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Yahoo
11-06-2025
- Health
- Yahoo
India brought forward its TB elimination deadline - but can it be met?
Atul Kumar (name changed) anxiously paced the corridor of a public hospital in India's capital Delhi. A small-appliance mechanic, he was struggling to secure medicines for his 26-year-old daughter who suffers from drug-resistant tuberculosis (TB). Mr Kumar said his daughter needed 22 tablets of Monopas, an antibiotic used for treating TB, every day. "In the past 18 months, I haven't received government-supplied medicine for even two full months," he told BBC Hindi in January, months before India's declared deadline to eliminate the infectious disease. Forced to buy costly drugs from private pharmacies, Mr Kumar was drowning in debt. A week's supply cost 1,400 rupees ($16; £12), more than half his weekly income. After the BBC raised the issue, authorities supplied the medicines Mr Kumar's daughter needed. Federal Health Secretary Punya Salila Srivastava said that the government usually acts quickly to fix medicine access issues when alerted. Mr Kumar's daughter is one of millions of Indians suffering from tuberculosis, a bacterial disease that infects the lungs and is spread when the infected person coughs or sneezes. India, home to 27% of the world's tuberculosis cases, sees two TB-related deaths every three minutes. India's TB burden has long been tied to poor case detection, underfunding and erratic drug supply. Despite this grim reality, the country has set an ambitious goal. It aims to eliminate TB by the end of 2025, five years ahead of the global target set by the World Health Organization (WHO) and United Nations member states. Elimination, as defined by the WHO, means cutting new TB cases by 80% and deaths by 90% compared with 2015 levels. But visits to TB centres in Delhi and the eastern state of Odisha revealed troubling gaps in the government's TB programme. In Odisha's Khordha district, around 30km (18.6 miles) from state capital Bhubaneshwar, 32-year-old day-labourer Kanhucharan Sahu is struggling to continue his two-year-old daughter's TB treatment, with government medicines unavailable for three months and private ones costing 1,500 rupees a month - an unbearable burden. "We can't see her suffer anymore," he says, his voice breaking. "We even thought of abandoning her." At Odisha's local TB office, officials promised to review Sahu's case, but a staffer admitted, "We rarely get the medicines we need, so we ration them." Mr Sahu says he hasn't received the promised 1,000 rupees monthly support from the federal government and at the local TB office, officials admit to chronic shortages, leaving families like his adrift in a failing system. Vijayalakshmi Routray, who runs the patient support group Sahyog, says medicine shortages are now routine, with government outlets often running dry. "How can we talk about ending TB with such gaps?" she asks. There are other hurdles too - for example, changing treatment centres involves navigating complex bureaucracy, a barrier that often leads to missed doses and incomplete care. This poses a major hurdle for India's vast population of migrant workers. At a hospital near Khordha, 50-year-old Babu Nayak, a sweeper who was diagnosed with TB in 2023, struggles to continue his treatment. He was regularly forced to travel 100km to his village for medicines as officials insisted he collect them from the original centre where he was diagnosed and first treated. "It became too difficult," he says. Unable to travel so often, Mr Nayak stopped taking the medication altogether. "It was a mistake," he admitted, after contracting TB again last year and being hospitalised. At his hospital, no TB specialist was available, highlighting another critical gap in India's fight: a shortage of frontline health workers. The BBC shared its findings with the federal health ministry and officials in charge of the TB programme in Delhi and Odisha. There was no response despite repeated reminders. A 2023 parliamentary report showed there were many vacant roles across all levels of the TB programme, affecting diagnosis, treatment and follow-up - especially in rural and underserved areas. Can vaccines help India triumph over tuberculosis? In 2018, when Prime Minister Narendra Modi brought forward India's TB elimination target to 2025, he cited the government's intensified efforts as a reason for optimism. Two years later, the Covid pandemic disrupted TB elimination efforts globally, delaying diagnosis, diverting resources and pausing routine services. Medicine shortages, staff constraints and weakened patient monitoring have further widened the gap between ambition and reality. Despite these challenges, India has made some progress. Over the past decade, the country has reduced its tuberculosis-related mortality. Between 2015 and 2023, TB deaths declined from 28 to 22 per 100,000 people. This figure, however, is still high when compared with the global average which stands at 15.5. The number