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 […]
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India may be a hotspot for future zoonotic disease
The State of the World’s Forests 2022 report has cited India and China as the two most likely hotspots for the emergence of future zoonotic diseases. Zoonotic diseases are defined as those that spread from animals to humans. The most prominent example of this in recent years is COVID-19, thought to have potentially originated from […]
COVID-19 cases begin to rise once more in Delhi
COVID-19 cases are once again rising in Delhi, said Health Minister Satyendar Jain on Thursday. While COVID-19 cases have increased in the capital, it has been reported that people are not developing severe disease and the hospitalisation rate is low. Given the severity of lockdowns in neighbouring China following outbreaks in cities such as Shanghai, […]
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 […]
A TB-free India by 2025? Health Minister reaffirms commitment
Marking World Tuberculosis Day Union Health Minister Mansukh Mandaviya has once again reaffirmed the Indian Government’s commitment to making India tuberculosis (TB) free by 2025. “Tuberculosis is a preventable & treatable disease. On World TB Day, we reaffirm commitment to make India TB-free by 2025 by ensuring access to quality healthcare & advanced treatment. Together […]
A big push for AI in India?
The Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare has signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) between the Centre and groups representing private companies to develop an artificial intelligence (AI) tool to track disease outbreaks in the country. “We plan to use artificial intelligence in a big way in public health. This is the first step […]
Interview: Anjali Gopalan
Interview with health activist Anjali Gopalan May 2016 The lessons learnt in the 1990s from securing access to antiretroviral medicines to treat HIV and AIDS highlight the role of patients in demanding better access to life-saving medicines. As India, like many other growing economies, faces new, deadly diseases like diabetes, cancer and heart disease, Anjali […]
India accounts for more than half of all leprosy cases
A new report by the World Health Organization (WHO) has indicated that India accounts for more than half of the world’s leprosy cases. This comes despite an announcement by the Indian Government that the country was leprosy-free as of 2005. According to the National Leprosy Eradication Programme (NLEP) report, a total of 65,147 new […]
Does Omicron mean an endemic COVID-19?
COVID-19 becoming an endemic condition has been discussed as an eventuality since the start of the pandemic. Omicron, with the assumption that cases are often less severe, may be the start of this. Given the virality of COVID-19 – and the sheer number of conditions and pace at which it spread – it was always […]
“variant of concern” emerges; the latest health stories from around the world
There is a new version of COVID-19 and the World Health Organisation has labelled it a “variant of concern.” First identified in South Africa on 25 November, preliminary evidence suggests that it carries a greater risk of reinfection than other strains. (www.economist.com/science-and-technology/2021/11/26/a-new-covid-19-variant-has-emerged) Just a day after its emergence, the world turned hyper. The EU imposed […]