Public Health

SPECIAL SUPPLEMENT WEDNESDAY 28 DECEMBER 2016

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PHCC hostsSecond Scientific ResearchConference

Al-Ahli Hospital’s Orthopaedic

Dept: A modelof excellence

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CHAIRMANSheikh Thani bin Abdullah Al Thani

EDITOR-IN-CHIEFDr. Khalid Mubarak Al-Shafi

ACTING MANAGING EDITORMohammed Salim Mohamed

SUPPLEMENT EDITORHussain Ahmad

SUPPLEMENT COORDINATORAhmed Eltigani Idris

DESIGNAbraham Augusthy

PRODUCTIONViswanath Sarma

IMAGE PROCESSINGMohd Sajad Sahir

Fazeena SaleemThe Peninsula

It's time for New Year's res-olutions, and many are planning on cutting back on the unhealthy things in life. But that doesn't always

mean just to lose a few pounds or just cutting junk food but adopting a healthy lifestyle.

Prof Abdul Badi Abou Samra, Chairman, Department of Med-icine, Senior Consultant, Endocrinology and Diabetes at the Hamad Medical Corporation, shares some habits that can help you build foundation for a long, healthy, happy life.

“Heath is a gift and we need to maintain it. The practice of taking care of health and main-taining it doesn’t come to the mind of many until they fall sick. But the reality is that we actually need to have the consciousness that we need to create health,” says Prof Abou Samra.

Over 80 percent of chronic illnesses are due to habit and lifestyle and only 20 percent are because of genetic reasons, viruses or germs.

“If our lifestyle is healthy we will be able to prevent large number of illnesses,” Prof Abou

Samra.Walking more, whether it's

for work or leisure, is an easy way of being more active with-out trying too hard and improving health.

Setting yourself a target of walking 10,000 steps a day can help you build stamina, burn excess calories, give you a healthier heart and good health.

Prof Abou Samra, who him-self walks over 10,000 to 15,000 steps a day, says the habit should be included into daily routine.

Walk moreStudies suggest if a person

starts walking 10,000 steps a day from teenage, he/she will have 80 percent of illness free life.

Maintaining a healthy life-style in terms of exercise, particularly by walking more steps, people will have a healthy

life for a longer time. It doesn’t need to be intended exercise like going to a gym, although it’s not wrong.

“Walking should become part of life. It can begin with sim-ple decisions such as not to use the elevator or move while talk-ing over the phone,” said Prof Abou Samra.

BreakfastDo you eat breakfast regu-

larly? Eating breakfast every morning is so vital. Those who don’t eat breakfast could poten-tially be doing more harm to their bodies.

If you skip breakfast in the morning, you are essentially run-ning on fumes. You need all the nutrients present in a healthy breakfast to help you perform correctly at work or school.

People who eat breakfast

tend to take in less calories in a day than their non-breakfast-eating counterparts. Individuals who do not eat breakfast tend to snack more on sugary or high-fat foods, overeat in the evening and are more likely to be over-weight. One reason for weight gain in non-breakfast eaters may be due to the prolonged fasting state body enters if someone goes too long without eating. When you finally eat, it stores food as fat as a survival mechanism.

“Developing the habit of hav-ing breakfast is much better than having a meal at other times. The breakfast should include healthy food such as vegetables, fruits and dairy products as these pro-vide, nutrition, minerals and fiber which are so useful for the body,” says Prof Abou Samra.

“Studies that compare some-one who eat same amount of calories before 3 pm and some-one eating them during the late hours of the day, the latter will gain more weight” he added.

Stop smokingIf your New Year's resolution

is to quit smoking, you're in good company. It's a popular goal and many, many people succeed.

Tobacco use causes severe addiction; out of one hundred people that use tobacco, around 85 to 90 percent will become addicted to it. Nicotine in tobacco is the main cause for this addic-tion in tobacco users.

Decide firmly and willingly to quit smoking and try very hard implementing it.

“Smoking should be dropped fully, there is no negotiation to it. Smoking is harmful whether they are smoking cigarette or shisha. There is a misconception

that shisha is not harmful, which is wrong, actually it brings much more toxins into the body,” said Prof Abou Samra.

To avoid the harmful effects of smoking and to show the pos-itive outcome of quitting on health, Hamad Medical Corpo-ration has a designated clinic.

Drink waterWater is the best thing you

can put in your body, yet so many of us ignore it throughout the day.

Not only do you have to remember to drink water, but you also have a lot of other tasty beverages out there competing to make their way inside of you. While a soda or sports drink may sound thirst-quenching, the sugar and other extras aren’t going to do you any favors—and they might even make you more thirsty. If you can help it, stick to water.

