ISLAMABAD: Speakers here at an orientation seminar stressed the need for dissemination of national and demographic surveys at district and communities level to ensure proper implementation of policies in the country.

“The information and statistics on Public Health plays a significant role in decision making for managers at all levels. Besides, its is equally important for all stakeholders to help them make informed choice,” said Iftikhar Durrani, Project Director of TACMIL Health Project and Chief Executive Officer of the National Trust for Population Welfare ( NATPOW) in his inaugural address here at local hotel.

He said that the demographic Health Surveys 2006-07 (PDHS) and the National Health Surveys are meticulously conducted but never properly disseminated to the District-level Managers and communities. Meanwhile, there was disconnect between the government organizations, development partners and non-governmental organizations, he added. NGOs and Development Partners who provide funding for these expensive surveys and work in the communities are aware of the local health situation, but seldom share this information with general masses.

The Workshop was oganized by USAID TACMIL Health and NATPOW , and was attended by District Managers, EDOs and DPWOs participated from the selected Districts of Punjab and NWFP. Earlier, Dr. Zafar ullah Gill, Chief of Party, USAID TACMIL Health Project underlined the need for involvement of all community stakeholders in the sensitization process. He said that the present joint family system could best be exploited to create awareness on grass roots.

Mian Mozzam Shah, Director Gneral Program, Ministry of Population Welfare, in his concluding address deplored that relevant government authorities were still following old paradigms despite change on international level. “Policy makers, donors and other concerned officials are at fault as contemporary decline policy also focuses on education, environment and economics besides traditional reproductive health measures,” he said.

Mozzam Shah said there was gap between policy makers and implementers, therefore proper results could not be yielded for decline in maternal and infant mortality ratio in the country. NNI

KARACHI: Pakistan Hypertension League (PHL) is observing World Hypertension Day throughout Pakistan. World Hypertension Day is organized worldwide on 17th of May every year under the auspices of World Hypertension League (WHL). This year’s theme for World Hypertension Day is ‘Salt and High Blood Pressure: Two Silent Killers’.

Speaking at a press conference held in Karachi, President PHL Professor Mohammad Ishaq said,

“High Blood Pressure is the largest single cause of death worldwide through strokes, heart attacks and kidney diseases. It is alarming that 18% of the Pakistan’s population is hypertensive of which 97% are uncontrolled. High salt intake is one of the major reasons for hypertension. It is established that if salt intake is reduced by half, it would save approximately 2.5 million deaths a year from strokes and heart attacks world wide.”

“To counter this menace PHL recommends to Cut down on foods high in sodium; eat in moderation the servings of processed foods and eat whole heartedly only those foods that are low in sodium.” Professor Mohammad Ishaq added.

Hypertension is a very common public health problem. The PMRC data published in 1997 revealed that 18% of the Pakistani Population has raised blood pressure levels. There are an estimated 12 Million hypertensives in Pakistan. This is an alarming situation. It was in recognition of this problem and the challenge of urgently doing something, that the PHL was founded in 1995 and officially launched in 1997, by a group of physicians. PHL is affiliated with World Hypertension League (WHL) and International Society of Hypertension (ISH).

The objective of PHL is to create awareness about high blood pressure- a silent killer in medical profession and public and also to carry out research related to high blood pressure. PHL has Eleven Chapters in all major cities in Pakistan who carry out activities in line with PHL objectives.

Mr. Mohammad Shakeel, a veteran TV artist and a hypertension patient himself, shared an emotional recollection of how he was diagnosed with hypertension and how he has balanced his lifestyle to best manage hypertension. He shared that once a person is diagnosed hypertensive, he can take measures to control the disease, but can never cure it. He also gave a personal three point agenda that to manage life with hypertension; regular light exercise, balanced nutrition with low salt intake, and timely medication’ are the three most essential ingredients one has to adopt if he intends to live a healthy life.

Others present at the occasion were CEO of Novartis Pharma, Mr. Shahab Rizvi. PHL’s Executive Members; Professor Ejaz Vohra, Professor Mansoor Ahmed, Professor Waris Qudwai, Dr. Maqbool Jafary, Dr. Abdul Rasheed Khan, Dr. Aziz Khan Tank and Dr. Bashir Hanif were also present.

