AIDS Threatens India’s Prosperity
Failure to rein in the epidemic could undermine India’s growth and affect its trading partners
Pramit Mitra
YaleGlobal, 30 November 2006
Aiding comprehension: International Labor Organization-aided project seeks to educate India's women workers about HIV/AIDS
JAMSHEDPUR: Buoyed by its blazing economic growth, India is emerging as a favorite destination for foreign investors. But a threat is lurking that could damage the happy prospects, and that threat is nowhere better understood than in India’s corporate giant Tata Steel, because the stakes are very direct.
Talk to anybody at Tata Steel and he or she will tell you how seriously the company takes the HIV/AIDS epidemic. The same attitude is reflected in the company’s corporate culture. Instead of expensive art, HIV/AIDS posters line the walls of its corporate office and each employee, from the entry-level worker to the senior-most manager, gets periodic updates on the disease.
As India’s second largest steel producer, Tata Steel has a big stake in protecting its workforce. The company is located in Jamshedpur, a gritty industrial town in Jharkhand, a state teeming with a high-risk population including migrant laborers and truckers that makes its employees particularly vulnerable to the virus. But despite much-admired education and health programs for company employees and Jamshedpur citizens, Tata’s health workers fear that the disease is slowly tightening its grip on the state. At present, approximately 400 patients are on anti-retroviral therapy in Jharkhand, but many experts fear that weak surveillance and bad governance masks a much larger HIV/AIDS problem.
The same could be said about the rest of India. Almost 20 years after the first AIDS case was diagnosed in the southern city of Chennai, India is still trying to juggle different public health priorities, while maintaining and increasing its spending on HIV/AIDS programs. In the meantime, the number of HIV-infected people is rising at an alarming rate. There were 5.7 million HIV-infected Indians in 2005, of which 5.2 million were adults aged 15 to 49 years, according to the “UNAIDS/WHO 2006 AIDS Epidemic Updateâ€
Indian Health Care Sector
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Vishy_mulay
- BRFite
- Posts: 174
- Joined: 09 Feb 2007 09:21
- Location: Melbourne
Is this true or DDM at best? IF true this is a very serious problem for India and world.
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/Smal ... 096880.cms
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/Smal ... 096880.cms
Reliance Life to enter global generic space.
MUMBAI: Reliance Life Sciences (RLS) is planning to introduce its first generic drug by 2009 in international markets, including the US and Europe, where it will be competing with domestic pharma majors like Ranbaxy Lab and Sun Pharma, along with global drug giants such as Teva or Mylan.
“We are looking at capital intensive products across all therapeutic segments, where we could have a competitive advantage,â€
MUMBAI: Reliance Life Sciences (RLS) is planning to introduce its first generic drug by 2009 in international markets, including the US and Europe, where it will be competing with domestic pharma majors like Ranbaxy Lab and Sun Pharma, along with global drug giants such as Teva or Mylan.
“We are looking at capital intensive products across all therapeutic segments, where we could have a competitive advantage,â€
[/url]http://www.hindu.com/2007/06/13/stories ... 00.htm[url]
This business of stem cell therapy has really got out of hand. The above article from hindu (sorry I am a computer novice so forgive me if the link doesn't work or not properly displayed) basically is a con job in name of research. This not even a trial(forget whether it is Phase2 or Phase 3 trial) but trying some obscure ideas & charging a patient Rs 1 Lakh for the procedure!!!! The procedure according to them is by drawing 50-100 ml of bone marrow aspirate, purify them!! & reinfuse to site of injury. This is basically bull s...t. 50 ml of marrow aspirate wouldn't even yield enough haemopoietic stem cells for a small child. But they are purifying aspirate to get mesenchymal stem cells(source of most mesenchymal tissue like heart, liver, brain,etc.) which itself is a fraction of stem cells in marrow & a fraction of them may be neural, liver or cardiac stem cells. To be honest they even haven't got a proper surface marker for the mesenchymal stem cell to isolate them. To expand them in-vitro needs atleast a few days. But according to their websites they purify them for 3 hrs & reinfuse the same evening itself.
If they try to publish these results to any peer reviewed journals they will be taken to the cleaners. Indian government sincerely needs to bring in legislation to regulate the stem cell therpy & the so called research. They are simply swindling money from hapless patients who understandably will go to any extent to get their dear ones treated. These unethical doctors are a real curse to the profession.
Regards
Subash[/url][/b]
This business of stem cell therapy has really got out of hand. The above article from hindu (sorry I am a computer novice so forgive me if the link doesn't work or not properly displayed) basically is a con job in name of research. This not even a trial(forget whether it is Phase2 or Phase 3 trial) but trying some obscure ideas & charging a patient Rs 1 Lakh for the procedure!!!! The procedure according to them is by drawing 50-100 ml of bone marrow aspirate, purify them!! & reinfuse to site of injury. This is basically bull s...t. 50 ml of marrow aspirate wouldn't even yield enough haemopoietic stem cells for a small child. But they are purifying aspirate to get mesenchymal stem cells(source of most mesenchymal tissue like heart, liver, brain,etc.) which itself is a fraction of stem cells in marrow & a fraction of them may be neural, liver or cardiac stem cells. To be honest they even haven't got a proper surface marker for the mesenchymal stem cell to isolate them. To expand them in-vitro needs atleast a few days. But according to their websites they purify them for 3 hrs & reinfuse the same evening itself.
If they try to publish these results to any peer reviewed journals they will be taken to the cleaners. Indian government sincerely needs to bring in legislation to regulate the stem cell therpy & the so called research. They are simply swindling money from hapless patients who understandably will go to any extent to get their dear ones treated. These unethical doctors are a real curse to the profession.
Regards
Subash[/url][/b]
Indian doctors perform first surgical removal of rare heart tumor.
BANGALORE: Doctors in southern India said Thursday they had performed the first known surgical removal of an extremely rare heart tumour that finds no mention in standard medical text books.
A team of surgeons in Bangalore also reconstructed the heart of the 22-year-old patient, who survived the operation performed late last month, said N.S. Devananda, consultant cardiovascular surgeon for Wockhardt Hospitals.
Prabhu Ram, a plumber, had a Primitive Neuroectodermal Tumour -- a potentially deadly cancerous growth -- arising from both the upper chambers of the heart, which blocked the flow of blood into the organ and the right lung.
"It is an extremely rare case as such tumours more commonly occur in the brain and the chest walls," Devananda told a press conference in Bangalore.
"There are very few similar cases reported in medical literature worldwide," he said, calling it the first attempt to surgically remove such a tumour.
After the tumour, measuring 8x10x12 centimetres, was removed, doctors rebuilt the upper chambers of the heart with the outer covering of the organ, creating bag-like receptacles to channel blood returning from the lungs into the ventricles, the heart's main pumping chambers.
"His newly constructed heart functions well," said Murali Manohar, a consultant cardiac surgeon at Wockhardt Hospitals.
Lloyd Nazareth, head of the healthcare company, said such operations may open up possibilities for patients who have given up hope.
"Since this is a rare surgical experience, it may serve as an example to other doctors who may come across a similar situation," he said.
Ram, the patient, had perhaps two days to live when he was operated on, doctors said -- but added they could not rule out a return of the tumour.
"It's because of the doctors that I have survived," Ram, who hails from the northern Indian desert state of Rajasthan, said at the news conference. "It's them that I thank, not god."
BANGALORE: Doctors in southern India said Thursday they had performed the first known surgical removal of an extremely rare heart tumour that finds no mention in standard medical text books.
