The Hindu : Tamil Nadu / Chennai News : Curbs likely on visitors to government hospitals

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Wednesday, Jan 27, 2010
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Tamil Nadu - Chennai

Curbs likely on visitors to government hospitals

Special Correspondent

To bring down infections and cost of hospitalisation

— PHOTO: V. GANESAN

Health Minister M.R.K. Panneerselvam presenting prizes to winners of an essay competition conducted by the Department of Surgical Gastroenterology of Madras Medical College, at a function in Chennai on Tuesday.

CHENNAI: The State government is considering restricting entry of visitors to government hospitals as a measure to prevent spread of infections, Health Minister M.R.K. Panneerselvam said here on Tuesday.

Speaking at a function organised as part the Republic Day celebrations by the Surgical Gastroenterology Department of Madras Medical College, he said doctors had pointed out that restricting the number of visitors helped in faster recovery of the patients and also brought down the treatment cost for the hospital.

“Increased crowds mean more infection and administering higher doses of antibiotics to patients. The medical cost goes up for the hospital.

Time and again the doctors have reiterated that we need to restrict entry of visitors to the hospitals to bring down infections and the cost of hospitalisation and medication,” Mr. Panneerselvam said.

Praising the Department for organising an essay competition, he said the other departments in the college should follow suit.

The online essay competition conducted by the Department of Surgical Gastroenterology was on ‘Impact of lifestyle modification on gastrointestinal disorders’.

S.M. Chandramohan, head of the department, said the contest was held every year on a selected theme. This year the contest was limited to college students.

The winners of the competition, R. Sabitha of Kings Engineering College, Irungattukottai, P.L. Vidya of Madras Medical College and Aparna Ananthakrishnan of Stella Maris College had in their essays focussed on the changed lifestyle following economic prosperity. The altered lifestyles had led to food habits that included consumption of high calorie, low-fibre food, erratic timings and lack of sleep.

The Minister presented prizes to the winners and certificates to all the participants of the competition. He also launched a website – www.isde.in – of the International Society for Disease of Esophagus - Indian section.

Other speakers, including Health Secretary V.K.Subburaj and MMC Dean J. Mohanasundaram, underscored the need for adhering to a healthy lifestyle.

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