutrition Strategy, along with Vice Chairman Dr. Rajiv Kumar and Member Dr. Vinod Paul.
With a benefit to cost ratio of 16:1 for 40 low and middle-income countries, there is a well-recognized rationale, globally, for investing in Nutrition. The recently published NFHS-4 results reflect some progress, with a decline in the overall levels of under nutrition in both women and children. However, the pace of decline is far below what numerous countries with similar growth trajectories to India have achieved. Moreover, India pays an income penalty of 9% to 10% due to a workforce that was stunted during their childhood.
To address this and to bring nutrition to the centre-stage of the National Development Agenda, NITI Aayog has drafted the National Nutrition Strategy. Formulated through an extensive consultative process, the Strategy lays down a roadmap for effective action, among both implementers and practitioners, in achieving our nutrition objectives.
The nutrition strategy envisages a framework wherein the four proximate determinants of nutrition – uptake of health services, food, drinking water & sanitation and income & livelihoods – work together to accelerate decline of under nutrition in India. Currently, there is also a lack of real time measurement of these determinants, which reduces our capacity for targeted action among the most vulnerable mothers and children.
Supply side challenges often overshadow the need to address behavioural change efforts to generate demand for nutrition services. This strategy, therefore, gives prominence to demand and community mobilisation as a key determinant to address India's nutritional needs.
The Nutrition Strategy framework envisages a Kuposhan Mukt Bharat - linked to Swachh Bharat and Swasth Bharat. The aim is ensure that States create customized State/ District Action Plans to address local needs and challenges. This is especially relevant in view of enhanced resources available with the States, to prioritise focussed interventions with a greater role for panchayats and urban local bodies.
The strategy enables states to make strategic choices, through decentralized planning and local innovation, with accountability for nutrition outcomes.