Diseases

Herd Immunity During Coronavirus Pandemic – Issues And Drawbacks

Diseases / Health / Healthcare

Reading Time: 6 mins UK government is currently facing criticism for implementing “targeted herd immunity” during the early stages of the coronavirus outbreak in the country. This strategy involves allowing people to be infected so that they can gain immunity. The government was forced to abandon this controversial strategy after seeing an increase in pressure on the country’s healthcare system. Now, the death toll has surpassed 30,000 due to COVID-19 in the UK. The World Health Organisation has warned that herd immunity strategy is experimental at best and dangerous at worst. Yet, some experts in India are also considering this strategy as a way to reduce the problems faced by the economy, which is suffering because of the coronavirus pandemic.

One Health Approach – Need, Opportunities, Challenges

Diseases / Healthcare

Reading Time: 8 mins Rudolf Virchow, the father of pathology, had once said, “Between animal and human medicine, there are no dividing lines – nor should there be”. This holds true especially in recent years with the increase in the instances of epidemic outbreaks due to zoonoses. This calls for the use of One Health approach, a paradigm shift in the human and animal health along with the conservation of biodiversity to ensure prevention and mitigation of pandemics like that of COVID-19.

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Aarogya Setu App – Objectives, Working, Concerns

[GS3] Science and Technology- developments and their applications and effects in everyday life / Diseases

Reading Time: 4 mins Response to the COVID-19 pandemic needed an all-around approach. Propagating credible information which is easily available is of critical importance in the times of crisis and confusion. Especially, the novelty of Coronavirus made proper information management important as it was new and for a long time, there was an air of confusion regarding its nature, spread, and response. In an attempt to manage information tracking and propagation, Government of India launched Aarogya Setu App.

[Disaster Series] Disaster Management Act 2005 & Coronavirus Lockdown

Disasters & Management / Diseases / Important Legislation (Bills & Acts)

Reading Time: 8 mins On 24th March 2020, Prime Minister Narendra Modi had announced a nation-wide lockdown, from 25th March 2020 to 14th April 2020. The nationwide lockdown aims to combat the COVID-19 outbreak that is infecting thousands of people across the country and is intended to enable the concept of “social distancing” to contain the spread of the virus. The lockdown has legal backing based on Epidemic Diseases Act, 1897 and Disaster Management Act, 2005.

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India & Coronavirus Pandemic (COVID-19): Impacts, Measures & Challenges

Diseases

Reading Time: 16 mins The deadly new strain of coronavirus, COVID-19, has taken the lives of over thousands of people across the world. India is also currently facing a rapid spread of the infection, leading to the government putting the whole country under 21-day lockdown. This seems to do little to no impact as many people are either unwilling or cannot abide by the lockdown rules. Increasing the number of tests and rapid strengthening of the country’s healthcare system is a need of the hour.

Epidemic Diseases Act, 1897: Origin, Importance & Limitations

Diseases / Important Legislation (Bills & Acts)

Reading Time: 6 mins On March 11, 2020, the Cabinet Secretary announced that all states and UTs should invoke provisions of Section 2 of the Epidemic Diseases Act, 1897 so that Health Ministry advisories are enforceable. As the number of cases in India has crossed 120 and is already in Stage 2 (local transition) of COVID-19, it is vital to enforce necessary measures to prevent the country from moving to stage 3, which involves community transmission of the disease. The Epidemic Diseases Act, despite being more than 100 years old, is playing a crucial role in dealing with the current outbreak. However, this colonial-era law has numerous limitations that need to be reformed to prepare the country of future epidemic outbreaks.

Vaccine Hesitancy – Meaning, Factors, Solutions

Diseases

Reading Time: 6 mins In recent years, there is a significant increase in the measles cases at the global level. This is mainly attributed to the increase in the vaccine hesitancy. This led to the World Health Organisation to declare “vaccine hesitancy” as one of the 10 deadly threats to global health in 2019. Yet, it still remains a threat to the international community given the increasing misinformation in the current Information Age.

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