To understand this and an effort to sensitize the concern, InnovatioCuris Foundation of Healthcare & Excellence (ICFHE) organised it’s tenth virtual IC InnovatorCLUB meeting on Nov 11, 2021 on the theme “Pollution and Diseases”. 

The panel consists of various experts from the different fields of environment and medical background. Retired Surgeon R Admiral Dr. V.K Singh, Managing Director, InnovatioCuris has set the tone for the session and the meeting was moderated by Dr. Debleena Bhattacharya. The experts Dr. Sunil Kumar, Sr. Scientist, CSIR-NEERI, Nagpur; Mr. Yash Dadhwadi, Area Director India & Bangladesh, RiverRecycle OY, Finland, Dr. Amit Bhatnagar, Managing Director, Accuster Technologies, Dr. Nitish Dogra, Associate Professor, IIHMR, Delhi and Dr. Debleena Bhattacharya, Assistant Professor, MEFGI,Rajkot gave their suggestions and opinions in their domains.

During every winter season we hear more and more cases of increased pollution and its related diseases. According to stats, about 18% of the deaths are caused due to pollution in India. 

Delhi is the most polluted city followed by Kolkata, Mumbai and Chennai. But the real question and concern is, how much political will is there to tackle the pollution? 

Addressing this Dr. Singh said, “should we really have to wait for the media to highlight the issue to act upon, or for supreme court PILs to be raised to address the issue? What are some of the necessary steps to be taken in .” With this food for thought in mind, the evening proceeded with it’s session further. 

The issue of improper disposal without proper segregation of solid waste was highlighted by Dr.Sunil Kumar who further elaborated about the need for integrated solid waste management & emphasized on removal of soil pollution. Solid waste being the most visible form of pollution, is disposed of in billions of tonnes every year, hence making the condition even more severe. 

Since there is a disconnect among the local municipalities, all the garbage is collected and delivered to the final dump sites incorrectly due to lack of resources or any adequate infrastructure for the management, this has resulted into major health consequences causing various negative externalities to environments. There are a lot of impacts of solid waste on the health of  preschool children, oil rig pickers, facilities manufacturing workers among others residing nearby the dump sites. Hazardous Waste exposure can have a negative impact on human health, particularly children who are being exposed to these contaminants. 

He also mentioned concerns caused by chemical pollution/poisoning from the release of unmonitored chemical waste into the environment. He also suggested a treatment and disposal facility that can potentially pose a health risk to the surrounding community. The inefficient incineration of biomass pollutes the air along with that poorly managed landfills attract a variety of disease carrying insects and rodents therefore these places should ideally be situated at a safer distance from any human settlement. 

An average person in our modern society breathes in and drinks hundreds and thousands of tiny particles of plastic every day.

Plastic waste, Electronic waste and leachate are the emerging concerns for the human race. Plastic pollution is a concern everywhere, not just in the oceans. The Himalayas and the Sahara are also not bereft of plastic. An average person in our modern society breathes in and drinks hundreds and thousands of tiny particles of plastic every day. Plastics pollute the environment in various forms, not just as litter. In the process of making it, sometimes the chemicals used to make it seep out, thereby releasing toxins into the environment. These chemicals are now in the blood of nearly every person on Earth, even the unborn ones. Some are known and suspected cause of a broad range of health problems due to plastics are birth defects and brain damage.

Talking and sharing his experience on river plastic pollution we had Yash Dadhwadia. He shared that about 12 million metric ton plastic reaches the oceans every year. Soon, if not already, the weight of all the plastic in the world’s oceans will weigh more than all of the oceans’ fish. This affects marine life; much of this plastic is consumed by the fish themselves. Marine animals like turtles and others, especially seabirds, mistake plastic for food. Although it is not digestible to them, it gives them the sensation of being full so the animal then starves to death. 

This menace caused by microplastics requires attention from the authorities and needs new ways to address our environmental challenges. It is reliant on our ability to foster innovation to find ways of driving systemic change. To support such innovation and progress towards circularity, Huhtamaki partners with RiverRecycle and VTT to develop technology to tackle floating river waste. New technology river waste collectors are now operational on the Mithi River in Mumbai, India. This will need cooperation across the value chain with key stakeholders to address global sustainability challenges, for example such as in this case marine plastics. 

