This document is the second in a series of global reports describing progress towards the 2030 targets set in Ending the neglect to attain the Sustainable Development Goals: a road map for neglected tropical diseases 2021–2030. It describes a wide range of activities, accomplishments and challenges across the portfolio of …
In 1992, a viral epidemic spread through the Jheelo ki Basti of Udaipur district in Rajasthan. Healthcare facilities were limited and many children died. The scourge was finally contained only with the help of traditional healers in the area, whose kada (potion) quickly brought a frightening situation under control. The …
Pesticides have become integral part of villagers in Punjab. Bhatinda district in Punjab, an important cotton belt of the country irrigated by canal water grows largely cotton and rice crop
bird flu deaths: The number of human deaths from bird flu is soaring in Asia. The recent deaths of a 35-year-old woman and a 17-year-old boy in Vietnam took to nine the total number of human victims of the virus in the country since late December 2004. With this, at …
Amid news of bird flu killing 20 people in Vietnam and 12 in Thailand, Japan reported its first human infection of bird flu on December 22, 2004. The Japanese health ministry said the victim caught the infection while disinfecting a contaminated poultry farm earlier this year. Blood samples of 86 …
This health study was undertaken to estimate the impact of pollution on the health of the community at Medak. Its findings show that there is an overwhelming increase in most types of systemic diseases across the study group, as compared to the control group at Medak District. The study group …
Though European Union, Japan and the US account for most of nanotech research funding so far, several developing countries too nurture ambitions in the nano-world. Some of them are: taiwan: Announced a six-year, US $667 million programme to promote nanotech applications in September 2002. Its nanotechnology industry is projected to …
mulberry silkworm maggots can now offer a cheaper and simpler way to produce vaccines against two afflictions that plague the Indian livestock. Scientists from Bangalore-based Indian Institute of Science (iisc) have converted the silkworms into vaccine-producing factories by infecting them with a transgenic virus. The development is significant, as the …
Struggling with non-communicable diseases, the WHO and Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) set up a study group in January 2002 to discuss the problem with health and agriculture experts. The result was TRS 916, a technical report. It says that calories from sugar should form 10 per cent of the …
WHO has time and again said that the strategy is based on scientific evidence, successful campaigns against NCDs in several countries and on recommendations from health and nutrition experts from across the globe. But the sugar and food industry and their lobbyists have tried to discredit the strategy by saying …
Obesity has become a worldwide concern because people in each and every nation are falling prey to it. WHO defines obesity as a body mass index (BMI) of at least 30 kg/m2 and overweight as a BMI of at least 25 kg/m2 (BMI is calculated by weight in kg divided …
On May 18, 2004, when governments of 192 World Health Organization (WHO) member countries gather at Geneva for the world health assembly, one Mrs Sharma in one town, Jabalpur perhaps, will be making her way purposefully to the new swanky fast food joint in Sadar Bazar. As she delightfully feeds …
The current influenza epidemic in the us, the avian flu and severe acute respiratory syndrome (sars) in Southeast Asia are infectious diseases that have rapidly evolved, taking national and global health systems by surprise. Such infections emerge in one corner of the globe and hitchhike into new areas, often causing …
Bird Flu Outbreak Avian influenza (ai) is spiralling out of control in Asia. So also is the spin being put to the disease. There was the spectacle of Thailand prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra and his entire cabinet feasting on a smorgasbord of chicken to ease public concern over the ai …
genetically modified (gm) insects are being developed at a fast pace for a variety of purposes, but the us government fails to develop a regulatory framework to review the safety of releasing the transgenic beings into the environment. This concern has been raised in a report of the Pew Initiative …
Kicking the soft drink habit is a critical step for achieving lasting health and weight loss. Avoiding soft drinks can literally transform the health and cause to lose weight, reverse symptoms of diabetes, enhance bone density, support healthy brain function and even protect the body's nervous system. Until now, however, …
Clearly, a cat's waste is an otter's poison. Southern sea otters in their prime are dying in huge numbers off the California coast in the us due to a mysterious disease that marine biologists think can be linked to cat faeces in the sewage dumped into the ocean. Scientists at …
India is the shining star in the global battle to eradicate smallpox. It is also a branded villain as far as polio is concerned. How is it that we managed so well against a disease more virulent than polio? Why does Uttar Pradesh today contribute to about 88 per cent …
