Health

As talks of vaccines acquire a shrill pitch, it is time to look back at some of the essential workers who saw us through the hard days of the lockdown in the past few months. The mortuary and ambulance staff of King Edward Memorial (KEM) hospital, one of Mumbai's biggest public hospitals, spoke to Citizen Matters about their life experiences in 2020 - an extraordinary year which was filled with fear and trepidation. But, they could not stop. The 'leader' Senior Mortuary Attendant, Kashinath Raghunath Mugdar, is an old hand. Having witnessed the mortuary overflow after the 1993 communal riots,…

Last week, the new SARS-CoV-2 variant was revealed to be the reason behind the rapid surge in Covid-19 cases in South and East England. It is being referred to as VUI (Variant Under Investigation) 202012/01, or the B.1.1.7 lineage. 1108 cases of this strain have been identified so far. While this new variant spreads more rapidly than other strains, there is no evidence yet that this variant causes severe disease or mortality. Given this all travel from and into the UK has been halted as a precautionary measure in our country. For the first time in the last few weeks…

Even as the UK, US and other countries have started vaccinating their citizens, India is yet to start immunising its massive population, as the final human trials are not yet over. The task is difficult and poses unique challenges. Citizen Matters spoke to four eminent experts on their views on the vaccine and the various challenges of a mass vaccination drive: Dr Satyajit Rath: Visiting Professor, Indian Institute of Science Education and Research (IISER), Pune.Dr Shahid Jameel: Director, Trivedi School of Biosciences, Ashoka University, Sonipat, Haryana.Dr Rakesh Mishra: Director, CSIR-Centre for Cellular and Molecular Biology (CCMB), Hyderabad.Prof Nirmal Kumar Ganguly:…

Health workers at a Boston hospital broke into a celebratory dance on receiving their first doses of COVID-19 vaccine recently. In India, even before the vials are ready, competition is emerging over who will have the first access. With the vaccine in the final trial phase, India faces the looming challenge of producing the quantities necessary to provide immunity to all its citizens.  Globally, pharma companies are racing ahead to roll out vaccines to fight COVID-19, including the new highly infectious strain that has been found in Britain. Daily life cannot find a new normal until populations have built up antibodies…

The Covid-19 pandemic put to test the capacity and resilience of health systems across the globe. Public health systems in countries witnessing widespread virus transmission (USA, western European countries, Iran and India) were overwhelmed, leading to higher mortality. Despite lower disease incidence when compared to western countries, major cities of India witnessed significant Covid-19 related mortality. Various shades of lockdowns and civilian restrictions aided containment efforts, but caused severe socio-economic distress.   In India, the pandemic response relied on tertiary hospitals with intensive care units and ventilators to treat Covid-19 and prevent deaths. Expectedly, the technocratic part of health systems led…

[This article was updated after an official order, with several changes to the original announcement, was issued by the Chief Secretary, Karnataka. The full text of the order can be found here] The Karnataka government has imposed a State-wide night curfew for eight days beginning December 24. The curfew will come into effect at 11 pm and last till 5 am on those days. The decision was taken in view of the new strain of Covid-19 virus, Chief Minister B S Yediyurappa announced, a day after he had ruled out the possibility of night curfew. "In view of the new…

It was only last week that work hours returned to “normal” for Sajida, an Accredited Social Health Worker (ASHA), also known as Community Health Worker, who lives in Mahalakshmi Layout.   As with all ASHA workers, she was part of the critical front line; keeping her ears to the ground and eyes peeled for any sign of Covid-19 and its spread in her locality. Since March, when the city recorded its first coronavirus case, Sajida has worked up to 16 hours a day, surveying neighbourhoods and tracing contacts of those who tested positive.  Although Covid-19 cases and positivity rates have…

On November 30, the State Technical Advisory Committee (TAC) for COVID-19 issued an advisory to Karnataka government, detailing the measures needed to contain the second wave of the pandemic in the state. According to the TAC, the second wave is expected in January-February. Following is an edited version of the advisory. Key measures to contain second wave: The 7-day average growth rate as well as Reproduction number (Ro) of COVID cases will be closely monitored at the district and state levels for early recognition of the second wave.An epidemic intelligence team shall support the state war room for early recognition…

Dr Syeda Ruksheda is the co-Chair of women’s mental health speciality section of Indian Psychiatric Society. An eminent psychiatrist and psychotherapist, she has specialised in young adults, women and families, in a career spanning 20 years. She also has two TEDx talks to her credit. In this video she talks to Malathi Rai, who wrote the concept, story, screen-play and lyrics of Smile Simi, a film on depression released on World Mental Health Day this year. Syeda and Malathi discuss the mental health pressures on women from marginalised sections of the society and how tough it is for such women…

On a busy noon last week, as Kavya, 63, was scouting for medicine for her husband at the Yusuf Sarai market in south Delhi, she noticed that salesmen in many drug stores were either without masks, or were not covering their nose and mouth. The elbowing crowd of customers, too, were not wearing masks. “I got terribly scared and was virtually in tears,” says a frightened Kavya as she rushed out of the shop. This market is lined with more than 50 drug stores as two big hospitals—AIIMS and the Safdarjung—are in proximity.  At the giant commercial-cum-office complex at Nehru…