Ranjit Devraj
NEW DELHI, Aug 27 2010 (IPS) – The deaths of four infants during a recent vaccination drive in Lucknow, capital of northern Uttar Pradesh state, has raised questions about the Indian government s plan to introduce five-in-one vaccines in a countrywide immunisation programme.
Union health minister Ghulam Nabi Azad told journalists this week that action would be taken against those found guilty of negligence. He refused to speculate on the cause of the deaths, but said an investigation has been launched and would submit its report shortly.
Unconfirmed reports said the Lucknow vaccinations on Aug. 21 were carried out as a pilot project to test the efficacy of pentavalent vaccines. The health ministry is planning to introduce these vaccines into its Expanded…
Maize is a food staple in Guatemala’s “Dry Corridor,” which has been hit by both drought and flood. Credit: Danilo Valladares/IPS
WASHINGTON, Mar 16 2013 (IPS) – The world’s food security remains “vulnerable”, new data suggests, with some 870 million people experiencing sustained hunger and two billion suffering from micronutrient deficiencies.
The International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI), a Washington think tank, says such numbers are “unacceptably high”, and warns that anti-hunger programmes have been “piecemeal”.
In an influential annual report on the , released Thursday, the organisation said there were some positive achievements m…
Two decades of investments in malaria so far have saved a staggering 7.6 million lives and prevented 1.5 billion malaria cases. But progress plateaued by the end of 2019 with political will and funding declining. Credit: Mercedes Sayagues/IPS
Apr 23 2021 (IPS) – The occasion of World Malaria Day amidst a global pandemic warrants an examination of the intersection between our decades long battle against the world’s oldest …