Dec 23, 2009 Posted by daktre

Why are my patients not happy with my hospital?

It is no measure of health to be well adjusted to a profoundly sick society. - Jiddu Krishnamurti Gubbi is a small town in Tumkur district in Southern Karnataka. Gubbi Veeranna, one of the well-known theatre personalities from Karnataka who started the first Kannada theatre hailed from here. Historically, the town was well-known for its local markets for cotton and areca nut. As early as in 1871, Gubbi was... read more

Oct 19, 2009 Posted by daktre

Ping is my birthright and I shall have it…

I have a dream…. If Martin Luther King were born in the forests of BR Hills in Southern Karnataka during the nineties, apart from perhaps running into Veerappan, he could’nt have expected more adventure. Nonetheless, I am sure he would still have had a dream. His dream would have to do much more with owning a television and watching an action film. It may have been about having a bulb at home... read more

Jul 14, 2008 Posted by daktre

Healthy forests and healthy people – A problem of First among equals

Aphu was a young man in his twenties when he passed away. In the hinterland of India’s largest tiger reserve, few people keep track of their age, for nobody here registers them for social welfare, nor do they have a doctor who asks them their age to fill up a column on a case sheet. Aphu’s home was in Gandhigram, a remote tribal village in the state of Arunachal Pradesh in North-east India,... read more

Mar 31, 2008 Posted by daktre

Bird flu – Birds edition

It’s an interesting puzzle, this bird flu. On one side, while birdwatchers are all disturbed about even the suggestion of wild bird culling as a control measure to prevent spread of bird flu by migratory birds, on the other hand, for the public health professionals, it is just among various available ‘vector-control’ measure…..kinda like control mosquitoes to prevent malaria. Who... read more

Nov 24, 2007 Posted by daktre

Diclofenac and Vulture deaths – From naivity to reality

Diclofenac is one of the most commonly used Non-steroidal anti-inflammatories. Just to give you an idea of the magnitude, I take the human example. Although, I really dont know to what extend ‘human diclo cycle’ touches birds, as an example, it would be good. There are about 1600 odd government health centres in Karnataka – just one state. A govt. PHC on an average dispenses 30 tablets of... read more