From the Scriptures

"Examine O God, and know my mind; test me, and discover my thoughts. Find out if there is any evil in me and guide me in the everlasting way."

Psalm 139:23-245

ADMISSIONS 2005

The CSI Hospital invites applications for admission to the following Courses: -

General Nursing and Midwifery:

Minimum educational qualification for admission is a pass in PUC or equivalent  (i.e. 12 years education) in Science, in not more than two attempts.  Should have completed 17 years of age as on June 30, 2005.

Community Geriatric Health Care:

Minimum educational qualification for admission standard 10 (pass or failed) and should have completed 17 years of age as on June 30, 2005.

ALLIED HEALTH PROFESSIONAL COURSES

Laboratory Technology:

Minimum educational qualification for admission is a pass in PUC with Science Subjects

Such as PCM, PCMZ and CBZ.  Candidates should have completed 17 years of age as on July 31, 2005.

Medical X-ray Technology:

A pass in PUC II or equivalent examination with a minimum of 40% marks in optional subjects only under Science faculty such as PCMB, PCM and CBZ.  Candidates should have completed 17 years of age as on July 31, 2005.

Medical Records Technology:

Candidates should have passed, Higher Secondary/PUC, or its equivalent knowledge of Computer/English Type-writing is desirable. Candidates should have completed 17 years of age as on July 31, 2005.

Application form and Prospectus can be obtained from the office of the Director on payment of Rs.150/- (Rupees One hundred and fifty only) by Cash or crossed DD payable to C.S.I. Hospital, Bangalore – 560 051.  This amount is non refundable.  Last date for receipt of completed application form is June 15, 2005.

For more details, visit our web site http://csihospitalblr.org/index.htm

YOUTH WORLD

"HANNAH – Patience in Suffering "
Biblical Reference: I Samuel, Chapters 1 and 2
Rev. Suresh Pawar, Religioius Works Department

“Hannah” in Hebrew means “grace”. She was the favorite of the two wives of Elkanah. Hannah was God fearing and regularly visited Shiloh to worship, but she was very unhappy because she was childless. Elkanah’s other wife tormented her and was very unkind to her. Childlessness was considered a great disgrace for a Hebrew woman. But Hannah bore the humiliation patiently and placed her burden before God. She fervently prayed and made a special plea to God for a son. Her plea also involved a vow that she would dedicate her son to God’s service from his earliest years.  Hannah’s prayers were answered. She bore a son and named him Samuel. She did not forget her vow. She dedicated Samuel to God’s service.

Hannah discovered that the greatest joy in having a child is to give that child fully and freely to God’s service.

Hannah’s song of praise in I Samuel chapter 2 is comparable in many ways with the Magnificant, the song of praise of Mary (St. Luke 2:46-55).

The lessons we learn from Hannah’s life are:

• God hears and answers prayers
• God is concerned for the oppressed and the afflicted
• With God nothing is impossible

Question: What can I offer the Lord for all His goodness to me?

Remember, all that we have and receive is on loan from God.

For your personal meditation and guidance: Job, Chapters 1 & 2; James 5:7-11.

TOBACCO USE TODAY - INCREASINGLY A CHILDHOOD PROBLEM
WORLD NO TOBACCO DAY, 31 MAY 2005
Dr. Sarala Krishnamurthy, Consultant Pathologist

Every year the 31st May, observed as World No Tobacco Day, tries to draw attention to, and emphasize, the way tobacco causes disease and death and therefore, promote the need to make our world free of the evil of tobacco.

Recent studies worldwide have shown how Tobacco use today is a Child Health and Children’s problem.  Especially of those children who –

·        do not go to school;

·        do not live with their parents;

·        are illiterate;  socio-economically poor;

·        used or exploited by significant adults in their lives-parents and teachers who use children to buy or obtain tobacco for them; 

·        do not participate in sports, games, or other community or group activities. 

Many studies worldwide have shown increasing use of tobacco – both smoked and smokeless – by youngsters in their early teens, and over 25% are children less than 10 years’ old.  WHO estimates 80,000 – 100,000 young people become long-term smokers.

The numbers are much higher when smokeless tobacco use is included.

Most youngsters use tobacco initially, out of

• Curiosity
• Peer pressure – to be “accepted” by their social group
• Friends’ company
• Loneliness
• Boredom
• Because significant adults – parents, teachers, older relatives – in their environment do so
• Sadness, depression, to “escape” facing intractable family, school, socio-economic, or relationship,  problems

They intend to stop after initial experimentation.  But nicotine, the alkaloid in tobacco that creates the physiologic “high” is a very highly addictive drug, as much or more than heroin or cocaine.  So, even if they wish to, most youngsters are not able to give it up once addicted.

