Telangana near to reach 1 lakh corona cases, death toll reaches to737

 HYDERABAD: Telangana reported 1,967 Covid-19 positive cases on Friday, taking the state’s tally to 99,391.Males accounted for more than 65% of the infected.

The state public health department said in a bulletin on Friday morning that eight people had succumbed to the virus in the 24 hours till Thursday night.

The fatality rate in the state on account of Covid-19 stands at 0.74%, lower than the national average of 1.90%. The government reported that 46.13% of the deceased had died of Covid-19, while 53.87% passed away due to comorbidities.

According to the bulletin, 1,781 people recovered in the past 24 hours, taking the total recoveries to 76,967. The recovery rate in the state stands at 77.43%, higher than the national average of 73.91%.

By Thursday night, the state reported 21,687 active Covid-19 cases, including 15,332 persons in either home or institutional isolation.

The state tested 26,767 samples by Thursday, taking the total number of tests to 848,078. The state said it was awaiting results of 1,300 samples. The number of tests per million people amounted to 22,843 by Thursday night.

https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/politics-and-nation/telangana-nears-one-lakh-mark-in-coronavirus-cases-death-toll-reaches-737/articleshow/77668237.cms

Covid-19 vaccine trials to be begin in Russia on 40,000 people next week

 Russia on August 11 declared that it had become the first country to approve a vaccine against novel coronavirus.Russia health ministry earlier said that the COVID-19 vaccine offers lasting immunity from the virus.

Days after registering "world's first COVID-19 vaccine", Russia will finally start the advanced trial. The phase III trial will involve more than 40,000 people, the TASS news agency reported on Thursday.

Russia on August 11 declared that it had become the first country to approve a vaccine against novel coronavirus. Dubbed as Sputnik V, the vaccine was developed by Gamaleya Research Institute and the Russian defence ministry. Russia registered the vaccine after less than two months of human testing. The results of initial trials have not been made public yet.

Russian President Vladimir Putin claimed that one of his daughters had been inoculated with the vaccine. “I know it has proven efficient and forms a stable immunity, and I would like to repeat that it has passed all the necessary tests," Putin said.

However, the entire world raised question on safety and effectiveness of the vaccine developed by Russia. Russia health ministry said that the COVID-19 vaccine offers lasting immunity from the virus. The vaccine is expected to provide immunity from the coronavirus for up to two years, according to health ministry.

Clinical human studies started on June 17 among 76 volunteers. Half were injected with a vaccine in liquid form and the other half with a vaccine that came as soluble powder. Professor Alexander Gintsburg, head of the Gamaleya Institute that developed the vaccine, said that vaccination will start while the Phase III trials continue.

WHO begins discussion with Russia on COVID-19 vaccine

The World Health Organization’s Europe office said it has begun discussions with Russia to try to obtain more information about the experimental COVID-19 vaccine the country recently approved. Catherine Smallwood, a senior emergency official at WHO Europe said the agency had begun “direct discussions" with Russia and that WHO officials have been sharing “the various steps and information that’s going to be required for WHO to take assessments."

“This concern that we have around safety and efficacy is not specifically for the Russia vaccine, it’s for all of the vaccines under development," said Smallwood. She acknowledged WHO was taking an “accelerated approach" to try to speed development of coronavirus vaccines but said “it’s essential we don’t cut corners in safety or efficacy."

Russian officials said doctors might start getting vaccinated with their experimental shot this month and that mass campaigns could begin in October.

https://www.livemint.com/

Indian Pharmacists Association Pharmacists play an important role when it comes to medicines to chemical and physical properties

AURANGABAD: Pharmacists across the city organised a series of events, including a rally in Waluj, to mark the World Pharmacists Day (WPD) on Sunday.
This year the day was observed under the theme "Pharmacists: Caring for you" with the aim of updating the knowledge base of the dispensers while creating awareness among people regarding proper use of medicines.

Sanjay Toshniwal, secretray Indian Pharmacists Association (IPA), Aurangabad, said, "Pharmacist community is one of the three main pillars of the healthcare system with doctors and nurses being the other two. The day aims to recognise the relentless efforts of pharmacists as healthcare providers."

He said the IPA will also organise a series of lectures by Sheikh Jahangir, popularly known for his innovations such as converting second-hand scooters into super machines capable of working as a washing machine and even a flour mill.

The extraordinary innovation of this uneducated man from Jalgaon in Maharashtra, the scooter-powered flour mill was also exhibited in the Hindi blockbuster, 3 Idiots, said Toshniwal.

Meanwhile, the WPD was also marked by Yash institute of pharmacy, Waluj. The day was celebrated by organising different programmes like poster-making, elocution competition. Also, a rally was organised to spread awareness on safe use of medicines.

Hiral Majmudar, principal of Yash Institute of Pharmacy, said pharmacy as a profession contributes immensely in the field of health.

"Pharmacists play an important role when it comes to medicines as they are aware about their composition, chemical and physical properties, manufacturer, uses, side-effects and interactions with food and other medicines. "They also provide specialized information to doctors, nurses and other health professionals. Pharmacists are involved in every aspect of the preparation and use of medicines, from their research and development to eventual supply to a patient," said Suyog Joshi, assistant professor, Yash Institute of Pharmacy.

A pharmacist as a health partner who advises patients on proper use of medicines for maximum effect, how to reduce side effects, how to avoid drug drug interactions especially for patients taking plenty of drugs, medications to prevent untoward drug- food interaction, said Joshi.

It is an undoubted fact that pharmacists are authority on drug matters. Pharmacists are drug experts.

Pharmacists are trained as communicators, counsellors and work within a code of professional ethics that encompasses their relationship with other health professionals and the public, he added.

