Category: Health

The Current a variety of health and wellness blog post ideas, divided into key categories such as nutrition, fitness, mental health, and more.

  • India detects first case of Covid Variant XE

    India detects first case of Covid Variant XE

    India’s first case of coronavirus variant XE was detected in Mumbai on Wednesday, Indian media reported.

    The patient is a 50-year-old costume designer who returned from South Africa in February. She tested positive for Covid on March 2, the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) said in its release.

    This strain was detected in the UK at the start of the New Year. Britain’s health agency had on April 3 said that XE was first detected on January 19 and 637 cases of the new variant have been reported in the country so far.

    The new mutation XE appears to be 10 per cent more transmissible than the BA.2 sub-variant of Omicron, the World Health Organisation (WHO) said.

    A case of the Kappa variant has also been detected in India.

  • Nearly everyone on earth is breathing polluted air: WHO report

    The World Health Organization (WHO) announced Monday that 99 per cent of people on Earth breathe air that comprises numerous contaminants, citing poor air quality for millions of deaths each year.

    According to new data from the UN health organization, air pollution affects every part of the globe, albeit the problem is far worse in developing nations.

    “Almost the entire global population (99 percent) breathes air that exceeds WHO air quality limits, and threatens their health,” the organization said in a statement.

    WHO had already established that about 90 per cent of the world’s population was impacted in its previous report from 2018, but it has subsequently expanded its boundaries.

    According to the WHO, the evidence base for the harm caused by air pollution is quickly advancing, and even low levels of certain air pollutants can cause serious illness.

    Despite UN statistics suggesting that pandemic lockdowns and travel restrictions improved air quality for a short time in 2021, WHO warned that air pollution continues to be a major threat.

    The WHO report includes data on air quality from over 6,000 cities and communities in 117 countries. Keeping in view the frightening statistics, the organisation emphasised the need to immediately limit the usage of fossil fuels.

  • UN chief condemns travel restrictions, calls it ‘travel apartheid’

    UN chief condemns travel restrictions, calls it ‘travel apartheid’

    United Nations (UN) Secretary-General, Antonio Guterres said on Wednesday that a travel ban imposed because of the Covid pandemic that cuts off any one country or region as “not only deeply unfair and punitive – they are ineffective.”, report Geo News.

    Guterres said that tests should continually be performed on travelers to reduce the threat of transmission in other parts of the world.

    He further added, “We have the instruments to have safe travel. Let’s use those instruments to avoid this kind, of allow me to say, travel apartheid, which I think is unacceptable.”

    The new variant of the coronavirus, which was previously identified as B.1.1.529 infection was reported to the World Health Organization (WHO) from South Africa on November 24 and named it Omicron.

    Several countries, including Pakistan, have completely banned flights from some countries in Africa.

    In African countries, the rate of vaccination was recorded as very low which Guterres has previously alarmed the world about. The main reason for the lack of vaccination was the inequality distribution of vaccines and low immunisation rates which became “a breeding ground for variants.”

    The annual meeting was also held between the United Nation and African Union to solve the concern of the travel ban.

    Speaking from the Joint-Conference with UN Secretary-General, African Union Commission Chair Moussa Faki Mahamat also said that the travel ban cannot be justified.

  • Examinations will be held on time despite new covid variant: Shafqat Mahmood

    Examinations will be held on time despite new covid variant: Shafqat Mahmood

    Federal Minister for Education Shafqat Mahmood said on Monday that the government has no plans to suspend educational activities. He said that examinations will be taken on time and the full curriculum will be covered in it, reports Geo.

    When he was asked about the policy of the education department regarding precautionary measures against the Omicron variant, the federal minister said, “I don’t know about the new variant of coronavirus in detail, but the government wants to continue educational activities.”

    The new variant named Omicron, which was first discovered in South Africa is spreading drastically into various parts of Europe including Canada and Australia. On Saturday, Pakistan imposed a complete ban on direct/indirect inbound flights from six African countries and Hong Kong.

    Moreover, while talking about the smog situation in Lahore, Shafqat Mahmood said it will decrease by the closure of private and government schools thrice a week.

  • “I’m choking, please give me treatment” – Barkha Dutt’s father’s last words

    “I’m choking, please give me treatment” – Barkha Dutt’s father’s last words

    Senior Indian journalist Barkha Dutt shared the pain of losing her father to COVID-19. In an emotional note on Twitter, Barkha Dutt expressed her grief of how she failed in bringing her ailing father back home safe.  

    She also acknowledged the hospital staff and everyone who tried their best to help her family in this situation. The last words of her late father rang loudly in her mind, “I’m choking, please give me treatment”

    The day her father SP Dutt, was hospitalised, both Barkha and Bahar ( sister of Barkha Dutt ) narrated the difficulties they faced, right from getting an ambulance to oxygen supply issues.

    The day she cremated her father, she said in an interview that urgent help must be sent to India for the sake of the world. She also added, “It is a calamity and a crisis of the kind that I have not seen in my adult life.”

    The second wave in India has firmly gripped the country. Thousands of families have lost their loved ones due to Covid-19. The hospitals are overwhelmed and there are no beds for patients. Shortage of oxygen has killed far more people than the virus alone.

    ” I am an upper middle class Indian. I had access to a hospital, “she said in an interview, “most people I am reporting on are dying at the gates of the hospital.”

    Actors Farhan Akhtar and Abhishek Bachchan and others tweeted their condolences.

