India scraps import duties on AIDS drugs to battle shortage

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MUMBAI, June 11 (Reuters) - India has scrapped customs import duties for drugs and test kits used to treat AIDS in an effort to cut prices across the country, as it struggles to cope with an ongoing shortage in its national program to fight the disease.

More than a third of India's 2.1 million HIV/AIDS patients depend on getting their daily antiretrovirals for free from state-run distribution centres, but many of them have been facing shortages or stock outs for months.

The notice put out by the Central Board of Excise and Customs this week intends to make it cheaper to import raw materials that are used to make antiretrovirals under the national program, BB Rewari of the National AIDS Control Organisation (NACO) told Reuters.

Currently, U.S. firm Mylan Inc and India's Aurobindo Pharma supply AIDS drugs to the government program.

The exemption applies to certain first-line and second-line antiretroviral drugs used to treat adults and children, as well as to certain diagnostic kits and equipment that are used by NACO, Rewari said.

He added the drugs under exemption make up roughly 95 percent of the antiretrovirals used by India's AIDS patients under the national program.

The exemption, which will remain in effect until March 2016, is the national AIDS control department's latest effort to deal with a chronic shortage of HIV/AIDS drugs at home, even though Indian companies are some of the world's major suppliers of AIDS drugs. Local firm Cipla Ltd made headlines in 2001 by making antiretrovirals for Africa for under $1 a day.

The AIDS control program has been in disarray for months after the government changed the way over $1.3 billion in federal funds were distributed, according to data and letters seen by Reuters.

Construction of clinics in rural areas has been delayed and many health workers have quit.

Government officials have previously told Reuters of a lack of participation by local drugmakers in the tenders floated by the National AIDS Control Organisation (NACO) to procure drugs.

Industry insiders, meanwhile, cite delayed tender approvals, supply bottlenecks and late payments, as well as poor coordination between the central and state governments.

AIDS drugs sold on the open market are expensive, so in an effort to make those more affordable, the government is likely to add more AIDS drugs under price control by including them in the national list of essential medicines, people involved in the process told Reuters in April.

citation from  zawya : https://goo.gl/72Jh21

ARE YOU LOSING SLEEP OVER YOUR SMARTPHONE?

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Friday, May 29, 2015

Dubai: While convenient, keeping your mobile phone at arm’s length when one is sleeping has proven to affect quality of sleep, and even health.

Research conducted by several universities and doctors has shown that radiation emitted from mobile phones, especially 3G and 4G-enabled smart phones, delays and disrupts sleep.

Dr Saeed Taghizadeh, specialist neurologist at Prime Hospital, pointed out that electromagnetic radiation emitted by mobile phones also interferes with the body’s ability to heal.

He referred to research led by by Professor Bengt Arnetz, a Swedish professor at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, which found that using a handset right before bed prolongs the amount of time it takes for people to reach a deep state of sleep.

“Anything that disrupts the quality of our sleep impacts our attentiveness and irritability in the short and long term.”

While productive sleep helps our bodies recover form the stresses of the day, the affects of being exposed to cell phone radiation through out the night is more likely to be evident in children and adolescents.

Dr Taghizadeh explained that sleeping beside a phone is especially bad for children and teenagers who typically need more sleep than adults.

“It can cause mood and personality changes such as [attention deficit hyperactivity disorder] ADHD-like symptoms and depression.”

Dr Fatima Nazir, general practitioner at Gardens Speciality Clinic, told Gulf News that experts are concerned about the effects of the radiation, as some research suggests that sleeping with your mobile by your bedside can cause dizziness and headaches, and can even trigger insomnia and other sleeping disorders.

“At the very least it makes us hyper vigilant so our sleep is more likely to be disturbed and we don’t get enough of the restorative sleep we need,” said Dr Nazir.

What happens when you sleep?

The hormone cortisol that signals us to wake up, and the hormone melatonin, which makes us sleepy are controlled by the light-sensitive cells in the brain.

“Light stimulates cells in the retina, the area at the back of the eye that transmits messages to the brain, and the light-sensitive cells inform the body what time it is,” explained Dr Fatima. When sleeping beside a mobile phone or tablet, the blue light emitted from the device has a stimulating effect. The cells in the retina are most sensitive to blue light because of a pigment called melanopsin, which is why reading on a phone or a tablet before bed is more likely to keep a person awake than reading a book using a bedside light.

“For this reason, experts advise a ban on screen time two to three hours before bed,” said Dr Fatima.

With smart phones replacing most traditional devices such as alarm clocks and flash lights, sleeping with your phone in the next room can be a big inconvenience.

However, it can be the solution for a good night’s sleep.

Citation - Taken from ZAWYA : https://goo.gl/NLJrcO

India's Development Challenge

India's Development Challenge - Safe Drinking Water

• It is more than 60 years India got its freedom from colonial masters.It is a long battle before India is called developed nation. It is growing and growing fast for those who can afford. More than 9% per annum.


• There is long struggle still awaits nation with 40% below poverty line, or less than a dollar a day. No sanitation and clean drinking water, and yes no education and employment. Freedom struggle is far from over. Before we achieve Swaraj and Suraj. India of Baapu's dream.


• This looks very good. India has fasted growing millionair and billionair in the Forbes list of richest India.


• This is half truth and battle for freedom is half fought.


• After 60 years of independence, there is no safe drinking water in Villages and this number is very high. India has more mobile phone than toilets.


• There is no safe drinking water even in our metro's. Delhi is a classic example and today it is in global media.


• What about our slums, Dharavi in Mumbai. Is it anything better.


• NO Villages are far away from safe drinking water. The situation becomes worst in summer, when tabs and well goes dry.


• Ganga and Jamna are more poluted than before, when all industrial affluents goes into it without processing.


• Everyday more than 1600 children die from lack of clean water.

• Challenges are many......... struggle is on.