Page 32 - Healthcare

Intermittent fasting helps protect the brain from diseases like Alzheimer's

Alzheimer's disease is an increasingly urgent global issue. The World Health Organization predicts that the number of people with the condition will triple by 2050

Diabetes a pandemic, needs vaccines, efficacious medication for control

It is estimated that 101 million people in India - around 10 per cent of the country's population - are suffering from diabetes

Monitor preparedness for vector-borne diseases: Mandaviya to states

With the onset of monsoon, Union Health Minister Mansukh Mandaviya urged states to review their preparedness to deal with vector-borne diseases such as malaria, dengue and chikungunya. He also asked them to raise awareness among communities for the prevention and control of such diseases anticipating the health requirements. Mandaviya virtually interacted with Sikkim Chief Minister Prem Singh Tamang, health ministers from 22 states, principal secretaries and other senior officials as part of the review meeting on Friday. Underscoring the importance of advance preparedness and joint efforts, he said, We effectively reduce the disease burden with proactive preparation anticipating the health requirements and making adequate provisions for them ahead of time. He exhorted the states to make optimum utilisation of budget for investing in the health infrastructure, reiterating that implementation of prevention measures leads to decreased disease burden. The health minister also asked th

Canada invites 500 healthcare workers through its Express Entry draw

Canada has invited 500 healthcare workers to immigrate under its first occupation-specific draw, aiming to bring additional focus on sectors facing major labour shortages. The draw, announced by Immigration Minister Sean Fraser on Wednesday, took the number of ITAs (Invitation to Apply) issued through its flagship Express Entry system in 2023 to 60,249, a press release by the Department of Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship said. It was the first Express Entry draw pre-announced by Canada, and featured a minimum Comprehensive Ranking System score of 476, ten points lower than the 10th all-programme draw of 2023 on Tuesday, the press release said. The new draws target candidates with strong French language ability, the press release said. On Tuesday, Canada announced a new open work-permit stream to allow 10,000 H-1B visa holders in the US to come and work in the country, a move that could benefit thousands of Indian tech professionals. Taking to Twitter to announce the draw, Fr

Maps to healthcare: Google announces AI tools for Indian developers

Company will give access its speech data comprising over 4,000 hours across 38 languages

Over $200 bn may have been stolen from Covid-19 aid: Federal watchdog

More than USD 200 billion may have been stolen from two large COVID-19 relief initiatives, according to new estimates from a federal watchdog investigating federally funded programmes that helped small businesses survive the worst public health crisis in more than a hundred years. The numbers issued on Tuesday by the US Small Business Administration inspector general are much greater than the office's previous projections and underscore how vulnerable the Paycheck Protection and COVID-19 Economic Injury Disaster Loan programmes were to fraudsters, particularly during the early stages of the coronavirus pandemic. The inspector general's report said at least 17 percent of all COVID-EIDL and PPP funds were disbursed to potentially fraudulent actors. The fraud estimate for the COVID-19 Economic Injury Disaster Loan programme is more than USD 136 billion, which represents 33 per cent of the total money spent on that programme, according to the report. The Paycheck Protection fraud estimat

Set to launch state-of-the-art healthcare ecosystem, says Gautam Adani

First project under Rs 60,000 cr CSR corpus

GenStore - India's Dedicated Healthcare E-Commerce Platform Launched By GenWorks Health Makes Shopping Easy for Customers Across India

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Fortis to sell Vadapalani hospital operations to Sri Kauvery Medical Care

The transaction will be an all-cash deal and is estimated to be consummated by the end of July 2023, subject to certain conditions as stipulated in the definitive agreements

Undernutrition in India a big concern, urgent attention needed: experts say

Undernutrition, especially the deficiency of micronutrients, remains a big concern in India, say food experts who emphasised the need to focus more on tackling this "hidden hunger" that undermines the health of people. Undernutrition denotes insufficient intake of energy and nutrients to meet an individual's needs to maintain good health. The Global Food Policy Report (GFPR) 2023 launched this week by the International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI) said that globally the undernourished population had increased to 768 million in 2021, marking a 34.2 per cent rise from 2014 when it was estimated to be 572 million. Undernourishment was most prevalent in Afghanistan at 30 per cent between 2019 and 2021, followed by 17 per cent in Pakistan, 16 per cent in India, 12 per cent in Bangladesh, six per cent in Nepal, and four per cent in Sri Lanka, the report said. Shahidur Rashid, Director-South Asia, IFPRI, noted that India is well placed when it comes to food production and ...

