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.
Jaipur: Surgeons at SMS Hospital Saturday performed their first live liver transplant -- that is, a liver donated by a living donor -- with help from experts from a private hospital in Delhi.Previously, the hospital has conducted liver transplants utilising organs from patients declared brain dead. Hospital officials announced they have now the necessary capabilities for live liver transplants, expanding options for patients in need of this life-saving procedure.A team from the private hospital in Delhi arrived at SMS Hospital, after which the live liver transplant began Saturday morning. "The wife of a patient with liver failure donated a portion of her liver. It is the first such case reported at SMS Hospital. We performed cadaveric liver transplants earlier, and now we have achieved success in performing live liver transplants," Dr Sushil Bhati, medical superintendent of SMS Hospital, told TOI.According to doctors, the patient was grappling with liver failure and a transplant was needed to increase chances of his survival. SMS Hospital contacted officials of a private hospital in Delhi which has performed multiple liver transplants, to help in performing the live liver transplant.
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 >
CHENNAI: Two hospitals in Coimbatore collaboratively performed the country's first inter-hospital swap liver transplant on two patients suffering from end-stage liver disease. The complex procedure was executed between GEM Hospital and Sri Ramakrishna Hospital in Coimbatore. The patients, a 59-year-old man from Salem admitted in GEM and a 53-year-old man from Tirupur in Sri Ramakrishna, were both in need of liver transplants. Their wives were willing to donate, but blood group incompatibility ruled out direct donation. In a rare stroke of opportunity, doctors identified that a 'swap transpla ...Read More >
New Delhi [India], July 20 (ANI): Congress MP Renuka Chowdhury on Sunday expressed concern over the government inaction in bringing to justice the terrorists behind the April 22 Pahalgam attack, which killed 26 civilians, including a Nepali citizen. As the Parliament Monsoon session begins, Chowdhury stated that the INDIA bloc will raise this issue, demanding answers from the government. Speaking to ANI, Chowdhury said, The Parliament session is starting, so we have reached Delhi. We have not been able to see those who killed our countrymen in the terrorist attack in Pahalgam arrested yet. T ...Read More >
Heart transplant patients in the United States typically spend months waiting for a donated organ. But Kayoko Hira was not a typical patient. Mrs. Hira, the wife of a hotel magnate in Japan, flew to the United States in September 2021, went to the University of Chicago Medical Center and, within days, got a new heart from an American teenager who had died. Soon after, The New York Times found, a charity run by her husband made a donation to a nonprofit group led by the heart surgeon's wife. It ...Read More >
CHENNAI: Two liver failure patients in Coimbatore -- a 59-year-old in GEM Hospital and a 53-year-old in Sri Ramakrishna Hospital -- were desperate when doctors told them a transplant would be complicated as their wives' organs were incompatible. However, their doctors found a possibility for a swap transplant, which allows patients to exchange donors with another family in a similar situation.Both hospitals performed the surgeries simultaneously in two different operation theatres located 5 km ap ...Read More >
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-Sidd ...Read More >
NEW DELHI: The National Organ and Tissue Transplant Organisation (NOTTO) has suggested prioritising women in allocation of deceased donor organs.In a letter to the states/UTs, the apex authority for regulating organ donations and transplants in the country, has said a provision should be made to mark additional points for women recipients of donor organs, to address gender disparity. Studies have shown that while women make up a large percentage of donors, they receive fewer organs than men. "Women are equally vulnerable when it comes to end-stage organ failure due to illness, and it is import ...Read More >
