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.
Mumbai: The Maharashtra government is planning to increase the budget for organ transplants under the Mahatma Jyotirao Phule Jan Arogya Yojana, Health Minister Prakash Abitkar announced on Wednesday, pledging wider financial support for patients in need. The commitment came during a moving ceremony at Bai Jerbai Wadia Hospital for Children to mark World Organ Donation Day, where donor families were honoured for their life-saving contributions. Wadia Hospital Secures Pediatric Heart Transplant License The event, filled with emotion and gratitude, featured a soulful prayer dance by Riddhi-Siddhi and a musical performance by transplant recipient children alongside their doctors. Wadia Hospital used the occasion to announce a major milestone -- it has secured a licence to perform pediatric heart transplants and will soon apply for pancreas, intestine, and lung transplant licences, making it one of the few centres in the country to offer multiple pediatric transplants under one roof. Santacruz Girl's Gift of Life Saves Many Among those honoured was the family of 12-year-old Vaidehi Bhau Tanavde from Santacruz, who was declared brain-dead after a sudden illness. Her family donated her kidneys, liver, and heart, saving multiple lives. "Organ donation means saving lives and honouring those who make it possible," said Dr Minnie Bodhanwala, CEO of Wadia Hospitals, stressing that no child is denied treatment due to inability to pay. Push for Greater Awareness in Pediatric Organ Donation Since starting its transplant programme, Wadia Hospital has performed eight liver transplants and eight kidney transplants, with a mix of living-related and deceased donors. Dr Pradnya Bendre, head of the hospital's pediatric surgery and organ transplantation division, called for greater awareness about pediatric organ donation, noting that the waiting list remains long despite its life-saving potential. State to Honour Organ Donors from August 15 Abitkar announced that from August 15, all organ donors in Maharashtra will receive a certificate signed by their district collector and be honoured by the guardian ministers. "We must create awareness and remove fear about organ donation," he said.
Jaipur: The 23-year-old patient who received the heart, kidney and lungs of a brain-dead patient -- that were airlifted in the first such instance of organ transport in Rajasthan -- died on Tuesday late night at the SMS Hospital here. The hospital's senior doctor and spokesperson Dr Manish Agarwal said the complicated surgery was successful. Doctors tried hard to save the woman, but could not succeed, after which the patient died. The organs were airlifted for the first time in Rajasthan. The heart, kidney and lungs of Vishnu Prasad, a brain-dead youth in Jhalawar, were transported to Jaipur ...Read More >
New Delhi: Actress and reality TV star Sana Makbul, winner of Bigg Boss OTT 3, has been hospitalised due to a serious health issue, according to a statement by her close friend Aashna Kanchwala on social media. While the exact nature of her condition has not been disclosed, Kanchwala described it as a "grave condition" in an Instagram Story. Sharing her support, Aashna wrote: "My strongest Diva, I'm so proud of you for showing so much strength and resilience as you battle such a grave condition. Inshallah, you will fight this and come out even stronger... Allah is with you. And I am always s ...Read More >
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 >
Mumbai: The Bombay High Court has raised concern over terminally ill prisoners languishing in Maharashtra's jails and asked the state govt to consider proper implementation of an advisory on grant of medical bail or to place them in house arrest. A division bench of Justices Revati Mohite Dere and Prithviraj Chavan on Monday said they visited the Yerwada central prison in Pune on Sunday and met with prisoners, particularly women inmates, and inspected the condition there. The bench referred to a ...Read More >
Itanagar, Jun 7 (PTI) The flood situation in Arunachal Pradesh improved on Saturday with water levels of most rivers receding, even as 33,000 people in 24 districts remained affected, officials said. Twelve people lost their lives and one person went missing in rain-related incidents, including landslides, after the monsoon set in, they said. In its daily report, the State Emergency Operation Centre (SEOC) said 33,200 people in 215 villages remained affected due to floods and landslides in the state. The water levels of most major rivers and their tributaries were showing a receding trend o ...Read More >
