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 …
celera genomics, the private company to map the human genome, has now come up with the map of the common laboratory mouse. The company has decided to sell the genetic information for a price, rather than putting it in the public domain. Eugene W Myers, the company's vice-president for informatics …
Why have we been witnessing so many different communicable diseases recently? Increase in population has given rise to densely inhabited areas leading to poor sanitation. This gives perfect opportunities to microbes to spread. Along with this is the problem of malnutrition, which sometimes goes hand in hand with the increase …
To contain the spread of foot-and-mouth disease, Indonesia has banned the import of leather goods from Argentina and France. The country's agriculture department issued the ban and said that it would lift the ban only after Argentina and France are declared free from the highly contagious disease (see Down To …
While older women run a higher risk of having babies with birth defects, it has long been presumed the age of men does not cause the deformities. Think again. A new study, conducted by the New York School of Medicine, USA, says older fathers are more likely to have children …
Uk 's woes with the foot-and-mouth disease just don't seem to end. A man suspected of having contracted the human form of the disease is being investigated in northern England. The suspected victima resident of Cumbriathe centre of the foot-and-mouth epidemic sweeping the ukhad been slaughtering farm animals infected with …
the UK government's indifferent attitude regarding the ongoing controversy about insurance on the basis of genetic testing is creating more confusion, says a report released by the House of Commons' Science and Technology Committee. The government had said that the insurers themselves should be able to use the information available …
With the emergence of vector-borne diseases, population pressure and unhealthy living conditions, a very focussed approach and long-term planning is needed in disease control. If all human-made changes and pressure of unscientific exploitation of natural resources are not halted, the planet Earth will not remain a habitable place. The case …
the Bihar government has been spending over Rs 2.22 crore annually for 17 years on the salary of those employed in its small pox eradication programme though the world was declared free from the disease in 1984. The staff of the programme is getting salary for sitting idle, according to …
following an outbreak of the foot-and-mouth (fmd) disease and the authorities' incapability to handle the situation, the Indian meat exports have declined dramatically
In a bid to protect its beef exportsthe Argentine government concealed an outbreak of the foot-and-mouth disease for monthsaccording to media reports. This disclosure was followed by an immediate ban of Argentine beef by the usthe European Union and other countries. The country's agriculture minister and the head of the …
vinod Prakash Sharma, an expert on malaria, has bagged the Green Scientist Award 2001 for his work on bioenvironmental control of malaria. The Centre for Science and Environment (cse), a New Delhi-based non-governmental organisation, has instituted the award that carries a citation and a cash prize of Rs 1 lakh. …
Rural health care system in China has disintegrated, increasing the cost of treatment by 400-500 per cent from 1990 to 1997, states a United Nations report. Healthcare in several rural areas is so expensive that residents suffer from chronic infections and risk childbirth at home. They have stopped seeing doctors …
Human anthrax in India may be linked to the falling vulture population believe wildlife scientists in India. Animal anthrax remains endemic in India because of inadequate vaccination. The lack of cooperation from farmers has kept livestock susceptible to the infection. Over the past two years epidemiologists at the National Institute …
a mystery disease afflicted Siliguri in West Bengal in February, 2001 and claimed 39 lives. The disease, with symptoms such as high fever, respiratory problems and paralysis, caught the city's medical and civic system unaware. As the panic spread, shops and schools were closed. "The situation got worse when doctors …
In all 35 people have died and now the authorities in Siliguri say it is due to a mutated form of measles. When 10 staffers died in a local hospital it was supposed to be encephalitis or a new form of malaria. In short the authorities have sent samples for …
It's a medical equivalent of tracking a pathological killer and his method. US-based researchers have sequenced the genome of a potentially deadly strain of Escherichia coli 0157 , a bacterium that causes a variety of ailments, like urinary tract infections , diarrhoea and neonatal meningitis. It is mainly transmitted through …
the sea squirt, a marine animal that looks like grapes, is being cultured to provide treatment for cancer. It contains ecteinascidin-743, the compound being tested as an anticancer agent. Besides other aquatic regions, the sea squirt is also found in the Indian Ocean. Its population is too small to meet …
euthanasia or physician-assisted suicide has been legalised for the first time in world history by the Netherlands government. The second chamber of the country's parliament passed a bill to this effect by a vote of 104 to 40. Starting from next year, when the bill will be enforced, doctors will …