Such initiatives could be a boon to manage the waste on the shores of the most polluted rivers, collecting and recycling plastic waste and floating debris and saving the environment from being polluted. 

Moving ahead we had expert opinion and suggestions from Dr. Debleena Bhattacharya on water pollution. As we all know, we only have 3% fresh water that can be used for drinking, irrigation and bathing and other necessary daily use. Dr. Bhattacharya shared that there are four major causes for the pollution, namely, Unethical farming practices, Illegal disposal of industrial waste water, Population growth posing rise in fresh water demand and Microplastics. 

As Dr. Debleena shared, according to the recent data, 1.1 billion people worldwide lack the access to clean drinking water and a total of 2.7 billion people find water scarcity and hence the inadequate sanitation; as well as 2.4 billion people around the world are exposed to diseases such as cholera and typhoid. So, in the recent study, we have seen that 2 million people, mostly children, die each year due to diarrheal diseases alone. So, this data is really something that we should be concerned about. 

She also suggested that we monitor our dietary habits to avoid foods that require too much water during it’s irrigation, such as Avocados and replace it with a substitute that requires far less water to be cultivated such as raw coconut. Nowadays people are going for making this superfood into farming practices but are unaware of the fact that it requires 320 litres per avocado that is 64 times more than a simple tomato vegetation that has been grown. And invariably, by 2050, for places like California it is said that it will be having water problems because already so much water has been consumed by this illegal practice of farming. 

A recent study of IIT Madras done over the Kaveri river shows there are a lot of pharmaceutical residual products, personal care products and miniscule particles of plastics are being disposed of. These discarded components still remain in the water even after treatment and then we intake them along with the water which causes the residual deposition in our body that further causes health issues in adults and also in newborns. Dr. Debleena also shared how the microplastics’ deposits are creating problems in the food chain and how it will also remain harmful for the generations to come. Because of the biomagnification of this harmful residual in our food chain and invariably our body, it is of concern for us and for our future generations that we need to control this pollution. And take steps to curb these problems in the near future. 

Next the panel saw another expert, Mr. Amit Bhatnagar who talked about how the quality of air is being affected nowadays and how entrepreneurs like him are trying to curtail the issue. He categorises the challenge into two categories, one being the challenge of awareness or psychological ignorance and other being the innovative way to tackle the problem. Air pollution kills an estimated 7 million people worldwide every year. Data from WHO shows that almost all of the global population (approx. 99%) breathe in air that exceeds the WHO approved limits containing high levels of pollutants, with low- and middle-income countries suffering from the maximum or highest exposures. WHO is supporting countries to address air pollution. From smog floating over cities to smoke inside the home, air pollution poses a major threat to the health and the climate. The combined effects of ambient (outdoor) and household air pollution cause millions of premature deaths every year, largely as a result of increased mortality from stroke, heart disease, acute respiratory infections, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and lung cancer.

Mr. Amit shared how they have made an effort to clean the air for the masses by his innovative solution that can harness the energy of moving vehicles and clean the air while the vehicle is running on the road. 

Up next we had Dr. Nitish Dogra who highlighted the six aspects of the pollution –  why, when, where, who, what and how. Very lucidly he explained how the pregnant mothers are being the most affected ones and how the birth weight is going down due to increasing pollution. He also explained the concern over the increasing pollution and its repercussions that not only affect the lungs but also heart and brain. He also touched upon where one should be taking the necessary action and when should one move out to act to cater to this problem. 

The need of the hour is to take preventive action to reduce the emission of pollutants into the environment in the first place—and that is largely achievable with existing know-how

Exposures to environmental pollution remains a major source of health risk throughout the world, though risks are usually higher in developing countries as compared to developed ones, where poverty, lack of investment in modern technology and weak environmental legislation contribute to high pollution levels. Associations between environmental pollution and health outcomes are, however, complex and often poorly characterized. But what is most important is that many of the risks and health effects are readily avoidable. The need of the hour is to take preventive action to reduce the emission of pollutants into the environment in the first place—and that is largely achievable with existing know-how. 

With the panel of experts enlightening us about the various intricacies of the relationship between pollution and diseases, it gave us the food for thought that so many areas of pollution need to be monitored in order to curtail the ever emerging new diseases. With these consternating thoughts the session awakened us and invariably inspired us to take steps no matter how small to safeguard our environment from the wrath of harmful pollution and securing the lives of our future generations.