“Consuming good amount of water is a very good habit. Drink-ing soft drinks is a bad habit and it should be stopped. Many believe that sugar-free or less calorie soft drinks is good for health, but it’s not correct. These

drinks may cause obesity and diabetes little bit more than the regular drinks. Because these drinks somehow stimulate and induce more hunger and we will eat more. So replacing all types of drinks with water is the best way,” said Prof Abou Samra.

Remember, water is the cheapest and best drink out there!

Meet the doctorHow often do you see your

doctor? Once a year? Every six months? Never? Most of you are pretty healthy and only show up for screening physical exams or aches and pains. Some of you may have more health problems and come more frequently.

“People with chronic dis-eases should see the doctor every three months, although the patient has nothing to complain. During the regular check up doc-tors will be able to find the exact condition of the person and it might also help to change the medicines or dosage according to the condition,” said Prof Abou Samra. “Also patients with chronic illnesses sometime do not comply in taking medicine regularly. When they forget med-icines which controls the disease and face the consequences. So they must keep reminders and make it a point to take medicines regularly,” he said.

Prof Abou Samra also advice that everyone despite of their age should meet a doctor and get examined once a year. If you are healthy, the annual visit should be used to discuss risk factors of diseases, which you may have, and discuss with your doctor how to prevent ill-ness. It is also time to screen for common chronic illnesses, such as diabetes, high blood pressure, obesity and high cholesterol, among others. These diseases can be present without any symptoms and can cause major complications which can be pre-vented by effective treatment.

Live healthy, live longer. Making just a few changes in your lifestyle can help you live longer!

Healthy resolutions for a healthy New Year

Prof Abdul Badi Abou Samra.

Prof Abdul Badi Abou Samra, Chairman, Department of Medicine, and Senior Consultant, Endocrinology and Diabetes at the Hamad Medical Corporation, shares some habits that can help you build foundation for a long, healthy and happy life.

Maintaining a healthy lifestyle in terms of exercise, particularly by walking more steps, people will have a healthy life for a longer time. It doesn’t need to be intended exercise like going to a gym, although it’s not wrong.

Water is the best thing you can put in your body, yet so many of us ignore it throughout the day.

Public Health

WEDNESDAY 28 DECEMBER 2016

2

Following the success-ful launch of the Primary Health Care Corporation’s first Sci-entific Research Day in

2015 and the interest it gener-ated within the health community in Qatar, Doha saw the opening of the 2nd Scientific Research Conference at Qatar National Convention Centre. The PHCC flagship scientific Confer-ence aims at highlighting the role of primary care research in strengthening the health system, promoting family care and pre-venting chronic disease.

With several sessions, pres-entations and workshops, the

conference offered a leading, knowledge sharing platform that cuts across issues relating to pri-mary health policies and how they are set up to meet the pop-ulation’s expectations.

In its first day, the conference presented internationally renowned and local healthcare research scientists delivering keynote lectures and workshops on childhood and adolescent health with a focus on address-ing obesity, as well as implementing school based health programs in Qatar.

The first day also presented engaging sessions discussing the use of digital technologies to

provide health information and health monitoring, with sessions lead by Prof. Klaus Schoenbach, Associate Dean of Research at Northwestern University, Qatar

“Young people still can and should be encouraged of a life-style that prevents serious illnesses later in life. Our research is inventorying how Qatari adolescents use and eval-uate media and communication channels of all sorts, health apps and health-trackers—to optimize health-related information and advice for them.”

This unparalleled chance to participate in a global conversa-tion on the advancement of healthcare addressed issues including medical ethics and cul-ture in GCC Countries and their implications on research and health services in primary care. The sessions also included research presented on how to improve healthcare infrastruc-ture and systems to encourage the development of a healthy, motivated, capable workforce

and research capacity, applying appropriately targeted, contex-tualized and effective interventions for health improvement.

The second day of the conference will engage the broader theme, capturing the need for strong clinical and scientific evidence to support primary care core functions of providing the highest quality of family care across the entire

human life cycle. A series of workshops will be led by healthcare research experts specif ical ly aimed at empowering new researchers to develop skills and present opportunities for sharing and learning from best practice.

Dr Hanan Al Mujalli, Exec-utive Director, Clinical Affairs, PHCC commented that “Primary Health Corporation continues in its mission to lead in

providing the highest standard of health care to Qatar’s popu-lation, and to do this, we recognize that PHCC also has to be research-led and research-informed. Having successfully launched this conference in December 2015, we decided to build on this foundation and create this forum providing a platform for us to share best practice and identify potential collaborators to work together for better health outcomes.”

The conference also exam-ined the need for research that underpins Primary care’s search for effective preventive strate-gies and interventions that improve population wellbeing and health, particularly in non-communicable d isease prevention. Notably as Qatar (and the GCC Region) has one of the highest rates of obesity across all age groups. Type 2 diabetes, cardiovascular disease, and more recently rising cancer rates have also been seen in our country and region.

