'My son diagnosed with autism and heart attack': Father's chilling testimony on mRNA COVID vaccine
Show more
Show less
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
India Today
an hour ago
- India Today
How to put an end to Hepatitis B
(NOTE: This article was originally published in the India Today issue dated August 4, 2025)Every 30 seconds, globally, someone dies from hepatitis-related liver infections—amounting to 1.3 million deaths annually as per WHO 2024 estimates. The Hepatitis B Virus (HBV) alone contributes to nearly 900,000 of these deaths, mostly due to cirrhosis and liver cancer. That's more than malaria, and approaching tuberculosis levels. The virus is carried by an estimated 29 million Indians—the second-highest number globally. And yet, despite having a protective vaccine and effective antivirals for over three decades, we have failed to eliminate it. Why?advertisementThe painful truth: doctors have failed to engage society. We treated HBV as a medical issue, not a societal one like COVID-19, HIV or tuberculosis. For most people, the infection lasts less than six months. For others, it can get chronic and seriously damage the liver. Shockingly, less than 10 per cent of infected individuals are diagnosed; stigma around sexual transmission of the virus has led to under 5 per cent receiving treatment. This ignorance is far from bliss. The HBV can spread through blood, semen, saliva and other bodily fluids, as well as maternally. But the infected are not at the real case of 67-year-old Dr D. Basu (name changed) from Hubli. A CT scan for mild abdominal discomfort revealed a 5 cm liver cancer. He had tested HBV-positive 35 years ago, but never followed up or took treatment. He even hid the diagnosis from his family. When we treated his cancer, his brother and 37-year-old daughter Kalyani also tested positive, likely due to maternal transmission and later sexual or vertical transmission. This tragic case underlines some key precautions to follow. Periodic monitoring in the HBV-infected is a must—one in 10 of those infected develop cirrhosis or cancer. Patients undergo repeated testing but get no treatment as current guidelines are restrictive, excluding nearly 60 per cent from treatment. Patients live with anxiety, fear and stigma. We must move from treating a select few to treating all HBV-positives. One pill, like tenofovir, taken daily can suppress the virus lifelong, halt transmission and prevent Dr Basu's daughter, could have been protected with a birth dose. She was not given HBV vaccination at birth. India's birth-dose coverage is just 63 per cent. Despite being one of the cheapest vaccines and India being a major vaccine producer, the HBV vaccine is scarcely available in private markets here and public awareness is dismal. Only 4.4 per cent of Delhi's adults are fully vaccinated. Are you? Sadly, nearly one-third of health professionals aren't either. Every Indian child and adult should know: the HBV vaccine is safe, effective and for taught us the power of self-testing. All close contacts of the HBV-infected must be screened. Enact anti-discrimination laws in education, workplaces and healthcare. We need HBV kits to enable one-stop testing and treatment. At least 80 per cent of diagnosed patients must be linked to free, accessible treatment. Integrating HBV services with programmes for prenatal care, non-communicable diseases, HIV and tuberculosis is essential. We must integrate hepatitis testing into routine healthcare check-ups and general population-based screening. Pregnant women should be screened for both HBV and Hepatitis C Virus (HCV)—the latter spreads only through blood contact and affects 5.5 million launched the National Viral Hepatitis Control Program (NVHCP) on July 28, 2018—one of the world's largest campaigns aiming to eliminate viral hepatitis by 2030. It offers free diagnosis and treatment for HBV and HCV. While impressive work on screening has been done, the treatment uptake remains low. We need a massive awareness drive and a movement for public around 3,500 global hepatitis deaths daily—11 per cent from India—the crisis demands urgency. Every avoidable death is a call to act. Each preventable infection highlights our collective failure, and an opportunity to act. We need a society-wide approach, powered by political will, scientific leadership and strong community engagement. Let us break it down. No shame. No blame. Just a cure.—The author is Professor of Eminence, Chancellor, ILBS UniversitySubscribe to India Today Magazine- EndsTrending Reel
Hindustan Times
4 hours ago
- Hindustan Times
Indian diplomat visits Syria for meetings with regime led by al-Sharaa
New Delhi: India has made a formal outreach to Syria's provisional government led by former Hay'at Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) leader Ahmed al-Sharaa, with a middle-ranking diplomat visiting Damascus for meetings with Syrian ministers. Syria's interim President Ahmed al-Sharaa. (REUTERS) This was the first official visit to Damascus from the Indian side since al-Sharaa, whose group was once affiliated to al-Qaeda, assumed power after ousting the regime of Bashar al-Assad following a lightning offensive last December. There was no official word from the Indian side on the visit by Suresh Kumar, director of the West Asia and North Africa (WANA) division of the external affairs ministry. Kumar's meetings with Syria's foreign and education ministers in Damascus on Monday were reported by State-run SANA news agency. 'A beginning had to be made and India had to register its presence. You have to open the door at some point,' a person familiar with the matter said on condition of anonymity. Syria's foreign minister Asaad Al-Shaibani and the Indian delegation led by Kumar discussed 'issues of mutual concern and ways of enhancing relations between the two countries in the interests of both peoples', SANA reported. The meeting between Kumar and Syrian health minister Musab Al-Ali focused on enhancing health cooperation, particularly in the fields of pharmaceutical industries and medical training, according to another report by SANA. The two sides also discussed a mechanism for implementing a scholarship for Syrian students, and allocating a specialised engineering cooperation programme for government employees. Al-Ali stressed Syria's aspiration to establish a strong partnership with India in pharmaceutical industries and health technologies in order to support the national health sector and provide medicines. Kumar said India will continue funding specialised training courses for Syrian personnel, coordinate the training of Syrian doctors in Indian centres, and enhance cooperation in nursing, pharmaceutical industries and pharmaceutical exports, the report said. India has had strong political ties with Syria and both countries were key members of the Non-Aligned Movement. India's traditional support for Arab causes such as the issue of Palestine was appreciated by Syria. India also backed Syria's right to the Golan Heights, currently occupied by Israel, and its full return to the country. Under the Assad family, the Syrian government usually backed India at multilateral forums, including on the issue of Kashmir. In response to a request from Damascus for emergency humanitarian aid in 2021, the Indian government gifted 2,000 tonnes of rice to Syria. During the Covid-19 pandemic, India sent 10 tonnes of medicines to Syria. This was the largest medical assistance from any country to Syria during the pandemic. India has been monitoring the situation in Syria since the fall of the Assad regime in December 2024. At the time, India evacuated 77 Indian nationals from Syria. 'We hope that the new constitution, due to be drafted, takes into account the interests of all the sections of the Syrian society,' the external affairs ministry said in a statement around the time of the change of government. In January, al-Sharaa, a former al-Qaeda commander who went by the name Abu Mohammad al-Jolani, became president of the provisional government. People familiar with the matter said the outreach to Damascus was influenced by Syria's strategic location in West Asia – the country shares borders with five key regional actors, Turkey, Iraq, Jordan, Israel and Lebanon – and the long-standing ties between the two sides. The outreach also follows the US decision to end sanctions on Syria after a meeting between al-Sharaa and President Donald Trump in May.
