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BACKGROUND: Non-communicable diseases (NCDs), principally cardiovascular diseases, cancer, chronic respiratory diseases, and diabetes are the leading causes of death and disability globally. The basic element of NCD prevention is the identification of the common risk factors and their prevention and control. OBJECTIVE: To determine the prevalence of risk factors for non-communicable diseases, in Siliguri city of West Bengal, India using WHO Steps approach. METHODS: Between April 2012 to July 2012, 779 adults of 18-64 years from Siliguri city were chosen by 30-cluster sampling. They were interviewed and measurements and laboratory tests were done. RESULTS: The prevalence of behavioural risk factors like tobacco use, alcohol, unhealthy diet was 57.5%, 12.5%, 50.87% and 60.4%, respectively while that of biological risk factors like overweight, abdominal obesity and hypertension was 29.8%, 20.2% and 17.8%, respectively. The prevalence of biochemical risk categories like diabetes, hypercholesterolemia, hypertriglyceridaemia, low HDL-C was 9.1%, 17.8%, 16.6% and 67.5%, respectively. CONCLUSIONS: A high prevalence of risk factors for non-communicable diseases was found in Siliguri city which emphasizes the need of interventions to reduce these risk factors.

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A cross sectional study was conducted from February - May 2009 with the objectives to find out profile of injuries among municipal primary school children in Siliguri, West Bengal and to identify the related factor associated with injury. 20% of total primary schools under municipal corporation of the town were selected and a pre-designed, pre-tested schedule was used to assess the profile of injury and associated factors. The Chi square test was usedto determine statistical significance at the 0.05 significance level. Out of 956 participants, a significantly higher injury was observed among males (68%). Open wound injuries were commonest (59.6%) occurring mainly at the extremities. Falls were mainly responsible for overall injuries. Injury at home (41.8%) was also found to be more. Mother education, number of siblings and presence of caregiver were significant related factors to injury.

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BACKGROUND: In India, 67,500 infants acquire HIV infection yearly due to mother to child transmission. OBJECTIVE: The objective was to assess the operational aspect of the Prevention of Parent to Child Transmission (PPTCT) program in a tertiary care hospital and explore its bottleneck. MATERIALS AND METHODS: A 5-year (2004-2008) prospective evaluation study was conducted among the pregnant women attending Obstetrics Department of a rural tertiary care hospital, since the year of implementation. Indicators were used according to UNAIDS/WHO guideline. RESULTS: Out of 40,140 registered pregnant women, 23,812 were counseled of which 19,794 were agreed to undergo HIV testing and 111 were found HIV positive with a prevalence of 0.56%. Overall HIV counseling and testing rates were 59.32% and 83.13%, respectively. The nevirapine (NVP) dispensing rate of the mother and newborn were 29.72% and 85.4%, respectively. At 18 months of age, 85% babies were found HIV negative in the mother baby pair who received NVP with absolutely formula feeding but it was 42.8% without such intervention. CONCLUSION: Majority of the pregnant women who came to the labor room directly were deprived of the program (PPTCT) coverage. Although the HIV testing rate reached the WHO target which was excellent, but the NVP dispensing rate lagged far behind.

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Undernutrition is the major threat to the health and well-being of preschool children in India. To assess the prevalence of undernutrition along with the risk factors among 1-3 years children, a community-based cross-sectional study was undertaken in villages served by Matigara sub-centre in Darjeeling district of West Bengal, India. Anthropometric measurement of 256 children was done as per WHO guidelines along with collection of sociocultural and healthcare related information. Z-score was calculated (NCHS reference) and the prevalence of stunting, underweight, and wasting was 46.9%, 52.3% and 15.2% respectively. Composite, index of anthropometric failure was 65.6%. Anthropometric failure was significantly associated with low income, more number of siblings, nuclear family, short duration of exclusive breastfeeding, later initiation of complementary feeding, immunisation status, mothers' BMI, episodes of diarrhoea and acute respiratory infection. Multipronged intervention is to be initiated to address this staggering problem of undernutrition.

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A cross-sectional study carried out among 370 school-going children of the Nepali community, aged 5-10 years, in the Siliguri subdivision of Darjeeling district revealed the prevalence of parasitic infestation to be 51.4 per cent of which 28.2% and 23.2% had single and multiple parasitism respectively. In the group of single parasitism, A. lumbricoides was the commonest infestation (31.73%) and in multiple parasitisms, A. lumbricoides and T. Trichiura combination was found to be the most prevalent (36.05%). A significant statistical association was observed in the decrease of worm infestation rate among children with the increasing educational status of their mothers. The study also revealed that 19.73% and 18.91% of the mothers had no knowledge about mode of transmission and prevention of worm infestation respectively.

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