Accident Service officials have warned the public to beware of climbing unstable stools and ladders to illuminate their homes for Christmas. Falls from stools and ladders and slipping on wet tiles is very common at this time of the year. Those most at risk are the elderly who could sprain their legs or get a back or spine injury and end up in hospital, Geriatric Specialist Dr Dilhar Samaraweera told the Sunday Observer. According to data from hospitals the number of patients admitted to hospitals after a fall during the festive season has risen sharply in recent years.
Motorists, pedestrians, asked to follow road rules during festive season
The Accident Service has urged all road users – both motorists and pedestrians to stick to traffic rules and avoid accidents that could leave long lasting scars. National Coordinator for Training & Triad Accident Service, National Hospital Colombo, has said, the festive season is usually the time when road accidents surge. “We urge the public to be extremely cautious when travelling on roads and adhere to existing rules”, she told the Sunday Observer. She said, the main culprits were Three wheelers, drunk drivers and speed maniacs; while pedestrians who disobeyed road rules and did not use the pedestrian crossings, as well as those crossing roads while phoning or texting were also vulnerable to accidents. She also advised young people to refrain from lighting crackers and fireworks across the road and onto cars of people returning from Christmas Mass. “Eye injuries and injuries from fireworks lit by young unsupervised children are very common at this time of the year”, she noted.
Food Unit requests traffic lights system on all food products
The Food Unit of the Health Ministry has reportedly asked that a traffic lights system be introduced on all food products to indicate how much sugar, salt and unsaturated fat they contain. Already in force, such a system exists for checking the quantity of sugar in drinks and a similar one should be introduced on all food items, especially, during the festive season, a spokesman for the Unit has reportedly said. Ministry sources said, the festive season was a time when most people put their diets on hold whether self imposed or imposed by a medical practitioner. The Director Non Communicable Diseases was quoted as saying that even if it is for a short period, those with pre existing conditions such as, diabetes and hypertension should be extra vigilant this season as exceeding the consumption of sugar, high starch and foods laced with salt could lead to severe health complications including cardiac problems . He urged Christmas revellers to eat the right amount of food at correct intervals and avoid developing food related problems.
Sugar is a crystalline carbohydrate that makes food taste sweet. Health sources warned that most of the sugar we consume are added sugar such as found in cakes and chocolate consumed more during the festive time, which can permanently damage your metabolism .
First prickly custard apple cultivation zone
Sri Lanka’s first ever cultivation zone for prickly custard apple was initiated at the Gampaha Division recently. Through this program, it is expected to promote cultivation and deliver over 200,000 saplings to farmers this year. Speaking on the occasion, MP Mahinda Amaraweera has reportedly said that prickly custard apple was a healthy fruit capable of curing illnesses such as cancer by destroying cancer cells . It also had the ability to balance the heartbeat and blood pressure in the human body and contained vitamin C, vitamin B6 and fibre. Although it was not so popular in Sri Lanka, he reportedly said, there was a high demand for the fruit abroad due to its cancer destroying ability. He has given instructions to cultivate it as an economic crop.
Low cost Russian cancer drugs put patients’ lives at risk
Small & Medium Scale Entrepreneurs Association President Sanjaya Perera has reportedly charged that the low quality of Russian drugs imported for cancer patients, had put patients at risk. Addressing a press conference at the Abhayaramaya temple in Colombo on December 6 he was reported to have said that the two cancer drugs, Trastuzumab and Bevazizumab, produced and imported from Russia are not clinically tested and are higher in price, compared to the same type of other drugs which have the US Food & Drug Authority ( FDA) approval and recognised throughout the world. The damage done to cancer patients by these drugs has still to be determined, he said.
War hero completes wheelchair mission
The Sri Lanka Army’s top brass including its Lieutenant General Mahesh Senanyake were at Dondra recently to encourage disabled war hero Corporal P.K.G.G. Karunarathna on his cross country mission traversing the length of Sri Lanka, to mark International Day of Persons with Disabilities. Corporal Karunarathna joined the Sri Lanka Army in Sept 2007 and served in the Gajaba Regiment. He was wounded in the Humanitarian Operation and had both his legs amputated. He is now an inmate of Abimansala 111 . His goal was to travel 581 kilometres, and reach Point Pedro.
Activists take to bus stands to drive home sexual harassment message
A group of volunteers gathered recently at four main bus stops within the Colombo limits to raise awareness on gender based violence and sexual harassment that bus travellers face. The campaign which took off late last month coincided with International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women. Aptly themed ‘See it, Report it, Prevent it’ the campaign distributed over 28,000 information cards in Sinhala and Tamil among commuters reaching over 100,000 people with around 1,500 stickers also being pasted on buses, sources reportedly said. Gender violence and sexual harassment according to health officials leave physical, mental as well as emotional scarring that last for life, health officials warned.
New Delhi Govt fined over toxic smog
India’s environmental watchdog has slapped New Delhi’s government with a $3.5 million fine for failing to enforce rules to reduce smog in the world’s most polluted major city.
The National Green Tribunal, a national body tasked with ruling on environmental matters reportedly penalised the Capital after hearing a plea from Delhi residents complaining about factories flouting laws on trash fires. It charged the administration for its lack of oversight after it emerged that some of the polluting industries were still burning harmful waste in the open. An estimated 90 to 95% of residents are said to be at risk of respiratory infections and sthma due to inhaling the toxic fumes.
Surgery performed under torch and phone light
A team of surgeons at Port Moresby General Hospital, Papua New Guinea has become an online sensation last week after images were posted to social media platforms showing the medical staff performing a cleft lip operation using only torches and a phone light when a power outage plunged their section into darkness following the theatre’s generator overheating and malfunctioning. The 19 minute operation posed no risk to the patient attending doctors have reportedly said, saying all developing countries have issues of power blackouts and most doctors were able to improvise and do their best under such trying conditions.