The COVID-19 outbreak, since it originated in Wuhan, China towards the end of 2019, has spread globally since January of 2020. Since then, the disease has been classified by the World Health Organization (WHO) as a pandemic. More than a year on since this declaration, the disease has spread across the globe, claiming more than […]
Infectious diseases
Pandemic preparedness: better late than never
Billion-dollar plan Almost as if to make up for the lost Trump year during the pandemic, the White House has put together an ambitious new plan with a $65.3 billion price tag that could transform the way the United States responds to pandemics by vastly accelerating vaccine development, testing, and production. But is the plan […]
IP and breakthrough infections: Global Health Today
This is the third in a series of newsletters, offering the expert insight of Lalita Panicker – consulting editor, views, Hindustan Times, New Delhi – into some of the most pressing health issues of the day. This edition highlights vaccines – specifically, the IP debate and so-called breakthrough infections. To read the first, click here. COVID-19 […]
The history of polio in India
“I didn’t know immunization could have saved my child,” Munni Begum reflected. More than thirty years ago, Munni’s infant son, Zulfikar Ahmed, fell victim to polio. Now she volunteers as a ‘change agent’. This involves working in her local community of Moradabad in Uttar Pradesh, where she encourages other mothers to immunise their children and […]
Booster shots, the polio programme: Global Health Today
This is the second in a series of newsletters, offering the expert insight of Lalita Panicker – consulting editor, views, Hindustan Times, New Delhi – into some of the most pressing health issues of the day. To read the first, click here. Booster shots: To boost or not to boost Faced with a rising tide […]
India and the prevailing use of OPV
Current endgame strategies for polio set out by the World Health Organization (WHO) involve a mass switchover from the currently used oral polio vaccine (OPV) to the inactivated polio vaccine (IPV). The OPV is still widely used across the globe, including in India. It has been one of the most essential tools in the global […]
IPV vs OPV polio vaccine
In the fight against polio, two types of vaccine are used. One is the inactivated polio vaccine (IPV); the other is the oral polio vaccine (OPV). What is the difference between them? IPV and OPV were developed by Jonas Salk and Albert Sabin. IPV came into use in 1955 and OPV in 1961. The difference […]
Global health today: Tedros, COVID in Indonesia, and a million more COVID cases by 2022?
This is the first in a series of newsletters, offering the expert insight of Lalita Panicker – consulting editor, views, Hindustan Times, New Delhi – into some of the most pressing health issues of the day. Another term for Tedros? To use a well-worn cliché, the Director-General (DG) of the World Health Organization (WHO) is […]
History of polio in India
“I didn’t know immunization could have saved my child,” Munni Begum reflected. More than thirty years ago, Munni’s infant son, Zulfikar Ahmed, fell victim to polio. Now she volunteers as a ‘change agent’. This involves working in her local community of Moradabad in Uttar Pradesh, where she encourages other mothers to immunise their children and […]
Vaccine drive crosses 55 crore, unused doses remain
According to a provisional report, India’s vaccine drive surpassed the milestone of administering 55 crore and set a record in the last 24 hours. However, many vaccine doses provided to states and union territories remain unused. The past 24 hours saw 88.13 lakh doses administered, taking the cumulative number of shots in arms to 554,730,609 […]