of reported cases has gone up, which the government credits to its targeted outreach and screening programmes. In 2024, India recorded 2.6 million TB cases, up from 2.5 million in 2023. Federal Health Minister JP Nadda recently touted innovations like handheld X-ray devices as game-changers in expanding testing. But on the ground, the picture is less optimistic. "I still see some patients come to me with reports of sputum (phlegm) smear microscopy for TB, a test which has a much lower detection rate as compared to genetic tests," says Dr Lancelot Pinto, a Mumbai-based epidemiologist. Genetic tests, which includes RT-PCR machines - widely used to diagnose HIV, influenza and most recently, Covid-19 - and Nucleic Acid Amplification Testing, also examine the sputum sample but with greater sensitivity and in a shorter timeframe. Besides, the tests can reveal whether the TB strain is drug-resistant or sensitive, something that microscopic testing can't do, Dr Pinto says. The gap, he adds, stems not just from lack of awareness but from limited access to modern tests. "Genetic testing is free at government hospitals but not uniformly available, with only a few states being able to provide it." In May, Modi led a high-level review of India's TB elimination programme, reaffirming the country's commitment to defeating the disease. But the official statement notably skipped mention of the 2025 deadline. Instead, it highlighted community-driven strategies - better sanitation, nutrition and social support for TB-affected families - as key to the fight. The government has also prioritised better diagnosis, treatment and prevention at the core of its elimination strategy. This approach mirrors the WHO's view of TB as a "disease of poverty". In its 2024 report, WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus called it "the definitive disease of deprivation", noting how poverty, malnutrition and treatment costs trap patients in a vicious cycle. As India pushes toward its goal of eliminating the disease, deep health and social inequalities remain hurdles. With just six months left until India's self-imposed deadline, new complications have emerged. The fallout from US President Donald Trump's withdrawal from the WHO and suspension of USAID operations has raised concerns about future funding for global TB efforts. Since 1998, USAID has invested more than $140m to help diagnose and treat TB patients in India. However, India's federal health secretary insists there is "no budgetary problem" anticipated. Meanwhile, hope lies on the horizon. Sixteen TB vaccine candidates are currently in development across the world, with the WHO projecting potential availability within five years, pending successful trials.
BBC News
10-06-2025
- Health
- BBC News
TB: India brought forward its tuberculosis elimination deadline - but can it meet it?
Atul Kumar (name changed) anxiously paced the corridor of a public hospital in India's capital Delhi.A small-appliance mechanic, he was struggling to secure medicines for his 26-year-old daughter who suffers from drug-resistant tuberculosis (TB). Mr Kumar said his daughter needed 22 tablets of Monopas, an antibiotic used for treating TB, every day. "In the past 18 months, I haven't received government-supplied medicine for even two full months," he told BBC Hindi in January, months before India's declared deadline to eliminate the infectious to buy costly drugs from private pharmacies, Mr Kumar was drowning in debt. A week's supply cost 1,400 rupees ($16; £12), more than half his weekly income. After the BBC raised the issue, authorities supplied the medicines Mr Kumar's daughter needed. Federal Health Secretary Punya Salila Srivastava said that the government usually acts quickly to fix medicine access issues when Kumar's daughter is one of millions of Indians suffering from tuberculosis, a bacterial disease that infects the lungs and is spread when the infected person coughs or home to 27% of the world's tuberculosis cases, sees two TB-related deaths every three minutes. India's TB burden has long been tied to poor case detection, underfunding and erratic drug this grim reality, the country has set an ambitious goal. It aims to eliminate TB by the end of 2025, five years ahead of the global target set by the World Health Organization (WHO) and United Nations member as defined by the WHO, means cutting new TB cases by 80% and deaths by 90% compared with 2015 visits to TB centres in Delhi and the eastern state of Odisha revealed troubling gaps in the government's TB Odisha's Khordha district, around 30km (18.6 miles) from state capital Bhubaneshwar, 32-year-old day-labourer Kanhucharan Sahu is struggling to continue his two-year-old daughter's TB treatment, with government medicines unavailable for three months and private ones costing 1,500 rupees a month - an unbearable burden."We can't see her suffer anymore," he says, his voice breaking. "We even thought of abandoning her."At Odisha's local TB office, officials promised to review Sahu's case, but