Background: Ear disease in children is a major public health problem in developing countries. There has been scarcity of evidence of any gender differentials, if any exists, with ear care in the Indian context. Objective: To study the gender perspectives in ear care with regard to attitude and health-seeking behavior of caregivers of children 1–10 years of age in Delhi. Materials and Methods: This was a cross-sectional study conducted in an urban health center situated in the north-east district of Delhi from January to March 2015. 160 caregivers of ill children aged 1–10 years who came to seek medical care in out-patient department (OPD) constituted the study population. Chi square test or Fisher’s Exact test (wherever required) was used to observe the differences between qualitative variables. Results: The study was conducted among 160 caregivers of 87 (54.4%) male children and 73 (45.6%) female children. Mean (±SD) monthly family income was INR 7637.5±1155.30. When inquired about the attitude of caregivers about playing of their child with another child who is suffering from hearing loss, 18 (20.7%) caregivers of male children perceived that their child will also suffer from hearing loss while 30 (41.1%) caregivers of female children, agreed for the same (?2=7.87, df=1, p value=0.01).

Introduction: World Health Organization (WHO) reports in the World Health Report 2002 that of the 35 million HCWs, 2 million suffer percutaneous exposure to infectious diseases each year. Healthcare waste handlers who are responsible for handling and collection of healthcare wastes are vulnerable to the hazards of occupational exposure to biomedical waste (BMW) as a consequence of improper disposal practices of the waste generators. Objective: The study was conducted to determine the prevalence of Needle stick injury (NSI) among the study subjects, and to study the knowledge and practice regarding Needle stick injury (NSI) among the study subjects. Methodology: A Hospital-based, cross-sectional study was conducted among healthcare waste handlers in a tertiary care hospital of Delhi. Of 390 healthcare waste handlers, 199 Bio-medical waste handlers were chosen on the basis of convenience according to their work shift. Results: Sixty two (31.1%) workers had knowledge that NSI during BMW handling can cause hepatitis and 127 (63.8%) had knowledge that it can lead to HIV infection among them. The prevalence of NSI came to be 14.6% within the past six months. Conclusion: A gap between knowledge and practice regarding action after NSI was found; therefore, measures to increase awareness are definitely required

Introduction: Tobacco use is one of the leading risk factors for global disease burden in all countries. Its association with non-communicable diseases (NCDs) is well documented; however, little is known about the relationship with other risk factors of NCD. Objectives: To find prevalence of tobacco use and its associated socio-demographic variables, other behavioral and metabolic risk factors of non-communicable diseases. Materials and Methods: It was a community-based cross-sectional study conducted in two rural areas in Delhi among 1005 subjects aged above 18 years selected using systematic random sampling method. WHO STEPS approach was used to collect data about socio-demography, tobacco and alcohol use. Blood pressure, body mass index, blood sugar and lipid profile were measured. Data analysis was done using SPSS version 16. Differences between groups were assessed using Chi-square test for their statistical significance. P value less than 0.05 was considered statistically significant. Results: The overall prevalence of current tobacco use was 11.1%. Out of 112, 107 (95.5%) subjects reported daily use of tobacco. The age of initiation of tobacco use was significantly lower among males than females (p<0.01). The mean number of bidi/cigarette consumed per day was significantly lower among females than males (p<0.01). Alcohol use was significantly higher in those with present tobacco use as compared to non-tobacco users (p<0.05). Proportion of subjects with hypertriglyceridemia was significantly higher among current tobacco users (35.7%) than non-users (20.2%) (p<0.05). A significantly higher percentage of tobacco users (18.8%) was underweight than non-users (9.3%) (p<0.05). Conclusion: There is significant burden of tobacco use in rural areas of Delhi. Male gender, age and occupation, hypertriglyceridemia and underweight were associated with tobacco use.

An early onset (before age 6) of trichotillomania (hair-pulling disorder) tends to remit more readily and responds to suggestions, support, and behavioral strategies. We present a case of a five-year-old girl, with a three-year history of trichotillomania associated with simultaneous thumb sucking, who responded well with behavior treatment.

Diabetes mellitus is an important public health problem in India. With a prevalence of 8.6%, more than 66 million people are suffering from diabetes mellitus in our country. Many comorbid conditions and complications are associated with diabetes. Self-care in diabetes is a key element in the overall management of diabetes. Diabetes self-care is defined as the daily regimen tasks that the individual performs to manage diabetes. Poor self-care practices among diabetic patients are largely due to lack of information and support, and can result in poor control of the disease and its complications. In many countries, diabetes self-management education programs are integrated with diabetes care. In the present article, studies examining the effectiveness of self-care management education programs in various countries have been reviewed. The current scenario in India is discussed, as well as the challenges in integrating such programs. It has been concluded that such interventions should be culturally relevant, and should be provided in a continuous, on-going manner, so that the results in terms of metabolic control and positive behaviors are sustainable.

In India, unsafe water, poor sanitation and unhygienic conditions claim the lives of around 0.5 million children annually under the age of 5 years mainly from diarrhoea. The objective of this paper is to assess the level, trend, progress rate differential in accessibility and availability of safe drinking water and basic sanitation facility within premises across the country. Latest census of India, 2011 data on sources of drinking water and toilet facility was utilized to study above mentioned variables. In terms of level of rural-urban differential in access to safe drinking water in the households in India, in 1981, 26.5% households in rural India and 75.1% households in urban India, depicting a huge gap of around 49% point in access to safe drinking water. But, over the period of time this gap has also declined to 26% point in 1991 to only 8.7% point in 2011. It also examines the association between diarrhoea among children under 5 years of age and other variables such as water, sanitation, various socio-economic and demographic characteristics of Indian households. Further, the paper provides critical insights into coverage of basic sanitation and safe drinking water supply. India is “on track” to meet the target on access to safe drinking water with sharp reduction in urban-rural disparities. But so far as sanitation facility is concerned, India is lagging far behind its set targets. The paper recommends intensive mobilization of resources to reduce the vast coverage gap in sanitation in our country