Pune health brief: IMA Pune unit doctors join relay hunger strike, Sound Centre for Hearing Care inauguration and more

The Indian Medical Assocation’s Pune unit doctors under the President Aarti Nimkar joined their counterparts across the nation by participating in the relay hunger strike on Tuesday. The doctors will fast from 8 a.m.till 8 p.m. On Tuesday, Dr Sanjay Patil, Chairman of the Hospital Board of India Pune chapter said. While 20 have already joined the stir since Tuesday morning several doctors are working across hospitals and are on a hunger strike, Dr Patil said.

Indian Medical Association doctors are on a nationwide Relay Hunger Strike since February 1 till 14 to protest against the Central Council of Indian Medicine (CCIM) notification allowing Ayurveda doctors to perform Surgery. The IMA National President Dr J. A. Jayalal, IMA Maharashtra State President Dr R. S. Londhe and several other leaders are visiting the Pune branch on Tuesday afternoon to support the Pune doctors.

Syed Kirmani inaugurates Sound Centre for Hearing Care

Pune’s first of its kind Sound Centre for Hearing Care was today inaugurated by Former Test Cricketer and Sound Ambassador Padma Syed Kirmani and Avinash Pawar, Managing Director, Widex Sivantos Audiology WSA– India. With a vision to provide a comprehensive solution to people with hearing problems from all age groups, Amit Patil, Director and Proprietor World of Hearing Sound Center said that they decided to come up with one stop, World Sound center that can provide a range of services from diagnosis for children with communication and hearing disabilities to providing hearing aids, Cochlear Implants and speech therapy suited to individual needs and requirements.

The Sound Centre also has special services for Tinnitus (constant discomfort noise in the ear), Hearing Screening (OAE & BERA), Widex Digital Hearing Aids, Batteries, and Hearing Aid Accessories for the hearing-impaired population.. Avinash Pawar said; World of Hearing Sound Centre has a sound station and accessories lounge, so users can experience the connectivity and clarity of hearing sounds without any distortion. Sound Ambassador Syed Kirmani is also a Widex Moment hearing aid user.

Ruby Hall Clinic opens new polyclinic at Pimple Saudagar

Ruby Hall Clinic, a multi-speciality tertiary care services in Pune announced the opening of its newest centre in Pimple Saudagar. This will give better access to families located at the North-Western Metropolitan Corridor of Pune for hospital services.Bomi Bhote, Chief Executive Officer, Ruby Hall Clinic;Dr. Manisha Karmarkar, Chief Operating Officer, Ruby Hall Clinic and others were present at the inauguration.This polyclinic will cater to the IT diaspora who live in the vicinity along with the geriatric population as well as middle-class residents of the area.Dr. Sudheer Rai, Chief Operating Officer, Ruby Hall Clinic Hinjawadi and Pimple Saudagar.

India Multiple Sclerosis Day observed on Feb 7, appeal for a national registry

Story continues below this ad

This year’s India Multiple Sclerosis MS Day celebrations were held on the first Sunday of February . On Feb 7 Multiple Sclerosis Society of India connected with its members and MS community virtually to felicitate India MS person of the Year 2020 Punkaj Gupta.The virtual sessions were be multilingual and the highlight of this years India MS day celebration was a talk by Dr Dheeraj Khurana Neurologist at PGIMER, Chandigarh on ‘COVID VACCINE & MS- India perspective’.

Renuka Malaker , National Secretary of India MSSI said that there were several who were still unaware of MS.Malaker has been a caregiver for the last 28 years to her husband who has Primary Progressive MS.”Despite improved diagnostic facility and many more people are getting diagnosed with MS, accurate data is still unavailable on incidence of MS,” Malaker said. The Atlas of MS launched by MS International Federation UK shows in India the approximate number of people living with MS is 0 to 25 people/100000.

The 3rd edition of the Atlas of MS also shows that the number of people with MS across the globe has increased from 2.3 million in 2013 to 2.8 million in 2020. MS hits one between the ages of 20 to 40 years which is the most productive working age. Early diagnosis and quick treatment is most critical, Malaker said adding that the society has appealed for the need to collect and compile incidence and prevalence of MS in India apart from building a national registry.

Sancheti Healthcare Academy introduces Masters course in Expressive Movement Therapy

Story continues below this ad

Sancheti Healthcare Academy (SHA) announced the launch of its Masters Program in Expressive Movement Therapy (Dance Therapy). Approved by Pune University,Manisha Sanghvi, Executive Director of Sancheti Group of Institutes said that the young generation needs much more than just an education and a career, such allied and alternative medical professions will help create stability and resilience in our youth.”

