- Friday, April 19, 2024
The World Health Organization (WHO) has issued a warning regarding the escalating death toll from viral hepatitis, revealing that the disease stands as the second leading infectious cause of death worldwide, claiming 1.3 million lives annually, which is almost the same as tuberculosis-related fatalities. According to the WHO 2024 Global…
Experts have warned that a bird flu pandemic could be far deadlier than Covid-19, with the potential to kill up to half of those infected. The H5N1 strain of bird flu is causing concern, as it has been found in various mammals, including humans, raising fears of a global epidemic.…
PAKISTAN remained one of the world's three smoggiest countries in 2023, as Bangladesh and India replaced Chad and Iran, with particulate matter about 15 times the level recommended by the World Health Organization, data published on Tuesday (19) showed. Average concentrations of PM2.5 - small airborne particles that damage the…
A recent study by researchers from University College Cork's School of Public Health sheds light on the association between obesity and poorer mental health, particularly among women. The study, published in PLOS ONE, examined data from over 1,800 adults aged 46 to 73, focusing on BMI scores and mental health…
A MALARIA vaccine developed by the University of Oxford and the Serum Institute of India (SII) prevented around three-quarters of symptomatic malaria cases in young children the first year after they got the shots, results from a large trial showed last Thursday (1). The vaccine, which has already been approved…
LOW vaccination rates against the latest versions of Covid-19 and influenza are putting pressure on healthcare systems this winter, leading public health officials have said. In several European countries, the United States and other parts of the world, there have been reports of rising hospitalisations linked to respiratory infections in…
INDIAN pharmaceutical companies must meet new manufacturing standards this year, according to a government notification released on Saturday (6), although small companies have asked for a delay, citing their debt load. Jolted by a string of overseas deaths linked to Indian-made drugs since 2022, prime minister Narendra Modi's government has…
People donned Santa caps on beaches, ski slopes and streets around the globe on Monday to celebrate Christmas, as Pope Francis called for an end to the wars in Gaza and Ukraine that this year have cast a shadow over one of the world's favourite holidays. In his annual Christmas…
INDIA'S drugs regulator has banned the use of an anti-cold drug combination in children aged below four and ordered that drugs should be labelled accordingly, in the wake of the deaths of at least 141 children globally linked to cough syrups. The regulator said concerns raised about promotion of an…
NEW DELHI will restrict the use of private vehicles for a week in a bid to offer residents some respite from the toxic smog choking the megacity, authorities announced Monday (6). Delhi, home to 30 million people, is blanketed in acrid smog at the onset of winter every year, primarily…
FOREIGN doctors received lower pay and reduced benefits compared to their UK counterparts under a controversial scheme in English hospital trusts, an investigation has revealed. Doctors from outside the UK arrive at NHS trusts as ‘fellows’ under the Academy of Medical Royal Colleges’ medical training initiative (MTI) scheme, spending two-years…
A TRIAL opened on Tuesday (24) in The Gambia’s capital Banjul over the deaths last year of small children who took a cough syrup made by the India-based Maiden Pharmaceuticals. Some 70 children aged five and under died in 2022 after taking the over-the-counter medicines, leading to a national outcry…
INDIA will make it mandatory for drugmakers to audit their raw material suppliers at least once a year, according to a government document, tightening rules after Indiamade cough syrups were linked to 141 children’s deaths worldwide. The new mandate, along with additional testing rules for cough syrup exports implemented in…
Rising air pollution can cut life expectancy by more than five years per person in south Asia, one of the world's most polluted regions, according to a report published on Tuesday (29) which flagged the growing burden of hazardous air on health. The region, which includes the world's most polluted…
New research published in The Lancet Planetary Health journal suggests that the mitigation of air pollution could potentially contribute to the reduction of antibiotic resistance. The study indicates that addressing air pollution may play a role in countering the phenomenon where disease-causing microorganisms develop resistance to antibiotics, rendering these drugs…
INDIA'S pharmaceutical exports this fiscal year are set to grow nearly twice as fast as last year to hit sales of $27 billion, driven by strong US buying, a government-backed trade body said, despite deaths linked to Indian-made cough syrups. The robust forecast comes against the backdrop of earlier concerns…
The Indian manufacturer of cough syrups, which Uzbekistan accused of poisoning 19 children last year, allegedly utilised a toxic industrial-grade ingredient instead of the authorised pharmaceutical variant, two sources familiar with the matter told Reuters. The sources disclosed that Marion Biotech, the company in question, procured the ingredient, propylene glycol…
Gambia has hired a US law firm to explore legal action after a government-backed investigation found that contaminated medicines from India were "very likely" to have caused the deaths of children last year, the justice minister said. At least 70 children in Gambia, most under fiver years old, died from…
Researchers have discovered a correlation between hypertension, resulting from high salt intake, and emotional and cognitive dysfunction according to a recent study conducted by Fujita Health University in Japan. The study reveals that excessive consumption of table salt, a commonly used food seasoning, has been associated with cognitive impairment. Additionally,…
The World Health Organization (WHO) has released new guidelines discouraging the use of non-sugar sweeteners as a healthier substitute for real sugar. The review highlights artificial sweeteners such as Splenda, Equal, and Stevia, do not guarantee long-term weight loss and should not be relied upon to manage body weight, media…
Britain recruited a record number of international nurses in the last financial year to plug hospital staffing shortages, with as many as 10 per cent coming from so-called 'red-list' countries where health staff should not be actively recruited. Britain has long hired from abroad to staff its state-run National Health…
India will make tests mandatory for cough syrups before they are exported, a government notice showed on Tuesday (23), after Indian-made cough syrups were linked to the deaths of dozens of children in Gambia and Uzbekistan. Any cough syrup must have a certificate of analysis issued by a government laboratory…
India is considering a change to its pharmaceutical industry policy after cough syrups made in the country were linked to the deaths of children overseas, according to a document from Prime Minister Narendra Modi's office. A brainstorming session was held in the southern Indian city of Hyderabad "to find a…
The World Health Organization (WHO) has announced that a company from India has produced contaminated cough syrup that has been discovered in the Marshall Islands and Micronesia. Last year, child deaths were associated with other cough syrups in some countries. The WHO statement did not provide information about whether children…
India has cancelled the manufacturing licence of Noida-based pharmaceutical firm Marion Biotech, according to officials. Marion Biotech's cough syrup Dok-1 was linked with the death of 18 children in Uzbekistan. The incident which occurred last December prompted India’s federal and Uttar Pradesh state drug authorities to launch a probe into…
The formula milk industry's marketing tactics are exploitative and undermine breastfeeding, according to a three-paper series published in The Lancet which calls for urgent clampdowns to tackle misleading claims and political interference. The papers suggest that industry influence - which includes lobbying against vital breastfeeding support measures - seriously jeopardises…
Chess players perform objectively worse and make more suboptimal moves when there is more fine particulate matter in the air, according to a new study. The researchers assessed and measured the chess players' moves by computerized analysis of their games, the study co-authored by a Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT)…
UK-based charity, Lepra has been at the forefront of treatment, care, support, and research of leprosy for the last 99 years. Over its long history, Lepra has gained important insights into this highly complex disease. It also helped develop the first effective cure for leprosy in the 1950s. Therefore, for…
A woman appeared in a London court Thursday accused of helping in the genital mutilation of a four-year-old girl, a common but risky practice in parts of Africa, the Mideast and Asia Amina Noor, 39, who required a Somali interpreter, pleaded not guilty to an offence dating back 16 years…
There is an urgent need to develop antibiotics for newborn babies, a population that is particularly vulnerable to antibiotic resistance, according to leading global public health experts including those from India. Recent estimates show about 2.3 million newborns die of severe bacterial infections each year while an increasing number are…
India's drug regulator claimed that the samples of Maiden Pharma's cough syrups which caused the deaths of children in Gambia were not contaminated with diethylene glycol (DEG) and ethylene glycol (EG) and also called World Health Organization (WHO) for "prematurely" blaming an Indian company for the deaths without verification. In…
According to the World Health Organization, 1 adult in every 7 in the world is affected by migraines and it is three times more common in women than men. Since migraines can be extremely painful and debilitating, sufferers’ first instinct during a migraine episode is to pop pills to get…
The World Health Organization (WHO) has announced that it will now begin to use a new preferred term "mpox" as a synonym for monkeypox. Following a series of consultations with global experts on using a preferred term for the disease, the WHO said in an official statement that both names…
Globally one in eight or over one billion people today are migrants with 281 million international migrants and many million individuals who are stateless, according to World Health Organization (WHO). Climate change, rising inequality, conflicts, trade, and population growth are accelerating these trends, WHO said in a statement. The health…
Around 5,000 fans from England and Wales are believed to be travelling to Qatar to attend the group stages of the FIFA World Cup – but this is just a fraction of the 1.2 million supporters who are expected to visit Qatar for the celebrated event. Thus, there is apprehension…
In a shocking revelation, it has been found that 50 per cent of the children who are admitted to hospital with asthma in London are from Black, Asian, and Minority Ethnic (BAME) backgrounds, as against 27.5 per cent white children and young people. In October last year, an analysis commissioned…
The chief scientist of the World Health Organization said on Tuesday she was leaving the agency, the first of a series of high-profile departures expected at the global health body as it prepares for a post-pandemic future. The exit of Soumya Swaminathan, an Indian paediatrician, announced on Twitter, comes as…
Over one billion teenagers and young people are potentially at risk of hearing loss due to their use of headphones and earbuds, and attendance at loud music venues, according to a study published in the journal BMJ Global Health. The international team, including researchers from the Medical University of South…
