`Patient Can Procure TB Drug Under Compassionate Grounds'



LRS CASE Hospital following protocol on conditional access to bedaquiline, govt counsel tells court

Patients with extensively drug-resistant tuberculosis (XDR TB) can separately import the potentially life-saving `bedaquiline' if they don't qualify for the drug under India's conditional access programme with US drugmaker Johnson & Johnson, the government has said.

The issue was brought up on Monday when an XDR TB patient's father took New Delhi's LRS TB hospital to the Delhi High Court for refusing to administer bedaquiline because the patient was not a Delhi resident.

The patient, who is from Bihar, is not under LRS' care anymore, argued the counsel for the hospital at the Delhi court. The counsel said the patient could procure the bedaquiline directly from J&J with the help of Zarir F Udwadia, a Mumbai-based consultant chest physician who recommended its use.

LRS is not in a position to follow the line of treatment suggested by Udwadia, the counsel said. The hospital also doesn't have the equipment required to conduct the pyrosequencing test sought by the patient's father, Kaushal Kumar Tripathi, LRS' counsel told the court.

“We will not be able to do it (provide bedaquiline) because we are sticking to the protocol that is prescribed,“ said the hospital's counsel. “If Dr Udwadia wants to continue the treatment, then he may try to get the bedaquiline under compassionate grounds....“ However, according to Dr Udwadia, it takes around 45 days for the drug to reach patients if they apply under compassionate use. “This convoluted and hectic procedure facilitated disbursement of only 56 therapies of bedaquiline in India from January 2013 to September 2015 when the company suspended its global compassionate use programme,“ he told ET.

Janssen, the J&J subsidiary which manufactures the drug, said it continues to provide the compassionate use programme in India, but said it cannot comment on how the government's conditional access programme is working.

“Since 2013, we have received 88 applications in India for compassionate access to bedaquiline, from public and private sector physici ans and hospitals across the country. Based on inclusion and exclusion criteria as per our global medical guidelines and aligned with the WHORNTCP criteria for use of bedaquiline, 65 patients have been approved for access under the compassionate use programme,“ a Jansen spokesperson told ET.

One of the reasons for the controlled access to these new TB drugs in the government centres offering them is because of logistical issues, the government said.

“The six centres providing bedaquiline under the Conditional Access Programme are the only ones equipped and trained to manage the programme so far,“ Sunil Khaparde, Deputy Director General-TB of the government's Central TB Division, told ET. “Patients need to be constantly monitored, which is why these centres are currently administering the drug only to residents of these six states,“ he said So far, the government has procured 300 doses of bedaquiline from J&J, of which it has administered nearly 200 doses, Khaparde told ET. Justice Sanjeev Sachdeva is expected to hear the case next on Wednesday.

ET VIEW:

Increase Availability

The government must make procedures to procure and distribute TB drugs simple and easy. Non-availability of TB drugs, be it through private clinics or governmentfunded health care centres, is detrimental to patients, results in complications and proliferation of drug resistant strains of TB. The human and economic cost of not simplifying the sourcing of TB drugs is far too high. The government must take steps to remedy the situation.

Source: THE ECONOMIC TIMES-4th January,2017

http://epaperbeta.timesofindia.com/Article.aspx?eid=31818&articlexml=Patient-Can-Procure-TB-Drug-Under-Compassionate-Grounds-04012017014012#

I know what you download': This site sees it all - New Tool Can Reveal IP Addresses, Anyone Can Use It To Spy On Friends' Download History

           Owners of a new website claim to know every thing you and your friends have ever downloaded. “I Know What You Download“ gathers information from across the internet to find out what people are downloading.

It knows everything, including your IP address. This tool can reveal IP addresses of anyone who has downloaded songs, movies, or anything on the BitTorrent without using VPN (Virtual Private Network), proxy or seedbox for public viewing.

In addition, it also offers a spy tool where you can see what your friends are down loading, without knowing their IP address. If your friend clicks on the hyperlink of a file-sharing site via SMS, then their alleged download history shows up immediately, without the IP address being exposed.

However, it is unclear who the site is run by or what they are doing with the information being collected. The people behind the site said that they were running it as a way of marketing their services to content owners and police.

The site can also find out who is downloading a certain content and help protect that same content as well as other services, like finding users who share child pornography . So, how does the service work? While torrenting, people seed or send out and leech or download content -all of which happens from other users in the network, and so those computers connect with each other. Thus, a computer can then easily find out the identity of others who are sending or taking content from it and that is what happening on the new website.

Similar tools are already being used by film, music, TV companies to prevent their shows from being torrented.There have been reports of these firms pursuing people who have downloaded their content either for costs or to force them to stop illegal downloads.

However, downloads from torrents are only tied to IP addresses and not to specific people. This means that the site will only show whether someone has been on your internet connection, and not necessarily which computer did it or even if the computer was in a person's house. However, the site claims to have limited records as people's IP can change and one address may be assigned to a range of people.