  Data published in the last decade or so suggest that the biologic background of nicotine addiction is similar to that of heroin, cocaine, or alcohol addiction, and to other so-called “harmless” addictions like coffee.

  Tobacco companies are known to target youngsters in schools and colleges because they know that once addicted, the habit is very difficult to break.

To reiterate, the hazards of tobacco use are:

I.                   Health –

-         One of the most potent carcinogens known, causes Oral, Tongue, Throat, Esophagus (Food-pipe), Lung, & increases risk of Bladder, Pancreas, Renal, and Gastric Cancers

-         Increases risk of ischaemic heart disease (heart attack) by > 625 times; arteriosclerosis, cerebrovascular disease (stroke); peripheral vascular disease

-         Potentiates damage to small blood vessels throughout the body by diabetes,-  so blindness, stroke, heart attacks increase

-         Causes  Emphysema and respiratory diseases, bronchitis and damage to the lungs

-         Inadequate neural, pulmonary, peripheral vascular development of small children if smoke exists in immediate environment due to smoking by parents/teachers/others smoking

-         Premature death

-         Increased intrauterine growth retardation, stillbirths, and poor under-5 development, when used in pregnancy by mothers

II.                 Accidental fires due to carelessly thrown cigarette/bidi butts (eg recent fire in Saleh Ahmed Stores)

III.             Poverty to family, community, country

Tobacco use and poverty are directly linked. Scarce income is spent on tobacco, and under-nutrition prevails because money needed for nutrition is spent on tobacco instead.  The under nutrition contributes further, to get diseases due to tobacco use

IV.              Contributes, by passive smoking/passive use, to increased health risks to spouse/children/family members/friends/others in the environment

Significant progress in India has been the enactment of a law, in 2004, banning tobacco use in public places, near educational institutions, and its advertisement for sports and other public events.

WHAT CAN YOU DO?

  Despite all the above, the rate of new tobacco users continues to rise.  WHO and other international agencies call it the “pediatric epidemic”.  As its use declines in the West, Tobacco companies, interested only in their profits, are targeting developing country peoples. 

As members of a caring health and life giving community, we each need to play a role in creating awareness of the poison tobacco is, in any form.

• Prevent all & young people, adolescents and children even from experimenting with it
• Be a role model for youngsters
• Advocate for a ban on its production and sale in public places, so that tobacco is not available to buy
• Support efforts to develop alternative crops to tobacco

Don’t accept tobacco use in your environment, by anybody

80 million units of blood are donated every year throughout the world, but only 39 % of this is collected in developing countries where 82% of the people live.

More than 5 lakh women die every year due to complications related to pregnancy and childbirth

Majority of these deaths can be prevented by timely blood transfusions

Voluntary Blood Donors are the need of the hour. Unless healthy adults donate blood voluntarily the gap between the supply and demand for blood can never be bridged and patients will be forced to accept blood from professional donors, which apart from being illegal is also extremely dangerous

The World Health Assembly, the supreme decision-making body of the World Health Organization (WHO), concluded its 58^th session on 25^th of May this year. It was attended by more than 2200 people, which included representatives of the 192 member countries, non-governmental organizations and observers. More than 20 resolutions were adopted and one of them is the establishment of World Blood Donor Day (WBDD) as an official annual event to be celebrated on 14^th June every year, the birth date of Karl Landsteiner who discovered the ABO blood group system

The theme for WBDD 2005 is Celebrating your gift of Blood. It will highlight the true stories of people whose lives have been changed by blood.

The event also hopes to raise awareness among the public about the importance of voluntary blood donation. Voluntary donors are the safest sources of blood for transfusion because blood from these donors are the least likely to carry infections including HIV, Hepatitis B and C.

The day will be celebrated all over the world with one city being the fulcrum of all activities. The city selected for this year’s celebration is London, which has a very well established blood donation system that makes use of voluntary unpaid donors

A steady supply of safe blood is vital for providing health services particularly for women and children. It is known that more than 5 lakh women die due to complications related to pregnancy and childbirth the commonest being hemorrhage. About 99 percent of these deaths occur in developing countries and majority of these deaths could have been prevented by timely blood transfusions. In Africa, 70 percent of blood transfusions are given to children to treat severe anemia caused by malaria

Blood Transfusion Services in India