Experts have warned that the way Brits heat their homes this winter could damage their health, especially for those with heart and lung conditions. With the cost-of-living crisis continuing across the UK, many people are trying to reduce their gas and electricity bills by turning the heating off. However, this…
We've all been hearing about workplace trends like 'quiet quitting' and the Great Resignation, where employees are leaving work as they are no longer able to cope the same way they used to. According to a recent study, a new type of burnout is emerging this year and it might…
A new study has revealed that minorities are over three times more likely to live in areas in England with ‘very high' air pollution, according to a report. The study by Friends of the Earth, by analysing government data on air pollution, focusing on nitrogen dioxide (NO2) and small particulate…
At least 17 million people in Europe experienced long Covid in the pandemic’s first two years,according to WHO. It added that many are still struggling with debilitating symptoms. Women were twice as likely as men to experience lingering effects, according to new modeling conducted by the Institute of Health Metrics…
The founder of the modern Olympic Games, Baron Pierre de Coubertin, is reported to have said “Regardless of how toughened a female sportsperson might be, the organism of a woman is not shaped to sustain specific shocks.” This statement was reportedly made at the end of the 19th century. But…
According to the World Health Organization (WHO), cancer is the second leading cause of death worldwide, after heart disease. The Mirror informs that cancer is a disease in which cells in a specific part of the body grow and reproduce uncontrollably - these cancerous cells invade and destroy surrounding healthy…
In July 2018, the World Health Organization (WHO) declared that sex addiction is a mental-health disorder. However, many experts disagree about whether this is an actual diagnosis. According to NHS Choices, the WHO, states that compulsive sexual behaviour disorder is defined as an inability to control intense sexual urges leading…
Britain will run out of monkeypox vaccines in about two to three weeks as the country has little more than 8,300 doses of vaccine left, the Financial Times reported on Tuesday. Shipments of a new order of 100,000 doses will not resume until late September, the report added citing an…
THE World Health Organization declared monkeypox a global health emergency at the weekend, as calls grow for swift action to stop the spread of the virus. More than 16,000 confirmed cases have been recorded in 75 countries so far this year, the WHO said on Monday. Here is an overview…
AS monkeypox infections jump around the world, prompting a scramble for vaccines, AFP looks at how the disease has spread since first appearing in Africa in the 1970s. The World Health Organization on Saturday declared the outbreak, which has affected nearly 16,000 people in 72 countries, to be a global…
It can sometimes get very hard to keep up with the constantly changing dietary trends. For this reason, health experts now seem to be turning their attention to the health benefits of specific foods. One of these foods is avocado, as stated in a report in Medical News Today. Based…
GREENPEACE UK has said that the climate emergency is a legacy of colonialism and people of colour suffer the most from its ill effects. A report by the Runnymede Trust and Greenpeace has said that people of colour in Britain are more likely to live close to a waste incinerator.…
All of us have faced obstacles to exercising, be it a lack of motivation, a busy schedule, or an ‘all or nothing' attitude. Exercising is different for everyone and we all may have different ways of fulfilling our responsibility toward fitness. But how much exercise in a week is actually…
Monkeypox may soon have a new name after scientists called for a change to dispel stereotypes of Africa being seen as a crucible of disease. The World Health Organization announced last week that it is "working with partners and experts from around the world on changing the name of monkeypox…
UN secretary-general Antonio Guterres has warned against a "global mental health crisis," while launching a report on mental health. "We are living through a global mental health crisis," the top UN official said in his video message to launch the World Mental Health Report 2022: Transforming Mental Health For All.…
BRITAIN will delay by a year new rules banning multi-buy deals on foods and drinks high in fat, salt, or sugar (HFSS), with the government saying on Saturday (14) it needed more time given the cost of living crisis. The ban on the deals, including "buy one get one free"…
INDIA registered about 475,000 more total deaths in 2020 than the previous year, government data released months ahead of schedule on Tuesday (3) showed, as the World Health Organization readies its estimates of excess Covid-19 deaths whose methodology New Delhi has opposed. Some experts estimate India's actual Covid death toll…
THE World Health Organization (WHO) launched its global centre for traditional medicine (GCTM) at a site in India, aimed at unlocking its potential by blending ancient practices with modern science. The GCTM knowledge hub is intended to create a body of reliable evidence and data on traditional medicine practices and…
India has sharply criticised a forthcoming World Health Organization study which reportedly claims coronavirus killed four million people nationally, the latest analysis suggesting a significant undercount of the pandemic's death toll. The New York Times reported last week that New Delhi had stalled the study's release after disputing that India's…
When Covid-19 ripped through India in 2020-21, several million people are thought to have died. Desperate efforts to stem the pandemic hurt the battle against another huge killer: tuberculosis. India is the home to a quarter of the world's TB infections and an estimated half a million people died of…
BRITAIN's medicines regulator has approved AstraZeneca's antibody-based Covid-19 treatment for adults with poor immune response, marking a major step in the fight against the pandemic as infections surge globally amid the spread of the Omicron variant. The decision to grant approval for the treatment was endorsed by the government's independent…
AN extended analysis of a late-stage study conducted in the UK showed that Novavax's Covid-19 vaccine provided long-term protection against the coronavirus. The protein-based vaccine, NVX-CoV2373, continued to provide protection and maintained overall efficacy of 82.7 per cent over a six-month period, the company said. Additionally, vaccine efficacy of 82.5…
ENGLISH medical leaders on Friday (18) urged Boris Johnson not to be too "gung-ho" with the nation's health when he moves to end all pandemic restrictions with his plan to live with Covid-19 next week. Having scrapped virtually all Covid-19 restrictions in England already, Johnson on Monday (21) will set…
THE US death toll from the Covid-19 pandemic surpassed 900,000 on Friday (4), according to the Johns Hopkins University coronavirus tracker. The toll had hit 800,000 dead in mid-December, just a month and a half ago. New cases linked to the Omicron variant are falling, but daily deaths are still…
EXPERT VIJAY THAKKAR GIVES KEY FITNESS AND FOOD ADVICE GETTING fitter is the main resolution people make at the beginning of each new year but sticking to it is not always easy. That is why health, wellness, and exercise expert Vijay Thakkar is the perfect person to speak to. He…
The total number of Covid-19 cases registered worldwide passed 300 million on Friday, with the Omicron variant's rapid spread setting new infection records in dozens of countries over the last week. In the past seven days, 34 countries have recorded their highest number of weekly cases since the start of…
The World Health Organization on Friday announced it has granted emergency approval to the India-manufactured coronavirus vaccine Covovax. The jab, produced by Serum Institute of India under licence from the US-based Novavax, will now be distributed as part of global vaccine-sharing system Covax, "giving a much-needed boost to ongoing efforts…
India has detected 25 cases of the emergent Omicron variant of the coronavirus and all have shown mild symptoms, the health ministry said on Friday (10), adding that there was no immediate plan to authorise vaccine boosters. Vaccine supplies have surged in India in recent months thanks to the Serum…
The Omicron variant has been detected in 38 countries but no deaths have yet been reported, the WHO said on Friday, as authorities worldwide rushed to stem the spread of the heavily mutated Covid-19 strain. The United States and Australia became the latest countries to confirm their first locally transmitted…
India's polluted capital again ordered schools closed on Thursday over dangerous smog levels, as the country's top court demanded officials take action to address the toxic haze. New Delhi, one of the world's most polluted cities and home to about 20 million people, is cloaked in a thick blanket of…
As a new variant hits Britain, infections’ expert warns of surge in pandemic deaths A leading infections’ expert has launched a scathing attack on the prime minister for not doing enough to protect lives after the discovery of a new Covid virus variant. The World Health Organization named the variant…
FOUR more travellers from “at-risk” countries tested positive for Covid-19 on arrival at the Indira Gandhi International Airport in Delhi on Thursday (2), officials said. Three out of the 243 people on the Air France flight that landed at the airport around midnight tested positive for the disease. One more…
ALL adults in Britain will now be eligible for a third Covid jab, the government said, as concern mounted about the spread of the new Omicron variant. The move, backed by a scientific advisory body and health secretary Sajid Javid, comes as ministers scramble to react swiftly to the new…
THE WORLD HEALTH ORGANIZATION (WHO) is monitoring the new coronavirus variant B.1.1.529 first detected in South Africa and will hold a "special meeting" on Friday (26) to discuss if the heavily mutated strain will become a variant of interest or a variant of concern, a top official said. The latest…
AS WORLD leaders met for COP26 in Glasgow, we were reminded of the sobering fact that we are currently in a climate emergency. There is a climate breakdown and globally we must do more – we need real action if we are to slow and correct climate breakdown. Climate activism…
INDIA is not considering authorising booster Covid-19 doses yet as many in the country have been naturally infected and the government believes two doses of a vaccine offers sufficient protection for now, three sources with knowledge of the matter said. As vaccine supplies have increased, some doctors and public health…
INDIA's capital is consistently ranked the world's worst capital for air quality and on its most polluted days the smog can cut visibility on the roads to barely 50 metres. Levels of PM2.5 pollutants -- the microparticles most harmful to human health, which can enter the bloodstream through the lungs…
INDIA's capital has shut down its schools until further notice due to dangerous levels of air pollution, while residents of Lahore in neighbouring Pakistan have pleaded with officials to take action over the acrid smog engulfing the region. Air quality has worsened across northern India and adjacent parts of Pakistan…
INDIA could resume deliveries of Covid-19 shots to global vaccine-sharing platform COVAX in a few weeks for the first time since April, two health industry sources said, ending a suspension of supplies that has hurt poor countries. The World Health Organization (WHO), which co-leads COVAX, has been urging India to…
US company Ocugen has announced that it had asked authorities for emergency use authorisation for the Covid-19 vaccine Covaxin, which was developed in India, for ages 2 to 18. Ocugen's data, gathered from clinical trials conducted outside of the US with only a small group of children, may not be…
