Until a couple of centuries ago, more than a quarter of children died before their first birthday, around half before their fifth. In “Extra Life,” Steven Johnson, a writer of popular books on science and technology, tells the stories behind what he calls, in an understatement, “one of the greatest achievements in the history of… Read More Book review – EXTRA LIFE: A Short History of Living Longer
On May 8 the Madurai Bench of the Madras High Court while hearing a PIL wondered why India, a pioneer in vaccine production before the current pandemic and a big exporter of vaccines, had to rely on just two private domestic manufacturers–Serum Institute of India (SII) and Bharat Biotech–to produce Covid-19 vaccines. It has also baffled… Read More Bharat Bhushan: Who destroyed India's vaccine self-sufficiency? // Top Virologist Shahid Jameel Quits Covid Panel After Criticising Government
Washington: A peer-reviewed research has claimed that global ivermectin use can end Covid-19 pandemic, as the medicine significantly reduces the risk of contracting the deadly respiratory disease when used regularly. The common antiparasitic ivermectin is being touted as a miracle cure for Covid-19 by doctors and campaigners the world over. Peer reviewed by medical experts that included three… Read More Immediate global Ivermectin use can end pandemic: Scientists
A growing chorus is now seeing India’s second wave of Covid-19 as a governance failure more than anything else. A May 8 editorial in The Lancet, a weekly peer-reviewed medical journal, placed the responsibility of this current Covid-19 disaster in India with prime minister Narendra Modi. In a scathing piece that details the unfathomable devastation in the country,… Read More The Lancet: India could see over 1 million Covid deaths by August due to Modi’s “self-inflicted national catastrophe”
Last week, Brazil’s total death toll from COVID-19 passed 400,000. In India, the pandemic is taking around 3,500 lives every day and has prompted a global response, with offers of oxygen, ventilators, intensive-care beds and more. Although these two countries are thousands of miles apart, the crises in both are the result of political failings:… Read More India, Brazil and the human cost of sidelining science
The new wave will hurt global efforts and vaccine supplies, experts say. Researchers are scrambling to assess whether new coronavirus variants are playing a role in India. When the coronavirus first struck India last year, the country enforced one of the world’s strictest national lockdowns. The warning was clear: A fast spread in a population of… Read More The New York Times: Complacency and Missteps Deepen a Covid-19 Crisis in India
The Indian Medical Association (IMA) on Monday hit out at the “blatant lie of WHO certification” made by Panjali Ayurved for its Coronil tablet, which the company claims is an evidence-based medicine to fight Covid-19, and demanded an explanation from Union Health Minister Harsh Vardhan, in whose presence the medicine was launched. Patanjali Ayurved Ltd founder… Read More Indian Medical Association demands explanation from Union Health Minister for ‘promoting’ Patanjali’s Coronil
The indigenous Covaxin cannot be administered on those who are immune-compromised or are on a medication, a factsheet released by manufacturer Bharat Biotech said. According to the factsheet, released Monday, those who should be exempted from the list of beneficiaries include individuals with a history of allergies, who have a fever, bleeding disorder or are… Read More Covaxin, Covishield not for everyone — manufacturers list who should avoid the Covid vaccines
Numerous news outlets and activist groups in India have reported an increase in trafficking, bonded labour, and slave-like working conditions in the past weeks. The two main stories were the rescue of young boys from a basement bangle factory in Rajasthan and Gujarat and the rescue of young girls from sex work and domestic servitude. Instead of seeing increases in trafficked… Read More Subir Sinha: COVID has blurred the lines between waged, coerced and trafficked labour in India
The USA’s failure to contain COVID-19 has been spectacular from every angle. Looked at as a case of mass non-adherence to medical advice, however, it’s unique in modern history. Never before have so many citizens had so much access to information and simultaneously protested public health recommendations with such full-throated denial of the medical facts.… Read More Austin Ratner & Nisarg Gandhi: Psychoanalysis in combatting mass non-adherence to medical advice
After the truth-shower 