PHCC hosts Second Scientific Research Conference The PHCC flagship Scientific Conference aims at highlighting the role of primary care research in strengthening the health system, promoting family care and preventing chronic diseases.

Public Health

WEDNESDAY 28 DECEMBER 2016

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The Primary Health Care Corporation (PHCC), the lead of the national Breast and Bowel Screening Programme, ‘Screen for Life’, is to

inaugurate its third screening facility this month, marking a significant milestone in expanding its cancer screening reach to Qatar’s wider community.

The opening of the new dedicated screening suite within the Rawdat Al Khail Health Center, follows that of the Leabaib Health Centre and Al Wakra Breast & Bowel Cancer Screening Center earlier this year, in addition to the introduction of PHCC’s Mobile Screening Unit.

Commenting prior to the

inauguration ceremony to take place on November 20, Dr Mariam Ali Abdulmalik, Managing Director, PHCC, said: “The opening of our third screening center in the space of 11 months is testament to the considerable achievements the ‘Screen For Life’ program has made this year. This new achievement falls under PHCC’s strategy on the operational and services levels that aims at expanding its geographical reach to Qatar’s wider community

“There has been a significant push over the past few months, especially during October’s Cancer Awareness Month, to drive further knowledge about the benefits of screening and I congratulate the whole team for their

efforts.” Designed with patient comfort and convenience in mind, the screening suite resembles what you would expect from a spa. Featuring a mammography room and two separate consult rooms for bowel screening education, visitors can feel at ease with trained nurses on hand to offer guidance and assistance through the screening process.

Women aged 45 years to 69 with no symptoms are encouraged to receive breast cancer screening through mammography, and both men and women aged 50 to 74 years, again with no symptoms, should receive bowel cancer screening through FIT ( Fecal Immunochemical Test).

The mammography suite at the Rawdat Al Khail Health Center is open between 7am and 3:30pm, and the bowel screening rooms operate between

7am and 9pm. Patients are requested to call the dedicated call center, 8001112, to book appointments in advance to avoid waiting times.

PHCC to inaugurate third Breastand Bowel Screening Center

More than 35,000 visitors to the Pri-mary Health Care

Corporation (PHCC) pavil-ion at Darb El Saai, the most popular venue of the National Day celebrations, benefited from the activi-ties provided by it. The activities lasted 13 days and attracted people of various ages.

H H Sheikha Moza bint Nasser visited the health tent and witnessed the activities and services pro-vided to visitors. The PHCC pavilion at Darb El Saai offered visitors free medi-cal tests and vaccinations while some visitors also got themselves registered as

organ donors, and some got information on a health lifestyle.

Children also were able to learn the correct ways of how to brush teeth, and the dental section received 11,000 visitors from differ-ent ages.

The Family Medical Clinics at the pavilion received 3,640 visitors, and provided a number of serv-ices like information on chronic diseases, healthy child and anti-smoking, among others.

PHCC focused through school medical programme (the student nurse) on the nursing role in school clin-ics and its importance in

the society. The programme received more than 4,220 visitors, most of them stu-dents. Everyone should know these instructions and does not require spe-cial techniques, for example, how to stop bleeding,” the official from emergency section told this daily.

Also, we have here a ‘Lucas device’ which pro-vides many services that earlier we were doing man-ually, but now the device is doing it instead. It enables us to save the lives of car-diac arrest patients and avoid neurological damage."

The LUCAS Chest

Compression is to be used for performing external cardiac compressions on adult patients who have acute circulatory arrest defined as absence of spontaneous breathing. Among other important features inside the health tent was the participation of the Early Detection Clinic about breast and bowel cancer, in addition to mobile detection unit about cancer to provide check up service.

The unit attracted more than 100 visitors, and among them, 30 were checked inside the unit and 75 booked appointments to make check-up.

Pavilion at Darb El Saai a huge hit

surgery) is a minimally invasive surgical proce-dure on a joint in which an examination and sometimes treatment of damage is performed using an arthroscope, an endoscope that is inserted into the joint through a small incision. Arthro-scopic procedures can be performed to evaluate or treat many orthopedic conditions.

The Orthopaedic and Traumatology service at Al-Ahli Hospital is also extended young guests and provides assessment and management of pae-diatric musculoskeletal conditions.

Children are treated for conditions such as gait abnormality, deformities of limb, cerebral palsy, congenital talipesequinovarus (club foot), genu valgum (knock knees), developmental hip dysplasia, pesplanus (flat feet) and blount disease (bowing of the leg).

Dr Stanley Jones, Consultant Orthopaedic Sur-geon, Specializing in Paediatric Orthopedics and Adult Foot and Ankle Surgery, said, “We get more children due to injuries and there are children whose parents are worried that they are not walk-ing properly, feet don’t look right or they are not behaving like other children in terms of playing, how they move about, also we see some children with infections.”

