Health

Ishita Chatterjee, University of Melbourne | The Conversation Informal settlements are experiencing a greater surge in COVID-19 cases than other urban neighbourhoods in Mumbai, India. Their high density, narrow streets, tight internal spaces, poor access to water and sanitation leave residents highly vulnerable to the spread of coronavirus. One of Mumbai’s poorest and most underdeveloped neighbourhoods, Shivaji Nagar, is one of three ...

[By Syed Mohammad Afsar] Geneva – Writing on World AIDS Day a few years ago, I had shared the story of Seema (name changed), a young mother, and her daughter from India. Both are HIV positive. While the mother had started on antiretroviral treatment (ART) and was, in fact, doing well, her concerns were about her daughter’s health. Would she ...

[By Brahma Chellaney]  BERLIN – Over the last 15 years, the bottled-water industry has experienced explosive growth, which shows no sign of slowing. In fact, bottled water – including everything from “purified spring water” to flavored water and water enriched with vitamins, minerals, or electrolytes – is the largest growth area in the beverage industry, even in cities where tap ...

Delhi (WFS) — Millions have been affected by the devastating earthquake that jolted Nepal on April 25, 2015. With half a million homes destroyed, and hundreds of thousands more damaged, people have been forced to sleep out in the open or adjust in crowded in displacement camps. But even as the crisis has garnered extensive international attention and an outpouring ...

[By Elayne Clift] Vermont (WFS) – Flibanserin – perhaps derived from “female”, “libido” and “answer” – is Big Pharma’s latest controversial innovation designed, it seems, to respond to women’s quest for an eternal wet dream. It comes in the form of a daily pill, which, of course, is pink. My first reaction to this news was, are those chemists nuts? ...

[By Narendra Kaushik] When Vikalp Singh, a farmer in Nawada Village of Greater Noida, would walk to nearby City Park in the wee hours of the morning to carry out his routine of physical exercises last summer, he would not find many people out. But since last month he has noticed a big increase in the number of people who ...

Facts: ADD and ADHD are the same disorder, Attention Deficit Disorder was officially renamed Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder in 1994. Many people use ADD to refer to Type One presented here, and ADHD to refer to Type Two, but they are the same core disorder. In many cases where ADHD carries into adulthood, it’s a genetic issue [My grandfather, mother, ...

[By Narendra Kaushik] New Delhi: Ompal Singh, a Food Safety Officer (FSO) in Gautam Buddh Nagar District, always has his hands full. Singh has close to 400 permanent and temporary sales outlets under his jurisdiction (Jewar and Sadar Sub-Divisions of the district). Since Food Safety and Standards Act (FSSA) 2006 makes it mandatory for every FSO in the country to pick ...

[By Mari Marcel Thekaekara | New Internationalist] Hitting the headlines of every Indian daily, for a few days now has been – no, you could never have guessed, L’Affaire Maggi. After samples of Maggi noodles, manufactured in March 2014, were found to contain unacceptably high levels of lead and monosodium glutamate (MSG), the instant noodles brand has come under scrutiny ...

[By Mari Marcel Thekaekara| New Internationalist] Once upon a time, a few decades ago, I actually used to buy duty-free cigarettes for friends who were over the moon about Dunhill, Benson & Hedges or Marlboro, all imported cigarettes then not available in India. Now I cringe at the thought. The turning point came in 1984, when I met a 21-year-old adivasi ...