The health situation in Jammu and Kashmir: What is the obligation of health professionals?

We are witness today to a democratic country violating multiple rights of an entire state of its own citizens. Starting from August 5, 2019, it is now over two months that the state of Jammu and Kashmir has been under a lockdown, and there was also a communication blockade. Initially all modes of communication - landline telephones, cellphones and the internet were blocked, and there were severe physical restrictions on the movement of civilians, with concertina wire barricades manned by soldiers every few metres. The Central Government put these measures in place along with thousands of additional troops brought into the state, in addition to the troops already deployed there, as it abrogated Article 370 and 35A of the Indian Constitution, and downgraded the state into two union territories.

The health situation in Jammu and Kashmir: What is the obligation of health professionals?

We are witness today to a democratic country violating multiple rights of an entire state of its own citizens. Starting from August 5, 2019, it is now over two months that the state of Jammu and Kashmir has been under a lockdown, and there was also a communication blockade. Initially all modes of communication – landline telephones, cellphones and the internet were blocked, and there were severe physical restrictions on the movement of civilians, with concertina wire barricades manned by soldiers every few metres. The Central Government put these measures in place along with thousands of additional troops brought into the state, in addition to the troops already deployed there, as it abrogated Article 370 and 35A of the Indian Constitution, and downgraded the state into two union territories.

Nutritional status of adult patients with pulmonary tuberculosis in rural central India and its association with mortality.

Under-nutrition is a known risk factor for TB and can adversely affect treatment outcomes. However, data from India are sparse, despite the high burden of TB as well as malnutrition in India. We assessed the nutritional status at the time of diagnosis and completion of therapy, and its association with deaths during TB treatment, in a consecutive cohort of 1695 adult patients with pulmonary tuberculosis in rural India during 2004 - 2009.Multivariable logistic regression was used to obtain adjusted estimates of the association of nutritional status with deaths during treatment. At the time of diagnosis, median BMI and body weights were 16.0 kg/m(2)and 42.1 kg in men, and 15.0 kg/m(2)and 34.1 kg in women, indicating that 80% of women and 67% of men had moderate to severe under-nutrition (BMI<17.0 kg/m(2)). Fifty two percent of the patients (57% of men and 48% of women) had stunting indicating chronic under-nutrition. Half of women and one third of men remained moderately to severely underweight at the end of treatment. 60 deaths occurred in 1179 patients (5%) in whom treatment was initiated. Severe under-nutrition at diagnosis was associated with a 2 fold higher risk of death. Overall, a majority of patients had evidence of chronic severe under-nutrition at diagnosis, which persisted even after successful treatment in a significant proportion of them. These findings suggest the need for nutritional support during treatment of pulmonary TB in this rural population.