Helplines for people with disabilities abuzz with calls for food supplies, e-passes for caregivers, medicines

Aditya Sen, who handles a recently launched helpline to cater to people with disabilities (PwDs), was signing off after a busy day when his phone rang. It was past 8.30 pm. The number flashing on his mobile screen was familiar, of an NGO partner. On the other end was the frantic voice from a lady who informed that a single mother and her eight-year-old hearing-impaired daughter needed medicines and grocery urgently.

Wasting no time, he called up the woman, who picked up on the first ring. Scared about her daughter, she said, ‘Sir isko high fever ho raha hai aur thodi khaasi bhi hai’ (Sir, my daughter has high fever and has some cough too). Sen, a volunteer with Project Delhi, made a few calls and within an hour, the little girl was taken to a hospital for treatment. “We have ensured that the mother and daughter got their stock of groceries too!” read the account online. These a familiar refrain on helplines launched by civil society organisations, central and state governments as well as those teaming up with young non-disabled volunteers to take up the cause of PwDs amid the prevailing coronavirus pandemic and the consequent lockdown measures.


“Many PwDs are primarily struggling to get groceries, medicines,” explained disability rights activist Nipun Malhotra, who is also the co-founder of Project Delhi, which receives close to 30 calls and 20 text messages per day. He added that it becomes “difficult for PwDs” who have mobility issues and high support needs to step out for buying essentials.

Concurred Praveen Kumar G, social inclusion advisor, VSO International, who is visually-impaired, “For blind people in particular, tactile communication and navigation is inevitable, so many people tend to rely on another’s support for purchasing groceries and food essentials.”

Disability rights activist Anjlee Agarwal’s Samarthyam-run helpline ‘COVID-19 Action Collaborative’ is inundated with 140-170 calls/messages per day including through social media. “We have been receiving more calls for issues with e-passes for caregivers, dry ration and food supplies, medicines and some seeking help for regular check-ups at hospitals,” Agarwal, whose organisation’s helpline provides doorstep delivery of essential services with the help of 11 volunteers, told indianexpress.com.

From calls for food to everyday supplies, medicines, the need for blood transfusions and access to hospitals, the helplines have been abuzz. On March 26, the Department of Empowerment of Persons with Disabilities (GOI) issued Disability Inclusive Guidelines to secure the protection and safety of PwDs during this crisis.

Amarjit Singh Anand, president, Chaanan Association for Mentally Retarded Children (Regd), Jalandhar, Punjab told indianexpress.com that as a volunteer organisation, they received “leads” from the district administration of Jalandhar helpline. “All PwDs, widows and senior citizens are being provided services of medicines, kirana or any help they need,” he said, while mentioning that the government-run helpline has 28 non-disabled volunteers.

How do helplines work?

Anand explained that once a call is received on the helpline, it is forwarded to the district coordinator who deputes a volunteer who is close to the needy person. “They then buy the required essentials and deliver against payment as per directives given by our nodal officer and district programme officer,” he said.

However, given the rising numbers of the contagious disease and the issue of e-passes for volunteers, the district administration officials themselves have been rendering the services, stated Anand. He remarked, “The situation is grim and the administration does not want to risk leaving any further damage.”

“My team of eight is working from home and we reach out to the persons concerned through our partners across the country or the government agencies, whatever works in the area. Mostly, people call for ration, medicine, pension money announced by the government and caregiver passes. Also, for information on government orders issued during the lockdown,” commented Arman Ali, executive director, National Centre for Promotion of Employment for Disabled People (NCPEDP).
While Ali’s is not a designated helpline number, his colleague and he together receive about 10-15 calls each day pertaining to the Covid-19 crisis. Notably, caregivers, including family members, need passes to collect benefits like ration on behalf of PwDs, which is proving to be a challenge. “Amar (name changed) in Rajkot, (Gujarat) has been instructed to be present in person to receive his rations. Amar is a person with orthopaedic disability and is bedridden. The authorities have refused to hand over the rations to his sister although she stays with him,” claimed Ali. The guidelines issued by the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare state that “caregivers of PwDs should be allowed to reach PwDs by exempting them from restrictions during lockdown or providing passes in a simplified manner on priority”.