The Government of India's gazette notification on Pharmacy Practice Regulations-2015 could kindle a new symbiotic relationship between a pharmacist and patients. The Pharmacy Practice Regulations-2015 has sought to widen the role of present day pharmacists, bring in a uniform ethics code, clear-cut definitions of roles and responsibilities of pharmacists towards patients. Interestingly, the new regulations could well boost the concept of community pharmacy, he said. The new pharmacy regulations empower pharmacists to go a step ahead and, in addition to giving drugs, they also can counsel patients at the time of dispensing and provide drug information to patients.

The pharmacist has to interact with patients, doctors and other healthcare providers, and educate patients about medicines and other line of treatment that might have been prescribed to them, he added.


http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/aurangabad/Events-to-celebrate-role-of-pharmacists/articleshow/54534835.cms

The e-pharmacies will create a digital medical record of the patient’s medicine consumption and ensure antibiotic resistance in india

Online pharmacies are seen to be the right platform to stall the increasing antibiotic resistance. The antibiotic abuse is an epidemic which is slowly expanding to mar drug efficacy in India’s patient population. The overuse and irregular usage of antibiotics has created a crisis of microbial resistance in the country, stated Dharmil Sheth, co-founder, PharmEasy.

The stark reality is that antibiotics are abused in needless situations like common colds or diarrhea. While some efforts have been made by the government, academicians and professionals to stop its misuse, but there is a long way to go. India, with its high propensity for infectious diseases has fallen prey to antibiotic resistance. The reality is that antibiotics which is the core of modern medical practice, may become ineffective that even minor infections and surgeries could prove fatal, according to PharmEasy chief.

Stating that fatalities ensuing from antibiotic resistance are a cause of concern, Sheth sees e-pharmacies for drug sales proving to be an apt solution to stall the menace. It enables the right medicine for the right patient in the right dose. Prudent use of antibiotics is vital to prevent the emergence and spread of drug resistance. It is here that the e-pharmacies will create a digital medical record of the patient’s medicine consumption and ensure antibiotic resistance control, Sheth told Pharmabiz in an email.

There are several direct benefits by embracing the e-pharmacy model. Every transaction is recorded and tracked. There is no possibility of medicines being sold without prescriptions because this can easily be audited and verified. Dispensation is done by a registered pharmacist and from licensed pharmacy premises. Further, the e-pharmacies that are part of Indian Internet Pharmacists Association do not even allow sales of Schedule X and habit forming medicines through the online sales platform. Therefore, this model is best suited to enable drug recalls as there are purchase records of every transaction with the patient’s name, address, telephone number and email. The e-pharmacies also ensure all sales are recorded by batch number, expiry date with proper invoice and by a licensed pharmacist, he added.

We have already commenced medicine sales via e-prescription. From the PharmEasy’s mobile app, the consumer orders for a prescription pick-up which is authentic formats and approved by the doctor. The nearest physical pharmacy store, registered with PharmEasy sends the delivery person to collect the prescription and get the medicines delivered, explained Sheth.

The e-prescription model has a good acceptance as the patients trust the source of the medicines that they are consuming. Further the e:pharmacy customers have appreciated the convenience of the model to purchase the drugs much more efficiently, he said.


http://www.pharmabiz.com/NewsDetails.aspx?aid=97649&sid=1

The Karnataka government is exploring all possibilities to introduce clinical pharmacy departments

The Karnataka government is now exploring all possibilities to introduce clinical pharmacy departments in all its 30 state-run hospitals. The move follows the proposal put forth by the Indian American Pharmacists (IAP), a not-for-profit organisation which is keen to strengthen Indian healthcare infrastructure with clinical pharmacy services to support patient care.

According to IAP, the clinical pharmacy services at the government hospitals should be manned by the qualified Pharm D candidates. The new talent pool is armed with a six-year rigorous degree course: Doctor of Pharmacy. While the corporate hospitals have already gone ahead to create dedicated teams of Pharm D to support the medical experts in evidence based practices and promote medication safety, in the government sector SDS TB Research Centre & Rajiv Gandhi Institute of Chest Diseases (RGICD), Bengaluru has taken lead in this space.

The 470-bed SDS TB Research Centre and RGICD only focuses on pulmonary medicine and thoracic surgery and has now recognised the importance of medication management to monitor the interactions and adverse drug reactions of tuberculosis drug regime.

At the inauguration of the Indian American Pharmacist Clinical Pharmacy Library for the benefit of professionals and the pharmacy students in the state, Dr. Sharan Prakash Patil, minister for medical education said the government would examine the proposal to set up medication management centres across its 30 government healthcare centres. This would also provide the 540 Pharm D candidates passing out annually with a promising career opening.

The lack of trained personnel to handle medication errors is a concern and in this regard a qualified team of Pharm D candidates would give a fillip to patient care in the government sector, noted Dr. Patil adding that the state would be keen to consider supporting this initiative.

According to Basavaraj Banapur, president & CEO, Indian American Pharmacist, India also needed a digital medication record (DMR) that includes patient-family history, current laboratory results, diagnosis and the treatment plan. As a pilot initiative, we maintain the health-medication database of the entire population of Haligeri village, Ranibennur taluk, Haveri district in Karnataka.

The US healthcare space revolves around 3 Ps: patient, physician and pharmacist. In India it is only the patient and physician. The presence of pharmacist is critical in the Indian healthcare space. We need more education than medication and our hospital staff needs to be aware on the important role of a pharmacist in medication management, pointed out Banapur.

Despite the growth of mobile phones in India, the people here have no access to a single page DMR which provides their disease prevalence and basic treatment protocols in an easy-to-view and retrieve format via mail or what’s app. Now only a pharmacist can enable a DMR at a faster pace in India. Going by the paucity of medication management centres, there are considerable opportunities in clinical pharmacy in the country. We intend to make RGICD as the centre for training doctors, nurses and pharmacists via this maiden platform.

