Private psychiatrists' backing gives Punjab's anti-drug campaign critical push
Chandigarh: In a significant breakthrough for Punjab's anti-drug efforts, private psychiatrists agreed to join the state govt's flagship 'Yudh Nasheyan De Virudh' campaign, offering critical support in the face of a severe shortage of specialists, albeit with riders.
Their decision came after initial reluctance and marked a pivotal step forward in expanding clinical care for those battling addiction across the state.
The move is expected to substantially strengthen the state's capacity to manage the growing number of individuals seeking rehabilitation, following an intensified crackdown on drug abuse. Currently, over 10 lakh individuals are undergoing treatment at 529 govt-run Outpatient Opioid Assisted Treatment (OOAT) centres and 180 private facilities.
In addition, the govt added 1,200 new beds for addiction treatment in private institutions to meet rising demand.
Faced with an acute shortage of psychiatrists in public health facilities, the health department turned to the private sector for help. The breakthrough came after Punjab health minister Dr Balbir Singh announced that private psychiatrists operating through OPDs would be permitted to dispense all approved medications for addiction treatment—including buprenorphine and naloxone—to their own patients.
by Taboola
by Taboola
Sponsored Links
Sponsored Links
Promoted Links
Promoted Links
You May Like
Promoções imperdíveis de voos baratos
Voos | Anúncios de Pesquisa
Saiba Mais
Undo
This was a longstanding demand of private mental health professionals.
Following this policy shift, the Association of Psychiatrists (AOP) conveyed their decision to "provisionally" accept the govt's offer to support the clinical management of addiction cases in govt-affiliated de-addiction facilities. However, the collaboration comes with conditions aimed at safeguarding the autonomy and interests of private practitioners.
The AOP underscored several key demands: services should remain entirely voluntary, adequately remunerated, and logistically feasible; arrangements must be formalised through a detailed Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) clearly outlining terms of engagement, payment schedules, notice periods, and exit clauses. Moreover, psychiatrists seek legal indemnity from complications that may arise during treatment, such as patient absconding, injury, death, adverse drug reactions, or treatment failures.
The association shared a list of the doctors who expressed their willingness to collaborate along with the choice of station.
Nabha-based psychiatrist Dr Rajoo Saroj welcomed the govt's broader strategy, stating, "The Punjab govt has adopted a comprehensive and community-driven approach to strengthening de-addiction treatment facilities across the state. The initiative encompasses public-private partnerships, community engagement, outpatient opioid-assisted treatment, infrastructure development, and the establishment of a centralised drug de-addiction registry portal for robust policy monitoring.
These multifaceted efforts are aimed at tackling the addiction crisis in Punjab."
Association of Psychiatrists (AOP) president Dr Rupinder Kapur said, "The Punjab govt approached us to support the 'Yudh Nasheyan De Virudh' campaign. Our understanding is that it seeks to empower patients by expanding treatment options and empower doctors by granting them greater autonomy, including the ability to dispense all approved medications from their OPD setups.
However, the campaign's success is contingent on the govt fulfilling its commitments to both patients and doctors.
The AOP is closely monitoring the govt's policy decisions, and our support will continue only if those promises are honoured."
Dr Balbir Singh called the decision of private doctors to assist govt mutually beneficial. "Private psychiatrists will be allowed to dispense medicine to their own patients, while the govt will be able to expand the reach and effectiveness of its substance abuse treatment programmes," he said.
BOX
Call for mental health reform
In addition to their support for the anti-drug campaign, the Association of Psychiatrists is also pressing the state govt for full implementation of the Mental Healthcare Act. They argue that rights-based and comprehensive treatment for drug addiction cannot be achieved without aligning existing practices with the Act. The association is also advocating for an end to the so-called "licence raj", greater clarity on govt policy in mental health, and redressal of local challenges faced by private practitioners.
