Vital amin: A new member of the vitamin B family has just been discovered. The name is a wee bit complex -pyrroloquinoline quinone (PQQ), but Japanese scientists who resesarched it's role in mice find it fits all the criteria to be called a vitamin. It is an essential nutrient and it has to be exogenously supplied in humans. In mice deficiency results in slower growth, fragile skin, compromised immune functions and poorer reproduction. It is mainly involved in degrading the aminoacid lysine. The good news is that it is abundantly available in vegetables and meat. Looks like it's going to be a while before wholesome food gets replaced by pills and potions ( Scientific American 24 April 2003).

Can knowledge change the health of the world? Four mega projects by the WHO will soon tell us the answer. Each project involves the collection of huge masses of data related to health. The first is a an electronic database which is a Global Diretory of health training institutions, medical colleges and training institutions for other health professionals such as nursing, dentistry and pharmacy. The second project collects information which can be used to assess population health and health systems performance. The third assesses health care staffing in developing countries and the fourth is a mega data base of information sources on health care staff (e BMJ 10 May 2003)

Child friendly schools: Is today's school a breeding ground for physical and mental ill health? Or is it a healthy place where a child can flower and blossom? These are some questions which are being addressed by the Child Friendly School Initiative proposed by the Indore branch of the IAP. Some of the points they are focusing on include the weight of school bags, time for physical activity, safe drinking water, availability of toilets, corporal punishment and safe transportation.

Gouri Rao Passi,
Consultant, Department of Pediatrics,
Choithram Hospital & Research Centre,
Indore 452001.
Email: [email protected]