a staffer admitted, "We rarely get the medicines we need, so we ration them." Mr Sahu says he hasn't received the promised 1,000 rupees monthly support from the federal government and at the local TB office, officials admit to chronic shortages, leaving families like his adrift in a failing Routray, who runs the patient support group Sahyog, says medicine shortages are now routine, with government outlets often running dry. "How can we talk about ending TB with such gaps?" she are other hurdles too - for example, changing treatment centres involves navigating complex bureaucracy, a barrier that often leads to missed doses and incomplete care. This poses a major hurdle for India's vast population of migrant a hospital near Khordha, 50-year-old Babu Nayak, a sweeper who was diagnosed with TB in 2023, struggles to continue his treatment. He was regularly forced to travel 100km to his village for medicines as officials insisted he collect them from the original centre where he was diagnosed and first treated. "It became too difficult," he to travel so often, Mr Nayak stopped taking the medication altogether."It was a mistake," he admitted, after contracting TB again last year and being his hospital, no TB specialist was available, highlighting another critical gap in India's fight: a shortage of frontline health BBC shared its findings with the federal health ministry and officials in charge of the TB programme in Delhi and Odisha. There was no response despite repeated reminders.A 2023 parliamentary report showed there were many vacant roles across all levels of the TB programme, affecting diagnosis, treatment and follow-up - especially in rural and underserved vaccines help India triumph over tuberculosis?In 2018, when Prime Minister Narendra Modi brought forward India's TB elimination target to 2025, he cited the government's intensified efforts as a reason for optimism. Two years later, the Covid pandemic disrupted TB elimination efforts globally, delaying diagnosis, diverting resources and pausing routine services. Medicine shortages, staff constraints and weakened patient monitoring have further widened the gap between ambition and these challenges, India has made some the past decade, the country has reduced its tuberculosis-related mortality. Between 2015 and 2023, TB deaths declined from 28 to 22 per 100,000 people. This figure, however, is still high when compared with the global average which stands at number of reported cases has gone up, which the government credits to its targeted outreach and screening programmes. In 2024, India recorded 2.6 million TB cases, up from 2.5 million in 2023. Federal Health Minister JP Nadda recently touted innovations like handheld X-ray devices as game-changers in expanding testing. But on the ground, the picture is less optimistic."I still see some patients come to me with reports of sputum (phlegm) smear microscopy for TB, a test which has a much lower detection rate as compared to genetic tests," says Dr Lancelot Pinto, a Mumbai-based tests, which includes RT-PCR machines - widely used to diagnose HIV, influenza and most recently, Covid-19 - and Nucleic Acid Amplification Testing, also examine the sputum sample but with greater sensitivity and in a shorter the tests can reveal whether the TB strain is drug-resistant or sensitive, something that microscopic testing can't do, Dr Pinto gap, he adds, stems not just from lack of awareness but from limited access to modern tests."Genetic testing is free at government hospitals but not uniformly available, with only a few states being able to provide it."In May, Modi led a high-level review of India's TB elimination programme, reaffirming the country's commitment to defeating the the official statement notably skipped mention of the 2025 deadline. Instead, it highlighted community-driven strategies - better sanitation, nutrition and social support for TB-affected families - as key to the government has also prioritised better diagnosis, treatment and prevention at the core of its elimination approach mirrors the WHO's view of TB as a "disease of poverty". In its 2024 report, WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus called it "the definitive disease of deprivation", noting how poverty, malnutrition and treatment costs trap patients in a vicious cycle. As India pushes toward its goal of eliminating the disease, deep health and social inequalities remain just six months left until India's self-imposed deadline, new complications have fallout from US President Donald Trump's withdrawal from the WHO and suspension of USAID operations has raised concerns about future funding for global TB efforts. Since 1998, USAID has invested more than $140m to help diagnose and treat TB patients in India. However, India's federal health secretary insists there is "no budgetary problem" hope lies on the horizon. Sixteen TB vaccine candidates are currently in development across the world, with the WHO projecting potential availability within five years, pending successful trials.