MSID:: 121488359 413 |
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Time of India
5 hours ago
- Time of India
Poison paradox : Here is how Australia's most dangerous animals contribute to medicine by saving lives
Source: BBC According to a BBC report, armed with a pair of bright pink tweezers, Emma Teni carefully operations a large and long-legged spider inside a small plastic container. Emma operates from a compact space known as the spider milking room. On an average day, she collects venom from up to 80 Sydney funnel-web spiders . Three walls are lined with shelves full of these spiders, partially concealed behind a dark curtain to help keep them calm. 'Sydney funnel-webs are arguably the most dangerous spiders on Earth,' Emma states calmly. Australia is known for its deadly creatures and this modest room at the Australian Reptile Park is vital to the national antivenom program which is a life-saving initiative in a country often humorously described as a place where 'everything wants to kill you.' Poison paradox researched by a spider expert Although the fastest recorded fatality from a Sydney funnel-web spider bite occurred in just 13 minutes which is tragically involving a toddler with the average time to death is closer to 76 minutes. With prompt first aid, survival chances improve significantly. Thanks to the antivenom program run by the Australian Reptile Park, there hasn't been a single fatality from a funnel-web bite since the initiative began in program, however, depends on the public to safely catch these spiders or collect their egg sacs. Every week, Emma Teni and her team travel across Sydney in a van marked with a giant crocodile decal, collecting spiders that locals have dropped off at places like vet clinics and community centers. by Taboola by Taboola Sponsored Links Sponsored Links Promoted Links Promoted Links You May Like Secure Your Child's Future with Strong English Fluency Planet Spark Learn More Undo According to Ms. Teni, there are two key factors that make Sydney funnel-web spiders so dangerous which is their venom is incredibly powerful and they live in densely populated areas and are increasing the likelihood of human contact. Charlie Simpson, a 26-year-old handyman and gardening enthusiast, recently experienced this firsthand. After moving into a new home with his girlfriend, he discovered two funnel-webs in his yard. He safely caught the second one and brought it to a local vet, where Ms. Teni later collected it. As Ms. Teni carefully transfers another spider that arrived in a Vegemite jar, she emphasizes that the goal isn't to encourage people to take unnecessary the spiders collected by Emma and her team are brought back to the Australian Reptile Park, where they're carefully catalogued, sexed and are considered for a breeding program to help increase the number of spiders beyond what's donated by the public. The males, which are six to seven times more venomous than females, play a key role in antivenom production and are 'milked' for venom every two weeks. To extract venom, Emma uses a pipette connected to a suction hose, an essential setup, as each spider yields only a tiny amount. While just a few drops could be deadly, it takes venom from around 200 spiders to produce a single vial of antivenom. Emma, who originally trained as a marine biologist and once worked with seals, never imagined she'd end up milking spiders. But now she embraces it fully—she adores arachnids and is known by many nicknames, from "Spider Girl" and "Spider Mama" to 'Weirdo,' as her daughter affectionately calls fascination with Australia's creepy crawlies means friends, neighbors, and family frequently turn to her for advice. Where a bite least dangerous for poison Spiders are just a small part of the work done at the Australian Reptile Park, which has also been supplying snake venom to the government since the snake bites are a serious concern , the World Health Organization estimates around 140,000 deaths annually with many more left permanently disabled. In contrast, Australia sees far fewer fatalities with only one to four deaths per year, largely thanks to its highly effective antivenom program. At the park, operations manager Billy Collett demonstrates the process by retrieving a King Brown snake. He calmly secures the snake's head with his bare hands and places its fangs over a shot glass covered in plastic wrap to collect the venom. The venom is freeze-dried and sent to CSL Seqirus, a laboratory in Melbourne, where it is processed into antivenom—a procedure that can take up to 18 months. The first stage involves producing hyper-immune plasma. For snake venom, this means injecting controlled amounts into horses, chosen for their size and robust immune systems. For Sydney funnel-web spiders, rabbits are used since they are naturally immune to the toxins. These animals receive gradually increasing venom doses to build up their antibodies, a process that can take nearly a year. Once the antibodies are developed, the plasma is extracted from the animal's blood, and the antibodies are isolated and prepared for bottling and distribution. CSL Seqirus produces around 7,000 vials annually, covering antivenoms for snakes, spiders, stonefish, and box jellyfish, each with a shelf life of 36 months. Ensuring these antivenoms reach those who need them is a major logistical challenge. Vials are distributed based on the local species—for instance, Taipan antivenom is sent to northern Australia but not Tasmania, where the snake isn't found. Antivenoms are also supplied to the Royal Flying Doctors for reaching remote communities, as well as to the Australian navy and cargo ships to protect sailors from sea snake bites. Papua New Guinea also receives around 600 vials of antivenom annually. Once connected to Australia by a land bridge, the two countries share many of the same snake species, so Papua New Guinea is provided with antivenom free of charge—a form of 'snake diplomacy.' Also read: 57-million-year-old giant penguin fossil discovered in New Zealand sheds light on ancient marine life
Time of India
6 hours ago
- Time of India
The real hero in medicine: Saving lives before they are at risk
