In India, a country with a vast population and a diverse socio-economic fabric, healthcare remains fraught with challenges including disparities in access. These socio-economic disparities are deep, and they influence health outcomes. It is imperative to bridge these gaps amid the ongoing epidemiological, nutritional and demographic transitions that are bringing …
gm on the platter: The US government has recently issued a notice to the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign for failing to comply with safety laws when it allowed offsprings of animals used in a genetic experiment to be sold as food. The pigs had genes from different species; the …
Prevention is better than cure, shows a research, which links policies aimed at restricting the use of chemicals with fewer cases of non-Hodgkin's lymphoma (nhl). The study, by Swedish oncologists, indicates that incidence of the cancer in Sweden decreased (0.8 per cent for men and 0.2 per cent for women) …
A ustralian authorities finally appear to be wising up to the nuclear risk. The State Emergency Management Committee of New South Wales has recommended the pre-distribution of iodine tablets to residents of areas lying along the transportation routes of nuclear waste from the Lucas Heights reactor in Sydney. Fearing unwarranted …
Ottawa resolution • All forms of asbestos should be banned in developed and developing countries • Canadian government must withdraw financial and political support to the asbestos industry • It should accept responsibility for the harm done to workers and communities in other countries where Canadian asbestos has been used. …
The us Environmental Protection Agency (epa) suffered a double whammy on September 15, when two separate lawsuits raising the same issue were filed against it in the federal district court for the Southern District of New York. The contention in both cases: epa 's inability to implement stipulated children-specific standards …
Eloor, a river island in Kerala, is in the midst of a health crisis, thanks to 247 chemical factories operating within the vicinity of residential areas. Residents of the island are more susceptible to diseases than those living in other places of the Kochi district, indicates a study. The health …
mosquito coils are finally in the dock, after a prolonged deference. Two independent studies indicate that coils commonly used in Asian countries, including India, can be disastrous for human health. While one indicates they contain a cancer-causing substance, the other estimates that a single coil releases particulate matter equal to …
a study conducted in the wheat growing regions of the us indicates that use of herbicides like 2,4-dichlorophenoxyacetic acid and 4-chloro-2-methylphenoxyacetic acid can lead to malformation among newborns. These herbicides are widely used for weed control in parks and farms. In the past they have been linked with an increased …
previous estimates of the neutron rays that Hiroshima atomic bomb survivors were exposed to are accurate. This was revealed during a study conducted by a team of scientists from the us and Germany. The research will help end a long-standing controversy on whether the existing standards to estimate risk for …
cadmium disturbs the human dna repair system that is important to prevent cancer, shows a recent study. The finding is significant as many people are exposed to cadmium via cigarette smoke and contaminated water and food. Humans are also exposed to the harmful chemical while manufacturing and recycling nickel-cadmium batteries. …
toxic taint: Green Indian seedless grapes have been taken off supermarket shelves in Belgium following the detection of high levels of pesticide residues in the product in the Netherlands recently. The Belgian Food Safety Authority took this decision over fears of high chemical residue levels, leading to stomach cramps in …
children in sub-Saharan Africa not only use the sap of the African milk bush as glue, but they also love to play with it. It is even considered as an excellent source of herbal remedies. But this seemingly benign sap is quite harmful. Scientists have found that it causes one …
Lalnunmawii (name changed) lives in the Saron Veng locality of Mizoram’s capital, Aizawl. Of her eight siblings, three (two brothers and a sister) have fallen prey to cancer. One of her closest childhood friends died of stomach cancer in 2002. This woman’s husband had succumbed to oral cancer five years …
When Sanjay Sharma, a 30-year-old truck driver, was detected with throat cancer in 2002, doctors at the New Delhi-based All India Institute of Medical Sciences informed him that he could not be cured. Even as he was shattered by this news, doctors referred him to the S hanti Avedna Ashram …
On the Vietnam war: No war in the 20th century has seen as massive an assault on the environment. Some 70 million litres of Agent Orange, a herbicide and defoliant, and other toxic chemicals were rampantly used by us armed forces. It completely destroyed about 10 per cent of forests …
function openmap(){ var popurl="html/20030415_map.htm" winpops=window.open(popurl,"","width=650,height=500,scrollbars=yes") } Welcome to Wah india, a hazy land born of perfidy and malicious grace. Spread over territory co-extensive with 19 states in India, it is both traceable and unknown. Its physical geography, for instance, is quite virtual: Wah india keeps getting discovered; its expanding contours …
The 1970s and 1980s were a time of massive state investment in rural water development. Not only had more land to be brought under irrigation, but also drinking water supplied. These decades saw an exponential rise in the number of privately-owned pumpsets and wells, even as investment in public wells …
The official attitude towards fluoride-laced groundwater is best seen in the manner the state has gone about solutions. In a 1999 nationwide study New Delhi-based Fluorosis Research and Rural Development Foundation (frrdf) found that "only a few laboratories in the country have specified the methodology for fluoride analysis.' Experts claim …
Human negotiation with its own capacities and actions often tends to be triumphalist. A man admires his muscled torso; an elite believes itself to be the omphalos
