Is India Winning the War Against Rising Non-Communicable Diseases? The latest health statistics paint a concerning picture: diabetes, heart disease, and cancer rates are climbing, impacting millions across the country. From rural healthcare access to the burgeoning urban health crisis, challenges remain significant. This week, we delve into the crucial initiatives underway – government policies, technological advancements in telemedicine, and the rising role of preventative healthcare – that aim to address this national health emergency. Experts weigh in on the effectiveness of current strategies and the critical need for increased public awareness campaigns targeting lifestyle diseases. Are these efforts enough? Explore Abtak.com's in-depth coverage on healthcare in India and discover the vital information you need to protect your well-being and the future of public health. Stay informed; stay healthy.
Thiruvananthapuram, July 4 (SocialNews.XYZ) Kerala has sounded an alert in three districts after test results of an 18-year-old, who died in Malappuram district on July 1, confirmed that she was Nipah positive, while there are two more cases. Health alerts have been issued in the districts of Kozhikode, Malappuram, and Palakkad. At present, two patients have tested positive for Nipah from the tests conducted in Kerala and for final confirmation, the two samples have been sent to the National Institute of Virology, Pune, state Health Minister Veena George said. "26 committees have been set up in each of these three districts to handle outbreak response, including contact tracing, containment planning, and public communication. The police have also been asked to cooperate," she said. "As of now, 345 people have been identified and are on the contact list, and these include 211 from Malappuram, 91 from Palakkad and 43 in Kozhikode. The route map of the Palakkad patient who has tested positive has been put out," George added. Health authorities in these three districts are on a high alert and have started putting in the prescribed protocols to be adopted, and this is done as a matter of abundant caution, even as the results from Pune are awaited. Kerala has had five Nipah outbreaks since 2018, and since then, 22 people have died, while only seven have survived the ordeal. Nipah virus is a bat-borne, zoonotic virus that causes Nipah virus infection in humans and other animals. The mortality rate is high and stands between 40 to 75 per cent. What has troubled the medical professionals is that the symptoms of Nipah are similar to viral fever and influenza, and hence, an early diagnosis of Nipah is difficult.
By Jaikrishnan PKOTTAYAM: One woman was killed and two were injured after a part of a building in the govt medical college hospital collapsed here on Thursday. The woman got stuck in the debris of the collapsed building. It was the rescue team that found the dead body of the woman amongst the debris. The husband of the deceased complained that his wife was missing after the building collapsed. According to him, the woman went to take a bath in the washroom in the collapsed part of the building. T ...Read More >
Palakkad: A 10-year-old boy, a close relative of the woman who tested positive for Nipah virus in Palakkad, Kerala, has been admitted to Manjeri Medical College Hospital after developing a high fever on Friday night, officials said. The boy's mother and a four-month-old infant have also been hospitalised as a precautionary measure. All three individuals are listed as primary contacts of the confirmed Nipah case. The National Institute of Virology in Pune on Friday officially confirmed Nipah infection for the 38-year-old woman who was under treatment at a private hospital in Perinthalmanna fo ...Read More >
Palakkad: A 57-year-old man from Palakkad district in Kerala, who died on July 12, is suspected to have been infected with the Nipah virus, prompting the government to ramp up contact tracing and field-level surveillance in the area. The man had been undergoing treatment at a private hospital in this northern district. His samples were tested at Manjeri Medical College, where the result came back positive for Nipah, Health Minister Veena George said in a statement. She added that the government is awaiting confirmation from the National Institute of Virology in Pune. This is the second Nip ...Read More >
THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The museum police have arrested three caretakers of the Child Welfare Committee (CWC) for allegedly injuring a two-and-a-half-year-old child. The accused -- Ajitha, Maheswari, and Sindhu were taken into custody on Tuesday under the POCSO Act and relevant sections of the BNS. The incident reportedly happened when the child was hurt in the genital area as a punishment for urinating on the bed. The injury came to light when the child was being bathed. On noticing it, CWC General ...Read More >