CHENNAI: GEM Hospital and Sri Ramakrishna Hospital, located five-kilometre apart in Coimbatore, have pulled off simultaneous liver transplants for two men in their fifties, involving an inter-hospital swap of organs from donors, who were each other's wives. Addressing the media here on Friday, the hospitals claimed that this was the first time in India that such liver transplants involving inter-hospital swap were done. The patients, aged 59 from Salem and 53 from Tiruppur respectively admitted in GEM and Ramakrishna hospitals, were in dire need of liver transplants. Although their respective ...Read More >
Medak: Telangana State BJP President N. Ramchander Rao on Friday appealed to the people to give the committed party an opportunity to meet the aspirations of the poor and downtrodden. Addressing a large gathering of party workers in Medak, the BJP chief remarked that citizens have experienced the rule of the BRS and the Congress party and have had bitter experiences with the deceitful practices of both. He urged people to support the BJP wholeheartedly in the upcoming local body elections as a way to teach the ruling Congress party a lesson for its unfulfilled promises. Rao emphasized that t ...Read More >
Raichur (Karnataka) [India], August 14: In a landmark moment for global hepatology and Indian pharmaceutical innovation, Shilpa Medicare Limited (BSE: 530661) (NSE: SHILPAMED) has secured the world first regulatory approval from India Central Drugs Standard Control Organization (CDSCO) for Nor Ursodeoxycholic Acid (NorUDCA) Tablets 500 mg, the first-ever approved therapy targeting NAFLD. * Shilpa Medicare emerges as the global pioneer to receive approval for NorUDCA, offering new hope to over a billion people affected by Non-Alcoholic Fatty Liver Disease (NAFLD) * NAFLD affects 1 in 4 people ...Read More >
Bhubaneswar: State govt on Wednesday conferred 'Suraj Samman' on 24 organ donors posthumously on the occasion of Organ Donation Day. A cash reward of Rs 5 lakh each was received by family members of the awardees.Health minister Mukesh Mahaling presented the awards after paying homage to the organ donors and their immediate family members. "Enlivening others in the aftermath of one's death through organ donation is a higher order of noble acts," he added.Mahaling said that because of the noble acts of the family of the donors, Odisha was honoured at the national level as an emerging state in or ...Read More >
New Delhi: Traffic in central Delhi will be affected on Thursday as the traffic police has issued an advisory due to the Janmashtami and Tazia processions.According to police, the traffic movement in Paharganj is likely to be affected from 1.30pm in view of the shobha yatra for Janmashtami and the Tazia procession.The Janmashtami procession will start from Mandir Shri Banke Bihari Ji in Paharganj's Sangatrasan Bazar and pass through Desh Bandhu Gupta Road, Chuna Mandi, Main Bazar, Munja Chowk and Arakashan Road. The Tazia procession will start from Ajmeri Gate and proceed through Pul Paharganj ...Read More >
KOCHI: Biljith Biju and Isaac George, two youngsters who were declared brain dead last week, have, through organ donation, served a purpose beyond saving lives -- raising awareness of the importance of their life-affirming acts of eternal kindness. And, this has reflected in the number of organ-donation pledges made in the state on Friday and Saturday. On September 13, 191 people pledged to donate organs after their death. The number was 193 on September 12. "Factors like acceptance and the honour donors and their families receive, and the improved quality of life of recipients have motivate ...Read More >
NEW DELHI: In a major medical breakthrough, a city hospital has successfully performed the living donor liver transplant in combination with double heart valve surgery. The rare and high-risk procedure was conducted on a 55-year-old woman from Kyrgyzstan suffering from end-stage autoimmune liver disease and severe dysfunction in both the mitral and tricuspid heart valves. The patient, Anara M, sought treatment at Paras Health, Gurugram, on February 25, after years of hospitalisation. The pre-su ...Read More >
Saveetha Medical College & Hospital collaborates with Apollo Hospitals to offer affordable liver transplants in India. This alliance brings world-class care at reduced costs, making life-saving surgeries accessible to all. The partnership combines Apollo's medical expertise with Saveetha's social mission, transforming healthcare accessibility nationwide. In a landmark agreement poised to transform the landscape of affordable tertiary healthcare in India, Saveetha Medical College & Hospital has p ...Read More >