Dr. Maqbool Jafary, Chairman, Scientific Committee PHL said, “PHL has initiated a large scale program to screen 20,000 patients across Pakistan for blood pressure and its risk with full support from CEO of Novartis Pharma, Mr. Shahab Rizvi.”

All participants at the venue were tested for high blood pressure, blood sugar and body mass index to establish understanding and to spread realization of hypertension as a deadly disease.

Professor Ishaq also added, “To promote the objective of PHL, an educational symposium for General Practitioners is organized at Abbasi Shaheed Hospital on morning of 16th May and mass scale public screening for Blood Pressure and its risk factors (Sugar, Cholesterol, Body Mass Index etc) will be held at kidney Institute and Tabba Heart Institute on the same day. Similar programs are being organized in other cities by its local chapters throughout Pakistan on this auspicious day.” NNI

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan government in a clandestine manner permitted medicine importers to import and market ‘Blue Tablet’ Viagra. “Permission to sell Viagra was already there when Sayed Anwar Mahmud was Secretary of Health but there was no notification”, a salesman of Famous Chemist D.Watson, told.

Owner of D.Watson Zafar Bakhtawari smilingly said Viagra is a medicine was sold for last many years but there was no publicity. Now we are told that the Government has given permission aphrodisiacs but we have not received any formal notification in imported Formally.

Health Ministry officials however conceded that “Only registration’ of such medicine is allowed. Official permission or no official permission but Indian medicine for ‘Men’s erectile dysfunction is already being brought through smuggling and these medicines are being sold by few chemists.

Bengal or as sometimes it referred as ‘Sonar Bangla’ consists of Indian state of West-Bengal and the country of Bangladesh.The people of Bengal farms and make usage of fertile Ganges Delta land. The main agricultural products of Bengal include Rice, vegetables and Fishes. So, it is quite practical Bengali culinary system will consist of a big part of Fish and vegetables.

In this blog i will try to give a brief feature of Bengal and its food habits along with some famous recipes in my next blog. Let us start with bazaars for whole food cycle.The Bengali bazaar or market can be classified into two groups viz. Vegetable Bazaar & Fish Bazaar. It is a common scene a Bengali babu holding a pair of fish with pride. The vegetable market is generally an open air market and its a known fact Bengal has lot to offer in terms of vegetables and fruits. Sealdah market, Gariahat Market etc. of Kolkata and Polton Bazaar of Dhaka can be seen as the busiest markets. A host of gourds, roots & tubers, leafy greens, succulent stalks, lemons & limes, green and purple eggplants, red onions, plantain, broad beens, okra, banana tree stems and flowers, green jack fruit and red pumpkins are just some of what you’ll see if you visit!

Fish Market which is referred as ‘Macher Bazaar’ in Bengali has also lot to offer.No state in India can offer you so many Fish options.It is very intersting to know visitors from outside Kolkata visit Fish Markets as a tourist spot.They are fascinated by the lively koi (climbing perch), the wriggling catfish family of tangra, magur, shingi and the pink-bellied Indian butter fish, the pabda. Among the larger fish, rui (rohu) and bhetki weigh upto eight kilograms. Baskets of pink and silvery ilish (hilsa) match the shine on the glistening blade of the fishmonger’s boti. And the fish itself is eaten from top to tail!

No straight from the market the Bengali Babus hand over all the shopping items to their wives called “Ginni’ and his duty is over. Now Ginni Maa will move to kitchen for the preparation. If we have a close look inside a Bengali Kitchen we can find so many special Utensils and Masalas that are unique only to Bengal.The kitchen also called ‘ranna Ghor’ or ‘Ranna Bari’ was used as a purpose of cooking. However storage and Eatery areas were different. Its quite intersting to know that separate Charcoal and woods were used to cook Vegetables, Rice,Fish or Mutton.But now Electric Gas is very commonly used.Among the cooking vessels that include are the karais (woks) where most of the cooking and frying is done, the tawa (griddle) on which rotis and parathas are made, the handi – a special large pot for cooking rice and the handleless modification of the sauce pan – the rimmed, deep, flat-bottomed dekchi are all hallmarks of the Bengali kitchen. And of course you will also find the pressure cooker which is indispensable to any Indian kitchen. As for the other utensils you absolutely can’t do without the hatha (ladle), the khunti (metal spatula), the jhanjri (perforated spoon), the sharashi (pincers to remove vessels from the fire), the ghuntni (wooden hand blender) for pureing dal and the old wooden chaki belon (round pastry board and rolling pin).The action in the kitchen begins with the cutting of fish and vegetables and the grinding of spices. And this is when the two star attractions of the Bengali kitchen – the sil nora (grinding stone) and the boti (a cutting tool) appear. The items to be ground are put on the heavy sil, a pentagonal slab of stone and are crushed over and over by its moving partner the nora, a smooth black stone you hold with your hands. This inseperable pair lasts longer than a lifetime and is usually handed down from mother-in-law to daughter-in-law.