“I also get to see a lot of children with birth defects, some of them need treatment and for some we teach parents to do simple stretching exer-cise,” he added.

The Orthopaedic and Traumatology depart-ment also treats fractures and sports related injuries.

Sporting and exercise related injuries in both adults and children are very common and the Orthopaedic and Traumatology Department extends its services to the management of sport related injuries, including the management of acute conditions and long term rehabilitation pro-grams. Treatment packages might include analgesics, physiotherapy, chiropractor or surgery.

The Joint Replacement Service provides a total joint replacement of the hip or the knee, through a minimally invasive surgery technique, Isa hugely successful surgery in the treatment of degenera-tive joint disease (hip osteoarthritis), hip arthritis and knee arthritis. Joint replacement surgery

brings a great improvement in function and relief of pain.

As part of our Spinal Services, the scoliosis service includes treatment of acute and chronic spine conditions for all age groups. Scoliosisis an abnormal curving of the spine. As a specialized part of the Orthopedic Department, the Scoliosis Services provides care for the different types of spinal deformity; whether congenital or acquired.

“Our care extends for both conservative and operative management and includes minimally invasive spinal operating procedures. We have the advanced technologies are available for imag-ing and surgical procedures,” said Dr Nasser M.Gamal AlGwad, Consultant Orthopedics and Spinal Deformities.

“We are providing different type of services for the spine including disk disease, deformities, and infections and some cases of tumors . And for people of different ages as pediatrics, adolescents and adult and geriatric cases. Also those has a

weak spine due to Osteoporosis,” he added.

With all facili-ties and services available the Al-H o s p i t a l ' s Orthopedic and T r a u m a t o l o g y Department is striving to continu-ally improve Guest service, Guest care a n d G u e s t satisfaction.

Al-Ahli Hospital – Doha, QatarORTHOPEDIC DEPARTMENT

Accredited byACHS International until May 2018

For more information please call: 0097444898747 -009744898562

We provide the following services in the orthopedic specialty and subspecialty groups:JOINT ARTHROPLASTY SERVICE:• Total knee replacement.• Total hip replacement.ORTHOPEDIC TRAUMA:• Upper and lower extremity fracture.PEDIATRIC ORTHOPEDIC:•Pediatric bone deformities.• Dysplasia’s.• Pediatric fractures.FOOT AND ANKLE:• Fusions.• Osteotomies.• Manipulations.SPORTS MEDICINE:• Intraarticular injections including PRP.• Arthroscopic procedures.• Anterior cruciate reconstructions.SPINE:• Discectomies.• Degenerative lumbar spine fusions.• Dynamic stabilizations.• Facet joint injections.• Caudal epidural injections.• Pediatric scoliosis services.HAND AND UPPER EXTREMITY:• Tendon repairs.• Fusions.• Arthroscopic procedures.

Public Health4

Public Health

WEDNESDAY 28 DECEMBER 2016

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Al-Ahli Hospital’s Ortho-paedic and Traumatology Department functions as a one-stop clinic for diag-nosis, treatment and

prevention of rheumatic disorders of bones and joints, tendons and muscles.

The services include consulta-tion, elective and acute services and orthopaedic surgeries.

The Orthopaedic and Trauma-tology Department started providing full time services in Jan-uary 2009. Under the leadership of Dr Emmanuel Tolessa, Al - Hospi-tal’s Orthopaedic and Traumatology

Department boasts an internation-ally trained and highly experienced team of Consultant and Orthopedic Surgeons.

The department has taken a multidisciplinary approach in deal-ing with clinical challenges that are faced daily. The department has established a strong collaboration between Orthopaedic, Physiother-apy, Chiropractic, Emergency Room and other services in the hospital.

The number of visits to the orthopaedic clinic has drastically grown from 100 guests per month to more than 3000 a month, since its opening.

“We are able to provide a com-plete orthopaedic service to the adults and children we treat, through collaboration with all other departments within the hospital and particularly Physiotherapy, Radi-ology, Rheumatology, Neurology, Chiropractor and the Emergency Department,” says Dr Tolessa.

“We provide a one-shop clinic, once you come and register you get all required treatment. When a guest comes in we see them imme-diately and provide efficient treatment. Around 70 percent of people are walk in guests and we provide them an uniquely organ-ized service,” he added.

With other services the Ortho-paedic and Traumatology Department in conjunction with the Emergency Department provides treatment to both paediatric and adult guests for such as fractures of the extremities, back injuries and sporting injuries. The Department boasts a dedicated and fully equipped plaster room for the

application of both basic and spe-cialized casts.

Use of modern equipment and up-to-date minimally invasive sur-gical techniques provide an extensive and fully inclusive serv-ice within the Orthopaedic Department.

One of the recently introduced advanced treatment methods at the Orthopaedic and Traumatology Department includes platelet-rich plasma (PRP) therapy, an effective treatment of injuries.