Dr. DA Gundu Rao, president, Karnataka State Pharmacy Council urged the state government to permit conducting Pharm D courses at the Government Pharmacy College in Bengaluru and the second centre coming up at Kalburgi.


http://www.pharmabiz.com/NewsDetails.aspx?aid=97627&sid=1

Health services in government health centres affected as pharmacists employed at the district hospital

NOIDA: Health services in government health centres were seriously affected as pharmacists employed at the district hospital, CHCs and PHCs across Gautam Budh Nagar went on a strike. Around 46 pharmacists deployed at the different government centres on a regular basis stopped work at the emergency, OPD at the centres including CHC Bhangel, Dadri, Dankaur, etc. Work was gravely affected at CHC Bhangel and district hospital and pharmacists could be seen jostling with policemen at the latter, where pharmacists refused to allow the authorities to break the lock of the pharmacy. Pharmacists had on Monday taken in possession keys of the pharmacies of some of these centres and the district hospital. A number of patients were seen waiting for medicines for around three hours even as patients reporting fever and other ailments continued to flow in. Some complained that they were being handed over wrong medicines as work was handed over to the contractual employees working at the hospital.


Chief Medical Superintendent NM Mathur had to call police to break the lock of the district hospital's pharmacy in the morning.

A team of policemen led by ASP Gaurav Grover and Sector 20 SHO Amarnath Yadav reached the spot and tried to intervene even as the pharmacists refused to budge saying that they would not allow the pharmacy to run. "We had instructions from the CMO to relent the strike. We understand that the patients are huge in number but our demands have been on hold for years now. Earlier too, the government said that they will meet our demands but nothing happened. We now want the Chief Minister to take cognisance of our demands," Kapil Chaudhary, state Joint Secretary, Diploma Pharmacists Association (DPA) told TOI.


He along with Sanjeev Sharma, district secretary (DPA) started an indefinite hunger strike after the hospital authorities started work at the pharmacy with police's mediation around noon. Sources told TOI that contractual employees from the private hospitals were roped in for disposal of services. Pharmacists say that the strike will continue till the chief minister's office takes action on their demands regarding wages and creation of more posts. The pharmacists are demanding creation of more regular posts saying that the number of regular pharmacists are disproportionate as compared to the rising number of patients.


"We have seven pharmacists and four chief pharmacists at district hospital. Only four of them work at pharmacy where thousands of patients turn up. Moreover, pharmacists are made to work at the OPD, post-mortem duty and emergency as well. The number is far lower than what is required," Sharma said. Chaudhary said that they are also demanding a raise in pay-scale as compared to the scale of diploma engineers and removal of anomalies of the seventh pay commission.


http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/noida/Work-at-govt-health-centres-affected-as-pharmacists-strike-work/articleshow/54432893.cms

Dalmia Medicare will work with non-branded labs to offer pathology and radiology services

The Dalmia Group, which operates in cement, refractories and power manufacturing sectors, on Wednesday launched diagnostic services bearing the brand name Dalmia Medicare.

Dalmia Medicare will work with non-branded labs to offer pathology and radiology services. It will share revenues with the labs.

This is similar to aggregation services offered by 1mg Technologies Pvt. Ltd and Practo Technologies Pvt. Ltd.

According to Sanjay Dalmia, chairman of Dalmia group of companies, the diagnostics segment is highly unorganized and presents a big opportunity.

“The Indian healthcare industry is growing at an exponential rate, but there is still a health care deficit in the country. With the advent of technology and innovation in every aspect of life, the new-age consumer has numerous expectations from healthcare services. At the same time, there are consumers who still don’t have access to quality health care. Dalmia Medicare is well equipped to cater to the needs of all kinds of consumers ensuring both accessibility and quality,” Dalmia said.

1mg too recently began offering custom lab packages, besides its aggregation of third-party labs such as Thyrocare, Wellness Pathcare, Metropolis, etc. It has tied up with National Accreditation Board for Testing and Calibration Laboratories (NABL)- certified labs.

According to Dalmia, India has more than 50,000 path labs and it targets to capture 10% of this market soon.

He said that on average, these labs earn Rs.5-10 lakh per month. So, with 5,000 labs, the company can easily target a business which is worth Rs.500 crore per month.

Dalmia declined to specify the investment planned, saying it will be need-based.

Dalmia Medicare also plans to launch services such as e-pharmacy and fitness centres in 2017.

Overall, the Indian health care market, which is worth $100 billion, is likely to grow at a 23% compound annual growth rate to reach $280 billion by 2020.

Dalmia Medicare already has 32 labs in its fold across the National Capital Region (NCR) and targets to have 350 by March in NCR alone. It will go pan-India thereafter.

Dalmia Medicare is a wholly owned subsidiary of Dalmia Biz Pvt. Ltd representing its healthcare vertical. Dalmia Biz has set up a 20-member team, which includes people with a healthcare background.

It has hired Vivek Gupta, formerly with AskMeBazaar.com, as chief executive officer. It plans to expand the team to 200 people by March. The group also runs Dalmia Healthcare, which offers ayurvedic products.

Dalmia Biz said it also plans to expand into education, retail, finance, travel and tourism, real estate and hospitality.


http://www.livemint.com/Companies/sj2OiwaNYNay0z8GtsPIVM/Dalmias-diagnostics-chain-to-compete-with-1mg-Practo.html

The study shows that pharmacies are playing in increasing TB resistance in the country

 For a while now, the medical community has been blaming pharmacies for indiscriminately giving antibiotics to patients with tuberculosis (TB), instead of referring them to a doctor. A Lancet paper has now corrected the popular misconception when a study found that none of the 622 pharmacies in Delhi, Mumbai and Patna handed out first-line anti-TB drugs to these patients. So, pharmacies are the unlikely source of irrational drug use that contributes to multidrug resistant tuberculosis.