PALAKKAD/ KOZHIKODE : Triggering fresh concerns, the deadly Nipah virus has resurfaced in Kerala, claiming the life of an 18-year-old girl from Malappuram. Another person, a 39-year-old woman from Palakkad, is in a critical condition after having contracted the virus. The samples of the two tested positive at the National Institute of Virology (NIV), Pune, on Friday. The teenager had died at a private hospital in Kozhikode on July 1, while the woman is under treatment at a private hospital in Perinthalmanna, Malappuram. The fresh Nipah cases have prompted heightened vigil in Kozhikode, Mala ...Read More >
MALAPPURAM: Kerala Health Minister Veena George on Sunday said that there are 383 people in the contact lists of the two persons infected with the Nipah virus in the state. Of those on the contact list, 12 people are under treatment in Malappuram district with five in the ICU and four are being treated in isolation in Palakkad district, the minister said in a statement after chairing a high-level meeting. The recent death of an 18-year-old girl in Malappuram district was confirmed as Nipah infection, while a 38-year-old woman from Thachanattukara in Palakkad district also tested positive for ...Read More >
Palakkad (Kerala) | The condition of the Nipah virus-infected patient reported in this north Kerala district remains critical, and all possible treatment is being provided, Kerala Health Minister Veena George said on Monday. The 38-year-old woman, a native of Thachanattukara, is undergoing treatment at the Government Medical College in neighbouring Kozhikode district. Another patient, a Malappuram native, had succumbed to the virus last week. As per protocol, the woman has been given monoclonal antibody treatment, with the second dose administered on Monday morning, George said after chairi ...Read More >
Thiruvananthapuram (Kerala) [India], July 8 (ANI): Health Minister Veena George on Tuesday informed that a total of 485 people are currently on the Nipah virus contact list in Kerala as containment measures intensify across districts, according to the official statement. According to the Health Department, Malappuram district has 192 contacts under observation, followed by Palakkad with 176, Kozhikode with 114, Ernakulam with 2, and Kannur with 1. In Malappuram, 18 people are receiving treatment, with one patient in ICU care. So far, 42 samples from the district have tested negative for Nipa ...Read More >
Thiruvananthapuram, July 10 (SocialNews.XYZ) The Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan Cabinet on Thursday sanctioned Rs 10 lakh as compensation to the family of 56-year-old Bindu who died last week when a part of a building at the state-owned Kottayam Medical College Hospital came down and she was buried under it. There was a huge outrage as two ministers, namely Health Minister Veena George and Ports Minister V.N. Vasavan who reached the spot, categorically ruled out the presence of anyone under the debris as the toilet block had been closed for a while. Later, Bindu's body was pulled out from t ...Read More >
New Delhi: The Union Health Ministry in collaboration with key stakeholders is all set to launch a 100-day TB elimination campaign focussing on enhancing detection, reducing diagnostic delays and improving treatment outcomes. The initiative, set to be implemented across 347 districts in 33 states and Union Territories, aims to strengthen programmatic activities and reduce disparities in TB outcomes across diverse regions of the country to achieve the aim of TB elimination, a health ministry statement said. The campaign envisages improving programme performance on key output indicators like T ...Read More >
Kottayam (Kerala), Jul 3 (PTI) Kerala Health Minister Veena George is facing mounting pressure to resign after a woman died when part of a building collapsed at Kottayam Medical College Hospital on Thursday. While opposition Congress-led UDF demanded her resignation, citing serious lapses in rescue operations and broader failures in the state's public health system, the BJP said that Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan "is no longer fit to remain in his position even for a moment" and must resign. Bindu, the mother of a patient, was found dead under the debris two and a half hours after a sectio ...Read More >
Kolkata, July 5 (SocialNews.XYZ) The West Bengal unit of BJP, under the leadership of its new State party President Samik Bhattacharya is making all efforts to ensure a political rally in the state, with Prime Minister Narendra Modi addressing it, before Trinamool Congress's annual Martyrs' day rally in Kolkata on July 21. An insider from the state committee of BJP said that the week before July 21, the Prime Minister is scheduled to go for an election campaign in Bihar where the Assembly polls are scheduled later this year. "We are trying hard so that the Prime Minister can spare some time ...Read More >
Thiruvananthapuram (Kerala) [India], July 5 (ANI): A group of Youth Congress workers staged a protest march outside the official residence of Kerala Health Minister Veena George in Thiruvananthapuram on Saturday, demanding her resignation over the building collapse at the Kottayam Medical College. Police used water cannons to disperse the workers of the Youth Congress and detained them. This comes after a building block collapsed at the Government Medical College Hospital in Kottayam, claiming an individual's life and injuring two others on July 3. Earlier on Friday, a group of Indian Union ...Read More >
