NGO contributes in fight against HIV Friday, October 19, 2001
TIMES NEWS NETWORK
VADODARA: While it is important to recognise the need to disseminate awareness and dispel myths about male semen loss and masturbation, the international symposium held at Melbourne early this month has also added that masturbation should not be seen as an alternative to safer and healthier relationships.
Vadodara-based NGO the Deepak Charitable Trust has worked in 27 villages around the city on the issue of male semen loss concerns and its role in HIV which was highlighted at a special symposium organised at the Sixth International Conference on AIDS in Melbourne last month.
Aruna Lakhani of DCT says the international symposium was on 'Males Semen Loss Concerns in the HIV Perspective' and was supported by the UNAIDS and the Ebert programme on reproductive health population council, NY.
Following the representation made by participants in the international symposium, experts have now agreed that dissemination of correct information on semen loss concerns, masturbation and nocturnal emissions is essential in all HIV-related communication, but it should not be seen as an alternative to safer and healthier relationships.
The experts have agreed that "addressing semen loss concerns and anxieties about masturbation is essential, but should be postponed as an additional safe behaviour for HIV prevention. Encouragement should be given to safer sexual practices with the partner".
The trust has worked in several villages around Vadodara where HIV and other STD concerns were studied. The trust recognised the crucial role that men play in the HIV-prevention strategies. The focus of most HIV prevention programmes until recently was on women, and men's attitude and behaviour were overlooked.
"The male concern over semen loss through masturbation and myths surrounding it lead men to look toward unsafe sexual encounters. However, DCT doctors and volunteers organised group talks with men and created awareness to dispel myths about masturbation and nocturnal emissions. This helped in curbing such unwanted encounters," she said.
The Deepak trust highlighted its research projects in the international symposium which were followed by discussions and interactions between the participants and speakers.
News Source : The Times of India [India's best Newspaper]
St Xaviers, Asia get the nod for BCA courses from 2002 Friday, October 19, 2001
TIMES NEWS NETWORK
AHMEDABAD: After much red tape and needless legal tangles St Xavier's College and Asia Trust were got the Gujarat University executive council's approval on Thursday. Local inquiry committees will now be sent to ensure that the two campuses have the requisite infrastructure to start the courses in 2002.
"We could have started the courses this year as well, but approval for next year is fine," St Xavier's College principal Francis Parmar told TNN. "We are already running a reputed diploma course with students who would have been more than happy to shift over to BCA, not giving us any problem in filling seats. All the same, it is better we start next year."
St Xavier's College is one of the few institutions in the state assessed by the University Grants Commission's National Assessment and Accreditation Council (NAAC) Bangalore.
M P Chandran of Asia on the other hand said all bright students were already taken. So it made no sense to start college this year. "However, if the approval had come a little earlier, it could have benefited us," he added. "There were too many unnecessary delays in granting us approval."
The executive council members on Thursday also decided not to allow new BCA colleges to fill up vacant seats on their own. Members like Jagdish Bhavsar suggested that allowing management to fill up seats would set a wrong precedent. If the seats had to be filled, then the university should activate its list and complete the admissions.
Of the 960 seats in eight new BCA colleges, only 265 have been filled, prompting managements to ask the university to give them a free hand in filling the seats. The executive council, however, may not allow such freedom considering the diverse opinion among its members.
News Source : The Times of India [India's best Newspaper]
Post-WTC, quake victims suffer paranoia relapse Friday, October 19, 2001
TIMES NEWS NETWORK
AHMEDABAD: It is devastation revisited in Ahmedabad. Thanks to the terrorist attacks in the US that flattened the towering WTC, those terrorising few seconds of January 26, the painful period of recuperation after being buried under tonnes of debris for hours together, have suddenly begun to haunt Amdavadis.
"The building is going to fall. Everybody get out or we'll be buried dead under the debris", shouts Nirav Thakkar who refuses to go inside his second floor flat in Maninagar.