Not playing a role

The study shows that pharmacies are not playing any role in increasing TB resistance in the country,” says Dr. Srinath Satyanarayana, from McGill University, Montreal, Canada, who is the lead author of the paper that was published on August 26, 2016. “TB drug resistance occurs primarily due to incorrect regimens, intake of drugs irregularly or intake of drugs for very short duration of time. From our study, it appears that pharmacies are not playing a role in deciding the anti-TB regimens and are also not dispensing anti-TB drugs over-the-counter, at least in the three cities that we studied. So the drug resistance in India could be due to either patient related-factors or provider-related factors or health system related factors (which has not created a system for all TB patients in [the] country to access quality assured diagnosis and treatment free of cost and seamlessly),” he says in an e-mail to The Hindu.

One reason why pharmacies did not dispense first-line, anti-TB drugs could be because they belong to a more stringent Schedule H1 category of drugs where details of the prescription and name of the doctors and patients have to be documented and the registry retained for two years.

Quinolone abuse a concern

However, the good news ends here. The researchers found that that a vast majority of these pharmacies did dispense antibiotics to TB patients even when they did not have a prescription. This links to an earlier study which showed the tendency of private practitioners to liberally use antibiotics in treating TB, leading to a delay in diagnosis and treatment and an increase in the chances of TB spreading within a community.

In the Lancet study, healthy individuals were trained to pose as TB patients and interacted with pharmacists — to understand how the pharmacies in these cities treated patients presenting themselves with TB symptoms. The objective was to determine whether the pharmacies were contributing to the inappropriate use of antibiotics. One patient presented with 2-3 weeks of cough and fever, was directly seeking drugs from a pharmacy while a second patient was presented with one month of cough and microbiological confirmation of TB from a sputum test. In the case of the first patient, only 96 of 599 pharmacies (16 per cent) referred the patient to health-care providers. But ideal case management was in only 13 per cent of the cases, as a few pharmacies handed out antibiotics to the patients even while referring them to a physician. Antibiotics (37 per cent), steroids (8 per cent) and fluoroquinolones (10 per cent) were given to patients with symptoms.

“That nearly 37 per cent of the pharmacies are handing out antibiotics to persons presenting with TB symptoms is really worrisome,” says Dr. Satyanarayana. But more worrying is the dispensation of fluoroquinolones. “Fluoroquinolones are an essential part of the MDR-TB [multi-drug-resistant tuberculosis] treatment regimen and emerging regimens, so quinolone abuse is a concern.”

Impact

In stark contrast, in the case of the second patient, who had a microbiological confirmation, 67 per cent (401 of 601) of pharmacies referred the patient to a health-care provider. Like in the earlier case, ideal case management was seen in only 62 per cent as the standardised patient did receive antibiotics (16 per cent) or steroids (3 per cent) even while being referred to a health-care provider. “In the case of TB patients with microbiological confirmation of TB disease, antibiotics (without anti-TB properties) will be ineffective and unnecessary, and can delay the initiation of proper therapy for patients. These patients will continue to spread the disease in the community and TB disease will continue to progress in the individual concerned. Steroids reduce body immunity, suppress symptoms temporarily and can worsen the TB disease,” he says.


http://www.thehindu.com/opinion/op-ed/pharmacies-not-likely-cause-of-tb-drug-resistance/article9040757.ece

Access may send some seniors back to pharmacy hospital

THURSDAY, Aug. 4, 2016 -- Limited access to pharmacies may be one reason hospital readmission is more common among older patients in rural, remote or smaller communities, a new study suggests.

Hospital readmissions in the United States cost $17 billion a year and are a serious problem, according to researchers from Oregon State University and Oregon Health & Science University.

They analyzed data from patients aged 65 and older in Oregon and focused on 507 pharmacies and 58 hospitals.

The average rate of readmissions in rural areas was 15.3 percent, compared to 14.7 percent in cities, where pharmacies are more often open, the researchers found. However, the study only found an association between hospital readmissions and pharmacy availability.

"It's a huge burden both on a patient and our medical system when they have to be readmitted to a hospital," said senior author David Lee, assistant professor in the OSU/OHSU College of Pharmacy.

"The modern pharmaceutical profession is increasingly being recognized as an important partner in health care, and as its services continue to expand it will help even more. This research shows that pharmacy access can help people from going back to the hospital," he said in an Oregon State news release.

"The sooner a person gets out and stays out of a hospital, the better off they usually will be," Lee added.

He noted that in some rural parts of Oregon, the closest pharmacy may be 100 miles or more away. In one small Oregon community, the only pharmacy is open 54 hours a week. In comparison, people in some large cities can find numerous pharmacies that collectively are open more than 3,800 hours a week.

The study was published online Aug. 1 in the Journal of the American Pharmacists Association.

http://www.upi.com/Health_News/2016/08/04/Lack-of-pharmacy-access-may-send-some-seniors-back-to-hospital/4421470341940/

Medical courses in India and students 7 types of medical degrees with related jobs

Medical courses are vast in India and students have a plethora of options to choose from. MBBS, Dental Medicine, Homeopathic Medicine & Surgery, Ayurvedic Medicine and Surgery, Physiotherapy, Pharmacy, Nursing, Unani Medicine, Medical Lab technician, Occupational Therapy, that can be chosen by students after taking an entrance exam.

With an MBBS degree, students can join medical colleges, hospitals, nursing home, health corporations, health ministry, medical health society, back-office medical consultancy and pharmaceutical industries.  However, the medical field is not restricted to MBBS and its allied courses. There are several other medical diploma courses, certificate courses and Bachelor degree courses which students can apply for.

The candidates who are preparing for the medical entrance exams can take a look at the different medical degrees and job opportunities listed below:

Medical TechnologyA Bachelor's degree in medical technology helps a student to get acquainted with a variety of complex laboratory instruments used to diagnose, restrict and treat diseases.  Several different subjects related to medicine, including Microbiology, Hematology, Immunology and Serology are covered in this course and microscopic examination, blood banking, urinalysis and body fluid analysis are also discussed during the course of study. With the amount of automation being introduced in medicine, a Bachelor's degree in Medical Technology will help one secure an entry-level job as a medical technologist or medical laboratory scientist.