Lucknow: Liver fibrosis can increase the risk of cancers like colorectal, breast, and prostate by 3 to 4 times, warned Prof Gaurav Pandey from the department of gastroenterology, SGPGIMS. He spoke at a health talk titled "Fatty Liver - the Silent Epidemic" organised by the Club of Lucknow on Sunday. The event began with an address by chief secretary Manoj Kumar Singh.Prof Pandey said fatty liver disease, now called MASLD (metabolic dysfunction-associated steatotic liver disease), is often silent in the early stages and usually detected by chance. The liver, which weighs about 1.5 kg, processes ...Read More >
Dimapur, Jul 18 (PTI) Two persons have died of Japanese Encephalitis (JE) in Nagaland, a health department official said on Friday. Chief Medical Officer, Dimapur, Dr Yartenla Jamir, said that of the seven JE cases detected in Dimapur, Chumoukedima, and Niuland districts, two persons have died so far. She expressed concern over the rise in Japanese encephalitis (JE) cases in the three districts, especially during the monsoon season, which increases the risk of transmission. The Health department has urged district administrations to issue a public advisory on JE prevention measures and to i ...Read More >
Raichur (Karnataka) [India], August 14: In a landmark moment for global hepatology and Indian pharmaceutical innovation, Shilpa Medicare Limited (BSE: 530661) (NSE: SHILPAMED) has secured the world's first regulatory approval from India's Central Drugs Standard Control Organization (CDSCO) for Nor Ursodeoxycholic Acid (NorUDCA) Tablets 500 mg, the first-ever approved therapy targeting NAFLD. Also Read | 'Coolie' X Review: Rajinikanth's 'One-Man Show' With Nagarjuna's Stylish Act and Anirudh Ravichander's BGM Redeems Lokesh Kanagaraj's Massy Thriller, Say Netizens. * Shilpa Medicare emerges a ...Read More >
Kochi: The Ernakulam First Class Judicial Magistrate Court on Saturday granted custody of filmmaker Ranjith to the Special Investigation Team (SIT) of Kochi City Police till 4 pm on Monday in connection with the sexual assault case registered against him. The case pertains to a complaint filed by a young actress, who alleged that the incident took place inside a caravan during a film shoot in Kochi in January. Allowing the custody plea, the court accepted the prosecution's argument that the gravity of the offence warranted detailed interrogation and further evidence collection. The SIT, head ...Read More >
Kapurthala, Apr 6 (PTI) An elderly couple from Sultanpur Lodhi here has claimed that they have lost four sons to drugs while the fifth and last surviving son is also bed-ridden due to a severe liver infection. However, ruling Aam Aadmi Party's general secretary Baltej Pannu rebutted the claims of four deaths in a single household caused by drugs, asserting that the facts present a very different and more nuanced picture. In a statement, Pannu claimed a thorough field verification revealed that these deaths occurred over a span of more than eight years and were due to entirely different cause ...Read More >
VMPL New Delhi [India], August 14: Ellenox, India's largest venture studio, is accelerating its global push in enterprise AI development. In the past year, the company has grown its headcount by 50% over the last year, bringing in senior AI talent from Amazon and Google to power its next phase of expansion. Already delivering AI transformation for Fortune 50 leaders in fintech, cloud computing, consumer social, and sports-tech, Ellenox has built systems that replace costly call centers with natural-voice AI agents and deployed end-to-end social media pipelines capable of scaling global brand ...Read More >
CHENNAI: Two liver failure patients in Coimbatore -- a 59-year-old in GEM Hospital and a 53-year-old in Sri Ramakrishna Hospital -- were desperate when doctors told them a transplant would be complicated as their wives' organs were incompatible. However, their doctors found a possibility for a swap transplant, which allows patients to exchange donors with another family in a similar situation.Both hospitals performed the surgeries simultaneously in two different operation theatres located 5 km apart in Coimbatore. "Real-time video feeds were established to monitor surgical progress and coordin ...Read More >