“After five years of relentless effort in building a strong foundation towards developing this course and the awareness about the use of Creative art therapies in the healthcare sector. We not only found great results while using this at our hospital but also in other populations, “ Sanghvi said. The eligibility criteria for admission also offers a wide range of students the ability to pursue Master’s Degree. A graduate of Arts, Psychology, Dance, doctors, therapists, professionals, teachers, trainers, can avail of this professional degree, Sanghvi added. Dr. Nikita Mittal, Founder of Life and Dance, and Co-founder of this Masters Program said the course is being conducted with support from Kinections, New York. Kinections is headed by Dr. Danielle Fraenkel.

– Stay updated with the latest Pune news. Follow Express Pune on Twitter here and on Facebook here. You can also join our Express Pune Telegram channel here.

Anuradha Mascarenhas

Anuradha Mascarenhas is a Senior Editor at The Indian Express, based in Pune. With a career spanning three decades, she is one of the most respected voices in Indian journalism regarding healthcare, science and environment and research developments. She also takes a keen interest in covering women's issues . Anuradha has won several awards including the Press Council of India's national award for excellence in journalism under the gender based reporting category in 2019 and the Laadli Media award (gender sensitivity -2024). A recipient of the Lokmat journalism award (gender category-2022), she was also shortlisted for the RedInk awards for excellence in journalism-2021. Her debut book At The Wheel Of Research, an exclusive biography of Dr Soumya Swaminathan the inaugural chief scientist of World Health Organisation was also nominated in the Popular Choice Category of JK Paper AUTHER awards. She has also secured competitive fellowships including the Laadli Media Fellowship (2022), the Survivors Against TB – New Research in TB Media Fellowship (2023) and is part of the prestigious 2025 India Cohort of the WomenLift Health Leadership Journey.” Professional Background Education: A gold medalist in Communication and Journalism from Savitribai Phule Pune University and a Master’s degree in Literature. Author: She authored the biography At The Wheel Of Research, which chronicles the life and work of Dr. Soumya Swaminathan, the former Chief Scientist at the WHO. Key Focus: She combines scientific accuracy with storytelling, translating complex medical research into compelling public and human-interest narratives. Recent Notable Articles (Late 2025) 1. Cancer & Specialized Medical Care "Tata Memorial finds way to kill drug-resistant cancer cells" (Nov 26, 2025): Reporting on a breakthrough for triple-negative breast cancer, one of the most aggressive forms of the disease. ``Discipline, diet and purpose; How a 97-year-old professor defies ageing'' (Nov 15, 2025) Report about Prof Gururaj Mutalik, the first Head of Department at Pune's B J Government Medical College who at 97 credits his longevity to healthy habits and a strong sense of purpose. 2. Environmental Health (The "Breathless Pune" Series) "Long-term exposure even to 'moderate' air leads to chronic heart, lung, kidney issues" (Nov 26, 2025): Part of an investigative series highlighting that even "safe" pollution levels are damaging to vital organs. "For every 10 µg/m3 increase in PM2.5 level, there was 6-8% jump in medicine sales" (Nov 23, 2025): Using commercial data to prove the direct link between air quality and respiratory illnesses in Pune. 3. Lifestyle & Wellness News "They didn't let cancer, diabetes and heart disease stop them from travelling" (Dec 22, 2025): A collaborative piece featuring survivors who share practical tips for traveling with chronic conditions. ``At 17, his BP shot up to 200/120 mmHG; Lancet study flags why child and teen hypertension doubled between 2000 and 2020'' (Nov 12,2025)--A report that focusses on 17-year-old-boy's hypertensive crisis and reflects the rising global trend of high blood pressure among children and adolescents. 4. Scientific Recognition & Infrastructure "For promoting sci-comm, gender diversity: IUCAA woman prof highlighted in Nature" (Nov 25, 2025): Covering the global recognition of Indian women scientists in gender studies and physics. ``Pune researchers find a spiral galaxy like the Milky Way from early universe'' (December 3, 2025)- A report on how Indian researchers discovered a massive galaxy that existed when the universe was just 1.5 billion years old , one of the earliest to have been observed so far. Signature Beat: Health, Science & Women in Leadership Anuradha is known for her COVID-19 reportage, where she was one of the first journalists to provide detailed insights into the Covishield and Covaxin trials. She has a dedicated interest in gender diversity in health and science, often profiling women researchers who are breaking the "leaky pipeline" in STEM fields. Her writing style is scrupulous, often featuring interviews with top-tier scientists and health experts from various institutions X (Twitter): @runaanu ... Read More

Click here to join Express Pune WhatsApp channel and get a curated list of our stories

Tags:

Pune health brief: IMA Pune unit doctors join relay hunger strike, Sound Centre for Hearing Care inauguration and more

From opening of new clinics to first of its kind centres, take a look at the developments in Pune's healthcare industry this week.

– Stay updated with the latest Pune news. Follow Express Pune on Twitter here and on Facebook here. You can also join our Express Pune Telegram channel here.