Health Crisis

Five years after lockdown: Is India prepared for another health crisis?

In the years that followed, government spending on healthcare has remained abysmally low

Supriya Sule blames urban planning failure, pollution for rising GBS cases

NCP (SP) Lok Sabha member Supriya Sule on Thursday slammed the Pune civic administration as she blamed the "urban planning failure" and rising pollution for the outbreak of Guillain-Barre Syndrome (GBS), a rare never disorder, in the city. There is a need to find the scientific cause behind the prevalence of GBS cases, the parliamentarian representing Baramati in Maharashtra's Pune district told reporters. Sule demanded that the government bear all medical expenses of the GBS patients, claiming the disease was prevalent due to the "flawed management". She visited a well, located in Nanded village off Sinhgad Road area here, from where contaminated water is suspected to have been supplied to adjoining localities, leading to the rise in GBS cases. A 56-year-old woman from Pune is suspected to have died of GBS on Wednesday, while a 40-year-old man from Solapur died on Sunday. Till Wednesday, 127 suspected patients of GBS were found in Pune and elsewhere in the state, as per officials

J&K mysterious deaths: Rajouri's Badhaal village declared containment zone

The remote Badhaal village in Jammu and Kashmir's Rajouri district was on Wednesday declared a containment zone and prohibitory orders imposed on all public and private gatherings in the wake of the death of 17 people belonging to three families, officials said. Another person belonging to the village has been admitted to a hospital in a critical condition, they said. The containment orders have been imposed under section 163 of the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita (BNSS). Section 163 of BNSS gives magistrates the power to issue written orders in urgent situations. These orders can be used to prevent or remedy nuisance or dangers. According to the order issued by additional district magistrate (Rajouri) Rajeev Kumar Khajuria, the village has been divided into three containment zones the first covering all families where deaths have occurred. The houses of these affected families shall be sealed and entry will be totally restricted for all individuals, including their family ...

No need to panic over HMPV: TN Health minister after 2 cases found

The Tamil Nadu government on Tuesday said there was no need to panic over the Human Metapneumovirus (HMPV), as it was not a new and potent one, and said the two individuals found infected with HMPV in the state were "doing well." One of them, who hails from Salem was a 69 year-old person suffering from cancer, high blood pressure and diabetes while the other, from here, was aged about 45 years, Health and Family Welfare Minister Ma Subramanian told a press conference here. "Both of them are doing well. There is no need for panic over HMPV and the Centre has also stressed this," he said. The virus has not created any big impact in India, and especially in the state, he added. Those with cold, cough and fever may get themselves tested for HMPV but there was no exclusive treatment for it, the minister said. He said safety measures like wearing mask, practicing social distancing and hand hygiene were encouraged, especially for the symptomatic. Chief Minister M K Stalin was constantly

Govt ready for any kind of situation: UP Deputy CM Pathak over HMPV

Concerning the virus, we are moving forward with complete alertness, we also have a high-level meeting today, Pathak said

Kejriwal seeks immediate action from Centre amid HMPV virus concerns

ICMR emphasised that despite the detection of these two cases, there has been no significant increase in Influenza-Like Illness (ILI) or Severe Acute Respiratory Illness (SARI) cases in the country

Cost a key factor for US Medicaid coverage of weight-loss drugs: Report

Half of the states without coverage said they are considering adding them or evaluating their coverage, it said

Ukraine faces dramatic health crisis ahead of its third winter at war: WHO

The World Health Organisation issued a stark warning on Thursday about a potential health crisis in Ukraine as the country faces its third winter of war since Russia's full-scale invasion. Ongoing Russian airstrikes have severely damaged the nation's energy and health care infrastructure, leaving millions vulnerable as temperatures drop, officials from the United Nations agency said. Ukraine is approaching its third winter amid a full-scale war likely its most challenging yet. The renewed focus on health is more critical than ever, Hans Kluge, the WHO's regional director for Europe, told reporters in Kyiv. Since the start of Russia's full-scale invasion in February 2022, the UN agency has recorded nearly 2,000 attacks on Ukraine's health care infrastructure, which it said is having a severe impact on the largely public health system. Targeted attacks have damaged Ukraine's energy infrastructure. Frequent power outages are already taking a toll with danger signs for the winter, Klu

Why did WHO declare Mpox as health emergency of international concern?