India-made cold, cough medicines under WHO lens after nations flag concern

Reports of contaminated medicines came out in 2022 in The Gambia, with subsequent reports in Indonesia, Uzbekistan, and Micronesia; all the products under the scanner are syrup-based

India is working on several projects in collaboration with NSF: PM Modi

Prime Minister Narendra Modi at an event here highlighted the various initiatives taken by India to promote education, research and entrepreneurship. He was attending the Skilling For Future event organised by the National Science Foundation (NSF), and his visit to the organisation at Alexandria, Virginia, was hosted by First Lady Jill Biden. "I am really happy to have got an opportunity to interact with young and creative minds here. India is working on several projects in collaboration with NSF. I thank First Lady Jill Biden for planning and organising this event," Modi said. The Skilling For Future event was organised to highlight the US and India's shared priorities around education and workforce. "PM @narendramodi and @FLOTUS @DrBiden participated in a unique event focused on promoting vocational education and skill development among youth. PM and @FLOTUS discussed collaborative efforts aimed at creating workforce for the future. PM highlighted various initiatives undertaken b

Coordinated efforts ensure zero death: Mandaviya reviews heatwave situation

Effective disaster response and management is a collaborative work and with coordinated actions between the Centre and states, it can be ensured there are no deaths due to heatwaves, Union Health Minister Mansukh Mandaviya said on Wednesday. Mandaviya chaired a high-level meeting to review the public health preparedness for management of heat-related illnesses and virtually interacted with state health ministers, state disaster management ministers and principal secretaries/additional chief secretaries and information commissioners of seven states (Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Odisha, Jharkhand, Andhra Pradesh, Chhattisgarh and Telangana) which are experiencing severe heatwave conditions. Mandaviya said that India has demonstrated during the recent preparedness measures for cyclone Biparjoy that timely and effective coordination between the Centre and states can produce the desired outcome. Sharing of ideas, expertise and best practices by states help in enriching everyone in effectively .

Smallpox spreads in Bihar village, locals allege medical negligence

More than 100 people from 35 families have been infected with smallpox in a village in Bihar's Supaul district, an official said

Cough syrup row: Zero tolerance on spurious medicines, says Mandaviya

71 companies have been issued show-cause notices following concerns raised in some quarters about reported deaths due to contaminated India-made cough syrups, 18 of them have been asked to shut shop

Swift action must to stop 'silent pandemic' from becoming catastrophic

By 2050, #AntimicrobialResistance is expected to claim 10 million lives a year globally, more than cancer and diabetes combined, with most of this burden falling on low- and middle-income countries

Daily aspirin use linked with anaemia in healthy older adults: Research

A daily low-dose usage of aspirin, nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drug commonly used to relieve headache may lead to about 20 per cent increased risk of anaemia among healthy older adults

Over 1 mn dropped from Medicaid as US start post-pandemic purge of rolls

More than 1 million people have been dropped from Medicaid in the past couple months as some states moved swiftly to halt health care coverage following the end of the coronavirus pandemic. Most got dropped for not filling out paperwork. Though the eligibility review is required by the federal government, President's Joe Biden's administration isn't too pleased at how efficiently some other states are accomplishing the task. Pushing through things and rushing it will lead to eligible people - kids and families - losing coverage for some period of time, Daniel Tsai, a top federal Medicaid official recently told reporters. Already, about 1.5 million people have been removed from Medicaid in more than two dozen states that started the process in April or May, according to publicly available reports and data obtained by The Associated Press. Florida has dropped several hundred thousand people, by far the most among states. The drop rate also has been particularly high in other states.

10,000 Jan Aushadhi Kendras expected to be functional by year-end: Official

Applications have been invited for setting up more Jan Aushadhi Kendras as around 10,000 such centres are expected to be made functional by the year-end, a top official said on Friday. Ravi Dadhich, CEO of Pharmaceuticals and Medical Devices Bureau of India (PMBI) said, "10,000 Jan Aushadhi Kendras are expected to be functional across the country by the end of the year." He added that applications have been invited for the proposals to establish these centres. As on May 31, a total of 9,484 Jan Aushadhi Kendras are operational in the country. Dadhich made the comments in an interaction with media persons assembled at the central warehouse, Bilaspur, Gurugram. There are currently four warehouses in the country under Pradhan Mantri Bharatiya Jan Aushadhi Pariyojana (PMBJP), located at Gurugram (Haryana), Chennai, Guwahati and Surat, with the central warehouse at Gurugram being the largest. At present, PMBJP is providing 1,800 medicines, as well as 285 surgical devices at highly ...

Punjab govt to modernise secondary healthcare institutions: CM Mann

Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann Friday announced the launch of a special project to modernise the state's secondary healthcare institutions at an estimated cost of over Rs 400 crore. Chairing a meeting here to review the healthcare sector, Mann said under the first phase of the project, district hospitals, sub-divisional hospitals and community health centres (CHCs) in larger rural areas will be strengthened on priority, according to an official statement said. These facilities will be developed as ultra-modern healthcare facilities where people can avail quality treatment, the release added. Mann said 40 such facilities, including 23 district hospitals, have been identified for a facelift in the first phase. The chief minister stressed that the state government has already given a major boost to primary healthcare services by opening more than 500 'Aam Aadmi clinics' in the state, the statement added. These clinics are acting as a cornerstone in providing free-of-cost health