THE morning after Diwali, the Hindu festival of lights, residents of New Delhi woke up under a blanket of toxic smog and breathed in the most dangerously polluted air of the year so far, after revellers, as usual, defied a fireworks ban. New Delhi has the worst air quality of…
INTERMITTENT rain and winds led to a rare drop in pollution in India's capital last month, with residents breathing the cleanest air in at least four years, but authorities warn that air quality is set to drop sharply in November. A delayed end to the monsoon and a sharp pick-up…
INDIA'S transport minister Nitin Gadkari wants to bring in a law that would replace the car-horn cacophony on the country’s roads with soothing music. He said he was planning a legislation whereby all vehicles on roads should have horns in Indian musical instruments like flute, table, violin, mouth organ, harmonium,…
AIR POLLUTION is likely to reduce the life expectancy of about 40 per cent of Indians by more than nine years, according to a report released by a US research group on Wednesday (1). More than 480 million people living in the vast swathes of central, eastern and northern India,…
SRI Lanka on Friday (27) extended a stringent coronavirus curfew for another week after reporting its highest daily death toll of more than 200. A nationwide lockdown was due to end Tuesday (31) but health minister Keheliya Rambukwella said it would be extended until September 6. The announcement came as…
The World Health Organization (WHO) on Monday (16) said it has identified counterfeit versions of the India-made Covid vaccine Covishield at the patient level in Uganda and India, claiming that the Indian producer has also confirmed that listed products are fake. "The genuine manufacturer of Covishield (Serum Institute of…
MINISTERS’ pledge to outlaw "virginity tests" will be undermined if the surgical procedure of hymenoplasty- done to "restore virginity"- goes unchecked in the UK, the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists (RCOG) has warned on Sunday (15), saying "the two practices are inextricably linked". The warning came after it…
‘ARE you on insulin yet?’ This is a question I’ve heard fellow south Asians ask each other frighteningly often. It implies that the diagnosis of Type 2 diabetes – a potentially life-threatening disease – is somehow inevitable, or at the very least, unsurprising. This must stop. Our risk of diabetes…
THE Delta variant of the coronavirus is not specifically targeting children, the World Health Organization (WHO) has said. The WHO's Covid-19 technical lead Maria Van Kerkhove said the evidence showed that the variant first detected in India was rather being transmitted among people who were socially mixing. "Let me be…
Bangladesh is to start giving coronavirus vaccinations to some of the 850,000 Rohingya refugees who fled across the border from Myanmar, officials said on Thursday. With infections rising across the country, refugee commissioner Shah Rezwan Hayat said about 48,000 Rohingya aged over 55 would start receiving jabs from next month…
PRIME MINISTER Boris Johnson urged people on Monday (12) to show caution when nearly all remaining Covid-19 restrictions are lifted in England next week, as he emphasised that an increase in cases underlined that the pandemic was by no means over. England will from Monday (19) be the first nation…
BANGLADESH will lift its nationwide coronavirus lockdown for the country's second-biggest religious festival, the government said on Tuesday, even as new infections soared to record levels. The cabinet said all restrictions would be eased in the Muslim-majority country of 169 million people from Thursday ahead of the Eid al-Adha festival…
INDIA expects to receive foreign-made Covid-19 vaccine doses through the COVAX global vaccine-sharing programme for the first time, with 3-4 million doses of Pfizer and Moderna shots potentially arriving by August, two sources have said. India, the world's biggest producer of vaccines, was initially the main source of Covid-19 shots…
WITH cases rising again in Europe and the United States because of the Delta variant, Pfizer and BioNTech announced on Thursday (8) that they would seek authorisation for a third dose of their Covid-19 vaccine to boost its efficacy. Pfizer and BioNTech said they expect that a third dose will…
THE United States on Tuesday (29) began shipping 2.5 million doses of Moderna's Covid vaccine to Bangladesh, as it confronted a wave of new infections. "Thanks to the US commitment to playing a leading role in ending the pandemic everywhere, 2.5 million doses of the Moderna vaccine will begin to…
AUTHOR Alka Joshi has revealed she was surprised by the success of her best-selling debut novel The Henna Artist, as she celebrated the release of its sequel last Friday (25). The Henna Artist follows Lakshmi, a 17-year-old girl who escapes from an abusive marriage in 1950s India. She journeys to…
GAMING ADDICTION has spiked during lockdown in Britain, claims a media report, with the number of children and young people entering the treatment rising constantly. The number of people entering treatment at the UK’s first specialist clinic to treat addiction of playing video games between January and May this…
PAKISTAN has received a $442 million (£372 m) loan from the World Bank to improve water supply and sanitation infrastructure and services in Punjab. The World Bank board of directors approved the Punjab Rural Sustainable Water Supply and Sanitation Project (PRSWSSP) on Saturday (19). The project prioritises rural settlements, where…
A "huge number" of poorer countries have had to suspend their coronavirus vaccination programmes due to a lack of doses, the World Health Organization said on Friday. The shortages often mean people who have received one dose of Covid-19 vaccine have to wait too long before they can get their…
POPPING across several countries across the world, the Delta variant is now raising fears that the strain may spearhead a new global wave of infection that is expected to overwhelm health care systems, reverse reopening plans and even potentially undermine the rollout of vaccines. Apart from Britain, outbreaks of the…
THE G7 leaders will pledge to use their combined resources to ensure a global pandemic like Covid-19 is never repeated. On the second day of their summit in Cornwall, hosted by the UK prime minister Boris Johnson, they will issue a declaration with a series of initiatives intended to achieve…
THE transatlantic solidarity is at its best again. At the time when US President Joe Biden is touring the UK to attend the G7 and Nato summits, the two old allies have agreed to script a new partnership to deal with future threats in the health sector. The UK Health…
US PRESIDENT Joe Biden is set to announce plans on Thursday (10) to buy and donate 500 million doses of the Pfizer coronavirus vaccine to more than 90 countries while calling on the world's democracies to do their part to help end the deadly pandemic, the White House said. Biden…
BANGLADESH'S foreign ministry has expressed an interest in the co-production of Sputnik V Covid-19 with Russia, in a meeting with the Russian ambassador to Bangladesh on Sunday (6). Alexander I Ignatov discussed the vaccine with Bangladesh's foreign minister Dr AK Abdul Momen at his office on Sunday, the Dhaka Tribune reported. The…
LETTERS of the Greek alphabet will be used to identify coronavirus variants in order to simplify discussion and pronunciation while avoiding stigma. The World Health Organization (WHO) revealed the new names on Monday (31) amid criticism that those given by scientists to strains such as the South African variant –…
BRITAIN is in talks with Oxford and AstraZeneca for additional doses of their Covid-19 vaccine that has been modified to better target the "beta" coronavirus variant first identified in South Africa, and it will fund trials of the shots. Britain has previously secured 100 million doses of the vaccine, developed…
WORLD bodies have warned richer countries, including the UK, to donate jabs to poorer nations or face the grim prospect of millions more global deaths and future lockdowns. In a joint plea, the heads of World Health Organization (WHO), the International Monetary Fund, World Bank Group and the World…
THE COVID-19 variant first detected in India will now henceforth be known as Delta variant, as per new guidelines by the World Health Organization (WHO), which said letters of the Greek alphabet will be used for coronavirus variants. Revealing the names on Monday (31), amid criticism that those given by…
THE Pfizer vaccine is slightly less effective against the more transmissible Indian strain of the Covid-19 virus, a study by France's Pasteur Institute said, adding that it still “probably protects” against the strain. Olivier Schwartz, the institute's director and a co-author, wrote in the study that “despite slightly diminished efficacy,…
By Dinesh Sharma FOREIGN students from India who have enrolled in US universities face an uncertain future, as most are stuck in the subcontinent which is battling a deadly second wave of the pandemic, and where a shortage of vaccines has made returning to America a challenge. The US…
By Amit Roy AUTHOR Sam Pitroda is calling for a radical reform of major global institutions such as the United Nations, the World Bank, the International Monetary Fund, NATO and the World Health Organization due to “stagnation in their functioning”. “These institutions have made significant contributions to keep peace alive,…
India's information technology (IT) ministry has written to all social media companies asking them to take down any content that refers to an "Indian variant" of the coronavirus, according to a letter issued on Friday which was seen by Reuters. The World Health Organization said on May 11 that the…
Bangladesh will receive about 106,000 doses of the Pfizer Covid-19 vaccine on June 2, according to a health ministry official. Ministry spokesperson Maidul Islam confirmed on Tuesday (18) that the vaccines will arrive in Bangladesh under the COVAX scheme, which is co-led by the World Health Organization, the Gavi vaccine…
THE world's largest vaccine maker has said that it hopes to resume delivering Covid-19 jabs to Covax and other countries by the end of this year, after India restricted exports to combat a massive rise in infections at home. The Serum Institute of India has been producing hundreds of millions…
THE Hinduja Foundation, philanthropic arm of Hinduja Group, is organising a virtual global summit on May 21 to promote the importance of mental health during the Covid-19 pandemic. The #NeverAloneSummit will be held in association with the Chopra Foundation, the John W Brick Mental Health Foundation, and CG Creatives. It…
INDIA is unlikely to resume major exports of Covid-19 vaccines until at least October as it diverts shots for domestic use, three government sources said, a longer-than-expected delay set to worsen supply shortages from the global COVAX initiative. Battling the world's biggest jump in coronavirus infections, India halted vaccine exports…
INDIA reported a further decline in new coronavirus cases on Monday (17), but daily deaths remained above 4,000 and experts said the count was unreliable due to a lack of testing in rural areas where the virus is spreading fast. For months now, nowhere in the world has been hit…
WORLD Health Organization (WHO) has given a grim warning that the second year of the pandemic is going to be "far more deadly.” "We're on track for the second year of this pandemic to be far more deadly than the first," said WHO director-general Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus. The statement comes…
INDIA'S tally of coronavirus infections climbed past 24 million on Friday (14), amid reports that the highly transmissible variant first detected in the South Asian nation was spreading across the globe. The Indian B.1.617 variant has spread to Canada and the United States, said Jairo Mendez, an infectious diseases expert…
At least two Indian states have said they plan to give their populations the anti-parasitic drug ivermectin to protect against severe Covid-19 infections as their hospitals are overrun with patients in critical condition. The move by the coastal state of Goa and northern state of Uttarakhand, come despite the World…