Source: TIMES OF INDIA - 2nd January,2017

http://epaperbeta.timesofindia.com/index.aspx?EID=31804&dt=20170102

This power suit gives you a new pair of legs

   

       Donning a piece of clothing that gives you superpowers seems like something straight out of a comic book or video game, but a start-up based out of California is bringing this idea a step closer to reality.

   Superflex, a spin off from the non-profit SRI International has developed a suit that is designed for the aging human population which gives its user the physical strength to do tasks that would otherwise be impossible to complete. The company is calling this new type of product “intelligent wearable strength”. The suit won't let its wearer pick up a car but it will give its user the required strength to do everyday tasks like sit up from a chair or walking around, perfect for the elderly or anyone who is suffering from a disability. The key component to this groundbreaking technology is system of autonomous sensors and flexible electric motors which bend in conjunction with its user's movements.

The suit is designed to give its user enhanced mobility and vitality in their legs, hips, and torso. The developers also say that the suit can be manually adjusted to give additional power. However, this may not be required. The Superflex says that the suit can detect a user's movements and will automatically adjust to user's requirements becoming extremely useful if you are having trouble carrying a bag of groceries upstairs. The company has reportedly received a $10 million investment from Global Brain, Horizons Ventures, Root Ventures, Sinovation Ventures, and SRI International. A consumer version of the biosuit is expected to be released by 2018.

Source: DNA-2nd January,2017

http://epaper2.dnaindia.com/index.php?pagedate=2017-1-2&edcode=820009&subcode=820009&mod=1&pgnum=2

An app to help you take on depression: Help at your fingertips

   

 Bengaluru: The National Institute of Mental Health and Neurosciences (Nimhans), Bengaluru, has developed a self-care application as a tool to tackle depression. Practise and Use Self Help for Depression, or PUSH-D, will likely help sufferers - a vast majority of who don't seek help - overcome various barriers and begin to deal with their mental health condition.

     Nearly 150 million people in India suffer from mental health conditions and are in need of active interventions, according to Nimhans' National Mental Health Survey of India, 2015-16. The exhaustive 12-state survey of 34,802 individuals found that one in 20 Indians suffers from depression, with a higher incidence among women, the elderly, and those in urban metros.

“The survey indicates that more than 60 per cent do not seek professional help for various mental health problems including depression. There is a need for multiple measures to address this gap,” says Dr Seema Mehrotra, professor, Nimhans' department of clinical psychology, who lead the team developing the PUSH-D app. The team includes Dr Paulomi M Sudhir, Dr Girish Nagaraja Rao and Dr Jagadisha Thirthalli of Nimhans, and Professor TK Srikanth of IIIT, Bangalore.

   The many reasons for this are lack of awareness, stigma including self stigma, lack of access, time constraints in urban areas, and treatment cost, she says. “People have mixed feelings about seeking help for a mental condition. We wanted to see what we can do to help more people, and this is where technology comes in,” says Dr Mehrotra.

      As part of a two-year research project, funded by the Indian Council of Medical Research, the team worked on creating a private and personal tool that a person would be able to wield in the battle against depression. In the works for nearly a year-and-and-half, PUSH-D is currently in pilot testing phase, and the study is expected to be completed later this year.

But the app is in no way meant to be a self diagnosis tool,” warns Dr Mehrotra. “The diagnosis is arrived at only after a thorough evaluation. This takes between one to two hours and is done either face-to-face or via Skype. Only if the depression severity is mild to moderate, and we feel the person can benefit by self-care, then we will generate a username and password for him/her to access the app.” The PUSH-D app, available through a website (https://echargementalhealth.nimhans.ac.in) and on Google Playstore, has two components: essentials zone, which requires the user to go over a series of sections in a predetermined sequence, and an optional zone, which has sections that can be accessed in any order.

     The techniques utilised are based on the principles of cognitive behavioural therapy, positive psychology and interpersonal therapy all psychological approaches relied upon by clinical psychologists during face-to-face therapy with clients. “There are exercises that a person can take, and the responses would be recorded in a ‘workbook' on the app. At the back end, Nimhans' team will be able to monitor these for appropriate intervention as and when required,” adds Dr Mehrotra.

     She estimates that a person with mild depression would be able to finish the entire module in about two-three months by sticking to 
a scheduled routine as one would while interfacing with a therapist. Considering people drop out of therapy or skip sessions, the app has devised a way to monitor progress and maintain motivation. There's a reminder on the app, motivational quotes, and reasons why the user shouldn't give up midway. The user is also assisted through weekly supportive calls. “PUSH-D is available in English for now. We want to create Hindi and Kannada versions if we can manage funding support for the same,” adds Dr Mehrotra. “We hope to complete the pilot trial by September.”

      

Source: DNA 3rd January,2017

http://epaper2.dnaindia.com/index.php?pagedate=2017-1-3&edcode=820009&subcode=820009&mod=1&pgnum=2

Hind, Pak aur Bangladesh ke beech ta'alukaat mustehkim karne ki zarurat

Source : INQUILAB-29th December,2016