(On 2024 Nobel Prize in Medicine , HIV drug lenacapavir, QR codes for anti-cancer drugs, and more.)
Journalists often get asked about publishing a newspaper with just good, happy news. As part of the human race, we too aspire for days like that, however, that is neither how the world works nor how the news cycle functions. But there do come times when we can do that extra bit to make sure the positive aspects are top of the pile. So, in that strain, how would you like to start with a bit of good news, this newsletter? But of course.
It’s the Nobel season already, and time to celebrate one of the biggest awards for research in the medical sciences. On October 7, the announcement was made by the Nobel Prize Academy, ending a week or more of speculation as to who would win the prize: The 2024 #NobelPrize in Physiology or Medicine has been awarded to Victor Ambros and Gary Ruvkun for the discovery of microRNA and its role in post-transcriptional gene regulation. Do read the story here: Nobel for Medicine announced. microRNAs explained the process of gene expression in different cells. For an in depth reading on what microRNAs are, the role they play and the significance to the world of medicine, do click on Priyali Prakash’s explainer, here.
Taking good news further, this is certainly cause for some joy: Indian pharmaceutial firms have inked a deal with U.S. drug maker Gilead to make, market generic HIV drug lenacapavir. Lenacapavir has been approved for treatment by the U.S. FDA for adults with multi-drug resistant HIV, and is currently being investigated for its use in the prevention of HIV. The cost advantages of indigenous drug production are quite clear by now.
When it rains, it does pour, sometimes. In a significant milestone, India became an affiliate member of International Medical Device Regulators Forum. The IMDRF, which was established in 2011, is a group of global medical device regulators whose aim is to speed up the adoption of international medical device regulatory harmonisation and convergence.How will this benefit India, you ask? The Ministry of health has an answer: It will aid India achieve global alignment in its medical device regulatory system, enhance the competitiveness of the domestic industry and boost transnational prominence.
Bindu Shajan Perappadan reports that Anti-cancer drugs may soon have QR codes to prevent counterfeits in the market. This happened after reports of anti-cancer drugs being replaced by counterfeit products made it to the headlines. As a solution, the government may soon make it mandatory for quick response, or QR codes, to be attached to every vial and strip of medication marketed in India, to ensure a rigorous track and trace mechanism.
This comes as close to good news for the rare diseases community as possible. Delhi HC asks Centre to reconsider ₹50 lakh cap for rare disease treatment reports Soibam Rocky Singh. Members of the community were thrilled when a judge of the High Court stated a fact that they have long been articulating: that the “cap is inadequate” for some rare diseases falling in the Group 3 category. We are watching where this story goes, we promise.
It’s time to focus on the emergent and emerging threats from infectious diseases. This week, our stories looked at RSV, bird flu, mpox, and assistance for TB patients in India, and we have compiled them for you here:
WHO recommends maternal vaccine and antibody shot to prevent RSV in infants
Dozens of captive tigers and lions die in Vietnam, bird flu detected
World Health Organization approves first mpox diagnostic test
Government doubles monthly nutrition support for tuberculosis patients to ₹1,000
Bindu Shajan Perappadan also reports on the progress in the Health Ministry’s proposal to include citizens over 70 years in the Ayushman Bharat Insurance scheme, following up on the earlier announcement. She says the Ministry is ironing out technical hurdles to enrol these senior citizens and assistance would be provided by grassroots workers for enrollment. She also put forth the demand of Persons with disabilities who sought inclusion in AB-PMJAY scheme without any income, age criteria, arguing that it would help them tremendously to take care of hospitalisation events, without being pushed into poverty.
We also have follow ups of a couple of events that hogged headlines from the past weeks:
Zubeda Hamid does an Tirupati laddu row | On the economics of, and adulterants in ghee.
PresVu eye drops controversy: DCGI directs FDCA Gujarat to take appropriate action against ENTOD Pharmaceuticals.
Going lifestyle now, and taking the World Heart Day ahead of its slot on September 29, here is some gyan about smoking. Cutting down smoking could increase life expectancy in men by a year, predictive models show. Along with improving life expectancy, accelerating efforts to eliminate tobacco smoking could avoid 876 million years of lives lost to death, researchers forming the Global Burden of Disease, Injuries and Risk Factors (GBD) Tobacco Forecasting Collaborators said.
Staying on lifestyle health, we have Anup Rawool and Vid Karmarkar discuss the public health case for BRCA testing in October, the breast cancer awareness month. Pushed into certain significance during the period Hollywood star Anglina Jolie underwent a double mastectomy after a BRCA test indicated a high possibility of breast cancer, BRCA is back in the news again.
Can we really not talk of diabetes and close? Not in India, at least, where the burden of diabetes and pre-diabetes is a crushing weight on health systems. Prevention is the best tool, it gives, then. Chennai-based doctor advocates for primordial prevention of gestational diabetes. Dr. V. Seshiah actually recommends going back to the womb: primordial prevention: preconception care and early pregnancy screening, to break the cycle of transgenerational transmission. In other words, it explains that addressing risk factors before and during pregnancy can ensure healthier futures for both mother and children.
And here is what we know already, but are doing little or pretty little to alter. But for more proof that the poison is in the packaged pudding, do read this story: Consumption of ultra-processed and fast foods leading cause of diabetes in India, reveals new study.
This would come both under diabetes and our usual explainers tab, do read Dr. Nanditha Arun’s piece, explaining news coming out of China that stem cell therapy was used to cure T1 diabetes. She gives us the Indian perspective.
If you have a few more moments, do also stop by the following important stories:Dr. Dawn Kuruvilla captures the sometimes frustrating fight against sickle cell disease: and goes on to talk about how one hospital in rural Maharashtra is making a difference.
Indian effort needed to end AIDS as a global public health threat by 2030: UNAIDS
Maitri Porecha speaks to Anirban Mahapatra, Scientist, Editorial Director at American Society of Microbiology, whose book “When the drugs don’t work - The hidden pandemic that could end modern medicine” was released earlier this year on the hidden pandemic of AMR that poses a challenge for modern medicine.
For many more health stories, head to our health page and subscribe to the health newsletter here.
Published - October 08, 2024 05:03 pm IST
