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Indian Pharmacopoeia Commission (IPC), Pharma standard body of India, has issued an alert for patients and doctors against a commonly-used painkiller, Meftal. As per a preliminary analysis conducted by the Pharmacovigilance Programme of India (PvPI), this Drug Rash with Eosinophilia and Systemic symptoms (DRESS) syndrome. Meftal spas is a readily available painkiller medicine available at any Indian pharmacy.  The medicine is taken to treat rheumatoid arthritis, osteoarthritis, dysmenorrhea, mild to moderate pain, inflammation, fever and dental pain.  Because of its easy availability, people pop this pill very often especially when women are on their periods.  But, in recenbt news, the Indian Pharmacopoeia Commission (IPC) has issued a nation-wide drug safety alert against its use.  Reports say that, this particular medicine can cause certain adverse effects on people's health which can also impact their internal organs. The alert that was issued by the government st...

Indira IVF on Wednesday 20 December announced their collaboration to introduce India’s first insurance to support couples with infertility.  According to a press statement, the one-of-its-kind health insurance in the country aims to uplift healthcare delivery in the country by helping couples make significant savings in their standalone treatment cost. The World Health Organisation defines infertility as a disease of the male or female reproductive system that fails to achieve a pregnancy after 12 months or more of regular unprotected sexual intercourse.  In India, an estimated 33-34 million couples in the reproductive age suffer from lifetime infertility however, only 1% of this population approach a credible hospital for their treatment.  This can be attributed to a glaring gap in awareness and thereafter, financial constraints faced by families. “As a leader in infertility treatment, we are committed to bridge the awareness gap that exists in the Indian diaspora regard...

Measles is a highly contagious disease caused by a virus. It spreads easily when an infected person breathes, coughs or sneezes. It can cause severe disease, complications, and even death. Measles can affect anyone but is most common in children. Measles infects the respiratory tract and then spreads throughout the body. Symptoms include a high fever, cough, runny nose and a rash all over the body. Being vaccinated is the best way to prevent getting sick with measles or spreading it to other people. The vaccine is safe and helps your body fight off the virus. Before the introduction of measles vaccine in 1963 and widespread vaccination, major epidemics occurred approximately every two to three years and caused an estimated 2.6 million deaths each year. Signs and Symptoms : Symptoms of measles usually begin 10–14 days after exposure to the virus. A prominent rash is the most visible symptom. Early symptoms usually last 4–7 days. They include: Running nose Cough Red and Watery eyes Small...

Highlighting the growth and prowess of the industry, Dr Mandaviya stated that the vaccination produced by India during the pandemic showcased India's power in the field of biotechnology to the world.   Dr Mansukh Mandaviya, Union Minister, Health & Family Welfare, Government of India while virtually addressing the pre-event summit ‘Biotechnology: The Path of Innovation & Wellness for Viksit Bharat’ in the presence of Bhupendra Patel, Chief Minister, Gujarat at Vigyan Bhavan, Science City, Ahmedabad, Gujarat said that India's 'Bio Economy' has grown eight times in the last eight years from $10 billion to $80 billion.  In the coming times, biotechnology will become the biggest foundation for health treatment. The summit is a preliminary event leading up to the 10th Vibrant Gujarat Global Summit that will take place on January 2024 at the Mahatma Gandhi Mandir, Gandhinagar under the theme of ‘Gateway to the Future’. Dr Mandaviya noted that the Indian Biotech Indust...

  Nidhi Panchmal and Dipalie Bajaj, co-founders of Arva Health The Bengaluru-based company has partnered with trusted labs for blood and sample collection at home. The start-up shares a detailed fertility report within 48 hours. Bengaluru-based startup Arva Health is revolutionizing women’s healthcare with the introduction of an at-home fertility test designed to empower women with data-driven insights.  Developed in collaboration with top fertility specialists, the test allows women to monitor and track up to 12 hormone levels affecting fertility from the comfort of their homes.  The initiative aims to provide affordable fertility testing, particularly catering to Indian women dealing with conditions such as Polycystic Ovary Syndrome (PCOS) and thyroid issues. Founder of Arva Health, Nidhi Panchmal, expressed the company’s commitment to addressing the long-overlooked aspect of women’s health in India.  “At Arva Health, we believe that every woman deserves to know he...

