'Donors give less money for neglected diseases'

Are some diseases more neglected? Interviewee:  David H Molyneux

Killer disease

Obesity has become a worldwide concern because people in each and every nation are falling prey to it. WHO defines obesity as a body mass index (BMI) of at least 30 kg/m2 and overweight as a BMI of at least 25 kg/m2 (BMI is calculated by weight in kg divided by the square of a person's height in metre). Around one billion adults in the world are overweight and around 300 million of them are obese.

Stratagems vs strategy

Struggling with non-communicable diseases, the WHO and Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) set up a study group in January 2002 to discuss the problem with health and agriculture experts. The result was TRS 916, a technical report.

Unsettling

Asha, 24, visits the Bhopal Memorial Trust Hospital once every 2 days. She has a hole in her heart. But the hospital won't operate her, because she has overshot the hospital quota of Rs two lakh per victim. She cannot get herself operated privately. "I have spent the compensation of Rs 10,600 long ago," she says.

Foul Debris

Forty year old Ganga stays in a slum close to the derelict Union Carbide India Limited (UCIL) plant in Bhopal. She came to the city long after the gas leak. But Ganga shows symptoms associated with victims of the leak, nevertheless -- a burning in the eyes, cough, breathlessness, recurrent fevers, appetite loss, skin disorders, joint pains and anxiety attacks. Her children undergo similar agony.

Serving the symptom

As the Bhopal tragedy enters its twentieth year, the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) has identified the country's newest disease: the Bhopal Gas Disease. Down To Earth has exclusive access to an unpublished ICMR document which defines the disease as "a condition of ill-health due to exposure to Bhopal's toxic gases." About half a million people in Bhopal suffer from this disease, which has forty symptoms ranging from low backache to breathing difficulties.

"Forests are the main source of herbs"

Is traditional medicine the answer to the healthcare needs of the state? In rural areas, traditional medicine is the major healthcare option. It is well respected, as western medicine system is non-existent in far-flung places. Even otherwise, traditional and modern practitioners participate equally in providing healthcare. Interviewee:  John F Kharshiing

Mizoram’s malignancy

Lalnunmawii (name changed) lives in the Saron Veng locality of Mizoram’s capital, Aizawl. Of her eight siblings, three (two brothers and a sister) have fallen prey to cancer. One of her closest childhood friends died of stomach cancer in 2002. This woman’s husband had succumbed to oral cancer five years earlier.

"An epidemic of non-communication"

Why is it so difficult to control HIV/AIDS after all we know? Interviewee:  David Miller

Impaired hearing

india's first public hearing on the effects of a nuclear installation in Kanchipuram near Kalpakkam, Tamil Nadu, on July 27, 2001, was a statement on how the country's nuclear establishment is run. The hearing was held for the controversial prototype fast breeder reactor ( pfbr ), which is to be set up in Kudankulam near Kalpakkam.