Mumbai's JJ Hospital completes 101 robotic surgeries in less than three months
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"Robotic surgery offers unmatched precision, 3D magnified visualisation, and greater flexibility for surgeons, allowing complex procedures to be performed with smaller incisions, minimal blood loss, and faster recovery times," said JJ Hospital Dean Dr Ajay H Bhandarwar.
The first procedure with the robotic arm was conducted on April 9 when a 37-year-old male with a right inguinal hernia was operated on. According to doctors from the general surgery department who have been using the robotic arm, the most notable case was a 51-year-old Lower Parel resident who was diagnosed with a porcelain gallbladder, a rare and potentially cancerous condition.
"The robotic approach allowed the team to handle dense adhesions with utmost precision, ensuring a safe outcome," according to a statement released by the hospital.
On Wednesday, a 27-year-old Pune farmer underwent robotic inguinal hernia repair. Patients don't have to pay for the advantage of a robotic arm; all the 101 surgeries were conducted free of cost. The hospital plans to acquire robotic arms for other departments as well in the near future.
BMC-run KEM Hospital in Parel was the first public hospital to get a robotic arm through corporate social responsibility; the hospital regularly uses it for knee surgeries and has so far conducted free surgeries.
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News18
3 hours ago
- News18
Malnourished kids arrive daily at Gaza hospital as Netanyahu denies hunger
Khan Younis, Aug 14 (AP) The dead body of 2 1/2-year-old Ro'a Mashi lay on the table in Gaza's Nasser Hospital, her arms and rib cage skeletal, her eyes sunken in her skull. Doctors say she had no preexisting conditions and wasted away over months as her family struggled to find food and treatment. Her family showed The Associated Press a photo of Ro'a's body at the hospital, and it was confirmed by the doctor who received her remains. Several days after she died, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Sunday told local media, 'There is no hunger. There was no hunger. There was a shortage, and there was certainly no policy of starvation." In the face of international outcry, Netanyahu has pushed back, saying reports of starvation are 'lies" promoted by Hamas. However, UN spokesman Stephane Dujarric this week warned that starvation and malnutrition in Gaza are at the highest levels since the war began. The UN says nearly 12,000 children under 5 were found to have acute malnutrition in July — including more than 2,500 with severe malnutrition, the most dangerous level. The World Health Organisation says the numbers are likely an undercount. The past two weeks, Israel has allowed around triple the amount of food into Gaza than had been entering since late May. That followed 2 1/2 months when Israel barred all food, medicine and other supplies, saying it was to pressure Hamas to release hostages taken during its 2023 attack that launched the war. While better food access might help much of Gaza's population, 'it won't help the children who are severely malnourished," said Alex DeWaal, executive director of the World Peace Foundation at Tufts University, who has worked on famine and humanitarian issues for more than 40 years. When a person is severely malnourished, vital micronutrients are depleted and bodily functions deteriorate. Simply feeding the person can cause harm, known as 'refeeding syndrome," potentially leading to seizures, coma or death. Instead, micronutrients must first be replenished with supplements and therapeutic milk in a hospital. 'We're talking about thousands of kids who need to be in hospital if they're going to have a chance of survival," DeWaal said. 'If this approach of increasing the food supply had been undertaken two months ago, probably many of those kids would not have gotten into this situation." Any improvement is also threatened by a planned new Israeli offensive that Netanyahu says will capture Gaza City and the tent camps where most of the territory's population is located. That will prompt a huge new wave of displacement and disrupt food delivery, UN and aid officials warn. Preexisting conditions The Gaza Health Ministry says 42 children died of malnutrition-related causes since July 1, along with 129 adults. It says 106 children have died of malnutrition during the entire war. The ministry, part of the Hamas-run government, is staffed by medical professionals and its figures on casualties are seen by the UN and other experts as the most reliable. The Israeli military Tuesday pointed to the fact that some children who died had preexisting conditions, arguing their deaths were 'unrelated to their nutritional status." It said a review by its experts had concluded there are 'no signs of a widespread malnutrition phenomenon" in Gaza. At his press briefing Sunday, Netanyahu spoke in front of a screen reading 'Fake Starving Children" over photos of skeletal children with preexisting conditions. He accused Hamas of starving the remaining Israeli hostages and repeated claims the militant group is diverting large amounts of aid, a claim the UN denies. Doctors in Gaza acknowledge that some of those dying or starving have chronic conditions, including cerebral palsy, rickets or genetic disorders, some of which make children more vulnerable to malnutrition. However, those conditions are manageable when food and proper medical treatments are available, they say. 'The worsening shortages of food led to these cases' swift deterioration," said Dr. Yasser Abu Ghali, head of Nasser's pediatrics unit. 