INDIA made the "incorrect assumption" that it was finished with the Covid-19 pandemic and opened up prematurely that has left the country in such "dire straits", America's top infectious disease expert Dr Anthony Fauci told senators. India has been severely affected by the unprecedented second wave of the coronavirus and…
INDIA'S coronavirus deaths crossed a quarter million on Wednesday (12) in the deadliest 24 hours since the outbreak of the pandemic, as the contagion rampaged through the countryside, overwhelming a fragile rural healthcare system. Boosted by highly infectious variants, the second wave erupted in February to inundate hospitals and medical…
By Pooja Shrivastava VARIANT of Covid-19, which was first found in India, has been detected in more than 44 countries, the World Health Organization (WHO) announced on Wednesday (12). The UN health agency said that the B.1.617 variant of Covid-19 has been detected in more than 4,500 samples uploaded to…
INDIA'S coronavirus crisis showed slight sign of easing on Tuesday (11), with a seven-day average of new cases at a record high and international health authorities warning the country's variant of the virus poses a global concern. The country's daily coronavirus cases rose by 329,942, while deaths from the disease…
PAKISTAN received its first shipment of Oxford-AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccines from the COVAX Facility on Saturday (8). The consignment of 1,238,400 doses of vaccines, which will be followed by another of 1,236,000 in a few days, will support the Government of Pakistan’s ongoing historic drive to bring the pandemic to an…
New Covid-19 deaths surged past 4,000 for the first time in India on Saturday in one of the world's worst outbreaks, as EU pressure mounted on Washington to end vaccine export limits and offer a concrete plan to lift patents. "I call very clearly on the United States to put…
The global fight against coronavirus just got stronger as the World Health Organization (WHO) has granted emergency approval for the Covid vaccine made by the Chinese state-owned company Sinopharm. The WHO on Friday said it had validated the "safety, efficacy and quality" of the Sinopharm jab developed by the Beijing…
THE Indian Premier League's Australian cohort is headed for the Maldives after the tournament's abrupt suspension over the coronavirus crisis in the south Asian nation, said Sourav Ganguly, the chief of the Indian cricket board. International cricketers started heading home on Wednesday (5) after the previous day's halt of the…
US president Joe Biden has announced support to waive intellectual property rights for Covid-19 vaccines, bowing to mounting pressure from Democratic lawmakers and more than 100 other countries, but angering pharmaceutical companies. India, where the death toll hit a new daily record amid fears the peak is still to come, has…
INDIA reported a record 412,262 new Covid-19 cases on Thursday (6) and a record 3,980 daily death toll, as a second wave of infections swamps the health system and spreads from cities into the vast countryside. Covid-19 infections in the world's second most populous nation have surged past 21 million,…
INDIA accounted for nearly half of the Covid-19 cases reported worldwide last week, the World Health Organization (WHO) said on Wednesday (5), as the country's coronavirus deaths rose by a record 3,780 during the last 24 hours. The WHO said in its weekly epidemiological report that India accounted for 46…
THE travel ban imposed by US president Joe Biden for people coming from India, which is experiencing one of the worst waves of the Covid-19 pandemic, came into effect on Tuesday (4). Biden issued a proclamation on Friday restricting travel from India starting from May 4. Certain categories of students,…
INDIA on Friday (30) posted another global record for daily coronavirus infections, pushing worldwide cases past 150 million as a pandemic that has killed almost 3.2 million worldwide continues to wreak devastation. India recorded another 385,000 cases in the past 24 hours -- a new global record -- and almost…
THE co-founder of BioNTech Ugur Sahin has voiced confidence that the vaccine that his company jointly developed with Pfizer works against the Indian variant of the coronavirus. "We are still testing the Indian variant, but the Indian variant has mutations that we have already tested for and which our vaccine…
THE World Health Organization (WHO) has said that a variant of Covid-19 feared to be contributing to a surge in coronavirus cases in India has been found in over a dozen countries. The UN health agency said the B.1.617 variant of Covid-19 first found in India had as of Tuesday…
THE first emergency medical supplies trickled into Covid-stricken India on Tuesday (27) as part of a global campaign to staunch a catastrophic wave in the latest pandemic hotspot, with the US also pledging to export millions of AstraZeneca vaccine doses. India's infection and death rates are growing exponentially, overwhelming hospitals,…
GILEAD SCIENCES Inc has said that it will give India at least 450,000 vials of its antiviral drug remdesivir and help boost production, as the world's second-most populous country reels from surging coronavirus cases. Remdesivir is approved in India for restricted emergency use to treat severe Covid-19 cases, but hospitals…
The World Health Organization chief voiced alarm on Monday at India's record-breaking wave of Covid-19 cases and deaths, saying the organisation was rushing to help address the crisis. "The situation in India is beyond heartbreaking," Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus told reporters. He spoke as India battles a catastrophic coronavirus wave that…
Delhi hospitals issued desperate appeals for oxygen on Friday and 13 Covid-19 patients died in a fire, as India's healthcare system buckles under a new wave of infections. The surge, blamed on a new virus variant and recent "super spreader" public events, brought 330,000 new infections -- a world record…
THE small UK trial testing of the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine in children and teenagers was paused as University of Oxford waits for more data on rare blood clotting events in adults. The trial disruption comes as a latest blow to the vaccine, after several countries restricted its use due to events…
RESTRICTIONS on exporting its Covid vaccines have left India's Serum Institute needing financial help from the government, its CEO said, with the world's largest jab manufacturer under pressure at home from soaring cases. Prime minister Narendra Modi's government last month put the brakes on exports of AstraZeneca jabs made by…
India is not worried about some EU countries suspending use of the AstraZeneca Covid-19 vaccine and will continue to roll out the shot in its huge immunisation programme "with full vigour", a senior official said Wednesday. The AstraZeneca shots, produced by India's Serum Institute, account for most of the 35…
QUEEN's oldest son and heir on Wednesday (17) criticised opposition to coronavirus vaccines, as British ministers sought to calm public fears about safety. Prince Charles said there was no need to fear vaccination, as several countries suspended the rollout of AstraZeneca's Covid jab because of suspected links to blood clots.…
UK health secretary Matt Hancock said Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine is safe and urged the public to "listen to the regulators" and "get the jab" as soon they get the opportunity. Britain's medicines watchdog MHRA said that evidence "does not suggest" blood clots due to the jab after some 13 countries suspended…
THE director of the Oxford Vaccine Group on Monday (15) said there was no link between the jab it developed with AstraZeneca and blood clotting, after several countries suspended its use. Andrew Pollard said there was "very reassuring evidence that there is no increase in a blood clot phenomenon here…
ASTRAZENECA is preparing to file for US emergency use authorization (EUA) for its Covid-19 vaccine later this month or early April after accumulating enough data to judge the inoculation's efficacy, sources with knowledge of the ongoing clinical trial told Reuters. The British drugmaker completed enrollment in its trial of more…
THE UK will receive 10 million AstraZeneca Covid-19 vaccine doses made by the Serum Institute of India (SII), the UK government has said. Serum Institute, the world's largest vaccine manufacturer by volume, is mass producing the AstraZeneca vaccine, developed with Oxford University, for dozens of poor and middle-income countries. "The…
PAKISTAN prime minister Imran Khan on Wednesday(24) visited Sri Lankan president Gotabaya Rajapaksa and discussed bilateral ties and common areas of interest, such as trade and tourism. Khan, who is on a two-day visit, called on Rajapaksa at the presidential secretariat in Colombo and held a one-on-one meeting with him.…
INDIAN pharmaceutical companies Bharat Biotech and Biological E Ltd has said that they could quickly rework their Covid-19 vaccine products to fight new variants once their genetic sequence is known. In recent months, India has confirmed the presence of the variants first identified in Brazil, Britain and South Africa, which…
AIR POLLUTION caused an estimated 54,000 premature deaths in the Indian capital New Delhi last year, a higher toll than in any other big global metropolis, according to a study. The study by Greenpeace Southeast Asia Analysis and Swiss firm IQAir measured air quality by recording the concentration of poisonous…
Premature babies used to be such bad news for doctors and mothers. The number of premature babies that went away thanks to lack of information or advances that allowed them to survive made this topic one that needed to be explored and after many years, we can see progress and…
It is two months since Shazia underwent a so-called virginity test during a rape examination at a Karachi hospital, but the Pakistani teenager is still visibly traumatised. She winces as she describes how the doctor carried out the "two-finger test" (TFT), in which a doctor inserts fingers into the vagina,…
Despite stark failures in curbing Covid-19's spread, Britain has scored a notable success with its mass vaccination drive, giving 15 million people a first dose by Sunday. Here are some of the factors behind the speedy rollout. - Early backing - In May 2020 the UK government signed a deal…
INDIA said on Thursday(28) it had curbed an increase in Covid-19 infections, with a fifth of its districts reporting no new cases for a week, even as its immunisation campaign has covered 2.4 million people. The country of 1.35 billion has recorded the highest number of cases in the world…
A group of British doctors have written to England's chief medical officer to tell him to cut the gap between doses of the Pfizer and BioNTech vaccine to six weeks from up to 12. Britain is prioritising giving first doses of Covid-19 vaccine, allowing up to 12 weeks before a…
World leaders said they were looking forward to working with Joe Biden, the Democrat sworn in as US president on Wednesday (20) after four turbulent years under Donald Trump. - Britain - Prime minister Boris Johnson, who has faced criticism over his close relationship with Trump, said he was looking…
India exported its first batch of locally produced coronavirus shots on Wednesday (20), officials said, as the world's biggest vaccine manufacturer scrambled to meet requests from other countries desperate to protect their populations. The Maldives and Bhutan will be the first recipients of India's coronavirus vaccine, while Brazil and South…
A fire broke out Thursday(21) at India's Serum Institute, the world's largest maker of vaccines, but a company source said production of drugs to prevent coronavirus was not affected. The Serum Institute is producing millions of doses of the Covishield coronavirus vaccine, developed by AstraZeneca and Oxford University, for India…