This sudden return of paranoia is strange as Thakkar had after months of psychiatric treatment and counselling almost recovered from the shock of seeing his house collapse in the earthquake. This, until he caught a glimpse of WTC towers crashing on September 11 and anxiety and fits of fear have come to haunt him with a vengeance!
Sixteen-year old Bhairavi Patel is suffering similar bouts of sleeplessness, accelerated heart-beats, sweating and remains eternally engulfed with the fear of death. "I will not go to school..... the building will fall. All my friends and me will get killed", Bhairavi voices the same concern that had kept her from school for two months after she witnessed the tragic death of students of Swaminarayan School.
Barely had some semblance of normalcy returned in Bhairavi's life when the visuals of WTC explosions and continuous bombing on TV brought traumatic memories re-flooding her sensitive mind.
Thakkar and Bhairavi are not the only ones. Psychiatrists confess that more and more quake-patients are complaining relapse of stress disorders after the terrorist attacks on the US.
"On the face of it, there may be no link between the two tragedies that have happened months and miles apart. But the human mind has this strange tendency to relive old memories, especially if the memories are painful", explains psychiatrist Hansal Bhachech.
Bhachech confesses that at least six of his quake-patients have come back to him complaining restlessness, anxiety, insomnia, abdominal distress and exaggerated startling response - all symptoms of acute stress disorder that they suffered post-earthquake.
The fear generated by US attacks is preying upon Amdavadis in other ways, too. Psychiatrists concede that there is a sudden spurt in the number of patients complaining aero-phobia or the fear of flying.
Take the case of Prahlad Patel who used to fly abroad at least once a week on business but has suddenly developed cold feet about stepping into an aircraft. "Ever since he saw the two planes crashing into the WTC towers, he has developed this sudden fear of his plane getting hijacked", says psychiatrist Mrugesh Vaishnav, who got ten cases of aerophobia in the past month.
Interestingly, Patel confesses to be aware of the fact that death can strike anywhere and so he should not fear flying but the paranoia continues to plague his mind obviously costing his business dearly.
"Earlier, we used to get cases of aerophobia but the fear was of the aircraft crashing. Post US attacks, the fear is now more of the plane getting hijacked", adds Dr Vaishnav.
News Source : The Times of India [India's best Newspaper]
Post-WTC, quake victims suffer paranoia relapse Friday, October 19, 2001
TIMES NEWS NETWORK
AHMEDABAD: It is devastation revisited in Ahmedabad. Thanks to the terrorist attacks in the US that flattened the towering WTC, those terrorising few seconds of January 26, the painful period of recuperation after being buried under tonnes of debris for hours together, have suddenly begun to haunt Amdavadis.
"The building is going to fall. Everybody get out or we'll be buried dead under the debris", shouts Nirav Thakkar who refuses to go inside his second floor flat in Maninagar.
This sudden return of paranoia is strange as Thakkar had after months of psychiatric treatment and counselling almost recovered from the shock of seeing his house collapse in the earthquake. This, until he caught a glimpse of WTC towers crashing on September 11 and anxiety and fits of fear have come to haunt him with a vengeance!
Sixteen-year old Bhairavi Patel is suffering similar bouts of sleeplessness, accelerated heart-beats, sweating and remains eternally engulfed with the fear of death. "I will not go to school..... the building will fall. All my friends and me will get killed", Bhairavi voices the same concern that had kept her from school for two months after she witnessed the tragic death of students of Swaminarayan School.
Barely had some semblance of normalcy returned in Bhairavi's life when the visuals of WTC explosions and continuous bombing on TV brought traumatic memories re-flooding her sensitive mind.
Thakkar and Bhairavi are not the only ones. Psychiatrists confess that more and more quake-patients are complaining relapse of stress disorders after the terrorist attacks on the US.
"On the face of it, there may be no link between the two tragedies that have happened months and miles apart. But the human mind has this strange tendency to relive old memories, especially if the memories are painful", explains psychiatrist Hansal Bhachech.
