Right to Health for Children.

India is a signatory to UN Convention on Child Rights but the allocation of funds and interventions to address health problems have been insufficient. A rights-based rather than a welfare approach is needed to realize child rights, of which health and education are crucial. The health needs of the newborn (survival), infant (vaccinations, nutrition) and preschool child (infections, development) require particular attention. Health care delivery systems should be made fully functional, programs properly implemented, and accountability ensured at all levels. Basic curative services must be provided free for all children. Functional health literacy should be provided to the underprivileged.

Neonatal Bartter Syndrome.

Bartter syndrome is characterized by hypokalemia, metabolic alkalosis, increased urinary excretion of sodium, potassium and chloride and normal blood pressure. A rare subset of the disorder occurs in the newborn period, which prompts us to report two such cases. Both showed satisfactory response to treatment with indomethacin.

Evidence-based National Vaccine Policy.

India has over a century old tradition of development and production of vaccines. The Government rightly adopted self-sufficiency in vaccine production and self-reliance in vaccine technology as its policy objectives in 1986. However, in the absence of a full-fledged vaccine policy, there have been concerns related to demand and supply, manufacture vs. import, role of public and private sectors, choice of vaccines, new and combination vaccines, universal vs. selective vaccination, routine immunization vs. special drives, cost-benefit aspects, regulatory issues, logistics etc. The need for a comprehensive and evidence based vaccine policy that enables informed decisions on all these aspects from the public health point of view brought together doctors, scientists, policy analysts, lawyers and civil society representatives to formulate this policy paper for the consideration of the Government. This paper evolved out of the first ever ICMR-NISTADS national brainstorming workshop on vaccine policy held during 4-5 June, 2009 in New Delhi, and subsequent discussions over email for several weeks, before being adopted unanimously in the present form.

A study of the 2006 Chikungunya Epidemic Outbreak in Mauritius

Stem cells are basic cells of all multicellular organisms having the potency to differentiate into wide range of adult cells. Self renewal and totipotency are characteristic of stem cells. Though totipotency is shown by very early embryonic stem cells; the adult stem cells possess multipotency and differential plasticity which can be exploited for future generation of therapeutic options. Fortunately; the regulators of pleuripotency such as oct-4 et nanong protein are discovered and possibility of in vitro regulation of pleuripotency of stem cells is gaining strength. Genetic regulation of adult stem cells in the form of Bmi-1; Notch; sonic hedgehog et wnt gene is also being worked upon and future can be regulation of stem cell differentiation in vitro; in vivo or both. It is the knowledge of regulators of stem cells which has opened the therapeutic usage of stem cells in the form of neuron regeneration; treatment of bone defect; drug testing; gene therapy and cell based therapy in the form of muscle damage; spinal cord injury; cancer therapy etc. Cell based therapies might become commercial in coming years