Common Bengali Style Cooking :
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1. Ambal : A sour dish either made by vegetables or fish.The Ambal is preapared with the pulp of Tamarind.
2. Bhaja : Fried items.Aloo Bhaja, Potol (Parwaal) Bhaja, Begun Bhaja (baingan) or Fish (Maach Bhaja) are famous.
3. Bhapa : Steamed vegetables and Fish.Ilish Bhappa is a world famous dish from Bengal.
4. Bhuna : An Urdu term used for fried items, fried for long time along with spices.Meats are used to bhoona items.
5. Chachari : A Vegetable item with varities of vegetables cut into pieces,sometimes with the stalks of leafy greens added, all lightly seasoned with spices like mustard or poppy seeds and flavoured with a phoron. The skin and bone of large fish like bhetki or chitol can be made into a chachchari called kanta-chachchari, kanta, meaning fish-bone.
6. Chanchra : A mixed vegetable item.Fish head is also used.
7. Dalna : Mixed vegetable or eggs are used to make dalna.Spices are added and the preparation is little thick pulpy.
8. Dam : Vegetables and specially meat cooked in a covered pot and cooked slowly over a low heat.
9. Ghonto : A mixed vegetable item, vegetables grounded finely and cooked with both a phoron and ground spices.
10. Jhal : Literally, hot. A great favorite in West Bengali households, this is made with fish or shrimp or crab, first lightly fried and then cooked in a light sauce of ground red chilli or ground mustard and a flavoring of panch-phoron or kala jeera. Being dryish it is often eaten with a little bit of dal pored over the rice.
11. A light fish or vegetable stew seasoned with ground spices like ginger, cumin, coriander, chili and turmeric with pieces of fish and longitudinal slices of vegetables floating in it. The gravy is thin yet extremely flavorful. Whole green chillies are usually added at the end and green corriander leaves are used to season for extra taste.
12. Kalia : A rich preparation of Fish, Meat or Vegetables along with Ghee and garam masala.
13. Koftas : It is also called Boras in Bengali.Prepared with vegetables and minced meat. It is served with thick Gravies.
14. Korma : Another term of Urdu origin, meaning meat or chicken cooked in a mild yogurt based sauce with ghee instead of oil.
15. Pora : It is an item usually burnt over furnaces (Unun-In Bengali).Brinjal, Parwaal Tomatoe are famous Poras. It is a custom to take Pora at the begining of Meal.”Porar Mukhe Sob Bhalo” (Taking Pora will make your Tongue taste better) is a famous saying.
16. Tarkari : A general term often used in Bengal the way `curry’ is used in English. Originally from Persian, the word first meant uncooked garden vegetables. From this it was a natural extension to mean cooked vegetables or even fish and vegetables cooked together.

Serving Bengali Foods:
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Traditional way to serve Bengali foods is something like this: Separate Small Carpets also called ‘Asans’ are arranged for each individual.In front of Asan large platter made of bell metal/steel or on a large piece of fresh cut banana leaf is placed.In arround the platter there will be an array of Bowls called ‘Bati’ in Bengali are arranged which contains Chicken,Mutton,Fish,Dal,Tarkari,Shukto,Chutney,Deserts.In the centre of the platter hot Rice is served along with a slice of lime and salt allong with green chillies.Fried items are kept at one side.At the centre of the rice fresh pure Ghee is poured.