NursingAlready a much popular degree with female students, a Bachelor's degree in Nursing can help a student have a window seat to the high-pressure environment of the medical profession along with gaining critical thinking, communication and management skills. Students learn to provide quality nursing care to patients through extensive hands-on teaching and clinical experiences. There is a growing demand for nursing in the world through UN and assignments with similar international organisations as well.

Diagnostic Medical Sonography (DMS)A Bachelor's degree programme in DMS involves non-invasive imaging of internal organs or structures using high frequency sound waves. The study covers the procedure to acquire accurate sonographic images of the abdominal, gynecologic and cardiovascular systems. Physicians can diagnose diseases and other medical ailments from information gathered by the images.

Radiotherapy
Students are trained to use radiation equipment, software and devices for the treatment of cancer. The course has immense scope as skilled professionals in the field are limited. All cancer care hospitals require students with essential professional experiences and skills to conduct radiotherapy.

Physiotherapy
Physiotherapy maintains and restores physical strength and plays a key role in helping people to improve their quality of life. It mostly deals with recuperating from injuries or age-related disorders and highly sought-after disciplines of medicine including surgery, neurology, orthopedics, cardiothoracic, vascular surgery, pediatrics, rehabilitation and sports gynecology, obstetrics, dermatology, ENT, medicine, etc. Students are taught to decrease pain in all joints of the body and normalise movements and recover patients' optimum strength and function.

BPharm
This course deals with the study of drugs and medicines, medicinal chemistry, etc and provide students with a large number of job opportunities. This is a popular job-oriented course and after completion, students can get into Bio-Technology Industries, Research & Development and Pathological Labs etc. These students are also eligible to work as Drug Therapist, Drug Inspector, Hospital Drug Coordinator and Health Inspector.

Medical Assistance
A degree programme in medical assistance teaches you to perform medical office duties such as billing, coding and scheduling appointments. The course also teaches you to carry out basic medical procedures such as capillary puncture, electrocardiography and phlebotomy.  So, a degree in medical assisting can offer you jobs such as a medical assistant, a medical receptionist or help you to pursue a related entry-level medical occupation.

http://indiatoday.intoday.in/education/story/7-types-of-medical-degrees-jobs/1/721491.html

Life is all about motivation

Sindhu Joseph

CEO of CogniCor Technologies

Breaking the glass ceiling, this woman entrepreneur from Wayanad sheds light on her startup journey in a tete-a-tete with Pramod Thomas.  Her company’s Digital Assistant is now making waves in artificial intelligence and neuro-linguistic programming. But Sindhu Joseph says that the  other side of the startup journey has not been a bed of roses...

The entrepreneurial life of Sindhu Joseph, Co-founder and CEO of CogniCor Technologies, can be summed up with her journey from Wayanad to the US. Born to teachers in Wayanad, her success has seen her company collect several laurels, including the crown of the most innovative startup in Europe in 2012. Ask Joseph, and she describes her startup journey as “both sweet and bitter”

CogniCor, Joseph’s firm, offers advanced customer service technology. Its Digital Assistant has been pushing the boundaries of artificial intelligence and neuro-linguistic programming but Sindhu Joseph says that the journey has not been a bed of roses.

“Once I had to attend a few meetings in New York. I was thrilled when I found a single room for $18 per night with bare minimum facilities. The reception area was open and all kinds of people walked in and out. Towards evening, I began to feel itchy all over, but I ignored it. When I came back to the hotel, I could stand no longer, and as soon as I entered the reception, I removed my coat and there was not a single place in my body that was not bitten by bugs. When I showed this to the girl at the reception and she just handed me a $10 bill and asked me to buy a lotion from a nearby pharmacy. I spend the next night sitting on one stool. My husband has lived an entire month in our office because we thought we could save on rent,” she points out.

“I just wanted to highlight the other side of the startup journey. We lived a very precarious life,” she adds.

CogniCor got its first break in 2012, when it was selected as the top startup out of 350 startups for the accelerator program of Telefonica, one of the largest telecoms in Europe. Soon came the European award which eventually led to $1 million in seed funding in 2013. Now, the company has presences in three continents, Europe (Barcelona), Asia (India) and the US.

“The Indian startup life these days is glorified. Young college students listening to such hype think that it is the easiest and fastest way to make money. From our experience, it is a hard life. Only someone with motivation greater than making quick bucks or looking for a path to glory will persevere in such situations,” she signs off.

http://www.newindianexpress.com/business/news/Life-is-all-about-motivation-not-making-quick-bucks/2016/07/03/article3510859.ece

1mg raises funding from HBM Healthcare Investments

Online pharmacy marketplace 1mg (formerly known as HealthKartPlus) has raised an undisclosed amount of additional funding (to its Series B funding) from HBM Healthcare Investments, the company announced in a press statement.

The company plans to use the funding for geographic expansion, investing in its technology and analytics platform, building more teams and hiring senior leadership in the next few months, 1mg’s co-founder Prashant Tandon told MediaNama over a phone conversation. On being asked the advantage the HBM funding brought it, Tandon said that HBM could potentially connect it with healthcare companies anywhere in India or abroad.

In terms of geographic expansion, 1mg plans to take its presence in the current 12 cities to 30 by the end of the financial year, mostly concentrating on metros and state capitals. Tandon said that currently, the company expects to grow at 20-25% month on month, and will be 5-6 times its current size by the end of next year. As of now, 1mg claims to have 75 million visits to its platform yearly and 5.5 million app downloads.
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Previous funding: Last month, the company raised $15 million from Maverick Capital Ventures and existing investors Sequoia Capital and Omidyar Network to expand its online pharmacy and diagnostics, and launch digital health products like smart prescriptions and personalised health feeds. At the time, the company stated that its revenue grew 8x in the last 12 months. In April 2015, HealthKartPlus raised funding worth $6 million and rebranded itself to 1mg.

On being asked about the non-availability of some drugs and their cheaper counterparts, Tandon admitted that although the company did face occasional out of stock moments, its tie up with some of the largest distributors in the city gave it 95% coverage of medicines and products, both regular and the cheaper ones.