A team of surgeons in Bangalore also reconstructed the heart of the 22-year-old patient, who survived the operation performed late last month, said N.S. Devananda, consultant cardiovascular surgeon for Wockhardt Hospitals.
Prabhu Ram, a plumber, had a Primitive Neuroectodermal Tumour -- a potentially deadly cancerous growth -- arising from both the upper chambers of the heart, which blocked the flow of blood into the organ and the right lung.
"It is an extremely rare case as such tumours more commonly occur in the brain and the chest walls," Devananda told a press conference in Bangalore.
"There are very few similar cases reported in medical literature worldwide," he said, calling it the first attempt to surgically remove such a tumour.
After the tumour, measuring 8x10x12 centimetres, was removed, doctors rebuilt the upper chambers of the heart with the outer covering of the organ, creating bag-like receptacles to channel blood returning from the lungs into the ventricles, the heart's main pumping chambers.
"His newly constructed heart functions well," said Murali Manohar, a consultant cardiac surgeon at Wockhardt Hospitals.
Lloyd Nazareth, head of the healthcare company, said such operations may open up possibilities for patients who have given up hope.
"Since this is a rare surgical experience, it may serve as an example to other doctors who may come across a similar situation," he said.
Ram, the patient, had perhaps two days to live when he was operated on, doctors said -- but added they could not rule out a return of the tumour.
"It's because of the doctors that I have survived," Ram, who hails from the northern Indian desert state of Rajasthan, said at the news conference. "It's them that I thank, not god."
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Raju
If this thing spreads into India, it might be nothing short of catastrophic. It is basically TB with HIV strain. In the case of AIDS one needed to be directly infected through blood/bodily fluid contact.
But in this case a mere 'cough' is enough to spread the virus. And it is also multiple drug resistent to boot. Biowarfare at its best. First found in South Africa. It is called the SA-1 XDR HIV virus and as usual the blame has been put upon poor Africa (all disease comes from Africa, no ?) to build upon the world's negative perception of Africans.
It is now claimed that South Afica with its poor AIDS treatment drugs is squarely responsible for creating this new strain called XDR TB (w/HIV)
XDR is an acronym for Extremely Drug-Resistant Tuberculosis.
But in this case a mere 'cough' is enough to spread the virus. And it is also multiple drug resistent to boot. Biowarfare at its best. First found in South Africa. It is called the SA-1 XDR HIV virus and as usual the blame has been put upon poor Africa (all disease comes from Africa, no ?) to build upon the world's negative perception of Africans.
It is now claimed that South Afica with its poor AIDS treatment drugs is squarely responsible for creating this new strain called XDR TB (w/HIV)
XDR is an acronym for Extremely Drug-Resistant Tuberculosis.
Moll's worst fears were realized: Four of the hospital nurses died in those first few months. From that point on, the hospital began identifying more and more patients - and in almost all cases, the patients with XDR-TB were dead before the lab results were back. Most die within 16 days of being identified as a possible XDR-TB case. The mortality rate of XDR-TB is 84 percent.
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Vishy_mulay
- BRFite
- Posts: 174
- Joined: 09 Feb 2007 09:21
- Location: Melbourne
http://www.investors.com/breakingnews.a ... d=55962741Forecasts Reveal That the Number of Tourists Visiting India for the Purpose of Medical Treatment Will Reach One Million by 2012, Representing a CAGR of 28.09% from 2007
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/africa/6295044.stm
Ethiopia's high speed hospitals .......But what is special about this consulting room is that as the image appears here, it appears simultaneously on a similar computer screen at the Care Hospital, a specialist hospital in Hyderabad in southern India....
Brilliant!!! Brilliant!!!
[/b]
Ethiopia's high speed hospitals .......But what is special about this consulting room is that as the image appears here, it appears simultaneously on a similar computer screen at the Care Hospital, a specialist hospital in Hyderabad in southern India....
Brilliant!!! Brilliant!!!
[/b]Health sector needs $203 bn. by 2012: FICCI
India needs to spend $203 billion (Rs 912,375 crore) on health services, with a significant private partnership, if the mission of achieving 'Health for all' is to be attained by 2012, industry body FICCI has said.
The chamber has proposed five models of Public-Private Partnership (PPP). The models proposed are PPP options for primary and secondary healthcare, a network of diagnostic centres, capital expenditure sharing, equity sharing and premises on lease model. the chamber has also quantified a shortage of 4,53,785 doctors, 1,290,174 nurses and a huge number of paramedics by 2012.
FICCI has recommended tax holiday for 10 years for building new facilities and upgrading old ones, extension of exemption to companies creating training in the medical area, industrial status to the sector and soft loans from public sector banks and reduction in custom duty on identified medical equipment.
FICCI has also called for income tax relief of 15 per cent subject to review after a five-year period and enforcement of quality in government hospitals, laboratories and blood banks.
India needs to spend $203 billion (Rs 912,375 crore) on health services, with a significant private partnership, if the mission of achieving 'Health for all' is to be attained by 2012, industry body FICCI has said.
The chamber has proposed five models of Public-Private Partnership (PPP). The models proposed are PPP options for primary and secondary healthcare, a network of diagnostic centres, capital expenditure sharing, equity sharing and premises on lease model. the chamber has also quantified a shortage of 4,53,785 doctors, 1,290,174 nurses and a huge number of paramedics by 2012.
FICCI has recommended tax holiday for 10 years for building new facilities and upgrading old ones, extension of exemption to companies creating training in the medical area, industrial status to the sector and soft loans from public sector banks and reduction in custom duty on identified medical equipment.
FICCI has also called for income tax relief of 15 per cent subject to review after a five-year period and enforcement of quality in government hospitals, laboratories and blood banks.
With heart disease increasing at an alarming rate both in men and women and for Indians with genetic predisposition for high chlolesterol and blood sugar, now comes the news that the urban exhaust fumes from automotives can trigger the conditions even quicker.
Exhaust fumes linked to rise in heart disease
Pollution from motor vehicles may be driving up rates of heart disease by triggering inflammation and hardening blood vessels, scientists warn Thursday (July 26). Researchers found that fine particles released in exhaust fumes combine with natural fats in arteries to spark a cascade of genetic changes which are capable of inducing cardiovascular atherosclerosis, the leading cause of death in the western world.
The team, led by Andre Nel, an expert on the health effects of pollutants, took cells from the walls of human blood vessels and exposed them to diesel exhaust particles at levels equivalent to those found in cities. Some of the cells were exposed to blood vessel fats at the same time.
When the scientists screened the cells to see how their genes had reacted to the exposure, they found that 1,555 genes had been made more than 1.5 times more active in the cells. The effect was more pronounced when the cells were exposed to diesel particles and the fatty deposits.
Studies in mice confirmed that breathing in fine particles from exhaust fumes triggered the genetic changes that drive heart disease. Previous experiments with the animals have already confirmed that exposure to diesel particles increased their risk of developing hardened arteries.
Exhaust fumes linked to rise in heart disease
Pollution from motor vehicles may be driving up rates of heart disease by triggering inflammation and hardening blood vessels, scientists warn Thursday (July 26). Researchers found that fine particles released in exhaust fumes combine with natural fats in arteries to spark a cascade of genetic changes which are capable of inducing cardiovascular atherosclerosis, the leading cause of death in the western world.
The team, led by Andre Nel, an expert on the health effects of pollutants, took cells from the walls of human blood vessels and exposed them to diesel exhaust particles at levels equivalent to those found in cities. Some of the cells were exposed to blood vessel fats at the same time.