Do let us know if you have any interesting ideas that you would like to implement to cater to these issues or have already implemented in your neighbourhood. We will be happy to hear and share your efforts.

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The technology innovation hubs of IIT Delhi (iHub foundation) and IIIT Delhi (iHub Anubhuti) will collaborate to develop India’s first Medical Cobotics Centre (MCC) at IIITDelhi. The hubs, funded by the Department of Science and Technology (DST), will develop training programs in consultation with leading doctors and healthcare experts.

The planned Medical Cobotics Centre (MCC) will be a technology enabled medical simulation and training facility for the young resident doctors to equip them with advanced technological knowledge. The centre will also act as a validation centre for research outcomes in the area of healthcare robotics and digital health in addition to facilitating the training of other healthcare professionals, paramedical staff, technicians, engineers, and researchers.

Project leaders from IIT-D and IIIT-D informed that though there are several medical simulation centres for providing training to the resident doctors, there is none dedicated to developing these technologies and their validation. MCC will develop strategic partnerships with companies, undertake expert driven research and will also work towards commercialization of technologies. 

Healthcare experts from renowned medical institutions like All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) at New Delhi, Jodhpur, and other medical colleges have been taken on board to develop training programs under the project. The training programs would be conducted for multiple levels (basic/advanced) of expertise in line with the National Education Policy for medical subjects. They will also be cohort-specific including cohorts like urology, neurology, laparoscopy, but initially limited to minimum invasive surgeries. 

The first batch of trainees will be inducted in April/May 2022 with some of the basic training simulators. Advanced medical technology like the surgical robots will be inducted in the next phase.

Source: www.health.economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/health-it/

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AstraZeneca India and India-Sweden Healthcare Innovation Centre has jointly launched a specialized training program named Nurses’ Upskilling in NCDs (NUN) program for nurses to equip them with world-class practical knowhow to manage Diabetes. In the first training, 30 nurses from All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIIMS), Jodhpur will be trained for two days.

The modules of this program are carefully designed to enable nurses to deliver specialized care, essential support services and standardized counseling for patients living with these high incidence non-communicable diseases (NCDs) in India.

India-Sweden Healthcare Innovation Centre has been created to address the healthcare challenges in the country through interventions like technology, protocol, process and capability building. This is built under strategic guidance from the Union Health Ministry, the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR), the Government of Sweden’s Ministry of Health and Social Affairs and the Embassy of Sweden in India, and knowledge partners AstraZeneca and NASSCOM.

In a phased manner, this capability program aims to upskill 5000 nurses across the country in the next one year by converting the current modules into e-learning. The program also aims to expand the current curriculum to other NCD areas including Hypertension, Cardiovascular diseases and Oncology.

“Nurses hold transformative power in tackling any disease. The primary idea behind this initiative is to create a framework that can enhance primary, secondary and tertiary care in India. The program we are launching deeply focuses on enriching our nurses with hands-on knowledge and specific skills required to practice and promote up-to-date patient centric care”, said Cecilia Oskarsson, Trade Commissioner of Sweden to India

As per WHO, 1 in 4 Indians has a risk of dying from a non-communicable disease before they reach the age of 70 years. Dr. Sanjeev Misra, Director, AIIMS Jodhpur said, “Nurses are a vital layer of any healthcare ecosystem that is instrumental in achieving the health and development goals of a country. As a part of India-Sweden Healthcare Innovation Centre, we are proud to have developed a scalable training programme that would help nurses to not only deliver safe essential health services but also influence and educate patients towards understanding and managing a NCD.”

This program is curated from the rich and diverse resources available within the NCD domain following the National Programme for Prevention and Control of Cancer, Diabetes, Cardiovascular Diseases and Stroke (NPCDCS) guidelines.

“Nurses in our country are an important touch point that can be leveraged to spread correct medical information to assess and manage these critical lifestyle diseases. Capacitating and up-skilling nurses can prove to be a boon in ensuring the delivery of affordable, standardised and safe essential health care services. Through this initiative, we continue our commitment to address the growing burden of NCDs by setting up solution oriented centres of excellence that could focus upon upskilling, impactful solutions and scalable operations,” said Dr. Anil Kukreja, VP Medical Affairs, AstraZeneca India

The training program is targeted to empower nurses to better recognize the risk factors, causes, pathophysiology, screening methods, diagnostic tests and management of diabetes mellitus, hypertension and other NCDs. They will also be able to advice patients and the community on the importance of early and regular screening and adoption of healthy lifestyle.