About returns, Tandon said that when a user wants to return a product, it has to be the same batch number as that of what was dispensed to them. “Typically, returns in the pharmacy sector are low. Users return products only if the medicine they got was not the one they wanted. In case of returns, we have to get the same batch numbered product which went through our system, we don’t accept cut strips,” Tandon added.

He further said that returns are not tedious for the company, since it runs a pure marketplace model in which the delivery boy goes directly from the vendor to the user, and for returns, it is picked up from the user and delivered to the vendor. “This is a lot like how pharmacies work in the offline context, we’re just a platform that facilitates that interaction and we don’t have any warehouses or hubs,” Tandon said.

COO appointment: Earlier this month, 1mg appointed Tanmay Saksena as COO. Saksena was previously with Zomato as its Global Business Head, looking at food ordering across India, Dubai, Abu Dhabi and Manila.

http://www.medianama.com/2016/05/223-1mg-funding-hbm-healthcare/

Baby survives after being given overdose in pharmacy blunder

An infant with a hole in his heart had his life put in danger after a pharmacy misread a prescription and gave him drugs 10 times stronger than they should have been.

His parents now face an anxious wait to see if their son has lasting brain damage and are about to lay a complaint with the Health and Disability Commissioner.

Ben Tuffin has called the ordeal a "nightmare" and is urging parents always to double-check their child's medication.

"I want to get the word out so other families know and take more precautions when it comes to scripts. Pharmacists need to check - when it's done by someone like that you put your trust in them."

On January 8, Tuffin and fiancee Nina Brickland welcomed Sydney Junior Tuffin into the world, but he was born with a hole in his heart.

The neonatal doctor at Middlemore prescribed 0.5ml a day of furosemide, a diuretic to keep the fluid off his lungs while he gained weight and grew strong enough for heart surgery. The parents went to a pharmacy not managed by the hospital to fill the script, then took their new son home. They thought they were doing everything right, administering the medicine once a day through Sydney's nasal tube and even had a home nurse visit daily.

But he kept losing weight.

The parents took him back to the hospital and Tuffin said the doctors and nurses instantly suspected what might be wrong.

Tests confirmed Sydney had very low sodium levels - a symptom of dehydration from an overdose of diuretics. Sydney had been given 5ml a day - 10 times the prescribed dose.

"Because he was on such a high dose, every bit of food or water, it was just sucking all of it out of him," Tuffin told the Herald on Sunday.

The doctor told him if they hadn't brought Sydney in, he would have suffered kidney damage. Because he spent a fortnight severely dehydrated, he could also have suffered brain damage, but they won't be able to tell for a few years.

The Herald on Sunday has seen the doctor's prescription, and the drugs dispensed by the pharmacy, which exposes the error.

Auckland University professor and neonatal paediatrician Jane Harding said furosemide could cause dehydration and kidney damage.

Although brain damage was possible, it was "extremely unlikely", she said.

Tuffin said he was furious at the pharmacy.

"We checked the script and the doctor got it right, it was the pharmacy that screwed it up ... they gave us full strength and they should have known straight away, because it was for a new-born baby.

"They were just careless.

"I wanted to go down to the pharmacy and have it out with the pharmacists but I kept my cool."

Tuffin said as soon as his son got the correct dosage, he started getting better. By the next day, he had gained 50 grams and after a further six days in the Kidz First unit, Sydney was discharged.

"If we actually had the correct dosage at the beginning, our baby would have been nice and strong and ready for surgery."

The pair intend laying a complaint about their ordeal with the Health and Disability Commissioner.

"I want them to be more on to it. If it's a new-born baby that's under six months and they're already sick, they need to be triple or quadruple checking these prescriptions."

The pharmacy involved did not respond to interview requests.

What is furosemide?

A diuretic that causes the kidneys to get rid of unneeded water and salt from the body into the urine.

• Correct dose: 0.5ml a day

• Dose given: 5ml a day

http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=11600767

The pill that costs $9,000 in US sells for $70 in Indian Country

And that's just one leukaemia drug. India's generic industry has been producing many such life-saving medicines at a fraction of the global price

The Hyderabad-based Bharat Biotech might be the first to come out with a vaccine for the Zika virus if its efficacy can be proved. If it does succeed, this won't be the first time India has come to the rescue of the world. Indeed, the country's generic medicines are a lifeline for millions not only in low and middle-income countries but also in the developed world. India's generic industry hit global headlines in 2001 when Cipla offered a three-drug cocktail for AIDS at less than a dollar a day , a fraction of the price charged by multinationals. Today, apart from several HIVAIDS drugs, the industry is producing affordable, high quality medicines for several diseases including hepatitis B and C, cancers, drug-resistant TB and asthma. This has been credited to India's patent law, often held up as a model one in preventing the abuse of patent monopolies, and in balancing public interest and the growth of the pharmaceutical industry .

Last month, generic manufacturer Natco announced that it would be supplying daclatasvir, a Hepatitis C drug, to 112 developing countries. In 2013, a medicine to treat hepatitis C, sofosbuvir, hit international headlines for its price -$1,000 per pill. Gram for gram, it cost 67 times the price of gold. The sofosbuivir and daclatasvir combination used for the disease costs almost $150,000 per patient for the 12-week regimen in the US. But in India, it is priced at just $700 or a little over Rs 46,500 per patient for the same regimen. And prices are expected to fall further.

Typically, the price of many expensive patented drugs in European countries like France, Spain or the UK is half of what these cost in the US. In countries like Brazil or South Africa, these are a third or a fifth of the US price. The Indian price is often 1100th. (See box)

BALANCING PATIENT AND PATENT

So how does the Indian generic industry manage to do it? The patent law in India is stringent on what is innovative enough to get a patent. Plus, the crucial section 3(d) in the law, much criticized by multinationals, has prevented "evergreening" -the attempt to patent different aspects and improvements of the same drug to extend the period of patent -a lucrative game for the pharmaceutical business.

