Will a feminist fossil-fuel-free future lead us to sustainable development?

Shobha Shukla, CNS (Citizen News Service)

The inter-governmental meeting of the High-Level Political Forum (HLPF) on sustainable development is being held during 10-19 July 2017, to review the progress made by nations around some of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), which governments have already committed to achieve by 2030. As we all know, climate justice is integral to sustainable development, yet we see governments pursuing development models that are actually pushing us backwards not only on climate justice but also on sustainable development.

Time is running out in the battle against NCDs

Dr Amitava Acharyya, CNS Correspondent, India
Non-communicable diseases (NCDs) are responsible for 68% of global deaths and are projected to cause 75% of global deaths by 2030. Nearly 80% of these NCD related deaths occur in low and middle income countries (LMICs). Also, two thirds of NCD deaths are related to cardiovascular diseases (CVD), cancer, diabetes and chronic respiratory diseases. According to a WHO report, premature NCD mortality rates decreased globally by 15% between 2000 and 2012, mainly due to the decline in CVD deaths.

Non-communicable diseases: Are all hands on deck?

Alice Sagwidza Tembe, CNS Correspondent, Swaziland

What has been known by a significant number of people is that there are some diseases one gets through contact with another person who has them (communicable diseases), and some diseases are not passed on through contact (non communicable diseases or NCDs). When epidemics like TB, Ebola, and HIV surfaced, it was a war like situation for which the world armoured itself with knowledge through research and clinical studies. 

Overcoming premature deaths from non communicable diseases

Francis Okoye, CNS Correspondent, Nigeria
Health experts from the International Union Against Tuberculosis and Lung Disease (The Union) and NCD Alliance, and a cancer survivor who is also Founder President of Race to Rein in Cancer took part in a lively webinar, organised by Citizens News Service (CNS) on the topic ‘How can we generate stronger action against Non-Communicable Diseases?’

[SDM Health Justice Lecture Series] Engaging health and non-health sectors to increase access to child-friendly TB medicines in Kenya

[Watch lecture recording | Listen to podcast | presentation slides] Dr Enos Masini is the TB advisor at the World Health Organization (WHO) Kenya country office. He has previously served as the head of the National Tuberculosis Program in Kenya and was instrumental in roll-out of first-ever child-friendly TB medicines. Dr Enos Masini has kindly consented to deliver the July 2017 e-talk/ online lecture as part of the Shanti Devi Memorial Health Justice Lecture Series.

Reversal of the tide of NCDs requires a strategy shift

Roger Paul Kamugasha, CNS Correspondent

Of the 56.4 million global deaths in 2015, 39.5 million, or 70%, were due to non-communicable diseases (NCDs). The four main NCDs are cardiovascular diseases, cancers, diabetes and chronic lung diseases. The burden of these diseases is rising disproportionately among lower income countries and populations.

Cervical Cancer: A manageable threat

Josephine Chinele, CNS Correspondent, Malawi

The vaginal discharges became too much to bear and Maria (name changed) went to a nearby health facility to seek medical assistance. She has had these discharges for a long time but thought they were normal as they were not painful, and she was simply irritated by them. The medical assistant said that she had a sexually transmitted infection (STI). Maria was given treatment, and advised to ask her husband to also receive treatment.

Communicate with each other to beat the non-communicable diseases

Shobha Shukla, Citizen News Service - CNS
[Watch webinar recording] [Listen or download the podcast]
According to the Global Status Report on NCDs, India shares more than two-thirds of the total death burden due to non-communicable diseases (NCDs) in the southeast Asia region of the World Health Organization. Around 5.87 million (58.7 lakh) deaths, which is 60% of all deaths in India, are attributed to NCDs.

Justice delayed is justice denied, says domestic violence survivor

Shobha Shukla, CNS (Citizen News Service)

Belia (45 years), comes from a poor Dalit (marginalised community) family of Uchiyapur village in Chitrakoot, India. Daughter of a farm labourer and the only sister of 4 brothers, Belia was married at the tender age of 15 to a school teacher. From day one, her husband misbehaved with her and abused her physically, more so because she was too timid to protest.

[Podcast] SDM Health Justice Lecture for June 2017: Food security for people with TB and/or HIV | Speaker: Dr KS Sachdeva

[SDM Health Justice Lecture] Food security for people with TB and/or HIV

[Podcast] Never ever give up, says Dr Rita Banik, cancer survivor and noted educationist

"Never ever give up" says Dr Rita Banik, cancer survivor and noted educationist

Spice it up with cinnamon to tackle metabolic syndrome

Shobha Shukla, Citizen News Service - CNS

Metabolic syndrome is a cluster of conditions that occur due to imbalance of the body’s structural and biochemical processes which determine its metabolic functioning. It results in disorders like insulin resistance, clustering of abdominal obesity, high blood lipids, high blood sugar and hypertension, and increased risk of clotting, predisposing individuals to diabetes, stroke and coronary heart diseases.

[Podcast] How can we generate stronger action against non-communicable diseases?

[Webinar] How can we generate stronger action against NCDs?

[Podcast] Online briefing of 2017-2018 Bimla Misra Memorial Health Fellowship Programme

[Online briefing session] 2017-2018 Bimla Misra Memorial Health Fellowship Programme

[Webinar] How can we generate stronger action against Non-Communicable Diseases?

[Watch the webinar recording] One of the important outcomes of the 70th World Health Assembly held in May 2017 was a firm mandate from governments globally to generate stronger action against the non-communicable diseases (NCDs) that account for 70% premature deaths.Combating NCDs is "one of my priorities for the WHO" said Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, newly elected WHO Director General.

