Good Food is First Food. It is not junk food. It is the food that connects nature and nutrition with livelihoods. This food is good for our health; it comes from the rich biodiversity of our regions; it provides employment to people. Most importantly, cooking and eating give us pleasure. …
The European Union (eu) has proposed to amend the 40-year-old Common Agricultural Policy (cap). Under the proposal, subsidies will be granted to farmers on the basis of their observing public health, safety and environmental norms. This is in contrast to the existing system wherein farmers receive sops on the basis …
Malaria is back with a bang in East Africa. Its latest victim is Kenya, where the epidemic has killed at least 294 people since June 2002. According to estimates, more than 158,000 cases of the disease have been reported in the country's western highlands. The large number of malaria-related deaths …
Driven by personal trauma, Kanak Mani Dixit, the editor of a Kathmandu-based magazine Himal, had launched a campaign against spinal injuries in April 2002. Then, on July 12, he undertook a 1,200-kilometre journey across three nations in a Volkswagen Beetle to raise funds for the cause. Dixit had met with …
An hiv/aids catastrophe is staring China in the face. A un report warns that spread of the virus in the country could result in unimaginable human suffering, economic loss and social devastation. The report revealed that by the end of 2001, 0.8 million to 1.5 million Chinese were infected with …
europe has been declared polio-free. For some 870 million people living in the region's 51 member states, this declaration is an important public health milestone in the new millennium. The European Regional Commission for the Certification of the Eradication of Poliomyelitis confirmed that the disease had been eradicated in the …
The almost exclusive focus on the multiple violent insurgencies in Assam has ensured that no other issue catches the policymakers' eye. Fluorosis is not even a perceived threat in Assamese society, even as it slowly assumes uncontrollable proportions. Today, over 100,000 people in Assam suffer from hydrofluorosis
after months of speculation, the us Food and Drug Administration (fda) has finally decided to retain its rule which makes it mandatory for all drug makers to conduct paediatric trials. The agency came under fire from public health groups and lawmakers recently when it announced plans to suspend the paediatric …
As a preventive measure, Westchester county near Manhattan in the US will hand out anti-radiation tablets to people living near the Indian Point nuclear power plant. The pills (potassium iodide) are supposed to protect the residents from possible radiation exposure, if an emergency arises. There are growing concerns about Indian …
the ritual drama of cleaning up of the sewer that passes off as the Yamuna has been enacted this year too. Delhi chief minister Shiela Dixit, gingerly balanced on a rock, wielding a stick dipped in the river, made for a nice media splash. Soon after, the vip retinue left …
in a valiant attempt to reduce inequalities in healthcare between rich and poor nations, the World Health Organisation (who) has suggested a strategy to help developing countries benefit from new discoveries in genetic research. The suggestions were made in a recently released who report called Genomics and World Health. The …
Iraq has accused Britain and the us of not only causing cancer but also blocking medical supplies crucial to the treatment of cancer to its people. In a letter to un secretary-general Kofi Annan, Iraqi foreign minister Naji Sabri said depleted uranium ammunition used by the us-led forces during the …
union health minister C P Thakur recently announced a plan to commercialise the farming of musk deer for medicinal purposes. To execute this plan, he proposes to set up captive breeding centres in Jammu, Himachal Pradesh and in certain areas of Uttaranchal. Musk, an aromatic secretion from the male Himalayan …
To protect the health of its citizens, Singapore may tighten its automobile emission standards to the Euro III level immediately. These tougher standards will help limit fine particulate matter. Though a steep registration fee helped restrict the number of automobiles and motorbikes in Singapore to 708,370 last year, land transportation …
Arunachal Pradesh, though one of the less explored areas in India, is known for its breathtaking natural beauty, distinctive culture and tradition, as also its abundant natural resources. This inspiring beauty is, however, blemished by many inequities, not least of which is the sorry state of the women here. The …
an improved formulation of oral rehydration solution (ors) has been recently approved by the World Health Organisation (who) and the United Nations Children's Fund (unicef). It is soon going to be endorsed by the Indian government. The new formulation has the same constituents as the old one
The apex court's latest order (Justices Kirpal, Khare and Bhan) in the compressed natural gas (cng) case is literally a whiff of fresh air. The court not only stands firm in its commitment to provide clean air to the residents of Delhi, despite persistent and determined attempts to derail the …
A recent television advertisement for bpl India, the mobile phone service provider, caused some consternation among the Indian health fraternity. A man waiting at a bus stop receives a call on his cellphone. As he smiles, the pandemonium around him, the noise of a drilling machine, and the honking of …
THE contagion appears to have been contained before it could assume epidemic proportions. But it has still claimed four lives. The recent outbreak of plague in the Rohru-Jubbal belt of Himachal Pradesh (HP) highlights how a surveillance mechanism is conspicuously absent in India. While the disease is said to have …
