Tag: Health

India observes Anti-Leprosy Day on January 30, the death anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi. For most of history, leprosy was treated not as a medical condition but as a moral one. Across major religions and ancient traditions, people with leprosy were described as impure, cursed, or unclean. They were made to live outside towns, barred from...

The story so far: In 2016, under its National Framework for Malaria Elimination in India (2016-2030), India set an ambitious target to eliminate malaria (zero indigenous cases) by 2030, with an interim milestone of interrupting indigenous transmission across the entire country, including all high-transmission States and Union Territories (UT), by 2027. By the end of...

The World Malaria Report 2025, launched in December, provided a bag of mixed news, five years ahead of the 2030 global malaria elimination deadline. While the reduction in estimated cases in southeast Asia provided definite hope, of serious concern were rising cases of resistance to artemisinin-based frontline treatment for malaria, and falling funding for malaria programmes.   Notably, it is the Asia Pacific region that posted much of the good news. The significant reduction was driven by 10 of...

GUWAHATI A team of scientists led by researchers from Assam’s Tezpur University has identified distinct chemical signatures in blood, offering fresh hope in the early detection of one of the deadliest and often undetected cancers in India. The scientists who studied patients from Assam, a part of the Northeastern region with one of the highest...

The jury is still out on the origin of the SARS‑CoV‑2 virus, although several hypotheses exist, including the possibility that the virus may have jumped from a secondary animal host, former World Health Organisation (WHO) chief scientist Soumya Swaminathan said here on Wednesday. “We did not receive the data from the Wuhan lab needed to...

Older adults who are frail and have depression could be at a higher risk of dementia, with the factors combined contributing to 17 per cent of the overall risk, according to a study. The findings, published in the journal General Psychiatry, suggests that while frailty and depression each increase dementia risk on their own, having...

Modern healthcare is fundamentally dependent on a constant supply of known and new drugs, making their discovery and manufacture a profitable business. The Indian pharmaceutical industry plays a key role in making drugs available globally at low prices, reflected in its projected revenue of about $130 billion by 2030. However, it largely manufactures generics that...

Alcohol consumption, even in small amounts, significantly increases the risk of buccal mucosa cancer (BMC), a common and aggressive form of oral cancer in India, according to a large multicentre study published in BMJ Global Health. The study analysed data from 1,803 men diagnosed with buccal mucosa cancer and 1,903 cancer-free controls recruited from six...

Bringing blood glucose to normal range through lifestyle changes could halve the risk of heart attack, heart failure and premature death among prediabetics, according to a study. Findings published in ‘The Lancet Diabetes and Endocrinology’ journal show that remission of prediabetes — achieving normal blood glucose levels — may establish a new, measurable target for...

The indigenously developed Supernova stent retriever—approved in India using only domestic clinical trial data— is expected to be manufactured in the country and launched in February 2026. The device is used to treat severe strokes by removing clots and restoring blood flow to the brain within 24 hours. Developed by Gravity Medical Technology, its clinical...