Pune: The Indian Gig Workers' Front on Saturday evening suspended the ongoing strike of cabs and autorickshaws operating on applications till Tuesday, after leaving many commuters, including those arriving at the airport on Saturday morning, hassled. Keshav Kshirsagar, the president of the front, said, "We have a meeting on Tuesday with senior officials of the state transport department. If its decisions don't meet our expectations, the strike will resume." Several commuters had a harrowing experience on roads on Friday and in the early hours of Saturday. Cabs and autos were hard to come by. T ...Read More >
Kottayam, July 3 (SocialNews.XYZ) Protests broke out across Kerala on Thursday with the Congress and the BJP party workers taking to the streets demanding the resignation of state Health Minister Veena George. The protesters pointed out had the two Ministers (George and State Cooperation Minister V.N. Vasavan) acted diligently, the precious life of a 56-year-old home maker Bindhu -- who was trapped under the debris following a three storied building at the Kottayam Medical College hospital collapsed earlier on Thursday -- could have been saved. Both the Ministers who reached the spot after h ...Read More >
Thiruvananthapuram (Kerala) [India], July 4 (ANI): A group of Indian Union Muslim League (IUML) youth wing workers staged a protest march outside the official residence of Kerala Health Minister Veena George in Thiruvananthapuram on Friday, demanding her resignation over the collapse of a building block at the Government Medical College Hospital in Kottayam. The incident claimed the life of one person, while two others were injured. Also Read | 'Seeking Clarity Is Not Misinformation': CM Siddaramaiah Responds to Biocon Chief Kiran Mazumdar Shaw on COVID-19 Vaccine Row. Visuals from the scen ...Read More >
Thiruvananthapuram: A total of 383 people are currently on the Nipah virus contact list in Kerala, Health Minister Veena George said in a high-level review meeting on Sunday. Among them, 241 are contacts of the confirmed Nipah case in Malappuram district, while 142 are linked to the patient identified in Palakkad district. Additionally, 94 contacts are under observation in Kozhikode and two in Ernakulam. Twelve people are undergoing treatment in Malappuram, including five in intensive care. In Palakkad, four people are in isolation wards. The meeting discussed strengthening home visits, fev ...Read More >
Thiruvananthapuram: Surgeries under Urology Unit I at the Thiruvananthapuram Government Medical College, led by the Head of the Department Dr Haris Chirakkal, is all set to resume following an intervention by Health Minister Veena George. The procedure had been halted after the probe used in the EMS lithoclast device malfunctioned last week. Following this, the Health Minister directed officials to ensure that a replacement probe was provided without delay. However, similar surgeries were carried out by another urology unit in the hospital the very next day, despite allegations that the surgic ...Read More >
Kollam: Health Minister Veena George complained of uneasiness and was admitted to Kottarakkara Government Taluk Hospital on Thursday evening. According to reports, the minister developed health issues due to high blood pressure. She experienced discomfort while travelling to Thiruvananthapuram from Kottayam. She was soon taken to the Taluk Hospital, where doctors administered an intravenous (IV) drip. The minister is expected to be discharged from the hospital soon. The minister was hospitalised at a time when opposition parties are calling for her resignation over the Kottayam tragedy. A wo ...Read More >
Kottayam (Kerala), Jul 3 (PTI) A woman died and at least two others, including a child, were injured after a part of the Government Medical College Hospital in Kottayam collapsed on Thursday, police said here. The injured -- an 11-year-old girl and a hospital staff member --were admitted to the casualty department shortly after the incident. The woman was pulled out from the debris more than two hours later and was declared dead. Her identity was later confirmed as Bindu, a resident of Thalayolaparambu. She was at the hospital as a bystander for her daughter, who is being treated there. Th ...Read More >
Kottayam: As the Congress-led opposition called for the resignation of Health Minister Veena George over the death of a woman in the collapse of a building at Kottayam Medical College Hospital on Thursday, the Youth Congress and Youth League intensified protests across the state. Bindu, a native of Thalayolaparambu, died after being trapped under the rubble of a 68-year-old building that collapsed on Thursday morning. She had come to the hospital as a bystander for her daughter, who was undergoing treatment at the trauma care unit. Her funeral will be held at her residence on Friday at 11 am. ...Read More >