'Malnutrition was the main factor in their deaths." Of 13 emaciated children whose cases the AP has seen since late July, five had no preexisting conditions — including three who died — according to doctors. Abu Ghali spoke next to the body of Jamal al-Najjar, a 5-year-old who died Tuesday of malnutrition and was born with rickets, which hinders the ability to metabolize vitamins, weakening bones. In the past months, the boy's weight fell from 16 kilograms to 7 (35 pounds to 15), said his father, Fadi al-Najjar, whose lean face showed his own hunger. Asked about Netanyahu's claim there was no hunger in Gaza, he pointed at Jamal's protruding rib cage. 'Of course there's famine," he said. 'Does a 5-year-old child's chest normally come to look like this?" Skin and bones Dr. Ahmed al-Farra, Nasser's general director of pediatrics, said the facility receives 10-20 children with severe malnutrition a day, and the numbers are rising. On Sunday, a severely malnourished 2-year-old, Shamm Qudeih, cried in pain in her hospital bed. Her arms, legs and ribs were skeletal, her belly inflated. 'She has lost all fat and muscle," al-Farra said. She weighed 4 kilograms (9 pounds), a third of a 2-year-old's normal weight. Doctors suspect Shamm suffers from a rare genetic condition called glycogen storage disease, which changes how the body uses and stores glycogen, a form of sugar, and can impact muscle and bone development. But they can't test for it in Gaza, al-Farra said. Normally, the condition can be managed through a high-carbohydrate diet. Her family applied a year ago for medical evacuation, joining a list of thousands the WHO says need urgent treatment abroad. For months, Israel slowed evacuations to a near standstill or halted them for long stretches. But it appears to be stepping up permissions, with more than 60 allowed to leave in the first week of August, according to the UN. Permission for Shamm to leave Gaza finally came this week, and on Wednesday, she was heading to a hospital in Italy. A child died in her family's tent Ro'a was one of four dead children who suffered from malnutrition brought to Nasser over the course of just over two weeks, doctors say. Her mother, Fatma Mashi, said she first noticed Ro'a losing weight last year, but she thought it was because she was teething. When she took Ro'a to Nasser Hospital in October, the child was severely malnourished, according to al-Farra, who said Ro'a had no preexisting conditions. At the time, in the last months of 2024, Israel had reduced aid entry to some of the lowest levels of the war. The family was also displaced multiple times by Israeli military operations. Each move interrupted Ro'a's treatment as it took time to find a clinic to get nutritional supplements, Mashi said. The family was reduced to one meal a day — often boiled macaroni — but 'whatever she ate, it didn't change anything in her," Mashi said. Two weeks ago, they moved into the tent camps of Muwasi on Gaza's southern coast. Ro'a's decline accelerated. 'I could tell it was only a matter of two or three more days," Mashi said in the family's tent Friday, the day after she had died. Mashi and her husband Amin both looked gaunt, their cheeks and eyes hollow. Their five surviving children – including a baby born this year — are thin, but not nearly as emaciated as Ro'a. top videos View all DeWaal said it's not unusual in famines for one family member to be far worse than others. 'Most often it will be a kid who is 18 months or 2 years" who is most vulnerable, he said, while older siblings are 'more robust." But any number of things can set one child into a spiral of malnutrition, such as an infection or troubles after weaning. 'A very small thing can push them over." (AP) GSP (This story has not been edited by News18 staff and is published from a syndicated news agency feed - PTI) view comments First Published: August 14, 2025, 20:45 IST News agency-feeds Malnourished kids arrive daily at Gaza hospital as Netanyahu denies hunger Disclaimer: Comments reflect users' views, not News18's. Please keep discussions respectful and constructive. Abusive, defamatory, or illegal comments will be removed. News18 may disable any comment at its discretion. By posting, you agree to our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy.
Hindustan Times
18 hours ago
- Hindustan Times
Invite public suggestions before deciding on controlled pigeon feeding: HC to BMC
MUMBAI: The Bombay High Court on Wednesday directed the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) to invite public suggestions and objections before taking any decision regarding allowing controlled pigeon feeding in Mumbai between 6 am and 8 am every day. Mumbai, India. Aug 13, 2025: Heavy police security around Dadar Kabutra Khana. a. Marathi Ekikaran Samiti workers protested at Dadar Kabutar Khana, demanding that the authorities maintain the ban on pigeon feeding and close Kabutar Khana. Mumbai, India. Aug 13, 2025. (Photo by Raju Shinde/HT Photo) (Raju Shinde) A division bench of justices GS Kulkarni and Arif Doctor was hearing petitions filed by animal rights activists and the Jain trust managing the Dadar Kabutarkhana against the BMC's crackdown on pigeon-feeding grounds due to health concerns linked to pigeon droppings and feathers. After the BMC told the high court that it has proposed allowing controlled pigeon feeding for two hours in the morning at the kabutarkhana every day, the bench replied, 'You cannot just make such a decision now. It has to be well considered. Since the decisions to ban feeding of the pigeons and to close the kabutarkhanas were in (the) larger public interest, the sanctity of the same has to be maintained.' However, advocate general Dr Birendra Saraf, representing the state, raised concerns over this directive. 