Govt schemes help boost health cover by 14% in 10 yrs

Expansion in India's health insurance coverage, particularly the government 

schemes, has helped improve various health indicators as more people seek 

treatment and medical services. For instance, insurance penetration has resulted 

in a rise of over 15% in institutional deliveries, thus reducing maternal and infant 

mortality.

Similarly , people in rural areas, the elderly and members of the scheduled castes 

and scheduled tribes are now more likely to seek tertiary care because of insurance 

coverage. Official data shows childbirth in government hospitals increased by 22% 

between 2004 and 2014, led by government policies, whereas `at home' deliveries 

declined by 16%.

India has witnessed a huge jump in health insurance coverage over the past decade. 

While just 1% of population had coverage in 2004, the figure went up to more than 

15% in 2014. Though health insurance coverage continues to be driven by the government 

in India, latest data compiled by the Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority of 

India (IRDAI) shows Indians are increasingly buying private policies too.

According to IRDAI data, the premium collected by health insurers during 2015-16 

jumped by 21.7% to Rs 24,448 crore. This has also encouraged providers to expand 

their base. The number of schemes, the basket of services as well as payment options 

have also been expanded over the past decade, providing people better opportunity to 

seek medical care for critical diseases.

A recent Brookings India study , based on NSSO data, shows a decline in the number 

of people not seeking medical services when sick, from 15.1 per 1,000 people in 2004 

to 12.4 in 2014. The increasing insurance penetration has also helped with the accessibility 

and affordability of healthcare services for the poor and those living in remote areas.

Infrastructure and sustained focus are required to link the available health systems, 

both public and private in rural and remote areas, with health insurance, says IRDAI 

chairman T S Vijayan.

According to the national health profile 2015, compiled by Central Bureau of Health

Intelligence, 67% of those with some form of coverage are under public insurance

companies. Centreand statefunded health insurance schemes covered about 37 crore 

people in 2014 as compared to 5.5 lakh in 2004.

Source: The Times of India

Medicine

Japan's birth rate may fall below 1m

The number of births in Japan is likely to fall below a million this year for the 

first time since data became available in 1899, the government said on Thursday, 

reflecting a fast-aging society and the high cost of child care. Japan will also post 

a natural population decline this year as deaths outpace births, its 10th consecutive 

drop, according to an estimate by the health ministry.

The total number of births is expected to be between 980,000 and 990,000 this 

year, down from slightly more than a million last year, data from the ministry showed.

Births hit a record high of 2.696 million in 1949.

A shrinking population of women in their 20s and 30s -about 13.66 million in 

October or 20% fewer than a decade ago -is a key factor in the falling number of 

births, a ministry official said.

Japan's fertility rate was 1.45 in 2015, up 0.03 points from a year earlier, helped 

by an economic recovery, and is recovering from the record low of 1.26 hit in 2005. 

However, it is still far from the government's goal of 1.80. Japan's cabinet on Thursday 

approved a record $830 billion spending budget for fiscal 2017, which includes child-

rearing support.

Source: The Times of India

Immunise infant, get mobile recharge free

Haryana to set up cath labs in district hospitals

Haryana Health Minister Anil Vij on Monday announced that Cath Labs for diagnostic 
purposes would be set up in four district hospitals of the state under a pilot project.

“Later on, laboratories would be established in all hospitals. Stunt to the heart patients 

would be available at a cost of Rs 40,000 in these labs,” said the Minister while 

launching the ‘VIBGYOR Bed Linen’ programme at Civil hospital in Panchkula.

Vij said that this is the first of its kind programme started in Haryana under which bed 

sheets of seven different colours will be used in all hospitals in the State.

He said that this unique experiment would be replicated in all medical colleges in the 

second phase so that patients could get clean and hygienic bed sheets every day. Days 

name has been scripted on each bed sheet for its identification so that common person 

could confirm the change of bed sheet as per day.

The Health Department had purchased over 2.64 lakh bed sheets at a cost of about 

Rs 5.26 crore. The inspection about thread count, colour and washing have been got .

conducted from Government Textile lab, Panipat. The programme aimed at to provide 

hygienic atmosphere in hospitals, said the Health Minister.

Vij said that basic amenities in hospitals in the state have been upgraded during last

 two years of the present government as a result of which people faith in government 

hospitals have increased.

Source: The Pioneer

Sex ratio

Liver's ability to repair itself offers hope

A unique property of the liver to repair itself has become the most potent weapon

in the fight against liver diseases in which a transplant is the only option. All one 

needs is a little stimulant, say doctors, who claim to have successfully delayed the 

need for a transplant in many patients. They are now taking their research further to 

see if organ failure can be reversed using stimulants, also known as growth factors. 

These include GCSF, which is essentially a cell product that makes the white cells 

and red blood cell forming growth factor called “darbopoietin“.

“Liver transplantation is the only treatment for patients with chronic liver failure but

not all of them get it due to a scarcity of donors. But we were able to prolong the 

survival of over 100 patients on waiting list for transplant at our hospital using GCSF, 

in addition to standard medical care.It also helped improve their clinical outcome 

significantly,“ said Dr Anil Arora, director, Institute of Liver, Gastroenterology and 

Pancreatico biliary Sciences at Sir Ganga Ram Hospital (SGRH).

GCSF is an injectable growth factor that stimulates the bone marrow to release stem 

cells into circulation to repair tissues, including liver, he explained. “While the exact 

mechanism is not clear, we believe that the growth factors help in regeneration of the 

liver by mobilising certain cells,“ Arora added. The study has been published in the 

latest issue of the “European Journal of Gastroenterology and Hepatology“.

Dr S K Sarin, director of In stitute of Liver and Biliary Sciences (ILBS), said liver 

can work even if more than 75% of its overall mass is damaged. “This is the reason 

why one can donate a portion of his or liver to the needy without worrying about any 

impact on his or her own health.“

At ILBS, doctors have been using GCSF as well as red blood cell forming growth 

factor called darbopoietin to stimulate regeneration of the liver.

“The results so far are satisfactory for certain group of patients. We hope to save 

lives of many patients who cannot get a donor immediately ,“ Sarin added.

Source:  The Times of India