ABSTRACT
While physicians have always been considered the leaders of the health team, widespread discussions have been held for at least two decades on the reorientation of medical education to ensure that physicians will not only possess adequate scientific and clinical knowledge but also have other equally important qualities to foster worldwide health. For example, physicians should be socially responsible, have a broad viewpoint of the relationship of people to their environment, be trained in the proper mix of preventive and curative disciplines, and have practical skills as social scientists, leaders, and agents of change. While many innovative answers have been found concerning these and other complex educational issues, in developing countries, little change has occurred in the overall direction of medical education: doctors remain the last converts to the cause of primary health care, and time is running out for medical education reforms. In addition, in developing countries, the importance of the medical team leader is lessening as the importance of other members of the team, who are willing to work in the villages away from the great medical schools and hospital complexes, is growing. However, there are innovative programs that show how this unacceptable state of affairs can be changed. The author makes a plea for the planning and programs to make the necessary reforms.
Subject(s)
Education, Medical , Global Health , Developing Countries , World Health OrganizationSubject(s)
Prenatal Diagnosis , Sex Determination Analysis , Vaginal Smears , Cervix Uteri , Female , Fetus/physiology , Humans , Male , Pregnancy , Pregnancy Trimester, SecondABSTRACT
Over 900 individuals from ten endogamous groups in the Indian states of Maharashtra and West Bengal were studied for G-6-PD deficiency and haemoglobin variants. The incidence of G-6-PD varied from nil to 17.3%, while that of Hb-S varied from nil to 22.3%. In general, the tribal populations of Maharashtra are characterized by the presence of a high incidence of both Hb-S and G-6-PD deficiency. The caste Hindus showed an absence of Hb-S and rather low G-6-PD deficiency. Immigrant Parsis possessed the highest incidence of G-6-PD deficiency (17.3%).
Subject(s)
Gene Frequency , Glucosephosphate Dehydrogenase Deficiency/genetics , Hemoglobins/genetics , Genetic Variation , Humans , IndiaABSTRACT
The distribution of placental alkaline phosphatase and lactate dehydrogenase types in 635 placentas from various endogamous groups of Maharashtra have been studied by starch gel electrophoresis. In the case of alkaline phosphatase, 6 common phenotypes and 6 rare phenotypes (F2I1, S1S2, S2S3, I1S2, F1S2, F1I2) are encountered. The highest frequency of Pls1 allele (0.7394) and lowest frequency of Pli1 allele (0.0246) have been found in the Nava-Budha. 6 cases of Cal-1 and 5 cases of Cal-2 types of LDH variants have been observed in the total samples, and Muslims possess the highest frequency of Cal-1 types (3.64%). Population groups are compared with respect to Pl alleles.