Indian courts, too, have played a role. In the case of entecavir for hepatitis B and erlotinib for lung cancer, for instance, instead of blindly handing out injunctions or upholding the validity of patents, the courts ruled in favour of public access to a lifesaving drug. This encouraged companies like Cipla, Ranbaxy and Natco to do a `launch at risk', a term that describes a company deciding to challenge a patent by launching a generic version. This forces the patent-holding company to take them to court, thus testing the validity of the patent granted. Patent oppositions filed by patient groups also spurred the rejection of several frivolous patent claims on cancer, hepatitis and HIV medicines, protecting generic competition.

India's patent law also provides for granting of compulsory licences -under which the government can give a licence to a manufacturer other than the patent holder for a royalty fixed by it -for public health reasons. This can be used where drugs are unavailable or unaffordable. The only compulsory licence granted was in 2012 when the patent office allowed the Indian generic company Natco to market sorafenib, a drug patented by Bayer to treat kidney and liver cancer.This move, upheld by the Supreme Court in December 2014 helped bring down the price by 97%, unimaginable through a price negotiation with the company .

"How long will this continue? We are already feeling the adverse impact of monopoly and limited access to important drugs. If India cannot manufacture newer drugs, how can we be the pharmacy of the world?" asked Dr Yusuf Hamied, of Cipla.

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/life-style/health-fitness/health-news/The-pill-that-costs-9000-in-US-sells-for-70-in-India/articleshow/50887471.cms

Govt Plans Stricter Norms for Pharma Product Ads in India

Advertisers of pharmaceutical products and medical devices may soon face stricter curbs. The government is planning to make amendments to the drug law to keep a check on advertisements which may be misleading consumers.

While advertisement of prescription drugs is prohibited in the country, companies often find loopholes in the law to advertise about therapies or run campaigns related to such products. These products are often tweaked to circumvent the law and instead become qualified as food products which can be marketed through promotions and advertisements. Similarly, there are no stringent regulations for medical device advertisements while many new products are making their way into the market.

Taking cognizance of the trend, the health ministry and the Central drug regulator are now trying to tighten the norms and regulations to keep a check on such ads which may misguide consumers. "We are revisiting the law which prohibits advertisements of prescription products. We are trying to bring in amendments which will impose more restrictions as well as monitor that promotional content is not misleading the consumer," a senior official in the Drug Controller General of India's office told TOI.

According to the official, the proposed changes will also include ayurvedic and homoeopathic products and all kinds of medical devices besides stricter norms for medicines.

Recently, a parliamentary committee on health and family welfare slammed the government for "recurring delay" in amending the Drugs and Magic Remedies (Objectionable Advertisements) Act, 1954 and the Drugs and Cosmetics Rules, 1945. The committee had also suggested that the health ministry must initiate action for inserting a new provision of seeking prior approval for advertisement content.

http://www.adageindia.in/marketing/news/govt-plans-stricter-norms-for-pharma-ads-in-india/articleshow/50543405.cms

India’s maiden med devices and pharma park to come up in Gujarat State

Gujarat government allots 60 acres for NIPER campus being set up at a cost of around Rs 500 crores

The Centre is mulling setting up the country’s maiden medical devices and pharma park in Gujarat in a bid to make India self-reliant in the sector. This was stated by Ananth Kumar, Union Minister of Chemicals and Fertilisers, who sought cooperation from the state government to implement these projects and the latter responded positively in terms of providing land for them.

According to Kumar, though India is doing well in manufacturing pharma products, it is still not self- reliant in the medical devices sector.

“This is an era of medical devices. But, even today, India is not self-reliant in producing these devices. Thus, we are planning to open first such medical devices park here in Gujarat if the government provides us cheaper land for it,” Kumar said in the presence of Anandiben Patel, Chief Minister, Gujarat.

The Gujarat government has alloted 60 acres for the campus being set up on Chiloda Road at a cost of around Rs 500 crores, stated an official press release. Kumar said a centre of excellence will be started in the institute. “Apart from imparting studies and conducting research and development in the field of pharma, this institute will also have a centre of excellence for developing new medical devices.”

The Minister also announced government’s plans to set up the first-ever drug discovery centre and a pharma park in Gujarat.


http://www.financialexpress.com/article/healthcare/happening-now/indias-maiden-med-devices-and-pharma-park-to-come-up-in-gujarat/180091/

Delhi government is set to launch a two-year diploma course in Homoeopathy Pharmacy

The Delhi government is set to launch a two-year diploma course in Homoeopathy Pharmacy which will help aspiring pharmacists in this field to take up jobs in government hospitals as well as operate state-run dispensaries in the national capital.

According to a report in Press Trust of India (PTI), the Board' s chairman K K Juneja said, "The Board of Homoeopathic System of Medicine under the Health Department of Delhi government is going to introduce 'Diploma in Homoeopathic Pharmacy Course' as per provisions of Delhi Homoeopathic Act, 1956. Such a course is a landmark and milestone in the development of science of homoeopathy. It is a historic addition for homoeopathy in Delhi and India". He added saying that the course was notified in an official gazette by Delhi government.

The eligibility criterion for the course, also called Homoeopathy Compounder course, has been fixed as intermediate pass in science stream. It will provide theoretical and practical training. "Those completing Diploma in Homoeopathic Pharmacy will have job opportunities in government sector like homoeopathic medical colleges and hospitals, Delhi government dispensaries, private homoeopathic clinics etc. They can also open their own homoeopathic pharmacy or chemist shops," Juneja added.

Also, the Delhi government has directed the heads of schools in the national capital to issue swine flu advisory and to exhibit public notices about the respiratory disease on their notice boards.

http://indiatoday.intoday.in/education/story/homoeopathy-pharmacy-delhi-government/1/505410.html

The Dadha Group India e-Pharmacy – NetMeds.com launched

Starts with Chennai as the distribution hub, to expand its warehousing presence to 16 cities by 2016

The Dadha Group owned NetMeds.com has announced the commencement of its operations.

