Current Affairs Questions

Explanation :

Context: On 14th October, 2020, Union Ministry for Health and Family Welfare launched the second phase of "Thalassemia BalSewaYojna" for the underprivileged Thalassemic patients.

Explanation:

About Thalassemia

• It is a blood disorder passed down through families (inherited) in which the body makes an abnormal form or inadequate amount of hemoglobin.
• (Hemoglobin is the protein in red blood cells that carries oxygen).
• The disorder results in large numbers of red blood cells being destroyed, which leads to anemia.
• (Anemia is a condition in which our body doesn’t have enough normal, healthy red blood cells).

Types

• Alpha thalassemia occurs when a gene or genes related to the alpha globin protein are missing or changed (mutated). It occurs most often in people from Southeast Asia, the Middle East, China, and in those of African descent.
• Beta thalassemia occurs when similar gene defects affect production of the beta globin protein.It occurs most often in people of Mediterranean origin. To a lesser extent, Chinese, other Asians, and African Americans can be affected.

Thalassemia BalSewaYojna

• Launched in 2017, this scheme is a Coal India CSR funded Hematopoietic Stem Cell Transplantation (HSCT) program.
• It aims to provide a one-time cure opportunity for Haemoglobinopathies like Thalassaemia and Sickle Cell Disease for patients who have a matched family donor.

Explanation :

Myopia

• Myopia is the term used to define being shortsighted.
• A myopic person has clear vision when looking at objects close to them, but distant objects will appear blurred. This is because light is focused in front of the retina and, being too far forward in the eye, things in the distance look blurred.

Presbyopia

• It occurs when your eyes gradually lose the ability to see things clearly up close. It is a normal part of aging.

Hypermetropia

• Sometimes called hyperopia, is the term used to define being longsighted.
• If one is hypermetropic, the image of a nearby object is formed behind the retina. This means that light is focused too far back in the eye, causing things which are close up to appear blurred.

Explanation :

• The National Health Policy, 2017 (NHP, 2017) seeks to reach everyone in a comprehensive integrated way to move towards wellness.
• It aims at achieving universal health coverage and delivering quality health care services to all at affordable cost.
• It denotes an important change towards a comprehensive primary health care package which includes care for major NCDs (non-communicable diseases), mental health, geriatric health care, palliative care and rehabilitative care services.
• It envisages providing larger package of assured comprehensive primary health care through the ‘Health and Wellness Centres’.
• The policy proposes free drugs, free diagnostics and free emergency and essential health care services in all public hospitals in a bid to provide access and financial protection.
• It also envisages a three-dimensional integration of AYUSH systems encompassing cross referrals, co-location and integrative practices across systems of medicines.
• The policy proposes raising public health expenditure to 2.5% of the GDP by 2025.

Explanation :

• Measles, also known as morbilli, rubeola, red measles, and English measles is a highly contagious infectious disease caused by measles virus.
• Measles morbillivirus, formerly called measles virus (MeV), is a single-stranded, negative-sense, enveloped, non-segmented RNA virus of the genus Morbillivirus within the family Paramyxoviridae.
• Humans are the natural hosts of the virus; no animal reservoirs are known to exist.
• Measles is an airborne disease which spreads easily through the coughs and sneezes of infected people.
• It may also be spread through direct contact with mouth or nasal secretions.

Symptoms

• The first sign of measles is usually a high fever, which begins about 10 to 12 days after exposure to the virus, and lasts 4 to 7 days.
• A runny nose, a cough, red and watery eyes, and small white spots inside the cheeks can develop in the initial stage.
• Koplik's spots seen inside the mouth are diagnostic for measles, but are temporary and therefore rarely seen.
• These are small white spots that are commonly seen on the inside of the cheeks opposite the molars.

Explanation :

• Also called the basic reproduction number, it indicates the average number of people who will contract the virus from a person who has already been infected, in a population that does not have immunity for the said disease.
• R0 is the division of the number of new infections by the number of existing infections, or the average number of new infections over an infectious period (R0= new infections/existing infections).
• To illustrate with an example, if the number of people diagnosed with a disease increases from four to eight in two days, it is likely to increase to 16 two days later, or in four days from the start. This makes the R0 two.