Bhachech confesses that at least six of his quake-patients have come back to him complaining restlessness, anxiety, insomnia, abdominal distress and exaggerated startling response - all symptoms of acute stress disorder that they suffered post-earthquake.
The fear generated by US attacks is preying upon Amdavadis in other ways, too. Psychiatrists concede that there is a sudden spurt in the number of patients complaining aero-phobia or the fear of flying.
Take the case of Prahlad Patel who used to fly abroad at least once a week on business but has suddenly developed cold feet about stepping into an aircraft. "Ever since he saw the two planes crashing into the WTC towers, he has developed this sudden fear of his plane getting hijacked", says psychiatrist Mrugesh Vaishnav, who got ten cases of aerophobia in the past month.
Interestingly, Patel confesses to be aware of the fact that death can strike anywhere and so he should not fear flying but the paranoia continues to plague his mind obviously costing his business dearly.
"Earlier, we used to get cases of aerophobia but the fear was of the aircraft crashing. Post US attacks, the fear is now more of the plane getting hijacked", adds Dr Vaishnav.
News Source : The Times of India [India's best Newspaper]
Post-WTC, quake victims suffer paranoia relapse Friday, October 19, 2001
TIMES NEWS NETWORK
AHMEDABAD: It is devastation revisited in Ahmedabad. Thanks to the terrorist attacks in the US that flattened the towering WTC, those terrorising few seconds of January 26, the painful period of recuperation after being buried under tonnes of debris for hours together, have suddenly begun to haunt Amdavadis.
"The building is going to fall. Everybody get out or we'll be buried dead under the debris", shouts Nirav Thakkar who refuses to go inside his second floor flat in Maninagar.
This sudden return of paranoia is strange as Thakkar had after months of psychiatric treatment and counselling almost recovered from the shock of seeing his house collapse in the earthquake. This, until he caught a glimpse of WTC towers crashing on September 11 and anxiety and fits of fear have come to haunt him with a vengeance!
Sixteen-year old Bhairavi Patel is suffering similar bouts of sleeplessness, accelerated heart-beats, sweating and remains eternally engulfed with the fear of death. "I will not go to school..... the building will fall. All my friends and me will get killed", Bhairavi voices the same concern that had kept her from school for two months after she witnessed the tragic death of students of Swaminarayan School.
Barely had some semblance of normalcy returned in Bhairavi's life when the visuals of WTC explosions and continuous bombing on TV brought traumatic memories re-flooding her sensitive mind.
Thakkar and Bhairavi are not the only ones. Psychiatrists confess that more and more quake-patients are complaining relapse of stress disorders after the terrorist attacks on the US.
"On the face of it, there may be no link between the two tragedies that have happened months and miles apart. But the human mind has this strange tendency to relive old memories, especially if the memories are painful", explains psychiatrist Hansal Bhachech.
Bhachech confesses that at least six of his quake-patients have come back to him complaining restlessness, anxiety, insomnia, abdominal distress and exaggerated startling response - all symptoms of acute stress disorder that they suffered post-earthquake.
The fear generated by US attacks is preying upon Amdavadis in other ways, too. Psychiatrists concede that there is a sudden spurt in the number of patients complaining aero-phobia or the fear of flying.
Take the case of Prahlad Patel who used to fly abroad at least once a week on business but has suddenly developed cold feet about stepping into an aircraft. "Ever since he saw the two planes crashing into the WTC towers, he has developed this sudden fear of his plane getting hijacked", says psychiatrist Mrugesh Vaishnav, who got ten cases of aerophobia in the past month.
Interestingly, Patel confesses to be aware of the fact that death can strike anywhere and so he should not fear flying but the paranoia continues to plague his mind obviously costing his business dearly.
"Earlier, we used to get cases of aerophobia but the fear was of the aircraft crashing. Post US attacks, the fear is now more of the plane getting hijacked", adds Dr Vaishnav.
News Source : The Times of India [India's best Newspaper]