'If we overwhelm the authorities with public hearings, it will make the work unmanageable,' he said. Saraf also submitted a list of 11 names, including doctors, town planning department officials, microbiologists and other experts, who will be appointed to a committee that will examine the impact of pigeon feeding on citizens' health. The committee will be notified by August 20, he said, adding, 'The state is equally concerned about public health. We want finality in the situation. Inputs will be invited from different bodies of experts to discuss the issues. Inputs from the petitioners will not suffice.' The high court is hearing a bunch of petitions related to the ban on feeding pigeons and the closure of kabutarkhanas across Mumbai. The matter escalated into a major controversy after members of the Jain community protested against the ban, citing religious and cultural traditions. On August 6, hundreds of people tore down the plastic sheet covering the Dadar Kabutarkhana that was installed by the BMC after enforcing the ban. During the last hearing on August 7, the high court had emphasised that public health, especially that of children and senior citizens, was paramount. It also suggested appointing a committee of experts to examine the impact of pigeon-feeding. The court had already invited medical opinions from lung specialists, who pointed out the adverse health impact of proximity to pigeons. 'The state can appoint a committee, as it is the guardian and custodian of public health and citizens, to balance the interests of the larger population,' the bench had said. It added that when actions such as closing kaburkhanas were taken on the basis of modern scientific research, the judges were not experts to issue such directions. 'If the committee decides they have been rightly closed, then certainly such expert opinion needs to prevail in the larger interest of public health and the state government or the corporation would not take a decision against expert opinion,' the bench had said. 'We are only concerned about public health. There are a few people who want to feed the pigeons. It is for the government to now to take a decision.' The BMC had earlier told the court that pigeon droppings and feathers triggered asthma and other diseases such as hypersensitivity pneumonitis. A medical report submitted to the court highlighted that exposure to pigeons and their droppings could harm lungs and cause acute breathlessness. It said that most people realised this medical condition too late, after fibrosis had already begun in the lungs. No drug is available to cure or reverse fibrosis, it added. One of the petitioners, Pallavi Patil, had earlier approached the Supreme Court, challenging the Bombay High Court order directing the police to register FIRs against people who continue to feed pigeons at kabutarkhanas. The apex court had, however, refused to interfere with the high court's proceedings.
Hindustan Times
18 hours ago
- Hindustan Times
Jogeshwari residents await a footpath for over 3 years
Mumbai: When Neeta Shah, a 75-year-old pedestrian, died in Malabar Hill on Tuesday after being forced to walk on the road due to the absence of a footpath and coming under the wheels of a bus, it served as a brutal reminder to Jogeshwari West resident Mansoor Darvesh about the fate that could befall residents of his area. Jogeshwari West resident Mansoor Darvesh has been pleading with the BMC to construct a footpath along Swami Vivekananda Road, from Millat Hospital to the Amboli BIT Chowky, for more than three years now (Satish Bate/ Hindustan Times) Darvesh, 65, has been pleading with the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) to construct a footpath along Swami Vivekananda Road, from Millat Hospital to the Amboli BIT Chowky, for more than three years now. 'The stretch has crazy traffic and footpaths are non-existent or hardly there,' Darvesh told Hindustan Times. 'Moreover, cars and bikes routinely climb onto the footpath wherever it is there, posing huge risks to children and patients walking along.' The roughly one-kilometre-long stretch sees massive traffic, especially during peak hours, and is also used by scores of pedestrians across age groups, HT found during a visit to the area. The road is flanked by two hospitals and three big schools, which cumulatively cater to nearly 15,000 students, including many who walk to school. In most parts, the space left for footpaths is taken over by garbage and sludge. The few patches where a narrow footpath does exist, encroachments such as roadside stalls and eateries block the way, leaving no option for pedestrians but to walk deep inside the road while negotiating heavy traffic. The situation gets especially problematic during the monsoon, when water collects on both sides of the road and mixes with the sludge to make even walking along the road side unfeasible, said Mohammed Sharif, a resident of the area. 'Still, so many school children walk on the road and we worry they will get into an accident sooner rather than later,' Sharif said. Perturbed by the situation and apprehensions of an accident, like the one that occurred in Malabar Hill on Tuesday, Sharif's neighbour Darvesh first complained to the K West ward office in March 2022. Most parts of Jogeshwari West come under the K West ward, and Darvesh demanded, via his letter to the ward office, that a proper footpath be constructed along the SV Road stretch to cater to the needs and safety of pedestrians. Since the letter elicited no response, he complained to the ward office again in April. In June, he submitted an application under the Right to Information Act, asking if any action had been taken on his earlier complaints. Around a month later, in July 2022, the ward office responded to his complaints, saying the portion of SV Road he had referred to would be widened and footpaths would be constructed thereafter. He also received a response to his RTI application around the same time, saying his query had been resolved. 'Though the ward office did respond to my letters, no timeline was provided regarding when the road would be widened and when we could expect a footpath,' he said. Since then, Darvesh has been sending reminder letters to the K West ward office every few months. 'But I never get a response,' he said. 'Given the incident in Malabar Hill this week, I will follow up again. Maybe, the authorities will respond this time.'
