From The Desk of Dr K K Aggarwal

Recently, the government of India has proposed mandatory MDR TB centers in all medical colleges. Why focus only on MDR TB? Ideally all colleges should …Read more

Over the past years, there has been a paradigm shift in Aedes mosquitoes, which cause dengue fever. Traditionally, Aedes aegypti has been regarded as a …Read more

India is a malaria endemic country. The reported malaria cases in the country last year have declined by 23% compared to 2016, yet India still accounts for 87% of malaria cases in the South Asia region. Also, as per the World Malaria Report, India has among the weakest malaria surveillance systems globally, with only 8% of cases detected by the surveillance system. The World Health Organization (WHO) Global Technical Strategy for Malaria has set a target of reducing malaria case incidence by at least 90%, reducing malaria mortality rates by at least 90%, eliminating malaria in at least 35 countries and preventing a resurgence of malaria in all countries that are malaria-free. There is still a long road ahead before the goal of elimination of malaria throughout the country by 2030 is achieved. Malaria is entirely a preventable disease. It is also a treatable disease provided it is diagnosed and treated in time. The symptoms of malaria are non specific and can be variable. So it may be mistaken for other diseases such as viral infections, typhoid and the diagnosis of malaria may be missed as a result. It is important to remember here that malaria is not a clinical diagnosis; the diagnosis has to be confirmed by microscopy or a rapid diagnostic test (RDT). The ‘T3’ initiative of the WHO Global Malaria Program supports malaria-endemic countries in their efforts to achieve universal coverage with diagnostic testing and antimalarial treatment, as well as in strengthening their malaria surveillance systems T3 stands for Test. Treat. Track., which means: Every suspectedmalaria case should be tested Every confirmedcase should be treated with a quality-assured antimalarial medicine The disease should be trackedthrough a timely and accurate surveillance system. Adopting and implementing this initiative will be a step in the right direction in the efforts to control and eliminate malaria. Every patient of fever must be investigated for malaria to either confirm the diagnosis or exclude it as a cause of fever.

A patient who was hospitalized in a dedicated Trauma Centre run by the Delhi government with head and face injuries that he sustained in an accident, instead …Read more

Government employees who are Central Government Health Scheme (CGHS) beneficiaries are required to seek treatment in empanelled hospitals. CGHS guidelines say that “if the Central …Read more

The recent comments of the Prime Minister on doctors in his visit to the UK have been widely criticized among the fraternity. Yes, he should …Read more

Dr KK Aggarwal Recipient of Padma Shri Yesterday, Dr Rajiv Dhir, my friend and colleague of many years, suddenly decided to hide himself from us …Read more

Flowers, shawls, mementos are generally presented to distinguished faculty and eminent speakers during conferences or other meetings. I personally have a collection of more than …Read more

Recently, the CDC investigated a multistate outbreak of E. coli in the US and sourced it to Romain lettuce grown from the Yuma, Arizona growing …Read more

Air pollution has become a matter of great concern now both for the environment as well as human health. But, when we talk of air …Read more