The guidelines for State/District authorities also suggest that “during quarantine, essential support services, personal assistance, and physical and communication accessibility should be ensured e.g. blind persons, persons with intellectual/ mental disability (psycho-social) are dependent on caregiver support. Similarly PwDs may seek assistance for rectification of fault in their wheelchair and other assistive devices.”

Meanwhile, the guidelines also call for 24X7 helpline numbers at the state-level to be set up exclusively for ‘divyangjan’ with facilities of sign language interpretation and video calling. 

However, Dr Alim Chandani, deaf activist and founder of Access Mantra Foundation asks, “Are the helplines accessible to deaf people?”

As per Dr Chandani, deaf people can’t make phone calls and most are not fluent in English or Hindi to write emails due to the lack of access to education in Indian Sign Language. However, a few state helplines, such as the Tamil Nadu government, are offering video calling and sign language interpretation facility. Dr Chandani mentioned, “We should have deaf individuals to lead the helplines once we have experts providing training to them. Direct communication with deaf is essential and much better.” He further said that National Association of the Deaf India should advocate for it.
“PwDs are present in all 29 states, not just the few that are taking proactive steps. The fundamental right to life and dignity cannot be dispensed with, even in a medical emergency. PwDs are not a homogeneous, distinct group, they are to be found in every strata of society and in every aspect of life and they need to be enabled during this pandemic,” asserted Ali.

Here is a list of helplines

The Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, Government of India’s common helpline numbers are 1075, 011-23978046, 9013151515
While one can access the government helplines here, many organisations and individuals have started with their own helplines.

New Delhi

Astha
For essential supplies as well as services like counselling.
Call
Rakesh – +91 995608-74098
Danish – +91 98914-14742
Project Delhi 
Providing groceries/medicines
For groceries, Call/WhatsApp – +91 7411167030
For medicines, Call/WhatsApp – +91 801033000
One of the co-founders of Project Delhi, disability rights activist Nipun Malhotra told indianexpress.com that “many PwDs struggling to get groceries, medicines primarily”, which is why there was a need for the helpline.
Samarthyam India
Executive Director – Anjlee Agarwal
Whats App: +91 9711190806
Call: +919810558321
Phone number – 01141019389
Email address – samarthyamindia@gmail.com
Viklang Sahara Samiti Delhi
Kapil Kumar Aggarwal
9811015733, 011-27915733
Address:- G-Block Basti Vikas Kender Mangol Puri Delhi-110083
Email : vssd1998@gmail.com
National Centre for Promotion of Employment for Disabled People (NCPEDP)
Arman Ali
Call: 73039 44839
ASL Foundation Trust
A-20 LSC Market Mangolpuri Delhi -83
Director – Preeti Gupta
Phone number – 01127911345
9818693445
Email- aslfoundationtrust@gmail.com

Bengaluru

Samarthanam Trust for the Disabled
For basic groceries and mask kits
Naveen – +91 94498-64786
Sunil – +91 94498-64691
Big Bazaar and KickStart Cabs are partnering to deliver groceries and vegetables to people’s homes. WhatsApp your grocery list to +91 8105600445.

Mumbai

Project Mumbai
Free delivery of groceries/packed food/medicines.
For groceries/packed food:
Call – +91-98795 08404. WhatsApp – +91 96533 30712
For medicines
Call – +91 9992999929
Disabled people in Mumbai who need dialysis can call Ezy Mov at +91 90290 90880
Samavisht Foundation is also providing this service in partnership with Ezy Mov.

Chennai

Tamil Nadu Government helpline number. The Tamil Nadu government has set up two helplines for disabled people to call with queries and requests for supplies.
Dial toll free at 1800-425-0111.
For WhatsApp and Video Calling: +91 97007-99993. Sign language interpretation facility available.
Free CAB service – Chennai
call: 95000 67082

Kolkata

Sruti Disability Rights Centre 
For online/telephonic counselling services for disabled people and caregivers – Email sruti.darc@gmail.com.

