Category:

Health

Latest

COVID-19 pandemic underlined need for higher budget allocation for healthcare sector

The pandemic has completely changed the dynamics of the Indian healthcare ecosystem, NATHEALTH President and Apollo Hospitals Executive Vice-Chairperson Preetha Reddy told PTI.

‘It has reiterated the need for increased investment in healthcare infrastructure, national level programmes for skill development and training of healthcare staff, increase in number of medical colleges, effective PPP models and further boost for local manufacturing,’ she added.

read more

Pay business insurance claims or face enforcement, UK watchdog says

“Where we see that insurers are not meeting the expectations set out here, we will use the full range of our regulatory tools and powers to ensure they do so,” the FCA’s executive director for consumers and competition Sheldon Mills said in a letter to insurers’ chief executives.

The watchdog brought the test case on behalf of policyholders last June, saying it could affect 370,000 policyholders and 60 insurers, paving the way for an estimated 1.2 billion pounds ($1.6 billion) of claims.

read more

Air quality panel ropes in top institutions; to use AI to improve air quality in Delhi-NCR

The Commission has entrusted the task to expert groups from institutions and think tanks like Indian Meteorological Department (IMD), IITM-Pune, The Energy and Resources Institute (TERI), IIT Delhi, NEERI and C-DAC Pune for framework development of air quality management DSS for Delhi.

The Air Quality Management Decision Support Tool (DST) integrates an emissions inventory development application and database; regional, local and source–receptor modelling; and Geographical Information System (GIS) based visualization tools in a software framework so as to build a robust system to formulate and implement source specific interventions to improve the air quality over targeted sectors of Delhi / NCR, the ministry said.

read more

COVID-19 vaccination: Nearly 14 lakh beneficiaries inoculated

Senior government functionaries on Friday told a parliamentary standing committee on health and family welfare that India has no plan to vaccinate the entire country against coronavirus as yet and that covering 50% to 60% of the country’s population should be enough to safeguard the population.

Government’s principal scientific adviser, Vijay Raghavan, and AIIMS director, Randeep Guleria, told the panel that India does not see any foreseeable possibility of a vaccine shortage.

read more

Japan coronavirus vaccination uncertainty casts doubts over Olympics

Many Japanese have a vague unease about vaccines, said Dr. Takashi Nakano, a Kawasaki Medical School professor and vaccine expert. If something (negative) happens after inoculation, people tend to think it’s because of the vaccine, and that’s the image stuck in their mind for a long time.

The history of vaccine mistrust in Japan dates back to 1948, when dozens of babies died after getting a faulty diphtheria vaccine. In 1989, cases of aseptic meningitis in children who received a combined vaccination for measles, mumps and rubella, or MMR, prompted lawsuits against the government, forcing it to scrap the mix four years later.

read more

Cash for Covid? UK says no decision on reported plan for positive tests

Currently, only some people receiving welfare benefits receive a 500 pound payment if they are told to self-isolate, but according to an official policy paper seen by the Guardian newspaper and others, ministers were looking at making this a universal payment to all who tested positive.

This would cost up to 453 million pounds a week, 12 times the cost of the current system, the Guardian said.

read more

New online tool can calculate COVID-19 transmission risk in poorly-ventilated places

Scientists agree that the vast majority of Covid-19 cases are spread through indoor transmission, whether via aerosols or droplets.The researchers noted that it only takes a matter of seconds for aerosols to spread over two meters when masks are not worn, implying that physical distancing in the absence of ventilation is not sufficient to provide safety for long exposure times.

read more

Amazon to open pop-up COVID-19 vaccine clinic in Seattle headquarters

The move came a day after Reuters reported that Amazon had offered to help with the United States’ efforts involving the COVID-19 vaccine, citing a letter addressed to President Joe Biden.

The State currently allows people aged 65 and older and people 50 and older living in a multi-generational household to get vaccinated. It has yet to grant doses for the vaccination of warehouse employees, such as Amazon’s.

read more