  • High hopes for Pakistan with aim to start local manufacturing of Sputnik V vaccine

    High hopes for Pakistan with aim to start local manufacturing of Sputnik V vaccine

    Pakistan is all set to start the local manufacturing the Russian COVID-19 vaccine Sputnik V in collaboration with Russia in the coming months.

    Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi, during a joint press conference with his Russian counterpart on Wednesday, said Pakistan was looking forward to Russian collaboration for the local production of the Sputnik V vaccine.

    The Russian FM said his government had provided 50,000 doses to Pakistan and intended to provide more than 150,000 doses in the coming weeks.

    Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov had arrived on Tuesday for a two-day visit in Islamabad, where he was received by Shah Mehmood Qureshi.

    FM Lavrov also expressed satisfaction over an increase in bilateral trade that reached $790 million over the last year.

    Earlier, the Drug Regulatory Authority of Pakistan (DRAP) had approved the emergency use of the Russian vaccine.

    Two doses of it are currently being administered across private facilities in major cities for around Rs13,000.

    It has an efficacy rate of over 91%.

  • Mosques to remain open in Ramzan; Pakistan’s daily COVID-19 cases at eight-month high

    Mosques to remain open in Ramzan; Pakistan’s daily COVID-19 cases at eight-month high

    Special Assistant to the Prime Minister (PM) on Religious Harmony Maulana Tahir Ashrafi has said that mosques across the country will remain open during the holy month of Ramzan amid the third wave of the COVID-19 pandemic.

    Statement of the premier’s aide coincided with the country reporting highest daily rise in the number of coronavirus infections in eight months as 4,974 cases in 24 hours took the tally to 672,931.

    At least 98 deaths in a day took the total number of fatalities in the country to 14,530.

    “There is decree of religious scholars that people should get themselves vaccinated against COVID-19,” Ashrafi told reporters in Islamabad on Wednesday.

    He further said that scholars from various schools of thought have assured their full support to follow COVID-19 SOPs during prayers timings in Ramazan.

    There are currently 3,303 critical patients of COVID-19 admitted at different hospitals in the country.

    The country has so far conducted 1,02,47,374 coronavirus tests countrywide.

    The positivity ratio reported in the last 24 hours is 9.93%.

    While complete lockdown is time and again being ruled out by authorities, it merits a mention that last year’s months-long closure of all businesses had come while positivity ratio stood below 8%.

  • COVID-19: Pakistan begins registration of senior citizens for vaccination

    COVID-19: Pakistan begins registration of senior citizens for vaccination

    The Head of the National Command and Operation Centre (NCOC) Asad Umar announced on Monday that the government has started registration for COVID-19 vaccination of citizens above 65. The vaccination drive for them will begin in March.

    “Pleased to announce that registration for getting COVID vaccine is now open for all citizens 65 and above,” wrote the minister on Twitter.

    Umar said those interested in getting themselves vaccinated can write down their CNIC number and send a message on 1166. 

    “InshAllah vaccinations for this age group will start in March,” he added.

    Read More – Here’s how you can register for COVID-19 vaccine in Pakistan

    Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Health Minister Taimur Jhagra praised the NCOC, SAPM on Health Dr Faisal Sultan and NCOC head Asad Umar for their efforts.

  • Carmat introduces artificial hearts for heart patients

    Carmat introduces artificial hearts for heart patients

    Artificial hearts will be available on sale for those suffering from critical heart diseases in Europe.

    French medical company Carmat has developed the technology and named it Aeson. According to details, it will be available for purchase in the second quarter of 2021. The company has also received approval for it from regulatory authorities.

    The 900g machine created to mimic the biological characteristics and functioning of a normal heart is fully capable of facilitating blood circulation in the body.

    “The idea behind this heart, which was born nearly 30 years ago, was to create a device which would replace heart transplants, a device that works physiologically like a human heart, one that’s pulsating, self-regulated and compatible with blood,” said Stéphane Piat, Carmat’s CEO.

    The device is designed to replace a real heart for years in patients with end-stage biventricular heart failure. For now, it has only been approved as a temporary implant for those awaiting a heart transplant.

    According to several estimates, around 2,000 biventricular heart failure patients are on transplant waiting lists across Western Europe.

  • Pakistani-Russian scientist introduces ‘COVID-19 cure’

    Pakistani-Russian scientist Prof Dr Jan Alam has introduced the media to a mineral-based medicine invented by him for the treatment of coronavirus.

    According to reports, based on nanotechnology, Minerolytevir is a 5th generation medicine that has been registered by the Drug Regulation Authority of Pakistan (DRAP).

    Addressing a press conference at the National Press Club, Dr Jan claimed that the medicine has no side-effects, is completely safe for human beings, and can even be used by a day-old child.

    “A patient diagnosed with COVID-19 can be cured within 10 days by using this medicine. Patients on ventilatory support can be saved by using it through nebulisation. Just one mist of spray on the face and other body parts saves a person for 3-4 hours in these crucial days of the pandemic,” he claimed.

    The Russian professor said he was the first scientist in the world to have invented a medicine for the treatment of coronavirus and claimed that numerous patients who had used his medicine had been cured, both in Pakistan as well as in Russia. He also requested the government to introduce his medicine in government hospitals to save precious lives, saying he has also invented 20 medicines, including that for the treatment of cancer.

    Dr Jan Alam has been given top national awards by the Russian government for his services and inventions in the field of medicine. He won the award for the Best Scientist in Pharmacology in Geneva in 2018, in Paris in 2019 Paris, and for his Minerolytevir in 2020, again in Paris.