ABSTRACT
Background: Bio-ethics i.e. health care ethics is a set of moral principles, beliefs and values that guide us in making choices about medical care. This novel study was carried out with an objective of assessment of knowledge regarding the medical ethics among the resident doctors of Indira Gandhi Medical College, Shimla Himachal Pradesh.Methods: This descriptive analytical cross-sectional study was conducted at Indira Gandhi Medical College (IGMC), Shimla, Himachal Pradesh among the resident doctors using predesigned, structured, self-administered anonymous close-ended questionnaire. We analyzed the data using Stata software version 12.Results: There were a total of 61 study participants, who consented to participate, of which more than half were females (52.5%). The mean age of the study participants was 28.6±0.63 years. Regarding the source of knowledge about medical ethics most of the study participants had acquired the information during their experience at their workplace (42.6%). A majority of the male participants disagreed that confidentiality while providing the health care services should be abandoned (54.3%). More than 90% of the study participants agreed that incorporation of medical ethics is necessary in undergraduate curriculum.Conclusions: Incorporation of a formal structured teaching on medical ethics in the undergraduate curriculum is the need of the hour. Besides research work, the medical ethics committee in the institution should also act as the guiding hands to address the grievances faced by the doctors during medical practice.
ABSTRACT
Background: Anemia is a global public health problem. Adolescents are vulnerable to iron deficiency because of increased iron requirements related to rapid growth. Aims and Objectives: To estimate the prevalence of anemia among adolescent girls and to study whether anemia is associated with body mass index and the attainment of menarche. Materials and Methds: A cross-sectional descriptive survey was conducted in selected schools of Shimla district. One thousand five ninety-six (10-19 yrs old) school girls were included in the study. The study was conducted from June 2011 to May 2012 (1 year). Data analysis was done using SPSSS software version 18 for windows. Results: Prevalence of anemia was found to be 21.4%. It was seen that among the anemic adolescent girls, 77.3% had mild anemia, 21.9% had moderate anemia, and 0.5% had severe anemia. BMI and onset of menarche had no significant effect on the prevalence of anemia. In bivariate logistic regression, age and urban residence were significantly related to anemia. Conclusion: We observed a low prevalence of anemia among adolescent girls. We recommend that adolescents be screened periodically for anemia and multi-sectoral, community-based approach be adopted to combat this serious public health issue.
ABSTRACT
OBJECTIVE: Recent studies and surveys are observing a declining trend of routine immunization coverage and fully immunized children in India are reported to be 38%. A rapid assessment technique was used on National Immunization Day (PPI) to assess the immunization status among children in the age group of 12-23 months covering urban, rural and slum areas in UT, Chandigarh. METHODS: The study covered 796 children in proportion of their distribution in urban, rural and slum areas. RESULTS: Evaluation recorded fully immunized children as 72.23%, partially immunized as 22.99% and unimmunized as 4.64%. Only 58.66% children in urban slums were fully immunized. The overall coverage for various vaccines was BCG: 93.09%, DPT1/OPV1: 93.97%, DPT2/OPV2: 90.57%, DPT3/OPV3: 85.92% and measles: 76%. No sex-wise difference was noticed in the study. CONCLUSION: Efforts must be made to strengthen routine immunization programme especially in the underprivileged groups and areas such as slum in cities so that target of universal coverage can be achieved as envisaged at national level.