Billing itself as ‘India Ki Pharmacy’, the site offers an impressive selection of both prescription drugs and non-prescription products (OTC) drugs, supplying over 25,000 stock keeping units (SKUs) across India from its first warehousing hub in Chennai.

Company plans to offer 24-hour delivery in Chennai and two to four-day delivery in other cities of the country. NetMeds plans to expand its presence by setting up warehouses through tie-ups in 16 metro and non-metro cities in next 12-18 months period.

The portal offers prescription medication users an opportunity to select their required medications from more than 260 drug categories for the chronic conditions, such as diabetes, hypertension and cholesterol control.

Commenting on the occasion Pradeep Dadha, Promoter, NetMeds.com said, ‘Not everyone knows the exact name of the tablet they are taking, but they all know the condition they’re dealing with. Likewise, they may not be able to read their prescription, but that’s where our pharmacists can help. With this portal we aim to reach the third-tier cities and more remote areas where drug availability is limited. Prescription medicines will be dispensed strictly and only against a valid prescription from a registered medical practitioner.”

Apart from branded drugs, portal will offer generic alternatives for every medicine ordered on the website. The Indian pharmacy market is estimated at Rs 83,000 crores with drug consumed for chronic aliment such as diabetics, blood pressure, hypertension, etc. accounting for over 40 per cent of the share.

In addition to the prescription drug catalogue, Netmeds offers eight categories of over the counter (OTC) remedies for pain, category for diabetic support like monitors and test strips, personal care section and others. In the non-prescription category, there are currently a total of 3,000 SKU’s including many of India’s top brands like Loreal, Fogg and Axe. The current, and ever-expanding catalogue of prescription tablets, capsules, ointments and compounds boasts 25000 SKU’s, including both brands and generics. Products are sourced from more than 185 Indian manufacturers, including a home page menu of the top 25, such as Sun, Ranbaxy, Cipla and Dr Reddy.

Pradeep Dadha, Promoter and the MAPE Advisory Group have together chipped in Rs 60 crores in NetMeds Marketplace in the initial round of funding.

http://www.financialexpress.com/article/healthcare/happening-now/pan-india-e-pharmacy-netmeds-com-launched/85030/

MedPlus launches India’s first pharmacy e-tailer service in Hyderabad

MedPlus, a leading pharmacy retailer with over 1240 stores across India, has launched India’s first of its kind pharmacy e-commerce service – ‘Click, Pick & Save’ in Hyderabad. Very soon the company is planning to expand this service to more than 50 cities in the country.

This is first of its kind service being provided to customers in India. Through this e-tailer service, one can search, select medicines, compare alternatives and place an order or just upload prescription and book order. “The main aim of this e-tailer service is to provide buyers the opportunity to harness the benefits of e-commerce in healthcare like never before,” said Dr Madhukar Gangadi, founder & CEO of MedPlus Health Services.

This new services helps the customers to pick the medicines within 6 hrs from the nearest MedPlus store and can save up to 15 per cent on cost of medicines and 5-30 per cent on FMCG products.

To avail the ‘Click, Pick & Save’ service, pharmacy customers can log onto www.medplusmart.com, search & select (from over 30,000 products) the medicines and FMCG products they need, or just scan & upload their prescription to the site, in which case a MedPlus representative will call and book the order.

As current government regulations do not allow medicines to be delivered to buyer’s homes, customers can pick up their order from their nearest MedPlus store in Hyderabad within six hours of placing an order. The online store offers lucrative discounts and let users book reward points with the FlexiRewards scheme of MedPlus.

“The new initiative is an important milestone for us and we are confident that it will revolutionize the retail pharmacy landscape in the country. Our aspiration is to provide customers with seamless shopping for medicines and other health and personal care items combining offline and online services. With the added convenience and benefits this service brings to the customers, we expect to double our consumer base within a year. We are all set to replicate this model shortly in the 12 states where we have presence,” Dr Madhukar added.

Dr Surendra Mantena, COO, MedPlus Health Services said that the online service not only guarantees availability of quality medicines to all customers anywhere in the city, but also provides valuable information about drug usage, side effects etc, and allows them to compare prices of equivalent brands.

http://www.pharmabiz.com/ArticleDetails.aspx?aid=87587&sid=1

Prospectus for engg, pharmacy courses online

The directorate of technical education released the prospectus for direct admissions to second year of professional degree courses in engineering and pharmacy, online for the first time this year. Like in the case of the Goa common entrance test, no print version of the prospectus will be made available for direct admissions, so students have to print and fill the form on the online prospectus.

The filled forms for direct admissions will be accepted by the directorate from June 24 to 27.

Engineering diploma holders can seek direct admissions to second year professional degree engineering courses in the streams of civil, mechanical, electrical and electronics, telecommunication, information technology and mining engineering, depending on the stream of their diploma degree.

"BSc degree holders shall be considered for admission to vacant seats, if any, under direct lateral entry into second year of degree course in engineering, only after filling the seats with eligible students from diploma stream," stated a provision in the prospectus.

These students will be eligible for admissions to BE degree courses in the streams of electrical and electronics, electronics and telecommunication, computer engineering and information technology.

For the admissions purpose, separate merit lists will be prepared and displayed for engineering courses for all eligible BSc degree holders and eligible diploma holders in engineering. There will also be a separate merit list for all eligible students for the pharmacy course.

All students for direct admissions will be considered only for general seats and no seats will be reserved for any category in the admission process.

The directorate of technical education plans to take all admission process to professional degree courses in Goa online in the near future and as a first step no printed prospectus has been sold this year for admissions to professional degree courses and direct admissions to second year of engineering and pharmacy degree courses.

http://www.goacom.com/goa-news-highlights/25792-prospectus-for-engg-pharmacy-courses-online