New Delhi, June 8 (UNI) Active Covid-19 cases in India have crossed the 6,000 mark following a surge of nearly 400 new infections reported in the past 24 hours. The country also recorded six Covid-related deaths during this period, with three fatalities reported from Kerala, as per the data available from the Union Health Ministry. As of now, India has 6,133 active cases and a cumulative death toll of 65. Kerala continues to report the highest number of active infections, nearing the 2,000 mark, making it the state with the largest current caseload. In the last 24 hours, 378 new cases were r ...Read More >
Imphal, June 26 (SocialNews.XYZ) The northeastern state of Manipur has crossed the 200 mark in the cumulative active cases of Covid-19 with with 13 more new cases reported on Thursday from four districts, officials said. State Health department officials said that 40 samples were tested on Thursday and 13 samples were found positive for Covid-19 in four districts - Imphal West (6), Imphal East (5) while Bishnupur and Thoubal had one case each. Of the total positive cases of 202 on Thursday, 137 were reported in Imphal West district, 48 in Imphal East district, eight in Thoubal district, five ...Read More >
Jaipur: Police in Didwana have stepped up their probe into a cross-border smuggling case in which they arrested two arms and drug smugglers on June 27 for supplying Austrian Glock and Chinese Norinco pistols. It has emerged that the case has links to a massive Rs 300-crore heroin consignment seized by Punjab's Amritsar police near the India-Pakistan border in Barmer on June 30. Canada-based Joben Kaler was identified as the main overseas handler of the heroin consignment. Didwana-Kuchaman police had arrested Mohammad Ilyas from Khunkhuna and Amarjeet Singh Takhar, alias Prince, from Jalandhar ...Read More >
Rajouri: State Health Department teams are continuing door-to-door surveillance in Badhal village as the mystery illness in Rajouri district in Jammu and Kashmir continues to claim lives. This after an 'unidentified' disease has claimed 16 reported fatalities and 38 affected individuals According to reports, NCDC (National Centre for Disease Control), ICMR (Indian Council of Medical Research) teams have been deployed for investigation as 16 deaths have been reported in Budhal village since December 2024 due to a 'mysterious illness.' Dilmir Choudhary, ADC Kotranka said, "Since December, we h ...Read More >
New Delhi: Three Indian citizens vanished mysteriously in Tehran. Darkness closed in as hope seemed lost. A ruthless Pakistani gang with potential links to ISI snatched them away, casting a shadow of fear. But relentless Indian diplomats refused to back down. Against all odds, a daring rescue mission ignited. Now, the captives are free, and a chilling game of espionage comes to light. The Punjab-based trio - Amritpal Singh from Hoshiarpur, Jaspal Singh from SBS Nagar and Hushnapreet Singh from Sangrur - had landed in Iran on May 1. Promised a clandestine route to Australia via Dubai and Tehra ...Read More >
Hyderabad, July 1 (SocialNews.XYZ) The death toll in the explosion in a pharmaceutical unit at Pashamylaram near Hyderabad mounted to 36 on Tuesday. With some of the injured succumbing at hospitals and rescue workers recovering more bodies from debris, the death toll rose sharply since Monday. The toll in the worst industrial disaster in Telangana may go up further as the rescue workers continued searches for the bodies in the debris of a three-storey building which collapsed under the impact of the blast. A massive explosion had rocked Sigachi Industries Limited's pharmaceutical factory at ...Read More >
Telangana Chief Minister A. Revanth Reddy instructed officials to provide compensation of ₹1 crore to families of the workers who died in the blast at Sigachi Industries Pvt. Ltd. in Pashamylaram of Isnapur, Sangareddy. Directions were issued to give ₹10 lakh to those several injured. He said that the State did not witness an incident which claimed so many lives and action would be taken on those responsible. Of the 143 people who were working there at the time of the explosion, 44 were declared dead as of Tuesday (July 1, 2025) early afternoon. The Chief Minister said that directions were is ...Read More >
