Rx – Recipere
“After consultation with experts, we’ve prioritised 30 crore people for COVID vaccine. It includes health workers, frontline workers like police, military & sanitation staff, people above 50 yrs & those who are below 50 yrs but are suffering from certain diseases. I personally feel, maybe in any week of January, we can be in a position to give the first Covid vaccine shot to people of India.”
Dr Harsh Vardhan, Union Minister for Health & Family Welfare, Govt of India
Prenatal testing has halved the number of babies born with Down syndrome in Europe
The growth of prenatal screening in Europe has reduced the number of babies being born per year with Down syndrome (DS) by an average of 54%, according to a new study published in the European Journal of Human Genetics by researchers from Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH) and international Down syndrome organizations. In research published in 2016, the same team found that 33% fewer babies with DS per year were born in the United States as a result of pregnancy terminations.
AstraZeneca Pharma gets nod from drug regulator to market asthma medicine
Drug firm AstraZeneca Pharma said it has received marketing authorisation from Drug Controller General of India for Benralizumab solution, indicated as an add-on maintenance treatment for severe asthma. AstraZeneca Pharma India has received import and market permission in Form CT-20 (marketing authorisation) from the Drugs Controller General of India for Benralizumab 30mg/ml solution for injection (Fasenra), the drug firm said in a regulatory filing.
Exposure to metals may disrupt a woman’s hormones during pregnancy
Exposure to metals such as nickel, arsenic, cobalt and lead may disrupt a woman’s hormones during pregnancy, according to a Rutgers study. The study appeared in the journal Environment International. Exposure to metals has been associated with problems at birth such as preterm birth and low birth weight in babies, and preeclampsia in women. However, little is known about how metals exposure can lead to such problems. This new research shows that some metals may disrupt the endocrine system, which is responsible for regulating our body’s hormones. These disruptions may contribute to children’s later health and disease risk.
Preventative medicine devices to screen for Peripheral Artery Disease In India
VOTIS Subdermal Imaging Technologies, an Israeli corporation, and ii Ventures Private Limited, an Indian company announced that they have entered into a memorandum of understanding to develop a system to screen the largely rural Indian population for peripheral artery disease (PAD). The devices, which allow for the early detection of the disease before tangible symptoms appear, will utilise the same technology that VOTIS is building into other devices intended for use in the US and Europe. “PAD afflicts between 41 and 54 million Indians. Many of these people are impoverished, illiterate, and lack access to good healthcare,” said Alfred Arambhan, Co-Founder and Mentor of iiV.