THE Serum Institute of India (SII) expects WHO emergency use authorization soon for the Oxford University/AstraZeneca coronavirus vaccine, which it is producing for mid and low income countries, its chief executive said. The World Health Organization (WHO) listed Pfizer and BioNTech's Covid-19 shot for emergency use on December 31 as…
Raped at 14, Shazia took the rare and courageous step of reporting the crime to Pakistani police, only to face a traumatic "virginity test" -- a long-standing practice that denies justice to victims. The teenager was still in a daze after she was assaulted by her father's cousin when police…
A court in Pakistan's most populous province on Monday outlawed virginity tests on rape victims -- a longstanding practice in the country used to assess a woman's so-called honour. Critics of the tests, including an invasive "two-finger test", had filed petitions in the eastern city of Lahore in a bid…
When the world celebrated the dawn of a new decade with a blaze of firework parties and revelry on January 1, few could have imagined what 2020 had in store. In the last 12 months, the novel coronavirus has paralysed economies, devastated communities and confined nearly four billion people to…
THE EU experts believe existing vaccines against coronavirus are effective against the new fast-spreading strain identified in Britain, Germany's health minister said. "According to everything we know so far" the new strain "has no impact on the vaccines", which remain "just as effective", Jens Spahn told public broadcaster ZDF, citing…
THE UK foreign secretary Dominic Raab on Wednesday(16) said that experts from India and the UK will join forces through a new virtual hub to deliver vaccines for coronavirus and other deadly viruses. Raab met Indian prime minister Modi to discuss the UK and India working together as a force…
Outrage is mounting in Sri Lanka after at least 15 Muslim coronavirus victims, including a baby, were cremated against family wishes and in contravention of Islamic funeral rites. Health authorities in Buddhist-majority Sri Lanka insist all victims must be cremated -- even if they are Muslims, who traditionally bury their…
In March this year, the World Health Organization declared COVID-19 a global pandemic. Since then, the virus has continued to spread, affecting every aspect of our lives. Not surprisingly, COVID-19 has had a notable impact on the transportation sector in terms of mobility and traffic flow. No vaccine or cure…
THE British government has asked its independent medicines regulator to study Pfizer/BioNTech's coronavirus vaccine for 'an imminent roll-out'. The pharma giant and its German partner said they will ask US regulators for emergency use authorisation for the vaccine in what would be a major step towards fighting back against the…
Authorities in Pakistan's most populous province on Saturday (14) banned an outdated medical procedure in which rape victims are subjected to an invasive physical examination. The move comes after critics of the "two-finger test" this year sued the government of Punjab province, home to about 110 million people, in a…
By Dinesh Sharma LAST weekend, Joseph Robinette Biden, Jr was declared the 46th president-elect of the United States. The third time may have been the ‘luck of the Irish’ for Biden, whose ancestors hailed from County Louth. His great, great, great grandfather moved to America during the Irish famine almost…
A NEW pilot scheme to use testing to limit the spread of the coronavirus will be launched in Liverpool this week. The Covid-19 mass testing scheme offers everyone tests whether or not they have symptoms, in an attempt to find Prime minister Boris Johnson promised a "world-beating" national test-and-trace system…
INDIA's health minister Dr Harsh Vardhan has said that Serum Institute of India and Bharat Biotech are expected to pursue late stage clinical trials of intranasal Covid-19 vaccines in the coming months once they receive regulatory approval. He added the late stage trial generally involves thousands of participants, sometimes 30,000…
Up to 100 million additional doses of any eventual Covid-19 vaccines will be secured for delivery to poorer countries in 2021, health groups announced on Tuesday (29), as the virus showed no sign of receding after claiming more than one million lives around the world. The announcement doubles the number…
MANTASHA BANO was 28-weeks pregnant when her cries of sudden, unbearable pain prompted neighbours to call an ambulance in the rural Indian state of Uttar Pradesh. It never came, and Bano's baby was stillborn. Medical workers in the northern state have reported a marked increase in stillbirths as the coronavirus…
PHARMA giant AstraZeneca has resumed British clinical trials of its Covid-19 vaccine, one of the most advanced in development, after getting the green light from safety watchdogs. The late-stage trials of the experimental vaccine, developed with researchers from the University of Oxford, were suspended this week after an illness in…
PHARMA giant AstraZeneca should know before the end of the year whether its experimental vaccine protects people against Covid-19, the drugmaker's chief executive Pascal Soriot said on Thursday (10), as long as it can resume trials soon. The British company suspended late-stage trials this week after an illness in a…
THE coronavirus has upended everyday life in the six months since the crisis was declared a pandemic by the World Health Organization (WHO). While our understanding of the new respiratory disease has steadily increased since it was first detected in China last year, what lies ahead over the next half-year…
CHINA has put its homegrown coronavirus vaccines on display for the first time, as the country where the contagion was discovered looks to shape the narrative surrounding the pandemic. High hopes hang on the small vials of liquid on show at a Beijing trade fair this week -- vaccine candidates produced by Chinese…
The quaint, sugarcane-growing village of Rajewadi in India's west did not have a single confirmed coronavirus case until mid-August. Now one in every four people there is positive for the virus, with police blaming a local religious event for the spread. Such spurts in cases in small towns and villages,…
ONLY six high-income countries are doing enough to tackle deaths from chronic illnesses such as diabetes and heart disease, a global report said on Friday (4), warning the coronavirus pandemic exposes the urgent need to combat underlying conditions. In its stocktake of global efforts to stop people dying prematurely from…
RICHARD HATCHETT, the head of the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations (CEPI), is worried. His job is to ensure that future vaccines against Covid-19 will be shared on an equitable basis around the world, but the US, Europe and other rich countries have already reserved the first doses for themselves.…
CHILDREN are less likely than adults to develop coronavirus complications, according to a new study that has found they made up "only a fraction of a percent of all Covid-19 admissions across the UK". However, the report noted that obesity, black ethnicity and being under one month old increased the…
Bangladesh has approved a late-stage trial of a potential Covid-19 vaccine developed by China's Sinovac Biotech Ltd in the hope of being a priority recipient for the jab, the health minister said. The state medical research agency had given ethical approval to the Phase III trial last month, and now…
IT will be mandatory for pupils to wear face masks in communal areas of secondary schools in England in places with local lockdowns, Education Secretary Gavin Williamson said on Wednesday (after a government U-turn on enforcing their use. Ministers had ruled out the need for pupils to wear masks in corridors despite…
Millions of women and girls globally have lost access to contraceptives and abortion services because of the coronavirus pandemic. Now the first widespread measure of the toll says India with its abrupt, months-long lockdown has been hit especially hard. Several months into the pandemic, many women now have second-trimester pregnancies…
AS Britain navigates its way through the coronavirus pandemic, the government insists that science is guiding its decisions. But a self-appointed group of independent experts says it sees little in Britain's response that is evidence-based, especially after an upturn in new cases forced a delay in lifting more lockdown restrictions.…
THE coronavirus pandemic chalked up another horrific milestone Monday as the world surpassed 20 million recorded cases of infection from the tiny killer that has upended life just about everywhere. The number as on Tuesday (11) was 20,002,577 cases, with 733,842 deaths recorded, according to official sources. In yet another…
PRESIDENT Vladimir Putin said on Tuesday (11) that Russia had become the first country in the world to grant regulatory approval to a Covid-19 vaccine, after less than two months of human testing. Reports said Moscow had already received requests from more than 20 countries for one billion doses of its newly-registered Covid-19…
SERUM INSTITUTE OF INDIA said on Friday (7) it would receive about £115 million in funding from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and the GAVI vaccines alliance to make up to 100 million Covid-19 vaccine doses for India and other emerging economies as early as 2021. The candidate vaccines,…
Indian prime minister Narendra Modi will attend a foundation-laying ceremony for a Hindu temple on Wednesday (5), organisers said, even though his interior minister has contracted COVID-19. Amit Shah, who is Modi's top lieutenant as well as India's interior minister, was admitted to a private hospital near Delhi on Sunday,…
INDIAN drugmaker Wockhardt Ltd has said it will supply millions of doses of multiple Covid-19 vaccines to the UK, including the one being developed by AstraZeneca and Oxford University. The company has dedicated a fill-and-finish capacity -- the final manufacturing step of putting vaccines into vials or syringes and packaging them…
Air pollution cuts life expectancy for every man, woman and child on Earth by nearly two years, according to data released Tuesday which experts said showed poor air quality is "the greatest risk to human health". The Air Quality Life Index (AQLI) said that as the world races to find…
Pakistan has seen an 80-per cent drop in coronavirus deaths but risks a spike in new cases after the upcoming Eid festival, a government health official said Sunday. According to government data, Pakistan saw daily virus deaths peak at about 150 in June. On Saturday, only 24 new fatalities were…
British prime minister Boris Johnson on Friday described people opposed to vaccinations as "nuts", as he promoted the government's expanded programme of flu jabs. "There's all these anti-vaxxers now. They are nuts, they are nuts," he said as he toured a medical centre in east London. Johnson's government has widened…
Pakistanis should celebrate the upcoming Eid festival with "simplicity" to prevent a spike in new coronavirus cases, Prime Minister Imran Khan said on Friday. Many people ignored social distancing guidelines and flocked to mosques and markets during the last religious holiday marking the end of Ramadan in May -- helping…
When Chandana Hiran was a child, strangers would urge her to lighten her skin. Today the Indian student is leading a campaign against whitening creams as global anti-racism protests highlight the obsession with fair complexions for many in Asia. The campaign achieved its first victory when cosmetics giant Unilever dropped…
MEASLES and rubella have been eradicated from Sri Lanka and the Maldives after decades of immunisation programmes, the World Health Organization said Wednesday (8). "Coming at a time when the entire world is grappling with the COVID-19 pandemic, this success is encouraging and demonstrates the importance of joint efforts," WHO…
INDIA reported 18,522 new Covid-19 cases in the last 24 hours, with this the tally reached to 566,840 as on Tuesday (30). The recovery rate further improved to 59.06 per cent. The death toll has climbed to 16,893 with 418 new fatalities in 24 hours, according to the health ministry.…