  WHO urges global ban on flavored e-cigarettes, citing dangers to youth and harmful health effects. The World Health Organization (WHO) made a strong request to governments worldwide on Thursday, December 13, asking them to treat e-cigarettes as equally harmful as tobacco.  They also urged for a ban on all flavors of e-cigarettes. Some governments and experts believed that e-cigarettes, also known as vapes, could be important substitutes for regular cigarettes containing nicotine.  They thought these could help decrease the number of deaths and diseases caused by smoking. But the United Nations, in a statement, said there was an urgent need to control e-cigarettes.  They mentioned that according to studies, there wasn’t enough evidence to prove that vapes assisted smokers in quitting. The report highlighted that youngsters between 13 and 15 years old used e-cigarettes more than adults across all regions, largely influenced by aggressive advertising. Tedros Adhanom G...

Mukherjee succeeds Dr Ram Sewak Sharma stepped down earlier this year from his position after completing his tenure on January 31, 2023. The announcement was made on Wednesday, 13 December 2023 marking the beginning of a new era for the apex body responsible for overseeing the implementation of the government’s flagship health initiatives. The National Health Authority (NHA) on Wednesday announced the appointment of Deepti Gaur Mukherjee, 1993 batch IAS officer, MP cadre as its CEO. The apex body took to Twitter to announce the appointment of the new CEO. “We are delighted to extend the warmest welcome to Smt. Deepti Gaur Mukherjee, 1993 batch IAS officer, MP cadre as CEO, NHA. With her distinguished expertise, strategic acumen & visionary leadership, NHA will embark on a journey marked by unprecedented success & milestones,” NHA tweeted. Mukherjee succeeds Dr Ram Sewak Sharma stepped down earlier this year from his position after completing his tenure on January 31, 2023. Dr. ...

OYO founder Ritesh Agarwal to Build Five Healthcare Centres For Underprivileged In Odisha OYO Founder and CEO Ritesh Agarwal has announced the establishment of five healthcare centres for the underprivileged in his home state of Odisha over the next one year The centres will be handled by 'Last Mile Care,' a health-tech business that already operates 11 health centres in the country. According to an official statement, the strategic placement of these centres aims to cover regions with limited access to healthcare facilities, thereby bridging the gap between healthcare services and marginalised populations. The centres will use health-tech and options of hybrid care to provide high-quality and affordable healthcare in small towns.  These centers will provide free doctor consultations for the first three months and discounted treatment and medicine for everyone during the first six months.  Preventive care, diagnostic services, primary healthcare services, treatment for minor i...

Insurance Sector Needs To Grow at 3-4 Times Of Country’s GDP: IRDAI’s Member (Life) BC Patnaik India has the potential of getting Rs 15 lakh crore premium from the existing model, for which the growth required from current levels is around 200 per cent," Patnaik says  “India’s insurance sector will have to grow at 3-4 times the country’s GDP growth with the help of technology-led innovative products and cost-effective distribution models across the country." "Many companies are now flooding rural areas as they see value in these markets. They say they will have a cost-effective distribution model and saturate the market. Within 5-10 years all these markets will be saturated as companies have become aggressive,” he said. He further added that India has the potential of getting Rs 15 lakh crore premium from the existing model, for which the growth required from current levels is around 200 per cent.  “If in a single year we do 200 per cent growth and maintain it then perha...

Haemophilia and Health Collective of North Introduces New Treatment Guidelines For Rare Blood Disorder In India During a press briefing today, the doctors explained that people with severe haemophilia bleed frequently and often spontaneously, including repeated bleeds into joints and muscles. In addition to disease severity, the frequency of bleeding also varies by bleed site.  Depending on the area affected, these bleeds can be debilitating or even life-threatening Repeated bleeding into joints can cause hemophilic arthropathy, which can result in physical disability.  As a result, most of the Haemophilia patients are physically challenged and need joint replacements at an early age. Moreover, patients with haemophilia experience frequent absenteeism from school and work, as physical activity is limited due to the extreme pain and discomfort associated with the haemorrhagic episode. “Haemophilia is an X chromosome linked congenital bleeding disorder that slows the blood clott...

Urgent Action Needed To Protect Children And Prevent The Uptake of e-Cigarettes: WHO Urgent action is needed to control e-cigarettes to protect children, as well as non-smokers and minimize health harms to the population.  E-cigarettes as consumer products are not shown to be effective for quitting tobacco use at the population level.  Instead, alarming evidence has emerged on adverse population health effects. E-cigarettes have been allowed on the open market and aggressively marketed to young people.  Thirty-four countries ban the sale of e-cigarettes, 88 countries have no minimum age at which e-cigarettes can be bought and 74 countries have no regulations in place for these harmful products. “Kids are being recruited and trapped at an early age to use e-cigarettes and may get hooked to nicotine," said Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, WHO Director-General.  "I urge countries to implement strict measures to prevent uptake to protect their citizens, especially their ch...