Mpox outbreak 2024: Soon after WHO declared monkeypox an emergency of international concern, three patients tested positive for the MPox virus in the Pakistani province of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa

Warmest night ever recorded in Delhi, 5 dead from heatwave: Details here

Heatwaves in Delhi: The national capital recorded its warmest night on Wednesday as the highest minimum temperature was recorded at 35.2 degrees Celsius, eight notches above normal

Cholera outbreak comes knocking to Bengaluru amidst acute water shortage

The city reported one confirmed case and two suspected cases of cholera from the same locality

Peru declares health emergency in 20 provinces as dengue cases soar

Peru declared a health emergency in most of its provinces on Monday due to a growing number of dengue cases that are occurring at a time of higher than usual temperatures caused by the El Nino weather pattern. According to the nation's health ministry, the number of dengue cases registered during the first seven weeks of this year is twice as high as during the same period in 2023 with more than 31,000 cases recorded. This is a grave problem, health minister Cesar Vasquez said last week, before the emergency was declared. And it is getting out of hand. The health emergency will enable the nation's government to transfer funds faster to the affected regions and also transport doctors and nurses. It will cover 20 of the country's 24 provinces, including regions that surround the capital city of Lima. A dengue epidemic last year put Peru's public health system under strain as thousands sought care in emergency rooms. The disease is spread by Aedys Egypti, a mosquito that reproduces

Pneumonia outbreak kills over 240 children in Pakistan's Punjab in January

According to the Punjab Health Department, 942 new pneumonia cases have been recorded across the province in the previous 24 hours, with 212 new cases confirmed in Lahore

Disturbing health crisis among women in Afghan prisons: UN report

According to the survey, the majority of jailed women in Afghanistan express concerns about their children's future and the impact on their families

Measles deaths worldwide jumped 40 per cent last year, say health agencies

Measles deaths globally spiked by more than 40 per cent last year and cases rose after vaccination levels dramatically dropped during the pandemic, leading health agencies said on Thursday. The highly infectious disease triggered epidemics in 37 countries last year, versus 22 countries in 2021. It sickened 9 million children and killed 136,00, mostly in poorer countries, the World Health Organization and the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said in a new report. The number of measles cases also rose by nearly 20 per cent after immunisation levels dropped to their lowest in 15 years during the pandemic, the agencies said. The increase in measles outbreaks and deaths is staggering, but unfortunately, not unexpected given the declining vaccination rates we've seen in the past few years, said CDC's John Vertefeuille, said in a statement. Two doses of the measles vaccine are highly protective against the disease. Children in developing countries in Africa, Southeast Asia, .

How lack of support and biases create a glass ceiling in health care

The fact that women are not reaching leadership positions means they are not able to influence decision-making on public health, Lancet article shows

Awareness drive to immunity booster: India Inc gears up to meet Covid spike

While some firms have even suggested alternative therapies, many others are bringing back the mask mandate and calling for Covid-appropriate behaviour

India coronavirus update: Active Covid cases in country rise to 1,843

India recorded 124 new coronavirus infections, while the active cases increased to 1,843, according to the Union Health Ministry data updated on Sunday. The death toll stands at 5,30,750, the data updated at 8 am stated. The Covid case tally was recorded at 4.46 crore (4,46,84,118). The daily positivity was recorded at 0.10 per cent while the weekly positivity was pegged at 0.09 per cent. The active cases now comprise 0.01 per cent of the total infections, while the national COVID-19 recovery rate has increased to 98.81 per cent, the ministry said. The number of people who have recuperated from the disease surged to 4,41,51,525, while the case fatality rate was recorded at 1.19 per cent. According to the ministry's website 220.62 crore doses of Covid vaccine have been administered in the country so far under the nationwide vaccination drive. India's COVID-19 tally had crossed the 20-lakh mark on August 7, 2020, 30 lakh on August 23, 40 lakh on September 5 and 50 lakh on Septembe

The Last of Us: How real is the threat?

The brain-controlling fungal pandemic in HBO's post-apocalyptic thriller is not fiction. It just doesn't affect humans

People dying from cardiovascular disease up by 6.2% in US, says study

The number of people dying from cardiovascular disease (CVD) in the US escalated during the first year of the COVID-19 pandemic by 6.2 per cent, according to a study. The rise in the number of CVD deaths in 2020, from 874,613 CVD-related deaths recorded in 2019 to 928,741 in 2020, represents the largest single-year increase since 2015 and topped the previous high of 910,000 recorded in 2003, according to the latest available data from the Heart Disease and Stroke Statistics - 2023 Update of the American Heart Association, a global force for healthier lives for all, the study said. The study has been published in the journal Circulation. "While the total number of CVD-related deaths increased from 2019 to 2020, what may be even more telling is that our age-adjusted mortality rate increased for the first time in many years and by a fairly substantial 4.6 per cent," said the volunteer chair of the Statistical Update writing group Connie W. Tsao, an assistant professor at Harvard Medica