When the scientists screened the cells to see how their genes had reacted to the exposure, they found that 1,555 genes had been made more than 1.5 times more active in the cells. The effect was more pronounced when the cells were exposed to diesel particles and the fatty deposits.
Studies in mice confirmed that breathing in fine particles from exhaust fumes triggered the genetic changes that drive heart disease. Previous experiments with the animals have already confirmed that exposure to diesel particles increased their risk of developing hardened arteries.
Frail mom and dad outsourced to India
Frail mom and dad outsourced to India
By Laurie Goering
Chicago Tribune
By Laurie Goering
Chicago Tribune
Pondicherry, India —- After three years of caring for his increasingly ailing mother and father in their Florida retirement home, Steve Herzfeld was exhausted and faced with spending his family's last resources to put the couple in a cheap nursing home.
So he made what he saw as the only sensible decision: He outsourced his parents to India.
Today his 89-year-old mother, Frances, who suffers from advanced Parkinson's disease, gets daily massages, physical therapy and 24-hour help getting to the bathroom, all for about $15 a day. His father, Ernest, 93, an Alzheimer's patient, has a full-time personal assistant and a cook who has won him over to a vegetarian diet healthy enough that he no longer needs his cholesterol medication.
Best of all, the plentiful drugs the couple require cost less than 20 percent of what they do at home, and salaries for their six-person staff are so cheap that the pair now bank $1,000 a month of their $3,000 Social Security payment. They aim to use the savings as an emergency fund, or to pay for airline tickets if family members want to visit.
"I wouldn't say it's a solution for everybody, but I consider it the best solution to our problem," said Herzfeld, 56, a management expert who made the move to India with his parents, and now, as "care manager rather than the actual worker," has time for things like bike rides to the grocery and strolls in the botanical gardens with his father.
With the cost of nursing homes, home nurses and medications painfully high in the United States, the elderly and their caregivers have long looked abroad for better solutions. Many families now drive regularly to Mexico or Canada to buy cheaper drugs, or hire recent immigrants —- some of them undocumented —- to help them look after frail parents. A growing number of aging couples have bought retirement homes in Mexico, where help is cheap and Medicare-funded health care just a quick drive across the border.
Herzfeld never thought he'd be headed abroad, too. When his mother broke a hip in 2004, he drove down to their home in Pompano Beach from his home in North Carolina, figuring he'd stay a while and help his parents get back on their feet. But like so many other caregivers, three years later he found himself still on the couch in his parents' spare bedroom, wondering where his life had gone.
"I started to see him breaking down after three years working 24 hours a day," remembers longtime friend Eric Shaffer, who runs an international software design firm with offices around the world, including one in Pondicherry, a former French colony on India's southern coast. "He was in a chess game with no move. Nothing was good."
At wit's end, Herzfeld began investigating nursing homes, but found that the $6,600-a-month cost at the cheapest one he could find near family members would quickly bankrupt his parents. An uncle offered financial help, but Herzfeld's father refused to take what he called "welfare" from his family or from the government.
Herzfeld was also hesitant. "I've seen nursing homes ... I wouldn't want someone to do that to me."
So when Shaffer one day suggested by phone that Herzfeld consider a move to India, "I said right away, 'There's an idea!' " he said.
Herzfeld had previously spent five years in India, first studying and later teaching courses on management at an MBA program in Hyderabad. He admired India's longtime respect for the elderly, and he quickly realized that Pondicherry might just work.
The graceful old town, with its orange-blooming flamboyant trees and coconut palms, was foreigner-friendly and on the ocean, a big attraction for his father. The weather was much like Florida's, and many people spoke French, a language his Swiss-born father was fluent in. Best of all, nursing care and rent were cheap. Herzfeld decided to make the move.
Every time he looks at the bills —- less than $2,000 a month for food, rent, utilities, medications, phones and 24-hour staffing —- Herzfeld thinks he's done the right thing for his parents and himself.
"It can be done," he said. "This is working."
Apollo Hospitals enters health insurance in JV with German co.
Leading healthcare provider Apollo Hospitals Group has forayed into health insurance sector through a joint venture with Germany-based DKV AG and has formed an entity Apollo DKV Insurance Company.
DKV AG will have 26 per cent stake and Apollo 74 per cent in the newly-formed company. They have jointly invested Rs 108 crore to start the new venture.
"The company would start its operation by mid-September and in the next two-three years, we are planning to insure about one million lives in the country," Director Apollo DKV Jochen Messemer told reporters here.
Apollo DKV would start with six regional offices in major cities in the second year of its operation it would expand to 25 cities and by 2010 and later to over 100 cities across the country.
The joint venture initially propose to offer a comprehensive range of products covering in patient hospitalisation cover, critical illness cover, overseas travel and health cover and personal accident covers.
The company will operate as a stand-alone health insurer and plans to offer innovative health insurance solutions covering the entire healthcare spectrum.
Leading healthcare provider Apollo Hospitals Group has forayed into health insurance sector through a joint venture with Germany-based DKV AG and has formed an entity Apollo DKV Insurance Company.
DKV AG will have 26 per cent stake and Apollo 74 per cent in the newly-formed company. They have jointly invested Rs 108 crore to start the new venture.
"The company would start its operation by mid-September and in the next two-three years, we are planning to insure about one million lives in the country," Director Apollo DKV Jochen Messemer told reporters here.
Apollo DKV would start with six regional offices in major cities in the second year of its operation it would expand to 25 cities and by 2010 and later to over 100 cities across the country.
The joint venture initially propose to offer a comprehensive range of products covering in patient hospitalisation cover, critical illness cover, overseas travel and health cover and personal accident covers.
The company will operate as a stand-alone health insurer and plans to offer innovative health insurance solutions covering the entire healthcare spectrum.
Big Pharma hits back at Indian patent laws
Five multinational pharmaceutical companies have preferred China over India for setting up research and development units due to the inadequacies in India's patent laws. Besides Novartis, the other companies are Roche, J&J, Glaxo and Astrazeneca,
Thats total BS. Even in USA, these companies are at the receiving end of Courts, US supreme court recently drastically changesdthe test for innovation to be eligible for patent protection. The evergreening trick played by the MNC's is under serious trouble. Look at how Pfizer lost the Norvasc case.Vick wrote:Big Pharma hits back at Indian patent lawsFive multinational pharmaceutical companies have preferred China over India for setting up research and development units due to the inadequacies in India's patent laws. Besides Novartis, the other companies are Roche, J&J, Glaxo and Astrazeneca,
WSJ sprewing BS on Novartis Patent judgement. Why can't these guys look at the implication of US supreme courts ruling in KSR vs Teleflex which dramatically changed the test for inventive step and Pfizer Vs Apotex in Norvasc case court ruled that screening the drug candidates for suitable salts is routine affair therefore salt selection (albeit that particular salt may improve stability, efficacy etc) in itself does not constitute an inventive step. 
Instead of granting frivolous patents and later invalidating them in courts, Indian Patent office rightly refused to grant a patent.
linkDrug Patents in India
August 14, 2007
The war on drug patents has now moved to India, where a court last week denied Novartis a patent for its cancer drug, Gleevec. Indian patients will be the losers, as will Indian drug makers, whose incentive to innovate will be stunted by weaker patent laws.
Blame the country's small drug producers for the setback. When India passed its first major patent law in 2005, a last-minute loophole was added to block patents for "incremental" innovations. The local business lobby sold the clause, called Section 3(d), as a protection against companies serially patenting drugs to block competition.
