Pollution may have reached emergency proportions in Delhi, but it has not dissuaded a record number of people signing up to compete in its half marathon tomorrow. The Airtel Delhi Half Marathon this year has witnessed 40,633 people sign up, despite the numerous health risks of running in such conditions. Exposure to pollutants such as […]
National
NMC penalises hospitals for dumping medical waste
A total of 23 hospitals and clinics have been penalised by the nuisance detection squad of the Nagpur Municipal Corporation (NMC), which has issued fines to the tune of Rs 2.19 lakh for improper dumping of biomedical waste. Such dumping is a major pollution and sanitation issue in India. Hundreds of tonnes of medical waste […]
Delhi a ‘gas chamber’ once more. Crop burning to blame?
Pollution has once again turned the national capital into a ‘gas chamber’ according to Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal – and he says that crop burning in neighbouring states is to blame. Every year, paddy field farmers burn between seven and eight million tonnes of crop waste, principally in Haryana and Punjab. Crop burning has been […]
TB in India: Fewer cases but still the most in the world
Tuberculosis (TB) in India continues to be a major public health burden, even as cases have decreased. This is according to the latest World Health Organization (WHO) report on TB, launched earlier this week, which provides an overview of how the world is tackling one of its dominant infectious disease challenges. The news is not […]
Sex discrimination and women in the workforce
Endemic sex discrimination takes its toll on the Indian economy, with the absence of women in the workforce, an imbalanced sex ratio, and social prejudices holding back a boon for India’s GDP. According to a report published recently in The Print, almost 120 million women who have at least a secondary education do not participate […]
Hospital admissions: Nine every minute under Ayushman Bharat
In its first year, Ayushman Bharat led to nine hospital admissions every minute for those covered under the scheme. Ayushman Bharat, or the Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana (PMJAY), has allowed beneficiaries to avail fifty lakh treatments according to Union Health Minister Dr Harsh Vardhan. “The Ayushman Bharat family is growing by leaps and bounds,” […]
Anti-rabies vaccine: Delhi gets a shot in the arm
The Delhi government will procure 80,000 vials of the anti-rabies vaccine to address shortages statewide. The Cabinet approved the decision, including an ex-post facto approval of an earlier decision to purchase 40,000 doses of the anti-rabies vaccine. The procurement will take place on an emergency single-bid basis, as shortages in hospitals have been reported throughout […]
More women are smoking in Hyderabad – and lung cancer cases are on the rise
In 2018, lung cancer killed 18,112 women in India with 19,097 new cases diagnosed among them. In Telangana, where cancer cases have sharply increased since 1990, state capital Hyderabad offers a warning sign to women who use tobacco: the majority of lung cancer cases in the city occur among women who smoke. According to a […]
Suspected dengue fever leads to 2,000 hospitalisations in Mumbai after monsoon
Almost 2,000 Mumbai residents were hospitalised with suspected dengue fever in the beginning of October, amidst the withdrawal of monsoon rains. The first fifteen days of October marked a slight spike in cases of suspected dengue fever compared to the same period in September. In total, 1,970 suspected dengue fever cases have been reported in […]
Blood supply in India does not meet demand
The global health community needs to rethink its estimation of how much blood a country needs to match demand, according to a study published today in The Lancet Haematology. For India, there is much to take away from the findings which, for the first time, estimate the gap between blood supply and demand worldwide. “An […]