Asthma causes disabling symptoms in millions of people who struggle to breathe, making ordinary activities extraordinarily difficulty – things like going to school, working at a job, looking after children or aging parents, running or even walking. About 235 million people in the world suffer from a

"It's time to control asthma", according to this year's World Asthma Day theme, but the International Union Against Tuberculosis and Lung Disease (The Union) says the low availability and the prohibitive cost of asthma inhalers continue to be serious challenges in low- and middle- income countries.

Nautanwa (Maharajganj district in Uttar Pradesh): Statistics never lie - they only help unravel some harsh truths. Like many social indicators in Maharajganj district only confirm that this district is one of the most undesired places for girls to live in. While 73.6 per cent of females here marry b

Today, in India, there are more than 63 million people living with diabetes, second only to China, as per the latest 5th Diabetes Atlas statistics. Being a disease of the blood vessels diabetes affects all organs. By the time the blood supply to the foot has been compromised due to peripheral obstru

The 75th death anniversary of national poet-philosopher Allama Mohammad Iqbal would budge but a few on April 21, 2013. A poet with a profound philosophy though internalized by just a handful, most of whom remain powerless to influence and wake up nation’s dormant conscience, a philosopher with a sou

There is overwhelming evidence linking lung cancer to tobacco smoking. Tobacco smoking continues to remain a major risk factor for lung cancer. Among cancers, most deaths every year are attributed to lung cancer, followed by stomach, liver, colon and breast cancers globally. Close to 1.4 million peo

One golden wish in TB care and control is surely around early diagnosis of all forms of TB. New rapid diagnostic tools have come on board over the past years such as Liquid Culture, Line Probe Assay (LPA), and Xpert MTB/RIF among others in addition to conventional gold standard solid culture and dru

Millions of women (and men) are still unable to protect themselves from sexually transmitted infections (STIs) and prevent unintended pregnancies. Despite major thrust on research and development of new options to prevent STIs and unintended pregnancies, and efforts to expand access to existing prev

Could you ever imagine that a string of beads can act as a contraceptive device to avoid unintended pregnancies? Well CycleBeads just does that by helping women to follow the Standard Days Method (SDM)—a natural fertility awareness method of family planning. It consists of a string of 32 colour cod

We need to forgive the trespasses of others for our forgiveness. This is the result of repentance. Thus, one becomes holy and is part of all religions without any exception. Even though Buddhism does not speak of confession in general but the Pali Canon demands that a monk must confesses their indiv

The Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) created history in February 2007 when India became the first and only low-income country in the world with a national subscription to The Cochrane Library. This initiative of the ICMR to purchase a national license was widely hailed as an exemplar of re

(Note: From the case of Liaquat Shah it is amply clear how police, for taking credit, implicate surrendered militants as terrorists. Had it not been for the vocal protest of J&K police and CM Omar Abdullah the country would have believed that Liaquat came to carry out blasts in Delhi during Holi. No

The International Union Against Tuberculosis and Lung Disease (The Union) marked World TB Day 2013 by formulating and publishing the much needed ‘Guidelines for Clinical and Operational Management of Drug-Resistant Tuberculosis’. This new guide offers practical advice on how to manage the estimated

“I will not take all these medicines for two years... they are very strong medicines. I won’t be able to go to school” said 12 year old Abu (name changed) as the doctor explained to him that his sputum was still positive after six months of treatment. Abu was now affected with Multi-Drug Resistant T

Child Sexual Abuse is a topic few are ready to discuss much less address. Thus it came as a welcome surprise when in May 2012 the Indian Parliament enacted its first law specifically outlawing child sexual abuse. Prior to that the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act being notified, diffe