Now we're seeing the consequences of that protectionism. India's patent office rejected Novartis's application for Gleevec last year -- even though the drug already was patented in 35 other countries. Novartis challenged the constitutionality of the patent law in court, and last week the Chennai High Court rejected the lawsuit, suggesting instead that the issue be taken up at the World Trade Organization.
That's a fine idea. Section 3(d) may well be shot down in a WTO appeal if Switzerland, where Novartis is based, decides to challenge India's law. (As a company, not a sovereign nation, Novartis can't take India to the WTO.) India's patent law allows companies to patent only improvements in a drug's "efficacy." But what about small inventions, such as improving a drug's stability when exposed to heat or figuring out better methods of delivery? These are the most common kinds of innovations.
Delhi would be well served to close the Section 3(d) loophole itself, though that's unlikely to happen with leftist parties in the Congress Party's ruling coalition. Stronger patent protections strengthen India's standing as a safe place for international drug companies to invest. There's a good reason why major pharmaceutical companies have set up shop in Singapore and China rather than on the Subcontinent.
Strong patent laws help Indian industry, too. In a country where only a third of some 20,000 domestic pharmaceutical companies are licensed by the government, an airtight patent law would incentivize more drug producers to participate in the formal market. A stronger domestic drug industry would also likely develop products for India's large and growing home market.
The know-how is certainly there: Ranbaxy Laboratories, for instance, figured out a new formula for Bayer's Cipro, a popular antibiotic, that allows patients to take only one pill, rather than five. That not only cut down on costs but ensured more patients would take the medicine correctly, leading to better health outcomes. Ranbaxy sold the patent to Bayer and gained a new source of revenue to invest in other drug research.
This is the kind of positive cycle of innovation that India -- and the rest of the world -- should want to encourage. Researching and developing new drugs is a hugely expensive proposition. Drug companies won't invest if they're unsure they will be rewarded for their efforts. The same incentive applies to Indian companies as well as big producers like Novartis.
Nongovernmental organizations such as Oxfam don't see it that way. They claim that the court's decision protects India's role as a "pharmacy to the world" by virtue of its generic drug industry. Setting aside the insulting insinuation that India's drug makers cannot or should not innovate, this implies a grave misunderstanding of how markets work. Generic companies operate under the same profit motive that motivates pharmaceutical giants. The largest export market for India's biggest generic drug maker, Dr. Reddy's, is the U.S. Many other Indian drug companies would like to follow suit.
What the NGOs are really advocating is a system where governments decide which companies should exist, what they should research, and to whom they should give the drugs. Such a system would be disastrous for the world's poor. The profit motive incentivizes drug companies to use their sales in the developed world to subsidize volume sales, at cheaper prices, in the developing world. Novartis already does this; it provides Gleevec free of charge to 99% of its patients in India.
Drug patents are already under threat in Thailand and Brazil -- where both governments have seized foreign drug company patents -- and now, India has undermined its patent law. This is happening despite the WTO's ostensible protections of intellectual property for drug makers and despite the dangers to the health of the world's poor.
Instead of granting frivolous patents and later invalidating them in courts, Indian Patent office rightly refused to grant a patent.
Thailand to buy cheaper heart medication from India
Thailand will import a cheaper generic version of a heart medication from India to substitute costly imports of the drug from western manufacturers.
The Government Pharmaceutical Organisation (GPO) said IndiaÃs Emcure pharmaceuticals has won the bid for supplying a cheaper variety of the blood-thinning drug Clopidogrel.
Bids had been invited to substitute the Plavix brand heart medication earlier this year, taking advantage of the compulsory licensing provision under World Trade Organisation (WTO) rules.
Just about 20 per cent of heart disease patients in the country can currently afford the medication which costs almost 70 times the Indian generic version.
Thailand has won praise from international public health advocacy groups and United Nations agencies for using the WTO proviso for its earlier compulsory licensing of AIDS medications, which came under attack from western drug multinationals and the United States government.
Indian pharma mart to reach $20 Bn in10yrs
According to global consulting firm McKinsey, increasing personal incomes, addition of healthcare facilities and deeper penetration of health insurance will see India's pharmaceutical market triple to touch $20 billion in a decade. The projected growth would see India become the 10th biggest pharmaceutical market - moving up from the 14th position two years ago by replacing Brazil, Mexico, South Korea and Turkey, the McKinsey report said. The Indian pharma market was $6.3 billion in 2005. At a compounded annual growth rate of 12.3 percent, the absolute growth of $14 billion will be next to the growth potential of the US and China, and in the same league as the growth in Japan and Canada and the UK.
Thailand will import a cheaper generic version of a heart medication from India to substitute costly imports of the drug from western manufacturers.
The Government Pharmaceutical Organisation (GPO) said IndiaÃs Emcure pharmaceuticals has won the bid for supplying a cheaper variety of the blood-thinning drug Clopidogrel.
Bids had been invited to substitute the Plavix brand heart medication earlier this year, taking advantage of the compulsory licensing provision under World Trade Organisation (WTO) rules.
Just about 20 per cent of heart disease patients in the country can currently afford the medication which costs almost 70 times the Indian generic version.
Thailand has won praise from international public health advocacy groups and United Nations agencies for using the WTO proviso for its earlier compulsory licensing of AIDS medications, which came under attack from western drug multinationals and the United States government.
Indian pharma mart to reach $20 Bn in10yrs
According to global consulting firm McKinsey, increasing personal incomes, addition of healthcare facilities and deeper penetration of health insurance will see India's pharmaceutical market triple to touch $20 billion in a decade. The projected growth would see India become the 10th biggest pharmaceutical market - moving up from the 14th position two years ago by replacing Brazil, Mexico, South Korea and Turkey, the McKinsey report said. The Indian pharma market was $6.3 billion in 2005. At a compounded annual growth rate of 12.3 percent, the absolute growth of $14 billion will be next to the growth potential of the US and China, and in the same league as the growth in Japan and Canada and the UK.
Tackling the five-star doc syndrome
I went to see my friend in his super specialty hospital after a long time. I marvelled at the Italian granite floor and Hussein paintings on the wall, and thought I had entered a place, which is cross between a five-star hotel and Royal Albert Music Hall.
I knew it would take quite sometime for my feet to negotiate the 6-feet deep Kashmir carpet and reach my friend sitting on the other end of the room.
He smiled broadly and pointed me to a sofa in which I sank inside. I noticed he had a spread of deer-skin with holes on his sofa.
He got up and poured a cold Pepsi and took water from a copper Kamandal.
"Why aren’t you taking a Pepsi?" I asked.
"I don’t trust any of these things. Full of chemicals that eat way your insides. I get weekly supply of Ganga water straight from Alakananda, which I boil and bring it to office."
As I sipped the dreadful drink wondering about my vitals inside, I thought I shouldn’t worry as a doctor was at hand.
"Didn’t go for your rounds today?"
"The concept has changed. We don’t do any more rounds. We let the patients do the rounds."
"I didn’t get you."
He took a small piece, the size of broken chalk, and started chewing and offered one to me.
"What’s this?"
"It’s Amla. I pick these from Baba Ramdev’s Ashram during my fortnightly visits. As you chew, this removes toxins and cleans up intestines inside out… I was telling about patients’ rounds."
From morning I had six patients.
The first patient, a boy of 16 had mild fever, headache and couldn’t sleep for the last couple of days. I have sent him for a CT scan and just to make sure there is no tissue infection, have asked him to get a MRI scan. Two days of sleeplessness can be dismissed as due to stress or whatever. After an ECG, I have asked him to do treadmill and come back with an echo Doppler and an Angio. He will stay here for two days for more tests before we can diagnose what’s wrong with him. Can’t take chances…"
"I see."