The Centre already implements a scheme for the promotion of menstrual hygiene among girls in the 10-19 age group, she told the House. The Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare has formulated a draft menstrual hygiene policy in consultation with stakeholders, Union Women and Child Development Minister Smriti Irani informed the Rajya Sabha on Wednesday. The Centre already implements a scheme for the promotion of menstrual hygiene among girls in the 10-19 age group, she told the House. The scheme is supported by the National Health Mission through the State Programme Implementation Plan route, based on the proposals received from the states or Union Territories.  One of the major objectives of the scheme is to increase awareness on menstrual hygiene, Irani said. She also highlighted the other initiatives taken by the various ministries for the promotion of menstrual hygiene. Under the Beti Bachao, Beti Padhao component of Mission Shakti -- an umbrella scheme for safety, security...

  Maharashtra Assembly Winter Session 2023: Aliquots will be installed in all public blood banks in Maharashtra, says Minister Dr Tanaji Sawant Aliquots that transfer blood to smaller bags will help avoid blood wastage during blood transfusion in children. Maharashtra Health Minister Tanaji Sawant Wednesday announced in the Assembly that aliquots (machines that transfer blood to smaller bags) will be installed in all public blood banks. The 31 blood banks that come under the purview of the government lack aliquots and they would be made available within a month, said minister Sawant. Since children with blood-related ailments do not require as much blood transfusion as adults, it is necessary to have aliquots installed in blood banks to avoid wastage, he said. Only eight of the 31 blood banks and three out of the 14 hospitals under the jurisdiction of the department of medical education have aliquots installed. Sawant said that aliquot is a small machine that can make bags of 350 m...

  Government has provided optical fibre connection in over two lakh Gram Panchayats in the country under Bharat Net.  Replying to supplementaries during the Question Hour in the Lok Sabha today, Electronic and IT Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw said, the optical fibre is being laid through Universal Service Obligation Fund.  He said, government is working to provide 4G services in rural areas which are yet to get this service.  Mr Vaishnaw said, 4G towers have been sanctioned for 40 thousand villages which are not connected with 4G till now.

  Wockhardt Completes Third Phase Study Of Nafithromycin, a Macrolide Antibiotic For Pneumonia, Shares Surges The study showed a short course of three-day treatment with Nafithromycin is as effective as seven-day therapy with Moxifloxacin. Shares of Wockhardt Ltd. surged 18.80% to a near two-year high on Monday, as it successfully completed phase-3 pneumonia study of macrolide antibiotic Nafithromycin.  Nafithromycin or Wockhardt NCE, WCK 4873 was comparatively evaluated in a multi-centre double blind phase-3 pneumonia study, employing the last-line respiratory antibiotic Moxifloxacin, an exchange filing said. Findings from the phase 3 study align with earlier phase 2 research conducted in the US and Europe.  A human lung penetration study revealed that Nafithromycin maintains significantly high lung concentrations for up to five days after just three days of dosing.  Moreover, it displayed eight times higher lung exposure than Azithromycin and exhibited increased po...

Beyond pregnancy: experts call for greater attention to the long-term health challenges of women and girls   At least 40 million women have long-term health problems after childbirth every year: Lancet Study. Every year, at least 40 million women are likely to experience a long-term health problem caused by childbirth, according to a new study published in The Lancet Global Health.  Part of a special Series on maternal health, the study shows a high burden of postnatal conditions that persist in the months or even years after giving birth.  These include pain during sexual intercourse (dyspareunia), affecting more than a third (35%) of postpartum women, low back pain (32%), anal incontinence (19%), urinary incontinence (8-31%), anxiety (9-24%), depression (11-17%), perineal pain (11%), fear of childbirth (tokophobia) (6-15%) and secondary infertility (11%). Other symptoms affecting postnatal women included involuntary urination (8-31 per cent), anxiety (9-24 per cent), de...

Inox India Sets IPO Price Band At Rs 627–660 per share Cryogenic tank maker Inox India Ltd. has set a price band of Rs 627–660 per share for its initial public offering that's scheduled to open on December 14.  The initial public offering is entirely an offer for sale of up to 2.21 crore shares by its existing shareholders and promoters, according to the draft red herring prospectus approved by market regulator SEBI on Tuesday.  The company is looking to raise Rs 1,459.32 crore at the upper limit of the price band. Inox India has over 30 years of experience in cryogenic tank manufacturing.  The company offers solutions across the design, engineering, manufacturing, and installation of equipment and systems for cryogenic conditions.  It offers standard cryogenic tanks and equipment, beverage kegs, bespoke technology, equipment and solutions as well as large turnkey projects used in diverse industries, such as industrial gases, liquified natural gas, green hydrogen, en...