Karnataka reports 366 active Covid cases, death toll increases to 9
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New Indian Express
4 hours ago
- New Indian Express
SC order not a quick fix, ineffective ABCs, lack of data worsen crisis
CHENNAI: The keenness expressed by Municipal Administration Minister K N Nehru on Tuesday to implement the Supreme Court's order to remove stray dogs from the streets appeared to be an indication of a quick fix after failing to effectively implement the Animal Birth Control (ABC) programme for over two decades. Activists point out that, despite spending tens of crores every year, the stray population remained much higher than official estimates. To start with, there is no reliable state-wide data on the stray population. According to the nation-wide Livestock Census done in 2019, TN had 4.41 lakh stray dogs. Of the 25 municipal corporations, only four have completed surveys in the last two years. Tambaram recently undertook a survey, estimating around 45,000 dogs. The data from four corporations (Chennai, Coimbatore, Erode and Vellore) show that they together have roughly 3.3 lakh dogs, which is nearly 75% of the state-wide population in 2019, indicating the rapid growth the state seems to have witnessed, particularly during and post-Covid. As per this data, Chennai has 1.8 lakh strays, but the actual numbers could be 2.2-2.3 lakh, sources said. Of the strays in these four corporations, only a meagre 19.8% have undergone ABC procedure. Local bodies should ideally target sterilising 70%-80% of the dogs in a ward in a city over a period of 5-10 years. A meagre 20% coverage would leave the remaining to reproduce at an average of 4-6 pups per litter. Shravan Krishnan, director of Besant Memorial Animal Dispensary, said instead of trying to implement the unviable suggestion of the SC, local body officials who failed to properly implement ABC should be pulled up. The worsening of the problem is evident from the rise in dog-bite cases as well. According to Integrated Disease Surveillance Programme data, cases rose from 3.6 lakh in 2022 to 4.8 lakh in 2024 in TN.
Mint
5 hours ago
- Mint
ADHD Medicines Reduce Suicide, Crime Risks in Sweeping Study
(Bloomberg) -- Drugs to treat attention deficit hyperactivity disorder were linked to a reduced risk of suicidal behavior, substance misuse and criminality in the first research of its kind. The findings come amid increasing debate around whether ADHD is being over-diagnosed and therefore over-treated with drugs like Ritalin. The research published in the British Medical Journal on Wednesday did not investigate whether patients are being accurately diagnosed, but it does provide evidence supporting medical treatment. ADHD is characterized by difficulties with concentration and impulse control. Roughly 5% of children and 2.5% of adults are estimated to have the condition, which is also associated with an increased risk of substance misuse and self-harm. The researchers wanted to test whether the risk changed with medication. The study design was meant to closely mirror a randomized clinical trial, considered the gold standard of research. The scientists looked at health registry data from almost 150,000 patients newly diagnosed with ADHD in Sweden. At a two-year follow-up, they found that patients taking medicine had a 17% reduction in suicidal behavior and a 15% drop in substance misuse. They also found declines in the risk for criminality and transport accidents. When looking at the recurrence of these behaviors, there were also benefits linked to the medication. While the trial cannot show direct causation and could be confounded by factors such as ADHD severity, it provides doctors with vital evidence showing that drugs can address and reduce important risks, according to one of the authors. 'These data should inform clinical guidelines, policies and current debates,' said Samuele Cortese, a professor of child and adolescent psychiatry at the University of Southampton. The benefit was greater for patients taking stimulant medications than non-stimulants in the study. Stimulants include drugs like Novartis AG's Ritalin, while non-stimulants include Eli Lilly & Co.'s Strattera. The study results echo other similar conclusions, but 'the large sample size, use of a national registry, and more sophisticated analysis give greater confidence in these results that findings aren't explained by something else other than medication use,' said Adam Guastella, a clinical psychologist who works at Sydney Children's Hospital at Westmead and the University of Sydney's Brain and Mind Center. He was not involved in the research. Prescriptions in England for ADHD medicines have increased 18% year on year since the Covid-19 pandemic, according to research published in the BMJ Mental Health this year. The surge is believed to be linked to greater awareness of the condition. More stories like this are available on
Indian Express
8 hours ago
- Indian Express
15 ventilators at neurosurgery dept of Delhi's Lok Nayak, but only 1 working
Only one out of 15 ventilators is currently functional in the neurosurgery department of the Delhi government's 2,153-bed Lok Nayak Hospital, the largest such facility in the National Capital, official records reviewed by The Indian Express show. Weekly status reports maintained by the hospital show there were 14 ventilators in the department till Tuesday — none of them was functional. One functional ventilator was added on Wednesday. According to records, ten of these ventilators have been non-functional for eight months, two for about a year and two more for over two years. In 12 of these ventilators, 'multiple spares are defective' and need to be 'replaced as per service report'. The two ventilators that have been non-functional for over two years were procured during Covid from the PM CARES Fund. Delhi Health Minister Pankaj Kumar Singh and Lok Nayak Hospital Director B L Chaudhary did not respond to queries from The Indian Express regarding the ventilators. Ventilators are crucial during post-operative care, and in trauma and accident cases, to provide respiratory support to critical patients. Lok Nayak Hospital is among the three Delhi government hospitals that provide 24×7 emergency neurosurgery services. Its neurosurgery department has 86 in-patient beds and provides acute-level care to patients with trauma and pathology of the brain, spine, spinal cord and peripheral neuro injuries. Sources in the department said the lack of ventilators has also led to a drop in the number of surgeries performed each month. Before the ventilators stopped working, an average of 30-35 elective surgeries and 20-25 emergency neurosurgeries were conducted in two operation theatres every month, the sources said. 'The number has come down to 20 elective and 10 emergency surgeries on average per month… Cases are being prioritised and shortlisted, and those cases where ventilator is not required are preferred,' said a senior doctor. Sources also said that patients who are operated upon in the neurosurgery department and require ventilator support are being shifted to the general surgery department's ICU, which has 15 ventilator beds. This ICU also accommodates patients who have undergone surgeries in the orthopaedic and medicine departments. Doctors said that in cases where surgeries are conducted, patients are being provided with ambu bags — respiratory devices that have to be compressed manually and are used for short-term respiratory support in emergencies. In January last year, a man died after he was not given a ventilator bed and ICU care at Lok Nayak Hospital. The 47-year-old, who was an accused in a police case, was taken by Delhi Police to two other government hospitals in an ambulance. As CT scan was unavailable in those facilities, he was referred to Lok Nayak Hospital, police said. 'However, because of the unavailability of ICU ventilator beds, he could not be admitted there either,' the then DCP (Northeast) Joy Tirkey had said at the time.