Hyderabad/Sangareddy, July 2: The death toll from the explosion at the Sigachi Industries' plant in Pashamylaram has risen to 38 on Wednesday even as the company announced a Rs 1 crore compensation amid allegation of usage of outdated machinery in the unit. State Health Minister C Damodar Rajanarasimha, who has been supervising rescue operations at the accident site, said that 11 people were still missing. Although most of the debris has been cleared, no human remains have been found, the minister further said. Sangareddy District Superintendent of Police Paritosh Pankaj told PTI that the tol ...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 >
Keonjhar: The last rites of Lata Mohanta (58), an organ donor from Kodakhaman village in Patna block, was performed with state honours. Mohanta, wife of Kulamani Mahanta, passed away at a private hospital in Bhubaneswar after a brief illness following her brain stroke. Her family honoured her last wish by consenting to donate her organs, her liver successfully transplanted into another patient. "State honours were accorded to recognize her noble sacrifice and promote awareness about organ donation," said additional district magistrate Mandardhar Mahalik, who attended the ceremony. She was gi ...Read More >
Hyderabad: The four-member expert committee, formed by the Telangana government to investigate the alleged kidney racket at Alaknanda Hospital here, has put a plastic surgeon also under the scanner. The panel is currently questioning a large group of people, including kidney donors, recipients, and doctors, to unearth the details behind the racket. Officials said a comprehensive report will be submitted to the Director of Medical Education (DME) today. DME's Statement Speaking about the probe, the DME Dr. N. Vani claimed that there were several instances where donors, including widows, wer ...Read More >
Nashik: Deputy CM Eknath Shinde's Jalgaon-Mumbai chartered flight was grounded on Friday evening after the pilot's flying-hour restrictions kicked in, but officials said special permission was secured for him to operate the flight after a kidney transplant patient sought help to reach a Mumbai hospital before midnight, reports Abhilash Botekar.Though she made it, the transplant was postponed because of organ unavailability, following which she returned by road with her husband.Shinde, attending a religious event, was delayed beyond the scheduled 7.15pm departure, leading to the pilot's hours r ...Read More >
DHARMAPURI: For the third time in the past two months, a wild leopard wandered into a private farmland near Valaithottam village near Palacode and hunted chicken raised by a local farmer. Locals are increasingly distressed and urged the forest department to take steps to relocate the leopard. Over the past few months, there have been several reports of leopard sightings in forest areas near Palacode, particularly in Valaithottam village, near the forest's fringe. There have been two instances when the leopard attacked farmlands, taking away a domestic dog and a chicken. On Saturday, the leop ...Read More >
Imphal, June 29 (UNI) A series of successful operations carried out by Manipur Police and security forces during the last 24 hours led to the arrest of several individuals involved in vehicle theft, insurgent activity, and the recovery of a significant cache of arms and ammunition. Police arrested a vehicle lifter identified as Syed Riyaj from his residence at Lilong Chaobok in Thoubal District. The arrest was made under Lilong Police Station. Authorities seized a blue two wheeler without registration number, along with a key and an Aadhaar card believed to be linked to the suspect. In a s ...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 >
Mumbai: Congress Legislature Party leader Vijay Wadettiwar launched a scathing attack on the Maharashtra government in the Assembly , accusing it of betraying farmers after winning the elections. He demanded an immediate and unconditional farm loan waiver and criticized the formation of committees as an excuse to delay action. Speaking on the opposition's proposal concerning farmers' issues under Rule 293, Wadettiwar said, "Before elections, the ruling alliance promised full loan waivers and fair prices for crops. But now in power, they've slashed compensation amounts and are hiding behind co ...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 >
Mumbai, May 29 (UNI) The police on Thursday arrested Dr Ajay Taware, the former medical superintendent of Sassoon General Hospital, in an alleged kidney transplant racket at a prominent private hospital in Pune. Dr Taware, who is already in custody at Yerwada Central Jail in a separate case involving alleged tampering of blood samples in the high-profile Pune Porsche crash, was taken into custody by the city crime branch for his suspected role in the 2022 kidney transplant scam at Ruby Hall Clinic. According to Deputy Commissioner of Police (Crime) Nikhil Pingale, Dr Taware will be produced ...Read More >