National Mental Health Helpline

080 4611 0007

Punjab

Deaf and hard of hearing people – +91-98881-76357

Youth4Jobs Karuna Helpline for Covid-19 for PwDs in cities

Location Person Mobile timings
Trichy Swathi 9347412609 5pm-7pm
Madurai Rama 9347412613 8am-10am
Ahmednagar Vijay Satdive 7350640303 5pm-7pm
Dehradun Nidhi Rana 8448764159 8pm-10pm Vijayawada Sayed Saleem 8712721500 5pm-7pm
Tirupati Sikandar 7032777485 5pm-7pm
Warangal Sreevani 7032777497 8am-10am
Guwahati Chayanika 7399069663 8am-10am
Ranchi Siraj Nag 7894300173 8am-10am
Patna Sasanko Roy 7797263537 8am-10am
Bhubaneswar Laxmidhar Jena 8759867477 8am-10am

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Soft wearable sensors to detect disabilities in premature kids

Scientists have developed a soft, non-toxic wearable sensor that can be attached to the hand to monitor force of a grasp and the motion of the fingers.

Children born prematurely often develop neuromotor and cognitive developmental disabilities.
The best way to reduce the impacts of those disabilities is to catch them early through a series of cognitive and motor tests.

However, accurately measuring and recording the motor functions of small children is tricky.
As any parent will tell you, toddlers tend to dislike wearing bulky devices on their hands and have a predilection for ingesting things they shouldn't.

"We have developed a new type of conductive liquid that is no more dangerous than a small drop of salt water," said a researcher.

"It is four times more conductive than previous biocompatible solutions, leading to cleaner, less noisy data,"he said.

The sensing solution is made from potassium iodide, which is a common dietary supplement, and glycerol, which is a common food additive.

After a short mixing period, the glycerol breaks the crystal structure of potassium iodide and forms potassium cations (K+) and iodide ions (I-), making the liquid conductive.

Since glycerol has a lower evaporation rate than water, and the potassium iodide is highly soluble, the liquid is both stable across a range of temperatures and humidity levels and highly conductive.

"Previous biocompatible soft sensors have been made using sodium chloride-glycerol solutions but these solutions have low conductivities, which makes the sensor data very noisy, and it also takes about 10 hours to prepare," he said.

"We've shortened that down to about 20 minutes and get very clean data," he said.

The design of the sensors also takes the need of children into account.

Rather than a bulky glove, the silicon-rubber sensor sits on top of the finger and on the finger pad.

"We often see that children who are born early or who have been diagnosed with early developmental disorders have highly sensitive skin," said  an associate professor.

"By sticking to the top of the finger, this device gives accurate information while getting around the sensitively of the child's hand," said the associate Prof.

Researchers currently study motor function using motion capture.

While the technology can tell a lot about movement, it cannot measure force, which is critical to diagnosing neuromotor and cognitive developmental disabilities.

"Early diagnosis is the name of the game when it comes to treating these developmental disabilities and this wearable sensor can give us a lot of advantages not currently available," he said.
This paper only tested the device on adult hands.

Next, the researchers plan to scale down the device and test it on the hands of children.

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Leprosy: Types, Diagnosis, Treatment

There around four million patients of leprosy world-wide with 750,000 new cases being detected every year. 

Though the incidents are decreasing in India through the efforts of the National Leprosy Eradication programme, and India had achieved elimination of leprosy as a public health problem in 2005, it has the largest number of leprosy patients in the world and pockets of high endemicity report thousands of new cases every year.

Leprosy is a chronic granulomatous disease caused by the bacteria Mycobacterium Leprae. It mainly affects skin, nerves, eyes and respiratory system.

Visible disabilities and sequele are associated with historical social stigma. It is also called as Hansen's disease. As this bacteria is extremely slow growing, it is difficult to isolate in vitro cultures.
"In 2015, a total of 127,326 new cases were detected accounting for 60% of the global total of new cases, compared with 125,785 new cases in 2014. 

Because of social stigma, many cases present late to the hospitals. The disease is completely curable if diagnosed early, late presentations are associated with complications. If left untreated, leprosy can cause progressive and permanent damage to the skin, nerves, limbs, and eyes.

