Background: Easily correctable refractive errors are the commonest cause of visual impairment in school children in India. Children who need but cannot afford spectacle correction are high in our country. Important factor for the success of the corrective services is compliance to spectacle wear. Objective: To assess the spectacle wear compliance among school children who were provided spectacle free of cost. To study the determinants of spectacle acceptance and reasons for non compliance. Materials and Methods: All (1378) government school children of 7-15 years age group in both rural and urban fi eld practice areas of a medical college in Bangalore were screened and students with refractive error were provided spectacles free of cost. An unannounced follow up was done after 3 months to assess compliance. Data was analyzed to determine the factors associated with spectacle wear compliance. Results: Among 36 boys and 47 girls who received spectacles free of cost, 31 were from rural and 52 from urban schools. 48(57.8%) children were actually wearing the spectacles at the time of follow up. 42(87.5%) compliant children reported improvement of performance in school related activities. Compliance was better in younger children and those from urban schools. Children of father with lower level of education and with power -0.5D were more likely to be non compliant. Conclusion: To achieve the goal of vision 2020 timely detection of refractive errors should be followed by cost effective intervention. The barriers to spectacle acceptance should be studied and addressed. Original ArticleOur study has been under taken to look at spectacle-wear compliance among children who received spectacles free of cost in a school based program and the factors determining spectacle-wear. The study was also aimed at fi nding the possible reasons for non-compliance.The goal of vision 2020 cannot be achieved only by timely detection of refractive errors unless efforts are taken to remove the barriers to spectacle availability and acceptance in this age group. Abstract Access this article onlineWebsite: www.ijmedph.org

Background. Active case finding (ACF) for tuberculosis (TB) is a promising tool to enhance early case detection among marginalized populations. As opposed to passive case finding, it involves systematically searching for TB in individuals who would not spontaneously present for care. The National TB Program (NTP) of India has initiated ACF for TB through the existing general health system since the end of 2017. However, prior to scale-up, there is need for exploring the implementation challenges and solutions to improve the efficiency of this program. Objectives. (1) To explore the enablers and challenges in the implementation of ACF for TB by NTP in the Bengaluru rural district of Karnataka, South India, and (2) to explore the perceived solutions to improve the efficiency of ACF activity. Methods. A qualitative descriptive study was conducted in the Bengaluru rural district during July 2018. In-depth interviews using purposively selected health care providers involved in active case finding (n = 9) and presumptive TB patients (n = 8) were conducted. Manual content analysis was conducted by two independent researchers to generate categories and themes. Results. The challenges in conduct of ACF were as follows: inadequate training of health care workers, shortage of staff, indifferent attitude of community due to stigma, lack of awareness about TB, illiteracy, inability to convince patients for sputum test, and delay in getting CBNAAT results. The field staff recommended the installation of mobile CBNAAT machine, involvement of general health staff in activity, training of health workers on counseling of patients, and issue of identity cards for community health workers/volunteers so that people recognize them. Conclusion. The health system challenges in conduct of ACF need to be addressed by training the health staff involved in activity and also improving the access to TB diagnostics.

Danger signs of pregnancy are warning signs that women encounter during pregnancy, child birth and post-partum period. It is important, to know these warning signs for women and health care providers to rule out serious complications and initiate treatment immediately. Objectives: 1. To assess the awareness of danger signs of pregnancy among pregnant women attending antenatal care in Nandagudi PHC. 2. To give health education to the pregnant women about the risk factors and danger signs. Methodology: A cross sectional study was conducted in PHC, Nandagudi , field practise area of MVJMC and RH. Study was carried out from September 2017 to November 2017. A total of 210 pregnant women who attended the ante natal clinic at PHC, Nandagudi were the study subjects. A pre designed pretested questionnaire was used. Data collected was thus entered in M S excel and was analysed using SPSS 21 version. Results: 60% of the study population belonged to the age group 23-27. Majority (90%) of them knew the importance of iron and folic acid. 72% of the cases knew the importance of blood group in pregnancy. Majority (91%) preferred hospital delivery compared to home delivery (9%). All 210 women knew about only 3 danger signs, they are bleeding per vagina, loss of consciousness and convulsions. Conclusion: Every pregnant woman faces the risk of sudden, unpredictable complication that could end in death or injury to herself or to her infant. Hence, it is necessary to employ strategies to overcome such problems as they arise.

Background: The National Family Welfare Program was launched in India in the year 1952. Although a range of contraceptive measures are provided by the Government at free of cost, women-oriented contraceptive measures only took the center stage and gained acceptance over the male contraceptive methods. Vasectomy (nonscalpel vasectomy) technique was introduced in India in 1992 to increase male participation in family planning. However, it has failed to get adequate momentum and to achieve its goal, despite being a simple and safe method. According to the National Family Health Survey (NFHS)-3, the current acceptance of nonscalpel vasectomy in India has decreased from 1.9% to 1% in NFHS-2. Objective: To understand the perceptions and attitude in the rural men population. Methods: This study is a community-based, cross-sectional study carried out in Nandagudi, where the Rural Health Training Center of MVJ Medical College and Research Hospital is located. The study was carried out from July 2014 to November 2014. The study population comprised all the men who were aged older than 20 years to 60 years. The study was done by interview technique using pretested and predesigned questionnaire. Data were collected and analyzed. Results: Totally, 215 men were included in our study. Half (52%) of the study population belonged to 31 to 40 years age group while majority were Hindu (62%)and from socioeconomic statuses II and III. Of the married men, only one man had undergone vasectomy although 82% had heard about vasectomy; 17% men were willing to accept vasectomy as a choice of contraception after repeated counseling sessions. The reasons for nonacceptance were very much similar to other studies done previously. Conclusion: The myths and the attitude of men toward vasectomy can only be changed by intensive IEC Information Education and Communication and health education. It should be enforced and reinforced.

Introduction: Altruism is disinterested and selfless concern for the well-being of others. Intentional and voluntary actions that aim to enhance the welfare of another person in the absence of any external reward. With the background of increasing mistrust between the medical profession, media, and the public and increasing incidents of violence against doctors in India, there is a growing feeling that altruism in medicine, if not dying is at least declining. Aim and Objective: To assess altruistic attitudes among Medical and Engineering students in a Medical and Engineering College in Bangalore and to determine the factors influencing altruistic behavior among these students. Methodology: An analytical cross-sectional study was conducted among 200 medical and 200 engineering students studying in medical and engineering college, respectively. The survey contained a structured pre-validated questionnaire containing general information and the Altruism personality scale items for measuring altruistic tendency in students. Result: Among the participants from both the backgrounds doing simple altruistic acts, were more frequent than risk taking altruistic acts. Altruism deceases with increasing years of study in medical college. Conclusion: Good Medicine stands on the basis of interactions between people. Few changes in the existing curriculum for medical professionalism which should emphasize on skills such as empathy towards patients, communication, good doctor patient relationship, emotional intelligence and professional ethics and values is desired. Doing this study in a medical and engineering college setting would introduce the topic of altruism among the students and give them a chance to self-analyze their altruistic nature and bring about positive changes towards human altruism.