A road sign aimed at promoting HIV/AIDS awareness in Himachal Pradesh. Image credit: John Hill, CC BY-SA 3.0 <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0>, via Wikimedia Commons People living with HIV are potentially more susceptible to a severe clinical course of COVID-19 than those who are HIV-negative, according to a study published in The Lancet which has provided fresh insight into the link […]
Featured Stories
Hospitals and staff overwhelmed amid COVID-19 surge
A view of a hospital ward in Assam in response to the 2020 COVID-19 pandemic Image credit: AnjanBorah, CC BY-SA 4.0 <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0>, via Wikimedia Commons The initial wave of COVID-19 in India had already pushed hospitals to breaking point. The second wave has seen both daily cases and death counts triple, with many now dying […]
Malaria and COVID-19: The dual crisis continues
Last year, we prefaced our coverage of World Malaria Day with the note that “the era of COVID-19 masks the manifold health issues the world – India included – is grappling with. Malaria is among those issues – and with March 25th marking World Malaria Day, it is important to pay attention to the disease […]
“Pandora’s box” opened as COVID-19 cases surge
As cases of COVID-19 surge across India, some doctors have claimed “Pandora’s box” has opened. India’s second wave is underway, and figures now dwarf the peaks in September that saw speculation that India would rise to the most-affected nation. Such a severe second-wave is a shock considering that in early March, India’s Health Minister Dr […]
Liver disease a continuing problem
Liver disease takes many forms. Types range from alcoholic liver disease to cirrhosis to fatty liver disease, among many others. In India, many are at risk. As reported by Health Issues India in 2017, liver disease – then identified by the World Health Organization (WHO) as the tenth most common cause of death in India […]
India fails to outline pharmaceutical standard despite new research underlining the environmental importance
India’s Ministry of Environment, Forests and Climate Change has failed to outline norms for discharge standards for effluents from bulk drugs and pharmaceutical industries, due to a lack of ‘necessary information’. Home to one of the world’s largest pharmaceutical industries, India has long faced calls for regulation on effluents and runoff which have both an […]
Malaria management technology helps Mangaluru to continue decreasing case numbers
Malaria cases in Mangaluru have continued to decline thanks to malaria control system (MCS) technology that has helped to aid efforts, alongside active source reduction exercises taken in recent years against the spread of vector-borne disease. Mangaluru, a coastal city known for having endemic malaria issues for three decades, has seen malaria incidence significantly reduced […]
COVID-19 cases highest since start of pandemic
Just a few short weeks ago, experts and media outlets speculated as to whether a resurgence of COVID-19 was likely to take place in India. These fears were proven more than true as daily case counts have now reached their highest point since the start of the pandemic. A total of 103,790 new cases of […]
Delhi High Court asks Indian government to provide greater focus on rare disease
The Indian government has been asked to increase efforts to tackle rare diseases by March 31st by the Delhi High Court. Millions of people may be living with more than 7,000 illnesses categorised as rare diseases across India. With this in mind, the government has been asked to finalise and operationalise progressive policy implementation that involves […]
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 […]