PGIMER’s Dr. Sumeeta Khurana & Dr. Abhishek Mewara author a new book about medically important parasites titled ‘Textbook of Medical Parasitology’
Director PGIMER commends the book as ‘great read’
Chandigarh : 14 July : Director PGIMER Prof. Jagat Ram released a new book about medically important parasites titled ‘Textbook of Medical Parasitology’ authored by PGIMER’s multifaceted doctors, Dr. Sumeeta Khurana and Dr. Abhishek Mewara from Deptt. of Medical Parasitology, here at PGIMER today.
Congratulating Dr. Sumeeta Khurana and Dr. Abhishek Mewara for their prolific writing, Prof. Jagat Ram said that the book focusses on all the aspects of medically important parasites and will be a handy guide not only for the students of medicine and clinical practitioners, but also for policy makers and program managers working for the prevention and control of these diseases.
The Director finds the book a ‘great read’ for anyone interested in having an updated information on information about medically important parasites and their effect on human health. The book will be available all over the country for undergraduate and postgraduate medical students.
Detailing about the book, Dr. Sumeeta Khurana said, “Although parasites affect the human health globally, India being a tropical developing country has its own set of challenges of poverty, hygiene and sanitation, and poor health infra-structure, and is teeming with parasitic diseases such as malaria, filariasis, kala-azar, amoebiasis, and many others. The human beings are affected by mainly two major groups of parasites, the protozoans which are single celled organisms such as the amoeba, and helminths or worms such as tapeworms and the roundworms.
Dr. Abhishek Mewara, while throwing further light on the subject, said, “These parasites spread to human beings in many ways such as through bite of mosquitoes and sandflies, drinking contaminated water or bathing in recreational waters, consumption of infected foods such as vegetables, meat, fish, etc., penetration through skin in people who walk with bare feet, and other mechanisms. Many of these parasites are also present in domestic, farm and wild animals and may be transmitted to persons who are in contact with these animals. Each year, these parasites infect thousands of persons in India and make them ill, also causing death in many. They also have a huge financial burden on the country’s economy. The diseases such as filariasis, commonly known as ‘hathi paanv’, and kala-azar, etc., also cause major disabilities and affect a person’s capacity to earn a livelihood, apart from the social stigma caused by them.”
The Government of India spends huge amounts of funds each year by running several national health programs for the control of parasitic diseases and also for research on parasites through the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR), Department of Science and Technology (DST), Department of Biotechnology (DBT), and other scientific organizations. The Directorate of the National Vector Borne Disease Control Programme (NVBDCP) focusses on those disease which are spread by bite of insects such as malaria, filariasis and kala-azar, and has targeted for the elimination of these disease from India in the near future. Dedicated control programs for these diseases are in place for many decades now and have helped reduce their impact in the country.
Many new initiatives such as ‘Swachh Bharat Abhiyan’ which focusses on elimination of open defecation will go a long way in reducing the burden of parasitic diseases in the country. Many international organizations such as the WHO and UNICEF, and non-government organizations (NGOs) such as ‘Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation’ have dedicated strategies for the control of parasitic diseases. However, the elimination of medically important parasites to the level where they no longer remain a public health problem is not an easy task.
In addition to the programs run by the government and international organizations, an effective control of parasitic diseases also requires participation of the public and other stakeholders. Simple preventive measures such as drinking clean water, good hygiene and sanitary practices and control of insects in households and surroundings by the public may significantly help in the prevention of parasitic diseases and reduce their burden on human health in India., concluded Dr. Mewara.