Athletes who endure chronic pain from tendon injuries can finally get relief from PRP- a safe, non-sur-gical, cost effective procedure. It utilizes platelets from the persons’ own blood to rebuild a damaged tendon. It has been successful in not only relieving the pain, but also in jumpstarting the healing process.

Arthroscopic Procedures for shoulder and knee is another advanced treatment methodology practiced at Al - Hospital. Arthros-copy (also called arthroscopic

Al-Ahli Hospital’s Orthopaedic Dept: A model of excellenceUnder the leadership of Dr Emmanuel Tolessa, Al-Ahli Hospital’s Orthopaedic and Traumatology Department boasts an internationally trained and highly experienced team of Consultant and Orthopaedic Surgeons.

Mebrate Aga, a 48-year-old lady, pre-sented with severe bilateral debilitating total hip arthritis. which

she had suffered for over 20 years. Despite many attempts, she could not get the treat-ment she needed in her own country of Ethiopia. She was desperately looking for help, and she approached AI-Ahli Hospital where Dr Emmanuel Tolessa reviewed her X-rays, her health record and her general condition.

He felt sure that she would benefit from bilateral total hip replacement surgery and this surgery would give her a new lease of life. She flew into Doha at the beginning of April 2015 and arrived at the hospital in a wheel-chair, which she had been using for some time. She was unable to walk more than a few steps without assistance. X-ray taken in AI-Ahli showed severe osteoarthritis in both hip joints.

On April 9, 2015, she underwent a suc-cessful bilateral total hip replacement in AI-Ahli Hospital under the care of Dr Tolessa. She recovered from the surgery well and was walking with crutches within a few days of

her surgery. AI-Ahli’s Physiotherapy Team supported

her rehabilitation and by the time she was leaving Doha to return home she was taking no pain medication and walking distances she never had dreamed of. She is back to full-time work and enjoying her new life with her family and friends. She extends her sincere thanks and best regards to AI-Ahli Hospital and its staff for this life changing surgery.

“I have been suffering with illness over 20 years until I met Dr Emmanuel Tolessa. The pain I am passing through is very diffi-cult. Many doctors saw me and said, heart case, art rites, TB bone and advised me to take Benz tine injunction and aspirin and others. Because of the illness it is very difficulty I can’t walk along and it was very painful,” says Mebrate Aga.

“What amazed me is he is the only doc-tor who told me my illness was osteoarthritis after a long time.”

“I would like to express my appreciation to Al-Ahli Hospital team for changing my life I can walk again.”

A success story

Dr Stanley Jones, Consultant Orthopaedics surgeon specialized in paediatric foot ankle surgery.

Dr Nasser M. Gamal AlGwad, Consultant, Orthopaedics and Spinal Deformities. Dr Emmanuel Tolessa,

Head of Orthopaedic Department

Public Health

WEDNESDAY 28 DECEMBER 2016

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Twice a year, the INN Expert Group gathers at WHO to painstak-ingly consider and create names for new

substances used in medicines.

One generic name worldwide

The aim is come up with a single name – an INN – that can be recognized and used globally by doctors, pharmacists, scien-tists, medicines regulators and patients.

The task is not a simple one, explains Dr Raffaella Balocco Mattavelli, who manages the INN programme at WHO. “Each INN must be unique, distinctive in sound and spelling,” she says. “It must not be liable to confusion with other names in common use, in particular trade names for medications or with diseases that it may have been developed to treat.”

INNs usually contain a com-mon syllable (known as a stem) to indicate the pharmacological or chemical family to which the substance belongs. The ending –mycin, for example – denotes a type of antibiotic. Syllables, let-ters or separate words are then added to differentiate between substances in the same family – s u c h a s k a n a m y c i n , erythromycin.

New INNs must be accepted and easily used by many differ-ent languages and cultures. “Global representation on the committee helps ensure that we don’t invent an INN that is diffi-cult to pronounce or would not be accepted by certain cultures

because we want to encourage worldwide use of one generic name.”

Since WHO established the INN programme in 1950, it has allocated some 8500 names. There are currently around 4000 INNs in active use worldwide. The list grows by 120–150 new INNs each year as new pharma-ceutical substances request an INN.

Patient safety is keyTrademarks may expire or

change but the INN needs to last for the entire life of a substance. Substances such as aspirin and morphine do not have INNs because these names were already in wide use when the system began and they were well

established names.“It is extremely important

that trademarks and brand names are completely different to their own INN, as well as from other INNs, as this can lead to confusion and pose a serious risk to patient safety,” says Dr Balo-cco Mattavelli.

WHO encourages the use of the INNs on all pharmaceutical product labels and in medical prescriptions. This ensures that everyone – from the manufac-turer to the patient – is clear about which medication is in use.

