Why are we celebrating World Polio Day on the wrong date?

The hindu
29 October 2014
new delhi

“Why do we continue to observe World Polio Day on the wrong date?” This simple question led Indian disability rights activist and polio survivor Dr. Satendra Singh to initiate a long struggle to set the date right.

“The United Nation’s website and Centre for Disease Control and Prevention’s website both tags that World Polio Day is observed globally on October 24 commemorating the birth of Dr. Jonas Salk, who was the leader of the team that invented a vaccine against polio,’’ explained Dr. Singh, who is an Assistant Professor of Physiology at University College of Medical Sciences and works at GTB Hospital, Delhi.

“The controversy is that the U.S. virologist was born on October 28, 1914, and not on October 24 as claimed by Rotary and others. We wonder why this erroneous belief has perpetuated since ages and why nobody challenged it?’’ he asked.

Stating that he has pointed the ‘error’ to the ‘World Polio Day’ website, Dr. Singh said: “They agreed it’s wrong.’’

“I then wrote a letter to the editor of the Vaccine journal, an internationally renowned medical journal. In fact, this very journal years back had carried an article on Jonas Salk clearly stating October 28 as his birth date. The journal also immediately accepted my letter on the mix-up of dates and published it,’’ added Dr. Singh.

He added that despite reminders and follow-ups there has been no major effort to rectify the situation. “For years, we have been perpetuating this error by misquoting a legend’s birth. If Rotary International has faltered here by choosing the wrong day, isn’t it our duty to correct the same? October 24 is not yet a United Nation’s observance, but even if it has become synonymous with Polio Day can’t we celebrate the whole week as a polio week to satisfy all parties,’’ noted Dr. Singh.

Dr. Singh added that he had brought the issue to the notice of World Health Organisation.

“This year, they have refrained from mentioning the date,’’ he noted.

Source: Hindu dated 29 Oct 2014

Google doodles Salk's 100th birthday on 28th October 2014
https://www.google.com/doodles/jonas-salks-100th-birthday

MCI pulled up by NHRC for failing in its social responsibility towards disabled persons

MCI pulled up for failing in its social responsibility

NEW DELHI, September 17, 2014, THE HINDU

The National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) has come down heavily on the Medical Council of India (MCI) for not fulfilling its social responsibility towards differently-abled persons who avail of medical services and for not educating doctors on how to provide them treatment with dignity.

The Commission has recently issued a notice to the Council based on complaint by Dr. Satendra Singh, a differently-abled doctor at University College of Medical Sciences. He had earlier written to the MCI to include ‘disability education’ in medical curriculum.

“According to the World Report on Disability by the World Health Organisation (WHO), physicians worldwide generally lack training about caring for persons with disabilities, thus frequently compromising their health care experiences and health outcomes. The situation is worse in India as the MCI has failed to fulfil its social responsibility,’’ said Dr. Singh.

Previously, the MCI had instructed all medical institutions in India to submit compliance report on disability initiatives. “Majority of the responses indicate lack of awareness. I wrote again to the MCI to include disability education in 2013, but there was no response. Later an RTI reply by the MCI highlighted how the Council was not able to do justice towards disabled persons,” said Dr. Singh.

Now, the NHRC has demanded that the Council include mandatory access audits in all medical inspections. Also these access audits must include differently-abled persons in the team.

Source: The Hindu

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WHO's free online Wheelchair Service Training Package

It is estimated that there are more than 70 million people worldwide who require wheelchairs, yet only 5-15% of people have access. People in developing countries often depend on the donation of wheelchairs, which are frequently of poor quality and not suitable either for the users or their environment.Health and rehabilitation professionals are not always trained adequately to ensure people with disabilities have a quality wheelchair. 

After extensive expert consultations, field trials and an expert review, WHO in partnership with the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), has developed the Wheelchair Service Training Package - Basic level. WHO is in process of developing the Wheelchair Service Training Package – Intermediate level which is expected to be launched in June 2013.

The main purpose of the training package is to develop the minimum skills and knowledge required by personnel involved in wheelchair service delivery. The complete package contains all the necessary forms and checklists and guides, a trainer's manual and a set of posters and presentations. It can be freely downloaded from WHO's website. The URL is given below:

http://who.int/disabilities/technology/wheelchairpackage/en/index.html