Safe use of Sharps

New Delhi, November 07, 2018 ;

Safe use of sharps: 

If a sharp is found in the community, follow these instructions:

• Do not walk while holding the sharp object.
• Bring a puncture-proof, hard-sided, leak-proof container with a lid, such as a pickle jar or bleach container, to the area where the sharp was found.
• Do not recap, bend, break the needle or manipulate it by hand in any way
• Place the object in the container.
• Use tongs if available. If tongs are not available pick up the needle/sharp from the blunt end and secure the lid.
• Wash hands thoroughly with soap and water.
• Label the container “hazardous waste”.

Six ways to help protect children from indoor air pollution (WHO)

1. Don’t smoke indoors or near children, but ensure they remain supervised.
2. Use cleaner fuels and technologies to cook, heat and light your home – choose electricity, natural gas, liquefied petroleum gas, biogas or solar stoves or ovens.
3. Use ultra-low emission stoves with processed solid fuels (wood pellets) if cleaner options are not available.
4. Always cook in a well-ventilated area, or outside if it’s hard to ventilate your kitchen or cooking area.
5. Avoid using kerosene lamps or stoves for cooking or lighting.
6. Don’t burn candles or use air fresheners, which add toxic chemicals to the air.

BreatheLife – a global campaign for clean air, headed by WHO, the Climate and Clean Air Coalition, and UN Environment – is mobilizing communities to reduce the impact of air pollution in cities, regions and countries, currently reaching around 97 million people.

Sitting is NOT the new smoking, contrary to popular myth. In the latest issue of the American Journal of Public Health, researchers from Canada, the US and Australia say that while research does suggest excessive sitting (roughly more than eight hours a day) increases the risk of premature death and some chronic diseases by 10-20%, this pales in comparison to the risks associated with smoking, which increases the risk of premature death from any cause by approximately 180%.

The simple fact is, smoking is one of the greatest public health disasters of the past century. Sitting is not, and you can’t really compare the two,” says University of South Australia epidemiologist Dr Terry Boyle, one of nine researchers involved in the evaluation. “Unlike smoking, sitting is neither an addiction nor a danger to others. Equating the risk of sitting with smoking is clearly unwarranted and misleading, and only serves to trivialize the risks associated with smoking,” he added further.

Video to watch: TEDx Video: Doctor-patient relationship www.youtube(dot)com/ watch?v=i9ml1vKK2DQ

Dr KK Aggarwal
Padma Shri Awardee
President Elect CMAAO
President Heart Care Foundation of India