“Some activities undertaken by WHO are largely invisible, quietly protecting every person on this planet,” says WHO’s Director-General Dr Margaret Chan. “By assigning a single international name to drugs, WHO helps ensure that a prescription filled abroad is what the doc-tor ordered back home.”

WHO works closely with the World Intellectual Prop-erty Organization, national trademark authorities, drug regulatory authorities and pharmaceutical research-ers to ensure that the majority of active pharmaceu-tical substances in use worldwide now have their own INN.

Science poses new challenges

As global recognition of INNs grows in importance, the pro-gramme faces an increasing number of challenges. Pharma-ceutical products are becoming more complex and new scien-tific developments for the

How WHO chooses generic names

A generic drug is iden-t i c a l - - o r bioequivalent -- to a brand name drug in dosage form,

safety, strength, route of admin-istration, quality, performance characteristics and intended use. Although generic drugs are chemically identical to their branded counterparts, they are typically sold at substantial dis-counts from the branded price. According to the Congressional Budget Office, generic drugs save consumers an estimated $8 to $10bn a year at retail pharmacies. Even more billions

are saved when hospitals use generics.

Generic manufacturers are able to sell their products for lower prices because they are not required to repeat the costly clinical trials of new drugs and generally do not pay for costly advertising, marketing, and promotion. In addition, multi-ple generic companies are often approved to market a single product; this creates competi-tion in the market place, often resulting in lower prices.

Today, nearly 8 in 10 pre-scriptions filled in the United States are for generic drugs. The

use of generic drugs is expected to grow over the next few years as a number of popular drugs come off patent through 2015. Here are some facts about generic drugs.

In the US, when a generic drug product is approved, it has met rigorous standards estab-lished by the FDA with respect to identity, strength, quality, purity, and potency. However, some variability can and does occur during manufacturing, for both brand name and generic drugs. When a drug, generic or brand name, is mass-produced, very small variations in purity,

size, strength, and other param-eters are permitted. FDA limits how much variability is acceptable.

Generic drugs are required to have the same active ingre-dient, strength, dosage form, and route of administration as the brand name product. Generic drugs do not need to contain the same inactive ingre-dients as the brand name product.

The generic drug manufac-turer must prove its drug is the same as (bioequivalent) the brand name drug. For example, after the patient takes the

generic drug, the amount of drug in the bloodstream is measured. If the levels of the drug in the bloodstream are the same as the levels found when the brand name product is used, the generic drug will work the same.

Through review of bioequivalence data, FDA ensures that the generic prod-uct performs the same as its respective brand name prod-uct. This standard applies to all generic drugs, whether imme-diate or controlled release.

All generic manufacturing, packaging, and testing sites

must pass the same quality standards as those of brand name drugs, and the generic products must meet the same exacting specifications as any brand name product. In fact, many generic drugs are made in the same manufacturing plants as brand name drug products.

Generic drugs are effective

Are generic drugs as effec-tive as brand-name drugs?

Yes. A generic drug is the same as a brand-name drug in dosage, safety, strength, qual-ity, the way it works, the way it is taken and the way it should be used.

Not every brand-name drug has a generic drug. When new drugs are first made they have drug patents. Most drug patents are protected for 20 years. The patent, which protects the com-pany that made the drug first, doesn't allow anyone else to make and sell the drug. When the patent expires, other drug companies can start selling a generic version of the drug. But, first, they must test the drug and the FDA must approve it.

Creating a drug costs lots of money. Since generic drug makers do not develop a drug from scratch, the costs to bring the drug to market are less; therefore, generic drugs are usually less expensive than brand-name drugs. But, generic drug makers must show that their product performs in the same way as the brand-name drug.

Cheaper does not mean lower quality

What’s in a name?

The International Nonproprietary Name (INN) Expert Group

I belong to everyone and yet no one owns me.

I am pronounced the same way in most languages and I have the same meaning throughout the world.

I am similar to my close relations but am distinctly differ-ent from the other 8500 who came before me.

I am an International Nonproprietary Name (INN) – a unique generic name – allocated to almost every active pharmaceutical substance used in medicine worldwide.

By assigning a single international name to drugs, WHO helps ensure that a prescription filled abroad is what the doctor ordered back home.

WHO’s Director-General, Dr Margaret Chan

treatment and prevention of dis-eases are constantly emerging. For example, new products that require unique names now include biotechnology and advanced therapy products such as used in gene therapy and cell therapy.

WHO’s INN committee of international experts considers more than 300 requests for

names for new substances every year. A substance must have reached the clinical phase to be eligible for consideration.

Twice a year, new proposed INNs are published online for a four-month period to allow for public consultation before they can be accepted as recom-mended INNs.

More than 13, 000 registered

users – from researchers to health professionals to customs agencies – regularly make use of the INN database in their daily work. The INN Cumulative list is published in Arabic, Chinese, English, French, Latin, Russian and Spanish.