"The second patient, an old man of 80+, doesn’t get hungry and has eaten very little, has loose motions and hasn’t slept a wink. He will get his blood and urine test; take an ultrasound scan of his liver, abdomen and pancreas. His liver function test will help us to see any sluggishness of liver. The lack of sleep in this case worries me. We have put him on 0.1 N Glucose and Brine drips. Later, a routine EEG and a brain scan will be done to rule out any infection."
"So this is what you meant when you said, ‘it’s the patient who does the rounds’? By the way, what ever happened to the ‘family doctors’ who gave a couple of doses of a ‘mixture’ which cured almost anything?"
"Family doctor concept is long dead and gone. Even if somebody were to be alive, it will take 10 years for her to understand the modern gadgets and learn what it can do."
"You have maintained yourself very well. What’s the secret of your health?"
"I follow grandmother’s tips down the ages - drink lot of water. Walk twice a day. Laugh at the patients laughing in the park! Keep your anger in check, even if Sachin fails match after match. Forget your patients and hospital once you reach home. It never fails to work."
"I hope you won’t charge for the advice," I said as I started my ‘slow march’ towards the exit.
Re: the Novartis patent case in Madras High Court, their hubris is turning out to be a lot of hot air and noise. First the Swiss Government themselves declined to press forward with an appeal to the WTO, indicating that Indian IPR regime is WTO compliant. Novartis responded by saying it will pull out Indian R&D investments and move them to China, who allegedly had better IPR laws. Now a US-based organization reports this:
India no IPR pariah: US drug lobby report
[quote]Amidst threats of Big Pharma relocating its R&D from India due to inadequate intellectual property rights (IPR) protection, data available with the Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America (PhRMA), an association of US drug manufacturers, indicates that India's record in protecting IPR is far better than rival destinations like China.
In its annual memorandum to the United States Trade Representative (USTR), PhRMA said US pharmaceutical firms, which account for $43 billion of the $55.2 billion global drug R&D investments, had suffered a 34 per cent loss on their total sales in China due to inadequate IPR protection during 2006.
In contrast, India does not even figure among the list of 23 countries in which PhRMA member firms suffered substantial financial damages from IPR-related problems.
The PhRMA’s observation is significant against the backdrop of Swiss pharma major Novartis AG’s decision to relocate its R&D investments from India.
“The multinational threat of preferring China over India has to be seen in this context. On one side, they say India has the worst IPR protection; on the other, they find China the worst place to be in,â€
India no IPR pariah: US drug lobby report
[quote]Amidst threats of Big Pharma relocating its R&D from India due to inadequate intellectual property rights (IPR) protection, data available with the Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America (PhRMA), an association of US drug manufacturers, indicates that India's record in protecting IPR is far better than rival destinations like China.
In its annual memorandum to the United States Trade Representative (USTR), PhRMA said US pharmaceutical firms, which account for $43 billion of the $55.2 billion global drug R&D investments, had suffered a 34 per cent loss on their total sales in China due to inadequate IPR protection during 2006.
In contrast, India does not even figure among the list of 23 countries in which PhRMA member firms suffered substantial financial damages from IPR-related problems.
The PhRMA’s observation is significant against the backdrop of Swiss pharma major Novartis AG’s decision to relocate its R&D investments from India.
“The multinational threat of preferring China over India has to be seen in this context. On one side, they say India has the worst IPR protection; on the other, they find China the worst place to be in,â€
Suraj
The Novartis plea as mentioned is just hot air. I had a chat with my professional acquitances who are fairly certain that there is no new change they made in their blockbuster drug glivec(gleevac) which according to Novartis has been modified for better absorption. Even if they have made changes the Chennai Court is right in throwing their plea out as increments in the drug profile can't be called new drug. On the other hand in western world (atleast in UK ) the patent holds good for 20 years rather than 10 years as in our Patent law. Hence Novartis still holds the patent for Glivec. There is big debate in NHS(National Health Service of UK) whether to buy drugs from the Indian generics as they offer drugs for a fraction of the price. Atleast there is some good in these NGO's crying hoarse against these western drug MNC's.
Regards
CSubash
The Novartis plea as mentioned is just hot air. I had a chat with my professional acquitances who are fairly certain that there is no new change they made in their blockbuster drug glivec(gleevac) which according to Novartis has been modified for better absorption. Even if they have made changes the Chennai Court is right in throwing their plea out as increments in the drug profile can't be called new drug. On the other hand in western world (atleast in UK ) the patent holds good for 20 years rather than 10 years as in our Patent law. Hence Novartis still holds the patent for Glivec. There is big debate in NHS(National Health Service of UK) whether to buy drugs from the Indian generics as they offer drugs for a fraction of the price. Atleast there is some good in these NGO's crying hoarse against these western drug MNC's.
Regards
CSubash
csubash: Thanks for the inside view of the Novartis situation. IMO, it was stupid of them to react in this manner. The Madras High Court clearly saw their attempts as an attempt at patent evergreening. Barely a day after they cast aspersions on Indai's IPR regime, the Swiss Govt spokesperson herself publicly stated their position that they believed our IPR regime was WTO compliant, and as a result refused to invoke WTO arbitration. Novartis had a good name in India in the past through its merger constituents - Ciba-Geigy and Sandoz .
Here's an interesting article analysing National Family Health Survey results over 15 years. Predictably, our figures are drastically skewed by the continued underperformance of the BIMARU states. Hopefully the recent fast economic growth in MP and Rajasthan will improve their lot, while UP and Bihar currently remain laggards:
Governance & Health
[quote]To begin with, how do India’s key health parameters compare with other major developing countries, including our neighbours, China, Bangladesh and Pakistan? The short answer is not well at all. On all the parameters in Table 1, India does substantially worse than China and Indonesia, let alone richer countries like Brazil, Mexico, Thailand and Turkey. The World Health Organization (WHO) constructs an indicator of “Healthy Life Expectancy at birthâ€
Here's an interesting article analysing National Family Health Survey results over 15 years. Predictably, our figures are drastically skewed by the continued underperformance of the BIMARU states. Hopefully the recent fast economic growth in MP and Rajasthan will improve their lot, while UP and Bihar currently remain laggards:
Governance & Health
[quote]To begin with, how do India’s key health parameters compare with other major developing countries, including our neighbours, China, Bangladesh and Pakistan? The short answer is not well at all. On all the parameters in Table 1, India does substantially worse than China and Indonesia, let alone richer countries like Brazil, Mexico, Thailand and Turkey. The World Health Organization (WHO) constructs an indicator of “Healthy Life Expectancy at birthâ€
Italy battles imported viral epidemic
By Phil Stewart 1 hour, 28 minutes ago
ROME (Reuters) - A small region in northern Italy is battling what may be Europe's first epidemic of the crippling, mosquito-borne Chikungunya virus, a senior official at the Italian National Institute of Health (ISS) told Reuters.
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Click here to find out more!
About 160 cases have been confirmed in Italy and another 30 victims of the non-fatal but painful disease are suspected, said Antonio Cassone, the ISS's director of the department of Infectious, Parasitic and Immune-Mediated Diseases.
Symptoms include high fever, joint and muscular pain, severe headaches, nausea, vomiting, body aches and a rash similar to that seen in dengue fever patients. Still, it is not believed to be fatal in itself.
Cassone said Italy and other European states had previously detected cases of Chikungunya inside their borders, but only among people who had been infected abroad, particularly in Africa and India.
"This is the first time that in Europe we have an epidemic. That means local transmission, not only importation of a case," said Cassone.
