General Studies Paper 2 Context A new report from the World Health Organization (WHO) and the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) said measles cases in 2022 have increased by 18%, compared to 2021. Findings on measles in India India’s Union Health Ministry has refuted a part of the report which said that globally 22 million children did not get their first measles shot in 2022 and that half of them live in 10 countries including India, where an estimated 1.1 million infants did not get the first dose of the vaccine. According to the WHO, measles vaccination....Read More

General Studies Paper 2 Context: It may not be possible to make India ‘diabetes free’, but a ‘diabetes complications free India’ is within reach. Introduction The concept of a reversal of diabetes has become very popular recently. Several commercial organisations have jumped on the bandwagon of a ‘reversal of diabetes’ and are making tall claims. Therefore, it is important to consider the pros and cons of a reversal of diabetes. Diabetes Diabetes is a chronic disease that occurs either when the pancreas does not produce enough insulin or when the body cannot effectively use the insulin it produces. Insulin is....Read More

General Studies Paper 2 Context COVID-19 pandemic extracted a heavy mortality toll across the world during 2020 and 2021, and this has been a huge global public health concern. But we were not able to accurately assess COVID-related death toll. Gaps in registration data Given the challenges in direct causal attribution of deaths to COVID-19 infection, the international public health community emphasised the need to measure pandemic impact in terms of excess mortality, derived by comparing observed mortality during the pandemic with expected mortality based on pre pandemic trends. Ideally, excess mortality estimation requires robust population based mortality data from....Read More

General Studies Paper 2 Context Cord blood banking is not a ‘biological insurance’ and its role in regenerative medicine is hypothetical. It is recommended only if there is a family member (siblings or biological parents only), currently suffering from diseases approved to be benefitted by allogenic stem cell transplantation. Cord Blood The blood from the newborn that is still present in the placenta and umbilical cord after birth is known as cord blood. Umbilical cord blood is a rich source of stem cells; i.e., Hematopoietic stem cells, which are unique cells and can be employed to cure certain disorders. In....Read More

General Studies Paper 2 Introduction Exactly three decades ago, the U.S. National Institutes of Health (NIH) Revitalization Act of 1993 mandated the inclusion of “women and minorities” in clinical trials in a bid to reduce health disparities. Yet, to date, the male model of medicine is thriving, and so is the tendency of treating women as smaller men despite a growing body of research insisting on physiological differences (beyond the reproductive organs) between the sexes. The genetic and epigenetic differences between men and women are also extensively documented. Generic drugs, trials, mental health In India, the “pharmacy of the world”,....Read More

General Studies Paper 2 Context: Serum Institute of India and Panacea Biotec apply for Expression of Interest for clinical trials for indigenous manufacturers of Dengue vaccine. Dengue Virus (DENV) Dengue is a viral infection caused by the dengue virus (DENV), transmitted to humans through the bite of infected mosquitoes. DENVis a pathogenic arthropod-borne flavivirus (arbovirus), it is a single-stranded and positive-sense RNA molecule belonging to the family Geographical Distribution Dengue is found intropical and sub-tropical climates worldwide, mostly in urban and semi-urban areas. Presently, DENV is prevalent throughout the different countries (at least 100 countries) including in Asia, the Pacific, the Americas, Africa, and the Caribbean. ....Read More

General Studies Paper 2 Context: Universal Health Coverage (UHC) is widely discussed worldwide as an essential component of the development agenda. The outbreak of  Covid-19  has necessitated the need for universal health coverage as the health systems failed miserably across the globe during those times. Considering the importance of UHC, the United Nations declared 12th December as International Universal Health Coverage Day (UHC Day)  in 2017. The United Nations defines UHC as “everyone, everywhere should have access to the health services they need without risk of financial hardship.” Sustainable Development Goals  target 3.8 (“Achieve universal health coverage, including financial risk protection, access to quality essential....Read More

Syllabus: General Studies Paper 2 Major Findings Total Fertility Rate: The Total Fertility Rate (TFR), the average number of children per woman, has further declined from 2.2 to 2.0 at the national level between National Family Health Survey (NFHS) 4 and 5. There are only five States — Bihar (2.98), Meghalaya (2.91), Uttar Pradesh (2.35), Jharkhand (2.26) Manipur (2.17) — in India which are above the replacement level of fertility of 2.1 Institutional Births Institutional births increased from 79% to 89% across India and in rural areas around 87% of births being delivered in institutions and the same is 94% in urban areas. Under Age Marriage While....Read More

Syllabus: General Studies Paper 2 The “health star rating” system that the Food Safety Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) plans to adopt in order to help consumers reduce their intake of unhealthy foods has been opposed by close to a dozen consumer and health advocacy groups. About FSSAI’s Star Rating: In February 2022, the FSSAI decided to adopt the “health-star rating system”, which gives a product 1/2 a star to 5 stars, in its draft regulations for front of package labelling (FOPL). It aims to help consumers reduce their intake of unhealthy foods. The HSR format ranks a packaged food item based on salt, sugar, and....Read More