In Bengal people use their hands to eat food,otherwise how it is possible to eat the fish Like Ilish or Koi that contains Hectic bones.Also scientifically eating with hands gives a separte taste to foods and a great satisfaction.The other peculiarity about the Bengali eating scene is the unashamed accululation of remnants. Since succulent vegetable stalks, fish bones and fish heads, meat and chicken bones are all meticulously chewed until not a drop of juice is left inside, heaps of chewed remnants beside each plate are an inevitable part of a meal. Wether you have one or twenty dishes,in Bengal the eating style is to have each dish separetly with rice n order to savour its individual bouquet.Vegetables, especially the bitter ones, are the first item followed by dal, perhaps accompanied by fries or fritters of fish and vegetables. After this comes any of the complex vegetable dishes like ghanto or chachchari, followed by the important fish jhol as well as other fish preparations. Meat will always follow fish, and chutneys and ambals will provide the refreshing touch of tartness to make the tongue anticipate the sweet dishes.

How Bengali food differs with any other food culture in India?
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Bengal has innumerable lakes and ponds and the availability of fishes are countless.The preaparation of fishes are different from rest of India.The style you will never find else where in India.Fishes are steamed or braised and also they are prepared with vegetables and usage of mustard paste is seen commonly. Poppyseeds are very famous and used in varieties of fish preparation.Not only fish ‘Posto’ is a very famous food for all Bengali.

Bengali master in Vegetable cooking. They prepare varieties of dishes out of the vegetables that grow here.Not only this various ‘Ambroisal’ foods are prepared from left overs like ejected peels, stalks and leaves of vegetables.They use fuel-efficient methods, such as steaming fish or vegetables in a small covered bowl nestled at the top of the rice cooker.

The usage of spices both for Fish dishes and vegetable dishes are unique and this combination cannot be found in Rest of India.Example can be Kalonji (Kalo Jeere) and pach phoron. Panch phoron is a five-spice (a mixture of cumin, fennel, fenugreek, kalonji, and black mustard). The trump card card of Bengali cooking probably is the addition of this phoran, a combination of whole spices, fried and added at the start or finish of cooking as a flavouring special to each dish.Black Mustard are very famous among Bengali cuisines and is highly used as paste.

Bengali sweets are really unique not over in India but also over the world. Rassgollas, Kheer Kodom, Malai Chop, Sor Bhaja, Rajbhog, Sita Bhog, Mihidana, Doi and lots and lots to name.

BEIJING: The number of breast cancer cases among Beijing’s women has doubled over the past decade, according to the Beijing Municipal Health Bureau. Breast cancer had been the most common tumor among women in Beijing. It has now reached the figure of 515 out of every one million people, an increase of 107.9 percent over that in 1998, Deng Xiaohong, the bureau’s spokeswoman.

Most breast cancer patients are above 40 years old and the trend is turning younger, she said. It ranked now third in mortality rate among diseases while it was fifth ten years ago.

Ouyang Tao, director of the Center for Prevention and Treatment of Breast Cancer of the Beijing Tumor Hospital has said there were 2,100 breast cancer outpatients when the center was founded in 1998. The number rose to 36,600 in 2008. The center has handled 170,000 breast cancer cases.

The World Health Organization (WHO) confirms that breast cancer can be detected and cured at the early stage. A program of free screening of breast and cervical started to cover all Beijing districts in April this year.-APP

ISLAMABAD: If your toddler’s legs seem to curve outward at the knees, there’s probably no reason for concern. Look around, and you’ll see that few young children have legs that are truly straight. Ordinarily the legs straighten out, and look perfectly normal by adolescence. Bracing, corrective shoes and exercise are not helpful and, in fact, can hinder a child’s physical development and cause emotional difficulty, experts say.

Here are some signs from the American Academy of Pediatrics that suggest a child’s bowlegs or knock-knees may be caused by a serious problem:

• The curvature is extreme.
• Only one side is affected.
• Bowlegs get worse after age 2.
• Knock-knees persist after age 7.
• Your child also is unusually short for his age.

If your child’s condition fits any of these descriptions, you should talk to your pediatrician.