"We had in the past several important cases, but the diseases stopped with the (carrier). The person coming from the affected area in India or Africa just had the fever, but there was no local transmission."
INDIAN TOURIST
Cassone said researchers identified a man from southern India as the possible source of the virus, which started spreading in July in the small northern Italian hamlet of Castiglione, in Ravenna province.
Mosquitoes bit the man while he was staying with relatives in Castiglione. The bugs then spread the virus to the four other people in the house, infecting all of them.
Cassone said that one 86-year-old man died after contracting the virus, but that the patient had already been hospitalized and was very ill.
The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) says no deaths from Chikungunya have been documented in scientific literature.
Regional authorities have said efforts to contain the virus had so far been largely successful, adding the rate of infection had dropped sharply since mid-August.
Cassone said there were no travel restrictions being placed on residents from the affected areas. But they were advised to be vigilant to possible symptoms of the virus and take measures to ward off mosquitoes, like using repellent.
The World Health Organization is in close contact with Italian authorities on the issue, a press officer said.
By Phil Stewart 1 hour, 28 minutes ago
ROME (Reuters) - A small region in northern Italy is battling what may be Europe's first epidemic of the crippling, mosquito-borne Chikungunya virus, a senior official at the Italian National Institute of Health (ISS) told Reuters.
ADVERTISEMENT
Click here to find out more!
About 160 cases have been confirmed in Italy and another 30 victims of the non-fatal but painful disease are suspected, said Antonio Cassone, the ISS's director of the department of Infectious, Parasitic and Immune-Mediated Diseases.
Symptoms include high fever, joint and muscular pain, severe headaches, nausea, vomiting, body aches and a rash similar to that seen in dengue fever patients. Still, it is not believed to be fatal in itself.
Cassone said Italy and other European states had previously detected cases of Chikungunya inside their borders, but only among people who had been infected abroad, particularly in Africa and India.
"This is the first time that in Europe we have an epidemic. That means local transmission, not only importation of a case," said Cassone.
"We had in the past several important cases, but the diseases stopped with the (carrier). The person coming from the affected area in India or Africa just had the fever, but there was no local transmission."
INDIAN TOURIST
Cassone said researchers identified a man from southern India as the possible source of the virus, which started spreading in July in the small northern Italian hamlet of Castiglione, in Ravenna province.
Mosquitoes bit the man while he was staying with relatives in Castiglione. The bugs then spread the virus to the four other people in the house, infecting all of them.
Cassone said that one 86-year-old man died after contracting the virus, but that the patient had already been hospitalized and was very ill.
The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) says no deaths from Chikungunya have been documented in scientific literature.
Regional authorities have said efforts to contain the virus had so far been largely successful, adding the rate of infection had dropped sharply since mid-August.
Cassone said there were no travel restrictions being placed on residents from the affected areas. But they were advised to be vigilant to possible symptoms of the virus and take measures to ward off mosquitoes, like using repellent.
The World Health Organization is in close contact with Italian authorities on the issue, a press officer said.
Subash,csubash wrote:Suraj
The Novartis plea as mentioned is just hot air. I had a chat with my professional acquitances who are fairly certain that there is no new change they made in their blockbuster drug glivec(gleevac) which according to Novartis has been modified for better absorption. Even if they have made changes the Chennai Court is right in throwing their plea out as increments in the drug profile can't be called new drug. On the other hand in western world (atleast in UK ) the patent holds good for 20 years rather than 10 years as in our Patent law. Hence Novartis still holds the patent for Glivec. There is big debate in NHS(National Health Service of UK) whether to buy drugs from the Indian generics as they offer drugs for a fraction of the price. Atleast there is some good in these NGO's crying hoarse against these western drug MNC's.
Regards
CSubash
Your colleagues are wrong. There is only one Glivec in the market. There was never a low absorbing Glivec in the market.
Facts are,
1. The active ingredient of Glivex is Imatinab mesylate, where mesyalte (monomethanesulfonic acid) is the salt of Imatinab (which is N-phenyl-2-pyrimidineamine derivative)
2. The first patent application for Imatinab (base not salt) was made by Ciba-Geigy in 1992. At this stage the drug was basically in test-tube stage.
3. Later the drug went through the screening process (it was in cold storage for some time, Novartis was not interested in persuing the molecule), where it was routinely screened for best salt form. Here Imatinab Mesylate was born, which was then formulated in to tablet dosage form - Glivec.
4. Patent for Imatinab Mesylate was applied on July 16, 1998 (PCT), and on January 18, 2000 in USA.
5. Imatinab mesylate does have better absorption than Imatinab and is also more stable.
6. However Indian Patent office does not consider this difference to be significant to warrant another patent.
7. Now as original imatinab patent is pre -1995, it is not eligible for patent protection in India. Now with Chennai court ruling, Gleevec can not get any patent protection in India
8. Interestingly US supreme court also recently raised the bar on test for innovation to be eligible for patent protection. Please look in to case of Pfizer vs Apotex in Norvasc, where the court decided that salt selection is routine screening process and does not involve inventive step (i.e non-obviousness clause). It threw out Pfizers patent.
9. Basically Indian patent act Section III(D) is similar to non-obviousness clause of US law or TRIPS 'Inventive step'.
Profile of famous hospitals in South India.
http://www.expresshealthcaremgmt.com/
http://www.expresshealthcaremgmt.com/
DRDO bashers please note the practical advances made ...
DRDO’s cancer therapy to hit market by year-end
DRDO’s cancer therapy to hit market by year-end
TIRUCHI: A cure for cancer through glucose analogue 2DG (2-Deoxy-D-Glucose), a breakthrough achieved by the Defence Research and Development Organisation, will hit the market by this year-end, said W. Selvamurthy, Distinguished Scientist and Chief Controller, Research & Development, DRDO, New Delhi.
Talking to reporters here on Thursday, he said the third phase of clinical trials at Dr. Reddy’s Laboratory, Hyderabad, to which the technology was transferred in 2006, was successful. The Drug Controller-General of India and the Indian Council for Medical Research had cleared the protocol for Phase III trials. Through this therapy, cancer cells could be removed completely without any damage to normal tissues.
The DRDO’s success at prevention of chikungunya and dengue through isolation of female mosquito pheromone from larva and combining it with larvicide after synthesis had been replicated in Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Maharashtra and New Delhi.
The bio-digester developed by the DRDO for treating bio-waste in sub-zero temperature found an eager customer in the Railways. The trial in normal temperature in the three compartments of the Baroni Mail, running between Gwalior and Ranchi, was successful, and the Railways was keen on placing bulk orders with units that adopted the technology for commercial production.
The calves of the hybrid cow, developed by the DRDO through cross-breeding of Yak and Swiss cows, were being given to the locals at Leh. Each of the 40 cows yielded 18 litres of milk a day. It was meant for soldiers manning the high-altitudes.
This should be good news for Type I diabetes patients worldwide and the company that is pioneering the drug is BIOCON an Indian Company...
Biocon develops oral insulin for diabetes
Biocon develops oral insulin for diabetes
IN-105 is a novel analog of insulin has special properties that make it feasible for delivery in tablet form stable at room temperature.
Millions of diabetes patients would get a major relief as an Indian company has developed oral insulin pills as an effective alternative to painful injection.
Biocon Limited, India's premier Biotechnology company, has presented the result of Phase I studies of human clinical data on Oral Insulin (IN-105) at the European Association for Study of Diabetes (EASD) meeting in Amsterdam, a company release said here.
The development is significant for India, which has the largest number of more than 41 million diabetes patients in the world.