REVIVAL OF PROTESTS AGAINST RACISM GIVES AMRITRAJ’S FILM ADDED RELEVANCE by AMIT ROY THIS is a movie that can be rated “AAAA” even before it is made – a film about the black tennis legend Arthur Ashe by the Indian Hollywood icon Ashok Amritraj. Ashe, who grew up in an…
BORIS JOHNSON has said pubs, restaurants, hotels and cinemas could reopen in England early next month when the social distancing rule is relaxed, easing the coronavirus lockdown. The prime minister had been under pressure from businesses, especially in the hospitality sector, and from members of his Conservative Party to relax…
INDIA's Covid-19 cases rose to 440,215 on Tuesday (23) with 14,933 fresh cases reported in the last 24 hours. The death toll went up to 14,011 as the pandemic claimed 312 lives in a day. According to the health ministry, there are 178,014 active cases in the country while 248,189…
SAUDI ARABIA has announced that it will bar arrivals from abroad to attend the haj this year due to the coronavirus, allowing only a limited number of Saudi citizens and residents to make the pilgrimage with social distancing measures enforced. The decision came at a time when global coronavirus infections topped nine…
Number 10 accused of ‘colonialism and furthering Empire 2.0 agenda’ By Sarwar Alam Senior British parliamentarians have accused the UK prime minister of ‘colonialism and furthering an Empire 2.0 agenda’ by attempting to stop Commonwealth secretary-general, Patricia Scotland, from getting an automatic second term. Eastern Eye has seen confidential documents…
The World Health Organization warned of a "new and dangerous phase" of the Covid-19 pandemic, as infections continued to surge in the Americas, with Brazil registering more than one million cases. Colombia and Mexico also passed bleak milestones, as their death tolls topped 2,000 and 20,000, respectively, showing how the…
THE World Health Organization on Tuesday (16) hailed a UK-led "breakthrough" steroid treatment for the coronavirus, boosting hopes that pandemic deaths can be reduced, but a growing new cluster in China sparked fears of a second wave of infections. Surging death tolls in the Americas and South Asia, Steroids for…
Pakistan on Friday announced its annual budget for financial year 2020-21, setting ambitious targets of 2.1 per cent GDP growth, a 7 per cent fiscal deficit and an increase in tax revenues, even as it reels from a surge in novel coronavirus cases. The GDP target is much higher than…
A BRITISH charity’s children’s art competition to raise awareness on thalassaemia and blood donation has received “overwhelming” support from across the world. Launched in March, the United Kingdom Thalassaemia Society’s campaign received nearly 300 entries from 45 countries. “Not only have we been bowled over by the overwhelming response and…
INDIA has lifted an export ban on hydroxychloroquine, the anti-malarial drug touted by the UK president Donald Trump as a potential "game changer" in the fight against the Covid-19 pandemic, a minister said late on Wednesday (10). "Department of Pharmaceuticals has approved the lifting of ban on Export of Hydroxychloroquine…
THE World Health Organization has recommended Pakistani authorities to reimpose "intermittent lockdowns" of targeted areas to curb the spread of the Covid-19, stating the country did not meet the global body's conditions for lifting restrictions. A surge of new cases has hit the South Asian nation after the government lifted…
POPULATION-WIDE facemask use could push Covid-19 transmission down to controllable levels and help prevent further waves of the pandemic, according to a UK study published Wednesday (10). The research, led by scientists at the Britain's Cambridge and Greenwich Universities, suggested that even homemade masks can dramatically reduce transmission rates if enough people…
BRITAIN'S official coronavirus death toll has topped 40,000, after the government reported a further 357 fatalities over 24 hours on Friday (5). Health Secretary Matt Hancock said reaching the grim milestone was "a time of sorrow for us all". "We've got to remember that each one of these is an…
THE British Medical Association has urged the government to make face covering mandatory in "all areas" where social distancing was not always possible. The demand came as the government announced that all people should cover their faces using non-surgical face masks while using public transport from June 15. BMA chair…
Four weeks ago, with its most important festival coming up and millions of people facing starvation as economic activity dwindled, Pakistan lifted a two-month-long coronavirus lockdown. Now, the government data shows over 20,000 cases of the virus were identified in the three weeks before the lockdown was lifted, and more…
AN influential medical journal article that found hydroxychloroquine increased the risk of death in Covid-19 patients was retracted on Thursday (4), adding to controversy around a drug championed by US President Donald Trump. Three of the authors of the article retracted it, citing concerns about the quality and veracity of…
British prime minister Boris Johnson called for a "new era of global health co-operation" as he prepared to host a vaccine fundraising summit on Thursday under the shadow of coronavirus. The virtual meeting aims to raise $7.4 billion for immunisation programmes stalled by the pandemic, and will see the launch…
THIRTY countries led by Costa Rica and the World Health Organization launched an initiative aimed at sharing vaccines, medicines and diagnostic tools to tackle the global Covid-19 pandemic. While the developing nations' push, called the Covid-19 Technology Access Pool, was welcomed by groups including Doctors Without Borders, a drug industry…
THE US will end its relationship with the World Health Organization over the body's handling of the coronavirus pandemic, Donald Trump said on Friday (29), accusing the UN agency of becoming a puppet of China. The US president had initially suspended funding to the WHO last month, accusing it of not doing…
The prevalence of 'silent' symptomless Covid-19 infection may be much higher than thought, according to a study which assessed cruise ship passengers under isolation during the current pandemic. Researchers, including those from Macquarie University in Australia, noted that the study offers the first analysis of complete Covid-19 testing of all…
THE WHO suspended trials of the drug that Donald Trump has promoted as a coronavirus defence, fuelling concerns about the US president's handling of the pandemic that has killed nearly 100,000 Americans. Trump has led the push for hydroxychloroquine as a potential shield or treatment for the virus, which has…
OXFORD UNIVERSITY and AstraZeneca are recruiting around 10,000 adults and children in Britain for trials of an experimental coronavirus vaccine, a day after receiving US backing worth up to $1.2 billion. Institutions across Britain had begun enrolling up to 10,260 adults and children to see how well the human immune…
BRITISH drugmaker AstraZeneca Plc has received the first agreements to supply at least 400 million doses of the potential Covid-19 vaccine it is developing with the University of Oxford. The company said on Thursday (21) it had a total capacity sourced for one billion doses through 2020 and into 2021,…
Emergency teams raced on Friday (15) to prevent a coronavirus "nightmare" in the world's largest refugee settlement after the first confirmed cases in a sprawling city of shacks housing nearly a million Rohingya. There have long been warnings the virus could race like wildfire through the cramped, sometimes sewage-soaked alleys…
A Rohingya has become the first person to test positive for coronavirus from the vast refugee camps in Bangladesh that house almost a million people, officials said Thursday. Health experts have been warning for some time that the virus could race through the sprawling, unsanitary camps that have been home…
World leaders past and present insisted on Thursday (14) that any eventual COVID-19 vaccines and treatments should be made available to everyone, free of charge. South African president Cyril Ramaphosa and Pakistani prime minister Imran Khan were among more than 140 signatories of a letter saying any vaccine should not…
A MENTAL ILLNESS crisis is looming as millions of people worldwide are surrounded by death and disease and forced into isolation, poverty and anxiety by the pandemic of COVID-19, United Nations health experts said on Thursday (14). "The isolation, the fear, the uncertainty, the economic turmoil - they all cause…
Produced in association with UK Government SCAMMERS ARE TARGETING VULNERABLE PEOPLE, WARN EXPERTS A DEADLY virus is not the only one spreading through humans in these past few months. Just as coronavirus has infected thousands of people across countries, so too has misinformation relating to Covid-19 spread, from unfounded claims…
ORGANISERS TAKE EVENT ONLINE AMID ONGOING VIRUS LOCKDOWN RESTRICTIONS LIKE most global events, this year’s Jaipur Literary Fest (JLF) was cancelled due to the pandemic. But to ensure some cerebral stimulation in these mind-numbing days, organisers took the festival online with their ‘Brave New World’ series. Although the virtual event…
AT a time when Muslims in the UK have been perturbed by rumours about cremation of Covid-19 victims, the East London Mosque (ELM) has offered some solace to community members by setting up an emergency mortuary at Tower Hamlets. The mosque has converted railway arches, earlier used as a parking…
DONALD TRUMP said on Thursday (30) he was confident the coronavirus may have originated in a Chinese virology lab, but declined to describe the evidence, ratcheting up tensions with Beijing over the origins of the deadly outbreak. The US president did not mince words at a White House event, when…
SADIQ KHAN has said he would “unilaterally” direct Londoners to cover their faces in public places if the government did not issue an advice to use masks. The London mayor’s warning came hours after Scottish First Minister Nicola Sturgeon on Monday (27) urged people to wear face masks if they…
The World Health Organization warned on Saturday recovering from coronavirus may not protect people from reinfection as the death toll from the pandemic approached 200,000 around the globe. Governments across the world are struggling to limit the economic devastation unleashed by the virus, which has infected nearly 2.8 million people…
Pakistanis on Saturday celebrated the country's first day of the holy month of Ramadan by flocking to mosques and markets, ignoring advice to stay home as coronavirus cases rise. Prime minister Imran Khan has come under pressure for his handling of the virus crisis, after causing confusion by saying Pakistan…
Muslims around the world began marking Ramadan under coronavirus lockdown on Friday (24) with unprecedented bans on family gatherings and mass prayers, while a pushback in some countries has sparked fears of a surge in infections. This year, the holy daytime fasting month will be a sombre affair for many…
The global coronavirus crisis will not end any time soon, with many countries still in the early stages of the fight, health experts have warned as researchers revealed the first US deaths from the disease came weeks before the alarm was raised there. The COVID-19 pandemic has killed more than…
INDIA bats for a for a fair, transparent and equitable access to essential medical supplies and any future vaccines developed to fight COVID-19. The country co-sponsored a UN general assembly resolution in this regard. The 193-member assembly adopted the Mexico-drafted resolution 'International cooperation to ensure global access to medicines, vaccines…
NEARLY two-thirds of Americans say Donald Trump was too slow in taking major steps to address the threat to the US from new coronavirus, a poll published on Thursday (16) said. According to the Pew Research Center, 65 per cent said the US president was tardy in responding when cases…
