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More than 80 per cent of genomic studies across the world looking into diseases are concentrated in high-income countries, and under five per cent in low and middle-income countries, according to a new global analysis by the World Health Organization (WHO). More than 6,500 genomic clinical studies were registered globally between 1990 and 2024 via the WHO's International Clinical Trials Registry Platform, with a steep rise after 2010 driven by advances in sequencing technologies, lower costs and wider applications, it said. China led the list of top ten countries ranked by total number of genomic clinical studies registered over the past three decades, followed by the United States and Italy. India featured among the top 20 countries. "Fewer than five per cent of all studies were conducted in lower middle-income and low-income countries combined, while high-income countries accounted for over 80 per cent of all genomic studies," authors of the 'Human genomics technologies in clinica
The number of people diagnosed with tuberculosis worldwide rose again last year, eclipsing 2023's record total, World Health Organisation officials said Wednesday. About 8.3 million people across the globe were reported as newly diagnosed with TB in 2024. Not all infections are diagnosed and the new numbers represent 78% of the estimated number of people who actually fell ill last year, the WHO noted. WHO officials see the increase as an indication that screening and treatment are improving after health care disruptions during the COVID-19 pandemic. Globally, the number of deaths caused by TB fell in 2024 to 1.23 million, down from 1.25 million the year before. US tuberculosis cases continued to rise last year reaching the highest level in more than a dozen years, according to preliminary data released earlier this year. The vast majority of US TB cases are diagnosed in people born in other countries. Tuberculosis is caused by bacteria that attack the lungs, and is spread through
The World Health Organisation has released new guidelines to tackle tuberculosis and undernutrition, recommending that food assistance be provided to households with TB patients while the undernourished or food insecure be screened for the disease. The shift in the global TB policy is inspired by the pathbreaking Reducing Activation of Tuberculosis by Improvement of Nutritional Status (RATIONS) trial by Indian researchers. The RATIONS trial, conducted in Jharkhand and published in The Lancet and The Lancet Global, highlighted the vital role nutrition plays in reducing mortality among people living with active TB, as well as in reducing incidence among household contacts of pulmonary tuberculosis patients. The ICMR-supported RATIONS trials were led by a research team headed by Dr Anurag Bhargava and Dr Madhavi Bhargava from Kasturba Medical College and Yenepoya Medical College, respectively. The studies showed that weight gain in the first two months was associated with a 60 per cen