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Amrita
Diabetes Welfare Association - The number of
people with diabetes has now increased to epidemic proportion
in every country of the world, despite the wide variety
of medicines that have proved effective in controlling
blood sugar. The most important aspect of the treatment
of diabetes remains diet, exercise and a change in life
style. These objectives can be achieved only if proper
education is imparted to patients with diabetes.
In order to better serve and communicate with patients
with diabetes, AIMS has initiated ADWA, or the Amrita
Diabetes Welfare Association. |
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This
Association is intended to provide patients with a platform
to raise relevant issues, including the cost of medicines
and insulin, as it is ADWA's intention to help poor
patients who have difficulty in procuring medication.
Annual dues from the Association are being invested
with the interest being used to buy insulin for diabetes
patients who cannot afford to buy their own. The Association
has organised a number of medical camps and educational
programmes to spread information about the preventable
complications of diabetes. The medical camps screen
patients for diabetes and provide treatment facilities
for those already afflicted by the disease.In 2001 and
2002, 16 camps were held. 200 -250 people attend each
camp on average. |
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DIABEAT-
The Association is publishing a regular newsletter called
DIABEAT for the benefit of its members.
This magazine was first published in October of 2001.
In addition, volunteer diabetic counsellors have been
trained to provide basic diabetic education in Paravoor,
a local area in Kochi.
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| School Counselling
Program - A team from the Endocrinology and
Diabetes Department provide a school counselling program.
The team consists of volunteer counsellors, a trained
Diabetic Educator, and a Social Worker. |
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| Research
- The Diabetic and Endocrinology Department at
AIMS is committed to developing a strong research program
including both clinical and epidemiological research.
The association is funding research into the prevalence
of diabetes in Cochin in order to define the scope of
the problem, and will plan further projects designed
to address the disease at every level. Research into
the value of the alternative therapies like yoga and
Ayurvedic medication in diabetes is also a point of
keen interest amongst the association members.
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| Metabolic Syndrome and Body
Mass Index - The graph at top shows preliminary
data from an ongoing Endocrinology Dept. Cochin-based
population survey demonstrating the presence of Metabolic
Syndrome in underweight and normal weight persons as
well as the known association of Metabolic Syndrome
with obesity. |
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National Conference on Medical Education
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| 7-9 September 2001
- Globalization of the Indian economy necessitates that
medical professionals interact with their counterparts
in developed nations on equal terms. The current system
of medical education must be able to keep pace with emerging
trends all over the world. This AIMS conference will work
towards creating a national concensus on how to meet the
future medical needs of India.
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| 16 September, 2001
- National Seminar on Recent Advances in Acute Ischemic
Stroke Management |
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AIMS Inaugurated Liver and Pancreatic Diseases Centres
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| 19 August, 2001 - Dr.
Unnikrishnan Nair, Vice-Chancellor, Cochin
University of Science and Technology presided over the
inauguration of two, new specialty service centers of
the AIMS Digestive Diseases Centre:
The Liver Diseases Institute and Pancreatic Diseases
Centre. The referral clinics for liver and pancreatic
diseases will have the most modern facilities available
anywhere in the world to facilitate diagnosis, treatment
and follow-up of such patients. The Kerala Chapter
of Indian National Association for the Study of the Liver
was also launched on the occasion by Dr.
Deepak Amaraputkar, Honorary Secretary
of the Indian National Association for the Study of the
Liver. |
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February, 2001 -
As soon as the extent of the devastation from the Gujarat
earthquake was known, a team of medical specialists from
AIMS was rushed to the scene to assist in any and every
way possible. AIMS also sent two ambulances and a variety
of medical equipment to help with the effort. The two
ambulances brought enough equipment to set up two operating
theatres side-by-side to be ready when the surgeons and
medical support crew arrived.
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| Large quantities of life-saving medicine
from AIMS worth over half a million rupees and medical
equipment worth more than two million rupees have been
airlifted from Ahmedabad to Bhuj to be used by the medical
team in their efforts. In addition, the entire AIMS staff
put aside one day's salary to donate towards the survivors'
relief. |
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The ambulances and the AIMS
medical team were joined by Br. Abhayamrita Chaitanya,
Br. Sadasivan Chaitanya and over 100 students and faculty
from the Amrita Institute of Technology and Engineering,
the Amrita Institute of Computer Technology and
many others from MA Math's branch institutes throughout
India.
Most of the volunteer medical team, equipment and pharmaceuticals
were sent by plane to Gujarat, while two ambulances, fully
equipped with sophisticated equipment to set up a modern
operation theatre, were dispatched by land to the site.
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team was greeted at Ahmedabad by representatives from
the Indian army and was taken to one of the worst affected
areas. They reached the town of Anjar on the third day
after the quake. The local hospital had been completely
demolished by the earthquake. The army had constructed
an emergency tent hospital. AIMS staff set up an operation
theatre in one tent and attended to outpatients in another.
The two AIMS ambulances were engaged in transporting patients
and supplies. |
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The medical team organized
themselves into four teams: outpatient clinic, operating
theatre, field reconnaissance and a support team. They
found that most of the survivors were in a state of shock
having lost most of their loved ones in the violent crush
of tumbling cement buildings. Aside from applying CPR
and attending to critical injuries, the AIMS staff treated
numerous secondary conditions that included respiratory
infections, infections from wounds, fever, vomiting and
diarrhea, CLW, fractures, head injuries and depression.
The surgical team also delivered three babies, one by
Cesarean section. |
The students from Amrita
institutions served the victims in every way possible
- cooking food, distributing the food and water supplied
by a large group of well-wishers and devotees of Amma,
clearing the debris in the town to make way for medical
vehicles to move through, taking care of the sanitation
by disposing the waste, assisting the doctors in shifting
the patients in stretchers, sorting the medicines, consoling
people, etc.
Br. Abhayamrita Chaitanya spoke for many team members
when he noted that the tragedy seemed to arouse the finer
qualities in many people: "It gave me great faith
and hope in the goodness of the common Indian. Even in
the midst of calamity of this magnitude, when they had
lost everything, including the near and dear ones, the
goodness and divine qualities in the human beings were
being expressed more". |
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On Monday, 12 February,
the AIMS family heartily welcomed back the volunteers
who served on the AIMS emergency medical rescue team.
During a ceremony in the Main Conference Hall, Swami Poornamritananda
Puri presented the AIMS rescue team members with certificates
of honour. Their acts of compassion, charity and willingness
to sacrifice their own comfort and security to be of service
under such tragic, dangerous and austere conditions are
both highly commendable and respectfully appreciated by
everyone at AIMS. |
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