WHO published its World health statistics report 2025, revealing the deeper health impacts caused by the COVID-19 pandemic on loss of lives, longevity and overall health and well-being. In just two years, between 2019 and 2021, global life expectancy fell by 1.8 years—the largest drop in recent history— reversing a …
Kolkata: Here's good news for the city where several pockets are contaminated with arsenic-affected water. The Indian Institute of Technology-Kharagpur has developed an ultra-low cost eco-friendly laterite based arsenic filter for providing safe drinking water. The innovation has won Sirshendu De, the head of chemical engineering department, the Innovation Award …
Scientists underscore need to set up birth defects registries; Sassoon hospital to start one in city. The importance of World Birth Defects Day on March 3 has been underscored after global attention turned towards the Zika virus, and scientists around the world are investigating the possible association between Zika virus …
CHENNAI: The Tamil Nadu Pollution Control Board (TNPCB) has purchased a mobile air pollution monitoring unit which it will use to come up with an action plan to reduce pollution in Chennai. Chief minister J Jayalalithaa inaugurated the unit on Tuesday. The mobile unit, costing Rs 1.25 crore, will be …
French scientists say they have proved a link between the Zika virus and a nerve syndrome called Guillain-Barre, suggesting countries hit by the Zika epidemic will see a rise in cases of the serious neurological condition. Guillain-Barre (GBS) is a rare syndrome in which the body's immune system attacks part …
Even as incidence of hearing impairment among children is increasing at a fast pace, around 60% of it can be prevented by immunisation against various diseases, controlling noise pollution and regulating use of some medicines, says the World Health Organisation (WHO). According to the UN agency, over 5% of the …
It isn't just sweaters the kindergartners are wearing as they pour out of their classrooms onto the lawns of the American Embassy School in Delhi. They are also wearing face masks. The school does not require students to wear air filtration masks against the polluted air here, the worst in …
In a bid to promote healthy-eating practice in schools, the Delhi government has directed schools in the city to consider banning sale of food items high in fat, sugar and salt content from their canteens and to sensitise students about their ill-effects. “All the heads of government schools and private …
The HPV vaccine protects people against the group of 150-odd HPVs, some of which can cause cervical cancer. Delhi has become the first state in the country to launch the Human Papillomavirus (HPV) vaccine as a public health programme for school children. Health Minister Satyendar Jain Monday said girls studying …
Says current excise and VAT rates are not sufficient to increase the price The Union Health Ministry has written a letter to the Ministry of Finance to increase taxes on tobacco products in the upcoming Finance Budget of 2016-17. The letter highlights the recent study undertaken by the Ministry in …
An ongoing yellow fever epidemic in Angola has killed 125 people out of 664 suspected cases since December 30, government statistics show, despite attempts to quell the outbreak. The centre of the health crisis remains the capital Luanda, where 92 people have died, the health ministry said on Friday. There …
A first case of Zika spread through sexual transmission has been recorded in France after a woman was infected when her partner returned from Brazil, Heath Minister Marisol Touraine told AFP on Saturday. The case was detected several days ago in "a woman who is not pregnant," the minister told …
Oncologists Are Divided On The Issue As the Indian government toys with the idea of offering the cervical cancer vaccine to all girl children as part of its national immunisation plan, the issue divided a gathering of national and international oncologists at the Tata NCPA in Mumbai on Saturday . …
Leading doctors and telecom expertsdiscussed scientific facts pertaining to electromagnetic radio frequency (EMF) here yesterday. They said there was no relation between mobile phone tower radiation and cancer or other health hazard. They categorically denied that there was any link between EMF emissions and human health. Dr N Eshwar Chandra, …
Chinese scientists have successfully isolated two Zika virus strains, which will assist research into a possible vaccination and the transmission pattern of the mosquito-borne disease that has triggered a global health emergency. The two strains were isolated from blood and urine samples from two patients, state-run Xinhua news agency reported …
To check irrational use of antibiotics, packs of certain medicines will soon carry a 'red line' differentiating them from other drugs. The move is aimed at discouraging unnecessary prescription and over-the-counter sale of antibiotics causing drug resistance for several critical diseases including TB, malaria, urinary tract infection and even HIV. …
World Health Organization (WHO) chief Margaret Chan is in Brazil to assess the Zika virus situation and response, a UN spokesman said. Chan is visiting Brazil along with the director of the Pan American Health Organization, Carissa Etienne, UN spokesman Stephane Dujarric said at a daily news briefing here on …
Throwing food safety norms to the wind, several sweetmeat shops and restaurants in the city are using plastic bags or wraps to warm up food items. These food items are served piping hot to ignorant customers who seldom question the sellers about the health hazards of eating food microwaved in …
Air pollution both inside and outside the home causes at least 40,000 deaths a year in the UK, according to new report, which estimates the cost of the damage at £20bn. The major health impact of outdoor air pollution is relatively well known but the report, from the Royal College …
Global vaccine experts and officials from all 26 African "meningitis belt" countries have convened in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia to celebrate one of Africa's biggest public health achievements—the introduction of a vaccine, MenAfriVac, designed, developed, and produced for use in Africa, that in five years of use has nearly eliminated serogroup …
Installation of air purifiers can be an easy way to prevent respiratory problems caused by indoor air pollution, doctors say. According to doctors, air purifiers are becoming more reliable for people in cities because pollutants released indoors were 1,000 times more likely to reach the lungs than pollutants released outdoors. …