The initiative will run under the aegis and direction of an Advisory Committee under the chairmanship of Prof Suresh K Sharma, Professor and Principal, College of Nursing, AIIMS, Jodhpur. The advisory committee is being formed comprising of key dignitaries from AIIMS Delhi, AIIMS Jodhpur, Directorate General of Health Services (DGHS), Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR), University College of Medical Sciences (UCMS), AstraZeneca India, and Business Sweden.

Source: www.financialexpress.com/healthcare

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The Department of Biotechnology has launched a ‘One Health’ consortium that envisages carrying out surveillance of important bacterial, viral and parasitic infections of zoonotic as well as transboundary pathogens in the country. The project also looks into the use of existing diagnostic tests and the development of additional methodologies for the surveillance and understanding the spread of emerging diseases, the DBT said in a statement.

Dr Renu Swarup, Secretary, Department of Biotechnology, launched the First ‘One Health’ project of the DBT through video conferencing on Thursday. The consortium envisages carrying out surveillance of important bacterial, viral and parasitic infections of zoonotic as well as transboundary pathogens.

Noting that the COVID-19 pandemic showed the relevance of ‘One Health’ principles in the governance of infectious diseases, specially efforts to prevent and contain zoonotic diseases throughout the world, Swarup emphasised on a holistic approach to understand the health of human, animals and wildlife to minimise the damage caused by future pandemics.

Swarup said the ‘One Health Consortium consisting of 27 organisations led by DBT-National Institute of Animal Biotechnology, Hyderabad, is one of the biggest health programmes launched by the government in post-Covid times.

The consortium consists of AIIMS, Delhi, AIIMS Jodhpur, IVRI, Bareilly, GADVASU, Ludhiana, TANUVAS, Chennai, MAFSU, Nagpur, Assam agricultural and veterinary university and many more ICAR, ICMR centres and wildlife agencies.

Source: www.financialexpress.com/healthcare

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Medwiki, an online video library on medicines with more than one lakh medicine videos (https://medwiki.co.in/) has been launched recently to support Indians understand their medicines better.

Medwiki is a search engine-based video library through which any Indian can search the name of the medicine patient has been prescribed. The videos are made by Medwiki’s trusted trained pharmacists in simple language to answer the top 4-5 questions customers typically have about the medicines. The videos have crossed a viewership of more than 10 million on YouTube.

“There is too much information on the Internet with answers to all sorts of questions, be it on weight loss, Covid testing or pertaining to diabetes or heart diseases. However, surprisingly, people forget to ask the most basic questions of their everyday life– What is this medicine? How should I take it? How does it work? 95% of Indians are not aware of what their medicine is, which is leading to poor compliance and adherence to it. Due to lack of knowledge, people end up consuming the wrong substitutes of medicines, thereby affecting their health. Medwiki has been created to answer these essential questions and empower the patients with the right knowledge on their medicines. We have started Medwiki in English and Hindi and soon plan to make the videos available in 6-8 vernacular languages,” said Amit Choudhary, Founder-Chief Executive Officer, Medwiki.

According to Choudhary, factors such as growth in Internet, smart phones, increased data penetration and social media platforms across the country can be utilised to make better technological tools to drive better engagement with healthcare customers. This will lead to better healthcare management and consumption among the Indians. “Medwiki is just the beginning. We have many resources that will help Indians navigate the complexities of our healthcare system. When people are armed with information, they have better access to care, which ultimately leads to improved health outcomes,” said Mr. Choudhary.

Source: www.financialexpress.com/healthcare

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Apollo Hospitals launched the Apollo Centre of Excellence in Critical Care (ACECC) to create an integrated network of eICUs to provide critical care not just across the Apollo Hospitals network but also in partnership with non-Apollo units in India and abroad. The ACECC will enable wider and timely access to critical care and help in implementing a standardised scope of management and treatment in emergencies and critical medical situations.

Apollo Hospitals is currently the largest critical care provider in India with over 25% of its in-patient bed capacity designated for critical care. Critical care, also referred to as Intensive care, deals with critically-ill patients who require intensive care for various medical conditions that are immediately life-threatening but reversible.