[SDM Health Justice Lecture Series] Food security for people with TB and/or HIV

[Watch lecture recording] [Listen or download lecture podcast] [presentation slides]
Dr Kuldeep Singh Sachdeva, Deputy Director General at the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, Government of India, has kindly consented to deliver the June 2017 e-talk as part of the Shanti Devi Memorial Health Justice Lecture Series.

Urgent measures needed for tobacco control: Experts

Aarti Dhar, CNS Correspondent, India
(First published in UC web portal)
Tobacco use kills more than 7 million people a year, and if urgent measures are not taken for tobacco control, this number will go up to 8 million each year by 2030, experts have warned. Tobacco-related illnesses are one of the biggest public health threats facing the world, even as tobacco use is one of the largest preventable causes of non-communicable diseases (NCDs).

Barriers to HIV status disclosure

Catherine Mwauyakufa, CNS Correspondent, Zimbabwe
[First published in Manica Post]

HIV testing and counselling emphasises the importance of status disclosure between sexual partners. This is to encourage partners to also get tested.  It helps prevent new infections. It increases opportunities for support and treatment for the one infected. But there are a number of reasons why one cannot not disclose his or her status after testing HIV positive.

Tobacco threatens the health of everyone

Francis Okoye, CNS Correspondent, Nigeria

Tobacco threatens the health of everyone on planet earth. ‘Tobacco kills nearly half of its users. 1/3 of the world is addicted to it, 1/3 of the world is poor, and 1/3 of the world suffers from TB. Tobacco kills 7 million people each year, 1 million of them being victims of second hand smoke. Tobacco use brings suffering, disease and death in its wake. It impoverishes families and national economics. 80% of premature death from tobacco are from poor, and middle income countries.’

Tobacco endgame is imperative for sustainable development

Dr Sophia Thomas, CNS Correspondent, India

It was my first clinical posting in the oral medicine department as a final year BDS (dental) student. A patient walked into the clinic nervously. He was a migrant daily wage construction worker in his late 20’s, married with 2 children. He complained of pain and multiple ulcers in the mouth. Upon careful examination, it looked like a case of oral cancer. I enquired about his smoking history and he admitted to have been smoking since he was 13 years old and also consumed chewable tobacco.

Food, nay tobacco, for thought

Shobha Shukla, Citizen News Service - CNS

The curtain is finally down on the World No Tobacco Day 2017 and we are back to business as usual. There was a flurry of activities in my city, and elsewhere too, during the weeks preceding this day, reaching a crescendo on the 30th and 31st of May. Barring very few exceptions, the script of all the programmes/ discourses seemed to be taken from the same master copy.

Bimla Misra Memorial Health Fellowships

Mrs Bimla Misra, who breathed her last on 12th September 2013 at the age of 84 years, is an example of living and dying with dignity and grace. True to her profession of an educationist, she taught her students till one month before her demise, and then donated her body to the cause of medical education to King George's Medical University (KGMU), sans any rituals.

[Podcast] A tobacco-free world can avert one-third cancers

[Watch video interview] [Listen or download this audio podcast] In this special World No Tobacco Day 2017 episode of CNS Focus interview series, we feature a special guest who has not only made lifetime contribution in medical oncology but also demonstrates leadership on cancer prevention, palliative care and advancing tobacco control: Prof (Dr) Bishnu Dutta Paudel, Professor of Medical Oncology, at the National Academy of Medical Sciences, Bir Hospital, Nepal, is also the Programme Director of Medical Oncology at NAMS, and member of Tobacco Tax Fund in Nepal. He was conferred upon the first Palliative Care Award for South Asian Region 5 years back. [Watch video interview] [Listen or download this audio podcast]

[Focus] At least one-third cancers are caused by preventable factor: tobacco

Prof (Dr) KC Mohanty is no more: Not afraid of death, his life was an example of what he taught

Emeritus Director Professor (Dr) Kishore Chandra Mohanty is no more. He died yesterday (1st June 2017) at Mumbai's Lilavati Hospital after a brief illness. Prof Mohanty's fond colleague, student and ardent supporter Dr Ishwar Gilada, President of AIDS Society of India, shared his heart-wrenching irreparable loss "On 29th May 2017, when I met him on my way to the airport (I was going to Hong Kong for a meeting), he held my hand and did not leave it for a long time. Perhaps he had had an intuition. Sir please transfer the balance of your courage to us and forgive us if we were short of our efforts anywhere - and this was because you were not available to guide us during last few days”.

Community togetherness for health benefits

Catherine Mwauyakufa, CNS Correspondent, Zimbabwe
[First published in Manica Post]

The state of HIV disclosure in rural areas is more open as compared to urban areas. Disclosure in rural communities is better managed at a community level, through well knit people living in the same geographical area. People hailing from the same village know who suffers from diabetes mellitus, hypertension and chronic backache or asthma.

Shanti Devi Memorial Health Justice Lecture Series

Shanti Devi Memorial Health Justice Lecture Series, is a series of online lectures/ e-talks exploring inter-sectoral solutions for specific health problems. Health is an outcome, determinant and enabler of sustainable development.

Tobacco farming should not be an occupational life choice

Alice Sagwidza Tembe, CNS Correspondent, Swaziland

Life always throws a rock and a hard place and, as individuals, every day we have to make a choice. This week I engaged a colleague, Rutendo Mamba (name changed) on the choices to be made regarding the use of tobacco. In no uncertain terms Rutendo expressed that shutting down the tobacco industry will rob a large population of a source of livelihood.

Tobacco endgame is critical 'cog in the wheel' for sustainable development

[World No Tobacco Day 2017 Webinar recording | Podcast] Although governments have promised sustainable development by 2030 by adopting UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), but tobacco triggered pandemics threaten to stall or even reverse the progress made.