Currently browsing tag

india

Drug resistance adds to India’s tuberculosis menace

After three years of battling tuberculosis, a disease that claimed the lives of his father and younger brother, Sonu Verma, a patient in northern India, hopes a cure for his illness may be within reach. “Only a few more months and my nightmare will end… it will be my rebirth, free from tuberculosis,” the 25-year-old scrap dealer, who has been left visibly lean and weak by the disease, told AFP. As India marks World TB Day on Thursday, it faces an estimated 2.2 million new cases of the disease a year, more than any other country, according to the World Health Organisation.

Antibiotic combination marketed by Abbott in India on list of banned drugs

By Zeba Siddiqui and Aditya Kalra MUMBAI (Reuters) – A powerful antibiotic combination that is marketed in India by U.S. pharmaceutical giant Abbott Laboratories is among 344 drug combinations that have been banned by the Indian health authorities. A Reuters investigation revealed in December that a unit of Abbott in India was selling a combination of the antibiotics cefixime and azithromycin without approval from the central government. A notice issued by the Indian Health Ministry at the weekend said that a government-appointed committee of experts had found that the banned combinations were “likely to involve risk to human beings, whereas safer alternatives to the said drug are available.” The government notice said the ban would take effect immediately.

Blue skies over Beijing? Decaying suburbs bear cost as China cuts pollution

By Jessica Macy Yu CHAOMIDIAN, China (Reuters) – On the outskirts of Beijing, the disused factories of Chaomidian show the impact of China's drive to shut down thousands of small firms causing big pollution. After a three-year campaign, China's push to cut smog appears to be paying off, whatever the localised cost, just as economic growth weakens to its slowest pace in 25 years. While a World Health Organization report in 2014 found 13 of the world's 20 dirtiest cities were in India, a still smog-bound Beijing issued its first pollution “red alerts” last month.

Indian government approves pricey plan to equalize veterans’ pensions

By Nigam Prusty NEW DELHI (Reuters) – The Indian government approved a long-awaited program to equalize pension payments for retired military personnel despite it being a “huge fiscal burden,” defense minister Manohar Parrikar said on Saturday. The program, known as “One Rank One Pension”, or OROP, will ensure uniform pension payments to ex-servicemen who served at the same rank and for the same amount of time, regardless of the year they retired, among other measures. Veterans in India have been fighting for reforms to their pension packages for years.

India’s acid victims hope for new life after court orders free treatment

By Nita Bhalla and Suchitra Mohanty NEW DELHI (Thomson Reuters Foundation) – Rupa Saa was just 15 when her stepmother poured acid over her face as she slept, burning her skin and melting her cheeks, nose, mouth and chin. Like many of India’s acid victims, she was shunned due to her disfigurement and struggled to pay for the multiple reconstructive surgeries she needed – leaving her despondent and with little will to live. “I was devastated by the acid attack. Although the amount of compensation is very little, the order by the court will give us a better life and future,” Saa told the Thomson Reuters Foundation by phone from Agra, around 200 km (130 miles) south of New Delhi.

Indian court allows marine charged with murder to extend stay in Italy

NEW DELHI (Reuters) – India's top court on Wednesday allowed one of two Italian marines facing murder charges to extend his stay in his home country after heart surgery, further delaying the start of a trial that strained diplomatic relations. Massimiliano Latorre was granted permission to remain in Italy for a further three months, reversing a decision last month by the court that he needed to return.”He was advised by the doctors in Italy not to travel for three months and to take complete bed rest,” K.T.S. Tulsi, a lawyer for the marine, said. …