In news– Several doctors across the country have been conferred the Padma awards recently.
Padma Vibhushan award to Late Dilip Mahalanabis,-
- Late Dilip Mahalanabis, who pioneered the use of ORS, was given the Padma Vibhushan posthumously, India’s second-highest civilian award.
- Dilip Mahalanabis demonstrated the effectiveness of ORS while serving in refugee camps during the 1971 Bangladesh Liberation War.
- Dr Mahalanabis who passed away in 2022 was an Indian pediatrician known for pioneering the use of ORS to treat diarrhoeal diseases.
Padma Shri awards-
Meanwhile, 7 Doctors across the country have been conferred the Padma Shri, India’s 4th highlest Civilian honour. The list of Padma Shri Doctors include:
Dr Ratan Chandra Kar(Andaman & Nicobar)-
- He is a retired Government Doctor from Andamans working with the Jarawa tribe who inhabit an island 48 km from North Sentinel.
- He treated the Jawaras during the measles epidemic of 1999 and brought them back from the verge of extinction by contributing to an increase in population from 76 to 270.
- He further closely observed and documented their culture and traditions in his book called The Jarawas of the Andamans.
Dr Munishwar Chander Dawar (Affordable Healthcare Madhya Pradesh)–
- He has been treating underprivileged people for the past 50 years.
- He has been selflessly treating poor and weaker sections of the society at an affordable cost of Rs 20 up from Rs 2 in the 2010s.
- He is a retired Indian Army doctor who served in the 1971 war.
Dr Nalini Parthasarathi-
- Dr Nalini Parthasarathi selected for Padma Shri for medicine. She has become the only person Puducherry to be selected.
Dr Hanumantha Rao Pasupuleti(Telangana)-
- He is an internationally-known specialist in Developmental Paediatrics, Rehabilitation Medicine & Psychology.
- His generous contribution to assist the unprivileged along with society.
- He is known for his work for Aged, Child welfare, Disability, Health, Training, particularly Mentally Retarded and Physically Disabled and Deaf Children and Adults
Dr Manoranjan Sahu (Uttar Pradesh)-
- Dr Manoranjan Sahu, Former Dean, Ayurved Faculty, IMS, Varanasi – Former Director, AIIA, Delhi is known for his contributions in the field of Shalya Tanta ( Ayurved).
6) Dr Gopalsamy Veluchamy(Tamil Nadu)-
- He is the former director of the Central Research Institute for Siddha and the Central Council for Research in Ayurveda and Siddha.
Dr Ishwar Chander Verma(Delhi)–
- Dr IC Verma is currently the head of genetic medicine department at Sri Ganga Ram Hospital, New Delhi.
- He was earlier professor of paediatrics and genetics at the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS), New Delhi.
- He has been mentioned in the Limca Book of Records 2003 as a pioneer in genetics in India.
- He has vast experience in genetic counselling, serving about 2,000 cases with genetic problems every year, and bringing the benefits of genetics and genomics to large number of patients.
- Dr Verma has received a number of national awards inclduing Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) award, the National Academy of Medical Sciences (NAMS) award and Dr B C Roy (Medical Council of India) National Award.
- He is a member and vice chairman of the ethics committee of the International Human Genome Organization (HUGO) and serves as an adviser in genetics to the World Health Organisation (WHO) in Geneva, and to Roche Genetics in Basel, Switzerland.
About Oral Rehydration Solution (ORS)-
- Dr.Dilip Mahalanabis contribution to the application of Oral Rehydration Solution (ORS) at the population level revolutionised the treatment of cholera and acute diarrhoeal diseases, saving thousands of lives, particularly that of children.
- Oral Rehydration Therapy (ORT) entails drinking water with modest amounts of sugar and salts, specifically sodium and potassium to correct dehydration due to fluid losses from diarrhoea.
- Kolkata-based Dilip Mahalanabis was a paediatrician who started working on oral rehydration therapy in 1966.
- During his stint as a research scholar at Johns Hopkins University International Centre for Medical Research in the US, a team of doctors led by Mahalanabis developed the life-saving solution.
- The other two members of the team were Devid R Nalin and Richard A Cash.
- He demonstrated the effectiveness of ORS while serving in refugee camps during the 1971 Bangladesh liberation war.
- At the time, a huge number of people had migrated to India and settled in refugee camps.
- Lack of proper hygiene and general squalor in the camps led to outbreaks of diarrhoea and cholera. These patients were treated with ORS.
- Eventually, ORS gained popularity across the globe as an effective treatment for diarrhoeal diseases.
- It is estimated to have saved over five crore lives globally.
- There has been a 93 per cent reduction in deaths due to cholera and diarrhoea.
Jarawa tribe-
- The Jarawas are indigenous people of the Andaman Islands in India, they live in parts of South Andaman and Middle Andaman Islands.
- They largely shunned interaction with outsiders, and many particulars of their society, culture and traditions are poorly understood. Since the 1990s, contacts between Jarawa groups and outsiders grew increasingly frequent. By the 2000s, some Jarawas had become regular visitors at settlements, where they trade, interact with tourists, get medical aid, and even send their children to school.
- The Jarawas are one of the three surviving tribes in the area, the other two being Sentinelese and Onge. This triad is connected with the Greater Andamanese language clade on a typological—rather than a cognatic—basis, suggesting a historical separation of considerable depth.
- The Jarawas are recognised as an Adivasi group in India. The Jarawa are a designated Scheduled Tribe in India.
Source: PIB