Saudi Gazette
06-06-2025
- Sport
- Saudi Gazette
Four arrested over India cricket stadium crush
BENGALURU — Police in India have arrested at least four people in connection with the fatal crowd crush that took place in the southern city of Bengaluru earlier this week. On Wednesday, 11 people were killed when tens of thousands gathered outside a cricket stadium to celebrate the cricket league Royal Challengers Bengaluru's (RCB) historic Indian Premier League (IPL) victory. Those arrested include personnel of RCB and the event management company which organised the celebrations. Five senior police officers, including the city's police chief, have been suspended for "negligence and irresponsibility" by the government. A police official told BBC Hindi that more arrests are expected as the investigation continues. According to police, the people arrested were responsible for posting about the victory parade - from the state legislature building to the Chinnaswamy Stadium - on RCB's social media handles and website. On Thursday, Chief Minister Siddaramaiah said that a police complaint had been filed and legal action taken against the franchise, the event management company, and the Karnataka State Cricket Association. More than 200,000 people reportedly turned up for the parade, although police had anticipated only half that number. The stadium, where the celebrations were held, has a capacity of 32,000 and was overwhelmed long before the team arrived. The Karnataka High Court has also ordered a status report on the incident. Separately, India cricket coach Gautam Gambhir has criticised the decision to host the victory parade and said his "heart goes out" to those affected. "If we are not ready to hold a road show we should not have done that," former India batter and IPL-winning captain Gambhir said. On Thursday, RCB said they would give 1,000,000 rupees (£9,000) to the families of those killed. "We need to be responsible. We need to be responsible citizens and responsible in every aspect, because every life cannot at any point in time lose 11 people. We can be more responsible," Gambhir added. — BBC
Yahoo
05-06-2025
- General
- Yahoo
When joy turned to horror for Bengaluru fans celebrating team's IPL win
When Shamili left her home in India's Bengaluru city on Wednesday, it wasn't to see her favourite cricket team - she isn't even a fan of the game. But the buzz around the Royal Challengers Bengaluru's (RCB's) Indian Premier League victory parade - the home team won the tournament for the first time - had swept through the city like wildfire. Wearing an RCB jersey with "18 Virat" on the back - a nod to Virat Kohli, the city's favourite cricket icon - Shamili joined her sister and friends near the Chinnaswamy Stadium, looking forward to celebrations. What she didn't expect was to get caught in a terrifying crush. The victory parade turned deadly when surging crowds - far beyond what authorities expected - led to a horrific crush that killed 11 people and injured dozens more. Survivors like Shamili are now grappling with trauma, pain and a sense of disbelief after the celebration spiralled into catastrophe. "I kept saying, 'let's go, let's go' - the crowd was getting out of control," Shamili recalled, sitting on a bed at the government-run Bowring and Lady Curzon Hospital. "The next thing I knew, I was on the ground. People were walking over me. I thought I was going to die." She is not alone. Many who had come just to soak in the atmosphere - fans, families, curious onlookers - found themselves caught in a tide of bodies as crowds swelled beyond control. Police had expected no more than 100,000 people. In reality, Karnataka's chief minister Siddaramaiah said, the crowd surged to 200,000-300,000. The stadium, with a capacity of 32,000, was overwhelmed long before the team arrived. Videos from before the crush showed people climbing trees and trying to scale the stadium walls. Haneef Mohammed, an engineering student, told BBC Hindi that he had no intention of going inside because he didn't have a pass or ticket. "I was just standing and watching the crowds near the main gate. Suddenly, people started running all around and the police started hitting people with their lathis," he said. Police in India often wield lathis - long bamboo