Health

New Delhi, July 29 (IANS) The Centre on Tuesday debunked fake profiles impersonating the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare on the professional networking site LinkedIn.Taking to the social media platform X, the Press and Information Bureau’s (PIB) Fact Check team informed that the Ministry of Health does not have an account on LinkedIn. It also requested people to be careful of such fake accounts.The post also urged people to be alert and not to trust or interact with such accounts, as they may spread false information.“Is the Ministry of Health on LinkedIn? No! This LinkedIn profile is fake,” PIB Fact Check posted on X.At least three such accounts were identified by the PIB fact-check team for impersonating the Health Ministry. One of the fake accounts also had its location mentioned ...

New Delhi, July 29 (IANS) More than 1.06 lakh claims have been settled under the Ayushman Vay Vandana Scheme, said Prataprao Jadhav, Union Minister of State for Health and Family Welfare, on Tuesday.In October 2024, the scope of the Ayushman Bharat-Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana (AB-PMJAY) was expanded to include all senior citizens aged 70 years and above, irrespective of their socio-economic status.Under this initiative, beneficiaries can receive free treatment benefits of up to Rs 5 lakh per year through Ayushman Vay Vandana cards.“As on date, over 1.06 lakh claims have been settled under Ayushman Vay Vandana scheme since its launch,” Jadhav said.“A total of 75.41 lakh Ayushman Vay Vandana cards have been created, out of which 32.3 lakh cards have been created for female beneficiaries...

New Delhi, July 29 (IANS) Tobacco use among women and adolescents has declined, said Union Minister of State for Health and Family Welfare Prataprao Jadhav, in the Parliament on Tuesday.In a written reply in the Rajya Sabha, Jadhav stated the decline in tobacco use, citing two global surveys.“As per the Global Adult Tobacco Survey (GATS) -I (2009-10) and GATS-2 (2016-17) conducted among the age group of 15 years and above, there is a decline in tobacco use among women from 20.3 per cent to 14.2 per cent,” the Minister said.“The Global Youth Tobacco Survey (GYTS) conducted for school-going children of age group 13-15 years reported a decline in tobacco use from 14.6 per cent (GYTS-3, 2009) to 8.5 per cent (GYTS-4, 2019),” he added.Jadhav also shared the measures undertaken by the Health Min...

New Delhi, July 29 (IANS) A total of 4,361 patients have been registered as thalassemics in the country in 2025, of which 2,579 are under the age of 12, the government informed the Parliament during the ongoing Monsoon session on Tuesday.Thalassemia is a severe inherited blood disorder, passed from parents to children.The disorder occurs when the body doesn’t make enough of a protein called haemoglobin -- an important part of red blood cells -- forcing the need for blood transfusions every fortnight.In a written reply, Anupriya Patel, Union Minister of State for Health and Family Welfare, detailed the number of thalassemia patients registered in the country during the last three years."From 806 total diseased thalassemia patients in 2023, the number sporadically rose to 2,576 in 2024 and 4...

New Delhi, July 29 (IANS) India Inc’s annual corporate social responsibility (CSR) spending increased by 29 per cent between FY2022 and FY2024, according to a report on Tuesday.The report by ICRA ESG Ratings showed that till March 2024, the sample set of companies collectively spent Rs 12,897 crore, with an average of Rs 129 crore on CSR initiatives.Between FY2022 and FY2024, average net profits rose by 37 per cent while CSR spending increased by 29 per cent.Notably, 16 out of 100 companies increased their CSR spending despite the decline in profits during the same period, reflecting a commitment to social responsibility beyond compliance.Despite a decline in profits, 48 per cent of companies surpassed the mandated CSR budgets, underscoring their commitment beyond compliance.“The growing a...

New Delhi, July 29 (IANS) Oral Rehydration Solution (ORS) is an affordable and effective healthcare solution for dehydration and diarrhoea, said Union Health Minister JP Nadda on Tuesday.World ORS Day is observed annually on July 29 to raise awareness about the importance of Oral Rehydration Salts (ORS) in treating dehydration caused by diarrhoea and other conditions.“Today, we observe World ORS Day to highlight the importance of Oral Rehydration Solution (ORS) as an affordable and effective healthcare solution for treating dehydration and diarrhea,” Nadda said in a post on social media platform X.“ORS is a simple yet powerful remedy that prevents and treats dehydration, a condition that can be life-threatening, especially in young children.“This day aims to raise widespread awareness abou...

New Delhi, July 29 (IANS) Your favourite chips, cookies, soda -- ultra-processed foods -- can trigger addictive behaviours that meet the same clinical criteria used to diagnose substance-use disorders, warned a study.Researchers argued that failure to recognise this in diagnostic systems is a dangerous oversight with grave consequences for global public health."People aren't becoming addicted to apples or brown rice," said lead author Ashley Gearhardt, Professor of psychology at the University of Michigan, US."They're struggling with industrial products specifically engineered to hit the brain like a drug -- rapidly, intensely and repeatedly," Gearhardt added.The paper, published in the journal Nature Medicine, synthesised evidence from nearly 300 studies across 36 countries. Their finding...

New Delhi, July 28 (IANS) Understanding the causes of stuttering may no longer be a mystery, as US researchers on Monday provided evidence to show that the speech disorder is influenced by our genes.Stuttering -- characterised by syllable and word repetitions, sound prolongations, and breaks between words -- is the most common fluency disorder, with more than 400 million people affected worldwide. And yet, the causes of this common speech disorder are unclear.In the paper, published in the journal Nature Genetics, the researchers identified 48 genes, and 57 distinct genomic loci associated with the speech disorder, based on genetic data of more than 1 million individuals.The findings may lead to earlier identification or therapeutic advances in stuttering and help replace outdated views of...

New Delhi, July 28 (IANS) With the monsoon in full swing, the Delhi-NCR region is witnessing a worrying rise in the number of preventable Hepatitis A and E cases, said experts on Monday, stressing the need for more awareness on vaccinations.Both Hepatitis A and E viruses, which are transmitted through contaminated food and water, tend to see seasonal spikes during the monsoon due to poor sanitation, waterlogging, and compromised hygiene standards.Children, pregnant women, and those with pre-existing liver conditions are the most vulnerable to the infections.“Some city hospitals are seeing up to a 40 per cent increase in acute hepatitis cases, while others reported a sharp rise in OPD consultations for jaundice, abdominal pain, and vomiting -- classic symptoms of Hepatitis A and E,” said Dr...

New Delhi, Jul 28 (IANS) Using a single pill comprising two blood pressure medicines is a safe and highly effective way to treat hypertension among South Asians, particularly Indians, finds a study led by the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS), New Delhi.The study, in partnership with the Centre for Chronic Disease Control (CCDC) and Imperial College London, UK, compared three widely used drug combinations: amlodipine plus perindopril, amlodipine plus indapamide, and perindopril plus indapamide.The first randomised trial to test three different two-drug combination pills among South Asians involved over 1,200 patients with uncontrolled hypertension across 32 hospitals in India."All three combinations worked equally well in reducing blood pressure and were safe for patients,” r...