“Thirty years ago, the world made a commitment to protect and fulfil children’s rights as enshrined in the Convention on the Rights of the Child. Among the most fundamental of these rights is the right of every child to survive.” So reads the introduction of the latest Levels and Trends in Child Mortality, a joint […]
diarrhoea
Spike in water-borne diseases in Hyderabad
Hyderabad is reporting a spike in water-borne diseases, sparking fears of water contamination. Diarrhoeal disease, viral hepatitis, and typhoid have all been reported in the Telangana state capital. At the time of writing, 16,178 people have fallen ill with diarrhoea and 1,301 are afflicted with typhoid fever. Viral hepatitis, meanwhile, is believed to have affected […]
Rotavirus vaccine for every child
The Union Health Ministry, in a bid to cut deaths from diarrhoeal disease, will provide the rotavirus vaccine to every child under the Universal Immunisation Programme (UIP). Acute diarrhoeal disease is the leading cause of infectious disease outbreaks in India and is the second most common cause of death among children under five years worldwide. […]
Health benefits of breastfeeding: Health Ministry to raise awareness
World Breastfeeding Week may be over for the rest of the world, but the Union Health Ministry has announced plans to make it a monthly fixture in India to raise awareness of the health benefits of breastfeeding. During an event last week, Union Health Minister Dr Harsh Vardhan announced that a breastfeeding awareness week will […]
Medicines for water-borne disease in flood-ravaged Thane
Maharashtra’s Thane district has been battling heavy rainfall in recent weeks, causing floods and leaving it vulnerable to the spread of water-borne disease. To guard against such infections, officials have been distributing medicines – an effort which has reached more than 60,000 people. The state has been beleaguered by intense flooding amidst heavy monsoon rainfall. […]
Rotavirus infections: Multiple states launch vaccination drives
Multiple states have launched vaccination drives against rotavirus infections, a significant driver of child mortality in India. Rotavirus infections are the leading cause of severe diarrhoeal disease worldwide. Diarrhoeal disease is the second most common cause of death of children under five years old and represents the most common cause of infectious disease outbreaks in […]
Surgeon’s gowns and the spread of C. diff
The reality of hospital-acquired infections is one that is difficult to ignore. New research has spotlighted one particular infection to which hospital visits can expose people. This time, alarm bells are being sounded about Clostridium difficile (also known as C. diff), a bacterium linked to stomach ailments such as diarrhoeal disease and colitis which can […]
Assam flooding spreads as the region is lashed with rains
Assam has faced heavy flooding for several days, with the situation only deteriorating at the week’s end. As of Thursday, 4.2 lakh people across seventeen districts have been affected by the floodwaters. Many have been displaced, with 1,843 people taking refuge in relief camps as the waters submerge 749 villages. The flooding has gotten worse […]
World Toilet Day: A review of India’s toilets and Swachh Bharat
On World Toilet Day, United Nations figures on open defecation and toilets across the world should ring alarm bells. Four billion people still lack access to basic sanitation facilities. Each day, nearly a thousand children are dying due to preventable water and sanitation-related diarrhoeal diseases. What’s the situation in India? “Four years since Swachh Bharat’s […]
Fears of infectious disease outbreaks after Kerala floods realised?
Fears of infectious disease outbreaks in the aftermath of the Kerala floods appear to have been realised. Cases of leptospirosis, acute diarrhoeal disease (ADD) and dengue fever have been reported from the afflicted state, where 483 people lost their lives in its worst floods in almost a century. Kerala has reported 159 cases of leptospirosis […]