The World Meteorological Organization’s State of the Climate in Asia 2024 report warns that the region is warming nearly twice as fast as the global average, driving more extreme weather and posing serious threats to lives, ecosystems, and economies. In 2024, Asia experienced its warmest or second warmest year on …
Infectious diseases remain major causes of ill health among poor people. Almost 3 billion people live on less than US$ 2 a day, and they continue to be at the greatest risk for these diseases. How can this be possible when global health funding is increasing and new drugs and …
The Comptroller and Auditor General has said there was an acute shortage of medical professionals in government medical colleges. In its audit report (civil) for the year ending March 2011, the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) said 36 per cent posts of medical professionals lies unfilled. Also, the report said …
According to this WHO annual report on tuberculosis, India has recorded about 63,000 cases of notified multi-drug resistant tuberculosis (MDR-TB) in 2010, the highest in the South East Asia region. Countries in the WHO South-East Asia (SEA) Region have made significant progress towards the TB-related Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). The …
The alarming new trend of asking patients to undergo surgery they could do without With the burgeoning of hospitals, medical malpractice has only grown. While in the past, doctors were known to prescribe a host of tests for patients and take their own time in discharging them, a new and …
The demands of traditional Asian medicine (TAM) don't just pose a threat to the survival of tigers and rhinos (Nature 480, S101–S103; 2011). Numerous smaller species are also at risk, as a result of being traded in large volumes. (Correspondence)
Although modern medicine is established in Asia, traditional medicine also plays a big role in people's healthcare — and is gaining in popularity in other countries too.
The very nature of traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) poses serious challenges in patenting intellectual property. Unlike modern medicines, which are based on newly discovered, developed or isolated chemical compounds, TCM prescriptions typically consist of mixtures of well-known plant or animal extracts. Moreover, these recipes are public knowledge, having been recorded …
The concepts of Asia's traditional medicines might sound alien to Western ears, but some of them are starting to evolve to fit scientific investigation.
The commonest test used to diagnose tuberculosis — an expensive blood test available in the form of a kit — could be one of the reasons for the rising drug resistance of the tuberculosis bacterium. The Central TB Control Division of the Health Ministry has written to the Drug Controller …
Malaria is a disease that has been with us for all of human history. Malarial parasites are known to infect all terrestrial vertebrates. They are notable for their ability to survive and develop in the environment of vectors that transmit them from host to host, spreading disease. (Editorial)
The activists opposing the commercialization of Bt brinjal have asserted that Bt brinjal would seriously affect the use of brinjal in the Alternative and Complementary Systems of Medicine (ACSM) in India, through ‘loss of synergy’. The then Minister for Environment and Forests (MoEF), Government of India (GoI), repeatedly echoed this …
Bhutan recognizes health as a prerequisite for economic and spiritual development, poverty reduction and the road to Gross National Happiness. This policy re-emphasizes and recognizes the values of democracy, which is transparency and equity in the delivery of health services.
Chronic Emergency: Why NCDs Matter examines the magnitude of the challenge posed by noncommunicable diseases (NCDs) in middle- and low-income countries, and makes the case for elevating the challenge as a priority item to address on the agenda of decision-makers. NCDs are on the rise in all middle- and low-income …
A close examination of the ongoing debates on universal access to healthcare, both in national and international fora, reveals a plurality of ideological perspectives and motivations on how universal access can be achieved. This statement, issued at the end of a recent meeting of “participant observers”, brings their insights and …
Several assets of Unani medicine are available in different languages, includ- ing Urdu, Persian and Arabic. These literary assets are easily accessible and are thus susceptible to misappropriation. The Unani system of medicine is being exploited for bio-prospecting. It is often misappropriated because it is assumed that being in public …
According to the National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine of the National Institutes of Health, USA, ‘Homeopathy is a controversial area of alternative medicine involving highly diluted preparations and its con- cepts are not consistent with well-known laws of science.’ http://www.ias.ac.in/currsci/10apr2011/977.pdf