Thiruvananthapuram: Ravada A Chandrasekhar took charge as the new State Police Chief on Tuesday. He succeeds Shaik Darvesh Saheb, who retired on June 30. His tenure will run until July 1, 2027. A 1991-batch IPS officer currently serving as Special Director with the Intelligence Bureau, Chandrasekhar is on central deputation. He was selected over Nitin Agarwal, who topped the official list of probables. The appointment order, issued by Kerala Chief Secretary Dr A Jayathilak on behalf of the Governor, was released soon after a cabinet meeting held on Monday. Hailing from Andhra Pradesh's Godav ...Read More >
Mumbai, Dec 3 (PTI) Maharashtra's caretaker Chief Minister Eknath Shinde on Tuesday visited a private hospital in Thane for a "check-up," two days before a new CM is sworn in at an open ground ceremony in south Mumbai. Even as it is not known yet who would take oath as chief minister at Azad Maidan on the evening of December 5, preparations are in full swing for the ceremony, to be attended by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, about 2,000 VVIPs and some 40,000 supporters. Shinde, who had been staying at his private residence in Thane for the last few days, visited the hospital in the morning. "I ...Read More >
The Bihar government on Thursday (June 5, 2025) sanctioned compensation of ₹8.25 lakh under the Scheduled Castes and the Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, 1989, to the family members of the 11-year-old Dalit girl who was raped and brutally assaulted with a knife, and later succumbed to her injuries at the Patna Medical College and Hospital (PMCH) on June 1. The State also announced a monthly pension of ₹7,700 for the victim's family, in addition to the allotment of a house under the Mukhyamantri Awas Yojana. According to officials, the girl, who was transferred from Muzaffarpu ...Read More >
Bengaluru: The Karnataka government on Thursday took strong action against the police officers allegedly responsible for the Bengaluru stampede, suspending several high-ranking officials, including the city's police commissioner. Addressing a press conference, Chief Minister Siddaramaiah also announced a one-man commission to probe the lapses that triggered the deadly stampede. "Cubbon Park Police Station police inspector, station house master, station house officer, ACP, Central Division DCP, cricket stadium in-charge, additional commissioner of police, commissioner of police have been susp ...Read More >
Pune: Hospitals in Pune have started reporting an increase in dengue cases among children following recent heavy rainfall and intermittent showers. Conditions are now ripe for mosquito breeding, experts said, as they warned citizens to ensure there's no waterlogging or stagnant pools near homes and offices. "Dengue is typically seen first in children as they often play outside," said Dr Sagar Lad, a senior neonatologist and pediatric intensivist at Jehangir Hospital and Sahyadri Hospital, Shastrinagar. Dr Lad said he's seen at least three children admitted for dengue this week, with all of the ...Read More >
New Delhi [India], June 8 (ANI): BJP MP Gulam Ali Khatana, who was part of the all-party parliamentary delegation to Europe, said that during their recently conclued visit they successfully communicated India's development story and its resolute stand against terrorism, particularly emanating from Pakistan. Highlighting the delegation's key discussions during the tour, Khatana told ANI, 'We discussed how we dismantled the terrorism factory in Pakistan by responding... We also talked about tourism infrastructure, G20 Summit, and projects like the six-lane roads, bridges, solar initiatives, our ...Read More >
Mumbai (Maharashtra) [India], June 27 (ANI): Shiv Sena (UBT) and the Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) will jointly organize a protest march on July 5 against the state government's reported move to make Hindi compulsory up to Class 4 under the 'Three Language Policy'. The announcement was made by Shiv Sena (UBT) leader and MP Sanjay Raut at a press conference on Friday. Also Read | Uddhav Thackeray, Raj Thackeray to Unite Against Hindi 'Imposition' in Maharashtra Schools, Says Sanjay Raut. Raut said, "We are not against any language. We have always respected Hindi. People like us have alway ...Read More >