Dr. Prathap C Reddy, Chairman, Apollo Hospitals Group said, “Critical illness leads to millions of deaths each year. However, critical care faces challenges due to factors such as lack of prioritisation, coordination, timely identification and availability of basic life-saving treatments. At Apollo Hospitals, we have the vision, expertise and ability to transform critical care for India and beyond through excellence in outcomes in an evidence based cost effective manner. The Apollo Centre of Excellence in Critical Care will be instrumental in turning this vision into reality.”

The ACECC will comprise digital technology enabled Critical Care Units (CCUs) having standard protocols and operating procedures (SOPs) supported by smart solutions. This will enable expansion of the critical care network through e-ICUs using Tele-health and Apollo Connect. The ACECC will also focus on evidence-based protocols, training, and capacity building of critical care specialists.

Preetha Reddy, Executive Vice Chairperson, Apollo Hospitals Group said, “The COVID pandemic highlighted the challenges faced by the country with regard to its critical care infrastructure. Studies have indicated that India has just 2.3 critical care beds per 100,000 population as against 10 to 11 beds per 100,000 population in developed countries like South Korea and Singapore. The pandemic brought to the fore the need for augmenting India’s critical treatment facilities and creating capability for high end critical care. The ACECC will be based on a network of hub-and-spokes units between Apollo and non-Apollo providers, both public and private, to ensure that every citizen has access to the best of critical care when needed.”

Critical care is delivered by critical care specialists, who are also referred to as intensivists. An intensivist is specially trained to manage the broad range of conditions that are commonly found in critically ill patients. They also need to be aware of the various procedures and devices used in an intensive care setting, and the technology that powers it. They will also collaborate with other specialities that are relevant to individual cases.

Suneeta Reddy, Managing Director, Apollo Hospitals Group said, “Critical care in the country today faces multiple challenges ranging from lack of trained staff and equipment and a lower priority given to emergency and critical care as compared to other specialities. The ACECC will enable quality critical care with a reduction in morbidity and mortality by encompassing the entire gamut of critical care backed by appropriate training of healthcare professionals. Integrated education and training through Medvarsity will ensure up-to-date clinical knowledge for the healthcare physicians and staff. International partnerships will create an environment for excellence in clinical standards, education, research and support.”

Dr Sangita Reddy, Joint Managing Director, Apollo Hospitals Group said, “There was tremendous pressure on critical care during COVID-19 surge, but resilience and undiluted commitment of the intensivists ensured delivery of care of the highest standards given the circumstances. ACECC will oversee an integrated critical care network, leveraging our collective strength across the group, and will ensure that we take the speciality to a different level not only in the country but also build a global model for the same.”

Dr. K. Hari Prasad, President, Hospitals Division, Apollo Hospitals Enterprises said, “The country faces a resource mismatch with 80% of physicians working in urban areas and 70% of the population residing in remote locations. The ACECC will help in overcoming variability in expertise and critical care delivery and provide smart solutions to the national shortage of critical care experts.”

Critically ill patients present with a different set of challenges from in-patients in other specialities. They require constant monitoring, care and support, which makes the role of critical care vital to the patient’s health. A patient in a critical care unit has an entire team of specialised physicians, nurses, and other medical staff to look after every need.

Professor Ravi Mahajan, Director, Critical Care Integration and Transformation, Apollo Hospitals Group said, “The launch of the Centre heralds furthering Apollo’s ambition to make high quality, affordable Critical Care expertise available even to the remotest parts of India. It will be a focal point for national networks and international collaborations achieving excellence through standard setting, developing protocols, quality improvement programmes, education and research”

While talking about the accessibility and affordability aspect of E-ICUs, a spokesperson from Apollo Hospitals said, “Through this initiative, critical care will be provided in tier-2 and rural areas where access to critical care is non-existent. The cost will be much lower than a patient travelling to a large hospital in a city for these services. Apart from lower medical costs, logistic costs like travel and loss of daily earnings of the family will be saved.”

Talking about training of the staff, the spokesperson said, “The local hospital staff will be trained using our training platforms first to work with our command centres and then further enhance their skills to handle some of the cases themselves and gradually become self-sufficient. The specialists will monitor, advise and guide treatment of a patient in a remote area. ACECC is currently connected with 500 beds through one hub in Hyderabad. With the launch of Chennai and Madurai hubs in a week another 500 beds will be added. The goal is to connect 10000 beds over a period of one year.”

Source: www.financialexpress.com/healthcare

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