(CNS): The 4th Open Forum Conference was held in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia on 18th and 19th August to address key issues in developing new drugs for tuberculosis, which kills nearly 2 million people every year and is becoming increasingly resistant to the current drugs. The conference, with a special focus on Africa, brought together regulators, [...]

(CNS): Tuberculosis (TB) is a major killer of children in poor countries. Over 250,000 children develop TB and every one minute two children die of TB worldwide. It has been estimated that as many as one third of the world’s population is infected with TB, and an estimated 20-50% of children who live in households [...]

(CNS): The theme of this year’s World No Tobacco Day (WNTD) is “Gender and tobacco with an emphasis on marketing to women.”  It is designed to draw particular attention to the harmful effects of tobacco marketing towards women and girls. Controlling the epidemic of tobacco among women is an important part of any comprehensive tobacco [...]

(CNS): “In order to prevent and control HIV we must protect and promote the human rights of the homosexuals – the  most vulnerable and typically marginalized sections of society” said Dr Mandeep Dhaliwal of United Nations Development Programme (UNDP). Dame Carol Kidu, the only woman amongst a 108 member strong parliament of Papua New Guinea [...]

Globally, men who have sex with men (MSMs) and transgenders have a higher rate of HIV incidence, due to appalling attention towards their health needs. In the words of Shivananda Khan, who was conferred upon the prestigious Order of The British Empire (OBE) by the British Queen, for his services to HIV/AIDS prevention and among [...]

(CNS): Are the tobacco control laws, as envisaged in the COTPA (Cigarettes and Other Tobacco Products Act 2003) and the Ban on Smoking in Public Places being enforced and followed in the city of Lucknow? And are the citizens any wiser about the hazards of smoking and tobacco consumption? To find the ground reality, some [...]

(CNS) Infection and communicable diseases form a large part of the health care burden in India, despite the ongoing progress made to combat and control life threatening diseases. Amongst these, the most difficult to treat infections are those that the patients pick up while in a hospital, says Dr Sudhir Krishna, consultant pediatric surgeon at [...]

It had to take the grit and determination of a woman (nay two women) to bring to books the culprits in an honour killing of a young married couple  (Manoj and Babli), on the orders of a khap(caste) panchayat in Haryana. Their crime was to marry for love despite belonging to the same gotra (lineage), [...]

(CNS): Sleep is a basic human need, much like eating and drinking. It is crucial for our overall health and well being. Research shows that we spend up to a third of our lives sleeping. Good quality and restorative sleep is essential for day-to-day functioning. Studies suggest that sleep quality, as well as quantity, impacts [...]

International Women’s Day is the story of ordinary women as makers of history; it is rooted in the centuries-old struggle of women to participate in society on an equal footing with men. It is a day to look back on past struggles and accomplishments, and more importantly, to look ahead at the untapped potential and [...]

(CNS): ‘The old order changes, yielding place to new; and God fulfills Himself in many ways’. As a national daily has rightly pointed out, the great churning process of our moribund education system has begun, thanks to several new steps being initiated by the HRD Ministry. Every day new ideas seem to be cropping up. But [...]

Every February, across the world, flowers and gifts are exchanged between loved ones, all in the name of St. Valentine. But who is this mysterious saint and why do we celebrate this day by ‘carrying our hearts on our sleeves’? The history of Valentine’s Day — and its patron saint — is shrouded in mystery. But [...]

Dr Eisuke Fukuma, Director of Breast Cancer, Kameda Medical Centre at Chiba, Japan, has done pioneering work in the field of endoscopic breast surgery and cryosurgery as a nonsurgical ablation. He was recently in India to attend a conference on Minimal Invasive Surgery, hosted during the 35th Annual Conference of the Association of Surgeons of [...]

Today is World Diabetes Day – a day to reflect upon why India has become the diabetic capital of the world with 50.8 million (7.1%) of its people suffering from diabetes. It is high time we prepared to combat this menace and curb its spread. As the new President of IDF has rightly remarked that [...]