Health

New Delhi, Dec 1 (IANS) Just over a hundred out of 130 cities under the National Clean Air Programme (NCAP) have shown a reduction in PM10 levels in 2024-25, the Parliament was informed on Monday.In a written reply in the Lok Sabha, Union Minister of State for Environment, Forest, and Climate Change (MoEFCC) Kirti Vardhan Singh, shared that a total of 103 cities out of the 130 showed an improvement in the levels of PM10, one of the key pollutants, in 2024-25 compared to 2017-18.Of these, 22 cities have PM10 concentrations less than 60 micrograms per cubic metre (µg/m3).“The focused actions by 130 cities under NCAP have shown positive results with 103 cities showing a reduction in PM10 concentration in 2024-25 with respect to 2017-18, out of which 64 cities have shown reduction in PM10 leve...

New Delhi, Dec 1 (IANS) The Occupational Safety, Health and Working Conditions Code, 2020 (OSHWC Code) and the Social Security Code, 2020 under the recently introduced labour codes will boost the safety and welfare of workers in the petroleum industry, the government said on Monday.The new labour codes bring petroleum units, refineries, and fuel depots under a unified national safety framework and institutionalised welfare measures, according to an official statement.The OSHWC Code mandated structured hazard identification and risk assessment and required prior government approval before commencing hazardous operations.Further, it mandated national standards for handling, storage, transport, and disposal of petroleum substances. The code also incorporated risk‑based inspections, safety aud...

New Delhi, Dec 1 (IANS) Preventive measures and early testing are essential in the fight against HIV/AIDS, said Union Health Minister JP Nadda on World AIDS Day on Monday.World AIDS Day is observed every year on December 1 to address the epidemic and the vulnerabilities faced by children and adolescent girls and young women, as well as to fight the stigma attached to the disease. The theme this year is "Overcoming disruption, transforming the AIDS response".Nadda also stated the need to fight misconceptions and stigma faced by people suffering from HIV.“World AIDS Day reminds us of the importance of understanding HIV/AIDS, taking preventive measures, and encouraging early testing. It is also an opportunity to show solidarity with those infected and affected by HIV, while dispelling myths a...

New Delhi, Nov 29 (IANS) Ayurveda offers personalised approach to tackle obesity and metabolic disorders, said Prataprao Jadhav, Minister of State (IC) for Ayush, on Saturday.In a bid to strengthen research-driven integrative healthcare and advance treatment for obesity and metabolic syndrome, the Central Council for Research in Ayurvedic Sciences (CCRAS), Ministry of Ayush, through its Central Ayurveda Research Institute (CARI), Bengaluru, is organising a two-day International Conference on Ayurveda and integrative approaches to tackle the conditions.“India continues to strengthen its work in integrative healthcare, and Ayurveda is central to this transformation. Obesity and metabolic disorders are among the most pressing public-health challenges of our time. This conference reflects our ...

New Delhi, Nov 29 (IANS) Researchers in Australia have identified a drug that can help overcome treatment resistance in relapsed neuroblastoma -- the deadly childhood cancer.The discovery could improve neuroblastoma treatment -- the most common solid tumour in children outside the brain -- which currently claims nine out of 10 young patients who experience recurrence, Xinhua news agency reportedAccording to Australia's Garvan Institute of Medical Research, the drug combination can bypass the cellular defences these tumours develop that lead to relapse.The team showed that the approved lymphoma drug -- romidepsin -- triggers neuroblastoma cell death via alternative pathways, bypassing blocked routes to improve chemotherapy-resistant cases in children.Researchers found standard chemotherapy ...

New Delhi, Nov 29 (IANS) Amid worsening air pollution in the national capital, health experts on Saturday emphasised the need for solutions that work throughout the year, and not for a short period.Delhi’s air quality remained entrenched in the very poor category for the 15th consecutive day, with the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) recording an Air Quality Index (AQI) of 338 at 7 a.m.“We have reached an emergency in Delhi. The efforts to curb pollution cannot be only temporary, which may help immediately for a little while, but long-term solutions to this city are urgently required,” Dr. Anant Mohan, Professor and Head, Department of Pulmonary Medicine and Sleep Disorders, AIIMS New Delhi, told IANS."We have to do something very urgently on this now at this stage," he added.The cit...

New Delhi, Nov 29 (IANS) An international team of scientists has found compelling evidence that early-infancy infection with respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) significantly increases the risk of developing childhood asthma.The risk is especially higher in children with a family history of allergy or asthma.The study, published in the Science Immunology journal, suggests that protecting newborns against RSV could substantially reduce asthma cases later in life."Childhood asthma is a complex disease with many contributing factors," said Prof. Bart Lambrecht from VIB (the Flanders Institute for Biotechnology) and Ghent University in Belgium."We found that early-life RSV infection and genetic allergy risk interact in a very specific way that pushes the immune system toward asthma. The encourag...

New Delhi, Nov 28 (IANS) The Anusandhan National Research Foundation (ANRF) is emerging as a key driver of an integrated and outcome-oriented national research ecosystem, said Dr. Jitendra Singh, Union Minister of State for Science and Technology, on Friday.Conducting a comprehensive review of the ANRF at Technology Bhawan in the national capital, Singh stressed promoting a culture of co-funding through engagement of the non-government sector and a change of mindset accordingly.“ANRF is emerging as a pivotal institution for India’s rise as a global research and innovation powerhouse,” Singh said.The Minister called for accelerating mission-mode research, expanding co-funding partnerships with industry, and simplifying processes to give researchers greater operational flexibility.He underli...

New Delhi, Nov 28 (IANS) Nearly 59 million lives have been saved by the measles vaccine, and there has been an 88 per cent drop in measles deaths between 2000 and 2024, according to a new report from the World Health Organization (WHO) on Friday.The report credited the global immunisation efforts for achieving the feat.Despite fewer deaths, it showed measles cases are surging worldwide, with an estimated 11 million infections in 2024 -- nearly 800,000 more than pre-pandemic levels in 2019.An estimated 95,000 people, mostly children younger than 5 years of age, also died due to measles in 2024.“Measles is the world's most contagious virus, and these data show once again how it will exploit any gap in our collective defences against it,” said Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, WHO Director-Gener...

New Delhi, Nov 28 (IANS) In a major leap toward strengthening public health security, India is set to leverage Artificial Intelligence (AI), real-time data analytics, and digital intelligence platforms to strengthen disease surveillance, according to officials at the National Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) on Friday.The paradigm shift aims to significantly enhance the country’s ability to identify outbreaks before they escalate, enabling faster decision-making, rapid response, and proactive containment.“Our vision is to integrate all the various disease reporting systems into one surveillance system under the umbrella of the integrated health information portal. And we are also trying to move up from our detective system to our predictive system,” Dr. Ranjan Das, Director, NCDC, told IA...