UNAIDS has issued a sharp warning about the consequences of one pandemic on another: COVID-19 has significantly disrupted the global fight against HIV/AIDS. Yet that is not the sole reason why we are falling behind in combating the HIV/AIDS crisis – already we were off-track. “The global aggregate of country data reported to UNAIDS shows […]
Science and Technology
HIV/AIDS medicines: COVID hits access
Lost access to HIV/AIDS medicines is no less than a matter of life and death for those affected – but the COVID-19 pandemic has imperilled access to such drugs and, in turn, the lives of those living with HIV/AIDS. This week marks the 23rd bi-annual International AIDS Conference. The event “provides a platform for discussing […]
Progeria: The importance of raising awareness and hope
Earlier this year, I wrote about the efforts of the Progeria Research Foundation to offer new hope to children affected by the rare disease progeria, by boosting access to the drug lonafarnib. To better understand the lives of those affected progeria and the work of the Progeria Research Foundation, I interviewed Audrey Gordon, President and […]
Critical COVID-19: Bad news for heart health
Critical cases of COVID-19, warranting admission to the intensive care unit (ICU), could pose a danger to heart health. Patients admitted to the ICU with COVID-19 – the disease caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) or, simply, the coronavirus – are ten times more likely to develop heart health complications such as […]
Retinopathy boon in Guwahati
Researchers from the Indian Institute of Technology, Guwahati (IIT-G) in Assam have developed a new device for non-invasive detection of diabetic retinopathy. The point-of-care device was developed by the researchers in collaboration with Sankaradeva Nethralaya Guwahati. The research, funded by the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) and the Ministries of Human Resource and Development […]
Digital technology: Boon or bane for kids?
In late March, the Government elected to impose a wholescale lockdown in India to facilitate physical distancing. Similar measures are being enacted worldwide. While lockdown is being eased in many parts of the country, a return to normalcy seems a way off. One effect of the pandemic and ensuing physical distancing measures researchers are flagging […]
The COVID crisis continues in India
India’s COVID crisis continues, as cases of the disease continue to surge. Early on in the pandemic, India was ostensibly mildly affected in comparison to other nations. The situation has altered dramatically since. Even with the imposition of a lengthy, wholescale lockdown countrywide in late March (one since relaxed in many areas of the country), […]
Desertification: The decay of the land
Desertification is perhaps not as widely publicised an environmental issue as others, but this does not take away from the severity of the threat it poses – that of a fundamental threat to our way of life. India is beset by a plethora of environmental issues – desertification looms among them. As defined in a […]
Lancet retracts controversial HCQ study
The authors of a controversial study concerning hydroxychloroquine (HCQ) and its use in the treatment of COVID-19 have retracted it. “After publication…several concerns were raised with respect to the veracity of the data and analyses conducted by Surgisphere Corporation and its founder and our co-author, Sapan Desai, in our publication,” three of the study authors […]
Environmentalism in a time of COVID
Last year, Time magazine named Greta Thunberg their Person of the Year. The now-seventeen-year-old climate activist from Sweden has inspired a global movement, assuming the role of a bastion for environmentalism. Across the world, young people have protested for their future, for the future of their environment, and their planet – including in India. Thunberg […]