Mumbai: The BMC will soon start India’s first palliative care ward for tuberculosis patients at its hospital in Sewri. Palliative care is considered a necessary component in the global strategy against TB but was thus far missing in India, a senior health official said.

Sources informed the FPJ that the ward will be housed in the new building and will have an equal number of beds for both men and women. The official added that they are finalising the guidelines for eligibility.

Renowned pulmonologist and epidemiologist Dr Lancelot Pinto, PD Hinduja Hospital-Mahim, said palliative care across all disciplines in medicine is always a good idea, especially in diseases that leave patients “with a lot of disability and scarring”.

He said, “In India, we often see TB patients in an advanced stage, needing palliative care. The treatment is not just about curing or killing bacteria, but also taking care of symptoms like breathlessness.” He, however, clarified that palliative care does not mean end-of-life.

Pinto said palliative care is helpful when TB is diagnosed late and doctors know that the patient’s lungs are not going to heal and are badly scarred.

Lauding the BMC’s plan, public health specialist and convenor of Survivors Against TB, , Chapal Mehra, said such a centre is the need of the hour in a city like Mumbai where the TB burden is very high.

Sewri TB Hospital, which is officially called Group of TB Hospitals, is Asia’s largest TB hospital. It was inaugurated in 1942 and has 1,000 beds. At any given point, it has more than 800-bed occupancy; 240 beds are reserved for multi-drug resistant TB patients.

New TB cases in Mumbai have reached pre-pandemic levels for the second consecutive year, with 63,644 new cases recorded in 2023. The increase is attributed to better search and diagnostics efforts by health officials.

Mumbai: The city woke up to a haze-filled atmosphere in the morning on Thursday (November 16). It is worth mentioning that Mumbai has been reeling under high air pollution in recent days due to the construction activities at various sites. The situation has also been aggravated by the use of fireworks during Diwali celebrations. A thick layer of haze lingered in the air in Mumbai this morning.

The Indian Meteorological Department (IMD) predicted partially cloudy skies in the city and suburbs in the morning today.

The weather agency also predicted that the city and suburbs will continue to see cloudy skies towards the afternoon and by the evening. The temperatures on Wednesday are likely to be between 26°C to 33°C.

Causes of pollution

The primary causes of outdoor air pollution are solid, liquid particles called aerosols & gase from vehicle emissions, construction activities, factories, burning stubble & fossil fuels and wildfire, etc.

The main causes of indoor air pollution are harmful gases from cooking fuels (such as wood, crop wastes, charcoal, coal and dung), damp, mould smoke, chemicals from cleaning materials, etc.

Lucknow, April 21. The Uttar Pradesh government has approved a proposal seeking amendments in the Atal Residential School Scheme to help children affected by Covid-19.

The Atal Residential School Scheme aims to provide quality and free education to children of poor labourers, according to a government press release.

“Now, children who have lost one or both their parents during Covid-19 pandemic will also be able to benefit. The Women Welfare Department will make available the list of such children to us. Under the scheme, free quality residential education from Class 6 to 12 will be made available,” an official said.

In the order issued, it has been mentioned that the amendment in the present system of the Atal Residential School Scheme has been unanimously approved by the Uttar Pradesh Building and Other Construction Workers Welfare Board.

The maintenance and social security of registered construction workers will be fully ensured in the interest of eligible construction workers, an official said.

The eligibility conditions of the scheme have also been amended.

Admission will be given only to the children of the registered construction workers who have completed at least three years of membership of the board after registration.

Earlier this period was kept only for one year.

However, the eligibility of maximum two children of the registered working family to study in the school remains the same as before.

Every year the admission of children of construction workers and the children eligible for the Mukhyamantri Bal Seva Yojana will be made on the basis of the procedure laid down by the Atal Residential School Committee.

“The state government will make the payment of expenses related to destitute children and children eligible for the Mukhyamantri Bal Seva Yojana (general) to the Atal Residential School Committee, through which funds will be provided to the schools. For this, the Atal Residential School Committee will have to operate a separate account.

“Under the scheme, the same rule was prescribed earlier for orphans as well, but now the names of destitute children and children eligible for Mukhyamantri Bal Seva Yojana have been added,” an official said.