CNS: January 2011

Narmada Canals: Supreme Court directs MoEF to take decision by February 15th

A three-Judge Special Bench of the Supreme Court of India comprising Hon'ble Justice Shri JM Panchal, Justice B.S Chouhan and Justice Deepak Verma directed the Union Ministry of Environment and Forests to file an affidavit before it by the February 15th, 2011, informing the Court of its decision on the Reports of its own Expert Committee which has fully rejected the Command Area Development (CAD) Plans of the Madhya Pradesh Government with regard to the massive canal network of the Indira Sagar and Omkareshwar canals.

For a country like India that has the largest number of people infected with tuberculosis (TB) in the world, there are significant life-saving advances made in TB care and control over the past years, despite challenges. A lot more remains to be achieved but the gains made over the past decade, are commendable. Saving 2.2 million (22 lakh) lives from TB is no less achievement - for India's national TB programme officially called the Revised National TB Control Programme (RNTCP). It is the largest TB programme in the world - more appreciated when we consider the positive side of its outcome.

If people living with HIV (PLHIV) are food insecure, then we alarmingly lose the desired good outcomes of quality HIV treatment and care. This was powerfully articulated and backed by evidence in the session of Dr Christine Wanke, Director, Division of Nutrition and Infection, Tufts University School of Medicine in Boston, USA. She was speaking at the recently concluded Chennai ART Symposium (CART 2011).

Child Welfare Committee Lucknow sits over hearing regarding restoring the family rights of minor infant girl and her brother both children of burn victim Khusboo with their family in Gorakhpur
The case of a woman from Badialganj thana District Gorakhpur who is a victim of burn injuries inflicted on her by her own husband when he made an attempt on her life, came up for hearing before the Child Welfare Committee (CWC) Lucknow.

The people living with HIV (PLHIV), particularly those who are on the antiretroviral therapy (ART) consisting of tenofovir drug, should take extra-care of their kidneys. This was another key learning for me personally at the recently concluded Chennai ART Symposium (CART 2011). CART 2011 was organized in Chennai, India (8-9 January 2011) by Y.R. Gaitonde Centre for AIDS Research and Education (YRG CARE), in collaboration with Centre for AIDS Research (CFAR), Brown University, National Institute of Health (NIH), University of California (San Diego), Karolinska Institute, and HIV Medicine Association of India (HIVMAI).

Is there a bone loss associated with HIV in people who are living with the virus? Yes – there is one - this was one of the learning sessions for me personally at the recently concluded Chennai ART Symposium (CART 2011). CART 2011 was organized in Chennai, India (8-9 January 2011) by Y.R. Gaitonde Centre for AIDS Research and Education (YRG CARE), in collaboration with Centre for AIDS Research (CFAR), Brown University, National Institute of Health (NIH), University of California (San Diego), Karolinska Institute, and HIV Medicine Association of India (HIVMAI).

The antiretroviral therapy (ART) has undisputed benefits for people living with HIV. When people living with HIV (PLHIV) become resistant to drugs used in ART, treatment options that they can fall back upon to stay alive and healthy, reduce. This was a major point of academic discussion at the recently concluded Chennai ART Symposium (CART 2011).

Noted social organizations and trade unions across the country have given a strong call to fight corruption by India effectively implementing a dedicated agency to root out corruption - LOKPAL. Several examples of corruption in India like 2G, CWG, Adarsh Society, land scams, among others, where responsible people like politicians, government officers, industrialists, journalists or defence personnel are alleged to be involved, have proved that despite economic and technological progress India has made over the past years, the character of its responsible citizenry is eroding fast. This has put India's reputation in other countries at stake and heads of non-resident Indians hang in shame due to the rampant corruption, said the lead organizers.

(Based on an Interview, given exclusively to Citizen News Service by Dr RC Shah, honorary surgeon to the Governor of Gujarat, and recipient of President’s Gold Medal)
We are indeed living in hostile times. There is violence not only at the war front, but also in our homes, on the roads and even in hospitals. It seems as if each of these places has become a battlefield. Hospital rage is increasingly becoming a common phenomenon. Every day, we hear about patients’ relatives creating a ruckus in hospital premises, protesting against doctors’ apathy—either treatment is not given timely or it is wrong treatment. Sometimes doctors also retaliate in self defense to show that they are above reproach like Caesar’s wife.

Inter-country adoptions of orphans and destitute that was going on at the family courts in Lucknow unchecked so far, came under serious scrutiny post a complaint made by Saaksham Foundation to the Chief Justice of Uttar Pradesh (UP) Mr FI Rebello. Taking immediate cognizance to the report made by the organisation post two years of investigation, Hon'ble Mr Justice FI Rebello ordered an inquiry into the cases forwarded to him by the organization working to prevent violations of child rights in Uttar Pradesh.

If attempts on life and desertion of a minor girl child won't shake the State Women's Commission or the UP Police into action to do their jobs then one never knows what will. In yet another bizarre case of apathy and insensitivity the UP Police and the State Women's Commission together ensured that not one but two women; one a minor, were not given access to justice on their rights being brutally violated.