Thiruvananthapuram (Kerala) [India], July 4 (ANI): A group of Indian Union Muslim League (IUML) youth wing workers staged a protest march outside the official residence of Kerala Health Minister Veena George in Thiruvananthapuram on Friday, demanding her resignation over the collapse of a building block at the Government Medical College Hospital in Kottayam. The incident claimed the life of one person, while two others were injured. Visuals from the scene showed IUML workers trying to breach police barricades, prompting the police to use water cannons to disperse them. Earlier in the day, B ...Read More >
New Delhi, Jul 5 (PTI) The Union Health Ministry is considering deploying the National Joint Outbreak Response Team (NJORT) to Kerala to assist the government in implementing public health measures, following the detection of two Nipah virus cases, sources said on Saturday. The Central Surveillance Unit of the Integrated Disease Surveillance Programme (IDSP), NCDC, is in close contact with the state unit and is actively monitoring the situation, they added. Also Read | Uttar Pradesh: 6 Policemen Suspended for Circulating Objectionable Post on Social Media on Ex CM Akhilesh Yadav. The State ...Read More >
New Delhi/Thiruvananthapuram, Jul 5 (PTI) The recent death of an 18-year-old girl in Kerala's Malappuram district was confirmed as Nipah infection, health department sources here said on Saturday. The patient, hailing from Chettiyarangadi in Malappuram, had succumbed after receiving treatment at a private hospital in Kozhikode district. Initial tests indicated Nipah and the infection was subsequently confirmed by the National Institute of Virology (NIV) in Pune after sample examination, the sources said. A 38-year-old woman from Thachanattukara in Palakkad district also tested positive for ...Read More >
Malappuram: The health department has issued a high alert in six districts of Kerala -- Palakkad, Malappuram, Kozhikode, Wayanad, Kannur, and Thrissur -- after a suspected Nipah virus-related death was reported on July 12. Hospitals in all these districts have been asked to exercise caution and intensify surveillance to prevent a potential outbreak. The deceased is a 57-year-old man from Mannarkkad in Palakkad, who tested positive for Nipah infection in preliminary examinations conducted at the Government Medical College Hospital in Malappuram. Health Minister Veena George stated that confirm ...Read More >
Chennai: Preliminary investigations attribute the fire on the goods train near Tiruvallur to a possible spark from overhead electrical equipment (OHE) igniting fuel leaking from a derailed wagon.The incident paralysed services on the busy Chennai-Arakkonam route and left nearby residents engulfed in thick black smoke. The disruption left thousands of rail passengers stranded, many of whom were unable to get updates as railway helplines went unanswered for hours. The train carrying diesel from Chennai Harbour to Walajah Road Siding was exiting Tiruvallur station around 5.30am on Sunday, when a ...Read More >
THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: In the wake of the Nipah resurgence, the health department has strengthened surveillance in the state. A total of 425 people are on the contact list of persons confirmed with Nipah virus in the state. On Saturday, Health Minister Veena George convened a high-level meeting to take stock of the situation. Meanwhile, the condition of the 39-year-old Nipah patient from Palakkad continues to be critical. Currently, there are 228 contact cases in Malappuram, 110 in Palakkad and 87 in Kozhikode districts. The minister has instructed increased surveillance of fever cases in the a ...Read More >
T'puram/Kochi: In light of the second Nipah case detected in Palakkad district, health minister Veena George has issued a cautionary directive to hospitals in six districts. The advisory has been given to hospitals in Palakkad, Malappuram, Kozhikode, Kannur, Wayanad and Thrissur. The directive instructs that any cases of fever with Nipah symptoms or encephalitis should be reported. Meanwhile, containment zones have been declared in seven wards of Kumaramputhur panchayat, four wards of Mannarkkad municipality, three wards of Karimpuzha panchayat and three wards of Karakurissi panchayat.The mini ...Read More >
PALAKKAD: Contact tracing has begun after a 57-year-old man from Palakkad district, who died at a private hospital in Malappuram on Saturday night, tested positive for Nipah virus, Health Minister Veena George has said. The infection was detected through tests conducted at Manjeri Medical College. Following the confirmation, health authorities drew up a detailed contact list and began tracing those named in the list. So far, 46 people have been identified as primary contacts of the second confirmed case in recent weeks in the state. CCTV footage and other relevant information have been collec ...Read More >
Wearing masks has been made compulsory in Mannarkkad taluk in the district following detection of three back to back Nipah cases in the taluk. District Collector G. Priyanka also permitted work-from-home facility for government employees coming from containment zones. Ms. Priyanka said that giving leave to those who could not work from home was under consideration. She said online classes would be arranged for students of schools and colleges in containment zones. Students from containment zone ...Read More >