Developing Standard Treatment Workflows-way to universal healthcare in India

Primary healthcare caters to nearly 70% of the population in India and provides treatment for approximately 80-90% of common conditions. To achieve universal health coverage (UHC), the Indian healthcare system is gearing up by initiating several schemes such as National Health Protection Scheme, Ayushman Bharat, Nutrition Supplementation Schemes, and Inderdhanush Schemes. The healthcare delivery system is facing challenges such as irrational use of medicines, over- and under-diagnosis, high out-of-pocket expenditure, lack of targeted attention to preventive and promotive health services, and poor referral mechanisms. Healthcare providers are unable to keep pace with the volume of growing new scientific evidence and rising healthcare costs as the literature is not published at the same pace. In addition, there is a lack of common standard treatment guidelines, workflows, and reference manuals from the Government of India. Indian Council of Medical Research in collaboration with the National Health Authority, Govt. of India, and the WHO India country office has developed Standard Treatment Workflows (STWs) with the objective to be utilized at various levels of healthcare starting from primary to tertiary level care. A systematic approach was adopted to formulate the STWs. An advisory committee was constituted for planning and oversight of the process. Specialty experts' group for each specialty comprised of clinicians working at government and private medical colleges and hospitals. The expert groups prioritized the topics through extensive literature searches and meeting with different stakeholders. Then, the contents of each STW were finalized in the form of single-pager infographics. These STWs were further reviewed by an editorial committee before publication. Presently, 125 STWs pertaining to 23 specialties have been developed. It needs to be ensured that STWs are implemented effectively at all levels and ensure quality healthcare at an affordable cost as part of UHC.

Neuroblastoma presenting as opsoclonus-myoclonus: A series of six cases and review of literature

The opsoclonus-myoclonus ataxia syndrome (OMAS) also called “Kinsbourne syndrome” or “dancing eye syndrome” is a rare but serious disorder characterized by opsoclonus, myoclonus, and ataxia, along with extreme irritability and behavioural changes. Data on its epidemiology, clinical features, and outcome are limited worldwide. The aim of the study was to evaluate the clinical profile and outcome of children with OMAS. A retrospective data of all children presented to Pediatric oncology clinic with a diagnosis of opsoclonus-myoclonus from 2013 to 2016 were collected. 6 patients with a diagnosis of OMAS were presented over a 4-year period. All 6 cases had paraneoplastic etiology. All Children had good outcome without any relapse. Paraneoplastic opsoclonus myoclonus had a good outcome in our experience.

CLIMATE: The Ethiopia Food Crisis-Uses and Limits of Climate Forecasts

Post-cold war investment in science--particularly in the case of seasonal to interannual climate forecasting--is increasingly justified by the goal of demonstrating explicit societal benefit. A review of the 2000 food crisis in Ethiopia and the state of the science of seasonal forecasting is sobering and underscores the need to foster more realistic expectations among both policy-makers and scientists about the uses and limits of climate forecasts in alleviating complex social problems.