The country is likely to emerge at the diabetic capital of the world. IN-105 is a novel analog of insulin has special properties that make it feasible for delivery in tablet form stable at room temperature.
Besides being a needle-free insulin, this tablet method of delivery allows IN-105 to be delivered into the body in a physiological manner that mimics the way that the pancreas release insulin into the circulation which is into the portal vein.
This contrasts with all the other known methods of delivery, including inhaled insulin, which brings in insulin from the periphery into the circulation.
The Phase 1 studies were conducted on healthy volunteers who have been administered IN-105 in the form of a tablet. The human clinical data on IN-105, a proprietary to Biocon, was presented at the session on Novel therapies. Based on these promising results, Biocon intends to now develop this molecule through further clinical trials.
''This is indeed an encouraging step towards our efforts of bringing an oral insulin to diabetic patients across the world.
IN-105 promises to be a significant value differentiator in Biocon’s quest for global leadership in the insulin segment,'' said Ms Kiran Mazumdar Shaw, CMD, Biocon Limited.
Biocon Limited has carried out all of the development for this molecule, including clinical development at its facilities in Bangalore. It has also recently obtained approval from the Swedish medical authorities to carry out Phase 1 human clamp studies for this molecule in Sweden.
This will be the first such clinical trial outside India for IN-105. The Swedish trial will be carried out at the Karolinska Institute clinical research unit and will be focused on obtaining more pharmacological understanding of the mode of action of IN-105.
Earlier, Biocon had launched the world's first recombinant human insulin, INSUGEN® in November 2004 using Pichia expression and India 's first indigenously produced monoclonal antibody BIOMAb-EGFRTM.
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB1191872 ... lenews_wsj
U.S. Opens the Door to Chinese Pills
U.S. Opens the Door to Chinese Pills
Approval of AIDS Medicine
For 2012 Seen as First Shot
In Generics Fight With India
By NICHOLAS ZAMISKA
October 9, 2007; Page B1
Linhai, China
When a small drug maker here got Food and Drug Administration approval for an AIDS drug this past summer, the Chinese pharmaceutical industry quietly passed an important milestone. As far as the agency can tell, it is the first time a Chinese company has won permission to export finished pills to the U.S.
Expect a lot more pharmaceutical makers here to get the green light over the next few years. Even as Chinese products are drawing increased scrutiny, the nation's generic-drug industry is gearing up for the export of finished medicines. The industry is still small -- India's generics-export powerhouse is 10 times as big. But China is already the world's largest producer of raw materials for drugs, and manufacturing those raw materials is a steppingstone to making the completed product.
Zhejiang Huahai Pharmaceutical Co., the Chinese drug maker that won FDA approval this summer, is "exactly an example of a Chinese company today attacking the developed markets," says Yusuf Hamied, chairman of Cipla Ltd., one of India's top drug companies.
Dr. Hamied calls the Chinese "brilliant scientists and brilliant chemists" and warns that "India is no match for them if they pick up their English language and pick up a little on regulatory approvals, which they're doing very fast anyway."
Konda Reddy, a health-care analyst in India for Frost & Sullivan, a research and consulting firm, says Chinese prices for raw pharmaceutical materials are already 10% to 15% below those of Indian rivals.
Previously "the Europeans were afraid of India," says Jinsong Du, a health-care analyst in Hong Kong with Credit Suisse. Now, "it's China; the growth is so huge."
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Bade
- BRF Oldie
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http://www.nature.com/news/2007/071010/ ... 9649e.html
India will set up its first high-security facility for handling and doing research with highly infectious organisms that cause diseases in humans.
The US$25-million biosafety level-4 (BSL-4) lab is to be established on a 2-hectare site in Hyderabad, about 3 kilometres from the Centre for Cellular and Molecular Biology (CCMB). The centre has been given responsibility for setting up the new lab as a national facility.
India already has a BSL-4 lab for animal pathogens in Bhopal, and only last month validated and cleared BSL-3-level labs at five institutions. Details of containment facilities at the defence department's laboratory in Gwalior are not available.
Lalji Singh, director of the CCMB, says the new lab will not do any classified defence work: “The main objective of our facility would be to carry out basic research on the biology of lethal and highly infectious microorganisms.â€
India will set up its first high-security facility for handling and doing research with highly infectious organisms that cause diseases in humans.
The US$25-million biosafety level-4 (BSL-4) lab is to be established on a 2-hectare site in Hyderabad, about 3 kilometres from the Centre for Cellular and Molecular Biology (CCMB). The centre has been given responsibility for setting up the new lab as a national facility.
India already has a BSL-4 lab for animal pathogens in Bhopal, and only last month validated and cleared BSL-3-level labs at five institutions. Details of containment facilities at the defence department's laboratory in Gwalior are not available.
Lalji Singh, director of the CCMB, says the new lab will not do any classified defence work: “The main objective of our facility would be to carry out basic research on the biology of lethal and highly infectious microorganisms.â€
How India can be a global pharma giant
Methinks, we should have a separate Pharma thread.[/url]
Methinks, we should have a separate Pharma thread.[/url]
India offers hope for those too sick to wait
By Amrit Dhillon in Delhi
Last Updated: 1:03am GMT 28/10/2007
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jh ... lth528.xml
Emerging into the teeming chaos of people, cows and honking vehicles outside Bangalore airport, retired teacher John Stauffer wondered if he had been mad to come to India for brain surgery.
Success: The Wockhardt has treated 100 Britons in six months
On arriving at Wockhardt Hospital, the American's unease soon faded. The calm atmosphere, the gleaming high-tech equipment and the soothing manner of the consultant neurosurgeon instantly reassured the 66-year-old.
Mr Stauffer had flown from Grand Rapids, Michigan, to have a brain tumour removed for a fraction of the price it would cost him in the US, and he is one of a growing number of health tourists to India.
Some 175,000 foreigners have made the same journey this year, according to the Confederation of Indian Industry, up 25,000 from last year. Next year, 200,000 are expected.
By Amrit Dhillon in Delhi
Last Updated: 1:03am GMT 28/10/2007
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jh ... lth528.xml
Emerging into the teeming chaos of people, cows and honking vehicles outside Bangalore airport, retired teacher John Stauffer wondered if he had been mad to come to India for brain surgery.
Success: The Wockhardt has treated 100 Britons in six months
On arriving at Wockhardt Hospital, the American's unease soon faded. The calm atmosphere, the gleaming high-tech equipment and the soothing manner of the consultant neurosurgeon instantly reassured the 66-year-old.
Mr Stauffer had flown from Grand Rapids, Michigan, to have a brain tumour removed for a fraction of the price it would cost him in the US, and he is one of a growing number of health tourists to India.
Some 175,000 foreigners have made the same journey this year, according to the Confederation of Indian Industry, up 25,000 from last year. Next year, 200,000 are expected.
Indian pharma industry CRAMS for its share of pie.
Contract research and contract manufacturing services (CRAMS) has emerged as a significant opportunity area for the Indian pharmaceutical industry, and India has the potential to emerge as a significant player in this sphere, says a KPMG report titled ‘India Pharma Inc — A continuing success story’ released at the CII Pharma Summit 2007.
Within the CRAMS space, contract manufacturing offers the biggest opportunity. At present, its global market size is estimated at $20 billion, and is expected to grow to $31 billion by 2010. The global opportunity in contract research in 2006 was pegged at $14 billion. This is expected to grow to $24 billion by 2010.
Dishman Pharmaceuticals, Sasun Chemicals, Jubilant Organosys, and Nicholas Piramal are some of the leading Indian players in the CRAMS sphere. Reliable estimates are not available for the size of the Indian CRAMS industry, which is at a nascent stage. But according to the report, the contract research industry in India is expected to grow at a compounded annual growth rate of 30-35 per cent between 2006 and 2011.
