Union Health Minister Dr Harsh Vardhan took the opportunity of a World Health Organization (WHO) meeting to lead by example concerning fitness. The session of WHO Southeast Asia Region (WHO-SEARO) nations saw them make a commitment to collaborate in tackling emerging diseases and other public health challenges such as child health, maternal mortality, the respective […]
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Asia and WHO collaborate on emerging diseases
A large-scale collaboration has been announced between a number of Southeast Asian nations and the World Health Organization (WHO) in order to address the issue of emerging diseases. India, along with Bangladesh, Bhutan, Indonesia, the Maldives, Myanmar, Nepala, North Korea, Sri Lanka, and Thailand, have come together under the World Health Organization – South East […]
The leprosy capital of the world
India is officially the leprosy capital of the world according to the World Health Organization (WHO); they estimate that 66 percent of all the world’s leprosy patients now reside in the country. Such news comes as a blow to India’s prior announcement — dating back to 2005 — of the elimination of leprosy. An estimated […]
Curbing high blood pressure by 2025
In an ambitious campaign to reduce instance of high blood pressure, the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) and the World Health Organization (WHO) have launched the India Hypertension Control Initiative (IHCI), covering 25 districts across five states. The 25 districts are only the beginning of the campaign: the ICMR intends to expand the initiative […]
The depression epidemic among India’s seniors
India’s elderly population is projected to reach more than 340 million by 2050. Could that result in a new mental health epidemic? New data reveals that 21.9 percent of India’s elderly suffer from depression. This is a much higher rate than the global average. Fifteen percent of the world’s elderly population suffer from a mental […]
World Breastfeeding Week Special: Hospitals go ‘baby-friendly’ for newborns health
As part of our series highlighting the many issues that deter India from being a breastfeeding nation, today we bring a story of hope. Sixteen hospitals are working to usher in a change. Plans are being rolled out to turn the facilities in question ‘baby-friendly’ in a bid to improve the nutritional health of newborns. […]
Why India fails to be a breastfeeding nation
India is failing to be a breastfeeding nation – potentially putting the lives of its newborns at risk. Just 41.5 percent of newborns in India are breastfed within an hour of being born. This is according to new data released by UNICEF and the World Health Organization (WHO), ahead of World Breastfeeding Awareness Week this year. On […]
Time for India to deliver on NCDs
The World Health Organization (WHO) has issued a stark warning about the threat of noncommunicable diseases (NCDs). India should take note. “NCDs and mental disorders currently pose one of the biggest threats to health and development globally,” a WHO high-level independent commission on NCDs said in their report released on Friday, June 1. It added, […]
The inequality of improvement: What the HAQ Index tells India
Access to healthcare has improved in India since 1990 – but not enough. Meanwhile, inequality persists. The country takes the 145th place out of 195 countries on the Healthcare Access and Quality (HAQ) Index. This measures the accessibility and quality of healthcare in countries by drawing on a plethora of data, including the 2016 Global […]
Rotavac becomes first Indian developed vaccine to pass WHO standards
The Rotavac vaccine — created to immunise against rotavirus — has become the first vaccine entirely developed within India to receive World Health Organization (WHO) approval. Rotavac is currently considered to be “pre-qualified” by the WHO. This means that the vaccine can now be sold to countries across the world and included in UNICEF procurement […]