Types:
Leprosy can be classified on the basis of clinical manifestations and skin smear results. In the classification based on skin smears, patients showing negative smears at all sites are grouped as paucibacillary leprosy, while those showing positive smears at any site are grouped as having multibacillary leprosy.

Diagnosis:
Skin biopsy, nasal smears, or both are used to assess for acid-fast bacilli using Fite stain. PCR and recombinant DNA technology have allowed for the development of gene probes with M leprae-specific sequences.

Treatment:
WHO has introduced multidrug therapy for the treatment involving Rifampicin, Dapsone and Clofazimine. New drugs that are approved for treatment are Quinolones like Pefloxacin and Ofloxacin, Minocyclin and Clarithromycin. Free MDT was initially funded by a Foundation, and since 2000 it is donated through an agreement with a company which recently committed to extend its donation to 2020, steroids have been used to treat nerve damage associated with leprosy but the studies have shown no additional benefit.

THIS IS ONLY FOR INFORMATION, ALWAYS CONSULT YOU PHYSICIAN BEFORE HAVING ANY PARTICULAR FOOD/ MEDICATION/EXERCISE/OTHER REMEDIES.    

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Alcohol may cause muscle loss in post-menopausal women

Post-menopausal women who indulge in heavy alcohol consumption may be at a higher risk of developing sarcopenia — the loss of muscle mass and strength — which may lead to cardio-metabolic diseases and disabilities, researchers say.

Sarcopenia is an age-related process that also affects balance, gait, and overall ability to perform tasks of daily living.

High-risk alcohol drinking — known to inhibit skeletal muscle protein synthesis — is also closely related to diabetes, hypertension and dyslipidemia, which are modifiable risk factors for sarcopenia.

The findings showed that the prevalence of sarcopenia is nearly four times higher in the high-risk alcohol-drinking group as compared to the low-risk group.

Further, the women in the high-risk group were also more likely to have worse blood pressure and total cholesterol levels.

“With this study suggesting that more muscle loss leads to sarcopenia and other studies suggesting that even one drink of alcohol may increase the risk of breast cancer, postmenopausal women should limit their alcohol intake,” said a Dr.

To prevent the loss of muscle mass and increase strength, pre-clinical studies suggest a possible benefit from estrogen therapy when combined with exercise.

However, the role of estrogen in muscle mass is not yet clear for postmenopausal women, the researchers said in the paper published in the journal “Menopause”.

For the  study, the team included 2,373 postmenopausal women (mean age 62.4 years).

Out of these 8.2 per cent met the criteria for developing
sarcopenia.

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Musical training may change your brain !

Intense musical training triggers new processes within the brain which can impact creativity, cognition and learning, new research has found.

The studies show that extensive musical training affects the structure and function of different brain regions, how those regions communicate during the creation of music, and how the brain interprets and integrates sensory information.

The findings, presented at Neuroscience 2013,  suggest potential new roles for musical training including fostering plasticity in the brain, an alternative tool in education, and treating a range of learning disabilities.

According to one study, long-term high level musical training has a broader impact than previously thought.

Researchers found that musicians have an enhanced ability to integrate sensory information from hearing, touch, and sight.

Another study found that the age at which musical training begins affects brain anatomy as an adult; beginning training before the age of seven has the greatest impact.

In a third study, researchers found that brain circuits involved in musical improvisation are shaped by systematic training, leading to less reliance on working memory and more extensive connectivity within the brain.

Some of the brain changes that occur with musical training reflect the automation of task and the acquisition of highly specific sensorimotor and cognitive skills required for various aspects of musical expertise.

"Playing a musical instrument is a multi sensory and motor experience that creates emotions and motions from finger tapping to dancing and engages pleasure and reward systems in the brain. It has the potential to change brain function and structure when done over a long period of time," said  an expert on music, neuroimaging and brain plasticity.

"As today's findings show, intense musical training generates new processes within the brain, at different stages of life, and with a range of impacts on creativity, cognition, and learning," he said.

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