There are several reasons why global pharmaceutical companies are keen to outsource manufacturing and research. One, big pharmaceutical companies have very few blockbusters molecules available as their R&D pipelines are drying up. Two, there is pressure on pricing. “As soon as a patented formulation goes off-patent, 97-99 per cent of its pricing power gets wiped out,â€
Contract research and contract manufacturing services (CRAMS) has emerged as a significant opportunity area for the Indian pharmaceutical industry, and India has the potential to emerge as a significant player in this sphere, says a KPMG report titled ‘India Pharma Inc — A continuing success story’ released at the CII Pharma Summit 2007.
Within the CRAMS space, contract manufacturing offers the biggest opportunity. At present, its global market size is estimated at $20 billion, and is expected to grow to $31 billion by 2010. The global opportunity in contract research in 2006 was pegged at $14 billion. This is expected to grow to $24 billion by 2010.
Dishman Pharmaceuticals, Sasun Chemicals, Jubilant Organosys, and Nicholas Piramal are some of the leading Indian players in the CRAMS sphere. Reliable estimates are not available for the size of the Indian CRAMS industry, which is at a nascent stage. But according to the report, the contract research industry in India is expected to grow at a compounded annual growth rate of 30-35 per cent between 2006 and 2011.
There are several reasons why global pharmaceutical companies are keen to outsource manufacturing and research. One, big pharmaceutical companies have very few blockbusters molecules available as their R&D pipelines are drying up. Two, there is pressure on pricing. “As soon as a patented formulation goes off-patent, 97-99 per cent of its pricing power gets wiped out,â€
I wonder if there is a need for a BR comprehensive personal health and nutrition thread.
I find that the levels of physical activity and knowledge of nutrition even among educated Indians is abysmal. Part of this arises from cultural reasons and part from poverty. I propose a semi permanent thread outlining
1. Nutrition (both for adults and kids)
2. Fundamentals of physical fitness
3. Simple tests to assess areas of strength and weakness.
There are other websites that can give more information, however I was keen on atleast creating awareness amongst BRFites on how to be at their physical and mental best. Perhaps begin to ensure that growing kids could reach their genetic potential and not be hobbled by bad nutrition at an early age .
I find that the levels of physical activity and knowledge of nutrition even among educated Indians is abysmal. Part of this arises from cultural reasons and part from poverty. I propose a semi permanent thread outlining
1. Nutrition (both for adults and kids)
2. Fundamentals of physical fitness
3. Simple tests to assess areas of strength and weakness.
There are other websites that can give more information, however I was keen on atleast creating awareness amongst BRFites on how to be at their physical and mental best. Perhaps begin to ensure that growing kids could reach their genetic potential and not be hobbled by bad nutrition at an early age .
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Rudranathh
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KMC Hospital Manipal installs a new Linear Accelerator with IMRT and 3D- CRT for better cancer treatment
Manipal, December 8, 2007
Kasturba Hospital in Manipal installed a new Linear Accelerator with IMRT and 3D- CRT on Thursday. It was inaugurated by Manipal University Chancellor Dr Ramdas M Pai.
According to a press release, the significant benefit to the patient is that Linear Accelerator is more precise in targeting only the cancerous tissue and thus it spares more of normal tissue in the periphery.
The new Linear Accelerator ‘Elekta Precise’ at Kasturba Hospital also has additional facilities like 3 Dimensional Conformal Radiation Therapy (3D-CRT) and Intensity Modulated Radiotherapy (IMRT).
The 3D-CRT facility will help to gauge the tumor three dimensionally in relation to surrounding tissues. The 3D-CRT will also help to plan radiation field with the help of Computerized Treatment Planning System.
Dr M S Vidyasagar, Professor and Head, Department of Radiotherapy and Oncology, Shirdi Saibaba Cancer Hospital, said that by controlling the intensity of radiation beam to the tumor, it will minimise the radiation exposure to surrounding normal tissues. “This mode of radiation therapy can be utilised to treat cancers of head and neck regions, breast, brain, gynaecological malignancies which are commonly seen in our country,â€
Manipal, December 8, 2007
Kasturba Hospital in Manipal installed a new Linear Accelerator with IMRT and 3D- CRT on Thursday. It was inaugurated by Manipal University Chancellor Dr Ramdas M Pai.
According to a press release, the significant benefit to the patient is that Linear Accelerator is more precise in targeting only the cancerous tissue and thus it spares more of normal tissue in the periphery.
The new Linear Accelerator ‘Elekta Precise’ at Kasturba Hospital also has additional facilities like 3 Dimensional Conformal Radiation Therapy (3D-CRT) and Intensity Modulated Radiotherapy (IMRT).
The 3D-CRT facility will help to gauge the tumor three dimensionally in relation to surrounding tissues. The 3D-CRT will also help to plan radiation field with the help of Computerized Treatment Planning System.
Dr M S Vidyasagar, Professor and Head, Department of Radiotherapy and Oncology, Shirdi Saibaba Cancer Hospital, said that by controlling the intensity of radiation beam to the tumor, it will minimise the radiation exposure to surrounding normal tissues. “This mode of radiation therapy can be utilised to treat cancers of head and neck regions, breast, brain, gynaecological malignancies which are commonly seen in our country,â€
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Rudranathh
- BRFite
- Posts: 227
- Joined: 17 Nov 2007 20:06
New Apollo Hospitals launch bloodless surgery centre
December 8, 2007, Bangalore, UNI:
The new approach would do away with the common practice of requiring blood donations before surgery...
New Apollo Hospitals today announced the launch of a Centre for Bloodless Surgery at its premises here.
Hospital Director (Medical Services) Umesh Gupta told reporters that bloodless surgeries were becoming popular the world-over in super speciality tertiary care units.
There were 15 such centres in the US, three in Canada and one in China, he added.
Bloodless surgery helped reduce the transmission of infections and prevent blood loss, he said.
''We have the most advanced anaesthetic equipment as well as doctors who can handle the most complex of situations and multi-pronged approach which would use minimally invasive surgery, use of pharmaceutical agents, volume expanders, micro sampling and advanced cell saver system to totally avoid the use of blood transfusion,'' he said.
The new approach would do away with the common practice of requiring blood donations before the surgery, he said, adding that the patients living without family members need not face difficulty in finding people who could donate blood for them.
''We will be the first to do this in India and hopefully this technique will become popular in India in the next few years,'' he said.
December 8, 2007, Bangalore, UNI:
The new approach would do away with the common practice of requiring blood donations before surgery...
New Apollo Hospitals today announced the launch of a Centre for Bloodless Surgery at its premises here.
Hospital Director (Medical Services) Umesh Gupta told reporters that bloodless surgeries were becoming popular the world-over in super speciality tertiary care units.
There were 15 such centres in the US, three in Canada and one in China, he added.
Bloodless surgery helped reduce the transmission of infections and prevent blood loss, he said.
''We have the most advanced anaesthetic equipment as well as doctors who can handle the most complex of situations and multi-pronged approach which would use minimally invasive surgery, use of pharmaceutical agents, volume expanders, micro sampling and advanced cell saver system to totally avoid the use of blood transfusion,'' he said.
The new approach would do away with the common practice of requiring blood donations before the surgery, he said, adding that the patients living without family members need not face difficulty in finding people who could donate blood for them.
''We will be the first to do this in India and hopefully this technique will become popular in India in the next few years,'' he said.