LUCKNOW: When we imagine a hero in medicine, the picture is almost cinematic: a surgeon in scrubs, performing a high-stakes heart or brain surgery. The room is tense, and the scene is rich with drama and purpose. But if we step back and look closely, a quiet paradox unfolds, one that challenges our understanding of what true medical heroism should be. Consider this: A patient with blocked coronary arteries undergoes a life-saving bypass. The surgery lasts hours. The recovery takes weeks. The cost? Upwards of Rs 50 lakh. And yet, as remarkable as the surgery is, it does nothing to address the root cause of the disease. The inflammation, poor diet, stress, and metabolic dysfunction that led to it remain untouched. Now, imagine a modest office down the hospital corridor where sits a nutritionist or preventive care doctor, rarely celebrated and often overlooked. But if they were engaged earlier, that surgery might have been avoided entirely. That's the paradox: we reward rescue but ignore prevention. We glorify crisis, but not caution. Prevention: Invisible, But Powerful India is home to over 77 million people with diabetes. by Taboola by Taboola Sponsored Links Sponsored Links Promoted Links Promoted Links You May Like Esse novo alarme com câmera é quase gratuito em Navegantes (consulte o preço) Alarmes Saiba Mais Undo Nearly one in four deaths is caused by cardiovascular disease. A majority of these cases are preventable through early screening, lifestyle changes, nutritional counselling, and community health efforts. But prevention is invisible when it works. There's no emergency room drama, no last-minute miracle. Just a life that quietly continues, unchanged by tragedy. And that, unfortunately, makes for poor television but excellent medicine. Why the system doesn't reward prevention It comes down to incentives. Our healthcare systems, public and private, are built around procedures, not prevention. There are billing codes for bypass surgeries and stents. Few, if any, exist for reversing disease through diet and exercise. Medical training reinforces this hierarchy. Nutritionists are viewed as peripheral. Functional medicine doctors are often dismissed as fringe. Meanwhile, invasive procedures are celebrated as cutting-edge, even when they are responses to conditions that could have been avoided. This is not a failure of skill, but a failure of structure. India at a crossroads India stands at a tipping point. As incomes rise, so do processed food consumption, sedentary behaviour, and chronic stress. We are watching the emergence of a metabolic epidemic. If we do not shift our strategy soon, we risk a healthcare crisis not of infection, but of chronic disease. But India also has a chance to lead — not by copying the West, but by integrating its rich legacy of preventive health with cutting-edge translational science. This is our moment to redefine medical progress. So, who is the real hero? It's not just the one in the operating room; it's the dietitian who teaches patients to eat for longevity, the community health worker helping a village reduce hypertension, and the primary care doctor who catches metabolic syndrome early. The public health official pushing for school wellness programs is also an unsung hero. Because while surgery may save one life, prevention can save millions. What India must do To move toward a prevention-first healthcare model, we must rebuild incentives to reward outcomes, not just procedures. Public insurance schemes like Ayushman Bharat must integrate preventive services into reimbursement structures. Elevate nutrition and lifestyle medicine as core disciplines, not add-ons, in medical education and hospital systems. Invest in public health infrastructure that makes early intervention accessible from urban slums to rural villages. Individuals must ask their doctor not just for prescriptions, but for prevention plans. Demand that your workplace or school includes wellness, movement, and nutritional education. Support policies that treat food and physical activity as frontline medicine. Time to rewrite the story We must shift from a system that reacts at the brink of death to one that prevents illness at its roots. That means valuing public health as much as private hospitals, funding wellness programs like we fund ICUs, and most importantly, redefining what it means to be a hero in healthcare. Because the greatest act of medical courage isn't pulling someone back from the edge. It's making sure they never get there in the first place. (The writer is a US-based medical scientist)
Time of India
7 hours ago
- Time of India
21 killed, 175 wounded during aid distribution in Gaza
21 killed, 175 wounded during aid distribution in Gaza (AP) At least 21 people were killed and 175 wounded on Sunday while seeking aid from an Israeli-backed foundation in the Gaza Strip, according to a Red Cross-run hospital that received the bodies. The shooting occurred near a Gaza Humanitarian Foundation distribution site at a roundabout in an Israeli-controlled area. Witnesses said Israeli forces opened fire on crowds moving toward the aid center. "There were many martyrs, including women," said Ibrahim Abu Saoud, a 40-year-old eyewitness who was about 300 meters away from the military. "We weren't able to help him," he added, referring to a young man who died at the scene from gunshot wounds. The Gaza Humanitarian Foundation dismissed reports of casualties in an earlier statement, saying it distributed 16 truckloads of aid "without incident" and called reports of "deaths, mass injuries and chaos" false. The foundation says its private security contractors did not fire on crowds. The Israeli military has acknowledged firing warning shots but did not immediately comment on Sunday's incident. Multiple witnesses have previously reported Israeli troops firing on crowds near delivery sites. by Taboola by Taboola Sponsored Links Sponsored Links Promoted Links Promoted Links You May Like Buy Brass Idols - Handmade Brass Statues for Home & Gifting Luxeartisanship Buy Now Undo This marks an escalation in violence around aid distribution. Before Sunday, at least six people had been killed and more than 50 wounded at similar sites, according to local health officials. The distribution hub is part of a new aid system devised jointly by Israel and the US, which they claim prevents Hamas from diverting assistance. UN agencies and major aid groups refuse to acknowledge the system, arguing it violates humanitarian principles by allowing Israel to control aid recipients and forcing dangerous relocations to distribution sites. Experts warn the territory faces full-blown famine without increased aid access.
