With Covid-19 figures generally heading south (touchwood and all that!), the big news of the week focussed on older ailments with the bat virus being replaced by the unfriendly neighbourhood mosquito. More than 130 years after the naming of the Plasmodium parasites behind malaria, the world now has its first approved vaccine against them. Many malaria researchers […]
Featured Stories
Five must-know facts about monsoons and climate change
The UN’s latest major climate report published by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) – the IPCC WG1 – evidence displaying the “physical science basis” for climate change’s effect on monsoons. India, like many countries, relies on this seasonal rainfall for the sustenance of livelihoods, food supplies, and the upkeep of ways of life […]
Global health news: The latest
It’s going to take years for the world to come to grips with the impact of COVID-19. Moving slightly away from the immediate effect of the disease, there are numerous medical issues that have arisen during the pandemic. Shortages in hospital facilities and medical personnel are most prominent among them. This has, in turn, led […]
IP and breakthrough infections: Global Health Today
This is the third in a series of newsletters, offering the expert insight of Lalita Panicker – consulting editor, views, Hindustan Times, New Delhi – into some of the most pressing health issues of the day. This edition highlights vaccines – specifically, the IP debate and so-called breakthrough infections. To read the first, click here. COVID-19 […]
Leaded fuel a thing of the past
The world has reached “a milestone of multiculturalism”, the United Nations announced this week, as Algeria became the final country to cease offering leaded fuel to drivers. The news has been hailed by UN Secretary-General António Guterres, who said “lead in fuel has run out of gas – thanks to the cooperation of governments in […]
A startling surge in hypertension
Hypertension, or high blood pressure, is growing at an alarming rate worldwide according to recent data published in The Lancet. The research – accessible here – found that the number of individuals living with hypertension doubled in the last three decades. The world’s hypertensive population now exceeds 1.2 billion, with researchers sounding the alarm on […]
Booster shots, the polio programme: Global Health Today
This is the second in a series of newsletters, offering the expert insight of Lalita Panicker – consulting editor, views, Hindustan Times, New Delhi – into some of the most pressing health issues of the day. To read the first, click here. Booster shots: To boost or not to boost Faced with a rising tide […]
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 […]
Senior citizens: Our moral duty to them
It is no secret that India is home to an ageing population. This World Senior Citizens Day, it is worth taking a breath to appraise the health of our seniors and to consider how the pandemic has affected them. As of 2019, older persons – those aged sixty or over – number at 139 million […]
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 […]