Towards excellence in healthcare
Dear Readers, Thanks for your continued support. As always, we bring to you a number of articles on various issues of health based on intensive reporting, research and analysis in this November, 2015 issue of Double Helical, your favourite national health magazine. Your keen participation in our endeavour has encouraged us to bring about qualitative improvement in both content and presentation of more and more authentic and indepth reports.
In this current issue we bring to you an exclusive interview with Dr Mahesh Chandra Mishra, Director, All India Institute of Medical Sciences, New Delhi. As you know, established in 1956 by an Act of Indian Parliament with the objective of developing a strong curricular foundation for undergraduate and postgraduate healthcare education in India based on the then Union Health Minister Rajkumari Amrit Kaur’s vision, the AIIMS continuously strives to achieve the highest standards of health care education, research and service. It is recognized in India and abroad as a medical institution that best combines excellent medical education with cutting-edge research and high quality healthcare.
In this interview, the Director, AIIMS, assures us of the premier Institution’s relentless drive to be the guiding light in quality-oriented healthcare practices in the country.
In our cover story we are focusing on the present trends of surrogacy. Though India is emerging as a major destination for surrogacy because of its relatively low cost, there are still a number of complex legal and ethical issues involved. The Bombay High Court’s recent interim order, staying the order of the Union government banning surrogacy for foreign couples, has ignited a debate on regulation of commercial surrogacy in India. Although, the High Court clarified that its order was restricted to cases in the midst of treatment, it asked the clinics to furnish details of such cases to the authorities. The court barred the clinics from taking up fresh cases of surrogacy for foreign couples.
The doctors’ fraternity has strongly opposed the surrogacy Bill. According to them, the Bill denies fertility treatment to the common man as it seeks to raise the cost of treatment and restricts the facilities. The Central government has clarified that the ban will not affect surrogacy cases already underway and children born out of surrogacy before November 4.
We hope you enjoyed a Happy Diwali this festival season. Keeping in view the increasing dangers of noise and air pollution, the current issue of your magazine highlights how the ever-increasing traffic in the National Capital Region has become a cause for concern for all.
Air pollution leads to respiratory problems like asthma and even lung cancer. A new study reveals that the toxic air has carcinogens. Air pollution claims at least two million lives worldwide every year. It aggravates heart problems too.
A report finds that changes in the level of air pollutants, specifically ozone and black smoke, a major source of PM 2.5 (particulate matter, in the 2.5 micron range or smaller), led to an increase in the rate of deaths from all causes, primarily due to an increase of 5 percent in cardiovascular and respiratory episodes. Incidentally, the study also reveals that climate change has only a minimal effect on air pollution. They do not significantly increase the death rates. In a special report, our medical team brings to you the latest trends in arthroscopic surgery for joint damages and injuries. The report titled ‘Rescuing Joints’ highlights how active adult patients involved in sports or strenuous jobs as also older patients can undergo arthroscopy, the new, minimally invasive surgical procedure to examine and repair damage to joints, most commonly the anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) injury. In addition, there are a number of articles that will update you with the latest information on diseases, treatment and facilities. We hope you will certainly find this issue quite useful and interesting. Happy reading!