Health

An AIIMS New Delhi-led review has brought together three decades of published childhood cancer survival evidence in India, providing policy makers the country's first consolidated picture of outcomes across major childhood cancers. The researchers screened 6,802 published articles up to December 2023 and included 182 studies from treatment centres across the country, covering 22,886 children, to share insights that promise to help policy makers identify gaps and strengthen accountability in India's fight against childhood cancer. Published in JCO Global Oncology, the study was led by Sameer Bakhshi and colleagues at AIIMS New Delhi, in partnership with CanKids…KidsCan and international collaborators, including the World Health Organization (WHO) and St. Jude Children's Research Hospital ...

Exclusive breastfeeding during the first six months of life is influenced by multiple socio-cultural factors, including individual preferences, use of pre-lacteal feeds and infant milk substitutes, family practices and breastfeeding frequency, the government told Parliament on Tuesday. Highlighting that steps are being taken to promote the practice, Minister of State for Health Anupriya Patel said in a written reply in Rajya Sabha that early initiation of breastfeeding within one hour of birth has improved to 50.1 per cent in National Family Health Survey (NFHS)-6 (2023-24) from 41.8 per cent in NFHS-5. She was replying to a query on whether the government had taken note of the decline in exclusive breastfeeding during the first six months from 63.7 per cent in NFHS-5 to 55.8 per cent in...

Subhash Vishnu Chache, a 62-year-old resident of Vashi in Navi Mumbai has regained his vision after Navi Mumbai doctors conduct a rare and complex dual surgical procedure.  He had been living with a mature cataract and a dense corneal scar in his left eye, a rare and challenging combination that had left him nearly blind. A team of specialist ophthalmologists at the hospital's Wadala facility successfully restored his sight by performing Pinhole Pupilloplasty (PPP) along with cataract surgery. For Chache, the loss of vision happened gradually over the years. A dense scar had formed on the cornea, the transparent front layer of his left eye, preventing light from entering the eye properly. At the same time, the natural lens had become completely cloudy due to a mature cataract. His right ...

Friendship is often treated as something optional in adult life, a pleasant addition if time permits but rarely viewed as essential to health. Yet mental health experts are increasingly challenging that idea. Emerging research and clinical observations suggest that deep, emotionally meaningful friendships are not simply social comforts. They may act as a measurable indicator of long-term mental, physical, and cognitive wellbeing. Strong friendships have been linked with lower stress, improved emotional regulation, healthier ageing, stronger immune responses, and even reduced risk of chronic disease. Experts describe this phenomenon as platonic intimacy: close, emotionally safe, non-romantic relationships built on trust, mutual support, belonging, and consistency. At a time when modern adu...

There is a concerning surge in cases of Hepatitis A and Hepatitis E infections during the monsoon. The causes can be attributed to contaminated food and drinking water. Factors such as heavy rainfall, waterlogging, overflowing drains, and poor sanitation create ideal conditions for these viruses to spread, and raise the chances of hepatitis A and E. Mumbai health experts urge everyone to be extra cautious about what they eat and drink and stay healthy during those rainy days. Hepatitis A and Hepatitis E are viral infections that tend to take a toll on the liver. These viruses tend to spread through the faeco-oral route, so the person becomes infected after consuming food or water contaminated with infected stool. Also, eating unhygienic roadside food, drinking untreated water, having raw ...

For many people undergoing IVF, failure often arrives with a familiar explanation: sometimes it just does not work. Patients are encouraged to trust the process, stay hopeful, and try again. While uncertainty is an unavoidable part of fertility treatment, experts say there is an important difference between accepting biological uncertainty and continuing treatment without questioning whether the approach itself should change. IVF is emotional, deeply personal, and often financially demanding. Every cycle involves multiple variables including medication response, hormone levels, egg quality, sperm quality, laboratory performance, embryo development, transfer timing, and uterine conditions. Yet many patients continue with the same clinic and same treatment plan simply because changing cours...

Indian-American radiation oncologist Dattatreyudu Nori has said HPV vaccination could give India a decisive advantage in its fight against cervical cancer and help eliminate the disease in the coming years.  “Now, with the HPV vaccination, we have an upper hand, and in few years, we'll be able to eliminate cancer of the cervix from India,” Nori said in an interview with IANS. The 2026 Padma Bhushan awardee described cervical cancer as preventable, detectable and curable, making the continued loss of lives particularly distressing for doctors working in oncology. “Cancer of the cervix is preventable, is detectable, is treatable and curable,” he said. Nori said about 200 women die of cervical cancer every day in India. He welcomed the introduction of free HPV vaccination for girls, sayin...

Fertility testing is not something everyone needs every year. Knowing when to get tested can help you make informed decisions about your reproductive health, say Pune-based doctors.   Many people believe that fertility testing should be done every year, just like cardiac, liver, and kidney tests. However, this is a misconception that needs to be debunked right away, says Dr Nisha Pansare, fertility specialist, Nova IVF Fertility in Kharadi, Pune. Unlike routine blood pressure, thyroid or diabetes screening, fertility testing is not recommended every year. The test needs to be done based on the person's age, reproductive plans, medical history, or health conditions that may take a toll on fertility. Fertility tests will vary from one individual to another and shouldn't be missed if advise...

Infertility has quietly become one of the more pressing public health concerns of our time, touching nearly one in six people across the world. However, Mumbai health experts say the role that everyday chemical exposure may be playing in this doesn’t get highlighted as much as it should.  Every year, World IVF Day is observed on July 25 to commemorate the birth of Louise Brown, who is the world's first successful in vitro fertilisation baby, born in 1978. However, it is also used to highlight reproductive challenges including infertility, and city-based fertility specialists highlight how chemicals are one of the reasons for it. What are the chemicals affecting fertility? Dr. Hitesha Ramnani Rohira, Consultant, IVF at Kokilaben Dhirubhai Ambani Hospital, explains, “Almost everyone today...

Doctors at Ahmedabad Civil Hospital have successfully removed a tooth that had remained lodged in the airway of a 47-year-old man from Panchmahal district for nearly one and a half years, using an advanced bronchoscopic procedure that took just two minutes. The patient, Balvantbhai, was admitted to the hospital's Pulmonary Medicine Department on July 20 after suffering from persistent coughing and severe breathing difficulties for the past month. Medical examination revealed that a tooth had become deeply lodged in one of the branches of his airway. According to the patient, the tooth had fallen out on its own around one and a half years ago and accidentally entered his airway while he was drinking water. The condition remained undetected until his symptoms worsened, prompting him to s...