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Background : With rapid industrialization, the quality of the air is being compromised in several Indian cities. Hence, the effect of air pollution on mortality was studied in the Ludhiana city of Punjab in northern India. Materials and Methods: Air quality and meteorological and mortality data were obtained for 2002-2004. Punjab Pollution Control Board monitored air quality on specific week days at different sites. Respirable suspended particulate matter (RSPM) (equivalent of PM ₁₀ ) was measured by the gravimetric method and NO_x and SO ₂ by chemical method. The estimation of the daily average RSPM level was attempted by combining 24-h average of the monitoring stations working on a particular day. Sahnewal Airport records temperature, dew point, and relative humidity at 8.30 am, 11.30 am, and 5.30 pm. Visibility of fixed landmarks is observed manually every hour from 6.30 am to 6.30 pm. Daily death records were obtained from the civil registration system. The association between visibility as proxy for RSPM and mortality was established using the generalized additive model (GAM) with natural spline smoothers at 6, 3, 3 df in R software with deaths (excluding accidents) as a dependent variable. Smoothers for day of the week, temperature, and relative humidity were also included in the model. Results: Air quality monitoring days for different monitoring stations ranged from 86 to 138 per year. The annual mean RSPM ranged from 226.7 to 269 μg/m ³ , SO ₂ from 11.6 to 20.9 μg/m ³ , and NO_x from 32.2 to 46.3 μg/m ³ . The mean (SD) temperature was 25.6 (7.9)°C, relative humidity was 58.1 (19.3)%, and visibility was 3398 (1418) m. Overall 28,007 deaths were registered, with an average of 25.4 deaths (SD 5.8) per day. The association between air quality as indicated by visibility (haze) and daily mortality was found to be statistically significant. For every 1 km decrease in visibility at midday, mortality due to natural causes increased by 2.4%. Conclusions: In Ludhiana, air pollution levels were quite high. The air quality (as measured by visibility) was significantly associated with mortality.

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Public Health Management has taken a momentous leap and seeks to provide a plausible answer to many issues related to public health. A key area identified to aid the public health objectives in the country is human resource management. The country faces a dire crunch in the available work force in almost all the healthcare network. Countering the current health situation in the country, various institutes have come up offering specialized courses in public health management. The wide gap between supply and demand for trained health care managers/ administrators to work for hospitals, pharmaceutical companies, health insurance and third party administration and other health care provider organizations needs attention. The paper is a situational analysis of all such courses offered pan India. A systematic, predefined approach was used to collect and assemble the data. All the institutes offering such courses were contacted for detailed information. Fifty one institutes have been identified which annually produce around 2122 qualified professional to work in the domain of public health management. The paper also discusses the demand analysis where these prospective students can be placed. An estimated 19,930 professionals would be required based upon the country's present status, which reflects the dearth in their workforce capacity. The paper also enlightens the scope of strengthening the existing system, by effectively training the existing workforce for their capacity building, and highlights training opportunities for working professional to pursue a related academic program.

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Background : Strengthening food security enhancement intervention should be based on the assessment of household food security and its correlates. Objectives: The objective was to find out the prevalence and factors contributing to household food security in a tribal population in Bankura. Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted among 267 tribal households in Bankura-I CD Block selected through cluster random sampling. Household food security was assessed using a validated Bengali version of Household Food Security Scale-Short Form along with the collection of information regarding the monthly per capita expenditure (MPCE), total to earning member ratio, BPL card holding, utilization of the public distribution system (PDS) and receipt of any social assistance through a house-to-house survey. Result and Conclusion: Overall, 47.2% of study households were food secure whereas 29.6% and 23.2% were low and very low food secure, respectively. MPCE ≥ Rs. 356, total to earning member ratio ≤ 4:1, regular utilization of PDS, and nonholding of the BPL card were significantly related with household food security.

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[FULL TEXT]  [PDF]  [Mobile Full text]  [EPub] [CITATIONS]  [PubMed]

[FULL TEXT]  [PDF]  [Mobile Full text]  [EPub]  [PubMed]

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