June 15 2019 INL_Digital_Edition

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JUNE 15, 2019
Communitylink
Spiritual Master to outline Leadership qualities
Venkat Raman
An internationally renowned philosopher
and orator is to deliver a series
of lectures on leadership qualities in
Auckland next fortnight.
Madathumkandy (M K) Angajan, who
relates modern management principles and
concepts to Vedanta, will speak on ‘20 Qualities
of a Leader’ from June 17 to June 19, 2019 in
Auckland.
Lectures in Auckland
Organised by the Auckland based New Zealand
Vedanta Society, the first of the Lectures
will be held on Monday, June 17, 2019 from 730
pm to 9 pm at the Hillsborough Room, Fickling
Convention Centre, 546 Mount Albert Road,
Three Kings.
The second and third talks will be held
from 730 pm to 9 pm on Tuesday, June 18 and
Wednesday, June 19, 2019 at Mount Roskill War
Memorial Hall, 13 May Road, Mount Roskill.
The lectures in English will be based on the
Third Chapter of the Bhagavad Geeta.
Admission is free and open to all.
“Attending the lectures will enable people to
enhance their knowledge on the Art of Living,
thereby improving their standard of life and
happiness. This will be an investment to yield
value of time spent. The effort will therefore be
rewarding,” Event Convenors Rajendran (Raj)
and Shanta Naidu said
Mr Angajan is no stranger to New Zealand
(he is an annual visitor) and has captured
the attention of hundreds of people with his
sound knowledge of the Hindu Holy Scriptures
and the ability to connect to ordinary people
Madathumkandy (M K) Angajan (File Picture)
Flu Vaccine stock runs low as
demand peaks
Farah Hancock
Are free flu shots
targeted to the right
people?
School children,
sometimes described as
walking ‘petri dishes,’ might
be a double-whammy win for
influenza reduction.
As Australia suffers a
terrible season of influenza
which has already killed more
than 100 people, news broke
New Zealand has a vaccine
shortage.
Last year, 1.3 million doses
of the influenza vaccine were
distributed.
Just a week into this year’s
flu season and 1.26 million doses
have been sold and national
stocks are running low.
Pharmac has said that it is
unlikely more will be able to be
sourced.
Health providers are now
being asked to target the
vaccines they have left to those
most at risk.
These are pregnant women,
the elderly, and those with
chronic illnesses. For these
people the vaccine is publicly
funded.
Deaths in Auckland
To date, three Aucklanders
have died from influenza: a
12-year-old, a 20-year-old and
a 62-year-old, and there’s a
spike in doctor visits of people
suffering influenza symptoms.
Annually, it is estimated that
influenza kills around 500 New
Zealanders, either directly or
from complications such as
pneumonia, or respiratory or
cardiac issues.
In the 2018 flu season,
majority of people hospitalised
were under 65. A third were
hospitalised and half of those
who ended up in intensive care
had no pre-existing conditions.
The previous flu season was
markedly different. The influenza
virus strain circulating
affected older people more. In
2017, it was mostly those over
65 and with pre-existing conditions
who were hospitalised.
Image Courtesy: The Nelson Daily
Who responds best to the
vaccine?
While a person over 65
might be most vulnerable to
particular strains of influenza
virus, there is a chance a
vaccine won’t be as effective
for them as it would be for a
younger person.
As we age our immune
system wanes. A 10-year-old’s
body will often do a far better
job developing antibodies to a
virus than a 65-year-old’s body.
There’s a case to be made
for immunising school-aged
children to protect them as well
as reduce the overall rate of
influenza circulating.
University of Otago Public
Health Specialist Professor
Michael Baker said this is
happening in some overseas
countries such as the United
Kingdom.
“That is a huge shift in thinking
to a population protective
effect.”
Varying effectiveness
Unlike the measles vaccine,
which is 97% effective, the
yearly influenza vaccine varies
in effectiveness. Influenza
viruses have the ability to mutate.
Each year vaccine makers
try to stay one step ahead of the
coming flu season and choose
four strains most likely to
circulate.
Sometimes this works well,
other times it doesn’t.
Effectiveness rates can vary
between 30 and 65 percent.
Traditionally this has meant
individual protection has
been the focus of vaccination
programmes.
“With influenza, because the
vaccine is still only moderately
effective, the philosophy has
been to give it to the most
vulnerable. The next step in
thinking is you also give it to
people who spread it a lot,
like little kids. Then you get a
population protective effect
and you’re dampening down
transmission, the bonus effect
of protecting the recipient, and
reducing circulation,” Professor
Baker said.
The vaccine shortage
Pharmac is responsible for
purchasing flu vaccines for
the country and works with
the supplier to determine the
number of doses needed for the
following year.
The shortage is the second
time in months there has
been vaccine issues. In March,
Christchurch ran low on
measles vaccines in the middle
of an outbreak.
Unlike measles, the influenza
vaccine is reformulated each
year based on predicted virus
strains. There’s a lead time of
several months to make the
vaccine.
Farah Hancock is a
Newsroom Reporter based
in Auckland who writes on
conservation, technology and
health. The above Report (is
a highly edited version- full
text at www.indiannewslink.
co.nz) has been published
under a Special Arrangement
with Newsroom.
discussing their day-to-day challenges and
problems.