SADIQ KHAN has urged the government to make wearing face masks mandatory during travel in London. The city mayor has written to Transport Secretary Grant Shapps that UK was "lagging behind the international community on this issue". Notably, on Wednesday (15), New York had made face covering compulsory in public…
Bollywood superstar Shah Rukh Khan will join artistes from around the world for a virtual event to support healthcare workers who are battling it out against the coronavirus pandemic. The actor took to Twitter on Tuesday (14) to announce his participation in the One World: Together At Home, a virtual…
DONALD TRUMP has halted US funding to the World Health Organization over its handling of the coronavirus pandemic as the country registered over 600,000 cases of Covid-19 and 28,300 deaths. Trump, who has reacted angrily to criticism of his administration's response to the worst epidemic in a century, has become…
Life has gone for a toss after the world came to know about the Coronavirus and the World Health Organization declared it a pandemic. The spread of the COVID-19 has resulted in mass wedding cancellations throughout the world. Actors Kunal Verma and Puja Banerjee were set to get hitched on…
The coronavirus pandemic notched up another round of record death tolls in the United States and Europe, dousing the optimism of US President Donald Trump who insisted there was light at the end of the tunnel. The virus has now killed more than 87,000 people and infected over 1.5 million,…
India has told Facebook and Chinese video app TikTok to remove users found to be spreading misinformation about the coronavirus following concern about videos intended to mislead Muslims, according to a government source and a letter seen by Reuters. The move follows a report by Delhi-based digital analytics firm Voyager…
Several international leaders including US president Donald Trump and prime minister Narendra Modi have wished British prime minister Boris Johnson a quick recovery after he was admitted to an intensive care unit of a London hospital as his coronavirus symptoms worsened. Johnson, 55, was tested positive for coronavirus more than…
The heads of three global agencies warned on Wednesday (1) of a potential worldwide food shortage if authorities fail to manage the ongoing coronavirus crisis properly. Many governments around the world have put their populations on lockdown to slow the spread of the virus but that has resulted in severe…
The novel coronavirus pandemic that has forced billions of people across the globe to stay home is making parents skip routine immunisations for their kids, the United Nations children's agency UNICEF warned Thursday. The phenomenon is being aggravated by overburdened health services where medical workers are being diverted from giving…
The Indian Railways has set up a COVID-19 isolation ward prototype by converting train coaches. The national service-provider said each railway zones will start setting up similar rakes with 10 coaches in a few days. Each modified coach will be able to accommodate 10 patients. "Then we will serve the…
PRAISE FOR KERALA POLICE’S HAND-WASHING VIDEO AS ‘MODERN MARKETING TOOL’ by NEERAJ KRISHNA AS THE World Health Organization and health specialists emphasised the importance of thorough hand-washing to protect against the coronavirus, a police media team in a south Indian state brainstormed on how to take the message to the…
IN a major relief to the island nation, no new COVID-19 positive cases were reported in Sri Lanka on Wednesday (25) till evening. President Gotabaya Rajapaksa has requested international donor agencies to provide a debt moratorium or debt deferment facility to all vulnerable developing nations to the COVID-19 risk. The…
Following the 21-day national lockdown announced by India and tough measures by other countries, the US government faced calls for similar steps in the country to combat the coronavirus pandemic. Authorities expressed alarm over the sharply-growing number of confirmed cases that has spiralled over 50,000. On Monday (23), President Donald…
A week-long nationwide lockdown began in Nepal on Tuesday (24) to stem the spread of fast-spreading coronavirus pandemic which has killed nearly 17,000 people and infected 3.8 lakh others globally. On the first day of the restrictions, markets remained closed and roads wore a deserted look barring the vehicles of…
While top gym chains in India are shuttered over the coronavirus pandemic, many workout dens are defying government orders of a lockdown by staying open for their muscle-bound customers. Exercise fanatics say their need to pump iron is worth the risk, and the gyms' owners keep opening up despite facing…
The World Health Organization said Friday (20) that the original epicentre in China of the coronavirus outbreak at last reporting no new cases gave hope to the rest of the world battling the pandemic. The city of Wuhan registered no new cases of COVID-19 in 24 hours -- for the…
SUPPORTED by a global coalition founded by India and Norway, the US has begun the phase one clinical trial of an investigational vaccine designed to protect against the coronavirus disease. The trial began at the Kaiser Permanente Washington Health Research Institute (KPWHRI) in Seattle as the first participant received the…
THE World Health Organization is characterising the outbreak of the new coronavirus as a pandemic, Director General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said on Wednesday (11). "We are deeply concerned both by the alarming levels of spread and severity and by the alarming levels of inaction. We have therefore made the assessment…
INDIA’S vaccine tycoon Cyrus Poonawalla’s business has inked a deal with the US company Codagenix to rapidly co-develop a live-attenuated vaccine against the emergent coronavirus. With the latest collaboration, “hopefully in six months, we should be able to enter into human trials, that is our target,” Poonawalla said in a statement…
A 'pandemic' of air pollution shortens lives worldwide by nearly three years on average, and causes 8.8 million premature deaths annually, scientists said Tuesday. Eliminating the toxic cocktail of molecules and lung-clogging particles cast off by burning oil, gas and coal would restore a full year of life expectancy, they…
Shaun Bailey, the Conservative candidate for London mayorship, has said that London can host the Olympics in 2020. If the outbreak of the coronavirus forced the Games to be moved from Tokyo, London will be ready, he wrote on Twitter. “London can host the #Olympics in 2020. We have the…
A British scientist has made a “significant breakthrough” in developing a vaccine for the coronavirus. Robin Shattock, head of mucosal infection and immunity at Imperial College London, told the media that his team has been able to cut the time for clinical trials from “two to three years to just 14 days”. Shattock said…
WORLD Health Organization (WHO) has said that one in 10 Indians will develop cancer during their lifetime and one in 15 will die of the disease. The report was released by WHO and its specialized International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC). These statistics warrants immediate attention of policymakers as…
THE World Health Organization has declared the Wuhan coronavirus outbreak a global emergency. “The main reason for this declaration is not what is happening in China but what is happening in other countries,” said WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus in Geneva. The WHO said there had been 98 cases in…
TWO people in England have tested positive for coronavirus. Reports said patients are in Newcastle, where the NHS has one of its four designated treatment centres. “We can confirm that two patients in England, who are members of the same family, have tested positive for coronavirus,” said England's Chief Medical…
SWISS pharmaceuticals giant Novartis announced over the weekend it would dish out $9.7 billion or £7.5bn to acquire US firm Medicines Company, in a move aimed at boosting its cardiovascular treatment portfolio. Novartis said Sunday (24) it had agreed to pay $85 per Medicines Co. share, which was 41 per cent…
New Delhi banned half the Indian capital's private cars from its roads on Monday as the megacity's 20 million people spluttered with stinging eyes in the worst pollution in three years. As smog levels exceeded those of Beijing by more than three times, authorities also parked a van with an…
INDIA'S capital New Delhi will enforce strict restrictions on use of private cars from November 4-15 to curb pollution, its chief minister said on Friday (13), in an effort to help improve air quality that tends to deteriorate sharply in winter months. Private vehicles will only be allowed to use…
By Nadeem Badshah FEWER than half of British Asian adults eat five fruit or vegetable portions daily, compared to around 56 per cent of white people, as experts warned the figures are a “wake-up call”. Some 47 per cent of people of South Asian origin in England had the…
MORE Indians are becoming obese while the number of undernourished people in the country have declined, according to a report by the UN that said that globally over 820 million people are suffering from hunger. The report titled the State of Food Security and Nutrition in the World 2019 was…
Pakistan's polio eradication campaign has hit serious problems with an alarming spike in reported cases that has raised doubts over the quality of vaccination reporting and prompted officials to review their approach to stopping the crippling disease. The country is one of only three in the world where polio is…
THE deadly brain-damaging Nipah virus has resurfaced in the southern Indian state of Kerala a year after it killed 17 people, state officials said on Tuesday (4). A 23-year-old student tested positive for the virus, which is transmitted to humans through direct contact with infected bats, pigs or other people. Kerala health minister K…
Reena Devi says her life changed when she got a cooking gas connection under a billion-dollar programme championed by India's prime minister Narendra Modi, meaning she no longer has to cook with wood or coal and breathe in smelly, toxic fumes. But the programme to connect millions of homes to…
NEW DELHI was the world's most polluted capital city in 2018, two groups monitoring air pollution said today (5) in a study of the amount of fine particulate matter known as PM2.5 in 61 capital cities around the world. The Indian capital, home to more than 20 million people, was…
Megastar Amitabh Bachchan on Sunday (24) said he is pained that women who carry hepatitis B virus face discrimination in the society, something he will continue to fight for. Bachchan, who is the World Health Organization's Goodwill Ambassador for Hepatitis in South-East Asia Region, said women must be treated with…
New Delhi's homeless will be given cotton masks to help them survive in the world's most polluted major city, officials said Monday, although experts said the basic coverings would be useless against deadly smog particles. Each winter the capital of 20 million chokes through haze so extreme that levels of…
Scientists in Britain expressed concern on Thursday (8) after at least 17 delegates from Africa and Asia wanting to attend a health conference in London were denied visas. Peter Piot, a Belgian-born microbiologist who was part of a team that discovered the Ebola virus in the 1970s and is now…
Indian police arrested hundreds of revellers after a frenzied night of festival fireworks turned city air toxic nationwide on Thursday (8) despite a preemptive court ban on the smog-fuelling party. More than 300 people were arrested in Delhi, the world's most polluted major city, where the supreme court had restricted…
Yogesh Kumar wheezes after life-saving surgery to remove a diseased lung, but his doctors wonder how long he can last outside hospital breathing some of the world's dirtiest air. Smog is blamed for the deaths of more than one million Indians every year and Delhi - which on Monday (5) had emergency pollution levels more…