R0 Values

Three possibilities exist for the potential spread or decline of a disease, depending on its R0 value:

• If R0 is less than 1, each existing infection causes less than one new infection. In this case, the disease will decline and eventually die out.
• If R0 equals 1, each existing infection causes one new infection. The disease will stay alive and stable, but there won’t be an outbreak or an epidemic.
• If R0 is more than 1, each existing infection causes more than one new infection. The disease will spread between people, and there may be an outbreak or epidemic.
• The higher the R0, the more contagious the infection.

Explanation :

• On 9^th April, 2020, the Odisha government promulgated an ordinance to deal with COVID 19 spread by amending Section 3 of the Epidemic Diseases Act, 1897.
• According Ordinance, anybody who disobeys any regulation or order under the principal Act is liable to face imprisonment up to two years or pay a fine of up to Rs 10,000 or be slapped with both.
• It replaces section 3 of the main Act, which states that violating the law invites imprisonment for a maximum period of six months and a Rs-1,000 fine, adding that a clause has been inserted in another section of the principal Act.
• Procurement of goods, services and equipment for prevention and control of an epidemic disease has been brought under the purview of the amended provision, which was not a part of the original 1897 Act.

Explanation :

• Amidst the global coronavirus crisis, India, on 2^nd April, 2020, launched an 18-hour operation called 'Operation Sanjeevani' to deliver 6.2 tonnes of essential medicines and hospital consumables to Maldives.
• The Indian Air Force lifted medicines from airports in New Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai and Madurai and delivered to the Maldives.
• Medicines including influenza vaccines, anti-viral drugs such as Lopinavir and Ritonavir (these two medicines are being used in other countries to treat COVID-19 ) have gone to the Maldives.
• Consumables including catheters, nebulisers, urine bags and infant feeding tubes and other medications for cardiac conditions, kidney ailments, hypertension, high blood pressure, diabetes, arthritis, allergies and cancer treatment, anticonvulsants have been delivered too.

Explanation :

• On 27^th March, 2020, the government has notified anti-malarial drug hydroxychloroquine under Schedule-H1, restricting its sale based on prescription and making it mandatory for chemists to maintain records for such sale.
• The sale of the drug from now on should be in accordance with the conditions for sale of drugs as specified in Schedule H1 to the Drugs and Cosmetics Rules, 1945.
• This would mean that any preparation containing the said drug will have a warning label of ‘only prescription sale’ and against self-medication.
• The move is aimed at stopping misuse of the drug which has now been allowed by the government for prophylactuse in high risk contacts of Covid-19 patients and healthcare workers treating such patients.

Schedule H1 Drugs

• The Drugs and Cosmetics Rules, 1945, are the set of rules under The Drugs and Cosmetics Act, 1940, which has provisions for classification of drugs into different schedules and also guidelines for storage, sale, display.
• Schedule H1 has been introduced through Gazette notification GSR 588 (E) dated 30-08-2013 to check the indiscriminate use of antibiotics, anti-TB and some other drugs in the country.
• The schedule contains certain 3rd and 4th generation antibiotics, certain habit forming drugs and anti-TB drugs.

Explanation :

• Indian Army launched “Operation Namaste” to contain the spread of Corona Virus in the country.
• Under the operation, the army will help the Government of India fight against the deadly disease.
• Under the operation, Indian Army has established 8 quarantine so far. Also, Command wise help line numbers have been established.

Mo Jiban (My Life)

• It is a new programme launched by Odisha Government, under which people of the State have to take a resolute vow to stay home and not to go outside during the lockdown period to remain safe from the novel coronavirus (COVID-19).

Explanation :

• Huntington’s disease, also known as Huntington's chorea, is a fatal genetic disorder that causes the progressive breakdown of nerve cells in the brain.
• It deteriorates a person’s physical and mental abilities usually during their prime working years and has no cure.
• It is known as the quintessential family disease because every child of a parent with HD has a 50/50 chance of inheriting the faulty gene.

Cause

• It is caused by an expansion of a repeating CAG triplet series in the hunting in gene on chromosome 4, which results in a protein with an abnormally long polyglutamine sequence.

Symptoms

• Personality changes, mood swings & depression
• Forgetfulness & impaired judgment
• Unsteady gait & involuntary movements (chorea)
• Slurred speech, difficulty in swallowing & significant weight loss

Treatment

• There is currently no cure for Huntington's disease and no way to slow or stop the brain changes it causes. Treatments focus on managing symptoms.