About M K Angajan
Mr Angajan established the ‘Life Mastery
Foundation,’ dedicated to the study, research
and dissemination of value education, principal-cantered
living, life skills and higher human
values encompassing philosophical, cultural,
moral and educational spheres.
Through the Foundation, he helps people
globally from all walks of life, to overcome
depression, enhance their Happiness Quotient,
and combine dynamic action with mental
peace; balance high ambition and performance
without the frustration.
For more than 30 years, Mr Angajan has
been deeply involved in the study of Vedanta
and Hindu scriptures, Management 7 Leadership
Philosophy, life mastery, human values
and the human mind.
Enlightened Coach
He is an enthralling keynote speaker
and has presided at several prestigious
events and conferences all over the world.
He has coached business leaders, inspired
entrepreneurs, youth and students to
optimise their performance and lead a life
of fulfilment.
His natural curiosity and desire to
seek answers to greater questions of life,
universe and timeless unchanging knowledge
of the self and spirituality, inspired
him to switch from a flourishing career in
Electronics Engineering to the philosophy
of Vedanta, the time-tested knowledge of
life and living.
Inspiring Entrepreneurs
Mr Angajan’s books, ‘Value System for
Success’ and ‘From Gods to Godhead,’ audio
books, CDs and DVDs on various topics
have received world recognition.
His scientific rationale, practical
approach and passionate presentation
grounded by wisdom, expertise and
humour has earned him the patronage
of many Fortune 500 Companies and
international schools of business.
They include IBM, Toyota, Eskom, BP,
MDRT, PricewaterhouseCoopers, Multichoice,
Standard Bank, VW, TATA, Reserve
Bank of India, Nedbank, Indian Institute of
Management, Hindustan Petroleum, Legal
Aid Board, Larsen & Tubro, Old Mutual and
Chambers of Commerce.
St John School Programme promotes safety
Supplied Content
Every week more than 135 children
are hospitalised in New Zealand for
a range of unintentional injuries – of
which more than half are due to falls.
During the month of May, more than
12,000 primary school students throughout
the country have been learning how to
prevent these types of injuries, through the
ASB St John in Schools Programme.
Leading injury causes
The ‘Make it Safe May’ injury prevention
modules, developed by St John in partnership
with ACC, focus on the four leading causes of
child injury requiring hospitalisation: burns,
poison, falls/slips and drowning.
On average, St John treats and transports
more than 70 children (aged 0-18) to a medical
facility or hospital each week, due to falls or
slips.
Fractures make up more than a quarter of
these incidents. Other weekly child hospital
admissions include non-traffic transport like
falling off skateboards (12), sharp objects (7),
poisons (5) and hot objects (4). In addition, one
child is hospitalised every two weeks due to a
water incident.
“St John is called to far too many
preventable incidents involving children.
We have been working with ACC to deliver
bespoke modules with the hope of reducing
the number of child hospital admissions due
to unintentional injury,” St John Director of
Community Health Services Sarah Manley
said.
Last year alone, St John treated and transported
more than 3,300 children to medical
clinics or to hospital, due to falls and slips.
“We have been coaching Kiwi kids how to
avoid these common incidents by teaching
them how to identify potential risks at home
and at school, how to make safe decisions, the
importance of knowing what we put in our
mouths and keeping dangerous items out of
reach,” Ms Manley said.
Interactive online facility
In conjunction with Make it Safe May, St
John and ACC developed an interactive online
activity to teach children about understanding
how to make their home safe. This is now
available for free at: www.stjohn.org.nz/
safetychamp.
ACC’s Head of Injury Prevention, Isaac
Carlson said that educating children on injury
prevention is one of several initiatives critical
to changing behaviour around being safe and
taking measured risk.
“As children gain the skills to identify
hazards in real life situations they learn to
asses and respond to risks. The more they do
that the more they learn to manage risk well.
What they gain is a life-long skill - not only for
Further information can be obtained from Raj and Shanta
Naidu on (09) 8286785 or 021- 02500197; 021-0303645;
Subbiah on 021-2050347; Suresh on 022-10661.
St John at Wiri Central School in South Auckland
St John’s Bandage Exercise Programme
their benefit, but for the benefit of their families
and communities as well,” he said.
St John recently presented Wiri Central School
in South Auckland with an AED, following a lucky
draw for schools which participated in the injury
prevention modules.
Maori high on admissions
According to ‘Safekids Aotearoa,’ Māori are
over-represented in paediatric hospital admissions,
with 29% percent of all child unintentional
injury admissions being Māori children. About 40
Tamariki Māori are hospitalised each week from
unintentional injury.
To help reduce these statistics, St John is now
looking into how to translate the injury prevention
modules into Te Reo Māori.
Primary schools interested in the ASB St John
in Schools programme can find out more and
contact St John online at www.stjohn.org.nz/
schools.
About ASB St John in Schools programme
The ASB St John in Schools programme
provides pre-school and school-aged children
with the skills and confidence to take action in
response to an emergency situation.
St John Community Educators teach young
people first aid basics and knowledge to take
responsibility for their own health and wellbeing,
along with those around them.
St John tutors teach different skills to different
age groups offering four modules: Responding
in an Emergency, Injury Prevention, Disaster
Preparedness and Camping.
St John Community Educators have taught in
Māori and Samoan immersion classes.
Short educational videos for assisting in
learning have been developed.
With support from ACC, the common goal is
to deliver to a total of one million New Zealand
students (pre-school through to intermediate) by
2023.