Rajesh Tyagi stands outside his decades-old fireworks stall in Delhi's old quarter, fuming over a court ruling that allows him to sell only "eco-friendly" fireworks for the Indian capital's largest festival. "There is no such thing as a green firecracker in India," says an exasperated Tyagi, in an empty alleyway usually…
India's Zika outbreak is spreading, with officials saying Sunday (28) that the mosquito-borne virus has been detected in the western state of Gujarat after nearly 150 cases were reported this year in neighbouring Rajasthan. Health authorities in Gujarat said a woman tested positive for Zika and was treated at a…
India's top court on Tuesday (23) eased a ban on fireworks for a major Hindu festival despite air pollution in New Delhi and other cities again reaching dangerous levels. The supreme court, which last year banned firecrackers for the Diwali festival, rejected a new call for a ban in the capital amid growing concern over pollution. Firecrackers set off…
India has reported an outbreak of the Zika virus with 80 confirmed cases since last month including 22 pregnant women in the western state of Rajasthan, officials said on Wednesday (17). India, where the Aedes aegypti mosquito which carries Zika and other viruses is widely prevalent, reported its first Zika cases in January 2017 in neighbouring…
Delhi's biggest coal power plant was set to shut down Monday as a new emergency plan to improve air quality in one of the world's most polluted cities came into force, Indian officials said. Under the new strategy, restrictions on construction sites and traffic will be imposed depending on the…
Eschewing the typical Bollywood storyline of young lovers facing family opposition, an upcoming Indian film instead features a couple battling climate change in order to be together. Kokoli, which is the name of the female protagonist and also a type of fish, tells a story of a fishing community facing…
Many private sector doctors in India miss the signs of tuberculosis and therefore provide patients inadequate treatment, according to a new study published Tuesday (25) involving people hired to act out the symptoms. Tuberculosis or TB, an airborne infection, remains a major public health issue in India, China and Indonesia, among other countries.…
India has proposed a ban on plastics, polluting factories and construction around its 17th-century monument to love, the Taj Mahal, a government document showed, in a bid to stave off pollution that is turning the structure yellow and green. The white marble mausoleum is located around 210 km (130 miles) from…
MORE EDUCATION AND AWARENESS IS NEEDED TO PREVENT GLOBAL RISE IN RATES OF ILLNESS [caption id="attachment_42658" align="alignleft" width="106"] by SIR HARPAL KUMARFormer chief executive ofCancer Research UK[/caption] CANCER is a challenge for us all. And now, more than ever before, tackling the disease has become a global public health issue as…
TENS of thousands of people - from the Himalayan region of Ladakh to the deck of an aircraft carrier - joined India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi today (21) to celebrate the fourth International Day of Yoga, with a few wearing masks to highlight poor air quality. Modi pushed for the…
Narendra Modi, whose supporters boast of his physical prowess and indifference to sleep, has shared the secrets to his morning fitness regimen in a video where the Indian premier thrusts a staff, walks backwards and flexes over a boulder. Modi spruiked the "refreshing and rejuvenating" benefits of his exercise workout…
Soot turned the white handkerchief around Abhash Kumar Sharma's face to black as the police officer tried to direct gridlocked traffic in the Indian city with the world's dirtiest air. It was all he had to ward off the pollution blamed for filling Kanpur's hospital beds with growing numbers of…
INDIA began a fresh round of tests to trace the origin of a rare brain-damaging virus that has killed 13 people, a health official said on Monday (28), as initial tests on animals suspected of carrying the Nipah virus showed no sign of the disease. All animal samples, including those…
DEADLY DISEASE SPREAD BY FRUIT BATS PROMPTS QUARANTINES AND A STATE-WIDE HEALTH ALERT THE death toll from an outbreak of the rare Nipah virus in southern India jumped to 10 on Tuesday (22) with more than 90 people quarantined to try to stem the spread of the disease, officials said. Authorities…
A deadly virus carried by fruit bats has killed at least five people in southern India and more than 90 people are in quarantine, a top health official said on Tuesday (22). Other deaths are suspected to have been caused by Nipah virus and authorities have ordered emergency measures to…
Japan's Masazo Nonaka was on Tuesday (10) earned the distinction of being the world's oldest man. Nonaka is 112 years old. The Guinness World Records presented him with a certificate in a ceremony held at his home in Ashoro, in Japan's northern main island of Hokkaido. The supercentenarian lives with…
Bollywood superstar Deepika Padukone has called for bolder efforts by Indians to end the stigma surrounding mental illness. "We have a long way to go," said the A-lister, who went public about her struggle with depression in 2015 and won praise for her campaign to spark public discourse on mental…
The medical community in India are displeased at the introduction of a new set of global guidelines on managing diabetes. Medical practitioners in the country feel that aim to replace those followed for over three decades will lead to serious complications in managing diabetics as well as cause confusion in…
In the neonatal intensive care department of an Islamabad hospital, scrawny infants struggle for survival -- victims of a vacuum in resources and education in the country with the highest newborn mortality rate in the world. "In Pakistan, a baby dies every second minute," says Haider Shirazi, head of the neonatal…
By Emma Batha Three quarters of women among India's Dawoodi Bohra sect have undergone female genital mutilation (FGM), according to a study published on Monday which comes just weeks after government officials said there was no data to support its existence. Campaigners hope the survey - the largest of its…
INDIA on Thursday (1) announced a national healthcare scheme for half a billion of its poorest citizens in a major giveaway to voters in the final budget before a general election. Finance Minister Arun Jaitley said India's most vulnerable families would be able to access up to 500,000 rupees ($7,855)…
Steve Coppell said he did not want his Indian Super League side Jamshedpur FC to play in smog-tainted Delhi on Wednesday but insisted the players would not wear masks if the game goes ahead. The former England winger said medical authorities must decide whether the evening game against Delhi Dynamos…
India won a record ninth Test series in succession Wednesday after drawing the pollution-tainted third and final Test with Sri Lanka in New Delhi. Top-ranked India won the series 1-0 to equal Australia's record of nine successive Test series victories, between 2005-2008. The first Test between India and Sri Lanka in Kolkata had ended in…
Faced with a shortage of polio vaccine, the World Health Organization has urged countries to resort to smaller, fractional doses to ward off outbreaks of the crippling disease. "We do have a problem with the vaccine in the sense of not having enough of it," Alejandro Cravioto, head of WHO's…
Mirror, mirror on the wall - who is the fairest of them all? The one with the palest skin, of course. Or that's the idea behind India's multibillion-dollar skin lightening industry, with a host of 'fairness' products appearing to offer dark-skinned Indians a lighter, fairer, better version of themselves. Now…
WHEN doctors told Australian Greg Jefferys he had Hepatitis C and the disease was destroying his liver, the devastating diagnosis was compounded by the cost of a cure. Unable to afford Sovaldi, hailed as a miracle drug, the 61-year-old flew to India, one of a growing army of patients seeking…
A truck and an overcrowded autorickshaw have collided in southern India, killing 10 members of the same family and five others, police said on Sunday. Many of the victims were children from the family which was crammed into the autorickshaw and travelling to a temple in Telangana state late Saturday,…
India is home to four of the five cities in the world with the worst air pollution, the World Health Organization said on Thursday. But while WHO experts acknowledge India faces a “huge challenge”, many countries are so bad that they have no monitoring system and cannot be included in…
India has granted a patent to US pharmaceutical giant Gilead for a blockbuster Hepatitis C drug, in a U-turn activists said could potentially stop affordable copies reaching millions of people in other countries. The drug, Sovaldi, which costs $1,000 (£690) a pill in the United States, was rejected for a…
At least 13 people have died and 53 others were injured after a bus skidded off a bridge and overturned in northeast India, media quoted police as saying. The bus was travelling from Jharkhand state to Raipur, state capital of Chhattisgarh, when it came off the road at around 10.30…
India’s Supreme Court on Wednesday said the tobacco industry must adhere to federal rules requiring stringent health warnings on cigarette packs, in a major setback for the $11 billion (£7.6 billion) industry that opposes the new policy. The court also turned down an industry plea to stay the implementation of…
BRITISH scientists are recruiting volunteers to test whether ketamine, also known as the party drug “Special K”, may be helpful in reducing relapse rates among people with severe alcoholism. Pilot studies showed ketamine combined with psychotherapy might make detoxing alcoholics less likely to relapse. Now scientists are looking for 96…
NEW Delhi was shrouded in a thick blanket of toxic smog this morning (October 31) after millions of Indians lit firecrackers to mark Diwali, with authorities reporting record levels of pollution in parts of the capital. The reading for pollutants in the atmosphere breached the 1,000 microgram mark for the…
SCIENTISTS unpicking the gene faults behind an aggressive blood cancer called acute myeloid leukaemia (AML) have found it is not a single disease, but at least 11 different ones with important differences for patients’ likely survival chances. The findings, from the largest study of its kind, could improve clinical trials…
CHILDREN breastfed exclusively for their first six months of life have an easier time behaving in primary school, according to research published last Tuesday (21). Carried out in South Africa, the study assessed more than 1,500 children and found a strong link between how long they were breastfed and signs…
CHILDREN breastfed exclusively for their first six months of life have an easier time behaving in primary school, according to research published last Tuesday (21). Carried out in South Africa, the study assessed more than 1,500 children and found a strong link be- tween how long they were breastfed and…
Two companies making vaccines to help the world eradicate polio are failing to produce enough, so many countries should prepare to give lower doses to make stocks last, a group of experts has advised the World Health Organization. With polio on the brink of eradication globally, the WHO wants to…
A team of experts in the UK and India are taking on the challenge of tackling the most polluted city in the world in a new project using the latest technology. The assessment of Delhi’s chronic air pollution is being led by academics at the University of Surrey and University…
Pakistan began a special five-day polio immunisation campaign in the southwestern city of Quetta on Monday (2) for children under five after a rare strain of the virus was found in sewage samples, officials said. Local officials said they had recruited Muslim clerics to promote the immunisations for 400,000 children…
A team of experts in the UK and India are taking on the challenge of tackling the most polluted city in the world in a new project using the latest technology. The assessment of Delhi’s chronic air pollution is being led by academics at the University of Surrey and University…