Background: HIV pandemic still remains an issue of major concern on a global scale with more than 37.9 million people estimated to be living with HIV in 2019 globally -an increase from 36.7 million in 2015. India has the third largest HIV epidemic in the world, with 2.1 million people living with HIV, with higher prevalence among men (0.25%) than women (0.19%) out of which children (15 years) accounts for 6.54%, while two fifth (40.5%) of total HIV infections are among females.Methods: A cross-sectional hospital based study was conducted over a time period of 03 months and a total of 366 pregnant women attending the health care facilities of Block Hazratbal were included in the study.Results: Among the study participants, only 15 (4.1%) women had not heard about HIV/AIDS, 314 (85.8%) were aware of sexual transmission as a mode of transmission and only half of the study subjects (50.8%) knew about MTCT, more than half of the subjects (68.3%) were aware that the transmission of HIV infection can occur during pregnancy.Conclusions: Although the study population showed adequate knowledge about HIV infection, there was a considerable lack of knowledge regarding mother-to-child transmission of HIV infection and its prevention.

Introduction: In healthcare settings, where patient care is carried out, a certain type of waste is generated which has the potential to put humans and environment to the risk of infectious diseases and environmental pollution respectively. Objectives: The present study has been embraced to survey the information regarding Bio-Medical waste among the staff a tertiary care paediatric hospital in Kashmir valley (J&K). Materials and Methods: Paediatric hospital associated with GMC Srinagar was visited by a team of public health specialists. A total of 25 interviews were conducted in which five doctors, five staff nurses, five pharmacists, five laboratory technicians and five sanitary personnel participated. The data was acquired from the respondents through a pre-outlined pre-tested survey questionnaire with respect to Biomedical Waste Management and Handling guideline 2016. Results: The awareness and knowledge about current BMW guidelines 2016 was highest among Laboratory technicians and sanitary personals. The sanitary personals had also better awareness about existing operational guidelines in the hospital and proper waste disposal methods. Conclusion:The sanitary personals and laboratory technicians were seen to be great in theoretical knowledge of rules, legislations and public health importance of BMW management rules 2016. While for doctors and nursing staff, the reverse was true.

Introduction: The aim of Self-directed Learning (SDL) is to motivate the undergraduate student to become a lifelong learner who plays an active role in the acquisition of knowledge and skills. With the implementation of competency based medical education (CBME) in 2019, SDL has become an integral part of the curriculum hence it is important to know whether our students are ready for it or not. Aim: To assess the readiness of the students of Medical College and college of Nursing and Paramedical sciences, Government medical college, Anantnag for SDL. Materials and Methods: An institution based cross-sectional study was conducted on 295 undergraduate medical and paramedical students of Government medical college, Anantnag, Jammu and Kashmir, India. Williamson’s SDL readiness scale (SDLRS) was provided to the students who were instructed to describe themselves by indicating on the Likert scale, the extent to which the item best described their personal attitude. The score ranges from 60 to 300. Data was calculated in form of frequency (n) and percentages (%) and was analysed by using Pearson Chi-square test. Results: Out of the 295 students (150 were boys and 145 were girls, 195 medical and 100 paramedical students), mean age 19.07±0.762 years, who took part in the study, 40% (N=118) had high readiness scores, 52.88% (N=156) had moderate score and 7.12% (N=21) had low score. A total of 45.52 % (N=66) of girls had high readiness as compared to 34.66% (N=52) boys. Nursing and paramedical students appeared to be more ready for SDL than Bachelor of Medicine and Bachelor of Surgery (MBBS) students as 52% (N=52) of nursing and paramedical students had a high score whereas only 33.85 % (N=66) of medical students had a high score and this difference was statistically significant (p-value <0.001). Conclusion: Most of the medical and paramedical students seem to be ready for self-directed learning and paramedics are more ready for SDL than medical students. Female students seem to be more receptive for SDL as compared to male students.

Overnight, masks have become a symbol of social responsibility. Wearing a face mask is certainly not an iron-clad guarantee that a person won’t get sick. Face masks are crucial for health care providers looking after patients and are also recommended for family members who need to care for someone who is ill - ideally both the patient and caregiver should have a mask.

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