Most Central Asian countries have broken food safety control systems, finds paper

Severe food safety challenges in CAREC member countries; overlaps in mandates and institutional conflicts in China

Picture imperfect

Aerosol research is still in its infancy. Further studies will reveal the definitive long-term impact of these tiny particles

Enough is enough

For over a week after Diwali, Delhi breathed poison. Air pollution peaked to unprecedented levels. Public anger forced emergency measures. But …

Lung infections to panic attacks: Those who ‘beat’ COVID-19, but did not recover

Amid studies hinting at long-term impacts of COVID-19 infection, the world, including India, has started monitoring people who recovered from the …

India’s mysterious diseases: Why are they happening?

The Integrated Disease Surveillance Programme is not working as it was conceptualised, say experts

Ethics on trial

Five per cent of the clinical trials conducted across the world will be in India by 2012. They are vital for confirming the efficacy of a new drug,…

The dark zone

When Down To Earth correspondents nidhi jamwal and d b manisha started filing their reports on the problem of fluoride and arsenic in groundwater,…

Into the ginger trap

Farmers from Kerala make big bucks by growing ginger in Karnataka but leave behind a trail of pollution

Billowing Rage

The Sukruli cauldron threatens to boil over if the Orissa government does not act against the smoke-spewing sponge iron plant in the area.

India’s mysterious diseases: What is NCDC doing?

There is enough evidence to show that National Centre for Disease Control on diseases is not equipped to deal with the country’s …

Dengue grips Delhi: virus strain circulating this year more deadly

Serotype DENV 2 has returned after a gap of a few years, which could be a reason for higher number of cases this year

Pro-industry food safety and standards bill does not address safety concerns

"We may find in the long run that tinned food is a deadlier weapon than the machine-gun." -- George Orwell in his 1937 novel The Road …

Meaty tales of vegetarian India

Indians are eating more meat and enjoying it. Higher incomes, global food chains and a vast population of young people indifferent to religious …

Trimming fats

The US is determined to eliminate trans fatty acids from its food. Can India do the same?

Kicking up a stink

Waste pickers in Pune force corporates and the municipality to address safe disposal of sanitary napkins

MERS virus may spread to India post Haj

Researchers predict spread of acute respiratory syndrome that originated in the Middle East by studying population movements; Mumbai, Kozhikode …

Time to wake up to threat of NCDs

As the UN begins its meeting to devise strategies to tackle NCDs, Indian public health activists say it was a wake-up call for the health …

Non-communicable diseases: The unrecognised public health threat

Health is rarely the topic of discussion at the UN general assembly. But starting September 19, the UN began a high-level meeting to debate a …

Think before you drink

Studies confirm energy drinks like Red Bull can be unsafe. India yet to limit their caffeine content

Pangolin scale seizures jumped 10 times between 2014 and 2018: UN report

Pangolins have, recently, been vilified because of reports that linked them to the emergence of the novel coronavirus (SARS-CoV-2) that causes …

Totally drug resistant TB: government in denial mode

Health ministry deputes team to Mumbai; says neither WHO nor tuberculosis control programme recognise TDR-TB

Most disease maps unreliable

Disease maps help capture distribution of pathogens and their transmission intensity. An international team of researchers has reviewed 355 of …

Advertisements: Flu good, no?

Avian influenza (AI) is spiralling out of control in Asia. So also is the spin being put to the disease. There was the spectacle of Thailand …

The pollution story In Black And Pink

Life in Delhi is a capital punishment. The city's air is so polluted it claims a victim every hour. The level of small particles less than 10 …

Deadly Particles

They are tiny and deadly. Recent research has brought to light the existence of airborne particles so tiny they defy measurement. Toxic particles …