The next INN expert com-mittee meeting will be held in Geneva on 22–24 October 2013.

Public Health

WEDNESDAY 28 DECEMBER 2016

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Vaccination: Vital facts and common mythsI

mmunization is the process whereby a per-son is made immune or resistant to an infectious disease, typically by the

administration of a vaccine. Vaccines stimulate the body’s own immune system to pro-tect the person against subsequent infection or disease.

Immunization is a proven tool for controlling and elim-inating life-threatening infectious diseases and is esti-mated to avert between 2 and 3 million deaths each year. It is one of the most cost-effec-tive health investments, with proven strategies that make it accessible to even the most hard-to-reach and vulnera-ble populations. It has clearly defined target groups; it can be delivered effectively through outreach activities; and vaccination does not require any major lifestyle change.

Myth 1: Better hygiene and sanitation will make diseases disappear – vac-cines are not necessary. FALSE

Fact 1: The diseases we can vaccinate against will return if we stop vaccination programmes. While better hygiene, hand washing and clean water help protect peo-ple from infectious diseases, many infections can spread regardless of how clean we are. If people are not vacci-nated, diseases that have become uncommon, such as polio and measles, will quickly reappear.

Myth 2: Vaccines have several damaging and long-term side-effects that are yet unknown. Vaccination can even be fatal. FALSE

Fact 2: Vaccines are very safe. Most vaccine reactions are usually minor and tem-porary, such as a sore arm or mild fever. Serious health events are extremely rare and are carefully monitored and investigated. You are far more likely to be seriously injured by a vaccine-prevent-able disease than by a vaccine. For example, in the case of polio, the disease can cause paralysis, measles can cause encephalitis and blind-n e s s , a n d s o m e vaccine-preventable diseases can even result in death. While any serious injury or death caused by vaccines is one too many, the benefits of vaccination greatly outweigh the risk, and many more inju-ries and deaths would occur without vaccines.

Myth 3: The combined vaccine against diphtheria, tetanus and pertussis (whooping cough) and the vaccine against poliomye-litis cause sudden infant death syndrome. FALSE

Fact 3: There is no causal

link between the administer-ing of the vaccines and sudden infant death, how-ever, these vaccines are administered at a time when babies can suffer sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS). In other words, the SIDS deaths are co-incidental to vaccination and would have occurred even if no vaccina-tions had been given. It is important to remember that these four diseases are life-threatening and babies who are not vaccinated against them are at serious risk of death or serious disability.

Myth 4: Vaccine-pre-ventable diseases are almost eradicated in my country, so there is no reason to be vaccinated. FALSE

Fact 4: Although vaccine preventable diseases have become uncommon in many countries, the infectious agents that cause them con-tinue to circulate in some parts of the world. In a highly inter-connected world, these agents can cross geographi-cal borders and infect anyone who is not protected. In west-ern Europe, for example, measles outbreaks have occurred in unvaccinated populations in Austria,

Belgium, Denmark, France, Germany, Italy, Spain, Swit-zerland and the United Kingdom since 2005. So two key reasons to get vaccinated are to protect ourselves and to protect those around us. Successful vaccination pro-grammes, like successful societies, depend on the cooperation of every individ-ual to ensure the good of all. We should not rely on peo-ple around us to stop the spread of disease; we, too, must do what we can.

Myth 5: Vaccine-pre-ventable childhood illnesses are just an unfortunate fact of life. FALSE

Fact 5: Vaccine prevent-able diseases do not have to be ‘facts of life’. Illnesses such as measles, mumps and rubella are serious and can lead to severe complications in both children and adults, including pneumonia, encephalitis, blindness, diar-rhoea, ear infections, congenital rubella syndrome (if a woman becomes infected with rubella in early preg-nancy), and death. All these diseases and suffering can be prevented with vaccines. Failure to vaccinate against these diseases leaves children unnecessarily vulnerable.

Myth 6: Giving a child more than one vaccine at a time can increase the risk of harmful side-effects, which can overload the child’s immune system. FALSE

Fact 6: Scientific evidence shows that giving several

vaccines at the same time has no adverse effect on a child’s immune system. Children are exposed to several hundred foreign substances that trig-ger an immune response every day. The simple act of eating food introduces new antigens into the body, and numerous bacteria live in the mouth and nose. A child is exposed to far more antigens from a common cold or sore throat than they are from vaccines. Key advantages of having several vaccines at once is fewer clinic visits, which saves time and money, and children are more likely to complete the recom-mended vaccinations on schedule. Also, when it is pos-sible to have a combined vaccination, e.g. for measles, mumps and rubella, that means fewer injections.

