British aid for TB control in AP
The fight against the dreaded disease of TB is set to get a major boost with the British Department for International Development (DFID) proposing to provide a grant of 20 million pounds spread over five years to support the introducing of the revised national tuberculosis control programme in Andhra Pradesh.
The poison trail
For the past two decades, water from a million or more wells sunk into the alluvium of the Ganges delta by agencies such as Unicef, the World Bank and Britain's Overseas Development Administration, has been slowly poisoning Bangladeshi villagers with naturally occurring arsenic. Now thousands of villagers are being diagnosed …
Stricter dioxin rules mean business
Growing health concerns about highly toxic dioxin are creating business opportunities for Japanese companies. The boom in demand for environment-related facilities comes in response to tighter regulations on dioxin emissions from about 12,000 garbage incinerators in Japan.
Steyer aims to upgrade Indian car technology
Steyer-Daimler-Puch has now drawn up major plans for India ranging from consultancy services to components manufacture. "Most car models in India were originally developed for Japanese, American or European roads. But Indian conditions require special modifications", said Mr. Werner Grabherr of Steyr's programme management/ product engineering divison.
-Anti-measles drive in city
The Delhi Medical Association is organising a measles immunisation week in the city from Sunday. About 300 camps will be organised all over the city, mainly in jhuggi jhonpri clusters, along with local NGOs' help and the children below five years of age will be given free.
-WHO blames 16 nations for spread of TB
The World Health Organisation drew fire from medical experts Thursday after it blamed 16 developing countries for acting "too slowly" to control tuberculosis, blunting global efforts to slow the spread of the killer disease. Admitting that global TB control targets for the year 2000 can no longer be met, a …
World Bank grant for TB control
The World Bank has sanctioned Rs 50 crores to extend the tuberculosis control programme in the entire NCT of Delhi, taking patient-care to the doorstep, Delhi Health Minister Dr. Harsh Vardhan said.
- Health awareness through TV
The Punjab Health authorities will soon be equipped to communicate more effectively with the people of the state on all the important issues concerning health of the mother and the child and the adverse effects of drinking, smoking and environmental pollution. A four-member team of the CECHE, the Washington-based Centre …
Epidemic threat
A tuberculosis epidemic is out of control in many countries and unless urgent action is taken nearly one billion more people will become infected and 70 million will die by the year 2020, the WHO says.
- Maternity protection at work
A new United Nation's survey of 152 countries has found that the United States is one of only six countries that do not have a national policy favouring the grant of paid maternity leave. Countries such as Sudan, Cameroon and Nepal, for example, mandate that a women receives her salary …
Drug use fuels HIV epidemic in Russia
Social and economic upheaval after the collapase of Soviet Union has led to unemployment, poverty and sudden relaxation of social and legal taboos in Russia. This, coupled with an influx of heroin and other illegal drugs, has seen a rapid increase in the number of injecting drug users. This is …
Tobacco multinationals look east
With declinig markets in the West, tobacco companies are turning to the newly-opened economies of Laos, Cambodia, Burma and Vietnam. Their strategy is similar to that used in eastern Europe - enormous money power and clout with their own governments allow cigarette manufacturers to bulldoze their way into these emerging …
Skip a heart beat
Scientists have identified a defective gene that can make a young person's heart stop beating for no apparent reason. The heart basically starts quivering instead, unable to pump blood efficiently. The person collapses, unconscious, and will die quickly unless treated with an electric shock to get the heart working correctly …
UK unable to trace 49,000 infected cows
More than 49,000 cattle in Britain at risk of developing mad cow disease are untraceable, according to an official memo reported here on Thursday. The missing cattle is part of the 140,000 animals which Britain promised Europe it would slaughter as part of a selective cull of animals deemed most …
Tobacco industry - lobbyists' windfall
The tobacco industry spent more than $19 million on outside lobbyists last year - three times as much as in 1996 - most of it to press for passage of the proposed national tobacco settlement.
Silent bone disease on the increase
Lifestyle and proper diet are some of the measures which help in the treatment of osteoporosis a silent disease. Osteoporosis, which affects the bones, is increasingly becoming common in India, affecting nearly 61 million people, mostly women.
US panel in disarray on tobacco bill
A senate panel has finally managed to nibble around the edges of a tobacco bill, but its meeting was chock full of shouting, name-calling and gavel-banging, mostly among Republicans. Then, when the Senate Labor and Human Rights Committee stopped squabbling and began working, it had to disband for the second …
New system to cure genetic disorders
A cure against genetic disorders like diabetes, jaundice, hypertension and deadly diseases like cancer and hepatitis may finally be realised with the development of a targetted gene delivery system which can deliver gene or antibiotics and anti-cancer drugs with a high degree of percision. The system developed by Debi Sarkar …
Reproductive health library
The World Health Organisation on Thursday launched the Reproductive Health Library in Mumbai to benefit its members in the developing countries.
Leprosy drive in Darbhanga
At least 3,324 of 3,545 leprosy patients detected in disease prone Darbhanga district this year were fully cured.
