MUMBAI: A day after the World Health Organization (WHO) and the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) said that excessive use of mobile phones could lead to an increased threat of brain tumour amongst humans, the Cellular Operators Association of India (COAI) reacted by saying this was a narrow conclusion and needs further investigation. Individual mobile operators that TOI contacted did not respond to the findings of the WHO-IARC. Mobile handset maker Nokia said the results of many independent scientific reviews conducted around the world had concluded that mobile phones operating within international exposure standards pose no adverse health effects to humans.

Rajan S Mathews, director general, COAI, told TOI, "We recommend that consumers should be cautionary even as we encourage more scientific research to be done on this issue."

The WHO-IARC said on Tuesday that there is an increased risk of glioma-a form of cancer-due to the use of wireless phones as they emit radiofrequency electromagnetic fields as group 2B agents. He added that this finding was basically like raising the flag and if a person is a heavy user they should take precaution.

What is most worrying is that the report by the working group said that the threat was more for young users, who are increasingly becoming a big chunk of mobile users.

"We as an industry body recognize there is public concern about the safety of mobile communications. In India, we have adopted ICNIRP standards which are highly recommend by WHO as they have enough safety margins for all group of people including children," Mathews said.

Despite the health concerns which have been debated for long, the industry does not expect any material impact of this finding said COAI.

"For us, product safety is a key consideration. All our products comply with international exposure guidelines and limits that are set by public health authorities. It is important to note that IARC has not classified RF fields as definitely nor even probably carcinogenic to humans. IARC has only concluded that, based on limited evidence, it may be possible that there could be some increased risk for certain cancers. As a result, IARC has called for additional research. This assessment will now be considered by health authorities who will determine its overall impact and we look forward to their conclusions," the Nokia spokesperson said.

Safety standards adopted by cellphone manufacturers are key especially in a country like India which has a thriving grey market for mobile handsets. "Consumers need to be careful when purchasing mobile handsets as not all companies follow the international standard," Mathews added.

Source : Time Of India

NEW DELHI: The Union health ministry on Tuesday reacted to TOI's report, which had stated that 128 children died in 2010 due to adverse effects following immunization (AEFI) and the casualty figures have persistently risen in the past three years. There were 111 and 116 deaths in 2008 and 2009, respectively.

However, the ministry attributed only six fatalities to vaccine side-effects.

Calling vaccination one of the most cost-effective public health interventions to protect children against mortality, morbidity and disability across the world, the ministry listed 48 of the 128 deaths as coincidental, or causes other than vaccination; six were vaccine reactions and eight programmatic errors. In 72 cases, the reason was unknown - the investigation done by experts did not lead to any definite conclusion on the cause of death.

"Around 18.3 lakh children under five years die every year due to various illnesses. These include 13.2 lakh children who die before reaching the age of one year and 9.4 lakh within the first month after birth. However, each AEFI is investigated, and an effort is made to establish the cause. Any disruption in cold chain may affect the potency, and thereby the efficacy of the vaccine, but can hardly cause deaths. In case of any contamination of vaccine to an extent that it would cause fatality, deaths of a greater magnitude would occur as any batch of vaccine is administered to a very large number of children," a health ministry official said.

India has one of the world's largest universal immunization programme, targeting 2.6 crore children who are born every year. Each child is given four vaccinations in addition to vaccinations at birth.

Booster doses are also given at the age of one and a half years and five years. Besides, supplementary immunization activities are carried out periodically.

About 90 lakh vaccination sessions are held every year, where more than 25 crore vaccine doses of seven antigens like diphtheria, pertussis, tetanus, measles, BCG, Hepatitis B and polio are administered.

Vaccination programme is carried out both in health facilities and door-to-door outreach sessions in every village.

Source : Times of India