sticks - to try and control crowds. Mr Mohammed got hit on the head with a lathi and started bleeding. He says the police immediately arranged for a vehicle to take him to the hospital. The ages of the 11 victims range from 13 to 43 years. The youngest, Divyanshi, was a Class 9 student who had come to the stadium with her mother and other family members. Other victims include college students and a young tech worker who had come to the stadium with her colleagues. A doctor who spoke on condition of anonymity said that most of them were "brought dead to hospital" due to suffocation or broken ribs. The massive crowds had delayed ambulances getting to the site of the crush. Even as chaos and panic ensued on the roads around the Chinnaswamy stadium, the RCB team went inside the stadium after being felicitated on the footsteps of the Vidhana Soudha - the seat of power in Karnataka - by the governor, chief minister and other ministers. "They went on a victory lap around the stadium. Inside the stadium, there was no sign that anything had happened outside,'' said a young man who spoke on condition of anonymity. IPL chairman Arun Dhumal said he did not know who had planned the event in Bengaluru and that RCB officials inside the stadium were not aware of the crush until they got phone calls. In a statement on X, RCB said it was "deeply anguished by the unfortunate incidents". "Immediately upon being made aware of the situation, we promptly amended our programme and followed the guidance and advice of the local administration," it said. "At a loss for words. Absolutely gutted," star player Kohli wrote on Instagram. But questions still remain over how and why the event was organised. "Normally, the felicitation of a team should be done in a controlled environment. But here, there appeared to be no preparation," a relative of an injured person at the Bowring Hospital said. Chief Minister Siddaramaiah has announced a magisterial enquiry into the incident. "A moment of joy has turned into sorrow," he said on Wednesday. Follow BBC News India on Instagram, YouTube, Twitter and Facebook
News18
31-05-2025
- Entertainment
- News18
Kabir Bedi Opens Up About 4 Marriages, Many Girlfriends: 'None Were One-Night Stands'
Last Updated: Kabir Bedi said he is on friendly terms with all three ex-wives. Veteran actor Kabir Bedi has been in several serious relationships. He even tied the knot four times. In a recent interview, Kabir Bedi opened up about his personal life, and he said that he has been an emotional fool. He acknowledged that he had been 'indiscriminate" in his choice of women. Kabir stated that despite having many serious relationships, none were one-night stands; nearly all were long, healthy relationships that concluded on good terms. Kabir Bedi told BBC Hindi, 'I will admit that there were times when I was indiscriminate in my choice of women. But if I am equally honest, if I look at my significant relationships, none of these were one-night stands." As for his four marriages, Kabir said, 'My first marriage lasted for 7 years. My second marriage also lasted for around 7-8 years. The third marriage lasted for 15 years. My current marriage with Parveen Dosanjh, we have been together for 19 years. We have only been married for 9 years, but before that, we were together for 10 years." 'These relationships are not short relationships. There might be many. It's possible that some people might not marry 4 times, but all my relationships were good, long, but the thing that I am most proud of is that with all my ex-wives and I have remained friends," he shared. 'There is a photo in my book ( Stories I Must Tell: The Emotional Life of an Actor) of a Christmas dinner that is being attended by my wife and two of my ex-wives. Three wives under a Christmas tree celebrating Christmas together. There were no bad feelings. I don't know if you want to call it a big or small achievement, but it will be called an achievement surely," he said. Kabir Bedi first got married to Protima Bedi in 1969. They separated in 1974. The veteran actor then tied the knot with Susan Humphreys in 1980. They were married for nearly 10 years. Kabir then married Nikki Bedi in 1992, and they got divorced in 2005. Kabir and Parveen Dosanjh have been married since 2016. First Published:
