Death Rate Archives - Lokmarg

India Suffers One Stroke Death Every 4 Minutes: Expert MV Padma Srivastava

By LokMarg 9th March 2023

Brain stroke is the second most common cause of death in India with one patient succumbing to the disease every four minutes, a top health expert flagged on Thursday.
Padma Shri awardee Dr (Prof) MV Padma Srivastava, who is the most renowned neurologist in the country and is a Professor of Neurology at All India Institute of Medical Sciences, participated in the celebration of International Women’s Day event at Sir Ganga Ram Hospital today.

Delivering a keynote address at the event titled, “Stroke care and its primary preventive methods in poor resource settings in India”, Dr Srivastava said, “Stroke is the second most common cause of death in India. About 1,85,000 strokes occur every year in India with nearly one stroke every 40 seconds and one stroke death every 4 minutes.”

She further referred to the Global Burden of Diseases (GBD) and said that most incidents of stroke were recorded in the country.

“India bore most of the burden of stroke with 68.6 per cent incidence of stroke. 70.9 per cent stroke deaths and 77.7 Disability Adjusted Life Years (DALYs) lost. These figures are alarming for India with many living in poor resource settings. Another alarming and important finding of the GBD 2010 stroke project is 5.2 million (31 per cent) strokes were in children aged less than 20 years. The stroke burden is greater in India and more so among younger and middle-aged people,” she said.

The health expert flagged the lack of necessary infrastructure to deal with the alarming data in the country.

“In spite of these alarming figures, many Indian hospitals lack the necessary infrastructure and organization required to treat stroke patients quickly and efficiently and do not deliver adequate stroke care. The stroke services across the country especially in public sector hospitals are deficient in many aspects,” Dr Srivastava said.

The Padma Shri awardee further listed the solutions to boost the infrastructure needed to tackle the rising numbers.

“One of the solutions for this deficiency in rich and poor resource settings in India is to adopt Telestroke models in poor resource settings. Implementation of Telemedicine / Telestroke facilities is an important step for bridging the economically and geographically challenged and underprivileged sections of the society,” she said.

This program also included inspirational talks by three distinguished faculty members of the hospital.

The members included Dr Jayashree Sood, Chairperson, Institute of Anesthesiology, who spoke on how to maintain the balance between work and life, especially for women, Prof Kusum Verma, Advisor Cytopathology who spoke on her experiences mitigating professional challenges and Padma Bhushan Dr Neelam Kler Chairperson of Department of Neonatology who talked about her belief in the saying ‘Never say Never’.

This program was hosted by the department of Research and chaired by Prof NK Ganguly, former director general ICMR and Chairperson department of Research, Sir Ganga Ram Hospital.

The department of research at Sir Ganga Ram Hospital has a robust PhD program and a state of art equipped laboratory with a focus on basic and translational research in varied fields including neurobiology, cancer biology, stem cell biology, immunology, autoimmune and infectious diseases. (ANI)

21,051 Dead In Deadly Turkey Earthquakes

By LokMarg 10th February 2023

The death toll in the deadly Turkkey-Syri earthquakes has climbed to at least 21,051 CNN reported citing authorities on Friday.

At least 17,674 people have died and 72,879 people have been injured in Turkey, according to Vice President Fuat Oktay on Thursday.
In the contrast, according to the White Helmets civil rescue organization, in Syria at least 3,377 individuals were killed, including 2,030 in rebel-held areas in the northwest and 1,347 in government-controlled areas, as reported by Syrian state media.

A three-month state of emergency to speed up rescue and aid efforts in Turkey’s earthquake-hit provinces came into effect on Thursday after the approval of lawmakers, Anadolu Agency reported.

On Tuesday, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan announced the three-month state of emergency to speed up search and rescue efforts in the quake-hit provinces, as per the news report.

Earthquakes of magnitudes 7.7 and 7.6, centred in the province of Kahramanmaras, were felt by 13 million people across 10 provinces, including Adana, Adiyaman, Diyarbakir, Gaziantep, Hatay, Kilis, Malatya, Osmaniye, and Sanliurfa, as per the news report. Turkey’s neighbouring countries, including Syria and Lebanon, also felt the tremors.

Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu on Thursday said that 75 nations and 16 international organizations have pledged aid to Turkey after the earthquakes jolted the nation, CNN reported. He said that 6,479 rescue personnel from 56 countries are in the field. He stated that teams from 19 nations will be in the United States within 24 hours.

“Teams from 19 more countries will be in our country within 24 hours,” CNN quoted Cavusoglu as saying.

Global aid has been pouring into Turkey after Monday’s disaster, which has so far claimed the lives of more than 20,000 people and injured over 70,000 more in the country and neighbouring Syria.

India is assisting Turkey in the ongoing rescue effort due to the crisis that has arisen after earthquakes rattled the nation.

In order to aid those affected by the recent earthquakes that struck the nation, the Indian Army has sent out disaster relief teams and established a field hospital.

India’s Additional Directorate General of Public Information (ADGPI) on Thursday tweeted an image of a female Indian Army officer hugging a Turkish woman in the earthquake-affected areas of Turkey. The tweet read: “#OperationDost We Care. #IndianArmy #Turkiye.” (ANI)

Earthquake Death Toll Rises To 4,900 In Turkey, Syria

By LokMarg 7th February 2023

Nearly 4,900 people have been killed and tens of thousands injured after a magnitude 7.8 earthquake struck Turkey and Syria on Monday, according to officials, reported CNN.

Turkey’s death toll rose to at least 3,381 as of around 9:45 a.m. local time on Tuesday, Orhan Tatar, an official with the country’s disaster management agency, said in a televised briefing.
At least 20,426 injuries have also been reported, according to Tatar.

Meanwhile in Syria, the death toll has risen to 1,509 across areas controlled by the government and by the opposition, officials said, reported CNN.

At least 3,548 people have also been reported injured in Syria, according to officials.

So far, 11,000 buildings have been reported damaged in Turkey, said Tatar. Nearly 25,000 emergency responders are working at scenes impacted, he added, reported CNN.

Rescuers are using at least 10 ships and 54 aircraft to transport the wounded and help with search operations, he said.

The international community has been quick to offer assistance to Turkey and Syria as the full scale of the disaster becomes clear, reported CNN.

On Tuesday morning, planes carrying aid from Iraq and Iran, including food, medicines and blankets, arrived at Damascus International Airport in Syria, Syrian state media SANA reported.

Japan announced it would send the country’s Disaster Relief Rescue team to Turkey, and on Monday night, the first of two disaster relief teams left India for Turkey with dog squads and medical supplies.

Pakistan has also dispatched two search and rescue teams to the ravaged country, while Australia and New Zealand committed funds for humanitarian assistance.

The European Union activated its crisis response mechanism, while the United States said it would send two search and rescue units to Turkey.

Palestinian civil defense and medical teams will also be sent to Turkey and Syria to help in rescue operations, reported CNN.

Meanwhile, 10 units of the Russian army with more than 300 soldiers are clearing debris and helping in search and rescue operations in Syria, Russia’s Defense Ministry said. Russia is the strongest foreign power operating in Syria, and Russian President Vladimir Putin has long allied with Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.

The United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (UNOCHA) said emergency response teams from the United Nations Disaster Assessment and Coordination (UNDAC), the International Search and Rescue Advisory Group (INSARAG) and WHO’s Emergency Medical Teams (EMT) are being mobilized to Turkey to assist in the humanitarian response.

However, the UN’s humanitarian coordinator in Syria, El-Mostafa Benlamlih, told CNN the search and rescue mission was being hampered by a lack of heavy equipment and machinery.

He said the UN’s supply of stock has been distributed and more medicine and medical equipment are needed, and especially freshwater or tools to repair damaged water tanks.

“Around 4 million people in northern Syria were already displaced and relying on humanitarian support as a result of war. Everyone is overstretched in that part of the world … there is an enormous amount do. People have fled their homes often standing around in bitterly cold conditions really without access to safe water. So water is key. Blankets, food, psychological support,” according to James Elder, spokesman for UNICEF.

Hospitals in the country are overwhelmed as victims seek help, with some facilities damaged by the quake. And there is particular concern about the spread of illness, especially among children, who were already living in extreme hardship, reported CNN.

“This winter had been particularly tough due to the freezing conditions and a cholera outbreak, Elder said.

The United Nations said the 7.8 magnitude earthquake that struck southern Turkey early Monday was the county’s most powerful quake in more than 80 years.

“This is Turkiye’s most powerful earthquake recorded since 1939,” a situational report released Monday by the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (UNOCHA) said.

At least 100 aftershocks measuring 4.0 or greater have occurred since the 7.8 magnitude earthquake struck southern Turkey on Monday morning local time, according to the United States Geological Survey.

On Monday, an earthquake of magnitude 7.8 centered in the Pazarcik district jolted Kahramanmaras and hit several provinces, including Gaziantep, Sanliurfa, Diyarbakir, Adana, Adiyaman, Malatya, Osmaniye, Hatay, and Kilis, as per the Anadolu Agency report.

Later in the day, an earthquake of 7.6 magnitude centred in Kahramanmaras’s Elbistan district jolted the region. The earthquake was also felt in several neighbouring countries, including Lebanon and Syria.

The third earthquake of magnitude 6.0 on the Richter scale hit Goksun, Turkey on Monday, the United States Geological Survey (USGS) said. (ANI)