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 […]
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Promising antiviral pill could cut hospitalisations by half
This must have been (maybe still is) a recurring dream among thousands the world over helpless and frustrated by the isolation of COVID-19 lockdowns during dark winter nights and steamy summer afternoons: A little pill that liberates when popped at the outset of the modern-day plague. Well, it could be happening soon. Pharma major Merck […]
EU putting weight behind Ethiopia’s Tedros for second WHO DG term
Tedros 2.0? German government sources told Reuters on 23 September that Berlin would officially nominate Tedros as the Director General (DG) of the World Health Organization (WHO) for the second time around and was seeking support from other European Union (EU) member states. At least 17 EU states have said they would also submit his […]
Global heating will make you ill — just not how you think it will
Coming as it does at a time when COVID-19 resolutely refuses to pack up and go away, the 2021 United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP26) in Glasgow this November will likely discuss not only international climate action but the impact of climate on health issues as well. As the Lancet Countdown 2020 Report explained, no continent, country, or community is immune from […]
Pandemic preparedness: better late than never
Billion-dollar plan Almost as if to make up for the lost Trump year during the pandemic, the White House has put together an ambitious new plan with a $65.3 billion price tag that could transform the way the United States responds to pandemics by vastly accelerating vaccine development, testing, and production. But is the plan […]
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 […]
Land degradation a continuing crisis
In spite of assurances from the Prime Minister, India’s issue with land degradation seems to only continue to worsen. According to the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO), land degradation affects approximately 29.7 percent of the country’s total geographical area. During the 2018-19 period, an estimated 97.85 million hectares of India’s land underwent degradation per the […]
Global health today: Tedros, COVID in Indonesia, and a million more COVID cases by 2022?
This is the first 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. Another term for Tedros? To use a well-worn cliché, the Director-General (DG) of the World Health Organization (WHO) is […]
Vaccine drive crosses 55 crore, unused doses remain
According to a provisional report, India’s vaccine drive surpassed the milestone of administering 55 crore and set a record in the last 24 hours. However, many vaccine doses provided to states and union territories remain unused. The past 24 hours saw 88.13 lakh doses administered, taking the cumulative number of shots in arms to 554,730,609 […]
100 million more? Stark warning on fresh COVID-19 cases
Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, director-general of the World Health Organization (WHO), issued a frank and alarming warning about the potential for fresh COVID-19 cases to exceed 100 million by early 2022 – taking the total caseload to 300 million and counting. His warning came just a week after the global case count surpassed 200 million, […]