Time of India
5 hours ago
- Time of India
AIIMS experts advocate for robust data, surveillance in India's hepatitis elimination plan
New Delhi: India's hepatitis elimination strategy must prioritise the generation of robust epidemiological data, strengthening integrated surveillance systems, universal access to diagnostics and antivirals and active engagement by the private health sector, said AIIMS experts . In an editorial, 'Hepatitis B virus prevalence in India: A wake-up call for action,' doctors highlighted that despite decades of interventions, HBV remains prevalent, and the progress toward elimination remains slow. According to them, harnessing the momentum of telemedicine expansion initiated during the COVID-19 pandemic, along with decentralised healthcare delivery models, availability of generic antivirals and the use of artificial intelligence for patient management, could significantly enhance hepatitis B virus (HBV) care. The editorial by AIIMS doctors - Dr Shekhar Swaroop and Dr Shalimar of the Department of Gastroenterology and Dr Subrat Kumar Acharya, former HoD of the same department and presently serving as the pro-chancellor at the KIIT University, Bhubaneswar, was published in the Indian Journal of Gastroenterology in June this year. "As the world's most populous nation and a key player in global health, India must prioritise viral hepatitis as a central component of its public health strategy, not only to meet WHO targets, but to protect future generations from this entirely preventable disease," the doctors stated. According to the Global Hepatitis Report 2024, approximately 29.8 million individuals in India were estimated to be living with HBV infection in 2022. The HBV ranked as the third most common cause for cirrhosis, after alcohol and metabolic dysfunction-associated steatotic liver disease. The HBV accounted for approximately 98,305 deaths in India in 2022, reflecting a significant disease burden. Chronic HBV infection confers an increased risk of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC), and approximately 25 per cent of these individuals will develop HCC during their lifetime. Additionally, HBV reactivation is an acute precipitant of acute on chronic liver failure (ACLF) in around 15% of the patients globally and in 7.7 per cent in South-East Asia, according to a recent meta-analysis, the editorial said. To address this challenge, India launched the National Viral Hepatitis Control Program (NVHCP) in 2018, aiming to reduce the incidence, morbidity and mortality of HBV. Initiatives under this programme include hepatitis B vaccination, universal screening of donated blood and interventions for preventing mother-to-child transmission. "While significant progress has been made, particularly with third-dose hepatitis B vaccine coverage reaching approximately 93% in 2023 and the proportion of children aged 12-23 months receiving all three doses improving from 62.8 per cent (NFHS-4) to 83.9 per cent (NFHS-5), critical gaps still remain," the editorial pointed out. Birth dose vaccination coverage stands at 63 per cent, while the diagnosis rate is 2.4 per cent and treatment coverage rate 0.0 per cent. These figures underscore significant deficiencies in the current response and highlight urgent areas requiring improvement, the doctors stated. Accurate prevalence estimates are essential for guiding public health strategies and resource allocation. In this context, the recent community-based prevalence study by Rajalatchumi et al. from Puducherry represents a valuable contribution. The researchers invited all adults from four villages of rural Puducherry for HbsAg testing, achieving a commendable 94 per cent participation rate. The study found an adjusted prevalence of 2.5 per cent after adjusting for the sensitivity and specificity of the diagnostic test, higher than the NFHS-4 estimate. Interestingly, younger individuals showed a higher infection rate, and blood transfusion remained a risk factor, suggesting ongoing gaps in infection control and awareness, the doctors stated. When compared to a 2013 study from the same region, which reported a prevalence of 2.96 per cent, there was little change over the past decade, pointing to significant gaps in public health strategies and infection control measures, they stated. Despite methodological strengths, the study's generalisability is limited by regional heterogeneity across socio-economic status, transmission risk factors and healthcare access. Nevertheless, this study is a timely and very relevant reminder of the persistent burden of HBV in India, the doctors said. "Despite decades of interventions, HBV remains prevalent and the progress toward elimination remains slow. This is further hindered by limited public awareness, the absence of mandatory screening protocols and limited linkage to care," they said, adding nationally representative population-based surveys are rare and existing surveillance systems remain fragmented and under-resourced. PTI
