For the first time since 2019, the glitterati of geopolitics gathered recently at the Raisina Dialogue in New Delhi. Why, I asked a senior Indian diplomat, did most of them fail to even mention health. Had they learned nothing from the pandemic? The pandemic, he thought, was the problem. “They’ve had over two years of being forced […]
Access to Healthcare
No mixing vaccines for COVID-19 boosters
A new study by Christian Medical College (CMC) Vellore has suggested that mixing vaccines for COVID-19 shows a mixed result depending on the initial vaccination schedule, presenting programmatic challenges moving forward. The government, in light of this newfound data, has suggested that they may not allow booster doses of COVID-19 vaccines other than the one […]
A third of the world have not had a single COVID-19 vaccination; the latest health stories from around the world
Sixteen months since the COVID-19 vaccination drive began and a third of the world’s population hasn’t yet received a single dose of the vaccine. A shocking 83 percent of all Africans are in the same boat, said the head of the World Health Organization (WHO) on 30 March. Meanwhile last week the total number of […]
Online plea for help with rare disease
A recent article published in The New York Times has shed light on a rare disease case in India, one in which the family is now struggling to raise a shocking total of 2.1 million USD via social media before their daughter turns two years old. The Praveen family’s fourteen month-old daughter, Ellen, was rushed […]
Using Fewer Antibiotics Isn’t Always the Best Way to Curb Resistance
This article is taken from European Biopharmaceutical Review April 2022, pages 23-26. © Samedan Ltd While the over-prescription of antibiotics is causing increasing levels of antimicrobial resistance (AMR) within the developed world, the lack of access to treatments in lower income countries is just as much of a global concern By Mark Chataway at Hyderus […]
International HPV Awareness Day 2022 – an interview with Benda Kithaka, KILELE Health, Kenya
The international HPV awareness day is observed each year to sensitise the global audience on the value of prevention, screening, diagnosis and treatment of human papillomavirus. These efforts aim to increase awareness and reduce stigma around the disease, thereby eliminating it and lowering the cervical cancer burden. In Africa, HPV is a highly prevalent virus […]
Why developing countries might do better than rich ones in using new cancer discoveries
Here’s a controversial view: the world can make real headway in the fight against cancer in the developing world over the next decade. In fact, some lower middle income countries will do better than their richer counterparts in adapting to the way that cancer treatment is likely to change. Things are terrible now I might […]
Intellectual property in the era of COVID-19
Much of the conversation surrounding the COVID-19 pandemic in recent months has focused on access to vaccines – specifically, vaccine accesses in low- and middle-income countries. But to what extent is re-examining intellectual property (IP) rights part of the solution? As Health Issues India reported in May, “patent waivers for COVID-19 vaccines have been offered […]
Child healthcare needs a boost
Recent figures reveal a huge gap in child healthcare in India, at a time when experts warn of the vulnerabilities of young people to COVID-19 in a looming third wave. Experts expressed misgivings about a severe deficit in child healthcare at primary health centres and community health centres. Per data shared by a parliamentary standing […]
Transplant waiting list only gets longer
For many, life continues to be hard as they wait on the organ donation transplant waiting list. Not being able to access a life-saving organ transplant is not the case the entirety of the time. The family of a brain-dead man in Maharashtra gave doctors the go-ahead to donate his organs, offering hope to patients […]