ISLAMABAD: The rapid spread of swine virus in the West has sent a wave of concern among the masses in General and health practitioners in particular who are demanding precautionary measures at the country’s airports to avoid spread of the disease. Health experts are of the opinion that the disease could cause catastrophe if the virus was not stopped from entering Pakistan. A senior doctor Dr Ahmed Kashif Saeed suggested:

“Before the situation gets out of control and the disease engulf many lives, special arrangements, like blood screening of passengers arriving from US, Canada, Mexico, Spain and other western countries, should be made at all the airports,”

About the symptoms of the disease, Dr Kashif opined those affected by the virus-faced problem with respiration, suffer fever, lethargy, lack of appetite and cough. Also, he said patients infected with the virus were usually reported with runny nose, sore throat, nausea, vomiting and diarrhea.

He said people in Pakistan were being exposed to the virus and could cause a catastrophe if it reached here.-ONLINE

ISLAMABAD: Taking aspirin in your 40s could cut the risk of cancer later in life, a review of research suggests. Experts said taking the drug at an age before cancer usually develops, and for ten years would maximize its potential to prevent the disease. Aspirin has been linked to a reduced risk of some cancers, and heart disease, but also to a raised risk of ulcers and internal bleeding. The Cancer Research UK study features in the journal Lancet Oncology.

Aspirin blocks the effects of proteins which can trigger inflammation, and which are found at unusually high levels in several types of cancer. Previous research suggests people who take the drug are less likely to develop bowel, breast and possibly some other types of cancer. However, regular use of aspirin specifically for cancer prevention is not currently recommended because of the risk of side effects.

Common cancers, such as prostate, breast, lung and bowel, tend to develop after the age of 60 – when the risk of aspirin causing internal bleeding is at its highest. Lead researcher Professor Jack Cuzick, from the Cancer Research UK Centre for Epidemiology at Queen Mary, University of London, said pre-cancerous lesions tended to start developing in the mid-40s.

Thus, taking aspirin around that time may be the best strategy for preventing that damage progressing to the full-blown disease. It would also carry a much lower risk of side effects than beginning to take aspirin 15-20 years later.

Work needed
However, Professor Cuzick said: “Many questions need to be answered before we would advise regular use of aspirin for cancer prevention.

“Future research and more clinical trials are needed to better identify those people who are at high risk of developing cancers and at low risk of side effects, who will benefit most from aspirin treatment.”

Professor Cuzick said it was not clear a lower dose “baby aspirin” could achieve the same anti-cancer effect as the standard dose of 300mg/day. The researchers also found that taking aspirin in combination with other drugs known as proton pump inhibitors could help to lower the risk of stomach bleeding.

Dr Lesley Walker, Cancer Research UK’s director of cancer information, said:

“It’s too soon to recommend that people take aspirin to try and stop cancer developing because of the side effects. It’s important that any decision to take aspirin regularly is only made in consultation with a GP.”

Ellen Mason, of the British Heart Foundation (BHF), also stressed it was too early for researchers to recommend taking aspirin to reduce the risk of cancer.

“Currently the risk of bleeding outweighs the benefit. Many thousands of people in the UK are prescribed aspirin because they have heart disease. This research does not prove that they will also get protection from cancer at a low dose, but as they already need to take aspirin it would be reassuring if further research eventually shows an anti-cancer benefit.”

-ONLINE

Drinking water which contains the element lithium may reduce the risk of suicide, a Japanese study suggests. Researchers examined levels of lithium in drinking water and suicide rates in the prefecture of Oita, which has a population of more than one million. The suicide rate was significantly lower in those areas with the highest levels of the element, they wrote in the British Journal of Psychiatry.

High doses of lithium are already used to treat serious mood disorders. But the team from the universities of Oita and Hiroshima found that even relatively low levels appeared to have a positive impact of suicide rates. Levels ranged from 0.7 to 59 micrograms per litre. The researchers speculated that while these levels were low, there may be a cumulative protective effect on the brain from years of drinking this tap water.

Added element

At least one previous study has suggested an association between lithium in tap water and suicide. That research on data collected from the 1980s also found a significantly lower rate of suicide in areas with relatively high lithium levels. The Japanese researchers called for further research in other countries but they stopped short of any suggestion that lithium be added to drinking water.

The discussion around adding fluoride to water to protect dental health has proved controversial – criticized by some as mass involuntary medication. In an accompanying editorial, Professor Allan Young of Vancouver’s Institute for Mental Health said “this intriguing data should provoke further research.

“Large-scale trials involving the addition of lithium to drinking water supplies may then be feasible, although this would undoubtedly be subject to considerable debate. Following up on these findings will not be straightforward or inexpensive, but the eventual benefits for community mental health may be considerable.”