Photo credit:
Stop TB Partnership

Dr Lucica Ditiu has been appointed Executive Secretary of the Stop TB Partnership. A native of Romania, Dr Ditiu is a physician and researcher who has devoted her career to improving the lives of people living in communities heavily burdened by tuberculosis (TB). Dr Ditiu, aged 42, began a career with WHO in January 2000 as a medical officer for TB in Albania, Kosovo and Macedonia within the disaster and preparedness unit of the WHO European Regional Office.

Photo credit: Narmada.org

NAPM has been in existence for about two decades and since 1992 there has been constant endeavour to build alliances. Firebrand social activist Medha Patkar who led the process with many other committed fellow activists, provides a bird's eye-view of two decades of building up of NAPM...
It all started with Harsukh Sammelan in the Narmada Valley where we all started thinking that we must come together as an alliance and we actually went to different states along with some other activists and we decided this because we felt that without that this whole destructive development policies as an issue is not going to be politicised.

The United Nations General Assembly has created UN Women, the United Nations Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women, in July 2010 -- a new agency solely focused on women's rights with a view to invest in women's equality. In the words of Michelle Bachelet, UN Under-Secretary-General and Executive Director of UN Women, "This is a time of great promise. We have a historic opportunity to accelerate the achievement of what champions of gender equality have worked towards for years."

Latest round of negotiations on sensitive intellectual property issues resumes today
India should resist pressure from the European Union to accept, as part of a free trade agreement, harmful provisions that will have a major negative impact on access to affordable medicines, the international medical humanitarian organisation Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) said today. As discussions on the sensitive intellectual property chapter in the free trade agreement resume, reports now indicate the Indian Prime Minister's Office (PMO) may be ready to concede to European demands, imposing severe limitations on the ability of Indian generic manufacturers to produce affordable medicines.

On the eve of National Youth Day, members of Uttar Pradesh Youth Policy Advocacy Campaign shared with the media their experiences about the two year long advocacy campaign in creating awareness about youth policy and preparing a policy draft. Present in the press conference at Uttar Pradesh Press Club were representatives of all the NGOs, forums, which have worked in creating this draft that aims at ensuring a better deal for the youth of Uttar Pradesh.

Photo credit: UCSD.edu

Studies indicate that there are enormous public health benefits of starting antiretroviral therapy (ART) earlier for people living with HIV (PLHIV) then why is ART started so late which severe not only longevity but also considerably reduces quality of life. This was one of the major questions that sparked vibrant academic deliberation at the recently concluded Chennai ART Symposium (CART 2011). CART 2011 was organized in Chennai, India (8-9 January 2011) by Y.R. Gaitonde Centre for AIDS Research and Education (YRG CARE), in collaboration with Centre for AIDS Research (CFAR), Brown University, National Institute of Health (NIH), University of California (San Diego), Karolinska Institute, and HIV Medicine Association of India (HIVMAI).

Globally acknowledged leaders in clinical management of HIV infection, including those from India, participated in the vibrant academic exchange and discussions at the recently concluded Chennai ART Symposium (CART 2011) in Chennai, India (8-9 January 2011). CART 2011 was organized by one of the most experienced agencies in clinical management of HIV in India, Y.R. Gaitonde Centre for AIDS Research and Education (YRG CARE), in collaboration with Centre for AIDS Research (CFAR), Brown University, National Institute of Health (NIH), University of California (San Diego), Karolinska Institute, and HIV Medicine Association of India (HIVMAI).

Photo credit: Sunil Kumar/ Asha parivar

The First Asia to Gaza Caravan was given a warm send off from Latakia, Syria, where the Baath Party Chief and former Ambassador to India, Dr. Mohsen Alkhyyr, accompanying the Governor of Latakia, announced that the names of the caravan members would be mentioned in the text books as brave people who came for a moral cause.After flying into Al Arish from Damascus the caravan was held up for 4 hours at the Egyptian airport. It took a mild protest before it was let off to make its entry at midnight on the night of 2nd/3rd January, 2011, into Gaza. A warm welcome awaited at the border where a press conference was held past midnight.

The year 2010 was declared as year of the lung recognizing that hundreds of millions of people around the world suffer each year from treatable and preventable chronic respiratory diseases. This initiative acknowledged that lung health has long been neglected in public discourses, and understood the need to unify different health advocates behind one purpose of lung health. The year 2010 came to an end, but the need to attend to lung health has certainly become more pressing as we enter in the year 2011.

Photo credit: A.Muthukrishnan

The Asia to Gaza caravan arrived to a grand welcome by the Governor of Latakia, Dr. Khalyl Mashhaddya, a cardio-thoracic surgeon, on 25th December, 2010, in the port city of Syria, with school children playing their band and raising pro-Palestine and pro-Syria placards on the street.

The year 2010 was undoubtedly a defining year for CNS, and we are very grateful indeed for more than 100,000 people who read our articles in 2010, more than 400 media organisations (online, print and electronic - TV/radio) that picked content from us in 2010, and for those development agencies that supported CNS writers to cover health and development events from around the world throughout the year.