Health Bulletin 24/June/2023

Here are the top health stories for the day:

Mulling to divest 2 pharma units: Mansukh Mandaviya

Union Health Minister Mansukh Mandaviya on Friday said the government is mulling divesting a stake in up to two public sector units engaged in the pharma sector. The thinking is driven by a desire to not be in business but act as a facilitator for businesses, Mandaviya said addressing the Global Pharmaceutical Quality Summit organised by IPA here.

"Government has 1-2 plants. We are moving in the direction of divesting in those and let the private sector operate them," he said.

For more details, check out the link given below:

Govt Mulling To Divest Stake In 2 Pharma Units, Says Union Health Minister

Kerala hospital ward shutdown after 10 Cobras were spotted, Patients relocated

 In a horrifying incident reported in the city, a group of 10 baby cobras were found in and around the surgical ward at the state-run district hospital in Perinthalmanna in Kerala’s Malappuram district.

The atmosphere at the hospital soon turned into a nightmare after panic aroused among the patients and the attendants who witnessed the crawling of cobra babies in the ward. Following this, the people present in the hospital immediately came out.

The attendants accompanying the patients informed the hospital administration about this. After getting the information, the hospital in-charge closed the surgical ward until the cobras are removed from the facility and the atmosphere becomes habitable again.

For more details, check out the link given below:

Altogether 4 attempts to clear MBBS 1st Prof. exams: NMC GMER 2023

In the recently notified Graduate Medical Education Regulations (GMER) 2023, the Undergraduate Medical Education Board (UGMEB) of the National Medical Commission (NMC) has reiterated that MBBS students will be allowed altogether four attempts to clear the First Professional MBBS examination.

Setting a limit regarding the number of attempts to clear the MBBS examination, NMC has clarified in GMER 2023, "Provided under no circumstances the student shall be allowed more than four (04) attempts for first year (First Professional MBBS) and no student shall be allowed to continue undergraduate medical course after nine (09) years from the date of admission into the course, mentioned the Regulations."

This is not the first time that NMC has set this limit for the MBBS students to clear the first year MBBS examination. Earlier, similar rules were notified by NMC in the Graduate Medical Education (Amendment), 2019 regulations as well.

For more details, check out the link given below:

Altogether 4 Attempts To Clear MBBS 1st Prof Exams: NMC GMER 2023

There will be 1.3 bn diabetic patients by 2050: Study

More than half a billion people are living with diabetes worldwide, affecting men, women, and children of all ages in every country, and that number is projected to more than double to 1.3 billion people in the next 30 years, with every country seeing an increase, as published today in The Lancet.

The latest and most comprehensive calculations show the current global prevalence rate is 6.1%, making diabetes one of the top 10 leading causes of death and disability. At the super-region level, the highest rate is 9.3% in North Africa and the Middle East, and that number is projected to jump to 16.8% by 2050. The rate in Latin America and the Caribbean is projected to increase to 11.3%.

Study reveals AI may transform the way we understand emotion

An emotion recognition tool - developed by University of the West of Scotland (UWS) academics - could help people with neurodiverse conditions including autism.

Traditionally, emotion recognition has been a challenging and complex area of study. However, with recent advancements in vision processing, and low-cost devices, such as wearable electroencephalogram (EEG) and electrocardiogram (ECG) sensors, UWS academics have collaborated to harness the power of these technologies to create artificial intelligence (AI) which can accurately read emotion-related signals from brain and facial analysis.