Hyderabad/New Delhi: Telangana has been honoured with a prestigious national award for achieving the highest organ donation rate in India. According to a senior official, in 2024, Telangana recorded an organ donation rate of 4.88 donors per million population (pmp), which significantly surpassed the national average of 0.8 pmp. The award was presented during a felicitation ceremony held in New Delhi as part of the 15th Indian Organ Donation Day celebrations, organised by the National Organ and Tissue Transplant Organization (NOTTO). The award was received by Dr G Mallikarjun and the Jeevandan ...Read More >
New Delhi, April 4 (SocialNews.XYZ) Rising equestrian talent Stasya Pandya from Mumbai delivered an outstanding performance at the Delhi Horse Show 2026, securing two team medals in the prestigious Young Champion category. Competing against a field of over 200 equestrians across multiple categories, Stasya demonstrated exceptional skill across disciplines. In Dressage, she rode Consul, earning a Team Silver medal with a composed and technically refined performance. Building on this success, she went on to secure a Team Bronze medal in Show Jumping astride Cougar De Fees. Navigating a challen ...Read More >
A 32-year-old drug addict, who was hospitalised after his mother emotive appeal to save her critically ill son went viral on social media, succumbed during treatment on Tuesday. The youth was referred to Amritsar's Guru Nanak Medical College and Hospital from the Sultanpur Lodhi civil hospital on Monday. He was reportedly suffering from multiple health issues due to his drug addiction. As per his family, he was placed on ventilator in the Amritsar hospital after being diagnosed with acute liver ...Read More >
Hyderabad: The Telangana Transplantation of Human Organs Act, 1995, which regulates the commercialisation of human organs for transplantation, imposes strict limitations on the availability of organs from living donors, contributing to recent transplant fraud cases, such as the Alakananda Hospital scandal. Following the enactment of the Transplantation of Human Organs Act, 1994, by the Centre, undivided Andhra Pradesh adopted it in 1995, and Telangana continued with the same legislation after its formation. Unlike several other states, Telangana has not yet incorporated key amendments introd ...Read More >
Chennai - Rainbow Children's Hospital, India's leading Paediatric multi-specialty and perinatal care hospital chain, has achieved a landmark in the nation's medical history by performing India's first live Paediatric liver transplant for Progressive Familial Intrahepatic Cholestasis Type 13 (PFIC 13). The procedure was carried out on an eight-year-old boy from Thoothukkudi at the hospital's state-of-the-art Center of Excellence for Paediatric Liver Transplant. Alongside this national first, the team successfully completed two additional rare Paediatric liver transplants on infants under one ye ...Read More >
Agartala, July 1: Tripura government plans to establish a medical hub and efforts are underway to develop treatment facilities for all types of diseases, reducing the need for patients to seek care outside the state, Chief Minister Manik Saha announced here on Tuesday. Addressing the Doctors' Day function, the Chief Minister said that at a cost of Rs 250 crore a Super Speciality block was established at the government-run Govind Ballabh Pant Medical College and Hospital. "Tripura currently has three medical colleges including a private one with a total seat capacity of 400. The state also ha ...Read More >
Srinagar: Searches are being carried out by Jammu and Kashmir Police's counter-intelligence wing at multiple locations in the Valley in connection with a terror case, officials said. The searches by Counter Intelligence Kashmir (CIK) are underway at 10 locations across four districts of the Kashmir Valley, the officials said. Searches are being conducted to locate terrorist sleeper cells and recruitment modules. The CIK searches are being conducted in six locations in Ganderbal, two in Budgam, and one each in Pulwama and Srinagar, they said. ...Read More >
Coimbatore (Tamil Nadu) [India], July 19 (ANI): Two hospitals in Coimbatore have collaboratively performed the country's first-ever inter-hospital swap liver transplant, giving a new lease of life to two patients suffering from end-stage liver disease. GEM Hospital Coimbatore was also the first in India to perform laparoscopic living donor surgery in 2017. The complex procedure was successfully executed through a joint effort between GEM Hospital and Sri Ramakrishna Hospital in Coimbatore, marking a historic medical feat that required meticulous planning right from the stage of patient evalua ...Read More >