Sophie Corlett, external relations director at mental health charity Mind said the research “certainly merits more investigation.

“We already know that lithium can act as a powerful mood stabiliser for people with bipolar disorder, and treating people with lithium is also associated with lower suicide rates. However, lithium also has significant and an unpleasant side effects in higher doses, and can be toxic. Any suggestion that it should be added, even in tiny amounts, to drinking water should be treated with caution and researched very thoroughly.”-ONLINE

ISLAMABAD: Preliminary analysis of the swine flu virus suggests it is a fairly mild strain, scientists say. It is believed that a further mutation would be needed in order for the H1N1 virus to cause the mass deaths that have been estimated by some. But at this point, it is impossible to predict with any accuracy how the virus will continue to evolve.

UK experts at the National Institute for Medical Research outlined on Friday the work they are due to start on samples of the virus sent from the US. The research, being done at the World Influenza Centre in Mill Hill, will be vital for working out the structure of the virus, where it came from, how quickly it is capable of spreading and its potential to cause illness.

Structure

Analysis done so far suggests what they are dealing with is a mild virus and nowhere near as dangerous as the H5N1 avian flu strain that has caused scientists so much concern over the past decade. Influenza A viruses are classified according to two proteins on the outer surface of the virus – hemagglutinin (H) and neuraminidase (N). The swine flu strain is a H1N1 virus, the same type as seasonal flu which circulates throughout the world every year, and kills roughly 0.1% of those infected or higher in an epidemic year.

Professor Wendy Barclay, chair in influenza virology at Imperial College London says initial indications suggest there is nothing about the genetic make-up of the new virus which is a cause for particular concern. The key to its potential lies largely in the H1 protein.

“There are two aspects – one is which receptors the virus tends to bind to and what we see is that it is binding to the upper respiratory tract rather than deep in the lungs.”

When a flu virus binds to the upper respiratory tract, it tends to cause mild illness but can be easily spread as people cough and sneeze, Professor Barclay explains. If a virus binds further down in the lungs, it tends to cause much more severe illness, as in the case of the H5N1 avian flu virus which has caused concern in recent years. “With the H1 gene we also look at the cleavage site,” she adds.

“The virus has to be cut into two pieces to be active and it uses an enzyme in the host to do that. “Most influenza viruses are restricted to the respiratory tract because they use enzymes in the lungs.”But some, like H5 viruses can evolve to cut into two pieces outside the lungs, so they can replicate outside the respiratory tract.”

Analysis

These initial indications are largely guesswork from looking at the genetic sequence of the virus and comparing that to what is known from work on other influenza viruses. It will take weeks and months of biological analysis to properly get a handle on the potential of the H1N1 virus.

The team at Mill Hill, one of four World Health Organisation’s centres for influenza research will be working in close collaboration with the Health Protection Agency who are carrying out testing in the UK, and their findings will also feed into the development of a potential vaccine.

Soon, the Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute in Cambridge will begin the genetic sequencing of the virus and will also be monitoring any mutations or changes in how virulent it is. However, there is one other reassuring aspect about what is known so far. That is there seems to be nothing unusual as yet in another protein in the centre of the virus, called NS1, which is linked to the strength of the immune response the virus produces.

In some more pathogenic viruses, it is this NS1 protein which initiates a “cytokine storm”, a particularly severe immune reaction that can be fatal in even healthy young people.

Predictions

Scientists have also played down concerns that the milder H1N1 virus, could combine with the more dangerous H5N1 avian flu virus, causing a super virus that has the ability to both spread easily between humans and cause severe illness. This is unlikely – or at least just as unlikely as it ever was and the H5N1 virus has been around for a decade without combining with normal seasonal flu.

Professor Jonathan Ball, an expert in molecular virology at the University of Nottingham said: “The chance of swine H1N1 combining with H5N1 is as likely as any other strain recombining. “What this outbreak does highlight is how difficult it is to predict new pandemic strains.

“Many people suspected that H5N1 was the most likely candidate for the next pandemic strain, but now it appears that this was a mistake – but that’s not to say H5N1 or another reassortment containing parts of H5N1 may not happen in the future.

“That’s the trouble – you can’t predict.”-ONLINE