A study to assess awareness on eye donation and willingness to pledge eyes for donation in adult population in Gwalior district (M.P.), India

Background: Purpose of current study was to determine the awareness of eye donation and willingness to pledge eyes for donation in the government colonies (Central and state govt. colonies) of district Gwalior (M.P.). Corneal diseases constitute a significant cause of visual impairment and blindness in the developing world. Although Strategies to prevent corneal blindness are likely to be more cost effective, visual rehabilitation by Corneal Transplantation remains the major treatment for restoring sight in those who already have corneal blindness.Methods: The present study was undertaken from July 2012 to Dec. 2012 with a total population 2192 was surveyed of people residing in central and state govt. Colonies of district Gwalior in which total of 500 houses were taken. The total population aged 30 years and above were interrogated by a predesigned questionnaire regarding awareness of eye donation, any eye related problem and willingness to pledge eyes for donation.Results: The total respondents were 947 in which 481 (50.79%) were Males and 466 (49.21%) were females. The awareness of eye donation was present in 590 (62.30%) while 357 (37.70%) were not aware.Conclusion: The awareness regarding eye donation should be increased so that the public’s attitude would be more favorable to facilitate an increase in the number of corneas available for transplantation.

A Quantitative and Qualitative Evaluation of Mass Drug Administration (MDA) program in three districts of Madhya Pradesh (India)

Introduction: Lymphatic filariasis (LF) is the world's second leading cause of long-term disability. According to the World Health Organization, India, Indonesia, Nigeria and Bangladesh alone contribute about 70% of the infection worldwide. Mass drug administration of one annual dose of diethylcarbamazine citrate and albendazole is currently advocated by WHO for control of lymphatic filariasis. The state of Madhya Pradesh (MP), India adopted MDA for elimination of LF in 2004. The aim of this study was to assess the effective coverage of MDA and to determine the causes of coverage compliance gap. Methodology: It was a cross-sectional survey in which both quantitative and qualitative data was collected from the study clusters by house-to-house surveys. Multistage random sampling method was used to select the clusters. 30 household were covered in each cluster, covering 4 clusters per district; so in each district 120 households were surveyed. Results: The present study was conducted in three filariasis endemic districts of Madhya Pradesh. The study covered a target population of 1863 from twelve clusters of which 94.09% (1753) were eligible for drug consumption. The overall drug distribution rate (coverage) was 84.59% and the coverage compliance gap was 16.82%. Overall drug ingestion compliance was 80.10%. The overall effective coverage was 67.77% (Z Score=3.6338, p=0.00014). The drug distribution rate (coverage) was much better in urban areas (92.55%) as compared to rural areas (82.45%) and therefore the effective coverage was much better in urban areas (75.53%) as against 65.65% in the rural areas. The most important reason of noncompliance was lack of awareness about the disease (47.45%). Understaffing was also reported in all the districts and impact assessment data was not collected in any of the three districts. Conclusion: There is need of intensive health education campaigns to increase the level of scientific information about the disease. The coverage activities should be prioritized equally with Behavior Change Communication (BCC) activities. The timings of drug distribution should be properly thought out

Perceptions of ICDS functionaries of Gwalior and Chambal divisions of Madhya Pradesh regarding the prevention and control of rabies

Rabies is a zoonotic disease and still a major public health prob-lem despite of wide availability of Anti rabies vaccine. The study was conducted to assess the perception of ICDS functionaries about animal bite management and the prevention of rabies. It was a cross sectional study in which 178 ICDS functionaries namely Child Development Project Officers (CDPOs), Supervisors and Assistant Statistical Officers (ASOs) of Gwalior and Chambal divisions were identified who had come to attend a training on infant and child feeding practices, basic sanitation and general health & hygiene, organized by Atal Bihari Bajpai Bal Aarogya Avem Poshan Mission (ABBBA & PM) of Madhya Pradesh. Out of total 178 respondents, 98 (55.05%) and 80 (44.94%) belongs to Gwalior and Chambal divisions respectively. Majority (97.75%) of the respondents heard about the rabies. 70 (71.42%) participants of Gwalior and 67 (83.75%) participants of Chambal division responded that rabies could only be caused by dog bite. A total of 71 (39.88%) participants responded that washing the wound with soap and water is the first line treatment of animal bite while 96 (53.94%) workers responded that oil, salt and amchoor (dried mango powder) should be avoided by the person bitten by a sus-pected rabid animal. Also, 92 (51.69%) of total respondents knew that rabies is 100% fatal disease. It was felt that the regular training programmes should be organized for all the functionaries regarding prevention and control of rabies

A study to assess injection practices at different levels of health care facilities in district Gwalior, M.P., India

Background: Injections are among the most commonly used medical procedure with an estimated 16 billion administrations each year worldwide. An overwhelming majority (90%-95%) of these injections are administered for curative purposes. Immunization accounts for around 3% of all injections. According to IPEN study, 03-06 billion injections administered annually in India. Estimates suggest that at least 50% of the world’s injections administered each year are unsafe, particularly in developing countries. Most of the curative injections are unnecessary, ineffective or inappropriate. Purpose of current study was to assess and compare the knowledge, skill and practices at different levels of health care by health care providers regarding ‘Safe injection practices’.Methods:The present study has been undertaken in the outdoor departments of government health care facilities of district Gwalior. The study was done at three places namely: Civil dispensaries, district hospital & medical college hospital - Madhav dispensary (Tertiary care hospital) from 1/7/12 - 28/2/13.  Results:Only 10 (33.4%) of the providers were aware regarding blood borne injection borne by faulty injection practices, the same number knew about the reasons for wearing the gloves for both patient and personal safety. All the providers had 100% knowledge regarding safe injection practices but in practical many of the skills were lacking at all the health care facilities.Conclusion:There was a great disparity between knowledge and practice of health care provider regarding injection practices. They were quite aware about the transmission of diseases to them by the faulty injection practices but more efforts are needed to be done in this regard for the improvement for the use of safe injection practices in all the health care facilities.