Myth 7: Influenza is just a nuisance, and the vaccine isn’t very effective. FALSE

Fact 7: Influenza is much more than a nuisance. It is a serious disease that kills 300 000 - 500 000 people world-wide every year. Pregnant women, small children, eld-erly people with poor health and anyone with a chronic condition, like asthma or heart disease, are at higher risk for severe infection and death. Vaccinating pregnant women has the added bene-fit of protecting their newborns (there is currently no vaccine for babies under six months). Most of influenza vaccines offer immunity to the three most prevalent strains circulating in any

given season. It is the best way to reduce your chances of severe flu and of spread-ing it to others. Avoiding the flu means avoiding extra medical care costs and lost income from missing days of work or school.

Myth 8: It is better to be immunized through disease than through vaccines. FALSE

Fact 8: Vaccines interact with the immune system to produce an immune response similar to that produced by the natural infection, but they do not cause the disease or put the immunized person at risk of its potential complica-tions. In contrast, the price paid for getting immunity through natural infection might be mental retardation from Haemophilus influen-zae type b (Hib), birth defects from rubella, liver cancer from hepatitis B virus, or death from measles.

Myth 9: Vaccines con-tain mercury which is dangerous. FALSE

Fact 9: Thiomersal is an organic, mercury-containing compound added to some vaccines as a preservative. It is the most widely-used pre-servative for vaccines that are provided in multi-dose vials. There is no evidence to sug-gest that the amount of thiomersal used in vaccines poses a health risk.

Myth 10: Vaccines cause autism FALSE

Fact 10: The 1998 study which raised concerns about a possible link between mea-sles-mumps-rubella (MMR) vaccine and autism was later found to be seriously flawed, and the paper has been retracted by the journal that published it. Unfortunately, its publication set off a panic that led to dropping immu-nization rates, and subsequent outbreaks of these diseases. There is no evidence of a link between MMR vaccine and autism or autistic disorders.

Although vaccine preventable diseases have become uncommon in many countries, the infectious agents that cause them continue to circulate in some parts of the world.

Mark these days for health in your calendarGlobal public health days offer great potential to raise aware-

ness and understanding about health issues and mobilize support for action, from the local community to the international stage. There are many world days observed throughout the year related to specific health issues or conditions – from Alzheimer's to zoonoses.

However, WHO focuses particular attention on the 7 days and 1 week that WHO Member States have mandated as "offi-cial" global public health days. These are:

World TB Day, 24 MarchWorld Health Day, 7 AprilWorld Immunization Week, last week of AprilWorld Malaria Day, 25 AprilWorld No Tobacco Day, 31 MayWorld Blood Donor Day, 14 JuneWorld Hepatitis Day, 28 JulyWorld Antibiotic Awareness Week (November)World AIDS Day, 1 December

Join in for better healthWhether you are taking the kids to be vaccinated, talking to

students on the devastating health effects of tobacco, organiz-ing a mobile blood collection in your community, or contributing to the online conversation through social media, you can play a part in these worldwide efforts to create a healthier world.

Leading up to each day, this is where you will find back-ground information, graphics, multi-media links, facts and figures that help highlight the issues and focus global attention on today’s major public health challenges.

WHO global health days

Public Health

WEDNESDAY 28 DECEMBER 2016

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Setting a fitness goal is the first step to achieving a healthier you. It is common practice for fitness

enthusiasts to set goals for themselves, such as running 5 km in under 30 minutes, or reaching a personal best of 500 pounds on their bench press. They set a time to achieve their goals and formu-late a plan to get them there. These are known as SMART goals – Specific, measurable,

attainable, rewarding & time-based.

Fitness First has recently announced their #GoalDigger initiative, where it will encour-age its members to set realistic goals for themselves, declare these goals on social media for everyone to see and set start achieving Goals are the way to go achieve the healthy lifestyle you are dreaming of.

It’s important to set realis-tic goals , try setting mini-targets for yourself that

will lead to a bigger target. For example, you might start with going to the gym three times a week and working separate muscle groups each day; chest and arms one day, triceps and back another day and legs and shoulders the last day. Feel like that’s not enough? Add in a morning jog or swim three times a week, preferably on a separate day to keep your body moving. Revaluate your diet and be conscious of what you are eating – no one expects

you to cut out all sweets, bread and carbs straight away!

The #GoalDigger campaign comes into play when the gym becomes part of your routine, aim for achievable goals and set targets to get you there. Trust your personal trainer with setting goals for you if you don’t know how to, as they will know your body and its capa-bilities better than you do. There really is no greater feel-ing when you look in the mirror and see a fitter,

healthier version of yourself after all that hard work. The reward of achieving your goals is the life you will live and the next set of goals you set. Before you know it, not only will you look good you’ll feel happier and healthier too!

Visit us at Fitness First,City Center Doha :+974 4 4115999Fitness First, Al Khor +974 4 4726588

GoalDigger initiative: Setting and achieving goalsThe reward of achieving your goals is the life you will live and the next set of goals you set. Before you know it, not only will you look good you’ll feel happier and healthier too!